Category: news-perspectives

Hormones given in a patch or gel may be safer than pills for women’s hearts, a study suggests. Researchers used Danish databases of prescriptions and heart attacks. They looked at these numbers for 700,000 older women in the years 1995 to 2001. Overall, women who took female hormones had the same heart attack risk as women who didn’t take hormones. But the risk was 35% higher for those who took estrogen plus progestin in pill form. Researchers said hormone patches and gels may not affect clotting or inflammation in the same way as pills. USA Today wrote about the study October 1. It was published in the European Heart Journal.

Check-ups for kids are a regular part of parenthood, but a new study explored what parents thought about well-child visits. Parents use the visits to establish a relationship with their child’s doctor, as well as to ask questions and get information. The study included more than 100 parents. It was published in the September issue of the journal Pediatrics.

Women with psoriasis are 63% more likely to develop diabetes than women without this skin condition, a new study finds. The research included about 78,000 women in the Nurses’ Health Study. None of them had diabetes at the start of the study. Women with psoriasis were more likely than others to develop it during the next 14 years. They also had an increased risk of high blood pressure. But the increase was smaller: 17%. The study authors pointed to one possible reason for the link. They noted that all three conditions are related to long-term inflammation in the body. The study appeared in the journal Archives of Dermatology. HealthDay News wrote about it April 20.

Adding a new drug to standard treatment may improve the outcome for people with hepatitis C, two new studies have found. The studies included a total of 584 people. In each study, people were divided into groups. Some took standard treatment, which is peginterferon and ribavirin. Others received these drugs plus a new one, telaprevir. Six months after the end of treatment, about 2 out of 3 people who took telaprevir had no signs of the virus in their blood. By comparison, fewer than half of those who got only standard treatment had the desired response. But people who took telaprevir were more likely to quit because of side effects. The New England Journal of Medicine published the studies. The Associated Press wrote about them April 30.

President-elect Barack Obama wants medical treatment to become more personal, the Associated Press (AP) says. This approach adapts care based on a person’s genes. For example, a medicine may not work well for everyone. Gene differences may be one reason. Obama believes more personal treatment should be part of health care reform, experts told AP. As a senator, he introduced a bill to have U.S. agencies work together on the issue. It also would support research with a data bank and tax credits. AP wrote about the issue November 28.

A coating used on nonstick pans also could protect pancreas cell transplants, a study in mice suggests. The study used pancreas precursor cells. These cells develop into beta cells, which make insulin. People develop type 1 diabetes when the immune system attacks and destroys the beta cells. Researchers coated mouse precursor cells with the chemical used in Teflon coatings on pans. Then they transplanted the cells into mice. The immune system did not attack the cells. The precursor cells turned into beta cells that began to make insulin. Researchers say the study could lead to a new approach for treating type 1 diabetes. It was published in the journal Transplantation. The website medindia.com wrote about the study April 11.

A recent study of people with type 2 diabetes adds to a growing body of evidence that suggests a lower LDL cholesterol level increases cancer risk. Researchers in China studied the relationship between cancer risk and LDL cholesterol level in people with type 2 diabetes. People with a concentration of LDL cholesterol in the blood above a certain amount had a greater likelihood of cancer, but so did people with a LDL cholesterol level below a certain amount. The study indicates that balancing the risks and benefits of treating high LDL cholesterol may not be as simple as doctors once thought. It was reported in the Canadian medical Association Journal on August 26, 2008.

New blood tests can diagnose heart attacks sooner and a bit more accurately than older tests, two new studies conclude. All of the tests look for a protein called troponin. High levels are a sign of heart muscle injury. The newer tests can detect troponin earlier. This allows doctors to begin treatment and perhaps prevent heart muscle damage. Researchers in one study took blood samples from 718 emergency room patients who had heart attack symptoms. Doctors tested their blood with four newer tests and an older test. The other study included 1,818 emergency room patients. It compared one new test to an older one. In both studies, the older tests were 85% to 90% accurate. The new tests’ accuracy was 94% to 96%. The studies appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine. The Associated Press wrote about them August 27.

Many rich countries have large supplies of medicines to treat flu. However, most poor countries do not. Roche, maker of the antiviral medicine Tamiflu, offers a discount price to poor countries. But Roche has not said how many countries ordered it. Roche also has allowed two companies in China and one in India to make generic versions of Tamiflu at an even lower cost. The World Health Organization (WHO) has its own supplies of Tamiflu. But critics say WHO also should order generics to pass on to poor countries. They say this would help tremendously if pandemic flu occurs. Critics also say Roche should let more companies make a generic product. The Associated Press reported on these issues May 11.

A Mediterranean diet appears to reduce the risk of early death and several diseases, a study has found. Researchers combined data from 12 studies. They included 1.6 million people. Their diets were compared with the Mediterranean diet. This diet emphasizes olive oil, grains, fruits, nuts, vegetables and fish. Researchers created a 9-point scale to measure how well people followed this diet. If adherence rose 2 points, death rates dropped 9%. Deaths from heart and artery disease fell 9%. Decreases were 13% each for Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases, and 6% for cancer. HealthDay News wrote about the study September 12. It was published in the British Medical Journal.