Ambulance Chaser-in-chief?
PHILADELPHIA — US Vice-Presidential candidate John Edwards has made healthcare a top campaign issue, but some stateside docs consider him a menace. Senator Edwards earned his considerable fortune as a trial lawyer, and he had a particular knack for winning large medical malpractice settlements. Republicans have been actively courting physicians with their push for 'tort reform,' which refers to the capping of amounts juries can award to plaintiffs, even recruiting normally-reticent First Lady Laura Bush to plead their case before 300 doctors recently.

Sowing the seeds of psychosis
NEW YORK — Evidence for a possible link between influenza and schizophrenia has always been shaky, but a new study in the August issue of Archives of General Psychiatry might at last provide some proof. Looking at 64 adult schizophrenic subjects, researchers found that those who'd been exposed to influenza in the first trimester had a sevenfold risk for developing schizophrenia, while those exposed during the second and third trimester had three times the risk. They think an antibody response and not the infection itself may explain the link.

Syrup with that?
AUGUSTA, GA — An odd but useful diagnostic tool gastro specialists often keep at their disposal is chicken liver, which is injected with a radioactive tracer called Tc99m sulfer colloid. It helps identify digestive disorders. Trouble is, many find the dish a tad unpalatable and, needless to say, vegetarians won't touch the stuff. This put docs in a bind as nothing seemed to work as well ... until now. Medical College of Georgia researchers have discovered that soy-based pancake mix forms an even better bond with the tracer than chicken liver.

Short circuiting the blues
NEW HAVEN — Patients with a history of depression have an overactive emotion-regulating brain circuit — even if they aren't depressed, says research in the August Archives of General Psychiatry. Using amino acid capsules, researchers sapped depression-prone patients of tryptophan, the chemical precursor to serotonin. Results showed that 59% of the 27 participants experienced a return of depressive symptoms when tryptophan was low. PET scans revealed increased activity in a circuit of the front and centre of the brain where emotions are controlled.

Keeping in strep
BALTIMORE — Clinical research on a strep vaccine has started up again after a 30-year hiatus and the latest results are promising. Evidence published in the August 11 issue of JAMA shows that the vaccine is safe. Investigators from the University of Maryland tested the recombinant vaccine on 28 adult volunteers. There was a 30% immune response with some local swelling. The vaccine was well-tolerated in adults but the authors advise caution with use in kids.

Railing on RALES
TORONTO — Data from the Randomized Aldactone Evaluation Study (RALES) published in 1999 showed great outcomes for spironolactone, even when used with ACE-inhibitors. But new research in the August 5 NEJM shows that using spironolactone with ACE-inhibitors can cause hyperkalemia. Researchers looked at prescription data and hospital admissions from 1994-2001 and found that morbidity and mortality rates from hyperkalemia increased in Canada since RALES.

Viennese waltz with allergens
VIENNA — In other vaccine news, a genetically modified (GM) birch tree pollen vaccine showed promising results after a one-year clinical trial involving 124 people. Those who got the vaccine saw an increase in allergy reducing IgG antibodies, and a decrease in the IgE antibodies the pollen usually induces. The findings are in the online edition of PNAS. The Viennese researchers plan to use a similar process to develop GM vaccines for other allergens like dust mites.

Oliver Twist, MD
LONDON — UK Health Minister John Hutton announced a tuition-relief plan for low-income med students. In Britain, 74% of doctors come from the wealthiest 38% of the population. Government officials suspect substantial tuition fees are scaring away many of the bright-but-broke. Under the new plan, the government will pay the fifth and sixth years' tuition for qualifying med students.

The breast reason to try Atkins' diet?
MEXICO CITY — A joint study by Instituto Nacional de Salud Publica and Harvard School of Public Health found a positive association between high carb intake and breast cancer. The study looked at 475 Mexican women and found the odds ratio for developing breast cancer to be 2.22 for the top 25% carb consumers. The study was published in August's Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

Triptans off the headache hook
DURHAM, NC — It's long been held that triptans can cause ischemic events in migraine patients. But new research in the summer issue of Headache shows that they may not be the culprits. The study looked at 130,411 migraine sufferers and 130,411 non-sufferers. Though the migraine group was 67% more likely to have a stroke (as well as unstable angina and ischemic attacks), none of these symptoms were found to be associated with triptan use.

If the x-ray don't fit, acquit
SILVER SPRING, MD — US physicians who testify for plaintiffs claiming damages in workplace asbestos exposure cases are biased when evaluating x-rays submitted as evidence, according to a study in the August issue of Academic Radiology. Compared to radiologists, the expert-witness physicians found abnormalities in 95.9% of the 492 x-rays that both groups evaluated while the radiologists only found grounds for litigation in 4.5% of cases.

 

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