Antidepressant, Talk Therapy Fail to Beat Placebo

Neither antidepressants nor "talk therapy" were able to outperform inactive placebo pills in a new clinical trial on depression treatment -- though there were hints that the effects varied based on people's sex and race, researchers report.

The findings, published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, add to evidence that people receiving "real" depression treatment in studies -- from antidepressants to St. John's wort -- often do no better than people given a placebo.

A recent review found that a minority of antidepressant users even fared worse than placebo users.

In this latest study, researchers randomly assigned 156 depression patients to either take the antidepressant sertraline (Zoloft and other brands) daily for 16 weeks; undergo a form of psychotherapy called supportive-expressive therapy (twice a week for four weeks, then weekly for 12 weeks); or be in a placebo group given inactive pills.

After 16 weeks, there were no overall differences in how the three groups fared.

Of antidepressant patients, 31 percent were treatment "responders" (meaning they'd fallen below a certain score on a standard measure of depression symptoms, or had seen their score drop at least 50 percent.)

The same was true of about 28 percent of patients in the talk-therapy group, and 24 percent in the placebo group. The differences among the three groups were so small as to be likely due to chance.

"I was surprised by the results. They weren't what I'd expected," said lead researcher Jacques P. Barber, dean of the Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies at Adelphi University in Garden City, New York.

Still, he stressed in an interview, the lack of benefit over placebo does not mean that depression therapies are pointless.

For one, Barber said, receiving a placebo in a clinical trial "is not the same as getting no treatment."

Study participants in placebo groups have contact with health professionals who are asking about their symptoms and well-being, Barber pointed out. And for some people, that attention can make a difference -- and may help explain the placebo response seen in studies.

In addition, at least some people in placebo groups believe they are getting the real treatment. And some studies have suggested that people's beliefs about their therapy play a key role in whether they get better.

But apart from that, different people may respond differently to a given type of depression therapy. Barber's team found some evidence of that.

The study, which focused on urban, low-income adults with major depression, had an unusually large minority population for a clinical trial on depression: Of the 156 patients, 45 percent were African American.

And Barber's team found that African-American men tended to improve more quickly with talk therapy than with medication or placebo.

In contrast, white men fared best on placebo, while black women showed no differences in their responses to the three treatments.

Only white women, Barber said, showed the expected pattern: a quicker response to both medication and talk therapy than to the placebo.

But all of that is based on fairly small numbers of people, and more research is needed to see if the gender and racial differences are real, according to Barber.

A psychiatrist not involved in the study agreed. "Those findings are interesting, but need to be interpreted with a grain of salt," said Dr. David Mischoulon, an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.

EVERYTHING WORKS TO SOME DEGREE?

As for the overall lack of benefit from the real treatments over placebo -- in this and other studies -- Mischoulon cautioned against reading that as "nothing works for depression."

"I think it's the opposite," he told Reuters Health, "It's more that, everything seems to work to some degree."

Like Barber, Mischoulon said that the placebo condition in clinical trials is not really "no treatment."

His advice for people suffering from depression symptoms is to talk with your doctor about the pros and cons of all the treatment options, including different forms of talk therapy and medication.

"I try to offer as broad a menu of options as possible, because all may potentially help," said Mischoulon, who has also studied alternative depression remedies, like fish oil and acupuncture.

Another caveat from the current study, he noted, is that it looked only at two types of medication. (Some patients were switched to another drug, venlafaxine (Effexor), if they did not respond to sertraline after eight weeks). And it tested just one type of talk therapy.

Supportive-expressive therapy is a short-term form of psychoanalysis that aims to help people understand how their personal relationships are related to their symptoms.

It's different from cognitive behavioral therapy, the best-studied form of talk therapy for depression. Both Barber and Mischoulon said it's not clear if the current findings would extend to psychotherapies other than supportive-expressive therapy.

"This is one type of psychotherapy, and it's two antidepressants," Mischoulon said. "It would be wrong to conclude that psychotherapy doesn't work, and antidepressants don't work."

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/12/22/antidepressant-talk-therapy-fail-to-beat-placebo/#ixzz1hIMQEeLX

.J&J Pulls 12 Million Motrin Bottles From Shelves

Johnson & Johnson, the consumer products company which has been plagued by product recalls in the past two years, said it is voluntarily asking retailers to remove about 12 million bottles of Motrin pain relievers from store shelves.

"There is no safety concern if consumers continue taking the product in accordance with its label; however, it is possible there may be a delay in experiencing relief."

