Hot MedFax

You've got that deadline glaring down your neck.  Your boss keeps looking over at you.  You're late to pick your kid up from soccer.  And who knows what's going to happen for dinner? We've all been there.  Workplace stress is a killer.  And now it might literally be, too.  Did you know work stress can cause a stroke? According to an analysis of studies , having a high-stress job may be linked to a higher risk of stroke. "Having a lot of job stress has been linked to heart disease, but studies on job stress and stroke have shown inconsistent results,” says Dingli Xu, MD, with Southern Medical University in Guangzhou, China, at newswise.com. “It’s possible that high-stress jobs lead to more unhealthy behaviors, such as poor eating habits, smoking and a lack of exercise.” The analysis looked at all of the available research on job strain and stroke risk. The six studies analyzed involved a total of 138,782 participants who were followed for thre...

We've always heard that it's good to have a purpose in life.  Becoming a mother.  Giving blood.  Making a million dollars. How many of us have given it just lip service, though?  A new study is saying we should think again. Study Highlights • People who have a strong sense of purpose in life are less likely to develop brain infarcts as they age. • Having a “purpose in life” may also protect against dementia, movement problems, and death. • Purpose in life differs for everyone and can include things such as volunteering, learning new things, or being part of your community. Having a strong sense that your life has meaning and direction may make you less likely to develop areas of brain damage caused by blockages in blood flow as you age. This research is reported in the American Heart Association’s journal Stroke . When a blockage interrupts blood flow in a vessel within the brain, a stroke can result or brain tissue can be damaged. This damaged tissue...

I had it again last night. The dream where I park my car, then go back to find it and it's gone.  I wander around and around but never find it again. Now a new study has me thinking I'm developing Alzheimer's. Well, not really.  But researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have induced this all-too-common human experience – or a close version of it – permanently in rats and from what is observed, hope they can perhaps derive clues about why strokes and Alzheimer's disease can destroy a person’s sense of direction, according to newswise.com. Scientists have developed a micro-surgical procedure that makes it possible to remove the area of the rat’s brain that contains grid cells and show what happens to this hard-wired navigational system when these grid cells are wiped out. One effect, not surprisingly, is that the rats become very poor at tasks requiring internal map-making skills, such as remembering the location of a resti...

Here's a scary thought.  Did you know eating too many ramen noodles might give you a heart attack? A new study says this is especially true for women (figures). Significant consumption of the convenient food product – ramen included – may increase a person’s risk for cardiometabolic syndrome, especially in women, newswise.com reports. This means diabetes, stroke, or heart disease risk.  Because ramen consumption is relatively high among Asian populations, the research focused primarily on South Korea, which has the highest per-capita number of instant noodle consumers in the world. In recent years, South Koreans have experienced a rapid increase in health problems, specifically heart disease, and a growing number of overweight adults. Such changes could lead to increased mortality due to cardiovascular disease, as well as increased health care costs, according to the Web site. The researcher, Dr. Hyun Joon Shin, who led the study on behalf of the Baylor Heart...

Yet one more thing to worry about. Doctors are now finding that children's colds may lead to a risk of stroke. According to newswise.com, a new study suggests that colds and other minor infections may temporarily increase stroke risk in children.  But before you panic, doctors say, don't. “While the study does show an increased risk, the overall risk of stroke among children is still extremely low,” said Lars Marquardt, MD, DPhil, of the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg in Germany, who wrote a corresponding editorial. “Minor infections are very common in children while strokes are thankfully very rare. Parents should not be alarmed whatsoever if a child catches a simple cold.” The study found that the risk of stroke was increased only within a three-day time frame between doctors’ visits for signs of infection and stroke, when it studied children who had colds which led to  strokes. A total of 10 of the 102 children who had a stroke had a doctor visit for a...

Maybe it comes from growing up with an English mother but we never used salt much in my house, growing up. So that's probably why I don't like too much salt in my food (and why my mother-in-law says my food is tasteless -- but that's a story for another day!). Now a new study is saying that too little salt can do as much damage as too much. According to newswise.com, researchers have shown that the effects of increasing sodium intake on raising blood pressure – a risk factor for heart attack, heart failure, stroke and other problems – become dramatically worse as salt intake rises above 5 grams (.17 of an ounce) per day, especially among people who already have high blood pressure, or who are older than 55, or both. “While there has been much focus on reducing salt in the diet, an important and ignored approach to lowering blood pressure is increasing the amount of potassium consumed. A balanced approach is what is likely to have the greatest benefit in lower...

Who knew?  Lower blood pressure for people with high blood pressure isn't necessarily good. According to newswise.com, "Researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center found that lowering systolic blood pressure below 120 does not appear to provide additional benefit for patients. Systolic pressure is the top number in a standard blood pressure reading (e.g., 120/80)." “Frequently we treat patients’ blood pressure to the lowest it will go, thinking that is what’s best,” said Carlos J. Rodriguez, M.D., associate professor of public health sciences at Wake Forest Baptist and lead author of the study.  “Our observational study found that treating to low pressures doesn’t provide any benefit to patients with regard to reducing risk of dangerous heart events like heart attack, heart failure and stroke. This calls into question the notion that lower is better.” Previous studies had documented a progressive increase in heart disease risk as systolic blood pres...

