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Here are what the editors at HealthDay consider to be the most important developments in OBGYN & Women's Health for May 2012. This roundup includes the latest research news from journal articles, as well as the FDA approvals and regulatory changes that are the most likely to affect clinical practice.
M. Genitalium Ups Risk of Pelvic Inflammatory Disease, Cervicitis
THURSDAY, May 31 (HealthDay News) -- Infection with Mycoplasma genitalium (M. genitalium) is an independent and strong risk factor for both cervicitis and pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), according to a study published in the June issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.
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BMI Thresholds for Gestational Diabetes Differ by Race
THURSDAY, May 31 (HealthDay News) -- There is considerable racial/ethnic variation in the prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) by body mass index (BMI), according to a study published online May 22 in Diabetes Care.
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Diabetes Linked to Lung Cancer in Postmenopausal Women
WEDNESDAY, May 30 (HealthDay News) -- Postmenopausal women with diabetes are at a significantly higher risk of developing lung cancer, particularly if they require insulin therapy, according to research published online May 22 in Diabetes Care.
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Pathologic Response Prediction of Survival Aided by Tumor Type
WEDNESDAY, May 30 (HealthDay News) -- Pathologic complete response (pCR) is more highly predictive of recurrence-free survival (RFS) when specific breast cancer tumor type is factored in, according to a study published online May 29 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
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Risk Models Only Slightly Up Prediction of Complex Diseases
WEDNESDAY, May 30 (HealthDay News) -- Risk models that take gene-gene and gene-environment interactions into account only slightly improve the prediction of risk for three complex diseases, according to a study published online May 24 in the American Journal of Human Genetics.
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Working Night Shift May Increase Breast Cancer Risk
WEDNESDAY, May 30 (HealthDay News) -- There may be an increased risk of developing breast cancer among women who work night shifts, according to a study published online May 29 in Occupational & Environmental Medicine.
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AHA Recommends More Safeguards for Genetic Testing
TUESDAY, May 29 (HealthDay News) -- While genetics show promise for improving health, more safeguards are needed to protect patients and allow scientific and clinical research to continue, according to recommendations issued by the American Heart Association and published online May 29 in Circulation.
Fever During Pregnancy Linked to Autism in Offspring
TUESDAY, May 29 (HealthDay News) -- Maternal influenza during pregnancy is not associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or developmental delay (DD), but the odds of ASD and DD are increased for children whose mothers had fever during pregnancy, according to a study published online May 5 in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.
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Influenza Vaccine in Pregnancy May Improve Outcomes
TUESDAY, May 29 (HealthDay News) -- Pregnant women vaccinated for H1N1 influenza during their second or third trimesters were less likely to give birth before 32 weeks' gestation, have a small-for-gestational-age (SGA) baby, or have a stillbirth, compared with those who were not vaccinated, according to research published in the June issue of the American Journal of Public Health.
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Evidence Updated for Impact of Menopausal Hormone Therapy
TUESDAY, May 29 (HealthDay News) -- An updated review clarifies the impact of menopausal hormone therapy on the risk of chronic conditions, according to research published online May 28 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
C-Section Linked to Increased Risk of Childhood Obesity
MONDAY, May 28 (HealthDay News) -- Infants delivered by cesarean section have two-fold higher odds of childhood obesity, even after adjusting for variables like maternal body mass index (BMI) and birth weight, according to a study published online May 23 in the Archives of Disease in Childhood.
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Transvaginal Mesh Op Restores Pelvic Organ Prolapse at Price
FRIDAY, May 25 (HealthDay News) -- Transvaginal mesh (TVM) procedures are effective for anatomical restoration of pelvic organ prolapse (POP), but patients report a worsening of sexual function following surgery, according to a study published online May 21 in The Journal of Sexual Medicine.
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Upping Dietary Calcium Buys No Big Cardiovascular Benefit
FRIDAY, May 25 (HealthDay News) -- Increasing dietary calcium intake might not offer significant cardiovascular benefits, but intake through calcium supplements might raise myocardial infarction (MI) risk, according to a study published online May 23 in Heart.
