Top 5 lifestyle changes to improve your cholesterol

 

Lifestyle changes can help reduce cholesterol, keep you off cholesterol-lowering medications or enhance the effect of your medications. Here are five lifestyle changes to get you started. By Mayo Clinic Staff High cholesterol increases your risk of heart disease and heart attacks. You can improve cholesterol with medications, but if you'd rather first make lifestyle changes to improve your cholesterol, try these five healthy changes. If you already take medications, these changes can improve their cholesterol-lowering effect. 1. Eat heart-healthy foods Even if you have years of unhealthy eating under your belt, making a few changes in your diet can reduce cholesterol and improve your heart health. Choose healthier fats. Saturated fats, found primarily in red meat and dairy products, raise your total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, the "bad" cholesterol. As a rule, you should get less than 7 percent of your daily calories from saturated fat. Choose leaner cuts of meat, low-fat dairy and monounsaturated fats — found in olive and canola oils — for healthier options. Eliminate trans fats. Trans fats affect cholesterol levels by increasing the "bad" cholesterol and lowering the "good" cholesterol. This bad combination increases the risk of heart attacks. Trans fats can be found in fried foods and many commercial products, such as cookies, crackers and snack cakes. But don't rely on packages that are labeled "trans fat-free." In the United States, if a food contains less than 0.5 grams of trans fat in a serving, it can be labeled "trans fat-free." Even small amounts of trans fat can add up if you eat foods that contain small amounts of trans fat. Read the ingredient list, and avoid foods with partially hydrogenated oils. Eat foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acids don't affect LDL cholesterol. They have other heart benefits, such as helping to increase high-density lipoprotein (HDL, or "good") cholesterol, reducing your triglycerides, a type of fat in your blood, and reducing blood pressure. Some types of fish — such as salmon, mackerel and herring — are rich in omega-3 fatty acids. Other good sources of omega-3 fatty acids include walnuts, almonds and ground flaxseeds. Increase soluble fiber. There are two types of fiber — soluble and insoluble. Both have heart-health benefits, but soluble fiber also helps lower your LDL levels. You can add soluble fiber to your diet by eating oats and oat bran, fruits, beans, lentils, and vegetables. Add whey protein. Whey protein is one of two proteins in dairy products — the other is casein. Whey protein may account for many of the health benefits attributed to dairy. Studies have shown that whey protein given as a supplement lowers both LDL and total cholesterol. You can find whey protein powders in health food stores and some grocery stores. Follow the package directions for how to use them. 2. Exercise on most days of the week and increase your physical activity Exercise can improve cholesterol. Moderate physical activity can help raise high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, the "good" cholesterol. With your doctor's OK, work up to at least 30 minutes of exercise a day. Adding physical activity, even in 10-minute intervals several times a day, can help you begin to lose weight. Just be sure that you can keep up the changes you decide to make. Consider: Taking a brisk daily walk during your lunch hour Riding your bike to work Swimming laps Playing a favorite sport To stay motivated, find an exercise buddy or join an exercise group. And remember, any activity is helpful. Even taking the stairs instead of the elevator or doing a few situps while watching television can make a difference. 3. Quit smoking If you smoke, stop. Quitting might improve your HDL cholesterol level. And the benefits don't end there. Within 20 minutes of quitting, your blood pressure and heart rate decrease. Within one year, your risk of heart disease is half that of a smoker. Within 15 years, your risk of heart disease is similar to someone who never smoked. Next June 19, 2015 References See more In-depth

Eco-friendly lignin nanoparticle “greens” silver nanobullet to battle bacteria

 

