Sleep gets better with age

Article first published as Older Adults Get Better Sleep on Technorati.

Researchers have found that sleep gets better with age. Although, people in their 40's feel some difficulty in sleeping, sleep actually improves, when people pass their 50's.

"This flies in the face of popular belief," says Dr. Michael Grandner, lead author of the study. "These results force us to re-think what we know about sleep in older people — men and women."

Researchers from Center for Sleep and Circadian Neurobiology at the University of Pennsylvania surveyed more than 150,000 older people on telephone. They have asked them about their sleep. They have also asked them about the education, depressed mood, race, income and general health.

Researchers have observed that sleep may be affected by poor health but old age is not the single factor affecting the sleep. They found in the survey that sleep problems decrease with age and the least complaints about sleep were found in the people with more than 70 years of age.

Researchers have concluded that advancing age was not associated with increased self-reported sleep disturbance or self-reported tiredness/lack of energy. These results suggest that the often-reported increase in sleep problems with age is a nonlinear phenomenon, mediated by factors other than physiologic aging.

Flu medicine is found to be helpful in serious brain injury

Article first published as Severe Brain Injury Can Be Rapidly Treated With a Flu Medicine on Technorati.

Researchers have successfully confirmed that a flu medicine, amantadine, is efficient in treating the brain injury.

Their findings are consistent with observational reports suggesting the acceleration of recovery in patients who are receiving amantadine and the deceleration or loss of function after treatment is discontinued.

Researchers worked on 184 patients, who were in minimal conscious state for 4-16 weeks after severe brain injury. They divided the patients in two groups, one receiving the drug, amantadine, while the other received the dummy medicine i.e. placebo, for 4 weeks. Researchers have found that the group, which received the flu drug showed rapid improvement. They were better able to follow commands and reliably saying yes or no. They were also better able to use a spoon or hairbrush.

Researchers have discovered that very few, i.e. 17% of, patients of amantadine group remain in the “vegetative state” as compared to the other group, in which 32% remain in “vegetative state”.

Researchers have also given directions for future studies. Future research should focus on determining the pathophysiological characteristics of patients who have a response to amantadine, the most effective dosage and duration of treatment and timing of its initiation, and the effectiveness of amantadine in patients with nontraumatic brain injuries.

This research has been published online in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Heart attack is more bad for women

Article first published as Heart Attack Can Be More Fatal in Women on Technorati.

Researchers from U.S. have found that although men, under the age of 65, have three times more chances to get heart attacks than women but heart attacks are more fatal in women.

Researchers worked on the National Registry of Myocardial Infarction of more than 1 million patients from 1994-2006. They have found that “silent” heart attacks gave fewer chances to women to call a doctor in-time leading to mortality. They reported that middle-aged women, who suffered from heart attacks, have 60% more chances to die as compared to the males.

Researchers have found that 4.2% of 292,000 men died in hospital whereas 6.8% of 108,000 women died.  They have also found that 3.7% of women, who experienced chest pain, died in hospital while 2.4% of men, who felt chest pain, died in hospital. On the other hand, 16.1% of women, who didn’t experience chest pain, died in hospital while 12.5% of men, who didn’t felt chest pain, died in hospital.

Researchers have reported, "Younger women presenting without chest pain had greater hospital mortality than younger men without chest pain."

Cathy Ross, Senior Cardiac Nurse at the British Heart Foundation, said: “Contrary to popular belief, a heart attack doesn’t necessarily mean dramatic and excruciating chest pains.

“Symptoms vary; for some the pain is severe and yet others may feel nothing more than a mild discomfort or heaviness. The most important thing to remember is if you think you’re having a heart attack, call 999."

And the second most important thing is to go for a regular medical checkup as “Prevention is better than cure”. Remember, you have to care for yourself not only for you but for your family too.

This study has been published online in The Journal of the American Medical Association.

Antipsychotic drugs could be dangerous to dementia patients

Article first published as Some Antipsychotic Drugs are More Fatal for Patients with Dementia on Technorati.

Researchers including Krista Huybrechts, PhD, of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, and colleagues have found that some antipsychotic drugs have more chances of death for the patients of dementia.

Researchers worked on more than 75000 patients of age 65 and older, who have just started any of the six antipsychotic drugs (haloperidol, aripiprazole, olanzapine, quetiapine, risperidone, ziprasidone), who were eligible for Medicaid and who were living in nursing homes in 2001-05, as approximately one-third of elderly people in nursing homes are treated with antipsychotics

Researchers compared the five drugs with risperidone, which is commonly used. They have found that the risk of death from haloperidol in dementia patients is very high and the drug’s usage "cannot be justified because of the excess harm." They have reported that quetiapine is safest among the six medications.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned about the usage of antipsychotic drugs in dementia patients because of chances of death but this study is first of its kind to tell about the comparative efficacy of the drugs.

Researchers have not considered other antipsychotics as they form less than 1% of prescriptions.

This study has been published online in the British Medical Journal.

Colonoscopy helps to decrease deaths from cancer

Researchers from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, have found that Colon screening through colonoscopy reduces the chances of death from colon cancer by upto 53%.

