Heart Bypass Beats Angioplasty for Diabetics

Generally, the less invasive a surgical procedure is, the better. But, that's not necessarily true for people with diabetes.

Recent research has found lower death rates and fewer heart attacks in people with diabetes who've undergone the open-heart procedure known as a coronary artery bypass graft (CABG), compared to those who had the less-invasive coronary angioplasty with stents. Angioplasty is also called percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).
 

Now a new study of the same group of patients reports that they also have a better quality of life after the more-invasive bypass procedure. http://bookmarkinghub.com/story.php?title=customized-fat-loss-2
 

"Recovery and early quality of life was better immediately with PCI, which is not surprising given the much less invasive nature of that procedure. But, between six months and two years, there was less [chest pain], slightly better physical performance and quality of life with CABG," said senior study author David Cohen, M.D., director of cardiovascular research at St. Luke's Mid America Heart Institute, in Kansas City, Mo.
 

Results of the study were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
 

Angioplasty is a common procedure to open up blocked blood vessels that supply blood to the heart. A special balloon-tipped catheter is inserted into a blood vessel (usually in the leg), and then threaded up to the area around the heart. If a blockage is encountered, it can be opened by inflating the balloon. To keep the blood vessel open, doctors often insert a small lattice-like tube (stent) into the blood vessel, the American Heart Association explains. http://bookmarkednews.com/story.php?title=truth-about-cellulite-2
 

In coronary artery bypass graft surgery, a surgeon takes blood vessels from other parts of the body and uses these to reroute blood flow around the blocked blood vessel. While this surgery is very effective, it is more invasive than angioplasty and requires more recovery time both in and out of the hospital.
 

Several previous studies have shown that bypass surgery is generally the preferred procedure for people with diabetes. Dr. Cohen said there are a number of reasons why the more-invasive procedure is better.

"People with diabetes tend to have different anatomy and more co-morbidities [other existing health conditions]. Their blood vessels tend to be smaller; they have more peripheral vascular disease and more renal [kidney] failure, which are things known to be bad for those undergoing PCI," he pointed out.
 

A diabetes expert explained why the less-invasive treatment isn't necessarily the best option.
 

"PCI tends to fix only a little bit at a time, but people with diabetes have very diffuse disease," said Joel Zonszein, M.D., director of the clinical diabetes center at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City. "It's usually not one single blood vessel, it's all over. And, you don't see the full obstruction, but if you look at the blood vessels, they're quite diseased, which is probably part of the inflammatory process. The disease process is different in people with diabetes, and that's why the more aggressive treatment works better."
 

Although previous studies have found that bypass surgery is often the better choice for people with diabetes, Dr. Cohen and his colleagues felt that because of the improvements in angioplasty and stents, it was time to compare the procedures again. http://v80.me/search.php?search=http://health.proconview.com/
 

The investigators recruited 1,900 people with diabetes from 18 countries to participate in the study. Most had type 2 diabetes, and all had known problems in more than one blood vessel. The average age was 63 years, and 72 percent of patients were male.
 

Study volunteers were randomly assigned to receive either bypass surgery or angioplasty as their initial treatment between 2005 and 2010.
 

Participants completed questionnaires to evaluate their levels of chest pain (angina), physical limitations and quality of life at the start of the study, one month, six months, 12 months and annually thereafter.
 

Dr. Cohen said that in previously reported results from this trial, there were lower rates of death and fewer heart attacks in the bypass surgery group. The risk of stroke was higher in this group, he noted. However, Dr. Cohen added that the overall rate of stroke was small after five years with either treatment.
 

Between six months and two years after the initial treatment, those who had a coronary artery bypass graft reported less chest pain, fewer physical limitations and better quality of life, according to the study. After two years, no significant differences existed between the two groups with regard to these patient-reported outcomes.
 

"If people with diabetes have severe coronary artery disease with symptoms, they should have a full discussion with their physician about available revascularization procedures. Guidelines give a strong preference to CABG, but treatment has to be individualized," Dr. Cohen said.
 

Zonszein agreed that coronary artery bypass graft is usually "the right procedure to do in patients with diabetes who have symptoms." He added that this study also points out the importance of trying to prevent vascular disease in the first place. Medications to lower cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugar are all important for people with diabetes, he said.

Long Naps Linked to Diabetes

A brief catnap may help boost your energy and alertness later in the day, but people who take long daily sleep siestas put themselves at higher risk for diabetes, according to new research.
http://infographicjungle.com/story.php?title=truth-about-cellulite
 

In a new study publicized by the Website, sleep specialists from the Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands who studied 27,000 Chinese men and women found those who napped more than hour a day were far more likely to suffer the metabolic disorder. http://bookmarkstuff.com/story.php?title=kyle-leon-scam-3

The research, published in the journal Sleep Medicine, determined that naps have different effects on the body, depending on sleep duration. The results showed longer naps were associated with an increased risk for high blood sugar and diabetes, while brief burst of shut-eye — lasting 30 minutes or less — lower blood-sugar levels.
 

"The findings may have important implications for people who regularly nap," said Eliane Lucassen, a Leiden researcher. "Taking a so-called power nap may be useful for certain individuals, but naps should not be too long." http://bookmarkingscrapbook.com/story.php?title=fat-loss-factor-4
 

Past studies have shown a short afternoon sleep can boost cognitive function, but a lengthy sleep session during the day can lead to chronic insomnia and other problems.

The new study examined the sleep habits of 27,000 Chinese retirees, most of whom regularly took afternoon naps. Researchers divided them into four groups based on their nap duration, ranging from zero minutes to more than 60 minutes. The results showed that those who reported napping for more than an hour each day had a higher risk of pre-diabetes and diabetes compared to those who never nap.
 

Researchers noted previous studies have suggested diabetes may be caused by getting too little, or too much, nighttime sleep. As a result, people who take longer naps may sleep less at night, boosting their diabetes risk, Lucassen said. It's also possible napping may disturb the body's internal clock that regulates the 24-hour cycle and affect release of insulin

No More Needles: Measuring Blood Sugar With Light

Diabetics who must now draw small amounts of blood to measure their glucose levels may soon be able to kiss the needles goodbye. German researchers have developed a new blood-sugar monitor that uses light, applied to the top of the skin, to determine glucose levels. http://joolerz.com/story.php?title=kyle-leon-scam-2

The development, reported in the current edition of the journal Review of Scientific Instruments, involves the use of infrared laser light and can measure levels of blood sugar in people with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes as effectively as home electronic devices that read glucose concentrations in a tiny drop of blood drawn through a needle stick. http://jobxu.com/story.php?title=fat-loss-factor-5
 

"This opens the fantastic possibility that diabetes patients might be able to measure their glucose level without pricking and without test strips," said lead researcher, Werner Mäntele, of Frankfurt's Institut für Biophysik, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität. http://internetnet.info/story.php?title=customized-fat-loss
 

"Our goal is to devise an easier, more reliable and in the long-run, cheaper way to monitor blood glucose."

 

The new device uses "photoacoustic spectroscopy" (PAS) to measure glucose by its mid-infrared absorption of light. A painless pulse of laser light applied externally to the skin is absorbed by glucose molecules and creates a measurable sound signature that Mäntele's team refers to as "the sweet melody of glucose."
 

This signal enables researchers to detect glucose in skin fluids in seconds, he said.
 

The researchers expect to develop a small shoebox-sized device within three years, followed by a portable glucometer several years afterward.

Sugary Drinks a Factor in Endometrial Cancer?

The most common type of endometrial cancer occurred almost 80% more often in postmenopausal women who regularly consumed sugar-sweetened drinks as compared with women who consumed none, a large cohort study showed. http://redrez.com/story.php?title=fat-loss-factor-review

The prevalence of estrogen-dependent endometrial cancer increased steadily and significantly with self-reported weekly servings of sugar-sweetened drinks, boosting the hazard by 78% among women who consumed four or more servings a week.