Wed, 07/15/2015 - 12:00pm Mick Kulikowski, North Carolina State University News Services Environmentally benign nanobullet (center) attacks bacteria (left) and neutralizes it (right). Image: North Carolina State Univ.North Carolina State Univ. researchers have developed an effective and environmentally benign method to combat bacteria by engineering nanoscale particles that add the antimicrobial potency of silver to a core of lignin, a ubiquitous substance found in all plant cells. The findings introduce ideas for better, greener and safer nanotechnology and could lead to enhanced efficiency of antimicrobial products used in agriculture and personal care. In a study published in Nature Nanotechnology, NC State engineer Orlin Velev and colleagues show that silver-ion infused lignin nanoparticles, which are coated with a charged polymer layer that helps them adhere to the target microbes, effectively kill a broad swath of bacteria, including E. coli and other harmful microorganisms. As the nanoparticles wipe out the targeted bacteria, they become depleted of silver. The remaining particles degrade easily after disposal because of their biocompatible lignin core, limiting the risk to the environment. “People have been interested in using silver nanoparticles for antimicrobial purposes, but there are lingering concerns about their environmental impact due to the long-term effects of the used metal nanoparticles released in the environment,” said Velev, INVISTA Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at NC State and the paper’s corresponding author. “We show here an inexpensive and environmentally responsible method to make effective antimicrobials with biomaterial cores.” The researchers used the nanoparticles to attack E. coli, a bacterium that causes food poisoning; Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a common disease-causing bacterium; Ralstonia, a genus of bacteria containing numerous soil-borne pathogen species; and Staphylococcus epidermis, a bacterium that can cause harmful biofilms on plastics—like catheters—in the human body. The nanoparticles were effective against all the bacteria. The method allows researchers the flexibility to change the nanoparticle recipe in order to target specific microbes. Alexander Richter, the paper’s first author and an NC State PhD candidate who won a 2015 Lemelson-MIT prize, says that the particles could be the basis for reduced risk pesticide products with reduced cost and minimized environmental impact. “We expect this method to have a broad impact,” Richter said. “We may include less of the antimicrobial ingredient without losing effectiveness while at the same time using an inexpensive technique that has a lower environmental burden. We are now working to scale up the process to synthesize the particles under continuous flow conditions.” Source: North Carolina State University.

Genetics, Obesity, and More What Increases My Risk of Diabetes?

 

There are three major types of the disease: type 1, type 2, and gestational diabetes. With all three, your body can't make or use insulin.  One of every four people with diabetes doesn't know they have it. That amounts to about 7 million people living in the USA. Might you be one of them? Read on to see if your risk of having diabetes is high. Type 1 This type usually starts in childhood. Your pancreas stops making insulin. You have type 1 diabetes for life. The main things that lead to it are: Family history. If you have relatives with diabetes, chances are strong you’ll get it, too. Anyone who has a mother, father, sister, or brother with type 1 diabetes should get checked. A simple blood test can diagnose it. Diseases of the pancreas. They can slow its ability to make insulin. Infection or illness. Some infections and illnesses, mostly rare ones, can damage your pancreas. Type 2 If you have this kind, your body can't use the insulin it makes. This is called insulin resistance. Type 2 usually affects adults, but it can begin at any time in your life. The main things that lead to it are: Obesity or being overweight. Research shows this is a top reason for type 2 diabetes. Because of the rise in obesity among U.S. children, this type is affecting more teenagers. Impaired glucose tolerance. Prediabetes is a milder form of this condition. It can be diagnosed with a simple blood test. If you have it, there’s a strong chance you’ll get type 2 diabetes. Insulin resistance. Type 2 diabetes often starts with cells that are resistant to insulin. That means your pancreas has to work extra hard to make enough insulin to meet your body's needs. Ethnic background. Diabetes happens more often in Hispanic/Latino Americans, African-Americans, Native US citizens, Asian-Americans, Pacific Islanders, and Alaska natives. High blood pressure . That means blood pressure over 140/90. Low levels of HDL ("good") cholesterol and high levels of triglycerides. Gestational diabetes. If you had diabetes while you were pregnant, you had gestational diabetes. This raises your chances of getting type 2 diabetes later in life. Sedentary lifestyle. You exercise less than three times a week. Family history. You have a parent or sibling who has diabetes. Polycystic ovary syndrome. Women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) have a higher risk. Age. If you're over 45 and overweight or if you have symptoms of diabetes, talk to your doctor about a simple screening test.   What Increases My Risk of Diabetes? Gestational It's caused by hormones the placenta makes or by too little insulin. High blood sugar from the mother causes high blood sugar in the baby. That can lead to growth and development problems if left untreated. Things that can lead to gestational diabetes include: Obesity or being overweight. Extra pounds can lead to gestational diabetes. Glucose intolerance. Having glucose intolerance or gestational diabetes in the past makes you more likely to get it again. Family history. If a parent or sibling has had gestational diabetes, you're more likely to get it. Age. The older you are when you get pregnant, the higher your chances are. Steps to Take Whatever your risk are, there's a lot you can do to delay or prevent diabetes. Manage your blood pressure. Keep your weight within or near a healthy range. Get 30 minutes of exercise on most days. Eat a balanced diet.

