Saturday, July 27, 2013

Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne living apart

Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne are reportedly on the cusp of splitting, with media speculation intensifying over the weekend that the pair are heading for divorce.

The couple, who have been married for 31 years, have reportedly not seen each other for three weeks, since moving out of the LA home they shared.

According to a British tabloid, Sharon is staying in a hotel whilst her new home in Beverly Hills is renovated. Meanwhile Ozzy is said to be renting a property two miles away.

A source said: "They are living at different addresses and are not spending any time together. They row a lot.

"They aren't acting like husband and wife. It is unusual to not even have dinner together when both of them are five minutes apart."

A source close to the couple is also quoted as saying: "Sharon and Ozzy have had plenty of opportunities to meet up but haven't spent any time together at all."

News of a split comes just after the two were reported to have attended a number of recent events without their wedding rings, while Sharon - who is rumoured to be returning to the UK X Factor judging panel later this year - recently alluded to personal problems by tweeting about having a "really tough year".

However, despite rumours of a split, the couple's youngest daughter Kelly Osbourne was all smiles yesterday as she was snapped by waiting paps, leaving her father's LA home.

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Healthy fats may fight early-stage prostate cancer

Daniel Pendick
Posted June 12, 2013, 2:38 pm Avocado and oil

Each year, nearly a quarter of a million American men learn they have prostate cancer. Most are diagnosed with early-stage cancer that has not spread beyond the prostate gland. Traditional treatments include surgery, radiation therapy, and a “watch and wait” strategy called active surveillance. A new study published online this week in JAMA Internal Medicine indicates that diet may be an important add-on. The study, part of the ongoing Harvard-based Health Professionals Follow-up Study, suggests that eating more foods that deliver healthy vegetable oils can help fight the second leading cause of cancer death in men.

“It’s one of the first studies to look at dietary interventions after men have been diagnosed with prostate cancer,” says Dr. Marc B. Garnick, a prostate cancer specialist at Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. “It supports the idea that you can potentially modify the behavior of prostate cancer that is still confined to the prostate gland.”

The study involved about 4,500 men who were diagnosed with nonmetastatic prostate cancer, which means it had not yet spread beyond the walnut-sized prostate gland. Since 1986, they have been reporting what they usually eat by completing detailed food surveys every four years.

Study participants who ate the largest amount of vegetable fats were less likely to die from prostate cancer—or any other cause—than men who consumed the most animal fats. Most of the vegetable fats consumed by the men came from oils in salad dressings and nuts.

The men who consumed the most vegetable oil lived longer, in part because their cancers were less likely to spread beyond the prostate gland. That suggests, but does not prove, that a diet rich in vegetable oils can slow the progression of the prostate cancer.

Earlier studies have implicated the traditional Western diet, which is relatively high in red meat and other sources of animal fats, with a higher risk for developing prostate cancer in the first place, while eating more vegetable oils and vegetable protein may help prevent it.

“One of the things I tell my patients is not to eat animal fat, or to at least limit its consumption,” Dr. Garnick says. He bases this advice on decades-old data that show a direct relationship between the amounts of animal fat consumed and incidence of prostate and other cancers. It’s never been possible to prove cause and effect between dietary fat and cancer, but this new study lends support to the idea that animal fats may modify the characteristics of prostate cancer.

Although the study focused on oils and fats, it’s important to consider what the men who consumed a lot of vegetable oils were not eating: refined carbohydrates, such as processed white bread, white rice, and desserts.

In the study, men who replaced 10% of their total calories from carbohydrates with calories from vegetable oils were 29% less likely to die from prostate cancer or any other cause over eight years of follow-up.

This one study, of course, can’t prove that a healthful diet fights prostate cancer. For one thing, this type of long-term follow-up study can only show an association between diet and prostate cancer. There were also some differences between the groups. The men who ate the most vegetable oil were healthier to start with. At diagnosis, their blood levels of PSA—a marker for cancer activity—were lower than in the group that ate the most animal fat. Conversely, the men who ate the most animal fats had more unhealthy characteristics. They were more overweight and less physically active, and more of them smoked (7% compared with about 1% in the vegetable-fat group).

Researchers used statistical methods to compensate for these important differences. “Any of these negative influences would independently lead to a worse outcome,” Dr. Garnick says. “Have they accounted for everything? In these studies, you can never be sure.”

