Archive for July, 2009
A study just published on bmj.com concludes that the defects in a particular gene known as the filaggrin gene are linked to a considerably amplified risk of developing allergic disorders such as eczema, rhinitis, and asthma.
Over the past years, allergic diseases have increased. In economically developed countries, those diseases now affect up to one in three children. For a long time researchers have looked for genes Read the rest of this entry »
Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have shown that patients with uncontrolled hypertension respond to treatment intensification regardless of their degree of adherence to antihypertensive medications. This study, which has been published online in Hypertension could have an immediate impact on clinical care, as it challenges a widely held assumption.
The BUSM researchers studied 819 patients Read the rest of this entry »
Professor Bo Malmberg and Professor Gerdt Sundstr?¶m at the School of Health Sciences in J?¶nk?¶ping, Sweden have studied loneliness among older people.
A common stereotype about older people is that loneliness is typical for older women, rather than for older men. One problem with this stereotype is that feelings of loneliness are not particularly common among either men or women in the Nordic countries.
"Some studies show a lower prevalence Read the rest of this entry »
An article published Online First and in a future edition of The Lancet reports that the rising rates of suicide and murders in the population are directly associated to the growing unemployment rates originated by the economic downturn. Another effect is the decline in road-traffic accidents. Active labor market programs aiming to maintain and reintegrate workers in jobs could tone down some of these unfavorable effects. The article is the Read the rest of this entry »
Mental stress causes carotid artery dilation and increases brain blood flow. A series of ultrasound experiments, described in BioMed Central’s open access journal Cardiovascular Ultrasound, also found that this dilatory reflex was absent in people with high blood pressure.
Tasneem Naqvi and Hahn Hyuhn from the University of Southern California and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center evaluated carotid artery Read the rest of this entry »