New study links lead exposure with increased risk of cataract
...arvard researchers tested whether bone lead levels measured in both the tibia and patella, also known as the kneecap, were associated with cataract in an ongoing study of men taken from the Boston area. "Given the strong association between tibia lead and cataract in men, we estimate that lead exposure plays ...Brain can be trained to process sound in alternate way, study shows
...ooking for a simple increase in firing rate, Blake measured the rate at which the firing changed, either up or down. This rate turned out to be in exact proportion to the increase in volume -- and at the same ratio as the firing rate increase. Tests confirmed that the untrained rats' brains were not registeri...Day-long drivers at risk of cardiovascular problems as a result of traffic pollution
... and aldehydes. The heart rate of the troopers was measured during and after their shifts. Blood samples were collected after each shift to monitor inflammation and clotting status. The results of the study show that pollution from speed-changing traffic had the most significant impact on the markers of cardi...Multi-center study finds therapy boosts kidney transplants in 'highly sensitized' patients
...ving donated organ. The degree of sensitization is measured in terms of "panel reactive antibody" or PRA levels. For a non-sensitized patient with end-stage renal disease, the wait time for a cadaveric transplantation averages four to five years. For sensitized patients, the odds of being transplanted drop. A...Health care charges higher for older adults who were overweight or obese when younger
...etween 1967 and 1973, BMIs and overall health were measured in 9,978 men (average age, 46 years) and 7,623 women (average age, 48 years) participating in the Chicago Heart Association Detection Project in Industry (CHA). Individuals were classified as being nonoverweight (BMI, 18.5 24.9), overweight (25 29....Accumulated lead exposure may be an important risk factor for cataracts
...d colleagues investigated whether bone lead levels measured in both the tibia and patella were associated with...visual impairment worldwide. Bone lead levels were measured between 1991 and 1999 in a subset of participants in the Normative Aging Study (NAS), a Boston-based...Minority teens' views of drug use differ from reality
...th. The interviews, lasting from 30 to 60 minutes, measured the adolescents' feelings about their own ethnicity and compared those with their attitudes and propensity toward taking drugs and their perceptions of drug use among peers. Unlike most Black young people, few Whites looked at ethnic identity as a s...Prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease varies by ethnicity
...cipants of the Dallas Heart Study in whom HTGC was measured using proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS). Each participant filled out a questionnaire on demographics, medical history, other medical conditions and alcohol intake. They also gave a blood sample, blood pressure, body weight and m...Sleep duration affects appetite-regulating hormones
...reathing. For their study, Mignot and colleagues measured sleep duration (habitual and immediately prior to blood sampling), BMI, and pre-breakfast blood hormone levels in 1,024 participants. Consistent with previous studies, they found that in individuals who sleep less than 8 hours (74% of all participant...Sleep loss boosts appetite, may encourage weight gain
...ain when we have eaten enough. Van Cauter's team measured circulating levels of leptin and ghrelin before the study, after two nights of only four hours in bed (average sleep time 3 hours and 53 minutes) and after two nights of ten hours in bed (sleep time 9 hours and 8 minutes). They used questionnaires t...Generic drug use varies widely by state, study reveals
...ate, according to a new Express Scripts study that measured per capita generic drug utilization in 2003 using a random sample of approximately 3 million pharmacy benefit plan members age 18 to 64. The study revealed that Massachusetts had the highest generic dispensing rate, at 51%, followed by New Mexico and...NHLBI stops sickle cell anemia transfusion study
...op transfusions reverted to high risk of stroke as measured by a special ultrasound technique and 2 patients had suffered a stroke. There were no strokes or reversions to high stroke risk in the group that continued with transfusions. "This important study shows the value of continuing periodic blood transfu...Nursing homes register 41 percent drop in residents' pain
... target. These changes are made and their success measured quickly. The "plan-do-study-act" process is ongoing, with refinements in practice made along the way. Researchers modified the model to include mentoring and information sharing. Rapid-cycle quality improvement has been used to improve hospital ...No long-term harm from repeated prenatal ultrasound examination
...fects of multiple ultrasound studies at any age as measured by standard tests of childhood speech, language, behaviour, and neurological development. Lead investigator John Newnham (university of Western Australia at King Edward Memorial Hospital, Perth) comments: "Exposure to multiple prenatal ultrasound exa...Endocrine Society calls for clinical guidelines on androgens for women
...erts also suggest that free testosterone should be measured before treatment and monitored during treatment. Testosterone therapy has been studied previously in different groups of women, including women with adrenal insufficiency and premenopausal women with decreased libido, but not with low androgen level...Colon cancer screening with CT may also identify heart attack risk
...ect correlation between high aortic calcium scores measured during the procedure and the nine patients who experienced heart attacks subsequent to the screening. By noting calcification scores during virtual colonoscopy procedures, physicians may have an additional means of identifying patients at ris...Drinking water could be beneficial to patients with low blood pressure
... looked at 14 patients with autonomic failure, and measured their blood pressure while lying and standing, before, and 15 and 35 minutes after drinking 480ml of distilled water. When asked to stand, before drinking water, this caused a fall in blood pressure. The 14 patients were divided into two groups, seve...Methylphenidate improves attention, behavior of children surviving leukemia, brain tumors
...s) were identified as having attention deficits as measured by specific tests and according to both parent and... The effect of MPH on children in the study was measured by both teachers and parents, who used the Conners' Rating Scales, and teachers who used the Social ...Other highlights in the December 1 JNCI
...ston University School of Medicine, and colleagues measured and compared DNA repair in cells from normal mice and cells from mice with one or both of the tumor suppressors mutated. The mutant cells had a lower capacity for DNA repair compared with the normal cells. The authors conclude that mutation of the IN......dose-dependent locomotor defects were apparent, as measured by their ability to ascend a 25 cm vertical plastic column (rock-climbing fly-style)....