Critical Illness Insurance News: Study Ties Diet To Longer Life

According to medical researchers, today's leading causes of death have shifted from infectious diseases to chronic diseases. These include cardiovascular disease and cancer.

Both of these illnesses may be affected by diet a study published in the January 2011 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association reveals.

Researchers examined data regarding the associations of dietary patterns with mortality through analysis of the eating patterns of over 2500 adults between the ages of 70 and 79 over a ten-year period. They found that diets favoring certain foods were associated with reduced mortality.

By 2030, an estimated 973 million adults will be aged 65 or older worldwide according to the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance which tracks data related to critical illnesses. This study sought to determine the dietary patterns of a large and diverse group of older adults, and to explore connections between these dietary patterns with survival over a 10-year period.

Researchers were able to group the participants into six different clusters according to predominant food choices including healthy foods, high-fat dairy products, meat, fried foods, and alcohol and sweets and desserts.
The "Healthy foods" cluster was characterized by relatively higher intake of low-fat dairy products, fruit, whole grains, poultry, fish, and vegetables, and lower consumption of meat, fried foods, sweets, high-calorie drinks, and added fat. The "High fat dairy products" cluster had higher intake of foods such as ice cream, cheese, and 2% and whole milk and yogurt, and lower intake of poultry, low-fat dairy products, rice, and pasta.

The study was unique in that it evaluated participants' quality of life and nutritional status, through detailed biochemical measures, according to their dietary patterns.

After controlling for gender, age, race, clinical site, education, physical activity, smoking, and total calorie intake, the "High-fat dairy products" cluster had a 40% higher risk of mortality than the "Healthy foods" cluster. The "Sweets and desserts" cluster had a 37% higher risk. No significant differences in risk of mortality were seen between the "Healthy foods" cluster and the "Breakfast cereal" or "Refined grains" clusters.

Many Stroke Survivors Don't Take Lifesaving Meds

About one-fifth of ischemic stroke survivors don't take medications that can reduce their risk of another stroke.

According to research, about 19 percent of patients didn't take prescribed blood thinners. Each year about 600,000 Americans experience their first stroke and 185,000 have a recurrent stroke according to the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance.

Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the United States. Over 143,579 people die each year from stroke in the United States and stroke is a leading cause of serious long-term disability. Nearly three-quarters of all strokes occur in people over the age of 65. The risk of having a stroke more than doubles each decade after the age of 55 the Association notes.

Ischemic stroke is caused by blocked blood flow in the brain. Several types of medications can reduce the risk of another ischemic stroke. These include blood thinners - also known as antithrombotic medications, of which aspirin is the most common.

This seven-year study conducted by the University of California, Los Angeles, examined 4,168 ischemic stroke survivors. Researchers found that about 19 percent of patients didn't take blood thinners. Men, older patients and non-Hispanic patients were more likely to take blood thinners.

The study will be published in the January issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Vigorous Exercise Cuts Stroke Risk for Older Men, Not Women

Moderate-to-high intensity exercise may help reduce stroke risk in older men but not in women.

New research examined over 3,000 men and women, average age 69, who were followed for about nine years. During that time, there were 238 strokes among the participants. At the start of the study, 20 percent of the participants said they did regular moderate-to-high intensity exercise such as jogging, swimming or tennis.  Some 41 percent said they did no physical activity. 

Men who did moderate-to-high intensity exercise were 63 percent less likely to have a stroke than people who didn't exercise. Over five years, the baseline risk of ischemic stroke which is the leading type of stroke for all study participants was 4.3 percent; 2.7 percent for those who did moderate-to-high intensity exercise and 4.6 percent for those who didn't exercise.

The study conducted by researchers at Columbia University Medical Center and New York Presbyterian Hospital at Columbia appears in the Nov. 24 issue of the journal Neurology.  Taking part in moderate-to-heavy intensity physical activity may be an important factor for preventing stroke, noted the study's author. 

A large percentage of the participants were not taking part in any physical activities. This may be true of many elderly people who live in cities. Identifying ways to improve physical activity among these people may be a key goal for public health.

