Decline in Adult Smoking Stalls, Alarming Experts
TUESDAY, Sept. 7 (HealthDay News) -- Although the hazards of smoking are well known, 20 percent of Americans still light up, U.S. health officials said Tuesday.
The number of adult smokers dropped between 2000 and 2005, but the decline has leveled out, according to a new report from the U...
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Heart Health Rises With Education in Rich Nations
TUESDAY, Sept. 7 (HealthDay News) -- A higher level of education is associated with reduced risk of heart disease and stroke for people who live in rich countries, but not for those in low- and middle-income nations, finds a new study.
Highly educated men in high-income countries had the...
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Chemicals in Rugs, Cookware May Be Linked to Raised Cholesterol in Teens
MONDAY, Sept. 6 (HealthDay News) -- Common chemicals found in everything from non-stick cookware to grease-resistant food packaging appear to be associated with increases in cholesterol levels in adolescents, a new study suggests.
People are exposed to these chemicals -- known as perfluor...
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Low-Carb Diets Heavy on Meat May Raise Health Risks
MONDAY, Sept. 6 (HealthDay News) -- A low-carbohydrate diet that derives fats and proteins from vegetable sources rather than meats is probably healthier, new research finds.
Comparing the two types of diets over two decades, researchers found that the low-carb,...
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Winter Sports Tourists at Higher Risk of Heart Attack
SUNDAY, Sept. 5 (HealthDay News) -- Skiers and other winter sports tourists who visit the Alps are at increased risk for heart attack due to low temperatures, high altitude and inadequate conditioning for intense physical exertion, finds a new study.
The risk is greatest during the first...
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No Surprise: Walking, Cycling Linked to Healthier Weights
SATURDAY, Sept. 4 (HealthDay News) -- A new study confirms what seems obvious: people who live in communities where walking and cycling are common are less likely to be overweight or obese.
The researchers analyzed statistics about walking and cycling in 14 countries, and also studied dat...
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Proximity Affects Influence of Online 'Health Buddies'
THURSDAY, Sept. 2 (HealthDay News) -- When it comes to online social networking, people are more likely to change habits that might affect their health when encouraged to do so by cyber conversations with friends they already know well and with whom they are in close contact, new research suggest...
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Double-Dose Plavix Benefits Certain Patients, Study Finds
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 1 (HealthDay News) -- More isn't necessarily better when prescribing the two drugs commonly used to treat patients who are in danger of having a heart attack, Plavix (clopidogrel) and aspirin, a new study suggests.
Two reports on the data find that high doses of Plavix ar...
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Lower Blood Pressure May Help Sicker Kidney Patients
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 1 (HealthDay News) -- Aggressive treatment to lower high blood pressure may help preserve kidney function and prevent the need for dialysis in some black patients with chronic kidney disease.
That's the finding of a study published Sept. 2 in the New England Journal of...
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Overactive Blood Platelets May Play Role in Lupus
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 1 (HealthDay News) -- Overactive blood platelets could trigger inflammation in those with lupus, but the anti-clotting drug Plavix might ease the painful symptoms of this autoimmune disease, a new study suggests.
Platelets, which are the colorless, disc-shaped blood cells...
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'DASH Diet' Shown to Lower Heart Attack Risk Almost 20%
TUESDAY, Aug. 31 (HealthDay News) -- Eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables and low in saturated fats can significantly lower the risk of heart attack for people with mildly elevated blood pressure, Johns Hopkins University researchers say.
The diet they examined -- called the DASH...
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Active Lifestyle May Help Counter Obesity Genes
TUESDAY, Aug. 31 (HealthDay News) -- Exercise can reduce a person's genetic predisposition to obesity by 40 percent, finds a new English study.
Researchers looked at 20,430 people in Norwich and focused on genetic variants known to increase the risk of obesity. Most people had inherited 1...
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In Triathletes, Heart Adapts for Efficiency, Scans Show
TUESDAY, Aug. 31 (HealthDay News) -- The hearts of triathletes adapt to the rigors of training and competition by becoming more efficient, which suggests that combining endurance and resistance training may be the best way to achieve optimal heart health, researchers say.
German researche...
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Clues to Heart Attack, Stroke Risk From Fat-Filled Artery
MONDAY, Aug. 30 (HealthDay News) -- A number of factors put patients with abnormal fatty deposits in an artery at high risk for heart attack, stroke and cardiovascular death, a new study shows.
Patients in various stages of this condition -- atherothrombosis -- are at increased risk for h...
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Stent Implantation Linked to Blood Clot Risk in Black Patients
MONDAY, Aug. 30 (HealthDay News) -- Black patients are at increased risk of developing life-threatening blood clots after receiving a drug-coated stent to prop open narrowed arteries, U.S. researchers have found.
The new study included more than 7,200 patients w...
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Low-Dose Omega-3 Fatty Acids Don't Protect Heart Patients
SUNDAY, Aug. 29 (HealthDay News) -- Most heart patients who take low-dose omega-3 fatty acid supplements don't appear to gain any additional protection against further cardiac trouble, new Dutch research cautions.
In fact, neither low doses of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaeno...
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Breast-Feeding May Lower Women's Risk for Type 2 Diabetes
FRIDAY, Aug. 27 (HealthDay News) -- A new study finds that mothers who don't breast-feed their children are at greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes later in life compared to those who do breast-feed.
Type 2 diabetes occurs when the body's cells gradually lose their sensitivity to in...
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Older Diabetes Patients Still Sexually Active, Study Finds
FRIDAY, Aug. 27 (HealthDay News) -- Most older adults with diabetes are sexually active but the disease does cause some problems with intimacy, a new study found.
U.S. researchers surveyed 1,993 people, aged 57 to 85, and found that nearly 70 percent of partnered men with diabetes and 62...
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Record Heat Requires Exercise Precautions
THURSDAY, Aug. 26 (HealthDay News) -- Autumn may be waiting in the wings, but the continuing summer heat and humidity means that you need to be careful when exercising outdoors.
"It's great to get outside and exercise before the cold weather sets in, but this year's record heat makes it...
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In Some Patients, Hypertension Meds Raise Blood Pressure
WEDNESDAY, Aug. 25 (HealthDay News) -- Popular prescription medications taken to control hypertension may actually boost blood pressure in a "statistically significant" percentage of patients, researchers report.
The warning stems from a new study appearing in the online edition of the
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Study Suggests Statins Could Help Some With Normal Cholesterol
WEDNESDAY, Aug. 25 (HealthDay News) -- Cholesterol-lowering statins could go a long way toward protecting against heart disease among patients who are deemed to have an "intermediate risk" for cardiovascular trouble, a new study suggests.
The finding specifically applies to those men and...
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Health Tip: Diabetics Should Eat on Schedule
(HealthDay News) -- If you've got diabetes, staying on a regular eating schedule will help you maintain better glucose control.
The American Diabetes Association suggests how to maintain a consistent food schedule:
Schedule meal plans at your normal eating times.
Ma...
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Migraine With Aura Linked to Small Rise in Heart, Stroke Risks
TUESDAY, Aug. 24 (HealthDay News) -- People who suffer migraines with aura are at increased risk of dying from heart disease and stroke, but the individual risk for a migraine sufferer is low, two new studies show.
Auras -- temporary visual or sensory disturbances that occur before or dur...
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Prior Fractures Could Raise Older Women's Odds for Osteoporosis
MONDAY, Aug. 23 (HealthDay News) -- Older women who suffered bone fractures earlier in life may be at higher risk for osteoporosis today, a new study suggests.
When these women develop osteoporosis, their loss in health-related quality of life becomes similar to...
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Adding Fish Oil to Low-Fat/High-Carb Diet May Improve Cholesterol
FRIDAY, Aug. 20 (HealthDay News) -- For people with the metabolic syndrome -- a cluster of risk factors such as obesity, high blood pressure, high levels of blood fats or triglycerides and high blood sugar -- adding a little fish oil to a diet low in saturated fats and high in complex carbohydrat...
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Green, Leafy Vegetables Linked to Lower Type 2 Diabetes Risk
FRIDAY, Aug. 20 (HealthDay News) -- A new analysis of existing research suggests that eating more green, leafy vegetables can significantly reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, but more study is needed.
An estimated 6.4 percent of people in the world have diabetes, and the rates...
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Binge Drinking, Hypertension a Deadly Combo
THURSDAY, Aug. 19 (HealthDay News) -- If you have high blood pressure, binge drinking may greatly increase your risk of dying from a stroke or heart attack, South Korean researchers report.
Their study found that for men whose blood pressure was at least 168/100, the risk of dying from ca...
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Health Tip: Make Time for Healthy Meals
(HealthDay News) -- Dinnertime is often rushed, and it may seem that there's little time to prepare a healthy meal for the family.
The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests how to prepare healthy meals, despite a hectic schedule:
Try to plan and cook upcoming meals when y...
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Less Invasive Biopsies Gain Favor
TUESDAY, Aug. 17 (HealthDay News) -- Less invasive biopsies done with the help of imaging to guide the needle now make up the majority of biopsies being done, a new study finds.
In fact, the use of these minimally invasive biopsies increased from 59 percent to 67 percent of all biopsies b...
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When Doctors Admit Mistakes, Fewer Malpractice Suits Result, Study Says
TUESDAY, Aug. 17 (HealthDay News) -- When doctors make mistakes, admitting the error, saying "I'm sorry" and offering compensation may go a long way toward preventing malpractice lawsuits, new research shows.
In 2001, University of Michigan Health System launched a program encouraging he...
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Hostile, Competitive Types May Be Harming Their Hearts
MONDAY, Aug. 16 (HealthDay News) -- Hostile people, especially those who are manipulative and aggressive, may be paying a price in terms of heart health, a new study finds.
These types of people showed a thickening in the walls of their neck arteries tied to a 40 percent higher risk of h...
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Weight-Loss Surgery May Cut Type 2 Diabetes Medication Use
MONDAY, Aug. 16 (HealthDay News) -- Bariatric weight-loss surgery in obese people with type 2 diabetes can have an unexpected, yet positive side effect -- nearly 3 out of 4 patients in one study were able to stop taking their insulin and other diabetes medications within six months of surgery.
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Tough Childhoods May Contribute to Adult Heart Disease
SATURDAY, Aug. 14 (HealthDay News) -- Adults who experienced abuse, poverty, or social isolation in childhood are at increased risk for cardiovascular disease as a result of heightened "reactivity," warns an expert from the University of Pittsburgh.
"Many diseases first diagnosed in mid-l...
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A Good Doctor's Visit Starts With a Little Homework
FRIDAY, Aug. 13 (HealthDay News) -- Whether buying a toothbrush or a new car, it's become routine for shoppers to research before buying so they know all the options and can strike the best possible bargain.
Far less often, though, do people apply those tactics to one of their most import...
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Generics As Good As Costly Blood Pressure Meds, Study Finds
FRIDAY, Aug. 13 (HealthDay News) -- Costly, brand-name blood pressure-lowering drugs are no better at preventing cardiovascular disease than older, generic diuretics, reveals long-term data from a large study.
It included more than 33,000 patients with high blood pressure who were randoml...
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Docs Shying Away From Drug That May Prevent Prostate Cancer
THURSDAY, Aug. 12 (HealthDay News) -- Even though a major study found that the drug finasteride could reduce the risk of prostate cancer by 25 percent, it is still not being widely prescribed for that purpose, Veterans Administration researchers report.
Under the name Proscar, finasteride...
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Lithium of No Benefit in ALS, Study Finds
WEDNESDAY, Aug. 11 (HealthDay News) -- A new study appears to dash hopes that the psychiatric drug lithium can benefit patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
The investigation involving 171 people with ALS was stopped early, in November 2009, because of high dropout rates from...
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Cholesterol Levels Fluctuate With Menstrual Cycle
TUESDAY, Aug. 10 (HealthDay News) -- Women's cholesterol levels vary throughout their menstrual cycle as their levels of estrogen rise and fall, a new study reveals.
This means that to get a clear picture of a woman's cholesterol levels, doctors may need to take readings over several mont...
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Health Tip: Eat Lots of Fiber
(HealthDay News) -- Eating a high-fiber diet can help control constipation and maintain a healthy body weight.
The U.S. National Library of Medicine mentions these foods that are high in fiber:
Uncooked carrots, lettuce, broccoli, sweet potatoes and cooked asparagus.
<...
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No Significant Esophageal Cancer Risk From Osteoporosis Drug: Study
TUESDAY, Aug. 10 (HealthDay News) -- People who take oral bisphosphonate drugs to prevent or treat osteoporosis are not at a significantly increased risk for esophageal or stomach cancer, according to an analysis of more than 80,000 patients in the United Kingdom.
The use of oral bisphosp...
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Study Offers Support for Surgery After Compression Fracture
TUESDAY, Aug. 10 (HealthDay News) -- After studies last year found that a type of surgery called vertebroplasty was no better than a sham procedure in treating painful compression fractures, a new study now suggests the therapy can, in fact, ease some patients' pain.
In this (typically) o...
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Food Labels Lead to Healthy Food Choices
MONDAY, Aug. 9 (HealthDay News) -- People who read food labels have healthier diets than those who don't pay attention to such information, a new study shows.
Researchers analyzed data from the 2005-06 U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, and found that 61.6 percent of r...
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Many Stroke Patients Stop Taking Meds, Study Shows
MONDAY, Aug. 9 (HealthDay News) -- Many stroke patients stop taking their medications while many heart failure patients are never prescribed recommended medications in the first place, new research shows.
In one report, researchers found that 25 percent of stroke patients stopped taking o...
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Specific Type of Blood Clot Filter Linked to Complications
MONDAY, Aug. 9 (HealthDay News) -- Two types of filter devices used to prevent blood clots from reaching the lungs may break and some fragments could travel to the lungs and cause potentially life-threatening complications, a new study suggests.
Vena cava filters are placed in the vena ca...
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Wider Waist May Raise Death Risk Later in Life
MONDAY, Aug. 9 (HealthDay News) -- Among middle-aged and older adults, having a large waist can significantly raise the risk for dying prematurely, new research indicates.
The association appears to apply to both men and women, the study authors noted. What's more, having a normal weight...
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Depression Linked to Slow Healing of Diabetic Foot Ulcers
FRIDAY, Aug. 6 (HealthDay News) -- The healing of diabetes-related foot ulcers is affected by patients' coping styles and their levels of depression, new research shows.
The study included 93 diabetic patients with foot ulcers who were monitored for 24 weeks. The size of each patient's ul...
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Foot Doctors Can Help Diabetics Avoid Amputation: Study
FRIDAY, Aug. 6 (HealthDay News) -- Being treated by a podiatrist helps diabetes patients reduce their risk of amputation, research shows.
Podiatrists, also called podiatric physicians, are medical specialists of the foot, ankle and lower leg.
"More than half of all amputations in...
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Using Multiple Tobacco Products Ups Hazards: CDC
THURSDAY, Aug. 5 (HealthDay News) -- People who smoke cigarettes and also use other forms of tobacco have higher levels of nicotine addiction, find it more difficult to quit using tobacco, and are at greatly increased risk for tobacco-related health problems such as cancer, heart disease and stro...
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Genome Studies Point to Cholesterol-Regulating Genes
WEDNESDAY, Aug. 4 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers have identified almost 100 genes in the human genome that may regulate cholesterol levels and the risk of coronary artery disease, according to a new study.
Reporting in the Aug. 5 issue of Nature, the authors suggest that studying...
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Poll Shows Rise in 'Cyberchondriacs'
WEDNESDAY, Aug. 4 (HealthDay News) -- The debate about health care reform may be one reason why the number of "cyberchondriacs" in the United States increased from 154 million last year to 175 million this year, a new survey suggests.
The term "cyberchondriacs" refers to people who use t...
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Poorest People at Highest Heart Disease Risk: U.S. Data
WEDNESDAY, Aug. 4 (HealthDay News) -- Socioeconomic status plays a more important role than race or ethnicity in cardiovascular disease risk disparities in the United States, a new study has found.
Researchers analyzed data from 12,154 participants in the National Health and Nutrition Exa...
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Patients With Hepatitis B May Face Greater Risk of Blood Cancer
TUESDAY, Aug. 3 (HealthDay News) -- People with hepatitis B infection have about twice the risk of developing non-Hodgkin lymphoma, finds a new study.
Previous research has established that hepatitis C infection is linked with increased risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), but only small s...
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Vitamin B May Not Guard Against Second Stroke, Heart Attack
TUESDAY, Aug. 3 (HealthDay News) -- Stroke patients who take vitamin B supplements to lower their homocysteine levels may not be protected from second strokes or heart attacks, a new study finds.
Earlier studies found an association between homocysteine, an amino acid, in the blood, and...
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Weight Gain Eroding Americans' Quality of Life
TUESDAY, Aug. 3 (HealthDay News) -- As Americans' average weight keeps rising, their quality of life is falling, according to new research.
The nationwide study found that the number of healthy days per year that Americans lose due to obesity has more than doubled over the past two decade...
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Heart Health Can Help Predict Brain Health: Study
MONDAY, Aug. 2 (HealthDay News) -- What's good for the heart is probably also good for the brain, suggests new research.
People with the highest cardiac output for their body size (cardiac index), meaning those with the greatest blood flow from their heart, tended to have more brain volu...
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Low Carb-, Low-Fat Diets Tied for Long-Term Weight Loss
MONDAY, Aug. 2 (HealthDay News) -- If you're overweight, should you cut carbs or fat?
A new two-year study suggests that it may not matter in the long run: When combined with extensive guidance about eating and exercise, people lost about the same amount of weight whether they were on an...
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Athletes Need to Protect Against Heat Stroke: Expert
SATURDAY, July 31 (HealthDay News) -- Heat cramps, heat exhaustion and potentially fatal heat stroke are risks when exercising or playing sports during the summer, but they can be prevented by taking a few simple precautions, advises a Medical College of Georgia expert.
Heat illness occur...
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More Women to Get Health Insurance Under Affordable Care Act
FRIDAY, July 30 (HealthDay News) -- The new Affordable Care Act is likely to help 30 million women obtain better health insurance or coverage if they don't already have any, a new report shows.
Under the new provisions, which are already taking effect, 15 million uninsured women will gain...
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Doctors, Patients Rarely on Same Page
THURSDAY, July 29 (HealthDay News) -- Doctors and patients are often out of sync with each other when it comes to what patients believe about their illnesses, including to what extent the patient is to blame and what's the best way to manage the problem, new research shows.
The underlying...
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Experts Support FDA Panel's Backing of New Blood Thinner
THURSDAY, July 29 (HealthDay News) -- Following a federal health panel's endorsement of the new blood thinner Brilinta Wednesday, cardiologists say the drug could be a welcome addition to treatments for heart patients.
In a 7-to-1 vote, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Cardiovascul...
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Health Tip: Is Your Blood Sugar High?
(HealthDay News) -- Hyperglycemia, the medical term for high blood sugar, is a prime cause of complications among people with diabetes.
You may have high blood sugar and not even know it. The American Diabetes Association offers this list of common symptoms:
Blood or urine t...
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New Data Supports Link Between Diabetes Drugs, Fractures
THURSDAY, July 29 (HealthDay News) -- New research finds that two widely prescribed diabetes drugs may raise the risk of broken bones in postmenopausal women with type 2 diabetes.
There was also a fracture risk seen among men who had been prescribed either Avandia or Actos plus a loop diu...
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Implantable Sensor Measures Blood Sugar Levels
WEDNESDAY, July 28 (HealthDay News) -- A new implantable blood sugar sensor might one day eliminate the need for the multiple daily finger sticks that people with diabetes must currently endure to check their blood sugar levels.
The new device was tested for more than a year in pigs, and...
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Complications From Weight-Loss Surgery 'Relatively Low'
TUESDAY, July 27 (HealthDay News) -- Weight-loss surgery, also known as bariatric surgery, in the state of Michigan has a relatively low rate of serious complications, a new study suggests.
The lowest rates of complications are associated with surgeons and hos...
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To Help Keep Weight Off, Turn to the Web
TUESDAY, July 27 (HealthDay News) -- Worried about whether the weight you just lost will stay lost? Seeking out the right Web site might help, a new study suggests.
People who shed pounds and then consistently logged on to a specially designed Internet site for weight maintenance were b...
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Childhood Cancer May Be Linked to Later Heart Problems
MONDAY, July 26 (HealthDay News) -- Children who survive cancer may be at increased risk for long-term heart problems, new research suggests.
Dutch researchers looked at 601 childhood cancer survivors who were followed for an average of 15.4 years and found that...
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Combination Drug Approved for High Blood Pressure
MONDAY, July 26 (HealthDay News) -- Tribenzor, a three-in-one drug to treat high blood pressure, has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Tribenzor combines amlodipine, marketed by Pfizer as Norvasc, olmesartan medoxomil, marketed by Daiichi Sankyo as Benicar, and a thi...
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Link Between Depression, Cholesterol May Differ by Gender
MONDAY, July 26 (HealthDay News) -- Gender-specific regulation of cholesterol levels may help prevent depression in the elderly, suggests a new study.
French researchers followed a large group of men and women aged 65 and older for seven years. They found that depression in women was asso...
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Longer Time Frame for Clot-Busting Drug May Help Beat Stroke
MONDAY, July 26 (HealthDay News) -- Extending the time window to treat stroke patients with the clot-dissolving drug tPA from 3 hours to up to 4.5 hours after the onset of stroke doesn't result in any significant delays in treatment and appears to be a safe option for saving lives, new research s...
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Stroke Prevention Treatment Varies Widely Across U.S.
MONDAY, July 26 (HealthDay News) -- Doctors across the United States differ greatly in how they choose to open up clogged neck arteries to help prevent stroke, a new study shows.
Carotid artery disease occurs when plaque fills up major arteries supplying blood to the brain, greatly raisin...
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Generic Lovenox Approved for Deep Vein Thrombosis
FRIDAY, July 23 (HealthDay News) -- The first generic version of enoxaparin sodium injection (brand name: Lovenox), a blood-thinning drug designed to prevent deep vein thrombosis, has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The condition, abbreviated as DVT, can cause pote...
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Can Ozone Cause Heart Attacks?
THURSDAY, July 22 (HealthDay News) -- A new animal study offers the first direct bit of evidence that ozone, a major component of smog, may trigger the death of heart cells.
In small early tests with rats, U.S. researchers found that exposure to ground-level ozone over several weeks boost...
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Some on Statins May Not Need Boost in 'Good' Cholesterol
THURSDAY, July 22 (HealthDay News) -- People with extremely low levels of "bad" cholesterol as a result of taking statins don't seem to benefit from increased levels of "good" cholesterol, a new study suggests.
The conventional wisdom has been that to reduce the risk of heart attack and...
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Procedure Rejuvenates Aging Arteries in Pigs
WEDNESDAY, July 21 (HealthDay News) -- A two-step procedure that uses nanoparticles to first scrub plaque out of arteries and then inserts stem cells to promote healing of those arteries may one day help individuals with atherosclerosis, new research suggests.
"One of the problems of remo...
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Health Tip: Reduce Your Sugar Consumption
(HealthDay News) -- Sugar added to foods makes them taste sweeter, but a healthy diet can sour from too much of it.
The American Academy of Family Physicians suggests how you can limit added sugar:
Cut back on candy, desserts, baked goodies and other sweet treats.
S...
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Cholesterol Screening Rates Too Low in Young U.S. Adults: CDC
MONDAY, July 19 (HealthDay News) -- Only about half of young adults in the United States undergo cholesterol screening, even though up to one-quarter of them have elevated levels of "bad" cholesterol, a new study has found.
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention researchers analy...
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Could PCBs Help Boost Blood Pressure?
MONDAY, July 19 (HealthDay News) -- People in an Alabama city who had higher levels of the chemicals known as PCBs in their bodies were much more likely to have high blood pressure, a recent study found, but it's not clear if the PCBs actually caused their hypertension.
If a direct connec...
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Health Tip: What May Cause an Aneurysm
(HealthDay News) -- Aneurysm is the medical term for a bulging area of an artery that's stretched out like a balloon. It occurs when the artery wall becomes weak or damaged.
The U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute lists these possible causes of an aneurysm:
Being...
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U.S. Health Reform Starts to Take Hold
FRIDAY, July 16 (HealthDay News) -- Seniors whose drug costs push them into Medicare's "donut hole" and parents whose children are uninsurable due to pre-existing health conditions are among the first Americans to see tangible effects of the nation's historic health reform law.
The public...
