Another New Medical Finding For Your Informaion:
June 6 (HealthDay News) -- Men with autoantibody rheumatic factor -- a marker of inflammation strongly associated with rheumatoid arthritis -- in their blood have a three-fold increased risk of heart disease, a new study says.
In men, the increased risk associated with rheumatoid factor is similar to that of well-known heart disease risk factors such as diabetes (2.5 times) and high blood pressure (4.4 times). Rheumatoid factor does not increase heart disease risk in women, the researchers said.
A simple blood test is used to measure rheumatoid factor.
The study authors said their findings add to growing evidence that inflammation is implicated in atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) and suggest that auto-immune processes -- and rheumatoid factor in particular -- may play a role in the disease process itself.
They studied 567 men and 589 women born in Hertfordshire, Great Britain, between 1931 and 1937. The participants were assessed for history of ischemic heart disease (reduced blood supply to the heart), rheumatoid factor and traditional risk factors for heart disease.
The researchers also looked at other common auto-antibodies (antinuclear antibodies and anticardiolipin antibodies) but found no link with ischemic heart disease.
The study findings were published online June 5 in the journal Heart.
SOURCE: BMJ Specialist Journals, news release, June 5, 2007
Publish Date: June 06, 2007
Friday, June 15, 2007
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
DRINKING MAY HELP DEMENTIA
Here's a piece of news to lift up your spirits.
Researchers in Italy have stumbled on what may be considered as the good part of drinking (and why not since wine is considered the national drink of Italians).
Actually, it's supposed to help your mind work better. Read on.....
May 22 (HealthDay News) -- People with mild cognitive impairment may slow their mental decline if they have up to one alcoholic drink a day, a new Italian study suggests.
Researchers followed 121 people with mild cognitive impairment and looked at the impact of their drinking habits, to see if moderate alcohol use might slow the progression to dementia. The participants were aged 65 to 84 at the study start and were followed for three and a half years.
Those who were cognitively impaired at the start of the study and had up to one alcoholic drink a day, typically wine, developed dementia at a 85 percent slower rate than those with cognitive impairment who abstained, the researchers reported.
The study results are published in the May 22 issue of Neurology.
Dr. Denis Evans, director of the Rush Institute for Healthy Aging at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, said that while the study is interesting, its value is limited by the small number of participants. “That is not saying the study is worthless at all,” he said, just that more research needs to be done.
In a statement, study authors Dr. Vincenzo Solfrizzi and Dr. Francesco Panza, with the Department of Geriatrics at the University of Bari, said: “While many studies have assessed alcohol consumption and cognitive function in the elderly, this is the first study to look at how alcohol consumption affects the rate of progression of mild cognitive impairment to dementia.”
Earlier studies have yielded mixed results about whether alcohol consumption helps cognitive function. Exactly how moderate alcohol intake might help thinking is not known. But Solfrizzi speculated that alcohol might somehow help keep the brain’s blood vessels healthier. Some other research has found that alcohol increases the release of a neurotransmitter called acetylcholine, which helps neurons communicate with each other.
The study participants were part of a larger study, called the Italian Longitudinal Study on Aging, and were asked in 1992 about alcohol and food consumption. They were given a standard exam to evaluate their cognitive functioning. Then, the researchers zeroed in on the 121 people found to have mild cognitive impairment. They classified these people as “abstainers,” “moderate” or “more than moderate” drinkers.
The link between alcohol and delayed mental decline was found only for those people who had less than a drink a day, not for those who drank more, the researchers said.
Of the 55 people who drank less than a drink a day, three progressed to dementia during the three-and-a-half year follow-up period. Six of the 23 abstainers went on to develop dementia. Three of the 22 who had one or two drinks a day developed dementia, while two of the 21 who had more than two drinks a day did.
People who drink moderately may be in better physical and mental shape to begin with, Evans suggested. “People who are drinking a glass of wine a day are not those who are very sick or those in bad shape,” he said. “On average, the people who tend to consume a little alcohol every day are healthier than those who don’t. It’s a social thing.”
SOURCES: Denis A. Evans, M.D., director of the Rush Institute for Healthy Aging, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago; May 22, 2007, Neurology Publish Date: May 22, 2007
Researchers in Italy have stumbled on what may be considered as the good part of drinking (and why not since wine is considered the national drink of Italians).
Actually, it's supposed to help your mind work better. Read on.....
