In patients with kidney disease, calcium linked to increased risk of heart disease and death

Main Category: Urology / Nephrology
Also Included In: Nutrition / Diet;  Heart Disease
Article Date: 24 Jul 2013 - 0:00 PDT Current ratings for:
In patients with kidney disease, calcium linked to increased risk of heart disease and death

Kidney patients who take calcium supplements to lower their phosphorous levels may be at a 22 per cent higher risk of death than those who take other non-calcium based treatments, according to a new study by Women's College Hospital's Dr. Sophie Jamal.

The study, published in the Lancet, calls into question the long-time practice of prescribing calcium to lower phosphate levels in patients with chronic kidney disease. The researchers suggest some of the calcium is absorbed into the blood stream and may expedite hardening of the arteries, leading to a higher risk of heart disease and even death. Cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of death for people with chronic kidney disease.

"Doctors commonly prescribe calcium supplements to prevent elevated phosphate levels, which can damage the body, but a growing number of studies have shown calcium supplements may actually increase the risk of heart disease," explains Dr. Sophie Jamal, a physician at Women's College Hospital and an associate professor of medicine at the University of Toronto. "Our study validates these claims and, for the first time, shows the long-term consequences of taking calcium supplements can be dangerous for patients with kidney disease."

As part of their analysis, researchers reviewed 11 randomized, controlled studies that included more than 4,600 patients. The researchers assessed the risk of heart disease, including heart attack, stroke, and hardening of the arteries, along with death among individuals prescribed the medication containing calcium and those prescribed the medication without calcium. They found:

A 22% reduction in death among patients who took non-calcium based treatments sevelamer and lanthanum. Less artery calcification (hardening) in patients who did not take calcium supplements.

"Some researchers and physicians have been saying for years that kidney disease patients need to get off calcium, now we think our review shows there is much more solid evidence to argue for that change to clinical practice," the study's senior author Ross Tsuyuki from the University of Alberta's faculty of medicine and dentistry.

In the meantime, given the study's findings, the researchers suggest non-calcium containing treatments be used as a first line of treatment to lower phosphate for patients with chronic kidney disease.

"The findings of our study provides the best evidence as to what doctors should be prescribing their patients, but further research is necessary to help us understand how exactly calcium increases the risk of death, if non calcium-based treatments reduce the risk of death, and whether certain types of treatments may be more effective and beneficial than others," says Dr. Jamal.

Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release. Click 'references' tab above for source.
Visit our urology / nephrology section for the latest news on this subject. Please use one of the following formats to cite this article in your essay, paper or report:

MLA

Hospital, Women\'s College. "In patients with kidney disease, calcium linked to increased risk of heart disease and death." Medical News Today. MediLexicon, Intl., 24 Jul. 2013. Web.
24 Jul. 2013. APA

Please note: If no author information is provided, the source is cited instead.

posted by Will Smith on 24 Jul 2013 at 3:46 am

Once again someone publishes a report on the bad impacts of calcium on health without specifing what type of calcium supplements that they referring to. There is a big difference between how the body uses calcium carbonate from how it uses calcium citrate. This article would be of more value if the authors had specified which calcium compound(s), they used in the study.

| post followup | alert a moderator |

'In patients with kidney disease, calcium linked to increased risk of heart disease and death'

Please note that we publish your name, but we do not publish your email address. It is only used to let you know when your message is published. We do not use it for any other purpose. Please see our privacy policy for more information.

If you write about specific medications or operations, please do not name health care professionals by name.

All opinions are moderated before being included (to stop spam). We reserve the right to amend opinions where we deem necessary.

Contact Our News Editors

For any corrections of factual information, or to contact the editors please use our feedback form.

Please send any medical news or health news press releases to:

Note: Any medical information published on this website is not intended as a substitute for informed medical advice and you should not take any action before consulting with a health care professional. For more information, please read our terms and conditions.

View the original article here

Suicide risk increased by teen eating disorders

Main Category: Eating Disorders
Also Included In: Depression;  Women's Health / Gynecology;  Anxiety / Stress
Article Date: 24 Jul 2013 - 1:00 PDT Current ratings for:
Suicide risk increased by teen eating disorders

Is binge eating a tell-tale sign of suicidal thoughts?

According to a new study of African American girls, by Dr. Rashelle Musci and colleagues from the Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University in the US, those who experience depressive and anxious symptoms are often dissatisfied with their bodies and more likely to display binge eating behaviors. These behaviors put them at higher risk for turning their emotions inward, in other words, displaying internalizing symptoms such as suicide.

The study is published online in Springer's journal, Prevention Science.

With the focus on appearance in Western culture, it is not uncommon for many girls and women to have eating behavior problems. The most frequently occurring problem eating behaviors are binge eating, or eating large amounts of food in a short period of time and feeling out of control while eating. This behavior leads to shame, embarrassment, distress and an attempt to conceal it.

