News brief: Vegetables may help prevent pancreatitis
Content restricted. Requires subscription
News brief: Living alone linked to higher risk of cardiovascular death
Older people who have heart disease may die sooner if they live alone.
Content restricted. Requires subscription
What’s the beef with meat?
Americans’ love affair with red meat (which includes veal, beef, lamb, and pork) may be endangering their health. Diets high in red meat have been linked to cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and premature death.
Content restricted. Requires subscription
In the journals: Sharp rise seen in use of diagnostic scans
Use of diagnostic imaging has risen sharply since the 1990s, exposing some people to high or very high doses of radiation. Imaging procedures are often essential for making a diagnosis, but it’s still wise to consider the need for each scan.
Content restricted. Requires subscription
Counting calories to keep your heart young
Drastically reducing the calories you take in, a strategy known as caloric restriction, may keep your heart acting like it’s 20 years younger.
Content restricted. Requires subscription
Ask the doctor: Shin splints at any age
Shin splints are caused by injuring muscles in the inner part of the lower leg. They can occur at any age. The best way to prevent shin splints is to warm up thoroughly before exercising.
Content restricted. Requires subscription
Can coffee help you live longer?
: Coffee may be part of a longer, healthier life. In a new study, older adults who drank coffee (caffeinated or decaf ) had a lower risk of dying from diabetes, heart disease, respiratory disease, and other conditions than non-coffee drinkers.
Content restricted. Requires subscription
Best options for prostate surgery
When it comes to prostate removal, traditional surgery and robot-assisted surgery appear to be equals. What’s important is the expertise of the surgeon, whether he or she is doing the operation directly or is controlling the robot doing it.
Content restricted. Requires subscription
End-Stage Emphysema
What is end-stage emphysema? How long do people live after the condition becomes end-stage?
Content restricted. Requires subscription
Study: Diabetics Diagnosed at a Normal Weight Die Sooner
About 12% of people with type 2 diabetes are at a normal weight when diagnosed. A new study finds that these diabetics are more than twice as likely to die early as others who are overweight. The finding surprised researchers. But overweight diabetics in the study were more likely to develop other health problems linked with poor control of the disease. Researchers combined the numbers from 5 long-term studies of diabetics. They included 2,600 people, all over age 40. During follow-up, about 450 people died. Researchers adjusted the numbers to account for other factors, such as smoking, that affect death risk. They found that death rates were 2.32 times as high among those who were not overweight when diagnosed. Researchers said they didn’t know why this group had higher death rates. They said it may be related to genes.
Content restricted. Requires subscription