Category: news-perspectives

Caring for Americans with dementia costs more than heart or cancer care, a new study finds. Direct costs were estimated at $109 billion a year. This includes medical care and nursing homes. The total exceeds the estimated $102 billion a year for heart disease and $77 billion for cancer. Informal care by family and friends boosts dementia costs even more. In all, costs add up to $157 billion to $215 billion a year. The study calculated these two figures using different ways to estimate the costs of informal care. Researchers based their study on 10,903 people in a long-running government study of aging. Of that group, 856 were given detailed exams to determine if they had dementia. Researchers then estimated that 15% of the total group over age 70 had dementia. Costs of care were based on Medicare and other records. The New England Journal of Medicine published the study.

Walking and running are equally good for your heart, a new study finds. But if you’re a walker, you have to do more of it to get the same benefit as a runner. So concludes the study of 33,000 runners and 16,000 walkers. They were part of two long-running health studies of people devoted to these pursuits. Researchers looked at how many people developed high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes or heart disease in the next 6 years. Both runners and walkers were less likely to develop these conditions if they used more energy in their daily exercise. For each standard unit of energy used, risk reduction was similar for runners and walkers. But overall the runners were healthier. That’s because, on average, they used more than twice as much energy as walkers did. Researchers said they probably used more energy because they could exercise in less time.

More than 8 out of 10 U.S. teenagers have unhealthy diets, a new survey has found. About 3 out of 10 boys and more than 5 out of 10 girls don’t get enough exercise, the survey found. Nearly one-third have abnormal cholesterol levels. And similar numbers are overweight or obese. Researchers said these results show that many of today’s teens may be at risk of early heart disease. The nationwide study included 4,600 teenagers. The American Heart Association says that 7 factors lead to optimum heart health. They are a healthy diet, healthy weight, regular exercise, not smoking and having ideal levels of cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugar. Only half of the teens surveyed met 5 or more of these 7 criteria. The journal Circulation published the study. HealthDay News wrote about it April 1.

People think something with a disease label needs a medicine, even if the medicine won’t work. That’s one conclusion of a new study of 175 parents. People waiting in a child health clinic were asked to read about a fussy baby and respond as if they were the parents. They read that the baby cried and spit up a lot, so they went to the doctor. The doctor explained the cause and said it probably would go away on its own. Half of the parents read that this condition was called gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). The others did not get such a label. All of the parents read that there was a medicine for this problem. But half of them read that it probably would not help. The others got no information about whether the medicine would work. People who were told that the problem was GERD were more likely to want medicine. This was true even if they were told that it wouldn’t help.

Distracted eating tends to make people eat more. But it also makes people eat more later in the day, says an analysis of 24 studies. The research included published studies about how attention and memory affect food intake. Many studies have found that eating while distracted causes people to eat more. This study adds to research by showing that distracted eating also increases food intake later on. Researchers suggest turning off the television and eating away from the computer. Slow down and enjoy your food. The study was published in the April issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. U.S. News wrote about it March 28.

An experimental drug may one day help to treat hepatitis C, according to the results of a small study. The study included 36 people with hepatitis C. They were randomly assigned to five weekly injections of the drug miravirsen, or placebo. Three doses of miravirsen were tested. The drug reduced the amount of hepatitis C virus in people’s blood. Higher doses caused greater reductions. The effects lasted for several months. There were no signs of drug resistance. Miravirsen is a new type of drug, called an RNA interference drug. The study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine. National Public Radio wrote about it online.

Chelation therapy showed mininal benefit in preventing heart attack, stroke or death in people who had a previous heart attack, says a study. Chelation therapy uses chemicals that combine with metals or other toxins in the body. It is used to treat lead poisoning and certain medical conditions, such as iron overload. Chelation with a chemical called ethylene diamine tetra-acetic acid (EDTA) has been promoted as a way to remove harmful metals from arteries. It is controversial. The study included 1,708 adults age 50 and older who had a previous heart attack. Half of the patients got 40 infusions of EDTA solution along with high doses of vitamin and mineral supplements into their bloodstreams; half got a placebo solution. The researchers followed the patients for an average of 4.5 years to see who had another heart problem.

An experimental test may eventually help to diagnose heart failure. The test uses a person’s exhaled breath. Molecules in the breath are analyzed using a technique called mass spectrometry. Certain molecules and combinations of molecules can signal heart failure. The test was done on 77 patients. Some had already been diagnosed with heart failure. Others did not have signs of heart failure. The test identified all of the heart-failure patients. Doctors say the test may one day be useful in primary-care physicians’ offices. It is still in the early stages of development. The study was published March 25 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. HealthDay News wrote about it.

Without a medical reason for a cesarean section (C-section), doctors should recommend vaginal delivery to pregnant women. This is a new recommendation from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). About 2.5% of pregnant women choose to have a C-section with no medical reason. A C-section involves risks, including bladder injuries, bowel injuries and complications in future pregnancies. Women who have C-sections also have longer hospital stays and recovery times. ACOG notes that voluntary C-section is particularly not recommended for women who want to have more than one child. This is because the risk of complications increases with each C-section. The guideline was published March 22 in the April issue of the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology.

Many mothers give their babies solid foods too early, says a study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Doctors recommend waiting until a baby is 4 months old to introduce solid foods. However, 40 percent of mothers in the study said they started solid food before that age. Nine percent started at 1 month. The most common reason for starting solids early was that “My baby is old enough to begin eating solid food.” But babies are not physically ready to eat solid food during their first few months of life. They usually cannot sit up by themselves or hold their heads up well. Starting solid food early also has been linked with several conditions, including diabetes, eczema and celiac disease. The study was published March 25 in the journal Pediatrics. The New York Times, USA Today and other media wrote about it.