Category: news-perspectives

A rise in your resting pulse during middle age may indicate an increased risk of dying from heart disease, new research suggests. The study included more than 29,000 middle-aged adults. They did not have high blood pressure or heart disease when the study began. Researchers measured their resting heart rate at the start of the study and again 10 years later. They looked at what happened to people whose resting heart rate was under 70 beats per minute at the start of the study. Those whose heart rate rose to 85 or higher in 10 years had a 90% higher risk of heart-related death than those whose heart rate did not rise. The increase in risk was 80% for people who started out with a heart rate of 70 to 85 but had an increase to more than 85. The Journal of the American Medical Association published the study. HealthDay News wrote about it December 20.

Even children without special health needs are healthier and make better use of health care if they have a “medical home,” a new study finds. A medical home meets certain standards. Care should be easy to get. The office should coordinate all of it. Care should be sensitive to family needs and cultural differences. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends a medical home for all children. The new study was based on a large health survey. It focused on 70,000 children who did not have special needs. About 58% had a medical home. They were more likely than other children to get preventive care. They had fewer sick visits and trips to the emergency room. Their parents were more likely to describe the kids’ health as excellent or very good. The kids also were more likely to wear a bike helmet. They watched less TV and were read to more often.

Treatment for obstructive sleep apnea may also reduce heart disease risk, a new study suggests. Obstructive sleep apnea blocks the airway and hinders breathing during sleep. Most people with this condition also have metabolic syndrome. This is a group of symptoms that add up to a higher risk of heart disease. The symptoms include a large waist, high blood sugar, low HDL (“good cholesterol”) and high levels of another blood fat, triglycerides. The study included 86 adults. All had obstructive sleep apnea. About 87% had metabolic syndrome. Half were treated with a machine that uses continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) to keep the airway open. Half got a fake treatment. That machine looked similar but did not maintain air pressure. After 3 months, each person was switched to receive the other treatment (real or fake).

Magnetic stimulation of the left side of the brain may help people recover from one after-effect of stroke, a small study suggests. The research focused on 20 people who had a stroke on the right side of the brain. This caused a condition called hemispatial neglect. They were unable to notice or react to things that happen on the left side of the body. People were randomly assigned to receive 10 sessions of either real or fake stimulation. An electromagnetic coil over the scalp was used to send quick electrical pulses to the undamaged left side of the brain. The purpose was to calm overactive circuits that were throwing the brain off balance. People with the sham treatment received very weak pulses. In people who got the real treatment, overactive circuits returned to normal. Tests showed a 16% improvement in how well people processed information on the left side.

Receiving a clot-busting drug can help prevent some after-effects of a blood clot in the leg, a study suggests. The study included 189 people with deep vein thrombosis. Sometimes these clots travel to the lungs, where they can be fatal. A clot that stays in the leg can cause a different problem called post-phlebitic or post-thrombotic syndrome. It leads to pain, swelling, skin problems and a heavy feeling in the leg. People in the study were randomly divided into 2 groups. One group received just standard treatment. This including blood-thinning drugs to help keep the clot from getting bigger or reaching the lungs. The second group also got standard treatment. But they also got the clot-busting drug alteplase, delivered in a small dose directly to the clot. In the next 2 years, people who got the clot-buster had a 25% lower risk of further problems related to the clot.

Drugs for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) don’t increase adults’ risk of heart attack or stroke, a new study finds. Researchers reviewed 20 years of health records for more than 150,000 adults. Their ages ranged from 25 to 64. They had taken ADHD drugs, such as Ritalin, for an average of a year. But some people took the drugs up to 14 years. This group was compared with a similar group that did not take the drugs. Their rates of heart attack, stroke and sudden heart-related deaths were about the same. There was no increase in risk for people who took the drugs for longer than average. Some heart attacks and sudden deaths had been reported in recent years among people taking ADHD drugs. But U.S. drug regulators decided in 2006 not to require heart-related warning labels for these drugs.

Most U.S. children who develop gallbladder disease are overweight or obese, a new study suggests. In the past, the disease was less common. It also was more closely linked to blood diseases such as sickle cell. But the number of children needing gallbladder removal is up sharply. So researchers from Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston took a closer look. They reviewed 404 gallbladder removals that were done at the hospital from 2005 through most of 2008. The patients’ average age was 13. About 23% had a blood disease. But even more cases were linked with excess weight. Among the children who did not have a blood disease, 35% were obese and 18% were severely obese. Another 16% were overweight but not obese. Children having surgery were also more likely to be teenagers or Hispanic. Obesity increases the risk of gallbladder disease in adults as well.

Low-risk prostate cancer may need a new name to encourage more men to avoid treatment they may not need, an expert panel says. More research also is needed on the best way to monitor these men, the panel says. The U.S. National Institutes of Health appointed the panel of experts. The panel released its report December 7. It found that more than half of the prostate cancers diagnosed today fall into the low-risk category. Long-term follow-ups show that only about 5% of men with low-risk prostate cancer die from it. Treatments for prostate cancer can lead to problems with urine control and sexual function. But more than 90% of men with low-risk prostate cancer decide to get treated right away. Many of these men might be better off with “active surveillance,” the panel said. This means having regular prostate-specific antigen (PSA) tests and perhaps prostate biopsies as well.

Newer drugs used to treat depression work about equally well, says a study that analyzed previous research. But side effects can differ, the study noted. Researchers looked at 234 studies. Each included more than 1,000 people. They focused on “second-generation” drugs for depression. They include fluoxetine (Prozac), sertraline (Zoloft) and several others. No drug worked better than any other. But some, such as Remeron (mirtazapine), started working faster. Bupropion (Wellbutrin and other brands) was less likely to cause sexual side effects. Some were more likely to cause insomnia, and others weight gain. Some had lower costs or needed to be taken less often. These factors can help doctors decide which drug to try first for each patient. The journal Annals of Internal Medicine published the study. HealthDay News wrote about it December 5.

Maintaining or improving fitness can help you live longer, whether you lose weight or not, a new study concludes. The research included more than 14,000 middle-aged men. They were given treadmill tests to measure fitness at the start of the study and about 6 years later. Fitness was measured in metabolic equivalents (METs). In all, researchers kept track of the men for 11 years. In that time, men who became more fit had a 40% lower death rate from heart disease and from all causes than those who became less fit. Just staying at the same fitness level reduced death rates by 30%. Every 1-MET increase in fitness was linked to a 19% decrease in death rates from heart disease and stroke. The risk of death from any cause was 15% lower for each increase in METs. But a reduction in body mass index, a measurement of weight linked to height, did not change death rates.