May 22 (HealthDay News) -- People with mild cognitive impairment may slow their mental decline if they have up to one alcoholic drink a day, a new Italian study suggests.
Researchers followed 121 people with mild cognitive impairment and looked at the impact of their drinking habits, to see if moderate alcohol use might slow the progression to dementia. The participants were aged 65 to 84 at the study start and were followed for three and a half years.
Those who were cognitively impaired at the start of the study and had up to one alcoholic drink a day, typically wine, developed dementia at a 85 percent slower rate than those with cognitive impairment who abstained, the researchers reported.
The study results are published in the May 22 issue of Neurology.
Dr. Denis Evans, director of the Rush Institute for Healthy Aging at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, said that while the study is interesting, its value is limited by the small number of participants. “That is not saying the study is worthless at all,” he said, just that more research needs to be done.
In a statement, study authors Dr. Vincenzo Solfrizzi and Dr. Francesco Panza, with the Department of Geriatrics at the University of Bari, said: “While many studies have assessed alcohol consumption and cognitive function in the elderly, this is the first study to look at how alcohol consumption affects the rate of progression of mild cognitive impairment to dementia.”
Earlier studies have yielded mixed results about whether alcohol consumption helps cognitive function. Exactly how moderate alcohol intake might help thinking is not known. But Solfrizzi speculated that alcohol might somehow help keep the brain’s blood vessels healthier. Some other research has found that alcohol increases the release of a neurotransmitter called acetylcholine, which helps neurons communicate with each other.
The study participants were part of a larger study, called the Italian Longitudinal Study on Aging, and were asked in 1992 about alcohol and food consumption. They were given a standard exam to evaluate their cognitive functioning. Then, the researchers zeroed in on the 121 people found to have mild cognitive impairment. They classified these people as “abstainers,” “moderate” or “more than moderate” drinkers.
The link between alcohol and delayed mental decline was found only for those people who had less than a drink a day, not for those who drank more, the researchers said.
Of the 55 people who drank less than a drink a day, three progressed to dementia during the three-and-a-half year follow-up period. Six of the 23 abstainers went on to develop dementia. Three of the 22 who had one or two drinks a day developed dementia, while two of the 21 who had more than two drinks a day did.
People who drink moderately may be in better physical and mental shape to begin with, Evans suggested. “People who are drinking a glass of wine a day are not those who are very sick or those in bad shape,” he said. “On average, the people who tend to consume a little alcohol every day are healthier than those who don’t. It’s a social thing.”
SOURCES: Denis A. Evans, M.D., director of the Rush Institute for Healthy Aging, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago; May 22, 2007, Neurology Publish Date: May 22, 2007
Friday, June 8, 2007
Malaysia's PM to marry again
Malaysia's widowed PM to wed again
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi will remarry this weekend, in a move he said Wednesday should be good for the nation.
"I hope the public will bless us. A happy prime minister can do a lot of good work," Abdullah told reporters.
"I am not saying I am not happy so far but I am happier now with a companion."
Abdullah, 67, will on Saturday wed Jeanne Abdullah, the former manager of his residential complex, according to a statement posted on the prime minister's website.
The ceremony will take place at his official residence, attended only by close family, the statement said.
The bride-to-be is a native of the capital Kuala Lumpur and has two children, it added.
Jeanne Abdullah, 53, is also the former sister-in-law of his late wife Endon Mahmood, who died of breast cancer in October 2005, the prime minister told reporters.
Endon's death triggered an outpouring of support and sympathy for Abdullah, whose love for his wife inspired many Malaysians. Their 40-year marriage was widely considered a model relationship.
"My love for Endon remains as strong as ever but I have fallen in love with this one," Abdullah said.
"I believe that God has created in your heart many spaces for many people that you can love as much as you want."
He said his pictures of Endon, whom Jeanne also loved, will remain in the house.
"Nothing has changed because those are eternal memories," the prime minister said.
Jeanne Abdullah was married to Endon's younger brother but they have been divorced for more than 15 years, he explained.
"Thanks be to God. I feel happy and grateful to God because the woman of my choice has got the blessing from my children and my siblings," he said.
Although he and Jeanne had known each other for more than 20 years, their courtship began less than a year ago, he added.
"She's a simple person and friendly. I believe she can take care of me, be my companion."
