Category: news-perspectives

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.

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.

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.

“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.

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.

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.

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.

Eating fish may help reduce Japanese men’s risk of heart disease, a new study suggests. The study included 281 Japanese men, 306 white American men and 281 Japanese-American men. Researchers measured plaque deposits in the arteries of the neck and around the heart. Levels were lowest in Japanese men. They were highest in Japanese-Americans. Nearly half of Japanese men smoke. This increases the risk of heart disease. But Japanese men eat lots of fish. Researchers said that may be why they have such healthy arteries. HealthDay News wrote about the study July 29. It was in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Special counseling and medicine may help women who worry about weight gain quit smoking, a study suggests. The study included 349 women smokers who were concerned about weight gain if they quit. They were assigned at random to one of four groups. They received either regular or specialized counseling. They also received either the anti-smoking drug bupropion SR (Zyban) or placebo (fake) pills. The special counseling tried to change attitudes about weight gain. After 6 months, 34% of the women who got this counseling plus Zyban were still not smoking. The success rate was 21% for regular counseling plus Zyban. Women who got placebo pills had a 10% to 11% success rate. But the advantage of special counseling did not last. After 1 year, 24% of those who got the counseling plus Zyban still were not smoking. This compares with 19% of the group with regular counseling plus Zyban.

At least 10 interest groups have a stake in the debate over health care reform. Today, four of the largest ones will offer President Obama a plan to help, the Associated Press (AP) writes. The four groups are hospitals, insurance companies, drug makers and doctors. Their representatives will meet with the President today. They will reveal a plan to slow their rate increases by 1.5 percentage points each year, AP says. The four groups all want to prevent expansion of government insurance. Other groups involved in the health care debate have different agendas. They include workers, older adults, people with health conditions or no insurance, and small and large businesses.