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Study Shows Fat Stem Cells May Improve Heart Function After Heart Attack Stem cells taken from belly fat may be able to boost cardiac function after a heart attack , preliminary research suggests. In a study of 14 people who had a heart attack, fat-derived stem cells reduced the amount of damaged heart tissue, increased blood flow in the heart, and improved the heart's pumping ability, compared with placebo. Due to the study's small size, however, the difference between the two groups could have been due to chance. "But given the dramatic and consistent results, we think it is a real effect," says study head Eric Duckers, MD, PhD, of Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam, Netherlands. U.S. stem cell researcher Douglas Losordo, MD, of the program in cardiovascular regenerative medicine at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, tells WebMD, "The evidence strongly suggests fat stem cells can stimulate the repair process after a hear

Lactobacillus GG May Ease Stomachaches in Children With Irritable Bowel Syndrome A common probiotic may help ease tummy troubles for children with chronic stomach pain caused by irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). A new study shows the probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus strain GG, commonly known as lactobacillus GG or LGG, significantly reduced the severity and frequency of bouts of abdominal pain in children with irritable bowel syndrome. Probiotics are "friendly bacteria" that are similar to organisms naturally found in the digestive tract. Certain types of probiotics have been linked to a number of health benefits in adults, such as soothing irritable bowel syndrome. But they have not been widely studied in children. Researchers say recurrent abdominal pain affects 10% to 15% of school-aged children. Irritable bowel syndrome is often the cause, and there are few treatment options available for children with this disorder. "One of the best-studied pro

Most Children With Middle Ear Infections Get Better on Their Own, Study Finds The best treatment for many children with middle ear infections may be no treatment at all, a review of the research confirms. The analysis found antibiotics to be "modestly" more effective than just treating symptoms with pain medication. But use of antibiotics was also commonly associated with side effects like diarrhea and rash. Researchers say the review, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association , shows the merit of a watch-and-wait approach to managing ear infections. Pros and Cons of Antibiotics Current treatment guidelines give doctors the choice of prescribing antibiotics right away or observing children for up to three days with only pain management to see if they get better on their own. The new analysis found that in most cases they do. Based on their review of more than 100 studies published over the last decade, the researchers were able to

Study Shows Exercise Associated With Better Sexual Functioning in Men Men seeking to improve their performance in bed might want to give exercise a shot. Men who exercised had substantially higher scores on a sexual-function questionnaire than men who were sedentary, researchers report. Looked at another way, men who were moderately active -- walking briskly just 30 minutes a day, four days a week, or the equivalent -- were about two-thirds less likely to have sexual dysfunction than their sedentary counterparts, says Erin McNamara, MD, of Duke University Medical Center. "If men won't exercise for their cardiovascular health, maybe they will for their sexual function," she tells WebMD. The findings were presented at the annual meeting of the American Urological Association. Exercise, Sex, and Healthy Men While several studies have shown that exercise may help improve sexual function in obese men, very few have looked at the relationship between exerc

Study Shows Greater Risk of Heart Attacks and Earlier Death for Short People Short people have a higher risk of heart health problems than tall people, according to a new study. "The shorter you are, the higher risk you have of developing cardiovascular disease," says Tuula Paajanen, MD, a researcher at the University of Tampere, Finland. Short people, she found, also had an increased risk of heart attacks and earlier death than taller people. Overall, she says, the risk of getting heart disease and dying from it early is 1.5 times higher for short people than for tall people. The report, in which Paajanen analyzes 52 previously published studies, is published in the European Heart Journal. For nearly 60 years, researchers have debated a potential link between height and heart disease, with the first report finding short people at a health disadvantage published in 1951. So Paajanen and her team did medical literature searches, selecting the most scient

New Guidelines Call for Physical Activity Before, During, and After Treatment Though cancer patients have long been told to take it easy, they can -- and should -- be as physically active as possible before and during treatment, according to new guidelines from the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). "We have to get past the idea that exercise is harmful for cancer patients," says Kathryn Schmitz, PhD, MPH, lead author of the guidelines and associate professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Physical activity brings many benefits, including improved aerobic fitness and strength, decreased fatigue, better quality of life, and improved body image, Schmitz tells WebMD. No one is saying you should go out and run a marathon during chemotherapy. "You know your own body, do what's comfortable," she says. Many cancer patients who stop being physically ac

Non-Genital HPV Wart Viruses May Raise Risk of Common Skin Cancers The HPV viruses that cause non-genital warts may increase the risk of getting common skin cancers, especially in people on long-term steroid medications. The finding comes from a study comparing 1,561 people with the most common kinds of skin cancer -- squamous cell and basal cell carcinoma -- to people without cancer. There are more than 100 types of human papillomavirus (HPV). The most well-known types are sexually transmitted and cause genital warts , cervical cancer, and anal/genital tumors. But other HPV types spread easily without sexual contact and are a leading cause of non-genital warts, especially on the arms and fingers. Earlier studies have linked some of these HPVs to skin cancer, especially in transplant patients on immune-suppressing therapy and in people with a genetic disease (epidermodysplasia verruciformis) that suppresses immune responses. Now Margaret R. Karagas, PhD, of Dart

When it comes to weight loss, there's no shortage of diet plans. Check any magazine rack, and you're bound to see the latest and greatest diet plans. But how do you know if a diet plan fits your needs and lifestyle? Ask yourself these questions about any diet plan you're considering. Does it: * Include various foods from the major food groups: fruits, vegetables, grains, low-fat dairy products, lean protein sources, nuts and seeds? * Include foods you like and that you would enjoy eating for a lifetime — not just for several weeks or months? * Feature foods you can easily find in your local grocery store? * Allow you to eat your favorite foods, or better yet, all foods? * Fit your lifestyle and budget? * Include proper amounts of nutrients and calories to help you lose weight safely and effectively? * Encourage regular physical activity? If you answer no to any of these questions, keep looking. There are better diet plans out there for you.   Diet and exercise

Researchers Explain Steps You Can Take to Prevent Foot Problems f one of your parents has bunions or high-arched feet, there's a good chance you may inherit the foot problem. That's according to new findings from researchers who examined more than 6,000 feet as part of the Framingham Foot Study. The findings were presented here at the 2010 American College of Rheumatology Annual Scientific Meeting. "Foot disorders have high heritability," says study head Marian T. Hannan, DSc, MPH, associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. "That's important, especially for younger people, as there are things you can do to slow the rate of progression and even to prevent many of these problems in the first place," she tells WebMD. Hannan says she believes the study is the first to examine the association between foot problems and genetics. Who Has Foot Problems Foot disorders affect 20% to 60% of adults and often cause problems walking

Study Examines Potential of Computer Games as Treatment for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Some computer games are more effective than others at reducing traumatic flashbacks, according to a study. Researchers led by Emily Holmes, a senior research fellow at Oxford University in England, compared the effects of playing two different types of computer games -- Tetris and Pub Quiz Machine 2008 -- or doing nothing when trying to minimize traumatic flashbacks. The study showed those who played Tetris experienced fewer traumatic flashbacks while those who played PubQuiz actually experienced more. Tetris is a puzzle computer game involving the manipulation of colored blocks; Pub Quiz is a computerized word game. The study involved two experiments. In the first, 60 healthy people were shown a film about injury and death and the dangers of drunken driving. After waiting for 30 minutes after the film ended, participants were divided into three groups: playing Tetris for 10 mi