Severe Anemia Linked to Higher Death Risk After Heart Surgery: MedlinePlus

Severe Anemia Linked to Higher Death Risk After Heart Surgery: MedlinePlus

 

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Severe Anemia Linked to Higher Death Risk After Heart Surgery

Condition should be treated before elective procedures if possible, researcher says

By Robert Preidt

Thursday, October 4, 2012

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THURSDAY, Oct. 4 (HealthDay News) — Anemia is a risk factor for complications and death following heart surgery, and elective heart surgeries should be delayed to treat moderate to severe anemia, a new study suggests.
In the study, Italian researchers compared the outcomes of 401 adult heart surgery patients with severe anemia and 401 heart surgery patients without severe anemia. The patients with severe anemia were nearly twice as likely to die and had a greater risk of stroke, prolonged mechanical ventilation and longer stays in the intensive care unit following surgery.
Similar results were found in patients with moderate anemia, according to the study in the October issue of The Annals of Thoracic Surgery.
“Unlike other recognized risk factors for cardiac surgery patients, such as advanced age and poor kidney function, anemia can be corrected with iron supplementation and medications that stimulate red blood cell production,” lead author Dr. Marco Ranucci said in a news release from the Society of Thoracic Surgeons. “Unfortunately, to correct anemia we need two to three weeks before the operation, which may be too long for many patients to wait.”
In people with anemia, the blood does not carry sufficient oxygen to the rest of the body. Blood loss, iron-poor diet or insufficient iron absorption from food all can lead to iron-deficiency anemia. Older adults are at risk for this common, easily treated anemia, the researchers noted.
Under current risk models, anemia is not considered a risk factor for survival following heart surgery, according to the release.
“Until it can be clearly demonstrated that correcting anemia improves outcomes, I think that working to correct and preserve the natural hemoglobin in a patient’s blood prior to surgery is a viable and safe option,” Ranucci said.
The study presents a convincing case for adding severe anemia to current models used to calculate the risks faced by heart surgery patients, Jeremiah Brown, an assistant professor at the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice at the Geisel School of Medicine in Hanover, N.H., wrote in an accompanying journal commentary.
While the study found an association between severe anemia and post-heart surgery death risk, it did not prove a cause-and-effect relationship.

SOURCE: Society of Thoracic Surgeons, news release, Oct. 1, 2012

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National Guideline Clearinghouse | Overweight and obesity. In: Expert panel on integrated guidelines for cardiovascular health and risk reduction in children and adolescents.

full-text â–º
National Guideline Clearinghouse | Overweight and obesity. In: Expert panel on integrated guidelines for cardiovascular health and risk reduction in children and adolescents.

Guideline Title

Overweight and obesity. In: Expert panel on integrated guidelines for cardiovascular health and risk reduction in children and adolescents.

 

 

Bibliographic Source(s)

Overweight and obesity. In: Expert panel on integrated guidelines for cardiovascular health and risk reduction in children and adolescents. Bethesda (MD): National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; 2011. p. 282-321. [132 references]

 

 

Guideline Status

This is the current release of the guideline.

Lead Exposure Tied to Early Risk of School Suspension: MedlinePlus

Lead Exposure Tied to Early Risk of School Suspension: MedlinePlus

 

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Lead Exposure Tied to Early Risk of School Suspension

Kids’ attention levels and behavior may be affected, study suggests

By Robert Preidt

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

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TUESDAY, Aug. 20 (HealthDay News) — By the time they reach the fourth grade, children exposed to lead are nearly three times more likely to have been suspended, a new study contends.
The findings from nearly 4,000 children in the Milwaukee school district suggest that lead exposure may play more of a role in school discipline problems than was realized, according to the University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers.
“Students who are suspended from school are at greater risk of dropping out, twice as likely to use tobacco, and more likely to engage in violent behavior later in life,” study first author Michael Amato, a doctoral candidate in psychology and at the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, said in a university news release.
Black students are three times more likely to be suspended than white students nationally, according to background information in the news release. The same difference was found in this study, but differences in rates of lead exposure accounted for 23 percent of the disparity, the researchers said.
Black children are more than twice as likely as white children to have elevated lead levels, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Researchers attribute this to black children being more likely to live in low-income neighborhoods and rental housing where lead remains in the buildings and soil.
Many previous studies have identified disparities in school discipline, but few have pinpointed the underlying factors, the news release said.
“We knew that lead exposure decreases children’s abilities to control their attention and behavior, but we were still surprised that exposed children were so much more likely to be suspended,” study co-author Sheryl Magzamen, who is now an assistant professor at the University of Oklahoma, said in the news release.
The researchers noted that animal experiments have shown that lead causes decreased attention and decreased control over behavior when an animal is startled or touched. If children exposed to lead behave the same way, they’re more likely to have disruptive classroom behaviors that can result in suspension, according to the researchers.
Although the study found an association between childhood lead exposure and increased risk of school suspension, it didn’t prove cause-and-effect.
The study appears in the September issue of the journal Environmental Research.

