Study: Brain disease deaths high in NFL veterans

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Most with celiac disease unaware of it; others go gluten-free without diagnosis

ScienceDaily (July 31, 2012) — Roughly 1.8 million Americans have celiac disease, but around 1.4 million of them are unaware that they have it, a Mayo Clinic-led analysis of the condition's prevalence has found. Meanwhile, 1.6 million people in the United States are on a gluten-free diet even though they haven't been diagnosed with celiac disease, according to the study published July 31 in the American Journal of Gastroenterology.

See Also:Health & MedicineChronic IllnessAlzheimer's ResearchDiseases and ConditionsHealthy AgingCholesterolJoint PainReferenceGluten-free, casein-free dietGlutenOatRestless legs syndrome

Researchers have estimated the rate of diagnosed and undiagnosed celiac disease at similar levels prior to this study, but this is the most definitive study on the issue. "This provides proof that this disease is common in the United States," says co-author Joseph Murray, M.D., a Mayo Clinic gastroenterologist. "If you detect one person for every five or six (who have it), we aren't doing a very good job detecting celiac disease."

Celiac disease is a digestive disorder brought on when genetically susceptible people eat wheat, rye and barley. A gluten-free diet, which excludes the protein gluten, is used to treat celiac disease. Roughly 80 percent of the people on a gluten-free diet do so without a diagnosis of celiac disease.

"There are a lot of people on a gluten-free diet, and it's not clear what the medical need for that is," Dr. Murray says. "It is important if someone thinks they might have celiac disease that they be tested first before they go on the diet."

To determine its prevalence, researchers combined blood tests confirming celiac disease with interviews from a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) nationwide population sample survey called National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The survey, designed to assess the health and nutrition of U.S. adults and children, is unique in that it combines interviews and physical examinations.

Researchers found that celiac disease is much more common in Caucasians.

"In fact, virtually all the individuals we found were non-Hispanic Caucasians," says co-author Alberto Rubio-Tapia, M.D., a Mayo Clinic gastroenterologist. But previous research in Mexico has shown that celiac disease could be just as common as it is in the U.S.

"So that is something we don't fully understand," Dr. Rubio-Tapia says. The study found the rate of celiac disease in the U.S. is similar to that found in several European countries.

The research was funded in part by the National Institutes of Health and the CDC. Study authors include James Everhart, M.D., from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease; Jonas Ludvigsson, M.D., Ph.D., from Orebro University Hospital and the Karolinska Institutet; and Tricia Brantner from Mayo Clinic.

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Caffeine May Help Treat Parkinson's Disease

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Mysterious nodding disease afflicts young Ugandans

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Two out of three very obese kids already have heart disease risk factors: High blood pressure, cholesterol, blood glucose evident even in under-12s

ScienceDaily (July 23, 2012) — Two out of three severely obese kids already have at least one risk factor for heart disease, suggests research published online in Archives of Disease in Childhood.

See Also:Health & MedicineHeart DiseaseObesityHypertensionCholesterolChildren's HealthDiet and Weight LossReferenceDiabetes mellitus type 2Body mass indexAdipose tissueLow density lipoprotein

The prevalence and severity of childhood obesity has been rising worldwide, but little research has been carried out on the underlying health problems that children with severe weight problems have, say the authors.

They base their findings on data supplied by pediatricians to the Dutch Paediatric Surveillance Unit between 2005 and 2007.

During this period, doctors treating all new cases of severe obesity in children from the ages of 2 to 18 across The Netherlands were asked to supply information on their patients' cardiovascular risk factors, including high blood pressure, fasting blood glucose levels, and blood fats (lipids).

The definition of severe obesity started at a body mass index (BMI) of 20.5 for a 2 year old, at 31 for a 12 year old, and at 35 for an 18 year old.

Over the three years, most (87% to 94%) of pediatricians submitted their monthly findings on every severely obese child they treated to the surveillance unit, providing information on 500 children in all.

When pediatricians were contacted again, with a request for further data, 363 responded and 307 of their children were correctly classified as severely obese.

Just over half (52%) of these 307 children were boys. They tended to be more severely obese at the younger end of the age spectrum; the reverse was true of girls. Full information on cardiovascular risk factors was available for 255 (83%).

