Breast cancer risk continues, but other health threats diminish
Reuters Mar 5, 08 11:14 CST
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Breast cancer remains a risk for women even after they stop taking hormone therapy, researchers said yesterday. A follow-up to a 2002 study showed that women who dropped estrogen and progestin still had a 24% greater breast cancer risk. But their chance of a stroke, heart attack, or blood clot fell to normal levels after halting the therapy, Reuters reports.
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Wounded ABC newsman describes continuing struggle
USA Today Feb 25, 08 10:40 CST
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When ABC's Bob Woodruff reported recently from North Korea, he appeared fully recovered from horrific head injuries he suffered in Iraq. In fact, he has a lingering disorder that could have ended his career as a journalist. He discusses working with expressive aphasia, a struggle to remember words, with Christine Dugas of USA Today —who suffers from it, too.
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Alarming rise linked to wider waistlines
Associated Press Feb 21, 08 7:41 CST
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Strokes have tripled among middle-aged American women in an alarming development experts attribute to obesity. Despite the increased use of blood pressure and cholesterol medication, 2% of women aged 35 to 54 suffered a stroke between 1999 and 2004. That's a three-fold increase over earlier studies.
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Aircraft may cause hypertension, heart attacks
Reuters Feb 13, 08 4:30 CST
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People who live near airports may be at risk for stroke, heart failure, heart attack and kidney failure, according to a new study. Research funded by the European Commission found that aircraft noise significantly increases blood pressure, even while victims are asleep, potentially triggering a wide range of health problems, reports Reuters.
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Doctors say improvement is dramatic, but could be short-lived
ABC News Jan 23, 08 2:54 CST
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Deaths from heart disease and strokes have dropped by a quarter since 1999—the biggest decrease on record, reports ABC News. An estimated 160,000 lives have been saved. "This is the fastest rate of decrease we've seen. It's very meaningful," said a doctor. The American Heart Association credits innovative new treatments like angioplasty, stents and clot-busting drugs—and better prevention—for the big drop.
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Increased regs likely
on concerns about overconsumption, health effects
Los Angeles Times Nov 29, 07 12:05 PM CST
(Newser)
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As the White House readies a national campaign against obesity, the FDA today will consider whether to reclassify one of the biggest dietary concerns of all: salt. The American Medical Association says that for Americans, who each day consume around 2,000 milligrams more than recommended, cutting salt intake by 50% could save 150,000 lives annually, reports the Los Angeles Times.
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Switches to less controversial
Japanese technique
BBC Nov 18, 07 7:18 CST
(Newser)
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The scientist who created the cloned sheep Dolly is now abandoning the technique he pioneered in favor of a rival method of cell modification developed in Japan. The Japanese approach, which genetically manipulates adult human cells, has proven less controversial than embryonic stem cell research. But scientist Ian Wilmut insists he was motivated to change his method because the Japanese technique is more effective.
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Breakthrough diagnosis could aid treatment
San Jose Mercury News Oct 15, 07 3:24 CDT
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A new blood test not only diagnoses Alzheimer's, but it can predict with 91% accuracy who will suffer from the disease in the future, reports the San Jose Mercury News . The test, developed by San Francisco company Satoris, identifies the disease by detecting unusual activity in 18 proteins associated with the illness .
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Patients who receive acne drug in first 23 hours show 'dramatic' improvement
Los Angeles Times Oct 2, 07 9:56 CDT
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An antibiotic commonly used to treat acne has shown promise in helping stroke victims recover. Patients who got minocycline within a day of their stroke fared markedly better than those who did not, a discovery that could open the critical window for treating stroke victims from just 3 hours to a full day, the LA Times reports.
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Americans expected to live almost 78 years, but country still places 42nd
Reuters Sep 12, 07 4:58 PM CDT
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Americans can expect to live longer than ever before, according to figures out today, thanks to falling rates of deaths from heart disease, cancer, and stroke. In 2005, US life expectancy increased to almost 78 years, the country’s highest number ever—but only 42nd in the world. The news wasn't all good: Infant mortality increased from the previous year.
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Forget the vegetables: people lose weight to fatten their wallets, study finds
USA Today Sep 11, 07 12:48 PM CDT
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A new study shows that paying people to lose weight works, a possible boon to employers and employees beset by the high costs of obesity. Researchers separated participants, who weren’t given a specific weight loss program, into three groups—two of which would be paid either $7 or $14 for weight loss and the third would receive nothing.
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Obesity epidemic fallout foreshadows serious health troubles
Washington Post Sep 11, 07 10:37 CDT
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The ranks of US children with dangerously high blood pressure and hypertension have been growing for 20 years, reversing a decades-long trend, says a new study that tracks the effects of youth obesity. Hypertension, which usually doesn't develop until patients are in their 30s or 40s, is a leading cause of heart attack and stroke, the Washington Post reports.
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Smoking 'rusts' blood vessels, researchers find
Reuters Sep 3, 07 4:21 CDT
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If lung cancer, emphysema, heart disease and social ostracism aren't enough, here's another good reason to stop smoking: a new study links smoking to Alzheimer's disease and dementia. The study, published in the journal Neurology , says that smoking alters the cells of arteries much the same way that metal rusts.
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Obesity epidemic continues to spread
Reuters Aug 27, 07 6:07 PM CDT
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Americans just keep getting fatter. Obesity rates were up in 31 states this year and declined in none, a new study by a health advocacy group finds. That brings the percentage of American adults who are either obese or overweight to 60%, Reuters reports, and the usual suspects are to blame: poor nutrition and physical inactivity.
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Electrical stimulations helps organ rewire itself
Newsweek Aug 22, 07 7:19 CDT
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Stroke patients have shown lasting, "extremely promising" results, even years after suffering a brain hemorrhage, from an experimental therapy that electrically stimulates the brain. The currents help the organ rewire itself to take