Stroke is the leading cause of disability in the United States and the third leading cause of death according to the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance, the national trade organization.  This year some 600,000 Americans will suffer their first stroke.

Kidney Transplant Plus Sleep Disorder Adds Up to Trouble

Kidney transplant patients with sleep apnea are at increased risk for high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke. 

Researchers in Hungary conducted a study of kidney transplant recipients and found that 25 percent had moderate to severe sleep apnea, a rate similar to that seen in kidney disease patients on dialysis awaiting a transplant. 

The findings they note indicate that both types of patients who have the breathing-related sleep disorder should be considered at high risk for serious heart-related complications.  Transplant recipients with sleep apnea were more than twice as likely as those without the syndrome to be taking three or more anti-hypertensive drugs, but still had higher blood pressure than those without the sleep disorder. Obesity increased a transplant patient's risk of developing sleep apnea. 

Organ transplants are increasingly available according to the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance.  Some critical illness policies will provide a cash benefit when a transplant is received.

When the Hungarian medical researchers calculated risk scores, they found that kidney disease patients with sleep apnea were twice as likely to suffer heart disease or stroke than those without sleep apnea.  They recommend that physicians should screen transplant patients for obstructive sleep apnea and offer appropriate treatment," the study authors concluded. 

The study will be published in January in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

Moderate Drinking May Help Your Heart

A Spanish study has found that long-term moderate drinking decreased the risk of heart disease by up to one-third in men and to a lesser degree in women.

The type of alcohol -- beer, wine or spirits -- made no difference, the researchers reported in the Nov. 19 online issue of Heart. The Spanish analysis used 10-year data on over 40,000 men and women who were participants in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer study.

 But for men, there was a point at which the coronary benefits of alcohol declined, and risk began to rise again.  The rate of coronary heart disease for non-drinking women in the study was 56 per 100,000. For women listed as low drinkers, averaging less than 5 grams a day, it was 42. For women who were moderate drinkers (5 to 30 grams a day), it was 36; for high drinkers (30 to 90 grams a day) it was 12; and for heavy drinkers (more than 90 grams a day) it was 12.

The rates for men were 398 per 100,000 for those who never drank, 318 for low drinkers, 255 for moderate drinkers, 278 for high drinkers and 334 for heavy drinkers, the researchers reported.

The report showing that the source of alcohol made no difference does help puncture one explanation for what has come to be called the "French paradox," the low level of heart disease seen in that country despite consumption of what Americans would describe as an unhealthy, fat-rich diet. Some experts have attributed the paradox to the beneficial effects of red wine.

A number of well-done studies have shown that people who drink have higher levels of HDL cholesterol.  HDL cholesterol is the "good" kind that prevents formation of artery-blocking plaque deposits.

The American Heart Association recommendation is that "if you drink, do so in moderation." That means one to two drinks a day for a man, one drink a day for a woman, with a drink defined as 12 ounces of beer, 4 ounces of wine or 1 ounce of 100-proof spirits.

Every 34 seconds an American will suffer a heart attack according to the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance. 

SOURCES: Eric B. Rimm, Sc.D., associate professor, epidemiology and nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston; Kenneth Mukamal, M.D., internist, Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital, associate professor, medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston; Nov. 19, 2009, Heart, online.

Study Drug Shrinks Lung Cancer Tumors In Mice

A potential new drug for lung cancer has eliminated tumors in 50% of mice.

Researchers report that the drug also stopped lung cancer tumors from growing and becoming resistant to treatment. 

One in five people with lung cancer have small cell lung cancer and only three per cent of these people are expected to survive for five years. With this form of lung cancer, tumors spread quickly so it is rarely possible to remove the tumors surgically. Because of this, small cell lung cancer is treated with chemotherapy, with or without additional radiotherapy.

Initially, the treatment often appears to work, reducing the size of the tumors. However, the tumors usually grow back rapidly and then become resistant to further treatment.

