underwriting
Bipolar Disorder Linked to Early Death
All-cause mortality was 2.3-fold elevated among women and 2.0-fold higher among men with the psychiatric condition compared with the rest of Sweden after adjusting for other factors, they wrote.
Mediterranean Diet May Protect Kidneys
In a prospective cohort study, patients whose eating habits were closer to the tenets of a Mediterranean diet had about a 50% reduced odds of developing chronic kidney disease (CKD) over 7 years compared with those whose diets didn\’t resemble the fruit-and-vegetable-rich, low-saturated-fat diet, according to Minesh Khatri, MD, of Columbia University Medical Center, and colleagues.
Obesity Week!
The New DIETs (New Dietary Interventions to Enhance the Treatments for Weight Loss) Study is the first randomized trial that will compare how these four diets — none of which restrict calories — can influence body weight.
Obesity experts are anticipating answers on whether a vegan or vegetarian diet will offer better weight loss than a pescatarian or omnivorous one, experts told MedPage Today in the run-up to Obesity Week here.
Testosterone Treatment Tied to Worse Cardiac Outcomes
After adjustment for the presence of coronary artery disease, testosterone therapy was associated with a greater risk of all-cause mortality, myocardial infarction, and ischemic stroke 3 years after angiography (25.7% versus 19.9%; HR 1.29, 95% CI 1.04-1.58), according to P. Michael Ho, MD, PhD, of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Eastern Colorado Health Care System in Denver, and colleagues.
via Testosterone Tx Tied to Worse Cardiac Outcomes.
How come the television commercials don’t tell you this information when they try to make you think you have a disease called Low T?
Annual prescriptions for testosterone increased more than five-fold from 2000 to 2011. In 2011, the total number of prescriptions numbered 5.3 million and make up a market of 1.6 billion, the authors wrote.
Never mind.
FDA and Opioids – WTF?
The U.S. already consumes 99% of the hydrocodone used in the world.
In 2010, Vicodin was the most prescribed medication in the U.S. with 131 million filled prescriptions. That same year, more than 16,000 people died of overdoses from narcotic painkillers, up from about 4,000 in 1999.
Bisphosphonates Raise Afib Risk
Bisphosphonate use was associated with significantly increased risks of atrial fibrillation and serious atrial fibrillation, researchers found.
A systematic review of randomized controlled studies and observational studies showed use of bisphosphonates was associated with a 27% increased risk of atrial fibrillation (95% CI 1.16-1.39) in observational studies and, in randomized controlled trials alone, with a 40% increased odds of serious atrial fibrillation (95% CI 1.02-1.93), according to Abhishek Sharma, MD, of Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., and colleagues.
Sleep Apnea Plays Role in Car Crashes
An estimated 20% to 50% of commercial drivers have sleep apnea. That high proportion may be in part due to the sedentary nature of long-haul trucking that contributes to obesity as a risk factor for sleep apnea, according to a statement from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine in support of federal legislation.
via Sleep Apnea Plays Role in Car Crashes.
Presented without the usual caustic comment.
Calcium Score Beats Lipids for Telling CVD Risk
Measurement of coronary artery calcium stratified patient risk for cardiovascular disease regardless of dyslipidemia burden or definition, researchers found.
When measured across lipid abnormality categories, patients with a coronary artery calcium score of 100 or more had a 22.2 to 29.2 incidents of cardiovascular disease per 1,000 person-years versus 2.4 to 6.2 events per 1,000 person-years among those with arterial calcium scores of 0, according to Khurram Nasir, MD, MPH, of Baptist Health South Florida in Miami Beach, and colleagues.
Stroke Numbers Up Worldwide
In 2010, there were 16.9 million people who had a first stroke, 33 million stroke survivors, and 5.9 million people who died from a stroke — increases of 68%, 84%, and 26% respectively since 1990, according to Valery Feigin, MD, of the Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand, and colleagues.
Stroke mortality rates fell significantly in both groups of countries: by 37% in high-income countries and by 20% in low- and middle-income countries.
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