American Medical Association health news articles

Sleep apnea treatment reduces hypertension and heart disease risk
Two studies that included adults with obstructive sleep apnea examined the effectiveness of reducing the risk of cardiovascular outcomes, including high blood pressure, by treatment with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP).

Stroke risk greater for older women with atrial fibrillation
In a study that examined use of the anticoagulant medication warfarin and risk of stroke following a diagnosis of atrial fibrillation in older patients, women, especially those 75 years or older, had a higher risk of stroke than men, regardless of their risk profile and use of warfarin, suggesting that current anticoagulant therapy to prevent stroke might not be sufficient for older women.

Chronic migraine and daily headaches patients get little benefit from botox injections
Although botulinum toxin A ("Botox") injections are U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved for preventive treatment for chronic migraines, a review and analysis of previous studies finds a small to modest benefit for patients with chronic migraine headaches and chronic daily headaches, although botox injections were not associated with greater benefit than placebo for preventing episodic migraine or chronic tension-type headaches.

Vitamin D therapy does not improve heart disease risk
Patients with chronic kidney disease who received the vitamin D compound paricalcitol for up to 48 weeks did not show improvement on measures of cardiac structure, function, or left ventricular mass, compared to patients who received placebo.

Physically active children have better cardiometabolic measures
Higher amounts of time with moderate to vigorous physical activity were associated with better cardiometabolic risk factors (such as measures of cholesterol, blood pressure and waist size), regardless of the amount of time spent sedentary. National and international public health authorities agree that children and adolescents should accumulate at least 60 minutes of moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity (MVPA) daily.

Most major air pollutants increases heart attack risk
Short-term exposure (for up to 7 days) to all major air pollutants, with the exception of ozone, is significantly associated with an increased risk of heart attack. The potentially harmful effect of episodes of high air pollution on health has been suspected for more than 50 years.

Antibiotic amoxicillin no cure for acute sinusitis
Treatment with the antibiotic amoxicillin for patients with acute uncomplicated rhinosinusitis (inflammation of the nasal cavity and sinuses) did not result in a significant difference in symptoms compared to patients who received placebo.

Additional breast surgery common after partial mastectomy
Nearly one in four women who undergo a partial mastectomy for treatment of breast cancer have another surgery to remove additional tissue (reexcision), and there is substantial surgeon and institutional variation in the rate of reexcisions that cannot be explained by patients' clinical characteristics.

Bariatric surgery reduces heart attack and stroke in obese
Among obese individuals, having bariatric surgery was associated with a reduced long-term incidence of cardiovascular deaths and events such as heart attack and stroke, revealed by researchers.

Depression increases stroke and stroke related health problems
Depression significantly increases the risks of developing a stroke, and likely to be fatal. Depression with a number of other physical health problems raises stroke risk, revealed in a recent study.

New blood test can detect fetus gender in early pregnancy
A boy or a girl baby. Parents-to-be wishing to know the gender of their unborn baby can usually find out during a routine ultrasound performed around 20 weeks of pregnancy. Now, new technology can tell pregnant women whether they are having a boy or a girl as early as seven weeks into a pregnancy. Scientists have been making rapid progress in identifying foetal DNA in the mother's blood to predict fetus gender.

Therapy reduces early menopause for women with breast cancer
Temporarily suppressing ovarian function with use of the hormone analogue triptorelin reduced the occurrence of early menopause induced by chemotherapy among women with breast cancer, according to a study in the July_20 issue of JAMA.

Intensive statin therapy increases risk of diabetes
Use of intensive-dose statin therapy compared with moderate-dose statin therapy was associated with a higher incidence of new-onset diabetes. An analysis of data from previously published studies indicates that intensive-dose statin therapy is associated with an increased risk of new-onset diabetes compared with moderate-dose therapy, according to a study in the recent issue of JAMA.

Ovarian cancer screening does not improve survival
In a clinical trial that included nearly 80,000 women, those who received ovarian cancer screening did not have a reduced risk of death from ovarian cancer compared to women who received usual care, but did have an increase in invasive medical procedures and associated harms as a result of being screened.

Many new drugs did not have comparative effectiveness information
Only about half of new drugs approved in the last decade had comparative effectiveness data available at the time of their approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and approximately two-thirds of new drugs had this information available when alternative treatment options existed,.

