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Energy drinkThere’s been a lot of controversy about caffeine-spiked energy drinks in recent years following a spate of deaths and overdoses related to the beverages. In one of the most heartbreaking cases, 14-year-old Anais Fournier of Maryland died after consuming two 24-ounce cans of an energy drink. Food and Drug Administration has been studying such cases to try to determine if there’s a causal link and, if so, what to do about it. Makers of energy drinks, meanwhile, have insisted that the beverages are safe and that some of the cases of bad reactions may have been due to pre-existing conditions that the individuals in question had.

In an effort to get more information about exactly happens in your body after you consume one of the drinks, Mayo Clinic researcher Anna Svatikova and her colleagues recruited 25 volunteers.enerrgy drink 3

All were young adults age 18 or older, nonsmokers, free of known disease, and not taking medications. They were asked to drink a 16-ounce can of a Rockstar energy drink and a placebo — with the same taste, texture, color and nutritional contents but without the caffeine and other stimulants — within five minutes on two separate days.

The energy drink had the following stimulants: 240 mg of caffeine, 2,000 mg of taurine and extracts of guarana seed, ginseng root and milk thistle.

Researchers took numerous measurements first before they drank and 30 minutes after. With the placebo, energy drink 2there was very little change. With the energy drink, however, many of the changes were marked:

-Systolic blood pressure (the top number) – 6.2 percent increase

-Diastolic blood pressure (the bottom number) – 6.8 percent increase

-Average blood pressure – 6.4 percent increase

-Heart rate – none

-Caffeine in blood – increase from undetectable to 3.4 micrograms/mL

-Norepinephrine level (the stress hormone, which can give you the shakes when you have too much caffeine) in blood – increase from 150 pg/mL to 250 pg/ML

Writing in JAMA, the researchers said that these changes may predispose those who drink a single drink to increased cardiovascular risk.

Source: The Washington Post

Sleepy 1A study led by Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers suggests that awakening several times throughout the night is more detrimental to people’s positive moods than getting the same shortened amount of sleep without interruption.

As they report in the November 1 issue of the journal Sleep, researchers studied 62 healthy men and women randomly subjected to three sleep experimental conditions in an inpatient clinical research suite: three consecutive nights of either forced awakenings, delayed bedtimes or uninterrupted sleep.

Participants subjected to eight forced awakenings and those with delayed bedtimes showed similar low positive mood and high negative mood after the first night, as measured by a standard mood assessment questionnaire administered before bedtimes. Participants were asked to rate how strongly they felt a variety of positive and negative emotions, such as cheerfulness or anger.

But the researchers say significant differences emerged after the second night: The forced awakening groupsleepy 2 had a reduction of 31 percent in positive mood, while the delayed bedtime group had a decline of 12 percent compared to the first day. Researchers add they did not find significant differences in negative mood between the two groups on any of the three days, which suggests that sleep fragmentation is especially detrimental to positive mood.

“When your sleep is disrupted throughout the night, you don’t have the opportunity to progress through the sleep stages to get the amount of slow-wave sleep that is key to the feeling of restoration.”

Source: Science Daily

Baby 1Researchers found that women who had given birth might have a reduced risk of death from several common conditions than those who had not, according to a study released Friday by the Imperial College London (ICL).

The study, led by ICL researchers, was published in the journal BMC Medicine. It investigates the association between the so-called reproductive factors – such as having children and breastfeeding – and a woman’s risk of death.

Researchers analyzed data from 322,972 women across 10 countries, including the UK, France, Germany and Sweden, with an average age of 50.

Each woman was followed for an average of 12.9 years. During this period, there were 14,383 deaths overall, which included 5,938 deaths from cancer and 2,404 deaths from circulatory system diseases,baby 2 according to the study.

The team compared a host of reproductive factors with risk of death from several common conditions, such as breast cancer, stroke and heart disease.

The researchers found that women who had given birth had a 20 per cent reduced risk of death than those who had not. It was also found that there was a reduced risk of death (eight per cent) in women who had breastfed compared to those who did not.

The risk of death from cancer was lower in those that had given birth compared to those that had not. Within this group, the risk was reduced even further in women that gave birth to two or three children in comparison to those who had one child.

Source: English News

Vaccination protection influenza, injection for the prevention of flu

Vaccination protection influenza, injection for the prevention of flu

A study of hospital admission for severe acute respiratory infections (SARIs) in military personnel found that recent flu vaccination lowered the risk of severe disease, while occupational factors and comorbidities may increase SARI risk, according to findings yesterday in Vaccine.

An international team of researchers evaluated data on 11,086 hospitalizations due to pneumonia or influenza from 2000 through 2012 among US military personnel. Hospitalized people had a median age of 32 and were largely male (89.5%).

