CHRONIC PAIN
• British Scientists Spot Brain’s Pain Center: The University of Oxford team used a new imaging
technique to observe how different levels of pain affected the brains of 17
volunteers. Activity in only one area of the brain -- the dorsal posterior
insula -- matched the participants' self-reported pain ratings. This method
could be used to help assess pain levels in people who have difficulty
providing doctors with that information, such as those in a coma, small children
or dementia patients, said the authors of the study published March 9 in the
journal Nature Neuroscience.
• Early Scans for Back Pain May Do Little For Seniors: Older adults with back pain who seek care and get
imaging within six weeks of their doctors visit for back pain do not have
better outcomes than similar older adults who do not get early imaging.
Although early imaging is not associated with better pain and function
outcomes, it is associated with greater use of health care services, such as
visits [and] injections, which translates into a nearly $1,500 per patient
additional cost, for no measurable benefit." JAMA
• Stepped Care Approach to Chronic Pain Improves Function: A two-step strategy to managing chronic pain in US
military veterans was associated with improved function and decreased pain
severity, yielding a 30% improvement in pain-related disability, a new study
shows. Step 1 included 12 weeks of analgesic treatment and optimization
according to an algorithm, coupled with pain self-management strategies. Step 2
comprised 12 weeks of cognitive-behavioral therapy. JAMA Internal Medicine
COMPLEMENTARY AND ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE
• Belief in Acupuncture Key to Effect on
Back Pain: The
study included 485 people who received acupuncture for back pain and completed
questionnaires before they began treatment, at two and three months into
treatment, and then again at six months after treatment. Patients who had low
expectations of acupuncture before they began the therapy gained less benefit
than those who believed it would work, according to the researchers at the
University of Southampton in England. Clinical Journal of Pain
• Homeopathy
Doesn’t Work: Australia’s National Health and Medical Research
Council considered 1,800 studies, narrowing them down to 225 that met certain
criteria, and concluded that homeopathy didn't work better than a placebo. Even
if a study claimed it was effective, the council found that that study was of
poor quality. ABC News
FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION ACTION
• Approves new
antibacterial drug ceftazidime-avibactam
• Approves Panobinostat for treatment of multiple myeloma
• Approves
VenaSeal Varicose veins permanent treatment closure system
• Approves the
ResQCPR Systema pair of CPR
devices to help save those whose hearts have stopped beating
PREVENTION
• Study Ties Saunas to Lower Risk of Death from Heart Disease: A study
from Finland found that men who use saunas frequently are less likely to die
from heart disease. Men's risk was even lower when they visited saunas more
often in a week, and when they spent longer periods of time in a sauna each
session, the researchers reported. Frequent use of sauna even appeared to lower
a man's overall risk of death. Men who visited the sauna two to three times per
week had a 24 percent lower risk of death, while those who went four to seven
times per week had a 40 percent reduction compared to only one sauna session
per week. JAMA Internal Medicine.
• Healthy Lifestyle May Guard Against Dementia: A healthy diet, physical
activity and brain exercises can help slow mental decline in older people at
risk for dementia, a new study suggests. On the other hand, a high body-mass index
(BMI) and poor heart health are significant risk factors for age-related
dementia, the researchers said. BMI is an estimate of body fat based on height
and weight. The Lancet
• Any Exercise is Good, But
Higher-Intensity May Be Better:
Researchers found that when they got middle-aged, obese adults regularly
moving -- even with a half-hour of slow walking -- it helped them shed a little
bit of weight and a couple of inches from their waistlines. However, it took
higher-intensity exercise to lower people's blood sugar levels -- which, over
the long term, might reduce their risk of type 2 diabetes. Annals of Internal
Medicine
• Stress, Depression “ a Perfect Storm”
of Trouble for Heart Patients:Researchers looking at the effect of significant stress and deep depression
on nearly 4,500 patients with heart disease called the pairing a
"psychosocial perfect storm." "The combination of high stress
and high depression symptoms may be particularly harmful for adults with heart
disease during an early vulnerability period.” Circulation
• A
Sense of Purpose May Help Your Heart: Living your life with a strong
sense of purpose may lower your risk for early death, heart attack or stroke,
new research suggests. The finding is based on a broad review of past research
involving more than 137,000 people in all. The research team reviewed 10
published studies. The average follow-up was 8.5 years. AHA Meeting
• Loneliness Shortens Life: A meta analysis of data from dozens of
studies involving more than 3 million people shows that social isolation may
harm physical along with negatively impacting poor mental health. The research
is in the area of people who feel lonely. Perspectives on Psychological
Science
SUPPLEMENTS/ VITAMINS/NUTRITION
• Coffee Possibly Lowers Risk of MS: A study, of 5,600 Swedish and U.S.