- Official statement from Johnson & Johnson

The coated caplets may not dissolve as quickly as intended when they near their expiration dates, the company found when testing product samples, according to a statement posted Wednesday on a website of J&J's McNeil Consumer Healthcare Division.
"There is no safety concern if consumers continue taking the product in accordance with its label; however, it is possible there may be a delay in experiencing relief," the statement said.
Bonnie Jacobs, a J&J spokeswoman, told Reuters the company is not asking consumers to return the caplets. The bottles were distributed in the United States, Puerto Rico, Bahamas, Fiji, Belize, St. Lucia and Jamaica.
Three McNeil manufacturing plants have been under stepped-up U.S. government supervision since March following a rash of consumer product recalls.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/12/22/jj-pulls-12-million-motrin-bottles-from-shelves/#ixzz1hIK5VCGl

Brazilian Baby Born With 2 Heads

A BRAZILIAN woman has given birth to conjoined twins with one body and two perfectly formed heads.

Maria de Nazare, 23, gave birth to the twins by C-section at a hospital in Anajas, in Brazil's northern Para state. She has named them Emanoel and Jesus because they are a Christmas miracle.

The newborns weigh 4.6-kilograms and are healthy, although doctors say it is too early to tell how they will develop.

Each boy has his own brain and spinal cord, but they share all other organs, including the heart, lungs and liver.

Joseph Brazil, the obstetrician responsible for the delivery, said the twins have "an amazing appetite."

Claudionor Assis de Vasconcelos, director of the hospital, where the twins were born, added: "Despite all the problems we have as a small interior hospital we managed to save both mother and babies, which was our aim.

"And for us it was a great surprise to find out that the child was in really good health."

Ms De Nazare, who has other children, has bonded well with her newborns and wanted to take them home straightaway, she said.

Ms De Nazare was admitted to the Hospital Municipal de Anajas in severe pain early this week.

She did not have any ultrasound exams during her pregnancy and was made aware of the babies' condition only a few moments before the birth.

Obstetrician Neila Dahas said the condition was a result of "a delay in the division of the egg".

"I want her (the mother) to understand that she does not have a monstrous son, a son with two heads, but she has two sons."

Dr Dahas said that it "would be absolutely impossible" to separate the two heads as their body shares a liver, heart, lungs and pelvis.

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/top-stories/twins-born-with-two-heads-and-one-body-both-healthy-and-both-have-an-amazing-appetite/story-e6frfkp9-1226228115501#ixzz1hIIMlnWmTwins born with two heads and one body - both healthy and both have an amazing appetite

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/top-stories/twins-born-with-two-heads-and-one-body-both-healthy-and-both-have-an-amazing-appetite/story-e6frfkp9-1226228115501#ixzz1hIIYRDB3

FDA Looking Into Death of Patient on Novartis' Gilenya

U.S. health regulators said on Tuesday they received a report of a multiple sclerosis patient who died within 24 hours of taking the first dose of Novartis AG's Gilenya.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/12/21/fda-looking-into-death-patient-on-novartis-gilenya/#ixzz1hClegeqb

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said at this time, it cannot conclude whether the drug, a potential blockbuster, resulted in the patient's death, but was evaluating the case.

The patient was also treated with two other drugs, and had completed 6 hours of monitoring after the first Gilenya dose without incident.

Last week, the Swiss drugmaker said it was investigating whether Gilenya caused the death of a 59-year-old patient who had just started therapy with the drug.

The patient, who had been suffering from multiple sclerosis for over 10 years, died on November 23, one day after receiving his first dose of Gilenya, Novartis said.

The FDA said healthcare professionals should observe all patients for signs and symptoms of slow heart rate for 6 hours after the first dose of Gilenya.

However, the regulator said it believes Gilenya provides an important health benefit when used as directed, and patients with multiple sclerosis should not stop taking the drug without talking to their healthcare professional.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/12/21/fda-looking-into-death-patient-on-novartis-gilenya/#ixzz1hClXdbhr

Having Trouble Getting Pregnant? Try These Fertility Boosters

Getting pregnant isn’t always easy, but there are ways to give yourself a boost when trying to conceive.
Dr. Manny Alvarez, senior managing health editor of FoxNews.com, recently spoke with Dr. Pina LoGuidice from InnerSource Health on Long Island, N.Y.
LoGuidice said it’s important to become healthy the year before you start trying to conceive, and not to worry if it doesn’t happen right away – she said six to eight months is typical.
“If that hasn’t happened then, that’s usually when I start recommending you try some of the botanicals,” she said.
Couples trying to conceive need to get their bodies in tip-top shape – eating right, detoxing and quitting smoking, all of which is crucial when thinking about a baby.
LoGuidice said it's a good idea to “get on a good prenatal, take some essential fatty acids, like omega oils, and take a very good, high-quality probiatic.
Essential fatty acids help decrease any inflammation in the body, and research shows that taking them after conception can help enhance your baby’s brain development.
LoGuidice also recommended adding a chasteberry supplement to your diet.
“It’s actually an adaptogen, meaning if you don’t have enough of a hormone, it will raise it up, or if you have too much, it will lower it,” she said. “It actually boosts just enough of the woman’s progesterone so that when she does try to start conceiving, it will help hold the pregnancy more significantly,” LoGuidice said. “You can find this herb in capsule form at any health food store. Taking 400 milligrams twice a day should do the trick.”
Red raspberry leaf is another option, because it helps to strengthen the uterus, and it’s also found in a pill form or as a tea or liquid tincture. Also helpful is evening primrose, LoGuidice said.
“Why I like it regarding fertility is, it actually enhances ovulation, and it helps enhance the egg quality,” she said. “Capsule form is the best way to take this herb, twice a day.”
Acupuncture can be helpful too, she added.
“Once that stress management is down, your body doesn’t release the hormone cortozal, which is our stress hormone. And for us to make that hormone, our body takes away progesterone, which is obviously the most crucial hormone for pregnancy,” LoGuidice said.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/12/20/trying-to-have-baby-try-these-boosters/#ixzz1hCjYKK6c

