http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Heart failure—a disabling and often deadly form of heart disease—is hitting African Americans in their thirties and forties at the same rate as Caucasians in their fifties and sixties, according to a study featured as the lead article of the March 19 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. http://phys.org/news156615542.html Medicine & Health Wed, 18 Mar 2009 17:19:35 EST news156615542 With 17 percent of US children between ages 2 and 19 classified as obese, new research shows that parents may not be recognizing their own children's risk factors. A new study in the Journal of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners shows that parents are likely to misperceive their child's weight - especially those parents who are overweight themselves. http://phys.org/news156615079.html Medicine & Health Wed, 18 Mar 2009 17:12:19 EST news156615079 (AP) -- You've heard that diabetes hurts your heart, your eyes, your kidneys. New research indicates a more ominous link: That diabetes increases the risk of getting Alzheimer's disease and may speed dementia once it strikes. http://phys.org/news156442403.html Medicine & Health Mon, 16 Mar 2009 17:14:23 EST news156442403 In Florida, black young adults are hospitalized for stroke at a rate three times higher than their white and Hispanic peers, a new study by University of South Florida researchers reports. The study was presented today at the American Heart Association's Council on Epidemiology and Prevention Annual Conference and appears in the online version of the international journal Neuroepidemiology. http://phys.org/news156169185.html Medicine & Health Fri, 13 Mar 2009 13:20:37 EST news156169185 The landmark Framingham Heart Study (FHS) is launching a major initiative to discover risk factors and markers that could lead to new blood tests to identify individuals at high risk of heart disease and stroke. A public-private partnership has been established to enable researchers to apply cutting-edge technology to stored blood samples from thousands of FHS participants. FHS is funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of the National Institutes of Health, and conducted in collaboration with Boston University (BU) School of Medicine and School of Public Health. http://phys.org/news156095811.html Medicine & Health Thu, 12 Mar 2009 16:58:04 EST news156095811 (PhysOrg.com) -- Lumbar disc degeneration is an uncomfortable condition that affects millions of people, but two University of Alberta researchers have identified some of the genes that are causing problems. http://phys.org/news156008413.html Medicine & Health Wed, 11 Mar 2009 16:41:17 EST news156008413 The use of common and readily available screening tests—like the ankle brachial index (ABI)—along with traditional risk scoring systems—such as the Framingham Risk Score—has the potential to prevent devastating heart attacks in thousands of individuals who are not originally thought to be at high risk (according to Framingham alone), say researchers at the Society of Interventional Radiology's 34th Annual Scientific Meeting. About 25 percent of all heart attacks or sudden cardiac deaths in the United States occur in individuals thought to be at low risk. http://phys.org/news155939943.html Medicine & Health Tue, 10 Mar 2009 21:39:22 EST news155939943 A new study by physician researchers from Hasbro Children's Hospital and Children's Hospital Boston identifies risk factors for the severity of asymmetrical head shapes, known as deformational plagiocephaly (DP), or more commonly as flat head syndrome. The study was published in the March 2009 edition of the Journal of Craniofacial Surgery. http://phys.org/news155939175.html Medicine & Health Tue, 10 Mar 2009 21:26:37 EST news155939175 A history of diabetes and elevated levels of cholesterol, especially LDL cholesterol, are associated with faster cognitive decline in patients with Alzheimer’s disease, according to a new study from Columbia University Medical Center researchers. These results add further evidence of the role of vascular risk factors in the onset and progression of Alzheimer’s disease. http://phys.org/news155849007.html Medicine & Health Mon, 09 Mar 2009 20:24:27 EST news155849007 Men with higher vitamin C intake appear less likely to develop gout, a painful type of arthritis, according to a report in the March 9 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine. http://phys.org/news155848861.html Medicine & Health Mon, 09 Mar 2009 20:21:42 EST news155848861 New data published in the March 17, 2009, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology suggest that relatively healthy women with severe depression are at increased risk of cardiac events, including sudden cardiac death (SCD) and fatal coronary heart disease (CHD). Researchers found that much of the relationship between depressive symptoms and cardiac events was mediated by cardiovascular disease risk factors, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and smoking. http://phys.org/news155842498.html Medicine & Health Mon, 09 Mar 2009 18:35:38 EST news155842498 (PhysOrg.com) -- Women in strained marriages are more likely to feel depressed and suffer high blood pressure, obesity and other signs of "metabolic syndrome," a group of risk factors for heart disease, stroke and diabetes, University of Utah psychologists found. http://phys.org/news155395855.html Medicine & Health Thu, 05 Mar 2009 01:00:02 EST news155395855 Chronic kidney disease increases the risk of stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), the most common type of heart arrhythmia, according to a new study by Kaiser Permanente researchers in the current online issue of Circulation. http://phys.org/news155394724.html Medicine & Health Wed, 04 Mar 2009 13:12:32 EST news155394724 Men and women who consume two or more alcoholic drinks a day could increase their risk of developing pancreatic cancer, according to a study published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. http://phys.org/news155309915.html Medicine & Health Tue, 03 Mar 2009 13:39:03 EST news155309915 (PhysOrg.com) -- By pinpointing two genes that cause autism-like symptoms in mice, researchers at MIT’s Picower Institute for Learning and Memory have shown for the first time that multiple, interacting genetic risk factors may influence the severity of autistic symptoms. http://phys.org/news152990923.html Medicine & Health Mon, 09 Feb 2009 17:00:01 EST news152990923 We may be a long way off from using genetics to reliably gauge our risks for specific diseases, say researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health in a study published on Feb. 5 in the online journal PLoS Genetics. Yet, many companies currently offer personalized genetic testing for diseases like cancer, heart disease and diabetes, and tout the ability of DNA testing to predict future health risks. http://phys.org/news153145607.html Medicine & Health Fri, 06 Feb 2009 12:27:26 EST news153145607 About one in five U.S. tuberculosis patients reports abusing alcohol or using illicit drugs, and those who do appear more contagious and difficult to treat, according to a report in the January 26 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine. http://phys.org/news152210990.html Medicine & Health Mon, 26 Jan 2009 16:51:17 EST news152210990 Sedentary, obese older adults appear to improve their functional abilities and reduce insulin resistance through a combination of resistance and aerobic exercises, according to a report in the January 26 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine. http://phys.org/news152210230.html Medicine & Health Mon, 26 Jan 2009 16:37:57 EST news152210230 A new study finds swimming, having a private well or septic system, and other factors not involving food consumption were major risk factors for bacterial intestinal infections not occurring in outbreaks. http://phys.org/news152207240.html Medicine & Health Mon, 26 Jan 2009 15:54:17 EST news152207240 A preventive procedure to remove the unaffected breast in breast cancer patients with disease in one breast may only be necessary in patients who have high-risk features as assessed by examining the patient's medical history and pathology of the breast cancer, according to researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. http://phys.org/news152162632.html Medicine & Health Mon, 26 Jan 2009 03:24:10 EST news152162632 College-age football players who gain weight to add power to their blocks and tackles might also be setting themselves up for diabetes and heart disease later in life, a new study suggests. http://phys.org/news151073243.html Medicine & Health Tue, 13 Jan 2009 12:47:23 EST news151073243 Even younger adults who have few short-term risk factors for heart disease may have a higher risk of developing heart disease over their lifetimes, according to new findings by a UT Southwestern Medical Center researcher. http://phys.org/news151000072.html Medicine & Health Mon, 12 Jan 2009 16:27:52 EST news151000072 A long-standing system for assessing the risk of cardiovascular disease amongst older people should be replaced with something more accurate, according to a study published today on bmj.com. http://phys.org/news150695292.html Medicine & Health Fri, 09 Jan 2009 03:48:12 EST news150695292 The combination of estrogen plus progestin, which women stopped taking in droves following the news that it may increase their risk of breast cancer, may decrease their risk of colorectal cancer, according to a report published in the January issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. http://phys.org/news150616082.html Medicine & Health Thu, 08 Jan 2009 05:48:02 EST news150616082 Traditionally, doctors have had no clear way to predict which of their patients might be headed down the road to chronic kidney disease (CKD). Now, researchers at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have created a simple eight-point risk factor checklist to do just that. http://phys.org/news149178396.html Medicine & Health Mon, 22 Dec 2008 14:26:36 EST news149178396 Testing patient's blood for two proteins or biomarkers that occur when inflammation is present could help doctors identify which patients are more likely to have a stroke, said researchers at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston in a report that appears online in the journal Stroke. http://phys.org/news148844312.html Medicine & Health Thu, 18 Dec 2008 17:38:32 EST news148844312 (PhysOrg.com) -- Low glycemic foods - beans, peas, lentils, pasta, rice boiled briefly and breads like pumpernickel and flaxseed - do a better job of managing glycemic control for type 2 diabetes and risk factors for coronary heart disease than high-fibre diets, including whole grain breads, crackers and breakfast cereals. http://phys.org/news148836815.html Medicine & Health Thu, 18 Dec 2008 15:33:35 EST news148836815 Persons with type 2 diabetes who had a diet high in low-glycemic foods such as nuts, beans and lentils had greater improvement in glycemic control and risk factors for coronary heart disease than persons on a diet with an emphasis on high-cereal fiber, according to a study in the December 17 issue of JAMA. http://phys.org/news148709030.html Medicine & Health Wed, 17 Dec 2008 04:03:50 EST news148709030 A study recently published online in the journal Risk Analysis estimates that eating one egg per day is responsible for less than 1 percent of the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) in healthy adults. Alternatively, lifestyle factors including poor diet, smoking, obesity and physical inactivity contribute 30 to 40 percent of heart disease risk, depending on gender. This study adds to more than thirty years of research showing that healthy adults can eat eggs without significantly affecting their risk of heart disease. http://phys.org/news148641987.html Medicine & Health Tue, 16 Dec 2008 09:26:27 EST news148641987 A third of Americans with diabetes do not know that they have it, and many more who have prediabetic conditions are unaware that they are at risk. A University of Missouri researcher has created a clinical tool to identify those at highest risk for having undetected hyperglycemia, impaired fasting glucose (IFG) and undiagnosed diabetes. If these conditions are identified early, patients may benefit from preventative strategies that can minimize progression to diabetes, other diseases and mortality. http://phys.org/news147621989.html Medicine & Health Thu, 04 Dec 2008 14:06:29 EST news147621989