Daily ibuprofen may cause heart risks

Posted by Reuters Health on Thursday, September 4, 2008

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Ibuprofen may raise the risk of heart attacks and other fatal and serious problems when elderly people take it daily for arthritis, U.S. researchers reported on Wednesday.

They said the popular over-the-counter pain reliever was the only drug in the class that includes aspirin and other analgesics to raise the risk of serious heart disease -- along with the now-withdrawn COX-2 inhibitor Vioxx.

Full text at U.S. govermnent Medline Site...

Fish Oil Supplements Help With Heart Failure

From the Washington Post;

Daily supplements of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids -- the kind found in fish oil -- reduced deaths and hospitalizations of people with heart failure, an Italian study found.

But a cholesterol-lowering statin drug had no beneficial effect in a parallel heart failure trial.

"There is a benefit of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids for heart failure patients."

Full text at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/31/AR2008083100444.html

CDC: Salmonella Outbreak Over, Source May Never Be Known

The government said Thursday that the salmonella outbreak that sickened at least 1,440 people appears to be over, but its ultimate source may never be known, partly because of shortcomings in the nation's food safety system.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration said they found strong evidence to implicate jalapeno and serrano peppers, and a farm in Mexico, in the largest outbreak of foodborne illness in a decade. Investigators were unable to clear domestic and imported tomatoes, however, although the evidence against tomatoes is weaker.

The FDA also lifted its warning that consumers avoid eating jalapeno and serrano peppers from Mexico. But officials pointedly said that doesn't guarantee another such outbreak can be prevented.

Tracking Alzheimer's-linked protein in live brains

Scientists for the first time have peered into people's brains to directly measure the ebb and flow of a substance notorious for its role in Alzheimer's disease. The delicate research was performed not with Alzheimer's patients but with people suffering severe brain injuries — because a brain injury increases the risk of developing dementia later in life. 

The goal is to learn why, so that doctors one day might be able to lower that risk.
For the full text of this AP article may be found at:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080828/ap_on_he_me/med_injured_brain

Elevated Choleterol 101

The following was posted by Lee Kirksey, M.D. and excerpted from Medhelp where he moderates the Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD) forum:

What can cause high cholesterol?

Elevated cholesterol levels can be caused by several factors, including heredity, poor diet, obesity, sedentary lifestyle, age, and gender (premenopausal women have lower cholesterol levels than men.) Of these causative factors, only heredity, age and gender cannot be controlled.

"Secondary" elevation of cholesterol

Some people have elevated cholesterol levels as a result of specific medical conditions, including diabetes, hypothyroidism (low thyroid,) obstructive liver disease, chronic renal (kidney) failure, and drugs (anabolic steroids, progesterone drugs, and corticosteroids.) In these patients, treating the underlying disorder often improves cholesterol levels.

Who needs to be treated for elevated cholesterol?

Deciding when to treat can be based on two factors: lipid levels (total cholesterol, LDL, and HDL,) and the presence of additional risk factors, as follows.

Desirable lipid levels:
Total cholesterol: Desirable levels are below 200 mg/dL. Total cholesterol is considered "borderline high risk" at levels between 200 and 239, and "high risk" at levels above 240. LDL cholesterol: Optimal LDL levels are less than 100 mg/dL. Near optimal levels are between 100 and 129 mg/dL. Levels between 130 and 159 are considered "borderline high risk;" and levels between 160 and 189 are considered "high-risk;" and levels of 190 and above are considered "very high risk." HDL cholesterol: HDL cholesterol levels below 41 mg/dL are considered too low.

The full text of his journal entry may be found here


(Dr Kirksey is a vascular surgeon at The University of Pennsylvania Healthcare System who specializes in the diagnosis, prevention, medical and surgical treatment of blood vessel disorders of the body.)