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Check out these newly released Special Health Reports from Harvard Medical School |  |
New ReleasesYou can't buy good health but you can buy good health information. Check out these newly released Special Health Reports from Harvard Medical School: |
When you polish off a piece of chocolate cake and immediately start thinking about having another, you might suspect that eating for pleasure may trigger overeating. A new study out of Italy, where they know a thing or two about good food, supports this notion. Researchers from Naples and Salerno found that eating for enjoyment [...]
Calcium supplements are being called on the carpet after new research showed they significantly increased risk of heart attack among women getting extra calcium from pills, but not among those who got their calcium from food. What’s the connection? Over time, calcium can accumulate in arteries. It also builds up in plaque, the cholesterol-filled pockets that can cause angina or a heart attack. Three Harvard professors say the new study doesn’t prove that calcium supplements cause heart disease, but advocate that it’s almost always best to get vitamins and minerals from food, not pills.
One sex-related problem that men are sometimes reluctant to talk about—and doctors are unlikely to ask about—is called anorgasmia. It’s the inability to reach a climax during usual sexual activity. Until now, there hasn’t been much in the way of medication that can help. Researchers from Baylor College of Medicine are reporting that a drug called cabergoline (Dostinex, generic) restored half of men with anorgasmia to normal orgasm. Cabergoline raises the amount of prolactin in the bloodstream. In the Baylor study, 50 of 72 men with anorgasmia said their orgasms improved after taking 0.5 milligrams of cabergoline twice a week for an average of 10 months.
Every Memorial Day we remember the men and women who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. We do this with parades, church services, and placing flags on graves. Another way to honor the fallen is by paying attention to the physical and mental health of those who served and returned. A three-month [...]
Breast cancer isn’t just a woman’s disease. Men can get it, too—about 1% of breast cancer is diagnosed in men. Since few men know that, they often fail to recognize its earliest signs and end up seeing a doctor later in the process than women do. The result: Men face treatment for larger and more advanced tumors, and their cancer is more likely to have spread to other parts of the body. The largest study to date on outcomes in men with breast cancer indicates that the five-year survival rate for women with breast cancer was 83%, compared to 74% for men. Even men diagnosed with early stage breast cancer still fared worse than women, although the gap closed for men and women diagnosed with later-stage disease. Since breast cancer in men isn’t often on doctors’ radar screens, men should be aware and check themselves.
If you’ve battled bronchitis or endured an ear infection, chances are good you were prescribed the antibiotic azithromycin (Zithromax), which is commonly available in a five-day dose known as the Z-Pak. But a recent study suggests that the Z-Pak may do some harm even as it heals. The 14-year study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that people taking azithromycin have a 2.5-fold increased chance of heart-related death within five days of starting a Z-Pak, compared to people taking the antibiotic amoxicillin. Individuals with heart failure, diabetes or a previous heart attack, as well as those who have had bypass surgery or had stents implanted, are at even higher risk.
Yesterday’s announcement that men should not get routine PSA tests to check for hidden prostate cancer is sure to spark controversy for months to come. But the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) made the right decision. On the surface, rejecting the use of a simple blood test that can detect cancer in its early and still-treatable stage sounds foolish. Cynics have been saying it is the handiwork of a group concerned more about health-care rationing and cutting costs than about health. The decision is wise, not foolish, and will improve men’s health, not harm it. The word “cancer” usually brings to mind images of a fast-growing cluster of cells that, without aggressive treatment, will invade other parts of the body, damage health, and potentially kill. That certainly describes many cancers. But not most prostate cancers. Most of the time, prostate cancer is sloth-like. It tends to grow slowly and remain confined to the prostate gland, with many men never knowing during their entire lives that a cancer was present. These slow-growing prostate cancers cause no symptoms and never threaten health or longevity. That means many men with prostate “cancer” never need treatment.
A simple blood test to check seemingly healthy men for hidden prostate cancer does more harm than good and shouldn’t be part of routine medical care. That’s the long-awaited final recommendation from the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), published today in Annals of Internal Medicine. About half of men over age 40 get this test as part of a regular checkup. It measures the amount of a protein called prostate-specific antigen, or PSA, in the bloodstream. An above-normal PSA level can signal hidden prostate cancer. But it can also be a sign of prostate infection, an enlarged prostate, and other problems. Hunting for hidden disease in the absence of any outward signs or symptoms is called screening. The task force says that for every 1,000 men who have routine PSA tests, 0 to 1 deaths from prostate cancer will be prevented. But that is offset by 3 serious cardiovascular deaths due to treatment, along with 47 men who will live with treatment-related erectile dysfunction or incontinence.
Since bisphosphonates such as alendronate (Fosamax), ibandronate (Boniva), risedronate (Actonel), and zoledronic acid (Reclast) were first introduced in the mid-1990s, they’ve become a staple of osteoporosis treatment. Yet an FDA review recently published in The New England Journal of Medicine questions whether there’s any benefit to staying on these drugs long-term—especially considering their potential for side effects. A report released today in the Archives of Internal Medicine highlights one of those side effects, linking bisphosphonate use to a higher risk of unusual fractures in the femur (thighbone). If you’ve been taking bisphosphonates long-term, you may be wondering, “What now?” If you’ve been taking bisphosphonates for less than five years you probably don’t need to change what you’re doing. But if you’ve been on these drugs for more than five years, talk to your doctor about whether it’s worth continuing.
Millions of people with heart disease who take the blood thinner clopidogrel (Plavix) can now look forward to having fatter wallets. Plavix lost its patent protection this month, and on May 17 the Food and Drug Administration gave several companies the okay to sell its generic form. Clopidogrel users can now buy brand-name Plavix for a premium price, or equally effective generic clopidogrel in a 75-mg dose at a much lower cost. The change may also save lives. “We have seen more than a few patients have heart attacks because they had stopped taking clopidogrel due to the expense,” said Dr. Thomas Lee, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and Co-Editor in Chief of the Harvard Heart Letter. “I think the lower price is going to save some lives.” Before a company can sell a generic version of a drug, it must prove to the FDA that the drug is as effective and safe as the original.
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