Women with HIV may not have a high risk of cervical cancer: study

Monday, 23 July, HealthDay News)--Infection with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS--did not appear to increase the risk of cervical cancer, a new survey showed.

The researchers looked at more than 400 HIV infected women and nearly 300 HIV-free women, all of whom had normal Pap test and a negative result for tumors cause of human papillomavirus DNA in the beginning of the study. Know that some types of the human papilloma virus (HPV) causes cervical cancer.

After five years of follow-up, the risk of precancerous cervical diseases was similarly low for both groups of women. None of the women developed cancer of the cervix, Dr. Howard Strickler and colleagues at Albert Einstein College of medicine at Yeshiva University in New York said in a press release.

The study was scheduled to present a briefing Sunday at the International AIDS Conference in Washington, the District of Colombia and appears in the July 25 issue of the journal of the American Medical Association.

The results show that the five-year risk of cervical cancer in HIV-infected women who have normal Pap smear and HPV tumour without causing a risk similar to HIV-free women, researchers say.

"Current investigation underscores the potential for a new era of molecular testing--including HPV, as well as other biomarkers--to improve cervical cancer screening in HIV-infected women," in conclusion, the authors of the study.

--Robert Preidt Copyright © 2012 HealthDay. All rights reserved. Source: Journal of the American Medical Association, press release, July 22, 2012

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"Steered" common marijuana among Teens and medical devices: study

THURSDAY, Aug. 2--HealthDay News) for the treatment of substance abuse among young people, many were used for medical marijuana, which was recommended for someone else, also known as "directed" medical marijuana, found that the new study.

The authors of the study, from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora, Colorado, Idaho, suggest that the policy changes are needed to deter the misuse of medical marijuana by young people.

During the test, the lead Author Stacy Salomonsen-Sautel and colleagues questioned 164 young people aged 14-18 in two adolescent substance abuse treatment programs in Denver about their use of medical marijuana. Researchers found that nearly 74 teens use marijuana, which was recommended for someone else on average 50 times.

Compared with teens who do not use medical marijuana, those who began using drugs regularly in younger age and were also more dependent on marijuana and showed more signs of the disorder, according to the report published in the July issue of the Journal of the American Academy of | Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

The researchers, however, stressed that the majority of teens believed that drug comes with little or no risk.

Because of recent changes to the rules of the State and Federal have door open to more legalized marijuana medical use in Colorado, the researchers suggested that teens using medical marijuana most likely got it from the registry identification card of an adult important for drugs.

The authors of the study concluded that the improved security measures are necessary to prevent medical marijuana in the hands of people that he should not, particularly teenagers.

"The high risk of many patients in the treatment of adolescent substance abuse medical marijuana transalpine were used on a number of occasions, which means that considerable changes direction takes place from registered users," Salomonsen-Sautel said in the journal messages. "Our results support the need for changes in the rules, which protect against medical marijuana to teenagers cross trade."

--Mary Elizabeth Dallas Copyright © 2012 HealthDay. All rights reserved. Source: Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, news release, 31 July 2012

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When the Act of the parents, so do Kids: study

THURSDAY, Aug. 2 HealthDay News)--parents who want to increase the amount of exercise for their children should become more active themselves, according to a new study.

"Long known that parent and child activity levels are correlated," study Author Kristen Holm, Assistant Professor of medicine at National Jewish Health in Denver, said in a news release. "[This study] showed that when parents increase their activities, the children also increased. The effect was more pronounced in the weekend. "

Study, published in the July issue of journal of physical activity and health, involved the 83 families participating in the programme designed to weight gain among overweight and obese children aged from 7 to 14.

Parents and children in the program are encouraged to increase their level of daily activity by walking 2,000 more steps every day. Their progress was tracked with pedometers.

Research has shown that mothers have reached or exceeded the objective on the days of the 2,000-step, their children give an average of 2,117 more. When mothers has not achieved the objective, their children were only 1,175 perform additional steps. The researchers pointed out that the children who were less active when the program started more additional steps than children who were more active.

Overall, the researchers found that for each 1000 additional steps taken by the mother, their child endeavoured 196 more. The researchers Saw a similar structure between fathers and their children.

The researchers suggested that parents and children together perform frequently at weekends resulted in the increase in exercise.

--Mary Elizabeth Dallas Copyright © 2012 HealthDay. All rights reserved. SOURCE: National Jewish Health, news release, July 30, 2012.

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The progress of Alzheimer's slower after 80: study

By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, Aug. 2 HealthDay News)--the Deadly March Alzheimer is less in people age 80 or older than younger elderly, scientists have found.

The risk of developing Alzheimer's increases with age, and by 85, the risk is about 50 percent. But those who develop progressive brain disorder that at the end of life will be less aggressive than the disease whose symptoms appear in the 1960s and 1970s, according to researchers at the University of California, San Diego.

Lead researcher Dominic Holland from the University Department of neurosciences, said that doctors will need to consider these findings, assessing the elderly patients with Alzheimer 's.

"Methods of early detection, which will be based on biomarkers, as well as mental capacity, you should consider the age of the persons assessed," he said. Because the "old" elderly could deteriorate in a slightly slower rate than younger patients, doctors may not realize that these people suffering from Alzheimer 's.

The findings also have relevance for the assessment of potential Alzheimer's treatment and prognosis for patients of different Alzheimer's care costs, clinical Holland and other experts say.

There is currently no effective treatment or the treatment of Alzheimer 's, which gradually destroys the cells of the brain and robs people of memory and their ability to perform everyday tasks and communication.

The report was published online in the journal PLoS Aug. 2 one.

Study progress of Alzheimer, Holland and colleagues used data from the research initiative of the Alzheimer's disease Neuroimaging. They looked at more than 700 people aged 65 to 90, some with normal mental functioning, some mild symptoms of dementia and other persons suffering from Alzheimer 's.

Participants are tested every 6 or 12 months.

The researchers found that Alzheimer's patients lost mental skills to younger more quickly than older patients.

The decline among patients younger paralleled the accelerated loss of brain tissue and increase bone marrow or knob fluid Alzheimer's seen among the younger age group, compared with older patients, study authors added.

