Health News for Late May 2008

Cancer

HIV & Cancer

An article published in the May 20 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine, which looked at 54,780 HIV+ people in the Adult and Adolescent Spectrum of HIV Disease Project (47,832 patients) and the HIV Outpatient Study (6,948 patients) concluded: "The incidence of many types of non-AIDS-defining cancer was higher among HIV-infected persons than among the general population from 1992 to 2003." Non-AIDS-defining cancers included anal, colorectal, liver, lung, oropharyngeal, renal, and vaginal cancer; Hodgkin's lymphoma; leukemia; and melanoma. The minor bit of good news is that the incidence of prostate cancer was significantly lower among men with HIV than the general population; although, this is likely due to the fact that men with HIV infections are more likely to have lower testosterone levels, which may be protective against prostate cancer.

Alcohol, Genes, & Cancer

A communication published online on May 25 in Nature Genetics reports finding two gene variants in the ADH gene that offer "significant" protection against mouth and throat cancers. Approximately seven in 10 people who have a mouth cancer diagnosis drink more than the recommended alcohol limit. It is believed that those who have the variants are much better at breaking down alcohol into less harmful chemicals.

Target for Future Cancer Vaccine

Scientists with Cancer Research UK have identified a new protein target unique to dendritic cells that could be used to produce highly focused vaccines for cancer. In a news release, lead author, Dr. Caetano Reis e Sousa, said: "Vaccines work by triggering an army of immune cells, called T cells, to attack potentially dangerous foreign molecules, like those found on pathogens. Dendritic cells are the messengers, telling the T cells who to attack. … We have now found a tag on dendritic cells – called DNGR-1 – which can be targeted by vaccines. Vaccines will carry a sample of the offending molecule and deliver it to DNGR-1 on the dendritic cells. The dendritic cell in turn will present the molecule to the armies of T cells and instruct them to attack." It is hoped that new vaccines will be able to target the protein "tag" and direct the body's immune system to specifically attack cancer cells and other pathogens, including HIV or malaria. The article was published in The Journal of Clinical Investigation.

Coffee, Tea, & Breast Cancer

Good news for women who love coffee or tea: A study published in the May issue of the International Journal of Cancer, which followed 85,987 women in the Nurses' Health Study from 1980 to 2002, reports no elevated risk of breast cancer among women who drink up to four cups a day of caffeinated or decaffeinated coffee or tea, or other caffeinated beverages. They also found a modestly reduced risk among postmenopausal women, which was associated with the highest versus the lowest caffeine intake.

Antioxidants & Cancer Treatment

A commentary published online on May 27 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute reviewed randomized clinical trials which looked at dietary antioxidant supplementation during conventional chemotherapy and radiation therapy. The authors concluded, "…(T)he use of supplemental antioxidants during chemotherapy and radiation therapy should be discouraged because of the possibility of tumor protection and reduced survival."

New Technique to Spot Cancer Early

A letter published on May 28 in Nature reports that a new MRI technique and the body's naturally occurring bicarbonate may be useful to help spot early cancer. The technique, developed by GE Healthcare, is called dynamic nuclear polarization, and it boosts MRI sensitivity more than 20,000 times. The technique involves cooling down molecules to near absolute zero and then warming them up quickly, which keeps them polarized and easier to detect in an image. Cancer typically has a lower pH (is more acidic) than surrounding tissue, and the technique was able to spot changes in tissue pH in mice. In a May 28 news release from Cancer Research UK, lead researcher Professor Kevin Brindle explained, "This technique could be used as a highly-sensitive early warning system for the signs of cancer. Establishing such tools is a major challenge in cancer research. … By exploiting the body's natural pH balancing system, we have found a potentially safe way of measuring pH to see what's going on inside patients. MRI can pick up on the abnormal pH levels found in cancer and it is possible that this could be used to pinpoint where the disease is present and when it is responding to treatment." Testing in humans is expected to start in 2009.

