Above: Photomicrograph of the distal right coronary artery, showing complex atherosclerosis (thickening of the artery wall due to the accumulation of calcium and fatty deposits). Photo: Nephron, Wikimedia Commons.
We've been away for a long time, but now we're back to report on some new findings that shed a new light on some long-held medical beliefs.
* New study casts doubt on the link between saturated fats and heart disease. Saturated fats are a major contributor to heart disease, we've long been told. Not so fast, says a new study in the Annals of Internal Medicine. As explained in an article by the CBC, the researchers draws on more than 70 studies to conclude that "Current evidence does not clearly support guidelines that encourage
high consumption of polyunsaturated fatty acids and low consumption of
total saturated fats."
In addition, two studies have found that taking daily fish oil supplements may not help your heart health, either. The omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil supplements "showed consistently little or no significant effect on reducing coronary heart disease events," said the lead author of one of the studies.
* Alzheimer's deaths may be five times more than reported. Cases of Alzheimer disease are projected to grow dramatically in the coming years, but the disease may already be causing many more deaths than are reflected in the official stats. Researchers at Chicago's Rush University Medical Center say that hhis is because death certificates often neglect to mention Alzheimer as a contributing cause of death. The new numbers would make Alzheimer disease the third leading cause of death in the U.S.
What's more, a new report from the Alzheimer's Association says that women over 60 "have a 1 in 6 chance of getting Alzheimer's disease in their lifetime, and are twice as likely to develop Alzheimer's compared with breast
cancer.
* Colon cancer rates decline sharply. The incidence of colorectal cancer, one of the most deadly forms of the disease, is down more than 30% among Americans due to increased use of colonoscopy for screening. "Xolonoscopy rates among adults ages 50 to 75 rose steeply — from 19 percent in 2000 to 55 percent in 2010," says an article in Health.com drawing on a study from the American Cancer Society.
The decrease was highest among older people: those 50 and older saw a decrease in colon cancer of 3.9% per year. There was bad news for younger people, however, as there's been a 1.1% per increase in colon cancer in persons under 50.
Some interesting news from the world of health and medicine:
* Scientists see link in depression and four other disorders: Five disparate mental-health disorders may have a common genetic link, according to a new study that's getting lots of attention. The research has found that a number of genes are shared by people who have major depression,
bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, autism, and attention-deficit
hyperactivity disorder. The study was published in the edition of The Lancet publishing on Wednesday (abstract).
The researchers found that "four spots in the genome that were more common among those with psychiatric disease, two of which occurred in genes involved in communication between brain cells," according to an article in the Boston Globe. Also, "They also found that genetic risk factors for bipolar disorder and schizophrenia had the most overlap."
They also
found that genetic risk factors for bipolar disorder and schizophrenia
had the most overlap. - See more at:
http://www.boston.com/news/science/blogs/science-in-mind/2013/02/27/autism-schizophrenia-and-other-psychiatric-disorders-share-genetic-underpinnings/I5Rdy7NikMlFvTe8d9BXoL/blog.html#sthash.iwHOygA5.dpuf
They also
found that genetic risk factors for bipolar disorder and schizophrenia
had the most overlap. - See more at:
http://www.boston.com/news/science/blogs/science-in-mind/2013/02/27/autism-schizophrenia-and-other-psychiatric-disorders-share-genetic-underpinnings/I5Rdy7NikMlFvTe8d9BXoL/blog.html#sthash.iwHOygA5.dpuf
four spots
in the genome that were more common among those with psychiatric
disease, two of which occurred in genes involved in communication
between brain cells. - See more at:
http://www.boston.com/news/science/blogs/science-in-mind/2013/02/27/autism-schizophrenia-and-other-psychiatric-disorders-share-genetic-underpinnings/I5Rdy7NikMlFvTe8d9BXoL/blog.html#sthash.iwHOygA5.dpuf
found
four spots in the genome that were more common among those with
psychiatric disease, two of which occurred in genes involved in
communication between brain cells.
They also found that genetic risk factors for bipolar disorder and schizophrenia had the most overlap.