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Dementia May Differ in Those With and Without Diabetes
THURSDAY, July 15 (HealthDay News) -- Vascular disease, which affects blood flow in brain vessels, appears to be a common cause of dementia in some people with diabetes, new study findings suggest.
That's in contrast to dementia in people without diabetes, which the researchers say is mor...
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Diabetics Urged to Confer With Their Doctor About Avandia Use
THURSDAY, July 15 (HealthDay News) -- One day after a U.S. advisory panel recommended that the controversial diabetes drug Avandia stay on the market -- albeit with added restrictions -- several medical organizations are urging patients not to change their medications before consulting a health-c...
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No-Shame Programs May Appeal to Obese
THURSDAY, July 15 (HealthDay News) -- Obese people prefer lifestyle change programs to help them shed excess pounds, rather than strategies that focus only on weight loss, a new study finds.
Australian researchers conducted a telephone survey of 142 obese people and asked their opinions a...
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Stroke Risk May Rise First Hour After Drinking
THURSDAY, July 15 (HealthDay News) -- For an hour after drinking even a small amount of alcohol, the risk of stroke increases, a small, preliminary study suggests.
But even though your risk may rise over that short time, the researchers noted that moderate drinking over the long-term migh...
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Health Tip: Take Steps Toward a Healthier Lifestyle
(HealthDay News) -- Everyone wants to live a healthier lifestyle, but where do you begin?
The American Diabetes Association says you can't do everything at once. It suggests taking these small steps toward a healthier you:
Make just one change at a time, and only when you're...
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Sleep Plays Important Role in Chronic Disease: Report
WEDNESDAY, July 14 (HealthDay News) -- Too much or too little sleep may increase your risk of developing chronic conditions such as obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease, research shows.
"Seven to eight hours of sleep each night appears to be the ideal amount t...
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Avandia Heart Risks Buried by Drug Company: Report
TUESDAY, July 13 (HealthDay News) -- The pharmacy company that makes Avandia knew more than a decade ago that the blockbuster diabetes drug caused an increased risk of heart problems but covered up the information, according to a report published Tuesday in The New York Times.
In a...
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Health Tip: Preventing Osteoporosis
(HealthDay News) -- Osteoporosis is a disease in which the bones become thin, frail and brittle, and may break easily. Women and older people are more prone to developing osteoporosis, although it can affect people of any age or gender.
The U.S. National Institute of Arthritis and Musculo...
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Heart Attack Care Is Getting Better, Report Finds
MONDAY, July 12 (HealthDay News) -- Patients who have a heart attack and undergo procedures to open blocked arteries are getting proven treatments in U.S. hospitals faster and more safely than ever before, according to the results of a large-scale study.
Data on more than 131,000 heart at...
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History of Pregnancy-Linked Diabetes Helps Predict Its Return
MONDAY, July 12 (HealthDay News) -- Women who had gestational diabetes in their first and second pregnancies are at greatly increased risk for the condition in future pregnancies, a new study finds.
Gestational diabetes can lead to early delivery, cesarean section and type 2 diabetes in t...
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Lifestyle Interventions Needed to Stay Heart-Healthy
MONDAY, July 12 (HealthDay News) -- There's no lack of scientific evidence proving that staying in shape and eating right are critical to a long and healthy life, but the fact that over 8 million Americans have histories of heart attack, stroke or heart failure suggests that too few are taking t...
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New Guidelines Urge Use of MRI Over CT Scan in Stroke Patients
MONDAY, July 12 (HealthDay News) -- Diffusion MRI scans are better at diagnosing ischemic stroke than CT scans, according to a new guideline released by the American Academy of Neurology.
An ischemic stroke -- the most common type of stroke -- is caused by a lac...
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Sleep Apnea Could Raise Heart Risks for Older Men
MONDAY, July 12 (HealthDay News) -- The snoring and breathing disturbances of sleep apnea may be more than just a nuisance, with a new study linking the condition to higher risks for heart failure and heart disease in middle-aged and older men.
However, the study found no correlation betw...
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Health Tip: Managing Dietary Fat
(HealthDay News) -- Some fats are an essential part of a balanced diet, but there are "good" fats and "bad" fats.
The American Academy of Family Physicians suggests how to manage your consumption of fat:
Avoid fast foods that contain unhealthy trans fats.
Don't eat...
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Doctor-Patient E-Mails Are a Healthy Addition, Research Shows
WEDNESDAY, July 7 (HealthDay News) -- Patients with diabetes or hypertension or both who communicated with their doctors via e-mail got better care and better health outcomes, new California research contends.
The improvements as a result of the e-mail exchanges included such measures as...
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Monitoring Blood Pressure at Home May Help Keep It Low
WEDNESDAY, July 7 (HealthDay News) -- With proper training, people with high blood pressure may be able to control it more effectively on their own at home than through conventional methods, British researchers contend.
Through telemonitoring of their blood pressure and adjusting their me...
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Anxiety Disorders, Heart Disease a Bad Combination: Study
TUESDAY, July 6 (HealthDay News) -- Anxiety disorders may increase the risk of heart attack, stroke, heart failure and death in people with heart disease, a new Dutch study suggests.
The research included over 1,000 people with stable coronary heart disease who...
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Changes in Fat Cells May Pave Way for Type 2 Diabetes
TUESDAY, July 6 (HealthDay News) -- Cellular changes in fat tissue play a major role in the development of type 2 diabetes, a new study shows.
University of Cincinnati researchers found that these changes in fat cells -- not the immune system, as previously thought -- are linked to the "h...
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Tight Blood Pressure Control Doesn't Help All Diabetics: Study
TUESDAY, July 6 (HealthDay News) -- Lower may not be better when it concerns blood pressure levels in type 2 diabetics who also have heart disease.
New research finds that patients with diabetes and coronary artery disease did not have fewer strokes or heart attacks, and actually were mor...
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Complications Shorten Stroke Patients' Lives
THURSDAY, July 1 (HealthDay News) -- Complications from stroke, such as pneumonia or a secondary stroke, can shorten the lives of patients by an average of two years, researchers report.
"Previous studies have already shown that post-stroke complications increase mortality as well as disa...
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Drug May Shrink Fibroids, Preserve Fertility
THURSDAY, July 1 (HealthDay News) -- Preliminary research suggests that a new drug treatment shrinks uterine fibroids and helps women with the non-cancerous tumors retain their fertility.
Uterine fibroids, which cause abdominal pain and heavy menstrual bleeding, are a leading cause of hys...
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Testosterone Gel Could Raise Heart Risks in Frail, Older Men
WEDNESDAY, June 30 (HealthDay News) -- Older men in poor health who use testosterone gel to boost their mobility may raise their odds of high blood pressure or heart attack, new research suggests.
The problems observed were concerning enough to cause the researchers to put an early stop t...
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Clues to Preventing Return of Liver Cancer
TUESDAY, June 29 (HealthDay News) -- Antiviral therapy may halt or slow recurrence of liver cancer in patients with chronic hepatitis B and extend their lives, finds a new study.
Previous research has shown that antiviral therapy reduces the incidence of liver cancer in such patients....
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Community-Based Diabetes Prevention Program Promising: Study
TUESDAY, June 29 (HealthDay News) -- A community-based diabetes prevention program helps people lose weight and lower blood sugar as effectively as individual counseling from health professionals, finds a new study.
Participants in the Healthy Living Partnerships to Prevent Diabetes study...
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Fewer Dying From Type 1 Diabetes
TUESDAY, June 29 (HealthDay News) -- The overall death rate from type 1 diabetes is decreasing in the United States, but blacks are more likely to die from the condition than whites, a new study shows.
The finding came from an analysis of data from the Allegheny County Type 1 Diabetes Reg...
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Insulin Pump with Blood Sugar Sensor May Improve on Injections
TUESDAY, June 29 (HealthDay News) -- Type 1 diabetics who used an insulin pump and a sensor that continuously monitored their blood sugar levels had better control over their illness than people taking insulin injections, a large clinical trial finds.
Researchers divided 485 people aged...
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Latest Study on Diabetes Drug Avandia Finds No Heart Risks
TUESDAY, June 29 (HealthDay News) -- In direct contrast to research reported on Monday, a new study concludes there is no increased risk of heart attack, stroke or death by taking the diabetes drug Avandia.
This latest finding even suggests that rosiglitazone (Avandia) might be associated...
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Taking Public Transit Might Help You Stay Slim
TUESDAY, June 29 (HealthDay News) -- When cities create or improve light rail public transit systems, citizens' waistlines may benefit, a new study shows.
By getting people out of their cars and having them walk to and from transit stations, calories get burned, the researchers noted....
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Tight Blood Sugar Control in Older Diabetics May Not Reduce Heart Risk
TUESDAY, June 29 (HealthDay News) -- Intensive control of blood glucose levels does not reduce the odds of cardiovascular disease for those with long-term type 2 diabetes who are at risk of heart problems, a new study confirms, but it may have some other benefits.
Strict control of bl...
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Statins May Not Be as Helpful for Those Without Heart Disease
MONDAY, June 28 (HealthDay News) -- Despite being used widely to lower cholesterol levels, statins don't appear to reduce the chances of death in people at risk of developing cardiovascular disease, British scientists have found.
Statins are used widely to treat and prevent cardiovascula...
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Artificial Pancreas Continues to Show Promise
SUNDAY, June 27 (HealthDay News) -- New research suggests that artificial pancreas technology can help diabetics gain greater blood sugar control overnight, even when they have eaten a big meal or had wine for dinner.
The promise of this emerging technology is to free diabetics from the n...
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More Genes Implicated in Type 2 Diabetes
SUNDAY, June 27 (HealthDay News) -- Scientists have located 12 new genes that seem to be linked with a predisposition for type 2 diabetes, bringing the total number of genetic locations implicated in the condition to 38.
At this point, the findings don't mean much for patients or doctors...
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Vitamins May Not Curb High Blood Pressure in Pregnant Diabetics
SATURDAY, June 26 (HealthDay News) -- Taking vitamin C and E supplements will not lower the risk of the blood pressure disorder known as preeclampsia in pregnant women with type 1 diabetes, a new study finds.
Women with diabetes are at high risk for preeclampsia (a sudden increase in the...
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Health Tip: Recognize Symptoms of Hypotension
(HealthDay News) -- Hypotension is the medical term for low blood pressure, which means vital organs including the heart and brain may not get enough blood.
The U.S. National Library of Medicine says symptoms of low blood pressure may include:
Blurred eyesight.
Feel...
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Outdated Meds Pose Problems If Kept or Tossed
FRIDAY, June 25 (HealthDay News) -- It's a common find in medicine cabinets and bathroom drawers: a prescription vial containing years-old medication or an over-the-counter cold remedy that's embarrassingly past its sell-by date.
But unless they're spring-cleaning, many people don't bothe...
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U.S. Report Finds Too Few Clinics Target Diabetes, Obesity
THURSDAY, June 24 (HealthDay News) -- Too few local health clinics in the United States offer diabetes screening or obesity prevention programs, according to a nationwide study from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The clinics, which tend to serve poor clients, need to...
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Diabetes May Double Risk of Heart Attack, Stroke
THURSDAY, June 24 (HealthDay News) -- Diabetes appears to double the risk of dying from a heart attack, stroke or other heart condition, a new study finds.
The researchers implicate diabetes in one of every 10 deaths from cardiovascular disease, or about 325,000 deaths a year in industria...
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Drug Helps Tackle Type 2 Diabetes in New Way, Study Says
THURSDAY, June 24 (HealthDay News) -- A new drug, the first in its class, gives added blood sugar control to people with type 2 diabetes who are already taking the glucose-lowering medication metformin.
The new agent, dapagliflozin, which also helped patients lose weight, is novel in that...
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Most Americans Get Too Much Salt
THURSDAY, June 24 (HealthDay News) -- Ninety percent of Americans are eating more salt than they should, a new government report reveals.
In fact, salt is so pervasive in the food supply it's difficult for most people to consume less. Too much salt can increase your blood pressure, which...
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Research Sheds Light on Increased Blood Clot Risk
THURSDAY, June 24 (HealthDay News) -- In an effort to uncover why some people's blood platelets clump faster than others, a genetic analysis has turned up a specific grouping of overactive genes that seems to control the process.
On the plus side, platelets are critical for fending off in...
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Abuse May Raise Risk of Heart Attack, Stroke in Migraine Sufferers
WEDNESDAY, June 23 (HealthDay News) -- Adults who suffer migraines and were victims of childhood abuse or neglect face an increased risk for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease, a new study suggests.
The multi-center, cross-sectional study included more than 1,300 migraine patients...
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Mouse Study Sheds Light on Diabetes-Heart Disease Link
WEDNESDAY, June 23 (HealthDay News) -- A potential link between diabetes and a heightened risk of heart disease and sudden cardiac death has been spotted by researchers studying mice.
In the new study, published in the June 24 issue of the journal Neuron, the investigators found th...
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Gaining Weight Later in Life Ups Diabetes Risk
TUESDAY, June 22 (HealthDay News) -- Gaining weight when you're over age 50, especially around the waist, significantly increases your risk of type 2 diabetes, new research suggests.
Compared to people whose weight remained stable after age 50, people who gained the most weight after 50 (...
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Age, Race May Affect Type 2 Diabetes Screening Results
MONDAY, June 21 (HealthDay News) -- Despite its endorsement last year by the American Diabetes Association as an effective way to diagnose type 2 diabetes, new research out of Singapore suggests that the hemoglobin A1c blood test may not accurately identify the disease among elderly Asians....
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Many Diabetics Unaware of Hot Weather Hazards
MONDAY, June 21 (HealthDay News) -- Although diabetes raises the chances of developing heat illness, many people with the condition don't know how to reduce their risk, a new Mayo Clinic survey reveals.
"People with diabetes have an impaired ability to sweat, which predisposes them to he...
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Vitamin D Deficiency Linked to Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome in Studies
SATURDAY, June 19 (HealthDay News) -- A pair of new studies has uncovered evidence that low levels of vitamin D could lead to poor blood sugar control among diabetics and increase the risk of developing metabolic syndrome among seniors.
Both findings are slated to be presented Saturday at...
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Ninety Percent of Stroke Risk Due to 10 Risk Factors
FRIDAY, June 18 (HealthDay News) -- A large international study has found that 10 risk factors account for 90 percent of all the risk of stroke, with high blood pressure playing the most potent role.
Of that list, five risk factors usually related to lifestyle -- high blood pressure, smok...
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Patients Could Use More Help Quitting Smoking
FRIDAY, June 18 (HealthDay News) -- Many U.S. health professionals fail to offer programs, plans or prescriptions to help patients quit smoking, finds a new study.
Researchers surveyed different types of health care providers -- primary care and emergency physicians, psychiatrists, nurses...
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Celebrex Appears Easier on Stomach for Arthritis Patients
THURSDAY, June 17 (HealthDay News) -- Patients who take the painkiller celecoxib for arthritis pain and inflammation are less likely to suffer gastrointestinal damage than those who take diclofenac plus omeprazole, a new study finds.
Celecoxib (Celebrex) is a cox-2 selective non-steroidal...
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Jevtana Approved for Advanced Prostate Cancer
THURSDAY, June 17 (HealthDay News) -- The chemotherapy drug Jevtana (cabazitaxel) has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat advanced prostate cancer that worsens despite use of a standard drug therapy, docetaxel.
In some cases of prostate cancer, the male hormone...
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Scientists Tease Out Links Between Diabetes, Cancer
WEDNESDAY, June 16 (HealthDay News) -- People with diabetes may have something else to be concerned about -- an increased risk of cancer, according to a new consensus report produced by experts recruited jointly by the American Cancer Society and the American Diabetes Association.
Diabet...
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Calcium, Vitamin D Supplements OK for Arteries
TUESDAY, June 15 (HealthDay News) -- Moderate doses of calcium and vitamin D supplements don't raise women's coronary artery calcium (CAC) levels, a new study finds.
Deposits of calcium in blood vessels have been linked to blood vessel blockages and increased risk of heart attack and stro...
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Docs Should Assess Lung Clot Risk Before Ordering Scan
TUESDAY, June 15 (HealthDay News) -- CT angiography might not be necessary in many patients suspected of having a blood clot in the lung (pulmonary embolism), and a risk analysis can identify those most likely to require the procedure, a new study suggests.
Pulmonary embolism (PE) occurs...
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Key Blood Sugar Test Seems to Differ By Race
TUESDAY, June 15 (HealthDay News) -- The hemoglobin A1C test is supposed to give doctors a sense of diabetics' long-term blood sugar levels, but new research suggests the test may have different results depending on race, even if daily blood sugar levels are the same.
What's more, those d...
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'Good' HDL Cholesterol Now Tied to Lower Cancer Risk
MONDAY, June 14 (HealthDay News) -- Higher blood levels of HDL cholesterol, the "good" kind that protects against heart disease, are also strongly associated with a lower risk of cancer, a new review of studies suggests.
"For about a 10-point increase of HDL, there is a reduced risk of ca...
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'Normal' Blood Pressure in Male Teens a Warning Sign
MONDAY, June 14 (HealthDay News)-- Teen boys with normal blood pressure levels are three to four times more likely to develop high blood pressure in early adulthood than their female counterparts, a new study shows.
Researchers came to this conclusion after studying the blood pressure of...
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Brown Rice Bests White for Diabetes Prevention
MONDAY, June 14 (HealthDay News) -- Substituting brown rice or another whole grain for white rice can help reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes, new research suggests.
Five or more servings of white rice a week increased the risk of type 2 diabetes by 17 percent, according to the study, w...
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Drug That Stops Bleeding Could Save Lives
MONDAY, June 14 (HealthDay News) -- A drug commonly used to prevent excess bleeding in surgeries could keep thousands of people from bleeding to death after trauma, a new study suggests.
The drug, tranexamic acid (TXA) is cheap, widely available around the world and easily administered,...
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Health Tip: Packing Prescriptions for Travel
(HealthDay News) -- If you're planning to pack prescription drugs when traveling by air, there are steps you can take to avoid trouble taking them on board.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control offers this advice:
Put your prescription medications in your carry-on bag, rathe...
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Experimental Liver Transplant Approach Shows Early Promise
SUNDAY, June 13 (HealthDay News) -- A new approach to liver transplantation is making headway in preliminary work with rats, researchers say.
Their work at the Center for Engineering in Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH-CEM) could ultimately point the way toward engineering...
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Popular Blood Pressure Drugs Tied to Slight Rise in Cancer Risk
SUNDAY, June 13 (HealthDay News) -- Use of a popular class of drugs for high blood pressure and heart failure is associated with a slight boost in cancer risk, a new review of data finds.
The drugs are known as angiotensin-receptor blockers (ARBs) and include medicines such as telmisartan...
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Health Tip: Coping With Stress
(HealthDay News) -- Who isn't stressed these days? Whether it's your job, family, finances, social life, or illness, no one is immune.
Learning to manage the stress in your life can help you live healthier and happier; enjoy your job, family and friends more; and focus your energies on th...
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Least Healthy More Apt to Think Genes Explain Disease Risk
FRIDAY, June 11 (HealthDay News) -- A new survey shows that the recent deluge of scientific discoveries of links between specific genes and many chronic diseases might be providing the least healthy people with something they don't need: an excuse for their medical woes.
"We wanted to kn...
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Exercise Helps Reduce Falls in Young and Old
THURSDAY, June 10 (HealthDay News) -- Regular exercise reduces the risk of falls in both young and old, a new study shows.
Falls are a major hazard in the United States, with about 19,000 people dying from them each year and an estimated 8 million seeking treatment in emergency rooms annu...
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Not Smoking After Bone Surgery May Speed Healing
THURSDAY, June 10 (HealthDay News) -- Smokers recover better from surgery to repair a broken bone if they quit smoking, according to Swedish researchers.
The new study included daily smokers who underwent emergency surgery for an acute fracture and were offered a smoking cessation program...
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Quitting Smoking Before Pregnancy Could Save Babies' Lives
THURSDAY, June 10 (HealthDay News) -- Women who quit smoking before they get pregnant may save their babies' lives, says a new study of more than 3 million births.
Looking at the data, researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that smoking during pregnancy...
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Warfarin Safe During Heart Device Surgery: Study
WEDNESDAY, June 9 (HealthDay News) -- It's safe to continue giving the blood thinner warfarin to patients undergoing surgery to implant a heart pacemaker or defibrillator, according to a new study.
The research included 459 patients placed on warfarin therapy to reduce their risk of blood...
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Common Pain Relievers Raise Heart Risk for Healthy Folks
TUESDAY, June 8 (HealthDay News) -- Healthy people who take nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs to relieve minor aches and pains may raise their risk of dying from heart-related problems, a Danish study finds.
The American Heart Association and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration alrea...
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Female Caregivers Face a Heavier Toll: Study
TUESDAY, June 8 (HealthDay News) -- A new Canadian review finds that adult daughters suffer more than adult sons from poor relationships with ailing and aging parents who need their care.
"Adult daughters place greater emphasis on their relationships with their parents, and when those rel...
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Shortness Boosts Heart Disease, Death Risk
TUESDAY, June 8 (HealthDay News) -- Short people have a significantly increased risk of developing heart disease, a new analysis shows.
Over the years, there has been conflicting evidence on whether shortness was associated with heart disease. However, this is the first systematic review...
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After a Stroke, Light Exercise Gets Hands, Arms Working Again
MONDAY, June 7 (HealthDay News) -- Low-intensity exercise can reduce depression and improve recovery after a stroke, a new study shows.
The finding stems from Canadian research involving 103 people who'd had a stroke and were receiving standard follow-up care in a hospital. About half wer...
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Glucose 'Tattoo' Could Track Blood Sugar Levels for Diabetics
FRIDAY, June 4 (HealthDay News) -- In the future, people with diabetes may be able to monitor their blood sugar levels using a glucose "tattoo."
This new type of continuous glucose monitor relies on fluorescent nanoparticle ink injected under the skin to detect blood sugar levels with a w...
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Low-Dose HRT Patch May Lessen Stroke Risk
FRIDAY, June 4 (HealthDay News) -- Getting low-dose hormone replacement therapy through a skin patch may reduce a woman's risk for stroke, but high-dose patches could actually raise the risk, a new study suggests.
Many women take hormone therapy to treat menopausal symptoms, but some stu...
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Wii Games Can Get Seniors Moving
FRIDAY, June 4 (HealthDay News) -- Certain kinds of video games -- like Nintendo's Wii Sports -- may help overweight seniors become more physically active and burn calories, new research suggests.
Although not an improvement on real-life gaming and sports activity, the study team found th...
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1 in 4 Patients Undergoes Revolving-Door Hospitalizations
THURSDAY, June 3 (HealthDay News) -- About one-quarter of all U.S. hospital patients are readmitted over a two-year period for the same conditions that led to their original hospitalization, a new study finds.
These revolving-door figures came from the federal Agency for Healthcare Resear...
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More Than Quarter of Stroke Patients Reach ER Within 'Golden Hour'
THURSDAY, June 3 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers report that only about a quarter of people who have strokes caused by blocked arteries arrive at a hospital within one hour of the attack -- the "golden hour" where treatment with a powerful clot-dissolving drug is expected to work best.
T...
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Clean House Linked to Better Fitness
WEDNESDAY, June 2 (HealthDay News) -- People with tidy homes are more likely to be physically active than those with messy dwellings, new findings suggest.
Indiana University researchers assessed the physical activity levels of 998 residents of St. Louis, aged 49 to 65, who were participa...
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Drug Combo Staves Off Type 2 Diabetes
WEDNESDAY, June 2 (HealthDay News) -- In people with pre-diabetes, a low-dose combination of two diabetes drugs -- metformin and Avandia (rosiglitazone) -- appeared to reduce the progression to type 2 diabetes, new research shows.
The study found that the risk of developing type 2 diabete...
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Being Young and Sedentary Raises Hypertension Risk Later
TUESDAY, June 1 (HealthDay News) -- Low levels of physical activity and fitness significantly increase the risk of developing high blood pressure, a 20-year study of young adults shows.
The study, released online June 1 in advance of publication in the July print issue of the journal H...
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Dual Therapy Best for Preventing Bleeding After Heart Procedures
TUESDAY, June 1 (HealthDay News) -- The risk of bleeding in patients undergoing procedures such as balloon angioplasty and stent implants to open blocked arteries can be lowered best through the combined use of vessel-closing devices and a blood thinner, researchers say.
Bleeding is a com...
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TV Food Ads Promote Bad Diets
TUESDAY, June 1 (HealthDay News) -- If you let TV ads determine what you eat, you'll end up with huge amounts of fat and sugar but precious few vegetables and fruits in your diet.