From Mountains to Moons: Multiple Discoveries from NASA’s New Horizons Pluto Mission

 

 

New close-up images of a region near Pluto’s equator reveal a giant surprise -- a range of youthful mountains rising as high as 11,000 feet (3,500 meters) above the surface of the icy body.

Credits: NASA/JHU APL/SwRI

Icy mountains on Pluto and a new, crisp view of its largest moon, Charon, are among the several discoveries announced Wednesday by NASA's New Horizons team, just one day after the spacecraft’s first ever Pluto flyby.

"Pluto New Horizons is a true mission of exploration showing us why basic scientific research is so important," said John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. "The mission has had nine years to build expectations about what we would see during closest approach to Pluto and Charon. Today, we get the first sampling of the scientific treasure collected during those critical moments, and I can tell you it dramatically surpasses those high expectations."

“Home run!” said Alan Stern, principal investigator for New Horizons at the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in Boulder, Colorado. “New Horizons is returning amazing results already. The data look absolutely gorgeous, and Pluto and Charon are just mind blowing."

A new close-up image of an equatorial region near the base of Pluto’s bright heart-shaped feature shows a mountain range with peaks jutting as high as 11,000 feet (3,500 meters) above the surface of the icy body.

The mountains on Pluto likely formed no more than 100 million years ago -- mere youngsters in a 4.56-billion-year-old solar system. This suggests the close-up region, which covers about one percent of Pluto’s surface, may still be geologically active today.

“This is one of the youngest surfaces we’ve ever seen in the solar system,” said Jeff Moore of the New Horizons Geology, Geophysics and Imaging Team (GGI) at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California.  

Unlike the icy moons of giant planets, Pluto cannot be heated by gravitational interactions with a much larger planetary body. Some other process must be generating the mountainous landscape.

“This may cause us to rethink what powers geological activity on many other icy worlds,” says GGI deputy team leader John Spencer at SwRI.

The new view of Charon reveals a youthful and varied terrain. Scientists are surprised by the apparent lack of craters. A swath of cliffs and troughs stretching about 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) suggests widespread fracturing of Charon’s crust, likely the result of internal geological processes. The image also shows a canyon estimated to be 4 to 6 miles (7 to 9 kilometers) deep. In Charon’s north polar region, the dark surface markings have a diffuse boundary, suggesting a thin deposit or stain on the surface.

New Horizons also observed the smaller members of the Pluto system, which includes four other moons: Nix, Hydra, Styx and Kerberos. A new sneak-peak image of Hydra is the first to reveal its apparent irregular shape and its size, estimated to be about 27 by 20 miles (43 by 33 kilometers).

The observations also indicate Hydra's surface is probably coated with water ice. Future images will reveal more clues about the formation of this and the other moon billions of years ago. Spectroscopic data from New Horizons’ Ralph instruments reveal an abundance of methane ice, but with striking differences among regions across the frozen surface of Pluto. 