The researchers have identified a drug that, in some mice, was able to completely shrink tumors away. In the mouse models, it was also able to stop tumors from growing and it helped other forms of chemotherapy to work more effectively. If the drug proves successful in humans, the researchers hope that it could help patients with this kind of lung cancer to live longer.

The Section of Molecular Oncology and Lung Cancer Research at Imperial College London which conducted the study suggests that it may be possible to develop the drug PD173074 into a new targeted therapy for small cell lung cancer. We hope to take this drug, or a similar drug that also stops FGF-2 from working, into clinical trials next year to see if it is a successful treatment for lung cancer in humans. An added bonus of this drug is that it could be taken orally, which would make it less invasive than some other forms of cancer therapy.

Lung cancer is one of the most common cancer killer in the world according to the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance.   Around one in five of people diagnosed with lung cancer will have small cell lung cancer. Although it responds to chemotherapy initially, the tumors soon become resistant to treatment and sadly nearly all people with the disease do not survive.

The Cancer Treatment and Research Trust, Cancer Research UK and the UK Department of Health funded the research. 

Breast Cancer Cured But Pain Survives

Nearly half of breast cancer survivors suffer from persistent pain.

According to a report in today's Journal of the American Medical Association the pain exists even two or three years following treatment.  Almost 60% of the over 3,000 women surveyed experience other symptoms of nerve damage, such as numbness or tenderness, according to a study of women treated for breast cancer in 2005 and 2006.

The researchers noted that women under 40 and those who have more extensive surgery, such as a mastectomy, and radiation are the most likely to report pain.  Women, they report, also have more pain if surgeons removed many of the lymph nodes in their armpits, a common place for breast cancer to spread.

Most breast cancer patients can ease their symptoms with over-the-counter pain relievers.  Every year nearly 700,000 American women are diagnosed with cancer according to the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance.  About one in four women are diagnosed with breast cancer and as a result of early detection and improved treatment, most survice. 

While the medical experts explain that it is not always possible to prevent chronic pain, there are ways women can reduce their risk. 

Women should choose doctors who perform "sentinel-node" biopsies, one of the experts writing in the Journal noted. In the procedure, surgeons remove and test one or a few key lymph node for malignant cells instead of automatically removing all of the nodes. If the sentinel node is cancer-free, surgeons leave the others in place. The procedure also reduces the risk of lymphedema, a painful swelling in the arm.

Walking And Exercise May Lower Prostate Cancer Risk

Men who regularly get moderate exercise may have a lower risk of developing prostate cancer. 

Researchers examined men who underwent biopsies for possible prostate cancer.  Those who exercised moderately, the equivalent of three to six hours of walking per week, were less likely to be diagnosed with the disease. 

The study found that compared with their sedentary counterparts, these men were two-thirds less likely to have a biopsy positive for prostate cancer. In addition, men who performed one to three hours of walking each week had an 86 percent lower chance of having an aggressive form of the cancer. 

According to the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance, some 745,000 men are diagnosed with cancer each week.  Prostate cancer is the leading cancer impacting men.  The study findings which appear in the current issue of the Journal of Urology do not prove that exercise helps prevent prostate cancer the researchers point out. But it could offer men another incentive to get active. 

A number of studies have looked at the relationship between exercise and prostate cancer, and while most have pointed to a protective effect, about one-third have found no association.  The medical experts found that among the 111 sedentary men in the study, half were diagnosed with cancer after biopsy. That compared with 27 percent of those men who got the equivalent of three to six hours of walking each week. 

And among men diagnosed with prostate cancer, 51 percent of sedentary patients had more-aggressive cancer, versus 22 percent of those who had been mildly active -- getting the equivalent of one to three hours of moderate walking per week.

Exercise itself remained linked to a lower risk of prostate cancer after the researchers accounted for a number of other factors, like age, weight and race.  Exercise has been shown to lower blood levels of testosterone and other hormones that may stimulate prostate tumor growth. Exercise is also believed to stimulate the immune system and the body's natural antioxidant mechanisms, both of which may help prevent the development of prostate cancer.