That's the finding of a new study that analyzes what would happen if a person were to eat 2,000 calories of f...
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Dangers Lurk in Impotence Drugs Sold on Web
MONDAY, May 31 (HealthDay News) -- Internet-based companies market them, men continue to buy them and experts continue to warn of the dangers of counterfeit drugs for erectile dysfunction.
A new study, conducted in South Korea and slated for presentation Monday at the American Urological...
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Bursts of Vigorous Activity Appear to Be a 'Stress-Buffer'
FRIDAY, May 28 (HealthDay News) -- Short bouts of exercise can go a long way to reduce the impact stress has on cell aging, new research reveals.
Vigorous physical activity amounting to as little as 14 minutes daily, three day per week would suffice for the protective effect to kick in, a...
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Caring for Diabetic Pets Helps Humans Get Healthier
FRIDAY, May 28 (HealthDay News) -- Daniela Trnka had been living with type 1 diabetes for almost 20 years when she noticed telltale signs of the disease in her Siberian Husky, Cooper. He was thirsty, urinating often and at times, lethargic.
So she took out her blood sugar test kit, opened...
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Health Tip: When Your Blood Clots Excessively
(HealthDay News) -- Your blood must clot to prevent deadly blood loss. But when blood has a tendency to clot too much, it results in a dangerous condition called hypercoagulation.
The American Academy of Family Physicians says risk factors for hypercoagulation may include:
S...
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Ultrasound Helps Spot Stroke Risk in Symptomless Patients
FRIDAY, May 28 (HealthDay News) Researchers say ultrasound can successfully spot patients at risk of having either a stroke or a "mini-stroke" due to a narrowing of the carotid artery - the main vessel in the neck that brings blood to the brain.
The finding could help doctors more easily...
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Experts Advise At-Risk Diabetics to Begin Daily Aspirin Later
THURSDAY, May 27 (HealthDay News) -- Three major medical groups have pushed upwards the recommended age at which diabetics should start taking low-dose aspirin to prevent a first heart attack or stroke.
According to a joint statement by the American Heart Association, the American Diabete...
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Fit People Release More Fat-Burning Molecules During Exercise
THURSDAY, May 27 (HealthDay News) -- A new study provides tantalizing clues about how exercise helps ward off heart disease and other ills: Fit people have more fat-burning molecules in their blood than less fit people after exercise.
And the very fittest are even more efficient, on a bi...
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Too Many Stroke Patients Go Without Statins
THURSDAY, May 27 (HealthDay News) -- Despite an increased likelihood that American stroke patients will be prescribed potentially life-saving statin medications when released from the hospital, more than 16 percent are still being discharged without such prescriptions in hand, a large new study r...
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Toothbrushing May Stave Off Heart Woes
THURSDAY, May 27 (HealthDay News) -- Here's another reason to brush your teeth regularly: People who don't perform this essential of oral hygiene seem to have a greater risk of heart disease compared to their more diligent peers.
"We were surprised to find a relationship between toothbru...
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Brain Cells May Serve as Clot-Busters
WEDNESDAY, May 26 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers report that they've discovered how tiny blood vessels remove blood clots from the brain in mice -- a finding that could help scientists gain a better understanding of how to treat people who suffer from Alzheimer's disease and stroke.
Remo...
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Gene Mutation Linked to Congenital Heart Disease
WEDNESDAY, May 26 (HealthDay News) -- A team of cardiologists and geneticists have identified a genetic mutation that appears to strongly raise the risk for congenital heart disease, the most common major birth defect.
Congenital heart disease (CHD), is the "Wild West" of genetics, rarely...
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Healthier Fats Replacing Trans Fats, Study Finds
WEDNESDAY, May 26 (HealthDay News) -- Fears that removing harmful trans fats from foods would open the door for manufacturers and restaurants to add other harmful fats to foods seem to be unfounded, a new study finds.
A team from Harvard School of Public Health analyzed 83 reformulated pr...
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Many Supplements Said to Contain Toxins, Make False Health Claims
WEDNESDAY, May 26 (HealthDay News) -- A Congressional investigation of dietary herbal supplements has found trace amounts of lead, mercury and other heavy metals in nearly all products tested, plus myriad illegal health claims made by supplement manufacturers, The New York Times reported W...
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Rare Cases of Liver Damage Tied to Weight-Loss Drug
WEDNESDAY, May 26 (HealthDay News) -- Responding to reports of rare but sometimes severe cases of liver damage, U.S. health officials on Wednesday announced revised labels for a widely used weight-loss drug.
The drug, orlistat, is available by prescription under the trade name Xenical and...
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Surgery, Stenting Fare Equally Well in Preventing Stroke
WEDNESDAY, May 26 (HealthDay News) -- The latest major trial pitting invasive surgery against less invasive stenting to help prevent stroke shows that each is a safe, effective option.
Researchers report in the May 26 online edition of the New England Journal of Medicine that the s...
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Report Finds Control of High Blood Pressure Improving
TUESDAY, May 25 (HealthDay News) -- While the number of Americans with high blood pressure has not declined in recent years, researchers report that the good news is that more people with the condition have it under control.
High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, is a major ris...
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Fewer Sugary Drinks, Less High Blood Pressure
MONDAY, May 24 (HealthDay News) - Even a small reduction per day in sweetened soft drink intake could improve your blood pressure, researchers report.
In an 18-month study, researchers found a measurable reduction in blood pressure -- 1.8 points in systolic pres...
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Frequent Doctor Visits Help Diabetics Control Blood Pressure
MONDAY, May 24 (HealthDay News) -- Frequent doctor visits may help diabetics get their high blood pressure back to normal faster, a new study says.
Current guidelines suggest that patients with high blood pressure return for doctor visits within a month, but patients often wait longer.<...
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Parents Want Electronic Access to Their Childrens Docs: Survey
SATURDAY, May 22 (HealthDay News) Half of all American parents polled say they would like to be able to communicate with their child's physician via the Internet, a new survey reveals.
Yet fewer than 15 percent of those said they are currently able to do so to make appointments for vacci...
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Common Diabetes Drug Linked to Vitamin B-12 Deficiency
FRIDAY, May 21 (HealthDay News) -- Diabetics who take the drug metformin over the long term should get their vitamin B-12 levels checked regularly to see if they are developing a vitamin deficiency, a new report suggests.
Metformin, also known by several brand names including Glucophage,...
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Health Reform Should Provide Insurance to Many Young Adults
FRIDAY, May 21 (HealthDay News) -- Most of the 13.7 million younger Americans who currently lack health insurance could gain coverage under the health reform package signed into law by President Barack Obama in March, a new report from The Commonwealth Fund says.
Starting in September, m...
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Online Program Helps Patients Self-Monitor Blood Pressure
FRIDAY, May 21 (HealthDay News) -- An online blood-pressure monitoring program made a major difference in health management for patients with uncontrolled hypertension, new research has found.
The researchers studied more than 350 patients, aged 18 to 85, who had uncontrolled high blood...
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More Steps a Day Lead to Better Health
THURSDAY, May 20 (HealthDay News) -- Walk a little, and your body will thank you. Walk a lot, and it will really thank you.
That's the message of a new study that links taking more steps in a day to a lower risk of an extremely common condition known as metabolic syndrome, which can lead...
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Statin Use Tied to Eye, Kidney, Liver Troubles
THURSDAY, May 20 (HealthDay News) -- People taking cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins may be at heightened risk for liver dysfunction, acute kidney failure and cataracts, British researchers report.
Statins, which include the blockbuster drugs Lipitor, Pravachol, Crestor and Zocor,...
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Stroke Incidence Down, But Not for Blacks
THURSDAY, May 20 (HealthDay News) -- The incidence of the most common form of stroke has decreased significantly among whites but has increased slightly among blacks, according to a new regional survey designed to be representative of the United States as a whole.
Data from the Greater Ci...
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Less Invasive Fix for Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Works
WEDNESDAY, May 19 (HealthDay News) -- For patients with an abdominal aortic aneurysm, a less invasive procedure called endovascular repair appears as good as conventional surgery, Dutch researchers report.
In previous studies, endovascular repair has been shown to have fewer complications...
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Study Challenges Notion That Moderate Drinking Protects the Heart
WEDNESDAY, May 19 (HealthDay News) -- A major French study links moderate drinking to a lower risk for cardiovascular disease, but challenges the notion that moderate drinking gets the credit.
Instead, the researchers say, people who drink moderately tend to have a higher social status, e...
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Major Depression Often Follows Brain Injury
TUESDAY, May 18 (HealthDay News) -- People who are hospitalized for a traumatic brain injury face an almost eight-fold higher risk of also suffering major depression.
That's the finding of a team led by Charles H. Bombardier, professor of rehabilitation medicine at the University of Washi...
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Early Treatment With Clot-Busting Drug Best After Stroke
THURSDAY, May 13 (HealthDay News) -- Patients who get the clot-busting drug alteplase (tPA) within 4.5 hours of having a stroke fare better than patients who are given the drug later, Scottish doctors report.
It has been known that treating a stroke earlier is better than later, but this...
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Health Tip: Why Do Some Diabetics Have Nerve Damage?
(HealthDay News) -- Neuropathy, or damage to the nerves, is a common complication among people with diabetes.
The National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse says here are possible causes of diabetic neuropathy:
Having been diabetic for a long time, having high blood sugar,...
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The Best Diet? That Depends on You
THURSDAY, May 13 (HealthDay News) -- You know you need to lose weight. And you know you're ready, whcih is more than half the battle. But you still have to pick from a seemingly endless array of weight-loss plans.
How to decide?
Experts who counsel overweight patients say there ar...
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Too Many Wouldn't Call 911 If Stroke Hit
THURSDAY, May 13 (HealthDay News) -- Most people aren't familiar with the symptoms of a stroke and most who are wouldn't do the right thing and call 911 if a stroke occurred, a new survey finds.
"If you know the stroke symptoms and don't know how to react once you see them, that doesn't d...
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Treating Common Irregular Heartbeat Might Also Ward Off Alzheimer's
THURSDAY, May 13 (HealthDay News) -- By treating the common irregular heartbeat known as atrial fibrillation in a certain way, doctors might also help prevent Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia, new research finds.
In atrial fibrillation, the upper chambers of the heart beat...
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Bone Drugs Not Linked to Rare Fractures
WEDNESDAY, May 12 (HealthDay News) -- A new study finds no association between the use of a popular class of osteoporosis medications known as bisphosphonates and an unusual type of thigh bone fracture.
Bisphosphonates include blockbuster drugs such as alendronate (Fosamax), risedronate (...
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New Alzheimer's Risk Genes Identified
TUESDAY, May 11 (HealthDay News) -- Scientists have pinpointed two genes that are linked to Alzheimer's disease and could become targets for new treatments for the neurodegenerative condition.
Genetic variants appear to play an important part in the development of Alzheimer's since having...
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Once-A-Year Vitamin D Megadose Ups Fracture Risk: Study
TUESDAY, May 11 (HealthDay News) -- A large once-a-year dose of vitamin D, while convenient, doesn't offer the same protection against falls and fractures in older women that smaller, more frequent doses may, a new study has found.
What's more, the research suggests that when older women t...
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Prevention Gets Credit for Fewer Heart Deaths
TUESDAY, May 11 (HealthDay News) -- Improved treatment, coupled with more effective preventive measures, may be having a positive impact on the death rate from coronary heart disease.
Death rate data from the United States and Canada both indicate a drop in cardiovascular deaths. Accordin...
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Strenuous Exercise May Stop Cellular Death
TUESDAY, May 11 (HealthDay News) -- Strenuous exercise appears to stop the body's cells from killing themselves as they're programmed to do, a new study suggests.
Researchers found that cells of people who had just run a marathon didn't engage in what is called apoptosis -- the natural d...
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Women Often Miss Signs of Stroke
TUESDAY, May 11 (HealthDay News) -- A new online survey of U.S. women finds only about one in four women aged 25 to 75 can name more than two primary symptoms of stroke.
This is important because researchers say it takes longer for women than men to seek medical care at the hospital afte...
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6 to 8 Hours of Shut-Eye Is Optimal for Health
MONDAY, May 10 (HealthDay News) -- People who sleep less than six hours a night are 12 percent more likely to die prematurely than those who get the recommended six to eight hours of slumber, a new study has found.
The team of British and Italian researchers also found that sleeping too m...
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Air Pollution Raises Risk of Heart Disease, Death
MONDAY, May 10 (HealthDay News) -- There's growing proof that air pollution is associated with heart attack, stroke and cardiovascular death, says an updated American Heart Association (AHA) scientific statement released Monday.
Of the different types of air pollution, the evidence is str...
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Bran Intake Helps Those With Diabetes
MONDAY, May 10 (HealthDay News) -- Women with diabetes who ate a diet rich in bran-containing foods had a significantly lower death rate in a long-term study, researchers report.
"Many studies before have found some protective effect in the general population,"...
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COPD Flare-Up May Raise Risk of Heart Attack, Stroke
MONDAY, May 10 (HealthDay News) -- Worsening of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) leads to increased risk for heart attack and ischemic stroke, a new study finds.
British researchers looked at 25,857 COPD patients and identified 524 heart attacks in 426 patients and 633 ischemi...
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Eating Nuts May Help Cholesterol Levels
MONDAY, May 10 (HealthDay News) -- An analysis of studies has produced what its authors describe as a precise description of the beneficial effects of nut consumption on cholesterol and other heart-related fats.
It provides "the best evidence yet that eating nuts reduces LDL cholesterol a...
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Fluctuating Blood Pressure Ups Stroke Risk
MONDAY, May 10 (HealthDay News) -- People who have fluctuating blood pressure in addition to high blood pressure are at increased risk for cerebrovascular disease, new research shows.
Cerebrovascular disease, which includes stroke and other disorders that affect...
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Does Mom Need Help to Stop Smoking?
SUNDAY, May 9 (HealthDay News) -- If your mother is a smoker, you might consider giving her a Mother's Day gift that could help her kick the habit and live a longer, healthier life, suggests the American Lung Association.
Freedom From Smoking Online is a self-paced program that's availabl...
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Ingredient in Dark Chocolate Could Guard Against Stroke
SUNDAY, May 9 (HealthDay News) -- Something in dark chocolate seems to help protect the heart, and now researchers say they have identified the molecular mechanism by which a compound found in cocoa can guard against the damage of a stroke.
The compound, a flavanol called epicatechin, tri...
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High-Stress Jobs Tax Women's Hearts, Too
SATURDAY, May 8 (HealthDay News) -- A high-pressure job can boost the risk of heart disease among middle-aged women, a study of Danish nurses finds.
Previous studies have mainly looked at high-pressure jobs and men, but for this study the researchers studied 12,116 women who took part in...
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Diabetes Test Results May Be Deceptive in Black Children
FRIDAY, May 7 (HealthDay News) -- Black children with type 1 diabetes score higher than whites with similar blood glucose levels on a critical test, potentially leading their physicians to give them the wrong treatment, a new study says.
The test "can be deceptive in African-American chil...
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Health Tip: Spot the Signs of Deep Venous Thrombosis
WEDNESDAY, April 28 (HealthDay News) -- Deep venous thrombosis is characterized by formation of a blood clot inside a vein that's deep within the body.
The U.S. National Library of Medicine offers this list of deep venous thrombosis symptoms:
Redness appearing on one leg.
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Genetic Research Sheds Light on Chronic Pain
THURSDAY, May 6 (HealthDay News) -- Chronic pain, which often occurs without an apparent cause, may be the result of accidental reprogramming of more than 2,000 genes in the peripheral nervous system, new research suggests.
The finding may someday lead to new drugs that treat pain by corr...
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Hepatitis Infections Behind U.S. Rise in Liver Cancer
THURSDAY, May 6 (HealthDay News) -- A type of liver cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma, is increasing in the United States, and health officials attribute much of the rise to untreated hepatitis infections.
Chronic hepatitis B and hepatitis C are responsible for 78 percent of hepatocellular...
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One Sleepless Night Ups Insulin Resistance
THURSDAY, May 6 (HealthDay News) -- Adding to the many reasons why people should get adequate sleep, researchers now say that just one sleepless night can cause insulin resistance, a component of type 2 diabetes.
The study included nine healthy people whose insulin sensitivity was measure...
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Pig Pancreas Cells Help Type 1 Diabetics
THURSDAY, May 6 (HealthDay News) -- Pancreatic cells from pigs that have been encapsulated have been successfully transplanted into humans without triggering an immune system attack on the new cells.
What's more, scientists report, the transplanted pig pancreas cells quickly begin to prod...
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Anemia Drugs Hold Dangers for Kidney Patients
WEDNESDAY, May 5 (HealthDay News) -- The powerful drugs used to fight anemia caused by kidney failure increase the risk for cardiovascular problems such as heart attack, a major study has found.
A meta-analysis of 27 trials, which included more than 10,000 people who were given the drugs,...
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Many Unaware of Local Stroke Centers
TUESDAY, May 4 (HealthDay News) -- Stroke is a leading cause of death in the United States, yet a new survey of 1,000 Americans finds that nearly 60 percent don't known if their local hospitals offer specialized treatment for stroke.
Despite awareness efforts, "the public seems less aware...
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Pneumonia Shot Won't Help Lower Men's Heart Risks
TUESDAY, May 4 (HealthDay News) -- Being vaccinated against pneumonia doesn't reduce the risk of heart attack or stroke in men older than 45, a new study finds.
The research included more than 84,000 men, ages 45 to 69, who enrolled in the California Men's Health Study between January 20...
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'Healthy' Pre-Diabetics Still Face Heart Disease Threat
MONDAY, May 3 (HealthDay News) -- People who are at high risk of developing diabetes and high blood pressure but don't have symptoms yet may still be at higher risk for heart disease, a new study reports.
"Diabetes and hypertension have reached epidemic status, not only in the U.S., but a...
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Radiation Risks Nearly Double for Younger CT Scan Patients
MONDAY, May 3 (HealthDay News) -- Radiation risks associated with abdominal and pelvic CT scans are twice as high for younger patients as older patients, a new study finds.
"Estimating the risks associated with ionizing radiation is complex," study author Dr. James Koonce, of the Medical...
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Americans Still Split Over New Health Reform Law
FRIDAY, April 30 (HealthDay News) -- One month after President Barack Obama signed the historic health-reform bill into law, Americans remain divided on the measure, with many people still unsure how it will affect them, a new Harris Interactive/HealthDay poll finds.
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Genome Scan Gives Man Insight Into Future Health Risks
FRIDAY, April 30 (HealthDay News) -- Stephen Quake, a Stanford University professor of bioengineering, now has a very good sense of his own genetic destiny.
Quake's DNA was the focus of the first completely mapped genome of a healthy person aimed at predicting future health risks. The sc...
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Health Tip: Use Warfarin Safely
(HealthDay News) -- Warfarin is a drug that thins the blood to help prevent clots. But it can increase the risk of bleeding, even while you perform daily activities.
The U.S. National Library of Medicine suggests you practice these precautions while taking warfarin:
Follow y...
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Low Testosterone Raises Heart Death Rates in Impotent Men
THURSDAY, April 29 (HealthDay News) -- Among men with erectile dysfunction, those who also have low testosterone levels face a higher than normal risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, a new study has found.
In a second study, the same team of researchers also found a link between ob...
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Watch Your Cholesterol, Your Blood Pressure ... and This Enzyme?
THURSDAY, April 29 (HealthDay News) -- An enzyme linked to inflammation boosts the risk of heart disease as much as high blood pressure and high cholesterol, a new study suggests.
Researchers think that by targeting the enzyme, which is known as lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2, th...
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Tight Blood Sugar Control May Not Harm Diabetics
WEDNESDAY, April 28 (HealthDay News) -- The Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes (ACCORD) study was abruptly halted in 2008 when researchers noticed an increase in deaths in the group of type 2 diabetics who were being intensively treated to bring their blood sugar levels down to nea...
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High-Dose Vitamin B Risky for Diabetics With Kidney Disease
TUESDAY, April 27 (HealthDay News) -- High-dose vitamin B therapy is dangerous for diabetics with kidney disease, and patients on this regimen should stop immediately, says a new study.
When the researchers began the study, they believed it would show that high-dose vitamin B therapy (fol...
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Scalpels in Hand, Robots Take to the ER
TUESDAY, April 27 (HealthDay News) -- People facing surgery often imagine themselves under the care of a trained surgeon wielding a scalpel with a steady hand and a cool disposition.
But that picture is changing.
The surgeon will still be there, but the steady hand might very well...
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Antidepressants May Improve Heart Health
MONDAY, April 26 (HealthDay News) -- A widely used type of antidepressant may help protect cardiovascular health by slowing the clumping of blood platelets, thus reducing the risk of hardening of the arteries and blood clots that can cause heart attack and stroke, U.S. researchers say.
Th...
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Arteries Age Twice as Fast in Smokers
MONDAY, April 26 (HealthDay News) -- It's well-known that smoking is bad for the heart and other parts of the body, and researchers now have chronicled in detail one reason why -- because continual smoking causes progressive stiffening of the arteries.
In fact, smokers' arteries stiffen...
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Brown Rice Tied to Better Heart Health in Study
MONDAY, April 26 (HealthDay News) -- Two kinds of rice -- brown and half-milled rice -- may reduce the risk of heart disease and high blood pressure by interfering with a protein linked to those conditions, research suggests.
In a new study, researchers report that the findings could ind...
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Four Unhealthy Behaviors Linked to Premature Death
MONDAY, April 26 (HealthDay News) -- A combination of four unhealthy behaviors -- smoking, lack of exercise, poor diet and substantial alcohol consumption -- greatly increases the risk of premature death, a new study has found.
The study, published in the April 26 issue of Archives of...
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Nearly Half of U.S. Adults Have Heart Risk Factors
MONDAY, April 26 (HealthDay News) -- Nearly half of all American adults have either high blood pressure, high cholesterol or diabetes, each a major risk factor for heart disease, stroke and other cardiovascular problems, a new government survey finds.
The latest...
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Smoking May Be in Your Genes
SUNDAY, April 25 (HealthDay News) -- For some people, quitting smoking could be especially difficult because their dependence may be explained in part by genetics, three new studies suggest.
One of the reports, part of a trio of findings published online April 25 in Nature Genetics
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Health Tip: Help Prevent Atherosclerosis
(HealthDay News) -- Atherosclerosis occurs when blood vessels harden after cholesterol, calcium and fat build up inside them. The condition decreases blood flow and increases the risk of stroke and heart disease.
The University of Virginia Health System says you can take these steps to he...
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Injection Helps Treat Hard-to-Control Type 2 Diabetes
FRIDAY, April 23 (HealthDay News) -- Patients with type 2 diabetes who can't control their blood glucose levels with the drug metformin alone do better after adding injections of the drug liraglutide compared to oral doses of another drug called sitagliptin, researchers report.
In the stu...
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Magnetic Fields Concentrate Drug Delivery
FRIDAY, April 23 (HealthDay News) -- Magnetic fields can be used to direct drug-loaded nanoparticles to metal stents in injured blood vessels, where they then release drugs that help prevent blood vessel blockages, U.S. researchers report.
In humans, stents -- small metal mesh tubes -- ar...
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FDA to Broaden Disclosure on Advisers' Conflicts of Interest
WEDNESDAY, April 21 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday proposed new guidelines to help give the public more information on the experts the agency places on its all-important advisory committees, which help approve drugs and devices.
The FDA has in the p...
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Managing Type 1 Diabetes Can Stress Teens
WEDNESDAY, April 21 (HealthDay News) -- Teens with type 1 diabetes may need help as they begin taking more responsibility for monitoring their blood glucose levels and administering insulin, a new study suggests.
Researchers monitored 147 diabetic teens for six months. Overall, conflict l...
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Voluntary Ethics Code Set for Medical Organizations
WEDNESDAY, April 21 (HealthDay News) -- A new voluntary ethics code for how medical organizations should interact with private companies was released Wednesday by the Council of Medical Specialty Societies (CMSS).
"Physicians and patients count on medical societies to be authoritative, in...
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Added Sugars in Diet Threaten Heart Health
TUESDAY, April 20 (HealthDay News) -- The added sugars in prepared and processed foods are threatening Americans' cardiovascular health, lowering levels of protective HDL cholesterol, raising levels of potentially dangerous triglcerides and possibly making people fatter, a new study finds.
<...
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Experts Urge FDA to Lower Salt in American Diet
TUESDAY, April 20 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration should take steps to lower the amount of salt in the American diet over the next decade, an expert panel advised Tuesday.
