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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.

ScienceDaily (May 13, 2009) — Do biofuels always create smaller carbon footprints than their fossil-fuel competitors? Not necessarily, finds a paper published in Elsevier's Environmental Impact Assessment Review. See also: Earth & Climate Energy and the Environment Renewable Energy Geography Global Warming Air Quality Environmental Science Reference Activated carbon Slash and burn Combustion Natural gas The article reports that in the UK, the carbon footprint for charcoal grilling is almost three times as large as that for LPG grilling. (Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), often referred to as propane, is a mixture of mostly propane and butane).

Increased intakes of folic acid by mandatory fortification of grain products to reduce neural tube defects may also reduce a baby’s risk of severe congenital heart defects, says a new study. The incidence of the heart problems was reduced by 6 per cent following mandatory fortification of grain products, introduced in Canada in 1998, researchers from McGill University and the University of Alberta report in the British Medical Journal.

Consuming cheese from ewe’s milk, rich in conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), may reduce markers linked to heart disease, suggest results from a small Italian study. Researchers from the University of Florence report that ewe’s milk rich in cis-9, trans-11 CLA produced favourable changes in inflammatory cytokines and platelet aggregation, both of which are associated with atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries due to the build-up of fatty deposits on artery walls. Atherosclerosis is the primary cause of coronary heart disease (CHD), which costs the British public health system more than €5bn per year. “These observations, although preliminary and obtained in a limited study group, seem to be of relevance for the practical implications in terms of nutrition and health of the general population,” wrote the researchers in Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases.

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.

ScienceDaily (May 21, 2009) — The ability to mount an immune response to influenza A (H1N1) infection is significantly compromised by a low level of arsenic exposure that commonly occurs through drinking contaminated well water, scientists at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) and Dartmouth Medical School have found. See also: Health & Medicine Immune System Swine Flu Influenza Earth & Climate Hazardous Waste Water Environmental Issues Reference Flu vaccine Pandemic Heat shock protein Avian flu Joshua Hamilton, the MBL's Chief Academic and Scientific Officer and a senior scientist in the MBL's Bay Paul Center; graduate student Courtney Kozul of Dartmouth Medical School, where the work was conducted; and their colleagues report their findings in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.