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* Doctor Who Sparked Vaccine Controversy Faces Charges
* New Diabetes Drugs Add Double Punch to Older Medications
* FDA OKs Antidepressant to Treat Winter Blues
* A Better Brew to Fight Prostate Cancer?
* Diabetes Vision Drug Trials Show Promise

Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay:

Doctor Who Sparked Vaccine Controversy Faces Charges

The doctor who sparked a worldwide scare over the safety of the MMR vaccine is expected to be charged with professional misconduct by Great Britain's General Medical Council, the London Independent reported Monday.

Dr. Andrew Wakefield, whose 1998 research paper published in the British medical journal The Lancet purported to show a link between the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine and autism, is accused in preliminary charges of publishing "inadequately founded" research, failing to obtain ethical committee approval, obtaining funding "improperly," and of subjecting children to "unnecessary and invasive investigations," according to the newspaper.

Detailed charges against Wakefield, 50, are being formulated by the GMC's lawyers and a public hearing is expected next year. If Wakefield is found guilty, he could be struck from the medical register, the Independent reported.

After Wakefield and 12 other doctors published the warning about the combined vaccine, tens of thousands of parents boycotted its use, leading to rising cases of all three illnesses.

The research was said to have done more damage than anything published in a scientific journal in living memory, according to the newspaper.

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New Diabetes Drugs Add Double Punch to Older Medications

Two experimental pills seem to pack a one-two punch for older diabetes drugs -- they not only help lower blood sugar levels but also help with weight loss.

The once-a-day medications are the first in a new class of type 2 diabetes drugs that manufacturers Merck & Co. and Novartis AG hope to win U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for and to begin selling by year's end, the Associated Press reported Tuesday.

Merck's pill, Januvia or sitagliptin, lowered blood sugar levels by 0.67 percent for participants in a yearlong trial, or just as much as another, older drug, glipizide, the AP reported. Novartis' pill, Galvus or vildagliptin, reduced blood sugar levels by 1.9 percent when used with another older drug, pioglitazone, which reduces insulin resistance.

Excess weight is a common problem in type 2 patients. Both experimental pills helped patients maintain or even lose weight in the trials. Side effects of the pills included cold and flu-like symptoms and headaches.

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FDA OKs Antidepressant to Treat Winter Blues

Federal regulators on Monday approved GlaxoSmithKline's antidepressant Wellbutrin XL to help treat the estimated half a million people in the United States who suffer from winter depression.

The U.S. Food and Administration said the drug is the first to be approved to treat the condition, which causes bouts of recurrent depression, and is known as seasonal affective disorder, or SAD. Wellbutrin XL (bupropion HCL extended release tablets) had been previously approved for treatment of major depressive disorder.

"The effectiveness of Wellbutrin XL for the prevention of SAD episodes was established in 3 double-blind, placebo-controlled trials in adults with a history of major depressive disorder in autumn and winter," the FDA said in a prepared statement. "Treatment was initiated prior to the onset of symptoms in the autumn (September to November) and was discontinued following a two-week taper that began the first week of spring (fourth week of March). In these trials, the percentage of patients who were depression-free at the end of treatment was significantly higher for those on Wellbutrin XL than for those on placebo; for all 3 studies combined, the overall rate of patients depression-free at the end of treatment was 84 percent for those on Wellbutrin XL compared to 72 percent for those on placebo."

The drug's label includes a "black box" warning on the increased risk of suicidal thoughts and behavior in pediatric patients treated with antidepressants.

As sunlight patterns change in autumn and winter, there is a shift in the "biological internal clocks" or circadian rhythms, according to the National Mental Health Association. This can cause your biological clocks to be out of step with normal activities. January and February are the most difficult months for sufferers, and younger persons and women are at higher risk, the association says.

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A Better Brew to Fight Prostate Cancer?

That beer you're holding may contain small amounts of a compound thought to prevent prostate cancer and enlargement, according to an Oregon State University study, but you'd have to drink almost a case to activate its benefits.

Researchers said that xanthohumol, which is found in the hops used to brew beer, belongs to a group of plant compounds called flavonoids that can trigger the death of cancer cells along the surface of the prostate gland, the Associated Press reported Monday.

Fred Stevens, an assistant professor of medicinal chemistry at OSU's College of Pharmacy, said it may be possible for drug companies to develop pills containing concentrated doses of the flavonoid and to increase the xanthohumol content of hops. The Oregon study findings were published in a recent issue of Cancer Letters.

German scientists have already developed a beer that contains 10 times the amount of xanthohumol as traditional brews. The drink is being marketed as a healthy beer, the AP said, but research is still under way to determine if it has any effect on cancer.

Still, there should no rush to belly up to the bar, according to the head of the National Prostate Cancer Coalition. "It's every mans dream to hear that beer and pizza can prevent cancer," said Dr. Richard N. Atkins in a prepared statement. "However, the 17 beers and four large pizzas needed to get enough xanthohumol and lycopene to help prevent prostate cancer is unfortunately not advised. Our hope is that men know the facts and get tested for prostate cancer. Food, no matter how helpful it may be, is not a full preventive for prostate cancer."

