Category: news-perspectives

Older male smokers should receive a one-time test to see if they have a swelling of the aorta in the abdomen. And the newest advice says that some male nonsmokers may benefit, too. The advice comes from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. An enlarged section of artery is called an aneurysm. An abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is most likely to occur in men who are current or past smokers. The task force recommends a one-time ultrasound scan for AAA for men ages 65 to 75 who have ever smoked. The latest update says that some men in the same age group who have never smoked also may benefit from a one-time ultrasound. They include men with a parent or sibling who had AAA or a personal history of aneurysm in another location. Those with heart or artery disease also might be at risk.

Changing guidelines for treatment of several common conditions can be confusing for doctors and patients, a doctor writes in a new blog posting. The writer is Suzanne Koven, M.D., an internist. The Boston Globe published it January 27. Dr. Koven writes about how recent guideline changes have affected her and her patients. The guidelines include those for high blood pressure, cholesterol and cervical cancer screening. Some of them make big changes to the way she has practiced medicine for decades. For example, the new guidelines say no treatment is needed for some older patients who might have been treated for high blood pressure in the past. Changes like these can make patients uneasy and shake their trust in their doctors, Dr. Koven writes. But they are based on evidence and the goal is better care.

Nearly 7,400 people under age 20 end up in U.S. hospitals each year because of a gun-related injury. So says a study in the journal Pediatrics. That’s about 20 children a day. Six percent of those admitted died from their injuries, the study found. Researchers used data from the 2009 Kids’ Inpatient Database to examine the types of injuries seen. They looked at the cause of these injuries. In particular, were these gunshot injuries the result of an attack, suicide or accident? They also broke it down by age, gender and race. Among the findings: Nearly 90% of those hospitalized were male; 47% occurred in black children and teens. An attack or suicide was involved in most 15- to 19-year-old hospital admits related to guns. In children younger than 10, 75% were the result of accidents.

Recent studies suggest that cooling off to burn more fat is an idea worth exploring, Dutch researchers say. The new report reviews recent human and animal studies. They focus on the activity of “brown fat,” which is found in only small amounts in most adults. Brown fat burns calories to help us stay warm in cold temperatures. Shivering increases heat production in people. More recent studies also suggest that the body burns more calories for heat even when exposed to milder cold temperatures. This is called non-shivering thermogenesis. Earlier research by the Dutch team showed that people tend to feel more comfortable over time when exposed to chilly temperatures (about 59 degrees Fahrenheit). The Dutch researchers are planning longer-term experiments that will also track the weight of people who live in cooler environments over time.

Women who consume high levels of omega-3 fatty acids may be less likely to lose brain cells as they get older, a new study suggests. Omega-3 fatty acids are found in fish oil and some supplements. Researchers measured omega-3 levels in the red blood cells of more than 1,000 older women. Their average age was about 70. Eight years later, they were given MRI scans of the brain. Women with high levels of omega-3 fatty acids had larger brains than those with low levels. The difference was equal to about 1 or 2 years of normal brain shrinkage for adults in this age group. Women with higher omega-3 levels also tended to have a larger hippocampus. This part of the brain has a major role in memory. It begins to shrink early for someone with Alzheimer’s disease. The new study only shows a link between higher omega-3 fat levels in the bloodstream and larger brain size.

Your chance of dying from a heart attack is greater if you seek care at night or on a weekend, a research review finds. The study put together results from 48 earlier studies. They included nearly 1.9 million patients. The studies were from the United States, Canada and Europe. People who arrived at hospitals during off-hours had a 5% higher risk of death in the hospital than those who came in on weekdays. The risk of death within 30 days was also 5% higher. Researchers estimated that this led to 6,000 extra deaths each year in the United States alone. One possible reason for the difference is treatment delays during off-hours. The study estimated that for one common type of heart attack, a 15-minute delay could increase death by 10% to 15%. The journal BMJ published the study online.

Girl soccer players in middle school often keep playing despite concussions, new research has found. And these injuries are common. About 13% of players had concussions in a typical season, the study found. That was higher than reported in previous studies of high school and college players. Researchers recruited 351 girls from elite soccer teams. They were 11 through 14 years old. The study covered the years 2008 through 2012. About 82% of the girls played for 1 year and 18% for 2 years of the study. Researchers sent weekly e-mails to parents during soccer season. They asked about any blows to the head and any symptoms that followed. Players who had these incidents got phone calls from research staff. They were asked how the injury occurred, whether they continued to play, and what type of care they got. In all, 59 concussions occurred.

Years of heavy drinking in middle age can lead to faster mental decline in later life for men, results of a long-term study suggest. The study included 5,054 men and 2,099 women. They were asked about their drinking habits 3 times in 10 years. Then, in their mid-50s, they took a mental-skills test. It assessed memory and executive function, which includes reasoning and planning abilities. They repeated the test twice in the next 10 years. Mental decline occurred about 1½ to 6 years faster in men who had at least 2½ drinks a day (36 grams of alcohol) than in men who drank less. No such differences were seen for women, however. Researchers said there were not enough heavy drinkers among women in the study to show any clear effects for them. The journal Neurology published the study January 15. The Associated Press and HealthDay News wrote about it.

There’s no “obesity paradox” related to death rates for people with diabetes, a new study concludes. Except for smokers, people who were heavier died earlier, the study found. Some small studies have suggested that people who are a little overweight might have a lower death risk. The new study included 11,000 adults with type 2 diabetes. Researchers kept track of them for about 16 years. A body mass index (BMI) of 18.5 to 24.9 is considered normal. In this study, the lowest BMI, 18.5 to 22.4, was linked with higher death rates than for all groups except the most obese (BMI of 35 or more). But people with a BMI on the higher side of “normal” (22.5 to 24.9) were less likely to die than all other groups. Then researchers looked at the numbers for people who had never smoked and for smokers and ex-smokers.

Follow-up tests may help show when colon cancer has returned after surgery, a new study finds. The study included 1,200 people who had received colon cancer surgery. They were randomly divided into 4 groups. One group received regular CT scans. Another other group got regular tests for a blood protein, called CEA. At abnormal levels, this protein can be a sign of cancer. A third group got both tests. A fourth group had no special follow-up. Researchers kept track of people for an average of 4.4 years. In that time, 2.3% of those in the group who got no special follow-up had a second surgery because of a return of their colon cancer. Similar surgeries were done in 6.7% of the CEA group and 8% of the CT group. The rate of second surgery was 6.6% in the group that got both tests.