Tag: Reuters Health

Wait to remove kids’ infected adenoids: study

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NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Removing the adenoids of kids who frequently get colds, sinus infections and laryngitis is more expensive and doesn’t lead to better health or fewer symptoms than a “watchful waiting” approach, according to new research. In other words, “waiting has no bad consequences,” Chantal Boonacker, who led the new research at University Medical Center Utrecht in the Netherlands, told Reuters Health by email. Adenoids are the tissue between the nose and back of the throat, similar to tonsils. They help fight infection in children but shrink and disappear by adulthood. …

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Whole body vibration may help elderly get up and go

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NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – When the elderly can’t exercise, stints on a vibrating platform may help older adults become slightly stronger, faster and more agile, according to a small short-term study. Exercise is the best option for good health in older age, lead author Alba Gómez Cabello told Reuters Health in an email. But for those unable to perform aerobic exercise, this vibration technique “could be an easy and quick treatment to improve physical fitness. …

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Simple awareness reduces college food waste

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NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – College students threw out 15 percent less food after researchers peppered dining halls with short anti-waste slogans, according to new study. “If you can get it into people’s minds to talk about food waste, that’s when little changes take effect,” said lead author Kelly Whitehair, an instructor of hospitality management and dietetics at Kansas State University. “Change doesn’t have to involve a huge elaborate campaign,” she told Reuters Health. …

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Heart attack pattern shifted after Katrina

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NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Heart attacks are usually most common on weekdays and mornings, especially Mondays, but new data analysis shows that pattern reversed in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. “The fact that it’s such a polar opposite shift is really surprising,” lead author Dr. Matthew Peters of Tulane University told Reuters Health. After the storm the overall number of attacks tripled, likely due to an increased number of smokers. They were more likely on weekday evenings and weekends, according to data published in The American Journal of Cardiology. …

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Poor people participate in cancer trials less often

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NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Poor people are less likely to take part in clinical trials for new cancer drugs, which can make it harder to develop treatments, according to a new study. “Cancer clinical trials are how we move the field forward. As a result of patients not participating in clinical trials, it takes a lot longer and it’s much more expensive to develop new therapies,” said Dr. Dawn Hershman, who worked on the study. “In this study we found one factor that contributes to that is patient income,” Hershman, from Columbia University in New York, told Reuters Health. …

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Many docs give in when patients want brand drugs

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NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Doctors often cave in to patients’ requests for brand-name prescription drugs even when generic versions are available, a new study suggests – a tendency that adds billions in costs for patients and the health system. “This is, by definition, a wasteful expense,” said the report’s lead author, Eric Campbell, from Harvard Medical School in Boston. “Doctors have the professional responsibility not to waste scarce medical resources,” he told Reuters Health. “We have to educate doctors and patients about how wasteful this practice is.” The U.S. …

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U.S. kids getting recommended amount of sleep: study

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NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Children in the U.S. appear to be getting as much shut-eye as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends, according to a new study. “We can’t say this is the amount that they should be sleeping,” said Jessica Williams, the lead author of the study and a graduate student at the University of California, Los Angeles. “All we could really do is compare our estimated norms with what is recommended, and it seems like it falls pretty well in line with the recommendations,” she told Reuters Health. …

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Tired after cancer treatment? Walking may help

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NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – People who have been treated for cancer often have lingering fatigue, but a new analysis of more than three dozen studies suggests regular walking or cycling might help boost their energy. Patients’ long-lasting tiredness has been blamed both on the cancer itself, including cancer-related pain, and on the effects of treatments such as chemotherapy. Prior studies point to talk therapy, nutrition counseling and acupuncture as possible ways to ease cancer-related fatigue during or after treatment (see Reuters Health story of October 29, 2012). …

When it comes to colon cancer checks, options exist

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NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – For people who have had a negative colonoscopy, less-invasive screening options may work just fine for follow-up cancer tests, a new analysis suggests. “No one screening test is right for everyone,” lead researcher Amy Knudsen, from the Institute for Technology Assessment at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, told Reuters Health in an email. …

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Pitch counts don’t add up to more injuries, says study

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NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – It is impossible to watch a Major League Baseball (MLB) game nowadays – such as those in the World Series now underway – without hearing about how many pitches a player has thrown. But a new study suggests that when it comes to preventing injuries, the obsession of many teams with those kinds of numbers may be misplaced. “I don’t necessarily think that pitch counts or innings pitched are the best way to measure the demands of pitching,” Thomas Karakolis, the lead author on the study, told Reuters Health. …

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Baseball-Pitch counts don’t add up to more injuries, says study

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NEW YORK, Oct 26 (Reuters Health) – It is impossible to watch a Major League Baseball (MLB) game nowadays – such as those in the World Series now underway – without hearing about how many pitches a player has thrown. But a new study suggests that when it comes to preventing injuries, the obsession of many teams with those kinds of numbers may be misplaced. “I don’t necessarily think that pitch counts or innings pitched are the best way to measure the demands of pitching,” Thomas Karakolis, the lead author on the study, told Reuters Health. …

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