As every chocoholic knows, cocoa products contain flavonol, a natural plant chemical that seems to have healthful effects on blood pressure, blood vessels, blood clots, and more.
The new analysis had some caveats. All the studies reported consumption in a different way - some by frequency, some by cocoa intake, some by grams per day. Some of the studies were not well-designed. And since chocolate products are chock-full of fat and sugar, eating too much could lead to weight gain and (you guessed it) diabetes and heart disease.
So eat your heart out . . . in moderation.
The study appeared last week in the journal BMJ.
- Marie McCullough
Drop in deaths shows better care
Fewer patients with congestive heart failure are dying in the hospital, apparently because care is improving, according to an analysis by the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
In 2007, the most recent year for which data were available, there were 28 such deaths per 1,000 admissions, down from 55 deaths per 1,000 in the year 2000. The largest drop occurred in those ages 85 and older.
Also on the rise was the percentage of people receiving the recommended care: a test of left ventricular ejection fraction and the prescription of an ACE inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker, if indicated, at discharge. That proper-care figure climbed steadily in the years 2005 through 2008: 88, 90, 93, and 95 percent.
Improvement was seen across all racial categories, said agency health science administrator Karen Ho. All groups were in the 90s.
- Tom Avril
Antibiotic helps to ease flare-ups of COPD
Taking a common antibiotic every day helped people with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) have fewer flare-ups, a study published recently in the New England Journal of Medicine found.