In a report from the Institute of Medicine, an independent agency created by Congress to re...
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Many Don't Take Blood Thinner After Getting Stents
TUESDAY, April 20 (HealthDay News) -- One of six people who have stents implanted to keep an artery open ignore their doctor's orders to start taking the blood thinner Plavix immediately, and that ignorance nearly doubles their risk for a heart attack or death, new research finds.
The stu...
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Olive Oil May Be Key to Mediterranean Diet's Benefits
TUESDAY, April 20 (HealthDay News) -- The heart-healthy effects of the famous "Mediterranean diet" may have something to do with components of virgin olive oil that repress genes that promote inflammation, a new study reports.
"These findings strengthen the relationship between inflammati...
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Recordings of Pre-Surgery Meetings Ease Anxieties
TUESDAY, April 20 (HealthDay News) -- Giving people slated for heart surgery recordings of their pre-surgery consultations not only increased their knowledge about the procedure and their health but reduced their anxiety and depression as well, a new study has found.
Researchers at the Ro...
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Tailored Therapy May Help More Stop Smoking
TUESDAY, April 20 (HealthDay News) -- New research suggests that a set length of time for using the nicotine patch may not work for all smokers trying to kick the habit.
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have already discovered that some people -- about thre...
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Kids Could Overdose From Nicotine-Laced 'Candy'
MONDAY, April 19 (HealthDay News) -- In 2009, tobacco giant R.J. Reynolds launched Camel Orbs, dissolvable nicotine pellets flavored with cinnamon or mint that are intended for use by smokers who find themselves in smoke-free surroundings.
But researchers writing in the April 19 online ed...
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Secondhand Smoke Boosts Sinusitis Risk
MONDAY, April 19 (HealthDay News) -- Exposure to secondhand smoke appears to substantially raise the risk for chronic sinusitis, a new Canadian study has found.
In fact, it might explain 40 percent of the cases of the condition, said study author Dr. C. Martin Tammemagi, a researcher at B...
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Obesity Epidemic May Cut Life Spans of Young Adults
FRIDAY, April 16 (HealthDay News) -- Because Americans are getting heavier at an earlier age and failing to lose the extra pounds for longer, researchers now believe that chronic illness and life expectancy will be worse than previously estimated.
The study authors report that one in fiv...
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Robot-Aided Therapy Can Help Patients Years After Stroke
FRIDAY, April 16 (HealthDay News) -- Robotic aids can help stroke patients make small but significant improvements in their ability to move their limbs, and gain a better outlook on life, new research finds.
The study, by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and published online April...
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B-vitamins Help Protect Against Stroke, Heart Disease
THURSDAY, April 15 (HealthDay News) -- People who eat a diet high in B-vitamins are less likely to die from cardiovascular disease, say Japanese researchers.
They analyzed dietary questionnaires completed by more than 23,000 men and almost 36,000 women who were part of the Japan Collabora...
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Do Statins Lower Male Sex Drive?
THURSDAY, April 15 (HealthDay News) -- An Italian study of men being treated for erectile dysfunction finds an association between the use of cholesterol-lowering statins and abnormally low levels of the male hormone testosterone.
The study "sends a signal worthy of observation," said Dr....
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Most People Unaware They've Had a Minor Stroke
THURSDAY, April 15 (HealthDay News) -- Many people who have either a minor stroke or so-called mini-stroke aren't aware of it or don't seek medical treatment for more than 24 hours afterwards, finds a new study.
British researchers analyzed data from 1,000 patients, average age 73, who ha...
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Protein May Help Control Weight
THURSDAY, April 15 (HealthDay News) -- Even on a high-fat diet, mice that lack a protein involved in the response to low levels of oxygen stay lean and healthy, says a new study.
The protein, called FIH, could offer a new target for drugs to help control weight, according to the Universit...
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Artificial Pancreas for Type 1 Diabetes Moves Closer to Reality
WEDNESDAY, April 14 (HealthDay News) -- The first human trials of the latest design of an artificial pancreas for people with type 1 diabetes found the device worked without causing low blood sugar (hypoglycemia).
Ideally, this type of automated device would finally free people with type...
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Depression and Smoking Go Hand in Hand in U.S.
WEDNESDAY, April 14 (HealthDay News) -- The link between depression and smoking, long observed by health-care experts, is real and strong, a new government report shows.
People aged 20 and older with depression are twice as likely as others to be cigarette smokers, the researchers from th...
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Play Creatively as a Kid, Be a Healthier Adult
WEDNESDAY, April 14 (HealthDay News) -- Children who engage in creative and active play may grow up to be healthier adults, suggests a British study.
The finding comes from a study that involved 505 young adults who provided information about their health and their childhood play experien...
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Prostate Cancer Patients at Higher Risk of Blood Clots
WEDNESDAY, April 14 (HealthDay News) -- Men with prostate cancer are at greater risk for developing blood clots, especially if they're undergoing hormone therapy, new research shows.
"Our findings indicate that it is important to consider thromboembolic [blood-clotting] side effects when...
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Hormones Tied to Diabetes Might Also Influence Fertility
TUESDAY, April 13 (HealthDay News) -- A new study in mice suggests that the hormones leptin and insulin work together in the brain to control blood sugar levels and, in a surprise to researchers, female fertility.
The findings also appear to suggest that diabetes and obesity aren't alway...
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Smoking Bans May Be Boosting Public Health
TUESDAY, April 13 (HealthDay News) -- Since Toronto banned smoking in public places such as restaurants in 2001, there has a major slide in hospital admissions for cardiovascular and respiratory conditions, Canadian researchers report.
The 10-year population study found 39 percent fewer a...
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Smoking May Erase Heart Benefits of Light Drinking
TUESDAY, April 13 (HealthDay News) - If you indulge in moderate drinking, you've probably heard that it might reduce your risk for heart trouble, including stroke.
A new British study supports that notion, but it also finds that light drinking's benefit in lowering stroke risk does not ap...
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Antidepressants May Ease Damage From Stroke
MONDAY, April 12 (HealthDay News) -- A new study in rodents suggests that antidepressants and mood stabilizers might help people recover from stroke.
The drugs have been linked in rodents to a growth of brand-new neurons -- a change in the nervous system that reduced the severity of the s...
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Severe Arterial Disease Found in Younger Adults
SATURDAY, April 10 (HealthDay News) -- Severe peripheral vascular disease may be much more common in younger American adults and women than previously suspected, according to a new study.
The disease causes a narrowing in blood vessels that carry blood to the arms, legs, kidney and stomac...
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Health Tip: Ward Off Hypoglycemia
(HealthDay News) -- Hypoglycemia, the medical term for low blood sugar, is uncommon in older children and adults, except among those who have diabetes.
The U.S. National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse suggests how diabetics can help prevent hypoglycemia:
Always take diab...
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If Your Doctor Prescribes an HbA1c Test
(HealthDay News) -- If you are diabetic, your doctor may prescribe an HbA1c test to measure your blood sugar control during the prior several months.
The U.S. National Library of Medicine says an abnormally high HbA1c result may signal that you're at greater risk of serious diabetes compl...
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Liver Disease May Go Undetected in Children
FRIDAY, April 9 (HealthDay News) -- Doctors often misinterpret the results of a test used to detect chronic liver disease in children, new research finds.
The test, which looks for serum alanine aminotransferease (ALT) activity, is designed to detect liver disease or abnormalities caused...
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Mild Exercise Good for the Critically Ill
FRIDAY, April 9 (HealthDay News) -- Critically ill patients in the intensive care unit may reduce their use of sedatives and speed their recovery by engaging in mild exercise, a new study has found.
The amount of prescription sedatives had to be slashed by half to enable patients to exerc...
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Even Mild Sleep Apnea Raises Stroke Risk in Men
THURSDAY, April 8 (HealthDay News) -- The nighttime breathing disorder known as obstructive sleep apnea more than doubles the risk for stroke in men who are middle age and beyond, new research has found.
U.S. researchers looked at more than 5,400 people, age 40 and older and with no histo...
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First Generic Versions of Cozaar and Hyzaar Approved
THURSDAY, April 8 (HealthDay News) -- The first generic versions of two drugs to treat high blood pressure, Cozaar (losartan potassium) and Hyzaar (losartan potassium and hydrochlorothiazide), have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The generic versions will carry the...
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Health Tip: Help Prevent Vascular Disease
(HealthDay News) -- Vascular disease is the broad term for conditions that affect the blood vessels, including heart attack, stroke and coronary artery disease.
The American Academy of Family Physicians suggests how you can help prevent vascular disease:
Don't smoke.
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Low-Cal Diets May Make You Gain Weight
THURSDAY, April 8 (HealthDay News) -- If losing weight feels like a never-ending battle, new research may explain why: Diets that restrict calories can actually make it harder to lose weight and keep it off.
Cutting calories increases production of cortisol, the stress hormone, which is...
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Scientists Grow Replacement Blood Vessels From Stem Cells
WEDNESDAY, April 7 (HealthDay News) -- Blood vessels engineered from laboratory-grown stem cells have worked well in animals, researchers say, and might someday replace the synthetic products now in use.
When needed for procedures such as bypass surgery, blood vessels now are usually take...
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Simple Memory Test May Detect Early Alzheimer's
THURSDAY, April 8 (HealthDay News) -- A researcher has developed a brief memory test to help doctors determine whether someone is suffering from the early memory and reasoning problems that often signal Alzheimer's disease.
In a study in the journal Alzheimer Disease and Associated Di...
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Single Genetic Factor Key to Cardiovascular System
THURSDAY, April 8 (HealthDay News) -- Reduced levels or lack of a certain genetic factor are associated with heart failure and aortic aneurysm, say U.S. researchers.
This factor -- known as Kruppel-like Factor 15 (KLF15) -- protects the heart and aorta's ability to maintain structural and...
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Vaccine Reverses Type 1 Diabetes in Mice
THURSDAY, April 8 (HealthDay News) -- Canadian researchers have successfully reversed type 1 diabetes in mice using a new vaccine technology that appears to solely target the immune system cells responsible for the disease.
"The body has built-in mechanisms that try to counter disease pro...
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Kids Need Parents' Help in Managing Type 1 Diabetes
WEDNESDAY, April 7 (HealthDay News) -- Children and teens with type 1 diabetes are less likely to adhere to their treatment plan if their parents become lax about monitoring their treatment or if there is a poor mother-child relationship, new research has found.
Failure to properly manage...
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Sitting Docs Have Happier Patients
WEDNESDAY, April 7 (HealthDay News) -- When it comes to doctor-patient relationships, new research suggests that patients would be happier if their doctors would just sit down and stay awhile.
And for doctors, taking a seat doesn't necessarily have to add time to their day. The research...
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Vitamins C, E Won't Cut Risk of Pregnancy-Linked Hypertension
WEDNESDAY, April 7 (HealthDay News) -- Mothers-to-be who take vitamin C and E supplements do not reduce their risk of the dangerous high blood pressure condition called preeclampsia, a new study finds.
Although other studies have suggested that these antioxidant vitamins could prevent pr...
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A Brisk Pace May Keep Stroke at Bay
TUESDAY, April 6 (HealthDay News) -- Regular walking significantly reduces stroke risk in women, researchers say.
In a new study that looked at data from 39,315 U.S. female health professionals, average age 54, participating in the Women's Health Study, 473 of the women had an ischemic (...
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TachoSil Sealant Patch Approved for Cardiovascular Surgery
MONDAY, April 5 (HealthDay News) -- The TachoSil sealant patch has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to prevent bleeding from small blood vessels in certain cardiovascular surgery cases, the agency said Monday.
The product is comprised of a collagen sponge, produced f...
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Medical Misinformation Can Spread Quickly Via 'Tweets'
FRIDAY, April 2 (HealthDay News) -- Medical misinformation can spread quickly on Twitter, although social networks also offer the potential for sharing vital and correct health information, a new study shows.
Researchers from Columbia University and MixedInk in New York City identified mo...
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Should Cholesterol Drugs Be Used By Those Without High Cholesterol?
FRIDAY, April 2 (HealthDay News) -- When the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in February approved the use of the cholesterol-lowering statin drug Crestor for some people with normal cholesterol levels, cardiologist Dr. Steven E. Nissen cheered the decision.
"You have to go with t...
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Overactive Thyroid Linked to Stroke in Young Adults
THURSDAY, April 1 (HealthDay News) -- Young adults who have an overactive thyroid face a much greater risk of stroke than people without the condition, Taiwanese researchers report.
"This is a well-controlled analysis, and patients with hyperthyroidism should receive prompt treatment to p...
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Asclera Approved to Treat Varicose Veins
WEDNESDAY, March 31 (HealthDay News) -- Polidocanol (Asclera) has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat small varicose veins, the agency said in a news release.
Varicose veins are swollen or twisted blood vessels that most often form in the legs. They are more li...
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FDA Hears Views on Risks of High Tech Scanners
WEDNESDAY, March 31 (HealthDay News) -- Fears that popular medical imaging technologies are exposing Americans to too much radiation are getting a public airing this week as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration concludes two days of meetings on Wednesday that have focused on how to increase the...
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New Insights Into Who's At Risk With Angioplasty
WEDNESDAY, March 31 (HealthDay News) -- Who's most at risk when undergoing the common, artery-opening procedure known as angioplasty?
A major U.S. study may have come up with some answers -- risk factors that doctors can use to gauge the odds of death after angioplasty, also known as "per...
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TV Doctors Bring Unethical Behavior to Prime Time
WEDNESDAY, March 31 (HealthDay News) -- In a hospital in Seattle, a doctor overly involved with a patient attempted to worsen that patient's condition so she could go higher on the list of people eligible for an organ transplant.
Fortunately, the physician was fired and, even more fortuna...
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A Little Chocolate May Do the Heart Good
TUESDAY, March 30 (HealthDay News) -- For those who believe in the Easter bunny (or at least in what he is believed to bring), good news awaits.
Just one small square of chocolate a day might help lower your blood pressure and reduce your risk for heart disease.
After analyzing th...
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Diabetes Screening Should Start Sooner
TUESDAY, March 30 (HealthDay News) -- Current recommendations suggest that screening for type 2 diabetes start at age 45, especially for those who are overweight, but new research shows cost-effective screening can begin between the ages of 30 and 45 for everyone.
When screening be...
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Health Tip: Drink Enough Water
(HealthDay News) -- Drinking plenty of water is important, particularly among people who exercise vigorously.
The American Council on Fitness offers these recommendations for how much to drink:
Two or three hours before you start to exercise, drink 17-to-20 ounces of water.<...
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In Pregnancy, Leg Clots More Likely on Left Side
TUESDAY, March 30 (HealthDay News) -- When pregnant women develop a blood clot known as deep vein thrombosis, it is most likely to occur on the left side, and particularly in the left leg, Canadian researchers have found.
Dr. Wee-Shian Chan of Women's College Hospital in Toronto, and co-...
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Novel Method Eyed for Normalizing Blood Sugar
TUESDAY, March 30 (HealthDay News) -- A potential new method of normalizing blood sugar levels in diabetes has been discovered by U.S. researchers.
The Children's Hospital Boston team identified a cellular pathway that fails because of obesity. Artificial activation of this pathway normal...
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Too Much Radiation? The FDA Wants to Know
TUESDAY, March 30 (HealthDay News) -- Fears that Americans are being exposed to too much radiation will get a public airing this week as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration holds two days of meetings on what should be done to increase the safety of increasingly popular imaging procedures....
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Blood Gives Clues to 'Executive Thinking' Problems
MONDAY, March 29 (HealthDay News) -- High blood levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) are associated with problems in executive thinking skills, such as planning, decision-making and self-control, says a German study.
CRP is considered an indicator of inflammation.
For the study, 447...
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Heavy Daily Drinking Linked to Worse Health
FRIDAY, March 26 (HealthDay News) -- Heavy drinkers take worse care of themselves than other people, but moderate drinkers actually appear to be healthier than those who don't imbibe, researchers have found.
"The main finding here is that risky drinkers also engage in other behaviors -- s...
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Accepting Help Improves Survival Among Diabetics
THURSDAY, March 25 (HealthDay News) -- People with diabetes do much better, in terms of survival, if they can turn to others for support in times of need, new research suggests.
The study found that those who are more independent and feel they don't need help from others have a 33 percent...
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Mexican Americans Have Low Rates of Calling for Stroke Help
THURSDAY, March 25 (HealthDay News) -- Mexican Americans with stroke symptoms are less likely than whites to call 9-1-1 and to be taken by ambulance to hospital, a new study finds.
Researchers analyzed data from the Brain Attack Surveillance in Corpus Christi, Texas project on 1,134 Mexic...
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New Study Refutes Bone Drugs' Link to Fractures
WEDNESDAY, March 24 (HealthDay News) -- New research concludes that widely used osteoporosis drugs called bisphosphonates do not boost women's risk for an unusual type of femur or thigh fracture -- something prior studies had suggested.
Bisphosphonates include blockbuster medications such...
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Poll Finds Americans Blame Insurers, Drug Companies for Rising Health Costs
WEDNESDAY, March 24 (HealthDay News) -- Nearly half of Americans are "extremely" or "very worried" about rising costs for health care and health insurance, and a majority place the blame on drug and insurance company profits, a new Harris Interactive/HealthDay poll finds.
The poll was con...
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Researchers Identify 2 Genes Linked to Fatty Liver Disease
WEDNESDAY, March 24 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers have identified two gene variants that increase the risk of both the most common chronic liver disease in the United States as well as type 2 diabetes.
People who carry the variants of a gene for apolipoprotein C3 (APOC3), which produces...
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Being Active an Hour a Day Puts Brakes on Weight Gain
TUESDAY, March 23 (HealthDay News) -- An hour a day of moderate-intensity exercise will prevent weight gain in normal-weight women, middle age and older, according to a new study.
"'Moderate intensity' means brisk walking, casual bicycling, ballroom dancing, playing with the grandchildren...
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New Inhaled Insulin Shows Promise for Diabetes
TUESDAY, March 23 (HealthDay News) -- A new form of inhaled insulin appears to help people with diabetes who must use insulin, with fewer potential risks than an earlier form of inhaled insulin that is no longer on the market.
The new drug, Afrezza, which is awaiting approval from the U.S...
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Polyunsaturated Fats Really May Lower Heart Risk
TUESDAY, March 23 (HealthDay News) -- Replacing saturated fats with polyunsaturated fats may reduce your risk of heart disease, new research suggests.
Harvard School of Public Health researchers reviewed eight studies with a total of 13,614 participants and found that those who replaced s...
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Weight Counseling Plus Drug Helps Women Quit Smoking
TUESDAY, March 23 (HealthDay News) -- Behavioral therapy with a focus on weight-counseling combined with the smoking-cessation medicine bupropion (Zyban) is more effective than standard counseling alone in helping women quit smoking, according to a new study.
The research, published March...
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When Heart Is in Crisis, High Blood Pressure a Good Sign
TUESDAY, March 23 (HealthDay News) -- High blood pressure -- even above the level ordinarily regarded as dangerous -- is a good indicator of long-term survival for people admitted to an intensive care unit because of chest pains that indicate a major heart problem, Swedish researchers report....
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House Democrats Approve Health-Care Reform Bill
MONDAY, March 22 (HealthDay News) -- After a year of fierce partisan debate, the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives late Sunday night passed the landmark $940 billion health-care reform bill, which would extend health insurance coverage to 32 million uninsured Americans, prevent insuran...
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Light Drinking Good for the Heart
MONDAY, March 22 (HealthDay News) -- Two major studies confirm the current medical consensus that moderate drinking appears to be good for the heart but heavy drinking is bad for health in general.
"This would not change our current guidelines, which provide an upper limit and not a lower...
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Plavix Can Help Cut Death Risk in Certain Heart Patients
MONDAY, March 22 (HealthDay News) -- The anti-clotting drug Plavix is of modest benefit in cutting the odds of death in patients with heart failure and heart attack who don't undergo angioplasty, a new study finds.
Angioplasty is a procedure to open blocked arteries.
Danish resear...
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Racial Disparities Persist in Hospital Stroke Care
MONDAY, March 22 (HealthDay News) -- Many black patients may not receive the same quality of stroke care in hospitals as white and Hispanic patients do, the results of a U.S. study suggest.
In the study, the researchers analyzed data from 1,181 hospitals participating in the American Hear...
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High Fructose Corn Syrup Linked to Liver Scarring
FRIDAY, March 19 (HealthDay News) -- New research links consumption of high-fructose corn syrup, the extremely popular sweetener that shows up in food products from ketchup to jelly, to liver damage in people with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
It's not clear if the sweetener directl...
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High-Dose Zocor Boosts Muscle Injury Risk: FDA
FRIDAY, March 19 (HealthDay News) -- People taking the highest approved doses of the cholesterol-lowering drug Zocor (simvastatin) may be at increased risk for muscle injuries, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned Friday.
Although muscle pain and weakness, called myopathy, i...
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Implant Shows Promise for Hard-to-Treat Epilepsy
THURSDAY, March 18 (HealthDay News) -- Deep-brain electrical stimulation reduced the frequency of epileptic seizures in people who had not responded to other treatments, a new study has found.
The electrical stimulation came from a pacemaker-like device that was implanted under the skin o...
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Low-Fat Diet Does Little to Alter Cholesterol Levels
THURSDAY, March 18 (HealthDay News) -- The latest report from a massive trial to determine the health value of a low-fat diet comes to the unexciting conclusion that it is probably not bad for your heart.
Such an eating regimen had almost no effect on cholesterol levels, according to a re...
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Selenium Could Shield Against Diabetes
THURSDAY, March 18 (HealthDay News) -- Scientists have found evidence that older men with higher levels of selenium are less likely to suffer from dysglycemia, or improper blood-sugar metabolism.
Tasnime Akbaraly, from the University of Montpellier in France, and colleagues studied 1,162...
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Could Lowering Blood Pressure Help Stop Dementia?
WEDNESDAY, March 17 (HealthDay News) -- In the ongoing struggle to find treatments -- and maybe one day even a cure -- for dementia, researchers are focusing their attention on high blood pressure, long a culprit for a variety of other ills and an ailment for which many drugs are already availabl...
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Online, Phone Tests Assess Diabetes Risk
WEDNESDAY, March 17 (HealthDay News) -- About 20 percent of Americans have prediabetes and are at high risk for developing type 2 diabetes, the American Diabetes Association reports.
"Look around you. We are surrounded by [diabetes] risk," Christine T. Tobin, president of health care and...
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Widespread Public Defibrillators May Save Lives
WEDNESDAY, March 17 (HealthDay News) -- The availability of public automated external defibrillators (AEDs) increases the odds of surviving a heart attack with little neurological consequences, suggests new research.
In Japan, where AEDs are available nationwide, a study found that about...
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A New Way to Zap Away Uterine Fibroids
TUESDAY, March 16 (HealthDay News) -- Focused ultrasound is an effective way to get rid of uterine fibroids, the noncancerous but troublesome tumors that can grow inside the uterus, new research shows.
Uterine fibroids are a common condition that can lead to a host of problems, including...
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Blood Vessels Bounce Back Once Smokers Quit
TUESDAY, March 16 (HealthDay News) -- Blood vessel function rapidly recuperates after smokers kick the habit, leading to a reduced risk of heart disease and heart attack, new research shows.
The study included more than 1,500 people taking part in a clinical trial to help them quit smokin...
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DNA Test May Cut Hospitalizations Caused by Blood Thinner
TUESDAY, March 16 (HealthDay News) -- A simple genetic test that helps doctors determine the best dose of the blood-thinner drug warfarin for individual patients could reduce hospitalizations by one-third during the early dose-adjustment phase, a new study has found.
The test identifies v...
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Newer Blood Thinner Beats Plavix for Bypass Patients
TUESDAY, March 16 (HealthDay News) -- In a trial comparing two anti-clotting drugs, patients given Brilinta before cardiac bypass surgery were less likely to die than those given Plavix, researchers found.
Both drugs prevent platelets from clumping and forming clots, but Plavix, the more...
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Stenting May Save Legs
TUESDAY, March 16 (HealthDay News) -- When angioplasty fails, patients with severe peripheral arterial disease may now have another option.
A drug-releasing stent placed in the blocked artery below the knee might re-establish blood flow, new research shows.
Critical limb ischemia...
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Arthritis Drug May Fight Diabetes, Too
MONDAY, March 15 (HealthDay News) -- A generic drug widely prescribed for arthritis shows promise in treating type 2 diabetes, according to U.S. researchers.
They found that salsalate -- an atypical non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, chemically similar to as...