adults, found that those who drank four to six cups of coffee a day were about
one-third less likely to develop multiple sclerosis (MS), compared with people
who did not drink coffee. Researchers stressed that the findings do not prove
that coffee fights MS.
• Another Study Finds
Mediterranean Diet May Cut Heart Disease: A study
including more than 2,500 Greek adults, aged 18 to 89, whose diets and health
were tracked for 10 years found that nearly 20 percent of men and 12 percent of
women in the study developed or died from heart disease. People who most
closely followed a Mediterranean diet were 47 percent less likely to develop
heart disease than those who did not closely follow the diet. The researchers
also found that sticking to a Mediterranean diet was more protective against
heart disease than physical activity. Previous studies have shown that a
Mediterranean diet -- which is high in fresh fruits and vegetables, whole
grains, beans, nuts, fish, and olive oil -- is associated with weight loss,
lower blood pressure and blood cholesterol levels, and a lower risk of diabetes
and heart disease. American College of Cardiology
• Fried Foods Tied to Raised Heart Failure Risk: In this
study, men who ate fried food one to three times a week had an average 18
percent increased risk of developing heart failure, researchers found. When
fried food was eaten four to six times a week, heart failure risk was 25
percent higher, and at seven times or more weekly, 68 percent greater. American
Heart Association meeting
• Nuts May Lengthen Your Life: Eating nuts, including peanuts and
peanut butter, may help you live longer, a new study suggests. Researchers looked at the diets of more than 200,000 people
in both the United States and China, and found nut consumption was linked with
a lower risk of premature death from heart disease and other causes. JAMA
Internal Medicine
• Nuts
Linked to Better Heart Health for Teens: Eating a modest amount of nuts
appears to lower the risk for teens of developing conditions that raise the
chances of heart disease later in life, new research suggests. Endocrine
Society
• Vegetarian Diet May Lower Colon Cancer Risk: A
vegetarian diet might cut your risk of colorectal cancer by 20 percent, a new
study finds. For fish-eating vegetarians, the protective link was even
stronger. JAMA Internal Medicine
• Folic Acid May Help Ward Off Stroke: Folic acid -- the same nutrient
women take in pregnancy to help ward off birth defects -- may also help lower
stroke risk in people with high blood pressure, a new Chinese study finds. JAMA
• Vitamin
D Doesn’t Help with High BP: A meta study (over 70 combined studies)
found no signs that boosting vitamin D levels had any effect on blood pressure
readings. JAMA Internal Medicine
• High
Levels of Vitamin D is Suspected of Increasing Mortality: The
level of vitamin D in our blood should neither be too high nor to low.
Scientists from the University of Copenhagen are the first in the world to show
that there is a connection between high levels of vitamin D and cardiovascular
deaths. Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism.
• Recommendation for Vitamin D Intake,Some Experts Say is too low: Researchers at UC San Diego and Creighton University have challenged the intake of vitamin D recommended by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) Institute of Medicine (IOM), stating that their Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for vitamin D underestimates the need by a factor of ten. The recommended intake of vitamin D specified by the IOM is 600 IU/day through age 70 years, and 800 IU/day for older ages. Nutrients
• Salt May Be Bad for More Than Your Blood Pressure: Even if
you don't develop high blood pressure from eating too much salt, you may still
be damaging your blood vessels, heart, kidneys and brain, a new study warns.
