PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Diet/exercise intervention for patients at risk for heart disease improves quality of life

2010-09-13
(Press-News.org) A lifestyle intervention incorporating exercise training and diet counseling in primary health care settings appears to improve quality of life among adults at moderate to high risk for heart disease and appears cost-effective compared to standard care, according to a report in the September 13 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Most individuals in developed countries do not reach recommended levels of physical activity, and are thus at higher risk of illness and death, according to background information in the article. "Extensive and intensive lifestyle intervention programs delay the onset of diabetes mellitus and reduce cardiovascular risk by increasing physical activity, reducing overweight and making changes in dietary habits," the authors write.

"For a comprehensive assessment of an intervention program it is essential to incorporate the individual's broader perspective of well-being, not only the conventional medical outcomes," write Margareta K. Eriksson, Ph.D., of Björknäs Health Care Center, Boden, and Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden, and colleagues. The researchers assessed the effect on quality of life and the cost-effectiveness of a three-year lifestyle intervention program among 151 men and women at moderate to high risk of cardiovascular disease visiting a primary care center in northern Sweden.

After six patients withdrew, 71 were randomly assigned to the intervention, which included progressive exercise training three times a week, diet counseling and regular group meetings. After an initial three-month intervention period, participants were invited to attend group meetings at regular intervals and encouraged to maintain at least 30 minutes per day of physical activity. The control group (74 individuals) was given verbal and written information about exercise and diet at one group meeting.

Differences between the two groups over the three-year period were observed on most of the quality-of-life measurements taken. Costs were $337 higher for the intervention group than for the control group ($197 of which was financed by health care and $140 imposed on participants because of increased physical activity). However, the average number of visits to the family physician decreased by 0.28 per six months among individuals in the intervention group, whereas individuals in the control group made an average of 0.10 more visits per six months. This resulted in a savings of $384 for health care use and a net savings of $47 per intervention participant.

"These results should be viewed in the context of the previously reported favorable impact on physical activity, fitness, waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio, blood pressure and smoking cessation over the three-year period," the authors write.

"Thus, high-intensity and long-lasting interventions can produce sustainable improvements in quality of life and can obviously be cost-effective," they conclude. "Such programs may be a wise use of resources in primary health care for patients with disease to which inactivity strongly contributes."

###

(Arch Intern Med. 2010;170[16]:1470-1479. Available pre-embargo to the media at www.jamamedia.org.)

Editor's Note: This study was supported by the Norrbotten Local County Council, Division of Primary Health Care, Luleå, Sweden; Visare Norr, Northern County Councils, Sweden; and the Heart Foundation of Northern Sweden. Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, financial disclosures, funding and support, etc.

END



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Protein-based biomarkers in blood serum could classify individuals with Alzheimer's disease

2010-09-13
An initial analysis suggests that biomarkers in blood serum can be combined with clinical information to accurately classify patients with Alzheimer's disease, according to a report in the September issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. "There is clearly a need for reliable and valid diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease, and in recent years, there has been an explosive increase of effort aimed at identifying such markers," the authors write as background information in the article. "It has been previously argued that, ...

Asthma medication may benefit patients with multiple sclerosis

2010-09-13
Adding albuterol, a compound commonly used to treat asthma and other respiratory diseases, to an existing treatment for patients with multiple sclerosis appears to improve clinical outcomes, according to a report in the September issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory disease characterized by the degeneration of myelin, which coats nerve cells in the white matter of the central nervous system. Patients with the condition have been found to have elevated levels of interleukin-12, a biological ...

Pilot study demonstrates safety of diabetes medication for patients with Alzheimer's disease

2010-09-13
A pilot study suggests the diabetes medication pioglitazone is generally well tolerated and may warrant further study as a treatment for patients with Alzheimer's disease, according to a report posted online today that will appear in the January 2011 print issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. "Alzheimer's disease is an immense and growing public health problem," the authors write as background information in the article. "Although prescription drug therapy for the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease has been available since 1993, these agents ...

Antiviral therapy associated with fewer recurring eye problems from herpes simplex virus

2010-09-13
Taking oral antiviral medications following infection with the herpes simplex virus may be associated with a reduced risk of recurring eye-related manifestations of the disease, according to a report in the September issue of Archives of Ophthalmology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. "Herpes simplex virus (HSV) is a common cause of corneal disease and is the leading infectious cause of corneal blindness among developed nations," the authors write as background information in the article. After the initial exposure to the virus and the resulting systemic infection, ...

Repeated antibiotic use alters gut's composition of beneficial microbes, Stanford study shows

2010-09-13
STANFORD, Calif. - Repeated use of an antibiotic that is considered generally benign, because users seldom incur obvious side effects, induces cumulative and persistent changes in the composition of the beneficial microbial species inhabiting the human gut, researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have found. By a conservative estimate, something like 1,000 different varieties of microbes coexist harmoniously within a typical healthy person's gut, said David Relman, MD, professor of medicine and of microbiology and immunology at the medical school and ...