Musci and team investigated how depressive and anxious symptoms may be precursors to binge eating behaviors and suicidal outcomes in 313 black females followed for 11 years, from the ages of approximately 6-17 years old. Teacher, parent, and child interviews were carried out, examining levels of anxiety, depression, satisfaction with physical appearance, and eating behaviors, particularly binge eating. The researchers also noted who had reported a suicide attempt during the study period. The African American females demonstrated dissatisfaction with their physical appearance, which predicted the development of depressive and anxious symptoms in adolescence. These, in turn, predicted binge eating behaviors. Adolescent girls with more binge eating behaviors also reported more suicide attempts. The authors conclude: "The relationships found in this study offer prevention scientists a unique opportunity to target individuals at high risk of psychiatric problems by intervening in the case of binge eating problems. Our results also support the importance of developing prevention programs that are culturally relevant to individuals."

Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release. Click 'references' tab above for source.
Visit our eating disorders section for the latest news on this subject.

Musci RJ et al (2013). Internalizing Antecedents and Consequences of Binge Eating Behaviors in a Community-Based, Urban Sample of African American Females. Prevention Science; DOI 10.1007/s11121-013-0411-9

Springer

Please use one of the following formats to cite this article in your essay, paper or report:

MLA

Springer. "Suicide risk increased by teen eating disorders." Medical News Today. MediLexicon, Intl., 24 Jul. 2013. Web.
24 Jul. 2013. APA

Please note: If no author information is provided, the source is cited instead.

'Suicide risk increased by teen eating disorders'

Please note that we publish your name, but we do not publish your email address. It is only used to let you know when your message is published. We do not use it for any other purpose. Please see our privacy policy for more information.

If you write about specific medications or operations, please do not name health care professionals by name.

All opinions are moderated before being included (to stop spam). We reserve the right to amend opinions where we deem necessary.

Contact Our News Editors

For any corrections of factual information, or to contact the editors please use our feedback form.

Please send any medical news or health news press releases to:

Note: Any medical information published on this website is not intended as a substitute for informed medical advice and you should not take any action before consulting with a health care professional. For more information, please read our terms and conditions.

View the original article here

Preschoolers Who Sleep Less Than Average At Increased Risk For Behavioral Problems

Main Category: Psychology / Psychiatry
Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health;  Sleep / Sleep Disorders / Insomnia
Article Date: 13 Jul 2013 - 0:00 PDT Current ratings for:
Preschoolers Who Sleep Less Than Average At Increased Risk For Behavioral Problems

Four-year-olds with shorter than average sleep times have increased rates of "externalizing" behavior problems, reports a study in the July Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, the official journal of the Society for Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

"Preschool children with shorter nighttime sleep duration had higher odds of parent-reported overactivity, anger, aggression, impulsivity, tantrums, and annoying behaviors," according to the new research by Dr. Rebecca J. Scharf of University of Virginia, Charlottesville, and colleagues. They recommend that parents and health care providers discuss steps to improve sleep habits for preschool-age children with behavior problems.

Shorter Sleep Times, More Behavior Problems

The researchers analyzed parent responses from a nationally representative study of approximately 9,000 children, followed from birth through kindergarten age. When the children were four years old, nighttime sleep duration was estimated by asking the parents what time their child typically went to bed and woke on weekdays.

On a standard child behavior questionnaire, parents rated their child on six different "externalizing" behavior problems such as anger and aggression. (Externalizing behavior problems are outward behaviors, distinguished from "internalizing" problems such as depression and anxiety.) The relationship between sleep duration and behavior scores was assessed, with adjustment for other factors that might affect sleep or behavior.

The average bedtime was 8:39 pm and wake time 7:13 am, giving a mean nighttime sleep duration of about 10½ hours. Eleven percent of children were considered to have "short sleep duration" of less than 9¾ hours (calculated as one standard deviation below the average).

On the child behavior questionnaire, 16 percent of children had a high score for externalizing behavior problems. Behavior problems were more common for boys, children who watched more than two hours of television daily, and those whose mothers reported feeling depressed.

After adjustment for other factors, "Children in the shortest sleep groups have significantly worse behavior than children with longer sleep duration," Dr Scharf and colleagues write. The effect was greatest for aggressive behavior problems, which were about 80 percent more likely for children with nighttime sleep duration of less than 9¾ hours.

Shorter sleep times were also associated with 30- to 46-percent increases in rates of the other externalizing behaviors studied, including overactivity, anger, impulsivity, tantrums, and annoying behaviors. In a linear analysis, as sleep duration increased, troubling behaviors decreased.