Researchers reviewed available evidence and found that high levels of salt
consumption have harmful effects on a number of organs and tissues, even in
people who are "salt-resistant," which means their salt intake does
not affect their blood pressure. Journal of the American College of Cardiology
• Diet
Soda Linked to Increases in Belly Fat: Increasing diet soda intake is
directly linked to greater abdominal obesity in adults 65 years of age and
older. Findings raise concerns about the safety of chronic diet soda
consumption, which may increase belly fat and contribute to greater risk of metabolic
syndrome and cardiovascular diseases. Journal
of the American Geriatrics Society
TREATMENT RESEARCH
• Epilepsy Surgery Gets High Marks from
Patients: More
than nine in 10 epilepsy patients who had brain surgery to try to control their
seizures are happy they did so, a new survey reveals. Patients saw the number
of debilitating seizures they experienced after surgery either drop
significantly or disappear altogether. Epilepsy & Behavior
• Poor
Response to Statins May Mean Clogged Arteries: A new
study found these people experienced little or no reduction in the
"bad" cholesterol that contributes to artery-blocking plaque, making
heart attack or stroke more likely. Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular
Biology
• Dangerous
C. Difficile Germ Infects 500,000 Americans a Year: Almost
half a million Americans were infected with the bacteria Clostridium difficile
in 2011, and 29,000 died within a month of diagnosis, U.S. health officials
report. C. difficile, which causes inflammation of the colon and deadly
diarrhea, is often linked to antibiotic use. New England Journal of Medicine
• Digoxin Tied to Worse Outcomes: Patients who take the heart rhythm drug
digoxin may face a nearly 30 percent greater risk of death than patients not
taking the drug, a review of prior research suggests. The analysis also
suggests that digoxin may increase the risk for death by 60 to 70 percent among
patients with both the heart rhythm disorder known as atrial fibrillation and
kidney failure. American College of Cardiology annual meeting
• StatinsMay Help Improve Prostate Cancer Survival: Cholesterol-lowering statin
drugs may slow down prostate cancer in men who are also taking medication to
reduce their levels of male hormones, according to new research. American
Society of Clinical Oncology
• Medications
Used to Treat Diabetes May Trigger Heart Failure: A
comprehensive study examining clinical trials of more than 95,000 patients has
found that glucose or sugar-lowering medications prescribed to patients with
diabetes may pose an increased risk for the development of heart failure in
these patients. The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology
OTHER
• Fewer Americans Burdened by Medical Bills: The
number of Americans struggling to pay medical bills has declined every year
since 2011 and particularly since 2013, a new government report shows. Health
policy and medical bill experts believe the new patient protections and
coverage offered under the Affordable Care Act, as well as the steadily
improving national economy, may have contributed to families' financial relief.
U.S. National Center for Health Statistics
• Seasonal
Flu Vaccine Even Less Effective Than Thought: This year's flu vaccine is even
more disappointing than previously reported, showing just 18 percent
effectiveness against the dominant H3N2 strain of flu, health officials
reported. The situation for children was even worse. The CDC panel pegged the
effectiveness of the injected vaccine for kids aged 2 to 8 to be just 15
percent. And the nasal-spray version of the vaccine may not protect young
children at all, health officials said.
• Typical Adult Over 30 Gets Flu Twice
Every 10 Years: Most
people dread the flu, and many work hard to avoid it. However, a new British
study finds that the typical person over 30 only gets the illness about twice
every decade. In childhood and adolescence, flu is much more common, possibly
because we mix more with other people Plos Biology
• Be Wary of Websites Selling Genetic Cancer
Tests: Websites
that offer personalized genetic cancer tests tend to overstate their supposed
benefits and downplay their limitations, a new study says. And many sites offer
tests that have not been proven to be useful in guiding cancer treatment,
according to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute team that analyzed 55 such
websites. Journal of the National Cancer Institute
• Gout’sSilver Lining: A Lower Risk for Alzheimer’s? A new study finds that
gout -- or the high uric acid level that drives the inflammatory condition --
may shield against the dementia. The study comes after prior research that had
suggested that people with gout might also have a lower risk for other neurodegenerative
conditions such as Parkinson's disease. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases
• Medical Expansion Has Led People Worldwide to Feel Less Healthy: A researcher at The Ohio State University used several
large multinational data sets
to examine changes in how people rated their
health between 1981 and 2007 and compared that to medical expansion in 28
countries. During that time, the medical industry expanded dramatically in many
of those countries, which you might expect would lead to people who felt
healthier. "Access to more medicine and medical care doesn't really
improve our subjective health. For example, in the United States, the
percentage of Americans reporting very good health decreased from 39 percent to
28 percent from 1982 to 2006," Zheng
said. Social Science Research
