Divide over when to use in-depth cholesterol tests (AP)

WASHINGTON ? For heart health, you're supposed to know your numbers: Total cholesterol, the bad LDL kind and the good HDL kind. But your next checkup might add a new number to the mix.

More doctors are going beyond standard cholesterol counts, using another test to take a closer look at the bad fats ? a count of particles that carry LDL through the blood.

Cardiologists are divided over the usefulness of that approach. Proponents contend it might help them spot at-risk patients that regular checks might miss, or get more information about how aggressively to treat them.

But so far, guidelines from major heart organizations don't recommend these extra tests. They're pricier than regular cholesterol exams, although Medicare and many other insurers pay for them. And it's not always clear what the results mean.

"I see a lot of people being confused," says Dr. Nieca Goldberg of New York University Langone Medical Center and the American Heart Association. Especially when they're used on lower-risk people, "you don't know how to make sense of the information."

Yet up to half of patients diagnosed with heart disease apparently had normal levels of LDL cholesterol, and some doctors say particle testing might help find some of them sooner.

"For most people, the standard lipid profile is fine," says Dr. Michael Davidson of the University of Chicago. But "I get referred people who said, `My cholesterol was fine, why do I have heart disease?' We're showing them, well, because your particle number's sky high and they were not aware that was a problem."

Davidson chaired a committee of the National Lipid Association which this month called the extra tests reasonable to assess which at-risk patients might need to start or intensify cholesterol treatment. That committee's meeting was paid for by a grant from eight pharmaceutical companies, including some makers of particle tests.

Cholesterol isn't the only factor behind heart disease. High blood pressure, smoking, obesity, diabetes or a strong family history of the disease can put someone in the high-risk category even if their cholesterol isn't a red flag. Some doctors also are testing for inflammation in arteries that may play a role, too.

On the cholesterol front, doctors have long focused on three key numbers:

_Total cholesterol should be below 200.

_An LDL or "bad" cholesterol level below 130 is good for healthy people, but someone with heart disease or diabetes should aim for under 100.

_For HDL, the "good" cholesterol that helps control the bad kind, higher numbers are better ? 60 is protective while below 40 is a risk.

Where do particles come in? Scientists have long known that small, dense LDL particles sneak into the artery wall to build up and narrow blood vessels more easily than larger, fluffier particles. While overall LDL levels usually correlate with the amount of particles in blood, they don't always, just as a beach bucket of sand may weigh the same as a bucket of pebbles but contain more particles.

Only in recent years have commercial tests made particle checks more feasible ? although there's no standard method, and different tests measure in different ways. The tests add another $100 to $150 to regular cholesterol checks.

But is knowing about your particles really useful, and if so when? That's where doctors are split.

A study published last spring used one particle test, from Raleigh, N.C.-based LipoScience, to analyze a database of more than 5,000 middle-aged people whose heart health was tracked for five years. Most people's overall LDL and particle counts correlated pretty well. But people had a higher risk of heart disease when their particle count was much higher than their LDL predicted ? and, conversely, a lower risk if their particle count was lower than expected, says lead researcher Dr. David Goff Jr. of Wake Forest University.

"We could be treating some people who don't need to be treated ... and we may be missing some people who should be treated," Goff says. "But I'd also say that we haven't done all the research that needs to be done to prove that this will lead to better patient outcomes."

Many of those higher-risk patients could be caught by a closer look at standard tests "for no additional charge," says Dr. Roger Blumenthal of Johns Hopkins University and the American College of Cardiology.

Triglycerides, another harmful fat, are a good indicator, Blumenthal says. You're at risk despite a low LDL if your triglycerides are over 130, not to mention a low HDL, he said. People who are obese, diabetic of borderline diabetic also are at greater risk, because they often have higher LDL particle counts.

Another way to measure without an added test: Just subtract HDL from your total cholesterol number. The resulting bad-fat total should be no higher than 30 points above your recommended LDL level ? and if they are, it's time for serious diet and exercise, adds Dr. Allen Taylor of Washington Hospital Center.

Still, even some doctors who don't think particle testing is for the masses say they use it sometimes to tip the scales on a borderline patient.

Others use it to guide therapy. Consider Denny Fongheiser of Santa Monica, Calif. At 52, his usual 3-mile-a-day walk suddenly left him panting, but his insurer wouldn't pay for a stress test because his cholesterol was normal.