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Aspirin Alone Works Best to Prevent Clots a Year After Stenting
MONDAY, March 15 (HealthDay News) -- After 12 months, giving aspirin alone to patients who have had stents implanted seems just as good as giving aspirin along with the blood thinner Plavix, a new study finds.
Researchers discovered that, after an initial year receiving the dual anti-clot...
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Boosting Vitamin D Can Do a Heart Good
MONDAY, March 15 (HealthDay News) -- New research suggests that extra vitamin D could make a major difference in heart disease risk among people who have low levels of the nutrient.
Researchers from the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute in Murray, Utah, report in two new studie...
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Erectile Dysfunction Plus Heart Disease Raises Death Risk
MONDAY, March 15 (HealthDay News) -- Men suffering from both cardiovascular disease and erectile dysfunction are at greater risk for heart attack, stroke, heart failure and death, a new study finds.
Moreover, treatments for cardiovascular disease had no effect on erectile dysfunction, so...
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Women's Chromosomes May Affect Blood Pressure
MONDAY, March 15 (HealthDay News) -- Scientists have believed that testosterone and estrogen play a major role in regulating blood pressure, but a new study in mice suggests that female sex chromosomes could also be key, at least after menopause begins.
In the study, researchers genetical...
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2 Drugs Fail to Prevent Diabetes in the Overweight
SUNDAY, March 14 (HealthDay News) -- Hopes that two available drugs could help prevent diabetes and the problems it causes in overweight people with poor sugar metabolism have been dashed by a major international study.
The trial involved two drugs prescribed for other reasons -- Diovan (...
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Hope for Inherited, Dangerously High Cholesterol
SUNDAY, March 14 (HealthDay News) -- A new drug called mipomersen reduced low-density lipoprotein (LDL) "bad" cholesterol by nearly 25 percent when added to current therapy in people with a rare genetic condition that causes extremely high cholesterol, a new study finds.
Mipomersen is des...
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Intense Cholesterol, Blood Pressure Therapies Don't Help Type 2 Diabetics
SUNDAY, March 14 (HealthDay News) -- Two sets of results from a large U.S. government-sponsored trial find that neither aggressive treatment of cholesterol nor of blood pressure lowers the risk of heart events in people with type 2 diabetes.
"These results could be disappointing to a lot...
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More Evidence That Swings in Blood Pressure Raise Stroke Risk
SUNDAY, March 14 (HealthDay News) --Following on recent, similar research, a large five-year study points to fluctuations in blood pressure over time as a key indicator of stroke risk.
In the study, British researchers tracked the health of more than 19,000 patients taking either beta blo...
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Marathoners Face Greater Risk of Artery Stiffness
SATURDAY, March 13 (HealthDay News) -- If regular exercise such as jogging is good for the heart, then turbo-charged workouts like training for marathons must be even better, right?
Not so fast, according to new research by Greek doctors who found that marathon runners have increased sti...
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Psoriasis Tied to Raised Heart Risk
SATURDAY, March 13 (HealthDay News) -- The common skin ailment psoriasis may boost the risk for heart attack, stroke and other cardiovascular woes, probably through a shared inflammatory response, a new Danish study found.
"There is mounting evidence for psoriasis as a risk factor for car...
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Health Tip: Symptoms of Ketoacidosis
(HealthDay News) -- Ketoacidosis occurs when diabetic people develop dangerously high levels of ketones, which are produced when stored fat is burned for energy.
Ketoacidosis, a sign that diabetes is uncontrolled, requires immediate medical attention.
The American Diabetes Associa...
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Pelvic Artery Stent Approved
FRIDAY, March 12 (HealthDay News) -- Boston Scientific's Express LD Iliac Stent has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat iliac artery disease, the company said in a news release.
A stent is a hollow tube that props open a blood vessel that's been blocked by a bu...
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Plavix Less Effective in Some Patients
FRIDAY, March 12 (HealthDay News) -- The anti-clotting drug Plavix must now carry a "black box" warning on its label, alerting patients and doctors that some people don't metabolize the medication properly, U.S. health officials said Friday.
Patients with a certain genetic variation can't...
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Start Metformin Early for Best Results
FRIDAY, March 12 (HealthDay News) -- If diabetics start the drug metformin early -- within three months of diagnosis -- it appears the drug will remain effective longer, a new study finds.
"This study suggests that to gain full benefit from metformin, patients should start taking it as s...
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Body's Response to Foods' Smell, Taste Could Be Diabetes Risk Factor
THURSDAY, March 11 (HealthDay News) -- A mutation that affects how the body responds when a person smells or tastes food may play a role in the development of type 2 diabetes in some people, U.S. researchers report.
"Our study showed there is a novel genetic mutation through which some ty...
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Obesity, Drinking a Double Threat to the Liver
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.
In one study, scientists at the University of Oxford examined the medical records of 1.2 million middle-aged British women. They fo...
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Variable Blood Pressure a New Stroke Risk Factor?
THURSDAY, March 11 (HealthDay News) -- Challenging established medical wisdom about blood pressure and stroke, new British research suggests that extremely variable blood pressure, and not just high blood pressure, can greatly increase a person's risk of stroke.
"Some people have very sta...
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Gene Mutations Identified for Charcot-Marie-Tooth Syndrome
WEDNESDAY, March 10 (HealthDay News) -- By analyzing the genome of a colleague who has Charcot-Marie-Tooth syndrome, U.S. scientists have identified gene mutations associated with the neurological disorder, which affects the function of nerves in the limbs, hands and feet.
The study, publ...
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High Natural Estrogen Might Raise Women's Stroke Risk
WEDNESDAY, March 10 (HealthDay News) -- Higher levels of naturally occurring estrogen are tied to a rising risk of stroke in postmenopausal women who aren't on hormone therapy, a new study finds.
U.S. researchers analyzed medical histories and blood samples from more than 9,700 generally...
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Botox Approved for Spasticity in Stroke Victims
TUESDAY, March 9 (HealthDay News) -- Botox (onabotulinumtoxin A) has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat spasms (spasticity) in the flexor muscles of the elbow, wrist and fingers in adults who have had a stroke, the agency said Tuesday in a news release.
Spasti...
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Bleeding Alert Sounded for Stroke Drugs
MONDAY, March 8 (HealthDay News) -- People treated with the clot-dissolving drug tPA for a stroke caused by a blocked brain artery are significantly more likely to have excess bleeding if they have been taking the anti-clotting drug Coumadin, even though a test shows no great danger of bleeding,...
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Diet, Exercise Can Improve Thinking
MONDAY, March 8 (HealthDay News) -- A good diet and regular exercise may help the mind function better, a new study suggests.
"It looks like exercise and diet improve the range of cognitive function," said Patrick Smith, an intern in clinical neuropsychology and a member of a Duke Univers...
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Sleepless Nights Plague America
MONDAY, March 8 (HealthDay News)-- Americans of all races toss and turn in bed each night, and sleeplessness is affecting their jobs, social lives and even their sexual habits, the latest poll on U.S. sleep habits finds.
"Everybody is sleeping less; we do live in a nation of sleepy peo...
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Stroke Risk Runs in the Family
MONDAY, March 8 (HealthDay News) -- If your mother or father had a stroke by the time they were 65, your chances of also having a stroke by that age are increased fourfold, U.S. researchers report.
There are many risk factors for stroke, such as high blood pressure, obesity and smoking....
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Teamwork Unlikely to Improve Cholesterol Levels
MONDAY, March 8 (HealthDay News) -- For patients with high cholesterol, joint physician-pharmacist care to help them manage their lipid levels doesn't have a significant impact, a new study finds.
Canadian researchers looked at partnerships where doctors were responsible for prescribing c...
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Gene Variant May Help Some Overcome Adversity
SUNDAY, March 7 (HealthDay News) -- The study of a link between misery and death has helped researchers identify a gene variant fostering resilience in the face of adversity.
The U.S. research team focused on a gene called IL6, which is known to cause inflammation in the body and contrib...
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Increasing Soda Consumption Fuels Rise in Diabetes, Heart Disease
FRIDAY, March 5 (HealthDay News) --Increasing consumption of sugary soft drinks contributed to 130,000 new cases of diabetes, 14,000 new cases of heart disease and 50,000 more life-years burdened with heart disease in the last decade, a new U.S. study finds.
"The finding suggests that any...
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More Info Needed on Problems With Insulin Pumps
FRIDAY, March 5 (HealthDay News) -- The makers of insulin pumps used to treat diabetes should try to supply more information to U.S. officials when filing reports about potential problems with the devices, an advisory panel to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Friday.
Makers of m...
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Processed Meat May Harm the Heart
FRIDAY, March 5 (HealthDay News) -- Conventional wisdom has dictated that fat from red meat is a risk factor for heart disease, but a new analysis from Harvard researchers finds it's eating processed meat -- not unprocessed red meat -- that increases the risk for heart disease and even diabetes.<...
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Years of Exposure to Traffic Pollution Raises Blood Pressure
THURSDAY, March 4 (HealthDay News) -- Long-term exposure to the air pollution particles caused by traffic has been linked to an increase in blood pressure, U.S. researchers say.
In the new report, researchers analyzed data from 939 participants in the Normative Aging Study, who were asses...
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Chocolate May Make Some Strokes Less Likely
WEDNESDAY, March 3 (HealthDay News) -- In news that's sure to delight chocolate lovers, a Harvard study finds that a couple of squares of dark chocolate a day might reduce the risk of a hemorrhagic stroke, by 52 percent.
Unfortunately for chocolate fans, though, the same research also fou...
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Health Tip: Why You May Need an MRI
(HealthDay News) -- Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) uses a strong magnetic field and computerized technology to compose detailed pictures of the organs and other soft tissue inside the body.
The Radiological Society of North America says an MRI can be used to help diagnose:
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Newer Blood Test Predicts Diabetes, Heart Disease
WEDNESDAY, March 3 (HealthDay News) -- The newer hemoglobin A1C test predicts diabetes as well as the traditional fasting blood sugar test, but it beats that old standard in predicting a patient's future risk of heart disease and stroke, new research shows.
After adjusting for common card...
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Potassium-Rich Foods Do a Heart Good
WEDNESDAY, March 3 (HealthDay News) -- Eating plenty of potassium-rich foods such as leafy greens, potatoes and bananas may reduce the risk of stroke and coronary artery disease, according to Italian researchers.
The new analysis was based on 10 studies published between 1966 and 2009 tha...
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Whole Grains Take a Bite Out of Type 2 Diabetes Risk
WEDNESDAY, March 3 (HealthDay News) -- Brown rice is better than white rice at reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes, but whole grains are the most effective at lowering the risk, study findings show.
U.S. researchers analyzed data from 39,765 men in the Health Professionals Follow-up Stud...
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You Can't Exercise Away TV's Toll on the Heart
WEDNESDAY, March 3 (HealthDay News) -- People who watch more television in their 20s and 30s are more apt to develop heart disease risk factors by the time they reach their mid-40s than people who spent less time in front of the screen, a new study finds.
And while that's worrisome enough...
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Coffee Is Generally Heart-Friendly
TUESDAY, March 2 (HealthDay News) -- Coffee drinkers can take heart from a series of studies presented this week at American Heart Association conferences in San Francisco.
For example, coffee drinkers appear to have a lower risk of hospitalization for abnormal heart rhythms. And there's...
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Fitness May Boost Kids' Grades
TUESDAY, March 2 (HealthDay News) -- Fit bodies may bring kids better test scores in school, a new study finds.
''Children's physical fitness is associated with their academic performance," said study author Lesley Cottrell, an associate professor of pediatrics at West Virginia University...
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Having Prediabetes May Not Kick-Start Prevention Efforts
TUESDAY, March 2 (HealthDay News) -- Knowing you're on the cusp of developing diabetes apparently isn't enough to make most people take steps to prevent it.
New research, published in the April issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, found that only about half of thos...
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Secondhand Smoke Starts Damaging Arteries in Childhood
TUESDAY, March 2 (HealthDay News) -- Kids exposed to secondhand smoke face a higher risk of developing early signs of clogged arteries by the time they're 13, and are also more likely to have other risk factors for heart disease, Finnish researchers warn.
The authors of the new study exam...
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Study Questions Value of Test for Peripheral Artery Disease
MONDAY, March 1 (HealthDay News) -- A new Scottish study raises questions about the value of both the ankle-brachial index, a test widely used to diagnose the risk of blood vessel problems in the legs, and the common practice of prescribing low-dose aspirin to reduce that risk.
The ankle-...
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Workplace Wellness Programs Work
TUESDAY, March 2 (HealthDay News) -- Workplace wellness programs help employees lose weight and reduce their risk of heart disease, a new study shows.
U.S. researchers followed 757 hospital workers who took part in a voluntary 12-week, team-based wellness program that focused on diet and...
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Clot Buster More Critical for Female Stroke Victims
MONDAY, March 1 (HealthDay News) -- Female stroke patients who aren't given the clot-busting drug tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) have worse outcomes than men who don't receive the drug, a new study finds.
The research appears in the March 2 issue of Neurology.
"Women ne...
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Cutting Salt Could Prevent Almost 500,000 Heart Attacks
MONDAY, March 1 (HealthDay News) -- A combined government-industry initiative to reduce U.S. sodium consumption by as little as 10 percent would save thousands of lives and billions of dollars, according to new research.
Cutting salt reduces blood pressure, a key factor contributing to he...
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Low-Fat Diets Beat Low-Carb Regimen Long Term
MONDAY, March 1 (HealthDay News) -- Three years after going on a diet, obese men and women on low-carbohydrate "Atkins"-type plans had gained back nearly all their weight, while those on low-fat diets continued to lose, new research finds.
Neither group ended up model-thin, however: Three...
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Popular Diet Plans Can Unclog Arteries
MONDAY, March 1 (HealthDay News) -- Any one of three heart-healthy diets -- low-fat, low-carbohydrate, Mediterranean -- can reverse the thickening of artery walls that can lead to heart attack and stroke, an Israeli study indicates.
"Once one adheres to a sensible diet, even though you ex...
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Current Blood Thinners Face Tough Competition
FRIDAY, Feb. 26 (HealthDay News) -- New studies provide more proof that the mainstays of anti-clotting therapy, namely warfarin and aspirin, are facing some severe competition from newcomers.
Researchers presenting their findings during a Friday news conference at the American Stroke Ass...
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Early Liver Detection Methods Ineffective
FRIDAY, Feb. 26 (HealthDay News) -- New research suggests that biomarkers used to detect liver cancer in its early stages aren't doing a great job.
In a study led by Dr. Anna S. Lok of the University of Michigan Medical School, researchers found that two biomarkers -- des-gamma-carboxy p...
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Stents May Be Effective Weapon Against Stroke
FRIDAY, Feb. 26 (HealthDay News) -- Both stents and conventional surgery appear to be equally effective in preventing strokes in people whose carotid arteries are blocked, according to research presented Friday at the American Stroke Association's annual meeting in San Antonio.
However, a...
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Twice as Many Women May Soon Be Diagnosed With Gestational Diabetes
FRIDAY, Feb. 26 (HealthDay News) -- New measurements for determining dangerous blood sugar levels for pregnant women and their unborn babies mean that two to three times as many women will be diagnosed with gestational diabetes, a new study suggests.
Instead of 5 percent to 8 percent of p...
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Coffee Drinking May Lower Stroke Risk
THURSDAY, Feb. 25 (HealthDay News) -- Regular coffee drinking appears to reduce the risk of stroke, a new study indicates.
The study of 23,000 men and women who were followed for an average of 12 years found that "self-reported coffee consumption was inversely related to stroke risk," sai...
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Vitamin B3 May Help Repair Brain After a Stroke
THURSDAY, Feb. 25 (HealthDay News) -- Based on the results of preliminary research in rats, researchers say that doses of vitamin B3 -- also known as niacin -- could help people recover brain function after a stroke.
Researchers at Henry Ford Hospital found that rats who suffered induced...
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Wii-Gaming Could Aid Stroke Rehab
THURSDAY, Feb. 25 (HealthDay News) -- Recovering stroke patients whose physical therapy regimen is built around Wii video games appear to improve better than patients treated with standard therapies, a new Canadian study reveals.
The finding suggests that the enormously popular virtual re...
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Happy Marriage Cuts Men's Risk for Stroke
WEDNESDAY, Feb. 24 (HealthDay News) -- Single or unhappily married men seem to run a greater risk of dying from a stroke than those with good marriages, a new Israeli study indicates.
The study, which tracked more than 10,000 civil servants and municipal workers from 1963 to 1997, found t...
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New Bone Drug May Prevent Fractures But Raise Clot Risk
WEDNESDAY, Feb. 24 (HealthDay News) -- A new drug to fight osteoporosis, the bone condition associated with aging and debilitating fractures, reduces the risk of fractures and the risk of some breast cancers, heart disease and stroke, according to a new study.
But, like other anti-osteopo...
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Strokes Up Among the Young, Down Among the Old
WEDNESDAY, Feb. 24 (HealthDay News) -- The incidence of stroke seems to be falling among the old. That's the good news.
The bad news, though, is that strokes appear to be occurring more often among the young, a group that has not been considered at high risk for the debilitating and deadl...
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Health Tip: Risk Factors for Deep Vein Thrombosis
(HealthDay News) -- Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) occurs when a blood clot forms within a deep vein, most often in the calf or thigh area.
The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons offers this list of risk factors that may increase the likelihood of DVT:
Having had a pulmona...
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Tests to Measure Safety of Anti-Clotting Drugs of Limited Value
TUESDAY, Feb. 23 (HealthDay News) -- Tests that try to single out who will have bleeding problems when they get a clot-preventing drug such as Plavix before surgery aren't ready for regular use, a new Dutch study concludes.
Three of the six tests, which measure the function of platelets,...
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Excessive Weight Gain During Pregnancy Raises Gestational Diabetes Risk
MONDAY, Feb. 22 (HealthDay News) -- Excessive weight gain during pregnancy, especially the first trimester, may increase a woman's risk of gestational diabetes, say U.S. researchers.
Their three-year study included 345 pregnant women with gestational diabetes and 800 pregnant women withou...
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ICU Patients Gain From Team Approach to Care
MONDAY, Feb. 22 (HealthDay News) -- Intensive care patients are less likely to die if they're looked after by a multidisciplinary health care team that includes doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists, clinical pharmacists and others, says a new study.
Research...
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Patients Do Better at Hospitals That Follow Stroke Guidelines
MONDAY, Feb. 22 (HealthDay News) -- Stroke patients taken to hospitals that follow specific treatment protocols may have a better chance of surviving than patients taken elsewhere, new research suggests.
The study looked at the first one million stroke patients treated at hospitals enroll...
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Report Calls High Blood Pressure a 'Neglected Disease'
MONDAY, Feb. 22 (HealthDay News) -- Americans eat way too much salt and cutting down on that consumption should be a cornerstone of new public health efforts to curb hypertension.
That's one of the key messages of an Institute of Medicine (IOM) report, commissioned by the U.S. Centers for...
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Statins May Benefit Prostate Cancer Patients
MONDAY, Feb. 22 (HealthDay News) -- Cholesterol-lowering statins significantly reduce prostate tumor inflammation, which may help lower the risk of disease progression, new study findings suggest.
Duke University Medical Center researchers found that the use of statins before prostate can...
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As Temperature Plummets, It's Still Safe to Exercise
SATURDAY, Feb. 20 (HealthDay News) -- Cold weather shouldn't keep you from exercising outdoors.
"If you are concerned about hypothermia, you don't need to be unless the temperatures are extreme," Gary Sforzo, a professor of exercise and sports sciences at Ithaca College, said in a news re...
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Remove Diabetes Drug Avandia From Market: FDA Reports
SATURDAY, Feb. 20 (HealthDay News) -- The blockbuster type 2 diabetes drug Avandia raises users' odds for heart attack and heart failure and should be removed from the market, according to confidential government reports.
The New York Times on Saturday reported on documents from th...
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FDA Approved Diabetes Drug Despite Hints at Cancer Risk
THURSDAY, Feb. 18 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is defending its decision in late January to approve a new diabetes drug, Victoza (liraglutide), even though animal studies suggest it might increase the risk for a rare thyroid cancer.
Victoza, among a class of m...
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Bilberry Seems to Act Against Blood Sugar
WEDNESDAY, Feb. 17 (HealthDay News) -- Bilberry extract helps control blood sugar levels in mice, researchers have found.
Bilberry and other brightly colored foods such as blueberries, purple grapes, cherries and cranberries contain anthocyanins, which are thought to reduce blood sugar, i...
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Rising Use of Medical Technologies Extending Americans' Lives
WEDNESDAY, Feb. 17 (HealthDay News) -- Surging use of improved medical technology, including new drugs, is driving up life expectancy for Americans and driving down rates of major killers such as heart disease and cancer, a new national health report finds.
At the same time, some things a...
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Added Drug Aids MS Treatment
TUESDAY, Feb. 16 (HealthDay News) -- Adding the drug daclizumab to standard treatment with interferon beta may reduce multiple sclerosis disease activity more than interferon beta alone, a new study reports.
Previous non-randomized studies found that daclizumab -- a humanized monoclonal a...
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In Tests, Implanted Monitor Detects Atrial Fibrillation
TUESDAY, Feb. 16 (HealthDay News) -- An implantable heart monitor that uses a new computation method is highly accurate in detecting a common heart rhythm problem called atrial fibrillation, according to a new study.
More than 2 million Americans have the condition, in which the heart's...
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Small Increase in Diabetes Risk Noted in Statin Patients
TUESDAY, Feb. 16 (HealthDay News) -- The use of cholesterol-lowering statin drugs increases the chance of developing diabetes by 9 percent, but the absolute risk is low, especially when compared with how much statins reduce the threat of heart disease and heart attack, new research shows.
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'Fishy Smell' May Keep Patients From Diabetes Drug
MONDAY, Feb. 15 (HealthDay News) -- The commonly used diabetes medication metformin sometimes has such an unpleasant odor that people may stop taking it, experts say.
But they recommend that people let their doctors know if the smell of this oral drug is an issue for them, because differen...
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After a Stroke, High Risk for a Recurrence
MONDAY, Feb. 15 (HealthDay News) -- Among people who suffer a stroke, one in 12 are likely to have another stroke soon after the initial attack and one in four will die within a year, according to a new study by researchers from the Medical University of South Carolina.
The state-wide sta...
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Cigars, Pipes No 'Healthy' Alternative to Cigarettes
MONDAY, Feb. 15 (HealthDay News) --People who think they're protecting their lungs by smoking pipes or cigars instead of cigarettes are kidding themselves, a new study shows.
"Inhalation of tobacco smoke by any means is deleterious," said Dr. R. Graham Barr, assistant professor of medicin...
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Diabetes Drugs Avandia, Actos Tied to Fractures in Women
MONDAY, Feb. 15 (HealthDay News) -- Women who take diabetes drugs known as thiazolidinediones, which include Avandia and Actos, are at a greater risk of bone fractures, a new study finds.
Women who took a thiazolidinedione drug for a year were 50 percent more likely to suffer a bone fract...
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Dark Chocolate May Lower Stroke Risk
THURSDAY, Feb. 11 (HealthDay News) -- Just in time for Valentine's Day comes word that eating dark chocolate appears to lower your risk of stroke or lessen the likelihood of death after a stroke.
But the findings, based on a review of existing research, aren't conclusive, and they don't...
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Ex-President Clinton Undergoes Heart Procedure
THURSDAY, Feb. 11 (HealthDay News) -- Former President Bill Clinton was said to be "in good spirits" Thursday evening in a New York City hospital after he had two stents inserted into a clogged heart artery.
The 63-year-old Clinton, who underwent quadruple bypass surgery in 2004, had bee...
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Crestor Approval Expanded For People Without High Cholesterol
TUESDAY, Feb. 9 (HealthDay News) -- U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for Crestor (rosuvastatin) has been widened to include people who have no obvious symptoms of heart disease, Dow Jones reported.
Maker AstraZeneca can now market the drug to people with normal or slightl...
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ICU Patients at Risk for Rare Heart Rhythm Problem
TUESDAY, Feb. 9 (HealthDay News) -- Doctors and other health-care professionals need to be aware that certain medications can cause a rare, potentially deadly heart rhythm problem called Torsade de Pointes (TdP), says a joint scientific statement by the American Heart Association and the American...
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Inflammatory Bowel Ups Risk for Blood Clots
TUESDAY, Feb. 9 (HealthDay News) -- People with active inflammatory bowel disease are much more likely to develop blood clots than people without the condition, a new study suggests.
