Some Types of Skin Cancer Linked to Lower Chances of Alzheimer's

A weak immune response might allow skin cancer but protect brain from inflammation, expert suggests

By Barbara Bronson Gray

HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, May 15 (HealthDay News) -- There's some good news for people who have had certain kinds of skin cancer: A new study suggests that their odds of developing Alzheimer's disease may be significantly lower than it is for others.

People who had non-melanoma skin cancer were nearly 80 percent less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease than people who did not. The association was not found with other types of dementia.

To understand the possible association between skin cancer and Alzheimer's, it is important to know that people have a combination of cells that are multiplying and others that are dying, explained study author Dr. Richard Lipton, a professor of neurology, epidemiology and population health at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City. The research was published online May 15 in the journal Neurology.

"When cell division gets out of control, we call that cancer. And when specific populations of brain cells die, we call that Alzheimer's," Lipton said. "So, there is a balance between cell division [growth] and cell death. If you have an individual with an increased risk of cell division over cell death, that may be linked to a decreased risk of Alzheimer's."

The finding was intriguing to one expert.

"It's fascinating that we can get clues about what's going on in the brain by looking at the periphery [skin]," said Terrence Town, a professor in the physiology and biophysics department at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California.

Non-melanoma skin cancer is the most common cancer in the United States; there were more than 2 million new cases in 2012, according to the U.S. National Cancer Institute.

What could be causing the possible association between skin cancer and a reduced risk of Alzheimer's?

"Either developing skin cancer is a marker for some biological process that protects against Alzheimer's or environmental factors may play a role," Lipton said. Genetics could be a factor, as could lots of outdoor physical activity and exercise, although Lipton cautioned people to avoid too much sun exposure and wear sunscreen.

Others think the link may be directly related to how the lowered immune response of skin cells in skin cancer corresponds to a similar immune response in the brain.

"This research is another piece of evidence that tells us that peripheral inflammation [in the skin] is very important in Alzheimer's disease," Town said. He thinks that people who develop non-melanoma skin cancers don't have an immune response in their skin, and thus develop skin cancers, because an immune response may be critical to fighting skin cancer. But that benefits them when it comes to developing Alzheimer's disease.

"This reduced inflammatory response that was permissive to the skin cancer was perhaps beneficial in the brain," said Town.

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Migraine With Aura May Be Linked to All Stroke Types

Study of women identifies important risk factor

By Robert Preidt

HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, June 26 (HealthDay News) -- Women who have migraine headaches with aura are at increased risk for stroke, a new study indicates.

Migraine with aura is a migraine that's preceded or accompanied by visual effects such as flashes of light or blind spots, or by tingling in the hand or face.

A study of almost 28,000 women in the United States found those who had migraine with aura were at greater risk for all types of strokes, according to the researchers, who are scheduled to present the findings Wednesday at a meeting of the International Headache Congress in Boston.

"Migraine with aura has been consistently linked with increased risk of ischemic stroke and there is also some evidence that it increases risk of hemorrhagic stroke," lead author Dr. Tobias Kurth, of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, said in a congress news release.

An ischemic stroke is caused by blocked blood flow to the brain while a hemorrhagic stroke is caused by bleeding in the brain.

"In this study we sought to determine the importance of migraine with aura in stroke occurrence relative to other stroke risk factors," Kurth added.

The study included 1,435 women who had migraine with aura. None of the patients had heart disease at the start of the study.

During 15 years of follow-up, there were 528 strokes overall -- 430 ischemic strokes, 96 hemorrhagic strokes and two unknown types of strokes.

"For total, ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke, migraine with aura was a strong relative contributor," Kurth said in the news release.

About 36 million Americans suffer from migraine, more than the total number of Americans who have asthma or diabetes combined. Migraine costs the United States more than $20 billion in direct medical expenses, such as doctor visits and medications, and indirect expenses, such as missed work and lost productivity.

The data and conclusions of research presented at medical meetings are typically considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed medical journal.

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General Anesthesia Not Linked to Raised Risk for Dementia

WEDNESDAY, May 1 (HealthDay News) -- Despite previous concerns, older people who receive general anesthesia are not at greater risk of developing long-term dementia or Alzheimer's disease, a new study says.

The study, by researchers from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., involved 900 patients over the age of 45 who had dementia, a disease that affects brain functions such as memory, language, problem-solving and attention. All of the participants were residents of Olmsted County, Minn., from 1985 to 1994.

These patients were compared to other people of similar ages living in the area who did not develop dementia during that time frame.

About 70 percent of the study participants in both groups underwent surgery that required general anesthesia. Among patients who had already been diagnosed with dementia, there were no signs that their symptoms got worse due to receiving general anesthesia. Among those who did not have dementia, there was no evidence that they developed the disease after receiving general anesthesia, the investigators found.

The researchers concluded that general anesthesia does not increase elderly patients' long-term risk for dementia.

"It's reassuring we're adding to the body of knowledge that there is not an association of anesthesia and surgery with Alzheimer's," study senior author Dr. David Warner, a pediatric anesthesiologist at the Mayo Clinic, said in a Mayo news release. "There are a lot of things to worry about when an elderly person has surgery, but it seems that developing Alzheimer's isn't one of them."

