Feeling addicted to food? Your parents’ drinking habits may impact your risk
People with a parent with a history of alcohol problems are at greater risk for showing signs of addiction to highly processed foods, a new University of Michigan study found. These foods, such as ice cream, chocolate, pizza and fries, contain unnaturally high amounts of refined carbohydrates and fats that may trigger an addictive response […]
Benzodiazepines or Antihistamines for Acute Vertigo?
Moderately strong evidence suggested antihistamines provide greater acute vertigo relief than benzodiazepines, a meta-analysis showed. Single-dose antihistamines led to a 16.1-point (95% CI 7.2-25.0) greater decrease in vertigo symptom scores on a 100-point visual analog scale (VAS) compared with single-dose benzodiazepines at about 2 hours after treatment, reported Benton Hunter, MD, of Indiana University School […]
Better Outcomes Tied to More HCV Treatment for People Who Inject Drugs
A greater uptake in hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment for people who inject drugs (PWID) at a community center led to decreases in liver disease and mortality, a longitudinal cohort study found. Among 1,323 PWID with chronic HCV at a Baltimore community-based center, the number of those with HCV RNA declined from 100% in 2006 […]
Liver Cirrhosis Tied to Elevated Risk for Stroke
Liver cirrhosis was linked to a greater risk for stroke in a large retrospective study, and the association was independent of established cardiovascular risk factors, a research reported. In the study of nearly 1.3 million individuals in Germany, multivariable analysis showed a 21% higher risk for any cardiovascular event — stroke or myocardial infarction (MI) […]
Genotype Tied to Azathioprine Discontinuation for Toxicity
Patients with inflammatory conditions who have the CC genotype were at greater risk both for discontinuing the use of azathioprine (Imuran) due to hematopoietic toxicity and for needing to switch to lower doses, a retrospective cohort study found. In a competing-risk analysis involving over 1,400 such patients starting on azathioprine, those who carried the CC […]
Particulate Matter Size Tied to Stroke Mortality
Hospitalized stroke patients living in areas with greater air pollution were more likely to die from their stroke, but the size of ambient particulate matter (PM) and duration of exposure both played a role in the level of risk, an observational study from China indicated. Effect sizes were greatest for smaller-sized particles (PM1) and with […]
Invasive species and climate change impact coastal estuaries: Biological invasions interact with changing climate in unpredictable ways
Native species in California’s estuaries are expected to experience greater declines as invasive species interact with climate change, according to a study from the University of California, Davis. The study, published in the Ecological Society of America’s journal, Ecology, said these declines are expected not only because of climate-related stressors, but also because of the […]
COVID-19 Tied to High Risk of Thrombotic Events
COVID-19 was associated with a greater risk for a host of thrombotic events in the months following a patient’s infection, a large study in Sweden found. Among over 1 million people who tested positive for COVID-19 in the past month, risk for a first pulmonary embolism was 33 times higher compared with a matched control […]
COVID-19 mixed with flu increases risk of severe illness and death
Adults in hospital who have Covid-19 and the flu at the same time are at much greater risk of severe disease and death compared with patients who have Covid-19 alone or with other viruses, research shows. Patients with co-infection of SARS-CoV-2, which causes Covid-19, and influenza viruses were over four times more likely to require […]
Eating protein from a greater variety of sources may lower risk of high blood pressure
Eating a balanced diet including protein from a greater variety of sources may help adults lower the risk of developing high blood pressure, according to new research published today in Hypertension, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Heart Association. Nearly half of the U.S. population has hypertension, or high blood pressure — one of the […]