The risk of the less common nonhormonal endometrial cancer was not significantly affected by consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks, Maki Inoue-Choi, PhD, of the University of Minnesota School of Public Health in Minneapolis, and co-authors concluded in an article published online in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention. http://vpside.com/story.php?title=kyle-leon-scam

"We found that higher consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages was associated with higher risk of [estrogen-dependent) type I endometrial cancer, regardless of body mass index, physical activity, a history of diabetes, and cigarette smoking," the authors concluded. "Similarly higher risk of type I endometrial cancer was observed in relation to higher intake of sugars. The risk of [estrogen-independent] type II endometrial cancer was not associated with intake levels of sugar-sweetened beverages and sugars."

Consumption of sugar-containing drinks has risen in parallel to the prevalence of obesity in the U. S., offering one potential explanation for sugar's association with endometrial cancer, which occurs disproportionately in obese women. http://manabitv.com/story.php?title=fat-loss-factor-2

In developed nations, obesity is associated with at least half of type I endometrial cancers. Epidemiologic studies have linked higher intake of sugar-sweetened drinks to higher risks of obesity and type 2 diabetes. Collectively, available evidence provides biologic plausibility for sugar-sweetened drink consumption as a contributing factor in endometrial cancer, the authors noted in their introduction.

The only previous study of sugar-sweetened drinks and endometrial cancer found no association. However, the study lacked data on specific levels of drink consumption. Additionally, endometrial cancer had not been classified into two distinct histologic subtypes at the time of the previous study.

To address limitations in the literature, Inoue-Maki -- currently a postdoctoral fellow at the National Cancer Institute -- and colleagues analyzed data from the Iowa Women's Health Study, a longitudinal cohort study involving women 55 to 69. At enrollment, each participant completed a detailed questionnaire about demographics, lifestyle factors, medical history, and dietary intake. http://motorut.com/story.php?title=customized-fat-loss

The food intake portion of the questionnaire included usual intake frequency for 127 food and drink items over the past 12 months. Possible responses ranged from "never or less than once per month" to "six or more per day."

The questionnaire included four items pertaining to consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, including carbonated and noncarbonated drinks, fruit punch, lemonade, and noncarbonated fruit drinks. Participants completed 13 items related to consumption of "sweets and baked goods."

The final analysis included 23,039 women who had a mean age of 61.6 at enrollment. During follow-up from 1986 to 2010, 592 women had diagnoses of invasive endometrial cancer, consisting of 506 type 1 (endometroid) cancers and 89 type II (nonendometroid) cancers.

Factors associated with endometrial cancer were older age, higher BMI, higher waist-hip ratio, history of diabetes, early menarche, delayed menopause, any estrogen therapy. Smoking and increasing number of live births were associated with lower risk.

In an unadjusted analysis, increasing intake of sugar-sweetened drinks (excluding fruit juices) had a dose-dependent association with type I endometrial cancer (P=0.001). Women in the highest quintile of sugared beverage consumption had a 72% higher risk of type I endometrial cancer compared with women in the lowest quintile.

After adjustment for BMI, the resulting relative risk for comparison of the highest and lowest quintiles of consumption increased to 78% (95% CI 1.32-2.40, P=0.0005).

A separate analysis of fruit juice consumption yielded relative risks that were 38% and 48% higher in the unadjusted and adjusted models (95% CI 1.09-2.00, P=0.02 after adjustment).

Consumption of sugar-free drinks had no association with endometrial cancer risk, nor did consumption of sweets and baked goods. Analysis of different types of sugar showed a trend toward increased risk of endometrial cancer with increasing intake of sucrose and glucose.

The finding that sugar-sweetened drinks might contribute to the most common type of endometrial cancer is not particularly surprising, given the cancer's association with obesity, said Ronald Alvarez, MD, of the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Sugar in beverages might also affect insulin and insulin growth factor, which could play a role in type I endometrial cancers.

The lack of association between sugary foods and endometrial cancer is puzzling, he added.

"This is somewhat contradictory," Alvarez told MedPage Today in an email. "Is it the amount of sugar or the type of sugar that may differ between drinks and foods? I would say we need more information about that before we can explain this."

Worcester has most applicants hoping to open medical marijuana dispensaries

Worcester trumps Boston for the most popular place in Massachusetts to open a medical marijuana dispensary, according to a list released Friday by state regulators of the 100 applicants vying for a license.

Nine of the nonprofit companies chose Worcester, while six selected Boston. Framingham and Lowell tied for third-most desirable, with five applicants apiece. http://ircommand2.com/story.php?title=customized-fat-loss

Northampton attracted three applicants, but Cambridge, with a similarly liberal populace, attracted just one applicant. http://guiamarti.com/story.php?title=kyle-leon-scam-2

A maximum of 35 permits will be awarded in this cycle — the first after voters approved a ballot initiative last fall that legalized use of marijuana for medical treatment. State officials are aiming to select the winners by the end of January.
Related

Graphic: Location of companies bidding for dispensaries

Barbara Ferrer, executive director of the Boston Public Health Commission, said she was not surprised Boston came in second, given how expensive it is to open a business in the city.

“We are glad there are applicants that have moved forward in Boston because we support the idea that we should have a dispensary in the city,” she said. “We are going to have a lot of patients who need this service, and we want to make sure it is well run.” http://birminghamatmipim.com/story.php?title=fat-loss-factor-2

The commission on Thursday approved rules that authorize the city to conduct three surprise compliance checks on dispensaries each year, and require dispensaries to offer home delivery.

“We are a big city, and we want to make sure we have as few people as possible who will have a hardship accessing the product,” Ferrer said. http://blofx.com/story.php?title=truth-about-cellulite

Making home delivery a mandatory service will also cut down on the number of people who apply for a hardship permit — citing lack of transportation — to grow marijuana in their home, Ferrer said.

The city’s rules also require Boston dispensaries to post the commission’s phone number for customers to call if they have complaints, and mandate at least one annual community meeting to address any resident concerns.

In Framingham, Town Manager Bob Halpin was surprised just five organizations filed final-round applications for dispensary permits.

In September, after state regulators whittled the list of statewide applicants to 159, at least 14 prospective owners notified the city that they were interested in Framingham, Halpin said.

Since then, the state tightened rules and required each of the companies to prove it has $500,000 in cash in the bank for start-up costs, a move that apparently knocked many prospective applicants out of the running.

Framingham residents twice in the past year have signaled their acceptance of dispensaries. In April, Town Meeting rejected an attempt to place a temporary moratorium on dispensaries, and in October it voted not to adopt a zoning rule that would restrict dispensaries and their cultivation centers to a strip along Route 9.

“The Town Meeting members that considered the bylaw and moratorium feel that the voters in the initial [statewide] referendum have spoken and we should not obstruct the will of the voters,” Halpin said. “The town’s attitude is, we are neither encouraging or discouraging it.”

He said most of the applicants who met with Framingham officials agreed that a location along Route 9, near exit ramps for the Massachusetts Turnpike, would be good sites.

Framingham officials opted not to issue letters of support or opposition for any of the applicants, one of the many factors state regulators said they will consider when paring the list of 100 applicants to the final 35.

It is not immediately clear why Worcester attracted so many applicants, although the city is centrally located and the City Council recently granted preliminary approval to zoning rules that would govern siting of the dispensaries.

The city’s mayor and economic development officials were unavailable for comment.

Eighth Princeton student diagnosed with meningitis

(Reuters) - An eighth Princeton University student has been diagnosed with meningitis, a potentially fatal infection that causes swelling of the brain and spinal cord, a university spokesman said on Friday.

