Month: December 2014

People may be more willing to share their health records for research than for marketing, a new study finds. In this study, how the records would be used mattered more to people than whether they gave consent. The study included more than 3,000 people. Researchers presented them with examples of ways that medical data could be used. All of the examples involved an analysis of thousands of medical records. This analysis picked out the people with diabetes and what drugs they took. In different scenarios, the information was obtained with or without the person’s consent. It was used either for research (to improve care) or for marketing (to help sell a diabetes drug). People were asked what they thought about each use of the information. A score of 10 was the most appropriate use and 1 was the least. The lowest scores (3.81) were for using information for marketing without consent.

Mothers who use their smartphones and tablets at the dinner table are less likely to interact with their kids, a new study finds. Researchers videotaped 225 mother-and-child pairs at the dinner table. The children were all 6 years old. Sometimes they ate familiar foods. At other times, the children were introduced to new foods. This can be stressful for young children. On average, mothers who used mobile devices during dinner talked to their children 20% less often than mothers who did not use them. They interacted in other ways 39% less often. When introducing new foods, mothers using mobile devices talked to their children 26% less often than non-users. They had 48% fewer interactions of other types. The journal Academic Pediatrics published the study online. HealthDay News wrote about it December 12.

In early testing, a new compound appeared to help reduce weight gain, researchers said. The compound contains propionate. This is a fatty acid that is created when fiber breaks down in the colon. Among other things, propionate appears to play a role in suppressing appetite. Researchers created a compound of propionate and inulin, a plant fiber.  Twenty healthy volunteers were randomly assigned to drink either this compound or inulin alone in fruit juice. Then they were told to eat as much as they wanted from a buffet. People who got the propionate compound ate about 14% less than the other group. The next phase of the study lasted 24 weeks. This time, people 60 overweight adults were assigned to receive either the propionate compound or inulin.  In all, 49 completed the study. Of the 25 who took the compound, 1 person gained more than 3% of body weight.

Gout attacks are more than twice as likely to occur overnight as during the day or evening, a new study shows. It confirms a finding that many doctors and patients had observed. The study kept track of 724 people with gout for a year. They recorded the date and hour of gout attacks. They described their symptoms and listed their medicines. Drinking alcohol, eating some foods or taking some medicines have been linked with gout attacks. People in the study also included whether they had done any of these things in the 24 to 48 hours before the attack. A total of 1,433 gout attacks occurred. About half of those, 733, were between midnight and 8 a.m. Another 310 occurred between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., and 390 between 5 p.m. and midnight.  Therefore, gout attacks were 2.4 times as likely to occur at night as during the daytime.