Issue Date: September 28, 2003
Surgery: Depressed people have more risk
If you need surgery and are depressed, getting psychological treatment might be a low-cost, highly effective way to save your life, Duke University researchers suggest. They report that even mild depression can double the risk of death after bypass surgery.
In one of the largest and longest studies ever, Duke University Medical Center researchers spent as long as 12 years tracking 817 patients who had bypass surgery. The day before surgery and again in six months, each patient took a standardized test to assess depression. People with moderate to severe depression at surgery were more than twice as likely to die after the operation than non-depressed people. Sustained mild depression doubled death risk, too, but if it lifted, the risk dropped back to the same as for non-depressed people.
Lung cancer: New test promises to cut deaths
Worldwide, lung cancer kills more people than any other cancer -- 1.3 million. In Europe, late detection means only 10% of people with the diagnosis live longer than five years. Now there's better early detection, say Italian researchers in the medical journal The Lancet. First, they used a spiral CT (computerized tomography, or CAT scan) to detect lesions (spots that could be cancer or benign), and they then rechecked suspicious positive findings using a super-accurate scan called PET (positron emission tomography). The combination works so well it could lead to large lung cancer trials.
ADHD: Classes for parents help the kids
Learning better social and behavioral skills helps reduce attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms, reports a study in the Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics earlier this year. Researchers at the Group Health Cooperative Center for Health Studies in Seattle divided 100 ADHD children, ages 5 to 12, into two groups. Both stayed on standard stimulant medications prescribed for ADHD, but 59 of the kids and their parents also attended classes one hour a week for eight weeks, learning behavioral and social skills to help cope with ADHD. The key was parental training.
After three and six months, the pairs who took classes reported fewer ADHD symptoms. Most ADHD children in the United States rely on medicine alone. Harlan Gephart, M.D., the study's medical director, says, "I'm on a national mission to get pediatric offices to put this into their practices."
For information and a wealth of resources, contact Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder at 866-587-2575 or chadd.org.
Overweight: Beware of high-altitude sickness
If you're planning a trip to Colorado's peaks or to Peru's Incan ruins, here's something you shouldn't pack: excess body weight. A new study finds that obesity may be a big factor in developing "acute mountain sickness," or AMS, Dallas doctors report in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.
Symptoms hit when you go above 8,250 feet elevation and can include headache, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, weakness, dizziness, lightheadedness and sleep disorders. If you are overweight, give your body extra time to adjust by making the ascent gradually. Also, consider taking acetazolamide, a prescription that prevents altitude sickness.
-- Peggy J. Noonan
|
