Health Care Blog

The condition, called varicocele, is a network of tangled blood vessels in the scrotum which prevents the normal circulation of blood through the veins in the testicles. A minimally invasive radiological procedure called embolization can, in most cases, correct the problem. “Using the embolization of varicoceles, we were able to improve factors related to infertility, especially sperm count and sperm motility,” said lead researcher Dr. Sebastian Flacke, an associate professor of radiology at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston. In embolization, a small catheter is inserted into the groin and, using X-ray guidance, is placed in the varicocele. Once the catheter is placed, a tiny platinum coil and a few milliliters of an agent to ensure the closure of the gonadic vein are also inserted. The minimally invasive procedure has a short recovery time; most patients go home the next day. Varicoceles are very common, Flacke noted. In fact, about 20 percent of all men have them. Not al...

High-dose hyperbaric oxygen therapy shows promise as a way to extend the window of opportunity to resuscitate a person whose heart has stopped during sudden cardiac arrest, a new study shows. Researchers at the School of Medicine at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans report they used the technique to revive pigs up to 25 minutes after their hearts had stopped beating. In humans, if a patient’s heart is not restarted through some means (CPR, medications or electric shock) within 16 minutes, 100 percent of patients die, according to American Heart Association statistics. “To resuscitate any living organism after 25 minutes of heart stoppage at room temperature has never been reported and suggests that the time to successful resuscitation in humans may be extended beyond the stubborn figure of 16 minutes that has stood for 50 years,” study leader Keith Van Meter, a clinical professor of medicine at the LSU center, said in an university news release. In t...

Three new studies shed more light on how diet affects your odds of developing type 2 diabetes. Each study covers a different aspect of diet. Together, the studies show that diabetes risk may rise if you drink too many sodas and sweetened fruit drinks, fall if you eat more fruits and vegetables, and may not be affected by how much fat you eat. But there’s another key theme that runs through the studies: There’s no getting around calories. Blow your calorie budget and you’ll gain weight, which makes type 2 diabetes more likely. “Until we have more information, we have to assume that calories trump everything else, and that our No. 1 goal for the reduction of new cases of type 2 diabetes should be to reduce the intake of high-energy, low-benefit foods,” especially in young people at high risk of diabetes, write Mark Feinglos, MD, CM, and Susan Totten, RD, from Duke University Medical Center. Sugary sodas and fruit drinks may be linked to increased risk of type 2 diabetes in African-Amer...

A new study suggests a genetic link between women’s heart disease risk, migraine with aura, and a genetic variant carried by about 11% of the population. Migraine symptoms vary and may occur with a warning sign called an aura. The aura usually begins about 30 minutes before the headache starts and consists of visual cues such as seeing spots, wavy lines, or flashing lights. Some people may also have numbness or a pins-and-needles sensation in their hands. In the study, published in Neurology, researchers examined the relationship between genes, migraine headache, and heart disease in more than 25,000 white women who participated in the Women’s Health Study. The women were tested for a certain gene variant in the MTHFR gene, which in previous studies has been associated with an increased risk of vascular events in patients who experience migraine with aura. They also completed a questionnaire about migraine headaches. Over a 12-year follow-up period, 625 women suffered from a heart-rela...

The next time you serve your favorite Italian dish, consider ditching the bottled garlic and opt for fresh garlic instead. Fresh garlic may be better for you, according to new research published in the American Chemical Society’s Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. Researchers in Japan compared fresh garlic with garlic preserved in water, alcohol, and vegetable oil, specifically measuring a key ingredient called allicin. Allicin is the main active ingredient in garlic and the chemical responsible for its characteristic smell. Allicin is widely promoted for its antibacterial properties. Some studies have shown that allicin helps fight infections and may help prevent bacteria-related food poisoning. Other research has suggested that the compound can help against blood clots and certain cancers. Allicin is fragile and disappears quickly, leading the study’s researchers to question whether various storage methods would affect its levels. The team’s experiments ...