Harvard Health Content API

Early, tight control of blood sugar can have long-lasting benefits for diabetics, a study has found. The new study followed up an earlier, 10-year study. In that study, people had been just diagnosed with diabetes. They were assigned to control blood sugar with diet or medicine. Those who took medicine achieved lower blood sugar. The new study looked at them 10 years after the first one ended. The two groups no longer had different blood sugar levels. But those whose sugar was lower in the earlier study still had a 15% lower risk of heart attack. They had a 13% lower risk of death. The Associated Press wrote about the study September 10. It was published online by the New England Journal of Medicine.

Hospital workers are expressing concerns about the safety of the H1N1 (swine) flu vaccine, a poll finds. But public health officials emphasize that it is safe and made the same way as normal seasonal flu vaccine. The poll was done by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. Pharmacy directors said staff members are asking them if the vaccine is safe. The poll was released October 13. It follows two similar polls last week. They found parents and members of the general public are nervous about the vaccine. Some cite the quick timetable for development. But public health experts said the timetable is not faster; it only started two months later. The vaccine would have been part of the seasonal vaccine if the virus had appeared sooner, they said. HealthDay News wrote about the new poll October 13.

Routine prostate cancer screening causes more harm than good for men over age 75, a group of experts says. The advice came from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. This group advises U.S. health officials. The group looked at research on prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing in men over 75. It found that the benefits of regular testing are “small to none.” That’s because prostate cancer usually grows slowly and treatment can cause severe side effects. These include sexual, bowel and bladder problems. The Associated Press wrote about the new guidance August 5. It was published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.

“Virtual colonoscopy” detects colon cancer well in some high-risk people, a new study has found. The test’s formal name is computed tomographic (CT) colonography. It uses X-rays to look for colon cancer. The study included 937 people. They received a CT colonography test and a colonoscopy on the same day. Colonoscopy uses an instrument that is inserted into the colon. It’s considered the best test for colon cancer. CT colonography found 85% of the cancers that the colonoscopy found. It was effective for people at high risk because of colon polyps or a family history of colon cancer. But the CT test had a 15% “false positive” rate for people who were labeled high risk because they had blood in their stool. For these people, the test said they had cancer, but they did not. The study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Cochlear implants improve deaf children’s speech most rapidly if they are put in before age 18 months, a new study concludes. These electronic devices pick up sound signals and send them to the auditory nerve and then the brain. They bypass the parts of the ear that don’t work. The study included 285 young children. About 2 out of 3 were deaf or had severe hearing impairment. These children received cochlear implants before age 5. The other children had normal hearing. Researchers tested speech before and after implants for children who received them. They kept track of everyone’s speech development for three years. Children with implants improved more than their pre-implant scores would have predicted. The earlier they got implants, the faster they improved. They did not achieve normal speech scores, however.

A study offers new information to help women with cancer in one breast. Some women decide to have the other breast removed to keep cancer from growing there. But it’s hard to know which women will have a second cancer. The new study looked at 542 cases. All of the women had cancer in one breast and decided to have both removed. Tests after surgery showed that 25 women had cancer in the second breast. Many of these women had more than one tumor in the first breast. They also had higher scores on a risk assessment called the Gail Model. Researchers said knowing this could help women make decisions. USA Today wrote about the study January 26. It was in the journal Cancer.

People who get very little sleep are more likely to have calcium deposits in their arteries. These deposits could increase the risk of heart disease. Researchers studied 495 people who had no calcium in their arteries. For five years, they kept track of how many hours of sleep they got each night. People who got less than five hours of sleep were much more likely to have calcium in their arteries, compared with people who got seven hours of sleep or more. The New York Times wrote about the study December 23. The research appears in the December 24/31 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Doctors should screen heart patients for depression, the American Heart Association says. Depression is three times more common in people who survive a heart attack or go into the hospital with heart problems. Depression can harm treatment and quality of life, the heart association said. Depressed patients may skip medicines. They may not exercise or improve their diets. The new statement was published in the journal Circulation. The Associated Press wrote about it September 30.

Artery damage in young adults is more common for those whose mothers smoked during pregnancy, a study suggests. The trend was worse if both parents smoked. Researchers measured the thickness of the walls of the carotid arteries in 732 young adults. The carotid arteries lead to the brain. About 3 out of 10 mothers and 6 out of 10 fathers had smoked during the pregnancies. Their children were more likely to have a thick lining inside the artery walls. This can be a danger sign of heart disease to come. The study was in the journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology. HealthDay News wrote about it November 20.

Safety warnings have been issued for 1 out of 4 newer “biological” drugs, a study has found. The warnings were in response to serious side effects. These drugs are made from living materials. They often aim to boost the immune system. The study looked at U.S. and European drug approvals from 1995 through 2007. Safety warnings were issued through June 2008 for nearly 24% of the drugs. They included arthritis, cancer and heart failure drugs. The Associated Press wrote about the report October 22. It was in the Journal of the American Medical Association.