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Obesity before pregnancy linked to earliest preterm births, study finds
Women who are obese before they become pregnant face an increased risk of delivering a very premature baby, according to a new study of nearly 1 million California births. The findings from the Stanford University School of Medicine provide important clues as to what triggers extremely preterm births, specifically those that occur prior to 28 […]
Sex hormone levels at midlife linked to heart disease risk in women
As hormone levels change during the transition to menopause, the quality of a woman’s cholesterol carriers degrades, leaving her at greater risk for heart disease, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health discovered. The first-of-its-kind evaluation, supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), was done using an advanced method to […]
Stress hormone linked to short-term memory loss as we age, animal study suggests
A new study at the University of Iowa reports a potential link between stress hormones and short-term memory loss in older adults. The study, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, reveals that having high levels of cortisol — a natural hormone in our body whose levels surge when we are stressed — can lead to […]
Diet higher in protein may be linked to lower risk of stroke
People with diets higher in protein, especially from fish, may be less likely to have a stroke than those with diets lower in protein, according to a meta-analysis published in the June 11, 2014, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. “The amount of protein that led to the […]
Divorce may be linked to higher risk of overweight/obesity among kids involved
Divorce may be linked to higher risk of overweight/obesity among kids involved, and boys may be especially prone to excess weight gain, new research indicates. The researchers base their findings on a nationally representative sample of more than 3000 pupils attending 127 schools across Norway. All the children were part of the national 2010 Norwegian […]
Increase in number of total knee replacement surgeries, especially in younger adults, linked to obesity
The number of total knee replacement (TKR) surgeries more than tripled between 1993 and 2009, while the number of total hip replacements (THR) doubled during the same time period. A study appearing in the June Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (JBJS) found that an increase in the prevalence of ovrweight and obesity in the […]
Dialysis patients’ anxiety, depression linked to physical impairments
With the rate of chronic kidney disease on the rise among older Americans, researchers seeking to improve patients’ quality of life studied a group of adults undergoing hemodialysis and found their higher rates of depression and anxiety could be associated with their impaired physical exercise capability and reduced daily physical activity, according a new study […]
Poor Diet Before Pregnancy Linked with Preterm Birth
University of Adelaide research has for the first time confirmed that women who eat a poor diet before they become pregnant are around 50% more likely to have a preterm birth than those on a healthy diet. Researchers at the University of Adelaide’s Robinson Research Institute investigated the dietary patterns of more than 300 South […]
Prematurity linked to altered lung function during exercise, high blood pressure in adults
Advances in medicine have greatly contributed to the survival of extremely preterm infants in the US. However, the picture of long-term health effects related to prematurity is still unclear. Researchers at the University of Oregon compared lung function among adults who were born extremely preterm (at less than 28 weeks), very preterm (at less than […]
Higher muscle mass linked with better physical function, quality of life in dialysis patients
Dialysis patients with more muscle mass had better scores on a 6-minute walking test as well as better scores on physical and mental health questionnaires in a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (CJASN). The findings suggest that physical activity that builds muscle mass may […]