The study was published in the May 1 online edition of the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

-- Mary Elizabeth Dallas
Copyright © 2013 HealthDay. All rights reserved. SOURCE: Mayo Clinic, news release, May 1, 2013

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Low-Dose 'Pill' Linked to Pain During Orgasm, Study Finds

By Kathleen Doheny
HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, May 3 (HealthDay News) -- Women taking birth control pills with lower amounts of estrogen -- a commonly prescribed contraceptive -- may be at higher risk for chronic pelvic pain and pain during orgasm, according to new research.

A study of nearly 1,000 women found that women on the lower-dose oral contraceptives were more likely than those on the standard dose (with higher estrogen levels), or those not on the pill, to report pelvic pain.

"In our practice, we have seen a lot of this anecdotally," said Dr. Nirit Rosenblum, assistant professor of urology at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City, a specialist in female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery.

To investigate the potential link further, she compared pain symptoms of women on low-dose birth control pills with those not on pills and those on standard doses.

She is scheduled to present the findings Tuesday at the American Urological Association's annual meeting in San Diego, but acknowledged additional research is needed to understand the association.

For her study, Rosenblum defined low-dose birth control pills as those that contain less than 20 micrograms (mcg) of synthetic estrogen. (The name often includes the word "lo.") Those that have 20 mcg or more are "standard" or normal dose.

When natural estrogen production declines at menopause, women can begin to experience pelvic pain, Rosenblum said.

To see if low-estrogen birth control pills might mimic those effects, she evaluated the online survey responses of 932 women, aged 18 to 39, associated with two large universities. Women with a history of pelvic pain, the painful pelvic condition endometriosis or any who were pregnant were excluded from the study.

Women reported if they were on the pill or not and which dose pill. Of the 327 women taking birth control pills, about half used a low-dose pill. The other 605 women did not take the pill.

The women answered questions about pain. Twenty-seven percent of those on a low-dose pill had pelvic pain symptoms or reported chronic pelvic pain compared to 17.5 percent of those not on the pill.

Those on normal-dose pills were less likely to have pelvic pain overall than those not on the pill, she found.

Low-dose pill users were twice as likely to report pain during or after orgasm than those not on the pill: 25 percent versus 12 percent. Those on higher-dose pills reported no difference in pain at sexual climax than those not using birth control pills.

Dr. Christopher Payne, a professor of urology at Stanford University School of Medicine and director of its division of female urology, said the information could be helpful. However, "I don't know if we can draw any conclusions from this," he added.

"You can only say there is an association [between the low-dose pills and pelvic pain]," he said. "You can't say it's cause and effect."

However, "it's certainly something people should be knowledgeable about," he added. The proposed mechanism -- that the lower estrogen somehow is linked with the pain -- is plausible, he said.

"We have observed people who have bladder pain say they often have flare-ups in the premenstrual period, which is the lowest estrogen level of the whole menstrual cycle," Payne said. However, some women also report pain in other parts of the cycle, he said.

"This information could help clinicians be aware there could be a connection between a woman's hormone level and her hormone therapy and their pain," Payne said.

However, he and other pain specialists see a subgroup of women -- those who have pain problems. Many women on the low-dose pills could be experiencing no problems at all with the lower estrogen levels, Payne said.

Women using low-dose pills who do experience pain might ask their doctor about switching to another contraceptive or using a higher dose, Rosenblum said. However, higher-dose pills are linked with other risk factors, such as blood clots and strokes, so women should discuss the pros and cons with their doctor.

The data and conclusions of research presented at medical meetings should be viewed as preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

Copyright © 2013 HealthDay. All rights reserved. SOURCES: Nirit Rosenblum, M.D., assistant professor, urology, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York City; Christopher Payne, M.D., professor, urology, and director, female urology division, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, Calif.; presentation, American Urological Association, annual meeting, May 7, 2013, San Diego, Calif.

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Low-Dose 'Pill' Linked to Pain During Orgasm, Study Finds

Women on low-estrogen formulations report more pain overall, and during sex

By Kathleen Doheny

HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, May 3 (HealthDay News) -- Women taking birth control pills with lower amounts of estrogen -- a commonly prescribed contraceptive -- may be at higher risk for chronic pelvic pain and pain during orgasm, according to new research.

A study of nearly 1,000 women found that women on the lower-dose oral contraceptives were more likely than those on the standard dose (with higher estrogen levels), or those not on the pill, to report pelvic pain.

"In our practice, we have seen a lot of this anecdotally," said Dr. Nirit Rosenblum, assistant professor of urology at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City, a specialist in female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery.

To investigate the potential link further, she compared pain symptoms of women on low-dose birth control pills with those not on pills and those on standard doses.

She is scheduled to present the findings Tuesday at the American Urological Association's annual meeting in San Diego, but acknowledged additional research is needed to understand the association.

For her study, Rosenblum defined low-dose birth control pills as those that contain less than 20 micrograms (mcg) of synthetic estrogen. (The name often includes the word "lo.") Those that have 20 mcg or more are "standard" or normal dose.

