Month: June 2014

A new study suggests that insulin might not be the best drug to add to metformin in the treatment of people with type 2 diabetes. But outside experts questioned the conclusions. The study was based on records from the U.S. Veterans Health Administration, Medicare and the National Health Index. People in the study had been taking metformin. Doctors added a second drug to better control their blood sugar. For about 2,400 people, that drug was insulin. Another 12,000 people added a type of drug called a sulfonylurea. In the next 14 months, both groups had similar rates of heart attack and stroke. But people who took insulin had a 44% higher death rate. Outside experts told HealthDay News that other factors may have caused the difference. People who got insulin were sicker, an American Diabetes Association official noted.

Exercise can aid in recovery from breast cancer. But many women actually exercise less after their diagnosis, a new study finds. Regular exercise has been linked with longer and better quality of life after breast cancer treatment. The new study included 1,735 women recently diagnosed with breast cancer. Researchers asked them about their exercise habits. They asked again 6 months later. About 59% reported doing less physical activity than they did before diagnosis. Only 35% met current national guidelines for exercise 6 months after diagnosis. African-American women were 38% less likely to meet those guidelines than white women. They also had larger declines in exercise. The journal Cancer published the study online. HealthDay News wrote about it June 9.

Use of the rotavirus vaccine has dramatically reduced hospital stays for severe diarrhea among young children, a new study says. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) did the study. The first rotavirus vaccine was approved in 2006. Before that, the CDC said, this virus caused 55,000 to 70,000 hospital stays each year among U.S. children under age 5. About 20 to 60 children died each year. But those numbers dropped off rapidly. By the 2009-2010 season, hospital stays for rotavirus were down 94%, the CDC study found. Visits to the emergency room and doctors’ offices for diarrhea also plummeted. Even children who had not been vaccinated were less likely to have rotavirus illness. That’s because less of the virus was circulating, the study noted. Two rotavirus vaccines are now in use. Both are given by mouth.