Showing posts with label health news. Show all posts
Showing posts with label health news. Show all posts

Breastfeeding and health benefits in infancy

11:11 AM
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Scientists have linked breastfeeding with better receptive language at 3 years of age and verbal and nonverbal intelligence at age 7 years.

Evidence supports the relationship between breastfeeding and health benefits in infancy, but the extent to which breastfeeding leads to better cognitive development is less certain, according to the study background.

 Mandy B. Belfort, M.D., M.P.H., of Boston Children’s Hospital, and colleagues examined the relationships of breastfeeding duration and exclusivity with child cognition at ages 3 and 7 years.

 They also studied the extent to which maternal fish intake during lactation affected associations of infant feeding and later cognition. Researchers used assessment tests to measure cognition.

 The study said that longer breastfeeding duration was associated with higher Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test score at age 3 years (0.21; 95 percent CI, 0.03-0.38 points per month breastfed) and with higher intelligence on the Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test at age 7 years (0.35; 0.16-0.53 verbal points per month breastfed; and 0.29; 0.05-0.54 nonverbal points per month breastfed). However, the study also noted that breastfeeding duration was not associated with Wide Range Assessment of Memory and Learning scores.

 The authors said that in summary, our results support a causal relationship of breastfeeding in infancy with receptive language at age 3 and with verbal and nonverbal IQ at school age.

 These findings support national and international recommendations to promote exclusive breastfeeding through age 6 months and continuation of breastfeeding through at least age 1 year.

 The study has been published in JAMA Pediatrics.

 Source: dnaindia.com
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World Hepatitis Day

10:20 AM
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For 45-year-old Prajakta Juwekar*, World Hepatitis Day today is very special as after two years of battling with the disease, she is now free from it. 

A resident of Ghatkopar, Juwekar was detected with breast cancer six years ago. 
As she successfully overcame it, she was diagnosed with hepatitis C two years ago. Her condition got so bad that she was referred for a liver transplant.”

 “Initially, when we put her on treatment, her platelet counts went low. The platelet count fell to dangerous levels below 4,000 and she started bleeding,” said Dr Aabha Nagral,consultant gastroenterologist and hepatologist at Jaslok Hospital. 

 The team of doctors then decided to go for life-saving drugs meant for increasing the platelet count. “Luckily it worked in her case. After a turbulent year and a half, she is now virus-free and resuming her normal life. Our biggest achievement was that she didn’t need a liver transplant,” said Dr Nagral. 

 There are five main hepatitis viruses, referred to as types A, B, C, D and E. (see right)

 “Hepatitis B (HBV) and Hepatitis C (HCV) infections are silent diseases that remain asymptomatic for decades. Due to lower awareness, more than 80 percent HCV patients and over 60 percent patients with HBV are diagnosed at a stage when the disease is irreversible,” said Dr Rakesh Rai, liver transplant expert at Fortis Hospital.

 *name changed

 DNA
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5,000 doctors to witness Obstructive Sleep Apnea surgery in India

11:03 PM
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More than 5,000 doctors from all over the world will witness a live surgery to treat Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), a sleep disorder, to be performed at the Asian Heart Institute (AHI) here Tuesday, an official said here Saturday.

This is the first time that such a live robotic surgery will be performed before a global audience of medicos along with expert lectures on the occasion.

 Leading ENT surgeon Vikas Agrawal will operate on three patients to show the different issues pertaining to OSA among Indians.

 Two Italian medicos and pioneers in OSA - Claudio Vicini and Filippo Montevecchi - shall discuss different aspects of Transoral Robotic Surgery for OSA.

 OSA is a disorder in which a person stops breathing during night, maybe several times - with the gaps called 'apneas' (literally "without breath").

 The disorder occurs when tissues in the upper throat collapse at different times during sleep, thereby blocking passage of air.

 According to Agrawal, OSA increases with age and the latest Indian studies have revealed that its prevalence is three times higher in men as compared to women.

 Agrawal is the first Indian medico to cure this complex ENT procedure robotically and endoscopically.

 AHI Vice-Chairman and Managing Director Ramakanta Panda (who operated on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh four years ago), has lauded the initiative which would help AHI set new benchmarks globally.
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Low sleep can lead to ageing of skin

7:50 PM
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Scientists have shown that lack of quality sleep can lead to ageing of skin, says a study.
Low sleep can lead to ageing of skin
In a first-of-its-kind clinical trial, physician-scientists at University Hospitals (UH) Case Medical Centre, US, found that sleep quality impacts skin function and ageing.

