Mummies Show Signs of Heart Disease
A new study reveals signs of heart disease in mummies of Egyptians who lived almost 3,500 years ago, a finding that surprised even its authors, Health Day reports. The scientists examined imaging scans from 22 mummies, of which nine likely had atherosclerosis, a condition that can cause heart attack or stroke. One of the study's authors says the evidence may give patients insight as they weigh risk factors for heart disease against their genetics, according to Health Day. The study is published in today's Journal of the American Medical Association.
[Read Are You at Low Risk for Heart Disease? Probably Not.] [Slide show: 6 Reasons Why Most Americans Are at Risk for Heart Disease.]
Women in Their 40s Ponder Whether to Skip the Mammogram
New recommendations issued Monday by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force advise women in their 40s against routine mammograms to screen for breast cancer. Instead, the task force says, women should make an individual decision whether or not to be tested. The guidelines also now recommend mammograms every two years, instead of annually, for women ages 50 to 74 and make no recommendation for women 75 and over. They also call into question the usefulness of doctor-performed clinical breast exams and breast self-exams to check for suspicious lumps and thickenings, U.S. News's Deborah Kotz reports.
Kotz asks Susan Love, a breast surgeon and clinical professor of surgery at the University of California-Los Angeles medical school: Should a woman skip her mammogram when she turns 40?
Yes, Love says, provided she is not at a higher-than-average risk of getting the disease. But women who have a breast cancer gene mutation (namely, mutations in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes) or have immediate family members who were diagnosed with the disease before menopause should start screening at age 40 or sometimes even earlier, she says.
Some doctors and medical groups, however, are standing by the old recommendation of a yearly mammogram for women in their 40s. Read more.
[Read Routine Mammograms Before Age 50: Not Much Point and Too Many Breast Cancers Diagnosed by Mammograms?]
Phthalates Threat: Less Boy, More Girl
We learned last week that a study in China found that male factory workers exposed to large amounts of BPA, a chemical in some plastics, had abnormally high rates of erectile dysfunction and other sexual performance problems. This week, the news is about phthalates. Researchers reported in the International Journal of Andrology that pregnant mothers' exposure to this family of chemicals, used in manufacturing polyvinyl chloride plastics, seems to make little boys behave a bit more like little girls.
This small study isn't as worrisome as the headlines suggest, U.S. News contributor and physician Ford Vox writes. Its main public-health value may be in spurring more pregnant women to avoid processed foods—a worthwhile choice anyway, for other reasons. The study's finding hinges on the credibility of a questionnaire called the Pre-School Activities Inventory, which mothers fill out in describing their child's behavior. It is a psychometric tool and is considered the most scientific approach available for parsing out masculine boys from feminine boys.
The questionnaire asks mothers to rank their child as similar or dissimilar to a series of statements shown in large validation surveys to demonstrate degrees of masculinity or femininity. A mother encounters questions on the form like these: How often did the child play with jewelry in the past month? How often did the child fight in the past month? How often did the child show interest in snakes, spiders, and insects? Vox asks: Can modest changes in play behavior, quantifiable only on such a survey, lead to any long-term changes in gender identity? Read more.
[Read Sex and BPA Don't Mix, Say Researchers and How to Limit Your Exposure to Phthalates.]
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jillayneco of LA @ Nov 29, 2009 08:05:23 AM
radbournew of FL @ Nov 19, 2009 12:43:21 PM
fitzgibbon of FL @ Nov 19, 2009 11:47:05 AM