Two out of three (67%) had at least one cardiovascular risk factor. Over half (56%) had high blood pressure; a similar proportion (54%) had high levels of low density 'bad' cholesterol; one in seven (14%) had high fasting blood glucose; and just under 1 per cent already had type 2 diabetes.

And "remarkably" say the authors, almost two thirds (62%) of those aged 12 and under had one or more cardiovascular risk factors. Only one child's obesity was attributable to medical rather than lifestyle factors.

Nearly one in three severely obese children came from one parent families.

"The prevalence of impaired fasting glucose in

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Infection With 2 HIV Strains Slows Disease Progression

HealthDay – Thu, Jul 19, 2012 WEDNESDAY, July 18 (HealthDay News) -- While many people don't know it, there's more than one kind of AIDS virus. Besides the HIV-1 strain that's common throughout the world, a type known as HIV-2 is found in some parts of Africa. Now, a new study finds that people infected with HIV-2 and later with HIV-1 appear to be better equipped to fight off the virus.

Double-infected people can still go on to develop AIDS, and there's no indication that anyone infected with HIV-1 should go out in search of HIV-2.

However, "this study should prompt researchers to take a fresh look at HIV-2 infection" and why it seems weaker, and the potential implications for a vaccine, said Sarah Rowland-Jones, an AIDS specialist and professor of immunology at John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, England.

The big questions, she said, are these: Is there something about the HIV-2 virus that makes it less dangerous to the human body's immune system defenses? Or is it perhaps the other way around, and the body's defenses are the key?

"If we understood this, it would have a lot of relevance for HIV vaccine design," said Rowland-Jones, who's familiar with the new study's findings.

The HIV-2 strain is largely found in West Africa and hasn't spread much beyond there, although there have been cases reported in Europe, India, Japan and the United States, Rowland-Jones said. Many people who are infected with the HIV-2 virus develop AIDS and die, but some live normal lives, she said.

The new study looked at West Africans in the country of Guinea-Bissau and focused on 223 people who first became infected with HIV-2 and then with HIV-1 or those who only got the HIV-1 strain.

The researchers tracked the patients for about 20 years. They found that it took an average of 104 months (nine years) for those with dual infections to develop AIDS, but just 68 months (nearly six years) for those infected solely with the HIV-1 virus.

"Those infected with HIV-2 first seem to be better prepared to handle the more aggressive HIV-1 infection and thereby have a longer progression time to AIDS," said study lead author Joakim Esbjörnsson, a postdoctoral researcher at Lund University, in Sweden.

"It is clear that the effect is huge," Esbjörnsson said, and it probably affects death rates, too.

Esbjörnsson emphasized that the research only looked at people who became infected with HIV-2 first: "People already single-infected with HIV-1 should under no circumstances try to get infected with HIV-2," he said.

Phyllis Kanki, an AIDS specialist and professor of immunology and infectious diseases at the Harvard School of Public Health, suggested that people who get infected with HIV-2, which affects the body more slowly, may develop better defenses against the virus. That, in turn, could help them more effectively fight the HIV-1 strain, she said.

The study appears in the July 19 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.

More information

To learn more about HIV, visit the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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Childhood Abuse Linked to Diabetes, Heart Disease in Middle-Aged Women

HealthDay – 1 hr 23 mins ago FRIDAY, July 20 (HealthDay News) -- Middle-aged women who suffered physical abuse as children may be at increased risk for diabetes and heart disease, a new study suggests.

Researchers examined nearly 350 black and white women in the Pittsburgh area who were between 42 to 52 years old at the start of the study. About 34 percent of the women said they had been victims of some form of childhood abuse.

Compared to other women in the study, which was published online in the journal Health Psychology, those with a history of childhood physical abuse were about twice as likely to have high blood pressure, high blood sugar, a larger waistline and poor cholesterol levels.

Collectively, these health issues are known as metabolic syndrome. Previous research suggests that people with metabolic syndrome are at increased risk for heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

The link between childhood physical abuse and metabolic syndrome was separate from traditional risk factors for the syndrome, such as smoking, lack of physical activity, menopause, alcohol use and depression. This persistent association suggests that abuse plays a unique role in women's cardiovascular health, the researchers said.

"Our research shows us that childhood abuse can have long-lasting consequences -- even decades later -- on women's health, and is related to more health problems down the road," study co-author Aimee Midei, a graduate student in psychology at the University of Pittsburgh, said in a journal news release.

