Health Newsletter:February 2006
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Contents |
Lubricants May Suppress Fertility
Surprising results from a prospective controlled study of vaginal lubricants were presented at a meeting of the American Society For Reproductive Medicine and the Canadian Fertility And Andrology Society in Montreal. Four products, FemGlide, Replens, Astroglide and Pre-Seed have been routinely recommended to couples that are trying to get pregnant. Dr.Ashok Agarwal and colleagues from the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio took a closer look at the effects of the four products and their influence on donor sperm. It turned out, that FemGlide, Replens and Astroglide all reduced the sperm motility and integrity. When mixed in vitro (in a test tube) quality and movement of the sperm showed a sharp decline. Activity in untreated sperm amounted to 66%. A presence of only 10% Astroglide led to a rock bottom 2% mobility. The other product, Pre-Seed, did not slow the sperm down. A second test measured DNA damage in sperm that had been exposed to lubricant solution for four hours. Again, only Pre-Seed had the lowest impact. It showed 7% more chromatin damage than untreated sperm. KY had 10% more damage and FemGlide showed 15% of damaged sperm. The researchers caution that problem lubricants are likely to cause additional hurdles for couples struggling with infertility, as chances for fertilization decrease with certain lubricants.
Parkhurst Exchange, page 31,Vol.14, Nr.1 January 2006
Chronic Pain A Cancer Risk
Chronic pain can be an undermining force in people's well being. Often it is more perceived as a nuisance or an inconvenience. How serious it really is as a health risk, has been emerging only in more recent observations.
Two well designed, population based studies in the UK are showing that there is an increased risk in people with chronic pain to die prematurely or to develop cancer.
In a study by J. Mc Farlane, MD individuals with chronic back pain or patients suffering of fibromyalgia show an increased risk for premature death and cancer. Often pain sufferers have not only one pain condition but also multiple ones. Mc Farlane quoted an excess risk of 30% for premature mortality in pain patients. At the same time he states that the risk is " relatively modest". Another study noted that patients who suffered of widespread pain over a 10-year period had a 50% increased risk of developing cancer than those who were pain free at the baseline. Statistically it means that 2.5% of patients with widespread pain over a time of 10 years will develop cancer, which remains a small percentage.
The author notes that there is no reason to feel overly threatened by these results. More research will tell more. For the practical application the results point to the need for effective treatment and pain control before chronic pain patterns become detrimental to patients' health.
The Back Letter, December 2005,Vol.20, Nr.12, page 139
Macular Degeneration Risk Less With Vitamins
Age related macular degeneration (AMD) is one of the more frequent reasons for loss of vision in the ageing population. The disease is also the most prevalent reason for blindness in developed countries.
A group of researchers from the Netherlands made it their mandate to investigate, in which proportion antioxidants were useful in the prevention of AMD. Supplementation with vitamins C D and E was used and also beta-carotene and zinc. The observations were made using questionnaires from the Rotterdam Study (1990-1993).
The group on which the research concentrated consisted of inhabitants 55 years of age or older living in a middle class suburb of Rotterdam. Of 5836 at the baseline with a risk of AMD 4765 had reliable data of their dietary habits. At the end of the study 4170 participated in the follow up. Dietary intake of vitamin E and zinc was inversely associated with the development of AMD: the group with an intake of vitamin E and zinc had less macular degeneration than those whose diet was deficient. A higher than median intake of all the four nutrients, vitamin E, zinc, vitamin C and beta-carotene showed even more benefit. The risk to develop macular degeneration was reduced by an impressive 31%.
These results are of importance to the ageing population and the elderly. A high dietary intake of the four nutrients is important in the risk reduction of age related eye diseases like AMD.
