2008/07/19
1. Drug Combo Fights Rheumatoid Arthritis (Lancet, 7/08)
In the early stages of rheumatoid arthritis, taking the drugs Enbrel and methotrexate may make remission more likely than taking methotrexate alone.
2. FDA declares it’s OK to eat tomatoes again, not peppers (FDA, 7/17/08)
It's OK to eat all kinds of tomatoes again, the U.S. government declared 7/17/08 — lifting its salmonella warning on the summer favorites amid signs that the record outbreak, while not over, may finally be slowing. Hot peppers still get a caution.
3. Which Diets Work? (New England Journal of Medicine, 7/17/08)
The low-carb diet, a low-fat diet and a so-called Mediterranean diet — achieved weight loss and improved cholesterol. The study was founded by the Atkins Foundation. The low-fat diet — no more than 30 percent of calories from fat — restricted calories and cholesterol and focused on low-fat grains, vegetables and fruits as options. The Mediterranean diet had similar calorie, fat and cholesterol restrictions, emphasizing poultry, fish, olive oil and nuts. The low-carb diet set limits for carbohydrates, but none for calories or fat. It urged dieters to choose vegetarian sources of fat and protein.
4. Are Fat Calories More Fattening Than Carbs? (Harvard School of Public Health, 7/15/08)
A calorie from fat will cause a similar amount of weight gain as a calorie from carbohydrate. The exception is trans fat.
5. E. coli linked to beef now reported in 5 states (CDC, 7/15/08)
An E. coli outbreak traced to recalled beef in Michigan and Ohio has spawned cases in three other states. New York, Kentucky and Indiana each have one lab-confirmed case of a bacterial infection that matches the 41 previously reported cases. The outbreak has been traced to beef sold in Kroger supermarkets in Michigan and Ohio. Nebraska Beef Ltd. supplied the meat, ultimately recalling 5.3 million pounds of beef.
6. Don’t eat lobster tomalley (Maine Center for Disease Control, 7/17/08)
Maine officials are advising consumers to avoid eating lobster tomalley after tests revealed high levels of toxins in some lobsters. Lobster meat is perfectly safe but we are advised not to eat the tomalley — a soft green substance found in the body of the lobster. Tomalley functions as the lobster's liver by serving as a natural filter for contaminants that are in the water.
7. Ravers lose sight at laser show (Moscow, 7/5/08)
Dozens of partygoers at an outdoor rave near Moscow last week have lost partial vision after a laser light show burned their retinas.
8. Feds Allege Ranbaxy Lied About Makeup of Generic Drugs (Justice Department, 7/14)
Federal prosecutors allege that Indian generic drugmaker Ranbaxy Laboratories deliberately misled the U.S. government about the quality of its low-cost medicines. The company systematically lied about the makeup of its generic drugs, which include a cheaper version of Merck's blockbuster cholesterol pill Zocor.
9. Prehypertension by Age 35 Clogs Arteries (Annals of Internal Medicine, 7/08)
Young adults with prehypertension (blood pressure measurements slightly above normal) are more likely to have clogged arteries later in life. The American Heart Association defines prehypertension as a systolic (top) blood pressure measurement of 120 to 139 mmHg or a diastolic (bottom) number of 80 to 89 mmHg, or both.
10. Loud Bar Music Makes You Drink More (Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 10/08)
Customers of bars that play loud music drink more quickly and in fewer gulps.
11. Optimism about heart risks may be a good thing (Annals of Family Medicine, July/August 2008)
Men who believe they are at low risk of a heart attack may in fact live longer than those with a more pessimistic outlook.
12. Expectant moms who go nuts boost child asthma risk (American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 7/08)
Pregnant women who eat nuts or nut products like peanut butter daily raise the risk their children will develop asthma by 50 percent.
13. When kids become teens, they get sluggish (Journal of the American Medical Association, 7/16/08)
American children become sluggish once they hit the teen years. While 90 percent of 9-year-olds get a couple of hours of exercise most days, fewer than 3 percent of 15-year-olds do.
14. Premature babies grow up shy (New England Journal of Medicine, 7/17/08)
Children born prematurely are more timid and less likely to get married and have children.
15. Marriage weakens high blood sugar-hostility link (Diabetes Care, 7/08)
Hostility and anger are associated with higher blood glucose levels in non-diabetic single men.
16. Older Women's Stroke Risk Linked to Sleep (Stroke, 7/08)
Regularly getting nine hours or more of sleep per night may increase the risk of stroke in postmenopausal women. Postmenopausal women who slept nine or more hours per night were 70% more likely to suffer an ischemic stroke than women who slept an average of seven hours a night.
