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High levels of a blood fat called triglycerides greatly increase the risk of stroke, researchers say. They used data from a 31-year study of 14,000 Danish men and women. Triglycerides were measured several times through the years. People with the highest levels were 3 to 4 times as likely to have a stroke as those with the lowest levels. The increase was for ischemic stroke. This type is caused by blockage of a blood vessel in the brain. Researchers also found that triglycerides don’t need to be measured after 8 to 12 hours without food. Tests in the study were done at random times of day. HealthDay News wrote about the study November 11. It was in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Two new studies disagree on whether two treatments to prevent strokes are equally safe. Both studies were released February 26. Both compared stenting and surgery to open narrowed carotid arteries. These are the arteries in the neck that lead to the brain. Surgery is the older treatment. Surgeons scrape out and remove the plaque that narrows the artery. Stenting is a newer treatment. A small tube is inserted to open up the narrowed artery. An American study found that the two were equally safe. There were more strokes in the month after surgery with stenting. There were more heart attacks with surgery. The study was presented at a conference, the Associated Press reported. The other study was in the journal Lancet. European researchers found that surgery was better.

A condition called Dupuytren’s contracture causes fingers to become stuck in a bent position. A study shows that injections of an enzyme might help restore movement. About two-thirds of patients were helped by the shots. But some suffered side effects, and others weren’t helped at all. Current treatments include physical therapy and surgery. The study appears in the September 3 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. Newsday reported on it September 2.

Taking anti-seizure medicine may reduce death rates in epileptics. In a study, epileptics who didn’t take their medicine regularly were three times more likely to die. The study was based on Medicaid records of almost 34,000 people. They were considered to be taking their medicine if records showed they had it on hand 80% of the time. Those who skipped their medicine also had 86% more hospital stays. They had 50% more visits to the emergency room. And they had more car accidents and broken bones. HealthDay and Reuters news services wrote about the study June 18. It was in the journal Neurology.

Testing pregnant women for group B strep bacteria has prevented many infections in babies. But the tests also missed more cases than expected, researchers say. U.S. health officials recommended in 2002 that all pregnant women be tested for group B. Usually group B doesn’t make adults sick. But it can cause serious illness in newborns. The program increased testing from 48% to 85% of pregnant women. Those who had group B in their bodies were given antibiotics to protect their babies. But about 60% of the newborns who did get infected were born to mothers who had been tested and found to be free of group B bacteria. Researchers now will try to find out why the bacteria were not detected in these women. The New England Journal of Medicine published the study. The Associated Press wrote about it June 18.

About 4 out of 100 men age 50 and older have dry eye disease, a new study finds. In men age 80 and older, it was even more common. The study used information from the long-running Physicians’ Health Study. It included 25,444 U.S. men. The research was published June 8. It appeared in the journal Archives of Ophthalmology.

Screening tests can help to detect ovarian cancer about two years sooner, a study has found. About half of the cancers found were early-stage. At this stage, about 9 out of 10 women survive. But ovarian cancer usually is found late, when only 3 out of 10 survive. The study included 200,000 women over 50. Half received no tests for the disease. The others were divided into two groups. One group received a blood test for a protein called CA125. If the test was abnormal, they received an ultrasound as well. The second group received only an ultrasound. In the first group, the two tests picked up 89% of the cancers. Ultrasound alone found 75%. The study was published in the journal Lancet Oncology. The Associated Press wrote about it March 11.

New research may speed the day when people can have gene tests to learn their risk of heart disease. The largest study looked at the genes of 3,000 people who had heart attacks early in life. They were compared with 3,000 people who never had a heart attack. Researchers found gene differences in up to nine areas for people who had heart attacks. Three had not been found in previous research. People with a lot of these gene differences had 2½ times the heart attack risk of people with few or none. The study was published online by the journal Nature Genetics. Other studies in the journal also dealt with genes and heart disease. HealthDay News wrote about the studies February 8.

People who regularly take certain pain relievers have a lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease, a study has found. But none of these drugs is more effective than the others, the data show. And researchers said there’s not enough evidence to recommend taking these drugs for prevention. The new research combined the results of six studies. People who took non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) had a 23% lower risk of Alzheimer’s. The risk was about the same whether people took ibuprofen, naproxen or celecoxib. These are different types of NSAIDs. HealthDay News and Reuters Health wrote about the study May 28. It was in the journal Neurology.

A device that checks blood pressure all day and night can spot danger better than office tests, a study finds. The study included 556 people. All had very high blood pressure despite drug treatment. Some received blood pressure tests in doctors’ offices. Others wore a device that measured their blood pressure every 15 minutes during the day and every 30 minutes at night. The study lasted about five years. Home monitoring did a better job of predicting who was more likely to die or have a heart attack, stroke, heart failure or related problems. The study was in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine. HealthDay News wrote about it November 24.