 The recently completed study demonstrated that poor sleepers had increased signs of skin ageing and slower recovery from a variety of environmental stressors, such as disruption of the skin barrier or ultraviolet (UV) radiation.

 Poor sleepers also had worse assessment of their own skin and facial appearance, reports Science Daily.

 The research team, led by lead investigator Elma Baron, director of the Skin Study Centre at UH Case Medical Centre, presented their data recently at the International Investigative Dermatology Meeting in Edinburgh, Scotland, in an abstract titled 'Effects of Sleep Quality on Skin Ageing and Function'.

 "Our study is the first to conclusively demonstrate that inadequate sleep is correlated with reduced skin health and accelerates skin ageing. Sleep deprived women show signs of premature skin ageing and a decrease in their skin's ability to recover after sun exposure," said Baron, who is also associate professor of dermatology at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.
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Skipping Breakfast Increases Risk Of Heart Attack

10:33 AM
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Yet another reason to eat breakfast in the morning–doing so may prevent you from having a heart attack.
Skipping Breakfast Increases Risk Of Heart Attack
Skipping Breakfast Increases  Risk Of Heart Attack

 A recent study of men aged 45-82 who regularly skipped breakfast demonstrated a 27% increase in risk of having a heart attack or developing coronary artery disease compared with those who ate breakfast daily. Although the research was done in older men, researchers believe the results may likely apply to the broader population as a whole.

 It is important to note that this was an observational study, and cannot prove a cause and effect relationship between consumption of breakfast and risk of heart attack.

 The research was published in the Journal, Circulation, July 22.

 The researchers evaluated 27,000 men regarding their daily eating habits in 1992. Based on their results, 13% of the respondents stated that they routinely skipped breakfast. These men were all at least 45 years of age and had professional careers. Over the next 16 years, 1,527 suffered a heart attack-fatal or nonfatal.

 After accounting for other variables such as smoking, alcohol use, diet, high blood pressure and diabetes, this equated to a 27% percent added risk for skipping breakfast.

More details of the study revealed that younger men were more likely to skip breakfast than older men. Other factors associated with skipping breakfast included smoking, drinking alcohol regularly, working full time, being unmarried, and being less physically active overall.

 Of note, previous research has shown a relationship between skipping breakfast and developing high blood pressure, obesity, and diabetes—all a precursor to the development of the dangerous metabolic syndrome- an important risk for heart disease.

 What distinguishes the current study is the role of skipping breakfast and its future relationship to having a heart attack.

 So why does skipping breakfast lead to an increased risk for having a heart attack?

 Researchers believe that people who skip breakfast tend to eat larger, more calorically dense meals later in the day, often late into the night, to compensate for the lack of an early morning meal. They also tend to eat more meals later into the night.

 Eating later into the night–the case for a small number of men in the study who awoke after initally going to sleep– was associated with a 55 % increase in the incidence of developing coronary artery disease. The overall risk, however, was perceived to be small, since only a minority of men in this study exhibited this behavior.

 Ultimately, however, this means fewer hours in the day to process additional, more calorically dense foods, which lead to higher levels of blood sugars and more intense and frequent insulin spikes. This process is thought to be a precursor to premature development of coronary artery disease, more commonly termed atherogenesis.

 One drawback of the study was that researchers did not ask what participants actually ate for breakfast. So whether they ate sausage, biscuits with gravy, or a big stack of buttery pancakes was never investigated. The question is whether eating fat laden, highly caloric breakfast foods is better than skipping breakfast altogether.

 The issue of when you eat, as well as the content of what you eat is currently a topic of debate. It is unclear what is more important, but it is likely a combination of both factors that is pivotal.

 The bottom line is that people who eat breakfast generally eat fewer calories throughout the day, and are usually healthier than those who do not eat breakfast.

 According to data from the NPD group, as many as 10% of US adults–30 million people–routinely skip breakfast.

 The take home message is that eating breakfast is an important component of a healthy lifestyle.

