A randomized study comparing the effects of a low-carbohydrate diet and a conventional diet on lipoprotein subfractions and C-reactive protein levels in patients with severe obesity.

By Jeff Minerd, MedPage Today Staff Writer Reviewed by Robert Jasmer, MD; Assistant Professor of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco January 21, 2005, News Article: MSNBC
The federal guidelines on managing asthma during pregnancy were updated to include newly available medicines and a systematic review of safety data on asthma drugs in pregnant women. These are the first new guidelines in more than a decade from the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program, a coalition of health organizations overseen by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI).

(Reuters Health) Chlorthalidone-based treatment improves long-term outcomes associated with isolated systolic hypertension, especially among patients with diabetes, according to a report in the January 1st issue of the American Journal of Cardiology.

Despite their beneficial effects on hypertensive complications, diuretics have been associated with the development of diabetes, the authors explain. Whether diuretic therapy adversely affects morbidity and mortality among diabetics is controversial.

(Reuters Health) The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends in a revised scientific statement issued today that physicians strongly encourage patients to participate in cardiac rehabilitation and secondary prevention programs to prevent recurrent cardiac events.

In 1994, the AHA declared that cardiac rehabilitation should include not just an exercise-training program but also multifaceted programs aimed at reducing modifiable risk factors for coronary heart disease (CHD).

(Reuters Health) Postmenopausal women who use conjugated equine estrogens (CEE) or estrogen plus progestin are at increased risk of biliary tract disease, according to findings from a randomized trial of healthy women. The elevated risks ranged from 54% to 93% depending on the estrogen and disease type.

“The association between estrogen therapy and gallbladder disease was suggested as early as 1975,” senior author Dr. Robert B. Wallace, from the University of Iowa in Iowa City, told Reuters Health. “Since then, there have been a handful of observational studies that have supported or refuted the link,” but just one randomized trial has looked at this topic, he added.