Category: news-perspectives

The risk of a heart attack or stroke doubles for older adults in the month after they lose a spouse or partner, a new study suggests. The study looked at the medical histories of 2 groups of adults, ages 60 through 89. One group included 30,500 men and women who had lost a spouse or partner between 2005 and 2012. The other group included 83,600 people in the same age group who had not lost a partner. In the month after the partner died, the bereaved person was twice as likely to have a fatal or nonfatal heart attack or stroke as someone who did not have such a loss. But the number of these events was small. And after 90 days the heart attack and stroke rates were about the same in both groups. The journal JAMA Internal Medicine published the study. HealthDay News wrote about it February 24.

Taking vitamin E or selenium pills could double some men’s risk of aggressive prostate cancer, a new study finds. This study took a closer look at some data from a large study that was stopped early, in 2008. Researchers stopped that study because men taking vitamin E pills showed an increased risk of prostate cancer. Selenium pills did not appear to affect prostate cancer risk in that study. The new study focused on 1,739 men from the earlier study who were diagnosed with prostate cancer. They were compared with 3,117 men without prostate cancer. This second group was matched to the first group by age and race. Researchers looked at men’s natural selenium levels, before they took any supplements. For men with high selenium levels, taking selenium pills in the study almost doubled their risk of aggressive prostate cancer.

Clinics in grocery and drug stores are not the best places for kids to get primary medical care, a group of children’s doctors says. The statement is an update of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) policy on retail-based clinics. Several national chains have these clinics in their stores. They usually are staffed by physician assistants or nurse practitioners, not doctors. The AAP says that care from retail clinics is fragmented. Kids may see a different person each time. The clinics don’t have a child’s medical records. They don’t provide follow-up care. Parents can’t call them after hours. The statement mostly is the same as the AAP’s policy released in 2006. But it also urges retail clinics to support a patient’s “medical home.” This is the doctor’s office or clinic where the child receives care on a long-term basis.

Young and middle-aged adults are getting flu at higher rates than usual, U.S. health officials say. About 61% of those who have had a hospital stay because of flu this season were adults age 64 and younger, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said. In the previous 3 years, 35% of those hospitalized were in this age group. People 25 through 64 years old also have accounted for 60% of deaths this season, the CDC said. That’s three times the percentage of other recent seasons. The CDC noted that younger adults are less likely to get flu shots than older adults. Most of the serious illness in this group has been caused by the H1N1 flu virus. H1N1 is the dominant U.S. strain this year for the first time since 2009, when it caused a worldwide pandemic, the CDC said. H1N1 causes serious illness in young adults more often than other strains of influenza.

Yes, it’s true — more stress is linked with more headaches. That’s the conclusion of a study that surveyed more than 5,100 adults. Four times a year for 2 years, they were asked to rate their levels of stress on a scale of 1 to 100. They also were asked about the number of headaches they had each month. Rising stress was linked with an increase in the number of headaches. Researchers wanted to make sure that some factor other than stress did not lead to the increase in headaches. So they adjusted the numbers to account for other factors linked with headaches, such as drinking and smoking. A 10-point increase on the stress scale (1 to 100) was linked with a 6.3% increase in the number of tension headaches. Migraines increased 4.3% for each 10-point increase in stress. The increase was 4% for those with both types of headaches.

A procedure works better than medicines to treat a common heart rhythm problem, a small new study finds. But the side effects can be serious. Atrial fibrillation occurs when the heart’s upper chambers beat in an erratic, fast rhythm. This can increase the risk of clots and stroke. Medicines can slow the heart and prevent clots. If this doesn’t work, doctors may use ablation. This procedure uses a heated probe to burn a small area of the heart. Burning blocks the erratic electrical signals that cause the rhythm problem. The new study included 127 people who had just been diagnosed with atrial fibrillation. They were randomly assigned to receive either medicines to slow the heart beat or ablation. In the next 2 years, 72% of the medicine group and 54% of the surgery group had atrial fibrillation that lasted at least 30 seconds. For many who got better, symptoms came back.

Bullying can have lasting effects on children’s well-being, even years after it stops, a new study suggests. And kids who are bullied the longest seem to have the worst effects. The study is based on surveys of nearly 4,300 children. The same children were asked questions in 5th, 7th and 10th grades. About 30% reported being regularly bullied on at least one survey. This was defined as being physically pushed around, or teased, at least once a week. Children also were asked about their normal activities and their physical and mental health. Those who were bullied were more likely than other kids to have depression symptoms or low self-esteem. They also reported lower mental, social and physical well-being. About 3% to 4% of the children reported being bullied on all 3 surveys.

Most adults don’t need to have a test for narrowed arteries in the neck, an expert group says. The draft advice comes from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. This independent group of experts issues advice on preventive care and testing. Doctors, the government and insurance companies usually follow its advice. The new report focuses on carotid artery stenosis. The carotid arteries supply the brain with blood. They can become narrow inside because of a buildup of fatty deposits. Carotid artery stenosis increases the risk of stroke. But the task force said that screening all adults with ultrasound would not be worthwhile. Narrowed carotid arteries are not common. But some tests could show “false positive” results. This is when a test result looks suspicious but the problem is not really there. Such results might lead to more tests and even surgeries that were not needed.

Having a head or neck injury may triple the chance of stroke in the next month for people under age 50, a study finds. Strokes are most common among adults over 65. They occur less often in young adults and children, but they are not rare. The new study looked at medical records of 1.3 million people younger than 50. All of them had received emergency treatment for head or neck injuries. Within the next four weeks, 48 out of every 100,000 young adults had an ischemic stroke. This is the most common type of stroke. It is caused by a clot that blocks a blood vessel in the brain. Strokes also occurred in 11 of every 100,000 children treated for a head or neck injury. Researchers said they were unsure why the stroke rate increased so sharply after these injuries. Study findings were presented February 13 at a conference. HealthDay News wrote about the study.

A new study finds that a drug less commonly used for restless legs syndrome may work just as well as the standard treatment. It also may help prevent a common side effect of treatment, the study found. People with restless legs syndrome have a variety of uncomfortable sensations in their legs. They feel an uncontrollable urge to move their legs. This often disturbs sleep. The new study included 720 people with moderate to severe restless legs syndrome. They were randomly divided into groups. The groups received the standard treatment pramipexole (Mirapex), pregabalin (Lyrica) or placebo (fake pills). After 12 weeks of treatment, pregabalin improved symptoms as well as pramipexole. During up to a year of treatment, people taking pregabalin also were less likely to have their symptoms get worse. About 2% had this problem, compared with 8% of those taking pramipexole.