Tanning Beds Linked to Most Common Skin Cancer

Tan at your own risk.

Young people who used indoor tanning beds were 69 percent more likely to develop the most common form of skin cancer than non-tanners, according to a new study by scientists at the Yale School of Public Health.

And heavy tanners, those who regularly used indoor booths for at least six years, were more than twice as likely to suffer from early-onset basal cell carcinoma as non-tanners, Time magazine reported.

Researchers studied 750 people under 40, some of whom had already been diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma. While the disease is not usually fatal, scientists' findings reinforce earlier research linking tanning bed use to melanoma -- the deadliest type of skin cancer.

University of Minnesota researchers found that people who used tanning beds were more than 74 percent more likely to develop melanoma than non-tanners, according to Reuters.

The World Health Organization has already classified indoor tanning beds, used by an estimated 30 million Americans, as a carcinogen.

Someone better tell the kids from "Jersey Shore."

U.S. Bio-Security Officials Sound Warning After Scientists Create Deadly New Strain of Bird Flu

The U.S. government is sounding the alarm after reports that Dutch scientists have created a highly-contagious and deadly airborne strain of bird flu that is potentially capable of killing millions, The Independent reported Tuesday.

The U.S. National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity is currently analyzing how much of the scientists' information should be allowed to be published—given the inherent risks of having the information fall into the hands of terrorists or rogue states.

"The fear is that if you create something this deadly and it goes into a global pandemic, the mortality and cost to the world could be massive," a senior US government adviser told The Independent.

Scientists, too, are questioning whether the science should ever have been performed in the first place.

"There are people who say that the work should never have been done, or if it was done it should have been done in a setting where the information could be better controlled," a source close to the US biosecurity board told the newspaper.

"With influenza now it is possible to reverse engineer the virus. It's pretty common technology in many parts of the world. With the genomic sequence, you can reconstruct it. That's where the information is dangerous."

Click here to read more science stories from Fox News.

The mutated form of the H5N1 strain of avian influenza was created by a Dutch team of scientists led by Ron Fouchier, of Rotterdam's Erasmus Medical Centre, and the researchers are now hoping to publish the details of how they developed the new strain.

The new virus differs from H5N1—which is only known to be transmitted between humans who have very close contact with each other—because it can be transmitted through the air in coughs and sneezes.

Fouchier, who declined to answer The Independent's questions, said in a statement that it only took a small number of mutations to change the avian flu virus.

"We have discovered that this is indeed possible, and more easily than previously thought. In the laboratory, it was possible to change H5N1 into an aerosol-transmissible virus that can easily be rapidly spread through the air," he said.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/12/20/scientists-spark-fears-by-creating-highly-contagious-airborne-strain-bird-flu/#ixzz1h6DmX41X

Women Who Want to Live a Healthy Life

Physical Activity Impacts Overall Quality of Sleep

People sleep significantly better and feel more alert during the day if they get at least 150 minutes of exercise a week, a new study concludes.
A nationally representative sample of more than 2,600 men and women, ages 18-85, found that 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity a week, which is the national guideline, provided a 65 percent improvement in sleep quality. People also said they felt less sleepy during the day, compared to those with less physical activity.

The study, out in the December issue of the journal Mental Health and Physical Activity, lends more evidence to mounting research showing the importance of exercise to a number of health factors. Among adults in the United States, about 35 to 40 percent of the population has problems with falling asleep or with daytime sleepiness.

“We were using the physical activity guidelines set forth for cardiovascular health, but it appears that those guidelines might have a spillover effect to other areas of health,” said Brad Cardinal, a professor of exercise science at Oregon State University and one of the study’s authors.

“Increasingly, the scientific evidence is encouraging as regular physical activity may serve as a non-pharmaceutical alternative to improve sleep.”