"It's possible that women with histories of physical abuse engage in unhealthy eating behaviors or have poor stress regulation," Midei said. "It appears that psychology plays a role in physical health even when we're talking about traumatic incidents that happened when these women were children."

Although the study found an association between childhood physical abuse and an increased occurrence of metabolic syndrome later in life, it did not prove a cause-and-effect relationship. The study also found no association between childhood sexual and emotional abuse and metabolic syndrome.

More information

The American Academy of Family Physicians has more about metabolic syndrome.

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Watch: Rare Form Of Alzheimer's Sheds Light On Disease

Naked Woman Walks California FreewayMore Popular VideoSuperbug Tied to 8 Million At-Risk WomenStrange Sex: Erotic Breast MilkGator Attack Victim: 'I'm Glad It Chose Me'Obama Needles Boston Supporters Over Red Sox...Facebook Page for Accused Killer Porn Actor...In The NewsU.S.PoliticsEntertainmentWeird and WackyRare Form Of Alzheimer's Sheds Light On DiseaseDr. Steven Arnold says we can learn a lot from genetic Alzheimer's.01:27

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New animal model may lead to treatments for common liver disease

ScienceDaily (July 3, 2012) — Scientists at Texas Biomed have developed the laboratory opossum as a new animal model to study the most common liver disease in the nation -- afflicting up to 15 million Americans -- and for which there is no cure.

See Also:Health & MedicineLiver DiseaseCholesterolDiseases and ConditionsPlants & AnimalsExtreme SurvivalEndangered PlantsMiceReferenceHepatitisLiver transplantationKetone bodiesGallstone

The condition, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), resembles alcoholic liver disease, but occurs in people who drink little or no alcohol. The major feature of NASH is accumulation of fat in the liver, along with inflammation and functional damage. Most people with NASH feel well and are not aware that they have a liver problem. Nevertheless, NASH can progress to cirrhosis, in which the liver is permanently damaged and no longer able to work properly. NASH-related cirrhosis is the fourth most common indication for liver transplantation in the U.S.

NASH affects 2 to 5 percent of Americans -- roughly six million to 15 million people. An additional 15 to 30 percent of Americans have excess fat in their livers, but no inflammation or liver damage, a condition called "fatty liver" or the non-progressive form of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

The study, published in the July issue of the American Journal of Physiology-Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology, was supported by the National Institutes of Health and the Robert J. Kleberg, Jr., and Helen C. Kleberg Foundation.

"This is the type of model in which to develop mechanism-based therapies," writes Geoffrey C Farrell, M.D., of the Australian National University Medical School in Canberra, in a journal editorial.

Both NASH and NAFLD are becoming more common, possibly because of the greater number of Americans with obesity and its important health complications, type 2 diabetes, high blood cholesterol levels, high blood pressure and other risk factors for heart attack and stroke. In the past 10 years, the prevalence of obesity has doubled in adults and tripled in children. It was previously reported by other scientists that the prevalence of NAFLD and NASH in a cohort of middle-aged patients in San Antonio is 46 percent and 12 percent, respectively.

"It now seems likely that genetic factors, such as those important for diabetes and high cholesterol levels, are what determines why a small proportion of those with fatty liver develop NASH and its complications of cirrhosis and liver cancer," said Farrell.

In the new study, high responding opossums developed elevated cholesterol and fatty liver disease when fed a high cholesterol and high fat diet, whereas low responding opossums did not. High responders carry a mutated ABCB4 gene, which affects their ability to secrete excess cholesterol from the liver into bile which, in turn, transports the cholesterol to the intestines for excretion from the body. As a consequence, opossums with the mutated gene accumulate cholesterol in the liver and ultimately in the blood.

"We showed that the fatty livers of high responders contain a tremendous amount of cholesterol," said first author Jeannie Chan, Ph.D., of Texas Biomed. "The opossum is a new animal model for investigating the mechanism by which cholesterol mediates liver injury, which will lead to a better understanding of the role of dietary cholesterol in the development of NASH."

Co-authors on the study included Rampratap S. Kushwaha, Ph.D., Jane F. VandeBerg, and John L. VandeBerg, Ph.D., all of Texas Biomed; and Francis E. Sharkey, M.D., of the UT Health Science Center San Antonio.