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Smoking

Successful Smoking Cessation?

Looking to quit the nasty cancer sticks? According to a paper published in the May 22 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine, the key to quitting may be the company you keep. Looking at a "densely interconnected social network" of 12,067 people assessed repeatedly from 1971 to 2003 as part of the Framingham Heart Study, researchers found that the decision to quit spreads through social networks (family, friends, and/or coworkers), with groups quitting at the same time. As for those who didn't quit? "Smokers were also progressively found in the periphery of the social network." The same researcher was behind the finding that obesity is "contagious" in social networks!

Secondhand Smoke & Kids' Health

A paper published online on May 27 in Tobacco Control followed a group of 7,402 children, representing about 80% of all births in Hong Kong in April and May 1997, until their eighth birthday in 2005. Researchers found that exposure to secondhand smoke within a distance of three meters (9.8 feet) in early life was associated with a 14% higher risk of being hospitalized for infectious diseases up until the age of eight. Also, exposure to secondhand smoke during the first six months increased the likelihood of a hospitalization by 45% by the time the child was eight. Perhaps not surprisingly, babies born prematurely were twice as likely to be hospitalized, and low birth weight babies were 75% more likely to be hospitalized during the first eight years of life.

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Kids

Blood Donation Risks for Teens

A contribution published in the May 20 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association evaluated adverse reactions to allogeneic whole blood donation by 16- and 17-year-olds compared with older donors in American Red Cross (ARC) blood centers. In 2006, in nine regions, the ARC collected 145,678 whole blood donations from 16- and 17-year-olds, 113,307 from 18- and 19-year-olds, and 1,517,460 from those aged 20+. Researchers found that complications occurred, respectively, in 10.7%, 8.3%, and 2.8% of cases, leading them to conclude: "The increasing dependence on recruiting and retaining young blood donors requires a committed approach to donor safety, especially at high school blood drives." According to the study, 8% of whole blood donations collected by the ARC are from minors aged 16 to 17.

Childhood Obesity

A contribution published in the May 28 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association, which looked at the height and weight measurements of 8,165 American children and adolescents as part of the 2003-2004 and 2005-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), reports that after increasing for about 20 years, childhood obesity rates have leveled off since 1999. Unfortunately, the study also found that 32% of kids still fit the government's definition of being overweight, while 16% were obese, and 11% extremely obese.

Childhood Lead Exposure & Adult Criminal Behavior

An article published online on May 27 in PLoS Medicine concludes that prenatal and postnatal blood lead concentrations are associated with higher rates of total arrests and/or arrests for offenses involving violence. Between 1979 and 1984, the researchers recruited pregnant women living in poor areas of Cincinnati, which had a high concentration of older, lead-contaminated housing, into the Cincinnati Lead Study. The researchers measured the women's blood lead concentrations during pregnancy, and regularly measured the children's blood lead levels until they were 6.5 years old. They then obtained information from the local criminal justice records on how many times each of the 250 offspring had been arrested between becoming 18 and the end of October 2005. They pointed out one of the limitations of their study, that they underestimate criminal activity "…since most criminal behavior does not lead to arrest." And they noted that, "One possibility, which the authors were unable to assess in this study, is that lead exposure impairs intelligence, which in turn makes it more likely that a criminal offender will be caught (i.e., arrested)."

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Diabetes

Delaying Diabetes

An article published on May 24 in The Lancet has found that lifestyle interventions including drinking less alcohol, eating more vegetables, and exercising can prevent or delay the onset of diabetes for up to 14 years. The findings were based on 577 Chinese adults with impaired glucose tolerance who underwent intervention from 1986 to 1992, and who were followed from 1986 to 2006. The researchers did admit, "… whether lifestyle intervention also leads to reduced CVD and mortality remains unclear."