Eating Red Meat Linked To Prostate Cancer

Men who consumer red meat or processed red meats may have a higher risk of developing prostate cancer than those who limit such foods.

Researchers at the National Cancer Institute report the findings of a major study.  Researchers followed more than 175,000 men for nine years.  Those who ate the most red and processed meats had heightened risks of developing any stage of prostate cancer, or advanced cancer in particular.  Prostate cancer is the most commong cancer in men according to the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance, followed by lung and colon. 

The findings which were reported in the American Journal of Epidemiology add to a conflicting body of research on meat intake and prostate cancer risk.   Prior studies have come to different conclusions.  However, medical experts generally consider the evidence linking red and processed meats to the disease to be limited and inconclusive. 

These latest findings do not settle the question. The researchers explain that they do suggest that processed red meats and high-heat cooking methods -- namely, grilling and barbecuing -- may be particularly connected to prostate cancer risk. 

The researchers followed 175,300 U.S. men between the ages of 50 and 71 who were surveyed about their diets.  Specifically, the study looked at how much and what type of meat the participants typically ate.  They also studied the cooking methods used.

The researchers used that information to estimate the levels of certain potentially cancer-promoting chemicals in the men's diets.  Over the next nine years, 10,313 study participants developed prostate cancer and 419 died from the disease. 

Overall, the researchers found, the 20 percent of men with the highest intakes of red meat, which in this study included beef and pork, were 12 percent more likely than those who consumed the least to develop prostate cancer. That's after a range of other factors, like smoking, exercise habits and education, were taken into account. 

There was a stronger connection to advanced prostate cancer -- with that risk being almost one-third higher among those who ate the most red meat versus those who ate the least. 

Similar findings were seen with processed meat. But when the researchers broke the men's diet information down further, they found that red processed meats -- like bacon and red-meat sausage and hot dogs -- were related to higher prostate cancer risk, while white processed meats, like poultry cold cuts, were not. 

When it came to cooking methods, the only one that was linked to prostate cancer was grilling or barbecuing.

The finding is in line with the theory that meats cooked at high temperatures may be particularly linked to cancer because the cooking process produces certain chemicals -- including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and heterocyclic amines -- that are known to cause cancer in animals. 

The researchers also found that higher dietary levels of a PAH called benzo-alpha-pyrene were related to a higher risk of prostate cancer. A similar pattern emerged when the investigators looked at men's intake of nitrites and nitrates -- chemicals used to preserve and flavor processed and cured meats like ham, bacon and sausage.  In the body, nitrites and nitrates can promote the production of potentially cancer-promoting chemicals called nitrosamines.

Race, Income, Marital Status Has No Impact On Prostate Cancer Outcome

A patient's income, martial status and race has absolutely no impact on their outcome following curative radiation therapy for the treatment of prostate cancer.

A study conducted at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit found that socioeconomic status factors had no impact on predicting the outcome of treatment. All patients did equally well, based on the known prognostic factors.

The study, presented this week at the American Society for Radiation Oncology meeting in Chicago is unique in that nearly 50 percent of patients in the analysis are African American.

Prostate cancer affects one in six men in the United States according to the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance and the majority of all prostate cancer are diagnosed in men older than 65.  Most individuals diagnosed with the illness will survive.  Only one in 35 will die of prostate cancer.   Radiation therapy involves administering high-energy X-rays to kill cancer cells. 

According to the study's lead researcher, prior studies on socioeconomic status and cancer outcomes done by other groups have had conflicting results.  One study, for example, suggested that African Americans with breast or colon cancer do much worse than white patients because they receive care at hospitals with less expertise. 

Another study the medical experts noted show that men with prostate cancer who are married have better outcomes than those who are unmarried or without a partner. And yet other studies suggested that hospitals with large minority patient populations have higher mortality for cancer.

A shortcoming of many of the studies is the fact that they include a relatively small percentage of African American patients.  By comparison, almost half of the Ford study group was African American, which allowed researchers to undertake a more accurate assessment of how socioeconomic status affects prostate cancer outcomes.