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Neck Strength, Cervical Spine Mobility Don't Predict Pain
FRIDAY, May 25 (HealthDay News) -- Neither isometric neck muscle strength nor passive mobility of the cervical spine, two physical capacity parameters found to be associated with neck pain in other studies, predicts later neck pain in pain-free working-age women, according to a study published in the May 20 issue of Spine.
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IUDs, Implants Most Effective for Preventing Pregnancy
WEDNESDAY, May 23 (HealthDay News) -- Long-acting reversible methods of contraception such as intrauterine devices (IUDs) or implants are more effective for preventing unintended pregnancy than oral contraceptive pills, transdermal patches, or contraceptive vaginal rings, regardless of the user's age, according to a study published in the May 24 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
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Maternal Weight Ups Infant Size More Than Glucose Intolerance
WEDNESDAY, May 23 (HealthDay News) -- For women without gestational diabetes, excess maternal weight gain during pregnancy and body mass index (BMI) before pregnancy are greater predictors of large-for-gestational-age infants than mild glucose intolerance and lipid levels, according to a study published online May 22 in CMAJ, the journal of the Canadian Medical Association.
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Imaging Predicts Breast Cancer Response to Chemotherapy
WEDNESDAY, May 23 (HealthDay News) -- For women with breast cancer undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy before surgery, measurements taken by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) predict clinical response better than clinical assessment, according to a study published in the June issue of Radiology.
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For Older Women, Saturated Fats Linked to Worse Cognition
TUESDAY, May 22 (HealthDay News) -- For older women, higher saturated fatty acid (SFA) intake correlates with worse global cognition and verbal memory trajectories, while higher intake of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) correlates with improved trajectories, according to a study published online May 17 in the Annals of Neurology.
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Weight Loss Reduces Potential Breast Cancer Biomarkers
TUESDAY, May 22 (HealthDay News) -- Postmenopausal weight loss through diet and the combination of diet and exercise is associated with a significant reduction in serum estrogens and free testosterone, according to a study published online May 21 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
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Vigorous Physical Activity Tied to Reduced Psoriasis Risk
TUESDAY, May 22 (HealthDay News) -- Vigorous physical activity is associated with a reduced risk of psoriasis in women, according to a study published online May 21 in the Archives of Dermatology.
Folic Acid Enrichment May Reduce Specific Pediatric Cancers
MONDAY, May 21 (HealthDay News) -- Following mandatory folic acid fortification of enriched grain products in the United States in 1996 to 1998, there has been a decrease in the incidence of some childhood cancers, including Wilms tumor (WT) and primitive neuroectodermal tumors (PNETs), according to a study published online May 21 in Pediatrics.
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Diet Intervention Most Useful in Reducing Pregnancy Weight Gain
FRIDAY, May 18 (HealthDay News) -- For pregnant women, dietary and lifestyle interventions are associated with a reduction in maternal gestational weight gain, with the largest reduction and improved pregnancy outcomes seen with dietary interventions, according to a review published online May 17 in BMJ.
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Recurrent HTN Seen for Half of Women With HTN in Pregnancy
FRIDAY, May 18 (HealthDay News) -- About half of women who experience a hypertensive disorder of pregnancy and late-preterm delivery develop a hypertensive disorder in a subsequent pregnancy, although few have delivery before 37 weeks in the subsequent pregnancy, according to a study published in the June issue of BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology.
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Sunscreen Ingredient May Be Linked to Risk of Endometriosis
FRIDAY, May 18 (HealthDay News) -- Benzophenone (BP)-type derivatives may be linked to an increased risk of endometriosis, according to a study published in the April 17 issue of Environmental Science & Technology.
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Gender, High DAS28-P Index Predictive of Pain in Early RA
FRIDAY, May 18 (HealthDay News) -- For patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), female gender and having a high proportion of disease activity score (DAS28) attributable to patient-reported components (joint tenderness and visual analog score) (DAS28-P) at baseline are predictive of less improvement in pain at one year, according to a study published online May 3 in Arthritis Care & Research.
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Gene Expression Profile Testing Increasing in Breast Cancer
THURSDAY, May 17 (HealthDay News) -- From 2006 to 2008, the use of gene expression profile (GEP) testing increased, correlating with a decrease in the percentage of women with hormone receptor (HR)-positive breast cancer receiving adjuvant chemotherapy, according to a study published online May 14 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
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Azithromycin Tied to Increased Risk of Cardiovascular Mortality
WEDNESDAY, May 16 (HealthDay News) -- Azithromycin treatment is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular and all-cause mortality, according to a study published in the May 16 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
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CDC: 35th Report on the Health of the Nation Published
WEDNESDAY, May 16 (HealthDay News) -- The 35th report on the health status of the United States in 2011 has been published online May 16 by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS).
Sex Influences Survival in Esophageal Cancer
WEDNESDAY, May 16 (HealthDay News) -- Sex is an independent prognostic factor for patients with locoregional esophageal cancer (LEC) and metastatic esophageal cancer (MEC), according to a study published online May 14 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
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Early Addition of Prenatal Micronutrients Ups Child Survival
TUESDAY, May 15 (HealthDay News) -- Poor, pregnant women who receive multiple micronutrient supplementation (MMS), including iron and folic acid, with early food supplementation, have substantially improved infant survival, compared to women in a standard program, according to a study published in the May 16 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, a theme issue on global health.
Lack of Post-MI Discharge Advice Hinders Sexual Activity
TUESDAY, May 15 (HealthDay News) -- Less than half of patients who suffer an acute myocardial infarction (AMI) receive instruction regarding resuming sexual activity on hospital discharge, with those who do not receive instruction more likely to report loss of sexual activity, according to a study published in the May 15 issue of The American Journal of Cardiology.
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DNA Methylation Level Is Marker of Breast Cancer Risk
FRIDAY, May 11 (HealthDay News) -- Women with high levels of white blood cell (WBC) DNA methylation at the ATM loci have a significantly increased risk of breast cancer, regardless of family history or menopausal status, according a study published in the May 1 issue of Cancer Research.
Elective Induction of Labor Tied to Reduced Perinatal Mortality
FRIDAY, May 11 (HealthDay News) -- Elective induction of labor between 37 and 41 weeks of gestation is associated with a reduction in perinatal mortality but an increase in admission to neonatal units, compared with expectant management, according to a study published online May 10 in BMJ.
Blood Clot Risk Elevated in Patch and Vaginal Ring Users
FRIDAY, May 11 (HealthDay News) -- Compared to nonusers of hormonal contraception, women who use combined contraceptive transdermal patches are at an eight-fold increased risk of venous thrombosis, and vaginal ring users are at a more than six-fold increased risk, according to a study published online May 10 in BMJ.
Global Deaths in Children Under 5 Down Since 2000
FRIDAY, May 11 (HealthDay News) -- From 2000 to 2010, there was a decrease in the global burden of death in children younger than 5 years of age, according to a study published online May 11 in The Lancet.
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Sun Protective Behavior on the Rise in U.S. Adults
THURSDAY, May 10 (HealthDay News) -- Adults in the United States may be taking more precautions to avoid sunburn outdoors, but many are still getting burned, and a substantial proportion are utilizing indoor tanning, according to research published in the May 11 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report.
Glycemic Variability Affects Mood and Quality of Life
THURSDAY, May 10 (HealthDay News) -- Glycemic variability appears to be associated with lower quality of life and negative moods in women with type 2 diabetes, according to a study published in the March 30 issue of Diabetes Technology & Therapeutics.
Review: Physical Activity Cuts Mortality for Cancer Survivors
WEDNESDAY, May 9 (HealthDay News) -- Physical activity correlates with reduced all-cause and breast and colon cancer-specific mortality, according to a study published online May 8 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
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IUDs Highly Effective As Emergency Contraception
WEDNESDAY, May 9 (HealthDay News) -- Intrauterine devices (IUDs) are a highly effective form of emergency contraception, according to research published online May 8 in Human Reproduction.
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Infectious Agents Cause About One in Six Cancers Worldwide
WEDNESDAY, May 9 (HealthDay News) -- Globally, nearly two million new cancer cases are caused by infectious agents each year, according to a study published online May 9 in The Lancet Oncology.
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Lack of Sleep Not Necessarily Detrimental to Surgical Skills
WEDNESDAY, May 9 (HealthDay News) -- Sleep-deprived medical students are able to perform and learn surgical skills, although they have an increased total subjective mental workload, according to a study published in the January issue of the American Journal of Surgery.
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Chromosomal Screening Improves IVF Pregnancy Rates
WEDNESDAY, May 9 (HealthDay News) -- Screening embryos produced by in vitro fertilization using array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) plus morphology improves pregnancy rates over screening by morphology alone in single embryo transfers, according to a study published online May 2 in Molecular Cytogenetics.
Long Auto Commutes Found to Be Hazardous to Health
WEDNESDAY, May 9 (HealthDay News) -- Commuting distance is negatively associated with physical activity and cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), and positively associated with obesity and metabolic risk indicators, according to a study published online May 8 in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
Sperm Travel in 'Channel Corners,' Not in Channel Center
TUESDAY, May 8 (HealthDay News) -- Sperm cells travel in the intersection of channel walls, not in central channels, and experience frequent collisions, according to a study published online May 7 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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Older Women With A-Fib at Greater Stroke Risk Than Men
TUESDAY, May 8 (HealthDay News) -- The risk of stroke following a recent diagnosis of atrial fibrillation (AF) in older patients is higher in women than men, regardless of warfarin use, according to a study published in the May 9 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
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Tenofovir Disoproxil Fumarate Doesn't Impact Fetal Growth
TUESDAY, May 8 (HealthDay News) -- Maternal use of the anti-HIV drug tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) does not affect fetal growth but may lead to a delayed effect on infant growth in the first year, according to a study published online Feb. 29 in AIDS.
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Screening for Intimate Partner Violence Proves Beneficial
MONDAY, May 7 (HealthDay News) -- Screening instruments can be used in the health care setting to accurately identify women who are experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV), with minimal adverse effects, according to a review published online May 7 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Zinc May Shorten Duration of Common Cold in Adults
MONDAY, May 7 (HealthDay News) -- Oral zinc may shorten the duration of symptoms associated with the common cold in adults, but adverse effects are common, according to a review published online May 7 in CMAJ, the journal of the Canadian Medical Association.
Maternal Dietary Counseling Improves Child Nutrition
MONDAY, May 7 (HealthDay News) -- The delivery of home-based maternal counseling focusing on breastfeeding and complementary feeding to low-income mothers during their child's first year of life significantly improves the lipid profile in girls at 7 to 8 years of age, according to a study published online May 7 in Pediatrics.
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Gene Variants Linked to Hot Flashes in Women Who Smoke
FRIDAY, May 3 (HealthDay News) -- Variants in genes that metabolize sex steroids are associated with a greater frequency or severity of hot flashes in older women who smoke, according to a study published online March 30 in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
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Training Helps OR Nurses Manage Disruptive Physician Behavior
FRIDAY, May 4 (HealthDay News) -- Communication skills training may help nurses manage disruptive physician behavior, according to a study published in the May issue of the AORN Journal.
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CMS Policy Helping Hospitals to Prevent Targeted Infections
FRIDAY, May 4 (HealthDay News) -- Hospitals seem to be paying greater attention to preventing targeted health care-associated infections (HAIs) as a result of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) nonpayment policy, according to a study published in the May issue of the American Journal of Infection Control.
Problem Behavior Up Among Children Born Post-Term
THURSDAY, May 3 (HealthDay News) -- Children born post-term have an increased risk of problem behavior and are more likely to have clinical attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in early childhood, according to a study published online May 2 in the International Journal of Epidemiology.
CDC: Teen Birth Rate Decreasing in United States
THURSDAY, May 3 (HealthDay News) -- From 1990 to 2006-2010, the teen birth rate declined among U.S. females, according to a study published in the May 4 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report.
