* Heart attack death rates peak in ...

* Heart attack death rates peak in December, according to a contemplation in the Annals of Internal Medicine. Researchers analyzed approximately 128000 Medicare patients who were hospitalized with heart attacks through a two-year period. Almost 14500 of those heart attacks occurr during the month of December. Although treatment was the same from end to end the year, the mortality rate for patients hospitalized in December was higher. Approximately 217 percent of patients who were hospitalized in the month of December died, whereas an average of 201 percent of patients who were admitted in the other month died. Researchers believe that further investigation is emergencyed to determine the reason for increased death rates during the winter month (Ann Intern M October 4 2005)

* Weight gain in children may be linked to the richness of fresh produce. Rand Corporation released a cogitation that says children are more likely to gain exces weight if they live in areas where fruits and vegetables are pricier than if they live in areas where bring into view costs less. Researchers analyzed the weight gain of 6918 children in 59 urban areas from the time they were in kindergarten until third grade. The amount of weight gain was then compared to the richness of produce in their community. Researchers build that, on average, the children gained 290 lb (132 kg) However, children in Mobile, Ala., where bring into view costs were the highest, gained approximately 50 percent more weight as measured by the agency of body mass index than the national average. Children in Visalia, Calif., where furnish was cheapest, had a weight gain of about individual half the national average. individual of the study authors refer tos that providing free fruits and vegetables to schoolchildren could help improve their diets. (Rand Corp. novels Release, October 5, 2005)

* Driving simulators, similar to flight simulators, may help calamity patients get back behind the wheel. Scientists experimented the success of a simulated driving program and reported their findings in Neurology Eighty-three knock survivors were retrained to drive onward the simulator or through a standard program. The standard program consisted of pencil and paper testing and an with actual road testing. All of the training was done from one side of to the other five weeks and lasted a total of 15 hours. formerly training was completed, the participants were exhibitioned on their driving skills in consequence of on-road testing and written examinations. In the cessation only 42 percent of participants in the standard program could pass a follow-up driving proof to get back on the road. However, of those who trained in succession the simulator, 73 percent were able to pass the driving criterion (Neurology, October 2005)

* Can fatherland living be easier on the lungs? The authors of a fresh study in Chest collected almost 2600 lung health scans from people living in rural and urban areas of Scotland. Participants living in the city and those living in the political division were similar in age and education even and had comparable smoking habits. After analyzing the questionnaire rejoinders the authors found that race living in the country were les likely to have asthma and other respiratory question s and more likely to report a better quality of life if they were already living with lung question at issues The authors of the subject of attention believe that if a person's immune plan is consistently exposed to high of the same heights of allergens, as is likely in more rural areas, a form of tolerance that would guard them from allergic disease may cause to grow (Chest, October 2005)

* Researchers in the Journal of Clinical Investigation released a preliminary investigation suggesting that marijuana can stimulate brain unravelling while alleviating mood disorders. The issue of a synthetic, laboratory-created cannabinoid that would naturally be ground in marijuana was tested in rats. Researchers gave the rats single injection of the cannabinoid to close attention the short-term outcomes, and they gave the rats injections pair times a day for brace weeks to study the long-term tenors Results of behavior tests showed that the substance improved the temper of the rats through a reduction in anxiety and depressive behaviors. The researchers also set through autopsies that the rats squandered no neurons after receiving injections and actually cause to growed new neurons that had been incorporated into the hippocampus. According to the researchers, it is unclear whether the rises can be applied to humans. (J Clin Invest, November 1 2005)

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