The study included 788 Henry Ford Hospital patients with localized prostate cancer who were treated with external beam radiation therapy. Among those in the study, 48.5 percent were African American with a median household income $36,917, and 46 percent were white with a median household income of $60,190. The patients' ages ranged from 44 to 90.

While there was a large difference in median household income among African Americans and whites, none of the socioeconomic factors examined predicted for patient outcome. Only known disease risk factors determined overall survival or biochemical (PSA) control rates.

Low Cholesterol Could Be Sign Of Cancer In Men Especially

Low total cholesterol may be a sign of cancer according to researchers.

Previously, some medical experts had thought that low cholesterol may have been a cause.  According to researchers reporting this week, findings suggest that men who have low cholesterol actually have a lower risk of developing high-risk prostate cancer.

There were some 1.4 million cancer cases in the United States last year according to the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance.  The cost of caring for medical conditions caused over 60 percent of the 1.5 million Americans to declare bankruptcy. 

A study of more than 5,000 U.S. men conducted by Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore found a link between low cholesterol and a lower risk of high-grade prostate cancer among men over age 55.

The researchers report that if men had total cholesterol of less than 200 milligrams/deciliter, they had a nearly 60 percent lower risk of developing high-grade prostate cancer, the riskiest kind. 

It is not clear whether taking cholesterol-lowering statin drugs might help men with prostate cancer. That would need to be studied, the medical experts noted.  The study was reported in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention. 

For years, researchers had noticed that people who have lower total cholesterol -- a combination of both low-density lipoprotein or LDL, the "bad" kind, and high-density lipoprotein or HDL, the "good" kind -- appeared more likely to have certain types of cancers than other people. 

They report this finding was worrisome because having low cholesterol, and particularly low levels of "bad" LDL cholesterol, has been shown to protect against heart attacks and strokes. 

An expert at the National Cancer Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, said in a statement, "The study affirms that lower total cholesterol may be caused by undiagnosed cancer.  In terms of a public health message, we found that higher levels of 'good' cholesterol seem to be protective for all cancers." 

An 18-year study of nearly 30,000 Finnish male smokers, the largest and longest of its kind, found that over the nearly two decades some 7,545 men developed cancer.  The men with lower total cholesterol levels -- below 230 milligrams/deciliter -- had an 18 percent higher risk of cancer overall. 

But, when the researchers excluded cancers that occurred in the first nine years of the study, this risk disappears.  The findings the researchers notes support the idea that the lower serum total cholesterol level we detected as a possible cancer risk factor may actually have been the result of undiagnosed cancers.

Study Reports Cholesterol Medicines Effective Against Cancer

Research shows that medicines based on statins used to lower blood cholesterol may also be effective in the treatment of cancer.

Statins lower cholesterol by blocking certain enzymes involved in metabolism.   Medical experts note that  they have also been shown to help proteins attach to cell membranes.  Because many of the proteins that are lipid-modified cause cancer, there are now hopes that it will be possible to use statins in the treatment of cancer.

Researchers at the University of Gothenburg, Germany, conducted studies that show statins can have a dramatic inhibitory effect on growth and development.  The researchers note that their results support the idea that statins can be used in more ways than just to lower cholesterol.  Not least that they can prevent the growth of cancer cells caused by lipid-modified proteins, but also that they can be effective in the treatment of diabetes and neurological disorders such as Parkinson's. 

The findings were published in the article Statins Inhibit Protein Lipidation and Induce the Unfolded Protein Response in the Non-Sterol Producing Nematode C. elegans, published in the journal PNAS.  The study is the result of a research partnership between the University of Gothenburg, Chalmers University of Technology.

Information on critical illness is gathered and posted by the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance, the national trade organization focused on helping individuals understand the importance of protecting their financial futures.

Low Vitamin D Linked To Heart, Stroke Deaths

Low vitamin D levels in the may be deadly causing a higher risk of death from heart disease or stroke.

