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 Sun Herald reports on how cardiologists in Mississippi have been using the iPhone to diagnose patients more quickly through more rapid access to EKGs and other medical information (Sun Herald)

• The presence of an infection at the time of gluten introduction in childhood is not a major risk factor for celiac disease (Pediatrics)

Technical Articles

• Updated 2009 guidelines on the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of catheter-associated urinary tract infections. This was published by the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA). (Clin Infect Dis)

• A meta-analysis of randomized statin trials revealed a 9% increased risk of diabetes with statin use. The study authors nevertheless add that “the risk is low both in absolute terms and when compared with the reduction in coronary events. Clinical practice in patients with moderate or high cardiovascular risk or existing cardiovascular disease should not change.” (Lancet)

• Successful development of human liver chimeric mouse model for the study of HBV and HCV infections (J Clin Invest)

• Eradication of H pylori may help treat gastric low-grade, B-cell, mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma (Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol)

Low-carbohydrate diets were initially popularized by the late Dr. Robert Atkins, who published the fundamentals of this diet in his book Dr. Atkins’ New Diet Revolution. He also founded Atkins Nutritional to commercialize and further evangelize the low-carbohydrate diet. Following Dr. Atkins’s death, however, the popularity of the diet subsided and his company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2005.

Despite its controversial nature, the low-carbohydrate diet may still have health benefits. A group at the Center for Health Services Research in Primary Care, Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center (Durham, North Carolina), recently published their findings in the Archives of Internal Medicine, where they compared the low-carbohydrate, ketogenic diet (LCKD) with a low-fat diet (combined with the weight-loss medication orlistat) regarding their effects on several health parameters: weight loss, blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and glycemic parameters.
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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)

• Scientists decode HIV genome (US News)

Technical Articles

• 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)

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 Interest Articles

• Caffeine may lower Alzheimer’s risk … in mice. More studies are however necessary to evaluate whether these findings translate to humans. The news report also poses the question of how many cups one would need to drink in a day (CBS News)

• The first ever 16-patient “domino donor” kidney transplant takes place between June 15 and July 6, 2009. The kidney paired donation (KPD) system involves multiple incompatible donors and recipients, and matching them in a way to accommodate all participants. This system maximizes the chances of being able to donate and receive a kidney transplant (Johns Hopkins Medicine)

• Obesity is linked to the behavior of same-sex their parents and not due to genetics. That is, obese mothers were more likely to have obese daughters. Sons take after their fathers. This study was performed on 226 families by researchers at the Peninsula Medical School. (BBC)

• Heavy drinking is associated with an increased of developing prostate cancer, according to scientists at the University of California, San Francisco (Reuters)

Technical Articles

• Withdrawal of proton-pump inhibitors (PPI) after at least 8 weeks on therapy can result in rebound acid hypersecretion (RAHS) (Gastroenterology)

• [FAMOUS trial] Famotidine is effective in preventing gastric and duodenal ulcers, and erosive esophagitis in patients on chronic low-dose aspirin (Lancet)

• NIH publishes their final guidelines on human stem cell research (NIH)

Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation recently released the report F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies are Failing in America 2009, which highlights the unabated growth (pun intended) of obesity in the United States. Adult obesity rates have increased in 23 states and have not decreased in any of the remaining states over the past year.

The report also ranks the fattest states. Mississippi leads the nation for the fifth year in a row with a 32.5% rate of adult obesity. The runners-up include Alabama (31.2%), West Virginia (31.1%), and Tennessee (30.2%). For comparison with the past, in 1991, there were no states that exceeded an adult obesity rate of 20%. Today, there are 49 states and Washington, D.C. that do.

The obesity epidemic is also beginning at an early age. About 44.4% of children in Mississippi are either overweight or obese. The numbers are similarly high in Arkansas at 37.5% and Georgia at 37.3%. The rate of childhood obesity has also tripled over the past 2 decades.

The report calls for action to address our currently failing anti-obesity strategies and provides recommendations to ameliorate the situation. With the innumerable morbid complications of obesity — not to mention cardiovascular disease as the leading cause of death in the United States — this is an issue that could save billions of health care dollars if resolved. But, it is easier said that done: As I was once asked, “Why do hamburgers taste sooo good?”