Health officials will conduct tests to determine whether the latest case is related to the previous seven that have been identified since March. Officials at the New Jersey school could not provide the current health status of the student. http://softsblog.com/story.php?title=fat-loss-factor-review-2

The latest case comes shortly after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration allowed the university to use an imported vaccine to help control the disease's spread. http://dofollow.web.id/story.php?title=kyle-leon-scam

The past cases at the Ivy League school were caused by the meningococcal bacteria known as serogroup B. State law requires all Princeton students living in dormitories to receive a meningitis vaccine that protects against most strains but not the serogroup B variety, Princeton spokesman Martin Mbugua said in an email.

The outbreak of serogroup B meningitis is rare but not the first of its kind in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://poskan.com/story.php?title=fat-loss-factor-5

Bexsero, made by Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG, will be provided to all undergraduate students, graduate students who live in university housing on or off campus, and students and faculty with certain illnesses, such as sickle cell disease, Princeton officials said earlier this week.

The FDA has allowed the use of the vaccine at Princeton under an Investigational New Drug application. The federal CDC considers the drug to be safe. http://socialbookmarksclub.com/story.php?title=truth-about-cellulite

"Everyone involved is working hard to organize a potential serogroup B meningococcal disease vaccine campaign as quickly as possible that fits into Princeton University's academic calendar," said CDC spokeswoman Sharon Hoskins.

The Princeton inoculation campaign is set to be voluntary for students and is expected to begin in early December, with another event in February, according to the school's website.

Federal and New Jersey state health officials have not advised visitors or students to avoid the campus, Mbugua said.

Meningitis is a serious disease that is spread through coughing and exchanges of saliva, and people living in dormitories or other crowded living quarters are especially at risk.

The most severe cases can result in death, hearing loss, brain damage, kidney disease or amputation of limbs.

Symptoms include fever, headaches and stiff neck.

Obama signs bill for HIV organ donation

WASHINGTON, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama signed into law Thursday a bill that allows scientists to carry out research into organ donations from one person with HIV to another.

In a statement, Obama said he signed the legislation, called the HIV Organ Policy Equity Act, or HOPE Act, to offer the opportunity for HIV-positive person to receive organ donations .http://bmarkers.com/story.php?title=customized-fat-loss

For decades HIV organ transplants have been illegal in the United States and it was even illegal to study whether they could be safe and effective, the U.S. president said, calling the ban "outdated."http://menurut.com/story.php?title=truth-about-cellulite-2

"The potential for successful organ transplants between people living with HIV has become more of a possibility," Obama said. "The HOPE Act lifts the research ban, and, in time, it could lead to life-saving organ donations for people living with HIV while ensuring the safety of the organ transplant process and strengthening the national supply of organs for all who need them."http://menurut.com/story.php?title=truth-about-cellulite-2

Obama also said the HOPE Act, which received bipartisan approval in both houses of Congress earlier this year, "marks an important step in the right direction" because improving care for people living with HIV is critical to fighting the epidemic.

Dog Needs Surgery After Eating Girl’s ‘Volcanic’ Homework

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (CBS4) - A family dog is recovering after emergency surgery after eating a girl’s homework   .http://www.pradika.com/story.php?title=kyle-leon-scam

It’s the oldest line in the classroom – “My dog ate my homework.” But in this case it was painfully true.

“I made a volcano project out of candy and I pinned the candy to a foam base,” Payton said.

Payton and her dog “Reggie” share a love of school science projects.

“It was Mt. Haleakala in Maui,” Payton said. http://blcfairport.com/search.php?search=http://health.proconview.com/

Reggie is a well-educated canine, or at least one can assume he is from his recent exploration of the mock volcano.

“I woke up one morning and I came down to my desk and it was just all over the floor,” Payton said.

He studies, or perhaps it’s more accurate to say he has a voracious appetite for volcanoes.

“I was very scared,” Payton said. http://luislauro.us/story.php?title=kyle-leon-scam

Reggie’s hunger for knowledge landed him in surgery. Fifty straight pins showed up on his abdominal X-ray. Some were removed with an endoscope down Reggie’s throat, but there were still more to get out.

“We went in surgically, pulled out the one large and four of the small straight pins,” veterinarian Dr. Brian VanVechten said. http://womenhairstyles.info/story.php?title=fat-loss-factor-4

Reggie has already recovered.

“He’s good; absolutely normal,” Payton said.

The science assignment has been redone and handed in for credit.

“I completely redid the project with glue the second time.”

Reggie and Payton received high praise for their first scientific endeavor.

“I got an ‘A.’ “

Payton says she’ll be doing her next science project out in the garage far away from Reggie.

Dangerous Diet Trend: The Cotton Ball Diet

 The tapeworm diet, the feeding tube diet, the air diet -- Brandi Koskie, managing editor of the website Diets in Review, said she thought she'd seen every crazy food fad out there. But then came the cotton ball diet.

The diet, as described in chat rooms, on YouTube videos and elsewhere on the Web, involves gobbling up to five cotton balls dipped in orange juice, lemonade or a smoothie in one sitting. The idea is to feel full without gaining weight. Some dieters chow down on the fluffy fillers before a meal to limit their food intake, while others subsist on cotton balls exclusively. http://www.startupswiss.com/story.php?title=fat-loss-factor

"Nothing good can come of this. Absolutely nothing," said Koskie, who has been tracking diet trends for more than nine years.

Recommended: Anorexics Weigh In on Thinspo Websites

One thing that strikes Koskie is that, unless you're dining on an expensive organic brand, most cotton balls aren't made of cotton. They're bleached, polyester fibers that contain a lot of chemicals.

"Your clothing is also made of polyester, so swallowing a synthetic cotton ball is like dipping your T-shirt in orange juice and eating it," she said. http://www.910group.com/story.php?title=customized-fat-loss

Dr. Ovidio Bermudez, the chief medical officer at the Eating Recovery Center in Denver, said he agreed that downing synthetic cotton balls is similar to eating cloth, or even buttons or coins. Beyond the risk of choking and malnutrition, the practice might lead to an obstruction of the intestinal tract, a trapped mass called a bezoar, said Bermudez. http://www.dmgkd.com/story.php?title=truth-about-cellulite-2

"The most common causes of bezoars are swallowing indigestible matter like hair or too much vegetable fiber. Cotton balls could certainly create similar problems," Bermudez said.

Over time, the cotton balls could build up and create several blockages or a full obstruction. Either of these conditions could be life-threatening, Bermudez said. http://keystonesearch.org/story.php?title=fat-loss-factor-review

Models have been suspected of eating cotton balls for years, said Lynn Grefe, president and CEO of the National Eating Disorder Association. Eddie Murphy's model daughter, Bria Murphy, talked about this on "Good Morning America" earlier this year, telling the hosts that she'd heard about girls eating cotton balls soaked in orange juice because they were under pressure to stay slim.

Recommended: Stigma Against Fat People The Last Acceptable Prejudice

More recently, tween and teenage girls seem to be catching onto the cotton ball diet. Koskie said there were YouTube videos devoted to people trying the cotton ball diet, many of them made by girls in the 9- to 16-age range, she said.

Grefe said she didn't consider the cotton ball diet a diet at all, but rather an unhealthy, disordered form of eating behavior.

"When we talk about something like this we certainly aren't talking about health anymore," she said. "We're talking about weight and size and certainly something that is potentially very, very dangerous."

Karmyn Eddy, co-director of the eating disorders clinical and research program at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, said eating cotton balls is a form of pica, which is the practice of eating nonfood items. Typically, pica is a craving for something inedible that's driven by the lack of a particular nutrient. But Eddy said she's seen it take the form of an eating disorder. She believes this is the case with the cotton ball diet.

FAA: All overweight pilots, controllers must be tested for sleep disorders

Washington (CNN) -- After several highly publicized incidents involving sleeping or fatigued pilots and air traffic controllers, the Federal Aviation Administration is putting new scrutiny on the problem, requiring all overweight pilots and controllers to undergo testing for sleep disorders. http://sharetextlink.com/story.php?title=kyle-leon-scam

The order, announced by the FAA's federal air surgeon, is massive in scope and could apply to about 125,000 of the nation's 600,000 commercial and private pilots, according to one estimate, and an unknown number of the nation's 14,500 controllers.