According to the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance, the non-profit industry organization, some 785,000 Americans will have a new coronary attack this year.  From 1995 to 2005, the death rate from coronary heart disease declined 34 percent. 

The new study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology reports that adults with lower, versus higher, vitamin D levels in their blood may be more likely to die from heart disease or stroke.

Vitamin D is an essential vitamin mostly obtained from direct sunlight exposure, but also found in foods and multivitamins. Researchers at the National Institute for Health and Welfare in Helsinki, Finland compared blood levels of vitamin D and deaths from heart disease or stroke over time in several thousand men and 3,402 women.

Participants were just over 49 years old on average at the beginning of the research and had no indicators of cardiovascular disease. During follow-up of about 27 years on average, 640 of the participants (358 men) died from heart disease and another 293 (122 men) died from stroke. Compared with participants' with the highest vitamin D, those with the lowest had 25 percent higher risk of dying from heart disease or stroke, the researchers noted.

There was a "particularly striking association" between vitamin D levels and stroke deaths, they explain. Those having the lowest vitamin D seemed to confer "twice the risk," compared with those having the highest vitamin D. Allowing for age, gender, and other demographic factors, plus alcohol intake, smoking, physical activity, and season in which vitamin D levels were obtained did not significantly alter these associations.

In this study, vitamin D levels were "substantially lower" than levels thought to be sufficient, and "somewhat lower" than those reported in previous studies in other European and American populations.

High-def Colonoscopy Detects More Polyps

A high-definition (HD) colonoscopy is much more sensitive than standard colonoscopy in finding polyps that could morph into cancer.

According to researchers from the Mayo Clinic it appears that high-definition colonoscopy detects more precancerous polyps. The difference could be as much as 20 percent.

Approximately 14 million colonoscopies are performed each year according to the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance, the industry organization that tracks and reports data related to critical illnesses. Some 745,000 men were diagnosed with cancer each year, roughly 10 percent with colon cancer.

 A study was conducted between September 2006 and December 2007 when the Mayo Clinic in Florida was switching its six colonoscopy procedure rooms from standard colonoscopy endoscopes to high-definition endoscopes.

The findings, presented at the annual meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology in San Diego, Calif., are not only important because a large group (2,430) of patients participated, but they resulted from the only study to date that has compared these two methods in a general clinical practice setting, among all the patients who needed a colonoscopy and with all the physicians who performed it.

An endoscope is the lighted tube inserted into the colon and rectum to look for, and remove, polyps. A high-definition endoscope uses both a high-definition video chip and HD monitors (like HD television) that increase the resolution of the image. Patients were not assigned to one scope or the other. Instead, they were placed in whatever room was available and assigned a gastroenterologist who was on duty at the time.

Researchers found that the rate of detection of adenomas -- polyps that are likely to become cancerous -- was 29 percent among patients who were scanned with high-definition endoscopes, versus 24 percent for those in which standard endoscopes were used.

The study was funded by Mayo Clinic, and the authors declare no conflict of interest nor do they endorse the products mentioned in the study.

Migraine Headaches With Aura Can Double Stroke Risk

Young women who smoke and use birth control pills may be susceptible to getting migraine headaches with aura.

Medical researchers advise that those with the combination of conditions should stop smoking and using birth control pills because new findings reveal they may increase their risk of stroke.

People who suffer migraine headaches with aura experience visual disturbances before or during the migraine.  For these individuals, the medical scientists found that the risk for ischemic stroke is doubled. Being female, under 45, smoking and using oral contraceptives that contain estrogen added to the risk.   Studies were conducted at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.

According to the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance, the national organization that tracks data on strokesm heart attacks and cancer, an ischemic stroke is caused by a blockage in a blood vessel. The connection between migraine and stroke was already suspected executives note. What was unknown was the extent of risk and who is most at risk. 

Migraine headaches affect up to 20 percent of the U.S. population. Women are up to four times more likely than men to get migraines, and as many as one third also experience an aura before or during a migraine. 

