HEARD IT AND READ IT
Prepared by Bassam Mechammil
May 2008
ScienceDaily (Apr. 21, 2008) — New research shows
women who have weekly migraine are significantly more likely to have a stroke
than those with fewer migraines or no migraine at all, but those with lower
migraine frequency may face increased risk of heart attacks.
The Women's Health Study
involved 27,798 women health professionals in the
Of the 3,568 women with migraine
at the start of the study, 65 percent reported migraine less than once a month,
30 percent reported one migraine a month and five percent reported at least
weekly migraine. Compared to women without migraine, the study found women who
had at least weekly migraines were three times more likely to have a stroke,
but those with a migraine frequency of less than monthly were one-and-halftimes
more likely to have a heart attack.
"Our findings suggest that
migraine frequency may be an indicator for increased risk of cardiovascular
disease, particularly ischemic stroke," said study author Tobias Kurth, MD, ScD, with Brigham and Women's Hospital and
Harvard Medical School in Boston, and member of the American Academy of
Neurology. "Future studies are needed to address whether migraine
prevention reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease."
Overall, the study found a mixed
association between migraine and major cerebrovascular
disease suggesting increased risk for women with high and low migraine
frequency. "Our results may indicate that the mechanisms by which migraine
associates with specific cardiovascular events may differ," said Kurth. "More research is needed to determine the
reasons for these results."
Kurth says while migraine has previously been
found to increase risk of vascular problems, before now there was little
science on the association between migraine frequency and cardiovascular
disease.
This research was presented at
the
Adapted from materials
provided by American Academy of
Neurology.
MINOR LEG INJURIES increase blood clot risk. Injuries that are not serious enough to be treated by a doctor, such as ankle sprains and pulled muscles, are responsible for about 8% of all thromboses- serious clots that form inside the veins of the legs. The risk for developing a clot from a minor injury is low but be aware of the potential danger. If you have a minor leg injury and pain and swelling increase over time or if you experience pain or difficulty breathing, seek medical attention.
MOST DANGEROUS TIME TO BE IN THE HOSPITAL:
The worst months to be in the hospital are July and August. The reason is because new doctors, fresh out of medical school, begin their residencies on July 1st. And to make matters worse, many of the senior doctors are on vacation during this time. Wait until the fall to have any medical tests or nonemergency surgery. By then, the most experienced doctors will be back… and the residents will have had a chance to adapt to their new duties.
HOME REMEDIES:
Just some of the flu's victims,
laid low in 1918
In 1918 and 1919, more than a fifth of the world's population caught the
flu. And not just any flu--the deadliest flu ever, which caused one of the
worst pandemics in history. Before it was over, between 1 and 3 percent of the
world's people had perished. That's at least 20 million people worldwide.
The illness was so fast and so deadly that doctors couldn't believe it was
influenza. It wasn't like any flu they had ever seen before. A patient who
started to feel under the weather on Monday was often dead by Wednesday. Many
patients turned a blue-gray hue, as fluid built up in their lungs. "It is
only a matter of a few hours then until death comes, and it is simply a
struggle for air until they suffocate," reported a doctor at a military
base near
Since 1996, when pioneering Scots
cloned Dolly the sheep from an adult sheep cell, scientists have cloned mice,
cows, goats, pigs, rabbits, cats, rats, deer, mules, horses, and dogs. Yet
despite all the success, cloning remains really, really hard to do.