After controlling for age, BMI (Body Mass Index), health status, smoking status, and depression, the relative risk of often feeling overly sleepy during the day compared to never feeling overly sleepy during the day decreased by 65 percent for participants meeting physical activity guidelines.
http://healthsiteforwomen.com/healthywomen/?cat=463

Only Some PMS Symptoms Improve With Antidepressant , Study Says

Antidepressants are sometimes used for premenstrual syndrome (PMS), but a woman's specific symptoms may be key in whether the medications offer any help, a new study suggests.

Researchers found that of 447 women in clinical trials testing sertraline ( Zoloft )  for PMS, those with "mixed" symptoms – multiple physical and psychological symptoms – were the most likely to see an improvement.In contrast, women with mainly physical PMS symptoms got little help, unless they had severe bloating or breast tenderness.Many women have symptoms like bloating, breast tenderness, headache and emotional stress shortly before their menstrual periods. Often, simple fixes like diet changes, exercise and over-the-counter painkillers are enough to manage the symptoms.But for some, PMS is severe enough to disrupt their daily lives, and antidepressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) may be prescribed.Studies have found that the antidepressants can help some women with PMS 

How Diabetes Can Affect Your Sex Life

Could a chronic condition be to blame for your sexual dysfunction?

Most people are aware that diabetes contributes to heart disease, stroke, peripheral vascular disease, blindness and renal failure. It’s a progressive disease that can debilitate one’s body, organ by organ, when left out of control. But did you know that, long before any of these take place, diabetes can kill your sex life?

Diabetes itself is not responsible for the damage done to the body.  Instead, it is the rise in blood sugar that comes from either insufficient insulin release (type 1 diabetes) or a body’s resistance to the effects of insulin (type 2 diabetes).  Unlike type 1 diabetes, which starts in childhood, type 2 diabetes begins in adults and is almost always related to being obese or overweight for some time.  Often, it can be reversed if you return to a normal weight.  Many doctors are happy if they see their diabetic patients maintain their blood sugar under 150, or even 180 if they’ve had the disease for a while.  I believe, however, these levels still permit slow degeneration of the tissues and nerves of the body, which can severely affect quality of life.  Ideally, a level between 80 and 125 is best.

Good sexual functioning depends on good blood flow and the ability to not only perceive sensations, but to have the organs and tissues respond to these sensations.  When your blood sugar is high, cells cannot function properly and nerve endings become damaged.  This can cause numbness—or worse, uncomfortable tingling.  Uncontrolled levels of blood sugar also damage the blood vessels by decreasing their ability to relax and contract when needed, as well as by raising the risk of atherosclerosis, which in turn impairs blood flow.

These changes can affect your sex life, too. Nerve damage can result in decreased sensation in the genitals, which makes it more difficult to become aroused when touched or stroked.  Impaired blood flow commonly causes erectile dysfunction in men and lack of lubrication or difficulty reaching orgasm in women.  To make matters worse, patients with diabetes have a poorer response to medications for erectile dysfunction.

Maintaining very careful control of your blood sugar can prevent damage, but requires close attention to food choices, avoidance of sugar and simple carbohydrates, portion control and complete compliance with diabetic medications.  The damage to your sex life can sneak up on you, but it’s very disheartening when it happens.  Prevention is key.

If you have diabetes, be sure to take care of your:

1. Arteries. Keep your arteries healthy by eliminating trans fats from your diet. Eating a balanced diet low in sugars and high-glycemic carbohydrates also keeps your body from producing too many triglycerides, which clog up arteries by sticking to their walls. Also, consider reducing the amount of fructose and high-fructose corn syrup (corn sugar) in your diet, since the body does not treat these the same as sugar, and instead increases your triglycerides in response to them. High blood pressure also decreases the availability of blood to the tissues because the arteries tend to tighten up. Watch your salt intake and take five to 10 minutes each day to practice some quiet relaxation or meditation. These are proven ways to protect against high blood pressure.

2. Nerves. Diabetes and chronically elevated blood sugar are the biggest culprits in nerve damage. People with diabetes often develop neuropathy in later life if they have not kept their blood sugar under control. Eating smaller, more frequent meals rather than a few very large meals a day helps your body maintain a steadier blood sugar level without the spikes that damage the body and the lows that make you insanely hungry. Watch your alcohol intake too, since it tends to cause uncontrolled blood sugar and produces toxins that pickle your nervous system as your body metabolizes it.

3. Tissues. Our bodies are designed to be in motion and be put to use. Yet our modern lifestyle allows for the opportunity to sit on our behind for most of the day, decreasing blood flow to our legs and genitals, and putting a great deal of strain on our lower backs. We have to get up and move for at least a few minutes every half hour or so.


“If you want to have good blood flow to your genitals, you’ve got to use your genitals and have sex,” says Ian Kerner, author of the Good in Bed Guide to Overcoming Premature Ejaculation. In fact, people who have sex at least once a week have a better chance of keeping their sexual functioning as they get older because they are encouraging regular bursts of blood flow to the area.

