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Bone Growth Can Be Stimulated Even In Desperate Cases In the past
bone fractures that did not heal (called "non-union of a fracture"
in medical terms) could not be treated other than with an electrical
device, called bone stimulator. But now a large international team
of 66 researchers from the US and South Africa have published a
well controlled randomized study in the American Journal of Bone
and Joint Surgery (84:2123-2134;2002). Dr.S.Govender et al. used
a newly developed protein substance (rhBMP-2, from the Wyeth Laboratories)
to treat 450 comparable The patients
were either treated See this news of the FDA approval
What Goes Around Comes Around With Blood Pressure Medications A large clinical study with 42,418 men and women 55 years and older has been published in the American Medical Association Journal recently(JAMA 2002:288:2981-2997,3039). The thiazide type water pill chlorthalidone(12.5 mg to 25 mg/day) is the clear winner in this trial, called the ALLHAT trial. It stands for "Antihypertensive and Lipid-Lowering Treatment to Prevent Heart Attack Trial" and is the largest hypertension trial that was ever performed going over a period of 5 years. In this trial
a calcium channel blocker(amlodipine) and an ACE (=angiotensin converting
enzyme)inhibitor(lisinopril) were tested as the initial medication
and compared to chlorthalidone.There was a 15% higher risk to develop
a stroke with lisinopril and a Comments:
Several decades ago the teaching was that the doctor would start
a new high blood pressure patient with a water pill first, and combine
this with a second or even third pill of a different medication
class, if the water pill would not be effective enough on its own
(it was called the "step care therapy"). For decades the
side effects of the water pill consisting of low potassium blood
levels brought the water pill Other useful link (regarding hypertension): http://www.nethealthbook.com/cardiovasculardisease_hypertension.html
Study Shows Echinacea Not Effective For The Common Cold A study was
done on 148 college students at the University of Wisconsin to see
whether Echinacea was more effective than placebo ("fake pills"
with no herb in it). The study was published recently in the Annals
of Internal Medicine (Ann Intern Med 2002; The students
were given 1Gram capsules Comments:
One of the problems with such a study is that the investigators
assumed that a placebo pill would not have an effect.However,countless
other studies have shown that a placebo often has a 15% to 20% effect.
On the other hand it is difficult
Obesity (Excessive Weight) A Predictor Of High Risk For Stroke In the Dec.9th
issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine an important follow-up
from the US Physicians' Health Study was published. It examined
the effect of obesity on the development of stroke later in life.
21,414 male physicians of the US have They found that
the rates of strokes were in direct relation to the amount of excessive
weight,in other words the higher the weight, the higher the risk
to develop a stroke. It did not matter what Other information about strokes can be found through this link: http://www.nethealthbook.com/cardiovasculardisease _strokeandcerebralaneurysm.html
Folic Acid In Cereal Reduces Abnormalities Of The Brain In The Unborn Child In 1998 the
Canadian government approved the mandatory addition of folic acid
in cereal products as studies in the past had shown that pregnant
women did not always take their prenatal folic acid supplements
to prevent neural tube defects A total of
336,963 women who were either pregnant before or after the 1998
folic acid fortification program was institued,were screened for
open neural tube defects. The result was that prior to the legislation
there were 113 cases per 100,000 pregnancies. After 1998 there were
only 58 per 100,000 pregnancies found. Dr. Joel Comments:
It is also important for women to know that folic acid tablets
need to be taken already before, around and after conception to
be most effective with regard to preventing brain and spinal malformations.
The nervous tissue is one of the fastest growing tissues in the
first few weeks of pregnancy. Any deficiency of cell differentiation,
for which folic acid is an essential ingredient, has devastating
longterm consequences.
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New Research Shows: Coffee Drinking Is Healthy Forget what
somebody may have whispered into your ear in the past,namely that
coffee drinking would be bad for you. Dr. Rob M. van Dam and Dr.Edith
J. M. Feskens from the National Institute for Public Health and
the Environment in Bilthoven, the The results
were published in the Lancet 2002;360:1477-1478. The goal of the
study was to see whether coffee consumption would have a positive
or negative effect on the development of diabetes (type 2 or mature
onset diabetes). Approximately 17,000 men and women were followed
along over a period of time and 306 new cases of diabetes were detected.
