A New Method For Treating Stubborn Hypertension

A New Method For Treating Stubborn Hypertension.
A story chat up to blast away kidney nerves has a striking effect on lowering blood pressure in kindliness patients whose blood pressure wasn't budging despite trying multiple drugs, Australian researchers report. Although this lessons only followed patients for a short time - six months - the authors maintain the approach, which involves delivering radiofrequency energy to the so-called "sympathetic " nerves of the kidney, could have an make on heart disease and even help lower these patients' peril of death. The findings were presented Wednesday at the annual meeting of the American Heart Association in Chicago and published simultaneously in The Lancet.

The mull over was funded by Ardian, the company that makes the catheter logotype used in the procedure. "This is an extremely important study, and it has the potential for extraordinarily revolutionizing the way we deal with treatment-resistant hypertension," said Dr Suzanne Oparil, director of the Vascular Biology and Hypertension Program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Oparil spoke at a low-down colloquy Wednesday to announce the findings, though she was not involved in the study.

Treatment-resistant blood pressure, defined as blood squeezing that cannot be controlled on three drugs at full doses, one of which should be a diuretic, afflicts about 15 percent of the hypertensive population. "Many patients are amuck on four or five drugs and have truly refractory hypertension. If it cannot be controlled medically, it carries a huge cardiovascular risk".

This radioablation procedure had already successfully prevented hypertension in zooid models. According to study author Murray Esler, the appliance specifically targets the kidneys' sympathetic nerves. Previous studies have indicated that these nerves are often activated in kindly hypertension a cardiologist and scientist at the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute in Melbourne, Australia.

Long Distances Traveling Are Dangerous To A Life

Long Distances Traveling Are Dangerous To A Life.
Traveling want distances by plane, jalopy or train over the holidays can pose health risks if you don't nick steps to protect yourself, an expert warns. "One health risk to take into account when traveling is simply sitting for too long," Dr Clayton Cowl, an expert in transportation medicament at Mayo Clinic, said in a clinic news release. "Concerns like blood clots in the legs from sitting too long, stylish dehydrated from lack of fluid intake or drinking too much alcohol, and not walking much when delayed in an airport or coach station can be serious.

Driving for hours to reach a destination after a extensive day at work can be as equally worrisome due to fatigue and eyestrain". When traveling by car, contemplate to stop every few hours to get out and stretch your legs in order to prevent blood clots from forming, he advised. Letting your children out to smuggle and play in a safe setting will also help them burn energy and may serve as them more relaxed when they get back into the car.

If you're traveling by plane, be sure to stretch your legs. On trips longer than three hours, sentiment up and move around at least once. If you're in a buggy or plane, don't cross your legs while sitting for long periods, because this can hinder adequate blood circulation. To shun sleepiness while driving, be sure to get a good night's sleep the era before the trip.

Flu Vaccination Is Needed For Cancer Patients

Flu Vaccination Is Needed For Cancer Patients.
People with cancer clad a higher gamble for serious flu-related complications, so getting vaccinated should be at the top of their to-do shopping list this winter, an expert says in Dec 2013. "The flu shot is recommended annually for cancer patients, as it is the most moving way to prevent influenza and its complications," Dr Mollie deShazo, an confidant professor of medicine in the division of hematology and oncology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, said in a front-page news release. "The flu vaccine significantly lowers the risk of acquiring the flu.

It is not 100 percent effective, but it is the best cut we have". Pneumonia, bronchitis, sinus infections and ear infections are examples of flu-related complications, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is recommended that anyone who has not done so already get a flu shot. Although this year's flu time is off to a quiet start nationally, the bevy of cases in the south-central United States is rapidly increasing, with five deaths already reported in Texas.

Norms Of A Healthy Eating

Norms Of A Healthy Eating.
Peer pressing might play a participation in what you eat and how much you eat, a new review suggests. British researchers said their findings could assistant shape public health policies, including campaigns to promote healthy eating. The march past was published Dec 30, 2013 in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. "The reveal reviewed here is consistent with the idea that eating behaviors can be transmitted socially," lead investigator Eric Robinson, of the University of Liverpool, said in a roll news release in dec 2013.

And "Taking these points into consideration, the findings of the stage review may have implications for the development of more effective public-health campaigns to talk up healthy eating". In conducting the review, the researchers analyzed 15 studies published in 11 manifold journals. Of these, eight analyzed how people's foodstuffs choices are affected by information on eating norms.

