Stroke Risk Higher After Heart Attack
In the past, research has indicated that 1% of people who have a heart attack will suffer a stroke within a year. However, a new study indicates that that number is actually much higher, and that having certain other medical conditions or traits makes the risk even greater.
The study was performed by doctors at Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut, who assessed the medical records of over 110,000 people who had had a heart attack between 1994 and 1995. Of these participants, who were all at least 65 years old, 2.5% were admitted to the hospital for stroke after having a heart attack.
The researchers, who published their findings in the journal Circulation (volume 105, pages 1082-1087, March 2002), also found that participants with certain characteristics were at an even higher risk of having a post-heart-attack stroke. These risk factors include having diabetes, high blood pressure, or blood vessel disease; being older than 75; being African American; being frail; not taking aspirin; or having had a previous stroke. In fact, the researchers found that people who had at least four of these risk factors had a risk of stroke that was four times higher than the people who had none of the factors.
The study authors hope that by better educating people about the risks of stroke after a heart attack, they will help prevent these strokes from occurring.
  
Obesity Disorder May Be Genetic
For the 170 people around the world who have an obesity disorder called Alstrom syndrome, so little is known about their disease that a cure seems unattainable. However, recent research has revealed that a mutation in one particular gene might cause the disorder.
Independent research by scientists from Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine and Southampton University in the UK has uncovered the link between mutations in the gene ALMS1 and Alstrom syndrome. The gene is recessive, and is located on chromosome 2. One of several mutations of the gene can lead to Alstrom syndrome.
The researchers are not entirely sure of the pathways that cause the disorder, although the ALMS1 gene does affect organs that are associated with the disorder, such as the eyes and kidneys. Knowing which gene causes the disorder could assist doctors in diagnosing the syndrome, although doctors are usually able to make this diagnosis based on symptoms alone. The disorder is usually diagnosed shortly after birth, when babies gain an extreme amount of weight and have vision problems. By the time they reach adulthood, they usually have life-threatening diabetes, as well as heart and kidney failure.
Researchers are hopeful that this study will provide greater understanding of Alstrom syndrome and lead to a better understanding of the genetic causes of mainstream obesity. They have published the results in the online version of Nature Genetics (10.1038/ng867).
Possible Detection Of Preeclampsia
Preeclampsia is a condition in women who are in the late stages of pregnancy, and results in a dangerous increase in blood pressure. Although the only cure for preeclampsia is early delivery, which brings its own complications to the development of the baby, a new study shows that there may be ways of testing a woman's risk for the condition.
The study can be found in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism (volume 87, April 2002), authored by researchers at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts. The researchers compared the protein levels in blood collected during the first trimester of pregnancy from 45 women who later developed preeclampsia, and 90 women who did not.
The researchers found that the women who later developed preeclampsia had low levels of the protein SHBG (sex hormone binding globulin) during the initial stage of their pregnancy. This can be an indicator of insulin resistance, which can lead to diabetes. Insulin resistance is often accompanied by obesity, which is a known risk factor for preeclampsia.
One of the researchers' theories is that insulin resistance might cause preeclampsia by injuring tiny blood vessels throughout the body, which can lead to poor blood pressure control. In the kidney, injured blood vessels might allow protein to leak into urine. This can be detected through a simple urine test.
Mortality Higher In Women With Cataracts
Although cataracts are a common and easily treatable condition that causes cloudiness in the eye, new findings show that they may also be linked to a greater risk of death in elderly women.
In the study, which was conducted by researchers at University College London in the UK, 1,502 people at least 65 years old were tracked for four years. Nearly 90% of the participants did not have diabetes, and 44% had a cataract. Over the course of the study, 222 people died, including 31 people with diabetes and 191 people without.
The death rate among women with cataracts was 40 per 1,000, compared with 25 per 1,000 in women who did not have cataracts. For men, the death rate was about the same whether or not they had cataracts. Fifty-eight men with cateracts per 1000 died, while 63 men without cateracts per 1000 died.
The study, which is published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology (volume 86, pages 424-428, April 2002), is the first one of its kind to show a connection between mortality and cataracts in women without diabetes. Further studies are needed to confirm that connection, and to determine its cause.
Protein Shapes May Cause Diseases
There are many degenerative diseases that are still a scientific mystery, including diabetes, Alzheimer's, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. New research into the causes of these diseases indicates that misshapen proteins may be at the root of the problem.
The study was conducted by researchers at the University of Cambridge in England, who made muscle and bacteria proteins take on misfolded shapes. When misshapen, these proteins caused clumping and were toxic to healthy cells in laboratory cultures. Proteins normally serve as chemical messengers, and the roles they play are determined by their chemical makeup and their three-dimensional shape when folded. Clumps of misshapen proteins are common in protein deposition diseases like diabetes, Alzheimer's, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
In Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, which is a brain disorder that has effects similar to mad cow disease, a misfolded prion protein may replicate itself and then infect other cells. This causes progressive neurological damage. People with diabetes may have blood-vessel damage and blindness caused by protein misfolding.
Another study, which was conducted by researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, indicates that a misfolding of the amyloid beta protein causes a disruption in the chemical mechanism in the brain. This affects the process by which memories are stored, and may therefore contribute to the development of Alzheimer's disease. The study involved laboratory rats, and indicated that bunches of an intermediate form of amyloid beta were toxic to cells.
Both studies were published in the journal Nature (April 4, 2002). More research is needed before doctors can determine if misshapen proteins really do lead to disease, and what preventative measures may be taken.
Health Experts Extol Exercise
Health officials have repeatedly proclaimed that in order to achieve and maintain good health, exercise is a vital component of daily life. Despite this, people still don't exercise in sufficient degrees to prevent health problems caused by inactivity and obesity.
According to a recent report issued by the National Center for Health Statistics, seven in ten adults don't regularly exercise and almost four in ten aren't physically active at all. The findings were based on the results of health surveys of 68,000 American adults in 1997 and 1998. Preliminary data for the year 2001 does not indicate any improvement.
The report also indicates that demographics play into a person's physical activity. People who make four times the poverty level are twice as likely to exercise as those in low socioeconomic groups. Also, those who are better educated are more likely to exercise. About two-thirds of white adults exercise at least sometimes, but only half of African American and Latino adults do.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has also issued a statement to encourage people to get at least thirty minutes of exercise a day. WHO emphasizes that regular exercise is one way to prevent Type 2 diabetes. The organization states that physical inactivity is one of the greatest risk factors for poor health in developed countries, second only to tobacco.
The International Obesity Task Force has taken this need to exercise one step further, stating that while 30 minutes of moderate exercise a day is enough to prevent diabetes it is simply not enough to prevent obesity. Rather, people should exercise for an hour to an hour and a half in order to maintain good health.
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