Stroke risk goes up in smoke

Experts know that smoking cigarettes doubles your stroke risk. But does how much you smoke impact your risk? Yes, say University of Maryland School of Medicine researchers. The investigators interviewed more than 460 women ages 15-49, who were either current smokers, former smokers or who had never smoked. Compared with women who'd never smoked, risk was 2.2 times greater for women smoking one to 10 cigarettes a day and 4.3 times greater for smokers of 21-30 cigarettes a day. Women smoking more than two packs of cigarettes a day faced a risk 9.1 times greater than nonsmokers. There's good news, though: Kick the habit and stroke risk begins to drop in as few as 30 days and returns to normal in about two years.

Drop pounds to control diabetes

After being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, the best thing you can do is lose weight. That's the conclusion of a four-year study conducted in Oregon and Washington by Kaiser Permanente researchers. Of the 2,500 people newly diagnosed with the disease, those who lost weight within about 18 months were up to twice as likely to reach their blood pressure and blood sugar goals as those who hadn't dropped pounds. Losing weight reduces diabetes-related risk for heart disease, blindness, nerve and kidney damage and amputation. More than 20 million Americans have type 2 diabetes; most are overweight or obese.

Statin-cancer link broken

If you've been avoiding heart-protective statins because you heard they may cause cancer, be assured it's safe to refill your prescription. In a data review of 15 controlled trials involving more than 437,000 person-years of follow up-the sum of all the years participants were studied-researchers, publishing in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, found no indication that the medicines given to reduce levels of artery-clogging LDL, or bad, cholesterol cause cancer. And a reminder: Never stop taking any medication without talking to your physician or healthcare provider.

To sleep, perchance to avoid hypertension

Adolescents who don't get enough sleep or sleep poorly risk more than bad grades: Today's poor sleep habits may be tomorrow's hypertension. Teens who had trouble falling asleep or woke up too early were three and a half times more likely to have elevated blood pressure. Sleeping fewer than six and a half hours boosted risk 2.5 times. The National Institutes of Health-funded study of nearly 240 teens ages 13-16 determined that 14 percent of study participants had prehypertension-meaning they don't have high blood pressure now but are likely to develop it in the future-or hypertension with blood pressure levels in the 90th percentile for their height, age and gender. Study authors say adolescents need about nine hours' sleep a night.