Cholesterol

Too much cholesterol in the blood, or high blood cholesterol, can be serious. People with high blood cholesterol have a greater chance of getting heart disease. High blood cholesterol itself does not cause symptoms, so many people are unaware that their cholesterol level is too high.

Weight loss reduces urinary incontinence in overweight obese women

Losing weight helps women reduce urinary incontinence at least 70 percent according to a clinical research. – Reducing urinary incontinence can now be added to the extensive list of health benefits of weight loss, according to a clinical trial funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) and the Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH), both part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Heart attack cases reduced in US

Less severe first heart attacks linked to heart disease death reductions – The severity of first heart attacks has dropped significantly in the United States – propelling a decline in coronary heart disease deaths, researchers reported in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

Healthy, younger adults could be at risk for heart disease

UT Southwestern researchers find that healthy, younger adults could be at risk for heart disease – Even younger adults who have few short-term risk factors for heart disease may have a higher risk of developing heart disease over their lifetimes, according to new findings by a UT Southwestern Medical Center researcher.

Job stress may cause stroke

Occupational stress related to job strain was associated with incident strokes among Japanese men. – Japanese men in high-stress jobs appear to have an increased risk of stroke compared with those in less demanding positions, according to a report in the January 12 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

FDA will review Daiichi Sankyo, Lilly drug Prasugrel for heart attack

Daiichi Sankyo Company, Limited (TSE: 4568), and Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) are co-developing prasugrel, an investigational oral antiplatelet agent discovered by Daiichi Sankyo and its Japanese research partner, Ube Industries, Ltd., as a potential treatment, initially for patients with acute coronary syndrome who are managed with PCI. – Daiichi Sankyo Company, Limited (TSE: 4568) and Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) confirmed that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Cardiovascular and Renal Drugs Advisory Committee (CRDAC) will review prasugrel during an advisory committee hearing on February_3, 2009.

Blood sugar level linked to cognitive aging

Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center link blood sugar to normal cognitive aging – Maintaining blood sugar levels, even in the absence of disease, may be an important strategy for preserving cognitive health, suggests a study published by researchers at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC).

Older adults at high risk for drug interactions

Older adults at high risk for drug interactions. More attention needed for non-prescription meds. – At least one in 25 older adults, about 2.2 million people in the United States, take multiple drugs in combinations that can produce a harmful drug-drug interaction, and half of these interactions involve a non-prescription medication, researchers from the University of Chicago Medical Center report in the Dec. 24/31, 2008, issue of JAMA.

Good sleep lowers heart disease risk

Longer measured sleep is associated with lower calcification incidence independent of examined potential mediators and confounders. – Participants in a study who slept on average an hour longer per night than other participants had an associated lower incidence of coronary artery calcification, which is thought to be a predictor of future heart disease, according to a study in the December 24/31 issue of JAMA.

Low glycemic diet better for type 2 diabetes patients

In patients with type 2 diabetes, 6-month treatment with a low?glycemic index diet resulted in moderately lower HbA1c levels compared with a high?cereal fiber diet. – Persons with type 2 diabetes who had a diet high in low-glycemic foods such as nuts, beans and lentils had greater improvement in glycemic control and risk factors for coronary heart disease than persons on a diet with an emphasis on high-cereal fiber, according to a study in the December 17 issue of JAMA.

12 new genes identified for managing cholesterol, glucose, melatonin, sleep

New genes present drug targets for managing cholesterol and glucose levels – Scientists have identified 12 new genes that are somewhat strange bedfellows: Some link gallstones and blood cholesterol levels, others link melatonin and sleep patterns to small increases in glucose levels and larger jumps in the risk of diabetes.

Health Newstrack