Researchers worked on 2602 patients, who underwent screening from 1980 to 1990, and publihed their findings in The New England Journal of Medicine.

From SayPeople,

In colonoscopy, a camera is inserted into the intestine to check for the cautious polyps. In case, there is no family history of colon cancer and first test is normal then further tests are done every 10 years. Other forms of colon cancer screening are stool tests and sigmoidoscopy, which is almost similar to colonoscopy but doesn’t involve detailed examination of the intestine.
This study confirms that the screening of colorectal cancer is very important. According to the American Cancer Society, increased screening and improved lifestyle resulted in decline of death rates as a result of cancer.

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Combo children vaccine may result in febrile seizures

Researchers have found that combo pertussis vaccine (combined diphtheria-tetanus toxoids-acellular pertussis–inactivated poliovirus– Haemophilus influenzae type b (DTaP-IPV-Hib) vaccine) usually results in febrile seizures in babies. These seizures are not long lasting.

Researchers have worked on almost 400,000 children in Denmark and concluded,

DTaP-IPV-Hib vaccination was associated with an increased risk of febrile seizures on the day of the first 2 vaccinations given at 3 and 5 months, although the absolute risk was small. Vaccination with DTaP-IPV-Hib was not associated with an increased risk of epilepsy.

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Pancreatic cancer drug by Threshold Pharma has gotten better results

Threshold Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s experimental drug has achieved good results in phase 2b clinical trials. The drug is referred to as TH-302.

"We are again very encouraged that TH-302 is conferring benefit to patients with aggressive and difficult to treat cancers," Chief Executive Barry Selick said.

The company is working with German based pharmaceutical company i.e. Merck KGaA in developing the drug.

TH-302 is used to target hypoxic conditions of the cells which are usually common in solid tumors.

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European regulators nod for Roche's Zelboraf

European Drug Regulators have approved the skin cancer drug, Zelboraf containing active ingredient Vemurafenib, for the treatment of BRAF V600 mutation-positive unresectable or metastatic melanoma, which is a fatal form of skin cancer.

Roche, manufacturer of Zelboraf, has announced this on Monday.

From SayPeople,

Zelboraf can be used as a monotherapy for the treatment of adult patients, whose late stage skin cancer have spread to other parts of the body and become inoperable. It can be given as a twice daily pill.

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Heart disease in women; signs and preventions

Article first published as Signs and preventive measures of Heart disease in women on Technorati.

People usually think that heart diseases are rare among women but it is one of the most common causes of death due to diseases. According to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 88,000 women of the ages 45-64 and 372,000 women of age 65 and older have heart attack in a year and one in three American women dies from heart disease.

According to Health officials, following signs of heart are found in the women having heart disease:

• Feelings of tiredness, which do not disappear even with proper sleep


• Difficult breathing and sleeping


• Scared or nervous feelings


• Headaches which can be new and/or worse


• Upset stomach with belly pain that is usually above the belly button


• Pain and burning sensations in chest, which sometimes feel “heavy” or “tight” and this condition could spread to the jaw, neck, shoulders, ear or the inside of the arms


• Pain in the back, between the shoulders

For a healthy heart, following measures may be adopted;

• Women, with family history of heart problem, properly maintain their lifestyle and visit doctor or clinic more often


• Smoking must be avoided and women must remain away from people who smoke


• Cholesterol and Blood pressure must be maintained properly


• Diabetes must be properly checked and controlled


• Walking and other such activity on daily basis are helpful in decreasing the chances of heart attack


• Eating must be controlled properly with reduced salt consumption through diet


• Healthy weight is essential for controlling heart disease


• Women with reduced stress, sadness and anger have reduced risks of heart attack

Body clock has an important effect on immunity

Researchers from Yale University have recently published their findings of the effect of Circadian rhythm or body clock on the immunity of the body. Circadian rhythm is an endogenous timing system regulating different metabolic activities.

They have worked on mice model with sepsis and found that a certain protein, Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9), showed different activity at different times of the night and day showing different affects on sepsis.

Researchers have suggested that optimized treatment strategies could be developed by considering the circadian rhythm.

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MRI scans showed brain changes in Autistic infants

Researchers have worked on the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) of 92 infants aging from 6 months to 2 years. They have found that there are certain brain connection changes in the infants whose siblings are autistic.

Researchers have published their findings in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

According to researchers, findings of tracking the changes of the brain in the early stages can lead to better developmental outcomes.

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Dementia may be found through hand-grip and walking speed

Researchers have found that slow walkers, in middle ages of life, had 1.5 times more chances to develop dementia as compared to fast walkers. They have also found that people with stronger grip had 42% lower chances of developing stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA).

Researchers will present this research at American Academy of Neurology’s (AAN’s) 64th Annual Meeting in New Orleans, April 21 to April 28, 2012.

From SayPeople,

Researchers have also found that slower walking speed was also linked with decreased total cerebral brain volume and poorer performance on memory, language and decision-making tests. Moreover, firm hand grip strength was linked with increased total cerebral brain volume as well as better performance on cognitive tests asking people to identify similarities among objects.