A month later, chest pain sent Fongheiser to the hospital where he needed a stent to unclog an artery. It turned out he had high particle levels, which his cardiologist now aims to get below the LipoScience-recommended level of 1,000 with cholesterol-lowering drugs.

"I was basically a time bomb," Fongheiser says. He welcomes "being able to test this and know what's going on."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/health/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111024/ap_on_he_me/us_med_healthbeat_beyond_ldl

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11 Investing Terms You Have to Know - Money Morning

The language of investing used to be fairly simple. A limited vocabulary of investing terms gave you enough understanding to successfully navigate the markets.

Those days are gone.

Things like 24-hour media coverage and analysis, computer-driven trading systems that affect prices within minutes of breaking news, complicated macroeconomic issues, and sophisticated investment products have created an increasingly complex market environment.

This means investors must understand a variety of sometimes strange or seemingly unrelated terms if they hope to prosper - or, at the least, hold their own - in these treacherous economic times.

Failing to become familiar with these investing terms could damage to your portfolio.

Investing Terms You Must Know

The following 11 investing terms have become commonplace in today's market and economy. Study these and you'll have a much better chance of not just surviving, but profiting:

Source: http://moneymorning.com/2011/10/24/11-investing-terms-you-have-to-know/

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Netflix stock plunges on brutal 3Q, somber outlook (AP)

SAN FRANCISCO ? Netflix jolted its already shell-shocked shareholders with a third-quarter financial report that portrayed a company in crisis.

Netflix's blooper reel, released Monday, included an even larger customer exodus than the company had foreseen after announcing an unpopular price increase in July. What's worse, the report contained a forecast calling for more defections from the largest U.S. video subscription service.

The backlash will deprive Netflix Inc. of some the revenue that management had been counting on to finance the company's expansion plans while it pays higher fees for Internet video streaming rights. The result: Netflix expects to post losses next year when it starts selling its steaming service in Britain and Ireland. The company didn't offer further specifics.

None of the developments pleased Wall Street as Netflix lost more than a quarter of its value after the bad news came out. If that sharp decline holds in Tuesday's trading, it will mark the first time Netflix's stock price has fallen below $100 in nearly 14 months.

Netflix shares shed $31.19, or more than 26 percent, to $87.35 in Monday's extended trading.

It's the latest setback for a former stock market darling whose shares topped $300 just 4 1/2 months ago. Netflix's market value had already plunged by about 60 percent, or nearly $9 billion, before Monday's late sell-off.

Netflix lost its luster among consumers and investors by raising prices as much as 60 percent in the U.S. and bungling an attempt to spin off its DVD-by-mail rental service.

The company, which is based in Los Gatos, Calif., ended September with 23.8 million U.S. subscribers, down about 800,000 from June. Netflix had predicted it would lose about 600,000 U.S. subscribers in a forecast released last month.

Management expects to gain U.S. subscribers in the current quarter, although Netflix didn't set a specific target. But a substantial number of Netflix's customers are expected to choose between renting DVDs through the mail or streaming video over high-speed Internet connections _instead of paying for both services.

The biggest hit is expected on the DVD side, a service that Netflix has been de-emphasizing to save money on mailing costs as its spends more to license movies and TV shows for its Internet video library. The company expects its DVD subscribers to fall from 13.9 million as of Sept. 30 to as low as 10.3 million at the end of December. Streaming subscriptions in the U.S. may rise by as much as 100,000 subscribers in the quarter, according to the company's projections.

The outlook looks even grimmer, considering that Netflix consistently added 1 million to 2 million subscribers per quarter leading up to the price increases.

From a financial perspective, Netflix did better than analysts expected in the July-September period.

The company earned $62.5 million, or $1.16, per share, in the third quarter. That compared to income of $38 million, or 70 cents per share, at the same time last year.

The performance topped the average earnings estimate of 96 cents per share among analysts polled by FactSet.

Netflix's revenue climbed 49 percent from the same time last year to nearly $822 million ? about $9 million above analyst estimates.

Netflix's downfall leaves CEO Reed Hastings in a precarious position.