Researchers are not sure why Alzheimer's is more aggressive in younger patients. One explanation may be that older patients are decreasing trend in this slower pace for a longer period of time, in some unknown factor keeping symptoms at bay, they suggest.

Another possibility is the older patients with dementia Alzheimer 's, which can place plus the full effect of Alzheimer's in the brain. But such a diagnosis must be made with the Visual inspection, which is the only way that Alzheimer's is diagnosed, Holland noted carefully.

Alzheimer's disease currently affects an estimated 5.6 million Americans, and this number is expected to triple by 2050 as the baby boom generation ages.

Finding that previous develops the disease more aggressive is not good news for those younger older patients who suffer losses for a long time, the deterioration of their mental capacities, Holland said.

Another expert said that the findings may have implications for predicting costs of health and clinical trials.

"This is an extremely important paper about the impact on both the forecast costs of care for Alzheimer's and planning clinical trials," said Dr. Sam Gandy, Associate Director of the Mount Sinai Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City.

If the clinical picture in the over-85 population is milder than what is typical in populations Younger, these older patients would remain independent already and projections for the economic burden to the health care system should be adjusted, he said.

"Annual cost of 200 billion dollars in the United States now is; the projection of $ 1 trillion annually by 2050, "Gandy says.

"Maybe that $ 1 trillion is really only $ 500 to 750 billion dollars. Still catastrophic, but it is worth taking this into account, "he added in the projection.

Equally important, if the speed of the decline is less than 85 years of age at the age of 65-years, which must be taken into account during the recruitment for clinical trials, Gandy said.

For example, if all of the patients receiving the drug were more than 85 and all patients receiving inactive placebo were significantly younger, it might appear that the drug worked, when in fact the population were incorrectly matched, Gandy pointed out.

"We must know that we wanted the population to be identical as possible, but really do not know the specific of this phenomenon before," he said.

Copyright © 2012 HealthDay. All rights reserved. SOURCE: Dominic Holland, Ph.d., researcher, Department of neurosciences, University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine; Sam Gandy, M.D., Ph.d., Mount Sinai Research Chair and Professor of Neurology and Psychiatry Alzheimer's and the CEO, the Mount Sinai Center for cognitive health and Associate Director, Mount Sinai Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York City; Aug. 2, 2012, PLoS One, the online

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When the Act of the parents, so do Kids: study

THURSDAY, Aug. 2 HealthDay News)--parents who want to increase the amount of exercise for their children should become more active themselves, according to a new study.

"Long known that parent and child activity levels are correlated," study Author Kristen Holm, Assistant Professor of medicine at National Jewish Health in Denver, said in a news release. "[This study] showed that when parents increase their activities, the children also increased. The effect was more pronounced in the weekend. "

Study, published in the July issue of journal of physical activity and health, involved the 83 families participating in the programme designed to weight gain among overweight and obese children aged from 7 to 14.

Parents and children in the program are encouraged to increase their level of daily activity by walking 2,000 more steps every day. Their progress was tracked with pedometers.

Research has shown that mothers have reached or exceeded the objective on the days of the 2,000-step, their children give an average of 2,117 more. When mothers has not achieved the objective, their children were only 1,175 perform additional steps. The researchers pointed out that the children who were less active when the program started more additional steps than children who were more active.

Overall, the researchers found that for each 1000 additional steps taken by the mother, their child endeavoured 196 more. The researchers Saw a similar structure between fathers and their children.

The researchers suggested that parents and children together perform frequently at weekends resulted in the increase in exercise.

--Mary Elizabeth Dallas Copyright © 2012 HealthDay. All rights reserved. SOURCE: National Jewish Health, news release, July 30, 2012.

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Quitting Smoking Does Mean Weight Gain for Many: Study

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TUESDAY, July 10 (HealthDay News) -- Most smokers who quit gain more weight than previously thought -- an average of about 8 to 11 pounds the first year, according to a new European study.

Most of this weight gain occurs within three months of kicking the habit, the researchers reported. But, they added, the benefits of quitting still outweigh any concerns over this slight rise on the scale.

In conducting the research, investigators from France and the United Kingdom examined 62 previous studies to evaluate weight fluctuations among smokers who quit successfully with and without the help of nicotine replacement therapy. The weight changes of the former smokers were assessed 12 months after they stopped smoking.

The study found that smokers who quit without the help of nicotine replacement therapy gained an average of about 2.5 pounds one month after quitting. At the two-month mark, they had gained about 5 pounds; at three months, they were up 6.5 pounds. By six months, they had gained about 9 pounds, and after 12 months, they were 10.5 pounds heavier.

The average weight gain was similar for those using nicotine replacement therapy, according to Henri-Jean Aubin, a professor of psychiatry and addiction medicine at Paul Brousse Hospital in Villejuif, France, and colleagues.

The researchers pointed out this weight gain is greater than the 6.5 pounds often quoted in handouts about smoking cessation. It's also more than the 5-pound weight gain limit many female smokers say they will tolerate in order to quit.

The findings reflect the average weight gain of the former smokers, but fluctuation in weight varied widely: 16 percent of the people who stopped smoking lost weight, while 13 percent had gained more than 22 pounds in the year after quitting.

The study, published in the July 10 online edition of the BMJ, concluded that previous research underestimated the amount of weight people will gain in the 12 months after they quit smoking.

"These data suggest that doctors might usefully give patients a range of expected weight gain," the study authors said in a journal news release.

-- Mary Elizabeth Dallas Copyright © 2012 HealthDay. All rights reserved. SOURCE: BMJ, news release, July 10, 2012

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The experimental drug suppresses appetite bachbrim: study

Thursday, July 26, HealthDay News)-experimental drug tested in mice could one day help people lose weight and keep it long term, according to the researchers.

The drug, called JD5037, increases the sensitivity to the hormone leptin, an appetite suppressant is natural body, according to the research on July 26 in the journal cell metabolism.