Office Evaluation Comparable to Pre-Op Urodynamic Testing
THURSDAY, May 3 (HealthDay News) -- For women with uncomplicated stress incontinence, preoperative office evaluation alone is noninferior to urodynamic testing with respect to success of treatment at one year, according to a study published online May 2 in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Endotoxemia Influenced by Diet Type
THURSDAY, May 3 (HealthDay News) -- A Western-style diet is associated with increased levels of endotoxin activity (endotoxemia), and a prudent-style diet (containing moderately greater amounts of omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin C, and vitamin E than the Western-style diet) is linked to reduced endotoxemia, according to a study published in the May issue of Gastroenterology.
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Generally No Link Between Prenatal Smoking and Autism
THURSDAY, May 3 (HealthDay News) -- Generally there is no association between maternal smoking during pregnancy and risk of the child developing autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), although there may be a link between smoking and development of high-functioning autism, according to a study published online April 25 in Environmental Health Perspectives.
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Perioperative Interruptions Lead to Miscommunication
THURSDAY, May 3 (HealthDay News) -- The number of miscommunications that occur during surgery is inversely associated with the length of time a team has worked together, and positively associated with the number of interruptions during surgery, according to a study published in the May issue of the AORN Journal.
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Early Noninvasive Paternity Test Based on SNPs Is Accurate
WEDNESDAY, May 2 (HealthDay News) -- A new test, based on single-nucleotide polymorphisms, that only requires a maternal blood sample can correctly identify paternity as early as 8 weeks' gestation, according to a letter published in the May 3 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
Body Fat Linked to Reduced Fracture Risk for Women
WEDNESDAY, May 2 (HealthDay News) -- Higher body fat mass is associated with a reduced risk of fracture among women, but not men, according to a study published in the May issue of the Journal of Internal Medicine.
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Pulse Oximetry IDs Critical Congenital Heart Defects
WEDNESDAY, May 2 (HealthDay News) -- Pulse oximetry has high specificity, moderate sensitivity, and low false-positive rates for detecting critical congenital heart defects in asymptomatic newborns, according to a systematic review and meta-analysis published online May 2 in The Lancet.
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Breast Brachytherapy May Not Be Best Choice in Older Women
TUESDAY, May 1 (HealthDay News) -- For older women with invasive breast cancer, treatment with brachytherapy following a lumpectomy is associated with a decreased likelihood of long-term breast preservation and an increased likelihood of complications, but no difference in overall survival, compared to whole-breast irradiation (WBI) treatment, according to a study published in the May 2 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
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Methodological Heterogeneity Seen in Clinical Trials
TUESDAY, May 1 (HealthDay News) -- Clinical studies registered with ClinicalTrials.gov from 2007 and 2010 are predominately small, single-center trials and contain significant heterogeneity in methodology, according to a study published in the May 2 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
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A Third of Adults With Arthritis Have Anxiety, Depression
TUESDAY, May 1 (HealthDay News) -- One-third of U.S. adults with physician-diagnosed arthritis report having anxiety or depression, with anxiety more prevalent than depression, according to a study published online May 1 in Arthritis Care & Research.
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Women Have Clear Melanoma Survival Advantage Over Men
TUESDAY, May 1 (HealthDay News) -- Women with localized melanoma have a consistent advantage over men of approximately 30 percent for survival and progression, according to a study published online April 30 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
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Obesity, Increased Incidence of Rheumatoid Arthritis Linked
TUESDAY, May 1 (HealthDay News) -- Obesity is linked with the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and seems to have contributed to the recent increase in incidence of the condition, according to a study published online April 18 in Arthritis Care & Research.
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Caloric Restriction Linked to Reduced Inflammation Markers
TUESDAY, May 1 (HealthDay News) -- Implementation of a caloric restriction weight-loss diet, with or without exercise, is associated with measurable reductions in markers of inflammation for obese or overweight postmenopausal women, according to a study published in the May 1 issue of Cancer Research.
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Index Identifies Clot Risk in Outpatient Surgery Patients
TUESDAY, May 1 (HealthDay News) -- Using a weighted risk index, the highest-risk outpatient surgery patients have an almost 20-fold increase in risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) requiring therapy, according to a study published online April 13 in the Annals of Surgery.
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