The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland designed, built and operates the New Horizons spacecraft and manages the mission for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. SwRI leads the mission, science team, payload operations and encounter science planning. New Horizons is part of NASA’s New Frontiers Program, managed by the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

Follow the New Horizons mission on Twitter and use the hashtag #PlutoFlyby to join the conversation. Live updates also will be available on the mission Facebook page.

For more information on the New Horizons mission, including fact sheets, schedules, video and all the new images, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/newhorizons

and

http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/plutotoolkit.cfm

FDA approves new drug to treat schizophrenia and as an add on to an antidepressant to treat major depressive disorder

 

On July 10, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Rexulti (brexpiprazole) tablets to treat adults with schizophrenia and as an add-on treatment to an antidepressant medication to treat adults with major depressive disorder (MDD). Schizophrenia is a chronic, severe, and disabling brain disorder affecting about one percent of Americans. Typically, symptoms are first seen in adults younger than 30 years of age and include hearing voices; believing other people are reading their minds or controlling their thoughts; and being suspicious or withdrawn. MDD, commonly referred to as depression, is also a severe and disabling brain disorder characterized by mood changes and other symptoms that interfere with a person's ability to work, sleep, study, eat, and enjoy once-pleasurable activities. Episodes of depression often recur throughout a person's lifetime, although some may experience a single occurrence. Other signs and symptoms of MDD include loss of interest in usual activities; significant change in weight or appetite; insomnia or excessive sleeping (hypersomnia); restlessness/pacing (psychomotor agitation); increased fatigue; feelings of guilt or worthlessness; slowed thinking or impaired concentration; and suicide attempts or thoughts of suicide. Not all people with MDD experience the same symptoms. “Schizophrenia and major depressive disorder can be disabling and can greatly disrupt day-to-day activities,” said Mitchell Mathis, M.D., director of the Division of Psychiatry Products in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. “Medications affect everyone differently so it is important to have a variety of treatment options available for patients with mental illnesses.” The effectiveness of Rexulti in treating schizophrenia was evaluated in 1,310 participants in two 6-week clinical trials. Rexulti was shown to reduce the occurrence of symptoms of schizophrenia compared to placebo (inactive tablet). The effectiveness of Rexulti as an add-on treatment for MDD was evaluated in two 6-week trials that compared Rexulti plus an antidepressant to placebo plus an antidepressant in 1,046 participants for whom an antidepressant alone did not adequately treat their symptoms. The participants taking Rexulti reported fewer symptoms of depression than those taking the placebo.  Rexulti and other drugs used to treat schizophrenia have a Boxed Warning alerting health care professionals about an increased risk of death associated with the off-label use of these drugs to treat behavioral problems in older people with dementia-related psychosis. No drug in this class is approved to treat patients with dementia-related psychosis. The Boxed Warning also alerts health care professionals and patients to an increased risk of suicidal thinking and behavior in children, adolescents, and young adults taking antidepressants. Patients should be monitored for worsening and emergence of suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Rexulti must be dispensed with a patient Medication Guide that describes important information about the drug’s uses and risks.  The most common side effects reported by participants taking Rexulti in clinical trials included weight gain and an inner sense of restlessness, such as feeling the need to move. Rexulti is manufactured by Tokyo-based Otsuka Pharmaceutical Company Ltd. The FDA, an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, protects the public health by assuring the safety, effectiveness, and security of human and veterinary drugs, vaccines and other biological products for human use, and medical devices. The agency also is responsible for the safety and security of our nation’s food supply, cosmetics, dietary supplements, products that give off electronic radiation, and for regulating tobacco products

When a tree falls in the forest, what’s the impact on water resources?