Under the new policy, all pilots and controllers will be screened during their routine medical examinations. Those with a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or greater and a neck circumference of 17 inches would have to be tested for obstructive sleep apnea. A BMI of 40 equates to a 5-foot, 11-inch man weighing 287 pounds, according to the National Institutes of Health. http://indiaarievip.com/search/http%3A%7C%7Cwww.healthreviewscam.com%7C/

Sleep apnea, which can cause fatigue, is "almost universal" in people who fit those criteria, Dr. Fred Tilton, the federal air surgeon, wrote in a statement announcing the new policy. Pilots diagnosed with sleep disorders must be treated before they receive a medical certification needed to fly.

After appropriately dealing with pilots with a BMI of 40 or greater, the FAA will look at people with lower BMIs "until we have identified and assured treatment for every airman" with sleep apnea, Tilton wrote.

The Air Line Pilots Association, the nation's largest association of commercial pilots, said it is reviewing the policy. http://enetpromotion.com/story.php?title=customized-fat-loss-review

A group representing private pilots, meanwhile, asked the FAA to indefinitely suspend implementation of the policy, saying there is no evidence to support the screening of general aviation pilots.

"This policy seems to be based on one incident involving an airline flight," Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association Vice President Rob Hackman said in a prepared statement.

"Analysis of a decade of fatal general aviation accidents by the General Aviation Joint Steering Committee didn't identify obstructive sleep apnea as a contributing or causal factor in any of the accidents studied," he said. http://editednews.com/story.php?title=kyle-leon-scam

In February 2008, two pilots on a Go! Airlines flight from Honolulu to Hilo, Hawaii, fell asleep, overshooting their destination by 26 miles. When they awoke, the pilots at first explained their diversion on a missed radio call, and even flew the next flight, agreeing they were feeling alert as a result of the incident.

But the pilots eventually acknowledged they had fallen asleep. The captain was subsequently diagnosed with severe obstructive sleep apnea.

Fatigue was also a factor in the February 2009 crash of Colgan Air Flight 3407, which crashed near Buffalo, New York. As a result of that crash, the FAA has mandated new rest requirements for commercial pilots. Those requirements take effect in January.

Air traffic controllers have also experienced a spate of incidents involving fatigue. In 2011, the FAA fired at least three controllers for sleeping on the job, in one case intentionally.

The National Air Traffic Controllers Association on Wednesday declined to comment on the new policy.

In a statement Wednesday, the FAA said the new policy addresses a National Transportation Safety Board recommendation and is "designed to help airmen and aviation safety by improving the diagnosis of unrecognized or untreated obstructive sleep apnea."

J&J, Medivir Win U.S. FDA Approval for Hepatitis C Pill

won U.S. approval for their pill to treat chronic hepatitis C, the first drug allowed for sale in a competition to bring new treatments for the virus to market.

The Food and Drug Administration cleared simeprevir, to be called Olysio, in combination with other medicines for the viral disease that damages the liver, the agency said in a statement. The drug can shorten current treatment by half, limiting interferon injections that may cause flu-like symptoms.

J&J, Medivir, Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (BMY) are among companies developing new pills for the virus to alleviate the burden of current therapies. The market for hepatitis C drugs may reach more than $100 billion over a decade, Bloomberg Industries said. Olysio may generate $447 million for New Brunswick, New Jersey-based J&J in 2016, according to the average of four analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

“Olysio is the third FDA-approved protease inhibitor to treat chronic hepatitis C virus infection, and provides health professionals and patients with a new, effective treatment for this serious disease,” Edward Cox, director of the Office of Antimicrobial Products in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in yesterday’s statement.
Baby Boomers

About 4 million Americans have the disease, which can cause liver cirrhosis, according to the National Institutes of Health. Hepatitis C can be passed through infected blood or body fluids, most commonly through needle-sharing by drug users. The virus may be carried for years without symptoms and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended last year that baby boomers, defined by the agency as those born from 1945 to 1965, get tested for the infection. http://e29cl.com/story.php?title=kyle-leon-scam

The medicine from J&J, the world’s biggest seller of health-care products, and Huddinge, Sweden-based Medivir, is for use in combination with pegylated interferon and a pill called ribavirin for those with genotype 1, the most common form of the disease, J&J said in a statement. Interferon and ribavirin make up the backbone of current treatments. Most patients now take the combination with Merck & Co.’s Victrelis or Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX)’s Incivek for as long as 48 weeks. http://www.do-follow.info/story.php?title=kyle-leon-scam

Olysio is in a class of drugs that also include Victrelis and Incivek, though patients who used it in clinical trials were treated in just 24 weeks. The experimental hepatitis C pills are designed to be more convenient to take, reduce treatment times and avoid the side effects of current therapies.
Study Data

Clinical studies showed 80 percent of patients given Olysio who had never been treated before no longer had detectable virus in their blood and 79 percent of those who tried other treatments before Olysio were cured as well, the FDA said. http://boomdealz.com/story.php?title=kyle-leon-scam

The FDA is supposed to decide by Dec. 8 whether to approve Foster City, California-based Gilead’s sofosbuvir. If cleared for sale, the medicine would be the first all-oral treatment for two forms of hepatitis C that make up as many as 25 percent of patients. Hepatitis C is divided into six genotypes. Genotype 1 patients account for about 70 percent of those in the U.S. who have the disease.

Olysio’s label suggests patients be screened for a genetic mutation called Q80K polymorphism that renders the drug ineffective. In clinical trials the mutation showed up in about 48 percent of U.S. patients with genotype 1a infection, the more common subtype in the U.S. compared with genotype 1b, which is more prevalent in Europe and Asia and isn’t typically associated with the mutation .http://ptwolf.com/story.php?title=grow-taller-4-idiots

Olysio users also are cautioned to limit sun exposure as some clinical trial participants experience serious photosensitivity reactions requiring hospitalization.

Gilead stock hits record after hepatitis C drug's success in Europe

FOSTER CITY -- Gilead Sciences (GILD) said Friday that an advisory committee in the European Union is recommending that its hepatitis C drug Sovaldi receive marketing approval .http://www.brainchess.net/story.php?title=grow-taller-4-idiots

The drug is still being reviewed, but the recommendation could improve the chances it will be approved. Gilead says Sovaldi, or sofosbuvir, could be available in the EU during the first quarter of 2014.

The drug is also being reviewed by U.S. regulators. Food and Drug Administration advisers recommended approval in October, and the FDA is expected to make a decision on Sovaldi by Dec. 8.

Current treatments for hepatitis C can take up to a year of therapy and only cure about three out of four patients. Sovaldi is a pill taken once per day, and in clinical trials it cured up to 90 percent of patients infected with the most common form of the virus in just 12 weeks. Gilead acquired the hepatitis C drug in 2012 when it bought Pharmasset for $11.1 billion. http://wuwt.net/story.php?title=customized-fat-loss-review-2

Shares of Gilead Sciences rose $3.37, or 4.7 percent, to $75 in morning trading after rising as high as $75.14, an all-time high.

Different drinking habits raise divorce risk for couples

 Married couples are much more likely to divorce if one drinks heavily and the other is teetotal, a study has found.

In contrast, separation rates between couples where both drink heavily were the same as those who both abstained, suggesting it may be the difference in drinking habits rather than the drinking itself which leads to divorce, researchers said .http://www.shaadihelp.co.uk/story.php?title=grow-taller-4-idiots-2

The scientists, from the University of Buffalo, followed 634 couples through their first nine years of marriage, and recorded how many divorced during that period. http://www.linkszip.com/health/customized-fat-loss-review/

The couples were also asked about their drinking habits, with "heavy drinking" defined as having six or more drinks in one session, or drinking enough to become drunk.