When natural estrogen production declines at menopause, women can begin to experience pelvic pain, Rosenblum said.

To see if low-estrogen birth control pills might mimic those effects, she evaluated the online survey responses of 932 women, aged 18 to 39, associated with two large universities. Women with a history of pelvic pain, the painful pelvic condition endometriosis or any who were pregnant were excluded from the study.

Women reported if they were on the pill or not and which dose pill. Of the 327 women taking birth control pills, about half used a low-dose pill. The other 605 women did not take the pill.

The women answered questions about pain. Twenty-seven percent of those on a low-dose pill had pelvic pain symptoms or reported chronic pelvic pain compared to 17.5 percent of those not on the pill.

Those on normal-dose pills were less likely to have pelvic pain overall than those not on the pill, she found.

Low-dose pill users were twice as likely to report pain during or after orgasm than those not on the pill: 25 percent versus 12 percent. Those on higher-dose pills reported no difference in pain at sexual climax than those not using birth control pills.

Dr. Christopher Payne, a professor of urology at Stanford University School of Medicine and director of its division of female urology, said the information could be helpful. However, "I don't know if we can draw any conclusions from this," he added.

View the original article here

Ingredient in New MS Drug Linked to Serious Brain Disease

Reports found four psoriasis patients who took similar drug developed rare but sometimes deadly condition

By Brenda Goodman

HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, April 24 (HealthDay News) -- The active ingredient in a drug that's expected to become a popular treatment for multiple sclerosis has been linked to four European cases of a rare but sometimes fatal brain disease called progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML).

The ingredient, dimethyl fumarate, is used in a drug called Fumaderm that was approved in Germany in 1994 to treat the skin condition psoriasis. It is also in a different but closely related medication called Tecfidera, which was just approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in March for the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS). It is known as a fumaric acid ester, which is commonly used as a food additive and has been used to treat psoriasis in Germany for 30 years.

According to reports published in the April 25 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, however, four patients who were taking Fumaderm to treat their psoriasis developed PML.

In a letter responding to the reports, Biogen, the company that makes both drugs, said Tecfidera may be safer because it contains only dimethyl fumarate, while Fumaderm also contains three other fumaric acid esters.

The company also noted that none of the patients taking Tecfidera during clinical trials (then known as BG-12) developed PML. Since Tecfidera is a pill rather than an injection, and was effective and well-tolerated by patients in clinical trials, analysts have predicted it would soon become the top-selling multiple sclerosis treatment.

But the German doctor who treated one of the psoriasis patients who got PML thinks there is still cause for concern.

Dr. Jorg Schulz, a neurologist at Rheinisch-Westfaelische Technische Hochschule Aachen, a research university in Aachen, said the two drugs are virtually identical once they are broken down in the body.

"The problem is that the studies with BG-12 covered a two-year period, but no longer periods," Schulz said, and he believes it may take prolonged treatment with the drug for PML to surface.

"With the publication of our case, we wish to create awareness that treatment with any form of fumaric acid may bear the risk of developing PML," Schulz said.

PML is caused by the JC virus, which normally lies dormant in the body and causes no harm. About half of multiple sclerosis patients have antibodies to the JC virus in their blood, suggesting a current or former infection. When the immune system is depleted by illnesses like cancer or AIDS or suppressed by certain medications, the virus can flare and destroy nerve cells in the brain.

Ironically, PML is a lot like multiple sclerosis, but it progresses more rapidly as it causes weakness, paralysis, confusion, memory loss and loss of vision or speech. Quick treatment can stop the damage, although patients may be permanently disabled.

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Polluted Air Linked to Autism Risk

Pregnant women who live with smog at higher risk, but experts caution the finding is not definitive

By Denise Mann

HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, June 18 (HealthDay News) -- Pregnant women who live in smog-filled areas may be twice as likely to have children with autism, a new study suggests.

"The study does not prove that pollution increases risk for autism. It found an association," cautioned lead author Andrea Roberts, a research associate at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston. "It adds to the weight of the evidence that there may be something in air pollution that increases risk for autism."

Researchers compared exposure to air pollution among 325 women who had a child with autism and 22,000 women who did not. The women were participants in the Nurses' Health Study II. Pollutants measured included diesel particulate matter, lead, manganese, mercury, methylene chloride, and a combined measure of metal exposure.

Twenty percent to 60 percent of the women lived in areas considered highly polluted. And the study showed that: those women who lived in the 20 percent of locations that had the highest levels of diesel particulates or mercury in the air were twice as likely to have a child with autism, compared to those who lived in the 20 percent of areas with the lowest levels of these pollutants.

In addition, those who lived in the 20 percent of locations with the highest levels of lead, manganese, methylene chloride, and combined metal exposure were about 50 percent more likely to have a child with autism than those who lived in the 20 percent of areas with the lowest concentrations.

The findings held even after the researchers took into account other factors known to affect autism risk, such as income, education and smoking during pregnancy. Overall, the association was stronger for boys than it was for girls, but the number of girls included in the new study was too low to draw any firm conclusions.