Flu Shot

Chronic disease was also associated with developing SARI following hospitalization. Comorbidities with the highest risk of progression toward severe disease included chronic renal or liver disease; circulatory system disease, diabetes mellitus, obesity, cancer, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Under multivariate analysis, factors still significant for risk of severe disease included renal and liver disease, circulatory disease, and service in the Coast Guard or Air Force. Investigators cautioned, however, that risk associated with service branch may simply reflect differences in data reporting rather than physiologic risk.

Source: Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy

Listeria 1A study in mBio today that was spurred by a 2014 outbreak of listeriosis in caramel apples found that the act of puncturing the apple with a dipping stick produces conditions favorable for growing Listeria monocytogenes, especially at room temperature.

University of Wisconsin researchers swabbed four outbreak L monocytogenes strains onto Granny Smith apples, inserted wooden dipping sticks through half the apples, then dipped them all in hot caramel and allowed them to cool. They then stored the apples at either 25°C (77°F) or 7°C (44.6°F) for up to 4 weeks.

The team found Listeria increased 1,000-fold on caramel apples with sticks stored at room Listeria 2temperature for 3 days, but Listeria growth was delayed on apples without sticks at the same temperature. Refrigeration substantially slowed the growth of the bacteria, but refrigerated apples with sticks had some growth after 1 week that continued for the next 3 weeks, while those without stick had no Listeria growth in the 4 weeks of cold storage.

Dipping the apples in hot caramel killed off much of the surface bacteria, said lead author Kathleen Glass, PhD, in a news release by the American Listeria 3Society for Microbiology (ASM), which publishes mBio. “But those that still survived were the ones that were able to grow. If someone ate those apples fresh, they probably would not get sick. But because caramel-dipped apples are typically set out at room temperature for multiple days, maybe up to 2 weeks, it is enough time for the bacteria to grow.”

The authors conclude that Listeria growth was likely accelerated by apple juice caused by the puncture to pool underneath the caramel, creating a favorable environment. Caramel and apples by themselves are not good substances for promoting bacterial growth. Possible solutions to the problem include disinfection of the apple, adding growth inhibitors, or employee temperature controls.

Source: Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy

Theranos 2Is Theranos as great as it seems? The blood test company Theranos, which has received widespread acclaim for its development of a cheaper test mainly relying on finger pricks, might not be all that it’s cracked up to be. According to a report published by the Wall Street Journal, based on interviews with anonymous former Theranos employees, only a fraction of the blood samples Theranos handles are actually processed with the company’s proprietary analyzer, which the Journal’s sources referred to as the “Edison” device. The rest, according to the report, are processed with traditional machines. The article’s sources also suggest that the small samples Theranos uses, whether collected by finger stick or by venipuncture using smaller than ordinary needles, do not always produce accurate results.

Theranos released a statement Wednesday calling the report “factually and scientifically erroneous and grounded in baseless assertions by inexperienced and disgruntled former employees and industry incumbents.” The release did not address the WSJ’s reporting that only a portion of the Theranos 1company’s tests were actually performed on its proprietary systems. According to Theranos, the Journal declined an opportunity to try out the “Edison” devices and compare the results to those of traditional tests.

A former senior employee told the WSJ that by the end of 2014, only 15 of the company’s more than 240 offered tests were run through the “Edison” technology. Theranos disputed that claim, though it did not specify how many tests are performed with the technology.

The report said that some employees were concerned about the accuracy of Theranos’ results. Some THeranos 3former employees told the Journal that Theranos may have cheated on proficiency testing of its equipment, processing samples through traditional test machines instead of the “Edison” systems. In other cases, employees alleged that Theranos’ use of small blood samples, diluted for use with the traditional machinery, increased the chance of incorrect results.

Theranos has received FDA approval to perform a test for the herpes simplex virus and has submitted paperwork to approve many more, even though the company is not legally required to do so. “We received our first FDA clearance this summer based on the very proprietary systems the story is asserting don’t work, and have submitted almost 130 pre-submissions at FDA for tests run on those proprietary systems,” Theranos’s statement said.

Source: WSJ

Doctors, hospitals and insurers are bracing for possible disruptions on Oct. 1 when the U.S. health-care Coding 3system switches to a massive new set of codes for describing illnesses and injuries.

Under the new system, cardiologists will have not one but 845 codes for angioplasty. Dermatologists will need to specify which of eight kinds of acne a patient has. Gastroenterologists who don’t know what’s causing a patient’s stomachache will be asked to specify where the pain is and what other symptoms are present—gas? eructation (belching)?—since there is a separate code for each.

Under a new system, the number of diagnostic codes doctors must use to get paid is expanding from 14,000 to 70,000, including codes for ailments such as “underdosing of Coding 2caffeine.”

In all, the number of diagnostic codes doctors must use to get paid is expanding from 14,000 to 70,000 in the latest version of the International Classification of Diseases, or ICD-10. A separate set of ICD-10 procedure codes for hospitals is also expanding, from 4,000 to 72,000.