"By sensitizing the body naturally occurring leptin, the new drug was not only to promote weight loss, but also helps to keep him," senior research editor, George Kunos of the National Institute of alcohol abuse, alcoholism, USA said in the news journal. "This finding bodes for the development of a new class of compounds for treatment of obesity and its metabolic disorder."

Leptin supplements alone are not effective at helping people lose excess weight, according to the publication. It is because of this that, meaning that systematic to leptin more body to respond to leptin.

In this study, researchers found that JD5037 to suppress appetite of obese mice has led to a decrease in weight, partly by resensitizing mice to leptin.

Scientists, however, research with animals often fails to provide similar results in humans.

"Obesity is a growing problem of public health, there is a strong need for new types of medications for the treatment of severe metabolic complications of obesity, including diabetes, fatty liver disease," said Kunos.

--Robert Preidt copyright © HealthDay 2012. All rights reserved. Source: cell metabolism, press release, July 26, 2012

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'Atkins'-Type Diets May Raise Risk of Heart Problems: Study

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By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, June 26 (HealthDay News) -- Women who regularly eat a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet may be raising their risk of heart disease and stroke by as much as 28 percent, a new study suggests.

Although the absolute increase in risk is small -- four or five extra cases per 10,000 women -- many young women try the Atkins diet or similar regimens and could be setting themselves up for cardiovascular problems later in life, the researchers noted.

"Low-carbohydrate, high-protein diets are frequently used for body-weight control," said lead researcher Dr. Pagona Lagiou, assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of Athens Medical School in Greece. "Although [the diets] may be nutritionally acceptable if the protein is mainly of plant origin, such as nuts, and the reduction of carbohydrates applies mainly to simple and refined [carbohydrates] like unhealthy sweeteners, drinks and snacks, the general public does not always recognize and act on this guidance."

The study, published online June 26 in the BMJ, does not answer questions about the possible short-term benefits of these diets in the control of body weight or insulin resistance, Lagiou said.

For the study, Lagiou's team collected data on the diets of more than 43,000 Swedish women who were between the ages of 30 and 49 at the start of the study.

Over an average of 15 years of follow-up, there were more than 1,200 cardiovascular events, including heart disease and stroke. There were more of these events among the women who followed a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet than among women who didn't, the researchers found.

Compared with women who veered furthest from the high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet, women who followed the diet most closely increased their risk by 28 percent, even after other risk factors, such as smoking, drinking, hypertension, exercise and fat intake, were taken into account, the researchers noted.

"Reduction of body weight should rely on increasing physical activity and reducing caloric intake," Lagiou said.

The long-term health effects of special diets that are followed for long periods of time have not been adequately studied to allow determination of their safety, she added.

Dr. Gregg Fonarow, chairman of cardiovascular medicine and science at the University of California, Los Angeles, said low-carb diets such as the Atkins regimen have been touted widely and have become increasingly popular.

"This study raises concerns about the long-term effects on cardiovascular health of low-carbohydrate, high-protein diets -- particularly if there is not careful consideration given to whether plant versus animal proteins are consumed," said Fonarow, who is also director of the Ahmanson-UCLA Cardiomyopathy Center.

Another expert, Samantha Heller, an exercise physiologist and clinical nutrition coordinator at the Center for Cancer Care at Griffin Hospital in Derby, Conn., said "the results of this study are not surprising."

Popular high-protein diets inevitably include an abundance of cheese and red and processed meats, and a dearth of healthy carbohydrates such as whole grains, vegetables, legumes and fruits, she said.

"What this study did not address is that research is finding that diets high in red meat and/or processed meats may increase the risk of type 2 diabetes; colorectal cancer; coronary heart disease; breast cancer; esophageal, liver and lung cancers; and chronic obstructive lung disease," Heller said. "[They also] increase levels of bad cholesterol."

More research is needed to pinpoint how and for whom these risks are elevated, she added.

"In the meantime, cut back on your intake of meat and other animal-protein sources. Start experimenting with beans, edamame, tofu, nuts and nut butters (such as peanut, almond and cashew butter), low- or nonfat yogurt, cottage cheese and milk," Heller advised. "Pick up the carb intake with 100 percent whole-grain breads, brown rice, quinoa and hefty doses of vegetables, legumes and fruits."

Although the study found an association between high-protein, low-carbohydrate diets and increased risk of cardiovascular problems, it did not prove a cause-and-effect relationship.

Copyright © 2012 HealthDay. All rights reserved. SOURCES: Pagona Lagiou, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor, epidemiology, University of Athens Medical School, Greece; Samantha Heller, M.S., R.D., exercise physiologist, clinical nutrition coordinator, Center for Cancer Care, Griffin Hospital, Derby, Conn.; Gregg Fonarow, M.D., Eliot Corday Chair, Cardiovascular Medicine and Science, University of California-Los Angeles, and director, Ahmanson-UCLA Cardiomyopathy Center, Los Angleles; June 26, 2012, BMJ, online

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Heavier Friends Might Widen Your Waistline: Study

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THURSDAY, July 12 (HealthDay News) -- Worried about the battle of the bulge? Your circle of friends might be key to your weight gain, a new study suggests.

The research, conducted among high school students, found that teens were more likely to pile on the pounds if they hung out with people who were already heavier than they were. The opposite was true for students whose friends were thinner, however.

The researchers say the findings might help experts combat obesity, at least among teenagers.

"These results can help us develop better interventions to prevent obesity. We should not be treating adolescents in isolation," study author David Shoham, an assistant professor in the department of preventive medicine and epidemiology of Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, said in a Loyola news release.

In conducting the observational study, the researchers were trying to figure out if obesity clusters in groups of friends due to social influences (when friends influence one another) or if people simply seek out the friendship of people who are most similar to themselves, including weight status.

To answer this question, the researchers examined information previously collected from students at two large high schools over the course of two school years. One school, known as Jefferson High, was located in a rural area and had a mostly white student population. The second school, called Sunshine High, was located in a city and had a more racial and ethnically diverse student body.

The researchers applied a statistical technique to analyze survey responses from more than 600 students from Jefferson High and 1,151 students from Sunshine High. The teens were asked about their weight, friends, sports and the amount of time they spent in front of the TV or computer or playing video games. The researchers also calculated the students' body mass index (a measure of height and weight).