SOURCE: University of Wisconsin-Madison, news release, Aug. 14, 2013

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Virus Patterns Where Kids Live May Affect Asthma Risk: MedlinePlus

Virus Patterns Where Kids Live May Affect Asthma Risk: MedlinePlus

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Virus Patterns Where Kids Live May Affect Asthma Risk

Certain respiratory infections more common in urban than suburban infants, study finds

URL of this page: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_129647.html

(*this news item will not be available after 12/25/2012)

By Robert Preidt

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

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• Asthma in Children

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 26 (HealthDay News) — Infants in urban areas have different patterns of viral respiratory illness than those in the suburbs, which may explain why inner-city children are more likely to develop asthma, a new study suggests.
The findings may lead to new ways to treat childhood asthma, according to Dr. James Gern of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and colleagues.
Previous studies have linked viral respiratory illnesses to the development of asthma in children and have shown that children with human rhinovirus infections are more likely to develop asthma by age 6 than those with respiratory syncytial virus infections.
In this study, researchers analyzed nasal secretions from 500 infants living in inner-city areas of Boston, Baltimore, New York City and St. Louis, and 285 infants from suburban Madison, Wis. The samples were taken while the children were healthy, and also when they had respiratory illnesses.
Inner-city infants had lower rates of human rhinovirus and respiratory syncytial virus than suburban infants, but were more likely to test positive for adenovirus infections — 4.8 percent of urban babies tested positive for adenovirus only versus 0.7 percent of suburban babies.
Adenovirus can cause persistent infections and the researchers suggested that adenovirus infections early in life could alter the development of the lungs or airways. The investigators plan to follow the inner-city kids for at least 10 years to determine whether adenovirus infections are associated with increased rates of asthma and lower levels of lung function.
The study was published online Sept. 26 in the Journal of Infectious Diseases.

SOURCE: Journal of Infectious Diseases, news release, Sept. 26, 2012

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Asthma Drugs in Pregnancy Might Pose Risk for Kids: MedlinePlus

Asthma Drugs in Pregnancy Might Pose Risk for Kids

Mothers’ use of steroid inhalers could lead to some disorders in children, large study suggests

URL of this page: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_119822.html
(*this news item will not be available after 03/15/2012)

By Robert Preidt

Friday, December 16, 2011

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• Children’s Health


• Pregnancy and Medicines


• Steroids

FRIDAY, Dec. 16 (HealthDay News) — Infants born to mothers who use inhaled glucocorticoids — a class of steroids — to treat asthma during pregnancy may be at risk for endocrine and metabolic disorders, a new study indicates.
Researchers looked at more than 65,000 mother-child pairs from the Danish National Birth Cohort who were followed from early pregnancy into childhood.
Of the women in the study, about 61,000 (94 percent) had no asthma during pregnancy while almost 4,100 (6 percent) did have asthma during pregnancy. At the end of follow-up, the median age for the children was about 6, with an age range of about 3.5 to 9.
For mothers who used the asthma inhalers, budesonide (Pulmicort) was the most common glucocorticoid.
The use of inhaled glucocorticoids during pregnancy was not associated with an increased risk of most diseases in children, with the exception of endocrine and metabolic disorders.
“Our data are mostly reassuring and support the use of inhaled glucocorticoids during pregnancy,” wrote first author Marion Tegethoff, an associate faculty member in clinical psychology and psychiatry at the University of Basel, Switzerland, and colleagues.
The study appears online ahead of print in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
Asthma is common in pregnant women and glucocorticoids are the recommended treatment, the researchers noted.
“This is the first comprehensive study of potential effects of glucocorticoid inhalation during pregnancy on the health of offspring, covering a wide spectrum of pediatric diseases,” study co-author author Gunther Meinlschmidt, an associate faculty member in clinical psychology and epidemiology, said in a journal news release. “While our results support the use of these widely used asthma treatments during pregnancy, their effect on endocrine and metabolic disturbances during childhood merits further study.”
Although the study found an association between inhaler use and certain disorders, it did not show cause and effect.

SOURCE: American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, news release, Dec. 16, 2011

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Asthma Drugs in Pregnancy Might Pose Risk for Kids: MedlinePlus