_ Heart Health A New Tool to Detect Atrial Fibrillation By Jane Farrell article Thanks to a new technology, a web camera can distinguish whether someone is suffering atrial fibrillation, a potentially serious heart condition. A project by researchers from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, showed that subtle changes in skin color can be used to detect the kind of uneven blood flow caused by atrial fibrillation. The technology was developed in a partnership between the university and Xerox. The findings were published in the journal Heart Rhythm.
_ Heart Health Drinking Tea Reduces Non-CV Mortality By Sondra Forsyth article Drinking tea reduces non-cardiovascular mortality by 24% according to a study of 131,000 people presented at European Society for Cardiology Congress in Barcelna on August 31st 2014 by Professor Nicolas Danchin from France.
_ Heart Health Wine DoesnΓÇÖt Protect Couch Potatoes from CVD By Sondra Forsyth article Evidence suggesting that mild to moderate consumption of wine protects against cardiovascular disease has been accumulating since the early 1990s. Now, however, researchers have shown that wine only protects against cardiovascular disease (CVD) in people who exercise. That was the finding of the In Vino Veritas (IVV) study presented at the European Society for Cardiology Congress in Barcelona on August 31st 2014 by Professor Milos Taborsky from the Czech Republic.
_ Healthy Diet & Nutrition ΓÇ£SpiceΓÇ¥ Up Your Health By Sondra Forsyth article By Diane Blum Did you know that one of the easiest things you can do to improve your health is to use a handful of spices each day? Simply adding the right spices increases nutrients in your diet, allows you to use less salt and sugar for taste, and also has important health side benefits. Here are a few of the healthiest: 1) Cinnamon
_ Volunteering is Healthy for Body as Well as Mind By Jane Farrell article Older people who volunteer are getting not only an emotional boost ΓÇô itΓÇÖs also benefiting their health. A study led by researchers from the Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest Health services analyzed data from 73 studies over the past 45 years. The studies involved adults over 50 who were involved in formal volunteering roles.
_ Osteoporosis Why an Osteoporosis Drug Works By Sondra Forsyth article Raloxifene is a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved treatment for decreasing fracture risk in osteoporosis. While raloxifene is as effective at reducing fracture risk as other current treatments, the medication works only partially by suppressing bone loss. With the use of wide- and small-angle x-ray scattering (WAXS and SAXS, respectively), researchers carried out experiments at the U.S.
_ Exercise Ready, Set - Change Your Health Habits! By Jane Farrell article We all know how crucial it is to make lifestyle changes to improve our health, but knowing that and actually changing a habit are two very different things. Here, the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, offers an easy-to-follow plan that will help you understand how best to make the move to healthier habits.
_ 10 Natural Ways to Control Blood Pressure By Jane Farrell article If you've been diagnosed with high blood pressure (a systolic pressure ΓÇö the top number ΓÇö of 140 or above or a diastolic pressure ΓÇö the bottom number ΓÇö of 90 or above), you might be worried about taking medication to bring your numbers down. Lifestyle plays an important role in treating your high blood pressure. If you successfully control your blood pressure with a healthy lifestyle, you may avoid, delay or reduce the need for medication. Here are 10 lifestyle changes you can make to lower your blood pressure and keep it down.
_ Skin Skin Health Discovery Could Cure Skin Infections By Sondra Forsyth article Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico and partners have tested the use of ionic liquids to break bacterial biofilm layer on skin. A release from the laboratory explains that biofilms, which are like a protective tent over a colony of harmful bacteria, make the treatment of skin infections especially difficult. Microorganisms protected in a biofilm pose a significant health risk due to their antibiotic resistance and recalcitrance to treatment.
_ Wii Balance Board Helps MS patients By Sondra Forsyth article The Nintendo Wii Balance Board video game console can help people with multiple sclerosis (MS) reduce their risk of accidental falls, according to research done at Sapienza University in Rome and published online August 26th 2014 in the journal Radiology. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans showed that use of the balance board system appears to induce favorable changes in brain connections associated with balance and movement.
_ Osteoporosis Surgery to Repair Hip Fracture Saves Billions of $ By Sondra Forsyth article Each year, more than 300,000 Americans -- primarily adults over age 65 -- sustain a hip fracture, a debilitating injury that can diminish life quality and expectancy and result in lost work days and substantial, long-term financial costs to patients, families, insurers and government agencies. Surgery, which is the primary treatment for hip fractures, successfully reduces mortality risk and improves physical function. However, little has been known about the procedure's value and return on investment.
_ Heart Health New Statin Guidelines an Improvement By Sondra Forsyth article New national guidelines can improve the way statin drugs are prescribed to patients at risk for cardiovascular disease, a Yale University study has found. The research, published August 25th 2014 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, also showed the new guidelines produce only a modest increase in the number of patients being given the drugs.
_ Preventing Organic Food Fraud By Sondra Forsyth article A growing number of consumers are willing to pay a premium for fruits, vegetables and other foods labeled "organic", but whether they're getting what the label claims is another matter. Now scientists at the Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority and the Wuerzburg University in Germany are studying conventional and organic tomatoes are devising a new way to make sure farms are labeling their produce appropriately. Their report, which appears in ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry in August 2014, could help prevent organic food fraud.
_ Digestive Health Hope for New Crohn's Disease Tx By Sondra Forsyth article Genetic changes that occur in patients with a type of inflammatory bowel disease called Crohn's disease could hold clues to fighting the illness, according to research led by the University of Edinburgh in the UK and published August 26th 2014 in the journal Inflammatory Bowel Diseases. Currently, there is no way to prevent Crohn's disease and therapy is focused on treating the symptoms, which may include abdominal pain, diarrhea and severe weight loss.
_ Medical Care Medical Procedures Deep Brain Stim OK for Older PD Patients By Sondra Forsyth article Older patients with Parkinson disease (PD) who undergo deep brain stimulation (DBS) appear to have a 90-day complication risk similar to younger patients, suggesting that age alone should not be a primary factor for excluding patients as DBS candidates. ThatΓÇÖs the finding of research done by Michael R. DeLong, B.A., of the Duke University Medical Center, Durham, N.C. and colleagues and published online August 25th 2014 inJAMA Neurology.
_ Men's Health Tailor Made Prostate Treatment By Sondra Forsyth article Sequencing RNA (ribonucleic acid), not just DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), could help doctors predict how prostate cancer tumors will respond to treatment, according to research published in August 2014 the open access journal Genome Biology. Because a tumor's RNA shows the real time changes a treatment is causing, the authors think this could be a useful tool to aid diagnosis and predict which treatment will most benefit individual cancer patients.
_ Osteoarthritis Knee Surgery No Help for Mild OA By Sondra Forsyth article A new study indicates that there is no apparent benefit to arthroscopic knee surgery for age-related tears of the meniscus in comparison with nonsurgical or sham treatments. The study, published August 25th 2014 in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal), provides evidence that middle-aged or older patients with mild or no osteoarthritis of the knee may not benefit from the procedure.
_ Caregiving 5 Questions About Long-Distance Caregiving By Sondra Forsyth article What is long-distance caregiving? It can be helping Aunt Lilly sort through her medical bills or thinking about how to make the most of a weekend visit with Mom. It can include checking the references of an aide whoΓÇÖs been hired to help your grandfather or trying to take the pressure off your sister who lives in the same town as both your aging parents and her aging in-laws. Here, from the National Institute on Aging, are the answers to five key questions about long-distance caregiving: