JAMA news releases are made available to the public after 3 pm US Central time on the first 4 Tuesdays of each month. The Archives Journals news releases are made available to the public after 3 pm Central time on Mondays. We also provide a list of previous news releases.
THIS WEEK'S CONTENTS
ARCHIVES OF INTERNAL MEDICINE NEWS RELEASES
Embargoed Until: 3 P.M. (CT), Monday, February 27, 2006
HIGHER RATES OF INFECTION MAY EXPLAIN WHY WOMEN HAVE HIGHER RISK OF DEATH AFTER CORONARY ARTERY BYPASS SURGERY
HIGHER OPTIMISM LEVELS ASSOCIATED WITH LOWER RISK OF CARDIOVASCULAR DEATH IN ELDERLY MEN
COCOA INTAKE LINKED TO LOWER BLOOD PRESSURE, REDUCED RISK OF DEATH
INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THESE NEWS RELEASES IS PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT. JOURNAL ATTRIBUTION IS REQUIRED.
JOURNALISTS CAN NOW ACCESS EMBARGOED JAMA/ARCHIVES STUDIES ON-LINE.
Go to www.jamamedia.org for more information and to apply for access.
EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 3 P.M. (CT), MONDAY, February 27, 2006
Media Advisory: To contact Mary A.M. Rogers, Ph.D., call Kara Gavin at 734-764-2220.
HIGHER RATES OF INFECTION MAY EXPLAIN WHY WOMEN HAVE HIGHER RISK OF DEATH AFTER CORONARY ARTERY BYPASS SURGERY
CHICAGO—Higher rates of infection among women undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery may explain why women have higher risk of death than men following the procedure, according to a study in the February 27 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
More than half a million coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgeries are performed in the United States every year, making it one of the most common surgical procedures in the country, according to background information in the article. Physicians know that women who undergo the procedure are more likely to die during hospitalization than men. This may be because of differences in artery size or the higher rate of other diseases and conditions among women, though these explanations remain controversial.
Mary A.M. Rogers, Ph.D., of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and colleagues hypothesized that part of the disparity may be explained by gender differences in infection rates and consequences. They studied a group of 9,218 Medicare beneficiaries (5,749 men and 3,469 women) in Michigan who underwent CABG surgery between July 1997 and September 1998. Of these participants, 1,122 (12.2 percent) had an infection during their hospitalization.
The researchers found that women were significantly more likely to develop infection than men (16.1 percent vs. 9.8 percent), even when considering other factors such as age, length of stay, type of admission, race and presence of other illnesses. Urinary, digestive, respiratory and skin and subcutaneous (under the skin) tissue infections were all more common in women than men. More patients with infections died in the hospital (11.9 percent) than did those without infection (4 percent), and these higher mortality rates continued throughout the 100-day follow-up. The relationship between infection and death was stronger in men than in women-men with an infection were three times as likely to die as men without, while infected women had an increased risk of 1.8 times that of uninfected women.
"Clearly, infection is an important factor when evaluating the association between sex and mortality after CABG surgery," they conclude. "As a direct indicator of patient safety, infection at any site, regardless of time of onset, warrants additional investigation as a potential contributor to mortality."
(Arch Intern Med.
2006;166:437-443. Available pre-embargo to the media at www.jamamedia.org)
Editor's Note: This project was supported by the Veterans Affairs Medical Center/University of Michigan Patient Safety Enhancement Program and by a grant from The John A. Hartford Foundation, New York. A full financial disclosure is listed in the article.
For more information, contact JAMA/Archives media relations at 312/464-JAMA (5262) or e-mail mediarelations{at}jama-archives.org.
Go back to the top.
EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 3 P.M. (CT), MONDAY, February 27, 2006
Media Advisory: To contact Erik J. Giltay, Ph.D., M.D., email giltay{at}dds.nl.
HIGHER OPTIMISM LEVELS ASSOCIATED WITH LOWER RISK OF CARDIOVASCULAR DEATH IN ELDERLY MEN
CHICAGO—The most optimistic elderly men in a Dutch study had a lower risk of cardiovascular death over 15 years when compared with the least optimistic, according to an article in the February 27 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Studies suggest that a person's optimism can predict their well-being and physical health, according to background information in the article. Being optimistic has been associated with better health outcomes in patients with ischemic heart disease (caused by narrowing of the coronary arteries), and with a lower risk for all-cause death and cardiovascular disease and death. The study authors focused on dispositional optimism, defined as having generally positive life engagement and expectancies for one's future.
