Weight Loss Can Normalize Blood Pressure

www.medpagetoday.com

By Charles Bankhead

At least half of overweight patients with stage I hypertension can normalize their blood pressure with modest weight loss, Italian investigators reported here.

After six months on a reduced-calorie diet, supplemented by a lipase inhibitor in some cases, about half of 210 patients lost more than 5% of their body weight, which was associated with about a 5% reduction in blood pressure, Roberto Fogari, M.D., of the University of Pavia, reported at a conference of the American Heart Association's Council for High Blood Pressure Research.

The results demonstrated not only that weight loss alone can normalize hypertension but also that many overweight hypertensive patients have been misdiagnosed as having essential hypertension. The results emphasize the importance of initiating dietary intervention in overweight patients with high blood pressure before resorting to drug treatment, said Dr. Fogari.

"This is important because it means that in these patients with elevated blood pressure who were overweight, the blood pressure is not a form of essential hypertension but was hypertension secondary to body weight," said Dr. Fogari.

"These findings apply to western societies in general, but only to overweight patients, not to obese patients, with high blood pressure," he added.

The study involved men and women ages 29 to 65 and who had a body mass index of 25 to 29 kg/m2, defining them as overweight but not obese. All the patients had stage I hypertension, reflected in a systolic blood pressure of 140 to 159 mm Hg and a diastolic pressure of 90 to 99 mm Hg. None of the patients had a history of antihypertensive therapy.

Upon entry to the study, each patient consulted with dietary authorities who developed individualized reduced-calorie food plans that reflected a patient's food preferences. About half the patients also received the lipase inhibitor orilistat (Xenical) as an aid to weight loss and weight maintenance.

"We gave orilistat only when diet alone was not able to achieve the appropriate reduction in body weight," said Dr. Fogari.

After six months of follow-up, 49% of the women and 53% of the men had lost more than 5% of the baseline bodyweight. The 5% reduction in blood pressure that accompanied the weight loss was sufficient to normalize blood pressure in many patients.

There was a significant reduction in plasma leptin (from 17.3±4.4 to 10.9±3.2 ng/mL, P<0.01), active renin (from 12.9±6.8 to 9.1±5.2 pg/mL P<0.05), and aldosterone (from 71.8±28.4 to 59.7±23.5 P<0.01).

Forty-eight percent of the those with bodyweight loss of 5% or more achieved a normal BMI (< 25 Kg/m2) and 53% showed a BP blood pressure normalization (< 140/90 mmHg). Plasma leptin, active renin and aldosterone decreases were not different than those of the 25 patients who did not achieve the blood pressure normalization despite the BMI normalization.

The study will continue until all patients have been followed for a year.

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Self-discipline may reduce Alzheimer's risk

www.newscientist.com

People who are meticulous and "finish what they start" may have a reduced risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, according to a study involving Catholic nuns and priests.

The most conscientious and self-disciplined individuals were found to be 89% less likely to develop this form of dementia than their peers over the course of the 12-year study.

Robert Wilson at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, Illinois, US, and colleagues followed 997 healthy Catholic nuns, priests and Christian brothers between 1994 and 2006. Early on in the study, participants completed a personality test to determine how conscientious they were.

Based on answers to 12 questions such as "I am a productive person who always gets the job done", they received a score ranging from 0 to 48. On average, volunteers scored 34 points in the test.

Controlled impulses

Volunteers also underwent regular neurological examinations and cognitive tests. Over the lifetime of the study, 176 of the 997 participants developed Alzheimer's disease. However, those with the highest score on the personality test – 40 points or above – had an 89% lower chance of developing the debilitating condition than participants who received 28 points or lower.

"These are people who control impulses, and tend to follow norms and rules," Wilson told New Scientist.

Previous studies suggest that exercise and intellectual stimulation can decrease the risk of Alzheimer's disease. But the link between self-discipline and a reduced risk of the illness remained strong even after researchers discounted these factors from their study. Subjects still had a 54% lower chance of developing the condition.

Exactly why conscientiousness should have an impact on Alzheimer's risk remains unclear, says Wilson. He notes that brain autopsies conducted on 324 of the study's participants failed to resolve the mystery.

Alzheimer's test?