So we don’t really know what contributed most to keeping prostate cancer in check—eating more beneficial vegetable oils, eating fewer (or healthier) carbohydrate-rich foods, or eating less meat. It may not matter, since all three are part of a healthful diet.

The JAMA Internal Medicine study, like so many others before it, endorses an overall healthy diet that goes easy on red meat and includes generous amounts of plant foods that deliver healthy mono- and polyunsaturated fatty acids. These come from foods like avocados, walnuts, and soybean, canola, and extra virgin olive oils. That kind of diet has been linked with lower risks of heart disease, cancer, and a host of other chronic conditions.

This week is Men’s Health Week. As we cruise toward Father’s Day, I hope that all men will give themselves the gift of health. One important step in that direction is adopting a diet that may fight prostate cancer and will benefit everything from the head to the feet.

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Beer's Taste May Trigger Urge to Get Drunk

Study found flavor alone activated brain's reward center; effect stronger with family history of alcoholism Substances obtained from the bitter compound

By Barbara Bronson Gray

HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, April 15 (HealthDay News) -- Just as the smell of freshly brewed coffee may compel you to pour a steaming cup of java, a small taste of beer may activate part of your brain's reward system and trigger the urge for more, a new study suggests.

Researchers have discovered that sensory cues associated with drinking may stimulate certain parts of the brain and cause a craving for more alcohol. Giving people a very small amount of the brand of beer they most frequently consume produced a desire to drink that was correlated with the release of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that helps control the brain's reward-and-pleasure centers.

The study also showed that the amount of dopamine released was greater in those who had parents or siblings with alcoholism.

"This is the first human demonstration that a stimulus that is reliably associated with alcohol association -- that flavor alone, without any significant amount of alcohol -- is able to induce a dopamine response," said study author David Kareken, a professor at Indiana University School of Medicine.

The research, published in the April 15 issue of the journal Neuropsychopharmacology, validates some findings from earlier animal studies, making them more relevant to understanding what's happening in people, Kareken said. "We have a long history of developing alcohol-preferring rats and mice, and the last 20 years of research does show there are neurotransmitters that are distinguishable in [rats and mice] that prefer alcohol."

Kareken said the study also may help reduce the stigma of alcoholism. "This is really quite strong evidence that there are genetic factors that change the brain's chemistry and may act as risk factors for dependence," he explained.

For the study, 49 right-handed men in good physical and mental health, with a mean age of 25, underwent two brain scans. None of the participants had a history of significant drug or tobacco use, although all of them expressed a preference for drinking beer (as opposed to other alcoholic drinks). Women were excluded from the study because it was difficult to find potential participants who preferred beer and met the criteria for inclusion in the study.

Right-handedness was required because most people have language capacity on the left side of the brain, and the researchers wanted to make sure that any differences between the men would not interfere with the study, Kareken explained. Data about ethnicity or social or economic level was not collected.

The participants were tested while tasting 15 milliliters (about half an ounce) of the beer they usually drank, and also while tasting Gatorade.

The beer flavor was mixed with a small amount of alcohol -- not enough to cause a pharmacological effect -- to help make sure the participants were experiencing something close to what they would sense when drinking beer, Kareken explained.


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Laser Liposuction May Zap Fat Without Skin Sag: Study

Laser Liposuction May Zap Fat Without Skin SagPreliminary research suggests procedure could have advantages over traditional method of fat removalhttp://img.webmd.com/dtmcms/live/webmd/consumer_assets/site_images/article_thumbnails/news/healthday/2013/04/surgery_18067.jpgWebMD News from HealthDay

By Carina Storrs

HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, April 15 (HealthDay News) -- Laser-assisted liposuction might provide an option for people who want stubborn pockets of fat removed but fear they'll be left with loose skin.

Traditional liposuction, a fat-removing cosmetic surgery procedure, is generally reserved for people with firm skin to reduce the risk of sagging afterward. But the addition of lasers could spur tightening of the skin, researchers say.

The researchers looked at the extent of skin tightening in nearly 2,200 women and men who received laser liposuction in various body regions, including the belly, thighs and arms. The relatively new procedure was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2006.

Three months after laser liposuction, the researchers found that patients had between 20 percent and 80 percent skin tightening, meaning their skin contracted to within 20 percent and 80 percent of what would be expected for the volume of fat removed. The amount that the skin "bounced back" depended on the elasticity of the skin to start with and the body area treated.