Diabetes is a serious, chronic disease that can affect your whole body—including your sexual health. Don’t risk an unnecessary wrinkle in your sex life by letting it go unchecked. Remember, better control of your blood sugar can mean better outcomes in the bedroom, too.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/12/19/how-diabetes-can-affect-your-sex-life/#ixzz1h0gdUyoH

Chile Girl Dies After Split From Conjoined Twin

A 10-month-old girl who was surgically separated from her conjoined twin died Sunday after suffering general organ failure, said the director of a Chilean children's hospital.

Doctors at Luis Calvo Mackenna Hospital had separated Maria Jose Paredes Navarrete from her twin sister Maria Paz late Tuesday at the thorax, abdomen and pelvis in a marathon, 20-hour surgery. Maria Jose ran into cardiac problems that required her to be revived three times afterward, and Maria Paz remains clinging to life, said hospital director Osvaldo Artaza.

A hospital statement said Maria Jose had suffered "a flaw in the right side of the heart as a consequence of pulmonary hypertension that afflicted her since her birth."

"We are conscious that we made every effort. It's a moment of deep pain, of deep grieving."

- Osvaldo Artaza, Hospital Director

The statement said Maria Paz was in a stable condition, with her kidneys starting to function.

Chileans have closely followed news about the twin girls, with updates about their condition making online and newspaper headlines.

Artaza said the surgery affected all of the deceased girl's organs, while "recognizing the delicate state of Maria Paz, we are hopeful."

"We are conscious that we made every effort," Artaza said. "It's a moment of deep pain, of deep grieving."

The twins were born in the town of Loncoche, about 470 miles (760 kilometers) south of the capital of Santiago, and had spent their entire lives under hospital care.

They underwent seven surgeries before Tuesday's procedure, in which 25 surgeons and anesthesiologists participated.

According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, about 35 percent of conjoined twins survive only one day, while the overall survival rate runs between 5 and 25 percent

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/12/19/chile-girl-dies-after-split-from-conjoined-twin/#ixzz1h0djrfY5

Study Finds Impotence Risk Higher in Men Taking Several Drugs

Men taking multiple medications for different health conditions may have a higher risk of erectile dysfunction—a link that doesn't seem to be explained by the health problems themselves, a new study finds.
It's known that men with chronic health problems like high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol are more likely to develop erectile dysfunction, or ED, than healthier men their age.
But in the new study, researchers found a link between medication use and ED independently of those medical conditions.
Of 37,700 men in a large California health plan, researchers found that those on three or more medications had higher rates of ED.
Overall, 16 percent of men on no more than two drugs reported moderate ED—meaning they "sometimes" had trouble getting or maintaining an erection. That compared with 20 percent of men on three to five medications, a quarter of men on six to nine drugs and 31 percent of those on at least 10 drugs.
Not surprisingly, ED was more common in men who were older, heavier, smoked or had health problems like diabetes or high blood pressure. But even when the researchers accounted for that, being on multiple medications was still tied to an increased ED risk.
Men on three to five medications were 15 percent more likely to report ED than those on fewer drugs. And the odds were more than doubled among men on 10 or more medications.
The findings do not prove that the drugs themselves are to blame, said senior researcher Dr. Steven J. Jacobsen, of Kaiser Permanente Southern California's Department of Research and Evaluation.
"We did try to control for the underlying conditions," he told Reuters Health in an email, "but we may not have completely accounted for aspects such as severity."
Still, he added, "the data suggest that some characteristic of men on multiple medications may predispose them to ED."
The findings, reported in the British Journal of Urology International, are based on questionnaires given to 37,712 men ages 45 to 69. Overall, 29 percent reported moderate or severe.
More than half of the men—57 percent—were on more than three medications in the past year. And as expected, men with high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes or depression tended to be on more medications.
Jacobsen said that it's possible the drugs themselves could contribute to or worsen ED—via drug interactions, for instance. But there's no way to tell for sure from these findings.
What is clear, he stressed, is that men with erectile problems should not simply stop taking their prescriptions.
"Men should certainly not stop taking their medications without consulting their provider," he said.
But, Jacobsen added, men with ED who are on multiple drugs could ask their doctor if the problem might be related to the medication. It might be possible to lower a drug dose, or try an alternative treatment.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/12/09/study-finds-impotence-risk-higher-in-men-taking-several-drugs/?test=chol#ixzz1gvWGPqYK

White tea, witch hazel proven by scientists to reduce inflammation and fight cancer

(NaturalNews) Rose, witch hazel and white tea may sound like the refrain from a folk song, but the trio of natural substances delivers both health and skin benefits through their ability to halt inflammation say British researchers. Health issues including cancer, arthritis and diabetes have all been linked to inflammation, which is also responsible for premature signs of aging.http://www.naturalnews.com/034426_white_tea_witch_hazel_inflammation.html

Women's Fertility Problems Linked to Higher Heart Disease Risk

Women who have a difficult time getting pregnant are at a higher risk of developing heart disease, a recent study suggests.

