Drug may improve bone density in cerebral palsy
Low doses of pamidronate increase bone mineral density (BMD) in children with spastic cerebral palsy with severe movement impairment, according to results of a preliminary study reported in Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology.
All of the children had spastic quadriplegia, a severe form of cerebral palsy characterized by muscle stiffness in all four limbs, the trunk and often the mouth and tongue. These patients often have mental retardation and other problems. The decreased mobility seen in these children leads to bone loss, which puts them at high risk for fractures.
Previous studies have shown that pamidronate, sold in the U.S. and Canada as Aredia, may benefit children with disabilities and bone thinning. However, these children run the risk of developing low calcium levels in the blood, also referred to as hypocalcemia, if dosages are based on the usual adult treatment. In one study, hypocalcemia occurred in 77 percent of the patients.
School involvement may lower kids’ health risks
Getting teenagers more active in school life may lower the odds that they will smoke, drink, use drugs or have sex, a new study suggests.
Australian researchers found that students at schools that started programs of “social inclusion” were 25 percent less likely than their peers at other schools to report that they got into fights, abused drugs or alcohol, or were sexually active.
The programs were designed to help teenagers feel more connected to their schools by encouraging them to get involved in and out of the classroom. Students also received lessons on managing their emotions and communicating with other people.
Vioxx risks confirmed by new studies
The use of Vioxx (rofecoxib), the anti-inflammatory drug at the center of many high-profile lawsuits, does, in fact, increase the risk of heart attacks and strokes and may also adversely affect kidney function, according to the results of two studies released early by the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Both reports suggest that only Vioxx, not other COX-2 inhibitors, markedly raises the risk of these events.
Dr. Jingjing Zhang, from Harvard Medical School in Boston, and colleagues conducted an analysis of data from clinical trials to compare the kidney and heart rhythm risks associated with COX-2 inhibitors, including Vioxx, Celebrex (celecoxib), and others. A search of medical databases yielded 114 relevant trials with 116,094 participants.
Molecular Markers Signal Early Metastases from Ocular Melanoma
Patients with melanoma of the eye are at risk for liver metastases, which are often not detected until they have turned into large, lethal tumors. Now researchers have found molecular markers, including changes in a particular chromosome, that flag the presence of small metastases before they reach life-threatening size.
In a second important finding, the researchers showed that a common procedure, called fine needle biopsy, could be used to accurately detect these molecular signatures.
“The results show that we can pinpoint these molecular markers in the small amount of RNA and DNA obtained from fine needle biopsy,” said principal investigator J. William Harbour, M.D., Associate Professor of Ophthalmology/Cell Biology/Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
Vitamin D halves pancreatic cancer risk
People who take vitamin D tablets are half as likely to get deadly pancreatic cancer as people who do not, U.S. researchers reported on Wednesday.
Now they are checking to see if getting the vitamin from food or sunlight also cuts the risk.
The study suggests one easy way to reduce the risk of pancreatic cancer, the fourth leading cause of death from cancer in the United States. This year the American Cancer Society estimates that 32,000 new cases will be diagnosed, and only 5 percent of patients will survive more than 5 years.
Ignorance promotes leprosy in China
Despite advances in treatment, China has hundreds of “leper colonies” because of deep-rooted ignorance about the disease, medical experts say.
So strong is the stigma that children have been abandoned, while others are deprived of proper care because their parents are concerned their extended family may be ostracized.
“One recovered leper I know was sent away by his parents for medical help. When he recovered, he wanted to go home but his family wouldn’t take him back and told him to remain in his village,” said Michael Chen of Handa, a non-governmental group that looks after people who have recovered from leprosy.
Marijuana can help drug addicts stay on medication
Recovering drug addicts who are infected with hepatitis C virus may stick to their medications better if they are allowed to use marijuana, U.S. researchers reported on Wednesday.
Smoking or eating cannabis may help them tolerate the side effects of the antivirals, which can clear the virus but often cause fevers, chills and muscle and joint aches, the researchers said.
Diana Sylvestre and colleagues at the University of California, San Francisco tested 71 recovering substance users given interferon and ribavirin to treat hepatitis C infection—which is common among injecting drug users.
Delay of ear infection therapy avoids drug overuse
Telling parents to wait 48 hours before filling a prescription for antibiotics, so they can see if their child’s ear infection clears up on its own, can help reduce the overuse of these drugs and consequently lower rates of drug resistance, researchers said on Tuesday.
U.S. doctors write 15 million antibiotic prescriptions a year for children’s ear infections, though there is increasing evidence the drugs may not be necessary. Excessive antibiotic use could lead to the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and cause drug reactions such as vomiting and diarrhea.
By taking a “wait-and-see” approach where the parent is given a prescription but told to wait 48 hours to fill it, researchers at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, found fewer prescriptions were filled.
