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Prevention of chronic diseases such as diabetes, obesity and high blood pressure improves the lives of older Americans and also reduces medical costs, study findings show.

Researchers looked at a group of 51- and 52-year-olds from across the nation and projected their future state of health and medical costs if they could avoid developing certain chronic diseases. In a 51-year-old, prevention of obesity would extend life by 0.85 years, preventing high blood pressure would give them an additional 2.05 years, and by avoiding diabetes they would gain 3.17 years. People aged 51 and 52 who quit smoking would gain 3.44 more years of life, the study authors noted in a news release from the American Public Health Association.

Prevention of these conditions also would have lower lifetime medical costs for the individual: Preventing obesity would save $7,168; preventing high blood pressure would save $13,702; and preventing diabetes would save $34,483. However, the lifetime medical costs for a person who quits smoking would be $15,959 higher, the researchers noted in the news release.

“Our data indicate that primary prevention could improve the health and longevity of future cohorts of elderly persons in the United States at a relatively low cost,” the researchers concluded

A diet high in a form of sugar found in sweetened soft drinks and junk food raises blood pressure among men, according to research likely to mean more bad news for beverage companies and restaurant chains.

One of two studies released on Wednesday provided the first evidence that fructose helps raise blood pressure. It also found that the drug allopurinol, used to treat gout, can alleviate the effect by reducing uric acid levels in the body.

The second study, which measured fructose intake in mice, suggested that people who consume junk foods and sweetened soft drinks at night could gain weight faster than those who don’t.

“These results suggest that excessive fructose intake may have a role in the worldwide epidemic of obesity and diabetes,” said Dr. Richard Johnson of the University of Colorado-Denver, who studied the link between blood pressure and men.

The findings provide the latest evidence of ties between sugar-rich diets and health problems that have prompted some experts to call for a tax on sugary soft drinks.

Fructose accounts for about half the sugar molecules in table sugar and in high-fructose corn syrup, the sweetener used in many packaged foods.

Johnson and colleagues at the Mateo Orfila Hospital in Spain studied 74 men given 200 grams of fructose per day on top of their regular diet. That amount is well above a daily intake of 50 grams to 70 grams of fructose consumed by most American adults.

Half the men were also given allopurinol.

After two weeks, the men who received only the fructose registered increases of six millimeters in systolic blood pressure — the top reading — and about three millimeters in diastolic or the bottom reading, the researchers told an American Heart Association meeting in Chicago.

REVERSIBLE EFFECT

Most of their blood pressure readings returned to normal levels after two months.

The men who did not get allopurinol also were twice as likely to develop metabolic syndrome, measured by risk factors such as too much abdominal fat, high blood pressure and poor cholesterol readings.

By contrast, those given allopurinol and fructose had significantly lower uric acid levels, and virtually no increase in systolic blood pressure or higher risk of metabolic syndrome.

For the second study, researchers in Ohio studied mice given fructose water to drink. Some had unrestricted access, while others received it during the day or at night.

“The first thing we noticed was that the mice on restricted access rushed to their drinking bottles to load up on the sweetened beverage, similar to teenagers who drink too many soft drinks,” said Mariana Morris of Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio.

The mice that drank fructose water during their regular daylight sleeping hours gained more weight and had higher stress hormone levels than the other mice.

“This model may be similar to the human condition of night time bingeing of fructose-laden foods and beverages,” Morris said.

The American Heart Association says women should eat no more than 100 calories of added processed sugar per day, or six teaspoons (25 grams), while most men should keep it to just 150 calories or nine teaspoons (37.5 grams). On average Americans consume 22 teaspoons (90 grams) or 355 calories of added sugar each day.

Marriages can be at risk when one partner is an excessive drinker and/or smoker, but the other isn’t, researchers say.

However, when their drinking and/or smoking habits are similar, both partners remain relatively satisfied with their marriage, according to the study published in a recent edition of the journal Addiction.

Researchers tracked 634 newly married couples for seven years, and at their first, second, fourth and seventh wedding anniversaries, the couples completed questionnaires about their marital satisfaction.

Overall, there were initial declines in marital satisfaction, followed by a leveling off after a few years. At each assessment, a difference in heavy drinking between spouses was more common than a difference in smoking. About 15 percent of the couples reported differences in both smoking and drinking habits, the study authors noted.

The information collected from the couples revealed important clinical information, said study author Gregory G. Homish, an assistant professor of health behavior, and colleagues in the University at Buffalo’s School of Public Health and Health Professions and the university’s Research Institute on Addictions.

“For example, if one partner of a heavy-drinking couple enters treatment for his/her alcohol use, the break-up of the ‘drinking partnership’ could have unintended negative outcomes for the couple,” Homish said in a news release from the university. “Therefore, approaches such as behavior couples therapy that assess and treat both partners could have a more beneficial outcome at both the individual and family level.”

In terms of research, “the current findings suggest that an assessment of substance use should extend beyond quantity and frequency of substance use and also incorporate information about the partner’s behavior,” Homish noted.

“Most studies that investigate the impact of substance use focus solely on individual-level risk factors and do not consider the impact of social network influences such as those that exist from a partner,” Homish stated in the news release.

If you get a nosebleed, don’t panic. Many nosebleeds look worse than they really are, says the American Academy of Family Physicians.

Here’s the academy’s advice on steps to help stop a nosebleed:
Sit down, and tilt your body forward slightly. Keep your head positioned above your heart, but allow the blood to drain from your nose, not down your throat.
Use your thumb and index finger and gently apply pressure near the end of the nose, at the soft part.
Hold your fingers in that position for at least five minutes, then check if the bleeding has stopped.
If the nose is still bleeding, hold it for at least 10 minutes more without releasing.
Place an ice pack or cold compress across your nose.
Leave the nose alone once it stops bleeding, and don’t blow your nose or bend over.