Harvard Health Content API

People with brain cancer in the family are more likely to develop it themselves, a study has found. Researchers looked at records of 1,401 people with brain cancer and their families. Risk of glioblastoma was double for people with a close family member who had this type of tumor. Risk of astrocytoma was four times as high for people with a family history of it. The study looked only at cancers that started in the brain. It did not include those that spread to the brain from elsewhere in the body. Results appeared September 23 in the journal Neurology.

Six new cases of pancreatitis in people taking the diabetes drug Byetta have been reported to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Two people died. The drug will get a stronger warning label, the FDA said. Pancreatitis is an inflammation of the pancreas. The FDA first warned about this problem with Byetta in 2007. At the time, there were 30 cases of pancreatitis. The Associated Press wrote about the FDA announcement August 18.

A vaccine against urinary tract infections (UTIs) shows promising results in tests with mice, researchers say. The vaccine fights infections caused by Escherichia coli bacteria. E. coli causes most simple UTIs. Mice who got the vaccine were protected from UTIs. The vaccine is given in the nose. It causes an immune reaction in a type of body tissue called mucosa, which is found in the nose and the urinary tract. The vaccine is made so that specific proteins on the surface of E. coli bacteria trigger the immune reaction. Most types of E. coli have these proteins. Therefore, researchers think the vaccine will protect against many UTIs. Study results were published in the journal PLoS Pathogens. HealthDay News wrote about the study September 18.

Bans on smoking in public places reduce heart attack rates. That’s the conclusion of a new report from the Institute of Medicine. The institute is an independent group of experts that advises the U.S. government. The experts looked at 11 studies from the United States, Canada, Italy and Scotland. They found that heart attack rates dropped after smoking bans in restaurants and other public places took effect. The reduction ranged from 6% to 47%. Smoking and secondhand smoke release tiny particles of air pollution. Smoke can damage blood vessels and promote formation of blood clots that cause heart attacks. The Associated Press wrote about the report October 15.

Your genes may affect your risk of fatty liver disease and insulin resistance, a study suggests. A buildup of fat in the liver can be caused by obesity or drinking too much alcohol. The disease also is common in Asian Indian men, for unknown reasons. Fatty liver disease can lead to more serious liver conditions. Insulin resistance is a problem with the body’s use of insulin to help turn sugar into energy. It is linked linked to obesity and can lead to diabetes. Researchers gave gene tests to 95 lean Asian Indian men and 163 men with mixed ethnic backgrounds. In both groups, 38% of those with a mutant version of one gene had fatty liver disease and insulin resistance. This was much higher than the average rate. The gene helps to regulate fat metabolism. People with the mutant gene were less able to break down fat. Therefore, it was stored in the liver.

Average U.S. life expectancy has passed 78 years, health officials say. This is the prediction for a baby born in 2006. It is 4 months longer than the prediction for a baby born in 2005. The forecast is based on death trends. In 2006, death rates fell for 9 of the 15 leading causes. These included heart disease, cancer, accidents and diabetes. The flu season in 2006 also was mild. This led to fewer pneumonia deaths. The Associated Press wrote about the new report June 11.

Parts of the brain may shrink in long-term, heavy users of marijuana, a study has found. The study included 15 men who had smoked at least 5 joints daily for 10 years or more. They were compared with 16 non-users. All were given magnetic resonance imaging brain scans. The users’ brains were 12% smaller in the hippocampus. The amygdala was 7% smaller. Users also had lower scores on memory tests and showed some mild psychotic symptoms. The study was published in the journal Archives of General Psychiatry. HealthDay and Reuters news services reported on it June 2.

Devices to shock the heart back to normal rhythm save lives among elderly people with heart failure, a study concludes. The study looked at results among people ages 65 to 85 with one type of heart failure. This condition put them at risk of a heart rhythm problem that could make the heart stop. The study included 4,685 people discharged from hospitals with heart failure. Only 8% of those eligible received an implantable defibrillator to correct dangerous heart rhythms. All of the people were treated with medicines. After three years, 38.1% of patients with a defibrillator had died. But 52.3% of those without the devices died. Dow Jones newswire wrote about the study. It appeared December 15 in the journal Circulation: Heart Failure.

A new drug is just as effective as warfarin (Coumadin) for preventing a second blood clot in a vein, new research finds. More important, researchers said, the drug, dabigatran, is easier to manage. Both drugs are blood thinners. People taking warfarin need frequent blood tests to make sure their blood clotting time is neither too fast nor too slow. Unlike warfarin, dabigatran does not interact with foods or most other drugs. People don’t need regular blood tests. The study included 2,500 people with venous thromboembolism. This is a clot in a vein. People were assigned at random to receive one of the two drugs. After 6 months, about 2% of each group had another clot in a vein. People who took dabigatran were less likely to have any bleeding than those who took warfarin. Serious side effects were similar in both groups.

A group of nutrition and economics experts has called for a new tax on sugar-sweetened drinks. It could help to reduce obesity and raise funds for health programs, they said. The proposal came in an article in the New England Journal of Medicine. The Associated Press wrote about it September 17. The authors included the surgeon general of Arkansas, the health commissioner of New York City and five academic experts. Studies show that women who consume more sugar-sweetened drinks also are more likely to be obese or have diabetes. The new proposal calls for a tax of 1 cent per fluid ounce. The tax could raise $15 billion in its first year, the group said. The tax is also could get people to cut back, they said. They estimated that soda drinkers would lose an average of two pounds a year.