Chronic Pain

Certain Arthritis, Crohn’s Drugs May Raise Kids’ Cancer Risk: FDA

TUESDAY, Aug. 4 (HealthDay News) — Drugs widely used to fight rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease and other inflammatory disorders must now carry an updated “black box” warning label cautioning patients and doctors that the medicines may boost cancer risk in children and adolescents, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Tuesday.

The drugs, called tumor necrosis factor (TNF) blockers, work by interrupting a protein that causes inflammation and damage to bones, cartilage and other tissue. They include Remicade (infliximab), Enbrel (etanercept), Humira (adalimumab), Cimzia (certolizumab pegol) and Simponi (golimumab).

“FDA announced that it has completed its analysis of TNF blockers and has concluded that there is an increased risk of lymphoma and other cancers associated with the use of these drugs in children and adolescents,” according to FDA spokeswomen Crystal Rice.

“This new safety information is now being added to the boxed warning for these products,” she said.

TNF blockers already carry FDA-mandated warning labels for other potential safety issues, including fungal infections. Tuesday’s announcement follows on the agency’s move last year to review several dozen reports of children who developed cancer while taking the medications. That investigation started in June 2008. The analysis took into account a number of reports of cancers in children treated with these drugs. The malignancies tended to arise about 30 months after starting on the medications.

About half of the cancers were lymphomas and some of the children died, according to the FDA.

The issue gained more prominence in July 2008 when doctors reporting in the New England Journal of Medicine outlined the case of a woman with Crohn’s disease who took a TNF blocker and then developed lung cancer. When she ceased using the drug, her cancer disappeared.

The agency is working with manufacturers to find new ways to define the risk of cancer in children and adolescents who use these drugs.

Dr. Patience White, chief public health officer at the Arthritis Foundation, said the risks and benefits of these drugs need to be weighed and the final decision whether to take them or not must be an individual one.

However, “it’s good to have this information out there,” White said. “It gives people with arthritis an opportunity to go to their doctor and talk about the risk/benefits.”

People with these inflammatory illnesses are already at an increased risk for cancer, White noted.

“Then you are giving a drug that probably increases the risk as well. But are both of those worth not taking the drug, and being disabled? That’s the discussion,” she said.

The hard part for patients will be to balance these risks and benefits, White added. “The risks of the side effects are often very small, but the chance that a person with juvenile arthritis will be disabled and deformed is very high if they don’t take therapy,” she said. “People often focus on risks and forget the benefits.”

Deciding whether or not to take these drugs should be based on the type of disease and a family history of cancer, White said. “It really matters to have a discussion about this,” she said. “There isn’t really one risk/benefit profile that fits for everybody.”

According to the FDA’s Rice, patients taking these drugs should:

• Be aware that taking TNF blockers may increase the risk of developing lymphoma, leukemia, and other cancers.


• Be aware that taking TNF blockers may increase the risk of developing psoriasis and may worsen pre-existing psoriasis.


• Review the accompanying medication guide.


• Do not stop or change medicines that have been prescribed without first talking with a knowledgeable health care professional.


• Pay close attention for any signs or symptoms of cancer such as unexplained weight loss or fatigue, swollen lymph nodes in the neck, underarms or groin, or easy bruising or bleeding. Promptly discuss any signs and symptoms with a health care professional.

Taken from http://antiquedress.blogspot.com/

Diabetes

Metformin May Lower Diabetics’ Odds for Pancreatic Cancer

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SUNDAY, Aug. 2 (HealthDay News) — Metformin, one of the most widely used diabetes drugs, may offer patients the added benefit of lowering their odds for pancreatic cancer by 60 percent, a new study shows.

But the study had a downside: Other common treatments, including the use of insulin or insulin-releasing medications such as sulfonylureas, seemed to boost diabetics’ risk for the deadly malignancy.

“We have been long interested in the association between diabetes and pancreatic cancer,” explained study lead author Donghui Li, a professor in the department of gastrointestinal medical oncology at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. “It’s a very complicated association because pancreatic cancer can cause diabetes, while on the other hand diabetics have a higher risk for pancreatic cancer. So it’s been quite controversial, and the question is: What can we do to reduce this risk?”

“So here we found that if people use metformin they have a 60 percent lower risk for pancreatic cancer than those who have diabetes but never used metformin,” Li said. “And that’s quite a dramatic effect. And so far it’s the only thing that we’ve seen that can reduce the risk for pancreatic cancer so much.”

Li and her colleagues will publish their findings in the August issue of Gastroenterology.

Metformin is an extremely popular oral medication commonly prescribed for patients coping with type 2 diabetes. It goes by its generic name as well as brand names such as Glucophage, Riomet, Fortamet, Glumetza, Obimet, Dianben and Diabex.

