Fatty liver increases risk for type 2 diabetes
“Individuals with fatty liver are five times more likely to develop type 2 diabetes then those without fatty liver, researchers have found. This increased risk occurred regardless of the patient’s fasting insulin levels, which were used as a marker of insulin resistance in the study”
Mindfulness Meditation Is Associated With Structural Changes in the Brain [NCCAM Research Results]
Brain images in the meditation group revealed increases in gray matter concentration in the left hippocampus. The hippocampus is an area of the brain involved in learning, memory, and emotional control, and is suspected of playing a role in producing some of the positive effects of meditation. Gray matter also increased in four other brain regions (though not in the insula, a region that has shown changes in other meditation studies) in the meditation group. Responses to the questionnaire indicated improvements in three of the five aspects of mindfulness in the mediators, but not the control group.
The researchers concluded that these findings may represent an underlying brain mechanism associated with mindfulness-based improvements in mental health. Additional studies are needed to determine the associations between specific types of brain change and behavioral mechanisms thought to improve a variety of disorders.
Pot Use in Youth Ups Risk of Psychotic Symptoms in Later Life
The new findings are based on data on about 2,000 individuals in Germany who were 14 to 24 years old when they enrolled in the study, and who were then followed for 10 years.
None of the participants had ever tried marijuana before entering the study, nor had any experienced psychotic symptoms.
The researchers found that those who started smoking pot during the 10 years of the trial had double the risk of developing psychotic symptoms such as hallucinations, even after adjusting for factors such as age, sex, socioeconomic status, other drug use and other psychiatric diagnoses.
And the more persistent the use, the more persistent the symptoms.
The FDA has approved azilsartan medoxomil (Edarbi), an oral angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB) for hypertension, expanding the ranks of ARBs now available to U.S. patients.
TAK-491 would have been a better brand name IMHO.
Plasma and dietary magnesium and risk of sudden cardiac death in women — Am J Clin Nutr
Conclusions: In this prospective cohort of women, higher plasma concentrations and dietary magnesium intakes were associated with lower risks of SCD. If the observed association is causal, interventions directed at increasing dietary or plasma magnesium might lower the risk of SCD.
Remember life is short and science takes too long. Eat more fruit and vegetables to lower your IHD risk.
Among the more than 300,000 participants in the study, those who consumed eight or more portions of fruit and vegetables each day had a reduction of 22% in their risk of fatal ischemic heart disease (RR 0.78, 95% CI 0.65 to 0.95) compared with those who ate fewer than three portions, according to Francesca L. Crowe, PhD, of the University of Oxford in England, and colleagues.
Whoops.
The novel antithrombotic vorapaxar causes intracranial hemorrhage in patients with a history of stroke, Merck announced, explaining why stroke survivors were dropped from trials of the experimental drug.
Medical News: FDA Approves New Antidepressant – in Product Alert, Prescriptions from MedPage Today
Vilazodone (Viibryd) has been approved for treatment of major depression, the FDA announced.
Plasma and dietary magnesium and risk of sudden cardiac death in women — Am J Clin Nutr
If the observed association is causal…
In an e-mail, an Aurora spokesman said Sagar’s firing was not related to her presentation.
“Dr. Sagar’s contract was terminated for a number of reasons, none related to her study. This was in no way a retaliatory action. As a matter of fact, the study supported our quality improvement initiatives and has resulted in heightened standards in the echo lab.”
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