The way that students initially chose their friends did play a role in how obesity clustered within social groupings. The researchers pointed out, however, that even after taking this finding into account there was still a significant link between obesity and a student's circle of friends, suggesting that friend-to-friend influences might also be key.

For example, a Jefferson High student with thin friends had a 40 percent chance of losing weight and a 27 percent chance of gaining weight. On the other hand, the researchers found a student who was close to being overweight and had obese friends had only a 15 percent chance of losing weight but a 56 percent chance of gaining more weight.

The bottom line: A person's social networks must be taken into consideration when developing strategies to prevent or treat obesity among teenagers, the researchers said.

Shoham's team said the study was limited by its reliance on self-reported data and the inability to directly test how friendships are formed and maintained. They added that the study's data were also collected more than a decade ago -- before the advent of Facebook and the sharp rise in rates of childhood obesity.

Since it is observational in nature, the study can only show an association between friends and weight gain; it cannot prove a cause-and-effect relationship. And, "of course, no one study should ever be taken as conclusive and our future work will attempt to address many of these limitations," Shoham said.

The study was published recently in the journal PLoS ONE.

-- Mary Elizabeth Dallas Copyright © 2012 HealthDay. All rights reserved. SOURCE: Loyola University, news release, July 9, 2012

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Cocoa as sunscreen? Public relations firm shamelessly Hypes tiny study

the following is a guest post by Kevin Lomangino , one of our analysts in HealthNewsReview.org. He is a medical journalist and independent editor that is currently Editor-in-Chief of clinical nutrition Insight, a monthly newsletter on the basis of evidence that analyzes the scientific literature on nutrition to doctors and nutritionists. He tweets as @ Klomangino.

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With the summer beach season in full swing, it's time to start thinking about ways to reduce your exposure to harmful ultraviolet radiation of the Sun. Fortunately, public relations personnel Draznin is ready to educate you about a new strategy important to protect the skin from sun damage: eat more cocoa!

In a recent press release, Draznin offered to me on the track to the findings of a "featured" experimental adds the "mountain of studies on the benefits of cocoa". The results show that a certain type of antioxidant-rich cocoa "protected the skin from sun damage caused by exposure to UV rays," according the Draznin.

I thought I was above all the latest claims about cocoa-based products, encourage (but far from conclusive) cardiovascular effects of frankly dubious notion that chocolate is some sort of weight loss help. But chocolate as sunscreen? I don't see how this could work unless you were spotting it across your skin like Coppertone. (Not a look that I recommend).

For most of us, cocoa is something that we like to curl up with beside a warm fire on a cold winter night. Draznin now want to pack it in your beach bag along with the floppy hats and parasols.

As you can see, the enthusiastic Draznin claims are based on a study of 6 years of age, involving only 24 women, which was partially funded by the Mars Corporation. The researchers randomly assigned women receive a cocoa drink that was high in certain antioxidants known as flavanols (326 mg/d) or low flavanols (27 mg/d).

At the beginning of the study and after 12 weeks, women were exposed to a solar light Simulator and the redness of the skin was evaluated. Women high-flavanol Group had 25% less redness after 12 weeks than they did on the baseline, while the women in the Group of low-flavanol had no change in redness.

Interesting finding? Absolutely. And I'm not dismissing the idea that your diet can play a role in helping him to resist the adverse effects of exposure to the Sun, but as readers of this blog know, a tiny, short-term study, funded by the manufacturer is not proof of anything when it comes to health outcomes of the real world. And yet that did not prevent the Draznin of blatantly extolling the results.

The "argument" of this study, according to Draznin, is that cocoa consumption "should be part of your daily skin protection strategy and throughout the year."

Not surprisingly, Draznin also volunteered to tell me more about a particular line of supplements that contain cocoa flavanols claimed to be protective.

As far as I'm concerned, the only "takeaway" here is ludicrous lengths to which some public relations companies will promote a product. It is also a reminder that some companies will stretch any shred of evidence to give your product a veneer of scientific credibility.

One more reason for journalists and consumers to look critically for health claims and especially to seek an independent perspective on the importance of supporting research. HealthNewsReview.org has a very useful Toolkit-a great place to start working with this type of analysis.

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Editor's Note: such efforts sometimes PR hit their targets. The Minneapolis Star Tribune is one of the largest newspapers in the country, and they put this piece of fluff in your website in the section "health".

 

Love really can grow from lust, study says

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Questions about sexual desire and love have plagued humans for eons. While poets, musicians, and artists believe love lives in the heart, scientists know it exists in the brain. And sex? Apparently, that urge resides in the "little brain" or the bed or maybe a barn. It gets a little confusing what with those tired old adages about cows and free milk (or pigs and free sausage).

34873.000000 / Getty Images stock

He wants you, but does he love you? A new study finds love and sexual desire are controlled by the same part of the brain.

Now a new study has found that the same regions of the brain that control love also control sex -- indicating that sexual desire can actually morph into love. That's right. If a woman has sex with a man, he might not only buy the cow but love the cow, as well.

“Love and sex are clearly overlapping and they are different,” says Jim Pfaus, a professor of psychology at Concordia University in Montreal who's been studying love and libidos for more than a decade. “You can have desire for sex without love.”

But sex can also be the start of a beautiful relationship.

How does all of this work?

The brain's insular cortex (or insula) and the striatum play a role in both sexual desire and love. The insula is nestled deep within the cerebral cortex and influences emotions. While the striatum resides in the forebrain and receives messages from the cortex.

In order to map out the location of sexual desire and love, researchers reviewed 20 studies that used fMRI technology. First, they looked at the regions of the brain that lit up when sparked by love. They then compared the findings of all the papers to see what regions were activated when someone felt aroused or amorous.  

What they discovered was a bit surprising -- love and sexual desire both activate the striatum, showing a continuum from sexual desire to love. Each feeling impacts a different area of the striatum.

Sexual desire activates the ventral striatum, the brain’s reward system. When someone enjoys a great dessert or an orgasm, it’s the ventral striatum that flickers with life. Love sparks activity in the dorsal striatum, which is associated with drug addiction.

