Month: February 2015

Calculators used to assess people’s risk of heart problems may put those odds too high, a new study finds. Calculators use cholesterol levels, blood pressure and other factors to estimate risk. They are based on research. The newest one was released in 2013. It came from the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology (AHA/ACC). The new study looked at this calculator and 4 others. It tested them using data from a heart study that began in 2000. That study included 4,200 Americans, ages 50 to 74. When the study began, they did not have heart disease. Researchers plugged their early numbers into the calculators. Then they compared the results with what  happened to people in the next 10 years. On average, 4 calculators estimated people’s risk too high, by 8% to 154%, the study found.

For at least half of women with frequent hot flashes, the symptoms go on for more than 7 years, a new study finds. The study used data from a long-term women’s health study. Women were asked about menopause symptoms each year for 13 years. The study focused on 1,449 women who reported having hot flashes and night sweats for at least 6 days in the last 2 weeks. The median amount of time these symptoms lasted was 7.4 years. Half of the women had symptoms for a longer time and half for a shorter time. The earlier symptoms started, the longer they tended to last. Among women who had symptoms before reaching menopause, they lasted a median of 11.8 years. If symptoms started after menopause, they lasted about 3 years. Symptoms lasted longer than average for black and Hispanic women. They lasted a shorter time for white women and those of Japanese or Chinese descent.

Over the last 20 years, U.S. teens have been getting less sleep, a new study finds. Between 1991 and 2012, researchers surveyed more than 270,000 students in 8^th, 10^th and 12^thgrades. Each year, they asked the students how often they got 7 or more hours of sleep, as well as how often they got less sleep than they needed. Among 15-year-olds, 72% reported getting 7 or more hours of sleep a night in 1991. By 2012, the number dropped to 63%. The number of teens who reported sleeping 7 or more hours a night dropped dramatically between the ages of 13 and 18 years. About two-thirds of 13-year-olds sleep at least 7 hours a night. Only about one-third of 18-year-olds get at least 7 hours of sleep. Compared with boys, girls are less likely to regularly get 7 or more hours of sleep. Teens with less-educated parents came up short on sleep.