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McGill Conference Examines Impact Of Economic Crisis On The Hungry
The global economic crisis has had a devastating impact on the world"s hungry. In the past year, approximately 100 million people have been added to the ranks of the roughly 1 billion people worldwide considered by the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization to be undernourished, according to its report issued June 19, 2009.
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A Silly Pat On The Head Helps Seniors Remember Daily Med
Doing something unusual, like knocking on wood or patting yourself on the head, while taking a daily dose of medicine may be an effective strategy to help seniors remember whether they"ve already taken their daily medications, suggests new research from Washington University in St. Louis.
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Obama Open To Using MedPAC To Set Medicare Payment Rates
As the administration searches for ways to pay for health care reform and restrain medical costs, President Obama suggested Wednesday that he would consider transferring the power to set Medicare reimbursement rates from Congress to the independent advisory agency known as MedPAC, MedPage Today reports. The move reflects legislation introduced by Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., last month that would move MedPAC into the executive branch as "a regulatory board similar to the Federal Reserve ... The move would transfer the power to set reimbursement rates from Congress -- and perhaps the interest groups that lobby it -- to an agency that critics say is better equipped to make nuanced medical payment decisions" (Walker 3/09).
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Why Smoking Increases The Risk Of Heart Disease And Strokes

Researchers at Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science in Los Angeles and Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona have discovered a reason why smoking increases the risk of heart disease and strokes. The study, which was presented at The Endocrine Society"s 91st annual meeting in Washington, D.C., found that nicotine in cigarettes promotes insulin resistance, a pre-diabetic condition that raises blood sugar levels higher than normal. People with pre-diabetes are at greater risk of developing cardiovascular disease. Theodore Friedman, MD, Ph.D., chief of the endocrinology division at Charles Drew University, said the findings help explain a "paradox" that links smoking to heart disease. Smokers experience a high degree of cardiovascular deaths, Friedman said. "This is surprising considering both smoking and nicotine may cause weight loss and weight loss should protect against cardiovascular disease." The researchers studied the effects of twice-daily injections of nicotine on 24 adult mice over two weeks. The nicotine-injected mice ate less food, lost weight and had less fat than control mice that received injections without nicotine. "Our results in mice show that nicotine administration leads to both weight loss and decreased food intake," Friedman said. "Mice exposed to nicotine have less fat. In spite of this, mice have abnormal glucose tolerance and are insulin resistant (pre-diabetes)." Studies have shown that smokers who are pre-diabetic have blood glucose levels higher than normal, but not high enough for diabetes, a known risk factor for heart disease. Smokers also have higher rates of diabetes, but it is not directly clear whether smoking is the cause, because there could be other risk factors, Friedman said. In the tests, however, the mice receiving nicotine developed pre-diabetes and also had high levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which increases blood pressure and blood sugar. The study"s authors were able to partially reverse the harmful effects of pre-diabetes by treating the mice with a drug that blunts the action of nicotine. "Our results suggest that decreasing insulin resistance may reduce the heart disease seen in smokers," Friedman said. "We anticipate that in the future there will be drugs to specifically block the effect of nicotine on insulin resistance." New drugs are needed because those that are currently available are not specific enough to completely block nicotine"s effects or they have bothersome side effects, said Friedman, whose study is one of 34 featured at The Endocrine Society"s 91st annual meeting.. John L. Mitchell Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science


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