Month: January 2014

Doctors aren’t talking with their patients enough about alcohol, a government study finds. And that’s true even if the patient is a binge drinker, the study says. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) did the study. It was based on surveys from 44 states and the District of Columbia. Only 1 in 6 adults and 1 in 4 binge drinkers said that a doctor or other health professional had ever discussed alcohol with them. Only 1 in 6 pregnant women recalled such a talk, even though drinking can harm the developing fetus. Even drinkers who binge 10 or more times a month got little counseling. Only 1 in 3 reported ever having a serious talk with a doctor about alcohol use. For every alcoholic, 6 other people are problem drinkers, CDC officials said. They urged doctors to make alcohol counseling a routine part of patient care.

A new type of device may help people with sleep apnea, results from a small study suggest. Obstructive sleep apnea causes breathing to stop or become very shallow for brief periods. This occurs because of a blockage to the airway during sleep. Sleep apnea can cause a drop in blood oxygen and lead to a higher risk of heart disease. The new study included 124 people with obstructive sleep apnea. Each person received the new device, implanted by surgery. The device electrically stimulates a nerve that controls the tongue and muscles in the upper airway. The pulses are timed to the breathing cycle. They cause the tongue to move slightly forward and the upper airway to open. After a yearlong trial, episodes of apnea and drops in blood oxygen were reduced about 70%. Researchers then randomly divided the 46 people who had the best treatment response into 2 groups.

Meditation may help relieve depression, anxiety and pain. That’s the conclusion of a new review of research in the field. Researchers looked at 47 studies. They included a total of 3,515 people. The studies looked at the effects of meditation on a variety of conditions. Besides mental health, they included eating habits, sleep and weight control. The studies showed moderately strong evidence of benefit for depression, anxiety and pain. Improvements were about 5% to 10% in anxiety symptoms, compared with a “control” group. This group did some other activity that was used as a placebo, or non-treatment. Symptoms of depression improved 10% to 20% compared with placebo. The effects on pain varied depending on the type of pain. Researchers found there was not enough good evidence of benefit from meditation for any other conditions.