Almost half of the couples in which one partner drank heavily and the other did not drink divorced, compared to 30 per cent for other couples whose habits were the same.
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Rising number of divorces blamed on women’s drinking Millions of middle class Britons drinking too much, claims report


Prof Kenneth Leonard, who led the study, said: "Our results indicate that it is the difference between the couple's drinking habits, rather than the drinking itself, that leads to marital dissatisfaction, separation and divorce.

"This research provides solid evidence to bolster the commonplace notion that heavy drinking by one partner can lead to divorce. Although some people might think that's a likely outcome, there was surprisingly little data to back up that claim until now."http://www.linkszip.com/health/customized-fat-loss-review/

The finding that divorce rates between couples who both drank heavily were no higher than those who did not was surprising, but could be down to mutual understanding.

"Heavy drinking spouses may be more tolerant of negative experiences related to alcohol due to their own drinking habits," Prof Leonard said. "[But] while two heavy drinkers may not divorce, they may create a particularly bad climate for their children."http://tolookfor.us/story.php?title=grow-taller-4-idiots-2

Divorce rates were slightly higher when the wife was the heavy drinker was the wife rather than the husband, but this was only the case in a small number of couples meaning the difference could be a statistical fluke, he said.

FDA approves existing drug to treat thyroid cancer

WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration said Friday it expanded approval of a Bayer drug to treat patients with thyroid cancer.

Bayer's pill Nexavar is already approved to treat kidney cancer and liver cancer that cannot be surgically removed. Now the FDA has approved the drug to treat cancerous growth of the thyroid gland, which is located in the neck.

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Nexavar works by stopping proteins that allow cancer cells to divide and grow. The drug's new approval is intended for patients with forms of thyroid cancer that no longer respond to radioactive iodine treatment.

The National Cancer Institute estimates that 60,220 Americans will be diagnosed with thyroid cancer this year and 1,850 will die from it.

Nexavar is marketed by Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, an American division of the German conglomerate. http://coupon-promotional-code.org/story.php?title=customized-fat-loss-review

Condom Contest Produces 812 Ideas for Improvement

 The condom of the future might be made of cow tendon or fish skin. It might have “shape memory” to instantly mold to a specific man. Or it might come with pull tabs so a man could slip it on with little fuss.

Those ideas are among the winners announced Wednesday by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation of a contest to create a condom that men would actually use. The contest, the foundation said, aimed to decrease unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases with “a next-generation condom that significantly preserves or enhances pleasure.”for more info http://prwebdirectory.org/story.php?title=grow-taller-4-idiots-4

The foundation received 812 applications, chose 11 and awarded the winners $100,000 each. They could receive up to $1 million after they develop the ideas. Steven Buchsbaum, a Gates Foundation official, said winners ranged from a longtime condom manufacturer in India to American chemical engineers to British design consultants whose previous work included vacuum cleaners.for more details http://newgoogleadwords.info/story.php?title=customized-fat-loss-review

Many ideas involved materials besides latex, aiming for thinner, stronger, less constricting condoms with better sensation, “reducing the loving distance between partners, so they will be more close,” said Dr. Papa Salif Sow, a Gates senior program officer. Other ideas focused on “how to improve the donning,” he said, because “in sub-Saharan Africa, sex is basically done with low light and it might be very difficult to see the direction of the condom.”go to about health   http://createbookmarking.com/story.php?title=kyle-leon-scam-2

Winners include the “ultrasensitive reconstituted collagen condom” proposed by Apex Medical Technologies in San Diego. Apex’s president, Mark McGlothlin, said his product would feel like skin and be made from collagen fibers from cows’ Achilles tendons or possibly fish skin.visit my web page

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“They’re unbelievably strong,” said Mr. McGlothlin, who currently gets beef tendon from a Vietnamese grocery. “I could yank all day and not break this thing.”

A “wrapping condom” proposal by the California Family Health Council in Los Angeles will build on a version manufactured in Colombia, made of polyethylene plastic that “clings like Saran Wrap rather than squeezes,” according to Ron Frezieres, the council’s vice president for research. It would come in three-packs the size of a credit card and almost as thin, he said, and, like another grant winner called the Rapidom, would have pull tabs to “keep you from being confused about which way to put it on,” Mr. Frezieres added.

At least two winners will work with polyurethane, including Richard Chartoff, a University of Oregon chemical engineer, who foresees a “one-size-fits-all” design having shape memory to “fit like an extra layer of skin, conforming to the shape.” He is also considering adding nanoparticles containing antiviral or antibacterial drugs, and, more prosaically, offering different colors.

Stephen Ward, a Gates Foundation program officer, said that among the problems tackled were “improving lubrication, internal friction, external friction, heat transfer.”

Two or more grantees might be teamed to make one design, he added. “There’s not one magic bullet,” he said. “The idea is making them easier for people to use in the moment, in the dark, whatever situation they’re in.”

Study: Kids are less fit than their parents were

DALLAS (AP) - Today's kids can't keep up with their parents. An analysis of studies on millions of children around the world finds they don't run as fast or as far as their parents did when they were young.for more information http://bookmarkreal.com/story.php?title=kyle-leon-scam

On average, it takes children 90 seconds longer to run a mile than their counterparts did 30 years ago. Heart-related fitness has declined 5 percent per decade since 1975 for children ages 9 to 17. The American Heart Association, whose conference featured the research on Tuesday, says it's the first to show that children's fitness has declined worldwide over the last three decades.go to about health http://bookmarkexplore.com/story.php?title=grow-taller-4-idiots

Health experts recommend that children 6 and older get 60 minutes of moderately vigorous activity accumulated over a day. Only one-third of American kids do now. A new study led by Grant Tomkinson, an exercise physiologist at the University of South Australia. Researchers analyzed 50 studies on running fitness - a key measure of cardiovascular health and endurance - involving 25 million children ages 9 to 17 in 28 countries from 1964 to 2010.visit my webpage http://bibookmark.com/Health/customized-fat-loss-review/

The studies measured how far children could run in 5 to 15 minutes and how quickly they ran a certain distance, ranging from half a mile to two miles .http://rateniagara.com/story.php?title=kyle-leon-scam

Today's kids are about 15 percent less fit than their parents were, researchers concluded. The decline in fitness seems to be leveling off in Europe, Australia and New Zealand, and perhaps in the last few years in North America.

World Health Organization numbers suggest that 80 percent of young people globally may not be getting enough exercise.

FDA clears first adjuvanted H5N1 vaccine

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today approved the first adjuvanted vaccine against H5N1 influenza, a product destined for the US government's pandemic emergency stockpile. http://internationalbookmark.com/story.php?title=kyle-leon-scam

It is also the nation's first adjuvanted flu vaccine to gain FDA clearance.

The vaccine, made by a Canadian subsidiary of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), is indicated for use in people age 18 and older who are at increased risk of exposure to H5N1 avian influenza, the FDA said in a statement.
Dose-sparing strategy http://ikraak.com/story.php?title=grow-taller-4-idiots-3

An adjuvanted vaccine is designed to produce a stronger immune response with less antigen, a dose-sparing strategy that would allow health officials to stretch the supply of antigen, the "active ingredient" in vaccines. Such a dose-sparing approach would be especially important in a pandemic setting.

The vaccine contains 3.75 micrograms (mcg) of antigen, compared with 15 mcg in standard flu vaccines. In previous years, the US government has acquired a supply of adjuvants for possible emergency use, but they weren't part of a specific vaccine. http://extrabookmark.com/story.php?title=customized-fat-loss-review-2

Karen Midthun, MD, director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said in the statement, "This vaccine could be used in the event that the H5N1 avian influenza virus develops the capability to spread efficiently from human to human, resulting in the rapid spread of disease across the globe."http://bookmarkslice.com/story.php?title=health-review-scam

The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) purchased the vaccine for the Strategic National Stockpile from ID Biomedical Corporation, based in Quebec City. The GSK-affiliated company makes the newly cleared H5N1 vaccine with an egg-based manufacturing process that it uses to make FluLaval, its seasonal flu vaccine.