“Further research is needed to understand why this is happening and whether preclinical disease could cause slow walking and decreased strength.” Erica C. Camargo, MD, MSc, PhD, with Boston Medical Center.

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Sinusitis can't be treated with amoxicillin

Researchers have recently published in The Journal of the American Medical Association that amoxicillin, an antibiotic, is not effective in treating the common type of sinusitis i.e. rhinosinusitis.

“We feel antibiotics are overused in the primary-care setting,” says Jane M. Garbutt, MD, research associate professor of medicine and the paper’s first author. “There is a movement afoot, led by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to try to improve the judicious use of antibiotics. We hope this study provides scientific evidence that doctors can use with patients to explain that an antibiotic is not likely to help an acute sinus infection” as one in five antibiotics in the U.S. are prescribed for sinusitis.

“It’s a nasty disease,” Garbutt says. “People have significant symptoms. They feel miserable and miss time from work. If an antibiotic is not going to be of any benefit, then what is? That’s a question we haven’t answered yet. But we are working on it.”

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Radiation may not help to prolong life of lung cancer patients

Researchers have found that the radiation therapy after surgery of lung cancer may not help in prolonging the life of patients of lung cancer.

Researchers have worked on more than 1300 older cancer patients of lung in which 710 patients received radiation therapy. They have found that the radiation is less likely to increase the life of patients.

According to researchers, the physicians must not always use radiation to stop recurrence of lung cancer.

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Alzheimer's disease and Anticancer drug

Researchers from Case Western Reserve University in Ohio have published their findings in the journal Science.

Researchers have found that the destructive protein plaques caused by beta-amyloid in the brain of mice model have successfully been removed after using the drug, bexarotene, which is used for the treatment of skin cancer.

From SayPeople,

Researchers thought to increase the amount of ApoE. They used bexarotene, which is used for the treatment of skin cancer, on mice with similar conditions as that of Alzheimer’s disease. They found that the levels of beta-amyloid in the brain were “rapidly lowered” within six hours after using one dose and a 25% reduction was sustained for 70 hours. They further found that in older mice the number of plaques reduced by 50% after seven days of treatment. 

Researchers have found that after treatment the brain functioning improved such as nest building, remembering electrical shocks and maze performance.

However, according to researchers, this study needs further investigation.

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Plastic surgery's demand has increased in U.S.

13.8 million people have underwent plastic surgeries in the year of 2011. This amount is 5% from the year 2010.

This increase in the number of plastic surgeries have been reported by American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

"While the rate of economic recovery in the US is still uncertain, 2011 proved to be a good year for plastic surgery," said American Society of Plastic Surgeons president Malcolm Roth.

"Consumer confidence was up, auto sales rose 10 percent, so it is not surprising that we would also see increased demand for plastic surgery procedures."

From SayPeople,

Reduced invasive procedures caused the increase of 6% to almost 12.2 million procedures in 2011. Among the popular protocols were Botox injections, chemical peels, laser hair removal and soft tissue fillers to remove laugh lines and wrinkles.

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Racial differences of kidney transplantation

Researchers have published online in the American Journal of Transplantation blacks have 59% less rates of kidney transplantation in the southeastern center.


From SayPeople,

Researchers worked on 2291 patients at Emory transplant center as well as those from the United States Renal Data System and the United Network for Organ Sharing, from 2005 to 2007 followed through May 2010, and found “racial disparities” in access to transplant evaluation, referral, wait-listing and eventual transplant. “Of 2291 patients, 64.9% were black, the mean age was 49.4 years and 33.6% lived in poor neighborhoods.” Among them 57.3% were male and 16.1% were without any health insurance coverage. 

Researchers have found that black patients constitute about 56% of the waiting list but only 44% of those got eventual transplantation. They have found the biggest inequalities in the time between diagnosis and referral, i.e. 283 days for blacks and 84 days for whites, and time spent on the waiting list, i.e. 727 days for blacks versus 374 days for whites. However, according to researchers at the national level blacks get equivalent rate of transplantation as whites.

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Rare brain disorder in Marin County

Two new cases of rare brain disorder have been reported in Marin County. One of the patients in that cases has been died.

According to Marin County Health Department that death was not the result of mad cow disease. Moreover, they have reported that the chances of getting infection are very rare and so there is no public threat.

"We have no evidence that suggests a causal linkage between the suspect cases nor is there any evidence to suggest a risk in food supply," the state public health department said in a statement.

Mad cow disease is also known as bovine spongiform encephalitis and is one of the rare disorders or diseases.

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Research idea for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease

Little presentation for the research idea for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, which is a degenerative process of the brain.

Memory improvement through electrical shock; Research

Researchers have published in The New England Journal of Medicine that memory of the epileptic patients improved after slight electrical shock.

Researchers focused on the entorhinal cortex - part of the brain helpful in the formation and storage of memories - and hippocampus that is the brain's chief memory center.

"When we stimulated the hippocampus itself, there was not an effect. It was really stimulation in the gateway to the hippocampus - the entorhinal cortex - where we got the beneficial effect in terms of memory," Dr. Itzhak Fried, professor of neurosurgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, who worked on the study, said.

According to researchers, this can be of help for the patients of Alzheimer's disease.

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