“You don’t make a connection that love is a drug; it acts just like drug addiction," says Pfaus. "Anyone who has had someone break up with them feels like a drug addict in withdrawal. You end up getting cravings.”

But it doesn't stop there. The researchers also saw an overlap between sexual desire and love in the insula.

“[The insula] translates emotional feelings into meaning,” explains Pfaus. “You take the internal state and give it external meaning.”

The areas of overlap indicate that sexual desire transitions into love in many cases, and the feelings aren’t separate.

“Even love at first sight, can it happen? Of course it can happen," says Pfaus. "And when it does happen, do you want to play Scrabble with each other? When it happens, you normally want to consummate it.”

Want more weird health news? Find The Body Odd on Facebook.

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What it's like to study medicine at Cambridge (video)

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What is "the favorite" for medical students in the UK at the moment? Going into General Practice (at minute 2:45 of the video). They are also "very keen into going into a specialty such as pediatrics". This is a night and day difference compared to their counterparts in the U.S.

From Cambridge University YouTube channel: "At Cambridge, we offer two medicine courses - the Standard Course and the Graduate Course. With both, our aim is to educate students to become compassionate, thoughtful, skilled members - and leaders - of the medical profession.

Success in medicine requires application and hard work, both while studying and when in practice. However, it brings great rewards in terms of job satisfaction, involving as it does a combination of science and human interactions, and numerous career opportunities."

To find out more about Medicine at Cambridge, see http://study.cam.ac.uk/undergraduate/courses/medicine

Comments from Twitter:

Nick Bennett @peds_id_doc: Best medical school in the world. Seriously.

Medical School Life in Cambridge and Debrecen - @Berci compares the promotional videos http://goo.gl/BZm2w

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What it's like to study medicine at Cambridge (video)

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AppId is over the quota
What is "the favorite" for medical students in the UK at the moment? Going into General Practice (at minute 2:45 of the video). They are also "very keen into going into a specialty such as pediatrics". This is a night and day difference compared to their counterparts in the U.S.

From Cambridge University YouTube channel: "At Cambridge, we offer two medicine courses - the Standard Course and the Graduate Course. With both, our aim is to educate students to become compassionate, thoughtful, skilled members - and leaders - of the medical profession.

Success in medicine requires application and hard work, both while studying and when in practice. However, it brings great rewards in terms of job satisfaction, involving as it does a combination of science and human interactions, and numerous career opportunities."

To find out more about Medicine at Cambridge, see http://study.cam.ac.uk/undergraduate/courses/medicine

Comments from Twitter:

Nick Bennett @peds_id_doc: Best medical school in the world. Seriously.

Medical School Life in Cambridge and Debrecen - @Berci compares the promotional videos http://goo.gl/BZm2w

View the original article here

Surgical Residents Often Fatigued, Study Confirms

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THURSDAY, May 24 (HealthDay News) -- Fatigue is a common problem among surgery residents, a small, new study finds.

A growing body of evidence suggests that fatigue may play a major role in medical errors, said Dr. Frank McCormick, of the Harvard Orthopaedic Combined Residency Program and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and colleagues.

Their study included 27 orthopedic surgery residents who slept an average of 5.3 hours a day, with average individual amounts of sleep ranging from 2.8 hours to 7.2 hours.

Overall, the residents were functioning at less than 80 percent mental effectiveness due to fatigue during an average of 48 percent of their time awake. They also were functioning at less than 70 percent mental effectiveness due to fatigue for an average of 27 percent of their time awake.

Residents on the night shift slept an average of 5.1 hours daily and had higher levels of fatigue than those on the day shift, who slept an average of 5.7 hours daily.

The study appears in the May issue of the journal Archives of Surgery.

The finding that residents suffer fatigue "during certain periods is not startling, but its pervasiveness is a finding we simply cannot avoid and may have paid lip service to in the past. It is unlikely that the data in this study will be refuted," Dr. Thomas Tracy Jr., of Hasbro Children's Hospital and Brown University in Providence, R.I., wrote in an accompanying editorial.

-- Robert Preidt Copyright © 2012 HealthDay. All rights reserved. SOURCE: Archives of Surgery, news release, May 21, 2012

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Surgical Residents Often Fatigued, Study Confirms

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THURSDAY, May 24 (HealthDay News) -- Fatigue is a common problem among surgery residents, a small, new study finds.

A growing body of evidence suggests that fatigue may play a major role in medical errors, said Dr. Frank McCormick, of the Harvard Orthopaedic Combined Residency Program and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and colleagues.

Their study included 27 orthopedic surgery residents who slept an average of 5.3 hours a day, with average individual amounts of sleep ranging from 2.8 hours to 7.2 hours.

Overall, the residents were functioning at less than 80 percent mental effectiveness due to fatigue during an average of 48 percent of their time awake. They also were functioning at less than 70 percent mental effectiveness due to fatigue for an average of 27 percent of their time awake.

Residents on the night shift slept an average of 5.1 hours daily and had higher levels of fatigue than those on the day shift, who slept an average of 5.7 hours daily.

The study appears in the May issue of the journal Archives of Surgery.

The finding that residents suffer fatigue "during certain periods is not startling, but its pervasiveness is a finding we simply cannot avoid and may have paid lip service to in the past. It is unlikely that the data in this study will be refuted," Dr. Thomas Tracy Jr., of Hasbro Children's Hospital and Brown University in Providence, R.I., wrote in an accompanying editorial.

