Medical Bulletin 15/December/2021

 Here are Top Medical stories of the day

Vitamin D supplementation beneficial in diabetes and prediabetes cases

The researchers in a recent study have demonstrated modest improvement in insulin sensitivity, glycose homeostasis, and disease development in diabetes and prediabetes with vitamin D supplementation of 25(OH)D<30 ng/ml. The study appears in the Journal of Clinical Biochemistry and Nutrition.

In the study, Yutong Zou, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, and colleagues aimed to evaluate the effect of vitamin D supplementation on glycose homeostasis, islet function, and diabetes progress.

For more details check out the link below:

Vitamin D Supplementation Modestly Beneficial In Diabetes And Prediabetes: Study

Increased alcohol intake- a risk factor for Geographic atrophy in eye

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a leading cause of blindness in Western countries. Advanced AMD consists of geographic atrophy (GA) and neovascular AMD (nAMD). Treatment is currently only available for nAMD and comes in the form of intravitreal injections of anti–vascular endothelial growth factor. This treatment is invasive, expensive, of limited effectiveness, and poses a considerable burden on patients.

Therefore, increased public health efforts need to be directed toward prevention of advanced AMD. Identifying causal, modifiable risk factors for advanced AMD is critical to implementing interventions for prevention.

For more details check out the link below:

Increased Alcohol Intake Causal Risk Factor For Geographic Atrophy In Eye: JAMA

Prunes show promising effect on men's bone health

New research from San Diego State University's School of Exercise and Nutritional Sciences reports that eating prunes daily has a protective effect on bone health in men over 50.

This study is the first of its kind to examine the beneficial prune effect on bones in men. It is estimated that 2 million men are battling osteoporosis and another 16.1 million men have low bone mass, or osteopenia (Wright et al., 2014). Despite these statistics, bone disease in men is often overlooked.

For more details check out the link below:

Prunes Have Promising Effect On Men's Bone Health, Finds Study

Transparent masks may improve daily communication and patient-clinician interactions

The widespread use of masks during the COVID-19 pandemic has posed numerous communication barriers, muffling speech and impeding lip-reading. For deaf or hard-of-hearing (DHH) individuals, masks have made daily as well as clinical interactions especially difficult. With approximately 72 percent of people older than 65 experiencing hearing loss, and with this age group having higher hospitalization rates compared to others, the increased availability of transparent masks may be particularly important in health care settings. A research team led by investigators from Brigham and Women's Hospital and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology evaluated attitudes toward their newly engineered, transparent mask by surveying members of the general population and health care workers, including DHH health care workers.

They reported that 91 percent of DHH health care workers felt that communication would be easier with a transparent mask, with positive expectations from other health care workers and the general population as well. The results of their surveys are published in JAMA Network Open.

For more details check out the link below:

Transparent Masks May Improve Daily Communication And Patient-Clinician Interactions

Blood Pressure During Exercise Stress Test helps predict Hypertension & Cardiovascular Events 

Treadmill exercise testing is the most common noninvasive test to assess patients with suspected or known cardiovascular disease. Measurement of blood pressure (BP) during exercise stress is cumbersome due to patient motion and hemodynamic changes during exercise.

A recent study suggests that BP measurements during rest, exercise and recovery phases of exercise stress testing (EST) provides information on the long-term risk of developing hypertension and other cardiovascular events. The study findings were published online in the Journal of Hypertension in August 2021.

For more details check out the link below:

Blood Pressure During Exercise Stress Test Can Predict Incidence Of Hypertension & CV Events