Body | Page 2556 | Science Codex

Study: Catheter-based varicose vein treatments more cost-effective

DETROIT – Treating varicose veins with vein-stripping surgery is associated with higher costs than closing the veins with heat, according to a study at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.

"Cost-effectiveness is an important factor to consider when comparing different treatments for varicose vein disease," says Judith C. Lin, M.D., vascular surgeon and lead author of the study. "And these two types of treatment have similar effectiveness."

The study will be presented March 13 at the 41st Annual Symposium of the Society for Clinical Vascular Surgery in Miami.

Sex at zero gravity

University of Montreal researchers found that changes in gravity affect the reproductive process in plants. Gravity modulates traffic on the intracellular "highways" that ensure the growth and functionality of the male reproductive organ in plants, the pollen tube. "Just like during human reproduction, the sperm cells in plants are delivered to the egg by a cylindrical tool.

Vitamin D may lower blood pressure in African-Americans

Boston – High blood pressure, a risk factor for heart attacks, heart failure and stroke, is 40 percent more common in African-Americans than in other American ethnic groups. In a new study from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), along with the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Massachusetts General Hospital, researchers show that vitamin D supplementation may help African-Americans lower their blood pressure. The study publishes online in the March 13, 2013 edition of the American Heart Association journal Hypertension.

UI study of Midwest finds increase in heavy rainfalls over 60 years

Heavy rains have become more frequent in the upper Midwest over the past 60 years, according to a study from the University of Iowa. The trend appears to hold true even with the current drought plaguing the region, the study's main author says.

AAN: Doctors caution against prescribing attention-boosting drugs for healthy kids

MINNEAPOLIS – The American Academy of Neurology (AAN), the world's largest professional association of neurologists, is releasing a position paper on how the practice of prescribing drugs to boost cognitive function, or memory and thinking abilities, in healthy children and teens is misguided. The statement is published in the March 13, 2013, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

Implementing HPV vaccinations at a young age is significant for vaccine effectiveness

Initial vaccinations for human papillomavirus (HPV) at a young age is important for maximizing quadrivalent HPV vaccine effectiveness according to a Swedish study published March 13 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Vitamin D supplements may help African Americans lower blood pressure

Vitamin D supplements significantly reduced blood pressure in the first large controlled study of African-Americans, researchers report in the American Heart Association journal Hypertension.

In the prospective trial, a three-month regimen of daily vitamin D increased circulating blood levels of vitamin D and resulted in a decrease in systolic blood pressure ranging from .7 to four mmHg (depending upon the dose given), compared with no change in participants who received a placebo.

No attention-boosting drugs for healthy kids, doctors urge

Doctors at Yale School of Medicine and the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) have called upon their fellow physicians to limit or end the practice of prescribing memory-enhancing drugs to healthy children whose brains are still developing. Their position statement is published in the March 13 online issue of the journal Neurology, the medical journal of the AAN.

Tobacco industry appears to have evaded FDA ban on 'light' cigarette descriptors

Boston, MA – New research from Harvard School of Public Health (HPSH) shows that one year after the federal government passed a law banning word descriptors such as "light," "mild," and "low" on cigarette packages, smokers can still easily identify their brands because of color-coding that tobacco companies added to "light" packs after the ban. These findings suggest that the companies have, in effect, been able to evade the ban on misleading wording—thus still conveying the false and deceptive message that lights are safer than "regular" cigarettes.

Lower incidence of genital warts in young girls

The incidence of genital warts, or condylomata, declined by 93 per cent in girls given the HPV vaccine before the age of 14, according to a Swedish national registry study. The study was carried out by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, and published in Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Dwelling on stressful events can increase inflammation in the body, study finds

ATHENS, Ohio (March 13, 2013)—Dwelling on negative events can increase levels of inflammation in the body, a new Ohio University study finds.Researchers discovered that when study participants were asked to ruminate on a stressful incident, their levels of C-reactive protein, a marker of tissue inflammation, rose. The study is the first time to directly measure this effect in the body.

Scientists discover novel chemical that controls cell behavior

March 12, 2013 — Albuquerque, NM (UNM Cancer Center) — It's the spread of the original cancer tumor that kills most people. That's why cancer researchers vigorously search for drugs that can prevent metastases, the spread of cancer. The research team co-led by Angela Wandinger-Ness, PhD, and Larry Sklar, PhD, at the University of New Mexico Cancer Center has found a chemical compound that appears to control cell migration and adhesion, two important characteristics of metastatic cancer cells.

Vitamin D may lower blood pressure in African Americans

Boston – High blood pressure, a risk factor for heart attacks, heart failure and stroke, is 40 percent more common in African-Americans than in other American ethnic groups. In a new study from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), along with the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Massachusetts General Hospital, researchers show that vitamin D supplementation may help African-Americans lower their blood pressure. The study publishes online in the March 13, 2013 edition of the American Heart Association journal Hypertension.

1 in 4 colonoscopies in Medicare patients found to be potentially inappropriate

Colonoscopy is one of the most effective cancer screening procedures available. Colon cancer grows very slowly and can be treated if caught early through screening. But, perhaps because of this success, older Americans are undergoing screening colonoscopies despite recommendations against screening in adults aged 76 and older.

More accurate, sensitive DNA test allows early identification of fungus causing WNS

MADISON, Wis., March 13, 2013 – Even after researchers studying White Nose Syndrome (WNS) established that a fungus called Geomyces destructans is at the heart of the devastating disease, detecting it depended largely on finding dead or dying bats.