(March 1, 2010 - Insidermedicine)

From Boston - According to a report published in the journal Pediatrics, early measures should be taken to prevent childhood obesity, especially among minority children.  Researchers followed over 1800 women from their second trimester until the child was 5 years old. They found that most of the risk factors linked to childhood obesity occurred in early infancy, sometimes during pregnancy--and that minority children were more likely to have these risk factors.

From Israel - According to a report published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association, several weight loss diets my be able to reverse atherosclerosis in the overweight. Researchers studied nearly 150 overweight people, randomizing participants to either a low fat, low carb or Mediterranean diet. Results showed that all participants were able to lose weight, improve their blood pressure and thereby reverse atherosclerosis.

And finally, back to Boston - Men under 50 years old may be at increased risk of hearing loss with regular use of analgesics, according to a report published in the American Journal of Medicine. Researchers followed over 26,000 men for 18 years, finding that men who used aspirin regularly were at 33% increased risk of hearing loss, those who used NSAIDs were at 61% increased risk, and those who used acetaminophen were at 99% increased risk.