Once regarded as one of the savviest leaders in technology and entertainment, Hastings has turned into a punching bag for frustrated Netflix customers and shareholders. Many of them are still befuddled by his recent decision making.

After Netflix's higher prices kicked in on Sept. 1, Hastings amplified the outrage by outlining a plan to toss the DVD rental business onto a separate website called Qwikster. The split from the Internet streaming service got panned so badly that Hastings reversed course in less than three weeks.

"We've hurt our hard-earned reputation and stalled our domestic growth," Hastings wrote in a letter accompanying Monday's third-quarter report. "But our long-term streaming opportunity is as compelling as ever and we are moving as quickly as we can to repair our reputation and return to growth."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111024/ap_on_hi_te/us_earns_netflix

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HBT: Seven walks by Jackson? That's nothing

Edwin Jackson walked seven batters last night before being pulled from Game 4 in the sixth inning, marking the third time in his career the 28-year-old right-hander has issued seven or more walks in a game. And one of those three was a no-hitter.

It was the first time a pitcher had walked seven batters in a World Series game since Livan Hernandez in 1997 and also got me curious about which pitchers have the most seven-walk starts in baseball history.

In retrospect, I should have known the answer before looking it up. After all he was sitting in the stands, next to George W. Bush, watching Jackson?s walk-fest last night.

Via the magic of Baseball-Reference.com:

STARTS WITH 7+ WALKS Nolan Ryan        71 Bob Feller        44 Tommy Byrne       37 Bob Turley        32 Bobo Newsom       32

Amazing. Nolan Ryan walked seven or more batters 71 times, which is 61 percent more than any other pitcher in the history of baseball. Also of note is that Ryan had just 27 career starts in which he walked zero batters. My favorite Ryan pitching line might be this one. Seriously, it?s insane. I estimate his pitch count in that game at 1,572.

During the past 20 seasons Randy Johnson has the most seven-plus-walk starts with 12, followed by Oliver Perez, Darryl Kile, and Wilson Alvarez with nine apiece.

Source: http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/10/24/seven-walks-by-edwin-jackson-big-deal-nolan-ryan-did-that-all-time/related/

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Can NSAIDs Cut Colorectal Cancer Deaths in Older Women? (HealthDay)

SUNDAY, Oct. 23 (HealthDay News) -- Older women who take nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs -- such as aspirin or ibuprofen -- appear to have a lower risk of death from colorectal cancer than women who don't use these medications, a large new study suggests.

Women who reported using these drugs, called NSAIDs, at the beginning of the study and three years later had a roughly 30 percent lower rate of death from colorectal cancer than women who did not take the drugs, or women who took them at only one of these two points in time, according to an American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) news release.

"Our results suggest that nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug use is associated with lower colorectal cancer mortality among postmenopausal women who use these medications more consistently and for longer periods of time," Anna Coghill, a doctoral student in epidemiology at the University of Washington and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, said in the news release.

In the study, researchers examined the use of aspirin and non-aspirin NSAIDs among more than 160,000 postmenopausal women in relation to deaths from colorectal cancer.

Study participants were enrolled in the Women's Health Initiative, which "represents a large and well-characterized cohort [group] of postmenopausal women, and the medication data collected in this cohort made it possible for us to investigate multiple types, durations and strengths of NSAID use," Coghill explained.

The researchers confirmed 2,119 cases of colorectal cancer and 492 deaths due to the disease.

"The results of our study help to further clarify the importance of different durations of NSAID use over time for the risk for dying from colorectal cancer," Coghill noted in the news release.

While the study found an association between NSAID use and a reduced risk of colorectal cancer, it did not prove a cause-and-effect.

The findings were slated for presentation on Sunday at the AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research, in Boston.

Experts say that for studies presented at medical meetings, data and conclusions should be viewed as preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

More information

The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more about colon and rectal cancer.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/meds/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20111023/hl_hsn/cannsaidscutcolorectalcancerdeathsinolderwomen

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Egypt extends parliamentary candidate registration again (Reuters)

CAIRO (Reuters) ? Egypt pushed back the closing date for parties to register in a parliamentary election for the second time on Saturday after some politicians asked for more time to do their applications, the head of the election committee said.

Egypt's first multi-candidate vote since President Hosni Mubarak was toppled after 30 years in power is a crucial test of the ruling military's commitment to end decades of autocratic rule in the Arab world's most populous country.

