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Archive for the 'Research' Category

Health and Medicine - Updates every 15 Minutes - in Wordpress

Monday, June 5th, 2006

This page pulls from health and medical sources to keep the latest news updates. All the latest about bird flu, cancer, heart disease, and medical discovery will be here daily. Bookmark this page for quick updates. Subscribe to the RSS or Link it from your site.

Study suggests too many invasive heart tests given
(AP)

  • Graphic shows how a cardiac angiogram is administeredAP - A troublingly high number of U.S. patients who are given angiograms to check for heart disease turn out not to have a significant problem, according to the latest study to suggest Americans get an excess of medical tests.


  • Panel: Women need chance to avoid repeat C-section
    (AP)

  • AP - Too many pregnant women who want to avoid a repeat cesarean delivery are being denied the chance, concludes a government panel that urged doctors to rethink litigation-spurred policies that have swung the pendulum back toward the days of “once a C-section, always a C-section.”
  • CDC uses shopper-card data to trace salmonella
    (AP)

  • In this photo taken March 9, 2010, Raymond Cirimele, 55, displays his Costco membership card outside his home in Chicago. Cirimele is one of at least 245 people in 44 states who have been sickened by a recent salmonella outbreak. Investigators from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention successfully used the shopper cards that millions of Americans swipe every time they buy groceries and followed the trail of grocery purchases to a Rhode Island company that makes salami, then zeroed in on the pepper used to season the meat. He said no one asked for his shopper card data, but he would have provided it if someone had. 'I don't have any secrets, so I'm not worried about it,' he said. 'It's kind of like the whole airport security and all that. I'd rather fly on a safe plane.' (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)AP - As they scrambled recently to trace the source of a salmonella outbreak that has sickened hundreds around the country, investigators from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention successfully used a new tool for the first time — the shopper cards that millions of Americans swipe every time they buy groceries.


  • Hoped-for drop in childbirth deaths not happening
    (AP)

  • This Oct. 2007 family photo provided by Clare Johnson shows Linda Coale holding her son Benjamin in Crownsville, Md. Eleven days after her son Benjamin's birth by C-section, Linda Coale awoke in the middle of the night in pain, one leg badly swollen. Just as her doctor returned her phone call asking what to do, she dropped dead from a blood clot. (AP Photo/Family Photo)AP - Eleven days after her son Benjamin’s birth by C-section, Linda Coale awoke in the middle of the night in pain, one leg badly swollen. Just as her doctor returned her phone call asking what to do, she dropped dead from a blood clot.


  • Researchers: AIDS virus can hide in bone marrow
    (AP)

  • AP - The virus that causes AIDS can hide in the bone marrow, avoiding drugs and later awakening to cause illness, according to new research that could point the way toward better treatments for the disease.
  • Brazil’s Silva quits smoking after 50 years
    (AP)

  • Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, gestures during an interview with The Associated Press, in Brasilia, Tuesday, March 9, 2010. Lula da Silva warned that U.S.-proposed sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program could lead to war in the Middle East. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)AP - Brazil’s president said Tuesday that he kicked the smoking habit he had for 50 years after a recent health scare sent his blood pressure soaring.


  • Obesity, Drinking a Double Threat to the Liver
    (HealthDay)

  • HealthDay - THURSDAY, March 11 (HealthDay News) — Obesity plus daily
    drinking boosts the risk of liver disease in men and women, researchers
    report in two new studies.
  • As You Age, Better Health Means Better Sex
    (HealthDay)

  • HealthDay - TUESDAY, March 9 (HealthDay News) — Better health translates into
    better sex lives, with healthy people more likely to engage in sex (and
    good sex at that) and to express an interest in sex, new research
    finds.
  • Long-used, little-studied laxative safe, effective
    (Reuters)

  • Reuters - Until now, a scant number of top notch clinical trials have evaluated whether sodium picosulfate — the active ingredient in numerous over-the-counter laxatives — is safe and effective.
  • Young Kids to Benefit From Broader Pneumococcal Vaccine
    (HealthDay)

  • HealthDay - THURSDAY, March 11 (HealthDay News) — The recent approval of a
    new, more broadly effective pneumococcal vaccine (PCV13) for young
    children could greatly reduce the prevalence of pneumococcal disease in
    that age group, a new government report suggests.
  • New Knee May Improve Balance
    (HealthDay)

  • HealthDay - THURSDAY, March 11 (HealthDay News) — A knee replacement can help
    improve an elderly person’s balance, according to a new study.
  • Prostate test ‘public health disaster’: discoverer
    (Reuters)

  • Reuters - The most commonly used tool for detecting prostate cancer, routine PSA screening, has become “a hugely expensive public health disaster,” its discoverer said on Wednesday.
  • Doctor’s Specialty Often Steers Prostate Cancer Care
    (HealthDay)

  • HealthDay - TUESDAY, March 9 (HealthDay News) — The kind of treatment
    received by a prostate cancer patient often depends on the type of
    specialist providing the patient’s care, new research shows.
  • Big first trimester weight gain ups diabetes risk
    (Reuters)

  • Reuters - Women who gain weight too quickly during the first three months of pregnancy are more prone to develop pregnancy-related diabetes, new research shows.
  • Australian authors protest China visa refusal
    (Reuters)

  • Reuters - More than 90 Australian authors signed a letter on Thursday decrying China’s refusal to grant a visa to one of the country’s most celebrated writers because he was HIV-positive, a move that Beijing defended.
  • Regards.

