Is the Wrist Bone Connected to Heart Risk?

  • Author: Health Informer
  • Filed under: Health News
  • Date: Apr 12,2011

Measuring the wrist bone may be a new way to identify which overweight children and adolescents face an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease, according to research in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

“This is the first evidence that wrist circumference is highly correlated to evidence of insulin resistance,” said Raffaella Buzzetti, M.D., senior study author and professor in the Department of Clinical Sciences at “Sapienza” University of Rome, Italy. “Wrist circumference is easily measured and if our work is confirmed by future studies, wrist circumference could someday be used to predict insulin resistance and cardiovascular disease risk.”

In a study of 477 overweight/obese children and adolescents (average age 10), researchers found that wrist circumferences accounted for 12 percent to 17 percent of the total variance of insulin resistance.  Insulin resistance is explained only by the size of the wrist’s bony tissue and not by the fatty tissue, the researchers said.

Many studies have shown that atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease — caused by narrowing of the arteries — begins to develop in childhood.  Insulin resistance, a condition in which the body makes insulin but can’t use it efficiently to break down blood sugar, is a metabolic risk factor for later development of cardiovascular disease.

Higher insulin levels increase the risk of developing insulin resistance, which in turn increases the risk of developing cardiovascular disease. Although excess body fat is linked to several heart disease risk factors including insulin resistance, measuring body fat in children is problematic partly because of how rapidly their bodies change during puberty, researchers said.

The researchers sought an easy way for doctors to identify young people at greatest risk. They measured wrist circumference manually with a cloth tape measure and a subset of 51 of the children also underwent a painless imaging technique called nuclear magnetic resonance for precise measuring of the bony area vs. fatty area of the wrist. “We decided to use a parameter traditionally connected to the frame size, reversing its traditional use as a correction factor for BMI,” said co-lead authors Marco Capizzi, M.D. and Gaetano Leto, M.D., Ph.D. Read the rest of this entry »


Many Businesses Cite Access Problems for Medicare Beneficiaries

A survey of home medical equipment companies released today found that many businesses providing power wheelchairs to Medicare beneficiaries have made abrupt changes in their operations to comply with new federal policies.  But the regulatory changes have made it difficult for some businesses to provide quality products and service to Medicare patients.

The American Association for Homecare (AAHomecare) said more than 125 businesses across the country were contacted for the survey, providing the most extensive research to date on how companies are adjusting to the federal mandates. These include the controversial competitive bidding process for most home medical equipment, replacing a first-month purchase option with a 13-month rental program for power wheelchairs, as well as other factors, such as extensive government audits and confusing guidelines for documenting medical necessity for mobility assistance.

Many providers reported negative consequences ranging from planning lay-offs, no longer offering power wheelchairs and going out of business to the need to find additional warehouse space for used equipment and struggles to perform repairs for some patients.

Specifically, the survey found that: Read the rest of this entry »


Endo Pharmaceuticals and American Medical Systems announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Endo will acquire AMS, a leading provider of world-class devices and therapies for male and female pelvic health, for $30 per share, or $2.9 billion in cash, which includes the assumption and repayment of $312 million of AMS debt.

The combined company will be positioned to deliver more comprehensive healthcare solutions across its diversified businesses in branded pharmaceuticals, generics and devices and services, in the key therapeutic areas of urology and pain.

AMS is a market leading provider of medical devices and therapies that help restore pelvic health, and is recognized as a technology leader for developing minimally invasive and more cost effective solutions, serving urologists, urogynecologists, and gynecologists. AMS’ business consists of three segments: Men’s Health, Women’s Health and BPH (Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia) Therapy, with approximately 73 percent of its sales in the U.S. and the remainder coming from its international presence in Europe, Canada and the Asia Pacific and Latin America regions.

The acquisition will bring Endo scale in its devices and services business segment, and the combination of AMS with Endo’s existing platform will provide additional cost-effective solutions across the entire urology spectrum. In addition, the acquisition will further Endo’s diversification and increase revenue, earnings and cash flow streams. On a 2011 pro forma basis, the combined company, with approximately 4,000 employees, would have had revenues of approximately $3 billion and EBITDA of approximately $1 billion. Read the rest of this entry »


FDA Approves New Device to Treat Brain Aneurysms

  • Author: Health Informer
  • Filed under: Health News
  • Date: Apr 8,2011

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a new device that provides neurointerventional surgeons with another tool to treat brain aneurysms without performing open surgery.

An aneurysm is a weak, enlarged area in an artery (blood vessel). Over time, the force of normal blood pressure can cause it to rupture, which can be life-threatening and cause significant disability in survivors. The American Association of Neurological Surgeons estimates that every year 30,000 people in the United States experience a ruptured brain aneurysm. Aneurysms are more prevalent in people ages 50 to 60 and three times more prevalent in women.

The size of an aneurysm can vary from small (less than .25 inches) to giant (larger than 1.25 inches). Its shape may also vary; for example, it may be balloon-like with a narrow neck extending from the artery or it may resemble a bulge with a wide or indistinct neck.

The Pipeline Embolization Device (PED) is a flexible mesh tube made of platinum and nickel-cobalt chromium alloy that can be used to block off large, giant, or wide-necked aneurysms in the internal carotid artery, a major blood vessel supplying blood to the front of the brain. The device can also reduce the likelihood that an aneurysm will rupture. Read the rest of this entry »


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