This week we learn that obese children have clogged arteries and heart abnormalities that increase their risk of heart disease, that the HPV vaccine protects men from genital warts, and that statins decrease the risk of heart attacks and strokes in some people with normal cholesterol and no other risk factors. We also learn that a bone marrow transplant may have cured one man of HIV infection and that vitamin supplements don't prevent heart disease.
Stay well.
This Issue:
Obese Children's Heart, Arteries Show Damage HPV Vaccine Protects Men Statins Lower Heart Risks With Low Cholesterol Marrow Transplant May Cure AIDS Vitamins Don't Prevent Heart Disease In the News:
Obese Children's Heart, Arteries Show Damage Obese children as young as 10 have the arteries of someone four and a half times their age. They also have other heart abnormalities that significantly increase their risk of heart disease, according to studies presented at the American Heart Association conference in New Orleans this week. In one study, researchers used ultrasound to measure the thickness of the wall of a major neck artery in 70 children ages 10 to 16. Many of the children were obese and almost all of them had abnormal cholesterol. The researchers found that the children's "vascular age" was about 30 years older than their actual age. The second study looked ultrasounds of 991 apparently healthy children and found that as their weight went up so did the size of their left atrium. A third study of 150 children found that the heart's ability to relax between beats in overweight or obese children. The Associated Press quotes experts who say the studies are further evidence that childhood obesity is not merely a cosmetic problem.
HPV Vaccine Protects Men
The vaccine used to prevent cervical cancer-causing human papillomavirus in women may also protect men from genital warts. A study of 4,000 males ages 16 to 26 in nearly 20 countries found for the first time that the Gardasil vaccine was 90 percent effective in preventing genital warts. The results were presented at a medical conference in Europe this week. The results could give a boost to the vaccine manufacturer Merck & Co. Inc.'s plans to pursue approval to market the vaccine to boys later this year, the Associated Press reports.
Statins Lower Heart Risks With Low Cholesterol
Some people with normal cholesterol and no other risk factors for heart disease or stroke might benefit from a statin. A study presented at the American Heart Association conference in New Orleans suggests that millions more Americans may consider taking a statin. It also provides evidence that C-reactive protein (CRP), a marker of inflammation, may be an effective way to determine who is at risk for heart disease. The study looked at some 17,800 people with high CRP and low LDL cholesterol in 26 countries. The participants were randomly assigned to take either rosuvastatin (Crestor) or a placebo. The five-year study was stopped after two years because the people taking Crestor were faring so much better compared to the placebo group. Crestor reduced heart attacks, strokes, heart-related deaths or hospitalizations, or the need for an artery-opening procedure by 44%. The researchers could not say whether those benefits were because of Crestor's reducing CRP or cholesterol, the Associated Press reports. On drawback was that more people in the Crestor group had increases in blood sugar levels or were diagnosed with diabetes more often than those taking the placebo, the AP says.
Marrow Transplant May Cure AIDS
A man who had been infected with HIV for 10 years showed no signs of the disease after undergoing a bone marrow transplant, according to German researchers. The researchers say the apparent cure may be a fluke, but it also suggests that gene therapy could be an effective way to fight AIDS, the Associated Press reports. The AIDS patient, a 42-year-old American man, showed no signs of the disease in his bone marrow, blood and other organ tissues 20 months after undergoing a transplant, the researchers said. The transplanted bone marrow contained a mutation, known as Delta 32, that makes people resistant to HIV infection by blocking a receptor, CCR5, that allows the virus to attach itself to cells. The AP quotes other experts who say that the procedure is too risky and expensive to consider as a first-line treatment, but that blocking CCR5 could be a target of gene therapy.
Vitamins Don't Prevent Heart Disease
Vitamin C and E supplements do not prevent heart disease in men. In fact, vitamin E could raise the risk of bleeding strokes, according to a study presented this week at the American Heart Association conference in New Orleans and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The study involved some 14,600 men age 50 or older who were participating in the Physicians Health Study. The men were divided into four groups and given either 400 international units of vitamin E every other day, 500 milligrams of vitamin C daily, both, or placebos. After eight years of follow-up, there was no difference in heart attack, stroke or heart-related deaths among the groups. But men taking vitamin E appeared to have a 74% higher risk for bleeding strokes, the Associated Press reports. Another study of 12,000 heart attack survivors found that vitamins B-12 and B-9 (folic acid) did not prevent heart disease either, the AP says.
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.
