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May 11, 2005 (United Press International via COMTEX) -- COMPOUNDS IN CRANBERRIES MAY HELP HEART
Compounds that occur naturally in cranberries may be good for the heart, according to researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Kris Kruse-Elliott, a veterinary anesthesiologist at the UW School of Veterinary Medicine, presented her results at the American Physiological Society's annual meeting in San Diego. Whole cranberries, which contain antioxidants, flavonoids and polyphones, were fed in the form of juice powder to pigs genetically predisposed to develop high cholesterol and arteriosclerosis. "When these pigs were fed cranberry juice powder made from whole cranberries for six months, their vessels acted more like normal pigs," Kruse-Elliott says.
MEDICATION AND THERAPY WORK BEST FOR ADHD CHILDREN
Behavior modification with medication is the most effective way to help children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, a U.S. study finds. It also shows by combining the two therapies, the amount of medication can be reduced by two-thirds, according to author William E. Pelham Jr. "One of the major findings of the study is that when using behavior modification, you can get away with tiny, tiny doses of medication, much lower than previously thought," he says. "Lower dosages of medication lowers the risk of long-term drug side effects, which studies have shown to include loss of appetite and stunting of growth." The study was published in the journal Experimental and Clinic Psychopharmacology, and funded by Noven Pharmaceuticals.
MOST NOT MONITORED FOR DRUG SIDE EFFECTS
About half of patients taking chronic medications received the recommended laboratory tests to monitor drug side effects, a New Mexico study finds. Published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, the study examined almost 100,000 patients taking medications for chronic illnesses over a period of three years. Nearly half did not receive one or more recommended tests, though the findings varied based on the type of drug, according to researcher Floyd Frost. The Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute team says although lapses in drug safety monitoring in the outpatient setting are common, further research is needed to determine to what extent this failure results in actual medical problems.
MORE PAP SCREENING WOULD LOWER CERVICAL CANCER
Increasing Pap smear adherence and improving the accuracy of Pap screening could reduce the incidence of invasive cervical cancer among U.S. women. Cervical cancer is highly preventable and treatable, but researchers at Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, Calif., find 56 percent of cervical cancer cases were in women who had not had a Pap test during the four to 36 months prior to diagnosis.
Some 32 percent of cases were attributed to Pap test detection failure and 13 percent of cases to failure to follow up an abnormal test result, according to researcher Wendy A. Leyden. "Even the most perfect screening method will not detect disease in a woman who has not participated in the prevention process," the authors write in Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
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(EDITORS, For CRANBERRIES, Tania Banak at 608-263-6914 or banakt@svm.vetmed.wisc.edu. For ADHD, John Della Contrada at 716-645-5000 ext. 1409 or dellacon@buffalo.edu. For MEDICATIONS, Floyd J. Frost at 505-348-8776 or ffrost@lrri.org. For CERVICAL CANCER, Sarah L. Zielinski at jncimedia@oupjournals.org.)
Copyright 2005 by United Press International.
