Nearly one in three US adults has high blood pressure, which usually causes no symptoms until it damages the body, an FDA official says. The agency explains the systolic and diastolic numbers, puts normal below 120 and 80, and says drugs that lower pressure cut the damage.
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Drug
Prescription drugs, vaccines and their risks and benefits.
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Drug
Abolishing Mammography Screening Programs? A View from the Swiss Medical Board
After a year of review, the Swiss Medical Board concluded that mammography appears to prevent about one death per 1,000 women screened while harming many more, and recommended introducing no new systematic screening programs and setting a time limit on existing ones.
Drug
Study shows aspirin can reduce colorectal cancer risks for those with specific gene (PR)
Analyzing two long-term studies of nearly 128,000 people, researchers found that those whose colons carry high levels of 15-PGDH cut their colon cancer risk by half by taking aspirin, while people with low levels got no benefit. The work appears in Science Translational Medicine.
Drug
In lab tests, the antimicrobial ingredient triclosan spurs growth of breast cancer cells (PR)
Triclosan and octylphenol interfered with genes governing breast cancer cell growth, yielding more cancer cells in lab dishes and larger, denser tumors in immunodeficient mice, Kyung-Chul Choi's team reports in Chemical Research in Toxicology.
Drug
Study yields potential drug targets for preeclampsia patients
A study found that molecules sending detrimental signals are abundant in certain tissues of preeclampsia patients, and documented complications in babies born to affected mothers. The syndrome hits about 5 percent of pregnancies and its cause remains unclear.
Drug
Statin Users Gain Weight
An analysis of 27,886 adults found that over ten years statin users raised calorie intake 9.6 percent and fat intake 14.4 percent and gained more weight, while non-users showed no significant dietary change. The authors suspect a false sense of security.
Drug
Medical cannabis helps Parkinson Disease - study
In 22 Parkinson patients evaluated before and 30 minutes after smoking medical cannabis, mean motor UPDRS scores improved from 33.1 to 23.2, with gains in tremor, rigidity, bradykinesia, sleep and pain. No significant adverse effects were seen in this small study.
Drug
Statin therapy may help prevent erectile dysfunction?
A meta-analysis of 14 trials found statin therapy raised erectile function scores by about 3.2 points, a significant gain that the authors say exceeded what improved lifestyle or testosterone produced. The effect appeared in a third to half of men previously on PDE5 drugs.
Drug
Dental x-ray linked to brain tumors, thyroid cancer
Analysing Taiwanese insurance claims, researchers found people who had fewer than one dental X-ray a year carried a 33 percent higher risk of benign brain tumours, and those with three or more exams a 66 percent higher risk. No link appeared with malignant brain tumours.
Drug
Researchers Find Potential Target for Drug to Treat Allergic Asthma (PR)
Ohio State researchers report in mice that an enzyme called Cbl-b, which discards a protein that overstays its welcome in the immune response, helps control allergic asthma symptoms. A 2012 Yale study had tied a mutation in the Cbl-b gene to higher asthma risk in children.
Drug
Researchers discover protein to better forecast prognosis of prostate cancer patients (PR)
Texas A&M researchers tracking prostate cancer patients over 10 years found levels of the protein LRPPRC rose with tumour grade, stage and PSA, and fell with response to hormone therapy and overall survival. LRPPRC suppresses autophagy, the cell's waste clearing process.
Drug
Three Dangerous Drugs You Probably Won't Need if You Eat Right
Nexium and other proton-pump inhibitors became household drugs through TV advertising, but the FDA warned in 2012 that the class is linked to C. difficile infection, and to calcium, magnesium and B-12 deficiencies. Fosamax and Lipitor followed similar marketing arcs.
Drug
Acetaminophen can damage your liver
The FDA recommends that prescribers and pharmacists stop dispensing combination drug products holding more than 325 mg of acetaminophen per dose, saying no data show the extra amount offers benefit outweighing the added risk of severe liver injury.
Drug
Alzheimer's Drugs Tested on Animals Fail in Human Brain Cells
Brain cells derived from stem cells taken from Alzheimer's patients did not respond to therapeutically relevant doses of amyloid-blocking drugs, a Stem Cell Reports study finds. The authors suggest mouse models overestimated how well the compounds work in human neurons.
Drug
Prepregnancy obesity, insulin therapy delay lactogenesis in women with recent gestational diabetes mellitus
Among 883 women with recent gestational diabetes in the SWIFT study, a third had lactogenesis delayed past 72 hours. Prepregnancy obesity raised the odds 56%, insulin treatment during pregnancy 211%, and suboptimal in-hospital breastfeeding 56%.
Drug
Do You Really Need Statins If You Eat Right?
New AHA and ACC guidelines would recommend statins for about 44 percent of men and 22 percent of women aged 40 to 75. Citing Harvard's John Abramson, the piece says 13.6 million additional healthy people would be advised to take them, and notes drugmaker donations to the AHA.
Drug
Increased Acetaminophen use in Genetically Vulnerable Children Appears to be a Major Cause of Autism, AD(H)D, and Asthma
Dr. William Shaw argues the U.S. autism increase since the early 1980s cannot be explained by better diagnosis - one study credited only about 12 percent of it to that - and points instead to rising acetaminophen use, naming Cuba as a comparison country worth studying.
Drug
Acetaminophen Linked to Increased Risk of Kidney Dysfunction When Combined with Alcohol
Recent research suggests acetaminophen taken with alcohol raises the risk of kidney dysfunction by 123%, even when the alcohol amount is small. The drug is already the leading cause of acute liver failure in the U.S., and staggered overdosing carries more risk than one large overdose.
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