Diabetes is an independent risk factor for hearing loss, according to an Annals of Internal Medicine report posted online.
Researchers analyzed data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey collected from 1999 to 2004. They limited their analysis to some 5100 adults who underwent audiometric testing and answered a questionnaire on diabetes. The researchers found age-adjusted hearing loss at all frequency ranges to be more prevalent among subjects who reported having diabetes.
The authors estimate a 21% prevalence of low- or mid-frequency hearing loss among diabetics (vs. 9% in nondiabetics), and they speculate that changes to the microvasculature commonly found in diabetes may be to blame.
An editorialist suggests that performing audiometry and arranging for hearing aids "can improve an individual's productivity and quality of life."
A vaccine against angiotensin II lowers blood pressure, reports Lancet. In a phase II (safety and efficacy) study sponsored by the
developer, European researchers randomized 72 patients with
mild-to-moderate hypertension to one of two doses of vaccine (100 or
300 μg) or to placebo. The vaccine consists of virus-like particles
linked to angiotensin II; injections were given at weeks 0, 4, and 12. By week 14, about 20% of vaccine recipients had experienced
transient flu-like symptoms, and all had antibodies against angiotensin
II. Those who received the 300-μg regimen had significant drops in mean
BP compared with placebo recipients, especially early in the morning
(–25 mm Hg systolic, –13 mm Hg diastolic). Commentators wonder about the hazards of a treatment whose effects
are not immediately reversible (the antibody's half-life after the
third injection was 17 weeks). However, they find the exploratory trial
"promising." |
درمان اولیه بیمارات مبتلا به فلج بل (فلج عصب زوج ۷ مغزی ) با پردنیزولون نتایج بهتری دارد درحالی که به نظر میرسد آسیکلوویر اثرات مثبتی ندارد.در مطالعه انجام شده در ژورنال New England Journal of Medicine
۵۵۰ بیمار مبتلا به فلج بل(ملایم تا شدید) به شکل رندومی انتخاب شدند و ۷۲ ساعت بعد از شروع علایم بیماری از داروی پردنیزولون- آسیکلوویر -هر دو دارو و یا پلاسبو استفاده کردند.بیماران دریافت کننده پردنیزولون نسبت به دریافت کنندگانآسیکلوویر بعد از ۳ ماه و ۹ ماه از دریافت به شکل قابل توجه ای بهبودی کامل پیدا کردند ولی آسیکلوویر هیچ اثری نداشت.اگرچه محققان به این نتیجه رسیدند که آسیکلوویر اثری بر فلج بل ندارد ولی داروی ضد ویروسی دیگر والسیکلوویر همراه با استروئید ها نتایج بهتری در موارد با بیماری شدید را در مطالعات اخیر داشته است.
Urgent treatment after a TIA or minor stroke can reduce the 90-day risk for stroke by 80%, Lancet reports.
A study examining stroke outcomes was divided into two phases. In the first, 310 patients presenting to primary care with a TIA or minor stroke were referred to a neurovascular clinic, where patients were assessed and treatment recommendations were faxed to the primary care clinician. In phase 2, about 280 patients were sent directly to the neurovascular clinic, where they received appropriate treatment.
The median delay to clinic assessment dropped from 3 days in phase 1 to less than a day in phase 2. Likewise, the median delay to treatment fell from 20 days to 1 day. The incidence of stroke within 90 days also fell significantly — from 10% to 2%.
Editorialists conclude that patients with TIA or minor stroke "should receive the same urgent attention as is provided for those with acute coronary syndromes
Strict blood pressure and glycemic control are effective in reducing vision loss from diabetic retinopathy and remain "the cornerstone in the primary prevention" of the disorder, according to a review published in JAMA.
Researchers examined 41 studies with a minimum follow-up of 12 months and 3 meta-analyses.
The 10-year Diabetes Control and Complications Trial found that, over 6.5 years of follow-up, intensive glycemic control in patients with type 1 diabetes reduced the incidence of diabetic retinopathy by 76% and progression by 54%, compared with conventional treatment. Tight blood pressure control had a similar effect, with one U.K. study reporting a 34% reduction in progression after 9 years' follow-up.

