Research presented in January 2007 at a conference in San Antonio indicates there has been a “startling” drop in breast cancer rates in the USA, the Associated Press reports. The 7% decrease in 2003 from the year before appears to be due to the declining number of women taking hormone pills. There is an abstract here of the findings, which were delivered at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium — an event that the local Express-News describes as the “largest annual conference in the world devoted to the disease that strikes 200,000 American women each year.”

Bookmark and Share

More and more often, it seems, drugs that were widely thought to be effective against serious illnesses turn out to show little or no value when tested in large, impartial clinical trials insulated from drug company influence. The latest example is a class of drugs known as atypical antipsychotics that are commonly used to soothe agitation, delusions, and aggression in people with Alzheimer’s disease. A government-sponsored study recently published in The New England Journal of Medicine found that the drugs are no more effective than placebos for most patients and carry troubling side effects, like sedation and confusion. This was the third major study — all coming within one year — to cast doubt on the atypical antipsychotics, which were supposedly a significant advance over the first generation of anti-psychotics.

Bookmark and Share

NEW YORK (Reuters Health)
Aug 28, 2006

Results of a new study suggest a strong association between first trimester exposure to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and congenital anomalies, particularly those related to cardiac septal closure. The five most commonly filled prescriptions were for naproxen (35%), ibuprofen (26%), rofecoxib (15%), diclofenac (9%), and celecoxib (9%).

Bookmark and Share

By LAURAN NEERGAARD, AP Medical Writer
Thursday, July 20, 2006

More than 1.5 million Americans are injured every year by drug errors in hospitals, nursing homes, and doctor’s offices, a count that doesn’t even estimate patients’ own medication mix-ups, says a report that calls for major steps to increase patient safety. Topping that list: All prescriptions should be written electronically by 2010, the Institute of Medicine said. At least a quarter of all medication-related injuries are preventable, the institute concluded in the report it released Thursday.

Bookmark and Share

NEW YORK (Reuters Health)
Mar 13, 2006

Exposure to at least one course of antibiotics in the first year of life may increase the risk of asthma later in childhood, results of a meta-analysis suggest. There may even be a dose-response relationship, with higher risk with each additional course of antibiotics. The prevalence of asthma in western countries has increased over the last 3 decades, Dr. Carlo A. Marra and colleagues at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver note, which seems to coincide with greater exposure of infants to antibiotics. Nonetheless, epidemiologic evidence linking antibiotic use with asthma risk is conflicting.

Bookmark and Share

The Atlanta Journal Constitution
December 5, 2006

The controversy over using medications to tame easily distracted and hyperactive schoolchildren hasn’t stopped millions of parents from asking doctors to prescribe the powerful stimulants for their children. The benefits of the medication — better school performance and a calmer child — outweigh the risks, many parents believe.

However, the most recent trend of prescribing Ritalin, Adderall, Concerta and other controlled medications for preschoolers ought to alarm federal regulators, especially now that some studies are suggesting low doses of the drugs could be helpful in very young children with moderate to severe forms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD. Such “off-label” use of stimulants for children younger than age 6 is prohibited by the Food and Drug Administration. Yet a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2000 estimated at least 200,000 preschoolers were getting prescriptions for the drugs. Most experts believe the number has since doubled.

Bookmark and Share

Two big government-funded studies on back surgery for painful herniated discs show no clear-cut reason to choose an operation over other treatment. The pain and physical function of the patients, who were suffering from a condition called sciatica, improved significantly after two years — whether or not they had surgery. However, neither strategy offered complete relief.

Bookmark and Share

By: Phyllis Schlafly

Methamphetamine and marijuana aren’t the only drugs parents worry about. The problems caused by prescription combination called “drug cocktails” have finally broken into the national news stream. A recent Page 1 of the New York Times described Stephen, age 15, who takes antidepressants Zoloft and Desyrel, plus anticonvulsant Lamictalto to moderate his moods, plus the stimulant Focalin XR to improve concentration. His brother Jacob, age 14, takes Focalin XR for concentration, plus the anticonvulsant Depakote to moderate his moods, plus the antipsychotic Risperdal to reduce anger, plus Catapres to induce sleep.

Over the last three years, each boy has been prescribed 28 different psychiatric drugs and has seen 11 psychiatrists. Gone are the days when a visit to a psychiatrist meant lying on a couch to recite your troubles. Treatment today means taking prescription drugs — lots of them. More than 3 million children are using the most commonly prescribed drug, Ritalin, and it is routinely combined with other drugs. Last year, 1.6 million children and teenagers were given at least two psychiatric drugs in combination, and 500,000 were given at least three.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration requires manufacturers to prove the safety of each drug. But hardly any studies have examined the safety or effectiveness of drugs used in combination. The American Journal of Psychiatry in 2003 found only six controlled trials of two-drug combinations, four of which failed to show any benefit, and a fifth showed bad side effects. Scientific studies of combinations of three or more drugs are nonexistent. There are no studies showing long-term safety of psychiatric drugs used on children or the effect on children’s developing brains and bodies. The vast majority of these drugs are not FDA-approved.

Bookmark and Share

Treatment with the probiotic Lactobacillus acidophilus, a beneficial type of microbe, produces changes in the intestinal tract that help reduce abdominal pain related to irritable bowel syndrome, findings from an animal study suggest. In fact, the effect of the treatment in reducing pain is on par with that of morphine.

Probiotics help regularize the population of microbes normally found in the intestines. “Modulation of intestinal flora may be a promising, safe and relatively inexpensive new treatment for abdominal pain, a prominent symptom of irritable bowel syndrome, which affects 20% of the general population,” Dr. Pierre Desreumaux, from INSERM in Lille, France, and colleagues note in the research journal Nature Medicine.

Using lab rats with induced abdominal pain, the researchers found that oral administration of Lactobacillus strains led to an increase in the number of receptors for naturally produced pain-killing substances on cells lining the intestine. The result was an analgesic effect similar to that of morphine. The findings suggest that intestinal microbiology influences the perception of visceral pain, the researchers conclude.

Bookmark and Share

High-heeled shoes are shoes which raise the heel of the wearer’s foot significantly higher than the toes. When both the heel and the toes are raised equal amounts, as in a platform shoe, it is generally not considered to be a “high-heel.” High-heels come in a wide variety of styles, and the heels are found in many different shapes, including stiletto, block, tapered, blade, and wedge.

While high heels are today mostly associated with female shoe styles, and the term high heeled shoe is generally understood to mean styles of spike-heeled footwear almost exclusively worn by women, there are numerous shoe designs worn by all genders which have elevated heels, including boots worn by rodeo riders, cowboys, and disco dancers out on a Saturday night. A “low heel” is considered less than 1″, while 1″ to 2.5″ heels are considered “mid heels,” and anything over 2.5″ is considered a “high heel. High-heeled shoes slant the foot forward and down while bending the toes up. The more that the feet are forced into this position, the more it may cause the Achilles tendon to shorten. This may cause problems when the wearer chooses lower heels or flat-soled shoes. When the foot slants forward, a much greater weight is transferred to the ball of the foot, increasing the likelihood of damage to the underlying soft tissue which supports the foot. In many shoes, style dictates function, either compressing the toes, or forcing them together, possibly resulting in blisters, corns, hammer toes, bunions, and many other medical conditions, most of which are permanent, and will require surgery to alleviate the pain.

Continue reading “Be Careful of High Heels: Adjust Your Ankles & Spine” »

Bookmark and Share