Month: April 2013

U.S. doctors write enough prescriptions each year to provide antibiotics to 4 out of 5 Americans, a new study shows. That’s so many that the drugs probably are being overused, experts told the Associated Press (AP). Excess use helps bacteria to become resistant to the drugs. The new study used a national drug database. Numbers come from 2010. In that year, health care professionals wrote 258 million prescriptions for antibiotics. The population was about 309 million. That’s about 833 prescriptions for every 1,000 people. But the numbers varied greatly from state to state. West Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee had the highest rates. About 1,200 prescriptions were written for every 1,000 people in those states. In Alaska, Oregon and California, the numbers were 600 or below. Experts said Southern states may have more infections than other states.

Researchers say they have found a way to “see” one type of pain on a brain scan. In the future, such an approach may help to tell whether babies or others who can’t communicate well are feeling pain. The study included 114 healthy volunteers. They were hooked up to a functional MRI (fMRI) machine to show activity in different parts of the brain. First, people were tested using a heating element applied to the forearm. Sometimes the heat was painful but not burning (116 degrees Fahrenheit). Other times it was just warm. Researchers saw a “pain signature” in the fMRI pattern for painful heat, compared with warmth. More than 90% of the time, these patterns matched what people said about whether they felt pain. Researchers also looked at “social pain.” Of those in the study, 40 recently had a romantic breakup. They were shown photographs of the partners who had dumped them.

People who consume less salt and more potassium can reduce their risk of blood pressure and stroke, 3 reviews of medical evidence show. The journal BMJ published the review articles. One review put together the results of 34 studies. They included a total of 3,230 people. The review found that eating less sodium (mostly salt) could reduce systolic blood pressure by about 4 milligrams of mercury (mmHg). Systolic pressure is the first or top number in a blood pressure reading. Diastolic pressure (the second number) fell 2 mmHg. Another research review also looked at other effects of salt on health. It included results from 56 studies. The risk of stroke increased 24% for people who ate more salt. The risks of dying from stroke increased 63%. A third study looked at potassium in the diet. It put together results from 33 studies. They included a total of 128,000 people.

A medical group has advice for primary care doctors about how to discuss prostate-cancer screening with patients. The new statement comes from the American College of Physicians, the group for doctors of internal medicine. It is based on guidelines from several organizations. The statement applies to male patients between ages 50 and 69. Doctors should talk with them about the risks and benefits of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing, the statement says. PSA tests are used as a first screening test for prostate cancer. But a biopsy is needed to find out if cancer exists. Most prostate cancers grow very slowly and cause no harm. However, no known tests can tell which cancers will be deadly. Treatments can cause harmful side effects. The journal Annals of Internal Medicine published the study online April 8. HealthDay News wrote about it.

Kids eat more food when it’s served on larger plates, a new study suggests. The study included 42 first graders. They were served lunch at their school cafeteria. Half got their food on smaller plates and half on larger plates. The menu was either chicken nuggets or pasta with meat sauce. Side dishes were applesauce, mixed vegetables and bread. The drink was milk. On average, kids using larger plates served themselves about 90 more calories. They didn’t eat all of the extra food, but they did eat about half. Overall, they consumed more calories than kids using smaller plates. The children served themselves more fruit and more of the main dish on larger plates, but not more vegetables. The journal Pediatrics published the study. HealthDay News wrote about it April 8.

Walking and running are equally good for your heart, a new study finds. But if you’re a walker, you have to do more of it to get the same benefit as a runner. So concludes the study of 33,000 runners and 16,000 walkers. They were part of two long-running health studies of people devoted to these pursuits. Researchers looked at how many people developed high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes or heart disease in the next 6 years. Both runners and walkers were less likely to develop these conditions if they used more energy in their daily exercise. For each standard unit of energy used, risk reduction was similar for runners and walkers. But overall the runners were healthier. That’s because, on average, they used more than twice as much energy as walkers did. Researchers said they probably used more energy because they could exercise in less time.

Caring for Americans with dementia costs more than heart or cancer care, a new study finds. Direct costs were estimated at $109 billion a year. This includes medical care and nursing homes. The total exceeds the estimated $102 billion a year for heart disease and $77 billion for cancer. Informal care by family and friends boosts dementia costs even more. In all, costs add up to $157 billion to $215 billion a year. The study calculated these two figures using different ways to estimate the costs of informal care. Researchers based their study on 10,903 people in a long-running government study of aging. Of that group, 856 were given detailed exams to determine if they had dementia. Researchers then estimated that 15% of the total group over age 70 had dementia. Costs of care were based on Medicare and other records. The New England Journal of Medicine published the study.