In the first randomized clinical trial to compare a low-carbohydrate diet with the combination of orlistat plus a low-fat diet, weight loss was similar for both approaches, but the low-carbohydrate diet was more effective for lowering blood pressure.
A total of 146 overweight or obese outpatients (mean age 52 years, mean body mass index 39.3) from the Department of Veterans Affairs primary care clinics in Durham, North Carolina, were assigned to one of two interventions:
• A low-carbohydrate diet that restricted carbohydrate initially to <20 g/day but did not restrict calorie intake.
Data from 68,517 adult men and women (mean age 69.6 years) indicates that vitamin D given alone in doses of 10 to 20 µg (400 to 800 IU) is not effective in preventing fractures. In contrast, the combination of vitamin D and calcium reduces hip fractures and total fractures—and probably vertebral fractures—irrespective of age, sex, or previous fractures.
Red yeast rice may be an acceptable alternative to statin therapy in patients with statin-associated myalgia (SAM), based on the results of a randomized, double-blind trial published in the January 15, 2010 issue of the American Journal of Cardiology.
Despite being a possible inhibitor of serotonin uptake—and thus potentially having a mechanism of action similar to that of tegaserod and alosetron—St. John’s wort proved to be less effective than placebo in a small study of patients with irritable bowel syndrome.
• In a recommendation statement published in the February 2010 issue of Pediatrics, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force advises clinicians to screen children 6 years of age and older for obesity and offer them or refer them to intensive counseling and behavioral interventions to promote improvements in weight status. (Pediatrics. 2010;125:361-7. [Epub Jan 18, 2010])
Metamucil Clear & Natural
The fiber supplement Fibersure, which contain 5 g of inulin fiber per teaspoon, has been renamed Metamucil Clear & Natural.
McNeil Consumer Healthcare Products Recall
• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have released updated 2010 immunization schedules for children, adolescents, and adults. All of the schedules and related resources can be viewed and downloaded at http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/recs/schedules/default.htm.
A study from Cornell University suggests that patients who continue to use household spoons to measure doses of liquid medications are likely to pour too much or too little medication, depending on the size of the spoon.
Smoking cessation increases a person’s risk of developing diabetes in the short term, based on longitudinal data from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study.
ARIC is an ongoing, prospective cohort study involving more than 15,000 American adults who were 45 to 64 years of age at the time of enrollment. The current analysis was based on follow-up data through 2004 for 9,398 participants who did not have diabetes either at baseline or at an initial follow-up clinic visit 3 years later.