Harvard Health Content API

Some heart patients get dangerous levels of radiation from tests, a new study suggests. The study included 1,000 people. All were heart patients at Columbia University Medical Center. Medical records were used to add up each person’s total radiation dose from tests. These included an advanced stress test called myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI). This test uses a radioactive substance to highlight blood flow patterns to the heart. Nearly 1 out of 3 people who got this test received at least 100 millisieverts of radiation from all tests. That dose is considered high enough to possibly increase cancer risk. About 1 out of 9 people received at least double that dose. Nearly 1 out of 5 people in the study received 3 or more MPI tests. The study was presented at a conference. Reuters Health news service wrote about it November 15.

A drug used for people with advanced heart failure also can benefit those with milder symptoms, new research has found. The drug is eplerenone (Inspra). It helps to block fluid buildup in the body. The study included 2,700 people with mild heart failure. Everyone was treated with standard drugs. They also were randomly assigned to receive eplerenone or placebo (fake) pills. In the next year, people taking the drug were 37% less likely to die or require a hospital stay than people who took the placebo. The study was published online by the New England Journal of Medicine. The Associated Press wrote about it November 15.

A new drug to treat a low platelet count in the blood worked better than standard treatments in a study. Researchers reported on the study November 11 in the New England Journal of Medicine. The drug is called romiplostim. It mimics a natural body chemical that prompts the bone marrow to make platelets. These are a type of blood cell that causes clotting. Researchers tested the drug in 234 people. They all had a condition called immune thrombocytopenic purpura. This condition causes a low platelet count. It can lead to bleeding and bruising. Standard treatments often fail. Spleen removal is a last-resort treatment. It can cure the condition but increase the risk of infections for a lifetime. People in the study were randomly assigned to receive standard treatments or weekly injections of romiplostim.

Women who breastfeed don’t get less sleep than women who bottle-feed, a new study finds. Researchers looked into the question because very young babies get hungry and wake up more often if they are breastfed. That’s because breast milk is more easily digested than formula. The study included 80 women with young babies. Most of them were newborns. The study lasted for 12 weeks. Some women fed their babies breast milk only. Others used formula only, or both methods of feeding. The women kept electronic diaries about their sleep patterns. They recorded the number of times they woke up at night, the quality of sleep and how rested they felt during the day. They also wore devices to measure sleep. Overall, the feeding method did not affect how much sleep women got or how rested they felt. The journal Pediatrics published the study online. HealthDay News wrote about it November 8.

Women who drink sugary soda and juices are more likely to develop gout, new research finds. Gout is a type of arthritis. It is caused by a buildup of uric acid in the body. Sweetened sodas and juices contain fructose, which can cause uric acid buildup. The study focused on 78,906 women who took part in the long-term Nurses’ Health Study. They had no history of gout at the start of the study. In the next 22 years, 778 women were diagnosed with gout. Women who had 2 or more sugary sodas or glasses of orange juice a day were 2.4 times as likely to develop gout as women who drank them less than once a month. Gout risk also was higher, but less so, for women who had 1 soda or glass of juice daily. The Journal of the American Medical Association published the study online. HealthDay News wrote about it November 10.