Medical Discoveries

Source Publication: Annals of Behavioral Medicine, March 20, 2008


In a recent study published in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine, there seems to be evidence that suggest there are unique health benefits directly tied to a happy marriage (we define marriage as the biblical man and wife).

Overall there were 204 married couples and 99 single adults in the study.

"There seem to be some unique health benefits from marriage. It's not just being married that benefits health -- what's really the most protective of health is having a happy marriage," study author Julianne Holt-Lunstad, a psychologist who specializes in relationships and health, said in a prepared statement.

The participants wore portable blood-pressure monitors for 24 hours. The monitors recorded blood pressure at random intervals and provided a total of about 72 readings.

"We wanted to capture participants' blood pressure doing whatever they normally do in everyday life. Getting one or two readings in a clinic is not really representative of the fluctuations that occur throughout the day," Holt-Lunstad said.

Overall, happily married people scored four points lower on the blood pressure readings than single adults. The study also found that blood pressure among married people -- especially those in happy marriages -- dipped more during sleep than in single people.

"Research has shown that people whose blood pressure remains high throughout the night are at much greater risk of cardiovascular problems than people whose blood pressure dips," Holt-Lunstad said.

The study also found that unhappily married adults have higher blood pressure than both happily married and single adults.

Holt-Lunstad noted that spouses can encourage healthy habits in one another, such as eating a healthy diet and having regular doctor visits. People in happy marriages also have a source of emotional support, she said.

Two Baylor College of Medicine researchers in Houston are working on a cocaine vaccine they hope will become the first-ever medication to treat people hooked on the drug. "For people who have a desire to stop using, the vaccine should be very useful," said Dr. Tom Kosten, a psychiatry professor who is being assisted in the research by his wife, Therese, a psychologist and neuroscientist. "At some point, most users will give in to temptation and relapse, but those for whom the vaccine is effective won't get high and will lose interest."

The immune system — unable to recognize cocaine and other drug molecules because they are so small — can't make antibodies to attack them. To help the immune system distinguish the drug, Kosten attached inactivated cocaine to the outside of inactivated cholera proteins.

More info: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h4s0F9Rn9z8SKqxJKy7C5XRrPPQQD8TTC2N80

Labels: cocaine addiction, vaccine

Source: WebMD Medical News
Summary: Medical Discoveries
Date: Dec 2007

Premature C-Section Causes Infant Breathing Problems

"Mothers who choose elective cesarean section should be aware that the risk of respiratory problems is four times raised at 37 weeks' gestation vs. full-term, intended vaginal delivery," Kirkeby Hansen tells WebMD. "The rate of respiratory problems is 10% for elective C-section at 37 weeks, but it is 2.8% for intended vaginal deliveries. That is why we say you should never do elective cesarean section at 37 weeks."

Most children fully recover from these breathing problems, notes Emory University pediatrician Lucky Jain, MD. But the long-terms effects aren't clear.

Labels: c-section, Caesarean, pediatrics

Avandia treats diabetes but higher risk of heart attack

An independent analysis of thousands of older people with diabetes found that those treated with the widely used drug Avandia had significantly elevated risks of heart attack and death.

The finding, published on Tuesday in The Journal of the American Medical Association, could rekindle the debate about whether Avandia, a controversial treatment for Type 2 diabetes, should remain on the market. Earlier studies drew similar links between Avandia and cardiac risks.

The study analyzed drug use and health outcomes for 159,000 people age 65 and older treated for Type 2 diabetes in the government-run health system that provides medical care to all people in Ontario. Of those patients, 2,268 took Avandia.

The findings suggest that for every 100 people taking Avandia over a four-year period there would be five additional deaths, four additional heart attacks and three additional episodes of heart failure, Dr. Lipscombe said.

Labels: avandia, diabetes

Source: Chicago Tribune
Summary: Medical Discoveries
Date: Dec 2007

2 of 10 cases missed in mammograms

Diana Miglioretti and her colleagues published a study with the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. They examined the performance of 123 radiologists who interpreted nearly 36,000 diagnostic mammograms between 1996 and 2003 at 72 U.S. facilities. All the mammograms had been ordered for women who found a lump themselves or whose doctors discovered something of concern.

They found that doctors reading mammograms miss an average of 2 in every 10 cases of breast cancer, even for women with lumps and other symptoms.

Labels: breast cancer, mammograms

Multiple researchers discover link of cancer and any type of alcohol

Source: WebMD
Summary: Medical Discoveries
Date: Sept 2007

Whatever your pleasure -- beer, wine, or spirits -- more than three daily drinks ups your risk of breast cancer by 30%. Red wine, white wine, whatever health benefits you think it will bring you, is cancelled by increase cancer risk and other diseases.

"It doesn't matter if you drink red wine or white wine. If you are a heavy drinker -- more than three drinks a day -- you will have an additional 30% risk of breast cancer," said Dr. Yan Li, MD, PhD, of Kaiser Permanente.

Li and researchers looked at 70,000 women in a study from 1978 to 1985. They then analyzed to see if they had breast cancer by 2004. Women who drank one or two drinks a day had a 10% higher chance of breast cancer than women who drank less than a drink a day. But it took more than three drinks a day to increase that risk to 30%.

Shumin Zhang, MD, ScD, associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School did not participate in the research, but has also found that frequent drinking raises a woman's risk of breast cancer.

"Many studies have reported an association between alcohol consumption and breast cancer risk in women," Zhang tells WebMD. "The current findings are generally consistent with previous research."

In short, women aren't the only ones at risk. Alcohol is an equal opportunity killer, studies show that men are also in danger of increased chances of cancer if they drink alcohol.

Labels: alcohol, breast cancer

People who eat a lot of red and processed meats have a higher risk of developing several types of cancer, including lung cancer and colorectal cancer, according to a new study from the National Cancer Institute.

In summary, red and processed meat intake appears to be positively associated with risk of cancer of the colon and rectum, esophagus, liver, lung, and pancreas in a new, large US cohort study of 500,000 men and women. However, this study provided little support for an association with other cancer sites. Current dietary guidelines recommend selecting meats that are lean, low-fat, or fat-free, thus promoting limited consumption of red and processed meats.

Labels: colon cancer, Colorectal Cancer, lung cancer