Previous studies in smaller groups of children have identified shorter nighttime sleep duration as a risk factor for behavior problems in preschool children. The average 10½-hour sleep time in this nationally representative sample is less than in studies performed in past decades, and less than currently recommended for four-year-olds.

The new results, along with other recent studies, add to the evidence that preschoolers who sleep less will have more behavior problems, including disruptive behaviors like aggression and overactivity. Although the study can't draw any conclusions about causality, "there is good reason to believe that short nighttime sleep duration leads to externalizing behaviors," the researchers write.

Dr Scharf and coauthors recommend that doctors and health care providers ask about bed and wake times when talking to parents about young children with behavior problems. They add, "Advocating for regular sleep habits, healthy sleep hygiene, and regular bedtime routines may be helpful for young children."

Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release. Click 'references' tab above for source.
Visit our psychology / psychiatry section for the latest news on this subject. Please use one of the following formats to cite this article in your essay, paper or report:

MLA

Health, Wolters Kluwer. "Preschoolers Who Sleep Less Than Average At Increased Risk For Behavioral Problems." Medical News Today. MediLexicon, Intl., 13 Jul. 2013. Web.
14 Jul. 2013. APA

Please note: If no author information is provided, the source is cited instead.

'Preschoolers Who Sleep Less Than Average At Increased Risk For Behavioral Problems'

Please note that we publish your name, but we do not publish your email address. It is only used to let you know when your message is published. We do not use it for any other purpose. Please see our privacy policy for more information.

If you write about specific medications or operations, please do not name health care professionals by name.

All opinions are moderated before being included (to stop spam)

Contact Our News Editors

For any corrections of factual information, or to contact the editors please use our feedback form.

Please send any medical news or health news press releases to:

Note: Any medical information published on this website is not intended as a substitute for informed medical advice and you should not take any action before consulting with a health care professional. For more information, please read our terms and conditions.

View the original article here

The Obese Are At Increased Risk For Heart Disease When Exposed To Cigarette Smoke

Main Category: Smoking / Quit Smoking
Also Included In: Obesity / Weight Loss / Fitness;  Heart Disease;  Genetics
Article Date: 13 Jul 2013 - 0:00 PDT Current ratings for:
The Obese Are At Increased Risk For Heart Disease When Exposed To Cigarette Smoke

New insights into why obese cigarette smokers experience a high risk of heart disease suggest that cigarette smoke affects the activity of hundreds of key genes that both protect the heart and lungs and expose them to damage. The study, published in ACS' Chemical Research in Toxicology, suggests that the effects may be especially profound in obese nonsmokers who inhale "sidesteam smoke" from cigarettes smoldering nearby.

Diana J. Bigelow and colleagues point out that active smoking doubles the risk of heart disease, while second-hand smoke exposure increases this risk by about one-third. They set out to gain more information on why the risks are especially high among people with obesity, using specially fed laboratory mice that are stand-ins for humans in such experiments.

The report describes how mainstream smoke and to a greater extent, sidestream smoke, inhibit the activity of genes that protect the heart and lungs, and activate genes associated with an increased risk of heart disease. Those changes were more profound in obese mice than normal-weight mice. "The present study is the first, to our knowledge, that addresses the in vivo transcriptional response of the heart to cigarette smoke exposure in the setting of high fat diet and obesity, and thus takes a first step toward identifying the molecular basis of adaptive responses that may lead to an increased risk of heart disease in obese smokers," the report states.

Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release. Click 'references' tab above for source.
Visit our smoking / quit smoking section for the latest news on this subject.

The authors acknowledge funding from the Exposure Biology Program in the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, part of the National Institutes of Health.

American Chemical Society

Please use one of the following formats to cite this article in your essay, paper or report:

MLA

American Chemical Society. "The Obese Are At Increased Risk For Heart Disease When Exposed To Cigarette Smoke." Medical News Today. MediLexicon, Intl., 13 Jul. 2013. Web.
14 Jul. 2013. APA

Please note: If no author information is provided, the source is cited instead.

posted by miki mario on 14 Jul 2013 at 2:29 pm

New insights into why obese cigarette smokers experience a high risk of heart disease suggest that cigarette smoke affects the activity of hundreds of key genes that both protect the heart and lungs and expose them to damage. The study, published in ACS’ Chemical Research in Toxicology, suggests that the effects may be especially profound in obese nonsmokers who inhale “sidesteam smoke” from cigarettes smoldering nearby.

| post followup | alert a moderator |

'The Obese Are At Increased Risk For Heart Disease When Exposed To Cigarette Smoke'

Please note that we publish your name, but we do not publish your email address. It is only used to let you know when your message is published. We do not use it for any other purpose. Please see our privacy policy for more information.

If you write about specific medications or operations, please do not name health care professionals by name.

All opinions are moderated before being included (to stop spam)

Contact Our News Editors

For any corrections of factual information, or to contact the editors please use our feedback form.

