Wednesday, September 2, 2020

Latest Health Research - Medicine, Supplements, Aging, Exercise, General Health

 
 
Medicine
 

First treatment identified for fainting

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 21 hours ago
 Fainting affects one in two people during their lifetime. Those with recurrent episodes are often afraid to socialise or go to work. Today researchers report the first effective therapy. The late breaking research is presented at ESC Congress 2020.1 Fainting is caused by a fall in blood pressure and/or number of heart beats. In some patients, a trigger is identified - for example emotional stress, standing in a hot, crowded space or sitting up too quickly - and they have warn... more »

Blood pressure-lowering is even more beneficial than previously thought

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 21 hours ago
BPLTTC trial presented in a Hot Line Session today at ESC Congress 2020 EUROPEAN SOCIETY OF CARDIOLOGY Research News SHARE PRINT E-MAIL Sophia Antipolis, France - 31 Aug 2020: Blood pressure medication can prevent heart attacks and strokes - even in people with normal blood pressure. That's the finding of late breaking research presented in a Hot Line session today at ESC Congress 2020.1 "Greater drops in blood pressure with medication lead to greater reductions in the risk of heart attacks and strokes," said principal investigator Professor Kazem Rahimi of the University of Oxf... more »

Elderly people protected against respiratory infections by BCG vaccine

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 21 hours ago
However, the effect of the vaccine specifically against COVID-19 has not been demonstrated RADBOUD UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER Research News SHARE PRINT E-MAIL The BCG vaccine has a broad, stimulating effect on the immune system. This gives it an effective preventive action against various infections - possibly also against COVID-19. New studies are investigating that. BCG is frequently given to children, but a double-blind randomized clinical study, a collaboration between Radboud university medical center and the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens shows that elderly... more »

Women Often Overprescribed Opioids After Childbirth

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 2 weeks ago
Excessive opioid prescriptions following childbirth may lead to higher rates of addiction within communities, according to a new report in The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association. A significant correlation exists between the number of pills supplied and the continued use or abuse of opioids. Currently, no national guidelines exist for physicians who prescribe opioids to women after childbirth. The new research reveals patients who are prescribed opioids after a vaginal delivery received significantly more pills than were used, with an average of 10 pills remaining. Patie... more »

Lack of females in drug dose trials leads to overmedicated women

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 2 weeks ago
Gender gap leaves women experiencing adverse drug reactions nearly twice as often as men, study shows Women are more likely than men to suffer adverse side effects of medications because drug dosages have historically been based on clinical trials conducted on men, suggests new research from the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Chicago. Researchers analyzed data from several thousand medical journal articles and found clear evidence of a drug dose gender gap for 86 different medications approved by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA), including antidepress... more »

MMR Vaccine Could Protect Against the Worst Symptoms of COVID-19

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 4 weeks ago
Administering the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine could serve as a preventive measure to dampen septic inflammation associated with COVID-19 infection, say a team of experts in this week’s *mBio*, a journal of the American Society for Microbiology. Long-time collaborators and spouses Dr. Paul Fidel, Jr., Department Chair, Oral and Craniofacial Biology, and Associate Dean for Research, Louisiana State University Health School of Dentistry and Dr. Mairi Noverr Professor of Microbiology & Immunology at Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans co-authored the perspecti... more »
 

HPV vaccination linked to lower risk of precancerous condition

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 3 weeks ago
Vaccination against the human papilloma virus (HPV) reduces the risk of a condition that often leads to cervical cancer, according to an analysis of Danish health registry data. The study, which is published in *Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica*, followed two groups of women: those born in 1993 who were offered free HPV-vaccination at the age of 15 years, and those born in 1983 who had not been offered free HPV-vaccination. Individuals were followed from age 15 to 25 years. Vaccination coverage was 91% in the 1993 birth group and less than 0.1% in the 1983 group. A prec... more »
 
 
 
 
General Health

Long naps may be bad for health

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 6 days ago
Many believe that lying down for a snooze is a harmless activity. But today, scientists show that drifting off for more than one hour could be risky. The study is presented at ESC Congress 2020.1 "Daytime napping is common all over the world and is generally considered a healthy habit," said study author Dr. Zhe Pan of Guangzhou Medical University, China. "A common view is that napping improves performance and counteracts the negative consequences of 'sleep debt'. Our study challenges these widely held opinions." Previous research on the link between daytime naps and death or cardio... mo

