Harvard Health Content API

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.

Taking extra folic acid and vitamin B12 may increase the risk of some cancers, new research suggests. In the United States, folic acid is added to flour to reduce neural tube defects in newborns. Flour is not fortified in Norway, where the study took place. The study included 6,837 people with heart disease. They were randomly assigned to take pills daily for three years. One group got folic acid, B6 and B12. Another group took folic acid and B12 alone. A third group took B6 alone. The fourth group took placebo (fake) pills. Three years after the study ended, people who took folic acid and B12 had higher death rates. Their cancer rate was 10%, compared with 8.4% for those who did not get these two vitamins. Vitamin B6 alone did not affect cancer risk. The study was in the Journal of the American Medical Association. HealthDay News wrote about it November 18.

Most men who have symptoms of low male hormone levels are not being treated, a study has found. The condition is called androgen deficiency. It is treated with testosterone. The study included 1,486 men. About 5.5% had untreated androgen deficiency. Another 0.8% were being treated. Only about 1 out of 8 men with low hormones was getting treatment. HealthDay News wrote about the study May 27. It was published in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine.

Excess weight appears to be even worse for health in children than in adults, experts told The Washington Post. The newspaper has a series of articles on childhood obesity that began May 18. About 1 in 3 U.S. children is overweight or obese. This appears to harm every major organ, and the damage may be permanent, the Post reported. An interactive graphic tool with the articles shows some of this damage. The series continues through May 22.

The National Cancer Institute is stopping a study called the SELECT trial. The study was looking at whether vitamin E or selenium supplements would help to prevent prostate cancer. The study started in 2001. A review done this month showed that men taking vitamin E pills, selenium pills, or both were not less likely to get prostate cancer. Prostate cancer is the most common non-skin cancer in men. About 186,000 men are diagnosed each year in the United States.