Please send any medical news or health news press releases to:

Note: Any medical information published on this website is not intended as a substitute for informed medical advice and you should not take any action before consulting with a health care professional. For more information, please read our terms and conditions.

View the original article here

Breast Cancer An Increased Risk For Women Who Give Birth To Multiple Babies After IVF

Main Category: Fertility
Also Included In: Breast Cancer
Article Date: 11 Jul 2013 - 0:00 PDT Current ratings for:
Breast Cancer An Increased Risk For Women Who Give Birth To Multiple Babies After IVF

Women who give birth to multiple babies following IVF treatment are at a higher risk of breast cancer than those giving birth to singletons or who remain childless. Dutch investigators from the Omega study group said the explanation may not be the multiple pregnancy per se but a maternal trait related to a higher implantation potential and to breast cancer itself.

Although the results were derived from a large nationwide cohort study, the investigators emphasise that the findings should next be replicated in further studies and that presently there is no reason for earlier breast cancer screening than is recommended for the general population.(1)

The study, presented at the annual meeting of ESHRE by Dr Els Groeneveld from the VU University Medical Centre of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, analysed data from the Omega study, a large Dutch nationwide cohort of 19,861 women who received IVF or ICSI treatment between 1983 and 1995. Between 1997 and 1999 all patients were questioned (by questionnaire) about their treatment and its outcome. Those who completed the questionnaire (12,589 women) were cross-referred to the Netherlands Cancer Registry.

Cohort analysis showed that over a median 16.7 years of follow-up 1688 women in the study gave birth to multiples (13%), 6027 delivered singletons (48%), and 4874 remained childless (39%). Among these women there were 317 confirmed diagnoses of breast cancer, of whom 57 gave birth to multiples, 155 to singletons, and 105 remained childless. When these findings were analysed statistically, results showed that mothers of multiples had a (44%) higher breast cancer risk than the mothers of singletons (hazard ratio 1.44, statistically significant) when adjusted for year of IVF treatment, number of IVF cycles, height and age at first birth. Nulliparous women were at no increased risk of breast cancer.

Remarkably, only multiple pregnancies conceived after the complete implantation of all transferred embryos were associated with an increased breast cancer risk (HR 1.86), whereas multiple pregnancies conceived after incomplete implantation were not (HR 1.31, not statistically significant). This finding, says Dr Groeneveld, supports the hypothesis of a link between high embryo implantation potential and breast cancer risk.

She explained: "It has been generally assumed that increased levels of estrogen and progesterone in multiple pregnancies stimulate cellular proliferation in the breast, which increases accumulation of somatic mutations during cell division and leads to the development of breast cancer. Thus, breast cancer could be seen as a consequence of the multiple pregnancy itself. However, we also hypothesise that an additional maternal trait might be associated with an increased breast cancer risk in these women."

Such a trait could be maternal serum concentrations of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), a known protein involved in breast cancer progression and which Dr Groeneveld's group in Amsterdam has recently found associated with improved embryo implantation potential.

"In our study women who developed a multiple pregnancy from all transferred embryos represent women with high embryo implantation potential, possibly through increased levels of VEGF," said Dr Groeneveld. "Future studies will reveal whether the significant association between improved embryo implantation potential and breast cancer risk shown in our study is actually based on increased levels of VEGF. "So the main message of our study is that the increased breast cancer risk is not only a consequence of the multiple pregnancy itself because of high hormone levels, but that the risk of breast cancer may already be elevated prior to conception in women who have the potential - the 'maternal trait' - to develop a multiple pregnancy from all transferred embryos."

Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release. Click 'references' tab above for source.
Visit our fertility section for the latest news on this subject.

Abstract 110

Increased breast cancer risk after multiple implantation in IVF: a cohort study

European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology

Please use one of the following formats to cite this article in your essay, paper or report:

MLA

European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryol. "Breast Cancer An Increased Risk For Women Who Give Birth To Multiple Babies After IVF." Medical News Today. MediLexicon, Intl., 11 Jul. 2013. Web.
11 Jul. 2013. APA

Please note: If no author information is provided, the source is cited instead.

'Breast Cancer An Increased Risk For Women Who Give Birth To Multiple Babies After IVF'

Please note that we publish your name, but we do not publish your email address. It is only used to let you know when your message is published. We do not use it for any other purpose. Please see our privacy policy for more information.

If you write about specific medications or operations, please do not name health care professionals by name.

All opinions are moderated before being included (to stop spam)

Contact Our News Editors

For any corrections of factual information, or to contact the editors please use our feedback form.

Please send any medical news or health news press releases to:

Note: Any medical information published on this website is not intended as a substitute for informed medical advice and you should not take any action before consulting with a health care professional. For more information, please read our terms and conditions.

View the original article here