The findings, which were published June 18 online in Environmental Health Perspectives, do add to a growing body of research that suggests the air women breathe while pregnant is one of many factors linked to autism risk. Previous studies have shown that pregnant women who live in polluted areas or close to freeways are more likely to have a child with autism, but the studies were done regionally. The new data is nationwide.

Exactly how, or even if, air pollution affects the developing brain is murky. "By definition, pollution is stuff that is not good for us," Roberts said.

Still, the overall increase in autism risk that may be attributed to pollution is low. "Let's say a woman's risk for having a child with autism is one in 100, women who live in the most polluted cities have a risk that is about one in 50, which means that 49 children would not have autism," Roberts said.

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Red Meat Linked to Increased Diabetes Risk

Large study finds higher consumption increases risk, but experts are at odds with findings

By Steven Reinberg

HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, June 17 (HealthDay News) -- People who eat a lot of red meat increase their risk of developing type 2 diabetes, while those who cut down on red meat cut their risk.

Those are the findings of a large new study out of Singapore involving 149,000 U.S. men and women.

The researchers found that increasing the consumption of red meat can increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 48 percent.

"There is no need to have more red meat on your plate; it increases the risk of diabetes," said lead researcher An Pan, an assistant professor at the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health at the National University of Singapore.

"It is better to reduce your red meat consumption by replacing it with other healthy food choices, like beans, legumes, soy products, nuts, fish, poultry and whole grains," he added.

The report was published in the June 17 online edition of the journal JAMA Internal Medicine.

For the study, Pan's team collected data on three Harvard group studies: the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, the Nurses' Health Study and the Nurses' Health Study II. All the participants answered questions about their diet every four years, resulting in more than 1.9 million person-years of follow-up.

There were more than 7,500 cases of type 2 diabetes, the researches found.

Comparing diet with the cases of diabetes, Pan's group found that people who increased their consumption of red meat by 0.5 servings per day during a four-year period were 48 percent more likely to develop type 2 diabetes, compared with people who ate less red meat.

Moreover, people who cut their red meat consumption were 14 percent less likely to develop type 2 diabetes, they found.

Outside experts, however, argued about the findings.

"Epidemiological studies made by questionnaires are not accurate, and they never prove causation, no matter how big and how good the statistics are," said Dr. Joel Zonszein, director of the Clinical Diabetes Center at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City.

The interaction of the many genetic and lifestyle factors that cause obesity and type 2 diabetes is remarkably complex and is still being studied, Zonszein added. "Doing cross-sectional analysis or epidemiological analysis produces questions but not answers," he said.

Blaming red meat for diabetes is misleading, said William Evans, head of the Muscle Metabolism Discovery Performance Unit at GlaxoSmithKline and the author of an accompanying editorial in the journal.

The amount of saturated fat that is also found in many types of meat is the most likely cause for the association of red meat and risk of diabetes, he said.

"Red meat is not the bad food that it is touted to be," Evans said. "There are many cuts of beef that are red and have as much fat as a chicken breast, and the redness in meat provides the most available form of iron from any food that we eat."

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Obesity Linked to Prostate Cancer, Study Finds

TUESDAY, April 23 (HealthDay News) -- Obese men are more likely to have precancerous changes detected in benign prostate biopsies and are at increased risk for eventually developing prostate cancer, new research suggests.

For the study, researchers examined data from nearly 500 men who were followed for 14 years after undergoing an initial prostate biopsy that was found to be noncancerous, or benign.

Prostate abnormalities were detected in 11 percent of the patients, and these abnormalities were strongly associated with obesity, said study author Andrew Rundle, an associate professor of epidemiology at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in New York City.

After taking into account factors including family history of prostate cancer, the researchers concluded that obesity at the time of the initial biopsy was associated with a 57 percent increased risk of developing prostate cancer during the 14 years of follow-up.

This association, however, was seen only for prostate cancer that occurred earlier in the follow-up period, according to the study, which was published in the April 23 issue of the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

"We don't absolutely know what the true biology is," Rundle said in a news release from the American Association for Cancer Research. "In some ways, this reflects the association between the body size and larger prostate size, which is thought to reduce the sensitivity of the needle biopsy. It is possible that the tumors missed by initial biopsy grew and were detected in a follow-up biopsy."

The association found in this study does not prove cause and effect.

Rundle noted that previous studies "have attempted to determine if there are subpopulations of men diagnosed with benign conditions that may be at a greater risk for developing prostate cancer. This is one of the first studies to assess the association between obesity and precancerous abnormalities."

These findings indicate that obesity "should be considered a factor for more intensive follow-up after a benign prostate biopsy," Rundle said.

-- Robert Preidt
Copyright © 2013 HealthDay. All rights reserved. SOURCE: American Association for Cancer Research, news release, April 23, 2013

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Infection, autoimmune disease linked to depression

Posted June 17, 2013, 5:47 am

Depression, bipolar disorder, and other mental health problems arise when something goes wrong with brain function. What causes that malfunction is an open question. In some people, a serious infection or autoimmune disease could be the trigger.

