Harvard Health Content API

Only about 1 out of 4 Americans gets enough vitamin D, and that number is going down, researchers say. A new study compared data from about 20 years ago with data from early in this decade. In the first period, nearly 1 out of 2 Americans had ideal levels of vitamin D. In recent years, that dropped to 1 out of 4. The number of people with very low levels (deficiency) increased from 2% to 6%. Among blacks, 29% had a deficiency. Very few blacks had ideal levels. The authors cited two causes for the trend: more use of sunscreen and less time spent outdoors. They said people should get about 1,000 international units of vitamin D daily. The study appeared in the Archives of Internal Medicine. HealthDay News wrote about it March 23.

Methadone is known mainly as a treatment for heroin addiction. But now more doctors are using it to treat pain. In the process, it has become the fastest-growing cause of U.S. narcotics deaths. Deaths linked to methadone increased nearly fivefold from 1999 to 2005, the New York Times reported August 17. Experts told the Times that it’s hard to prescribe the right dose of methadone. People’s bodies respond to it differently. It also can build up in the body. Until 2006, a package insert listed a maximum dose that could be dangerous. Now U.S. officials may require doctors who prescribe methadone to take a class.

Treadmill walking can help people with poor blood flow in their legs to walk better, a study shows. The study included 156 people with peripheral artery disease. People with this condition have narrowed leg arteries. They may get leg pain when they walk. But people in the study walked anyway. They built up to walking 40 minutes 3 times a week on a treadmill. After 6 months, they could walk 69 feet farther on a 6-minute treadmill test than they did at the start of the study. Others in the study did no exercise. After 6 months, their walking distance decreased by 49 feet. Reuters Health news service wrote about the study January 14. It appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Some popular drugs for depression may primarily help people who have severe illness, a study suggests. The study looked at combined data from six previous studies. In three studies, people took paroxetine (Paxil) or placebos (fake pills). Three studies used imipramine, an older generic drug of a different type. With either drug, people were more likely to get better if they had severe depression. People with milder symptoms showed little change. The study was in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The New York Times and USA Today wrote about it on January 6.

People who get multiple treatments, or long-term help, are more likely to succeed in quitting smoking, two studies suggest. The studies appeared April 7 in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine. In one study, 750 people who wanted to quit were randomly assigned to different treatments. One group received either a nicotine patch or buproprion, a depression drug. The other groups used the patch or buproprion. They also received either two or six counseling calls. The group with the most counseling had the most success in quitting. The second study included 127 smokers who also had heart or lung disease. They were randomly assigned to treatment groups. One group received nicotine patches. The other got patches, a nicotine inhaler and buproprion. Quit rates were nearly twice as high in the second group.

Regular exercise, such as walking, won’t harm people with heart failure, a study concludes. In fact, it may help. The study included 2,331 people with heart failure. They were randomly divided into groups. One group received 36 exercise sessions. Then, they were told to exercise five times a week. The other group received their usual care. Over the next 21/2 years, people who exercised were 15% less likely to have a hospital stay for a heart-related problem. They also felt better. People who exercised more had better results. The study was in the Journal of the American Medical Association. HealthDay News wrote about it April 7.

At least 114 U.S. children have died of swine flu since April, the Associated Press reported October 30. Nineteen of those deaths occurred in the last week, U.S. health officials said. That’s the largest one-week total so far, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said. The CDC said more medicine for children will soon be available. The CDC released the drug Tamiflu from a government stockpile. There have been spot shortages of the children’s dose of this medicine.

Women with certain gene differences may be less likely to benefit from a breast cancer drug, a study finds. The genes affect the action of an enzyme called CYP2D6. This enzyme converts the drug tamoxifen into a form that combats breast cancer. But the process doesn’t work well in women who have variations in some genes. Researchers used records of 1,325 women with breast cancer who had received gene tests. All of the women took tamoxifen. In the next nine years, cancer was much more likely to come back in women whose genes kept the body from making good use of the drug. Cancer returned in 29% of these women. This compares with 14.9% of women whose bodies used tamoxifen well. The study was in the Journal of the American Medical Association. HealthDay News wrote about it October 6.

Counseling from doctors can help to reduce children’s exposure to violence and guns, a study found. Just before well-child visits, parents answered a survey. Questions dealt with discipline, media use, and home storage of guns. Then doctors talked about the survey. They advised parents to put cable locks on any guns kept at home. They advised using timeouts instead of spanking. They said kids should have a two-hour daily limit on media use. Parents were surveyed again one month and six months later. More of them reported use of gun locks and media limits. Timeout use did not change. The study was published July 7 in the journal Pediatrics.

The U.S. Senate has taken up a bill to expand an insurance program for children in working families. The House passed the bill January 14. The expansion will be funded by an increase in the tax on cigarettes. President Bush vetoed a similar bill twice. If the Senate passes it, President Barack Obama is expected to sign it. He also pledged January 12 to establish a national system to put medical records on computer. The Associated Press reported on both of these developments.