Texas Biomed, formerly the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research, is one of the world's leading independent biomedical research institutions dedicated to advancing health worldwide through innovative biomedical research. Located on a 200-acre campus on the northwest side of San Antonio, Texas, the Institute partners with hundreds of researchers and institutions around the world, targeting advances in the fight against AIDS, hepatitis, malaria, parasitic infections and a host of other infectious diseases, as well as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, cancer, psychiatric disorders, and problems of pregnancy.

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Scientists Use Stem Cells to Mimic Huntington's Disease

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Killer disease in Cambodia stumps experts

"A doctor checks a child at Kantha Bopha children's hospital in Phnom Penh. Medical experts are scrambling to respond to what the Cambodian health ministry and World Health Organization have labelled an "undiagnosed syndrome" that has claimed the lives of at least 56 boys and girls, mostly toddlers, since April" title

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Fast food intake increases risk of diabetes and heart disease in Singapore

ScienceDaily (July 2, 2012) — The dangers of fast food are well documented; the portions are often larger and the food is generally high in calories and low in nutrients. Now, University of Minnesota School of Public Health researchers have examined the eating habits of residents in Singapore and found new evidence that a diet heavy in fast food increases the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes and coronary heart disease.

See Also:Health & MedicineDiet and Weight LossNutritionDiabetesStaying HealthyCholesterolHealth PolicyReferenceOily fishFast foodHealth benefits of teaBran

The latest research, published online July 2 by the American Heart Association's journal Circulation, found that people who consume fast food even once a week increase their risk of dying from coronary heart disease by 20 percent in comparison to people who avoid fast food. For people eating fast food two-three times each week, the risk increases by 50 percent, and the risk climbs to nearly 80 percent for people who consume fast food items four or more times each week.

Eating fast food two or more times a week was also found to increase the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes by 27 percent.

According to University of Minnesota researchers, the few existing studies on the association of fast food and metabolic risk have looked almost exclusively at Western-Caucasian populations from the United States.

"We wanted to examine the association of Western-style fast food with cardio-metabolic risk in a Chinese population in Southeast Asia that has become a hotbed for diabetes and heart disease," said the study's lead researcher, University of Minnesota post-doctoral researcher Andrew Odegaard, Ph.D., M.P.H. "What we found was a dramatic public health impact by fast food, a product that is primarily a Western import into a completely new market."

To arrive at their results, School of Public Health researchers worked alongside researchers from the National University of Singapore. Together, they examined results of a study conducted over a period of 16 years beginning in 1993, which looked at the eating habits of 52,000 Chinese residents of Singapore who have experienced a recent and sudden transition from traditional foods to Western-style fast food.

"What's interesting about the results is that study participants who reported eating fast food most frequently were younger, better educated, smoked less and were more likely to be physically active," said Odegaard. "This profile is normally associated with lower cardio-metabolic risk."

According to the study's senior researcher, Mark Pereira, Ph.D., M.P.H., of the School of Public Health's Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, the new research provides an important perspective on global health and the nutrition transfer when cultures developing in different parts of the world start moving away from their traditional diet and mode of exercise.

"The big picture is that this

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Rapid HIV Test Could Reduce Stigma and Curtail Disease

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has launched an initiative to motivate people to get tested for HIV. A free rapid test is being offered in select pharmacies nationwide, within their small clinics, which involves a swab test that renders results in approximately 20 minutes, the Associated Press reports. If the result is positive, the patient is sent to a department of health or other clinic to have the result confirmed by blood test.

With an estimated 1.1 million Americans infected with the disease and an estimated 20 percent of them unaware, this is a wise move to help to curtail the spread of the disease. So many people are unaware of the facts about HIV and AIDS that perhaps being confronted by the testing center and the information offered there will prompt people to know more. In the back of so many minds is the fear the possibility of infection exists.

Too many people still believe HIV and AIDS are the disease of gay men and drug users. While statistics still confirm these groups are still at higher risk, the truth is the condition is increasing in women, particularly minority women. HIV is more easily spread from man to woman because the virus exists in a man's semen, which can live inside the vagina for several days. But the female bodily fluids from which a man can contract the virus through intercourse with a woman have more limited means to enter the penis and infect a man's body.

