Health News - Wednesday, January 31, 2007
The fine grit in polluted air increases the risk of heart disease in older women much more sharply than scientists realized, a federally financed study has found, raising questions of whether environmental standards are strict enough.
The Environmental Protection Agency tightened its daily limit for the tiny specks, or fine particulates, in September. But the new standard left the average annual limit untouched, allowing a concentration of 15 millionths of a gram for every cubic meter of air. In this study of 65,893 women, the average exposure was 13 millionths, with two-thirds of the subjects falling under the national standard. Continue reading
Scientists say the manipulation of a single gene, called Pten, boosted bone density in mice. This research may help in the development of new treatments for osteoporosis and bone fractures, the researchers said.
A team from the University of Alabama at Birmingham found that disrupting Pten in bone cells called osteoblasts resulted in dramatic and progressively increasing bone density. "Bone density can increase either because more bone cells divide or fewer cells die due to apoptosis (programmed cell death). Pten is a tumor suppressor gene that applies a break on the main cell survival pathway, causing cells to die. We devised a way to remove the Pten break in bone cells, allowing the cells to stay alive and active for a longer period of time," Thomas L. Clemens, professor of pathology and director of the university's division of molecular and cellular pathology, said in a prepared statement. Continue reading
At least two people have become intoxicated by drinking hand-sanitizing gels, a potentially deadly habit, doctors reported on Wednesday. A prison inmate and a hospitalized alcoholic both were treated for poisoning from the gels, which contain alcohol -- but not the same kind as found in beverages.
Evidently people misunderstand the labels that show the gels, foams and liquids contain alcohol, the doctors said in separate letters to the New England Journal of Medicine. Cases of people drinking the hand gels because of their alcohol content have not previously been reported in major medical journals. Continue reading
Middle-aged and older adults who exercise may not be reducing their risk of knee arthritis, but they aren't increasing the risk either, research published Wednesday suggests.
The question of whether exercise helps or harms older knees has lacked a straightforward answer. Some studies have suggested, for instance, that exercise might help prevent knee osteoarthritis (OA) by increasing the thickness of the cartilage cushioning the joint. On the other hand, some studies have found that older adults who exercise have a higher rate of knee OA. In particular, there's some concern that overweight adults, who already have extra stress on the knee joints, might further raise their odds of arthritis through exercise. Continue reading