Although there are several other treatment options available, the American Diabetes Association recommends metformin as a first-line treatment for type 2 diabetes.

According to the American Cancer Society, about 34,000 people die of pancreatic cancer each year. Even when detected early, the five-year survival from the disease is about 33 percent.

The current finding is based on an analysis of 973 pancreatic cancer patients (259 of whom were diabetic) and 863 non-cancer patients (109 of whom were diabetic), all of whom received care at M.D. Anderson between 2004 and 2008.

The researchers found that diabetics who had ever taken metformin as a treatment for their condition cut their risk for pancreatic cancer by 60 percent, compared to those who had never taken the drug. The risk reduction was particularly apparent among diabetics who had taken metformin for five years or more, they noted.

Being a smoker, overweight or obese, or having glycemic control issues did not appear to impact the protective relationship between metformin and pancreatic cancer risk, Li and her team observed.

On the other hand, the researchers found that diabetic patients who had taken insulin as a treatment were nearly five times more prone to developing pancreatic cancer than patients who had never taken insulin. Similarly, those who took insulin secretagogues (insulin-releasing drugs such as sulfonylureas or glinides) had more than double the risk of pancreatic cancer than those who had not.

“Because the individuals we looked at who used metformin were comparable in most ways with those who did not, we have confidence in terms of the influential role metformin specifically had on reducing pancreatic risk,” Li noted. “And because there is already a general recommendation to use this drug, our finding adds even more of an incentive. Because this drug appears to have a tremendous health impact, and because we have so few tools to use to fight against pancreatic cancer at this point,” she added.

“Of course our observation needs to be confirmed with further research with other patient pools,” she cautioned. “But hopefully while we’re doing that we can find some biomarker to identify higher risk for pancreatic cancer in general among diabetics.”

For his part, Dr. Len Lichtenfeld, deputy chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society in Atlanta, described the findings as “interesting” and “significant.”

“It does need to be looked at in a larger population, as the authors note,” he said. “But meanwhile I think there are two things here worth discussing. One is obviously that there seems to be a reduction in pancreatic cancer among metformin users. But the other issue is the suggestion — which is not a finding, but a suggestion — that people on insulin actually have an increased risk for pancreatic cancer.”

“Now on this second point it has to be said that people on insulin are generally people who are also overweight and obese,” Lichtenfeld stressed. “And that in and of itself is a risk factor for pancreatic cancer. So there are a lot of other interactions in there that could possibly explain the findings. And they need to be explored.”

Taken from http://antiquedress.blogspot.com/

New Drink Likened to Legal Marijuana

New Drink Likened to Legal Marijuana, Holding a Grudge Can Harm Your Health, and Why Dandelions Are Good for You

A look at what Health.com editors are reading today

• Ever wonder why you’re a size 12 in one store and an 8 in another? Retailers have caught on to how happy it makes us when we fit into smaller sizes, and they’ve scaled down their sizing. While it sure does make us feel good, it may actually decrease our motivation to lose those few extra pounds. [That’s Fit]

• What’s the opposite of needing a little pick-me-up? Needing a little nap? Whatever you want to call it, there’s a new solution: a relaxation drink. The concoction, called Drank, is made with mellowing melatonin, valerian root, and rose hips. Some are calling its drowsy side effects a legal alternative to marijuana! [Vitamin G] Read More

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DEET in Bug Spray Tied to Neural Damage in Mice

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 5 (HealthDay News) — New French research suggests the main ingredient used in many insect repellants may affect the central nervous system, at least in mice.

And combining this ingredient — DEET (N,N-Diethyl-3-methylbenzamide) — with carbamates, a type of pesticide that is often used with DEET, compounded the effects.

Although the authors, publishing online Aug. 5 in BMC Biology, warn of potential dangers to humans, they also acknowledge the need for more studies on the subject. Read More

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Young Vets With PTSD More Prone to Heart Risk Factors

TUESDAY, Aug. 4 (HealthDay News) — Veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts who have mental health problems such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are also at higher risk for having cardiovascular disease risk factors, a new study suggests.

While previous studies have found that those with PTSD, a common mental health problem among veterans who have seen combat, are at increased risk of developing and dying from cardiovascular disease, risk factors for heart attack and stroke have not been evaluated in this group, said Dr. Beth E. Cohen, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of California San Francisco and staff physician at the San Francisco VA Medical Center. Read More

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Livalo Approved for High Cholesterol

TUESDAY, Aug. 4 (HealthDay News) — Livalo (pitavastatin) is the newest statin to be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat high cholesterol.

As with other statin drugs, Lavalo is meant for people in whom diet and exercise fail to lower cholesterol, the agency said in a news release. Statins do this mostly by curbing the liver’s ability to produce an enzyme called HMG Co-A reductase. Read More

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Taken from http://antiquedress.blogspot.com/