The average consumption of coffee was 5 cups per day. There was
a striking difference between those who drank 7 cups of coffee per
day and those who drank 2 cups or less per day: With 7 cups per
day there was a 50 % LESSER risk of developing diabetes. The authors
pointed out that it is known that some of the active ingredients
in coffee are: the bioflavonoid Chlorogenic
acid and magnesium have been known in the past to have a stabilizing
effect on glucose metabolism thus preventing diabetes.The authors
were surprised though about the magnitude of the diabetes protective
effect. They suggested that Useful related
link to a chapter of my free Internet based http://www.nethealthbook.com/healthnutritionandfitness.html
Nuts
Cut Heart Attacks And Strokes In Half In a paper,
published in the medical journal Lancet 2002;360:1455-1461, 1000
Asian patients with a high risk for heart disease and strokes were
put on two diets: a "control" heart smart diet and the
experimental diet,which consisted of the Mediterranean diet. Surprisingly,not
only did the high risk patients benefit from the Mediterranean diet,
but also the control group that had already been on a healthy heart
smart diet. Over 2 years the heart attack Further investigations will be done by the research team to understand the mechanism of action of the healthy Mediterranean diet. In the meantime Dr. Berry stressed that other lifestyle changes must accompany the Mediterranean diet, namely an active exercise program and regular relaxation exercises such as yoga. You may want
to read these useful related links to chapters of Hardening of
the arteries: Fitness:
New Blood Test To Predict Breast Cancer Survival Rate Dr. Keyomarsi, a researcher and radiation oncologist from the M.D. Anderson Cancer Institute in Houston/Texas, has published a very important piece of research in the New England Journal of Medicine (N Engl J Med 2002;347:1546-1547,1566-1575). A group of 394 breast cancer patients were followed for 6.4 years and cyclin E was measured with a special blood test. Cyclin E is a key substance involved in cell division in general and also in breast cancer cells. Dr. Kyomarsi's research showed that cyclin E, and in particular high levels of its socalled "truncated isoforms", correlated very well with poor survival. On the other hand low cyclin E levels (truncated isoforms) were a powerful predictor for excellent survival. In the above mentioned breast cancer study 12 patients out of a group of stage 1 patients (= localized breast cancer) died after an average of 4.1 years from the point of diagnosis. All of these patients had high cyclin E levels. In contrast, none of the other stage 1 patients had died within 5 years from the diagnosis and all of their cyclin E levels were low. Other known risk factors for poor survival are lymph gland metastases, negative estrogen receptors on the surface of the cancer cells and late-stage disease. Each of those
factors has a risk of You may want
to read these useful related links to chapters of my free Internet
based Nethealthbook: A general overview
regarding cancer:
Heart Attack And Stroke Risk Measured With C-Reactive Protein An old blood
test that has been popular in assessing how aggressive rheumatic
illnesses such as rheumatoid arthritis or lupus are, is now considered
as the newest test to assess the risk of heart attacks. Up to now
subfractions of cholesterol, in What is interesting about the C-reactive protein is that it originates from certain lining cells in blood vessels of liver tissue when inflammatory substances circulate in the body. Other research has shown in the past that arteriosclerosis is in part due to an inflammatory process in the lining of the blood vessels that leads to the production of the C-reactive protein. Unfortunately other chronic illnesses and infections also lead to an elevation of the C-reactive protein as does the common cold or the flu. However, when 28,000 women of the Brigham and Women's Hospital study were followed for 8 years it turned out that the C-reactive protein was a more reliable predictor for who would eventually suffer from a stroke or a heart attack than the traditional LDL cholesterol. The investigators felt that the LDL cholesterol is predictive for who is more likely to develop fatty deposits (atheromatous plaques). On the other hand the C-reactive protein appears to be more predictive for who is at a high risk for rupture of these atheromatous plaques. The bottom line is prevention by eating a diet with less fatty meats, by eating more fruit and vegetables and by engaging in an exercise program. Some patients need their cholesterol reduced with medication such as the statins. You may want
to browse through hese useful related links to chapters of For more details