A report published online in JAMA Psychiatry explores this hypothesis. Researchers turned to comprehensive Danish databases that include all Danes born in the country, each identified by a unique registration number. One of the databases stores health-related information, including records of hospitalizations. Among Danes born between 1945 and 1995, almost 92,000 had a mood disorder. Of these, 36,000 had suffered a severe infection or developed an autoimmune disease (such as type 1 diabetes, celiac disease, lupus, and the like) at some point before being diagnosed with the mood disorder.

People who had been treated for a severe infection were 62% more likely to have developed a mood disorder than those who never had one. An autoimmune disease increased the risk by 45%. Multiple infections or the combination of severe infection and an autoimmune disease boosted the odds of developing depression, bipolar disorder, or another mood disorder even further.

The researchers estimated that in the Danish population, severe infection and autoimmune disease account for 12% of mood disorders.

“A link between infection and depression and mood disorders is intriguing,” says Dr. Michael C. Miller, assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and a member of JAMA Psychiatry’s editorial board. “But it’s important to keep in mind that both infections and mood disorders are very common, making it difficult to tease out what causes what.”

He ticks off three possible explanations for the results:

Severe infection and autoimmune disease may cause mood disorders.Mood disorders may create a susceptibility to infection or autoimmune disease.Mood disorders, severe infection, and autoimmune disorders may share common triggers.

The Danish study isn’t the first to explore links between infection or autoimmune diseases and depression. Much of the evidence supports a connection.

Depression isn’t the only mental health issue that may be related to infections and autoimmune condition. Writing last year in the Harvard Health blog, Dr. Jeff Szymanski described how some children with strep throat suddenly develop obsessive-compulsive disorder. It’s one manifestation of pediatric acute-onset neuropsychiatric syndrome. Quick treatment with antibiotics can reverse the problem.

How might an infection or autoimmune disorder lead to a mood or other mental health disorder? Infection causes localized and body-wide inflammation. Inflammation generates substances called cytokines that have been shown to change how brain cells communicate. In autoimmune diseases, the body’s defense system attacks healthy tissues rather than threatening invaders. It’s possible that in some cases the wayward immune reaction could target brain cells and other nerve cells throughout the body.

The connection between infection, autoimmune disease, inflammation, and mood disorders has prompted some researchers to wonder “Can we vaccinate against depression?” The short answer, at least for now, is “no.”

But there are things you can do. “Healthy living has all sorts of benefits,” says Dr. Miller. It can help you fight infection, reduce inflammation, ease stress, and make you feel better day to day, all of which work against the development of a mood disorder.”

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Steroid Injections for Back Pain Linked to Spinal Fracture Risk

Study of older adults doesn't prove that steroids are to blame, but experts advise caution

By Amy Norton

HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, June 14 (HealthDay News) -- Older adults who get steroid injections to ease lower back and leg pain may have increased odds of suffering a spine fracture, a new study suggests.

It's not clear, however, whether the treatment is to blame, according to experts. But they said the findings, which were published June 5 in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, suggest that older patients with low bone density should be cautious about steroid injections.

The treatment involves injecting anti-inflammatory steroids into the area of the spine where a nerve is being compressed. The source of that compression could be a herniated disc, for instance, or spinal stenosis -- a condition common in older adults, in which the open spaces in the spinal column gradually narrow.

Steroid injections can bring temporary pain relief, but it's known that steroids in general can cause bone density to decrease over time. And a recent study found that older women given steroids for spine-related pain showed a quicker rate of bone loss than other women their age.

The new findings go a step further by showing an increased fracture risk in steroid patients, said Dr. Shlomo Mandel, the lead researcher on both studies.

Still, he said, the study, which was based on medical records, had "a lot of limitations."

"I want to be careful not to imply that people shouldn't get these injections," said Mandel, an orthopedic physician with the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit.

The findings are based on medical records from 3,000 Henry Ford patients who had steroid injections for spine-related pain, and another 3,000 who got other treatments. They were 66 years old, on average.

Overall, about 150 patients were later diagnosed with a vertebral fracture, Mandel said. Vertebral fractures are cracks in small bones of the spine, and in an older adult with low bone mass they can happen without any major trauma.

On average, Mandel's team found, steroid patients were at greater risk of a vertebral fracture -- with the risk climbing 21 percent with each round of injections.

The findings do not prove that the injections themselves caused the fractures, said Dr. Andrew Schoenfeld, who wrote a commentary published with the study.

But the results raise an important potential risk that needs to be weighed against the benefits. "This brings to light something that should be part of doctor-patient discussions," said Schoenfeld, who is based at William Beaumont Army Medical Center in El Paso, Texas.

He cautioned, however, that the findings may apply only to certain patients -- namely, older adults with waning bone mass. "We don't know if this would apply to elderly people with normal bone mass," Schoenfeld said.

Complicating matters, steroid injections seem to benefit only certain types of spine-related pain. The "best medical evidence" that they work is for cases of leg pain caused by a herniated disc compressing a nerve, Schoenfeld said.

