Our weekly roundup of the latest developments in the world of health. This week we look at why people with heart disease should avoid smallpox vaccination, how silent strokes may raise the risk of Alzheimer's disease, and how vitamins may help people with diabetes avoid colds. We also look at the link between bone loss and lead levels and at a new drug to relieve nausea for people getting chemotherapy.
Stay well.
This Issue:
Smallpox Vaccine And Heart Health Silent Strokes And Alzheimer's Vitamins Help Diabetics Bone Loss And Lead New Nausea Drug In The News:
Smallpox Vaccine And Heart Health If you have heart disease, you should not receive the smallpox vaccine. That's the U.S. government's new recommendation, which comes amid concern that the vaccine may be linked to heart problems, The Associated Press reports. Health officials are investigating whether the vaccine played a role in a health worker's death from a heart attack. Two other people had heart attacks after getting the vaccine, and four others developed angina or heart inflammation, the AP says. All of the people already had risk factors for heart disease, so it's possible that these heart problems are coincidental and not related to the smallpox vaccine, officials say. But they are erring on the side of caution until they can rule out any added heart risk from the vaccine, the AP says. The new guidelines advise people who have been diagnosed with coronary artery disease, congestive heart failure, previous heart attack or angina not to get vaccinated, the AP says.
Silent Strokes And Alzheimer's
Tiny, symptomless strokes may significantly increase the risk of dementia -- and the preventive steps that lower stroke risk may also decrease dementia risk. A Dutch study published in the
New England Journal of Medicine finds that so-called "silent" strokes, which can go unnoticed unless they are detected by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), can hasten mental decline and more than double the risk of Alzheimer's disease or other types of dementia. The study looked at MRI scans done in 1995 and 1996 on 1,015 people aged 60 to 90. The researchers found damage indicative of silent strokes in 217 people. During more than three years of follow up, 26 of them developed Alzheimer's and 30 developed other types of dementia. The researchers did a second MRI of 619 of the elderly participants, and found that those who'd had additional strokes had even more severe mental decline. The researchers say that encouraging older adults to reduce their risk factors for stroke -- by lowering blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar levels, eating a healthy diet, exercising and stopping smoking -- could also lower the risk for Alzheimer's. The AP quotes other experts who say that inadequate blood flow to the brain is an underlying cause of both stroke and Alzheimer's disease, and that silent strokes may be an early sign of Alzheimer's, not just a risk factor.
Vitamins Help Diabetics
Multivitamins may help people -- especially those with diabetes -- avoid colds and other common infections. A study published in the
Annals of Internal Medicine finds that people who took a multivitamin supplement had significantly fewer infections than those taking a placebo. However, those without diabetes who got adequate nutrition didn't see much benefit from taking vitamins. The study was small: It involved only 130 people, 63 of whom took a multivitamin every day for a year and 67 of whom got a dummy pill. The participants -- about a third of whom had type 2 diabetes -- kept daily diaries where they recorded colds and other infections and sick days. After taking the pills every day for a year, the group that got the real multivitamins reported fewer infections and fewer missed days at work due to infections. Overall, three-quarters of the placebo group reported getting an infection during the year, while less than half of the vitamin group did. However, those with diabetes accounted for almost the entire difference between the groups. Ninety-three percent of the people with diabetes who took the placebo reported getting sick over the study period, and 89 percent reported missing work because of illness. Only 17 percent of the people with diabetes who took a vitamin reported getting an infection and none reported missing work because of it. The researchers acknowledge some limitations to their study: It was very small, and it did not take into consideration the health habits of study participants before they started taking vitamins, the AP says.
Bone Loss And Lead
Thinning bones may put you at risk for more than fractures. A study published in the
Journal of the American Medical Association finds that bone loss at menopause may increase blood levels of lead, which in turn can increase the risk for high blood pressure. In the study, researchers looked at data on 2,165 women aged 40 to 59, who participated in a national health survey from 1988 to 1994. The researchers found that the one quarter of the study participants who had the highest blood lead levels -- an average of 6.4 micrograms per deciliter -- were also 40 percent more likely to have high blood pressure than the women with the lowest blood-lead levels of 1 microgram per deciliter. Previous studies had found a link between lead exposure and high blood pressure in men, The Associated Press reports. This study suggests that this is also true for women, and that thinning bones may contribute to the problem. After lead exposure, blood levels of the metal rise and the lead ultimately accumulates in the bones. When bone is lost, as commonly happens after menopause, the stored lead can leak back into the blood, re-exposing a woman to the poison and causing damage, the researchers say. The AP quotes another expert who says getting adequate amounts of calcium may help maintain bone density and prevent lead-related hypertension.
New Nausea Drug
Good news for cancer patients: A new drug may make chemotherapy a little more bearable. The Food and Drug Administration this week approved the first medication to prevent delayed nausea. While nausea and vomiting are common side effects to chemotherapy, there are a number of medications that can fight the nausea patients feel immediately after treatment, The Associated Press reports. The new drug, Emend, can prevent a less common type of nausea that occurs a day or so later. Emend works by blocking the receptors for a brain chemical called substance P, which is responsible for the delayed nausea impulse. Side effects of the drug included fatigue, dizziness, cough and hiccups, the AP says. The FDA warns that Emend also reduces the effectiveness of birth control pills and may affect the dose of the blood thinner warfarin.
Used with the permission of the copyright owner. All rights reserved. The above summaries are not intended to provide advice on personal medical matters, nor are they intended to be a substitute for consultation with a physician.