Migraine with aura is associated with a twofold increased risk for ischemic stroke compared to people without migraine.  The report notes that migraine without aura does not appear to change the risk. 

The report is published in the Oct. 27 online edition of the British Medical Journal confirms that the risk appears to be highest among women with migraine with aura who smoke and use oral contraceptives.  The medical reserachers add that migraine alone does not appear to alter the risk for heart attack and death from cardiovascular disease.

Women Have More Heart Attacks; Survival More Likely

Hearts attacks among middle-aged American women have increased over the past two decades.  That news is accompanied by a report that their chance of survival has improved.

Two new studies reveal that men still have a higher prevalence of heart attack than women.  Medical researchers report that the gap has narrowed as heart attacks among women have increased while they have decreased among men.

A study by researchers at the University of Southern California revealed that 2.5 percent of the men and 0.7 percent of the women reported a history of heart attacks in the prior surveys.  In the more recent study, they found 2.2 percent of men and 1 percent of women reported heart attacks.

 Every 34 seconds an American will suffer a heart attack according to the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance.  Some 785,000 Americans will have a new coronary attack and nearly half a million will have a recurrent attack. 

The narrowing of the male-female difference is easily explained, according to medical experts.  They point to the fact that risk factors are being better controlled in men than in women.  In men, levels of "bad" LDL cholesterol remained the same between the two surveys, while levels of "good" HDL cholesterol improved. Blood pressure levels improved, and fewer men smoked. 

Researchers noted that the improvements for women were marginal, with LDL cholesterol levels about the same. The only risk factor that improved in women was HDL cholesterol. Diabetes and obesity increased in both men and women, the study found. 

They noted that societal changes may play a role.  With more women in the work force, rising rates of obesity and diabetes can be attributed to job demands.   

A second study used information from a different data bank listing death rate trends from 1994 to 2006. Researchers found a marked reduction in hospital deaths from heart attacks in all patients, especially among women. For women under 55, the risk of dying dropped by 53 percent, which was the greatest improvement noted. The least reduction, 33 percent, was seen in men under 55. 

The studies are reported in the October 26 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

 

Drinking Coffee May Slow Development Of Liver Disease

Coffee slows the progression of advanced liver disease in people with chronic hepatitis C.

New research published in the November issue of the journal Hepatology reveals information on the first study to address the association between liver disease progression related to hepatitis C and coffee intake. 

Researchers studies nearly 800 patients infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) who were asked to report their intake of coffee, green tea and black tea. The patients were seen every three months during the nearly four-year study, and liver biopsies were taken at 18 months and 3.5 years to determine the progression of liver disease. 

Patients who drank three or more cups of coffee per day were 53 percent less likely to have liver disease progression than those who didn't drink coffee. Green and black tea didn't appear to have an effect, but tea consumption was low among the study participants, the researchers noted in the report. 

Given the large number of people affected by HCV, the researchers noted the importance of identifying modifiable risk factors associated with the progression of liver disease.  Although we cannot rule out a possible role for other factors that go along with drinking coffee, results from our study suggest that patients with high coffee intake had a lower risk of disease progression, the study concluded.

HCV infects about 2.2 percent of the worldwide population, including more than 3 million Americans according to the Ameriocan Association for Critical Illness Insurance. The virus is the leading cause of liver transplantation in the United States and is responsible for 8,000 to 10,000 deaths in the country each year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Breast Cancer Hits Well Educated Women Hardest By Breast Cancer

Well-educated women are emotionally the hardest hit by breast cancer.

A study undertaken by Australia's Monash University Medical School's Women's Health Program, found that well-educated women and those who live alone are emotionally the hardest hit. 

Nearly 1.5 million Americans will be diagnosed with cancer in 2010 according to the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance, the industry trade group, including almost 180,000 breast cancer cases in women.  Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women. With improvements in detection and treatment of breast cancer, 87 per cent of women affected survive five years or more from the time of detection.

The researchers found that two years post diagnosis women with breast cancer were not more likely to be depressed but were more likely to experience a lowered sense of control over their life, and lower general health, with lessened vitality being limited to older women.