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Colic May Be Linked to Childhood Migraine, Study Says

Expert suspects disrupted sleep cycles might play a role in both disorders

By Serena Gordon

HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, April 16 (HealthDay News) -- Although colic has always been considered a gastrointestinal illness, new research suggests that migraines might be to blame.

The study, published April 17 in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found the odds were nearly seven times higher that children with migraine were colicky babies than were not.

"It is already known that migraine can show with intestinal pain in childhood," said study senior author Dr. Luigi Titomanlio, head of the pediatric migraine and neurovascular diseases clinic at APHP Hospital Robert Debre in Paris, France. That is termed abdominal migraine.

"Our results suggest that infantile colic could represent a form of migraine with age-specific expression," Titomanlio said.

As a colicky child gets older, be aware that he or she may be more likely to have migraine headaches, he added. "By extrapolation [from the study's findings], having had colic could be a risk factor of migraine in teens with recurrent headaches," said Titomanlio.

Colic affects as many as one in five infants, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Babies with colic cry for more than three hours a day, usually at the same time each day, at least three days a week. The exact cause of infant colic is unknown, but it usually gets better by 12 weeks of age.

When babies with colic are crying, their abdomens often appear swollen and they may draw their legs up to their bellies. These symptoms appear to originate in the digestive tract, but treatments aimed at easing digestive system symptoms aren't very effective at making babies with colic calm down.

Migraine is a common cause of headaches in children, according to the study. Another type of headache in children is a tension-type headache, and children who have tension-type headaches are believed to have increased pain sensitivity. Links between these and other types of headaches and colic have been suggested, but they haven't been well-studied, the researchers noted.

This latest research includes more than 200 children 6 to 18 years old who were diagnosed with migraine headaches. The study also included 120 children who had tension-type headaches, and 471 control children who were treated for minor traumas.

The researchers found that nearly 73 percent of children who had migraines also had colic as babies, while just 26.5 percent of those without migraine reported colic. Slightly more children who had migraine without aura (without visual and other sensory disturbances) reported having had colic than those who had migraine with aura. Overall, the odds that someone with a migraine had colic as a child were 6.6 times higher than the odds they didn't have colic, the study found.

The researchers didn't find an association between tension-type headaches and colic.

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Pesticide Exposure Linked to Changes in Fetal Movement: Study

Findings underscore need to protect developing brain, researcher says

By Robert Preidt

HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, June 12 (HealthDay News) -- A pregnant woman's exposure to environmental contaminants affects her unborn baby's heart rate and movement, a new study says.

"Both fetal motor activity and heart rate reveal how the fetus is maturing and give us a way to evaluate how exposures may be affecting the developing nervous system," study lead author Janet DiPietro, associate dean for research at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said in a school news release.

The researchers analyzed blood samples from 50 high- and low-income pregnant women in and around Baltimore and found that they all had detectable levels of organochlorines, including DDT, PCBs and other pesticides that have been banned in the United States for more than 30 years.

High-income women had a greater concentration of chemicals than low-income women.

The blood samples were collected at 36 weeks of pregnancy, and measurements of fetal heart rate and movement also were taken at that time, according to the study, which was published online in the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology.

The researchers found that higher levels of some common environmental pollutants were associated with more frequent and vigorous fetal movement. Some of the chemicals also were associated with fewer changes in fetal heart rate, which normally parallel fetal movements.

"Most studies of environmental contaminants and child development wait until children are much older to evaluate effects of things the mother may have been exposed to during pregnancy," DiPietro said. "Here we have observed effects in utero."

How the prenatal period sets the stage for later child development is a subject of tremendous interest, DiPietro said.

"These results show that the developing fetus is susceptible to environmental exposures and that we can detect this by measuring fetal neurobehavior," she said. "This is yet more evidence for the need to protect the vulnerable developing brain from effects of environmental contaminants both before and after birth."

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Low Testosterone Linked to Later Arthritis in Study

Hormonal changes could influence disease severity, researchers say

By Robert Preidt

HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, April 3 (HealthDay News) -- Men with low levels of the hormone testosterone may be at greater risk for rheumatoid arthritis, according to a new study.

Both men and women with rheumatoid arthritis have lower levels of testosterone in their blood than people without the disease. But it has not been known whether low testosterone levels are a cause or effect of rheumatoid arthritis.

Rheumatoid arthritis causes pain, swelling, stiffness and loss of joint function. Severe cases can last a lifetime.

In this study, Swedish researchers analyzed blood samples collected from 104 men who were later diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and 174 men of the same age who did not develop the disease. The average time between collection of the blood sample and a diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis was just less than 13 years, but ranged from 1 to 28 years.

After taking into account known rheumatoid arthritis risk factors such as smoking and weight, the researchers found that men with lower testosterone levels were more likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis. They did not, however, prove a cause-and-effect link between the two.

These men also had significantly higher levels of follicle stimulating hormone -- a chemical involved in sexual maturity and reproduction -- before they were diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, according to the study, which was published online April 3 in the journal Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.

The findings suggest that hormonal changes occur before rheumatoid arthritis develops and could influence disease severity, the researchers said in a journal news release.

Rheumatoid arthritis results from the immune system attacking the body's own tissues. Previous research suggests that testosterone may dampen the immune system, the researchers said.