Researchers found women who were unable to become pregnant for at least five years, but eventually did, had a 19 percent increased risk of heart disease, compared with women who had no problems getting pregnant.

But whether such "subfertility," as it is called, is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease still remains unclear.

"We need to find out what it is about being subfertile that puts a women at excess risk of heart disease," said study co-author Dr. Nisha Parikh, a cardiologist from the University of Hawaii.

"That means looking at the causes of subfertility, and making sure that specific treatments aren't the cause of heart disease," Parikh said.

The study was published online in the journal Human Reproduction.

A long road to a pregnancy

Subfertility might be caused by thyroid disease, irregular menstrual periods and obesity, studies have shown. Polycystic ovarian syndrome, a hormonal imbalance that causes problems in egg development, is also known to play a role.

Previous studies suggest that women with polycystic ovarian syndrome appear to have higher rates of high cholesterol, high blood pressure and high blood sugar or diabetes,  which are risk factors for heart disease.

"For a long time, we've wondered if conditions like polycystic syndrome may predispose women to cardiovascular risk," said Dr. C. Matthew Peterson, a fertility specialist at the University of Utah.

"We now have a study that documents heart disease-related events with subfertility," said Peterson, who was not involved with the research.

Parikh and colleagues studied nearly 863,000 Swedish women from 1983 to 2005. They examined whether subfertility was linked to heart disease-related events, such as being hospitalized or dying from a heart attack, stroke or heart failure.

Women were considered subfertile if they couldn't get pregnant for more than one year.

About 3,300 participants developed heart disease over the course of the study.

Overall, among those with no fertility problems, there were three cases of heart disease yearly per 10,000 women , whereas there were five cases per 10,000 women who were subfertile.

There was no increased risks for heart disease seen in subfertile women who became pregnant in four or less years, compared with women who had no trouble getting pregnant.

What the findings may mean

"The increased risk is actually small, but we still need to find out why there's a risk," Peterson said.

He also noted the study only focused on women, not men. "The actual risk for subfertility could have been higher," he said.

More than 7 million U.S. women of childbearing age have had trouble getting pregnant, [s1] according to a 2002 survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

But infertility isn't only a women's problem. About one-third of cases are due to men's infertility, reports the CDC.

Though the study showed an increase in risk, Parikh said she doesn't think women should be alarmed.

"This was an observational study," she said. "I don't think there's anything different that they should do."

Parikh advised women to go to their doctor and get regular checkups. "They should be concerned with heart disease like any other illness," she said.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/12/16/womens-fertility-problems-linked-to-higher-heart-disease-risk/#ixzz1girsxN3y

High-Tech Weight Loss Tools

How they work: A service sends texts to remind you about healthy diet and exercise habits.

How they help: Think of the service as a virtual trainer/life coach who checks in on you and keeps you focused on your goals. In a 2009 study at the University of California, San Diego, people who received texts about healthy behaviors (for instance, “Control portions by dividing a large bag of snacks into smaller containers”) lost four pounds more than those who didn’t. Look for text services created by qualified experts, like medical doctors and registered dietitians.

Check out: Muschealth.com/weight, created by experts at the Medical University of South Carolina, delivers a daily diet tip. Myhealtheme.com gives diet and fitness advice from nutritionists and exercise physiologists.

Apps

How they work: Apps allow you to track calorie intake and log workouts on your smartphone.

How they help: Many studies have shown that keeping a food or workout journal can increase weight loss. But it can be a pain to whip out a notebook several times a day, then add up calories or miles logged on the track. Apps are portable and make the accounting feel like a game.

Check out: Lose It! tracks diet (there’s nutritional information for more than 50,000 foods), exercise, and weight loss. MapMyFitness tracks workouts and can even help you find running, walking, and biking routes in your area.

Wireless Body Monitors

How they work: Think of them as upgraded pedometers: They track steps, calories, and weight.

How they help: The numbers don’t lie. “People often under- or overestimate their caloric intake and expenditure,” says Steven N. Blair, a professor of exercise science at the University of South Carolina, in Columbia. In a study that Blair and his colleagues conducted, published in 2011, people who used a wireless device lost twice as much weight as people who didn’t, possibly because they saw how their choices affected their weight daily.

Check out: The BodyMedia Fit Core Armband ($180, with three months of free website access, bodymedia.com) reports calorie burn with nearly 100 percent accuracy. The Fitbit Ultra clip-on tracker ($100, fitbit.com) syncs its data with your computer wirelessly.

Fitness Video Games

How they work: Pop an activity-oriented game (anything from dancing to ski jumping) into your Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 3, or Xbox 360 and log in a workout without leaving your living room.