Hospitals and physician practices have spent billions of dollars on training programs, boot camps, apps, flashcards and practice drills to prepare for the conversion, which has been postponed three times since the original date in 2011

Coding 1Some coding experts warn that claims denials could double as providers and payers get used to the new, more specific codes.

Others are more sanguine. “We’re hoping it will be like Y2K,” when the switch to 2000 dates was expected to crash computers world-wide, says Robert Wergin, president of the American Academy of Family Physicians. “Everybody will worry, and the claims will go through fine.”

Source: WSJ

Aspirin 2The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, in a draft statement, is recommending low-dose aspirin to prevent both cardiovascular disease and colorectal cancer in adults aged 50 to 59 years who have a 10-year CVD risk of 10% or greater (grade B recommendation). Patients aged 60 to 69 should talk to their clinicians about whether the benefits of daily aspirin outweigh the risks (grade C).

Patients using aspirin as a preventive must have a life expectancy of at least 10 years and be willing to take it daily for that length of time. The USPSTF notes that patients at increased risk for bleeding shouldn’t use daily aspirin.Aspirin 3

The task force says there is insufficient evidence to make a similar recommendation for adults younger than 50 years or older than 70 years (both grade I statements).  The task force previously published separate recommendations on aspirin use for preventing CVD (2009) and colorectal cancer (2007); this is the first update to address the combined benefit.

Source: Journal Watch

running 11Young runners are different than you and me. They have more speed. And to achieve that swiftness, they use certain leg muscles quite differently than runners past age 50 do, according to a new study of runners’ strides at different ages. The study also says that many of us might be able to reinvigorate our flagging pace with the right type of strength training.

Competitive records and lived experience all show that runners slow with advancing age, even the great ones. The current world marathon record for men, for instance, 2:02:57, was blazed by a 30-year-old, and is nearly an hour faster than the world record of 2:54:48 for the 70- to 75-year-old age group, which was set by Ed Whitlock, a Canadian. He later ran the world record for the 80- to 85-runners 13year-old age group with a 3:15:54 clocking that, although blisteringly fast by my standards, was more than 20 minutes slower than his septuagenarian self.

While most of us accept this diminution in speed as inevitable and logical — we’re older, of course we’re slower — surprisingly little is known about the actual bodily underpinnings of the decline. But there have been hints. Past studies have found that our aerobic capacity declines as we reach our 40s, dropping by about 10 percent per decade after that, even if we vigorously exercise. So a serious 60-year-old runner will have more endurance capacity than sedentary people his or her age, but less than his or her 40- or 50-year-old self.

However, lower endurance capacity does not automatically mean slower running speeds. Theoretically, with age, we could run at the same pace as we once did, although doing so would require using more of our already runners 12diminished endurance capacity — meaning that it would feel more difficult.

But we don’t. We slow down.

That process intrigued Paul DeVita, a professor of kinesiology at East Carolina University in Greenville, N.C., and president of the American Society of Biomechanics. In 2000, he and his colleague Tibor Hortobagyi published a famous study showing that older people, when they walk, take shorter steps than younger walkers, and rely less on the muscles around their ankles and more on the muscles around their hips to complete each stride than do younger walkers.

Source: New York Times

Sleep study 1Adults who get too much or too little sleep may have the beginnings of “hardening” of the arteries, which can be an early sign of heart disease, according to a new study.

“Many people, up to one third or one fourth of the general population, suffer from inadequate sleep – either insufficient duration of sleep or poor quality of sleep,” said co-lead author Dr. Chan-Won Kim of Kangbuk Samsung Hospital of Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine in Seoul, South Korea.

Several studies have linked inadequate sleep with an increased risk of heart attack and stroke, but other conditions like depression or obesity could influence this association, Kim told Reuters Health by email. sleep study 3 

“In contrast, we studied if sleep of inadequate duration or quality would be linked to early markers of heart disease in asymptomatic healthy adults free of heart disease,” Kim said.

For the study, more than 47,000 men and women, age 42 on average, completed a sleep questionnaire and had tests to detect lesions of calcium and plaque in the artery leading to the heart, an early sign of disease, and arterial stiffness in the leg, a sign of vascular aging.

According to their questionnaires, the participants’ average sleep duration was 6.4 hours per night, and about 84 percent said their sleep quality was “good.” The researchers considered those who got five hours or less per night to be “short” sleepers, and those who got nine or more hours to be “long” sleepers.

sleep study 2Short sleepers had 50 percent more calcium in their coronary arteries than those who slept for seven hours per night, according to the results in Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology. Long sleepers had 70 percent more calcium than those who slept seven hours.

“The associations of too short or too long sleep duration and of poor sleep quality with early indicators of heart disease, such as coronary calcium and arterial stiffness, provides strong support to the increasing body of evidence that links inadequate sleep with an increased risk of heart attacks,” Kim said.

Source: Reuters

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