Boost for breast cancer drugs?
Source: BBC Health; Journal Cancer Research
Tamoxifen (an estrogen blocker) is currently the most prescribed drug to fight breast cancer recurrence. However up to 1/3 of women do not respond to Tamoxifen. The reasons for this are not completely known as of this post but are believed to lie in a gene -FGFR1.
Researchers are now working on methods to “switch off” the FGFR1 gene so that the therapeutic effects of Tamoxifen may be realized in greater numbers. 1 out of every 10 breast cancer survivors have the FGFR1 gene. There are currently a number of drugs which are known to inhibit FGFR1.
The stage is now set for clinical trials. If the laboratory evidence is repeatable in the real world this could mean less recurrence of breast cancer for more women. Breast cancer is the most common disease causing death for women in the US and in the UK.
~Posted by D.M. Schwadron, Esquire
Declare your almonds Turkey Hill!
Source: U.S. Food & Drug Administration
Turkey Hill Dairy of Conestoga, Pa., is recalling its 1.5 qt. (48 oz./1.42L) packages of Chocolate Marshmallow Premium Ice Cream because the product may contain almonds that were inadvertently added during production. (Inadvertently added almonds?)
No illnesses have been reported to date in connection with this issue, although people who have allergies to almonds run the risk of serious or life-threatening allergic reactions if they consume these products. The product is safe for consumption by consumers without nut allergies.
The recalled Chocolate Marshmallow Premium Ice Cream is limited only to select stores in central Pennsylvania. All affected stores are directly delivered to and serviced by Turkey Hill Dairy and have been instructed to remove the product from their shelves.
The recall was initiated after it was discovered that the recalled product was distributed in packaging that did not identify almonds as an ingredient. It is believed that less than 150 containers of ice cream were potentially exposed to almonds. All affected containers would have been purchased by consumers after January 28, 2010.
The product comes in a rounded, rectangular, cream-colored, paperboard, 48 oz. packages with farm scene and ice cream scoop graphics. The affected product is marked on the bottom of the package with the code “01/18/2011 56/L1”. Preceding the code is a four-digit number indicating the production time. The recalled product includes a time between 02:25 and 02:35.
Consumers who have purchased affected 48 oz. packages of Chocolate Marshmallow Premium Ice Cream with the previously mentioned code can return them to the place of purchase for a full refund. Consumers with questions may contact Turkey Hill Dairy at 1-800-MY-DAIRY (1-800-693-2479).
~Posted by D.M. Schwadron, Esquire
Say it ain't so Joe! FDA Alert Friday.
Source: U.S. Food & Drug Administration
Trader Joe’s Company of Monrovia, California is voluntarily recalling Trader Joe’s Chocolate Chip Chewy Coated Granola Bars, UPC 82818, Use by Dates/Lot Codes 16JUL10H2 and 17JUL10H1, manufactured by Bloomfield Bakery, a subsidiary of Ralcorp Holdings, Inc. because it has the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella, an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems.
Healthy persons infected with Salmonella often experience fever, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. In rare circumstances, infection with Salmonella can result in the organism getting into the bloodstream and producing more severe illnesses such as arterial infections (i.e., infected aneurysms), endocarditis and arthritis.
The product involved in this recall was distributed at Trader Joe’s stores nationally and comes in a 7.4 oz box marked with Use by/Lot Codes 16JUL10H2 and 17JUL10H1 on the top of the box and stamped individually on the side of each granola bar. Production of the product has been suspended while FDA and Bloomfield Bakery continue their investigation.
No illnesses have been reported to date in connection with this product.
At Trader Joe’s we take the safety of our customers and the integrity of our products very seriously. Customers who have purchased Trader Joe’s Chocolate Chip Chewy Coated Granola Bars, Use by/Lot Codes 16JUL10H2 and 17JUL10H1 are urged to return them to any Trader Joe’s for a full refund. Customers with questions may contact Trader Joe’s Customer Relations Monday through Friday, 6am to 6pm PST at (626) 599-3817.
~Posted by D.M. Schwadron, Esquire
FDA New Push to avoid injury from over-radiation with CT
Source: U.S. Food & Drug Administration Press Release
The FDA is taking initiative to reduce the risks of injury associated with “unnecessary” radiation exposure from CT (Computed Tomography), nuclear medicine and fluoroscopy.
Unlike traditional x-rays and mammography for which radiation doses have decreased over the years, the amount of radiation from medical imaging from the above has increased. Accidental over-exposure can increase the risk of cancer, cause skin burns, hair loss and the formation of cataracts. A CT of the abdomen reveals more information than a plain x-ray. It also has the same dose as 400 x-ray studies.