How they help: The variety of options makes this an ideal solution if you’re tired of just loping along on a treadmill. Although you typically won’t burn as many calories as you would doing the real thing, studies indicate that workout games help people stick with an exercise routine, and consistency is the name of the game when it comes to fitness-related health benefits. Games are also a good way to get the whole family involved in exercise.

Check out: Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2012 ($50, xbox.com), for the Xbox 360 with Kinect, lets you engage in various activities, including cardio boxing and yoga. The Zumba Fitness 2 ($40, zumbafitnessgame.com for stores), for the Nintendo Wii, is an upbeat cardio-dance workout.

Interactive Websites and Social Networks

How they work: Log on to get fitness and nutrition plans, track your diet and exercise, and interact with others who share your goals via message boards and tweets.

How they help: Research shows that the accountability that comes with group participation can be instrumental in successful weight loss; teaming up with others keeps you engaged when motivation lags. In a 2010 study published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, the more often people used an interactive site after losing weight (on average, it was at least once a month for more than two years), the more successful they were at maintaining the weight loss. “There is growing evidence that surrounding yourself with healthy people, even virtually, helps you carry out your own healthy behaviors,” says Mark Carroll Pachucki, Ph.D., a social scientist and a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health and Society Scholar at the University of California, San Francisco.

Check out: Sparkpeople.com is an online community that has free meal plans, lets you chart your progress, and provides motivating feedback from fellow users. And don’t forget Facebook and Twitter. They’re the perfect places to announce your plans to, say, run a 10K. Then watch those “likes” pop up when you post your finish-line pictures.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/12/16/high-tech-weight-loss-tools/#ixzz1giptVaDG

World's Shortest Woman Wants to Be Bollywood Star

A high school student in central India was recognized as the world's shortest woman by Guinness World Records on Friday as she turned 18 and said she hopes to earn a degree and make it in Bollywood.
Jyoti Amge stood just 24.7 inches tall — shorter than the average 2-year-old — when Guinness representatives visiting from London measured her at a ceremony attended by about 30 relatives and friends in the town of Nagpur, in Maharashtra state.
A teary-eyed Amge, dressed in one of her finest saris, called the honor an "extra birthday present" and said she felt grateful for being small, as it had brought her recognition. After receiving a plaque, she and her guests cut a birthday cake.
"I have put Nagpur on the world map. Now everyone will know where it is," said Amge, who says she dreams of one day becoming a Bollywood film star as well as pursuing a university degree after she finishes high school this year.
"I want to be an actor," she said.
She measured 2.76 inches shorter than 22-year-old American Bridgette Jordan, who had held the title since September.
"Jyoti encourages us all to look beyond mere size and to just celebrate our differences," Guinness adjudicator Rob Molloy said.
This was not Amge's first Guinness record. Until Friday she was considered the world's shortest teenager, but in turning 18 qualified for the new title. She has grown less than 0.4 inch in the last two years, Guinness said in a statement, and will grow no more due to a form of dwarfism called achondroplasia.
Her teenage title brought the chance for multiple Guinness-sponsored trips to Japan and Italy for tours and meetings with other record holders, she said.
The title of shortest woman in history continues to be held by Pauline Musters, who lived in the Netherlands from 1876 to 1895 and stood 24 inches tall.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/12/16/worlds-shortest-woman-wants-to-be-bollywood-star/#ixzz1gingciUD

Kids' Leukemia Risk Tied to Dads' Smoking

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/12/15/kids-leukemia-risk-tied-to-dads-smoking/Children whose fathers smoked have at least a 15 percent higher risk of developing the most common form of childhood cancer, a new Australian study finds.

"Paternal smoking seems to be real" as a risk factor, said Patricia Buffler, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, who was not involved in the current analysis.

"The importance of tobacco exposure and children's cancers has been overlooked until recently," Buffler told Reuters Health. "So I think this paper is important" in adding to the growing body of evidence.

The research team, led by Dr. Elizabeth Milne at the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research in Australia, surveyed the families of nearly 400 children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).

Although ALL is the most common childhood cancer, it is still rare, affecting about three to five children out of every 100,000, according to the National Cancer Institute. More than 1,000 kids die of the disease every year.

The survey asked about the smoking habits of both parents.

Milne and her colleagues compared these families to the families of more than 800 children of similar ages who did not have leukemia.

They found that the mothers' smoking behavior had no impact on the kids' risk of developing the cancer.

But kids whose fathers smoked at all around the time of their conception were 15 percent more likely to develop leukemia. Those whose dads smoked at least 20 cigarettes per day around that time were 44 percent more likely to be diagnosed with the cancer.

A 15 percent increase in the risk of ALL would increase the number of cases from six out of every 200,000 children to seven out of every 200,000.

Of the nine earlier reports that the researchers used in their comparison with the current study, six of them also found an increased risk.

The findings make sense, Buffler said. "Tobacco smoke is full of toxins," including carcinogens, she said, "so it's not unlikely that you'd have damage" in the cells that produce sperm.

