Harvard Health Content API

President Bush soon is expected to sign a bill that would ban the denial of insurance or employment based on genetic test results. Tests for single and multiple genes are expected to boom, the Associated Press (AP) reported May 5. But experts told AP there are other problems with testing. Some tests have not been proved useful, they said. A test may not help unless it can lead to a treatment or behavior change. U.S. government advisers recently called for more oversight of these tests.

New diabetes drugs should be tested to see if they increase heart problems, a panel of experts said July 2. The experts are advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). They said the FDA should require that the studies begin before the drugs are approved. The studies could be completed after approval. The FDA does not have to do what its advisers suggest, but it usually does. The Associated Press wrote about the panel’s vote July 3. Concerns about one diabetes drug last year drew attention to how the FDA approves these drugs. An analysis found that Avandia may increase heart risks.

Older women who don’t get enough sleep are more likely to fall, researchers say. The new study included 3,000 women. All were 70 or older. Researchers looked at how much time they spent sleeping when they were in bed. It compared these numbers with the risk of falls. The women slept an average of 6.8 hours a night. Typically, they were awake in bed 77 minutes before sleeping. Most women fell once or less during the year of the study. But nearly 1 in 5 fell twice or more. Multiple falls were most common for women who slept five hours or less each night. HealthDay News wrote about the study September 8. It appeared in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine.

A treatment for wrinkles may also help prevent one type of migraine headache, a small study suggests. The treatment used was botulinum toxin type A (botox). The study looked at 18 people who had migraines and planned to have Botox injections for cosmetic reasons. Of this group, 10 had “imploding” or “ocular” migraines. People say this type of headache feels crushing or eye-popping. The other patients in the study had “exploding” migraines. This type of headache feels like a buildup of pressure in the head. Within three months after Botox treatment, all 10 people with imploding migraines improved. Their migraines were reduced from almost seven days each month to less than one day a month. Three of the eight people with exploding headaches also improved, but not as much. The study was in the journal Archives of Dermatology. HealthDay News wrote about it February 16.

A new study shows that many people with bleeding in the upper GI tract can safely be treated without a hospital stay. That’s according to an article in an upcoming issue of The Lancet. About 103 to 172 people per 100,000 land in the hospital each year for stomach bleeding. This study tested the use of a guideline called the Glasgow-Blatchford bleeding score. It includes a few office and lab tests. People who scored at low-risk were safely managed as outpatients. In the study, the use of the guideline lowered hospital admissions for stomach bleeding from 96% to 71%.

Condoms can help to protect people against genital herpes, a study finds. But the protection is only partial. That’s because herpes can be spread by simple skin contact as well as by sex. Researchers used data from six studies. They included a total of 5,384 people. These men and women did not have herpes when the studies started. Within 12 to 19 months, 415 people became infected. The risk of getting infected was 30% less among those who said they always used condoms. This means that 70 people using condoms got infected for every 100 non-users who got infected. Protection was less for people who only sometimes used condoms. The study appeared in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine. HealthDay News and Reuters Health news service wrote about it July 13.

A new study finds that a common type of drug used for people with chronic lung disease may not help them. Researchers put together the results from 11 previous studies. The studies included 8,164 people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. This condition gradually destroys the lungs. Drugs can treat symptoms, but there is no cure. In the studies, people were randomly assigned to take inhaled corticosteroid drugs or placebos. Researchers found that the drugs had only a small effect in reducing flare-ups. Even this benefit occurred only in people with the most severe illness. The study appeared in the journal Chest. HealthDay News wrote about it February 4.

Research shows that about half of Americans with depression get treatment. But a new study finds that treatment meets current guidelines for only about 1 out of 5. The number drops to 1 out of 10 for depressed Mexican-Americans and African-Americans. Researchers looked at information on 15,762 adults with depression. They found that for most people, treatment is too short to do much good. Talk therapy was used more often than medicines. It was also more likely to meet guidelines than drug treatment. The study appeared in the journal Archives of General Psychiatry. HealthDay News wrote about it January 5.

Don’t think that taking a multivitamin will prevent cancer or heart disease. It won’t, according to a large study of older women. This study used data from long-running government research on women age 50 or older. More than 4 out of 10 said they took multivitamins regularly. The studies kept track of women for eight years. In that time, the rates of cancer and heart disease were about the same whether women took vitamins or not. Death rates also were similar. Researchers said people should get nutrients from food, not pills. The study appeared in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine. The Associated Press wrote about it February 10.

Bone density may help to predict breast cancer risk, a study suggests. The research looked at nearly 10,000 women who were past menopause. Each woman was given a bone mineral density test and a Gail score. This score predicts breast cancer risk based on family history, race and medical history. Researchers tracked the women for eight years. In that time, women with normal bone density had four times the breast cancer rate of women with osteoporosis (low bone density). Those with high Gail scores and high bone density were most likely to develop breast cancer. MedPage Today wrote about the study July 28. It was published in the journal Cancer.