Earlier work has linked the presence of plaques and protein tangles within the brain to Alzheimer. Yet, in general, the brains of those who scored highly on the conscientiousness test had as many plaques and protein tangles as those of subjects who scored lower.

Wilson suggests that more meticulous and conscientious individuals may have more active frontal brain regions, an area that is responsible for decision-making and planning. Increased activity in this region may perhaps compensate for a decline in function in other brain regions, he speculates.

Based on the new findings, doctors could perhaps consider certain patients at greater risk of dementia, says Ross Andel at the University of South Florida, US. "This is a study about identifying people at risk," he says.

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Alzheimer's linked to behaviour study suggests

Contraception: Progress Brings Hope For New Methods For Men

www.sciencedaily.com

But will men actually use a new method if researchers make one? Elaine Lissner, director of the nonprofit Male Contraception Information Project, says demand is the least of the problems. "You'll never have all men interested, but attitudes have really changed - studies consistently show a majority of men would consider it. You have to remember, between condoms and vasectomy, men in the U.S. are already taking care of a third of contraception. Just imagine if they had another non-permanent option."

New options for male contraceptives: RISUG, IVD, and suspensory method. (Credit: Male Contraception Information Project)Kirsten Thompson, director of the International Male Contraception Coalition, concurs. "Some men are quite desperate for better control over their fertility. They're looking for something they can really count on."

Among the developments announced at the conference:

• Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh and BIOQUAL Inc. showed they could provide contraception in monkeys with no hormones and no shots needed. (Monkeys are used for studies because of their similarity to humans.) The monkeys had no moving sperm after they took a compound called CDB-4022, and their fertility bounced back completely by 16 weeks. The researchers hope this will be a new nonhormonal contraceptive that can be taken as a pill; in survey results presented at the conference by the International Male Contraception Coalition, 61% of men listed a nonhormonal drug as their first choice. Safety studies will be the next step.
• A testosterone-like pill ("selective androgen receptor modulator") already in human testing as an osteoporosis and muscle-wasting treatment may have a side benefit: it could work as a hormonal contraceptive that could be taken as a pill. Until now, most "male Pill" research has used a combination of shots, implants, or gels. The SARM's industry support (by GTx, Inc.) gives it a good chance at commercialization.
• Another androgen that can be taken orally, Dimethandrolone Undecanoate (DMAU), was effective at reducing sperm numbers in rabbits if taken at a low, but not high, dose. Rabbits regained their fertility when they stopped the drug.
• Makers of the Intra Vas Device are expected to announce effectiveness data showing "substantial equivalence to traditional vasectomy methods" in a study of 90 men. The Intra Vas Device blocks sperm in the vas deferens, the tube sperm swim through that is cut in vasectomy. The set of plugs can be removed if a man changes his mind, and animal studies have shown that fertility returns if it is removed after short-term use. The next step will be to find funding for long-term studies of effectiveness and fertility return.
• Developers of a home sperm test ("SpermCheck") reported excellent results in men. The test perfectly matched more expensive laboratory tests in detecting whether men's sperm count is above or below 200,000-300,000 per millileter, an extremely low number (normal counts are above 20 million per millileter). When this test hits the market, it will help men who are using "do-it-yourself" methods such as simple wet heat and suspensories. It will also allow men who get vasectomies to know when their sperm are cleared out, without going to the doctor. About 1 in 6 American couples uses vasectomy as a contraceptive method, with more than 500,000 men opting for the procedure each year.

Researchers from around the world are also announcing new targets for contraception, and incremental progress on hormonal approaches ("the male Pill").

Male Birth Control might be on the market soon

Men's Health Zone

Arizona Teenager Killed by Brain Eating Amoeba

http://www.shortnews.com/

Aaron Evans, 14, was the sixth victim to die from Naegleria fowleri infection. The amoeba, which likes warm shallow waters, enters the brain through the nasal cavity. Once infected, victims invariably succumb. There is no effective treatment.

Evans is believed to have been infected while swimming at Lake Havasu. Usually found in the southern US, the CDC said Naegleria can be in any lakes, hot springs or swimming pools, and warns people to stay away from warm sandy water.

Michael Beach, a CDC specialist, believes that rising temperatures in upcoming decades will bring more Naegleria attacks.

Lake amoeba can kill swimmers