Gastric surgery to treat obese patients is associated with long-term reductions in blood pressure, which are most pronounced in patients who have untreated high blood pressure before surgery.
Patients with periodontitis, especially infections causing a high concentration of pathogens in the blood, have an increased risk of coronary heart disease (CHD), according to findings published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
Being underweight – as evidence by a low body mass index (BMI) – before pregnancy raises the risk of preterm birth in black and Hispanic women to a greater extent than in white women, new research shows. Being underweight also increases the risk of vaginal inflammation in black women.
Stroke patients who partake in a therapeutic exercise program may experience a reduction in depressive symptoms, according to the results of a study published the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
Two risk factors that place males at greater risk for heart disease than women appear to be influenced by genes on the X chromosome, report researchers at the NIH and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. The finding appears in a Research Letter in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
When used with oral contraceptives, the male hair-loss medication finasteride (brand named Propecia) may also help improve hair loss in women, Italian researchers report.
For women with genetic mutations that increase their risk of breast and ovarian cancer, genetic testing has been a godsend. The tests allow them to learn if they carry mutations in the BRCA 1 and BRCA 2 genes, and if they do, to decide what action to take, such as stepping up screening or undergoing a preventive mastectomy.
African American women are more likely to die from breast cancer, and minorities in general do not receive the best treatment for the disease compared with white women, according to two studies published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine have discovered that blocking an intracellular signaling enzyme in a key pathway may lead to effective new treatments to fight rheumatoid arthritis.
As the world looks to nature to find cures for some of the world’s most debilitating diseases such as cancer, heart disease, and strokes, an Israeli company – Shulov Institute for Sciences Ltd (SIS) – has unlocked the chemicals found in deadly viper venom to help treat arthritis.