    Prempro Lawsuit - Mesothelioma Web - Resources for Mesothelioma Patients

    Tuesday, May 9th, 2006

    Additional Resources

    Symptoms
    Early symptoms of mesothelioma are difficult to identify and therefore often overlooked. Pleural mesothelioma symptoms may first appear as shortness of breath, chest pains or persistent cough or a change in cough pattern. Some patients however, may show no symptoms at all. Peritoneal mesothelioma symptoms include pain or swelling in the abdomen, nausea, weight loss, bowel obstruction, anemia or swollen feet. Malignant mesothelioma is a cancerous tumor of the pleura (lining of the lung and chest cavity) or peritoneum (lining of the abdomen) that is almost always caused by sustained exposure to asbestos.

    More Prempro Lawsuit - Mesothelioma Trust Claim

    Information to help file a claim.

    Asbestos increased risk
    Mesothelioma is a cancer in which malignant (cancerous) cells are found in the sac lining of the chest or abdomen. Exposure to airborne asbestos particles increases the risk of developing malignant mesothelioma. Companies manufacturing products containing asbestos have known for over 60 years that asbestos can cause serious diseases.

    Diagnosis and Survival
    Mesothelioma is serious and life-threatening. By the time cancer is diagnosed the survival time of patients is usually short. Mesothelioma usually spreads throughout the peritoneal or pleural cavity before diagnosis, and complete surgical removal is unlikely. Because of this, the average survival time is only 1 year. If the cancer is found early, approximately 50% of the patients survive 2 years and approximately 20% survive 5 years. Additionally, unlike with other tumors, chemotherapy and radiation therapy are not very effective.

    Risk
    Malignant mesothelioma is a diffuse tumor that affects men more frequently than women. Sustained exposure to asbestos is the predominant risk factor. However, smoking dramatically increases risk amongst the asbestos-exposed. The latent period between asbestos exposure and onset of symptoms can be 20 to 50 years or even longer. The median age of diagnosis is 60. The tumor can spread rapidly to involve the pericardium (sac around the heart), mediastinum, and opposite pleura. Progressive pain and shortness of breath can occur. The tumor is usually associated with a pleural effusion.

    Exposure Limits
    Most people diagnosed with mesothelioma worked at jobs where they were exposed to asbestos. Exposure for as few as one or two months can lead to mesothelioma 10 to 50 years later. The long latency period means that people exposed to asbestos in the 1950’s, 1960’s, 1970’s and 1980’s may now be seeing symptoms and are now being diagnosed with mesothelioma.

    Low Calories, Longer Life , Less DNA Damage - Why?

    Saturday, April 15th, 2006

    Several recent experiments were funded by a 12.5 million grant from the National Institute on Aging. Results from these are showing strong evidence that a reduced calorie diet consistently produces conditions associated with longevity in the body.

    Prior clinical studies had shown this to be true in rodents.

    The resulting conditions for longevity are cited here from the Press Release:

    “Results from a controlled clinical trial indicate that overweight people who cut their calories by 25 percent for six months have reduced fasting insulin levels and core body temperature, two markers for which lower levels have been associated with increased longevity in humans. ”

    Furthermore, the studies indicated less DNA damage, known to be associated with cancer and other diseases.

    The Press Release stipulates the conclusions for longevity in rodents were true when the lower calorie diet was maintained for much of the rodent’s life. This extended testing has not been performed on humans, but testing will begin this year. Until this study begins, effects of such an intervention on human aging are unknown. But, current indications point to effects similar to those in rodents.

    “Beyond its effects on fasting insulin levels and core body temperature, the low calorie diet also resulted in changes in some, but not all, of the metabolic factors that have been related to longevity or aging.”

    Anyone willing to step out on an edge with me and venture a guess as to why these things are true?

    Here’s my theory:

    I think we’ll find a very simple mechanism at the core of why there is less DNA damage. So, simple as to be over-looked.

    Why do we use chemotherapy? Simply stated, we bombard cells with enough poison to kill any cell that isn’t very healthy. This only leaves the strong cells living.

    I believe a similar mechanism is at work in a lowered calorie diet. Since the bodies sources to supply its processes with needed ingredients are cut down, the body cuts down on processes. Weaker cells and components within the body will die and break down. Only the strongest and healthiest cells will continue to survive. Sounds a lot like chemotherapy doesn’t it?

    )))see my comment about all this below((((

    OK, now, let’s go crazy over the edge with this outlandish conjecture.

    I think after this mechanism is discovered, we will find that a process very similar to chemotherapy will yield the same results.

    )))see my comment about all this below((((

    OK, now, let’s take it over the top.

    I think the people using rotten food therapy to combat cancer have accidentally discovered these very things. I believe we will find they have many of the same changes for longevity as a side effect as well.

    Sound crazy? Maybe so. But you heard it here first. Sit back and watch.

    Regards.