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Bypass surgery is better than a stent for people with severely blocked heart arteries, a new study concludes. But experts told HealthDay News that the choice should be up to the doctor and patient. The study looked at 1,800 people. Half were randomly assigned to receive a bypass. The others had each blockage opened with a balloon and a tube called a stent. About 12.4% of the bypass group had a serious artery-related problem in the next year. This compares with 17.8% of the other group. The problems included heart attacks, strokes and the need for another procedure. Heart attacks and strokes were the same in the two groups. But people who got stents needed another procedure twice as often as people who got bypass surgery. The study appeared online February 18 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Obstructive sleep apnea may raise the risk of stroke, new research finds. The effect was strongest in men. The study focused on 5,400 people who were age 40 or older. All were tested to see if they had sleep apnea and how severe the condition was. During the next 9 years, 85 men and 108 women had strokes. Men with moderate to severe sleep apnea were three times as likely to have a stroke as those with mild or no sleep apnea. Women’s stroke risk increased only if their sleep apnea was severe. Researchers said the sex difference may be because men tend to develop sleep apnea at an earlier age. The study was published online in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. HealthDay News wrote about it April 8.

Public health officials have linked an outbreak of Salmonella infection to African tree frogs kept as pets. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said it had confirmed 85 cases so far. They were found in 31 states. HealthDay News wrote about the outbreak January 7. About 8 out of 10 cases were in children under age 10, the CDC said. Frogs are amphibians. But, like turtles and other reptiles, they carry Salmonella bacteria. Humans can be infected by touching the frog, the aquarium or the water in it.

Older adults should not take pain relievers as a way to prevent Alzheimer’s disease, researchers say. Previous studies suggested that the pills might lower the risk of Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia. But the new study actually found a higher risk. Researchers used medical records of more than 2,700 people. All were age 65 or older. Some took the pain relievers ibuprofen or naproxen. About 450 people were classified as heavy users at some point during the 12-year study. About 1 out of 6 people in the study developed some type of dementia. But the rate was 66% higher for heavy users than for others. The study appeared in the journal Neurology. HealthDay News wrote about it April 22.

Children who weigh too much at age 9 actually gain most of the extra weight before age 5, a study finds. The British study included 233 children. Doctors measured their weight and height at birth, age 5 and age 9. Most kids with excess weight at age 9 also were too heavy at age 5. They also had higher cholesterol and blood pressure than children of normal weight. Researchers said efforts to prevent child obesity should focus on children under age 5. The study was in the journal Pediatrics.

What is the impact of closing schools long-term during flu pandemics? A recent analysis looked at evidence from earlier epidemics and pandemics around the world. The authors conclude that early and prolonged school closings can ease the burden on hospitals by reducing the number of cases at the peak of a pandemic. Overall, however, school closings are unlikely to have a significant effect on the total number of cases in a pandemic. Further, long-term school closings are associated with high social and economical costs, and may interfere with delivery of health care and other key services. The full article will appear in the August edition of The Lancet Infectious Diseases.

Capsule endoscopy is a new method to explore the colon that uses an ingestible capsule equipped with a video camera at both ends. A recent study compared capsule endoscopy with regular colonoscopy for the detection of colorectal polyps and cancer. This study found that capsule endoscopy is not accurate enough to replace colonoscopy. It was published in the New England Journal of Medicine July 16.

New guidelines from American Cancer Society stress more than ever that doctors should discuss the pros and cons of prostate cancer screening before men have a PSA blood test. The PSA test helps find early prostate cancer, but it can lead to unnecessary treatments that have side effects. The ACS made their recommendations based on early findings from two large studies that look at whether finding and treating prostate cancer early saves lives. The new guidelines appeared online in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians. The Associated Press and HealthDay News wrote about it March 4.

Price increases in soda and fatty foods might lead people to consume less of them, a new study concludes. The study included more than 5,000 young adult Americans. Researchers studied their eating habits for 20 years. They also kept track of food prices in the areas where the people lived. In that time, people drank less soda and ate less pizza as prices increased. If prices rose 10%, calories consumed from soda fell by 7% and calories from pizza fell 12%. A $1 increase in the price of soda was linked to 124 fewer soda calories per day. Researchers estimated that an 18% tax on soda would lead to an average of 56 fewer calories consumed daily per person. This number of calories is equal to a weight loss of about 5 pounds per year, they said. Study results were published in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine. USA Today wrote about the study March 9.

If all Americans cut their salt intake by less than half a teaspoon a day, we could save up to $24 billion in health costs every year. Researchers from Johns Hopkins University built a computer model to test the idea. Experts recommend less than 5.8 g of salt per day. Women eat about 7.3 g per day, and men 10.4 g. Most salt in the diet comes from processed foods, such as lunchmeat, canned food and sauces. The study was published January 20 in the New England Journal of Medicine. HealthDay News wrote about it the same day.