-- Robert Preidt Copyright © 2012 HealthDay. All rights reserved. SOURCE: Archives of Surgery, news release, May 21, 2012

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Study participants faced with retirement future

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While many Americans hope that they will be able to afford an early retirement, a variety of surveys suggest that people fail to save enough money, which often forces individuals to work much longer than they anticipated.
For instance, according to a poll conducted by The Associated Press and LifeGoesStrong.com, 73 percent of respondents said they plan on working in their retirement years, up from the 67 percent who said the same thing in the spring when a similar survey was conducted. The poll also found that more than half of respondents stated they were not confident about being able to finance their retirement if their present financial condition stayed the same.
However, a new study has found that when consumers actually see what they may look like in their elder years, it increases the dollar amounts they would allocate for retirement purposes.
Respondents allocate more money for retirement after viewing future self
In a series of experiments conducted by a team of researchers—the results of which were published in the American Marketing Association's Journal of Marketing Research—the study's lead analysts created images of the study's participants that portrayed them in an advanced age, showing them what they may look like when they reached retirement. They were then presented with several investment scenarios.
After being presented with these images, the participating adults said they were willing to contribute approximately 33 percent more of their paychecks toward their retirement savings accounts compared to those who were not presented with an image of their future selves.
Hal Hershfield, assistant professor of marketing at New York University's Stern School of Business, said giving individuals a glimpse of what they may look like when they're older raises the concern individuals have with their future financial security.
"One way to increase the feeling of similarity and connection between one's current self and one's future self is by showing people realistic, visual images of their future selves," said Hershfield. "When people are exposed to realistic images of their future selves, they are more willing to act in future-oriented manners, such as taking money that could be spent today and saving it for tomorrow."

When gender matters: Restless legs syndrome. Report of the “RLS and woman” workshop endorsed by the European RLS Study Group

Mauro Manconia, , , Jan Ulfbergb, Klaus Bergerc, Imad Ghorayebd, Jan Wesströme, Stephany Fuldaf, Richard P. Alleng, Thomas Pollmächerf, ha Sleep and Epilepsy Center, Neurocenter (EOC) of Southern Switzerland, Civic Hospital, Lugano, Via Tesserete 46, 6900 Lugano, Switzerlandb Department of Medicine, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Swedenc Institute of Epidemiology and Social Medicine, University of Münster, Münster, Germanyd Clinical Neurophysiology Department, Centre Hospitalier et Universitaire de Bordeaux, Bordeaux cedex, Francee Center for Clinical Research Dalarna, Department of Women's and Children's Health, Uppsala University, Swedenf Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Munich, Germanyg Center of Mental Health, Klinikum Ingolstadt, Ingolstadt, Germanyh Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, Bayview Medical Center, Baltimore, MD, USAReceived 13 May 2011. Revised 30 August 2011. Accepted 30 August 2011. Available online 9 November 2011.View full text Sleep is an essential human behavior that shows prominent gender differences. Disturbed sleep, in particular, is much more prevalent in females than males. Restless legs syndrome (RLS) as one cause of disturbed sleep was observed to be somewhat more common among women than men in Ekbom's 1945 seminal series of clinical cases with the disease. He, however, reported this gender difference mainly for those with more severe symptoms. Since then numerous studies have reported that women are affected by RLS about twice as often as males for mild as well as moderate to severe RLS. The present review focuses on RLS in females from the perspectives of both epidemiology and pathophysiology. RLS will generally become worse or might appear for the first time during pregnancy. Parity increases the risk of RLS later in life suggesting that pregnancy is a specific behavioral risk factor for developing RLS. Some evidence suggests that dysfunction in iron metabolism and high estrogen levels might contribute to RLS during pregnancy. But, menopause does not lower the incidence of RLS nor does hormone replacement therapy lead to an increase, suggesting a quite complex uncertain role of hormones in the pathophysiology of RLS. Therefore, further, preferably longitudinal studies are needed to unravel the factors causing RLS in women. These studies should include genetic, clinical and polysomnographic variables, as well as hormonal measures and variables assessing iron metabolism.

prs.rt("abs_end");Restless legs syndrome; Gender; Female; Sleep; Insomnia; Pregnancy; Estrogens; Menopause; Quality of life

Figures and tables from this article:

Fig. 1. Epidemiological results on RLS and pregnancy. Histograms show the prevalence trend of RLS in a group of 606 women surveyed at the end of pregnancy. In the period before pregnancy, 60 women already experienced RLS symptoms in their life (in a non pregnancy period) and were classified as “pre-existing RLS”. The remaining 546 women had never experienced RLS symptoms before and were classified as “healthy”. During the first assessed pregnancy (2nd histogram) 101 women, out of the 546 “healthy” ones, developed a transient RLS form strictly related to the pregnancy and were classified as “pregnancy-related RLS”. All these 101 women with a new form of pregnancy-related RLS form, except 6 women, recovered after delivery (3rd histogram). Fifty nine of the same pregnancy-related RLS group suffered again RLS symptoms during a further following pregnancy. After a mean follow up of 7 years, 25 out of the 101 women who experienced the symptoms during the first pregnancy (pregnancy-related RLS group) developed a chronic apparently idiopathic RLS form even out of pregnancy. Elaborated data from the study of Cesnik et al.37

View Within ArticleFig. 2. Prevalence of RLS among women in two age groups and according to number of children born in the German general practioner study.43

View Within ArticleFig. 3. Median serum ferritin by age for major USA gender and population groups.

View Within ArticleFig. 4. Prevalence of clinically significant RLS by gender and age from large European and United States population-based samples. (Slightly modified from Allen et al).21

View Within ArticleTable 1. Studies on the prevalence of RLS performed in random samples of the general population of different countries, using the IRLSSG criteria to assess the diagnosis.

View Within ArticleTable 2. Epidemiological studies published in literature on RLS prevalence that included an assessment on the quality of life.

Abbreviations: EQ-5D VAS, visual analogue scale score for the EQ-5D, a quality of life questionnaire developed by the EuroQoL Group; HRQoL, health related quality of life; MCS, mental component score of the SF-36; RLS, restless legs syndrome; PCS, physical component score of the SF-36; SF-36, SF-12, short form health survey.

View Within ArticleTable 3. Studies exploring the role of estrogens in RLS.

Abbreviations: AC, active controlled; CO, crossover; DB, double blind; HRT, hormone replacement therapy; IQR, interquartile range; PC, placebo controlled; PG, parallel group; PLM, periodic leg movements; R, randomized; SD, standard deviation.