The amount of skin tightening with laser liposuction is probably about 50 percent better than what would have been achieved with traditional liposuction, said Dr. Abbas Chamsuddin, study lead author and an interventional radiologist at the Center for Laser and Interventional Surgery in Atlanta.

The researchers did not, however, include a group that received traditional liposuction for comparison. To see how laser liposuction stacks up, Chamsuddin would like to conduct another study in which a second group of patients receives traditional liposuction.

The study is scheduled for presentation Monday at the annual meeting of the Society of Interventional Radiology in New Orleans.

The newer form of liposuction also has the potential to remove more fat than traditional liposuction and lead to less blood loss because the laser dries the blood vessels, Chamsuddin said.

The procedures for laser and traditional liposuction have similarities. Both involve injecting a solution into the fat to numb the area and shrink blood vessels in the region (to reduce blood loss), and making a cut of about one-tenth of an inch, Chamsuddin said.

Whereas traditional liposuction involves sucking the fat out in solid form using a hollow pen-like device, laser liposuction melts the fat with a laser before vacuuming it out with a similar pen-like device.

After the fat removal, doctors use a laser of a different wavelength that is absorbed by skin cells to create an "artificial burn" that tells the body to release collagen in the area, which causes the skin to tighten, Chamsuddin said.

A third type of liposuction, which is more common than laser liposuction, uses ultrasound to achieve a similar effect of melting the fat. Chamsuddin said, however, that fat cells absorb the laser energy better than ultrasonic energy.

// init webmdArticle pluginrequirejs(['article/1/article'],function(){$('#dyn-art').webmdArticle({pageData: {title: "Laser Liposuction May Zap Fat Without Skin Sag", imgPath: "http://img.webmd.com/dtmcms/live/webmd/consumer_assets/site_images/article_thumbnails/news/healthday/2013/04/surgery_18067.jpg", caption: "", description: "Preliminary research suggests procedure could have advantages over traditional method of fat removal", type: "article"}});});Are you happy with your skin?

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Too heavy to jog/run??

I am currently at 233 lbs, but can walk 3 miles without stopping to rest. I am very interested in becoming a runner someday, & try to do some HIIT by breaking into a jog every once in a while during my walks.

My question is, am I too heavy to safely start jogging/running?

On a side note, Im just 5'2", & a friend gave me a 26" "beach cruiser" bike. With the seat lowered all the way, my tiptoes touch the ground - is this okay, or no?

--April


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Celeb Move to Steal: Ashley Tisdale's Butt and Back Firmer

Actress and singer Ashley Tisdale is so sweet and buzzing with energy, she just about charmed the pants off us when she dropped by the SELF offices last week. And seriously, don't even get us started on how straight-up smokin' her body looks. We've gawked over enough pics to confirm: YES, whether she's on the beach or a red carpet, we'll do what it takes to earn that bod!

These days, Tisdale -- whose new film, Scary Movie 5, just hit theaters -- entrusts her physique to star trainer Harley Pasternak. "She's such a natural athlete!" he says. "She's always smiling and isn't afraid to work hard."

One move in their routine that helps keeps the actress so fit and sexy? "I love doing Supermans, because it keeps my back strong," says Tisdale. This awesome no-equipment needed exercise also works the glutes and "is incredible for posture--it lengthens the front of the midsection," adds Pasternak.

'Nuff said, we'll dig up our red capes and start knocking out these Supermans. Tisdale's Superwoman body to lead the way!

THE MOVE: SUPERMAN

Superman Step 1

Lie facedown on the floor, legs together and straight, arms straight and extended above your head. Keep your head/neck in a neutral position.

Superman Step 2

Simultaneously lift your arms and legs up toward the ceiling to form a gentle curve with your body, with limbs approximately six inches off the ground. Repeat 10 times; hold last lift for 30 seconds for an extra challenge.

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Social Toll of Hearing Loss Could Be Cause for Alarm

Higher rates of hospitalization, illness and depression for seniors reported in studyStudy found seniors who struggled with hearing

By Robert Preidt

HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, June 11 (HealthDay News) -- Straining to catch the gist of conversations is frustrating enough, but a new study shows that seniors with hearing loss are also at increased risk for hospitalization, illness, injury and depression.