Sex is supposed to make us happy.  Satisfy us.  Transform a day from pretty ordinary to outstanding (well, you get what I mean).  But should it give you a headache ? About one percent of adults say it does, according to newswise.com.  And these people say that such headaches can be severe. But the actual incidence is almost certainly higher, according to Loyola University Medical Center neurologist and headache specialist Dr. Jose Biller, who has treated dozens of patients for headaches associated with sexual activity (HAS). Biller is chair of Loyola’s Department of Neurology, and is certified in Headache Medicine by the United Council for Neurologic Subspecialties. "Many people who experience headaches during sexual activity are too embarrassed to tell their physicians, and doctors often don’t ask,” the Web site quotes Biller. "Headaches associated with sexual activity can be extremely painful and scary. They also can be very frustrating, both to the...

Sorry to burst your bubble but a new study says all that hype about dark chocolate and red wine and berries is just that.  Hype. Turns out they no more protect us from heart attack, cancer and stroke than M&Ms and Coke. Resveratrol, the antioxidant found in these foods and beverages, once thought to be the elixir of long life, has, suddenly, turned out not to be such a godsend, after all. Scientists have found that those who eat and drink the stuff  live no longer than and are just as likely to develop cardiovascular disease or cancer as those who eat or drink smaller amounts of the antioxidant, according to newswise.com. “The story of resveratrol turns out to be another case where you get a lot of hype about health benefits that doesn’t stand the test of time,” the Web site quotes Richard D. Semba, M.D., M.P.H., a professor of ophthalmology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and leader of the study described May 12 in  JAMA Internal Medici...

We all know how important it is to keep our teeth clean and healthy (or maybe that's just me, married to a dentist).  They affect our whole body, not just our mouth, because gum disease can lead to all kinds of infections, problems in pregnancy and even heart disease. But researchers have found a new use for our teeth that, let's face it, we all pretty much take for granted. What if stem cells taken from teeth can grow to resemble brain cells, suggesting they could one day be used in the brain as a therapy for stroke? That's what science is looking at right now, according to newswise.com.  " Stem cells are unprogrammed cells in the human  body  that can be described as "shape shifters." These  cells  have the ability to change into other types of cells," science.howstuffworks.com reports. " Because stem cells can become bone, muscle, cartilage and other specialized types of cells, they have the potential to treat many diseases, including Parki...

Great.  Now I have to worry about my cholesterol medicine making me fat. A new study has found that people who take statins tend to eat more calories and fat than those who do not. According to newswise.com, "p eople who take statin drugs to lower their cholesterol appear to have developed a false sense of security that could lead to heart disease and other obesity-related illnesses." That's because a  new UCLA-led study suggests that people who took statins in 2009–2010 were consuming more calories and fat than those who used statins 10 years earlier. There was no similar increase in caloric and fat intake among non–stain users during that decade, researchers said. In 1999–2000, statin users were consuming fewer calories and less fat than individuals who didn't take these medications, the Web site reports, but that is no longer the case. "Increases in body mass index — a measure of obesity that considers body weight and height — were greater for statin-u...

Something new to blame on our genes.  Our tolerance for pain. According to newswise.com, r esearchers may have identified key genes linked to why some people have a higher tolerance for pain than others. Now, I, for one, have a high pain tolerance.  When I broke my wrist this winter and it took numerous times to reset the bone -- all without anesthesia, and only morphine for the last two tries -- I somehow took it.  I remember concentrating on the ceiling at one point when I thought I was going to jump out of my skin, and indeed, people who have an easier time concentrating and focusing in on things have a better pain tolerance, according to a study. My husband, on the other hand, starts whining the minute he gets a hang nail (though he never goes to the doctor, it's true).  His mother suffered through two strokes -- one at 20 and one at 40, where she lost the ability to talk, walk and just about everything else -- only to have a complete recovery both times (...

In the past, men faced a daunting challenge.  Lower your cholesterol and downgrade your risk of a heart attack or stroke.  Or see your sexual health diminish.  Life, or sex?  Tough choice. But a new study gives men hope.  According to newswise.com, they may no longer have to make the choice.   Statins, the very medication that slashes your cholesterol levels, and prevents sudden cardiac death, may also improve your health in the bedroom.  “Older men who have poor cardiovascular health, diabetes or metabolic syndrome often experience erectile dysfunction (ED) and the prevalence of these diseases is expected to increase,” the Web site quotes John B. Kostis, MD, professor of medicine, director of the Cardiovascular Institute at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and the study’s principal investigator. “Our research indicates that statins not only improve cardiovascular health and reduce the risk of stroke and heart attack, but also improve erectile ...