The H5N1 vaccine contains the AS03 adjuvant, an oil-in-water emulsion. The H5N1 antigen and adjuvant components are supplied in two separate vials that are combined before use. The FDA said the vaccine is administered by intramuscular injection in two doses, 21 days apart.

Though adjuvanted flu vaccines are already in use in Europe and Canada, US officials have been cautious about approving them, partly due to the public's wariness over vaccine additives. In addition, the AS03 adjuvant in the newly approved H5N1 vaccine was linked to an increased risk of narcolepsy in some European children who received the Pandemrix 2009 H1N1 vaccine.
Safety and immunogenicity data

Today's approval announcement comes roughly a year after a government advisory committee endorsed the safety and immunogenicity of the adjuvant-containing H5N1 vaccine.

A multicenter safety trial in 3,400 adults who received the vaccine and 1,000 who received placebo found that injection site pain was the most common side effect and that muscle aches, headache, fatigue, and injection site redness and swelling were also common, according to the FDA.

The immunogenicity part of the trial in 2,000 vaccinated adults found that 91% of adults up to age 64 and 74% of seniors who received the two-dose regimen developed antibodies expected to protect against flu.

The vaccine manufacturer will work with the FDA and other US government agencies to collect more safety and effectiveness data if the vaccine is used during an H5N1 pandemic, according to the FDA statement.

According to an October World Health Organization tally, the global H5N1 count stands at 641 cases since 2003, 380 of them fatal. The total does not include a handful of more recently reported cases from Cambodia and Indonesia.

More than 1 in 10 kids has ADHD, government survey says

continues to rise but may be leveling off a bit, a new survey shows.

More than 1 in 10 children has been diagnosed with it, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which surveyed more than 95,000 parents in 2011. http://webinnews.com/story.php?title=grow-taller-4-idiots-2

ADHD diagnoses have been rising since at least 1997, according to CDC data. Experts think that's because more doctors are looking for ADHD, and more parents know about it.
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The condition makes it hard for kids to pay attention and control impulsive behaviors. It's often treated with drugs, behavioral therapy, or both.

The latest survey found about 11% of children ages 4 through 17 had been diagnosed with ADHD. That translates to nearly 6½ million kids. Half of children are diagnosed by age 6, the study found.

A 2007 survey put ADHD diagnoses at 9.5% of kids.http://similarbookmark.com/story.php?title=kyle-leon-scam

The CDC survey asked parents if a health care provider told them their child had ADHD. It's not known how thorough the assessment was to reach that conclusion.

ADHD diagnoses were increasing at a rate of about 6% a year in the mid-2000s, but slowed to 4% a year from 2007 to 2011. That may reflect that doctors are closer to diagnosing most of the kids with the condition, said the CDC's Susanna Visser, the study's lead author.

Gluten-free Thanksgiving: Be alert ... but enjoy

Depending on who sits at your Thanksgiving table, you may already have figured out how to serve vegetarians or people allergic to nuts. But gluten-free is another matter. Increasing numbers of people are choosing to forgo gluten (or learning they must do without it), and the holiday — with its pie crusts and dinner rolls and stuffings — poses a challenge.

Turkey is generally gluten-free, but as many diners will tell you, the turkey is mostly a delivery device for dishes like gravy and stuffings that often have wheat — the primary source of gluten in our diets.

Problems can occur in just about any food, however. Kyra Bussanich, who owns the gluten-free Kyra's Bake Shop in Lake Oswego, Ore., was at a big Thanksgiving feast last year. "There was a turkey. I jokingly asked, 'This is gluten-free, right?'" Turned out the cook had used beer in the brine — and beer has gluten in it. http://bookmarkgold.com/story.php?title=kyle-leon-scam

"You have to be really vigilant, ask questions. Let the host know," Bussanich adds. A person who has celiac disease can become very sick by ingesting the smallest amount of gluten, even flour dust that spreads during a pie-baking binge

To avoid gluten, cooks should read every label. And seek out alternatives. Rice or almond flours may work in pie crusts, for example. Or make a crust with other ground nuts or with ground gluten-free ginger snaps. For stuffings try wild rice with mushrooms, and for gravy try cornstarch.
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Rather than dinner rolls, Bussanich suggests a traditional Brazilian cheese bread called pão de queijo, which is made with tapioca flour and is sold frozen at many stores.
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Debbie Adler has a 5-year-old son with several food issues, gluten among them, so she always goes to parties with a dessert that he can eat. "There's no judgment involved. It's hard to understand if you don't live with it," says Adler, who has an L.A.-based mail-order bakery, Sweet Debbie's Organic Cupcakes.

Her book, "Sweet Debbie's Organic Treats," includes several holiday-friendly gluten-free recipes, including pumpkin spice doughnut holes, a pumpkin corn bread and acai berry truffles. And Bussanich, whose new book is called "Sweet Cravings," suggests a gluten-free apple crisp with vanilla ice cream.
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The availability of gluten-free food has exploded, and many companies — including Udi's, Pamela's, King Arthur and Bob's Red Mill — have all-purpose flour substitutes or mixes for breads and rolls, as well as packaged baked goods. In her shop, Bussanich makes stuffing mix with gluten-free bread.

For anyone avoiding anything on a holiday table, it might help to remember that the food is not the only point. Bussanich says, "It's about family and traditions and being together and celebrating."

http://www.latimes.com/health/la-he-gluten-free-thanks-20131123,0,4412768.story#ixzz2lRuELvxX

Blood glucose levels, Cholesterol, and Blood Pressure Huge Factors in Obesity-Related Heart Attack, Stroke Risk

Global obesity rates have nearly doubled since the year 1980; today over 1.4 billion adults 20 years and older are above a healthy weight. http://adlinkfast.com/story.php?title=kyle-leon-scam-2

"Our results show that the harmful effects of being overweight or obese on heart disease and stroke partly occur by increasing blood pressure, serum cholesterol and blood glucose. Therefore, if we control these risk factors, for example through better diagnosis and treatment of hypertension, we can prevent some of the harmful effects of being overweight or obese," senior author Goodarz Danaei, HSPH assistant professor of global health, said. http://tagsza.com/story.php?title=grow-taller-4-idiots-2

Obesity and even being overweight can increase the risk of "heart disease and stroke - the leading causes of death worldwide - diabetes, and several types of cancer," the news release reported.
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The researchers predicted in the past that 3.4 million deaths were associated with obesity every year.

"There has been debate over whether excess weight causes heart disease and stroke through effects on other risk factors, particularly blood pressure, cholesterol, and glucose, and whether treatments that address these factors can offset the risks of being overweight," the news release reported.

The team was able to pin half of all cases of increased risk of heart disease on high blood pressure, serum cholesterol, and blood glucose in obese people; it also made up a third of stroke risks in those above a healthy weight. http://4bookmark.com/story.php?title=customized-fat-loss-review

"Large, long-term population studies like this one are a very powerful tool, allowing researchers to disentangle individual factors and understand how they each contribute to our risk of disease. It's interesting that, even when blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol are brought under control, obese individuals are still at a higher risk of heart attack and stroke. This suggests that other factors might be at play, which is likely to be of interest for future research into the consequences of obesity," Professor Stephen Hill, Chair of the Medical Research Council's Molecular and Cellular Medicine Board, said.