Researchers analyzed data from more than 1,100 American men and women aged 70 and older with hearing loss, and found that over a four-year period they were 32 percent more likely to have been admitted to the hospital than more than 500 adults with normal hearing.

Hearing-impaired seniors were also 36 percent more likely to have prolonged stretches (more than 10 days) of illness or injury and 57 percent more likely to have extended episodes (more than 10 days) of stress, depression or bad mood, according to the study, published online June 11 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

"Hearing loss may have a profoundly detrimental effect on older people's physical and mental well-being, and even health care resources," said study senior investigator Dr. Frank Lin, an otologist and assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Hopkins' Bloomberg School of Public Health.

"Our results underscore why hearing loss should not be considered an inconsequential part of aging, but an important issue for public health," Lin said in a Hopkins news release.

Hearing deficits can lead to social isolation, which in turn contribute to physical and mental declines, Lin said.

Hearing loss affects as many as 27 million Americans over age 50, including two-thirds of men and women aged 70 years and older, according to Lin.

The study doesn't prove that being hard of hearing directly leads to other health problems, but it does show an association between the two. And health policymakers need to consider the broader health impact of hearing loss when making decisions for older people, study lead investigator Dr. Dane Genther, a resident in otolaryngology/head and neck surgery, said in the news release.

Genther's recommendations: expanded Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement for hearing-related health care services, wider installation of hearing loops in various facilities, and more accessible and affordable approaches for treating hearing loss.


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Cycle House Adds New Heart Rate Readings for Calorie-Torching Tech

We've made no secret of our love for L.A. hotspot Cycle House; we ranked the boutique cycling studio's 1,000-Calorie Ride as one of the 33 hottest fitness classes in the country, and it earned the left coast major points in our 2011 East Vs. West fitness competition, too. So it comes as no surprise that Cycle House is back on top with a brand new, first-of-its-kind technology that takes calorie burning to a whole new level.

When you take a class at Cycle House, all of the stats from your ride get saved into your user profile and can be accessed online through your private account. This is pretty cool in itself, but not really much different than what a lot of the other fancy cycling studios are also doing. But starting this month, thanks to wireless bluetooth sensors throughout the studio, each bike can pick up on its rider's individual heart rate monitor, as well.

This -- along the weight, age, and gender info you've already entered online -- makes for an extremely accurate calculation of calories burned. (Without heart rate, calories are often estimated based on RPMs, pedal resistance, and the user's weight, but that can't take into account one of the biggest factors: your actual level of exertion.) Your online Cycle House account keeps track of these stats, and you can access them anytime, anywhere.

Here's hoping this cool technology makes its way to other studios soon ... or that maybe Cycle House makes its way across the country? (Share the wealth, Cali!) Until then, I'll stick with my own local cycling studios -- and this Cycle House-inspired 1,000-calorie, at-home ride. Complete with heart rate monitor to track my burn, of course.

Do you wear a heart rate monitor for indoor cycling classes? Tweet us at @amandaemac and @SELFmagazine.

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Image Credit: Courtesy Photo


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Eyebrows, and the Case for Keeping 'Em Full

Full Eyebrows

Now that I'm back in grad school, a few beauty things have dropped on my priority list. While I feel like maybe I should make a little more effort in some places (ahem... like hiding under-eye bags), one lazy girl beauty move is actually really flattering: NOT tweezing my brows!

I'm not saying I've gone all Frida Khalo -- I certainly tweeze the little strays that pop up in between brows -- but I've stopped impulsively going to the threading salon and spending like a zillion dollars shaping my arches to "near perfection." And you know what? I think it makes me look younger. Granted, I am lucky: I like the shape of my arches as they are (threaders yell at me for overplucking, even when I don't touch a tweezer for months at a time). But, whether your have to pluck a little to shape, or can let your brows grow free, I think fuller arches are the way to go these days.

Skinny, over arched eyebrows are so nineties, right?! And they make you look vaguely witchy. Case in point here. I mean, you guys know I'm right.
Over-tweezing now leads to zero brows later. So even if you are young and not worried about looking older, you are screwing yourself later when you are feeling less than youthful and have zero eyebrow hair to work with. Bolder brows frame your face way better. Just saying.

But don't listen to me. Take a cue from the models on the Spring runways at Marc Jacobs, Alexander Wang and Jason Wu.