The initiate by the FDA is designed to: 1.) Promote the safe use of medical imaging; 2.) Support informed clinical decision-making; and, 3.) Increase patient awareness of exposure. With regard to manufacturers of medical scanning equipment, the FDA intends to introduce target requirements for safeguards and provide better product training to reduce “accidental” overexposure.
Other aspects of the initiative include additional quality assurance and accreditation for Medicare and Medicaid providers. Let’s hope they get it right.
~Posted by D.M. Schwadron, Esquire
Nursing Home Care and Pressure (bed) Sores
Source: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
In 2004 a National Survey was conducted of Nursing homes in the U.S. Unfortunately this is the most recent comprehensive study of its type. Among the Data from the National Nursing Home Survey, 2004 was the following:
- In 2004, about 159,000 current U.S. nursing home residents (11%) had pressure ulcers. Stage 2 pressure ulcers were the most common.
- Residents aged 64 years and under were more likely than older residents to have pressure ulcers.
- Residents of nursing homes for a year or less were more likely to have pressure ulcers than those with longer stays.
- One in five nursing home residents with a recent weight loss had pressure ulcers.
- Thirty-five percent of nursing home residents with stage 2 or higher (more severe) pressure ulcers received special wound care services in 2004.
Pressure ulcers, also known as bed sores, pressure sores, or decubitus ulcers, are wounds caused by unrelieved pressure on the skin. They usually develop over bony prominences, such as the elbow, heel, hip, shoulder, back, and back of the head.
Pressure ulcers are serious medical conditions and one of the important measures of the quality of clinical care in nursing homes. From about 2% to 28% of nursing home residents have pressure ulcers. The most common system for staging pressure ulcers classifies them based on the depth of soft tissue damage, ranging from the least severe (stage 1) to the most severe (stage 4). There is persistent redness of skin in stage 1; a loss of partial thickness of skin appearing as an abrasion, blister, or shallow crater in stage 2; a loss of full thickness of skin, presented as a deep crater in stage 3; and a loss of full thickness of skin exposing muscle or bone in stage 4. Clinical practice guidelines for pressure ulcers have been developed and provide specific treatment recommendations for stage 2 or higher pressure ulcers, including proper wound care (5).
More than 1 in 10 nursing home residents had a pressure ulcer.
Of the 1.5 million current U.S. nursing home residents in 2004, about 159,000 (11%) had pressure ulcers of any stage. Stage 2 was the most common (5%), accounting for about 50% of all pressure ulcers. Stages 1, 3, and 4 made up about the other 50% of all ulcers.
Summary:
Overall, 11% of nursing home residents had pressure ulcers in 2004. Various demographic and clinical factors were related to having a pressure ulcer in a nursing home. Residents in a nursing home for a year or less since admission, who had a recent weight loss, or who had high immobility had the highest prevalence of pressure ulcers. Among residents with a pressure ulcer of stage 2 or higher, 35% received special wound care services.
This suggests that a minority of nursing home residents with stage 2 or higher pressure ulcers received wound care in accordance with the clinical practice guidelines. Pressure ulcers are serious and all too common medical conditions in U.S. nursing homes, and remain an important public health problem. Information from this Data Brief on pressure ulcer prevalence and service use among nursing home residents with pressure ulcers may provide a foundation for targeting public health efforts.
~Posted by D.M. Schwadron
Twins and Older Moms
Source: Journal of Human Reproduction; BBC Health
Must be the wooden shoes. Researchers from Vrije University (between Amstelveenseweg and De Boelelaan Streets in Amsterdam –Look it it up if you don’t believe me), have studied the development of eggs in over 500 Dutch women to determine why women over age 35 have twins more frequently than women under age 30.
Quick medical lesson: Twins occur when 1 fertilized egg divides into 2 infants (identical) or when 2 eggs become fertilized instead of just 1 (non-indentical). 3/4 of all twin pregnancies are non-identical. A hormone called FSH (Follicle Stimulating Hormone) starts the process of egg production in the ovaries.
Back to the study. Of the 500 women, 105 developed multiple follicles. Of those, 55 were found in women over age 35 while just 5 were to women under age 30. Why? Well, it appears that prior to menopause women overcompensate (that’s NOT a value judgment) and produce higher levels of FSH. Typically this will not result in multiples only due to the relative age of the eggs. However, a number of women produce viable eggs late into their reproductive lives making this phenomenon possible.
So while advanced maternal age is more commonly associated with infertility, it is also associated with high fertility. The more you know…
~Posted by D.M. Schwadron, Esquire
Second hand smoke? I give you third hand smoke.
Source: BBC Health; PNAS (no laughing) Journal
The Journal for the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science has published a study on lingering tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNAs). Researchers in Berkeley, California (say no more Berkeley) have found “substantial” concentrations of toxins upon substances exposed to tobacco products.