View Within ArticleCopyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

prs.rt('data_end');

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When gender matters: Restless legs syndrome. Report of the “RLS and woman” workshop endorsed by the European RLS Study Group

Mauro Manconia, , , Jan Ulfbergb, Klaus Bergerc, Imad Ghorayebd, Jan Wesströme, Stephany Fuldaf, Richard P. Alleng, Thomas Pollmächerf, ha Sleep and Epilepsy Center, Neurocenter (EOC) of Southern Switzerland, Civic Hospital, Lugano, Via Tesserete 46, 6900 Lugano, Switzerlandb Department of Medicine, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Swedenc Institute of Epidemiology and Social Medicine, University of Münster, Münster, Germanyd Clinical Neurophysiology Department, Centre Hospitalier et Universitaire de Bordeaux, Bordeaux cedex, Francee Center for Clinical Research Dalarna, Department of Women's and Children's Health, Uppsala University, Swedenf Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Munich, Germanyg Center of Mental Health, Klinikum Ingolstadt, Ingolstadt, Germanyh Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, Bayview Medical Center, Baltimore, MD, USAReceived 13 May 2011. Revised 30 August 2011. Accepted 30 August 2011. Available online 9 November 2011.View full text Sleep is an essential human behavior that shows prominent gender differences. Disturbed sleep, in particular, is much more prevalent in females than males. Restless legs syndrome (RLS) as one cause of disturbed sleep was observed to be somewhat more common among women than men in Ekbom's 1945 seminal series of clinical cases with the disease. He, however, reported this gender difference mainly for those with more severe symptoms. Since then numerous studies have reported that women are affected by RLS about twice as often as males for mild as well as moderate to severe RLS. The present review focuses on RLS in females from the perspectives of both epidemiology and pathophysiology. RLS will generally become worse or might appear for the first time during pregnancy. Parity increases the risk of RLS later in life suggesting that pregnancy is a specific behavioral risk factor for developing RLS. Some evidence suggests that dysfunction in iron metabolism and high estrogen levels might contribute to RLS during pregnancy. But, menopause does not lower the incidence of RLS nor does hormone replacement therapy lead to an increase, suggesting a quite complex uncertain role of hormones in the pathophysiology of RLS. Therefore, further, preferably longitudinal studies are needed to unravel the factors causing RLS in women. These studies should include genetic, clinical and polysomnographic variables, as well as hormonal measures and variables assessing iron metabolism.

prs.rt("abs_end");Restless legs syndrome; Gender; Female; Sleep; Insomnia; Pregnancy; Estrogens; Menopause; Quality of life

Figures and tables from this article:

Fig. 1. Epidemiological results on RLS and pregnancy. Histograms show the prevalence trend of RLS in a group of 606 women surveyed at the end of pregnancy. In the period before pregnancy, 60 women already experienced RLS symptoms in their life (in a non pregnancy period) and were classified as “pre-existing RLS”. The remaining 546 women had never experienced RLS symptoms before and were classified as “healthy”. During the first assessed pregnancy (2nd histogram) 101 women, out of the 546 “healthy” ones, developed a transient RLS form strictly related to the pregnancy and were classified as “pregnancy-related RLS”. All these 101 women with a new form of pregnancy-related RLS form, except 6 women, recovered after delivery (3rd histogram). Fifty nine of the same pregnancy-related RLS group suffered again RLS symptoms during a further following pregnancy. After a mean follow up of 7 years, 25 out of the 101 women who experienced the symptoms during the first pregnancy (pregnancy-related RLS group) developed a chronic apparently idiopathic RLS form even out of pregnancy. Elaborated data from the study of Cesnik et al.37

View Within ArticleFig. 2. Prevalence of RLS among women in two age groups and according to number of children born in the German general practioner study.43

View Within ArticleFig. 3. Median serum ferritin by age for major USA gender and population groups.

View Within ArticleFig. 4. Prevalence of clinically significant RLS by gender and age from large European and United States population-based samples. (Slightly modified from Allen et al).21

View Within ArticleTable 1. Studies on the prevalence of RLS performed in random samples of the general population of different countries, using the IRLSSG criteria to assess the diagnosis.

View Within ArticleTable 2. Epidemiological studies published in literature on RLS prevalence that included an assessment on the quality of life.

Abbreviations: EQ-5D VAS, visual analogue scale score for the EQ-5D, a quality of life questionnaire developed by the EuroQoL Group; HRQoL, health related quality of life; MCS, mental component score of the SF-36; RLS, restless legs syndrome; PCS, physical component score of the SF-36; SF-36, SF-12, short form health survey.

View Within ArticleTable 3. Studies exploring the role of estrogens in RLS.

Abbreviations: AC, active controlled; CO, crossover; DB, double blind; HRT, hormone replacement therapy; IQR, interquartile range; PC, placebo controlled; PG, parallel group; PLM, periodic leg movements; R, randomized; SD, standard deviation.

View Within ArticleCopyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

prs.rt('data_end');

View the original article here

When gender matters: Restless legs syndrome. Report of the “RLS and woman” workshop endorsed by the European RLS Study Group

Mauro Manconia, , , Jan Ulfbergb, Klaus Bergerc, Imad Ghorayebd, Jan Wesströme, Stephany Fuldaf, Richard P. Alleng, Thomas Pollmächerf, ha Sleep and Epilepsy Center, Neurocenter (EOC) of Southern Switzerland, Civic Hospital, Lugano, Via Tesserete 46, 6900 Lugano, Switzerlandb Department of Medicine, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Swedenc Institute of Epidemiology and Social Medicine, University of Münster, Münster, Germanyd Clinical Neurophysiology Department, Centre Hospitalier et Universitaire de Bordeaux, Bordeaux cedex, Francee Center for Clinical Research Dalarna, Department of Women's and Children's Health, Uppsala University, Swedenf Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Munich, Germanyg Center of Mental Health, Klinikum Ingolstadt, Ingolstadt, Germanyh Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, Bayview Medical Center, Baltimore, MD, USAReceived 13 May 2011. Revised 30 August 2011. Accepted 30 August 2011. Available online 9 November 2011.View full text Sleep is an essential human behavior that shows prominent gender differences. Disturbed sleep, in particular, is much more prevalent in females than males. Restless legs syndrome (RLS) as one cause of disturbed sleep was observed to be somewhat more common among women than men in Ekbom's 1945 seminal series of clinical cases with the disease. He, however, reported this gender difference mainly for those with more severe symptoms. Since then numerous studies have reported that women are affected by RLS about twice as often as males for mild as well as moderate to severe RLS. The present review focuses on RLS in females from the perspectives of both epidemiology and pathophysiology. RLS will generally become worse or might appear for the first time during pregnancy. Parity increases the risk of RLS later in life suggesting that pregnancy is a specific behavioral risk factor for developing RLS. Some evidence suggests that dysfunction in iron metabolism and high estrogen levels might contribute to RLS during pregnancy. But, menopause does not lower the incidence of RLS nor does hormone replacement therapy lead to an increase, suggesting a quite complex uncertain role of hormones in the pathophysiology of RLS. Therefore, further, preferably longitudinal studies are needed to unravel the factors causing RLS in women. These studies should include genetic, clinical and polysomnographic variables, as well as hormonal measures and variables assessing iron metabolism.