Coronary artery bypass graft surgeries decreasing in US
Between 2001 and 2008, the annual rate of coronary artery bypass graft surgeries performed in the United States decreased by more than 30 percent, but rates of percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI; procedures such as balloon angioplasty or stent placement used to open narrowed coronary arteries) did not change significantly.

Structured exercise training improves glycemic control in diabetes patients
Implementing structured exercise training, including aerobic, resistance or both, was associated with a greater reduction in hemoglobin A1c levels (a marker of glucose control) for patients with diabetes compared to patients in the control group, and longer weekly exercise duration was also associated with a greater decrease in these levels.

Low sodium excretion linked to higher heart disease incidence
In a study conducted to examine the health outcomes related to salt intake, as gauged by the amount of sodium excreted in the urine, lower sodium excretion was associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular death, while higher sodium excretion did not correspond with increased risk of hypertension or cardiovascular disease complications.

Vitamin E or metformin not effective in liver disease in children teens
In contrast to previous preliminary data, use of vitamin E or the diabetes drug metformin was not superior to placebo on a measured outcome for treating nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in children and adolescents.

Patterns of medication nonadherence in epilepsy children linked to socioeconomic status
An examination of medication adherence among children with newly diagnosed epilepsy found that nearly 60 percent showed persistent nonadherence during the first 6 months of therapy, and that lower socioeconomic status was associated with higher non-adherence.

Low health literacy linked to higher rate of death in heart failure patients
An examination of health literacy (such as understanding basic health information) among managed care patients with heart failure, a condition that requires self-management, found that nearly one in five have low health literacy, which was associated with a higher all-cause risk of death.

Evidence based treatments decrease risk of death among heart attack patients
In an analysis of data from a coronary care registry in Sweden, between 1996-2007 there was an increase in the prevalence of use of evidence-based invasive procedures and pharmacological therapies for treatment of a certain type of heart attack, and a decrease in the rate of death at 30 days and one year after a heart attack for these patients.

Activation of biomarker may improve survival among obese patients with colorectal cancer
Among obese patients, activation of the protein biomarker CTNNB1 was associated with better colorectal cancer-specific survival and overall survival, whereas post-diagnosis physical activity was associated with better colorectal cancer-specific survival among patients negative for CTNNB1.

Antidepressant may reduce menopausal hot flashes
Women who were either in the transition to menopause or postmenopausal experienced a reduction in the frequency and severity of menopausal hot flashes with the use of the antidepressant medication escitalopram, compared to women who received placebo.

Imaging can identify biomarker of alzheimer's disease
Preliminary research suggests that use of a type of molecular imaging procedure may have the ability to detect the presence of beta-amyloid in the brains of individuals during life, a biomarker that is identified during autopsy to confirm a diagnosis of Alzheimer disease.

Incontinence after prostate surgery reduced with behavioral therapy
For men with incontinence for at least one year following radical prostatectomy, participation in a behavioral training program that included pelvic floor muscle training, bladder control strategies and fluid management, resulted in a significant reduction in the number of incontinence episodes.

Weight gain in middle age increases diabetes risk
For individuals 65 years of age and older, obesity, excess body fat around the waist and gaining weight after the age of 50 are associated with an increased risk of diabetes, according to a study in the June 23/30 issue of JAMA.

Folic acid and vitamin B12 have no beneficial effects in heart disease
A new study revealed that the substantial long-term reductions in blood homocysteine levels with folic acid and vitamin B12 supplementation did not have beneficial effects on vascular outcomes but were also not associated with adverse effects on cancer incidence.

Vitamin B6 lowers risk of lung cancer
An analysis that included nearly 400,000 participants finds that those with higher blood levels of vitamin B6 and the essential amino acid methionine (found in most protein) had an associated lower risk of lung cancer, including participants who were current or former smokers.

Readmission rate has increased for heart failure patients
An analysis of Medicare data from 1993 through 2006 for older patients hospitalized for heart failure indicates that along with a decrease in hospital length of stay, the rate of in-hospital and 30-day mortality has decreased, while the rate of hospital readmission and discharge to skilled nursing facilities has increased, according to a study in the June 2 issue of JAMA.

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