 If results of the research examined here can be demonstrated in women, as well as among other races and ethnic groups, then eating breakfast may become an important preventive health measure for the public.
Of note, a January, 2013 New England Journal of Medicine article published this year called into question the concept that eating breakfast actually reduces obesity, examining various myths associated with gaining weight. The article evaluated data from two specific studies that demonstrated that breakfast eaters did not have a reduction in rates of obesity.
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Red wine not good for older men

9:22 PM
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A natural antioxidant compound found in red grapes and other plants - called resveratrol - blocks many cardiovascular benefits of exercise in older men, new research has suggested.

 Resveratrol has received widespread attention as a possible anti-aging compound and is now widely available as a dietary supplement; much has been made of its role in explaining the cardiovascular health benefits of red wine, and other foods.
But now, new research at The University of Copenhagen surprisingly suggests that eating a diet rich in antioxidants may actually counteract many of the health benefits of exercise, including reduced blood pressure and cholesterol.

 In contrast to earlier studies in animals in which resveratrol improved the cardiovascular benefits of exercise, this study in humans has provided surprising and strong evidence that in older men, resveratrol has the opposite effect.

 Lasse Gliemann, a PhD student who worked on the study at The University of Copenhagen, said that they studied 27 healthy, physically inactive men around 65 years old for 8 weeks.

 He said that during the 8 weeks all of the men performed high-intensity exercise training and half of the group received 250 mg of resveratrol daily, whereas the other group received a placebo pill.

 The study design was double-blinded, thus neither the subjects nor the investigators knew which participant that received either resveratrol or placebo.

 He asserted that they found that exercise training was highly effective in improving cardiovascular health parameters, but resveratrol supplementation attenuated the positive effects of training on several parameters including blood pressure, plasma lipid concentrations and maximal oxygen uptake.

 Ylva Hellsten, the leader of the project, said that they were surprised to find that resveratrol supplementation in aged men blunted the positive effects of exercise training on cardiovascular health parameters, in part because our results contradict findings in animal studies.

 The research has been in The Journal of Physiology.
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Study : One third diagnosed with throat cancer are infected with HPV virus

10:18 PM
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BBC : One third of people diagnosed with throat cancer are infected with a form of the HPV virus, a study suggests.

 HPV (human papillomavirus) is the major cause of cervical cancer, and the virus is known to spread through genital or oral contact.
Actor Michael Douglas is reported to have spoken about the link after his own diagnosis with throat cancer.

 Experts said this study in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, which quantifies the link, showed "striking" results.

 There are more than 100 types of HPV. Most people will be infected with HPV at some point, but in most the immune system will offer protection.

 There are two HPV strains which are most likely to cause cancer - HPV-16 and HPV-18.

 HPV-16 is thought to be responsible for around 60% of cervical cancers, 80% of cancers in the anus and 60% of oral cancers.

 Around 1,500 people are diagnosed with throat cancers each year in the UK, with around 470 people dying from the disease.

 Survival benefit
This study looked at HPV's link with cancer of the back of the throat - oropharyngeal cancer.

 It looked at blood test results collected from people who took part in a huge prospective study into lifestyle and cancer, who were all healthy at the start.

 Everyone gives a blood sample when they join the study, and in this case the researchers were able to check for the presence of antibodies to one of HPV's key proteins - E6.

 Continue reading the main story
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Start Quote

 Condoms won't stop infections completely."”

 E6 knocks out part of cells' protection system, which should prevent cancer developing.

 Having the antibodies means HPV has already overcome that defence and caused cancerous changes in cells.

 The researchers compared blood test results - some more than 10 years old - for 135 people who went on to develop throat cancer and for 1,599 cancer-free people.

 The University of Oxford team found 35% of those with throat cancer had the antibodies, compared with fewer than 1% of those who were cancer-free.

 However, these patients were more likely to survive throat cancer than people whose disease had other causes, such as alcohol or tobacco use.

 The study found 84% of people with the antibodies were still alive five years after diagnosis, compared with 58% of those without.

 Broader effect?
Dr Ruth Travis, a Cancer Research UK scientist at Oxford who worked on the study, said: "These striking results provide some evidence that HPV-16 infection may be a significant cause of oropharyngeal cancer."

 Sara Hiom, Cancer Research UK's director of health information, said: "HPV is an extremely common virus.

 "Practising safer sex may reduce the risk of getting or passing on HPV, but condoms won't stop infections completely."

 She added: "If the HPV vaccine can also protect against oral HPV infections and cancers, then it could have a broader potential protective effect, but we don't have enough research yet to tell us. "
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