 

With much of snow melt coming from forested areas, NSF-funded hydrologist Mukesh Kumar’s research focuses on balancing forest management and water yield Kumar measures sunlight, skylight, and heat emitted by the trees at various vegetation densities. Credit and Larger Version July 10, 2015 Forest management practices such as cutting or thinning trees reduce the risk of wildfires, and enhance the overall health of the woodlands. However, they also can speed up the pace of snow melt, which in turn may increase erosion and destabilize streams. Too much melt within a short time interval sends excessive sediment and nutrients into streams, harming ecosystems and degrading water quality, which is expensive to treat. Mukesh Kumar, assistant professor of hydrology and water resources at Duke University, thinks there needs to be an equilibrium between maintaining the well-being of the forest through sound forest management practices, and preserving seasonal snow in forested uplands that serve as a critical water source for most of the western United States. It is an issue that assumes added importance now, during a time of severe and prolonged drought in the West. "Generally in most of the western United States and many snow dominated settings in the world, most of the water supply is recharged from snow melt, and much of this happens in forested areas," he says. "At the same time, many forest management practices are done every few years, trying to maintain a certain density of trees that allows every tree to get sufficient nutrients and sunlight…[and] reduce fire risk." As a result, more sun hits the snow on the ground, and it melts faster, causing an increase in so-called "spring stream flow peak," which means "the largest flow in the stream or river during the melt season," he explains, adding: "This can be a problem. What we are trying to do is strike a balance between maximizing forest productivity and minimizing its impact on water resources." The National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded scientist is working at several sites, including the Mica Creek Experimental Watershed in Idaho, the Southern Sierra Critical Zone Observatory in California and the Niwot Ridge Long Term Ecological Research site in Colorado, taking measurements of direct radiation (sunlight), diffuse radiation (skylight) and longwave radiation (heat emitted by the trees) as it reaches the forest floor at various vegetation densities in the forest. He also will assess snow losses, and how the reflectivity of the snow changes with vegetation density, "because all of these will determine the rate at which snow will evaporate or accumulate, and melt will happen," he says. His project aims to better understand the impact of such practices as thinning and gap creation – an opening in the forest – on snow accumulation, snow melt and the hydrologic response that follows. He and his collaborators, who include Timothy Link, professor of hydrology at the University of Idaho, also are developing fine-scale forest radiation computer models and integrated hydrologic models, which they plan to use to identify optimal tree patterns that will minimize the negative impact on water resources. They will feed their field measurements into their computer models "to ensure the models we built are valid," he says, then put different scenarios into the computer "to evaluate the impacts on stream flow." Ultimately, the computer model should tell the scientists location-specific forest management practices with minimum negative effects on the water. "Hopefully, the computer model will tell us how to do this – should we thin on the north facing slope? Or south facing? How much should we thin?," he says. "If the goal is to reduce the impact on water resources, what specific configuration will take us there?" Moreover, another aspect of the same project seeks "to be able to do forest management that will increase the total amount of water yield from the forest," he adds, especially critical during the current ongoing drought. "Let’s say we have a dense forest, the snow gets intercepted and lost into the atmosphere through evaporation," he explains. "If we can identify optimal tree densities or gap patterns that can increase the snow retention in the forest, it will increase the amount of water in the stream. We are reducing the losses, letting the snow hit the ground. The optimal forest patterns will allow melt at such a rate that it is available during the time we need water, which is in the summer." Kumar is conducting his research under an NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award, which he received earlier this year. The award supports junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding research, excellent education and the integration of education and research within the context of the mission of their organization. NSF is funding his work with $570,000 over five years. As part of the grant’s educational component, he is incorporating the results of his research into the two courses on hydrologic modeling that he teaches, and he also is developing K-12 outreach programs designed to teach young people about specific water topics and the trade-offs involved in decision-making and science-based solutions. Among other things, he is working with the Morehead Planetarium Science Center at the annual North Carolina Science Festival to bring middle school and high school students into his lab, and is designing a web interface that will provide prototype model simulations of different water and forest settings so that "students will be able to evaluate how certain degrees of deforestation may impact the flood or drought, or availability of water in the summer," he says.   Marlene Cimons, National Science Foundation   Maria C. Zacharias, (703) 292-8454 mzachari@nsf.gov   Related Websites On the role of vegetation density on net snow cover radiation at the forest floor: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jgrd.50575/abstract Net radiation in a snow-covered discontinuous forest gap for a range of gap sizes and topographic configurations: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2014JD021809/abstract

