Common allergy drug reduces obesity and diabetes in mice – Researchers have linked type 2 diabetes and obesity with immunology. These new research studies published in Nature Medicine, by Harvard Medical School researchers.
Smoking associated with more rapid progression of multiple sclerosis — Smokers at higher risk of developing multiple sclerosis. – Patients with multiple sclerosis who smoke appear to experience a more rapid progression of their disease, revealed by researchers in the Archives of Neurology.
Taking nuts and peanut butter in the diet reduced the risk of a heart attack in women with type 2 diabetes. – Taking nuts and peanut butter in the diet reduced the risk of a heart attack in women with type 2 diabetes, revealed by researchers at Harvard Medical School. They analyzed the diets of 6309 women over a period of 12 years.
Found: 1 in 3 billion — The spelling mistake in the genetic code that causes a type of ovarian cancer. – Eureka! Vancouver scientists from the Ovarian Cancer Research (OvCaRe) Program at BC Cancer Agency and Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute have discovered that there appears to be a single spelling mistake in the genetic code of granulosa cell tumours, a rare and often untreatable form of ovarian cancer.
Over 60 percent of all US bankruptcies attributable to medical problems – Most victims are middle class, well-educated and have health insurance. – In 2007, before the current economic downturn, an American family filed for bankruptcy in the aftermath of illness every 90 seconds; three-quarters of them were insured. Over 60% of all bankruptcies in the United States in 2007 were driven by medical incidents.
Patients reveal willingness to trade hands-on medical care for computer consultations — Study also finds that Internet-savvy consumers will trade some privacy in order to gain transparency, full access to medical records. – As President Barack Obama calls for streamlining heath care by fully converting to electronic medical records and as Congress prepares to debate issues of patient privacy, one question has largely gone unasked: What do patients want?
Study indicates that a common virus could cause high blood pressure – Cytomegalovirus affects majority of adults worldwide. – A new study suggests for the first time that cytomegalovirus (CMV), a common viral infection affecting between 60 and 99 percent of adults worldwide, is a cause of high blood pressure, a leading risk factor for heart disease, stroke and kidney disease.
Vitamin D levels linked to asthma severity. New research provides evidence for a link between vitamin D insufficiency and asthma severity. – Serum levels of vitamin D in more than 600 Costa Rican children were inversely linked to several indicators of allergy and asthma severity, including hospitalizations for asthma, use of inhaled steroids and total IgE levels.
In this prospective analysis, psoriasis was independently associated with an increased risk of diabetes and hypertension. Future studies are needed to find out whether psoriasis treatment will reduce the risk of diabetes and hypertension. – Women with psoriasis appear to have an increased risk for developing diabetes and hypertension (high blood pressure), according to a report in the April issue of Archives of Dermatology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Universal health insurance coverage may reduce persistent disparities in Americans from different racial, socioeconomic or ethnic groups. – Health care disparities in the U.S. have long been noted, with particular attention paid to the gaps separating racial and economic groups.
Simple bedside test StEP improves diagnosis of chronic back pain, could guide treatment. – A simple and inexpensive method of assessing pain, developed by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers, is better than currently used techniques for distinguishing neuropathic pain ? pain caused by damage to the nervous system ? from other types of chronic back pain.
Large-scale study finds higher temperatures, lower barometric pressures associated with severe headaches and migraines. – Higher temperatures, and to a lesser degree, lower barometric pressure, contribute to severe headaches, revealed by researchers in issue of the journal Neurology.
