(December 1, 2009 - Insidermedicine)

From Toronto - According to a report published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, pregnant women with glucose intolerance are more likely to demonstrate cardiovascular risk factors after birth. Researchers followed nearly 500 women, looking for the prevalence of metabolic syndrome--a general term for risk factors such as obesity, high blood pressure, and low HDL cholesterol--after birth. They found an association between even mild glucose intolerance and metabolic syndrome just 3 months following birth.

From California - Patients may recover quicker from knee surgery if they have a good stress response to the operation, according to a report published in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. Researchers studied 57 patients scheduled for knee surgery, counting the amount of immune cells in the blood up to 10 days before, the morning of, and 30 minutes after the operation. They found that patients whose immune system had a good stress response to surgery showed better knee function and mobility as well as less pain up to a year following the operation.

And finally, from Chicago - Radiation exposure from mammography increases the risk of breast cancer in women with a family history or genetic predisposition to the disease. For these high risk women, researchers found that  low dose radiation exposure from mammography raised the likelihood of breast cancer 1.5 times, while 5 or more exposures or exposure under the age 20 resulted in a 2.5 times increased risk. This research was presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America.