Crib chatter is the best ever!,!!

He is just so awesome! He's the most awesome brother anyone can ever have EVER

Crib chatter is the best ever!,!!

He is just so awesome! He's the most awesome brother anyone can ever have EVER

It

The Numbers: Hospital Mortality for Four Key Conditions Continues Downward

Hospital mortality rates for heart failure, pneumonia, myocardial infarction, and stroke continue to trend downward, according to data from the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

Among the findings:

• Between 1994 and 2007, inpatient mortality rates for heart failure dropped by 60%; for pneumonia, 55%; for MI, 47%; and for stroke, 35%.
• The midwestern states had the greatest decreases in mortality for all four conditions.
• Nationally, in 2000 the poorest communities had lower rates of inpatient mortality for heart failure and pneumonia than the richest communities, but by 2007 the groups had switched their relative rankings.

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FDA Rejects Approval of Another Diet Drug, Qnexa

Qnexa, a combination of phentermine and topiramate, has not been granted approval by the FDA, according to a New York Times report. Earlier this month the FDA refused approval for another diet drug, lorcaserin.

According to the report the agency has asked Vivus, Qnexa's developer, "to provide a thorough evaluation of the drug's potential for causing birth defects and heart problems." In a statement on its website, Vivus said that new studies may be required if the FDA's concerns are not addressed by existing data, which it plans to submit by year's end.

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Heavy Smoking in Midlife Linked to Increased Dementia Risk Decades Later

Heavy smoking in midlife is associated with more than a doubling of risk for dementia in older age, according to an Archives of Internal Medicine study.

An ethnically diverse group of some 21,000 adults aged 50 to 60 were interviewed about their smoking habits between 1978 and 1985. Researchers then assessed the participants' medical records from 1994 to 2008 and found that a quarter had developed dementia, Alzheimer disease, or vascular dementia.

In fully adjusted analyses, the risk for dementia rose as the amount of smoking increased. In particular, participants who smoked more than two packs a day in midlife had more than twice the risk for dementia, AD, or vascular dementia two decades later, compared with those who'd never smoked.

Commenting on the potential reason behind the association, the authors write: "It is well recognized that smoking augments oxidative stress and inflammation, which are also believed to be important pathophysiologic mechanisms in AD."

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Guidelines for Preventing Recurrent Stroke Issued

Updated guidelines on preventing recurrent ischemic stroke have been issued by the American Heart Association and the American Stroke Association.

The document, published in Stroke, offers recommendations in a variety of areas, for example, management of risk factors such as smoking and obesity. The use of antithrombotic therapy after an intracranial hemorrhage also receives much attention.

There are several new strong recommendations, based on high levels of evidence. Among them:

• Although the utility of screening patients for metabolic syndrome has not been established, the dyslipidemic and hypertensive features of the syndrome should be singled out for preventive care.
• In addressing glycemic control and hypertension in diabetes, targets in existing U.S. guidelines should be used.

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