STUDY: ENERGY DRINKS HARMFUL TO CHILDREN

The AP (2/13) reported, "Energy drinks are under-studied, overused and can be dangerous for children and teens, warns a report by doctors who say kids shouldn't use the popular products. The potential harms, caused mostly by too much caffeine or similar ingredients, include heart palpitations, seizures, strokes and even sudden death," according to a study published in the journal Pediatrics, which "reviewed data from the government and interest groups, scientific literature, case reports and articles in popular and trade media." Notably, these findings come "amid a crackdown on energy drinks containing alcohol and caffeine, including recent Food and Drug Administration warning letters to manufacturers and bans in several states because of alcohol overdoses."

USA Today (2/14, Hellmich) reports, "Surveys show that 30% to 50% of teens and young adults consume energy drinks, but 'we didn't see evidence that drinks have beneficial effects in improving energy, weight loss, stamina, athletic performance and concentration,'" said study author Steven Lipshultz, chair of pediatrics at the University of Miami School of Medicine. "He encourages pediatricians and parents to talk to kids and teens about whether they should be drinking such beverages."

Posted by Steven Almany M.D.

CDC REPORT: ALMOST 30% OF US ADULTS DO NOT EXERCISE

ABC World News (2/16, lead story, 2:45, Sawyer) reported, "A red alert about a health crisis that is threatening lives but something that can be prevented, can be changed. The CDC today announced the results of a huge comprehensive survey which lays out in detail what's needed if Americans are going to cut family doctor bills and the ever-increasing consumption of prescription drugs." ABC correspondent David Muir said that the CDC data indicate that "nearly 30% of adults get no exercise at all."

The CNN (2/17, Caruso) "The Chart" blog says, "A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds people living in parts of Appalachia and the South don't spend enough time exercising." It "found that in most counties in Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Tennessee, at least 29% of adults reported having no physical activity beyond their jobs." Notably, that figure "was as high as 43%" in some counties. "In contrast, the CDC researchers found that people living on the West Coast and residents of Colorado, Minnesota and parts of the Northeast were more likely to be active in their leisure time."

USA Today (2/16, Marcus) reported, "This is the third in a series of county-focused reports by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The first two looked at diabetes and obesity rates, says Ann Albright, director of the CDC's Division of Diabetes Translation." Reuters (2/17, Steenhuysen) also covers the story, as did ABC News (2/16, Blackburn) on its website.

Posted by Steven Almany M.D.

CARDIAC CATHETERIZATION ENTRY AT WRIST MAY BE SAFER

The Wall Street Journal (2/8, Winslow) reports that cardiologists performing cardiac catheterization are increasingly moving to make an entry point at the wrist instead of the groin. The technique is currently used around 8% of the time, up from under 2% in 2008, according to a study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology that year. Proponents say the method of entering through the radial artery significantly reduces complications and the risk of bleeding.

POSTED BY STEVEN ALMANY, MD.

CTT-D MAY BE TWICE AS EFFICTIVE IN WOMEN AS IN MEN

The CNN (2/7, Young) "The Chart" blog reported that "cardiac resynchronization therapy with defibrillator (CRT-D), a treatment designed to prevent sudden cardiac death by using a defibrillator to shock the heart back into rhythm, provided a significant benefit to women over men," according to a study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

HealthDay (2/7, Preidt) reported that investigators "looked at the effectiveness of cardiac resynchronization therapy with defibrillator (CRT-D) in 1,820 patients in Canada."

WebMD (2/7, Mann) reported that "women in the study who received this therapy had a 70% reduction in heart failure events and a 72% reduced risk of dying from any cause. By contrast, men showed a 35% reduction of heart failure events, the study shows."

Reuters (2/8, Steenhuysen) quotes Dr. Arthur Moss, one of the study's authors, as saying, "Our finding was unexpected, but extremely important because this is the only heart treatment that is clearly better in women than men." AFP (2/8) also covers the story.

