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Risk of Metabolic Syndrome Rises Near Menopause

As women begin to enter menopause, their risk to developing a collection of heart disease risk factors appears to climb. Researchers from Rush University Medical Center in Chicago found that among 949 US women followed for nearly a decade, the risk of developing metabolic syndrome increased during perimenopause - the years during which a women's body begins to transition into menopause, usually starting somewhere in her 40s. The new findings, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, appear to be first showing that the incidence of metabolic syndrome begins to rise during perimenopause

Tell Alzheimer's by a Simple Blood Test

People with Alzheimer's face an awkward juncture in the near future. They'll be able to learn early on whether they have Alzheimer's disease - even if they can't do much about it. With therapies to halt or slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease seeming ever more elusive, several blood tests in development could determine who has the disease even before symptoms develop or become severe. Researchers say they believe people would use such a test, if only to prepare for a future with the limitations wrought by dementia. “It would be a boon to the field,” says Dr Ronald C Petersen, a neurologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesotta. “Many, many people are at risk due to family history, age, genetic characteristics. But we don't have a good prediction formula for who will actually get the disease.” Alzheimer's disease is extremely difficult to diagnose in its early stages because the symptoms, such as memory problems, can also be attributed to normal aging or a number of other illnesses. Even the appearance of plaque in brain is not considered a telltale sign of the disease because some people have plaque but not dementia. Doctors and patients need a test that is convenient, accurate, reliable and inexpensive, says Dr Harold Varmus, former director of the National Institutes of Health and a member of the Alzheimer's Study Group, an independent working group mandated by the US Congress to develop a national strategic plan for Alzheimer's disease.

Diabetes Triples Women's Risk for Birth Defects

Women who have diabetes before becoming pregnant are about three times as likely as other women to have a baby with at least one birth defect. A variety of different birth defects are associated with mothers who have Type 1 diabetes, also called juvenile diabetes, or Type 2 diabetes, the most common form of the disease that is linked to obesity. These included defects of the heart, brain, spin, limbs, kidneys and gastrointestinal tract, penile and ear abnormalities and cleft palate, researchers from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention wrote in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Drinking Lots of Water Doesn't Help Cut Flab

London: If you think that drinking lots of water daily will help you cut the flab, think again, for a study has claimed that is could be just a waste of time. Researchers at the University of Tokyo have found that drinking the elixir of life does not keep one trim - instead, one could be better off eating foods rich in water like fruit, vegetables, rice soups, and casseroles. According to them, it is unclear why water in food but no in drinks effects weight - it could be because water-rich foods such as fruit, vegetables and rice also high in fibre. In fact the researchers have based their findings on an analysis of 1,000 young women in Tokyo. They compared the weight and waist size of the participants with the amount of water they consumed each day, both from drinks and foods. The study found no link between water in drinks, including water itself, tea, coffee, soft drinks and fruit juices, and body shape, the Daily Mail reported.

Bacteria Linked to Lower Asthma Rates In Kids

Common bacteria that have lived in human stomachs for generations are associated with lower rates of childhood asthma. The study, to appear on Aug. 15 in The Journal of Infectious Diseases, does not prove that the microflora, Helicobacter pylori, actually help protect children from asthma. It may be that asthmatics do not host the bacteria for other reasons, Still, the study, conducted by researchers at New York University School of Medicine and the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in New York, found that children who carried H pylori were 40 per cent less likely to have asthma before age 5. And children ages 3 to 13 who had the bacteria were 60 per cent likely to report that they had asthma at the time of the study.

Potassium May Help Lower Blood Pressure

Boosting levels of potassium in the diet may lower a person's risk of development high blood pressure and may decrease blood pressure in people who already have hypertension. High blood pressure remains the chief reason for visits to doctor and prescription drug use, researchers from Nashville, Tennessee reported in a special supplement to the Journal of Clinical Hypertension.