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CDC's big fat overstatement
ATLANTA
— Armed with its own deeply flawed
study, the Centres for Disease Control incorrectly announced back in March that
obesity was set to overtake smoking as the USA's number one cause of preventable
death. One researcher at the CDC described the figures used in their study as
"loosey-goosey." Another CDC employee concurred but refused to go on record, telling
the journal Science, "I don't want to lose my job." On November 22, CDC
spokesman Tom Skinner admitted the obesity numbers — which were published
in the March 10th JAMA — were morbidly inflated. Sparkling
ASA makes migraines fizzle out
ESSEN,
GERMANY — A shot of champagne may help with a hangover headache, but
a dose of a different kind of bubbly may tame migraines. A 312-patient trial showed
1,000mg doses of effervescent aspirin — which dissolves in water — was
shown to be nearly as effective as 50mg of sumatriptan or 400mg of ibuprofen in
relieving migraine pain. Two hours after taking the medication, 27.1% of the aspirin
group was pain-free compared to 33.2% and 37.1% of the ibuprofen and sumatriptan
groups respectively. The research appears in the November issue of Cephalalgia. Ultrasound
drums out arterial clogs
HOUSTON
— It's rare that a diagnostic tool becomes a treatment option, but
that's exactly what may be happening with ultrasound. A study in the November
18 NEJM looked at 126 patients who'd had ischemic strokes and were taking
the clot-dissolving drug, tissue plasma activator (tPA). Two hours after treatment,
49% of the patients who got ultrasound treatment as well as tPA saw their blocked
arteries completely re-open, compared to only 30% in the control group who received
tPA alone. Bloody well
at ease
UTRECHT —
A "don't worry, be happy" attitude can be a good thing, but if the happiness comes
courtesy of selective serotonin uptake inhibitors (SSRIs), there may indeed be
reason to worry. A study in the November 22 issue of the Archives of Internal
Medicine shows that new users of SSRIs are 2.6 times more likely to be admitted
to hospital for abnormal bleeding. This figure is the result of data collected
between 1992 and 2000 looking at 64,000 new antidepressant users, 196 of whom
were diagnosed with abnormal bleeding. Stress
+ dysmenorrhea = ouch
CHICAGO
— Researchers have started to unravel the mystery of painful periods.
According to a report in the December issue of Occupational and Environmental
Medicine, women who have painful periods are more likely to be under stress
than their pain-free contemporaries. Of 388 newly married women aged 20 to 34,
those who reported low stress levels were half as likely to experience painful
periods as their stressed-out counterparts. Women
conduct smear campaign
LONDON
— One of the most awkward skills to teach a med student is the pelvic
exam, mostly because women hate them so much. Enter gynecological teaching associates
(GTA), a group of women who donate their own bodies to science to help fumbling
docs learn how to do a proper smear. GTAs are trained by doctors and work in pairs
— one as patient and one as supervisor — and coach students how to do
the exam and communicate with the patient. Britain has recently joined Australia,
Scandinavia and the US in accepting their help, launching a new GTA program at
Guy's, King's and St Thomas' School of Medicine in London. Acupuncture
pops OA's balloon
DOS HERMANAS,
SPAIN — Acupuncture has legions of fans, but the otherwise needle-loving
medical establishment has traditionally been leery of it. That may change thanks
to a blind study of 88 folks suffering from osteoarthritis of the knee. The patients
who received medication and acupuncture fared better on pain and stiffness measurements
than those who received medication and placebo acupuncture. The results were published
in the November 20 issue of the BMJ. HDL
quickens the blood
ESSEN, GERMANY
— With holiday gorging just around the corner, it's nice to have another
reason to praise high-density lipoproteins (HDLs) — otherwise known as "the
good cholesterol." Mice that were administered human HDLs had about 18% more blood
flow to their hearts according to research published in the November 23 edition
of Circulation. Researchers speculate that HDL might reduce the risk of
heart disease because of this effect on coronary circulation. New
gallstone 'Titleist'
LOS ANGELES
— Surgeons have successfully removed a golf ball-sized gallstone from
56-year-old Gonzalo Medina. A stent accidentally left in his body after a pancreatic
operation 12 years ago led to this monstrous calcified formation. The fact that
Mr Medina managed to live with the thing astounds his physician, Dr Ian Kenner,
who called the case "a tribute to the human body, and in this case, a particularly
resilient one." Dr Kenner added that Mr Medina is not out of the woods yet, and
will likely need to undergo more operations to repair the damage done. Death
by carrot
SEATTLE — Once
touted as a protective agent, beta carotene's fall from grace shocked researchers
in the 80s when the supplement proved to be carcinogenic. Beta carotene has garnered
yet another black mark recently — apparently lung cancer risk lingers on
even after discontinued use, especially for women and former smokers. The Beta
Carotene and Retinol Efficacy Trial (CARET) followed 18,000 participants for six
years after they stopped taking the supplement and found that some harmful effects
don't dissapear. The study results appear December 1 in the Journal of the
National Cancer Institute.
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