Doctors Recommend A New Drug For The Prevention Of HIV Infection

Doctors Recommend A New Drug For The Prevention Of HIV Infection.
Should rank and file in hazard of contracting HIV because they have risky sex filch a pill to prevent infection, or will the medication encourage them to take even more sexual risks? After years of contemplation on this question, a new international study suggests the medication doesn't lead occupy to stop using condoms or have more sex with more people. The research isn't definitive, and it hasn't changed the opinion of every expert. But one of the study's co-authors said the findings support the drug's use as a disposition to prevent infection with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

And "People may have more partners or stop using condoms, but as well as we can tell, it's not because of taking the analgesic to prevent HIV infection ," said study co-author Dr Robert Grant, a superior investigator with the Gladstone Institute of Virology and Immunology in San Francisco. The medication in inquiry is called Truvada, which combines the drugs emtricitabine and tenofovir. It's normally utilized to treat people who are infected with HIV, but research - in many-coloured and bisexual men and in straight couples with one infected partner - have shown that it can lower the risk of infection in multitude who become exposed to the virus through sex.

However, it does not eliminate the risk of infection. The US Food and Drug Administration approved the painkiller for prevention purposes in 2012. Few people seem to be taking it for balk purposes, however. Its manufacturer, Gilead, has disclosed that about 1700 people are taking the drug for that mind in the United States. In the new study, researchers found that expected rates of HIV and syphilis infection decreased in almost 2500 men and transgender women when they took Truvada.

The exploration participants, who all faced hilarious risk of HIV infection, were recruited in Peru, Ecuador, South Africa, Brazil, Thailand and the United States. Some of the participants took Truvada while others took an sluggish placebo. Those who believed they were taking Truvada "were just as uninjured as everyone else," Grant said, suggesting that they weren't more favoured to stop using condoms or be more promiscuous because they believed they had extra charge against HIV infection.

Pears Help With Heart Disease

Pears Help With Heart Disease.
Boosting the lot of fiber in your chamber may lower your risk for heart disease, a new study finds. "With so much controversy causing many to escape carbohydrates and grains, this trial reassures us of the importance of fiber in the prevention of cardiovascular disease," said one learned not connected to the study, Dr Suzanne Steinbaum, a preventive cardiologist at Lenox Hill Hospital, in New York City. In the study, researchers led by Diane Threapleton, of the School of Food Science and Nutrition at the University of Leeds, in England, analyzed information from the United States, Australia, Europe and Japan to assess conflicting kinds of fiber intake.

Her yoke looked at mount up to fiber; insoluble fiber (such as that found in whole grains, potato skins) soluble fiber (found in legumes, nuts, oats, barley); cereal; fruits and vegetables and other sources. The bone up also looked at two categories of goodness disease. One, "coronary spunk disease" refers to plaque buildup in the heart's arteries that could lead to a magnanimity attack, according to the American Heart Association.

The second type of heart trouble is called "cardiovascular disease" - an gamp term for heart and blood vessel conditions that include consideration attack, stroke, heart failure and other problems, the AHA explains. The more total, insoluble, and fruit and vegetable fiber that kinfolk consumed, the lower their risk of both types of heart disease, the lucubrate found. Increased consumption of soluble fiber led to a greater reduction in cardiovascular complaint risk than coronary heart disease risk.

Yoga Helps With Injuries

Yoga Helps With Injuries.
In the descend of 2010, 34-year-old Ari Steinfeld and his then-fiancee were walking to a New York City synagogue when a speeding machine a moment jumped the curb and plowed into them. The car hit them both, but Steinfeld was more severely injured as the vehicle pinned him against a building, crushing his leg. "Below my right knee was crushed, and it was bleeding heavily. The trauma doctors who treated him were initially focused on scraping Steinfeld's get-up-and-go and weren't sure if they would be able to save his leg, too.

But Steinfeld said that a good friend who was an orthopedist at once researched which doctors in the area would be most likely to save his leg and arranged for him to be treated at the Hospital for Joint Diseases. "I told them I wanted to mince at my wedding, and that's what I focused on. His coalescence was scheduled for May 2011, just eight months from the accident.

In all, Steinfeld had 10 surgeries, including dominant operations to implant a metal bar in his leg and to take abdominal muscle from either side of his abdomen to replace the muscles that had been severed in his leg. "I Euphemistic pre-owned to have a six-pack abdomen, now it's down to a four-pack," Steinfeld joked. So how did he also gaol that sense of humor and maintain his focus throughout a grueling recovery? Steinfeld credits the lessons he intellectual from practicing yoga for six years before the accident.

Americans Consume Too Much Salt

Americans Consume Too Much Salt.
Americans' be wild about of salt has continued unabated in the 21st century, putting multitude at risk for high blood pressure, the outstanding cause of heart attack and stroke, US health officials said Thursday. In 2010, more than 90 percent of US teenagers and adults consumed more than the recommended levels of wit - about the same edition as in 2003, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in Dec 2013. "Salt intake in the US has changed very inconsequential in the last decade," said CDC medical public servant and report co-author Dr Niu Tian. And despite a slight drop away in salt consumption among kids younger than 13, the researchers found 80 percent to 90 percent of kids still overcome more than the amount recommended by the Institute of Medicine.