Intensive lifestyle intervention focused on weight loss lowers obesity-related cancer risk

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 1 week ago
New research shows that an intensive lifestyle intervention (ILI) aimed at weight loss lowered incidence of obesity-related cancers in adults with overweight or obesity and type 2 diabetes, according to a study published online in *Obesity*, the flagship journal of The Obesity Society. This study is the only randomized clinical trial that has examined long-term cancer outcomes in an ILI focused on weight loss. Previous observational studies have shown obesity is associated with increased risk of some cancers, but there was no evidence from clinical trials to date that have evaluated... more »

A healthy lifestyle for cardiovascular health also promotes good eye health

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 1 week ago
This new study found that ideal cardiovascular health, indicative of a healthy lifestyle, was associated with lower odds for developing ocular diseases, particularly diabetic retinopathy, reports The American Journal of Medicine ELSEVIER SHARE PRINT E-MAIL [image: IMAGE] IMAGE: NORMAL RETINA VS. RETINA WITH DIABETIC RETINOPATHY. view more CREDIT: MAYO FOUNDATION FOR MEDICAL EDUCATION AND RESEARCH, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Philadelphia, August 20, 2020 - In a new study, investigators found that ideal cardiovascular health, which is indicative of a healthy lifestyle, was associated ... more »

Weight change between young adulthood and midlife linked to mortality

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 2 weeks ago
A new Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) study finds that changes in weight between young adulthood and midlife may have important consequences for a person's risk of early death. Published in *JAMA Network Open*, the study found that participants whose BMIs went from the "obese" range in early adulthood down to the "overweight" range in midlife halved their risk of dying during the study period, compared with individuals whose BMIs stayed in the "obese" range. On the other hand, weight loss after midlife did not significantly reduce participants' risk of death. The re... more »
 

To improve students' mental health, Yale study finds, teach them to breathe

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 4 weeks ago
When college students learn specific techniques for managing stress and anxiety, their wellbeing improves across a range of measures and leads to better mental health, a new Yale study finds. The research team evaluated three classroom-based wellness training programs that incorporate breathing and emotional intelligence strategies, finding that two led to improvements in aspects of wellbeing. The most effective program led to improvements in six areas, including depression and social connectedness. The researchers, who reported findings in the July 15 edition of *Frontiers in Psychi... more »
 
Supplements
 

How vitamin C could help over 50s retain muscle mass

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 6 days ago
Vitamin C could be the key to better muscles in later life - according to new research from the University of East Anglia (UEA). A study published today shows that older people who eat plenty of vitamin C - commonly found in citrus fruits, berries and vegetables - have the best skeletal muscle mass. This is important because people tend to lose skeletal muscle mass as they get older - leading to sarcopenia (a condition characterised by loss of skeletal muscle mass and function), frailty and reduced quality of life. Lead researcher Prof Ailsa Welch, from UEA's Norwich Medical School sa... more »

Multivitamin, mineral supplement linked to less-severe, shorter-lasting illness symptoms

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 2 weeks ago
OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY SHARE PRINT E-MAIL CORVALLIS, Ore. - Older adults who took a daily multivitamin and mineral supplement with zinc and high amounts of vitamin C in a 12-week study experienced sickness for shorter periods and with less severe symptoms than counterparts in a control group receiving a placebo. The findings by Oregon State University researchers were published in the journal *Nutrients*. The research by scientists at OSU's Linus Pauling Institute involved 42 healthy people ages 55 to 75 and was designed to measure the supplement's effects on certain immune sy... more »]
 

Vitamin D twice a day may keep vertigo away

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 3 weeks ago
Taking vitamin D and calcium twice a day may reduce your chances of getting vertigo again, according to a study published in the August 5, 2020, online issue of *Neurology®*, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. "Our study suggests that for people with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, taking a supplement of vitamin D and calcium is a simple, low-risk way to prevent vertigo from recurring," said Ji-Soo Kim, M.D., Ph.D., of Seoul National University College of Medicine in Korea. "It is especially effective if you have low vitamin D levels to begin with." Beni... more »
Exercise

