Clearing the air links between smoking and osteoporosis strengthened
... Hsu, who now plans a follow up study to correlate serum levels of cotinine, a nicotine derivative that onl...s in blood of those exposed to tobacco smoke, with serum hormone levels....Outcomes of patients in trials; Better blood pressure treatment; Snake bites, and more
...munogen was tested, the researchers found that the serum (the part of the blood that contains antibodies) r... higher levels in obese individuals of acute-phase serum amyloid A, which is secreted by adipose tissue, may contribute to the chronic low-level inflammatory...Encouraging results for folic acid as a cancer prevention drug
...monstrated associations between folate deficiency, serum homocysteine elevations, and a variety of cancers. Some studies have suggested folate supplementation or at least a high folate dietary intake may protect against some cancers. This body of evidence suggests folate to be an effective chemopreventive ......he development of anti-diabetic therapies to lower serum RBP4 levels as well as an early means of identifyi...ich insulin resistance was high, but that elevated serum RBP4 was also closely associated with components of the metabolic syndrome, including increased body...Statin use associated with reduced risk of common type of cataract
...ssue of JAMA. Statins are widely used to decrease serum cholesterol for cardiovascular disease prevention. Statins have also been shown to have antioxidant activity. Oxidative stress (a condition in which antioxidant levels are lower than normal) has been thought to be a risk factor for age-related catara...Increased nighttime blood pressure may be linked to higher risk for congestive heart failure
...rt attack, diabetes, smoking, body mass index, and serum cholesterol level), a 9mm Hg increase in nighttime ambulatory diastolic blood pressure and the presence of "nondipping" blood pressure (BP that is at least as high at night as during the day) were associated with an increased risk of CHF. Nighttime a...New insights into the impact of pregnancy on inflammatory arthritis
... Health, set out to investigate whether changes in serum fetal DNA levels correlate with changes in arthrit...ased until delivery. Among these women, levels of serum fetal DNA also progressively rose throughout pregnancy. As fetal DNA quantities doubled, the likeli...Biomarker reduces length of antibiotic treatment
... It took less than 20 minutes to detect levels of serum procalcitonin in the laboratory and results were routinely available within an hour. Each test cost between $15 and $30. "Procalcitonin appears to be a more reliable measure for individual tailoring and early discontinuance of antibiotic therapy a...Genetic variation linked to age-related macular degeneration
... and investigated the modifying effect of smoking, serum inflammatory markers, and genetic variation of C-r...e gene mutation CFH Y402H. Information on smoking, serum inflammatory markers and CRP gene variation were assessed at baseline. The frequency of CFH Y402H ...Researchers demonstrate potential mechanism of food allergy
...food and other allergies, including skin tests and serum IgE tests, however, they may not accurately diagnose food allergies. The oral food challenge is considered the most accurate test for food allergies but is expensive to administer and has to be done in a controlled environment. Immunoglobulin (anti...Arthritis drug helps debilitating inflammatory disease
...hrocyte sedimentation rate, c-reactive protein and serum amyloid A protein (SAA), had improved, and by six months, 33 percent of the patients showed improved hearing and another half of the patients had no further hearing loss from baseline. Other confirmed benefits of treatment included disappearance or l...African Americans have lower response rate to standard therapy for hepatitis C
...edictors such as patient age, gender, pretreatment serum HCV concentrations, amount of fibrosis in the live...as stopped in patients who had a positive test for serum HCV RNA. Responders continued treatment for another 24 weeks and were assessed for sustained virolo...Prevalence of herpes simplex virus type 2 in US decreasing
...est positive for a specific disease based on blood serum specimens) of HSV-2 in the U.S. increased by 30 percent, while the overall HSV-1 seroprevalence was unchanged. Fujie Xu, M.D., Ph.D., of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, and colleagues examined national trends in HSV-1 and ...Katie Lee Joel joins Kidney Friendly Comfort Foods program
...ysis patients will develop hyperphosphatemia (high serum phosphorus levels in the blood). Excess phosphorus in the blood can lead to serious long-term health problems for these patients, such as mineral deposits in the heart and blood vessels, bone disease and even death. Because phosphorus is found in s...Patients can report statins' adverse effects on new web site
...any of a class of lipid-lowering drugs that reduce serum cholesterol levels by inhibiting a key enzyme involved in the biosynthesis of cholesterol. Statin cholesterol-lowering drugs are among the most prescribed drugs in the United States. According to Consumer Reports, two such drugs atorvastatin (Lipi...Fatty fish consumption associated with lower risk of kidney cancer in women
...her content of vitamin D than lean fish, and lower serum vitamin D levels have been associated with development and progression of RCC. Alicja Wolk, D.M.Sc., of the Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden and colleagues investigated the association between fatty fish and lean fish consumption and the ri...Annals of Internal Medicine tip sheet for October 3, 2006, issue
...512). The measures of quality of care were anemia, serum albumin levels, functioning vascular access, and dialysis adequacy. The annual death rates in patients who met zero, one, two, three, or four of the quality measures were 29 percent, 25 percent, 21 percent, 14 percent, and 7 percent, respectively. ...Newsbriefs from the journal Chest: October 2006
... (TP group). Clinical evaluation, spirometry, and serum collection were then performed for 3 to 4 weeks following immunization. In this double-blind study, subjects with influenza-caused illness (LDI) were compared with those who had non-LDI respiratory illness or no illness. Subjects were evaluated when ...New evidence finds an association between periodontal disease and stroke
...stroke." Age, tobacco use, hypertension, diabetes, serum glucose, C-Reactive protein (CRP) and alcohol inta...o have harmful effects on the control of diabetes, serum glucose levels and increases CRP levels. Evidence continues to accumulate associating severe period...Smoking ban associated with rapid improvement in health of bar workers
...in measurements of lung function and reductions in serum cotinine (metabolized nicotine) levels. Asthmatic bar workers also had less airway inflammation and an increase in quality of life scores.(JAMA. 2006;296:1742-1748. Available pre-embargo to the media at www.jamamedia.org .) Editor's Note: Please...