A new study appears to support the idea that blood pressure checks should be done in both arms. Researchers at the University of Exeter Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry (PCMD) in the UK reviewed evidence covering differences in systolic blood pressure between arms and found it could be a useful way to spot elevated risk of vascular disease and even death in cases that might otherwise be “clinically silent”. Findings of the systematic review and meta-analysis are published online in The Lancet on 30 January…
Archive for January 30, 2012
Two-Arm Blood Pressure Checks May Spot “Silent” Risks
More Black Tea Lowers Blood Pressure
Tea, the second most consumed drink after water, may help lower blood pressure. Scientists at The University Of Western Australia and Unilever, state in Archives of Internal Medicine, that drinking black tea three times a day may drastically lower a person’s systolic and diastolic blood pressure…
Poorer Outcomes For Patients Who Suffer Delirium After Stroke
Delirium develops in about 30 percent of patients hospitalized shortly after a stroke and is linked to poorer outcomes, according to a new meta-analysis published in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association. In the first systematic analysis of the four common outcomes in acute stroke patients with delirium – inpatient and 12-month death rates, length of hospital stay and care arrangements after discharge – Canadian researchers analyzed 10 studies. The research included more than 2,000 patients hospitalized after suffering a stroke due to a vessel blockage or bleeding…
Gossip Is Good For You!
Fed up with listening to your spouse or co-workers gossiping away? Leave be, says a new research from University of California Berkeley. Gossip helps to prevent bad behavior, prevent exploitation and reduces stress levels. Gossiping can also be therapeutic, the volunteers’ heart rates appeared to increase when hearing gossip, but lowered again once they passed on the information to someone else. A problem shared is a problem halved indeed…
Fungi May Be Our Friends In Tackling Lead Pollution
Fungi may be unexpected allies in our efforts to keep hazardous lead under control. That’s based on the unexpected discovery that fungi can transform lead into its most stable mineral form. The findings reported online in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, suggest that this interaction between fungi and lead may be occurring in nature anywhere the two are found together. It also suggests that the introduction or encouragement of fungi may be a useful treatment strategy for lead-polluted sites…
Researcher Who Studied Benefits Of Red Wine Falsified Data Says University
An extensive misconduct investigation that took three years to complete and produced a 60,000-page report, concludes that a researcher who has come to prominence in recent years for his investigations into the beneficial properties of resveratrol, a compound found in red wine, “is guilty of 145 counts of fabrication and falsification of data”…
Red Wine Reduces Breast Cancer Risk
Regular alcohol consumption raises breast cancer risk, except for red wine, which has the opposite effect when consumed in moderation, researchers from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles reported in the Journal of Women’s Health. The authors explained that the chemicals in the seeds and skins of red grapes slightly reduce estrogen levels and raise testosterone among premenopausal females – thus reducing their breast cancer risk. The authors stress that it is the red grape that has the beneficial compounds, and not just red wine…
FDA Bans Certain Uses Of Antibiotics In Food-Producing Animals
In a bid to protect an important class of antibiotics for treating humans and reduce the development of drug resistance, the US Food and Drug Administration has banned certain uses of cephalosporins in food-producing animals. The federal agency announced on Wednesday that the prohibition order comes into effect on 5 April. The ban is intended to stop the use of what the agency calls “extra label” or unapproved use, of cephalosporins in what the FDA describes as the “so-called major species of food-producing animals” such as cattle, pigs (swine), chickens and turkeys…
Pre-Surgery Exam Rates Vary Widely Among Hospitals
Hospitals vary greatly in the number of patients who see an internal medicine specialist before major non-cardiac surgery, with rates ranging from five per cent of patients to 90 per cent, new research has found. The findings are important because they suggest there are no commonly agreed upon standards for which patients should have such consultations, said Dr. Duminda Wijeysundera, a scientist at the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael’s Hospital and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES)…