And that may make preventive drug treatment necessary, it adds.
The study, done in the United King...
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'Third-Hand Smoke' Could Be Troublesome, Too
MONDAY, Feb. 8 (HealthDay News) -- Tobacco smoke residue found on indoor surfaces -- so-called "third-hand smoke" -- can interact with airborne compounds to form new, potentially cancer-causing substances, research suggests.
Details about the potential role such third-hand smoke might pla...
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High Blood Pressure May Predict Dementia in Some Seniors
MONDAY, Feb. 8 (HealthDay News) -- High blood pressure may predict dementia in older adults with impaired executive function (difficulty organizing thoughts and making decisions), but not in those with memory problems, a new study has found.
The study included 990 dementia-free participan...
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Older Stroke Patients Are Getting Better Treatment
MONDAY, Feb. 8 (HealthDay News) -- Older Americans who have strokes are getting better treatment, possibly because of a nationwide program encouraging use of guideline-recommended therapies, a new study shows.
"What we saw in the course of the study, the six years from 2003 to 2009, was r...
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Genome Mapped for Type 2 Diabetes
FRIDAY, Feb. 5 (HealthDay News) -- Scientists have completed a map of areas of the human genome that control which genes are switched on or off in type 2 diabetes, a finding that may advance understanding of the genetic basis of this and other common diseases.
"Most of the human genome i...
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Health Tip: Getting Cardiac Rehabilitation
(HealthDay News) -- A cardiac rehabilitation program is designed to help people recover from a heart attack, heart surgery or another medical procedure involving the cardiovascular system.
Cardiac rehabilitation involves educating and counseling people about making lifestyle changes, get...
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Health Tip: Beta Blockers May Have Side Effects
(HealthDay News) -- Beta blockers often are prescribed to treat various heart conditions, including congestive heart failure and an irregular heartbeat. They also may be used to help treat high blood pressure.
As with any drug, beta blockers may cause side effects in some people. The Amer...
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Immigrants at Lower Stroke Risk Than Long-Term Residents?
WEDNESDAY, Feb. 3 (HealthDay News) -- Recent immigrants to Canada and the United States may be less likely to suffer a stroke at a young age than long-term residents, a new study has found.
University of Toronto researchers identified 966,000 new immigrants to Ontario over a 12-year perio...
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Analysis Examines Ultrasound Use for Blood Clots
TUESDAY, Feb. 2 (HealthDay News) -- It's unusual for a paper in a medical journal to be accompanied by an editorial saying that the conclusion reported in the paper might be "overly simple and consequently not clinically useful."
However, that is exactly what has happened in the Feb. 3 is...
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Health Tip: Benefitting From Cross-Training Exercises
(HealthDay News) -- A well-designed cross-training program includes a variety of alternating exercises that stress different methods of workout and affect different parts of the body.
The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons offers this list of cross-training benefits:
I...
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Prostate Cancer Diagnosis Raises Suicide Risk
TUESDAY, Feb. 2 (HealthDay News) -- A diagnosis of prostate cancer can be unnerving enough to up a man's odds for either suicide or fatal heart attack, new research indicates.
"Unfortunately, the study results didn't surprise us," said study co-author Dr. Lorelei A. Mucci, an assistant pr...
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Smoker's Own Secondhand Smoke Adds to Health Risks
TUESDAY, Feb. 2 (HealthDay News) -- In addition to the risks associated with directly inhaling cigarette smoke, smokers also face significant risk from their own secondhand smoke, researchers say.
The finding, published online Jan. 29 in Environmental Health, challenges the widely...
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Using Nicotine Patch Longer Boosts Efforts to Quit
TUESDAY, Feb. 2 (HealthDay News) -- Extended use of nicotine patches improves the likelihood that smokers will be able to kick the habit and reduces the risk that they'll start smoking again, a new study has found.
The study included 568 adults who smoked 10 or more cigarettes a day for a...
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Antidepressants After Stroke May Boost Mental Ability
MONDAY, Feb. 1 (HealthDay News) -- Taking antidepressants after a stroke may help repair the damaged brain and improve mental functioning, a new study suggests.
Little has been shown to help the brain restore cognitive abilities, such as thinking, learning and memory, after initial stroke...
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Experts Issue Warning on Prostate Hormone Therapy
MONDAY, Feb. 1 (HealthDay News) -- Men with prostate cancer and the physicians who treat them are being warned that the androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) commonly used against the malignancy might increase the risk of heart attack and cardiac death.
"There is a substantial amount of data...
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Poor Mental Functioning May Predict Stroke
MONDAY, Feb. 1 (HealthDay News) -- Problems with memory or thinking abilities could signal an increased likelihood for a stroke in the future.
Swedish researchers found that older men who were not diagnosed as having dementia but who did poorly on a test of mental function had a greatly i...
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Over 70 and Overweight May Add Years to Life
THURSDAY, Jan. 28 (HealthDay News) -- Despite the warnings that being overweight will kill you, a new Australian study finds that overweight adults over the age of 70 are less likely to die over a 10-year period than their normal-weight peers.
The study, published Jan. 28 in the Journa...
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'Mirror Therapy' Appears to Reduce Post-Amputation Pain
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 27 (HealthDay News) -- A technique called mirror therapy can help reduce phantom pain in soldiers who've had limbs amputated, a new study shows.
Phantom pain, a common problem after amputation, is pain that's perceived to be in the missing limb.
"The pain pathways...
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Amputation Affects Sexes Differently
TUESDAY, Jan. 26 (HealthDay News) -- Men and women who've had limb amputations report similar levels of pain severity, but there are major gender differences in overall pain outcomes, such as emotional health and pain-coping responses, new research has found.
The study, published in the J...
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Premature Aging of the Brain Seen in HIV Patients
TUESDAY, Jan. 26 (HealthDay News) -- Premature aging is striking the brains of people infected with the virus that causes AIDS, new research suggests.
It's not clear if the virus or the drugs that treat it -- or both -- are contributing to the aging. But one thing is clear: The blood flow...
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Skipping Insulin May Not Be Uncommon
TUESDAY, Jan. 26 (HealthDay News) -- More than half of the people who need to take insulin to control their diabetes skip an injection now and then, a new study reports.
The researchers found that people with diabetes forgo their insulin injections for a number of reasons, including pain...
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Tight Blood Sugar Control May Raise Risk of Death
TUESDAY, Jan. 26 (HealthDay News) -- Very tight blood sugar control may raise the risk of premature death in people with type 2 diabetes, with the risk even higher among patients taking insulin, a new study reveals.
The study authors, from Cardiff University School of Medicine in Wales,...
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Black Liver Cancer Patients Face Worst Odds
MONDAY, Jan. 25 (HealthDay News) -- Even though they receive equal treatment, black patients with liver cancer have lower survival rates than patients of other races, a new U.S. study finds.
Researchers analyzed data from 20,920 patients in the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (...
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For Lower Blood Pressure, Low-Carb Diet May Be Best
MONDAY, Jan. 25 (HealthDay News) -- A low-carbohydrate diet helps people shed as many pounds as a low-fat diet plus the weight-loss drug orlistat does, and the low-carb plan may be better at helping lower blood pressure, researchers report.
Their study, published in the Jan. 25 issue of t...
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More Proof Exercise Leads to Healthier Aging
MONDAY, Jan. 25 (HealthDay News) -- Just in case the world needed more evidence on the matter, along come four new studies verifying that exercise is indeed good for you, even critical if you plan to survive to a vigorous, hardy and tough-boned old age.
All four studies appear in the Jan...
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Newborns of Smokers Have Abnormal Blood Pressure
MONDAY, Jan. 25 (HealthDay News) -- Babies of women who smoked during pregnancy have blood pressure problems at birth that persisted through the first year of life, a new study finds.
"What is of concern is that the problems are present at birth and get worse ov...
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Discrimination May Lead to Smoking in Boys
FRIDAY, Jan. 22 (HealthDay News) -- Minority teen boys smoke more when they suffer discrimination, but that's not the case for minority teen girls, a U.S. study finds.
Perceived discrimination had no effect on smoking rates among minority girls aged 12 to 15 and was associated with lower...
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Health Tip: At Risk for Carotid Artery Disease?
(HealthDay News) -- Carotid arteries carry blood to the brain, but they can become narrowed or clogged when sticky substances known as plaque build up in these vessels.
The U.S. National Library of Medicine says risk factors for carotid artery disease include:
Having high bl...
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1 in 5 U.S. Kids Has High Cholesterol
THURSDAY, Jan. 21 (HealthDay News) -- Twenty percent of U.S. children and teens have abnormal lipid levels, an indication of too much bad cholesterol, too little good cholesterol or high triglycerides, federal health officials report.
These abnormal levels can raise the risk for heart dis...
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As Obesity Increases, So Does Stroke Risk
THURSDAY, Jan. 21 (HealthDay News) -- The more overweight you are, the more likely you are to have a stroke, a new study reports.
The study, which followed 13,549 middle-aged Americans for 19 years, looked at stroke risk associated with several measures of obesity, emphasizing body mass i...
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FDA Warns of Heart Risks With Diet Drug
THURSDAY, Jan. 21 (HealthDay News) -- The weight-loss pill Meridia should not be used by people with a history of heart problems because the drug can increase the risk of heart attack and stroke in such people, U.S. drug regulators said Thursday.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration sai...
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Experts Push 7 Steps to Heart Health
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 20 (HealthDay News) -- Assessing whether you are in poor, moderate or ideal cardiovascular health takes just seconds, thanks to a new American Heart Association measure of health factors and behaviors.
The seven-point checklist is part of a heart association program design...
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Senate Upset Foils Democrats' Health Reform Agenda
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 20 (HealthDay News) -- House and Senate Democrats' ambitious plans to revamp the nation's health-care system were torpedoed Tuesday night in the wake of a Massachusetts special election that delivered the seat long held by the late Sen. Edward Kennedy to a Republican.
Stat...
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Small Cuts in Salt Intake Spur Big Drops in Heart Trouble
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 20 (HealthDay News) -- Slashing salt intake by just 3 grams a day -- the equivalent of half a teaspoon -- could dramatically cut the incidence of heart disease and death in U.S. adults, researchers claim.
According to the authors of a study in the Jan. 20 online edition of...
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Erectile Dysfunction Predicts Heart Disease
MONDAY, Jan. 18 (HealthDay News) -- Erectile dysfunction is a strong warning sign that a man might be at increased risk for heart attack, stroke and other cardiovascular problems, a long-running study indicates.
"We saw that adjusting for age and Framingham [Hea...
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For Heart Health, Focus on Risk Factors
MONDAY, Jan. 18 (HealthDay News) -- Treating multiple factors that contribute to heart attack risk is better than simply focusing on lowering a patient's cholesterol level, according to U.S. researchers.
"We've been worrying too much about people's cholesterol level and not enough about t...
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For Very Obese, Gastric Bypass May Extend Life
MONDAY, Jan. 18 (HealthDay News) -- Gastric bypass surgery could have life-extending benefits for most of the five percent of Americans who are very obese, a new study suggests.
The study, led by researchers at the University of Cincinnati, concluded that the benefits of this form of weig...
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Most Fast-Food French Fries Cooked in Unhealthiest Oil
MONDAY, Jan. 18 (HealthDay News) -- Most French fries served in U.S. restaurants are immersed in corn-based oil -- usually considered the worst oil for human health -- before they're fried, according to the authors of a new study.
Corn oil contains copious amounts of saturated fat, known...
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Newly Identified Gene Variants Linked to Diabetes
MONDAY, Jan. 18 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers have identified 10 new gene variants associated with blood sugar or insulin levels, which they believe could lead to new treatments for type 2 diabetes.
"Only four gene variants had previously been associated with glucose metabolism, and jus...
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Traditional Surgery Not Always Best for Abdominal Aneurysm
MONDAY, Jan. 18 (HealthDay News) -- In some cases of ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm, minimally invasive repair could be more effective at saving lives than traditional open surgery.
Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a bulging of the aorta, the largest blood vessel in the body. If the...
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Blacks With Diabetes Urged to Cut Calories, Salt
FRIDAY, Jan. 14 (HealthDay News) -- Blacks with diabetes who consume too many calories and too much sodium increase their risk for eye disease, a new study finds.
The research involved 469 black participants who had type 1 diabetes. Six years later, they underwent blood testing, had a com...
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Diabetes Drug Looks Safe for Heart Failure Patients
FRIDAY, Jan. 15 (HealthDay News) -- The diabetes drug metformin is safe for diabetes patients with advanced heart failure, say U.S. researchers.
The study included 401 patients, average age 56, with type 2 diabetes and advanced systolic heart failure who were followed for 14 years in a he...
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From Risky Health Status to a Better Life
FRIDAY, Jan. 15 (HealthDay News) -- It's easy to roll your eyes when a doctor prescribes diet and exercise as a cure for what ails you.
But it works. It worked for me.
In the past year, I used diet and exercise to lose more than 60 pounds, beat back pre-diabetes and lower my chol...
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Health Tip: Help Prevent a Blood Clot
(HealthDay News) -- Blood clots most often occur in people who don't move around enough and among people who have had recent surgery or injury. A clot can travel to the heart or brain, leading to a heart attack or stroke.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services suggests how to h...
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Moderate Radiation Tied to Heart Disease, Stroke
FRIDAY, Jan. 15 (HealthDay News) -- New research based on the experiences of atomic-bomb survivors has found a link between exposure to moderate levels of radiation and higher levels of heart disease and stroke.
It's not clear, however, if the radiation directly causes the diseases, nor...
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CT Scans Spot Many Kidney Abnormalities
THURSDAY, Jan. 14 (HealthDay News) -- About 25 percent of healthy people have abnormalities in the kidneys and their blood vessels, but most of these abnormalities aren't serious enough to prevent a person from donating a kidney, a new study shows.
More research is needed to determine how...
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Lawmakers Getting Closer to Health Care Reform
THURSDAY, Jan. 14 (HealthDay News) -- An agreement in principle on the landmark overhaul to the U.S. health care system could come as early as Friday, lawmakers said Thursday.
The agreement in principle, which would cover major issues such as how to pay for health coverage and how many Am...
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Leading COPD Drug Won't Harm Heart: FDA
THURSDAY, Jan. 14 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday said it found no good evidence that the Spiriva HandiHaler boosts heart risks in patients who use it to help control chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
The announcement comes after data rele...
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Mail-Order May Help People Stick to Med Regimens
THURSDAY, Jan. 14 (HealthDay News) -- Using mail-order pharmacies makes it easier for people to stick with their doctor's prescribed medication regimens, a new study suggests.
Researchers analyzed medication refill data from 2006 and 2007 from 13,922 people with diabetes, high blood pre...
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More Evidence That Statins Cut Stroke Risk
THURSDAY, Jan. 14 (HealthDay News) -- One of the largest analyses of the effect of statin drug therapy on the risk of stroke confirms the benefits of these widely used drugs.
Much of the benefit from statins such as Crestor, Lipitor and Zocor appears tied to the drugs' lowering of blood l...
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Stress of Caring for Disabled Spouse Raises Stroke Threat
THURSDAY, Jan. 14 (HealthDay News) -- The stress of caring for a disabled spouse increases the risk of stroke substantially, and the increased risk is greater for husbands than for wives, a new study finds.
"We followed 767 people out of a large study who were caring for a spouse with any...
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Artificial Pancreas Prototype in Development for Type 1 Diabetics
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 13 (HealthDay News) -- The first version of an artificial pancreas -- a potentially revolutionary way to manage insulin delivery in people with type 1 diabetes -- may be available in as little as four years.
The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) announced Wedne...
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New Anti-Clotting Drug Outperforms Plavix
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 13 (HealthDay News) -- A new clot-busting drug, Brilinta, may soon take the place of Plavix in treating patients with acute coronary syndrome, which includes angina and heart attack.
In a new trial, the upstart drug, ticagrelor (Brilinta) reduced the risk of second heart...
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Could a Bigger Bottom Boost Health?
TUESDAY, Jan. 12 (HealthDay News) -- Big-bottomed women, take heart.
Fat that settles around the thighs and buttocks may be better for you than a tummy tire, experts say. In fact, a new review of the data on the subject suggests it may even help protect your health.
"It is the pro...
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Health Tip: Track What You Eat
(HealthDay News) -- A food diary can help you track how much food -- and how many calories -- you're taking in. This can help make it easier to lose those extra pounds.
The American Academy of Family Physicians offers these suggestions for keeping a food diary:
Don't change...
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Long-Term Statin Use Best Way to Cut Cardiovascular Deaths
TUESDAY, Jan. 12 (HealthDay News) -- A 50 percent increase in patients adhering to long-term treatment with cholesterol-lowering statins could prevent twice as many deaths from heart attack and stroke, British researchers say.
It's estimated that only about half of patients prescribed sta...
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Some Blood Pressure Drugs May Stave Off Dementia
TUESDAY, Jan. 12 (HealthDay News) -- Blood pressure drugs that block the protein angiotensin appear to reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia, a new study finds.
"We think it [angiotensin] is one of the most important factors determining healthy bloo...
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More Aggressive Treatment for Weekend Stroke
MONDAY, Jan. 11 (HealthDay News) -- Stroke victims brought to a hospital on a weekend are more likely to receive the powerful clot-dissolving drug tPA than those who arrive on a weekday, a study finds.
It's an unexpected finding, since the study was triggered by a previous report showing...
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Blood Pressure Drugs Might Fight Diabetic Retinopathy
FRIDAY, Jan. 8 (HealthDay News) -- New research in mice suggests that some drugs used to treat high blood pressure might help prevent and treat a disorder that causes people with diabetes to lose their vision.
The researchers tested candesartan (Atacand), a dru...
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Coffee Cuts Liver Scarring in Hepatitis C
FRIDAY, Jan. 8 (HealthDay News) -- Caffeine in coffee reduces the severity of liver fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus, a new study has found.
Liver fibrosis (scarring of the liver) is the second stage of liver disease during which liver function declines because of accum...
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Calorie Counts on Food Labeling Often Off
THURSDAY, Jan. 7 (HealthDay News) -- Many reduced-calorie restaurant and packaged foods in the United States have more calories than indicated on their nutritional labeling, a new study reports.
Tufts University researchers analyzed 29 quick-serve and sit-down restaurant foods and found t...
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Childhood Cancer Survivors Targets for Heart Disease
THURSDAY, Jan. 7 (HealthDay News) -- Childhood cancer survivors are at increased risk for diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure, all of which predispose them to heart disease, say U.S. researchers.
They analyzed data on almost 8,600 survivors and close to 3,000 of their sibli...
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Diabetes Meds May Be Falling Through 'Doughnut Hole'
THURSDAY, Jan. 7 (HealthDay News) -- Medicare's so-called "doughnut hole" could be forcing many American seniors to skip their diabetes medications, a new study suggests.
The doughnut hole refers to a gap in the Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage plan. Medicare covers the cost of...
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For Fitness, Cutting Calories May Not Be Enough
THURSDAY, Jan. 7 (HealthDay News) -- If you're vowing to lose weight this year, consider adding a regular exercise program while you're cutting calories.
Combining the two results in better health outcomes -- such as lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels -- than simply cutting calor...
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Could Your Cell Phone Help Shield You From Alzheimer's?
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 6 (HealthDay News) -- Cell phone addicts of the world, listen up: Electromagnetic waves emanating from these ubiquitous gadgets may prevent or even reverse Alzheimer's disease, researchers say.
Normal mice who had long-term exposure to such electromagnetic waves avoided de...
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New Brain Scan May Help Spot Alzheimer's
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 6 (HealthDay News) -- A new type of brain scan might give doctors more insight into whether patients with memory loss are suffering from Alzheimer's disease, researchers say.
The findings are published in the Jan. 6 online edition of the journal Neurology.
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Fat Hormone Controls Gene Linked to Diabetes
TUESDAY, Jan. 5 (HealthDay News) -- A fat hormone known as leptin controls a gene in the liver that's linked to the dampening of diabetes in animals, researchers have found.
The finding suggests that the hormone could potentially have the same effect in people.
Earlier research ha...
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Hazards of Obesity Now Rival Smoking in U.S.
TUESDAY, Jan. 5 (HealthDay News) -- Obesity now poses as great a threat to Americans' quality of life as smoking, a new study shows.
Researchers at Columbia University and The City College of New York analyzed 1993-2008 data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System that include...
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For Better Health in New Year, Add Exercise to Your Day
MONDAY, Jan. 4 (HealthDay News) --
Want to feel more fit in 2010?
A professor of health and exercise science at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C., says adding a half hour of exercise a day is the key to a healthier lifestyle.
"People don't realize you can get tremendo...
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Genes May Put Black Americans at Risk for Diabetes
MONDAY, Jan. 4 (HealthDay News) -- Inherited genetic variations could explain why blacks develop type 2 diabetes at a higher rate than whites, new research suggests.
"We found gene expression profiles that suggest that carbohydrate metabolism should be different in the African-Americans...
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Markers Predict Kids' Risk of Diabetes as Adults
MONDAY, Jan. 4 (HealthDay News) -- New research suggests that body measurements and laboratory tests may predict the likelihood that a child will develop type 2 diabetes later in life.
Researchers analyzed long-term studies of 1,067 black and white girls followed for nine years after the...
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Quitting Smoking Can Raise Diabetes Risk
MONDAY, Jan. 4 (HealthDay News) -- Smokers who give up the habit have an increased risk of developing diabetes over the next few years, a new study finds.
The finding wasn't a surprise, since smokers typically gain weight when they quit, and weight gain is associated with diabetes, noted...
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Using Kitchen Spoons Ups Risk of Dosing Errors
MONDAY, Jan. 4 (HealthDay News) -- New research suggests that you should steer clear of using ordinary spoons when taking or giving liquid medicines, because the practice raises the risk of potentially dangerous dosing mistakes.
"Clearly we know that there are a lot of people -- despite a...
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A Toast a Day May Help the Heart
THURSDAY, Dec. 31 (HealthDay News) -- If you are among the many who welcome in the new year with a glass of bubbly, consider this along with the fizz: Two glasses of champagne a day may do wonders for your heart and circulation by improving the way blood vessels function.
According to re...
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Health Tip: Fight Fatigue
(HealthDay News) -- You can combat fatigue -- that feeling of tiredness and lack of energy -- without drinking caffeinated coffee or taking stimulants, the U.S. National Library of Medicine says.
Here are its suggestions:
Stick to a regular sleep schedule, making sure you g...
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New Guidelines Urge A1C Test for Diabetes Diagnosis
TUESDAY, Dec. 29 (HealthDay News) -- In its latest set of clinical guidelines, the American Diabetes Association is promoting a more prominent role for the hemoglobin A1C blood test in the diagnosis of type 2 diabetes and prediabetes.
Long used in the management of diabetes, the A1C blood...
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Study Questions FDA Approvals of Cardiac Devices
TUESDAY, Dec. 29 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration may not be as stringent in evaluating devices as it is in approving drugs.
According to a report in the Dec. 23/30 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, approval of cardiovascular device...
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Progress Reported in Regenerating Blood Vessels
THURSDAY, Dec. 24 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers say they've stimulated the growth of blood vessels by using artificial polymers -- a process that could lead to improvements in regenerative medicine, which aims to help damaged body tissue heal itself and create new tissue.
The polymers,...
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Senate Passes Health Reform Package
THURSDAY, Dec. 24 (HealthDay News) -- Senate Democrats gave President Barack Obama a Christmas Eve gift on Thursday with passage of a landmark health care bill that would extend coverage to 31 million uninsured Americans.
Obama said the Senate bill contains 95 percent of the health reform...
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Health Tip: Eat Healthier This Holiday Season
(HealthDay News) -- The holidays are a time of celebrating with fattening foods, cocktails and lots of parties with friends and family. But you can take steps to prevent gaining too much weight during the holiday season.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services offers these heal...
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High Lipoprotein Levels Can Cause Heart Disease
WEDNESDAY, Dec. 23 (HealthDay News) -- A genetic study proves that high blood levels of the fat-carrying molecule called lipoprotein(a) can cause heart disease.
"The case for lipoprotein(a) as a direct cause of coronary artery disease is now firm," said Martin Farrall, a professor of card...
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Heart Risk Tied to Inflammatory Protein
TUESDAY, Dec. 22 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers are linking levels of a protein that indicates tissue inflammation in the body to future risk of heart attack, stroke, cancer and chronic lung disease.
But the association may be the result of other risk factors related to heart disease, su...
