4/18/2008

Use of Hypertension Drugs Leads to Hip Bone Loss in Older Men

Powerful diuretics, commonly prescribed drugs for heart failure and hypertension, can also steal calcium from the bones and cause significant bone loss in men taking them, study finds.

Between 2000 and 2002, Dr. Lionel S. Lim of Griffin Hospital, in Derby, Connecticut and colleagues tested the bone mineral density levels of 3,269 men older than age 65. Patients received follow-up examinations about 4.6 years later. The researchers collected data on medication use and found that 84 men were continuous users of loop diuretics, 181 were intermittent users and 3,004 were non-users.

At the end of the study, the researchers found that the average annual rate of decline in total hip bone mineral density was -0.78 among continuous users, -0.58 among intermittent users and -0.33 among nonusers.

“Compared with rates of hip bone loss among non-users of diuretics, adjusted rates of loss were about twofold greater among intermittent loop diuretic users and about 2.5-fold greater among continuous loop diuretic users,” wrote Dr. Lim and colleagues in the study.

These findings come to reinforce previous studies, which have found an association between the use of powerful diuretics and increased risk of fractures.

“We conclude that loop diuretic use in older men is associated with increased rates of hip bone loss. Our findings suggest that health care providers should take into account loop diuretic use when evaluating older men for risk factors for bone loss and fracture risk,” the study wrote.

The findings were similar for change at the femoral neck and trochanter, the researchers said.

The study, supported by the national Institute of Health, was published in the April 14 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Source: eFluxMedia.com

4/16/2008

Early Dementia Often Caused by Autoimmune Disorders

Dementia in patients who are younger than 45 years of age is often caused by degenerative, metabolic or autoimmune diseases, Dr. Brendan Kelley, of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, told attendees at the 60th annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology, being held this week in Chicago.

Kelley and colleagues searched the Mayo Clinic database for patients who began to develop dementia between 17 and 45 years that was not related to trauma, brain infections or mental retardation. They identified 235 such patients receiving care between 1996 and 2006. The average age at dementia onset was 34.7 years.

Neurodegenerative causes accounted for dementia in 29.8 percent of the group, frontotemporal dementia occurred in 13.2 percent and Alzheimer's disease was seen in less than 1 percent," data presented by Kelley showed.

Autoimmune-inflammatory causes, including multiple sclerosis, accounted for 21.2 percent. Inborn errors of metabolism were identified in 10.6 percent.

At the last evaluation, the cause of dementia was still unknown in 44 patients (18.7 percent) despite exhaustive evaluations, Kelley reported.

Inborn errors of metabolism were more common in individuals with symptoms appearing before age 30. Neurodegenerative causes were more common in dementias occurring after age 35.

"Some of the important causes, such as lupus, metabolic disorders, Huntington chorea, among others, can occur in very young children," Kelley told Reuters Health. "Only 4 of the 235 cases in our series resembled Alzheimer's type dementia."

"It is important to increase awareness that dementia can and does occur in young patients," Kelley continued. "This is important for social services and other aid-giving organizations to know."

"Symptoms in younger patients have more of a neuropsychiatric focus, with a lot of psychiatric features," he said. These patients can be misdiagnosed with psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia.

The causes of young-onset dementia are more often hereditary or genetic than they are in older patients with dementia.

"We are now looking to determine which clinical features are more classic...which clinical features to focus on," Kelley said. "This is a single disorder with multiple underlying causes. Treating the causes may correct to some extent the disorder."

www.reuters.com

Hypertension Prevents Migraines

Despite being the cause of many serious health problems, high blood pressure seems to have great benefits when it comes to migraines, as new research showed.

Dr. Eling Tronvik of the Norwegian National Headache Center at Trondheim University Hospital in Norway and his colleagues found that high blood pressure seems to reduce the chances of migraine, besides decreasing the quantum of chronic pain in other parts of the body.

It was long believed that migraines and other types of headaches are more common among people with high blood pressure, but studies conducted in the 1990s did not support this belief.

“This is a paradox. Several earlier studies have linked increasing blood pressure to a decrease in chronic pain in general, and this study suggests that the same is true for migraines,” Dr. Tronvik told WebMD.

The study’s data included information on blood pressure, use of blood pressure medications and headache frequency for 51,353 adults living in Norway in the 1980s and 1990s.

The biggest benefit was found in people with the highest pulse pressure, a measurement of the difference between the diastolic and systolic pressure at the moment the heart beats. They had up to 50 percent fewer headaches.

People with high systolic pressure also appeared to do better.

Things looked differently for people who took medicine to control their blood pressure, even though these drugs are often given to migraine sufferers.

“Higher pulse was linked to up a 50 percent reduction in the amount of headache and migraine for both men and women. The finding was not as strong, however, for people who were taking blood pressure medication, which are sometimes used to treat migraines,” Dr. Tronvik said.