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Vision, Dyslexia Not Linked: Study

Findings will advance understanding, treatment of the reading disorder, says expert

By Dennis Thompson

HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, June 6 (HealthDay News) -- A new brain imaging study appears to rule out one potential cause of dyslexia, finding that vision problems don't lead to the common reading disorder.

The new research could have a wide-ranging impact on the detection and treatment of dyslexia, said senior study author Guinevere Eden, director of the Center for the Study of Learning at Georgetown University Medical Center. The study appears June 6 in the journal Neuron.

"It has importance from a practical viewpoint. It means you shouldn't focus on the visual system as a way to diagnose dyslexia or treat dyslexia," Eden said. "Until now, there was still this uncertainty where some people were saying, 'I know it's controversial but I still believe that vision is contributing to these kids' reading problem.' We now have a finding that really speaks to an understanding that visual system function shouldn't have a role in diagnosis or treatment."

People with dyslexia struggle to learn to read fluently and accurately. Dyslexia may affect more than one of every 10 people in the United States, and it is the nation's most common learning disability, according to background information in the study.

Earlier brain imaging studies have found that people with dyslexia experience subtle weaknesses in processing visual stimuli compared with people their same age, leading some to wonder whether this visual dysfunction causes dyslexia by interfering with a child's ability to read.

But the study found that visual problems noted in people with dyslexia likely are a result of the learning disorder rather than the cause, Eden said.

By ruling out the visual center as a culprit, the new study provides more support to the already popular theory that dyslexia occurs because of weaknesses in the part of the brain that deals with language, she said.

Researchers used functional MRIs to compare the brains of dyslexic children with the brains of children who don't have the learning disorder.

Children without dyslexia appeared to have the same level of visual processing activity as dyslexic kids, when matched by reading level instead of age, they found.

Further, children with dyslexia who received intensive tutoring in reading skills experienced a subsequent increase in visual system activity.

"When we ask children to learn to read, we are asking them to do something that is very difficult. Learning to read changes the brain," Eden said. "If you are a struggling reader because of your dyslexia, you don't have as much opportunity to read as the other kid in your class, and so your brain doesn't get the chance to change as much. The visual deficit is there, but our study allowed us to conclude it's there as a consequence of not having the same opportunity to read as children without dyslexia."

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Cholesterol Drugs Linked to Muscle, Joint Problems: Study

But heart benefits of statins outweigh risks, expert says

By Steven Reinberg

HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, June 3 (HealthDay News) -- People taking statin drugs to lower their cholesterol may slightly increase their risk for muscle and joint diseases as well as strains and sprains, a new study suggests.

Statins, such as Zocor and Lipitor, are widely used to reduce cholesterol levels and help prevent heart disease. But they're also thought to contribute to muscle weakness, muscle cramps and tendon problems.

This new study, based on nearly 14,000 U.S. active-duty soldiers and veterans, confirmed an association between the drugs' use and musculoskeletal injuries and diseases. But the findings need to be replicated in other types of studies and should not deter people at risk of heart disease from taking the medications, said lead researcher Dr. Ishak Mansi, from the VA North Texas Health Care System in Dallas.

"Do not stop taking statins; these medications have been life-savers for some patients," Mansi said. "But talk to your doctor about the benefit-risk ratio for you."

Whether statins should be prescribed universally in people without risk factors for heart disease, as some in the health care field suggest, is another matter, Mansi said.

"The side effects of statins are not totally known yet," Mansi said. "Advocating widespread use, specifically for primary prevention in otherwise healthy subjects, is unsound."

The researchers matched nearly 7,000 statin users with a similar number of nonusers to assess the risk of musculoskeletal problems associated with statin use. The results were published online June 3 in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine.

They found that people taking statins had a 19 percent greater risk of having musculoskeletal problems compared with nonusers. Specifically, statin users were 13 percent more likely to suffer dislocations, strains or sprains. They were only 0.7 percent more likely to develop osteoarthritis or other joint problems, which was not considered statistically significant, the researchers found.

The greater likelihood of strains, sprains and dislocations with statin use has not been previously reported, the researchers said. The findings might have implications for physically active people, such as members of the military.

Dr. Gregg Fonarow, spokesman for the American Heart Association, said statin users should be reassured by the findings.

"This study provides further evidence that the proven cardiovascular benefits outweigh any potential risks, including musculoskeletal issues," said Fonarow, a professor of cardiology at the University of California, Los Angeles.

"Statins have been demonstrated in multiple large-scale, prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled trials to reduce the risk of ... cardiovascular events in men and women with or at risk for cardiovascular disease," he said. "In these gold-standard clinical trials there has been no increased risk of musculoskeletal disease."

In the current study, three-quarters of the participants were taking simvastatin (brand name Zocor) and about 20 percent were taking atorvastatin (Lipitor). Smaller numbers were prescribed pravastatin (Pravachol), rosuvastatin (Crestor), fluvastatin (Lescol) or lovastatin (Mevacor).

