Daily Rounds: Broken Heart Attacks; Exercise Trumps Alzheimer's; Health Panelists Named; Diabetes' High Cost

Really? Can You Die of a Broken Heart? - NYTimes.com "In a large new study, scientists have confirmed what the medical world has long suspected: The so-called broken-heart syndrome is real. The study, published on Monday in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association, found that a person’s heart attack risk is 21 times higher than normal the day after a loved one dies. Over time the risk of an attack declines, but it remains elevated within that first month. In the first week after a loved one’s death, for example, the risk was six times higher than normal, said Elizabeth Mostofsky, the lead author of the paper and a postdoctoral research fellow at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston." (well.blogs.nytimes.com)

Alzheimer’s Gene Carriers May Cut Their Risk With Exercise, Study Shows - Bloomberg "People who are genetically susceptible to developing Alzheimer’s disease may be able to reduce their risk with exercise, a study found. Carriers of the Alzheimer’s gene APOE-4 who regularly exercised over a decade were five to 10 times less likely to have brain plaques linked to the disease than those with the gene who weren’t physically active, said John C. Morris, senior author of the study published today in Archives of Neurology." (bloomberg.com)

Patrick administration names health quality committee - Boston Medical News - White Coat Notes - Boston.com "The committee was created by the Legislature in 2010 and will meet for the first time on January 25. It will be chaired by Public Health Commissioner John Auerbach and Áron Boros, commissioner of the Division of Health Care Finance and Policy. Other members are:
Dolores Mitchell, executive director of the Group Insurance Commission (ex-officio)
Dr. Julian Harris, MassHealth director (ex-officio)
Dianne Anderson, president and chief executive of Lawrence General Hospital
Jon Hurst, president of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts
Amy Whitcomb Slemmer, executive director of Health Care for All
Dr. James Feldman, of the Massachusetts Medical Society and an emergency physician at Boston University Medical Center
Dr. Richard Lopez, chief physician executive at Atrius Health" (boston.com)

Diabetes' Economic Toll Goes Far Beyond Medical Bills : Shots - Health Blog : NPR "The study, which appears in the January issue of the policy journal Health Affairs, suggests that young people diagnosed with the disease are more likely to drop out of high school and to forgo or fail to finish college. As a result, they're likely to earn less than those without diabetes." (npr.org)