Medications and treatments Archive

News briefs

Regular aspirin use is associated with a reduced risk for developing colorectal cancer in older age — but you won't get the benefit if you start the therapy too late in life, according to a Harvard study published online Jan. 21, 2021, by JAMA Oncology. Researchers combined the results of two large studies involving a total of more than 94,000 people who answered health questionnaires regularly and were followed for three decades. Compared with people who didn't take aspirin, people ages 70 or older who took either 325 milligrams (mg) or 81 mg of aspirin at least twice per week had a 20% lower risk for developing colorectal cancer — but only if they had started the therapy by age 65. Starting aspirin therapy at or after age 70 was not associated with significant protection against colorectal cancer. The study was observational and does not prove whether aspirin can or cannot ward off colorectal cancer. But other observational studies have also shown an association between aspirin use and lower colorectal cancer risk. Like any medicine, aspirin isn't risk-free: regular use increases the risk for gastrointestinal bleeding. If you happen to be taking aspirin regularly for other reasons, this might be an added benefit.

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If you're among the nearly 17 million adults in this country who's had cancer, pay extra attention to your heart health.

Thanks to advances in early detection and treatment, people with cancer are living far longer than in past decades. But cancer survivors should be aware that cancer and its treatments can compromise cardiovascular health, according to a recent study from the CDC.

Researchers studied more than 840,000 adults, including about 69,000 cancer survivors, to see how much cancer "ages" the heart. They found that adult men treated for cancer had hearts that appeared to be 8.5 years older than their actual age, while the hearts of women who survived cancer appeared to be 6.5 years older.

The key factor causing climate change is greenhouse gas emissions, and the health care industry plays a significant role, with drugs and chemicals being the biggest contributor. While the benefits of medications to the world can’t be overstated, here’s how to balance the need for them with concern for the environment.

On call

Q. My breasts have begun to feel swollen and seem larger. What could cause this, and should I be worried about any potential health issues?

A. Swollen breasts in men are almost always caused by either one or both of two conditions: excess fat deposition in the breasts, or growth of actual glandular breast tissue (gynecomastia). Fatty deposition occurs in overweight men and is always present in both breasts. With gynecomastia, the breasts have a firm or rubbery consistency. While it usually affects both breasts, it can affect one breast much more than the other.

Whether you've had a stent placed or may need one in the future, here's what you should know about these tiny devices

Close to a million heart stents to open blocked or narrowing arteries are implanted each year in the United States, and as you age, the odds rise that you'll end up on the list of recipients.

"Getting a stent can save your life during a heart attack, but what you do after the procedure can dictate your future heart health," says Dr. C. Michael Gibson, a cardiologist with Harvard-affiliated Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

Research we're watching

While opioid use disorders have gotten a lot of attention in recent years, the number of people dying as a result of methamphetamine use is on the rise. A study published Jan. 14, 2021, in The New England Journal of Medicine found that a combination drug therapy may provide some hope in helping people with this difficult-to-treat disorder.

In the trial, half of the 403 adult volunteers were given a combination of two drugs: naltrexone, which is used to treat both opioid and alcohol use disorders, and bupropion, an antidepressant. The other half of the group received a placebo. The treatment period began in 2017 and ended in 2019. During that time people were given periodic urine tests to gauge whether they used methamphetamines. Those who had at least three of four drug-free tests were defined as having responded to treatment. Researchers found that by weeks five and six, 16.5% of the treatment group had responded to treatment, compared with 3.4% of the control group. By weeks 11 and 12, 11.4% of the treatment group met the urine test criteria for successful treatment, compared with less than 2% of the control group. Most people who received the drug treatment didn't have any serious side effects.

Here's how to prepare for spring and summer pollen allergies.

Ah, spring is in the air. But unfortunately, so are billions of pollen particles that make millions of stuffed-up Americans suffer through weeks and months of sneezing, coughing, and wheezing. Even if spring and summer allergies never bothered you before, it's possible for symptoms to suddenly appear now in your 60s or 70s.

"Your immune system changes over time. Although most allergies begin early in life, it's possible to develop seasonal allergies at any age," says Dr. Mariana Castells, an allergist and immunologist in the department of Allergy, Rheumatology, and Immunology at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital.

Medication errors and communication problems may put people at risk.

It's been 20 years since the Institute of Medicine published its landmark report To Err is Human. It found that as many as 98,000 people were dying each year from preventable medical errors, prompting an industrywide patient safety effort that has spanned the past two decades.

An editorial published in JAMA Dec. 29, 2020, notes that in the years since that report came out, hospitals and doctors have made numerous changes that have succeeded in reducing preventable problems, such as hospital-acquired infections, falls, and medication-related errors. But more work remains to be done. Mistakes still happen.

Many cases of memory loss aren't related to dementia, but stem from other, treatable conditions.

You've been forgetting things lately — your keys, or maybe names. Sometimes you struggle to find the right word in conversations or repeat yourself to others. You may worry: are these signs of dementia?

If this sounds like you, you're not alone. Many people find their way into Dr. Tammy Hshieh's office wondering the same thing. But most of the time, it's not dementia causing their problems, says Dr. Hshieh, a geriatrician at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Lifestyle changes — along with other proven therapies — can help improve these often-overlapping conditions.

Everyone goes through periods of feeling gloomy, irritable, or listless at least once in a while. And these emotions are perfectly normal after a diagnosis of a serious health problem such as heart disease. But if those unpleasant feelings drag on for weeks and gradually erase your sense of well-being, you may have depression.

Over a lifetime, about one in five Americans is affected by depression. But the risk of depression in people who've had a heart attack is three times as high as the risk among the general population.