Category: news-perspectives

Middle school children are more likely to get recommended shots if their states require them, a new study finds. The study focused on 2 shots that U.S. guidelines recommend for boys and girls ages 11 to 12. The TdaP vaccine protects against tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis. An alternate vaccine, Td, protects against just the first two. Menactra protects against meningococcal disease. The new study looked at immunization rates for the 2008-2009 school year. At the time, 32 states required TdaP or Td. Only 3 required Menactra. About 80% of kids ages 13 to 17 received TdaP or Td in states that required them for entry into middle school. The rate was 70% in other states. In states that required Menactra, 71% received it compared with 53% in other states. The journal Pediatrics published the study online. HealthDay News wrote about it May 7.

Aspirin and warfarin (Coumadin) are equally effective in preventing strokes and death for many people with heart failure, a new study finds. The study included 2,300 people with severe heart failure. All of them had a normal heart rhythm. They were randomly assigned to take either aspirin or warfarin daily. These drugs help to prevent blood clots that can cause strokes. Researchers kept track of people for up to 6 years. In that time about 7.5% of those taking warfarin died or had a stroke or bleeding in the brain. The rate was 7.9% for people who took aspirin. Researchers said that difference was small enough to be caused by chance. The risk of stroke was nearly 50% lower in those who took warfarin. But they were twice as likely to have bleeding as those who took aspirin. The New England Journal of Medicine published the study. HealthDay News wrote about it May 2.

The growth of painkiller use and abuse has led to another surge in drug dependence, this one among newborns, a study finds. The study takes the first close look at the problem. Newborns go through withdrawal symptoms if their mothers take opiate drugs. These include street drugs such as heroin. But similar effects occur with prescription painkillers. Hydrocodone (Vicodin and others) and oxycodone (Oxycontin and others) are the best known. Researchers looked at data on U.S. hospital stays between 2000 and 2009. They found that in those 10 years the number of babies with withdrawal symptoms tripled. Babies need to be weaned off these drugs slowly, in the hospital. Usually, they are given smaller and smaller doses of methadone, which is used to treat addicts. This can take weeks or months.

A blood test may be able to predict a woman’s risk of breast cancer years ahead of time, a new study suggests. The blood test looks for methylation of a gene called ATM. Methylation happens when small molecules called methyl groups attach to a gene’s DNA. High levels of methylation can stop a gene from working properly. The new study included 640 women with breast cancer and 741 women without breast cancer. Researchers analyzed blood samples from all of the women. They were taken an average of 3 years before cancer diagnosis. Women who had the highest levels of methylation were twice as likely to develop breast cancer as those with the lowest levels. The effects were especially strong for women under age 60, one of the study authors told HealthDay News. Researchers said this type of test might be used to help predict women’s risk of breast cancer.

Exercise and healthier eating may help to keep cancer from returning after treatment, the American Cancer Society says. The new advice was based on dozens of studies published in the last five years. The studies found lower rates of cancer return (recurrence) and longer survival for people with better diet or exercise habits. The studies were mostly observational. The cancer survivors were not randomly assigned to one program or another. So the studies can’t prove that exercise or diet caused the better outcomes for these patients. But the cancer society said the number of studies made their results worth trusting. Most involved prostate, breast or colon cancer survivors. The new guidelines urge doctors to talk to cancer patients about moving more, eating healthier foods and losing weight, if needed.

Doctors may be able to diagnose appendicitis with a scan that uses a much lower dose of radiation, a new study finds. The study included 891 people. All of them were between ages 15 and 44. All had suspected appendicitis. Researchers randomly assigned half of them to receive a low-dose computed tomography (CT) scan of the abdomen. The others had a standard-dose CT scan. In all, 172 people in the first group were diagnosed with appendicitis. In the standard-dose group, the number was 186. During surgery, doctors discovered that just over 3% of each group did not have appendicitis. So the low-dose scan was just as accurate as the standard scan, researchers said. The standard scan used about 8 millisieverts of radiation. The low-dose scan used 2 millisieverts, or one-quarter as much. The New England Journal of Medicine published the study. HealthDay News wrote about it April 25.

Though Americans have high levels of obesity, only 13% have high total cholesterol. That’s the finding of a report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The numbers come from a survey of 6,000 adults in 2009 and 2010. They also had blood tests taken. The group was chosen to represent the variety of U.S. adults. The 13% with high total cholesterol is less than the U.S. government goal of 17%. Women met that goal about 5 years ago and men about 10 years ago. The CDC did not find out why cholesterol has dropped. But officials said they believed it was related to less smoking and more people taking drugs to lower cholesterol. The CDC released the report April 25. The Associated Press wrote about it.

Most people who can be helped by medicines to prevent migraines don’t take them, a new report says. The report offers guidelines for treatment. About 40% of people with migraines can be helped by preventive medicines, one author of the guidelines told HealthDay News. They can reduce the number of migraines by half. They can also help make the migraines shorter and less severe. But only about one-third of those who can benefit are taking the medicines, the author said. The guidelines were based on 29 studies of drug treatment for migraines. All of them compared the medicines with placebo (fake) pills. Two main groups of drugs were found to help. They are anti-seizure medicines and beta-blockers (also used for high blood pressure). Frovatriptan (Frova) can help prevent migraines around the time of the menstrual period.

A type of antidepressant sometimes used to treat autism may not help much at all, a new analysis of research finds. The study focused on drugs called serotonin receptor inhibitors (SRIs). These include drugs such as fluoxetine, citalopram and others. Some research has suggested they could help control repeated behaviors in people with autism. The new study put together the numbers from earlier studies. It included results from five published studies. These studies found a small benefit for people who took SRIs, compared with placebo (fake) pills. The new study also looked at five prior studies that were never published. When those results were combined with the published studies, the benefit from SRIs disappeared. They appeared to help only people with anxiety as well as autism. The authors say “publication bias” may account for their findings.

Diabetes treatment plans and goals should be tailored to each person, new guidelines for doctors say. The American Diabetes Association released the guidelines. They were developed jointly with the European Association for the Study of Diabetes. The guidelines say the best care plan for each person depends on several things. These include age, other health conditions, finances and motivation. For example, the blood sugar goal for a younger, mostly healthy person might be near normal. But this might not be the best goal for someone older with multiple health problems. For some people, aiming for near-normal blood sugar levels can lead to many episodes of hypoglycemia (very low blood sugar). This can be risky, especially for older adults. Some may be safer if they aim for slightly higher blood sugar levels. Having other conditions increases the number of drugs people take.