A new study suggests that age-related changes in how the brain responds to the female sex hormone estrogen may be involved in a woman?s transition through menopause. The study provides new clues about hormonal influences on hot flashes and night sweats experienced by some women in the menopause transition.
Acupuncture provides pain relief and improves function for people with osteoarthritis of the knee and serves as an effective complement to standard care. This landmark study was funded by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) and the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), both components of the National Institutes of Health. The findings of the study – the longest and largest randomized, controlled phase III clinical trial of acupuncture ever conducted – were published in the December 21, 2004, issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Keeping blood pressure and cholesterol low may help some dementia patients more than Alzheimer’s drugs, Michigan researchers found.
About one in five Ayurvedic herbal medicine products sold in the Boston area contains toxic levels of lead, mercury or arsenic, researchers report in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
A new test can predict both the risk of breast cancer recurrence and may identify women who will benefit most from chemotherapy, according to research supported by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, and performed in collaboration with the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) and Genomic Health Inc. These results suggest that almost half of 43,000 U.S. women diagnosed with estrogen-dependent, lymph-node negative breast cancer every year are at low risk for recurrence and may not need to go through the discomfort and side effects of chemotherapy.
Cataract, a clouding of the lens resulting in a partial loss of vision, is very common in older people. Results from a new study show that lifetime lead exposure may increase the risk of developing cataracts. Researchers found that men with high levels of lead in the tibia, the larger of the two leg bones below the knee, had a 2.5-fold increased risk for cataract, the leading cause of blindness and visual impairment.
Adults with cystic fibrosis fare better when they undertake an unsupervised home exercise regimen tailored to their liking, UK researchers report in the medical journal Thorax.
Cold weather enthusiasts may eagerly await the snowy days of winter, but for those with seasonal affective disorder, the change from sunny to gloomy days often brings on a similar change in mood.
Middle-aged people with diabetes are nearly three times more likely to develop dementia in old age – chronic loss of mental capacity due to an organic cause. Dementia may involve progressive deterioration of thinking, memory, behavior, personality and motor function, and may also be associated with psychological symptoms such as depression and apathy.
There appears to be an association between obesity and the risk of developing the heart rhythm disorder atrial fibrillation, according to a study of participants in the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s (NHLBI) Framingham Heart Study. The study is published in the November 24 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.