POSTED BY STEVEN ALMANY, MD

WOMEN WITH PAD MAY EXPERIENCE FASTER DECLINE IN FUNCTION, MOBILITY COMPARED WITH MEN

MedPage Today (1/31, Neale) reported, "Among patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD), women appear to experience a faster decline in function and mobility compared with men," according to a study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. The researchers, after following "380 patients for nearly four years, found that women were more likely to become unable to walk continuously for six minutes (HR 2.30) and to develop a mobility disability (HR 1.79)." Furthermore, "the women displayed a faster decline in walking speed and a greater reduction in the distance covered during the six-minute walk test (P<0.05 for both)."

POSTED BY STEVEN ALMANY, MD

CAROTID STENTING, SURGERY EQUAL FOR LONG-TERM STROKE PREVENTION

MedPage Today (1/31, Phend) reported, "For carotid stenosis, stenting and surgery are on par with each other for long-term stroke prevention in real-world practice, according to" a study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Researchers reported that "the case series of more than 2,200 patients showed composite rates of any periprocedural stroke or death and ipsilateral stroke at five years of 4.7% with stenting and 3.7% with endarterectomy (P=0.4)." Although "these results reflect outcomes of clinical selection for one procedure versus the other, selecting stents didn't appear to compromise long-term vessel patency or stroke-free survival," the investigators reported. HeartWire (1/31, O'Riordan) also covered the story.

POSTED BY STEVEN ALMANY, MD

DATA SUPPORT TENTATIVE ASSOCIATION OF GREEN TEA INTAKE WITH LOWER RISK FOR CAD

Medscape (1/27, Barclay) reported that "available data do not support a protective role of black tea against coronary artery disease (CAD), but limited data support a tentative association of green tea intake with a lower risk for CAD, according to the results of a meta-analysis reported online...in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition." Investigators reported that the "meta-analysis showed no significant association between black tea intake and the risk for CAD (highest vs. lowest consumption, summary relative risk [RR], 0.92; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.82 - 1.04; for an increase of one cup/day, summary RR, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.94 - 1.02). The summary RR for green tea showed a significant association between the highest intake of green tea and a lower risk for CAD (summary RR, 0.72; 95% CI, 0.58 - 0.89)."

POSTED BY STEVEN ALMANY, MD

ONE IN THREE US ADULTS MAY HAVE PRE-DIABETES, CDC REPORTS

Bloomberg News (1/26, Lopatto) reported, approximately "one of three American adults" may "have so-called pre-diabetes, a 39 percent jump over 2008 estimates," according to a report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CNN (1/26, Falco) "The Chart" blog reported, "According to this new CDC data, half of all Americans over the age of 65 are prediabetic and 27% have diabetes. Minorities are still at higher risk compared with Caucasians: 16 % of American Indians/Alaska Natives, more than 12% of African-Americans and nearly 12% of Hispanic adults now have diabetes, compared with a little more than 8% of Asian-Americans and 7% of non-Hispanic whites."

The Washington Post (1/26, Stein) "The Checkup" blog reported, "In 2008, CDC estimated that 23.6 million Americans had diabetes and an additional 57 million adults had prediabetes." HealthDay (1/26, Preidt), MedPage Today (1/26, Smith), and WebMD (1/26, Hendrick) also covered the story.

POSTED BY STEVEN ALMANY, MD

RESEARCHERS SEE NO PPI ATTENUATION OF CLOPIDOGREL ANTIPLATELET EFFECTS IN FRENCH MI REGISTRY ANALYSIS

HeartWire (1/26, Stiles) reported that "no significant sign of excess cardiovascular events, including death, MI, or stroke in-hospital or at one year, were seen in patients who received proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs), especially omeprazole, along with clopidogrel in a French MI registry." This "was seen regardless of whether patients carried a gene variant known to interfere with clopidogrel's antiplatelet action, according to investigators in a report published online January 24, 2010 in Circulation."

POSTED BY STEVEN ALMANY, MD