regarding the use of the C-reative protein test Regarding arteriosclerosis,
heart attacks and strokes follow
"WAVE" Trial Failed To Show Benefits Of Estrogen/Vitamins Dr. David D. Waters of the University of California at San Francisco reported in Chicago at the American Heart Association's Scientific Session 2002 about the WAVE trial. This stands for "Women's Angiographic Vitamin and Estrogen" trial. The results
of this study were simultaneously published in the Journal of the
American Medical Association(JAMA 2002;288:2432-2440). It was a
The authors
felt that the beneficial effect of estrogen on heart vessels could
not been verified in this study. The take home message to the physicians
at the conference was that they should concentrate on lowering the
known risk factors: weight reduction, blood pressure control, cholesterol
lowering and increasing exercise. Estrogen should be NOTE
: This group of postmenopausal women is a selection of women more
likely suffering from hyperinsulinism with a higher rate of cardiovascular
disease (and also arthritis and possibly a higher risk for cancer
as well). The
most logical therapy for these women is to work on weight loss,
to increase exercise and to change their diet to a zone diet as
this is known to lower cholesterol. Hoping to cure these women with
estrogen or vitamin manipulation alone does not make "medical
common sense" to me. You may want to read these useful related
links to chapters of my free Internet based Nethealthbook: For
links to arteriosclerosis, heart attacks and strokes see this link:http://www.nethealthbook.com/cardiovasculardisease.html
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More Exercise Leads To More Health Based on an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA 2002;288:p.1994-2000) Dr. Mihaela Tanasescu and his group from Loma Linda University in California have followed more than 44,000 health care professionals every 2 years for 12 years. He asked the question whether a difference could be found between light, moderate or heavy exercise in the prevention of heart attacks. Here is what they found: 1700 new cases of heart attacks as a result from hardening of arteries were mostly found in those who did NOT exercise or were in the LIGHT aerobic category. The more the persons exercised, the more pronounced the heart protective effect was. For instance, the group of men who engaged in a heavy exercise program had developed 17% less heart disease than the group with the light exercise program. Contrary to the marathon runner studies that had reported a detrimental effect at the high end, this study did not find this effect. Also, this study is one of the first to show that weight training and other muscle strengthening activities also reduced strokes and heart attacks. Up to now the medical community was of the opinion that body building type muscle training might not prevent strokes or heart attacks. The authors concluded that a combination of aerobic exercises(brisk walking, running, sports etc.) with muscle strengthening exercises(body building, stretching exercises, weight lifting etc.) will give the most beneficial heart protecting health effect. Try these useful related links to chapters of my free Internet based Nethealthbook: Hardening of
the arteries: Fitness:
Endometriosis Is A Cause Of Infertility, Even Without Scarring When the lining of the womb grows into the fallopian tubes, this can be a cause of scarring of the tubes and lead to infertility of the woman. Up to this point in time medical science had no explanation for cases where the surgeon found only a few spots of endometriosis on the surface of the womb inside the abdominal cavity without any disease in the fallopian tubes. Dr.Ovrang Djahanbakhch and his coworkers from the The Royal London Hospital in London found that there is a factor contained in the abdominal fluid of women who have endometriosis (article published in the Lancet 2002;360:p.1221-1222). These investigators looked at fallopian tubes of hysterectomy samples (=wombs that were surgically removed) and studied the movement of the cells lining them under a special microscope. Hair cells can be seen that are lining the fallopian tubes and are normally responsible for the transport of the released egg at the time of ovulation. They found that when they added abdominal fluids from women who have endometriosis, the wave like pattern of these haircells (=known as "ciliary movement") came to almost a standstill. Abdominal fluids of women with no sign of endometriosis did not cause such a slowdown. This finding sheds important new information on our understanding of the nature of endometriosis and may some day lead to the development of new fertility drugs. At this point the chemical factor from patients with endometriosis that is responsible for the slow-down of the normal ciliary movement has not yet been isolated. The authors will pursue this line of research further. Here are some links that are related to this topic: Endometriosis: Infertility: http://www.nethealthbook.com/womenshealth
