Ashlee and Pete Wentz expecting first child & other

Wednesday, 3 September 2008

Allopurinol May Lower Blood Pressure In Teens With Hypertension

� The drug zyloprim, which lowers uric acid levels, appears to reduce blood pressure level in adolescents with fresh diagnosed hypertension, according to a preliminary report in the August 27 publication of JAMA.

Hypertension is commonly associated with hyperuricemia (elevated blood level of uric acid, a by-product of normal chemical processes in the body and found in the piddle and pedigree). Early research suggested uric acid had a causal role in hypertension, but an natural elevation of uric acid in hypertension could be a consequence of several factors, and hyperuricemia is non considered a true hazard factor for hypertension, according to background information in the article. Recent studies have challenged this impression, including evidence supporting a causal part of uric acid in hypertension, as indicated from experimental studies in science laboratory animals.

Daniel I. Feig, M.D., Ph.D., of the Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, and colleagues conducted a randomised, placebo-controlled "crossing over" trial to determine whether lowering uric acid levels with the drug zyloprim would reduce blood pressure level (BP) in hyperuricemic adolescents (age 11-17 years) with newly diagnosed hypertension. Thirty patients were randomly assigned to get either allopurinol or placebo, twice day-after-day for four weeks. This was followed by a two week "washout" point during which the patients received neither allopurinol nor placebo, after which they received the other therapy (allopurinol or placebo) they had not received sooner, for tetrad more weeks.

Allopurinol treatment was associated with a significant decrease in casual and ambulatory systolic and diastolic BP. The median decrease in casual BP during zyloprim treatment was -6.9 mm Hg for systolic and -5.1 mm Hg for diastolic BP; for placebo, the various changes were -2.0 and -2.4. The average changes in 24-hour ambulatory BP during zyloprim were -6.3 mm Hg, systolic; -4.6, diastolic BP. Systolic BP increased slightly during the placebo phase by 0.8 mm Hg and diastolic BP slightly decreased by 0.3. The decrease in ambulatory BP directly correlated with zyloprim treatment. Twenty of the 30 participants achieved normal BP by casual and ambulatory criteria during the allopurinol form, whereas only 1 of 30 achieved normal BP during the placebo phase.

"The results of this study represent a potentially new curative approach, that of control of a biochemical suit of hypertension, rather than nonspecifically lowering elevated BP. Although not representing a fully developed therapeutic strategy, this report raises an alternative strategy that may prove to be more effective than currently uncommitted options," the authors spell.

"Despite these findings, this clinical trial is a small i and allopurinol is not indicated for the treatment of hypertension in adolescents or other populations. The potential inauspicious effects of allopurinol, including gastrointestinal complaints and especially Stevens-Johnson syndrome [a severe, allergic reaction], make allopurinol an untempting alternative to available antihypertensive medications. More clinical trials are needed to determine the reproducibility of the data and whether it can be generalized to the bigger hypertensive population. Nevertheless, the observation that lowering uric acid can reduce BP in adolescents with new diagnosed high blood pressure raises intriguing questions nearly its part in the pathogenesis of hypertension," the researchers conclude.

(JAMA. 2008;300[8]:924-932.)

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Wednesday, 6 August 2008

Smoking Predicts Increased Stroke Risk For Your Spouse

�Although Second Hand Smoke (SHS) is widely recognized as a risk factor for coronary thrombosis heart disease, there receive been few studies investigation the association of SHS and

Friday, 27 June 2008

DMX Arrested Again -- What Else Is New?

Don Imus would have a bloody field day with this one: DMX got arrested ... for the third time since May.

He was popped in Miami yesterday for driving without a valid driver's license, according to the local po-po. Why he would do this after getting collared in Arizona on a suspended license just a month ago is anyone's guess. Of course, he then got nabbed three days later in 'Zona for animal cruelty and felony drug possession charges.

Story developing ...