What sort of substances? Clothing, furniture and wallpaper for starters. The researchers have suggested that third hand smoke is an unappreciated health hazard and have called for a ban on home and vehicular smoking -where TSNA’s can concentrate in unhealthful amounts. The largest at risk group? Young children who touch and put everything in their mouths.
The director of the Brit smoker’s lobby group Forest (Freedom Organization for the Right to Enjoy Smoking Tobacco) (Yes, everyone has a lobby group nowadays!) was not-surprisingly skeptical, referring to the study as “propaganda dressed up as science.” Oh, lest I be accused of bias, they have a website too. http://www.forestonline.org/output/home.aspx
So is the risk of third hand smoke overstated? Well, maybe. However, one should consider that over 4000 chemical compounds are created by burning a cigarette, many of which are toxic and/or carcinogenic. Carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, hydrogen cyanide and ammonia are all present in cigarette smoke. 43 known carcinogens are in mainstream smoke, sidestream smoke, or both. For a complete list of toxins in tobacco, go to http://quitsmoking.about.com/cs/nicotineinhaler/a/cigingredients.htm
And bear in mind that way back when asbestos was hailed as the new “wonder substance” finding it’s way into everything including bakelite jewelery (look it up, I’m not lying) it was felt to be safe. Now years later we know that asbestos fibers can cling to everything, much like, well, third hand smoke.
~Posted by D.M. Schwadron, Esquire
Men, soy and lung cancer.
Source: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
What do these three things have in common? Well, men who are non-smokers and who eat more soy MAY have a lower risk of getting lung cancer than other men. Okay, the non-smoking part may be an obvious one, but the soy?
Soybeans contain natural compounds called isoflavanones. Isoflavanones mimic estrogen, a hormone which women have in spades. In contrast, men have high levels of testosterone. Estrogen is associated with lower levels of breast cancer and prostate cancer, which makes intuitive sense. (Yes, men do get breast cancer. Women, however, do NOT get prostate cancer).
Enter researchers in Japan at the National Cancer Center in Tokyo who studied over 36,000 Japanese men between 45 to 75 years of age who were cancer free at the outset. The group was compared with some 40,000 Japanese women. Over the course of 11 years.
The results? 1 in 75 men (and 1 in 225 women) were diagnosed with lung cancer within 11 years. (Men tend to get lung cancer at higher rates than women). Of 13,000 men who never smoked, only 22 of them who ate very little soy were diagnosed with lung cancer. Only 13 of them who ate a lot of soy (up to 162 grams per day) contracted lung cancer.
I was sold up until this point too, however, the authors of the study were very equivocal as to whether the intake of soy itself was the cause of the lower risk or whether non-smoking males adopted other healthier behaviors, such as exercise, which could explain the lower risk.
So what should one take away from such a study? Well, there is a suggestion that eating more isoflavanones may be good for men. In fact increased soy intake has already been demonstrated to lower risk of prostate cancer. It follows that increased soy intake may also be beneficial for non-smoking males who wish to avoid lung cancer as well. Again, just a suggestion.
~Posted by D.M. Schwadron, Esquire
As if you weren't confused enough about SIDS. . .
Source: U.S. National Institutes of Health; Journal of the American Medical Association, February 3, 2010
I know, I know…Let them sleep on their backs…No wait, only on their stomachs…No wait, on their backs but no pillows…or blankets…No smoking…No pets…Never in bed with you…
Perhaps it’s no wonder why the Amercian Academy of Pediatrics is constantly revising guidelines for infant sleep. There is a wealth of information seemingly linking SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) with, well, everything. The latest? Serotonin. Huh? Okay, back to biochemistry class we go. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter, don’t worry about what kind, it’s presence or absence in sufficient quantities is broadly responsible for the regulation of mood, appetite, sleep, muscle contraction, and some cognitive functions including memory and learning. Modulation of serotonin at synapses is thought to be a major action of several classes of pharmacological antidepressants. As an interesting aside (well interesting to me anyway) certain foods, carbohydrates mostly -pasta, chips also seem to have a serotonin level response.
So why all the chemistry talk? Because researchers studying the brains of infants who have died from SIDS have found that they were producing low levels of serotonin. No, they weren’t depressed, well not emotionally anyway. However, to the extent that serotonin may be responsible for breathing they may be onto something. How much lower? 26% lower according to this study. Measures of an enzyme required to manufacture serotonin (tryptophan hydroxylase for those of you playing the home game) were also 22% lower in the brains of the SIDS death infants studied.
Yes, they are still currently recommending the whole back sleeping thing. For a complete list of sleeping guidelines see http://www.nicdh.nih.gov/sids/ or speak with your pediatrician or obstetrician.
~Posted by D.M. Schwadron, Esquire