Aerobic exercise benefits young adults with major depression

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 1 week ago
Aerobic exercise clearly benefits young adults with major depression, and a Rutgers-led study suggests it may be possible to predict those who would benefit from behavioral therapy with exercise. "Our study needs to be replicated, but the precision medicine approach of predicting who may or may not benefit from exercise as an antidepressant is provocative," said senior author Brandon L. Alderman, an associate professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Health in the School of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers University-New Brunswick. "We also need to know whether exercise has a simil... more »

High intensity physical activity in early life could lead to stronger bones in adulthood

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 2 weeks ago
UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL SHARE PRINT E-MAIL The research, which analysed data from 2,569 participants of the Children of the 90s health study, found that more time spent doing moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA) from age 12 years was associated with stronger hips at age 25 years, whereas time spent in light intensity activity was less clearly associated with adult hip strength. Peak bone mass occurs in young adulthood and is considered to be a marker of the risk of fracture and osteoporosis in later life. Hip fractures make up a large proportion of the osteopo... more »

Yoga shown to improve anxiety

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 2 weeks ago
Yoga improves symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder, a condition with chronic nervousness and worry, suggesting the popular practice may be helpful in treating anxiety in some people. Led by researchers at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, a new study found that yoga was significantly more effective for generalized anxiety disorder than standard education on stress management, but not effective as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), the gold standard form of structured talk therapy that helps patients identify negative thinking for better responses to challenges. "Generalized anxi... more »

Causes of higher risk of stress fractures in female runners

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 3 weeks ago
A pair of new studies identify overlooked physiological factors and lack of knowledge around wellness as contributors to risk of stress fracture in women who run THOMAS JEFFERSON UNIVERSITY SHARE PRINT E-MAIL PHILADELPHIA - Running is one of the most popular forms of exercise, enjoyed by a broad range of age groups and skill levels. More women are running recreationally compared to men; specifically 54% of runners are female as indicated by a 2018 National Runner Survey. Women, however, are at least twice as likely as men to develop stress fractures, an injury that impacts aro... more »
 
Aging

Skin diseases in older adults

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 3 weeks ago
In a study of 552 adults aged 70 to 93 years old, 80% of participants had at least one skin disease that required treatment, and the most common conditions were fungal skin infections, rosacea, actinic keratosis, and eczema. ? The study, which is published in the *Journal of the American Geriatrics Society*, also found that more than a third of participants (39.1%) had three or more simultaneous skin diseases. Skin diseases were more common in males than in females, and there were weak associations between different skin diseases and socioeconomic status and living status (living al... more »

Fungi in gut linked to higher Alzheimer's risk can be reduced through ketogenic diet

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 21 hours ago
Specific fungi in the gut associated with a higher risk of Alzheimer's disease and found in people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) can be altered in a beneficial manner by eating a modified Mediterranean diet, researchers at Wake Forest School of Medicine have found. The small study is published in the current online edition of the journal *EBioMedicine*. "Our study reveals that unique fungi co-living with bacteria in the gut of patients with MCI can be modulated through a Medite... more »

Baby boomers show concerning decline in cognitive functioning

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 4 weeks ago
Trend reverses progress over several generations, study finds OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY SHARE PRINT E-MAIL COLUMBUS, Ohio - In a reversal of trends, American baby boomers scored lower on a test of cognitive functioning than did members of previous generations, according to a new nationwide study. Findings showed that average cognition scores of adults aged 50 and older increased from generation to generation, beginning with the greatest generation (born 1890-1923) and peaking among war babies (born 1942-1947). Scores began to decline in the early baby boomers (born 1948-1953) and de... more »

COPD underdiagnosed in older adults, but can be managed

Jonathan Kantrowitz at Health News Report - 4 weeks ago
THE GERONTOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA SHARE PRINT E-MAIL "Recognizing and Treating COPD in Older Adults," the latest issue of the *What's Hot* newsletter from The Gerontological Society of America, addresses what is known about the prevalence, incidence, and impact of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in older adults. Despite high incidence of COPD -- as many as 30 million Americans are affected -- many patients are not diagnosed, according to the publication. This occurs for multiple reasons, including poor awareness of symptoms among patients and providers, low sus...more »
 
 

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