How is that possible? Dr. Tronvik explained that high systolic blood pressure and pulse pressure are related to stiff arteries, which affect something called baroreflex arch.

“Both animal and human studies suggest that stimulation of the baroreflex arch can inhibit pain transmission. So changes in blood pressure may affect headache and migraine.”

However, Dr. Tronvik said, no matter how well high blood pressure prevents headaches, people should not abandon their hypertension medications. “High blood pressure is a huge problem in this country, and far too few people are controlling it as they should.”

The findings of the study were published in Tuesday’s issue of Neurology.

eFluxMedia.com

Pneumonia 'linked' to pollution

High levels of pollution may have contributed to the deaths of thousands of people in England from pneumonia in recent years, a study suggests.

A team at the University of Birmingham examined death rates from the disease and pollution levels in 352 local authorities between 1996 and 2004.

Writing in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, they reported a "strong correlation" between the two.

But the researchers conceded that social factors may also be at play.

Calculations were made by looking at how many deaths there were in each locality in excess of the national average.

These figures were then cross-checked with a range of pollutant levels, including engine exhaust emissions.

Culprit car

In total, 386,374 people died of pneumonia during the eight years examined, but there were significant regional variations. Lewisham in London had the highest number of deaths per head, Berwick-on-Tweed the least.

In the 35 local authorities with the highest rates of pneumonia, there were 14,718 more deaths than the national average.

These areas also tended to see higher rates of some cancers, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and rheumatic heart disease.

"High mortality rates were observed in areas with elevated ambient pollution levels," said Professor George Knox, who wrote the report. "The strongest single effect was an increase in pneumonia deaths."

He added: "Road transport was the chief source of the emissions responsible, although it was not possible to discriminate between the different chemical components".

The team estimated that the annual number of excess deaths - or those which could be attributed to the pollution - could approach those of the 1952 London smog, which killed 4,000 people.

But lung specialists said more detailed research was needed before a clear link between pneumonia and exhaust fumes was declared.

"What this paper does show, however, is that there is clear geographical variation in deaths from pneumonia, lung cancer and COPD," said Richard Hubbard of the British Lung Foundation.

"This would suggest that social factors such as deprivation and smoking, and possibly pollution, are important and that there is great potential to prevent deaths from lung disease."

Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Satisfactory Sex Can Be Achieved In A Matter Of Minutes

Survey findings released this week dispel the commonly held fantasy that satisfactory sex requires a significant time commitment. The survey, conducted at Penn State by the Society for Sex Therapy and Research, revealed that satisfactory sex for couples typically lasts 3 to 13 minutes. Movies, television, books and the internet have convinced many couples that if they aren’t having sex “all night long:” their sexual life is in the pits and they are missing out on something significant.

The survey included information garnered from psychologists, physicians, social workers, marriage/family therapists and nurses who have collectively seen thousands of patients over a period of several decades. According to the survey data, 3-7 minutes of intercourse is categorized as “adequate,” 7-13 minutes is “desirable,” 1-2 minutes is “too short” and 10-30 minutes is “too long.”

“A man’s or woman’s interpretation of his or her sexual functioning as well as the partner’s relies on personal beliefs developed in part from society’s messages, formal and informal,” the researchers said. “Unfortunately today’s popular culture has reinforced stereotypes about sexual activity. Many men and women seem to believe the fantasy models of large penises, rock-hard erections and all-night-long intercourse.”

“This seems to be a situation ripe for disappointment and dissatisfaction,” said lead author Eric Corty. “With this survey, we hope to dispel such fantasies and encourage men and women by providing realistic data about acceptable intercourse, thus preventing sexual disappointments and misfunctions.”

Source: medheadlines.com

4/07/2008

Cell Phones Bad For Your Health – Again

We’ve heard the pros and cons before, but a new Australian study claims cell phones could be worse for your health than smoking or asbestos.

It’s the issue that won’t go away. Are cell phones detrimental to your health? Will the electromagnetic radiation cause brain tumors? Studies have said yes, studies have said no.

Now a new paper from a staff specialist neurosurgeon at the Canberra Hospital and associate professor of neurosurgery with Australian National University Medical School, Vini G. Khurana, entitled "Mobile Phones and Brain Tumors – A Public Health Concern", looks at the results of previous reportage in both the academic and popular press.

Khurana’s warning is quite dire:

“It is anticipated that this danger has far broader public health ramifications than asbestos and smoking, and directly concerns all of us, particularly the younger generation, including very young children.”

The latency time, he believes, “may be in the order of 10-20 years.” He feels that “the link between mobile phones and brain tumours should no longer be regarded as a myth. Individual and class action lawsuits have been filed in the USA, and at least one has already been successfully prosecuted, regarding the cell phone-brain tumour link.”

However, it’s worth noting that many studies have yet to establish a link between the use of cell phones and cancer.

Source: digitaltrends.com