Rising incidence and many unanswered questions demonstrate the need for research on these community-acquired infections now.


Community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) infections, mostly of the skin and soft tissues, are rapidly increasing throughout the U.S. and elsewhere. In a study in a poor urban population that receives care through the Cook County Hospital and its affiliated clinics in Chicago, for example, investigators found a nearly sevenfold rise in the incidence of CA-MRSA infections from 2000 to 2005, while the frequency of methicillin-susceptible staphylococcal (MSSA) infections remained stable.1 In this population, factors associated with increased risk for CA-MRSA infections included African American ethnicity, recent incarceration, and residence in certain public housing complexes. In previous studies, parenteral drug abusers, men who have sex with men, children, military personnel, Native Americans, Pacific Islanders, prisoners, and athletes (especially those engaging in contact sports) were also identified as groups with increased risk for CA-MRSA infections. In several areas, infections with CA-MRSA are so common, however, that epidemiologic risk factors are not very reliable predictors of which skin and soft-tissue infections are likely to be caused by these organisms.
Nor do clinical features reliably distinguish CA-MRSA from MSSA infections. Cutaneous abscesses, often with necrosis and surrounding cellulitis, appear most often with CA-MRSA infections. A clinical review of available data on these infections2 demonstrates that the absence of randomized, controlled trials keeps us ignorant about virtually every important aspect of their management. Only one nearly unanimous verdict emerges from the review: Incision and drainage are critical in the therapy of purulent lesions. The role, if any, of antimicrobial agents in decreasing the duration of infection, complication rates, or recurrence rates is unknown. Although CA-MRSA is usually susceptible to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, tetracyclines, and clindamycin, most of the studies failed to demonstrate a convincing benefit from systemic antimicrobial therapy. The recommendation, repeated in this review, to use such therapy in patients with abscesses >5 cm in diameter comes from a single study in children and was not confirmed in another retrospective report. If systemic antimicrobial therapy proves beneficial, an important issue involves the use of clindamycin: Some strains susceptible to this antibiotic but not to erythromycin can potentially develop clindamycin resistance during therapy. How frequently this occurs — and whether there are any attendant therapeutic implications — remains uncertain.
Comment: The origin of these infections is also unclear: We don’t know how often they arise from organisms colonizing the nose, skin, and other sites in a patient’s body, as compared with recent acquisition from other people, from objects in the environment (fomites), from pets. Nor do we know whether topical antimicrobials or antiseptics applied to the nares or the skin are useful in reducing recurrences or the spread to close contacts. Such profound uncertainties in managing an increasingly common and serious infection mandate prompt but careful prospective studies.
A renin inhibitor and an angiotensin receptor blocker are more effective at lowering blood pressure when used in combination than alone, reports a Lancet study, but editorialists question the clinical value of this approach.
Industry-funded researchers randomized some 1800 patients with mean resting diastolic BP between 95 and 110 mm HG to receive aliskiren, valsartan, both drugs, or placebo. After 4 weeks, doses were titrated to the maximum.
After 8 weeks of treatment, patients receiving either drug had lower resting BP than those on placebo, and patients receiving both drugs had lower BP than those on monotherapy. Ambulatory diastolic BP, measured in some 350 patients, fell to a greater extent with combination therapy (mean reduction, 10.3) than with monotherapy (mean reduction, 7.1).
The editorialists discuss the risk for hyperkalemia with these agents and argue that the observed BP reductions are less than what one might expect from combining a renin inhibitor with a diuretic or a calcium-channel blocker, as guidelines recommend. They conclude that "because of the potential life-threatening side-effects ... this concept of treatment is unlikely to make it to general practice or even to primary prevention in specialist care."
Middle-aged people who drink just one soft drink a day have a substantially increased risk for metabolic syndrome, a Circulation study finds.
The results, from the offspring cohort of the Framingham Heart Study, were released early online. The study found that adults drinking one or more soft drinks a day had a 48% higher prevalence of metabolic syndrome than those who drank them infrequently. The incidence of the metabolic syndrome was similarly increased among the cohort over 4 years of follow-up.
The study found that both regular and diet soda appear to carry similar metabolic hazards. The authors suggested several possible explanations for the association, including the idea that consuming sweet drinks increases preferences for other sweetened items. They say that lowering the consumption of soft drinks "may be associated with a lowering of the burden of metabolic risk factors in adults."
Monitoring had only a minimal effect on glucose control and other measur.
Some patients with type 2 diabetes who do not use insulin nevertheless monitor their blood
glucose .routinely at home. To determine the effect of self-monitoring, U.K. researchers conducted this randomized trial in patients with reasonably eswell-controlled diabetes who were not taking insulin. A total of 453 adults (mean age, 66) were assigned to one of three groups: (1) usual care without home glucose monitoring; (2) usual care plus home blood glucose monitoring, with instructions to call the doctor for interpretations of results; or (3) the same as group 2 plus additional training in interpreting blood glucose results.
At baseline, the mean hemoglobin A1c level was about 7.5%. At 12 months, changes in hemoglobin A1c levels, adjusted for baseline measures, were not significantly different in the three groups. For nearly all other measures (weight, blood pressure, body-mass index), the differences were also not significant. Total cholesterol levels fell significantly more in group 3 than in groups 2 and 1 (by 15.4 mg/dL, vs. 8.5 mg/dL and 6.2 mg/dL). Significantly more mild hypoglycemic episodes occurred in groups 3 and 2 (43 and 33, vs. 14).
Comment: These patients with type 2 diabetes had fairly well-controlled blood glucose and were
not using insulin. Monitoring blood glucose levels — with or without instruction in interpreting the results — had a minimal effect on glucose control (and on other measures). Based on this study, routine self-monitoring of glucose is unnecessary for such patients. However, for patients with less well-controlled diabetes in whom drug therapies are being adjusted, self-monitoring may have value.
Adopting a healthy lifestyle after age 45 may confer cardiovascular and mortality benefits even just 4 years later, according to a study in the July edition of the American Journal of Medicine.
To study the origin and progression of atherosclerosis, researchers prospectively followed roughly 16,000 adults aged 45 to 64 at baseline. After 6 years, about 1000 had newly adopted an overall healthy lifestyle, defined as four behaviors: eating at least five fruits and vegetables daily, exercising at least 2.5 hours weekly, maintaining a BMI between 18.5 and 30, and not smoking. Some 11,000 were following three or fewer of these behaviors
.
During the next 4 years, those who had newly adopted all four behaviors had a 40% reduction in all-cause mortality and a 35% reduction in cardiovascular events, compared with those who were following three or fewer healthy
behaviors.
The authors conclude that adhering to a healthy lifestyle is "extremely worthwhile, and that middle-age is not too late to act."
Epilepsy doubles the risk for suicide, according to a large case-control study published early online in Lancet Neurology.
Danish researchers identified some 450,000 people with data in five national health and socioeconomic registries. Even after differences in psychiatric history and socioeconomic status were taken into account, the risk for suicide among patients with epilepsy was twice that of people without epilepsy.
Overall, suicide risk was highest among those with both epilepsy and a history of psychiatric disease, particularly affective disorders. In addition, suicide risk was highest in the first 6 months after epilepsy diagnosis and decreased with increasing age, both among those with and those without psychiatric comorbidities.

patients with newly diagnosed epilepsy "require special attention" to identify and treat those at risk for suicide.
A family-based program for weight management in pediatric obesity promotes sustained improvements in BMI and insulin resistance, according to a JAMA report.
Researchers compared the Bright Bodies weight management program with usual care in some 175 overweight children aged 8 through 16 who were attending a pediatric obesity clinic. Children in the intervention group, along with their adult caregiver, attended exercise classes twice a week for the first 6 months, and then biweekly for another 6 months. (They also attended behavior modification sessions, although less frequently.) Children in the usual-care group, also accompanied by a caregiver, received diet and exercise counseling at 6-month intervals.
At 6 and 12 months, changes in body weight, BMI, percentage of body fat, total cholesterol, and insulin resistance all significantly favored the intervention group.
The authors attribute the program's success, in part, to the frequency of contact between families and staff, but they caution that "the expense incurred in operating such a program is substantial."
The risk for stroke is twice as high in patients with newly diagnosed diabetes as in the general population, according to a study in Stroke.