Children and adults see the world differently

2010-09-13
Unlike adults, children are able to keep information from their senses separate and may therefore perceive the visual world differently, according to research published today. Scientists at UCL (University College London) and Birkbeck, University of London have found that children younger than 12 do not combine different sensory information to make sense of the world as adults do. This does not only apply to combining different senses, such as vision and sound, but also to the different information the brain receives when looking at a scene with one eye compared to both ...

A new target in polycystic kidney disease

2010-09-13
In work suggesting a new approach to treating polycystic kidney disease (PKD), a leading cause of kidney failure, researchers at Children's Hospital Boston were able to block the formation of fluid-filled cysts, the hallmark of the disease, in a mouse model. Their findings, using a compound that inhibits a receptor known as c-Met, will be published in the September 13th online edition of the Journal of Clinical Investigation. PKD is the most common fatal genetic disease affecting Caucasians in the U.S. Currently, there is no approved treatment to halt cyst growth, which ...

Video games lead to faster decisions that are no less accurate

Video games lead to faster decisions that are no less accurate
2010-09-13
Cognitive scientists from the University of Rochester have discovered that playing action video games trains people to make the right decisions faster. The researchers found that video game players develop a heightened sensitivity to what is going on around them, and this benefit doesn't just make them better at playing video games, but improves a wide variety of general skills that can help with everyday activities like multitasking, driving, reading small print, keeping track of friends in a crowd, and navigating around town. In an upcoming study in the journal Current ...

New study: Serious gaps in medical journals' disclosure of physician relationships with industry

2010-09-13
(New York, NY) Nearly half the surgeons who made at least $1 million in payments from orthopedic device companies did not have that relationship published in their scientific articles, according to a study released today in the on-line edition of the Archives of Internal Medicine. The study shows that readers are not being adequately informed about conflicts of interest even when the funds involved are significant. The study, conducted by researchers at the New York-based Institute on Medicine as a Profession (IMAP), is the first of its kind to use company records ...

NYU Langone scientists find key pathway implicated in progression of childhood cancer

2010-09-13
New York (September 13, 2010) - According to a new study a protein crucial for the immune response appears to be a key player in the progression of a devastating form of childhood leukemia called T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL). Suppressing the activity of the protein kills the leukemic cells, the study shows, opening a potential avenue to new drugs that could prevent progression of the disease. Led by Iannis Aifantis, PhD, associate professor of pathology and director of the Cancer Stem Cell Program at the NYU Cancer Institute at NYU Langone Medical Center, ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Advancements in organ preservation: paving the way for better transplantation outcomes

Pitt study makes new insights into the origins of ovarian cancer

Topical steroid withdrawal diagnostic criteria defined by NIH researchers

CeSPIACE: A broad-spectrum peptide inhibitor against variable SARS-CoV-2 spikes

Understanding the origin of magnetic moment enhancement in novel alloys

BU researchers develop computational tools to safeguard privacy without degrading voice-based cognitive markers

Breakthrough in rapid polymer nanostructure production

Artificial photosynthesis: Researchers mimic plants

Social disadvantage can accelerate ageing and increase disease risk

Breaking free from dependence on rare resources! A domestic high-performance permanent magnet emerges!

Symptoms of long-COVID can last up to two years after infection with COVID-19

Violence is forcing women in Northern Ireland into homelessness, finds new report

Latin American intensivists denounce economic and cultural inequities in the global scientific publishing system

Older adults might be more resistant to bird flu infections than children, Penn research finds

Dramatic increase in research funding needed to counter productivity slowdown in farming

How chemistry and force etch mysterious spiral patterns on solid surfaces

Unraveling the mysteries of polycystic kidney disease

Mother’s high-fat diet can cause liver stress in fetus, study shows

Weighing in on a Mars water debate

Researchers ‘seq’ and find a way to make pig retinal cells to advance eye treatments

Re-purposed FDA-approved drug could help treat high-grade glioma

Understanding gamma rays in our universe through StarBurst

Study highlights noninvasive hearing aid 

NASA taps UTA to shape future of autonomous aviation

Mutations disrupt touch-based learning, study finds

Misha lived in zoos, but the elephant’s tooth enamel helps reconstruct wildlife migrations

Eat better, breathe easier? Research points to link between diet, lung cancer

Mesozoic mammals had uniform dark fur

Wartime destruction of Kakhovka Dam in Ukraine has long-term environmental consequences

NIH’s flat 15% funding policy is misguided and damaging

[Press-News.org] Diet/exercise intervention for patients at risk for heart disease improves quality of life