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Image Credit: WWD/George Chinsee


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Scientists Find New Clues to Early Onset Alzheimer's

Too much plaque-building protein produced in people with certain genes, study findsAgency points to need for medications that could

By Dennis Thompson

HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, June 12 (HealthDay News) -- People with genetic mutations that lead to inherited, early onset Alzheimer's disease overproduce a longer, stickier form of amyloid beta, the protein fragment that clumps into plaques in the brains of Alzheimer's patients, a small new study has found.

Researchers found that these people make about 20 percent more of a type of amyloid beta -- amyloid beta 42 -- than family members who do not carry the Alzheimer's mutation, according to research published in the June 12 edition of Science Translational Medicine.

Further, researchers Rachel Potter at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and colleagues found that amyloid beta 42 disappears from cerebrospinal fluid much more quickly than other known forms of amyloid beta, possibly because it is being deposited on plaques in the brain.

Alzheimer's researchers have long believed that brain plaques created by amyloid beta cause the memory loss and thought impairment that comes with the disease.

This new study does not prove that amyloid plaques cause Alzheimer's, but it does provide more evidence regarding the way the disease develops and will guide future research into diagnosis and treatment, said Dr. Judy Willis, a neurologist and spokesperson for the American Academy of Neurology.

The mutation occurs in the presenilin gene and has previously been linked to increased production of amyloid beta 42 over amyloid beta 38 and 40, the other types of amyloid beta found in cerebrospinal fluid, the study said.

Earlier studies of the human brain after death and using animal research have suggested that amyloid beta 42 is the most important contributor to Alzheimer's.

The new study confirms that connection and also quantifies overproduction of amyloid beta 42 in living human brains. The investigators also found that amyloid beta 42 is exchanged and recycled in the body, slowing its exit from the brain.

"The amyloid protein buildup has been hypothesized to correlate with the symptoms of Alzheimer's by causing neuronal damage, but we do not know what causes the abnormalities of amyloid overproduction and decreased removal," Willis said.

The findings from the new study "are supportive of abnormal turnover of amyloid occurring in people with the genetic mutation decades before the onset of their symptoms," she said.

Researchers conducted the study by comparing 11 carriers of mutated presenilin genes with family members who do not have the mutation. They used advanced scanning technology that can "tag" and then track newly created proteins in the body. With this technology, they tracked the production and clearance of amyloid beta 40 and 42 in the participants' cerebrospinal fluid.

This research gives clinicians a potential "marker" to check when evaluating the Alzheimer's risk of a person with this genetic mutation, Willis said.


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Jessica Alba on the street in LA

Sorry, I could not read the content fromt this page.

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CDC: 87 Now Sickened in Hepatitis A Outbreak Tied to Frozen Berry Mix

All infections traced to product sold at Costco stores, agency saysCDC says recalled product was sold at Costco,

By Robert Preidt

HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, June 11 (HealthDay News) -- The number of people sickened in a hepatitis A outbreak that may be tied to a frozen berry/pomegranate mix now stands at 87, U.S. health officials said Tuesday.

As of June 10, cases had been reported in eight states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Washington. The number of cases is expected to rise as the investigation continues, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC said the hepatitis A cases may be connected to Townsend Farms Organic Antioxidant Blend frozen berry and pomegranate mix.

The agency said 36 people who were sickened have been hospitalized, and no deaths have been reported. Forty-six of 68 ill people interviewed (70 percent) reported eating Townsend Farms Organic Antioxidant Blend frozen berry and pomegranate mix.

On June 4, Oregon-based Townsend Farms recalled the frozen berry mixes, which were sold to Costco and Harris Teeter stores. The mixes were sold under the Townsend Farms label at Costco and under the Harris Teeter brand at that chain of stores, the Associated Press reported.

All of those sickened said they'd purchased the product from Costco markets. No cases have been traced to product bought at Harris Teeter, the CDC said.

Costco has removed the product from its shelves and is notifying members who purchased the product since late February 2013, the CDC said.

Preliminary laboratory analyses of specimens from two states suggest the hepatitis A strain responsible for the outbreak is rare in North America but is common in Africa and the Middle East. The strain was pinpointed as the cause of a recent hepatitis A outbreak in Europe linked to frozen berries, and to a 2012 outbreak in British Columbia associated with a frozen berry blend with pomegranate seeds from Egypt. But, there's no evidence that these outbreaks are related, the CDC said.