"Sperm containing DNA (damage) can still reach and fertilize an ovum, which may lead to disease in the offspring," Milne wrote in an email to Reuters Health.

The study did not prove that DNA damage in the sperm caused by smoking is responsible for the children's increased risk of cancer.

"The causes of ALL are likely to be multifactorial, and our findings relate to just one of the possible contributing factors," said Milne.

She added that her results are not intended to be used to place blame or make parents feel guilty.

Several other environmental factors are also tied to a greater chance of developing childhood leukemia, including ionizing radiation such as x-rays and the mother's exposure to paint or pesticides while pregnant.

Study Endorses HPV Testing for All Women Over 30

New DNA tests looking for the virus responsible for most cases of cervical cancer make sense for all women aged 30 or over, since they can prevent more cases of cancer than smear tests alone, Dutch researchers said on Thursday.
Results of a five-year study involving 45,000 women provided the strongest evidence yet in favor of using human papillomavirus (HPV) testing, Chris Meijer and colleagues from the VU University Medical Centre in Amsterdam reported in The Lancet Oncology.
Most cases of infection with the sexually transmitted virus are cleared naturally by the immune system, but persistent infection with certain HPV strains can lead to cervical cancer.
In recent years, tests for these "high-risk" strains have been developed by companies including Roche and Qiagen.
The new tests are known to work well in detecting HPV, but the Dutch study is the first to show they are better than Pap smears alone over two screening rounds set five years apart.
The researchers, who looked at women aged 29 to 56, said use of HPV tests led to earlier detection of pre-cancerous lesions, allowing for treatment that improved protection against cancer.
Hormuzd Katki and Nicolas Wentzensen from the U.S. National Cancer Institute said the results reinforced earlier findings, and provided "overwhelming evidence" of the benefits of including HPV testing in cervical screening programs.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/12/15/study-endorses-hpv-testing-for-all-women-over-30/#ixzz1gdXSxBB8

Brain Stimulation May Help Some Stroke Patients

Treating stroke patients who have lost control and awareness of one side of their body with magnetic stimulation to the brain may improve their symptoms, researchers said today.

In a new, small study published in the journal Neurology, patients who were given quick bursts of stimulation over a couple of weeks improved by about 20 percent on tests of vision and attention, while those who got a fake stimulation treatment didn't improve significantly.

But researchers said it's still unclear what types of patients might benefit from the treatment and by how much.

About half of people who have a stroke end up with difficulty processing or reacting to things on one side of their body, most often on the left side after a stroke in the right side of the brain, said Dr. Anna Barrett, director of stroke rehabilitation research at the Kessler Foundation in West Orange, New Jersey, who wasn't involved in the new study. That post-stroke condition is known as neglect.

"People that have that tend to do much worse in their eventual recovery," Barrett said. "They're less likely to become completely independent."

Most of those patients can improve with therapy and exercises, she said, but the process is often slow, and keeping people in the hospital during it is costly.

VIDEO: Brain Surgery for Tourette’s

She said that because of that, the new findings are "promising," but added that brain stimulation is still an experimental technique, and not ready to be used as part of normal stroke rehabilitation.

For the study, Italian researchers randomly assigned 20 patients with neglect to get real or fake magnetic stimulation in ten sessions over two weeks, in addition to their conventional rehab program. The treatment involved an electromagnetic coil placed over the left side of the brain that transmitted pulses of electrical currents.

Similar types of stimulation treatment are used in some patients with depression or during spinal surgery, according to Barrett. The device costs about $50,000.

Cancer Vaccine Brings Hope to Doctors,

The discovery of the smallpox vaccine in 1796 essentially wiped out a disease with high fatality rates, and really, revolutionized the face of medicine at the time.

Keeping that in mind, I’m incredibly excited about the new reports out of the University of Georgia regarding a potential vaccine for cancer.  Researchers said the vaccine could be ready in as little as three years after promising trial results.

The vaccine works by training the immune system to correctly identify cancer cells based on their sugar structures – and then destroy them.  The vaccine first attacks the coating that surrounds cancers, and then kills the cells themselves.

In lab testing on mice, the vaccine worked on 90 percent of breast cancer cases.  It was also particularly successful in killing pancreatic tumors.

Now, I know a lot of people think of vaccines as simply injecting the body with a disease in order to produce antibodies, but the real concept of a vaccine is using the body itself to kill diseases and infections.

This finding is huge and could open a lot of new doors in the biopharmaceutical field.  Essentially, it could be a whole new prong of cancer treatment, alongside old standbys like chemotherapy and radiation - utilizing our own cells to shrink, and even eliminate, tumors.

I’m hopeful the clinical trials on humans will begin soon – the researchers estimate a 2013 start date – and they will be similarly successful.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/12/14/discovery-cancer-vaccine-brings-hope-to-doctors-patients/#ixzz1gdO3i4JE