In order for this condition to be dealt with, the stigma must decrease. There have been tremendous strides made in regard to treating the disease, making it possible for those infected to live productive and happy lives, to enjoy careers and have families. In fact, with treatment, the chances of a woman passing along the virus to her unborn child are reduced to as low as 2 percent.

Symptoms of the illness often don't appear for nearly 10 years in many patients. It is important to be tested for this virus, regardless of whether any sexual partners "appear" to be ill and whether a person has had few or several partners. It's better to know early. Though there is no cure, treatment is possible to help to maintain a normal life.

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Effects of High Blood Pressure Drug May Mimic Celiac Disease

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Study debunks belief insulin puts people with diabetes at risk of heart disease

ScienceDaily (June 11, 2012) — Researchers at McMaster University have discovered that long-term insulin use does not harm people with diabetes or pre-diabetes or put them at risk of heart attacks, strokes or cancer.

See Also:Health & MedicineDiabetesChronic IllnessHormone DisordersCholesterolHypertensionPersonalized MedicineReferenceBlood sugarDiabetes mellitus type 2Diabetic dietDiabetes mellitus type 1

This is contrary to concerns that long-term use of insulin may cause heart disease, says Dr. Hertzel Gerstein, principal investigator of the study, professor of medicine at McMaster's Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine and deputy director of the Population Health Research Institute at McMaster University and Hamilton Health Sciences.

"People have been debating the question of whether there are adverse consequences to long-term insulin use for years," he said. "This study provides the clearest answer yet to that question: No, there are not."

Gerstein recently presented the findings of the ORIGIN study (Outcome Reduction with an Initial Glargine Intervention study), at the scientific sessions of the American Diabetes Association in Philadelphia. The results were also recently published in two papers in the medical journal New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).

A second important finding of the study is that people with pre-diabetes who received daily basal insulin injections with insulin glargine had a 28 per cent lower chance of developing type 2 diabetes, even after the injections stopped.

Gerstein jointly led the study with Dr. Salim Yusuf, professor of medicine and director of the Population Health Research Institute.

Today, more than nine million Canadians are living with diabetes or pre-diabetes. Diabetes is a chronic condition, often debilitating and sometimes fatal disease, in which the body either cannot produce insulin or cannot properly use the insulin it produces. This leads to high levels of glucose in the blood which can damage organs, blood vessels and nerves. The body needs insulin to use glucose as a source of energy.

In the ORIGIN study, more than 12,500 people at 537 sites in 40 countries with an average age of 64, who are at high risk for, or in the early stages of type 2 diabetes, were randomized to either one daily injection of insulin (glargine) or no insulin (standard care) for an average of six years.

Researchers found no difference among the two groups in cardiovascular outcomes or in the development of any type of cancer. This suggests daily insulin injections (with insulin glargine) to normalize glucose levels are not harmful when taken over long periods of time. Throughout the study, most of the participants given insulin maintained normal fasting glucose levels (below 6 mmol/l).

The study confirmed the presence of two previously known side effects of insulin -- hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) and modest weight gain. Both were considered minor from a medical point of view, with participants gaining an average of 3.5 pounds during the study and experiencing a low, 0.7 per cent higher risk of severe hypoglycemia per year than the people not on insulin.

"We now know what the risks are of taking insulin on a long-term basis, and they are low," Gerstein said.

The study also discovered that daily doses of one-gram omega-3 fatty acid capsules did not prevent cardiac-related deaths in people with type 2 diabetes or prediabetes.

"There was neither benefit nor harm in the participants who were studied," said Jackie Bosch, associate professor of McMaster's School of Rehabilitation Science and project manager for the trial. "However, the effect of these supplements in other groups, and the effect of a diet rich in omega 3 fatty acids was not studied."

The study was funded by the drug company Sanofi Inc. and the omega-3 supplement was provided by Pronova Biocare AS, the Norwegian manufacturer of omega-3, and independently conducted by the Population Health Research Institute at McMaster University and Hamilton Health Sciences.

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Lyme Disease Outfoxes Deer

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Deer ticks and Lyme disease go hand-in-hand in some places. But you can’t always put the blame on Bambi. Because new research shows that the incidence of Lyme disease tracks less with the abundance of deer than it does with the disappearance of foxes. The study is in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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Health Tip: Help Prevent Heart Disease

HealthDay – 54 mins ago (HealthDay News) -- You can't control all risk factors for heart disease, but living a healthy lifestyle and taking medication prescribed by your doctor can help prevent many of its dangerous risk factors.