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Certain Lifestyle Factors Linked to Arthritis in Study Patients

Title: Certain Lifestyle Factors Linked to Arthritis in Study Patients
Category: Health News
Created: 3/25/2013 2:35:00 PM
Last Editorial Review: 3/26/2013 12:00:00 AM

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Energy Drinks Linked to Changes in Heart Rhythm

But more research is needed on the caffeine-laden beverages, review says

By Randy Dotinga

HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, March 21 (HealthDay News) -- Energy drinks boost blood pressure and may make the heart more susceptible to electrical short circuits, new research suggests.

But it's not clear how much of this effect on blood pressure has to do with caffeine, which also is found in coffee, or whether the effect significantly raises the risk of heart problems.

So should you put down your Red Bull or Monster Energy Drink? Not necessarily, experts say.

"I have no real concern that having an energy drink or two will negatively impact most people's health," said Dr. C. Michael White, a professor and head of pharmacy practice at the University of Connecticut. He has studied energy drinks and is familiar with the new review's findings.

However, he said, "there is enough information in this meta-analysis to make me concerned that there may be pockets of the population who may have an increased risk of adverse events, and more work needs to be done to see if this is true."

In other words, it's possible that some people could be especially vulnerable to the effects of energy drinks.

At issue are the caffeine-laden drinks that have become popular among people looking to stay alert, stay awake or get a jolt. Sixteen-ounce cans of drinks like Monster Energy Assault and Rockstar pack in about 160 milligrams of caffeine, compared with roughly 100 milligrams in a 6-ounce cup of coffee.

Energy drinks also come with other ingredients like sugar and herbs, and medical experts have warned that they can spell trouble.

Industry representatives defend energy drinks, saying they contain about as much caffeine by the ounce as coffeehouse drinks. But people often consume much more of the energy drinks at one time.

In the new report, researchers looked at seven studies. Among them, a total of 93 participants drank energy drinks and had their "QT interval" measured, while another 132 underwent blood pressure measurement. In most of the studies, the participants -- aged 18 to 45 -- drank one to three cans of Red Bull.

The QT interval is an electrocardiogram (EKG) measurement of how the heart resets itself electronically while it beats. A longer interval raises the risk that a "short circuit" will develop in the heart and possibly kill a person.

The review found that the QT intervals lengthened after people consumed energy drinks. Federal officials would raise an alarm if a medication produced this level of an effect, said review co-author Dr. Ian Riddock, a preventive cardiologist at the David Grant Medical Center at Travis Air Force Base, in California.

It's not known if the culprit is the caffeine or the other ingredients, "although we tend to think it's the latter," Riddock said.

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Some Types of Skin Cancer Linked to Lower Chances of Alzheimer's

A weak immune response might allow skin cancer but protect brain from inflammation, expert suggests

By Barbara Bronson Gray

HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, May 15 (HealthDay News) -- There's some good news for people who have had certain kinds of skin cancer: A new study suggests that their odds of developing Alzheimer's disease may be significantly lower than it is for others.

People who had non-melanoma skin cancer were nearly 80 percent less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease than people who did not. The association was not found with other types of dementia.

To understand the possible association between skin cancer and Alzheimer's, it is important to know that people have a combination of cells that are multiplying and others that are dying, explained study author Dr. Richard Lipton, a professor of neurology, epidemiology and population health at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City. The research was published online May 15 in the journal Neurology.

"When cell division gets out of control, we call that cancer. And when specific populations of brain cells die, we call that Alzheimer's," Lipton said. "So, there is a balance between cell division [growth] and cell death. If you have an individual with an increased risk of cell division over cell death, that may be linked to a decreased risk of Alzheimer's."

The finding was intriguing to one expert.

"It's fascinating that we can get clues about what's going on in the brain by looking at the periphery [skin]," said Terrence Town, a professor in the physiology and biophysics department at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California.

Non-melanoma skin cancer is the most common cancer in the United States; there were more than 2 million new cases in 2012, according to the U.S. National Cancer Institute.

What could be causing the possible association between skin cancer and a reduced risk of Alzheimer's?

"Either developing skin cancer is a marker for some biological process that protects against Alzheimer's or environmental factors may play a role," Lipton said. Genetics could be a factor, as could lots of outdoor physical activity and exercise, although Lipton cautioned people to avoid too much sun exposure and wear sunscreen.

Others think the link may be directly related to how the lowered immune response of skin cells in skin cancer corresponds to a similar immune response in the brain.

"This research is another piece of evidence that tells us that peripheral inflammation [in the skin] is very important in Alzheimer's disease," Town said. He thinks that people who develop non-melanoma skin cancers don't have an immune response in their skin, and thus develop skin cancers, because an immune response may be critical to fighting skin cancer. But that benefits them when it comes to developing Alzheimer's disease.

"This reduced inflammatory response that was permissive to the skin cancer was perhaps beneficial in the brain," said Town.

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Daily Aspirin Linked to Lower Risk for Deadly Skin Cancer in Women

Title: Daily Aspirin Linked to Lower Risk for Deadly Skin Cancer in Women
Category: Health News
Created: 3/11/2013 10:35:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 3/11/2013 12:00:00 AM

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