Mayo Clinic

August 06, 2008 -- ROCHESTER, Minn. — Cholesterol, both good and bad, gets plenty of attention when the subject is reducing the risk of heart disease. Yet triglycerides, a form of fat that circulates in the blood, merit similar attention, according to the August issue of Mayo Clinic Health Letter.

Some studies suggest that the increase in heart disease risk from elevated triglycerides may rival that of high low-density lipoprotein (LDL) or "bad" cholesterol. Another concern is that high triglyceride levels increase the risk of pancreatitis, a painful, life-threatening inflammation of the pancreas.    » read more »

June 17, 2008 -- ROCHESTER, Minn. — As Americans' collective waistline has continued to expand, so has the prevalence of obesity-related cancer. According to the June issue of Mayo Clinic Health Letter, an estimated 14 percent of cancer deaths in older men and 20 percent in older women can be attributed to excess body fat.

Obese women: Photo by Malingering (CC)

It's not fully understood why excess body fat increases the risk of cancer.

Theories include:    » read more »

June 17, 2008 -- ROCHESTER, Minn. — Researchers have long suspected that socioeconomic factors like education level and income also might affect survival rates following heart attack. In the June issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings, Mayo Clinic researchers present new data suggesting that people with lower incomes and education levels are more likely to die after heart attack than more affluent, educated people.    » read more »

Economy heightens need to monitor mental health

June, 2008 -- ROCHESTER, Minn. — Mayo Clinic research suggests unmarried women living in rural areas have lower self-rated health status than their married counterparts. This lower health status often includes greater instances of self-assessed feelings of depression. The results of the study were recently published in the Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice. They suggest that primary care physicians should take a proactive role in addressing health concerns of single women.    » read more »

May 26, 2008 -- ROCHESTER, Minn. — Mayo Clinic researchers have found that carrying a common genetic disorder doubles the risk of developing lung cancer in smokers and nonsmokers.

The study is published in the May 26 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, a journal published by the American Medical Association.

Cigarette butts: Photo by mfshadow (CC)    » read more »

April 13, 2008 -- SAN DIEGO — Smoking puts older women at significant risk for loss of DNA repair proteins that are critical for defending against development of some colorectal cancers, according to research from a team led by Mayo Clinic scientists.

In a study being presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), the researchers found that women who smoked were at increased risk for developing colorectal tumors that lacked some or all of four proteins, known as DNA mismatch repair (MMR) proteins.

Smoking: Photo by JonF119 (CC)    » read more »

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Obesity is more than a cosmetic concern because it increases a person's risk for developing high blood pressure, diabetes and many other serious health problems. It's well understood that consuming more calories than you expend through exercise and daily activities causes weight gain.

Belly of an obese man: Photo by Word Freak (CC)    » read more »

CHICAGO — More than half of American adults considered to have normal body weight in America have high body fat percentages — greater than 20 percent for men and 30 percent for women — as well as heart and metabolic disturbances, new Mayo Clinic research shows. The finding conflicts with the widely held belief that maintaining a normal weight automatically guards against disorders such as high levels of circulating blood fats and a tendency to develop metabolic syndrome, which often leads to type 2 diabetes.    » read more »

Mouse study shows dopamine blocks tumor-feeding blood vessels

March 13, 2008 -- ROCHESTER, Minn. — A study published in the March 13 online issue of The Journal of Clinical Investigation (http://www.jci.org/) shows that dopamine, a drug currently used to treat Parkinson's disease and other illnesses, also might work in cancer patients. The study, which was done in mouse and laboratory models, shows that dopamine could possibly prevent new blood vessels from growing and as a result, slow cancer progression.    » read more »

March 04, 2008 -- ROCHESTER, Minn. — Five health prevention strategies could save more than 100,000 lives a year, according to recent research reported in the March issue of Mayo Clinic Women's HealthSource.

Cost, busy schedules or just plain doctor avoidance prevent some people from seeking important preventive care. But skipping important screenings increases the risk of illness or having an illness diagnosed at a later stage when it's harder to treat or cure.    » read more »

February 29, 2008 -- ROCHESTER, Minn. — The incidence of type 2 diabetes is rising, especially in urbanized parts of the world where sedentary lifestyles and obesity abound. In addition to weight and inactivity, race puts some people at increased risk for developing type 2 diabetes. The incidence of diabetes is rapidly increasing globally, and Asian Indians have the highest prevalence. An estimated 32 million Asian Indians have been diagnosed with this condition, and some experts expect this number to double over the next 30 years.    » read more »

Collaborative efforts result in cleaner air and healthier kids — Celebration planned for Feb. 19 at Herbert Hoover Elementary School

February 13, 2008 -- ROCHESTER, Minn. — A voluntary collaboration of businesses, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations called Project Green Fleet is reducing the pollution created by transit and school buses in the city of Rochester.    » read more »

February 11, 2008 -- A Mayo Clinic analysis of two decades of autopsy results shows a long-term decline in the prevalence of coronary disease has ended and the disease may be on the upswing. The findings appear in today's issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.    » read more »

November 27, 2007 -- ROCHESTER, Minn. — Cryoablation, a procedure most commonly associated with destroying kidney and prostate tumors by freezing them, has been shown to offer durable pain relief of cancer that has spread to bone. The procedure freezes and shrinks or destroys cancerous tumors in or near bone.    » read more »

November 25, 2007 -- ROCHESTER, Minn. — A review of 62 Mayo Clinic patients who underwent cryoablation to treat cancerous kidney tumors shows that the patients are cancer free for up to two and a half years after having had the procedure.

Also called cryotherapy or cryosurgery, cryoablation is a procedure in which extreme cold is applied to the tumor using a cryoprobe, a hollow needle-like device filled with argon gas. The gas rapidly freezes the targeted tumor.    » read more »