The “New & Interesting” series is a biweekly compilation of select research findings, news articles, and random tidbits in bullet-point format. The entries are highly abbreviated, but provide links to the original articles or abstracts if you desire to read further.
General Articles
The recommended daily intake of salt is 2000 mg, but the average amount ingested by Americans is over twice that amount. Sometimes we may not be aware of how much salt there is in processed food. This infographic reveals how much salt is contained in different types of food. (Next Generation Food)
Dr. Hank Chien, a New York-based plastic surgeon, set the world record in the classic arcade game Donkey Kong with 1,061,700 points in 2 hours and 35 minutes. (American Medical News)
Technical Articles
Use of cotrimoxazole (trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole) and warfarin has been associated with a nearly four-fold increased risk of upper GI tract hemorrhage. (Arch Intern Med)
Green tea extracts decreased glucose, triglyceride, and insulin levels in animal models of insulin resistance. Oxidative stress was also reduced, as suggested by lower plasma lipid peroxidation, sulfhydryl (SH) group oxidation, and DNA oxidative damage. (J Am Coll Nutr)
The “New & Interesting” series is a biweekly compilation of select research findings, news articles, and random tidbits in bullet-point format. The entries are highly abbreviated, but provide links to the original articles or abstracts if you desire to read further.
General Articles
Video games may cause kids to suffer finger and wrist pain (WebMD)
Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine employed high-sensitivity MRI scanners to evaluate the effect of glucosamine on progression of knee osteoarthritis. They “did not find any evidence that glucosamine can prevent or slow joint damage in individuals with mild to moderate knee pain.” The results from the study resemble findings from an earlier meta-analysis that did not demonstrate substantive symptomatic benefit from the use of chondroitin. (WebMD)
Universal health coverage in Massachusetts does not reduce visits to the Emergency Department (American Medical News)
Technical Articles
Prophylactic administration of acetaminophen for febrile reactions at the time of vaccination reduces antibody responses to vaccine antigens in children (Lancet)
The “New & Interesting” series is a biweekly compilation of select research findings, news articles, and random tidbits in bullet-point format. The entries are highly abbreviated, but provide links to the original articles or abstracts if you desire to read further.
General Articles
Brown fat as a future strategy for weight loss? (NY Times)
Blue food dye improves recovery from spinal cord injury in mice (U Rochester)
Americans spent $34 billion on alternative medicine in 2007 (ABC)
The FDA initially investigated the association of TNF (tumor necrosis factor) inhibitors with lymphoma or other cancers in children in June 2008, after receiving approximately 30 reports of cancer in children and young adults on the medication. On August 4, 2009, they released their findings of an increased risk of lymphoma, leukemia, and other cancers in children and adolescents who take the TNF inhibitors. They are now requiring a Black Box Warning for these drugs, such as Remicade, Enbrel, Humira, Cimzia, and Simponi. (FDA)
Tea consumption began in China around 2737 B.C. and has since become a staple among Asian and English cultures. The use of tea for medicinal purposes have prevailed for centuries in traditional Chinese medicine, but only recently gained prominence in the modern “alternative medicine” community. There has been increased interest and active biomedical research on tea extracts, with dozens of peer-reviewed scientific articles published each month exploring the health properties of green tea. Through in vitro and animal studies, green tea (derived from the Camellia sinensis plant) and its polyphenol compounds — in particular, epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) — have been associated with possible risk reductions in some cardiovascular, neurologic, and oncologic disorders. Human trials are however sparse or equivocal.
I previously reported on a Japanese study correlating green tea consumption with a lower prevalence of cognitive dysfunction. A similar research group from the Tohoku University School of Medicine (Sendai, Japan) has continued to analyze the benefits of green tea with other health outcomes: causes of mortality, cardiovascular disease, pneumonia, and cancers. Their most recent study, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, evaluated the influence of green tea consumption on the development of hematologic malignancies.
I am not familiar with Mitchell and Webb, but a brief Bing search reveals that they are British comedians known for starring in several popular comedy sketches and sitcoms. In one of their shows, The Mitchell and Webb Look, they satirize homeopathy and its impotence in treating serious diseases.
“A&E” stands for “Accident & Emergency” and is more commonly used in the Commonwealth countries. It is analogous to the “ED” (Emergency Department) or “ER” (Emergency Room) acronym used in the United States.
Scientific research has so far not found any superiority in homeopathy above placebo, but it is a brand of therapy more readily accepted in some countries. Several European health services will reimburse the use of certain homeopathic remedies. In India, homeopathy is an officially recognized form of medicine.
One could argue that if homeopathy were not doing any harm, why bother? There can nevertheless be great potential for harm when homeopaths counsel against the use of conventional treatments (see article in Telegraph with follow-up in BBC). Having obtained degrees in biochemistry, molecular biology, and medicine, I know I’m biased, but that is why we have double-blinded randomized control trials.
The “New & Interesting” series is a biweekly compilation of select research findings, news articles, and random tidbits in bullet-point format. The entries are highly abbreviated, but provide links to the original articles or abstracts if you desire to read further.
Tea consumption began in China around 2737 B.C. and has since become a staple among Asian and English cultures. The use of tea for medicinal purposes have prevailed for centuries in traditional Chinese medicine, but only recently gained prominence in the modern “alternative medicine” community. There has been increased interest and active biomedical research on tea extracts, with dozens of peer-reviewed scientific articles published each month exploring the health properties of green tea. Through in vitro and animal studies, green tea (derived from the Camellia sinensis plant) and its polyphenol compounds — in particular, epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) — have been associated with possible risk reductions in some cardiovascular, neurologic, and oncologic disorders. Human trials are however sparse or equivocal.
