Lowering blood pressure — known to prevent the vascular complications of type 2 diabetes — can also stop the onset of diabetes itself, although the effects vary according to antihypertensive drug class, results from a new meta-analysis show. Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARB) — so-called renin-angiotensin system (RAS) blockers — showed the strongest association with preventive effects, while conversely, beta-blocker and thiazide diuretic antihypertensives were linked to an increased risk of new-onset diabetes.

Poor sleep quality was linked to an increased risk of life-threatening exacerbations in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), according to a study reported online in the journal Sleep. Researchers followed 1,647 patients with confirmed COPD who were enrolled in the Subpopulations and Intermediate Outcome Measures in COPD Study (SPIROMICS). SPIROMICS is a multicenter study funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and the COPD Foundation and is designed to evaluate COPD subpopulations, outcomes, and biomarkers. All participants in the study were current or former smokers with confirmed COPD.

@kedar-nath These findings provide helpful insight regarding how healthy diet could reduce the adverse effects of air pollution on cognitive decline and neurodegeneration

@kedar-nath It's just not that straightforward. It's not that simple. When someone is in the throes of anxiety or depression, there are more factors at play than just chemical imbalances. And we should never rule out family history or genetics. A psychiatric condition that has a significant genetic component — for example, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, an addictive disorder — this always has to be taken into account when we see athletes with symptoms that make us suspect that there's something more going on. These are red flags that have to be looked into and evaluated — not so that we can slap on a label or diagnosis but so that we can be more attentive to the symptoms' evolution

What is difference between normal and abnormal labor? Is it different from Dystocia?

@ori The association between non-O blood type and increased VTE risk was seen only in patients who had intermediate and low thrombotic risk tumor types, but not in patients with tumors considered to be very high risk, such as pancreatic, gastroesophageal, and brain cancer.

@chini In the proof-of-concept trial, researchers enrolled and randomly assigned 51 treatment-seeking adults with moderate to severe alcohol dependence to receive active or sham treatment. Before treatment, participants completed "craving induction," which included holding and smelling but not consuming an alcoholic beverage.