Harvard Health Content API

A study of women with a high risk of developing breast cancer has found that annual MRI scans find more cancers than mammograms. The study included 2,207 women, ages 30 to 69. All were at high risk of breast cancer. They had high-risk genes, a family history of breast cancer, a history of radiation treatment before age 30 or other factors that increased breast-cancer risk. All were screened with digital mammograms and breast MRI scans. In the first year, the screening found 35 breast cancers. Of those, 23 were detected by MRI alone and 12 were found on both tests. No cancers were detected by mammogram alone. A researcher, quoted by HealthDay news, said the findings suggest that high-risk women should have both tests each year, starting at age 30. But the testing program will continue, and researchers will report later on long-term results.

A “bionic pancreas” can help people with type 1 diabetes control their disease with fewer incidents of low blood sugar, 2 new studies find. The “pancreas” is a device that includes two pumps. One delivers small doses of insulin to keep blood sugar from going too high. The other delivers glucagon, another hormone, to prevent hypoglycemia (very low blood sugar). A smartphone wirelessly receives reports from a continuous glucose (blood sugar) monitor. An app on the phone controls the pumps and adjusts them based on blood sugar levels. One study tested the pumps on 20 adults. The other study tested them on 32 teenagers at a diabetes summer camp. People wore the devices for 5 days. On another 5 days, people wore normal insulin pumps. For both adults and teens, average daily blood sugar was lower with the new device than with the pump.

Having TV on in the background while you play with your toddler may hinder the child’s language development, a new study suggests. That’s because parents talked to their children less when the TV was on. Talking to young children is considered important for helping them learn to speak. The study included 49 parents and their children, who were 12, 24 or 36 months old. Parents were asked to play with their children for an hour in a study laboratory. Age-appropriate toys were provided. Half of the time, the TV was on. The programs were appropriate to adults or older children. For the other half hour, the TV was off. Researchers observed and kept track of parents’ interactions with their children. Parents spoke about 9 times per minute and said about 36 words per minute with the TV off. Each minute that the TV was on, parents spoke about 6 times and said about 24 words.

Treatments for sleep apnea might help control factors, such as blood pressure, that increase the risk of heart disease, new research finds. The two new studies appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine. One study included 318 adults with sleep apnea. They had either heart disease or a high risk of developing it. Two groups were randomly assigned to use a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine at night or just receive oxygen. The third group got education on good sleep habits. After 12 weeks blood pressure was 2 to 3 points lower in the CPAP group than in the others. The second study included 181 obese adults with sleep apnea. They were randomly assigned to 6 months of CPAP, weight-loss counseling or both. The group that used CPAP and lost weight had the largest drop in blood pressure. In the 2 groups that lost weight, the loss averaged 15 pounds.

A case of the mosquito-borne virus chikungunya has been reported for the first time in a U.S. territory. The virus was acquired in the U.S. Virgin Islands, health officials there said. A second patient acquired the infection elsewhere, they said. The virus mostly has been found in Africa and Asia. But it has been spreading rapidly across the Caribbean in recent months. More than 135,000 suspected and confirmed cases have been reported in the Western Hemisphere since December. This is the first case anywhere in the United States. But health officials are concerned that it will spread to the mainland soon. The 2 types of mosquitoes that spread chikungunya are also found in southern and eastern U.S. states. Symptoms of chikungunya include a high fever, headaches and severe pain in joints. The virus is rarely fatal, but symptoms can linger for months. There is no vaccine.