They had not discussed a honeymoon but she will follow him on his official overseas trips, he said.
"We express our heartiest congratulations and best wishes," Rafidah Aziz, minister of international trade and industry, said at the start of a speech to about 1,000 people at an exhibition for small and medium industries.
In his speech at the same event, Abdullah suggested that two marriages would be enough.
"Thank you for your best wishes," he said. "They say, for a Malay, when a man gets married people like to pull his legs, make fun and to tease him -- especially so when he's marrying for the second time, what's more the third or fourth. But I will not go beyond this."
In March Abdullah laughed off "rumours" that he planned to wed again.
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Treating the mind eases irritable bowel
News Center
Treating the Mind Eases Irritable Bowel
May 29 (HealthDay News) -- Hypnotherapy, antidepressants and other mind-centered treatments could help people battling severe irritable bowel syndrome, a British survey of the literature finds.
Such treatments are effective because "people who have irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) don't necessarily have a clinical disorder in terms of psychology but have certain behavior patterns that make them vulnerable to symptoms," explained Bu'Hussain Hayee, a clinical research fellow at University College Hospital in London.
He and Dr. Ian Forgacs, a consulting gastroenterologist at Kings College Hospital, compiled the survey, published in the May 26 British Medical Journal, as a working guide for physicians.
"In part, the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome are similar to those you find in depression, so things that work for depression work for it," Hayee said. Patients with IBS "are not depressed," he said, "but the treatments work."
Symptoms of the condition can include cramping, bloating, constipation and diarrhea. The condition is surprisingly common. The U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease estimates that as many as 1 in 5 adult Americans will suffer one or more symptoms of IBS at some time in their lives. Most people can control symptoms with diet, medications and stress management.
One common stress-management technique successfully used in IBS is cognitive behavioral therapy, Hayee said. That's a general term for a set of psychotherapies based on the belief that changing the way a person thinks about a condition can bring about improvement, even if the condition does not change.
"It has proven to be effective," Hayee said. "It focuses on the patient's perception of symptoms rather than on the symptoms themselves." Studies have shown that cognitive behavior therapy is as effective in IBS as antidepressant medication, and that its effects last longer, he said.
Hypnotherapy has also proven effective in small trials, although a recent review found insufficient evidence to recommend its widespread use, Hayee said.
In a condition with such a wide range of symptoms, treatment must be tailored to the individual patient, he said. "In general, people who are more open to the idea of therapy will do better," Hayee said.
IBS is a case of "brain-gut interaction," added Dr. Sita Chokhavatia, a professor of medicine in the gastroenterology department of Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City, who specializes in treating the condition.
"There is a 'big brain' in the skull and a 'little brain' in the enteric [intestinal] tract," she said. "Either you have too much information going up or too much information going down."
Treatment requires doctor-patient discussion in a psychiatric setting, Chokhavatia said. "You discuss it with patients -- not so much as a psychological disease per se but as a brain-gut reaction, so the patient can sense less pain."
The focus must be on the symptoms felt by a specific patient, she said. "Cognitive behavioral therapy has been used more in patients with constipation, where it has been shown to be successful in some studies," Chokhavatia said.
Talks between doctor and patient are used to establish levels of anxiety and stress felt by individuals, she said. If stress levels are high, hypnotherapy might be offered, "like people trying to stop smoking," Chokhavatia said.
The official government one-in-five estimate for IBS incidence might be low, she added, "Lots of people don't complain," Chokhavatia said. "They feel symptoms but don't come to the doctor."
Those who do seek help have a reasonable chance of getting it under control, in terms of gaining a better quality of life, she said.SOURCES: Bu'Hussain Hayee, B.Sc., clinical research fellow, University Hospital London, England; Sita Chokhavatia, M.D., professor of medicine, Mount Sinai Medical Center, New York; May 26, 2007, British Medical Journal Publish Date: May 29, 2007
iVillage Total Health Commentary:For additional information, visit these topic centers: Digestive Treatments CenterIBS & Bowel Function CenterCoping with... CenterEmotional Health Basics CenterChest, Abdomen & Pelvic Pain CenterPain Management Center
Copyright © 2000-2007 iVillage Inc. All rights reserved. The information provided on this site is intended for your general knowledge only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice or treatment for specific medical conditions. You should not use this information to diagnose or treat a health problem or disease without consulting with a qualified healthcare provider. Please consult your healthcare provider with any questions or concerns you may have regarding your condition.