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Breast-Feeding May Protect a Woman's Heart
MONDAY, Dec. 21 (HealthDay News) -- Although many women choose to breast-feed because of the numerous health benefits it offers their offspring, new research suggests that breast-feeding may also help the health of the mothers' hearts later in life.
In a study of nearly 300 women, resear...
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Diabetes Insight Could Lead to Better Treatments
MONDAY, Dec. 21 (HealthDay News) -- Scientists have identified a protein that may be involved in the development of type 2 diabetes, a finding that could lead to new drugs to fight this growing worldwide scourge.
This same group of researchers recently showed that inhibiting this pathway...
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Myrrh May Lower High Cholesterol
MONDAY, Dec. 21 (HealthDay News) -- The resin of trees in the Middle East -- known as myrrh -- may help lower "bad" cholesterol, new research suggests.
The study author explained that myrrh resin could be used in conjunction with other plant materials to boost heart health, although it's...
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Health Tip: At the Heart of a Stent
(HealthDay News) -- A coronary stent is a hollow tube-shaped device that is surgically inserted into a blood vessel to keep it open.
The U.S. National Library of Medicine says a coronary stent may be used to treat the following conditions:
Coronary heart disease.
P...
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Health Tip: Blueberries Are Good for You
(HealthDay News) -- Blueberries are more than a tasty, decorative addition to a fruit plate.
One serving of blueberries contains a cup full of goodness, says Moses Taylor Hospital in Pennsylvania.
Here's why they are good for you:
One cup of blueberries has 15 percen...
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Kids in Home-Based Day Care Lack Exercise
FRIDAY, Dec. 18 (HealthDay News) -- Most home-based child-care providers meet nutrition standards but don't give children enough physical activity, allowing them to spend too much time in front of the TV, a new study contends.
Oregon State University researcher Stewart Trost surveyed abou...
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Spiritual Needs Rank High as Death From Cancer Nears
FRIDAY, Dec. 18 (HealthDay News) -- Addressing the spiritual needs of someone with advanced cancer could be just as important as taking care of their medical needs, a new study suggests.
When asked what was important to them at the end of their lives, people dying of cancer ranked two f...
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Could Omega-3s Boost Blood Fat Levels?
THURSDAY, Dec. 17 (HealthDay News) -- In a surprise finding, Canadian researchers report that the immediate effect of the fish oil fatty acids that are good for the heart is a short-term increase in blood fats and the molecules that help them form clots.
"We were surprised to find that th...
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Health Tip: These Symptoms May Indicate Uterine Fibroids
(HealthDay News) -- Uterine fibroids are growths that form inside a woman's uterus. Though they're not cancerous, they can cause pain and other symptoms.
The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says the following warning signs may indicate uterine fibroids:
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Obesity, Inactivity Keeping Heart Health Stats Down
THURSDAY, Dec. 17 (HealthDay News) -- While physicians and surgeons are getting better at treating heart attacks and other cardiovascular problems, too many Americans are ignoring the basic rules for preventing them, according to new statistics from the American Heart Association.
Topping...
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Protein Examined for Role in Liver Cancer
THURSDAY, Dec. 17 (HealthDay News) -- A protein switch called TAK1 helps prevent liver damage, including inflammation, fibrosis and cancer, according to a team of scientists from the United States and Japan.
Learning more about how TAK1 works could improve understanding about the developm...
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New Stroke Tool May Predict Early Recurrence
WEDNESDAY, Dec. 16 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers have developed a tool to predict whether a patient will suffer a second stroke within 90 days of a first stroke.
"This is an important new tool because studies have shown that people who have a second stroke soon after a first stroke are...
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Synthetic Platelets Put the Brakes on Blood Loss
WEDNESDAY, Dec. 16 (HealthDay News) -- Hoping to improve on nature, researchers have built and tested synthetic versions of the blood-clotting cells called platelets, to be used in trauma or other cases where blood just won't stop flowing.
"We start by making a core, with material that is...
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Boosting Kids' Stroke IQ May Save Lives
TUESDAY, Dec. 15 (HealthDay News) -- Stroke-related disability could be reduced by teaching children how to spot the signs of stroke in relatives and to call 911 immediately, a new study shows.
Emergency medical treatment within three hours of the first stroke symptoms can limit the exten...
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Tighter Blood Sugar Control Not Best for Some Diabetics
TUESDAY, Dec. 15 (HealthDay News) -- Tight blood sugar control needn't be the end-all factor for people with type 2 diabetes who have other medical problems, a new study indicates.
The degree of blood sugar control in type 2 diabetes "has been a subject of controversy for a decade," said...
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Antidepressants May Raise Women's Stroke Risk
MONDAY, Dec. 14 (HealthDay News) -- Older women who take antidepressants may have a small but statistically significant increased risk of stroke and death compared to women not on the medications, a new study finds.
"But statistical significance can be different...
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Coffee, Tea Might Stave Off Diabetes
MONDAY, Dec. 14 (HealthDay News) -- Here's good news for people who can't start their morning without a cup or two of java: Coffee and tea consumption may decrease the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
That's the conclusion of an Australian study that also found the more coffee you dri...
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Cutting TV Time Burns More Calories
MONDAY, Dec. 14 (HealthDay News) -- James Crouse was watching 25 or 26 hours of television a week until he enrolled in a study that required him to cut his tube time in half.
During his enforced period of deprivation, Crouse burned considerably more calories each day, and not necessarily...
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Normal Cholesterol Doesn't Guarantee Healthy Heart
MONDAY, Dec. 14 (HealthDay News) -- People with normal levels of LDL (bad) cholesterol still need to be screened for a marker of inflammation in order to identify those who may benefit from cholesterol-lowering statin therapy to reduce their long-term risk of heart attack, stroke and death, say U...
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Studies Quantify Cancer Risks From CT Scans
MONDAY, Dec. 14 (HealthDay News) -- Commonly performed CT scans are exposing patients to far more radiation than previously thought and in doses that could cause tens of thousands of cancers a year, two new studies claim.
Based on the findings, reported in the Dec. 14/28 issue of the A...
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Many Stroke Survivors Don't Take Lifesaving Meds
FRIDAY, Dec. 11 (HealthDay News) -- About one-fifth of ischemic stroke survivors don't take medications that can reduce their risk of another stroke, a U.S. study has found.
Ischemic stroke is caused by blocked blood flow in the brain. Several types of medications can reduce the risk of a...
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Menopause Often Means Worsening Cholesterol
FRIDAY, Dec. 11 (HealthDay News) -- Blood levels of LDL cholesterol, the bad kind that blocks arteries, go up sharply in women at the time of menopause, but there are no other dramatic changes in risk factors for heart attack, stroke and other cardiovascular problems, a new study has found....
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Most Hospital Patients Don't Know What Meds They're Taking
THURSDAY, Dec. 10 (HealthDay News) -- A small study finds that even adults who know what medicines they take at home can't accurately name the drugs they're getting in the hospital.
Forty-four percent of patients believed they were receiving a medication in the hospital that was not actua...
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New Additive Aids Blood Platelet Storage
THURSDAY, Dec. 10 (HealthDay News) -- An additive that allows for more efficient storage of blood platelets up to five days has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Platelets -- the component that helps blood clot -- are commonly used to prevent or treat bleeding, are...
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Many Dialysis Patients Get Wrong Blood Thinners for Angioplasty
TUESDAY, Dec. 8 (HealthDay News) -- More than one-fifth of patients on dialysis who undergo angioplasty are given blood thinners they should not be given, new research shows.
As a result, these patients are subject to a higher rate of bleeding during their hospital stay and may even be at...
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Too-Strict Blood Sugar Control May Lead to Car Crashes
TUESDAY, Dec. 8 (HealthDay News) -- Diabetics who keep their blood sugar tightly controlled run the risk of having traffic accidents due to low blood sugar, Canadian researchers report.
Controlling blood sugar is the cornerstone of managing diabetes. By keeping blood sugar under control,...
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Asthmatics Who Quit Smoking May Reverse Lung Damage
MONDAY, Dec. 7 (HealthDay News) -- People who have asthma and who also smoke could reverse some of the damage to their lungs by saying no to cigarettes, new Dutch research suggests.
"We found that exposure to cigarette smoke appears to increase the thickness of the epithelium, or lining,...
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New Blood Thinner Could Replace Warfarin to Fight Venous Clots
MONDAY, Dec. 7 (HealthDay News) A new blood thinner called dabigatran etexilate may be just as effective in preventing dangerous venous clots as an old standby, warfarin, but much easier for doctors and patients to manage, a new study finds.
Dabigatran is marketed as Pradax in Canada and...
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Prostate Hormone Therapy May Up Heart Risks
MONDAY, Dec. 7 (HealthDay News) -- Diabetes, heart attacks and other cardiovascular problems appear to be more common in men with prostate cancer who are treated with androgen deprivation therapy, which reduces or eliminates the male sex hormones that can promote cancer growth, a new study has fo...
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Blood Clot Threat After Surgery Worse Than Thought
THURSDAY, Dec. 3 (HealthDay News) -- Potentially fatal blood clots after surgery are a much greater risk than has previously been thought, a British study finds.
"What is most striking is that not only is the risk higher, but that it lasts much longer than people have thought," said Dr. J...
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Diabetes Drugs Go Head-to-Head in Study
THURSDAY, Dec. 3 (HealthDay News) -- A class of drugs still taken by millions of people with type 2 diabetes is associated with a higher risk of dying and heart failure than the newer treatment metformin, researchers say.
Sulfonylureas, long a mainstay of diabetes treatment, performed...
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Early Morning Smokers May Be More Dependent on Nicotine
THURSDAY, Dec. 3 (HealthDay News) -- Do you like a cigarette first thing in the morning? If so, take note: A new study suggests that those who rise and smoke inhale more nicotine than other smokers.
It's not clear why this might be so, but one of the researchers said he thinks it could be...
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Health Gains From Lowered Smoking Rates in Jeopardy
WEDNESDAY, Dec. 2 (HealthDay News) -- The overall health of the U.S. population has improved over the past three decades, largely because people have quit smoking in droves, but a new study suggests those gains might soon be wiped out if the rising obesity rates among Americans don't level off or...
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Oversized College Football Players May Face Heart Risks
WEDNESDAY, Dec. 2 (HealthDay News) -- Exercise alone isn't enough to keep overweight college football players from being at higher risk for a medical condition that can lead to heart disease, a new study suggests.
Researchers studied linemen at Division I colleges and found that two-third...
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Sugary Colas Tied to Gestational Diabetes
WEDNESDAY, Dec. 2 (HealthDay News) -- Women who drink five or more servings of sugar-sweetened cola per week before they conceive increase their risk of developing diabetes during pregnancy, a new study indicates.
"Previous studies have shown an association with other chronic metabolic pr...
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Exercise May Lead to a Smarter, More Successful You
TUESDAY, Dec.1 (HealthDay News) -- A strong cardiovascular system in young adulthood may boost brainpower, making for better school grades and more overall success later in life, new research suggests.
Given that most doctors and laypeople know (or should know) the benefits of exercise an...
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Birth in South Raises Stroke Risk for Life
MONDAY, Nov. 30 (HealthDay News) -- People born in the "stroke belt" of the southern United States have a lifelong higher risk of dying of stroke than others, even if they live elsewhere later, a new study shows.
Data on both black and white people born in the North and South Carolina, Ge...
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Exercise Guards White Blood Cells Against Aging
MONDAY, Nov. 30 (HealthDay News) -- Studies have shown that exercise can help ward off heart disease and cancer, and now new research shows that the reason why may be found within cells themselves.
Endurance athletes had longer telomeres -- DNA at the tips of chromosomes that protect th...
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Diabetes Cases Expected to Double in 25 Years
FRIDAY, Nov. 27 (HealthDay News) -- The number of people with diabetes in the United States is expected to double over the next 25 years, a new study predicts.
That would bring the total by 2034 to about 44.1 million people with the disease, up from 23.7 million today.
At the sam...
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Salt Really Does Boost Health Risks
WEDNESDAY, Nov. 25 (HealthDay News) -- It's known that eating a lot of salt puts people at greater risk of high blood pressure. Now there's confirmation of a corollary: High salt intake also translates to significantly greater risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke.
A review published...
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Angioplasty Outcomes May Vary Little Between Hospitals
TUESDAY, Nov. 24 (HealthDay News) -- Do hospitals that conduct the most angioplasties necessarily produce the best results for patients? Maybe not.
Prior research had suggested that "practice makes perfect" when it comes to artery-opening procedures, but a new study involving over 30,000...
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Cholesterol Plays Role in Heart Failure Risk
TUESDAY, Nov. 24 (HealthDay News) -- Abnormal cholesterol levels can significantly increase the risk of heart failure, a new study has found.
U.S. researchers analyzed data on 6,860 participants in the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's Framingham Heart Study. None of the partici...
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Ginkgo Won't Prevent Heart Attack, Stroke in Elderly
TUESDAY, Nov. 24 (HealthDay News) -- Among people aged 75 and older, the herbal supplement Ginkgo biloba does not prevent heart attacks, stroke or death, a new study finds.
There is some evidence that the popular herbal remedy might help prevent the leg-circulation problem known as periph...
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Doctor-Pharmacist Teams Boost Blood Pressure Control
MONDAY, Nov. 23 (HealthDay News) -- High blood pressure is better controlled by doctor-pharmacist teams working hand-in-hand than by doctors and pharmacists working alone, a new study shows.
"When physicians work with pharmacists, medications are intensified, dosages increased, medication...
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Vigorous Exercise Cuts Stroke Risk for Men, Not Women
MONDAY, Nov. 23 (HealthDay News) -- Moderate-to-high intensity exercise such as jogging, swimming or tennis may help reduce stroke risk in older men but not in women, researchers report.
The study included almost 3,300 men and women, average age 69, in Manhattan who were followed for abou...
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Vioxx Problems Known Years Before Recall
MONDAY, Nov. 23 (HealthDay News) -- Problems with the popular arthritis drug Vioxx, including increased risk for heart attack, stroke and death, were known for years before the drug's voluntary withdrawal from the market in 2004, a new report says.
Contrary to claims by the manufacturer,...
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Blood Test Could Boost Clarity of Breast MRI Results for Some
FRIDAY, Nov. 20 (HealthDay News) -- Using a blood test to pinpoint the optimal timing of breast MRI scans in women with irregular menstrual cycles could reduce the need for repeat scans, U.S. researchers say.
Previous studies have found that performing breast MRI scans during the follicul...
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Health Tip: Managing Gestational Diabetes
(HealthDay News) -- Gestational diabetes occurs during pregnancy, resulting in high blood sugar levels that can pose dangers for mom and baby.
The National Diabetes Clearinghouse offers suggestions about possible treatments for gestational diabetes:
Get regular exercise, suc...
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For Chest Pain in the ER, CT Angiography May Be Best
THURSDAY, Nov. 19 (HealthDay News) -- Compared to standard emergency room triage, CT angiography is quicker, more accurate and much less expensive for screening patients with chest pain who have low to moderate enzyme and EKG scores, according to a new study.
The study included 749 acute...
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Great American Smokeout '09: Time to Quit
THURSDAY, Nov. 19 (HealthDay News) -- The less you smoke, the more birthdays you'll have, says the American Cancer Society as it encourages smokers to quit on Thursday, the day of the 34th Great American Smokeout.
Research shows that smokers who quit at age 35 gain an average of eight yea...
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Kidney Transplant, Sleep Disorder May Add Up to Trouble
THURSDAY, Nov. 19 (HealthDay News) -- Kidney transplant patients with sleep apnea are at increased risk for high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke, Hungarian researchers say.
The study of 100 kidney transplant recipients found that 25 percent had moderate to severe sleep apnea, a r...
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Moderate Drinking Guards the Heart
THURSDAY, Nov. 19 (HealthDay News) -- A Spanish study has found that long-term moderate drinking decreased the risk of heart disease by up to one-third in men and to a lesser degree in women.
The type of alcohol -- beer, wine or spirits -- made no difference, the researchers reported in t...
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Diuretics Still Best Treatment for High Blood Pressure
WEDNESDAY, Nov. 18 (HealthDay News) -- Tried-and-true diuretics maintain their status as the best first-line treatment in older men and women with high blood pressure, new research concludes.
The thiazide-type diuretic chlorthalidone outshone three other treatments -- a calcium channel bl...
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Lifelong Exercise Keeps Seniors Young at Heart
WEDNESDAY, Nov. 18 (HealthDay News) -- Lifelong exercise helps seniors keep their hearts healthy, new research shows.
The study included healthy people over age 65 -- without chronic diseases such as diabetes or high blood pressure -- who were recruited from another study in which they'd...
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Newer Blood Thinners May Outperform Old Standbys
WEDNESDAY, Nov. 18 (HealthDay News) -- After years of little progress, three new trials suggest that the latest generation of blood thinners may outperform the old standbys warfarin and clopidogrel (Plavix).
In one study, dabigatran etexilate (marketed as Pradax in Canada and Pradaxa in E...
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Pregnancy Complication May Be Linked to Thyroid Problems
WEDNESDAY, Nov. 18 (HealthDay News) -- New research offers bad news for women who develop a condition known as preeclampsia during pregnancy: They're at higher risk of reduced thyroid function and may be more likely to have thyroid problems in later life.
Preeclampsia develops in the seco...
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Toddlers, Obese Kids Suffer Most From Smoke
WEDNESDAY, Nov. 18 (HealthDay News) -- Secondhand smoke harms the cardiovascular health of children, especially toddlers and obese youngsters, U.S. researchers say.
Their study of 52 toddlers (aged 2 to 5) and 107 adolescents (aged 9 to 18) found an association between the amount of secon...
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Benefits of Eating Fish May Depend on Preparation
TUESDAY, Nov. 17 (HealthDay News) -- You'll get more heart-healthy benefits from omega-3 fatty acids if you eat baked or boiled fish instead of fried, dried or salted fish, according to a new study, which also found that adding low-sodium soy sauce or tofu is a good idea for women.
"It ap...
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Biotech Soybeans Good Source of Omega-3
TUESDAY, Nov. 17 (HealthDay News) -- Oil from genetically modified soybeans boosts levels of an important omega-3 fatty acid in the body, which may reduce the risk of heart attacks, U.S. researchers say.
They created soybeans that produce oils rich in stearidonic acid (SDA), which is conv...
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Heartburn Drugs Can Thwart Popular Blood Thinner
TUESDAY, Nov. 17 (HealthDay News) -- Combining the antacid Prilosec with the popular blood thinner Plavix (clopidogrel) can cut the effectiveness of Plavix by half, putting patients at risk for heart attack or stroke, U.S. health officials said Tuesday.
"These recommendations are based up...
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Incidence of High Cholesterol Drops in U.S.
TUESDAY, Nov. 17 (HealthDay News) -- The good news is that a new report shows the percentage of American adults with high LDL cholesterol, the "bad" kind that clogs arteries, decreased by about one-third between 1999 and 2006.
The bad news is that too many of those who have dangerously hi...
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Obesity Rolling Back Gains in Heart Health
TUESDAY, Nov. 17 (HealthDay News) -- Surging obesity rates, especially among children, may be putting the brakes on progress made in the past few decades against heart disease, researchers report.
And it doesn't help that many obese or overweight Americans still consider their weight "no...
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Selenium Supplements May Pose Heart Risk
TUESDAY, Nov. 17 (HealthDay News) -- Taking selenium supplements could boost your cholesterol levels and increase your risk of heart disease, English researchers suggest.
Selenium -- a trace essential mineral with antioxidant properties -- is found in foods such as meat, vegetables and s...
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Single-Sex Cardiac Rehab Helps Depressed Women
TUESDAY, Nov. 17 (HealthDay News) -- A motivational women-only cardiac rehabilitation program helped reduce symptoms of depression in women with coronary heart disease, a U.S. study has found.
Depression, which is more common in female heart disease patients than in males, can interfere w...
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Stem Cells May Improve Heart Bypass Results
TUESDAY, Nov. 17 (HealthDay News) -- Patients who received bone marrow stem cell transplants during coronary bypass surgery (CABG) experienced "excellent long-term safety and survival," say German researchers, who also noted the first promising results for stem cell transplantation during mitral...
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The Mummies' Curse: Heart Disease
TUESDAY, Nov. 17 (HealthDay News) -- Hardening of the arteries may have more of a family history -- the human family tree -- than was once thought.
Modern-day imaging techniques have unearthed hardening of the arteries -- or atherosclerosis, which causes heart attacks and stroke -- in mum...
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Low Vitamin D Levels Linked to Heart Disease
MONDAY, Nov. 16 (HealthDay News) -- If your levels of vitamin D are too low, you may be at significantly increased risk for stroke, heart disease and death, a new study suggests.
Researchers followed 27,686 people, aged 50 and older, with no history of cardiovascular disease. The particip...
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Migraine Increases Likelihood of Stroke
MONDAY, Nov. 16 (HealthDay News) -- People who suffer migraines have more than double the risk of ischemic stroke, and the risk is especially high in women, a new study has found.
Ischemic stroke, the most common type of stroke, occurs when blood supply to the brain is cut off by plaque a...
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New Study Raises New Questions About Cholesterol Drug Zetia
SUNDAY, Nov. 15 (HealthDay News) -- A new study raises more questions about ezetimibe (Zetia), a drug used by millions of Americans in tandem with statins to lower LDL, or "bad," cholesterol.
The trial, known as ARBITER-6 HALTS, was stopped early in June after it was discovered that LDL-c...
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Alternative to Warfarin May Cut Risk of Bleeding
SUNDAY, Nov. 15 (HealthDay News) -- The anti-clotting drug dabigatran etexilate (Pradaxa) may be more effective and safer than warfarin at preventing clots and stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation, a new Swedish study has found.
Warfarin is effective in preventing blood clots that...
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Gene Linked to Breast Cancer Might Boost Heart Health
SUNDAY, Nov. 15 (HealthDay News) -- The over-activity of a gene known to boost a woman's risk for breast cancer may have a good side, making arteries healthier, a new study suggests.
The study, performed in mice, also found that when this gene, called BRCA1, is turned off, it promotes a...
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Chinese Scientists Develop Database on the Liver
FRIDAY, Nov. 13 (HealthDay News) -- Chinese scientists report that they have created an extensive database about proteins produced by genes in the human liver, an endeavor they say could become the foundation for new treatments for liver disease.
To develop the database, reportedly the la...
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Health Tip: Dealing With Peripheral Artery Disease
(HealthDay News) -- Peripheral artery disease (PAD) raises the risk of a stroke or heart attack. But PAD can be managed by making certain lifestyle changes, notably getting enough physical activity.
The American Heart Association offers these suggestions:
Get regular exerci...
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Progress in Stamping Out Smoking Has Stalled
THURSDAY, Nov. 12 (HealthDay News) -- After decades of progress, the number of Americans who smoke hasn't budged over the last five years and actually rose slightly from 2007 to 2008, according to a new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Over the longer term...
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Quitting Smoking Simplifies Surgical Recovery
THURSDAY, Nov. 12 (HealthDay News) -- Want to boost the odds that you'll thrive after surgery and avoid complications?
The American Society of Anesthesiologists has a recommendation: Drop that butt.
Quitting smoking will make it more likely that you'll recover from an operation wi...
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For Older Walkers, Faster Is Better
WEDNESDAY, Nov. 11 (HealthDay News) -- Highlighting the importance of staying fit in old age, a French study has found that seniors who walk slowly are three times more likely to die from cardiovascular disease than are fast walkers.
The researchers measured the walking speed of the parti...
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Health Tip: Check Your Blood Glucose
(HealthDay News) -- The American Diabetes Association says anyone who is diabetic can benefit from blood glucose checks, especially if the person:
Takes insulin or medication to manage diabetes.
Is pregnant.
Has difficulty keeping blood glucose stable and under con...
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Surgery Not Always Best for Narrowed Kidney Arteries
WEDNESDAY, Nov. 11 (HealthDay News) -- People suffering from blocked renal arteries fare just as well when treated with medication as they do by having the narrowed artery opened and a stent implanted, British researchers report.
"In asymptomatic people with chronic kidney disease -- peop...
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Anemia Drugs May Cause Deadly Blood Clots
TUESDAY, Nov. 10 (HealthDay News) -- New research on cancer patients adds to the controversy surrounding anemia drugs such as Procrit and Aranesp, concluding that they increase the risk of venous thromboembolism, potentially fatal blood clots.
These drugs, called erythropoiesis-stimulati...
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Cholesterol Measurements May Be Made Easier
TUESDAY, Nov. 10 (HealthDay News) -- Methods to gauge blood cholesterol to determine vascular disease risk can be simplified, researchers in England say.
