Health Headlines - September 7

Synthetic Anti-Thrombotic Drug Shows Major Promise

In what is being billed as the world's largest study of acute coronary syndrome, a new anti-thrombotic drug has emerged as a rival to the traditional therapy used for preventing heart attacks, death and ischemia for those with serious heart conditions.

In research presented Monday at the European Society of Cardiology meeting in Stockholm, Canadian-led scientists said that fondaparinux, a synthetic drug that acts during the early clotting stage, was not only as effective as enoxaparin, a heparin used to prevent blood clots, but also helped cut bleeding.

The research showed that patients had a lower mortality rate one month after an acute coronary event using fondaparinux, according to a prepared statement by researchers at McMaster University in Ontario. And a six -month followup confirmed that.

The international study involved more than 20,000 patients and was conducted at 576 sites in 41 countries.

Review: Lipitor No Better Than Other Anti-Cholesterol Drugs

An independent German review of previous research shows no benefit to taking Pfizer, Inc.'s Lipitor over similar cholesterol-busting drugs, the Associated Press reported Sunday.

The finding runs counter to a recent Pfizer advertising campaign in German newspapers, touting Lipitor -- the world's number one selling prescription medication -- as better than other statin drugs, especially when it comes to side effects.

The report originated with the Institut fuer Qualitaet und Wirtschaftslichkeit im Gesundheitswesen, an independent body set up by the German government to assess value-for-money issues in health care spending.

After a review of studies worldwide, the institute found life-prolonging effects for patients with chronic coronary heart disease from two other statin medications -- Merck & Co.'s Zocor and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.'s Pravastatin -- but not for Lipitor. Only Zocor was shown to prolong the life of patients with diabetes.

The researchers say they didn't have enough data to show a clear winner among the three drugs when it came to treating acute diseases.

Representatives at Pfizer., Inc.'s New York headquarters did not return calls Sunday, the AP said. Jonathan Jones, a spokesman at Pfizer U.K.'s Cardio-Vascular Group told the wire service he needed to study the institute's analysis before commenting directly.

However, Jones said side effects from each of the drugs differ, and he added that any one study might yield a variety of answers, depending on the weight given to them.

Lipitor sales reached $12 billion in 2004, while number-two selling Zocor netted $5.9 billion in sales, according to consulting firm IMS Health.

Embryonic Stem Cells Undergo Genetic Changes

Stem cells taken from human embryos accumulate genetic changes over time, according to an international team of researchers.

While these changes aren't likely to interfere with the usefulness of these cells for research or future treatments, they do warrant monitoring, to see how they might affect cell behavior, according to a study published Sunday in the online edition of Nature Genetics.

Researchers in the U.S., Singapore, Canada and Sweden compared the genetic makeup of "early" and "late" batches of nine federally approved embryonic stem cell lines. All batches arose from the 29 human lines approved for use in research under a 2001 Bush Administration policy restricting embryonic stem cell use. The late batches were grown in the lab one to three years after the earlier batches, however.

Comparing the early and late batches, the scientists found that "the majority of the lines we tested had genetic changes over time," researcher Aravinda Chakravati of Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore said in a prepared statement. Those changes included alterations in the number of copies of chromosomes or parts of chromosomes, the sequencing of DNA in the cell's mitochondria, and other changes.

The researchers say it's not known just how these changes might affect the stem cell or it's ability to develop into other human body cell types.

"Embryonic stem cells are actually far more genetically stable than other stem cells, but our work shows that even they can accumulate potentially deleterious changes over time," added Johns Hopkins researcher Anirban Maitra. "Now it will be important to figure out why these changes occur, how they affect the cells' behavior and how time affects other human embryonic stem cell lines."

Study Supports New Sequencing of Heart Failure Drugs

Heart failure patients may benefit if the order in which they receive two types of drugs -- angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and beta blockers -- is reversed, researchers say.

Right now, standard guidelines suggest giving patients start on an ACE inhibitor, then receive a beta-blocker later on.

But a Swedish study involving over 1,000 patients found that the reverse order (starting patients with mild- to moderate heart failure on the beta blocker bisoprolol, then adding the ACE inhibitor enalapril) was just as safe and effective.

The researchers note that many doctors already deviate from recommended guidelines, prescribing a beta blocker before they add in an ACE inhibitor. "The study supports a free choice based on the physician's individual judgment with each patient," lead researcher Ronnie Willenheimer of Malmo University Hospital, Sweden, said in a prepared statement. "Now physicians can feel confident that patient's won't do worse if treatment is started with the beta blocker bisopronol."

The study, presented Sunday at the European Society of Cardiology meeting in Stockholm, is also published online in the rapid access edition of Circulation.

Food Fact:
Culture club.

When yogurt's live active cultures colonize your digestive system, they draw a line in the sand against disease. The cultures -- especially acidophilus and bifida - muscle out potentially threatening bacteria. Low-fat or fat-free yogurt has a lot of other things going for it: It's easy to digest, especially for those who are lactose-intolerant and have difficulty digesting milk and many cheeses; it's an excellent source of calcium, protein, riboflavin (a B vitamin), vitamin B-12 (which may be low in vegetarian diets) and vitamin A; and provides selenium, potassium and magnesium.

Fitness Tip of the day:
Muscled out?

Inactive adults over age 30 lose about 3 - 5% of muscle tissue every 10 years; here's what you can do. Go to the weight room. Strength training prevents the reduction in muscle tissue that causes the body metabolism to slow and makes the bones more vulnerable to conditions like osteoporosis.

FAQ of the day:
Can certain foods prevent cancer?

No one can say with absolute certainty how powerful is diet in preventing cancer. But at least a third (and possibly more) of all cancers have been linked to diet. People who eat the most fruits and vegetables have been shown to have about half the risk of developing cancer as people who rarely eat them. Your genes and other lifestyle factors, such as smoking, have a strong say in your susceptibility to cancer. But it's likely that improving the typical American diet would make a big dent in new cases of cancer, the nation's second biggest killer after heart disease.