A Crow Riding Atop a Bald Eagle

 

Posted: 14 Jul 2015 12:00 PM PDT

Le photographe Phoo Chan, basé en Californie, se passionne pour la photographie d’oiseaux. A force de les contempler, il est récemment tombé sur une scène amusante, pas loin de Kitsap à Washington : il a pu voir un corbeau se faire balader sur le dos d’un pygargue à tête blanche. En réalité, le corbeau tentait d’attaquer l’autre volatile qui volait sur « son » territoire. Ce n’est donc pas une tendre scène d’amitié.

Acoustical metamaterial with near-zero density

 

This is a schematic representation of sound passing through the density-near-zero membrane. Credit: Liu/Nanjing University When a sound wave hits an obstacle and is scattered, the signal may be lost or degraded. But what if you could guide the signal around that obstacle, as if the interfering barrier didn't even exist? Recently, researchers at Nanjing University in China created a material from polyethylene membranes that does exactly that. Their final product, described this week in the Journal of Applied Physics, from AIP Publishing, was an acoustical "metamaterial" with an effective density near zero (DNZ). This work could help to endow a transmission network with coveted properties such as high transmission around sharp corners, high-efficient wave splitting, and acoustic cloaking. "It's as if the entire [interior] space is missing," said Xiaojun Liu, a professor in the physics department at Nanjing University's Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures. "We were curious about whether we could make a simple but compact density-near-zero metamaterial from just a few tiny membranes," Liu said, "and, if so, can we further manipulate sound and make acoustic invisibility cloaks and other strange functional devices?" Previous prototypes had attempted to achieve density-near-zero by using coiled structures and phononic crystals to create "Dirac cones," but required large physical dimensions, complex geometric structures, and the difficult feat of slowing sound waves to extremely low velocities within scattering cylinders to be effective -- limiting their practical applications. Their current paper proposes a physical, minimalist realization of their original density-near-zero idea, consisting of 0.125 mm-thick polyethylene membranes perforated with 9-millimeter-radius holes in a square grid inside of a metal waveguide, a physical structure for guiding sound waves. The intensive resonances of the membranes significantly reduce the structure's effective mass density, which is a measure of its dynamic response to incident sound waves. By Newton's second law, this reduction causes the average acceleration of the structure to approach infinity, which gives rise to sound tunneling. When sound at a frequency of 990 Hz is then conducted and rapidly accelerated through the material, the membranes act as a tunnel for sound, encapsulating the waves into local subwavelength regions. This arrangement allows the sound waves to pass through without accumulating a phase change or distorting the wavefront -- analogous to the quantum tunneling effect, in which a particle crosses through a potential energy barrier otherwise insurmountable by classical mechanics. For future applications, the metamaterial would likely be integrated into acoustic circuits and structures. When implemented in a wave splitter, the researchers found an 80 percent increase in the efficiency of energy transmission, regardless of the wave's incident angle. Additionally, the researchers are able to tune the frequency of the metamaterial network by altering the membrane's tension and physical dimensions, which they were unable to do in previous prototypes. Liu and his colleagues have already used the membrane network to fabricate a planar hyperlens, a device which magnifies one and two-dimensional objects on the subwavelength scale to compensate for the losses of acoustic waves carrying fine details of images as they pass a lens. This can allow scientists to see fine features of objects such as tumors, or minute flaws within airplane wings in industrial testing, that may otherwise be unobservable due to an instrument's diffractive limit. Additional planned applications include using smart acoustic structures, such as logic gates that can control acoustic waves by altering their propagation, for communication systems in environmental conditions too extreme for conventional electronic devices and photonic structures. "The vanishing mass density we've demonstrated is definitely more than a mathematical trick," said Liu.