Their method measures levels of either total or high-density lipoprotein (HDL, or "good" cholesterol) in the blood or apolipoproteins (...
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Common Infections May Contribute to Strokes
TUESDAY, Nov. 10 (HealthDay News) -- Exposure to several common pathogens may increase the risk of having a stroke, a new study shows.
Led by Dr. Mitchell Elkind, an associate professor of neurology at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City, the research team found that the p...
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Stroke Puts Stress on Spousal Relationship
TUESDAY, Nov. 10 (HealthDay News) -- Although many wedding vows include the phrase "in sickness and in health," a stroke can put that promise to the test by causing major relationship problems for married couples, according to British researchers.
The University of Ulster study included 1...
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Doctors Spending More Time Now With Patients
MONDAY, Nov. 9 (HealthDay News) -- Family doctors are now taking more time consulting with adult patients, seeing them more often and improving the quality of visits, a new study suggests.
"Patients spent more time with their primary care physicians during office visits in 2005 than they...
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No Gender Gap Found for Clot-Busting Drug
MONDAY, Nov. 9 (HealthDay News) -- The widely used clot-dissolving drug Plavix (clopidogrel) works about the same in women as in men, an analysis of major clinical trials has found.
"After this study, I can say we can be confident in treating both men and women with this very important dr...
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Simple Steps Get Walkers Moving
FRIDAY, Nov. 6 (HealthDay News) -- Simple measures such as starting a walking group or creating pedestrian-friendly routes can encourage people to walk more, a new study has found.
At a multicultural housing site in Seattle, researchers implemented and evaluated several interventions mean...
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Phosphorus Levels May Predict Heart Disease
THURSDAY, Nov. 5 (HealthDay News) -- Elevated blood levels of phosphorus are associated with a higher risk of heart disease, U.S. researchers say.
They studied the link between phosphorus levels and coronary artery calcification (CAC) in nearly 900 healthy adults in the Spokane Heart Stud...
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FDA Issues Warning for Diabetes Drug
TUESDAY, Nov. 3 (HealthDay News) -- Reports about possible kidney problems, including renal failure, in people taking the diabetes drug exenatide (Byetta) have prompted changes to the drug's prescribing information, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Monday.
From April 2005 to Oct...
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Living With Less TV, More Sweat Boosts Weight Loss
TUESDAY, Nov. 3 (HealthDay News) -- If you want to lose weight, exercise and diet are crucial. But a new study says other factors appear to play a role, too -- including the number of TVs in your house and the presence of exercise equipment.
"The home environment really came out as a str...
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Low Cholesterol May Help Prevent Cancer
TUESDAY, Nov. 3 (HealthDay News) -- Low blood cholesterol levels reduce the risk not only of heart disease but also of cancer, two new studies show.
The findings should help ease longstanding fears that low cholesterol is associated with an increased risk of cancer, said Dr. Demetrius Alb...
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Switch to 'Light' Cigarettes Makes Quitting Tougher
TUESDAY, Nov. 3 (HealthDay News) -- Experts have long known that "low-tar" and "light" cigarettes aren't any healthier than regular cigarettes, and new research suggests they have another drawback: People who switch to them are less likely to quit, even those who switch specifically because they...
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High Blood Pressure Likely in Alzheimer's Offspring
MONDAY, Nov. 2 (HealthDay News) -- Middle-aged adults whose parents have Alzheimer's disease are at increased risk for high blood pressure, evidence of arterial disease and markers of inflammation -- all of which may be associated with later development of Alzheimer's disease.
That's the...
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Household Chemicals May Affect Cholesterol Levels
MONDAY, Nov. 2 (HealthDay News) -- Chemicals used in food packaging, paper and textile coatings may affect blood cholesterol levels in people, U.S. researchers have found.
Previous studies have found that polyfluoroalkyl chemicals (PFCs) are present in the bodies of most people. In this n...
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Nicotine Patch Plus Lozenge Best for Quitting Smoking
MONDAY, Nov. 2 (HealthDay News) -- The first head-to-head comparison of different quit-smoking products finds that a nicotine patch combined with a nicotine lozenge had the most success.
More than other methods, including antidepressants, this combination best mimics the actual highs and...
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Anemia Drug May Raise Stroke Risk in Kidney Patients
SATURDAY, Oct. 31 (HealthDay News) -- A drug designed to fight anemia appears to double the risk of stroke in patients with diabetes and kidney disease without substantially improving their quality of life, a new study finds.
Darbepoetin alfa, marketed as Aranesp and known as an erythro...
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Fructose May Raise Blood Pressure
FRIDAY, Oct. 30 (HealthDay News) -- Here's a new reason to put down that sugary soft drink: Research suggests that a diet high in fructose, a common sweetener, boosts the risk of high blood pressure.
High-fructose corn syrup is found in many processed foods and beverages. Americans consum...
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Veggies in Pregnancy Lowers Child's Diabetes Risk
FRIDAY, Oct. 30 (HealthDay News) -- Children born to mothers who ate plenty of vegetables during pregnancy are less likely to have type 1 diabetes, Swedish researchers say.
"This is the first study to show a link between vegetable intake during pregnancy and the risk of the child subseque...
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Stroke Centers May Offer Best Shot at Recovery
THURSDAY, Oct. 29 (HealthDay News) -- Stroke patients taken directly to a designated stroke center are much more likely to receive the clot-busting drug tPA than those taken to the nearest hospital, says a new study.
If given within the first few hours after a stroke, tPA (tissue plasmino...
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Diet, Exercise Thwart Diabetes: Study
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 28 (HealthDay News) -- Diet and exercise can keep diabetes at bay for a decade, cutting the risk for the disease by more than a third in the most susceptible people, a new study finds.
About 11 percent of U.S. adults (24 million) have diabetes, mostly type 2, which is link...
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Even Light Smoking Affects Young Adults' Arteries
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 28 (HealthDay News) -- Smoking just one cigarette stiffens the arteries of young adults by 25 percent, says a new study.
The stiffer a person's arteries, the greater their risk for heart disease or stroke, noted researcher Dr. Stella Daskalopoulou, an internal medicine and...
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All New Dialysis Patients at Increased Risk of Death
TUESDAY, Oct. 27 (HealthDay News) -- A higher risk of cardiovascular-related death isn't the reason why kidney failure patients starting dialysis are at increased risk of death, according to new research that challenges previous thinking.
A number of studies have found that cardiovascular...
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Migraine With Aura Can Double Stroke Risk
TUESDAY, Oct. 27 (HealthDay News) -- Women who get migraine headaches with aura should stop smoking and using birth control pills because they may increase their risk of stroke, researchers say.
For people who suffer migraine headaches with aura -- visual disturbances before or during th...
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Short-Term, High-Dose Vitamin D2 May Ease Deficiency
TUESDAY, Oct. 27 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers are reporting that eight weeks of treatment with large doses of vitamin D2 can eliminate vitamin D deficiency, and twice-monthly doses can keep the condition at bay for up to six years.
The dosage -- 50,000 international units (IU) every w...
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Big, Beefy Football Players May Face Heart Problems Later
MONDAY, Oct. 26 (HealthDay News) -- Crushing the notion that you can be both fat and fit, new research has found that current professional football linemen already have some risk factors for heart disease.
In a study comparing professional football players to minor and major league baseb...
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Where You Put on Pounds May Influence Clot Risk
MONDAY, Oct. 26 (HealthDay News) -- The location of excess body fat appears to affect the risk of dangerous blood clots in veins, although that location differs in men and women, a new Danish study indicates.
The 10-year study found that bigger hips are associated with an increased risk o...
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Adding Drug Doesn't Help Control Blood Pressure
FRIDAY, Oct. 23 (HealthDay News) -- Adding an angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) drug to help control blood pressure has no benefit for people with heart disease who already are taking an ACE inhibitor, a new study finds.
The so-called "meta-analysis" of 41 previous studies found that com...
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Coffee May Slow Liver Disease
FRIDAY, Oct. 23 (HealthDay News) -- Coffee slows the progression of advanced liver disease in people with chronic hepatitis C, new research finds.
The study included 766 patients infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) who were asked to report their intake of coffee, green tea and black tea...
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Guidelines Urge Use of Erectile Dysfunction Drugs
THURSDAY, Oct. 22 (HealthDay News) -- Doctors should prescribe oral phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE-5) inhibitor drugs, such as Viagra, Cialis and Levitra, for men with erectile dysfunction, unless the patient is on nitrate therapy, according to a clinical practice guideline issued by the American...
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Long-Acting Insulin Works Best for Many Diabetics
THURSDAY, Oct. 22 (HealthDay News) -- Adding insulin to standard diabetes drugs results in better blood sugar control for many with type 2 diabetes, British researchers report, and the dose and timing of insulin received can make a big difference.
Specifically, a once-a-day, long-acting d...
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Red-Grape Compound May Improve Diabetes
THURSDAY, Oct. 22 (HealthDay News) -- New research provides further insight into how a health-boosting compound found in red grapes may help the body fend off type 2 diabetes.
But scientists have only seen the effect in mice who received injections in the brain, and no evidence has emerge...
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Blood Protein May Predict Heart Attack But Not Stroke
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 21 (HealthDay News) -- High blood levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) may increase a person's risk for heart attack and death, but not for stroke, a new study has found.
The study included 2,240 people in New York City who were 40 or older and stroke-free. At the start of t...
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For Obese, Weight Gained in Pregnancy May Not Leave
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 21 (HealthDay News) -- Obese women who gain more than 15 pounds during pregnancy tend to retain much of it long after delivery, a new U.S. study finds.
Oregon researchers collected data on almost 1,700 obese women (their body mass index was 30 or higher) who gave birth bet...
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Super Obesity Ups Risk of Dying After Weight-Loss Surgery
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 21 (HealthDay News) -- People who are super obese and those with the most chronic health problems face an increased risk for dying within a year after weight-loss surgery, a new U.S. study has found.
The research involved 856 men and women who had bariatric (weight-loss) s...
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Stroke Treatment Window May Allow a Bit More Time
TUESDAY, Oct. 20 (HealthDay News) -- Tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) treatment benefits stroke patients when used up to 4.5 hours after a stroke, according to German researchers who said their findings provide further evidence to increase the tPA treatment window from the current three hours t...
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Micardis Given Wider Approval
MONDAY, Oct. 19 (HealthDay News) -- Micardis (telmisartan) has received expanded approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to reduce the risk of heart attack or stroke in people 55 or older who cannot take a class of cardiovascular drugs called ACE inhibitors, maker Boehringer Ingelheim...
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Timing of Oxygen After a Stoke May Matter
MONDAY, Oct. 19 (HealthDay News) -- Contradicting previous research, scientists have shown in animal studies that providing supplemental oxygen during an ischemic stroke can reduce brain damage.
But it's not a simple matter. Success in preventing brain damage, their new study says, depend...
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Docs May Be Overdoing Some Invasive Procedures
FRIDAY, Oct. 16 (HealthDay News) -- A new study calls into question the increasing use of invasive procedures as first-line treatment for patients with renal artery stenosis, a narrowing of blood vessels in and around the kidneys.
New medical technology has made...
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Liver Cells Made to Order
THURSDAY, Oct. 15 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers have produced liver cells from the skin cells of people, potentially paving the way toward better treatments for those with liver disease.
"This is a crucial step forward towards developing therapies that can potentially replace the need...
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Smog Tougher on the Obese
THURSDAY, Oct. 15 (HealthDay News) -- Air pollution appears to hit the obese hardest, causing significant increases in blood pressure, a new study finds.
Air pollution has been linked to a variety of health problems including asthma, heart disease and diabetes, but this is the first time...
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Smoking Bans Reduce Heart Attacks: Study
THURSDAY, Oct. 15 (HealthDay News) -- Bans on smoking in public places really do work at reducing heart attacks from secondhand smoke, a major study finds.
Smoke-free policies can reduce the risk of heart attack by up to 47 percent and significantly reduce the likelihood of other heart...
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Severe Swine Flu Could Lead to Blood Clots in Lungs: Study
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 14 (HealthDay News) -- People who are severely ill with the H1N1 swine flu run the risk of blood clots in the lungs, University of Michigan researchers say.
And because standard chest X-rays may not be able to spot the potentially fatal condition, more sophisticated C...
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Side Effects in Statin Users Linked to Gene Mutation
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 14 (HealthDay News) -- U.S. researchers have identified a common gene mutation linked to side effects in people taking cholesterol-lowering statin drugs.
Statins can reduce high cholesterol and lower the risk of heart attack or stroke. But 25 percent to 50 percent of peopl...
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Study Compares Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Repair Methods
TUESDAY, Oct. 13 (HealthDay News) -- A less-invasive method of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) repair reduces the short-term risk of death, according to a new U.S. study.
The interim findings are from a nine-year multicenter trial comparing patient outcomes after endovascular and open sur...
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Health Tip: Why Don't You Exercise?
(HealthDay News) -- People always have excuses for why they don't exercise. But the American Diabetes Association says for every typical excuse not to get active, there's a solution:
Think you don't have time? Start out exercising about 10 minutes per day. Before you know it, you'll...
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Healthier Neighborhoods Help Keep Diabetes at Bay
MONDAY, Oct. 12 (HealthDay News) -- People who live in neighborhoods that promote physical activity and offer access to healthy foods may be less likely to develop type 2 diabetes, researchers say.
Their study included 2,285 people, aged 45 to 84, living in neig...
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Stop-Smoking Vaccine in the Works
MONDAY, Oct. 12 (HealthDay News) -- The National Institute on Drug Abuse has given a $10 million grant to a Maryland company to help it in the final phases of research regarding a possible anti-nicotine vaccine.
Nabi Biopharmaceuticals of Rockville will launch a phase III study of a pote...
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Body Clock, Blood Sugar Control Seem Linked
FRIDAY, Oct. 9 (HealthDay News) -- A strong link exists between the body's biological clock and blood sugar control, say U.S. researchers who conducted lab experiments on mouse and human stem cells, as well as genetically engineered mice.
"The most surprising part of our findings is that...
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Stretching Test May Reveal Arterial Stiffness
FRIDAY, Oct. 9 (HealthDay News) -- Sit on the floor and reach for your toes. If you can get your fingers past them and you're 40 or older, that could be a sign that your arteries are flexible, researchers say.
In an unusual finding, new research suggests that flexibility, as defined by h...
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Health Tip: Understanding Gestational Diabetes
(HealthDay News) -- Gestational diabetes occurs only during pregnancy, and affects about 4 percent of pregnant women, says the American Diabetes Association.
Though scientists aren't certain of its exact cause, it's thought that hormones from the placenta make it difficult for the mother...
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Shingles Raises Stroke Risk: Study
THURSDAY, Oct. 8 (HealthDay News) -- Adults with the skin disease shingles appear to be at raised risk for stroke, especially when it affects the area around the eyes, researchers report.
Previous reports have linked shingles with stroke risk, but "the exact frequency and risk for these...
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Headphones May Threaten Heart-Device Performance
TUESDAY, Oct. 6 (HealthDay News) -- A U.S. study offers more evidence that portable headphones can create magnetic interference that might make implanted defibrillators and pacemakers malfunction.
Using the headphones over the ears doesn't appear to be a problem, but storing them in a sh...
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Mediterranean Diet May Help Prevent Depression
MONDAY, Oct. 5 (HealthDay News) -- People who followed the Mediterranean diet, an eating regimen that is rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fish and nuts, were less likely to develop depression in a Spanish study.
"We are speaking of a relative reduction in risk of 42 percent to 51...
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Mercury in Fish Linked to High Blood Pressure
MONDAY, Oct. 5 (HealthDay News) -- Although new research links mercury in seafood with high blood pressure, this isn't reason enough for most people to stop eating fish, the study leader says.
"The small increase of blood pressure due to methylmercury will never outweigh the benefits of o...
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Drug Combo May Prevent Heart Attacks, Strokes
FRIDAY, Oct. 2 (HealthDay News) -- Giving daily doses of a statin and a blood pressure-lowering ACE inhibitor to people at high risk for a heart attack or stroke reduced their incidence by more than 60 percent in two years, researchers report.
People in the study all had diabetes or a his...
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Fresh Blood Boosts Survival in Trauma Patients
FRIDAY, Oct. 2 (HealthDay News) -- People who've suffered severe trauma and are given a major transfusion of red blood cells that have been stored for a month or longer are twice as likely to die as those who receive fresher red blood cells, U.S. researchers have found.
In a study of 202...
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Health Tip: Preventing Varicose Veins
(HealthDay News) -- Varicose veins are swollen, dark veins that commonly appear in the legs. They're usually not harmful, but can cause significant pain.
While not all varicose veins can be prevented, the National Women's Health Information Center says there are things you can do to red...
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More Stroke Victims Get Clot-Busting Therapy
THURSDAY, Oct. 1 (HealthDay News) -- More stroke victims are getting a brain-saving drug -- tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) -- but many others aren't arriving at hospitals early enough to benefit from the treatment, a new study finds.
Duke University researchers reviewed records of 428...
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U.S. Health Officials Announce New Heparin Formula
THURSDAY, Oct. 1 (HealthDay News) -- U.S. health officials on Thursday announced new manufacturing standards for the widely used blood-thinner heparin that will decrease the drug's potency by about 10 percent.
The reformulation is largely a response to contaminated heparin that came from...
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Study Urges Treatment for Even Mild Gestational Diabetes
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 30 (HealthDay News) -- Pregnant women who receive treatment for the mildest forms of gestational diabetes -- including diet and exercise intervention, self-monitoring of blood glucose levels and possibly insulin therapy -- are less likely to have serious birth complications or de...
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Workplace Wellness Seems to Really Work
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 30 (HealthDay News) -- Workplace wellness programs are an effective way to reduce major risk factors for heart disease, such as smoking, obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes, says a new American Heart Association policy statement.
Each year, heart disease costs the...
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Exercise 30 Minutes a Day? Who Knew!
TUESDAY, Sept. 29 (HealthDay News) -- Despite 14 years of public education campaigns, only one-third of Americans know about national recommendations for a minimum of 30 minutes of exercise a day, and fewer than half meet that goal, a new study has found.
The lack of awareness is greatest...
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Health Tip: Get Enough Sleep
(HealthDay News) -- You feel better when you're well-rested, but insufficient sleep can affect more than your cheerful disposition.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says lack of sleep has been linked to development or worsening of these chronic health conditions:...
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Mini-Stroke Found to Precede 1 in 8 Strokes
TUESDAY, Sept. 29 (HealthDay News) -- Just one of every eight strokes is preceded by a milder interruption of blood flow to the brain, called a transient ischemic attack (TIA), a new Canadian study shows.
And because of that, the researchers conclude, such an attack is not the crucial wa...
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Obese Middle-Aged Women Face Unhealthy Future
TUESDAY, Sept. 29 (HealthDay News) -- If excess weight doesn't kill you by old age, it could make your life miserable in the form of chronic health problems and impaired mental fitness.
According to a new study, women who are obese in middle age are almost 80 percent more likely to have...
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Autoimmune Disorder Linked to Stroke, Heart Attack in Women
MONDAY, Sept. 28 (HealthDay News) -- Women under 50 with a certain form of the autoimmune condition called antiphospholipid syndrome are at greatly increased risk for heart attack and stroke, and that risk is even higher when these women smoke or take birth control pills, new research shows....
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Blood Thinner May Cause Skin Lesions
MONDAY, Sept. 28 (HealthDay News) -- Heparin, a common blood thinner, can cause skin lesions that are harmless in most cases but could indicate a life-threatening condition induced by the drug, a new study suggests.
Researchers examined 320 people who were given...
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Clot-Busting Therapy Under Review
MONDAY, Sept. 28 (HealthDay News) -- Even as they digest the latest news on what dose of the clot-dissolving drug Plavix is best during angioplasty, cardiologists are looking at the next generation of clot-busters that could replace Plavix.
Clot-dissolving therapy was the big buzz among c...
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Docs Miss Test Results -- Even With Alerts
MONDAY, Sept. 28 (HealthDay News) -- Even an advanced, computerized medical-record system with alerts cannot guarantee that patients will receive timely follow-up care when imaging tests turn up signs of trouble, new research suggests.
"Our findings suggest that an electronic medical rec...
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Irregular Heartbeat Risk Higher in Women With Type 2 Diabetes
MONDAY, Sept. 28 (HealthDay News) -- Women with type 2 diabetes have a 26 percent increased risk of developing atrial fibrillation, a potentially life-threatening irregular heartbeat, new findings suggest.
The overall incidence of atrial fibrillation was 3.6 percent among people with type...
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Fructose Boosts Blood Pressure, Studies Find
THURSDAY, Sept. 24 (HealthDay News) -- America's sweet tooth may be contributing to the ever-increasing number of people with high blood pressure.
Two new studies link fructose, the kind of sugar in soft drinks and many sweetened foods, to high blood pressure, which is a major risk facto...
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Lack of Vitamin D Linked to High Blood Pressure
THURSDAY, Sept. 24 (HealthDay News) -- Low blood levels of vitamin D in younger women tripled their risk of high blood pressure 15 years later, new research has found.
Vitamin D deficiency, defined as less than 80 nanomoles per liter of blood, was measured in 1993 at the start of the Mic...
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Women With Atrial Fibrillation Face Rougher Road Than Men
THURSDAY, Sept. 24 (HealthDay News) -- Women with atrial fibrillation are significantly more likely to have a stroke or die than are men with the heart condition, a new study has found.
Despite this, the study suggests, women with the condition receive less medical attention than men....
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Minorities Less Likely to Have Blood Pressure Under Control
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 23 (HealthDay News) -- Blacks and Hispanics with a history of stroke or coronary artery disease have higher blood pressure than whites, while Hispanics are less likely to be prescribed medications to control it, a new U.S. study shows.
About 63 percent of whites, 58 perce...
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Preventing Second Stroke May Stave Off Dementia
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 23 (HealthDay News) -- The way to reduce the chances of developing dementia such as Alzheimer's disease after a stroke is to prevent a second stroke by concentrating on all the known stroke risk factors, a new British study suggests.
Two major findings emerged from an ana...
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Study Suggests a Wider Use for Statins
TUESDAY, Sept. 22 (HealthDay News) -- Statins could be as beneficial for people with acceptable cholesterol readings but high levels of inflammation as they are for those with high cholesterol levels, a new analysis finds.
An earlier study of more than 17,000 participants, known as the JU...
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Flu Can Raise Chances of Heart Attack
MONDAY, Sept. 21 (HealthDay News) -- People suffering from the flu may be at higher risk for having a heart attack, especially those with heart disease and diabetes, British researchers report.
Because both seasonal and the pandemic H1N1 swine flu are circulating this fall and winter, peo...
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Bones May Suffer From Green Tea Consumption
THURSDAY, Sept. 17 (HealthDay News) -- Green tea may weaken bones, suggests a U.S. study on mice.
Obese and lean mice had different amounts of green tea extract -- 0 percent, 1 percent or 2 percent -- added to their diets. Previous studies had found that consumption of the equivalent of...
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Childhood Stroke More Common Than Thought
THURSDAY, Sept. 17 (HealthDay News) -- The incidence of stroke among American children could be two to four times greater than has commonly been estimated, a new study says.
Pediatric strokes are rare; even the new estimate puts its incidence at only 2.4 strokes per 100,000 person-years (...
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Health Tip: Stress Has Its Warning Signs
(HealthDay News) -- Everyone has a certain amount of stress. But too much of it may make us feel quite fearful or worried, not to mention the physical effects it can cause, such as a rise in blood pressure.
The National Women's Health Information Center offers this list of warning signs...
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Middle-Age Heart Risk Factors Shorten Men's Lives
THURSDAY, Sept. 17 (HealthDay News) -- Middle-aged men with risk factors for heart disease such as smoking, high blood pressure and high cholesterol are taking 10 to 15 years off their lives compared to men without these troubles, British researchers say.
Although death from heart disease...
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More Whole Grains May Mean Less Fat
THURSDAY, Sept. 17 (HealthDay News) -- Eating more whole-grain foods may help reduce body fat in older adults, says a new U.S. study.
The study looked at the eating habits -- including the consumption of whole-grain bread, brown rice, popcorn and other whole grains as well as fruits and v...
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Trouble With Daily Activities Could Point to Alzheimer's Risk
THURSDAY, Sept. 17 (HealthDay News) -- Problems carrying out daily chores or enjoying hobbies could predict which people with "mild cognitive impairment" will progress more quickly to Alzheimer's dementia, U.S. researchers report.
According to the Alzheimer's Association, mild cognitive...
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