And "There are many organizations that are focused on reducing dietary cured intake," said Dr Gregg Fonarow, a spokesman for the American Heart Association and a professor of cardiology at the University of California, Los Angeles. "More in operation efforts are needed if the popularity of excess dietary salt intake is to be reduced". The CDC has suggested coupling salt-reduction efforts with the do battle on obesity as a way to fight both problems at the same time.

New instruct food guidelines might also be warranted, the report suggested. Samantha Heller, a senior clinical nutritionist at the NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City, said reducing dietary pickled is required for both adults and children. "What is so distressing is that this report indicates that eight out of 10 kids grey 1 to 3 years old, and nine out of 10 over 4 years old, are eating too much pep and are at risk for high blood pressure. Most of this liveliness comes from processed foods and restaurant meals, not the salt shaker on the table.

That means it's in all probability that much of the food these children eat is fast food, junk food and processed food. "This translates into a high-salt, high-fat and high-sugar aliment that can lead to a number of serious health problems down the road. In addition, both intemperate and processed food alters taste expectations, chief to constant parental complaints that their kids won't eat anything but chicken nuggets and eager dogs.

Smoking In The US Decreases

Smoking In The US Decreases.
Total smoking bans in homes and cities greatly swell the probability that smokers will cut back or quit, according to a new study Dec 27, 2013. "When there's a thoroughgoing smoking ban in the home, we found that smokers are more plausible to reduce tobacco consumption and attempt to quit than when they're allowed to smoke in some parts of the house," Dr Wael Al-Delaimy, superintendent of the division of global health, department of family and shield medicine, University of California, San Diego, said in a university news release. "The same held exact when smokers report a total smoking ban in their city or town.

Elderly After Injury

Elderly After Injury.
Seniors who put up with an injury are more likely to regain their freedom if they consult a geriatric specialist during their hospital stay, researchers report in Dec 2013. The retreat included people 65 and older with injuries ranging from a minor rib separate from a fall to multiple fractures or head trauma suffered as a driver, passenger or pedestrian in a shipping accident. A year after discharge from the hospital, the patients were asked how well they were able to perform daily activities such as walking, bathing, managing finances, highlight housework and shopping.

Those who had a consultation with a geriatrician during their sanitarium stay were able to return to about two-thirds more daily activities than those who did not, according to the study published recently in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Surgery. "Trauma surgeons have want struggled with the fragility of their older trauma patients who have much greater trim risks for the same injuries experienced by younger patients," chief study author Dr Lillian Min, an assistant professor in the division of geriatric medication at the University of Michigan Medical School, said in a university news release.

Brain Activity Prolongs Life

Brain Activity Prolongs Life.
Many phrases mirror how emotions upset the body: Loss makes you feel "heartbroken," you suffer from "butterflies" in the stomach when nervous, and unsavoury things make you "sick to your stomach". Now, a new study from Finland suggests connections between emotions and body parts may be prevailing across cultures. The researchers coaxed Finnish, Swedish and Taiwanese participants into tender-hearted various emotions and then asked them to link their feelings to body parts. They connected infuriate to the head, chest, arms and hands; disgust to the head, hands and lower chest; self-importance to the upper body; and love to the whole body except the legs.

As for anxiety, participants heavily linked it to the mid-chest. "The most surprising contrivance was the consistency of the ratings, both across individuals and across all the tested dialect groups and cultures," said study lead author Lauri Nummenmaa, an helper professor of cognitive neuroscience at Finland's Aalto University School of Science. However, one US expert, Paul Zak, chairman of the Center for Neuroeconomics Studies at Claremont Graduate University in California, was unimpressed by the findings.

He discounted the study, saying it was weakly designed, failed to cotton on how emotions effect and "doesn't show a thing". But for his part, Nummenmaa said the scrutinize is useful because it sheds light on how emotions and the body are interconnected. "We wanted to understand how the body and the watch work together for generating emotions. By mapping the bodily changes associated with emotions, we also aimed to assimilate how different emotions such as disgust or sadness actually govern bodily functions".

The Number Of Premature Births Increases

The Number Of Premature Births Increases.
Pregnant women who prefer to have an ancient delivery put themselves and their babies at increased risk for complications, researchers warn in Dec 2013. A full-term pregnancy is 40 weeks, while an early-term pregnancy is 37 weeks to 38 weeks and six days. In about 10 percent to 15 percent of all deliveries in the United States performed before 39 weeks, there is no saintly medical rationale for the premature delivery, according to the researchers.

Illness and termination rates "have increased in mothers and their babies that are born in the early-term period compared to babies born at 39 weeks or later. There is a basic to improve awareness about the risks associated with this," Dr Jani Jensen, a Mayo Clinic obstetrician and outrun inventor of a review article on the topic, said in a Mayo news release. For newborns, the increased risks of elective at daybreak delivery include breathing problems, feeding difficulties and conditions such as cerebral palsy, according to the intelligence release.