ESC Press Statement: A consistent decline in heart attack rates following the implementation of smoking bans

Strongly enforced legislation to restrict smoking produces rapid and substantial reductions in community rates of heart attack, according to a meta-analysis published today in Circulation, the journal of the American Heart Association.(1) The analysis pooled 13 studies from regions in North America, Italy, Scotland and Ireland and, despite their geographical range, found a consistent reduced risk of hospitalisation for heart attack (acute myocardial infarction, AMI) of 17% (ie, a relative risk for AMI of 0.83) at 12 months following implementation of the law. The investigators added that this benefit "grows with time", reaching a gain of "about 36%" in three years. more  

Pancreatic fat levels may help predict diabetes, UT Southwestern researchers say

Researchers have long suspected that overweight people tend to have large fat deposits in their pancreases, but they've been unable to confirm or calculate how much fat resides there because of the organ's location. more

Poor money management may be early indicator of Alzheimer's disease, say UAB researchers

Inability to handle financial transactions or manage money may be an early indicator that a person with mild memory problems soon is likely to develop Alzheimer's disease, according to new research from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Alzheimer's Disease Center, part of the Department of Neurology. more  

Image-guided treatment for deep venous thrombosis could improve patients' long-term outcomes

Deep Venous Thrombosis (DVT) is a serious condition that involves the formation of a blood clot inside of a deep vein usually in the legs. A patient with DVT is typically treated with anticoagulants (blood thinners) however researchers have found that image-guided interventional radiology procedures may play a more central role in the long-term treatment of DVT, according to a study published in the October issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology (AJR). more

Seasonality of mortality: Summer vacation link?  

Mortality rates in several Mediterranean countries decline in September, due in part to environmental factors but possibly linked to summer vacations, suggests a new study in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) www.cmaj.ca. more

You can't trust a tortured brain: Neuroscience discredits coercive interrogation  

According to a new review of neuroscientific research, coercive interrogation techniques used during the Bush administration to extract information from terrorist suspects are likely to have been unsuccessful and may have had many unintended negative effects on the suspect's memory and brain functions. A new article, published by Cell Press on September 21st in the journal, Trends in Cognitive Science, reviews scientific evidence demonstrating that repeated and extreme stress and anxiety have a detrimental influence on brain functions related to memory. more

Targeted heat therapy offers new standard treatment option for soft tissue sarcoma

Patients with soft-tissue sarcomas at high risk of spreading were 30% more likely to be alive and cancer free almost three years after starting treatment if their tumors were heated at the time they received chemotherapy, according to new research. The finding bolsters the case for intensifying exploration of the strategy in other types of cancer. more

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