Leisure Time Physical Activity Linked with Reduced Risk of Hypertension

According to pooled results from 13 studies on the effects of physical activity on blood pressure, people who exercised more than 4 hours per week in their leisure time had a 19% lower risk of hypertension than those who exercised less than 1 hour per week. People who had 1 to 3 hours per week of leisure exercise had an 11% lower risk than those with under an hour of activity. The Hypertension analysis involved 136,846 people in the United States, Europe, and East Asia who initially had healthy blood pressure and were followed from 2 to 45 years.

Study: Hormone Therapy may be good short-term option to relieve menopause symptoms.

The Wall Street Journal (10/2, Beck, Subscription Publication, 5.91M) reports that research (10/2, 730K) published in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests that while hormone therapy may be a good short-term option to relieve symptoms of menopause, it should not be used to protect against chronic diseases.

        USA Today (10/1, Painter, 5.82M) reports that researchers looked at data from the Women’s Health Initiative. The new study’s findings, which were “based on 13 years of follow-up and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, show a complex mix of risks and benefits for women who take estrogen either alone or with progestin.” The researchers found that “on balance, the risks – including increases in heart disease and breast cancer for many women – outweigh the benefits when the hormones are used for anything other than relief of moderate to severe menopause symptoms.”

        The New York Times (10/2, Grady, Subscription Publication, 9.61M) reports that the researchers found that “for combined hormones, for every 10,000 women taking the drugs...there were six additional instances of heart problems, nine more strokes, nine more blood clots in the lungs and nine more cases of breast cancer.” However, “there were six fewer cases of colorectal cancer, one fewer case of uterine cancer, six fewer hip fractures and one fewer death.” The majority “of the effects wore off once the drugs were stopped, but the risk of breast cancer remained slightly elevated.”

        Forbes (10/1, 6.03M) contributor Larry Husten writes that among women who only received estrogen, HRT “was associated with an increased risk for stroke and venous thrombosis, and a lowered risk for hip and total fractures.” The researchers “were surprised by and at a loss to explain a small nonsignificant drop in breast cancer.” Meanwhile, “women under the age of 60 in this group also had small but signifcant reductions in all-cause mortality and myocardial infarction.”

        The Boston Globe (10/2, Kotz, 1.75M) “Daily Dose” blog reports that in an accompanying editorial (10/2, 730K), Dr. Elizabeth Nabel, former director of the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, wrote, “These findings demonstrate that menopausal hormone therapy has a complex profile of risks and benefits.” Dr. Nabel added, “Even though short-term use of hormone therapy may be useful for menopausal symptom relief ... long-term use of hormone therapy for chronic disease prevention is not warranted.” Also covering the story are Reuters (10/2, Seaman, Brooks), CNN (10/1, 14.53M), MedPage Today (10/2, Fiore, 122K), HealthDay (10/2, Norton, 5K),Medscape (10/2, Hand, 164K), and the Cleveland Plain Dealer (10/2, Townsend, 966K).

FDA approves Kcentra for the urgent reversal of anticoagulation in adults with major bleeding

FDA approves Kcentra for the urgent reversal of anticoagulation in adults with major bleeding

04/29/2013 05:56 PM EDT

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Kcentra (Prothrombin Complex Concentrate, Human) for the urgent reversal of vitamin K antagonist (VKA) anticoagulation in adults with acute major bleeding. Plasma is the only other product approved for this use in the United States.

Dispose of Prescription Drugs

If you have unwanted prescription drugs or over-the-counter medicines, this is a great opportunity to safely discard them.

Enter your ZIP code to find a collection site near you. 

Properly disposing of medicines is important to human health and environmental protection.   

• Don't flush medicines down the toilet or drain. Doing so could affect drinking water sources.
• Don't throw medicines directly in the trash. Doing so could lead to the poisoning of a child or pet, or drug abuse by a teen or adult. 
  
• Do find out how to properly dispose of medicines (PDF).

Study: 2010 pertussis outbreak tied to vaccine refusals.

A number of national media outlets, including a network news program, report on the connection between recent pertussis outbreaks and parental vaccine refusals. On its Monday evening broadcast, the CBS Evening Newsreported on the results of a new study published in Pediatrics examined the 2010 California pertussis outbreak that sickened over 9,000 and killed ten, “found it was worst among 39 communities with clusters of kids who were not vaccinated.” According to the report, in communities with higher rates of vaccine refusal, pertussis outbreaks were twice as likely to occur. In 2010, “the percentage of parents choosing to opt out of vaccinating their children for school has tripled from .7% in 2000 to 2.3%.”

        USA Today (9/30, Healy, 5.82M) reports the study used “data from the California Department of Public Health,” to analyze “non-medical exemptions for children entering kindergarten from 2005 through 2010, and pertussis cases that were diagnosed in 2010 in California.”

        The Los Angeles Times (9/30, Macvean, 3.07M) notes between 2000 and 2010, rates for “nonmedical exemptions” in California have “more than tripled, to 2.33%, with some schools reporting rates as high as 84%.” According to the researchers, clusters of exemptions and high pertussis rates “were associated with factors characteristic of high socioeconomic status such as lower population density, lower average family size, lower percentage of racial or ethnic minorities,” as well as income and other factors.

        CBS News (10/1, Jaslow, 3.87M) website adds the study did not investigate the specifics of why parents refused vaccines, but did find “the families were more likely to be of high socioeconomic status.” During a press conference, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, Dr. Anne Schuchat, said, “Clusters of people with like-minded beliefs leading them to forgo vaccines can leave them susceptible to outbreaks when measles is imported from elsewhere.”

        The NPR (10/1, Shute, 465K) “Shots” blog reports that the California outbreak was not only fueled by vaccine refusal; since “pertussis is a cyclical disease,” protection seems to fade sooner than doctors originally believed. “So many older children vaccinated as youngsters were no longer immune to the bacterium. And many adults had never gotten a booster.”

        Also reporting on the story are the Time (10/1, Sifferlin, 13.4M) “Healthland” blog, HealthDay (10/1, Gordon, 5K),MedPage Today (10/1, Smith, 122K), Medscape (10/1, Lewis, 164K), and the Boston.com (10/1, 1.75M) “MD Mama” blog.

Help your patients obtain affordable health insurance.

Open enrollment on the new health insurance marketplaces starts today. Patients—including those who have been uninsured as a result of pre-existing conditions or limited finances—can acquire health coverage for 2014 by using the new health insurance marketplace in their state during open enrollment through March 31. Help your patients understand how to take advantage of this new opportunity to obtain the coverage they need. The AMA provides resources to make it easy for you and them.

“Artificial pancreas” receives FDA approval.

The Wall Street Journal (9/27, Tadena, Subscription Publication, 5.91M) reported the Food and Drug Administration approved Medtronic Inc.’s insulin delivery pump, the MiniMed 530G “artificial pancreas.” The device is approved for use in people over 16 years of age with diabetes.

        Bloomberg News (9/27, Cortez, 1.91M) noted the device’s “approval came about six months earlier than investors expected.” According to Bloomberg News, “the next generation device will be designed to anticipate blood sugar levels and administer insulin accordingly to keep patients in an ideal range with little patient involvement.”

        Also reporting on the story are Reuters (9/27, Dey), the Minneapolis-St. Paul (MN) Business Journal (9/30, Grayson, Subscription Publication, 13K) “TechFlash” blog, the Minneapolis Star Tribune (9/28, Moore, 1.14M), theLos Angeles Business Journal (9/27, 98K), and Medscape (9/30, Tucker, 164K).