(March 23, 2010 - Insidermedicine)

 From Sweden - A high systolic blood pressure reading in chest pain patients admitted to an ICU may be associated with a favorable outcome, according to a report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Researchers reviewed data on nearly 120,000 patients admitted to an ICU with chest pain, finding that patients with a high supine systolic blood pressure reading had the most favorable 1 year prognosis.

From Minnesota - According to another report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, clinical trials tend to exaggerate their positive effects when stopped early. Researchers studied nearly 100 clinical trials that were stopped early, finding that these truncated trials had either misleading or exaggerated treatment effects.

And finally, from Boston - According to a report published in the journal Public Library of Science Medicine, there are 4 preventable factors that combine to reduce life expectancy in the US.  Researchers studied national surveys, finding that smoking, high blood pressure, high blood sugar and obesity combine to reduce life expectancy by  4.1 years in women and 4.9 years in men.