Smog From City Roads Reduces Your Life Expectancy 2-Fold Our ancestors already knew the benefits of fresh air and the fact that your grandmother likely knew: country living is healthier than city living. Let me qualify this somewhat: A recent study from the Netherlands showed that smog in cities has a detrimental effect on a person's health (based on Lancet 2002;360:p.1203-1209). Dr. Gerard Hoek and his team from the Utrecht University revisited a group of about 5000 patients 15 years after the completion of a lung cancer study that was done in 1986 on these patients. The authors looked up the addresses and classified two groups based on where these patients lived in 1986, either beside a busy congested road in the city or in a rural country area. 11% of the patient population had died of lung or heart disease during this period of time. When all of the other factors were kept constant and only the area where they lived was different, these authors found a significant 2-fold difference, which was attributed to chronic exposure to air pollution from traffic. The main reasons for this difference, they stated, was due to chronic exposure to black smoke and nitrogen dioxide from the exhaust fumes of cars. This study showed that air pollution by itself can double the death rate over a longer time period such as 15 years. In other words: It matters what you breathe! Useful related links to chapters of my free Internet based Nethealthbook: Cardiovascular
Disease: Lung Cancer:
Work Stress Is A Killer. How Much So? More Than 2-Fold Over A Period Of 25 Years In mid October 2002 the British Medical Journal(BMJ 2002;325:p.857-860) published a paper by Dr. Mika Kivimäki from the University of Helsinki where 812 healthy factory workers were followed for about 25 years. The issue was whether stress from work would have negative consequences, which could be measured in terms of cardiovascular disease. Various risk groups were defined from low stress to high stress. Low stress
jobs were classified as people who often had more training, more
responsibilities, better salaries, physically less strenuous jobs
with more job security. High stress jobs involved the opposite(high
demand/low job control/low salary/no job security). Depending on
which subgroups of high versus low risks were compared, the investigators
found a 2.2 to 2.4-fold increase of strokes and heart attacks due
to cardiovascular disease.The team measured
other cardiovascular risk factors. They found a significant
increase of cholesterol in the high stress job group after
5 years. After 10 years there was a marked weight
gain in the stressed group with obesity becoming much more
frequent. The authors noted that this likely led to a change
of metabolism in the sense of hyperinsulinism, which is known
to cause high cholesterol levels and leads to hardening of the
arteries with heart attacks and strokes. Visit
these useful related links to chapters of my free Internet based
Nethealthbook: Hyperinsulinism
or syndrome of insulin resistance: Heart disease: Stroke: _strokeandcerebralaneurysm.html
Harp Music After Heart Or Chest Surgery Reduces Pain By 70% Believe it or not: Harp music following serious chest or heart surgery in 17 patients leads to pain relief according to Aragon and colleagues. They reported this mid September 2002 (Altern Ther Health Med 2002;8:p.52-60) and they were measuring blood pressure, pulse, respiratory rate as well as pain and anxiety by psychological assessments to measure the effect on pain perception after listening to 20 minutes of harp music. The pain reduction was about 70% at the end of a 20 minute session and lasted at least 10 minutes (when the 20 minute and 30 minute point from the beginning of the harp music session were compared). This experiment documents the relaxation response, which is known from hypnotherapy as well and can also be brought on by meditation, yoga or prayer. The authors suggest that music therapy following surgeries could be utilized to promote healing and to reduce complications. Other health care settings where such a therapy might be useful would be in the treatment of anxiety disorders, where a reduction in anti-anxiety drugs under psychiatric guidance may be achievable. Useful related links to chapters of my free Internet based Nethealthbook: Obesity and
diet. Self hypnosis tapes can play an integral part
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