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Thursday, 19 June 2008

Mariah Carey wants a famous partner

Singer Mariah Carey has revealed that she prefers to date famous men, because they are more likely to "fully understand" her.
The singer told Allure magazine that she wants to find a partner who understands the world of celebrity.
Carey said: "That's a big deal for me - feeling like somebody else can't fully understand me because they're not in showbusiness."
"It shouldn't matter, but it does, because the energy it takes to be 'on' is a lot."
The singer also revealed that she is looking for "someone who I would know is going to take care of me emotionally, they're going to understand who I am".
Speaking about her fans, she said: "What's weird about that is being onstage, and the love that you get, and the adoration that you feel from your real fans. It's hard for a partner to compete - just imagine."

Friday, 13 June 2008

Martha Wainwright emerges from shadow of famous clan to find herself

TORONTO - Martha Wainwright is used to being referred to as the daughter or the sister of her more famous family members, but it's the shadow of former lovers that looms large on her second solo disc, a collection of tortured tales filled with heartache and loneliness.

The quirky singer-songwriter wears her heart on her sleeve with the provocatively titled, "I Know You're Married But I've Got Feelings Too," an emotional roller-coaster filled with dark humour and such melodramatic pronouncements as: "My heart was made for bleeding all over you."

"I certainly cry a lot," Wainwright admits of the raw emotion she puts on display, backed by swirling melodies and layered instrumentation.

"In general, I think that the songs were about my own autobiographical life (which) was scary and lonely as it usually is when you're young and trying to find yourself in a world of egomaniacs ... (And then) you get up on stage and you're trying to get loved and appreciated and it doesn't always work."

"You have to expose yourself a lot and so I think that early on that really defined my style of songwriting and then also my relationship to my family because that's always interested me."

Her wildly talented family is a fascination for many, and is famously the reason for Wainwright's belated foray into the musical spotlight herself. She spent much of her youth supporting the musical projects of folk-singer parents Loudon Wainwright III and Anna McGarrigle and her brother, singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright, with self-doubt serving as a constant personal obstacle.

Wainwright, 32, says she's finding her voice now and is excited by the stronger and more poised approach that distinguishes this latest outing from her nonetheless accomplished 2005 debut disc, simply titled "Martha Wainwright."

"It's kind of like being a rich kid and never having a job yourself," she says of her earlier insecurities.

"That makes you sometimes lack confidence in some way because you feel like you can never sort of catch up. I think that that's always been something that's haunted me but I think that's certainly less, less and less and less. And now that I just go on the road and I play my own shows and I write songs and I work really, really hard, all of that other stuff sort of fades away."

"As on the previous disc, brother Rufus appears singing back-up, and brought an undercurrent of sibling rivalry to the studio sessions.

"I always call Rufus when I run out of ideas because he never runs out of ideas ... and it's always something that is completely off-the-wall. And when I have him sing back-up I don't really tell him what to do because I don't think that's really going to work," Wainwright says laughing.

"Because he's still my older brother. It's more like trying to like let him have free reign. Then he leaves and then I edit it! So it's a system."

"Family also appears by way of Wainwright's husband, Brad Albetta, who produced most of the disc. Wainwright credits him with helping her find the courage to cut her own path to begin with, noting he ushered her through her debut, as well, and helped close a chapter in her life that included a seemingly endless stream of unrequited love."

"I was very lonely and very sad in many ways and so it was nice to have someone...in the work situation that believed in me and I think that gave me more of a sense of confidence to sort of continue," says Wainwright, whose wedding to Albetta last September was said to be a star-packed affair including guests Emmylou Harris, Linda Thompson and Jimmy Fallon.

Special guests on her second disc include friends Pete Townshend of the Who, Donald Fagen of Steely Dan and Garth Hudson of the Band.

Wainwright says her friendship with Townshend began several years ago in London when she received a phone call out of the blue inviting her to appear on an online music show he tapes out of his living room. To her surprise, he was a fan and jumped in with his guitar as she performed. They've been friends ever since, with Townshend providing mentorship and encouragement that now has Wainwright contemplating her musical ambitions in the grandest of scales.

"I'm still trying to create my story in the history of music amongst my family and other greats - which is so interesting about having people like Pete Townshend and Donald Fagen (as musical guests)," says Wainwright, who splits her time between Montreal and Brooklyn, N.Y.

"You get a sense of the history of music and that story and it's great to feel like you could maybe pop in somewhere on that line."