Categories
Cardiovascular
Diagnostics
Endocrinology
Health Insurance
Medical Devices
Mental Health
Nutrition
Oncology
Public Health
Sexual Health
Popular Articles
Stretch Mark Cream

Drug-Eluting Stents More Effective Than Bare-Metal Stents In Heart Attack Patients
NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and Columbia University Medical Center, together with the Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF), announced that its landmark study comparing the safety and efficacy of drug-eluting stents and bare-metal stents was published in the May 7 New England Journal of Medicine. The study, HORIZONS-AMI (Harmonizing Outcomes with RevascularIZatiON and Stents in Acute Myocardial Infarction), showed that in heart attack patients undergoing angioplasty, the use of paclitaxel-eluting stents reduces rates of target lesion revascularization (TLR) and binary angiographic restenosis when compared to the use of bare-metal stents after one year.
generic viagra online
Blood-Borne Molecule Helps Regulate Blood-Vessel Integrity
Although maintaining the integrity of blood vessel walls is essential for life, well-controlled temporary leakage of blood contents through the walls of blood vessels into the tissues is a hallmark of inflammation. Although the molecule S1P is known to act on the cells that line blood vessels (endothelial cells) to regulate the permeability of blood vessel walls, the in vivo of SIP in this process remains unknown, and whether it has a role in inflammation has not been determined. In a new study, Shaun Coughlin and colleagues, at UCSF, San Francisco, have shed light on these issues, revealing that mice that lack S1P selectively in plasma (the liquid component of blood) have increased leakage from the blood vessels in response to a variety of stimuli, including inflammatory ones. As the leakage was reversed by treatment with either S1P-containing red blood cells or an agonist for the protein to which SIP binds, the authors conclude that S1P in the blood regulates blood-vessel integrity and prevents potentially lethal decreases in blood volume after exposure to leak-inducing stimuli. Purchase zoloft to treat depression.
News of the day
Needle Exchange Programs Could Save Texas 'Millions Of Dollars,' Opinion Piece Says
Needle exchange programs (NEPs) "are an inexpensive public health intervention, especially when compared with the social costs of treating individuals with HIV or hepatitis-related chronic liver disease," Maureen Trotter, a pathologist and president of the Taylor-Jones-Haskell County Medical Society, writes in the Abilene Reporter News. She adds that legislation introduced this year in the Texas Legislature "to allow public health departments and organizations to establish disease control programs that provide for the anonymous exchange of used hypodermic needles and syringes for sterile ones, offer education and substance abuse treatment and blood-borne disease testing" failed to come to a floor vote. Trotter further discusses NEPs, citing data on outcomes of NEPs, and writes, "The costs of preventing one case of HIV is estimated between $4,000 and $12,000 via NEPs. The medical cost of treating a person infected with HIV is about $200,000," adding, "These programs, if implemented, could save Texas millions of dollars" (7/12).
Mental Health

Qercetin Increases Endurance Without Regular Exercise Training

Quercetin may not be a household word -- yet. But a study by researchers at the University of South Carolina"s Arnold School of Public Health shows that the powerful antioxidant/anti-inflammatory compound found in fruits and vegetables significantly boosts endurance capacity and maximal oxygen capacity (VO2max) in healthy, active but untrained men and women. The findings of the study one of the first in humans to examine the energy-boosting effects of quercetin are reported in the International Journal of Sports Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, published online Wednesday (June 24). Dr. Mark Davis, the study"s lead author and a professor of exercise science, said the fatigue-fighting and health properties of querceti found in the skins of red apples, red onions, berries and grapes have implications not only for athletes and soldiers whose energy and performance are tested to the extreme, but also for average adults who battle fatigue and stress daily. "The natural, biological properties of quercetin that include powerful antioxidant and anti-imflammatory activity, as well as the ability to boost the immune system and increase mitochondria (the powerhouse of the cell) in muscle and brain is great news for those who often think that they"re too tired to exercise," Davis said. "While there"s no magic pill to make people get up and move, or to take the place of regular exercise, quercetin may be important in relieving the fatigue that keeps them sedentary and in providing some of the benefits of exercise," he said. "We believe that this could be a major breakthrough in nutrition." For the study, funded in part by the U.S. Department of Defense, 12 participants were randomly assigned to one of two treatments. Half were given 500 milligrams of quercetin twice a day in Tang for seven days. The other subjects drank Tang with placebos. After the seven days of treatment, during which the subjects were told not to alter their physical activity, the participants rode stationary bicycles to the point of fatigue. Researchers also tested their additional VO2max, one of the most important measures of fitness. Then the participants received the opposite treatment for another seven days before riding the bicycle to the point of fatigue and VO2max tests. Neither the participants nor the research staff knew who received the quercetin Tang or the placebo Tang, and all subjects took part in the quercetin and placebo treatments. "The participants were healthy, relatively active, college-age students, but they were not physically trained athletes, and they were not taking part in a regular exercise training program," he said. The results: After taking quercetin for only seven days, the participants had a 13.2 percent increase in endurance and a 3.9 percent increase in VO2max. "These were statistically significant effects that indicate an important improvement in endurance capacity in a very short time," Davis said. "Quercetin supplementation was able to mimic some of the effects of exercise training. Although the study did not examine why the results were so dramatic, Davis said pre-clinical data suggest that quercetin may increase the mitochondria in brain and muscle cells. He likened the mitochondria to the "powerhouse of the cell," producing most of its energy. Mitochondria in brain and muscle also are believed to be fundamentally important in battling age-related dementia, obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular dysfunction. "One of the most important biological mechanisms for increasing endurance is increasing the mitochondria," said Davis. "More mitochondria in the brain and muscle would enhance both mental and physical energy, as well as provide a better ability to fight other diseases in which mitochondrial dysfunction are hallmarks." Quercetin also appears to have valuable properties to fight inflammation, which has been linked to health problems such as colon cancer and heart disease. Davis" research group has recently received a National Institutes of Health grant to study quercetin"s effects on colon cancer and others are pending that involve breast cancer. "If the findings of this study and others on the biological mechanisms of quercetin are confirmed in future clinical studies, the implications go beyond improvements in endurance," he said. "We may find that quercetin may work in conjunction with regular physical activity as an ally in preventing and treating diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular diseases and the degenerative diseases of aging." University of South Carolina


Add your comment:
Name:
Site address: http://
Your message:
Enter today\\\\'s date, 2 digits
(spam protection):

© Copyright 2009