Audio Medica News - Medical News Interviews

Audio Journal of Global Health Issues

Folic Acid Supplement Improves Cognitive Function in Older Adults: FACIT Trial

REFERENCE: Lancet 2007;369:208

JANE DURGA, Nestlé Research Centre, Lausanne

A trial that randomised older adults to receive a folic acid supplement or placebo has shown that folic acid can significantly improve cognitive performance in older individuals. Jane Durga in Lausanne told Sarah Maxwell about the study findings and the hopes these may hold out.

Audio Journal of Global Health Issues, January 26th, 2007

Miscarriage Risk in Women with Low Body Mass Index

REFERENCE: BJOG 2007 114:170

PAT DOYLE, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Underweight women were found to be at increased risk of miscarriage, according to a study published in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. A team from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine conducted a survey by questionnaire of 6 000 women among whom 600 had a first trimester miscarriage. Using a “case-control” method of comparison it emerged that women with a body mass index below 18.5 had a 70 per cent increase in their risk of miscarriage. Peter Goodwin heard more about the study from Pat Doyle of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Audio Journal of Global Health Issues

Three-Class Antiretroviral Therapy for HIV Not Appropriate: Results from the FIRST Study

REFERENCE: Lancet 2006; 368: 2125-35

RODGER MacARTHUR, Wayne State University, Detroit

A three-class HIV antiretroviral therapy is not necessary, according to data published in the Lancet. The FIRST study had three arms which included non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs), protease inhibitors (PIs), or both, all in the presence of nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors. Derek Thorne heard more from Rodger MacArthur of Wayne State University in Detroit.

Audio Journal of Cardiovascular Medicine

Telomere Length Predicts Coronary Heart Disease Risk and Statin Response

REFERENCE: Lancet 2007; 369:107

NILESH SAMANI, Glenfield Hospital, Leicester

A new genetic test could help predict which individuals will develop coronary heart disease among those with similar conventional risk factors. The length of the terminating structures of chromosomes, telomeres, can be used to predict cardiovascular mortality in middle-aged men, according to a study from Leicester in the UK which analysed blood samples collected for the West of Scotland Primary Prevention Study, (WOSCOPS). Nilesh Samani gave Helen Morant the details.

Audio Journal of Global Health Issues

Circulating Markers Herald Onset of Preeclampsia

REFERENCE: Lancet 2006; 368: 1973-83

CHARLOTTE WATTS, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

A large and groundbreaking study has shown that microfinance, combined with a gender and HIV training scheme, can help reduce domestic violence among poor women living in rural South Africa. Charlotte Watts of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine told Derek Thorne about the IMAGE study.

Audio Journal of Fertility

Circulating Markers Herald Onset of Preeclampsia

REFERENCE: N Engl J Med 2006; 355:992

RICHARD LEVINE, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda

In pregnant women circulating levels of the anti-angiogenic substances: soluble endoglin and soluble Flt-1 herald the onset of preeclampsia, according to a publication in the New England Journal of Medicine. Richard Levine told Peter Goodwin about his group’s findings from the Calcium for Preeclampsia Prevention Trial which give hope of designing molecularly targeted drugs to treat preeclampsia or of spotting the disease early.