Neighborhood barbers can influence black men to seek blood-pressure treatment(February 28, 2011) -- Patrons of black-owned barbershops who had their blood pressure regularly measured there and who were encouraged to follow up with their physicians were nearly nine times more likely to see a physician than patrons who were simply given hypertension literature. ... >fullstory

Use of Virtual Colonoscopy on the Rise in U.S. Hospitals
Tue, 01 Mar 2011 11:00:00 -0600

More patients undergoing this type of screening, despite lack of Medicare coverage, study finds

New mechanism for dementia?
The voracious clearing of injured and dying cells that could have otherwise recovered may contribute to neurodegenerative disease.

Scientists discover insulin-receptor gene variant in diabetes type 2 patients with European ancestry.

HealthDay (3/1, Gardner) reported, "Scientists have identified a gene variant present in some people of white European descent who have type 2 diabetes" that could potentially be a future target for treatment, according to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Investigators looked at people with and without diabetes in "about 6,500 Italian patients; close to 2,000 US residents; and about 400 French people." They found that about 7 to 8 percent of the study participants with type 2 diabetes had one of four HMGA1 gene variants. Notably, in the "Italian group, this represented a 16-fold higher risk in people with type 2 diabetes."

FDA panel: menthol may raise likelihood of cigarette addiction.

The Los Angeles Times (3/2, Zajac) reports, "Adding menthol to cigarettes may increase the likelihood of addiction and make it easier for young people to start smoking, according to preliminary findings of a Food and Drug Administration advisory panel." The experts on the "panel said the scientific evidence showed that 'menthol has cooling and anesthetic effects that reduce the harshness of cigarette smoke' and this reduction 'could facilitate initiation or early persistence of smoking by youth.'" In addition, "menthol was likely to make low-tar, low-nicotine cigarettes more satisfying, 'and smokers who switch to low-yield cigarettes for health concerns may be more likely to continue to smoke rather than quit.'"

Most insurers limit benefits for brain trauma patient rehabilitation programs.

USA Today (3/2, Sternberg) reports, "Although Medicare, Medicaid and most insurers cover the brain surgery and intensive care necessary to save the lives of patients with such traumatic brain injuries," according to Geoffrey Manley, Director of brain trauma at the University of California-San Francisco, "most insurers scrimp on benefits for rehab programs, costly brain-injury 'boot camps' that challenge patients to relearn skills and abilities destroyed by brain trauma." The lack of coverage means that "thousands of patients are discharged each year from hospitals to nursing homes or to languish in their beds during the critical early months when their brains are most receptive to healing." At least 1.7 million Americans "suffer brain trauma each year," according to the CDC.

Findings on pollution damage to human airways could yield new therapies(March 2, 2011) -- Researchers have identified how nanoparticles from diesel exhaust damage lung airway cells, a finding that could lead to new therapies for people susceptible to airway disease. The scientists also discovered that the severity of the injury depends on the genetic make-up of the affected individual.fullstory

Diabetes Mellitus, Fasting Glucose, and Risk of Cause-Specific Death

The Emerging Risk Factors Collaboration

N Engl J Med 2011; 364:829-841March 3, 2011

Diabetes may increase risk of dying prematurely from ailments other than heart attack, stroke.

Those with diabetes were 80% more likely to die from any cause during the study periods, after adjustment for age, sex, smoking status, and body mass index (95% confidence interval 1.71 to 1.90). Vascular disease took top place as a cause of death, followed by cancer. Not surprisingly, diabetes patients carried a 2.32-fold higher adjusted risk of death from vascular causes than their nondiabetic counterparts (95% CI 2.11 to 2.56).

New TB Treatment Study
A team of researchers, led by Professor JurajIvanyi at King's, have identified potential new means to treat tuberculosis (TB).

Diabetes moderately increased risk of death from the following as well:

  • Cancers of the liver, pancreas, ovary, colorectum, lung, bladder, and breast
  • Renal disease
  • Liver disease
  • Pneumonia and other infectious diseases
  • Mental disorders
  • Nonhepatic digestive diseases
  • External causes
  • Intentional self-harm
  • Nervous-system disorders
  • Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Regular use of OTC ibuprofen may reduce risk for developing Parkinson's disease.

USA Today (3/2, Marcus) reports, "Regular use of the common over-the-counter pain reliever ibuprofen may cut the risk of developing Parkinson's disease," according to a study, which was "one of the largest to investigate the possible benefits of ibuprofen on Parkinson's," published in the March 8 issue of Neurology. According to Medscape (3/2, Jeffrey), the researchers hey analyzed data on 136,197 men and women from the "large, ongoing, prospective cohorts, the Nurses' Health Study (NHS) and Health Professionals Follow-up Study (HPFS)." The use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) "was assessed by questionnaire."

Potassium Levels Possible Key To Racial Disparity In Type 2 Diabetes
Lower potassium levels in the blood may help explain why African-Americans are twice as likely to be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes as whites, according to a new study by Johns Hopkins researchers.

Potential mechanisms for future anti-obesity drugs identified(March 4, 2011) -- Scientists have identified the neurological and cellular signaling mechanisms that contribute to satiety -- the sensation of feeling full -- and the subsequent body-weight loss produced by drugs used to treat Type 2 diabetes. More comprehensive knowledge of these mechanisms could form the basis for anti-obesity medications. ... >fullstory

Older patients confused about multiple drug dosing(March 4, 2011) -- Many older patients, who take an average of seven medicines a day, are so confused by the vague instructions on prescription bottles they don't realize they can combine their medications to take them more efficiently. A new study shows patients thought they had to take seven medicines at least seven and up to 14 separate times a day. Researchers recommend a standardized universal medication drug schedule at morning, noon, evening and bedtime. ... >fullstory

Autism Genes Linked to Brain Development.

New research on the genomics of autism confirms that the genetic roots of the disorder are highly complicated, but that common biological themes underlie this complexity. In the current study, researchers have implicated several new candidate genes and genomic variants as contributors to autism, and conclude that many more remain to be discovered. While the gene alterations are individually very rare, they mostly appear to disrupt genes that play important functional roles in brain development and nerve signaling.