Harvard Health Content API

Middle school children are more likely to get recommended shots if their states require them, a new study finds. The study focused on 2 shots that U.S. guidelines recommend for boys and girls ages 11 to 12. The TdaP vaccine protects against tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis. An alternate vaccine, Td, protects against just the first two. Menactra protects against meningococcal disease. The new study looked at immunization rates for the 2008-2009 school year. At the time, 32 states required TdaP or Td. Only 3 required Menactra. About 80% of kids ages 13 to 17 received TdaP or Td in states that required them for entry into middle school. The rate was 70% in other states. In states that required Menactra, 71% received it compared with 53% in other states. The journal Pediatrics published the study online. HealthDay News wrote about it May 7.

Aspirin and warfarin (Coumadin) are equally effective in preventing strokes and death for many people with heart failure, a new study finds. The study included 2,300 people with severe heart failure. All of them had a normal heart rhythm. They were randomly assigned to take either aspirin or warfarin daily. These drugs help to prevent blood clots that can cause strokes. Researchers kept track of people for up to 6 years. In that time about 7.5% of those taking warfarin died or had a stroke or bleeding in the brain. The rate was 7.9% for people who took aspirin. Researchers said that difference was small enough to be caused by chance. The risk of stroke was nearly 50% lower in those who took warfarin. But they were twice as likely to have bleeding as those who took aspirin. The New England Journal of Medicine published the study. HealthDay News wrote about it May 2.

A blood test may be able to predict a woman’s risk of breast cancer years ahead of time, a new study suggests. The blood test looks for methylation of a gene called ATM. Methylation happens when small molecules called methyl groups attach to a gene’s DNA. High levels of methylation can stop a gene from working properly. The new study included 640 women with breast cancer and 741 women without breast cancer. Researchers analyzed blood samples from all of the women. They were taken an average of 3 years before cancer diagnosis. Women who had the highest levels of methylation were twice as likely to develop breast cancer as those with the lowest levels. The effects were especially strong for women under age 60, one of the study authors told HealthDay News. Researchers said this type of test might be used to help predict women’s risk of breast cancer.