Women living alone were more likely to have a lower well being is an important finding suggesting that such women may benefit by targeted provision of social support.   

The study reported that women's well being two years out from being treated for the disease was overall only modestly lower than for women in general. 

Posted by Jesse Slome
For information on long-term care coverage, visit the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance.

Researchers Find Stroke Treatment Allows More Time

Researchers have found that treatment of stroke sufferers are effective within four and a half hours rather than the three hour time period previously recommended.

Every 40 seconds, an American has a stroke according to the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance, the non-profit, Los Angeles based industry professional organization.  Some 600,000 people will have their first stroke explains Jesse Slome, executive director.

Tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) treatment benefits stroke patients when used up to 4.5 hours after a stroke, according to German researchers who said their findings provide further evidence to increase the tPA treatment window from the current three hours to 4.5 hours.

Previously published findings indicated that tPA treatment led to better outcomes than placebo in stroke patients treated from three hours to 4.5 hours post-stroke.

In this new study, medical researchers at the University of Heidelberg, and colleagues conducted a secondary analysis of data using different endpoints. They focused on the efficacy and safety of tPA treatment and also looked for any factors or patient subgroups that might affect treatment outcome.

The study included patients who received alteplase from three hours to 4.5 hours after a stroke, and patients who received a placebo. The results showed a clear benefit from treatment with alteplase in all types of patients, including those younger and older than 65 years, men and women, and those with or without a history of diabetes, stroke or high blood pressure.

The researchers also found that alteplase was beneficial, regardless of the severity of the stroke.

The study was released online in advance of publication in the December print issue of The Lancet.   Medical experts explain that a physician must, as always, diligently undertake a careful history and physical examination, look at the non-contrast brain CT scan carefully, and follow the appropriate protocol. All of these steps will result in substantial benefit to public health and will safely benefit many patients. But 'time is brain,' and therapy must be given as soon as possible after the patient arrives and there is indeed not a moment to lose, they add.     SOURCE: The Lancet, news release, Oct. 20, 2009.

Researchers Report Tie Between Depression And Chronic Kidney Disease

A new study finds that one in five patients with chronic kidney disease is depressed, even before beginning long-term dialysis therapy or developing end-stage renal disease.

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center conducted the first study to examine the relationship. 

Medical experts have noted that patients in the early stages of chronic kidney disease are at increased risk for clinical depression according to the study in the current issue of the American Journal of Kidney Diseases.

Previous research has shown that depression rates in the general community are 2 percent to 4 percent.  Among diabetes patients, the rate is 11 percent.  Among congestive heart failure patients, 14 percent; and among coronary artery disease after heart attack patients, 16 percent.

Chronic kidney disease patient depression numbers may be higher due to the presence of the same simultaneously occurring conditions that resulted in progressive kidney disease, such as diabetes and atherosclerotic vascular disease, one of the researchers noted.  Patients such as diabetics, who are depressed, may develop progressive kidney disease because of non-adherence to medications and physicians' advice.

From May 2005 to November 2006, researchers invited patients at the Dallas VA Medical Center who were visiting the clinic for chronic kidney disease appointments to join the study. Patients who agreed to participate then underwent a structured clinical interview to determine if they had a current major depressive episode, based on the DSM IV definition of major depressive disorder.

Some 21 percent were found to be depressed. The mean age of depressed patients was about 65.  The researchers also found that diabetic patients were twice as likely to be depressed as those without diabetes; 63 percent of patients had at least three other medical conditions; and 41 percent had at least four other diseases.

According to the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance, some 26 million Americans have chronic kidney disease and millions more are at increased risk. If treatment does not begin early, the condition progresses to end-stage renal disease. At that point, a patient's kidneys have failed to the point where dialysis is needed.  Dialysis involves filtering of toxic chemicals in the blood and removing fluid to help control blood pressure.

Expenditures for end-stage renal disease patients totaled $15.5 billion, which is approximately 6 percent of the entire Medicare budget, and are projected to consume $28 billion by 2010.