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Heart failure patients are more than twice as likely to be depressed than are healthy adults and what s more, depressive symptoms double these patients risk of hospital readmission and triple their risk of death from heart failure. It is promising news, then, that research just presented at the Heart Failure Society of America meeting has found that heart failure patients can benefit from a combination of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and biofeedback.

For years now, the medical community has held onto the idea that counseling patients about their individual risk of diabetes based on genetic makeup could change their behavior for the better. Unfortunately, as a new study has found, when it comes to genetic diabetes counseling, high-risk people are no more likely to alter their lifestyle than are people at low risk for the disease.

Ginkgo biloba, a Chinese herb, has been touted by some as a miracle herb that has the potential to boost mental agility, sharpen memory, and prevent Alzheimer s disease. Yet new research shows that it may actually do nothing of the sort.

Budesonide, an anti-inflammatory steroid found in Rhinocort and Pulmicort, has been used for decades to treat asthma. But, like all steroids, it has side effects. Over 10 years ago, researchers noted that children taking the drug were about half an inch shorter than children on other treatments. Now, a study just published in the New England Journal of Medicine has found that this effect may be permanent.

As the battle over the merits of sodium restrictions continues, a new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) aims to tip the balance back to the side of the USDA with findings that U.S. children are eating nearly as much salt as the average adult. Yet the contention that such levels are harmful remains dubious.

Flu season is here and for the first time, health care workers in British Columbia will be required to get the influenza vaccine, an effort aimed to protect ailing patients with whom they might come into contact. In the past, flu shots have been voluntary and less than 50 percent of health care workers opted to receive it. The specifics of the regulations haven t been released yet, however, and a union representing workers is balking at the requirement.

Blood hormone level tests can potentially predict a woman s risk for developing postmenopausal breast cancer for up to 20 years, according to data from Nurses Health study to be presented at the 11th annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research.

A new study published in The Lancet supports the use of radiation therapy to prevent recurrence after surgery to remove the prostate (radical prostatectomy).

The Oklahoma Legislature is scheduled to have a committee hearing this Wednesday to discuss using tobacco harm reduction strategies as a means to reduce the health damage from cigarettes.

Although rare, Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a devastating genetic disease that ultimately results in muscle degeneration and death. With no known cure, the approximately 1 in 3,600 boys affected by the disease are treated with steroid drugs and physical therapy in order to improve their quality of life.

Older patients who have suffered a heart attack often don t bother to take medication that could potentially save their lives, a new eyebrow-raising study has found.

Perhaps New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof should stick to live-tweeting brothel raids and parachuting into war zones because when it comes to covering science, he s way out of his depth.

We recently reported on a study published in BMJ finding that procedures involving radiation to the chest, including chest X-rays or mammograms, may significantly increase the already high risk of breast cancer that women with certain genetic mutations (BRCA1 or BRCA2) face.

Earlier this month we told you about an interesting dilemma faced by cities implementing bike sharing programs whether or not they should require users to wear helmets, which may increase biker safety at the cost of decreasing ridership. Piet de Jong, a professor of applied finance and actuarial studies at Macquarie University in Sydney, argues that pushing helmets really kills cycling and bike-sharing in particular because it promotes a sense of danger that just isn t justified.

Starving yourself overnight before having your blood taken for a cholesterol test may not be necessary after all. A new study finds there s only a slight difference between fasting and nonfasting cholesterol levels. There was some fluctuation with diet for triglyceride levels and blood sugar, however, but even that was slight.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force is recommending that all Americans aged 15 to 64 get tested for HIV at least once, regardless of their risk status. This sentiment has been echoed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, especially since CDC data suggests that fewer than half of adults under 65 have been tested.

Women should be able to get birth control pills without a prescription, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommended last week. Over-the-counter birth control availability has the potential to reduce unintended pregnancies which make up half of all pregnancies in the United States because lack of access to the pill is one of the main reasons that women fail to use contraception.

A new report presented at a meeting of acute cardiac care experts, but not yet published in a journal reveals that among 5,000 new admissions for heart attack, women died more than twice as often as men while in the hospital.

Warning: Your risk of dying is 100 percent. And if you live long enough, your chances of getting cardiovascular disease are rather high.

For diabetes patients with blockages in the coronary arteries, bypass surgery is better than angioplasty, according to the findings of a major new study that could change clinical practice.

If you have high blood pressure, watch out. You may be putting your brain at risk even if you re under 40.

In a quick note to all our readers and friends, today as you all know is Election Day, and ACSH will be monitoring the vote and hoping when Californians vote on Proposition 37, they ll vote in favor of sound science.
We ll look forward to reporting on this issue tomorrow.

In more promising news from the American Heart Association s Scientific Sessions in California, researchers have reported a key advance in using stem cells to repair damaged hearts.

University of California at Los Angeles chancellor Gene Block yesterday announced that the campus will go tobacco-free on April 22, 2013, which is Earth Day.

Researchers investigating breast cancer are reassessing the effects that alcohol can have on the disease, as ACSH s Dr. Gilbert Ross explains in his latest column for Examiner.com.