Y chromosome: Why men contribute so little

They condensed all the genetic information normally found on a mouse's Y chromosome to just two genes. Their study, in the journal Science, showed the male mice could still father babies, albeit needing advanced IVF. The team in Hawaii argues that the findings could one day help infertile men with a damaged Y chromosome. DNA is bundled into chromosomes. In most mammals, including humans, one pair act as the sex chromosomes. Inherit an X and Y from your parents and you turn out male, get a pair of Xs and the result is female. http://linkursites.com/story.php?title=kyle-leon-scam

Two genes 'enough' X and Y chromosomes A human X and Y chromosome "The Y chromosome is a symbol of maleness," lead researcher Professor Monika Ward told the BBC. In mice, the Y chromosome normally contains 14 distinct genes, with some present in up to a hundred copies. Continue reading the main story “Start Quote This is a great step forward in understanding basic biology” Dr Chris Tyler-Smith Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute http://bookmark2u.com/story.php?title=grow-taller-4-idiots

 The team at the University of Hawaii showed that genetically modified mice with a Y chromosome consisting of just two genes would develop normally and could even have babies of their own. Prof Ward commented: "These mice are normally infertile, but we show it is possible to get live offspring when the Y chromosome is limited to just two genes by using assisted reproduction." The mice could only produce rudimentary sperm. But they could have offspring with the help of an advanced form of IVF, called round spermatid injection, which involves injecting genetic information from the early sperm into an egg. The resulting pups were healthy and lived a normal lifespan. Reproduction still possible The two necessary genes were Sry, which kick-starts the process of producing a male as an embryo develops, and Eif2s3y, which is involved in the first steps of sperm production. http://delisheus.com/story.php?title=customized-fat-loss-review

 However, Prof Ward argues it "may be possible to eliminate the Y chromosome" if the role of these genes could be reproduced in a different way, but added a world without men would be "crazy" and "science fiction". "But on a practical level it shows that after large deletions of the Y chromosome it is still possible to reproduce, which potentially gives hope to men with these large deletions," she added. Mouse and babies The father has hardly any Y chromosome The genes which were discarded are likely to be involved in the production of healthy sperm. http://adlinkfast.com/story.php?title=kyle-leon-scam-2

 Dr Chris Tyler-Smith, from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, said: "This is a great step forward in understanding basic biology. "But it is important to bear in mind that other mouse Y genes are needed for natural reproduction in mice and as the authors carefully emphasise, the conclusions cannot be applied directly to humans because humans don't have a direct equivalent of one of the key genes." Dr Allan Pacey, a senior lecturer in andrology at the University of Sheffield, said: "This is a very interesting paper, trying to both unravel the genes responsible for sperm production and also shed light on the function of the Y-chromosome. "The experiments are elegant and seem to show that in the mouse sperm production can be achieved when only two genes from the Y-chromosomes are present. "Whilst this is of limited use in understanding human fertility, this kind of work is important if we are to unravel to complexities of how genes control fertility."

AHA: Guidelines More Questions, Some Answers

DALLAS -- The crowd at the American Heart Association meeting could not get enough of the controversy surrounding the new AHA/American College of Cardiology CVD prevention guidelines, and on the final day questions remained. Most of those questions involve the move away from using LDL cholesterol treatment targets and toward an emphasis on a patient's global risk -- as well as the way that risk is measured. The primary concern was that the new guidance will greatly increase the number of people deemed eligible for starting on a statin. http://gadgetsboss.com/story.php?title=kyle-leon-scam

 The hubbub caused the AHA and ACC to call an impromptu press briefing to address some of those concerns, particularly those surrounding the accuracy of the new risk calculator. On Wednesday -- the last day of the meeting -- the authors of the guidelines had the opportunity to make fuller presentations of the new recommendations to their peers. "It's a pleasure to join you today and to finally have a chance to present our data on the risk calculator. There was a story in the media about this," co-chair of the risk assessment guideline Donald Lloyd-Jones,
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MD, of Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, said sardonically at the beginning of his presentation. He and Northwestern colleague Neil Stone, MD, chair of the panel that wrote the cholesterol guideline, fielded several questions from AHA and ACC leaders, as well as members of the audience. Here are their answers.

 Q: You've really changed the paradigm of how clinicians and patients think by switching to risk versus target levels of LDL cholesterol. What are the benefits of this change? Stone: The benefit of the change is it puts the patient -- not the number -- back into clinical decision making. The patient's characteristics -- the patient's risk -- that's what's very, very important. And if you can communicate that kind of risk to the patient effectively -- and we have the tools now to do it -- we think it's going to result in better care, because a real problem out there is the idea of drug adherence and lifestyle adherence. Both are crucial. And so we're hoping instead of shooting at artificial numbers that can give us a false sense of assurance or actually make it impossible for someone to think they're getting any benefit we're trying to put the patient back into the equation. Q: One of the things that we've heard from a number of people, including Paul Ridker and Nancy Cook, is that your risk calculator overestimates by as much as 75% to 150%. What do you think about these numbers? Lloyd-Jones: We considered the cohorts that Ridker and Cook studied in the development of the risk scores. And because they are clinical trial populations, they're really not representative of the broad U.S. population. They are substantially healthier. We know the Women's Health Initiative screening population which they used has extraordinarily low event rates that are much lower than the rest of the U.S. population. http://bookmarkfind.com/story.php?title=customized-fat-loss-review-2

The Women's Health Study and Physicians Health Study cohorts -- which are the other ones they looked at -- are also remarkably healthy populations with very low rates of smoking nowhere near what's currently present in the U.S. population. The other thing I would mention about those last two cohorts is they actually didn't directly measure risk factors. Participants in those studies reported their risk factors. So there's some issues with precision with those cohorts as well. I'm not at all surprised that our equations, which are representative of the broad U.S. population would over-predict in a group like that. Of course they would. Let's look at the data though. I'd be eager to figure out if we can tweak these things and improve them if it looks like that's the appropriate thing to do.

 Q: Given what we're hearing -- that this is not an absolutely precise calculator -- are you going to treat everyone with a 7.5% 10-year risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease? Stone: No, everybody who is considered for primary prevention has to go through the patient-physician risk discussion. That discussion has to include these facts: how many are aware that nearly one in three people die from heart attack and stroke in this country? That's CDC data. How many are aware that 60% of you are going to have a heart attack or stroke? Don't look at your neighbor. Look at yourself. You need to sit down with your doctor as you age because another hard fact is nobody gets out alive. We need to have a serious discussion. What I love about the risk calculator is that now for the first time I can address stroke. For the first time we can address real problems with people focused on their real risk factors. That's a huge advance. This isn't some gimmick designed to push medicines on people.

is a patient-centered approach -- those words are in our report -- that's designed to actually allow the physician's judgment and the patient's preference once the physician can show them the factors that make a difference to decide what path is best for them. I'd like to see more guidelines do that as opposed to a one size fits all. The calculator is the start of the risk discussion, not the end. Q: Either you can try to develop a risk estimate from the trials that have shown cardiovascular risk reduction with statins or you can look at the inclusion criteria of those trials to select patients that would benefit from statin therapy. Why can't you do the latter? Lloyd-Jones: http://linkursites.com/story.php?title=kyle-leon-scam

We spent a lot of time thinking about this: Is the appropriate risk assessment approach to take your patients, look at their characteristics, and then line them up with a specific trial to see if they fit those criteria? We thought there were a couple problems with this. What if they fit two different trials? Would you choose the drug from one trial over another? It's actually quite onerous. If you dig into the inclusion/exclusion criteria of all of these trials, there are many ifs, ands, and buts. The other thing I would say is that we know from the data that the thing statins treat is risk.

They treat risk by lowering LDL cholesterol -- mostly -- but they treat risk. And everybody benefits. What's going to determine how your patient's going to do and who's going to achieve the most benefit is that baseline risk. Those with higher baseline risk will get more benefit. Those at lower baseline risk often still benefit but it'll be a smaller absolute benefit. So if we're looking at treating those groups, we have to think about where's the appropriate threshold. And that's why the cholesterol panel really was very thoughtful about thinking about where we should draw that line, start the risk discussion, and understand where the benefit will be. Q: Was there any improvement in risk prediction if you added heart failure as an endpoint? Lloyd-Jones: We felt heart failure was an important endpoint.

