Fresh blood vs. old blood
High-risk patients in cardiac surgery had a 4 percent in-hospital death rate when given the freshest transfused blood versus a 25 percent death rate for those getting the oldest blood, according to a study at Duke University. Fresh blood was stored for one to 19 days; old blood was stored for 31 to 42 days.
More reasons to eat veggies
If you love your arteries, eat your vegetables. Wake Forest University researchers found that mice fed a vegetable-rich diet for 16 weeks cut their risk for hardening of the arteries by 38 percent. The mice also had lower total cholesterol levels, lower levels of the “bad” cholesterol and a 7 percent lower body weight.
Possible Parkinson’s risk
The high amount of iron consumed by babies reared on infant formula may increase their risk for developing Parkinson’s disease as adults, suggests a study involving mice at the Buck Institute for Age Research in Novato, Calif. Though the study would have to be replicated with humans, the mice developed increasing amounts of Parkinson’s-associated brain degeneration as they aged.
Peer pressure can be hazardous to teens’ health
Many teens with food allergies gamble with their lives by not carrying medication and by knowingly eating risky foods, say researchers at the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. Only 61 percent of subjects said they always carry a drug used for severe allergic reactions, and 54 percent intentionally eat potentially unsafe foods. The reason for both: peer pressure.