Treating more adults with statins would be cost-effective way to boost heart health

 

Treating more adults with statins may be a cost-effective way to boost heart health. Credit: © David Watkins / Fotolia A new study from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health researchers has found that it would be cost-effective to treat 48-67% of all adults aged 40-75 in the U.S. with cholesterol-lowering statins. By expanding the current recommended treatment guidelines and boosting the percentage of adults taking statins, an additional 161,560 cardiovascular-related events could be averted, according to the researchers. "The new cholesterol treatment guidelines have been controversial, so our goal for this study was to use the best available evidence to quantify the tradeoffs in health benefits, risks, and costs of expanding statin treatment. We found that the new guidelines represent good value for money spent on healthcare, and that more lenient treatment thresholds might be justifiable on cost-effectiveness grounds even accounting for side-effects such as diabetes and myalgia," said Ankur Pandya, assistant professor of health decision science at Harvard Chan School and lead author of the study. The study appears online July 14, 2015 in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The percentage of the US people taking statins has jumped in recent years -- as of 2012, 26% of all adults over age 40 were taking them, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) -- and so has controversy surrounding their use. In November 2013, the American Heart Association (AHA) and the American College of Cardiology (ACC) recommended that statins be prescribed for people with a 7.5% or greater risk of heart attack or stroke over a 10-year period, including many with no existing cardiovascular issues. Previous guidelines had advised statin use only if the risk was 10-20% or higher. After the 2013 recommendations were issued, proponents of expanding statin use said there was strong evidence that they reduce risk of heart attack and stroke; critics said the risks were overestimated, that healthy adults would be overtreated, and that more people would be at increased risk for negative side effects, such as memory loss, type 2 diabetes, and muscle damage. The researchers did a cost-effectiveness analysis of the ACC-AHA guidelines to find the optimal value for the 10-year CVD risk threshold. They used a measure known as the quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) -- a measure of the burden of a disease in terms of both the quality and the quantity of life lived. QALYs are frequently used to assess the monetary value of using particular medical interventions; they are based on the number of years of "quality" life that would be gained by such interventions. In the U.S. today, health economists typically consider $100,000/QALY and $150,000/QALY reasonable in terms of what the public is willing to pay for health gains. The researchers found that the current 10-year cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk threshold (≥7.5%) was acceptable in terms of cost-effectiveness ($37,000/QALY), but that more lenient treatment thresholds of ≥4.0% or ≥3.0% would be optimal under criteria of <$100,000/QALY or <$150,000/QALY and would avert an estimated additional 125,000-160,000 CVD-events. They also found that the optimal treatment threshold was particularly sensitive to patient preferences for taking a pill daily, which suggests that the decision to initiate statins for primary CVD prevention should be made jointly by patients and physicians. Other Harvard Chan School authors of the study included Stephen Sy and Sylvia Cho, researchers from the Center for Health Decision Science; Milton Weinstein, Henry J. Kaiser Professor of Health Policy and Management; and senior author Thomas Gaziano, assistant professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management and cardiologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital. Funding for the study came from grant No. 5R01HL104284-03 to the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Story Source: The above post is reprinted from materials provided by Harvard School of Public Health. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. Journal Reference: Ankur Pandya, Stephen Sy, Sylvia Cho, Milton C. Weinstein, Thomas A. Gaziano. Cost-effectiveness of 10-Year Risk Thresholds for Initiation of Statin Therapy for Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease. JAMA, 2015; 314 (2): 142 DOI: 10.1001/jama.2015.6822

Futuristic inventions you won't believe actually exist - republishing -

 

