HEALTH: Tidbits

[Guest guest]

ANTIDEPRESSANT MAY COOL HOT FLASHES

Doctors say the antidepressant paroxetine may help reduce hot

flashes in menopausal women. Researchers at 18 U.S. centers found a

slow-release form of the anti-anxiety drug, sold under the brand name

Paxil, reduced hot flashes by up to 65 percent, or 3.3 flashes per

day. The researchers note in the Journal of the American Medical

Association hot flashes traditionally have been treated with estrogen

and progestin hormone supplements. The therapy can reduce the

frequency of the common symptom of menopause by 80 percent to 90

percent. However, a large study has indicated the hormone treatment

may be tied to an increased risk of heart attack, stroke, blood clots

and breast cancer. Paroxetine is " the best nonhormonal drug we know

about right now, " said lead author Dr. Vered Stearns, assistant

professor of oncology at the Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive

Cancer Center. " If a woman wants to try nonhormonal therapy, she will

know within days whether it's going to work. "

 

DRUG FOUND EFFECTIVE AGAINST SLEEP DISORDER

Scientists say the antidepressant drug mirtazapine shows promise as

a treatment for a potentially life-threatening sleep disorder called

sleep apnea. In tests at the University of Illinois in Chicago, the

researchers found mirtazapine significantly reduced symptoms of the

disorder that affects some 20 million Americans, who may stop

breathing for 10 seconds or more during sleep. In the study, the drug

cut in half the number of times breathing stopped or slowed during

sleep and reduced by 28 percent the number of times sleep was

disrupted. All 12 participants showed improvement., the investigators

say. " The drug provided the largest benefit and the most consistent

improvement of any pharmaceutical therapy tested in controlled studies

to date, " said David Carley, professor of medicine, pharmacology and

bioengineering at the Center for Sleep and Ventilatory Disorders. The

results were presented at the annual meeting of the Associated

Professional Sleep Societies in Chicago.

 

GUIDELINES OFFERED FOR TREATING CHILDREN'S BRAIN INJURIES

Health care experts have come up with the first guidelines for

treating traumatic brain injuries in children. The recommendations,

based on the review of more than 700 journal articles, were published

in Pediatric Critical Care Medicine, Critical Care Medicine and the

Journal of Trauma. " There's an enormous amount of information out

there about what works and what doesn't in treating pediatric brain

injury, " said principal investigator Dr. Randy Chesnut, associate

professor of neurological surgery at the Oregon Health and Science

University School of Medicine. " We not only want to publish guidelines

that bring together all the best practices, we want to remove

obstacles to putting those guidelines to work saving lives. " In the

past, treatment could vary depending on such factors as where the

child lived, where and how he was taken for treatment, who

administered treatment and what equipment was available. The

guidelines aim to eliminate such at-times life-threatening

differences, said Nancy Carney, assistant professor of medical

informatics.

 

REDUCING HEART-THREATENING CALCIUM DEPOSITS

Investigators have found lifestyle changes and statin therapy can

slow or even reduce potentially dangerous calcium deposits in the

coronary arteries. The tests were conducted on patients without

symptoms but at risk for heart disease. " The rate of progression of

calcium scores was less, " said Dr. Victor Goh, consultant cardiologist

at Matilda International Hospital in Hong Kong. " Statin therapy, in

addition to lifestyle modification, induced a 32 percent rate of

reduction in the coronary calcium scores in asymptomatic patients. "

The study shows early detection and treatment can prevent coronary

artery disease from progressing -- and in some cases, allows the

disease to regress, Goh said at the American Heart Association's

Second Asia Pacific Scientific Forum in Honolulu.

 

© Copyright 2003 by United Press International. All rights reserved.

 

***********************************************************************