Mixed Bag

U-M study: 'Smarter' blood pressure guidelines could prevent many more heart attacks and strokes
Individualizing treatment recommendations using patients' risk of heart disease after considering multiple factors – such as age, gender and whether or not the patient smokes – is a more effective way to treat patients than current methods, according to the study that appears in the medical journal, Circulation. Eurekalert!

MU researcher finds way to reduce unnecessary lab tests, decrease patient costs by modifying software
When patients undergo diagnostic lab tests as part of the inpatient admission process, they may wonder why or how physicians choose particular tests. Increasingly, medical professionals are using electronic medical systems that provide lists of lab tests from which medical professionals can choose. Now, a University of Missouri researcher and her colleagues have studied how to modify these lists to ensure health professionals order relevant tests and omit unnecessary lab tests, which could result in better care and reduced costs for patients. University of Missouri

A diet pattern with more dairy and nuts, but less meat is related to lower risk of developing hypertension in middle-aged adults: the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study
These findings support the 2010 Dietary Guidelines to consume more dairy products and nuts, but suggest a reduction in meat intake. Weng LC, Steffen LM, Szklo M, Nettleton J, Chambless L, Folsom AR. Nutrients. 2013 May 21;5(5):1719-33. PMID: 23698164

Autoantibodies found in blood years before symptom onset of autoimmune disease
Autoantibodies are present many years before symptom onset in patients with primary Sjögren syndrome, an autoimmune disease, according to a Research Letter published in the November 6 issue of JAMA. MedicalXpress

Increased Cardiovascular Risk in Men Using Testosterone Therapy Prompts Warning
Men taking testosterone therapy had a 29 percent greater risk of death, heart attack and stroke according to a study of a "real world" population of men. An accompanying editorial in JAMA by an endocrinologist with the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania notes that the mounting evidence of a signal of cardiovascular risk warrants cautious testosterone prescribing and additional investigation. NewsWise