- See more at:
http://www.boston.com/news/science/blogs/science-in-mind/2013/02/27/autism-schizophrenia-and-other-psychiatric-disorders-share-genetic-underpinnings/I5Rdy7NikMlFvTe8d9BXoL/blog.html#sthash.iwHOygA5.dpuf
found
four spots in the genome that were more common among those with
psychiatric disease, two of which occurred in genes involved in
communication between brain cells.
They also found that genetic risk factors for bipolar disorder and schizophrenia had the most overlap.
- See more at:
http://www.boston.com/news/science/blogs/science-in-mind/2013/02/27/autism-schizophrenia-and-other-psychiatric-disorders-share-genetic-underpinnings/I5Rdy7NikMlFvTe8d9BXoL/blog.html#sthash.iwHOygA5.dpuf
found
four spots in the genome that were more common among those with
psychiatric disease, two of which occurred in genes involved in
communication between brain cells.
They also found that genetic risk factors for bipolar disorder and schizophrenia had the most overlap.
- See more at:
http://www.boston.com/news/science/blogs/science-in-mind/2013/02/27/autism-schizophrenia-and-other-psychiatric-disorders-share-genetic-underpinnings/I5Rdy7NikMlFvTe8d9BXoL/blog.html#sthash.iwHOygA5.dpuf
Although this is an exciting development in brain research (rats on different continents were even able to communicate via the Internet), the article notes that "the exact information being communicated between the rats' brains is not clear."
* Tech giants seek public's help for cancer cure: British cancer researchers are joining forces with Google, Amazon.com, and Facebook to enlist the public's assistance in finding cures for cancer. Cancer Research U.K. is teaming up with the tech firms to get the public to perform tasks that can help in efforts such as "working out the exact sequence of a tumor's DNA,"according to a BBC News article.
Programmers, game designers, and others are set to meet this week to figure out how to create a game-life way to put the collective eyeballs and computer power of everyday citizens to solve problems in cancer research. The concept is similar to volunteer-computer efforts from the BOINC project, such as SETI@Home and medical-related endeavors such as RNA World and Malariacontrol.net. It's hoped the project will be up and running by summer.
* Coronary calcium indicates stroke risk: A coronary artery calcification score can predict the risk of stroke, independent of other factors, at least in cases of people with lower risk of cardiovascular disease. An article in MedPage Today says that this may or may not change how clinicians work, since it's already been established that stroke and coronary artery disease have some of the same disease processes.
What's more, the measure of calcification is done by an electron-beam CT scan, so any potential benefit of the rest must be weighed against the additional radiation exposure.
Today's Wall Street Journal offers some less-than-encouraging news on one of the nation's leading killers and most-studied health problems: heart disease.
One article notes that for all the research that goes into heart disease, "just 11% of more than 2,700 recommendations approved by cardiologists for treating heart patients are supported by high-quality scientific testing," according to a new study published in this week's Journal of the American Medical Association. The research says that much of the recommended advice for cardiac patients is based on subjective expert opinion.
Another article says that a hotel may be the worst place for your heart to stop beating, because of the lack of automated external defibrillators (AEDs). The story explains that while AEDs have become standard equipment on airplanes, health clubs, and even some shopping malls, hotel chains are hesitant to adopt them because of concerns over liability. Some of the chains the Journal talked to either cited low percentages of defibrillators in their hotels, or didn't want to say how many they had.
The study, called Jupiter, examined about 18,000 healthy men and women who had normal cholesterol levels but higher-than-normal levels of a type of C-reactive protein (CRP), a substance that's a marker of inflammation in the bloodstream, and which has been linked to heart disease.
Jupiter used the commonly used statin drug Crestor, was planned as a four-year test but was stopped after less than two because of the remarkable results. The study, which was funded by the maker of Crestor (Astra-Zeneca), was presented at a meeting of the American Heart Association and appears in The New England Journal of Medicine (Nov. 20th issue).
The significance of the study is that many heart attacks (as many as half of them) take place in people who don't have high LDL (so-called "bad") cholesterol levels or other risk factors for heart disease.
But some experts caution that Crestor and other statins have side effects, and that people should try to lower their risk for heart disease through other means such as diet and exercise before going on a medication that can be expensive and which they may need to take the rest of their lives.
Many music fans and TV watchers were surprised to learn that 40-year-old singer Toni Braxton, a contestant on "Dancing with the Stars," has a heart condition called microvascular angina. What exactly is this condition, how common is it, and what is the prognosis for sufferers like Braxton? WebMD has a good Q&A article on Toni Braxton's microvascular angina, which is also known as cardiac syndrome X.
Braxton has had cardiac problems before; in 2004 she came down with a case of pericarditis, an inflammation of the pericardium, the membrane that surrounds the heart. Does this previous problem have anything to do with her current bout of microvascular angina? WebMD asked that question, too, in its article.
A new study shows that the much prescribed cholesterol-lowering drug Vytorin doesn't slow the buildup of plaque in arteries any more than do cheaper statin drugs. This is the latest study sure to sow confusion among consumers taking these drugs, and their doctors, along with the Vioxx controversy and other recent episodes concerning pain drugs.
The study looked at whether a combination of Zetia and Zocor works better than Zocor by itself.
A USA Todayarticle yesterday features a Q&A with two noted cardiologists, which helps to explain the situation. Vytorin itself contains a statin: Vytorin is a combination of two drugs, Zetia and Zocor, a popular statin. (Lipitor is another widely used statin, and one of the most-prescribed drugs in the world).
An entry in the Wall Street Journal's health blog examines the specifics of the study and the implications of the findings, that Zetia doesn't do anything to enhance Zocor.
The new vaccine for human papilloma virus (HPV) has been about 100% effective in preventing that disease. But the HPV vaccine has turned out to have effects in preventing other diseases, too.
This video and slide show from Medscape looks at the success of the HPV vaccine.
Predicting heart disease may come down to a tale of the tape... the measuring tape. A new British study is lending more credence to the belief that where on the body a person is carrying fat, and not just the amount of fat nor their weight, can be a strong predictor of heart disease.
The study is another piece of evidence that ties fat around the belly to the risk of heart disease, and it suggests using a measuring tape to determine a person's waist-to-hip ratio. In other words, having a big waist can be a bigger sign of trouble in someone with relatively small hips that with someone whose big waist is matched by big hips.
The study, from the University of Cambridge, tracked heart disease in 24,500 British adults, according to a story in WebMD. The study appears in the journal Circulation.
The study sought to find out which of a number of factors best predicted heart disease: BMI (body mass index, which is calculated using a person's height and weight), waist-to-hip ratio, waist circumference by itself, or hip circumference itself.
The waist-to-hip ratio was found to be the best predictor of heart disease, and it held true whether a person was overweight or had a normal weight, as measured by BMI.
Much recent research has pointed to the belief that excess visceral fat (fat in the body cavity, as opposed to fat underneath the skin) can release hormones into the adjacent organs, increasing a person's risk of heart disease (and, some research has indicated, other diseases as well).Wasit
A 35-year-old Michigan police officer, Chad Schieber, collapsed and died around the 19 mile mark of last Sunday's Chicago Marathon. An autopsy showed he died of mitral valve prolapse (MVP), the medical examiner said. So what is mitral valve prolapse?
The mitral valve is a valve between the heart's two left-hand chambers, the left atrium (upper chamber) and the left ventricle (lower chamber). Mitral valve prolapse occurs when the flap-like parts of the valve, called leaflets, bulge (prolapse) and the opening between the two chambers doesn't close properly.
According to the Mayo Clinic's Web site, www.mayoclinic.com, mitral valve prolapse affects just over 2 percent of adult in the U.S., and for most of them it doesn't cause any problems. In many cases a person may not even know he or she has MVP unless a cardiologist diagnoses it during an exam.
For other people mitral valve prolapse can cause a range of symptoms, some minor and some serious.
The article from the Mayo Clinic provides reliable details on mitral valve prolapse: signs and symptoms, causes, when to see a doctor, diagnosis, complications, treatment, and more.
