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Avoiding Hysterectomy: Major Interventional Radiology E-Collection Info Available
For the first time, the Society of Interventional Radiology has assembled a major electronic collection of professional articles about uterine artery embolization, a treatment directed toward a number of conditions involving the uterus-most often adverse health effects that may occur due to the presence of uterine fibroids. The Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology "virtual" collection allows health care providers and the public to view the abstracts on current research on this topic in one place, eliminating the need to search topics individually.
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IMEC, VIB And K.U.Leuven Launch Pioneering Brain Research
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New York Times Examines Changes In Surrogacy Process In Recent Years
The medical, legal and interpersonal processes involved with a surrogate birth have changed significantly since the controversial "Baby M" case two decades ago, the New York Times reports. In the case, the surrogate was the infant"s biological mother and unsuccessfully sought custody of the child after birth. The Times reports that the legal proceedings in the case helped reinforce the validity of surrogacy contracts, which are now standard practice.Most couples today use a gestational surrogate -- meaning that they have no genetic link to the woman carrying the fetus -- and some choose to maintain friendships with the surrogate after birth. According to the Times, people might choose gestational surrogacy if the woman lacks a uterus, has a malformed uterus, must take medication incompatible with pregnancy, or has had repeated miscarriages or failures at in vitro pregnancies. Male couples or single men might also use this option.Legal protections have strengthened since the Baby M case, although surrogacy remains illegal in some states. State laws also vary in the steps required to ensure that the parents" names, rather than the surrogate"s, are on the child"s birth certificate.Despite an increase in popularity, surrogacy remains "fraught with controversy" over criticisms that compensation to surrogates amounts to "baby selling" and exploitation of low-income women, according to the Times. However, surrogacy advocates say that most women who choose to become surrogates have altruistic motives. Surrogates typically receive between $15,000 and $20,000 as compensation for carrying the pregnancy and undergoing hormonal preparations. The Times reports that reputable agencies and lawyers who specialize in surrogacy help guard against exploitation and spurious motives for seeking a surrogate pregnancy. Prospective surrogates and parents typically undergo psychological screening and legal guidance, and most lawyers require that surrogates meet certain age and health criteria (Brody, New York Times, 7/21).
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Longevity And Mediterranean Diet Link Could Be Due To Specific Foods

New research from scientists in the US and Greece suggests that the health and longevity effects of the Mediterranean Diet are more strongly influenced by certain foods such as not eating too much meat, drinking moderate amounts of alcohol, consuming olive oil as opposed to saturated fats, and eating more fruits, vegetables, nuts and pulses. A Mediterranean diet high in fish, seafood and cereals and low in dairy products was not found to be linked to longer life, but this could be because these groups include a lot of different foods with different effects and the low numbers of people consuming fish and seafood in the sample. The study was the work of Professor Dimitrios Trichopoulos at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts in the US, together with professor Antonia Trichopoulou and Dr Christina Bamia from the University of Athens Medical School, and is published in the 23 June issue of BMJ. A lot of studies have made the headlines in recent years with findings that show strong links between following a Mediterranean diet and longer life, but this is the first to look inside the diet and examine links between particular foods and longer life. For the study Trichopoulos and colleagues used data covering over 23,000 men and women who took part in the Greek section of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study. The participants filled in questionnaires about their diet and lifestyle at the start of the study and then were interviewed periodically for about 8.5 years afterwards. Participants were also asked about their health, whether they smoked, how physically active they were, and whether they had ever been diagnosed with cancer, diabetes or heart disease. Diets were scored from 0 to 10 depending on how closely they followed a traditional Mediterranean diet. The main outcome measure was death from all causes. The results showed that after a mean follow up of 8.5 years: *652 deaths from any cause had occurred among 12,694 participants with Mediterranean diet scores between 0 and 4. *423 deaths from any cause had occurred among10,655 participants with Mediterranean diet scores of 5 or more. *After taking into account potential confounders, there was a statistically significant reduction in deaths among participants who stuck to a Mediterranean. *For every two units of increase in the score the adjusted mortality ratio was 0.864 (95 per cent confidence interval ranged from 0.802 to 0.932). *The individual foods that most contributed to this effect were: alcohol, ie ethanol (23.5 per cent), low consumption of meat and meat products (16.6 per cent), high consumption of vegetables (16.2 per cent), high consumption of fruits and nuts (11.2 per cent), high ratio of monounsaturated to saturated fats (10.6 per cent) and high consumption of pulse foods (9.7 per cent). *High consumption of cereals and low consumption of dairy food had minimal effects, while high consumption of fish and seafood was linked to a non-significant increase in death rates. The authors concluded that: "The dominant components of the Mediterranean diet score as a predictor of lower mortality are moderate consumption of ethanol, low consumption of meat and meat products, and high consumption of vegetables, fruits and nuts, olive oil, and legumes." They suggested that the minimal impact of high cereal and low dairy consumption was possibly due to the fact these food groups contain many different types of of food each with different effects on health. And the non-significant effect from fish and seafood could be due to their low consumption in this sample. "Anatomy of health effects of Mediterranean diet: Greek EPIC prospective cohort study." Antonia Trichopoulou, Christina Bamia, and Dimitrios Trichopoulos. BMJ 2009;338:b2337 doi: 10.1136/bmj.b2337 (Published 23 June 2009) Written by: Catharine Paddock, PhD Copyright: Medical News Today Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today


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