Heart healthy care benefits oral health

CLEVELAND, -- Case Werstern Reserve University researchers in Cleveland say "heart healthy habits" are also good for maintaining one's oral health. The researchers examined data from 12,110 individuals who participated in the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. They found individuals who exercised, had healthy eating habits and maintained a normal weight were 40 percent less likely to develop periodontitis -- a gum infection that can result in loss of teeth. Before the study and aside from brushing and flossing, healthy behaviors contributing to the prevention of periodontitis were unknown, the scientists said. Mohammad Al-Zahrani conducted the study for his doctoral dissertation work in epidemiology at Case, in collaboration with Elaine Borawskiof the school's department of epidemiology and Nabil Bissada, chairman of the department of periodontics at the Case School of Dental Medicine. The study appears in the Journal of Periodontology, the official publication of the American Academy of Periodontology.

Bad bone marrow cause diabetic neuropathy

HOUSTON, -- Researchers say malfunctioning bone marrow cells that produce insulin appear to cause a dangerous nerve condition called neuropathy in diabetics. Diabetic neuropathy disables many people, said a research team involving the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Shiga University of Medical Science in Japan, and the University of Chicago. The finding not only provides a basis for understanding the dangerous nerve condition, but might eventually lead to a treatment, said Dr. Lawrence Chan, chief of diabetes, endocrinology and metabolism at BCM. It may even provide an explanation for some of the other complications associated with the disease. "These insulin-producing bone marrow cells are like terrorists that infiltrate the nerve-cell populations," he said. They produce proteins that can kill or subvert the purposes of nerve cells "almost like a suicide bomb," said Chan. Diabetes mellitus, which afflicts roughly 18 million Americans, is a major health problem affecting multiple organs and tissues. Neuropathy is a common complication that causes pain and ultimately loss of sensation in the extremities and can lead to amputation. The study appears in the online early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Aspirin may cut risk of colorectal cancer

CHICAGO, -- The Nurse's Health Study has found regular, long-term aspirin use can significantly reduce the risk of colorectal cancer. The downside, researchers said, is the benefit appears to require more than a decade to be obtained and is strongest at dose levels associated with a greater risk of side effects, such as bleeding. Similar results were reportedly found for non-steroidal antiinflammatory drugs, such as ibuprofen and naproxen. The report from researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute appears in the Aug. 24 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

New dementia study rejects old theories

CAMBRIDGE, England, -- A British Medical Research Council study on the incidence of dementia in England and Wales challenges three commonly held assumptions.Contrary to widespread views, the study found no major difference in the incidence of dementia between men and women, no indication dementia incidence falls after a certain age and no difference in the incidence across five different sites -- three urban and two rural. Unlike many previous studies, restricted to single sites, the research applied a single methodological approach to more than 13,000 people across five diverse sites. The researchers divided study participants into two age groups: those from 65 to 74 years of age; and those who were 75 years of age and older. The number of new dementia cases rises with age, but the study did not support a previous assumption that dementia incidence varied according to sex. A suggestion in previous literature that incidence may fall after a certain, critical age was also not supported by the findings. The study appears in the open access journal PLoS Medicine.