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The prevalence of chronic heart failure has steadily increased with improvements in survival rates for cardiac patients; however, heart failure remains a disorder whose typically progressive course worsens quality of life, and thus far has defied most conventional medical approaches. New ideas leading to new treatments are needed. The researchers behind this small intervention trial examined the effect of repeated sauna therapy on exercise tolerance in people with congestive heart failure and found significant benefits.
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Exposure to specific solvents, and trichloroethylene in particular, is associated with an increased risk of Parkinson's disease.
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A small percentage of patients taking statins may develop muscle symptoms (pain and weakness) but elevated CK is rare.
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I have been a student of atrial fibrillation (AF) for some time, but had never come upon the term "subclinical" AF until this New England Journal of Medicine publication.
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Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is a common vaginal infection causing significant gynecologic and obstetric morbidity.
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Yoga, a stretching program, and a self-care book on low back pain were compared in a three-armed randomized trial for patients with chronic low back pain. The findings showed that yoga was significantly more effective than was using the self-care book, whereas yoga and stretching classes were equally effective. The benefits lasted for at least 26 weeks.
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Nocturnal leg cramps are frequently preceded by the prescription of diuretics, statins, and inhaled long-acting ß2-agonists.
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Among patients with coronary heart disease and LDL-cholesterol levels less than 70 mg/dL, there is no incremental clinical benefit from the addition of niacin to statin therapy during a 36-month follow-up, despite improvements in HDL-cholesterol and triglyceride levels.
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There is still some debate about the relationship between being overweight and cardiovascular (CV) health, since among overweight individuals there is great diversity in levels of CV fitness as well as CV risk factors (e.g., hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia).