Health Care News

• Study links cardiometabolic risk factors to premature death
  Researchers looked at data on 9,245 people ages 12 to 39 and found that cardiometabolic risk factors such as central obesity, smoking and hyperglycemia were associated with a higher risk of death before age 55. Analysis also showed a higher risk of all-cause death related with hypertension and high total and non-HDL cholesterol in women, but not in men. The study appeared online in the journal Pediatrics. MedPage Today (free registration) (2/18)     

• Thousands of cancer deaths in U.S. linked to alcohol
  Alcohol is responsible for approximately 3.5% of cancer deaths in the U.S., an estimated 20,000 deaths a year, according to a study to be published in the American Journal of Public Health. On average, each case represented 18 years of lost life, and the greater the alcohol intake, the greater the risk. Nurse.com (2/14)     

• Experts tie chemotherapy to slight increase in AML risk
  Patients who underwent chemotherapy for non-Hodgkin lymphoma and esophageal, prostate and cervical cancers faced an increased risk of developing acute myeloid leukemia, according to a new study. However, treatment was associated with lower AML risk in patients who had ovarian cancer, myeloma, and possibly lung cancer, researchers said. The findings appear in the journal Blood. HealthDay News (2/14)     

• Higher impaired lung function risk seen with diabetes, prediabetes
  Diabetes was associated with a nearly threefold increased risk of low forced vital capacity, while prediabetes patients were 1.6 times as likely to suffer from impaired lung function, compared with people with normal glucose tolerance, according to a study in Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice. However, researchers said only prediabetes patients with impaired fasting glucose, and not those with impaired glucose tolerance or both IFG/IGT, were at an increased risk of low FVC. News-Medical.Net/MedWire News (2/14)     

• Review backs diabetes link to a high-glycemic diet
  Eating high-glycemic foods increases the risk of diabetes, an analysis in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition indicated. Researchers said the risk of developing diabetes was 45% higher for every additional 100 grams of sugar per 2,000 calories daily. Reuters (2/14)     

Pharmaceutical News

• Beta-blockers curb death risk in high-risk STEMI patients
  A study in The American Journal of Cardiology found beta-blocker treatment may help cut long-term mortality in high-risk ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction patients. However, the therapy did not appear to benefit lower-risk patients, researchers said. PhysiciansBriefing.com/HealthDay News (2/15)     

• Conception odds rise with aspirin after some miscarriages
  Daily use of low-dose aspirin while trying to conceive was associated with increased chances of giving birth after a single recent miscarriage before 20 weeks gestation, according to a study involving 1,228 women. Aspirin, however, failed to benefit women who had one or two miscarriages at any gestational age. The study was presented at a meeting of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine. MedPage Today (free registration) (2/16)     

• Shingles vaccine could be affected by untreated depression
  Older people who were not receiving treatment for depressive symptoms had a weaker immune response to the varicella zoster virus than those who were not depressed or who had therapy, a study found. The findings, which were published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, suggest that depression treatment could be important for vaccine effectiveness, researchers said. Nurse.com (2/14)     

Hot Topics

Top five news stories selected by AANP SmartBrief readers in the past week.

• Why physicians should support full scope of practice for NPs (Forbes)

• Analysis: Diclofenac's heart risks warrant caution (TheHeart.org (Montreal) (free registration))

• Veterans with PTSD get pyschiatric meds not supported by guidelines (United Press International)

• Ore. Senate supports extending NP dispensing to urban areas (The Lund Report (Portland, Ore.))

• High calcium intake may add to women's risk of cardiac death (HealthDay News)

• Results based on number of times each story was clicked by readers.

Emerging Trends, Products and Technologies

• More U.S. women are using morning-after pill in past decade
  CDC researchers looked at data from the National Survey of Family Growth and found that 11% of women between ages 15 and 44 reported using the morning-after pill from 2006 to 2010, up from about 4.2% in 2002. They noted that 23% of the users were young women ages 20 to 24 and that users were more likely to be non-Hispanic white and Hispanic women than non-Hispanic black women. HealthDay News (2/14)     

Health Policy and Legislative News

• Deadline ends with 26 states choosing federal-run exchange
  Twenty-six states have opted to let the federal government run their health insurance markets under the Affordable Care Act with the passing of Friday's deadline. States that opted not to operate their own exchanges can still change their decisions, Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight Director Gary Cohen said. The Washington Times (2/16)     

AANP News

• AANP offices closed today
  AANP Offices are closed today in observance of Presidents Day. We will reopen for business at 9 a.m. Central Time on Tuesday.     

• "Sometimes The Best Medical Care Is Provided By Those Who Aren't M.D.s"
  Dr. Amesh Adalja's article "Sometimes The Best Medical Care Is Provided By Those Who Aren't M.D.s," published in "Forbes," is a must-read! The article supports full scope of practice for nurse practitioners as a way to improve access to health care and reduce costs. The article states that laws restricting practice should be changed, and patients should be given the right to choose their preferred health care providers. According to Dr. Adalja, "One solution that can actually work, but is hampered by a regime of onerous licensing laws and guild-minded state government medical boards, is to allow all health professionals to render care independent of a physician if they (and their patients) so choose." Read the article.     

SmartQuote

You will become as small as your controlling desire; as great as your dominant aspiration." --James Allen, British author