Medical Article Scan for July 2008

Here is the July edition of my medical article scan. I try to provide a variety of interesting articles. If you see one in the future, you can email me at chronicpositivity at verizon dot net.

Kaiser Permanente Study Finds Keeping a Food Diary Doubles Diet Weight Loss – for those so inclined, here’s evidence of the importance of keeping a food diary.

Irish Coffee Infusion May Boost tPA Efficacy for Stroke – the title is a bit misleading; they don’t actually mean Irish Coffee given IV. The article discusses using an IV infusion of caffeine and alcohol along with tPA (aka ‘clot buster” that started out as a treatment for heart attacks, and is now being used to treat strokes). This treatment may have a protective effect on the brain during/after a stroke.

Positive Thinking is Prescription for the Heart – of course, this study affirms the name of this blog. Optimism is good for the heart (and, I’m sure that it’s equally as effective with other diseases). And this quote is a GEM: “Perhaps we should work on changing behaviors by instilling more confidence in the capacity to prevent having a heart attack, rather than raising fears about having one.

Tattoos Wear Thin For Some Recipients – Women who got tattooed oftentimes sought removal by age 30. Men were less likely to get their’s removed.

Statin Therapy May Boost Survival In Kidney Transplant Recipients – The benefits are related to survival from cardiovascular disease, and do not necessarily affect survival of the graft.

“Snow Flea Antifreeze Protein” Could Help Improve Organ Preservation – a protein found in Canadian Snow Fleas that allow them to survive winter may someday be used to preserve donated organs for transplant.