prs.rt("abs_end");Restless legs syndrome; Gender; Female; Sleep; Insomnia; Pregnancy; Estrogens; Menopause; Quality of life

Figures and tables from this article:

Fig. 1. Epidemiological results on RLS and pregnancy. Histograms show the prevalence trend of RLS in a group of 606 women surveyed at the end of pregnancy. In the period before pregnancy, 60 women already experienced RLS symptoms in their life (in a non pregnancy period) and were classified as “pre-existing RLS”. The remaining 546 women had never experienced RLS symptoms before and were classified as “healthy”. During the first assessed pregnancy (2nd histogram) 101 women, out of the 546 “healthy” ones, developed a transient RLS form strictly related to the pregnancy and were classified as “pregnancy-related RLS”. All these 101 women with a new form of pregnancy-related RLS form, except 6 women, recovered after delivery (3rd histogram). Fifty nine of the same pregnancy-related RLS group suffered again RLS symptoms during a further following pregnancy. After a mean follow up of 7 years, 25 out of the 101 women who experienced the symptoms during the first pregnancy (pregnancy-related RLS group) developed a chronic apparently idiopathic RLS form even out of pregnancy. Elaborated data from the study of Cesnik et al.37

View Within ArticleFig. 2. Prevalence of RLS among women in two age groups and according to number of children born in the German general practioner study.43

View Within ArticleFig. 3. Median serum ferritin by age for major USA gender and population groups.

View Within ArticleFig. 4. Prevalence of clinically significant RLS by gender and age from large European and United States population-based samples. (Slightly modified from Allen et al).21

View Within ArticleTable 1. Studies on the prevalence of RLS performed in random samples of the general population of different countries, using the IRLSSG criteria to assess the diagnosis.

View Within ArticleTable 2. Epidemiological studies published in literature on RLS prevalence that included an assessment on the quality of life.

Abbreviations: EQ-5D VAS, visual analogue scale score for the EQ-5D, a quality of life questionnaire developed by the EuroQoL Group; HRQoL, health related quality of life; MCS, mental component score of the SF-36; RLS, restless legs syndrome; PCS, physical component score of the SF-36; SF-36, SF-12, short form health survey.

View Within ArticleTable 3. Studies exploring the role of estrogens in RLS.

Abbreviations: AC, active controlled; CO, crossover; DB, double blind; HRT, hormone replacement therapy; IQR, interquartile range; PC, placebo controlled; PG, parallel group; PLM, periodic leg movements; R, randomized; SD, standard deviation.

View Within ArticleCopyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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New-car transaction prices peak according to study

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

A recent study suggests that the prices of new cars are at some of their highest levels in recent memory.

According to car pricing website TrueCar.com*, the average transaction price for light vehicles in the United States in March was nearly $30,750. That's 7 percent ahead of the average in March 2011, or what translates to roughly $1,944. On a monthly basis, transaction prices rose 0.5 percent or $143.

Jesse Toprak, industry and insights vice president at TrueCar.com, said this bodes well for automakers, suggesting that they've hit the right balance between supply and demand.

"The auto manufacturers have finally found their sweet spot, with the production of vehicles meeting the demand of consumers, keeping incentives to a minimum," said Toprak. "This led to the highest transaction prices in the industry in March, along with record highs for Chrysler, General Motors, Hyundai/Kia and Nissan."

Hyundai/Kia logs most significant jump in transaction prices

Some of the brands that saw the biggest increase in transaction prices were Hyundai/Kia and Nissan, up more than 9 and 7 percent, respectively, on a monthly basis. Chrysler logged the biggest increase among American carmakers, as transaction prices jumped just over 6 percent to $29,842. Prices for Ford and General Motors both averaged more than $30,000, but the percentage change was just 4 and 3.4 percent, respectively.

Meanwhile, incentives for light-vehicles trended downward in March, dropping by $43 to $2,440 year-over-year and $36 from the previous month.

Mazda3 Touring offers best fuel-boosting package

While incentives are offered to encourage more people to purchase a vehicle, automakers also offer packages that car buyers can purchase to make their ride more enjoyable. Some of these offers include fuel economy features that help a vehicle burn less fuel and get more mileage.

However, a separate report that was also conducted by TrueCar.com** found that how cost-effective these fuel economy packages are often depends on the vehicle that's being purchased.

For instance, the automotive information firm found that the Mazda3 Touring with SkyActiv offers the best value for consumers, breaking even on their purchase soon after taking it home. For other vehicles, however, it often took years before the fuel economy package paid for itself in added fuel efficiency. The Chevrolet Sonic took nearly three years to pay off the premium for its Ecotec package and five years for the Ford F-150 with EcoBoost.

"The price of gas has consumers thinking about fuel economy but there's a financial investment involved with most of these fuel—saving package," said Toprak. "It's important to compare the improvements in fuel economy and the extra costs of the package before purchasing a new vehicle."

*according to TrueCar.com on April 3, 2012
**according to TrueCar.com on April 12, 2012

View the original article here