Month: January 2014

Changing guidelines for treatment of several common conditions can be confusing for doctors and patients, a doctor writes in a new blog posting. The writer is Suzanne Koven, M.D., an internist. The Boston Globe published it January 27. Dr. Koven writes about how recent guideline changes have affected her and her patients. The guidelines include those for high blood pressure, cholesterol and cervical cancer screening. Some of them make big changes to the way she has practiced medicine for decades. For example, the new guidelines say no treatment is needed for some older patients who might have been treated for high blood pressure in the past. Changes like these can make patients uneasy and shake their trust in their doctors, Dr. Koven writes. But they are based on evidence and the goal is better care.

Nearly 7,400 people under age 20 end up in U.S. hospitals each year because of a gun-related injury. So says a study in the journal Pediatrics. That’s about 20 children a day. Six percent of those admitted died from their injuries, the study found. Researchers used data from the 2009 Kids’ Inpatient Database to examine the types of injuries seen. They looked at the cause of these injuries. In particular, were these gunshot injuries the result of an attack, suicide or accident? They also broke it down by age, gender and race. Among the findings: Nearly 90% of those hospitalized were male; 47% occurred in black children and teens. An attack or suicide was involved in most 15- to 19-year-old hospital admits related to guns. In children younger than 10, 75% were the result of accidents.

Recent studies suggest that cooling off to burn more fat is an idea worth exploring, Dutch researchers say. The new report reviews recent human and animal studies. They focus on the activity of “brown fat,” which is found in only small amounts in most adults. Brown fat burns calories to help us stay warm in cold temperatures. Shivering increases heat production in people. More recent studies also suggest that the body burns more calories for heat even when exposed to milder cold temperatures. This is called non-shivering thermogenesis. Earlier research by the Dutch team showed that people tend to feel more comfortable over time when exposed to chilly temperatures (about 59 degrees Fahrenheit). The Dutch researchers are planning longer-term experiments that will also track the weight of people who live in cooler environments over time.

Women who consume high levels of omega-3 fatty acids may be less likely to lose brain cells as they get older, a new study suggests. Omega-3 fatty acids are found in fish oil and some supplements. Researchers measured omega-3 levels in the red blood cells of more than 1,000 older women. Their average age was about 70. Eight years later, they were given MRI scans of the brain. Women with high levels of omega-3 fatty acids had larger brains than those with low levels. The difference was equal to about 1 or 2 years of normal brain shrinkage for adults in this age group. Women with higher omega-3 levels also tended to have a larger hippocampus. This part of the brain has a major role in memory. It begins to shrink early for someone with Alzheimer’s disease. The new study only shows a link between higher omega-3 fat levels in the bloodstream and larger brain size.