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LITTLE FALLS, N.J., May 13 -- Exercise regimens that burn more calories over less-intense periods of exercise can increase weight loss and reduce cardiovascular risk factors better than standard cardiac rehabilitation programs, researchers have found. Action Points  Explain that walking more at a slower pace improved weight loss and cardiac risk factors better than standard cardiac rehabilitation programs.Note that current cardiac rehabilitation guidelines were written when deconditioning after lengthy hospital stays was common, which is no longer the case. In a randomized trial, overweight patients who exercised more but with less intensity lost twice as much weight as those on typical cardiac rehab regimens and had greater reductions in markers of metabolic syndrome, according to Philip A. Ades, M.D., of the University of Vermont, and colleagues. "High-calorie-expenditure exercise is superior to standard cardiac rehabilitation exercise in accomplishing weight loss and favorably altering cardiometabolic risk factors, particularly insulin resistance, in overweight patients with coronary heart disease," the researchers reported online in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

likely to arrive in Britain,

likely to arrive in Britain

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SEATTLE, April 30 -- The epilepsy drug levetiracetam (Keppra) does not appear to be effective for prevention of chronic daily headache, researchers said here. Action Points  Explain that the epilepsy drug levetiracetam did not significantly increase the headache-free rate for patients with chronic daily headache compared with placebo.Note, however, that there was a significant reduction in disability and reduced pain severity in the treatment group, and the findings show that there is a subpopulation of chronic daily headache patients for whom levetiracetam remains a therapeutic option.Note that this study was published as an abstract and presented orally at a conference. These data and conclusions should be considered to be preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal. Levetiracetam drug achieved a 3.9% increase in headache-free performance over placebo, but the trend did not reach statistical significance, Roy Beran, M.D., of the University of New South Wales, and colleagues reported at the American Academy of Neurology meeting.