Category: news-perspectives

Testing blood sugar at home may not help people with type 2 diabetes, a study suggests. The study included 184 people who had just been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. They were divided randomly into two groups. One group was told to test blood glucose eight times each week. The other group was told not to test. Every three months, they received a blood test known as hemoglobin A1c in the doctor’s office. This is a way to measure long-term blood sugar control. The two groups had similar A1c levels. Also, people who did the home tests were more likely to become depressed than people who did not. The study was published April 17 in the British Medical Journal.

Drugs for two common conditions may increase the risk of fragile bones and fractures, new studies report. One study looked at the diabetes drugs pioglitazone and rosiglitazone. People who used one of these drugs for at least a year were more than twice as likely to break a bone. The fractures occurred with low impact, such as a simple fall. The other study included young women who took phenytoin, a drug for epilepsy. They lost bone density eight times as fast as other young women. Reuters Health reported on the diabetes drugs April 29. The study was in the Archives of Internal Medicine. HealthDay News wrote about the epilepsy drugs April 28. The study was in the journal Neurology.

The recommended two shots against mumps don’t always prevent the disease, a study suggests. In 2006, nearly 6,600 people became sick with mumps. Most cases were in eight Midwestern states. Most were college students. The study checked on their vaccination history. Of those who knew their history, 84% had had two shots. Experts said they didn’t expect immunity to fade so quickly, the Associated Press reported April 10. The study was done by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state health departments. It was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Moles larger than 6 millimeters are more likely to be melanomas, a study has found. The study supports current guidelines. Doctors now look at size to help decide which moles to check for melanoma. Moles larger than 6 millimeters are considered more suspicious. The new study looked at biopsy results for 1,657 moles or other abnormal areas. About 8% of moles larger than 6 millimeters were melanomas. The rate was only 4% among smaller moles. HealthDay News reported on the study April 22. It was in the journal Archives of Dermatology.

Women who follow the healthy “DASH diet” have fewer heart attacks and strokes, a study has found. The research used 25 years of data on 88,000 women. All were part of the Nurses’ Health Study. The DASH diet is a plan designed to reduce blood pressure. It includes twice as many fruits, vegetables and grains as the average American diet. About 15,000 women in the study ate in a way similar to the DASH diet. Their heart attack rate was 24% lower than the rate for women in the study who ate typical American diets. Their stroke rate was 18% lower. The Associated Press wrote about the study April 15. It was published in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine.

People who have been depressed may be more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease later, a study suggests. The study included 486 people, ages 60 to 90. They did not have any form of dementia when the study began. In the next 6 years, 33 developed Alzheimer’s disease. In the study group, 134 people had consulted a doctor because they felt depressed. They were 2.5 times as likely to develop Alzheimer’s as others in the study. Researchers said the cause is not clear. More research is needed. The study was published April 8 in the journal Neurology.

People with Parkinson’s disease may get worse at a slower pace if they have high levels of a substance called urate in their blood. That’s the conclusion of a study of 800 people with mild Parkinson’s. People with high urate levels were only half as likely as others to get much worse in a two-year period. They lost fewer brain cells that produce a substance called dopamine. Therefore, they did not need medicine to replace it. Researchers are planning another study that will give patients a supplement called inosine. The body converts inosine to urate. USA Today wrote about the study April 16. It was in the journal Archives of Neurology.

People who have had serious side effects after LASIK eye surgery brought their complaints to a hearing April 25. The Associated Press reported on the hearing. It was sponsored by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). LASIK uses a laser to reshape the eye and improve vision. FDA officials said perhaps 5% of patients are not happy with LASIK. It’s not clear how many of those have serious side effects. Problems described at the hearing included eye pain, dry eyes, glare, blurry vision and poor night vision.

Weight-loss surgery done by experts is no more dangerous than other major surgery, a study concludes. These procedures are known as bariatric surgery. The study looked at data on two types, gastric bands and gastric bypass. The bands are wrapped around the stomach to make it smaller. The bypass makes the stomach smaller and also bypasses part of the intestines. Researchers looked at two years of data from 10 hospitals that specialize in this type of surgery. For every 1,000 people, 3 died during surgery or within the next month. Another 43 had a major problem, such as a blood clot. A few years ago, death rates were about 20 per 1,000. The study appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine. The Associated Press wrote about it July 30.

Medical groups now endorse more types of tests to screen people for colon cancer. The purpose is to encourage more people to get tested. The new guidelines were issued March 5. They come from the American Cancer Society and several groups of doctors. For the first time, virtual colonoscopy is recommended. This test uses a form of X-ray. Also new is a stool DNA test to look for colon cancer. There are five standard tests as well. Colonoscopy and sigmoidoscopy use a tiny camera to look inside the colon. A barium enema test uses a contrast dye to enhance X-rays. Two tests look for blood in the stool. They require follow-up tests. The Associated Press reported on the guidelines March 6.