Cocoa to Help Diabetics

Research published in the June 3 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology has shown that diabetics who were given three cups a day of a specially formulated, flavonol-rich cocoa for a month had their severely impaired arteries regain virtually normal function. But don't run out to the bulk food store to load up on hot chocolate – the key is the flavonols, not the chocolate.

Mediterranean Diet & Diabetes Prevention

Many people have heard that the Mediterranean diet is good for heart health. Now, research published online on May 29 in the British Medical Journal reports an additional benefit: People who closely followed the diet were 83% less likely to develop type 2 diabetes than those who did not. The findings were based on 13,380 Spanish university graduates without diabetes at baseline, who were followed up for a median of 4.4 years. However, because the average age of participants was approximately 40, younger than the age when type 2 typically appears, the connection may not be as strong as it appears.

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Sleep

Sleepy Brains

Research published on May 21 in The Journal of Neuroscience has found that when we are sleep-deprived, even for one night, our brains become erratic. As explained in a May 21 news release, "…people had periods of near-normal brain function in which they could finish tasks quickly. However, this normalcy mixed with periods of slow response and severe drops in visual processing and attention…." Lead author Dr. Michael Chee said, "Interestingly, the team found that a sleep-deprived brain can normally process simple visuals, like flashing checkerboards. But the 'higher visual areas' – those that are responsible for making sense of what we see – didn't function well. … Herein lies the peril of sleep deprivation. … The periods of apparently normal functioning could give a false sense of competency and security, when in fact, the brain's inconsistency could have dire consequences."

Minimizing Jet Lag

About to go on an overseas flight and want to minimize jet lag? Avoid food on the plane! A report published on May 23 in Science magazine says that to get your body to follow your "food-related clock" rather than your light-based master clock (i.e., the suprachiasmatic nucleus, which establishes circadian rhythms), you should fast for about 16 hours. Since the master clock can only adjust a bit each day, using it, a person could take a week to adjust to an 11-hour time difference. But the food clock adapts more quickly. In a May 23 news release, the study's senior author Dr. Clifford Saper explained, "For a small mammal, finding food on a daily basis is a critical mission. … Even a few days of starvation … may result in the animal's death. … When food is readily available … (l)ight signals from the retina help establish the animals' circadian rhythms to the standard day-night cycle." Of course, if food is not available during the normal wake period, animals need to be able to adapt to find food that is available when they are ordinarily asleep. This adaptation means that animals can switch sleep and wake schedules to maximize the likelihood of finding food. "We discovered that a single cycle of starvation followed by refeeding turns on the clock, so that it effectively overrides the suprachiasmatic nucleus and hijacks all of the circadian rhythms onto a new time zone that corresponds with food availability."

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Miscellaneous

Googling Your Health?

Looking for a place to store your medical information? Google has launched Google Health, a free, password-protected service which stores a user's basic medical history and health conditions (e.g., allergies, test results, immunizations, prescriptions, conditions) in one place. One can upload medical records, explore health services, find a doctor, schedule appointments, etc. The site says, "Google stores your information securely and privately. We will never sell your data. You are in control, you choose what you want to share and what you want to keep private." Individuals can sign in with their gmail account.

Shingles in the Family?

A study published in the May issue of Archives of Dermatology looked at 504 patients and 523 controls and found that patients with shingles (herpes zoster) were more likely (39%) to report blood relatives with a history of singles than control subjects (11%), which suggests an association between shingles and a family history of the condition.

Acute Coronary Syndrome Symptoms

An investigation published in the May 26 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine surveyed 3,522 patients (average age 67; 68% male and 32% female) who had a history of acute MI or invasive cardiac procedure for ischemic heart disease, to assess their level of knowledge about heart disease and self-perceived risk for a future AMI. Using a true-false test focusing on ACS symptoms and appropriate steps to seeking treatment, researchers found that 46% of patients had low knowledge levels. Higher knowledge levels were significantly related to female sex, younger age, higher education, participation in cardiac rehab, and receiving care by a cardiologist (rather than internist or GP).

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