Registration has been slow so far, seemingly because coalitions have broken down at the last minute and some parties have had trouble raising funds.

Abdel Moez Ibrahim, the head of the committee, said in a statement carried by state news agency MENA candidates could register until Monday rather than Saturday. The deadline was first set for last Tuesday.

"For the first time, election rules have been changed ... Despite this, the number of candidates is not complete," analyst Diaa Rashwan wrote in al-Masry al-Youm paper on Saturday before the deadline was postponed for the second time.

"This is a precedent that has not happened before in Egypt's history of parliamentary elections," he wrote.

Elections for parliament are due to start on November 28 for a staggered four-months vote for the upper and lower houses.

Candidates must apply, prove they have never committed a crime and pay a fee. The list of applicants will be announced one week after the final date of submissions.

CONFUSING RULES

Under rules agreed after Mubarak was overthrown, two thirds of the lower house will be elected via party lists covering entire regions while the rest will be contested by individuals in smaller constituencies.

The division has caused some confusion. Many parties are opting to field independents rather than under a list.

The rules are designed to stop Mubarak loyalists, many of them wealthy notables with enduring influence from returning to politics, but they have also meant newly-formed political parties are in a race against time to field a suitable number of candidates in a country unfamiliar with party politics.

As of Thursday, the committee had announced that 4,263 candidates had applied as independents and with only 73 party lists in the running so far.

"It is clear that our political parties are still weak, making them unable to offer candidates exceeding 8 percent of the lists it should have fielded for elections," Rashwan said.

Last week, newly-formed Islamist parties, run mainly by Salafists who follow strict teachings of Islam, pulled out from the Democratic Alliance with the Muslim Brotherhood saying the movement was monopolizing the electoral list.

The Alliance, which initially had more than 34 parties across the political spectrum and was the single biggest bloc to contest the elections, now has 10 parties.

Political parties have mushroomed since the uprising, with more than 50 in the race and many more being created. But analysts say the groups have struggled to build and maintain coalitions, some blaming ideological differences while others suggesting it was due to inexperience in running coalitions.

"Parties have not taken the time they need to build themselves and contest elections to take place only weeks or days from the time they were established," Rashwan said.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111022/wl_nm/us_egypt_elections

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Azumi: will act decisively versus excess FX moves (Reuters)

TOKYO (Reuters) ? Japanese Finance Minister Jun Azumi said on Monday that Japan will take decisive action on excessive and speculative foreign exchange moves and that he did not believe the strong yen, at less than 76 per dollar, reflected economic fundamentals.

He added that the strong yen would have a major impact on Japan's export sector, especially the auto industry, and could dent Japan's economic recovery after the March 11 disaster.

He made the remarks after the U.S. dollar hit a record low of 75.78 yen on trading platform EBS on Friday, surpassing its previous record low of 75.941 set in August, bringing back into focus the possibility of official intervention to weaken the Japanese currency.

(Reporting by Kaori Kaneko; Editing by Edmund Klamann)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111024/bs_nm/us_japan_economy_azumi

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iPhone used to record parts of Marvel?s ?The Avengers? feature film (with video)

Oct 21, 2011 - 05:30 PM EDT ? AAPL: 392.87 (-2.44, -0.62%) | NASDAQ: 2637.46 (+38.84, +1.49%)

?It was revealed on Thursday that the cinematographer filming ?The Avengers? used an iPhone to shoot footage for the upcoming high-budget film,? Chris Smith reports for AppleInsider.

?The Irish Film and Television Network reported that Oscar-nominated cinematographer Seamus McGarvey, in his first big-budget action film, used Apple?s smartphone instead of high-priced equipment for certain shots in the super-hero blockbuster,? Smith reports. ??On ?The Avengers,? I did a couple of shots on the iPhone and they are in the movie,? McGarvey said. ?In fact they are in the trailer!??

Smith reports, ?Detailing his decision to use the iPhone, McGarvey explained that he didn?t make a compromise when choosing the handset, saying that ?every piece of kit should be tailored to what you?re trying to achieve.? He goes on to underscore that camera equipment does not define a film, but rather the decisions made with what is available.?

Read more in the full article here.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/wordpress/xhfA/~3/JvZttKSCnbw/

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