Erik J. Giltay, Ph.D., M.D., of GGZ Delfland, Institute of Mental Health, Deft, the Netherlands, and colleagues studied elderly men living in the Netherlands to determine optimism's effect on cardiovascular death. The study included 545 men aged 64 to 84 years who did not have pre-existing cardiovascular disease or cancer. Optimism was assessed in 1985, 1990, 1995 and 2000 in a questionnaire given to study participants, who were asked to rate their agreement with the following items: "I still expect much from life," "I do not look forward to what lies ahead for me in the years to come," "My days seem to be passing by slowly" and "I am still full of plans." The men were given scores and divided into groups based on their levels of optimism.
The researchers found optimism to be associated with an approximately 50 percent lower risk of cardiovascular death in the men over 15 years of follow-up. Higher optimism scores were associated with younger age, higher education, less often living alone, better health, a higher physical activity score and a lower depression score in 1990. On a scale from zero to three, with three being the most optimistic, the average scores decreased from 1.50 in 1985 to 1.27 in 2000. Current and past study results indicate that an individual's optimism changes only moderately over time, though it does tend to decrease with age. "Optimism can be estimated easily and is stable over long periods," the authors write. "It is yet to be established whether interventions aimed at improving an older individual's level of optimism may reduce the risk of cardiovascular mortality."
(Arch Intern Med.
2006;166:431-436. Available pre-embargo to the media at www.jamamedia.org)
Editor's Note: The Zutphen Elderly Study was supported by the Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development, The Hague.
For more information, contact JAMA/Archives media relations at 312/464-JAMA (5262) or e-mail mediarelations{at}jama-archives.org.
Go back to the top.
EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 3 P.M. (CT), MONDAY, February 27, 2006
Media Advisory: To contact Brian Buijsse, M.Sc., e-mail brian.buijsse{at}rivm.nl.
COCOA INTAKE LINKED TO LOWER BLOOD PRESSURE, REDUCED RISK OF DEATH
CHICAGO—A study of elderly Dutch men indicates that eating or drinking cocoa is associated with lower blood pressure and a reduced risk of death, according to an article in the February 27 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Cocoa has been linked to cardiovascular health benefits since at least the 18th century, but researchers are just beginning to collect scientific evidence for these claims, according to background information in the article. Cocoa is now known to contain chemicals called flavan-3-ols, which have been linked to lower blood pressure and improved function of the cells lining the blood vessels.
Brian Buijsse, M.Sc., National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, the Netherlands, and colleagues examined cocoa's relationship to cardiovascular health in 470 Dutch men aged 65 to 84 years. The men underwent physical examinations and were interviewed about their dietary intake when they enrolled in the study in 1985 and at follow-up visits in 1990 and 1995. The researchers then placed them into three groups based on their level of cocoa consumption. Information about their subsequent illnesses and deaths were obtained from hospital or government data.
Over the next 15 years, men who consumed cocoa regularly had significantly lower blood pressure than those who did not. Over the course of the study, 314 men died, 152 due to cardiovascular diseases. Men in the group with the highest cocoa consumption were half as likely as the others to die from cardiovascular disease. Their risk remained lower even when considering other factors, such as weight, smoking habits, physical activity levels, calorie intake and alcohol consumption. The men who consumed more cocoa were also less likely to die of any cause.
Although blood pressure is usually linked with risk of cardiovascular death, that was not the case in this study. "The lower cardiovascular mortality risk associated with cocoa intake could not be attributed to the lower blood pressure observed with cocoa use," the authors write. "Our findings, therefore, suggest that the lower cardiovascular mortality risk related with cocoa intake is mediated by mechanisms other than lowering blood pressure." The benefits associated with flavan-3-ols may play a role.
The link between chocolate and overall lower risk of death suggests that other mechanisms also may be involved. "Because cocoa is a rich source of antioxidants, it may also be related to other disease that are linked to oxidative stress (e.g. pulmonary diseases, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and certain types of cancer) ," the authors conclude. "However, this merits further investigation."
(Arch Intern Med. 2006;166:411-417. Available pre-embargo to the media at www.jamamedia.org)
Editor's Note: The Zutphen Elderly Study was supported by grants from the Netherlands Prevention Foundation, The Hague.
For more information, contact JAMA/Archives media relations at 312/464-JAMA (5262) or e-mail mediarelations{at}jama-archives.org.
Go back to the top.