All of you guys out there on the fence -- get married.  I know, I know, I'm with a man who waited 10-and-a- half years to do it.  But if you believe all the studies, you'll live longer.  And now you're less likely to get cardiac disease (I guess that makes sense) as well. According to newswise.com, " Analysis of surveys of more than 3.5 million American men and women, administered at some 20,000 health centers across the country — believed to be the largest analysis of its kind ever performed — found that married people, regardless of age, sex, or even cardiovascular risk factors, had significantly less chances of having any kind of cardiovascular disease than those who were single, divorced or widowed." The study went even further.  newswise.com reports it found:  Being married carried a 5 percent lower risk of having any cardiovascular disease than being single   Widowed and divorced people were, respectively, 3 percent and 5 percent, more ...

Love dark chocolate and been think you've been conned into eating it because it's "healthy." I know, my friends and family laughed at me, too.  But it's true ; a new study has confirmed it.   Turns out  certain bacteria in the stomach "gobble the chocolate and ferment it into anti-inflammatory compounds that are good for the heart," newswise.com reports. “We found that there are two kinds of microbes in the gut: the ‘good’ ones and the ‘bad’ ones,” explained Maria Moore, an undergraduate student and one of the study’s researchers, at newswise.com. “The good microbes. . . feast on chocolate,” she added. “When you eat dark chocolate, they grow and ferment it, producing compounds that are anti-inflammatory.  When these compounds are absorbed by the body, they lessen the inflammation of cardiovascular tissue, reducing the long-term risk of stroke,” said John Finley, Ph.D., who led the work. He noted that cocoa powder, an ingredient in chocolate, c...

Here's another reason teens need to get their sleep .  Those who are obese and don't get enough heighten their chances of heart attack, stroke and diabetes, according to a new study. Lack of sleep and obesity have been associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases in adults and young children, newswise.com reports. The adolescents were fitted with a physical activity monitor, worn 24 hours a day for seven days, to measure typical patterns of physical activity and sleep. "One-third of the participants met the minimum recommendation of being physically active at least 60 minutes a day," the Web site notes. Most participants slept approximately seven hours each night, usually waking up at least once. Only five of the participants met the minimal recommended eight-and-a- half hours of sleep per night. Even after controlling for factors that may have an impact on cardiac and metabolic risk, like BMI and physical activity, low levels of s...

It's been quite some time since cigarettes have been advertised as sophisticated and status-y, though, when I was growing up in the '60s and early '70s, smoking ads were as ubiquitous as well, commercials for Optimum. In those days the cancer sticks, as they were sometimes called, were allowed to be advertised on TV and smokers were everywhere, in the movies, TV shows, on magazine covers (remember magazines?). But over time, the ads have either disappeared, or changed.  At first I was fascinated by the woman who lost her fingers and toes to smoking, or the one who was bedridden after a stroke and had to be cared for, for everything, by her preteen son, or the man, hawking up his lungs in the mirror. But they're even more hard-core today.  I can barely watch the young man in bed who's had a stroke and lies motionless and barely breathing in a bed, his tormented eyes seeming, to me at least, to be beseeching the camera to let him die, now, or the gaunt man in t...

We all know sleep deprivation  (SD) can lead to fuzzy thinking, traffic accidents, even weight gain.  But did you know scientists are now finding that it can cause us to age, and maybe even develop diabetes and other serious diseases, as well? A new study has looked at how our organs are affected by SD, which sometimes may even lead to Alzheimer's or Parkinson's in the elderly, who often suffer from disrupted sleep.   The findings suggest that " inadequate sleep in the elderly, who normally experience sleep disturbances, could exacerbate an already-impaired protective response to protein misfolding that happens in aging cells," according to newswise.com. Protein misfolding -- a process where proteins get degraded -- and clumping is what is associated with Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, along with many other diseases, the Web site reports.  “The combined effect of aging and sleep deprivation resulted in a loss of control of blood sugar reminiscent of pre-...

So now it's stroke?  A while back all the news was aflutter about the brain cancer risk of cellphones.  And now it's stroke. According to The Daily Mail, the metal used in some  cellphones  doubled the risk of stroke of users in a recent study. Current exposure to the metal is low, the newspaper reports, but it's being used more and more in mobile phones, computers and even light bulbs. Eight thousand adults in the U.S. between 18 and 74 were followed for 12 years (I didn't even  know  what a cellphone was, 12 years ago!) and strokes occurred more frequently in this group than those who used cellphones significantly less. The metal is tungsten and high levels of it can cause stroke, especially in people younger than 50. During production, small amounts of this metal escape into the environment, landing in rivers and farmland, where food crops are grown, and also in the air. It seems to affect some people more than others, although scientists do not ...

I was horrified to read that a new study has found that preventive dentist visits may not help save any money or prevent any cavities. According to newswise.com, the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry recommends "that children see a pediatric dentist as soon as their first tooth appears in order to prevent dental problems." But earlier research has indicated that "actually does not show that these visits lead to less costly dental issues in kids." “There was actually more expensive restorative procedures among kids with more preventive dental visits," the Web site quotes Bisha Sen, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Healthcare Organization & Policy. But this may not be as counter-intuitive as it sounds. Usually it's kids with a family history of dental problems who visit the dentist most often, and therefore, are the ones usually found to be most in need of expensive dental care. Kids without problem teeth probably aren't t...