Using health databases of a Canadian province, researchers identified some 12,200 adults aged 30 and older with recent diagnoses of type 2 diabetes. During a mean follow-up of about 5 years, 9.1% of the patients had hospital admissions with a stroke-related diagnosis. The rate ratio for stroke was 2.1 for diabetes patients, compared with the general population.
The authors write that their results "will help to dispel the notion that macrovascular consequences of diabetes occur only in the long term" and may motivate "both patients and providers to aggressively control cardiovascular risk factors soon after diagnosis.”
The FDA has approved the endothelin-receptor antagonist Letairis (ambrisentan) for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension.
In clinical trials, the once-daily pill effectively delayed worsening of the condition.
The FDA notes that Letairis may cause birth defects and should not be used during pregnancy.
After 38 weeks, tissue Doppler imaging showed improved diastolic function in both valsartan and placebo recipients, but there was no significant difference between the groups.
Authors of an accompanying commentary note that valsartan might have an advantage in patients with more advanced left ventricular remodeling. Nevertheless, they add, "the good news is that lowering blood pressure improves diastolic function, irrespective of the antihypertensive regimen used
The prevalence of chronic renal insufficiency in patients with HIV infection and the role of antiretroviral medications in its development are somewhat unclear. Tenofovir, in particular, is associated with renal dysfunction, but the significance of this in clinical practice has not been well defined. In this cross-sectional analysis from the EuroSIDA cohort study, investigators evaluated potential risk factors for chronic renal insufficiency among 4474 HIV-infected patients who had at least two serum creatinine measurements during or after 2004.
Depending on the method used to estimate the glomerular filtration rate (GFR), 3.5% to 4.7% of patients had chronic renal insufficiency (defined as GFR
60 mL/min per 1.73 m2). As expected, these patients were more likely than others to have diabetes, hypertension, or atherosclerotic cardiovascular or cerebrovascular disease; they were also more likely to be older and to have lower CD4-cell count nadirs. In a multivariate analysis, tenofovir and indinavir use were each significantly associated with increased risk for chronic renal insufficiency (odds ratios for any use, 2.18 and 2.49, respectively), whereas T-20 use was significantly associated with reduced risk (OR, 0.13). Risk was 15% higher than baseline with each additional year of indinavir exposure — and 60% higher with each additional year of tenofovir exposure.
Estrogen therapy in younger postmenopausal women is associated with less coronary-artery calcification, reports a study in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Researchers studied some 1000 women from the Women's Health Initiative who were aged 50 to 59 at randomization, had previously undergone hysterectomy, and received conjugated equine estrogens or placebo for a mean of 7.4 years. Some 1.3 years after the trial was stopped (because of alarm over the number of cardiovascular events across all age ranges) and thus 8.7 years after randomization, the women underwent CT of the heart.
The mean calcium score was 83.1 for women on estrogens and 123.1 for those on placebo — a statistically significant difference.
The authors write that their results provide support "for the hypothesis that estrogen therapy may have cardioprotective effects in younger women." However, editorialists emphasize — as the authors do — that estrogens should not be used to prevent CVD.
Risks for all-cause and cardiovascular-related deaths increase not only with diabetes, but also with milder elevations in glucose, a study released early by Circulation reports.
Researchers evaluated the mortality risks associated with diabetes and prediabetic states in an Australian cohort. Among some 10,000 adults examined at baseline and followed for a median of about 5 years, all-cause mortality was higher among those with known diabetes, impaired fasting glucose, or impaired glucose tolerance than among those with normal glucose tolerance. (The mortality risk was doubled in diabetics — and 50% to 60% higher in those with "prediabetes" — compared with those with normal glucose tolerance.)
Cardiovascular mortality was increased among those with diabetes or impaired fasting glucose, but not among those with impaired glucose tolerance.
According to the authors, these findings suggest that preventive strategies should also target "people with milder forms of abnormal glucose metabolism."
Antiplatelet therapy was associated with a small but consistent reduction in the rates of preeclampsia and preterm birth among high-risk women, according to a meta-analysis published early online by the Lancet.
Researchers analyzed data from 31 studies that randomized some 32,000 women at risk for preeclampsia to receive antiplatelet therapy (mostly aspirin). The risks for preeclampsia and for preterm birth before 34 weeks' gestation were both reduced by 10% with antiplatelet use. The number needed to treat to prevent one case of preeclampsia was 114 women. Overall, the association was not significantly stronger or weaker in particular subgroups.
Editorialists conclude that aspirin is justified in "... settings in which pre-eclampsia is almost a certainty, including women with pre-eclampsia in more than one pregnancy or women with chronic hypertension and pre-eclampsia in a previous pregnancy."
CAN YOU DIAGNOSE WHAT HAPPEND FOR THIS MAN??? IF YES LEAVE COMMENT AND SAY YOUR IDEA.
AFTER 6-7 COMMENTS I WIIL WRITE THE CORRECT DIAGNOSIS.
Individuals with high insulin secretion may lose more weight on low-glycemic-load than on low-fat diets, according to a study published today in JAMA.
Researchers tested the glucose tolerance of 73 obese 18- to 35-year-olds, randomized them to either a low-fat (55% carbohydrate, 20% fat) or low-glycemic-load diet (40% carbohydrate, 35% fat), and provided 6 months of intensive nutritional education and dietary counseling to both groups.
After 18 months, they found no significant differences in body-fat or body-weight percentage change between groups overall, or between groups among people with normal insulin secretion. In individuals with high insulin secretion, however, the low-glycemic-load diet resulted in a greater decrease in weight (–5.8 kg vs. –1.2 kg) and body-fat percentage (–2.6% vs. –0.9%). Additionally, regardless of insulin status, the low-glycemic-load diet improved triglyceride and HDL profiles; conversely, the low-fat diet improved LDL but not HDL or triglyceride levels.
Daily aspirin use "seems to be effective in the primary prevention of colorectal cancer," concludes a study in Lancet.
Researchers pooled the results of two large randomized trials comprising over 7500 participants, two-thirds of whom were assigned to take aspirin. Using cancer registry data, researchers ascertained the incidence of colorectal cancers after a median of 23 years since randomization.
Patients who took at least 300 mg of aspirin daily for at least 5 years showed a hazard ratio of 0.63 for colorectal cancer relative to control patients not taking aspirin. The effect was not apparent until 10 years after randomization.
A commentator notes that, although the analysis provides "convincing evidence" of an effect, "these findings are not sufficient to warrant a recommendation for the general population to use aspirin for cancer prevention."
Reduction in dietary sodium may lower the risk for cardiovascular disease among British Medical Journal.ُprehypertensive patients, according to a study published early online in
Researchers evaluated long-term follow-up data on some 2400 prehypertensive adults who had been randomized to reduced sodium intake or usual care in the two Trials of Hypertension Prevention (TOHP). Ten to fifteen years after the trials ended, the risk for cardiovascular disease was significantly lower in the intervention group than in the control group (adjusted relative risk, 0.70). Results of a final follow-up questionnaire suggested that intervention patients had maintained lower sodium intake than controls.
The authors conclude that "sodium reduction, previously shown to lower blood pressure and prevent hypertension, also seems to prevent cardiovascular disease." They add that their findings provide "strong support for population-wide reduction in dietary sodium intake to prevent cardiovascular disease."
ويتامين ب-6 يك ويتامين محلول در آب است. بدن شما از 3 شكل ويتامين ب-6 استفاده مي كند. پيريدوكسين (pn)، پيرويدوكسال (pl) و پيريدوكسامين (pm). بيشتر مواقع منظور از ويتامين ب-6 پيريدوكسين است.ويتامين ب-6 عملكرد هاي متفاوتي در بدن دارد كه عبارت است از: شكستن كربوهيدراتها براي ايجاد انرژي، تشكيل هموگلوبين و ديگر موادي كه بدن به آن نياز دارد.
موارد استفاده
منابع غذايي
مرغ، ماهي، كليه، كبد، تخم مرغ و گوشت خوك غني ترين منابع غذايي ويتامين ب-6 هستند. موارد زير نيز منابع خوبي براي اين ويتامين هستند:مخمر، سبوس گندم، غلات، سيب زميني، موز و جو دوسر. ويتامين ب-6 در غذاهاي فريزشده يا فرآورده هاي غذايي (مانند گوشت) از بين ميرود.