Tiny computers, smartphones, instant messaging and videoconferencing were all fanciful science fiction inventions up until about twenty years ago. Now they are so ubiquitous, we hardly give them a second thought. But what about all of those cool inventions that movies, TV and science fiction promised us like flying cars, robot fighters and bionic body parts? Believe or not, some are actually real, and poised to shape markets of tomorrow.  Here are 9 science fiction-like technologies and inventions and the companies working to bring them to life. The Hendo Hoverboard. Photo: Hendo 1. Hoverboards Hoverboards were a key component of the film Back to the Future, and they are one of the first things most people think about when they wonder about all of the futuristic ideas we were promised. Lucky for us, the hoverboard is about to be real, and for just $10,000, it can be yours, through this Kickstarter from Hendo Hoverboards. Hendo was founded by Greg Henderson, who patented a technology called Magnetic Field Architecture (MFA™) to make hoverboards a reality. But unlike Marty McFly's version, these boards are for more than just tooling around town. They may one day be employed to help prop up precarious buildings in disaster zones. Photo: Terrafugia 2. Flying Cars The automobile industry has remained largely static since the days of the model T. Sure, new features are added all the time, but the basic idea of wheels on the ground has remained the same with little disruption to the basic model. That may all change with flying car company Terrafugia. They have produced the Transition®, a two-place, fixed wing, street legal airplane. Imagine flying into your next meeting, and parking your flying car in the garage later!  Coneyl Jay/Stone/Getty Images 3. Tiny and Powerful Products Nanotechnology is the manipulation of matter on an atomic, molecular, and supramolecular scale, and the field has plenty of possibilities in a number of areas, including medicine and energy production. At GE, scientists have worked to create polymer-based nanoparticles that can target and kill MRSA. Related: 5 Mind-Blowing Facts About the Tiny Company that Might Hold the Key to Stopping Ebola Would you eat this instead of a delicious hamburger?. Photo: Soylent 4. Food pills Soylent is a company with a simple proposition: "What if you never had to worry about food again?" While Soylent is a nutrition shake and not a pill, it still promises complete nutrition in powdered form. Founder Robert Rhinehart developed Soylent after realizing how much time he could save if he didn't have to prepare food. But will Soylent catch on with a public hungry for delectable treats? Time will tell. Air touch technology from ITRI. Photo: Industrial Technology Research Institute 5. Air Touch Technology One of the coolest sci-fi technologies in the film Minority Report were the air-touch screens, liberating computing from the desk and even the hand-held device. Thanks to the Taiwanese company Industrial Technology Research Institute, the possibility of computing with an air-touch screen is becoming closer than ever. Lockheed Martin's exosuit. Photo: Lockheed Martin 6. Military Exoskeleton An Iron Man-like "smart suit" that confers upon its wearer extra protection and super human strength? Lockheed Martin is working on just that in the HULC exoskeleton, "a completely un-tethered, hydraulic-powered anthropomorphic exoskeleton that provides users with the ability to carry loads of up to 200 pounds for extended periods of time and over all terrains. Its flexible design allows for deep squats, crawls and upper-body lifting." The HULC is being developed for use in military conflicts.  Miguel Navarro/Stone/Getty Images 7. 3-D Printers Remember the replicator from Star Trek? The explosion of 3-D printing over the past few years has produced innovations just as dazzling, from rapid prototyping to medical applications. Right at the forefront of this trend are companies like Makerbot, which put powerful 3D printing power right in the hands of consumers. Double trouble? Martin Barraud/Caiaimage/Getty Images 8. Cloning We all know about Dolly the sheep, the first successful mammalian clone. But did you know there's a South Korean company that for a hefty fee (around $100,000 to be exact) will clone your beloved dog? It's true -- Sooam Biotech will supply you with an exact genetic replica of your beloved pooch, treats, training and TLC not included. Bernhard Lang/Photographer's Choice/Getty Images 9. Bionic Eye Helping the blind to see via technology -- surely one of the most laudable goals that an entrepreneur can dream up. And thankfully, it's now possible via the Argus® II Retinal Prosthesis System ("Argus II"). This "bionic eye" from the company Second Sight provides electrical stimulation of the retina to induce visual perception in blind individuals. Pretty cool!