We subscribe to the HONcode principles. Verify here.
Treating the Mind Eases Irritable Bowel
May 29 (HealthDay News) -- Hypnotherapy, antidepressants and other mind-centered treatments could help people battling severe irritable bowel syndrome, a British survey of the literature finds.
Such treatments are effective because "people who have irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) don't necessarily have a clinical disorder in terms of psychology but have certain behavior patterns that make them vulnerable to symptoms," explained Bu'Hussain Hayee, a clinical research fellow at University College Hospital in London.
He and Dr. Ian Forgacs, a consulting gastroenterologist at Kings College Hospital, compiled the survey, published in the May 26 British Medical Journal, as a working guide for physicians.
"In part, the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome are similar to those you find in depression, so things that work for depression work for it," Hayee said. Patients with IBS "are not depressed," he said, "but the treatments work."
Symptoms of the condition can include cramping, bloating, constipation and diarrhea. The condition is surprisingly common. The U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease estimates that as many as 1 in 5 adult Americans will suffer one or more symptoms of IBS at some time in their lives. Most people can control symptoms with diet, medications and stress management.
One common stress-management technique successfully used in IBS is cognitive behavioral therapy, Hayee said. That's a general term for a set of psychotherapies based on the belief that changing the way a person thinks about a condition can bring about improvement, even if the condition does not change.
"It has proven to be effective," Hayee said. "It focuses on the patient's perception of symptoms rather than on the symptoms themselves." Studies have shown that cognitive behavior therapy is as effective in IBS as antidepressant medication, and that its effects last longer, he said.
Hypnotherapy has also proven effective in small trials, although a recent review found insufficient evidence to recommend its widespread use, Hayee said.
In a condition with such a wide range of symptoms, treatment must be tailored to the individual patient, he said. "In general, people who are more open to the idea of therapy will do better," Hayee said.
IBS is a case of "brain-gut interaction," added Dr. Sita Chokhavatia, a professor of medicine in the gastroenterology department of Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City, who specializes in treating the condition.
"There is a 'big brain' in the skull and a 'little brain' in the enteric [intestinal] tract," she said. "Either you have too much information going up or too much information going down."
Treatment requires doctor-patient discussion in a psychiatric setting, Chokhavatia said. "You discuss it with patients -- not so much as a psychological disease per se but as a brain-gut reaction, so the patient can sense less pain."
The focus must be on the symptoms felt by a specific patient, she said. "Cognitive behavioral therapy has been used more in patients with constipation, where it has been shown to be successful in some studies," Chokhavatia said.
Talks between doctor and patient are used to establish levels of anxiety and stress felt by individuals, she said. If stress levels are high, hypnotherapy might be offered, "like people trying to stop smoking," Chokhavatia said.
The official government one-in-five estimate for IBS incidence might be low, she added, "Lots of people don't complain," Chokhavatia said. "They feel symptoms but don't come to the doctor."
Those who do seek help have a reasonable chance of getting it under control, in terms of gaining a better quality of life, she said.SOURCES: Bu'Hussain Hayee, B.Sc., clinical research fellow, University Hospital London, England; Sita Chokhavatia, M.D., professor of medicine, Mount Sinai Medical Center, New York; May 26, 2007, British Medical Journal Publish Date: May 29, 2007
iVillage Total Health Commentary:For additional information, visit these topic centers: Digestive Treatments CenterIBS & Bowel Function CenterCoping with... CenterEmotional Health Basics CenterChest, Abdomen & Pelvic Pain CenterPain Management Center
Copyright © 2000-2007 iVillage Inc. All rights reserved. The information provided on this site is intended for your general knowledge only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice or treatment for specific medical conditions. You should not use this information to diagnose or treat a health problem or disease without consulting with a qualified healthcare provider. Please consult your healthcare provider with any questions or concerns you may have regarding your condition.
We subscribe to the HONcode principles. Verify here.
Monday, June 4, 2007
A VISION FOR A WORLD COMMUNITY OF PEOPLE AGED 55 YEARS AND ABOVE
This blog will provide an avenue for those Senior Citizens who have something to say in the advancement of the community of people who are at least 55 years of age and retired from their workplace. Further postings and contributing articles from you are most welcome. I shall try to provide a Vision Statement(as opposed to a Mission Statement) later
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