 However, heart failure is often in the eye of the beholder. The diagnostic criteria available across different studies are sometimes widely variable. At the risk of saying this, I'll quote the Supreme Court: I know heart failure when I see it, but it's very hard for me to define it. Sort of like how the Supreme Court feels about pornography. The other issues are that when we put heart failure as an endpoint in the model, the relationships of the risk factors are quite different with heart failure than they are with the atherosclerotic endpoints. And we know statins actually don't prevent heart failure well except by working through the prevention of MI. Of course heart failure is important. But I think that, unfortunately, it requires a different approach. Q: The vast majority of people over age 60 have much more than 10 years of life expectancy. As I've test driven your risk calculator, I find that you don't get the lifetime risk once you reach age 60. What do we do for lifetime risk for somebody who's over age 60 but hopefully has more than 10 years to go? Lloyd-Jones: The paper that was considered to determine lifetime risk didn't look at people over age 60. So we didn't think it was fair to give you lifetime risk estimates on unpublished data.

The published data are coming and I think that will help. But remember -- while your point is right -- that over age 60 the 10-year risk will start to approach the lifetime risk as time goes by. So I really would focus on the 10-year risk in your older patients. I think it's an important number. It's always going to be higher because they are over 60 but you need to put that into the context of other significant comorbidities that might limit their life expectancy to less than 10 years where you might not expect a statin to have as much benefit. Q: You're linking the risk assessment to statin therapy, but you may have the unintended consequence of having African Americans with higher risk values focusing on statin therapy when blood pressure control would be more necessary to control the overall atherosclerotic risk. Stone: The question proves why we mandated the risk discussion. You can't leave hypertension off the table if you're thinking about cholesterol. You can't leave cholesterol off the table if you're thinking about hypertension. So we think this puts emphasis on a global risk discussion.

And that is what we think is going to improve the nation's health. Q: There are no randomized controlled trial data to inform us about what the threshold should be at which you are prepared to intervene with lifestyle and specifically with drug therapy, thus we need another paradigm and that is often cost-effectiveness. And I don't just mean the cost of drugs but the cost of screening the population, assessing risk, and then managing that risk. What criteria were used for choosing the 7.5% risk threshold, which is lower than any other published guideline in the world? Lloyd-Jones: We had a very good health economist as part of our group who basically said that in this day and age with statins at $4 a month, not $4 a pill, cost is off the table. Cost-effectiveness I think is established, and some very nice data from the Heart Protection Study suggest there is real benefit down to lower and lower levels of risk.

 You're right: randomized clinical trials have not randomized based on risk levels. But they have tried to select patients at higher risk for cardiovascular disease based on these same traditional risk factors. Those are calculable levels and if you look at the data there is clear benefit down to and including a 5% level of risk under this framework of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk. This is really the best way -- we thought -- to think about absolute risk reduction, which is what we're really thinking about with patients. Q: How do we calculate risk in somebody who is already taking a statin? Lloyd-Jones: We did consider statin therapy as a variable. But when we put statins in the model it doesn't help us too much because it's really about what the cholesterol levels are today. For your scenario I would not use the treated cholesterol levels. I would use the pre-treatment cholesterol levels if you want to estimate risk. But truthfully, what the risk assessment does is make the decision about whether to initiate a statin. If they're already on a statin: decision made.

Step away from that soda: Sugary drinks raise cancer risk for women, study finds

Here’s another reason for ladies to just put down that sugary soda – it raises the risk of endometrial cancer.
A customer walks past a shelf of soft drinks in Bangkok. A new study links sugar-sweetened sodas with endometrial cancer.http://bookmarkuse.com/story.php?title=kyle-leon-scam
KEREK WONGSA / Reuters
A customer walks past a shelf of soft drinks in Bangkok. A new study links sugar-sweetened sodas with endometrial cancer.

Women who drank the most sweet soft drinks had a 78 percent increased risk of the cancer, researchers found. But other sweet treats, such as baked goods, didn’t have an effect. Nor did natural fruit juice, even though it’s full of naturally occurring sugars.http://bookmarkviews.com/story.php?title=grow-taller-4-idiots-2

The findings fit in with other research linking sugar intake, obesity and a lack of exercise with the cancer, which kills more than 8,000 U.S. women a year.
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“Other studies have shown increasing consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages has paralleled the increase in obesity. Obese women tend to have higher levels of estrogens and insulin than women of normal weight,” said Maki Inoue-Choi, who did the study while at the University of Minnesota and now is at the National Cancer Institute.

It has to do with how insulin, which controls how the body uses sugar, affects other hormones such as estrogen.

“Increased levels of estrogens and insulin are established risk factors for endometrial cancer,” Inoue-Choi said.

Inoue-Choi and colleagues studied the records of 23,000 middle-aged women who had gone through menopause. Endometrial cancer is more common in women past menopause.

The women had been taking part in a bigger study of diet, and regularly filled out questionnaires on what they ate and drank every day. They were specifically asked about Coke, Pepsi and other cola drinks; caffeine-free versions of these drinks; 7-Up and similar sugar-sweetened sodas, and other sugary drinks such as lemonade or Hawaiian Punch.

They were also asked about sugar-free drinks such as Fresca, Diet Ginger Ale and other beverages. And they were asked about cookies, brownies, doughnuts, candy and pies.

The researchers arranged the women into five groups, called quintiles, from those who ate none of these things a week to those who ate 60 or more servings a week.

The women showed one known pattern – those who were older, weighed more, who had late menopause or had a history of diabetes were at higher risk of endometrial cancer, which is diagnosed in nearly 50,000 U.S. woman every year.

“In contrast, women who ever smoked or experienced a greater number of live births were at lower risk of endometrial cancer,” the researchers wrote in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, which is published by the American Association for Cancer Research.

Women who drank sugary drinks had a higher risk of the most common type of endometrial cancer, called Type I endometrial cancer. The more they drank, the higher the risk, the researchers found.

“The risk was 78 percent among women in the highest quintile of sugar-sweetened beverage intake,” they wrote.

Other studies have found that coffee and exercise reduce the risk, but Inoue-Choi and colleagues did not.

“Fruit juice intake was not associated with the risk of Type I endometrial cancer,” they added. “Similarly, neither sweet/baked good nor starch intake was associated with Type I endometrial cancer risk.”

It might not be anything special about sugary drinks, the researchers say. It might be that women who drink a lot of such drinks have other unhealthy habits, too.

And Inoue-Choi says it’s not clear why drinks and not other sweet foods showed an effect. “One possibility is that sugar from whole foods comes with other nutrients, such as fiber,” she said in a telephone interview. “Sugar from beverages doesn’t come with these nutrients.”

More research will be needed to tease out an explanation. But Inoue-Choi notes that obesity is still, by far, the biggest risk factor for endometrial cancer, causing half of all cases.

A growing body of research shows that women who eat more high-calorie foods have a higher risk of endometrial cancer. A 2011 study in Sweden found women who ate more sweets more likely to develop it.

And last July, the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) and the World Cancer Research Fund International said sweet, starchy foods like sugar and white bread probably cause endometrial cancer, while coffee probably protects against it.

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Estrogen is one known cause of the cancer, which affects the lining of the uterus. Women who take hormones, as in hormone replacement therapy, are usually given a form of progesterone, also, to protect against endometrial cancer.

Fat cells also secrete estrogen and that’s one reason why obesity can cause the disease, experts say.

There are two main types of endometrial cancer, according to the National Cancer Institute – Type I and Type II. Inoue-Choi and colleagues found that sweetened drinks only affected Type I risk. But Type I accounts for 80 percent of endometrial cancers.

It’s usually diagnosed early, in time for treatment, because in 90 percent of cases the woman has abnormal bleeding, the American Cancer Society says.