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Diabetes Vision Drug Trials Show Promise

Eli Lilly and Co. says two late-phase trials of its experimental drug Arxxant reduced the risk of vision loss by 42 percent among patients with serious eye problems caused by diabetes. The drug, which is awaiting federal approval, could bring Lilly an estimated $1 billion a year, The Indianapolis Star reported Monday.

Since no drug currently treats the disorder, called diabetic retinopathy, the typical current treatment uses laser surgery in advanced stages of the illness.

Dr. Louis Vignati, medical director for Lilly's Arxxant product team, told the newspaper that stemming vision loss could improve the quality of life for many diabetics, allowing them to keep driving cars or taking part in other everyday activities.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has agreed to speed up its usual one-year review time for Arxxant, since there are no approved treatments for diabetic eye disease.

The drug maker revealed the findings over the weekend at the annual scientific meeting of the American Diabetes Association in Washington, D.C.

Last Updated: June 13, 2006

Copyright © 2006 ScoutNews LLC. All rights reserved.



New release from Oregon State University

ANTI-CANCER COMPOUND IN BEER GAINING INTEREST

10-25-05

By David Stauth, 541-737-0787
SOURCE: Fred Stevens, 541-737-9534

CORVALLIS, Ore. - A compound found only in hops and the main product they are used in - beer - has rapidly gained interest as a micronutrient that might help prevent many types of cancer.

Researchers at Oregon State University first discovered the cancer-related properties of this flavonoid compound called xanthohumol about 10 years ago. A recent publication by an OSU researcher in the journal Phytochemistry outlines the range of findings made since then. And many other scientists in programs around the world are also beginning to look at the value of these hops flavonoids for everything from preventing prostate or colon cancer to hormone replacement therapy for women.

"Xanthohumol is one of the more significant compounds for cancer chemoprevention that we have studied," said Fred Stevens, a researcher with OSU's Linus Pauling Institute and an assistant professor of medicinal chemistry in the College of Pharmacy. "The published literature and research on its properties are just exploding at this point, and there's a great deal of interest."

Quite a bit is now known about the biological mechanism of action of this compound and the ways it may help prevent cancer or have other metabolic value. But even before most of those studies have been completed, efforts are under way to isolate and market it as a food supplement. A "health beer" with enhanced levels of the compound is already being developed.

"We can't say that drinking beer will help prevent cancer," Stevens said. "Most beer has low levels of this compound, and its absorption in the body is also limited. But if ways can be developed to significantly increase the levels of xanthohumol or use it as a nutritional supplement - that might be different. It clearly has some interesting cancer chemopreventive properties, and the only way people are getting any of it right now is through beer consumption."

Xanthohumol was actually first discovered in 1913, isolated as a yellow substance found in hops. Researchers started studying its molecular structure in the 1950s, but for decades the only people who showed any real interest in it were brewers, who were trying to learn more about how hops help impart flavor to beer.

In the 1990s, researchers at OSU, including Stevens and toxicologist Don Buhler, began to look at the compound from another perspective - its anti-cancer properties. It showed toxicity to human breast, colon and ovarian cancer cells, and most recently has shown some activity against prostate cancer in OSU studies.

Xanthohumol appears to have several mechanisms of action that relate to its cancer preventive properties, scientists say. It, and other related flavonoid compounds found in hops, inhibit a family of enzymes, commonly called cytochromes P450 that can activate the cancer process. It also induces activity in a "quinone reductase" process that helps the body detoxify carcinogens. And it inhibits tumor growth at an early stage.

In recent years, it has also been shown that some prenylflavonoids found in hops are potent phytoestrogens, and could ultimately have value in prevention or treatment of post-menopausal "hot flashes" and osteoporosis - but no proper clinical trials have been done to study this.

Information about these compounds appears to be spreading. Hop-containing herbal preparations are already being marketed for breast enlargement in women, the OSU research report said, without waiting for tests to verify their safety or efficacy. And a supposed "health" beer is being developed in Germany with higher levels of xanthohumol.

It's possible, scientists say, that hops might be produced or genetically engineered to have higher levels of xanthohumol, specifically to take advantage of its anti-cancer properties. Some beers already have higher levels of these compounds than others. The lager and pilsner beers commonly sold in domestic U.S. brews have fairly low levels of these compounds, but some porter, stout and ale brews have much higher levels.

Ideally, researchers say, cancer chemoprevention is targeted at the early stages of cancer development and prevented by long-term exposure to non-toxic nutrients, food supplements or drugs that prevent the formation of cancers. With its broad spectrum activity, presence in food products, and ability to inhibit cancer at low concentrations, xanthohumol might be a good candidate for that list, experts say.

Xanthohumol also appears to have a role as a fairly powerful antioxidant - even more than vitamin E. And it has shown the ability to reduce the oxidation of LDL, or bad cholesterol.

About the Linus Pauling Institute: The Linus Pauling Institute at OSU is a world leader in the study of micronutrients and their role in promoting optimum health or preventing and treating disease. Major areas of research include heart disease, cancer, aging and neurodegenerative disease.

© 2004-2005 by foodconsumer.org unless otherwise specified

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