Health

Study points to methods for safe drug dispensing via computer

Researchers have found that a new computer system that uses bar codes to safeguard patients’ medications will work successfully, but not without creating new, serious problems for nurses charged with patient care. “In general, we viewed the system as successful. There are no magic bullet solutions to human error in any setting, and even the best systems will require constant maintenance and flexible redesign after implementation,” said Emily Patterson, a research specialist in Ohio State’s Institute for Ergonomics.

Lowering plaque protein in blood may offer treatment for Alzheimer’s

Agents that alter blood levels of beta-amyloid protein in mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease represent a potential approach to treating the illness in humans that may be safer than the vaccine method of therapy, researchers report in a new study. Beta-amyloid protein is a component of the amyloid plaques that accumulate in the brains of people with Alzheimer?’s disease. Beta-amyloid is viewed by many researchers and clinicians as the underlying cause of the degeneration and dementia that characterize the illness. Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive, degenerative brain disease and the most common form of dementia. There is no cure.

Vitamin C, fish, and a gout drug target artery damage from smoking

Researchers have found that vitamin C and taurine, an amino acid in fish, reversed abnormal blood vessel response associated with cigarette smoking ? a discovery that may provide insight into how smoking contributes to “hardening of the arteries,” according to an Irish study in today’s rapid access issue of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. In a second study, researchers from Iowa demonstrated that a drug used to treat gout ? allopurinol ? rapidly reversed the abnormal blood vessel constriction caused by smoking.

Mercury in California Rainwater Traced to Industrial Emissions in Asia

Researchers in Santa Cruz, CA have found that industrial emissions in Asia are a major source of mercury in rainwater that falls along the California coast. Their findings are reported in a paper published online today by the Journal of Geophysical Research – Atmospheres. The mercury in rainwater is not in itself a health threat, but mercury pollution is a significant problem in San Francisco Bay and other California waters because the toxic element builds up in the food chain. State regulatory agencies are looking for ways to reduce the amount of mercury entering the state’s waters from various sources.

Early lead exposure may be major cause of juvenile delinquency

Children exposed to lead have significantly greater odds of developing delinquent behavior, according to Pittsburgh researcher. Results of the study, directed by Herbert Needleman, M.D., professor of child psychiatry and pediatrics, were published in today’s issue of Neurotoxicology and Terotology. Needleman — whose prior work was instrumental in establishing nationwide government bans on lead from paint, gasoline and food and beverage cans — examined 194 youths convicted in the Juvenile Court of Allegheny County, Pa., and 146 non-delinquent controls from high schools in Pittsburgh. Bone lead levels, measured by K X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy of the tibia, showed that the delinquent youths had significantly higher mean concentrations of lead in their bones ? 11.0 parts per million (ppm) ? compared to 1.5 ppm in the control group.

Drug treatment for ADHD sharply cuts risk for future substance abuse

An analysis of all available studies that examine the possible impact of stimulant treatment for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) on future substance abuse supports the safety of stimulant treatment. Using a statistical technique called meta-analysis, the researchers found that medication treatment for children with ADHD resulted in an almost two-fold reduction in the risk of future substance abuse. “We know that untreated individuals with ADHD are at a significantly increased risk for substance abuse. And we understand why parents often ask whether stimulant medications might lead to future substance abuse among their children,” says Timothy Wilens, MD, MGH director of Substance Abuse Services in Pediatric Psychopharmacology, the paper’s lead author. “Now we can reassure parents and other practitioners that treating ADHD actually protects children against alcohol and drug abuse as well as other future problems.”

Study: Aging boomers won’t boost health-care costs as much as predicted

Baby boomers will increase Medicare and other medical expenditures as they age but not nearly as much as some analysts have feared, according to a new study. The study, which appears in the January issue of the Journal of Gerontology, suggests that by living longer, many baby boomers will pass the ages at which the most “heroic,” and hence expensive, efforts are made to prolong their lives. Once members of that generation survive into their mid-80s or so and beyond, many medical procedures will become too risky for their older bodies and will be avoided in many cases.

Blood flow in eyes unaffected by Viagra

When Viagra was introduced in 1999, the drug’s manufacturer warned of a number of visual side effects, including possible nerve damage to the eyes. But a California study rules out some of these risks — even when the drug is taken in high doses. According to Dr. Tim McCulley, assistant professor of ophthalmology at the University of California at Irvine, blood flow in the eye does not seem to be reduced by even high doses of the popular erectile dysfunction drug. Since Viagra lowers blood pressure overall, there was persistent suspicion that the drug might cause decreased optical blood flow, which can cause nerve damage.

Hormone Therapy Associated With Increased Breast Density

A new study suggests that the use of combination hormone therapy is associated with a modest increase in breast density, which is a known risk factor for breast cancer. The findings appear in the Jan. 1 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The degree of breast-cancer risk that is associated with breast density is greater than that associated with almost all other known breast-cancer risk factors. A previous analysis of data from the Postmenopausal Estrogen/Progestin Interventions (PEPI) Trial, a randomized trial looking at the effects of postmenopausal hormone therapy (estrogen alone or estrogen plus three different progestin regimens) on breast density, showed that some women who used combination estrogen/progestin therapy experienced an increase in breast density. However, the analysis did not look at the magnitude of that increase.

Potential new treatment for people with manic depression

Drug company AstraZeneca said it has submitted an application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for approval of quetiapine (Seroquel) as a treatment for acute mania associated with bipolar disorder, or manic-depressive illness. The application follows the completion of a clinical trial programme in bipolar disorder undertaken by the company which reportedly found quetiapine effective as a treatment of acute mania on two levels: as monotherapy (i.e to be prescribed on its own) and as adjunctive therapy with standard mood stabilising medication. These clinical trials have delivered strong and positive results in both the monotherapy and adjunctive therapy studies, which confirm quetiapine to be an ideal first line therapy for the treatment of acute mania associated with bipolar disorder, the company said.

Drug industry creating new disease?

Drug companies are sponsoring creation of a new medical disorder known as female sexual dysfunction in order to build markets for drugs among women, despite controversy surrounding the medicalisation of sexual problems, finds an article in this week’s British Medical Journal. Over the past six years, researchers with close ties to the pharmaceutical industry have been developing and defining the new disorder at company sponsored meetings, writes journalist Ray Moynihan.

19.2 Million U.S. Adults Have Chronic Kidney Disease

Eleven percent of the U.S. adult population has varying stages of chronic kidney disease, according to researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The researchers concluded that chronic kidney disease warrants improved detection and classification using standardized criteria to improve patient outcomes. Their research is published in the January 2003 issue of the American Journal of Kidney Diseases.

Medications underused in treating heart disease

Past studies have shown that various medications including beta blockers and aspirin can help manage heart disease. Yet a new study from Stanford University Medical Center indicates physicians continue to underprescribe these key treatments. The study appears in the Jan. 1 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. It focuses on the outpatient use of the drug warfarin for atrial fibrillation (or irregular heartbeat), beta blockers and aspirin for coronary artery disease, and ACE inhibitors for congestive heart failure – all medications that have been shown to benefit patients in past clinical trials and population studies.