The Womenshealth.gov website suggests these steps to help reduce your risk of heart disease:

Maintain healthy cholesterol and blood pressure.Quit or avoid smoking and drinking too much alcohol.Take steps to control diabetes.Maintain a healthy body weight.Get plenty of regular exercise and adhere to a regular sleep schedule.Control conditions such as sleep apnea and metabolic syndrome.

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Healthy habits can prevent disease

ScienceDaily (June 4, 2012) — Five new studies provide evidence to support simple steps we can take to prevent illness and improve our overall health. In the June issue of The American Journal of Medicine, researchers report on fish consumption to reduce the risk of colon cancer; the effectiveness ofhypnotherapy and acupuncture for smoking cessation; regular teeth cleaning to improve cardiovascular health; the effectiveness of primary care physicians in weight loss programs; and the use of low-dose aspirin to reduce cancer risk.

See Also:Health & MedicineColon CancerDiet and Weight LossBreast CancerDiseases and ConditionsCancerOvarian CancerLiving WellReferenceHealth benefits of teaMetastasisColorectal cancerTumor suppressor gene

Colorectal cancer is the third leading cause of cancer death in the Western world. Research linking fish consumption and the risk of colorectal cancer has been inconclusive, although people who live in countries with high levels of fish consumption are known to develop the disease less frequently. Now, scientists from Xi'an, China, have reviewed the literature and find that eating fresh fish regularly reduces the risk of colorectal cancer by 12%. They evaluated 41 studies on fish consumption and colorectal cancer risk published between 1990 and 2011 and tracked cancer diagnoses. The protective effect of fish consumption is more prominent in rectal cancer than in colon cancer. The risk reduction for rectal cancer was as much as 21%, whereas the reduction for colon cancer was 4%.

"Despite the fact that colon and rectal cancer share many features and are often referred to as colorectal cancer,' they tend to demonstrate many different characteristics," notes lead author Daiming Fan, of the Fourth Military Medical University. "One possible reason for the difference may be because colon cancers are generally more molecularly diverse, whereas rectal cancers mostly arise via a single neoplastic pathway."

Mark J. Eisenberg, MD, MPH, of McGill University, in Montreal, Quebec, and colleagues report that the use of unconventional smoking cessation aids, including acupuncture and hypnotherapy, results in substantial increases of smoking cessation. A meta-analysis of 14 trials found that smokers who underwent hypnotherapy were 4.55 times more likely, and those who underwent acupuncture were 3.53 times more likely, to abstain from smoking than those who did not. Aversive smoking may also help smokers quit; however, there were no recent trials investigating this intervention.

Regular tooth scaling is associated with a decreased risk for future cardiovascular events. A study by H-B. Leu, MD, of Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taiwan, and colleagues examined 10,887 subjects who had undergone tooth scaling, and 10,989 subjects who had not received tooth scaling. During an average follow-up period of seven years, the group that had undergone tooth scaling had a lower incidence of myocardial infarction, stroke, and total cardiovascular events. Increasing frequency of tooth scaling correlates with a higher risk reduction.

A study by William C. Haas, MD, of East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, and colleagues finds thatphysicians in primary care practices can be as effective as weight loss clinics in helping the moderately obese lose weight. Patients received behavioral modification sessions and a diet plan partially or fully supplemented by meal replacements at either a primary care clinic or a weight loss center. Primary care clinics were as effective as weight loss centers at reducing weight, and better at reducing body fat. Regardless of location, participants completing 12 weeks of treatment lost an average of 11.1% of their body weight. Participants who selected full meal replacement had better results.

Low-dose aspirin, a common strategy for preventing cardiovascular disease, can also reduce nonvascular deaths, including cancer deaths. A meta-analysis of 23 randomized studies by Edward J. Mills, PhD, MSc, of the University of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and colleagues offers conclusive evidence that low-dose aspirin offers cancer preventive effects, and showed significant treatment effects after approximately four years of follow up.

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People Who Lived Near World Trade Center Report More Lung Disease

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Efficient Disease Risk Prediction a Long Way Off, Experts Say

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