Your Health compiled by Franklin Ward Baum
Arthritis isn’t the top reason for a buckling knee
If your knee “goes out,” it doesn’t necessarily mean you have arthritis, according to a new study from the Boston University School of Medicine.
Looking at X-rays of more than 2,300 people between 36 and 94 years old who said they had suffered knee bucking while walking or climbing stairs, researchers found that more than half had no evidence of knee arthritis. The findings were reported in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Knee buckling and the pain associated with it can lead to falls and to people limiting their activities because of the fear of falling. A common reason for knee buckling found in the study was weakness in the muscles in the front of the thighs and around the knee.
Researchers said that regular exercise to strengthen those muscles may prevent or even improve the condition.
Exercise and supplements lead to strength and
balance
Regular exercise can help older adults become steadier, and combining regular exercise with two dietary supplements can help them become stronger, according to a pair of recent studies.
Researchers from
In a separate study, Canadian researchers concluded that combining exercise and the dietary supplements creatine and conjugated linoleic acid increases strength and decreases body fat more effectively than exercise alone in people over 65. The small study was published in the journal PloS One and called for more research into the possible side effects of the two supplements.
Women with panic attacks have much higher risk of
heart disease
Older women who have had panic attacks may have a
greater risk of heart disease, according to research from the
Researchers questioned more than 3,300 postmenopausal women between the ages of 51 and 83 and found, during a five-year follow-up, that those who said they had suffered even one full-blown panic attack were four times more likely to have heart disease than women who reported no panic attacks.
Those who reported panic attacks also showed nearly twice the risk of stroke and a 75 percent higher risk of death from any cause.
Panic attack symptoms include a sudden feeling of fear, anxiety or extreme discomfort that is out of proportion to one’s current situation, often accompanied by an irregular heartbeat, sweating, hot flashes and difficulty breathing. About 10 percent of postmenopausal women have had at least one panic attack, according to the study.
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The pneumonia vaccine can help fight the lung ailment, though it may not prevent it, according to a new study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
Canadian researchers from the
The study said that only 22 percent of the Canadian population that is targeted for the vaccine, available since 1983, has taken it. Researchers said that increasing that percentage could dramatically lower hospital costs and mortality rates.
Pneumonia kills 10,000 people in the
British researchers from the
In the second study, French researchers looked at 1,100 patients who were assessed within four hours of a minor stroke. Their 90-day stroke rate was 1.24 percent, significantly lower than the 6 percent predicted by computer models.
Both studies were published online in the journal The Lancet.
A drug that’s commonly used to treat acne and urinary infections may open the window of opportunity for treating stroke victims, Israeli researchers report.
Minocycline is commonly used against bacterial infections. But if it is given six to 24 hours after a person suffers an ischemic stroke—a clot that cuts off blood to parts of the brain—it apparently can prevent loss of brain tissue, according to the study from Tel Aviv University and published in the journal Neurology.
Current treatments are effective only within a few hours
of a stroke, and many patients don’t arrive at a hospital within that time.
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