JAMA. 2005; 294:3101-3107; Vol. 294, No. 24, December 28, 2005
Herpes Medication Successful In Mononucleosis
Infectious mononucleosis is a common infectious disease that affects teenagers and young adults. The nickname "Kissing Disease" sounds rather funny, but getting sick with mononucleosis- and the affected persons may not have been kissed at all! - is no fun. The virus can leave the patient unwell and lethargic for several weeks. Missing study hours or being unable to work can be a bad set back.
There is no vaccination against the Epstein-Barr virus, which is the culprit in mononucleosis, and as it is the case with viral illnesses, antibiotics are of no use. The approach so far has been the treatment of symptoms: take over-the counter medicine to bring down a high temperature, drink fluids, use an over-the counter remedy to help against a sore throat and rest. In time mononucleosis would resolve.
Dr. Henry Balfour, who is a herpes specialist at the University of Minnesota, investigated the antiviral drug acylovir (Valtrex) as an intervention for documented Epstein-Barr infections. Students who presented with symptoms of Mononucleosis within 7 days of onset were receiving 3g of valacylovir per day for 2 weeks. Samples of saliva showed a two-fold decrease of the virus load in 8 out of 10patients. Only one student who had been untreated showed the same result. This effect points to the possibility of reducing or eliminating oral virus transmission by administering Valtrex. The other effect was a decrease in the severity of the illness. The group on medication got better faster. Dr. Balfour pointed out that the current study does have some limitations, due to the small number of participants. He hopes to study the effect of another antiviral agent, valganciclovir (Valcyte) that has a longer intracellular half-life and for this reason should be even more effective.
The Medical Post, page 1, 61, January 10, 2006
Using Cell Phone Not Causing Brain Cancer
Of all the common brain tumors in adults, gliomas are the most common cancers. The prognosis for patients who are diagnosed with this type of brain cancer is extremely poor. Researchers are still attempting to pinpoint the reasons why these tumors are starting to grow, as they have a very distinct formation of cells and seem to be different from other brain tumors.
In the recent past, a lot of attention has been focused on the aspect of mobile telephones and a possible risk of gliomas and other brain tumors associated with their use. The energy of the radio frequency fields emitted by cell phones is thought to be insufficient to cause DNA damage to brain cells that lead to the formation of cancer cells.
Epidemiologists have done studies on users of mobile telephones and have not generally reported an increased brain cancer risk in overall or long-term use. Individual studies have found positive associations between high-grade astrocytoma (glioma) and phone use, brain tumor and phone use in rural areas and use of analogue mobile phones.
A large population based case-control study of 966 patients with glioma in the United Kingdom was designed to investigate cell phone use and the risk of brain tumors. It was part of the Interphone project, which is an international collaboration of 13 countries that concerns itself with the risks of cell phone use and tumors. The south east of England as well as four areas to the north and southern Scotland was the area studied with a total catchment, which amounts to 48.3% if the UK population of 28.4 million. Cases with intercranial tumors were ascertained from various sources, hospital departments (neurology and others) as well as cancer registries. The study was introduced as one to examine risks factors for brain cancers without stressing cell phone use. During the interview those who were mobile phone users were asked detailed questions on cell phone use, which included the recording of all makes and models of phone. Regular phone use was defined as a period of at least six months in the time frame of more than a year before the patient had been diagnosed with glioma.
When all the data had been evaluated, there was no association of risk with lifetime years of use, cumulative use or cumulative hours. There was also no association with cell phone use in urban or rural areas and high or low-grade gliomas. The use of analogue phones was also scrutinized and there were no significant odds ratios with any exposure.
This study has nearly twice as many cases as the previously largest study on glioma patients and the use of mobile phones. In addition it has a large amount of comprehensive and relevant collection data. The results are also consistent with findings from investigations of mobile phone use in the US, Denmark and Sweden. Overall there are no substantially raised risks of of glioma in the 10 years after first mobile phone use. Only future studies will be able to address longer latency periods.
Brit. Med. Journal (doi: 10.1136/bmj.38720.687975.55; published January 20, 2006)
