Month: January 2015

A new test of that gunk you cough up from your lungs may help to tell which lumps found in a lung CT scan are cancerous. Medicare now covers a yearly low-dose CT scan each year for certain long-term, heavy smokers and former smokers. The scans help to find early lung cancers. But sometimes they also find lumps, or nodules, that are not cancers. The new test aims to find out which ones are cancerous, without a biopsy. The test looks for 3 types of genetic material, called microRNA, that are typically found in lung cancers. Researchers first tried the test on 122 people who had a lung nodule shown on a CT scan. The test examines sputum, a mixture of saliva and mucus. It identified 83% of the cancerous nodules. It was able to tell 88% of the time when the nodule was not cancer. Researchers also tried the test in 2 other groups of patients. Results were similar.

Many older diabetics are following “tight control” of blood sugar, though it may do them more harm than good, a study suggests. The study looked at blood sugar control for 1,288 people with diabetes. All were age 65 or older. Information about them came from 5 U.S. health surveys that occurred between 2001 and 2010. About half were classified as relatively healthy despite having diabetes. About 28% had “complex” health, with 3 or more other health conditions, such as heart or kidney disease. About 21% were in poor health. They were on dialysis, had problems with daily living activities or both. About 62% of the entire group had achieved average blood sugar (hemoglobin A1C) of 7% or less. This has been a goal for most diabetics. Average A1C levels did not change much during the study period. They also were similar even for the sickest group of diabetics.

Young children whose doctors vaccinate most children against rotavirus are less likely to get sick with this virus, a new study finds. The study focused on about 1,500 children under age 5. They received care in 68 doctor’s offices. About 100 had diarrhea and vomiting caused by rotavirus. About 725 had these symptoms, but with another cause. Another 670 had a respiratory virus. The offices were divided into 3 groups. In those defined as “low coverage,” less than 40% of babies got the vaccine against rotavirus. About 80% of those in high-coverage offices got the vaccine. Medium coverage was between the two numbers. Researchers also looked at the causes of vomiting and diarrhea for each office. Tests confirmed rotavirus in about 31% of children in low-coverage offices. The number was 10% in high-coverage offices. The journal Pediatrics published the study.