‘Good’ Salts Lower Blood Pressure
Fruits and vegetables contain high levels of “good” potassium salts that may fight high blood pressure and reduce the risk of stroke, UC San Francisco researchers reported in the Dec. 23 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Dr. Curtis Morris and his colleagues at the university studied how blood pressure was affected by ordinary table salt (sodium chloride), potassium chloride and the plant salts potassium bicarbonate and potassium citrate.
They found that the chloride in salt may be the culprit in raising blood pressure, not the sodium. Potassium salts not containing chloride lowered the blood pressure of rats bred to develop the syndrome, and lowered the incidence of stroke in the animals. The researchers said their findings indicated that potassium salts that are free of chloride might be used as medicine to treat high blood pressure.
Space Heater Fumes Are Deadly
Kerosene and propane-fueled space heaters, used by an estimated 13.7 million people in the United States, can cause dangerous exposure to toxic gases such as carbon monoxide, according to federal health officials. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said combustion from unvented appliances, more commonly found in the southern United States, could expose people to toxic gases.
“Symptoms from exposure can include headache, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pains and confusion. Severe poisoning may result in seizures, coma and even death,” CDC medical epidemiologist Lauren Ball said. Health officials estimate that accidental exposure to carbon monoxide, unrelated to fires or vehicle exhaust, causes about 200 deaths a year and sends an additional 5,900 people to hospital emergency rooms.
Study Underscores Pain of Circumcision
Circumcision causes newborns a lot of pain, and they should always receive anesthesia for it, researchers say. Suffering caused by the procedure was so clear in a new study of anesthetics that researchers stopped enrollment early because they decided it was unethical to circumcise any more infants without anesthetics.
The debate over whether circumcision should be performed at all has overshadowed the problem of how often it is done without anesthesia--64% to 96% of the time in some areas of North America. Dr. Janice Lander and her colleagues at the University of Alberta reported in the Dec. 24 Journal of the American Medical Assn. that, “Without exception, newborns in this study who did not receive an anesthetic suffered great distress during and following the circumcision, and they were exposed to unnecessary risk.”
Two of 11 newborns who received no anesthetic had potentially dangerous episodes within minutes of the procedure. One newborn lost muscle tone, stopped breathing several times and vomited. The other choked and stopped breathing briefly, the researchers said.
Cleft Palate Linked to Gene Malfunction
USC researchers have identified not just a single gene but a genetic circuit that, when “shorted” by the administration of steroids, causes cleft palate in newborn mice. The findings may help define the genetic components of cleft palate in humans, and also explain the link between clefting and risk factors, such as stress, smoking and certain medications, all of which elevate the level of steroids in the body. Cleft palate occurs in about one in 2,000 live births.
Dr. Michael Mellnick and his colleagues report in the January issue of Developmental Dynamics that they have so far identified three genes that work together like an old-fashioned string of holiday lights: when one gene is defective, it shuts down the entire circuit of genes. In mice with a susceptibility to cleft palate, they found, high levels of steroids cause one of the genes to malfunction.
Estrogen Therapy Cuts Memory Loss
Regular use of estrogen replacement therapy by post-menopausal women can help slow normal age-related declines in memory, according to results from a new long-term study by the National Institute on Aging. Previous studies had shown that estrogen can slow loss of memory in women with Alzheimer’s disease, but this is the first to look at memory effects in otherwise healthy women.
Susan Resnick and her colleagues at NIA studied 116 women taking estrogen and 172 who were not, using standards tests to evaluate their memory over a six-year period. They report in the December issue of Neurology that the women receiving therapy made significantly fewer errors on the tests than those not receiving treatment.
--Compiled by THOMAS H. MAUGH II