The label on the Townsend Farms product says it contains products from the United States, Argentina, Chile and Turkey.

According to the World Health Organization, hepatitis A illnesses typically arise within 14 to 28 days of infection. Symptoms may include nausea, fever, lethargy, jaundice and loss of appetite. There's a vaccine against hepatitis A, and it may ease symptoms if given soon after exposure to the virus.


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Mental Exercise May Help Keep Seniors Sharp

Even solving puzzles might stave off decline and memory loss, study hintsEven solving puzzles might stave off decline and

By Robert Preidt

HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, April 15 (HealthDay News) -- Mental exercise can help prevent thinking and memory decline in seniors, but evidence for the benefits of supplements and exercise is weak, according to a new study.

The findings were published in the CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

The researchers reviewed 32 studies, including three that examined the effects of mental exercise involving computerized training programs or intensive one-on-one personal training in memory, reasoning or processing speed.

One of the studies found significant improvements in participants' memory over five years of follow-up. Another found an improvement in auditory memory and attention, according to a journal news release.

Supplements such as gingko, vitamins, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and other substances, however, appeared to provide no benefit. The same was true for physical exercise. Estrogen was associated with an increase in mental decline and dementia.

"This review provides some evidence to help clinicians and their patients address what strategies might prevent cognitive decline," wrote Dr. Raza Naqvi, of the division of geriatric medicine at the University of Toronto, and co-authors. "Future studies should address the impact of cognitive training on the prevention of cognitive decline, and we encourage researchers to consider easily accessible tools such as crossword puzzles and Sudoku that have not been rigorously studied."

Mild cognitive impairment affects 10 percent to 25 percent of people over age 70, according to the news release.


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Standard Rheumatoid Arthritis Therapy as Good as Costlier Newcomer: Study

Biologic drug Enbrel wasn't better for patients who didn't respond to methotrexate aloneDamage to the tissue that cushions joints occurs

By Steven Reinberg

HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, June 11 (HealthDay News) -- Newer, costlier treatment for rheumatoid arthritis appears no better than an older, less-expensive regimen for people who don't respond to the first-line drug methotrexate, a new study suggests.

"Newer isn't always better," said researcher Dr. Ted Mikuls, an associate professor in the rheumatology division at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, in Omaha. "Some of the older medications can be effective."

Rheumatoid arthritis causes inflammation in the joints, resulting in swelling, stiffness, pain and reduced joint function. It can also affect other parts of the body.

"We compared two different ways of treating rheumatoid arthritis -- one that included a new biologic [medication] with an older, more conventional oral medication," Mikuls explained. "We basically showed that at the end of the day patients, regardless of what they got, looked very similar in terms of pretty much every outcome we looked at in the study."

Patients whose arthritis didn't respond to methotrexate alone who were then given a combination of methotrexate, sulfasalazine (Azulfidine) and hydroxychloroquine (Plaquenil) did as well as patients given methotrexate and the new biologic drug etanercept (Enbrel) -- which is given by injection -- the researchers said.

"The treatments are very different in terms of costs," Mikuls said. If a patient had to pay out of pocket for etanercept it could cost around $20,000 a year, while the out-of-pocket costs for the other drugs is a few hundred to a few thousand dollars, he said.

The out-of-pocket cost of etanercept varies by insurance provider, including those covering the Medicare drug benefit program, Mikuls added.

The report was published online June 11 in the New England Journal of Medicine to coincide with presentation of the study at the Annual European Congress of Rheumatology meeting in Madrid, Spain.

"This study addresses a real-life scenario for rheumatologists where patients are often on methotrexate and are not doing well and the question is what to do next," said Dr. Soumya Reddy, an assistant professor in the rheumatology division of the dermatology department at NYU Langone Medical Center, in New York City.

About 20 percent to 40 percent of patients don't respond methotrexate or can't take the drug either because of side effects or it is not indicated for them, said Reddy, who was not involved in the study.

The findings are "reassuring," in that when a biologic is not an option, due to cost or other reasons, the older regimen is effective, she said.

Which regimen is best really needs to be tailored to each patient, Reddy said.

For the study, researchers randomly assigned 353 patients to methotrexate, sulfasalazine and hydroxychloroquine or to methotrexate and etanercept for 48 weeks. Some patients switched from one regimen to another midway through the study.


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