This library blog is an electronic current awareness bulletin for doctors in training to help them stay current with up-to-date health-related research news, useful resources and more!
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Eating 5 tomatoes a day could help protect against sunburn
The study suggests that the antioxidant, lycopene, highest concentration when the tomatoes have been cooked, was behind the benefit. However the study suggests that a diet containing tomatoes could provide an extra tool in sun protection but should not be an alternative to sun cream.
Osteoporosis drug may increase risk of irregular heartbeat
The study compared 719 women with atrial fibrillation with over 966 controls and found the drug may increase the risk by 86%, higher than previous findings, but researchers concluded that the drug's benefits outweighed the risks for most women.
Source: "Use of Alendronate and Risk of Incident Atrial Fibrillation in Women" Archive of Internal Medicine. 2008;168(8):826-831
The BMJ published a study earlier concluded no increased risk of atrial fibrillation in women taking bisphosphonates - same class of drugs to which Fosamax belongs.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
checking symptoms for HIV almost as good as costly lab tests
The study is based on mathematical projections (not real patients) to predict the course of the epidemic in the UK over 20 years. The authors said the findings will reassure clinicians in poor countries that they are not comprising patient safety and should continue to wide access to ART (antiretroviral therapy) .
Friday, April 25, 2008
You are what your mother eats
Scientists asked 740 women who had become pregnant for the first time about their eating habbits in the year before they conceived and found that 59% of women who ate breakfast cereal every day had boys.
Critics warned that women should be extremely cautious about using diet to influence the baby's gender and that changing diet could have other health implications for mothers and children.
Source: "You are what your mother eats: evidence for maternal preconception diet influencing foetal sex in humans" Proceedings of the Royal Society B: biological sciences. April 22, 2008
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Cancer drug may damage the brain
Mental impairment after chemotherapy are often dismissed as depression and anxiety related to the treatment of cancer, but tests on mice showed a popular chemotherapy drug, 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), affects healthy brain cells long after treatment ends, reported The Telegraph.
Cancer Research UK stressed this drug can offer significant benefits that outweigh the effects which some patients report and more work would be needed before any conclusions could be drawn. The researcher said the knowledge gained from these tests can be used to discover ways of preventing such side effects.
Source: "Systemic 5-fluorouracil treatment causes a syndrome of delayed myelin destruction in the central nervous system" Journal of Biology 2008, 7:12 doi:10.1186/jbiol69Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Growing human eggs in the lab
Source: "A two-step serum-free culture system supports development of human oocytes from primordial follicles in the presence of activin" Human Reproduction 2008; Mar 6 [Epub ahead of print]
New blood clot drug could save thousands of lives
The thrombosis charity, Lifeblood, wants all hospitals to improve their risk assessments for blood clots in patients when they are first admitted to reduce the unnecessary deaths from the condition. Wider use of this new drug to stop blood clots could save thousands of lives a year.
See also previous post "Blood clot prevenetion lacking in hospital" on 4 February 2008.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Yellow mushrooms could fight breast cancer
The researchers found that the effects of the mushroom extract on the growth of cancers was achieved by inhibiting the enzyme AKT in the breast cancer cells and said the results suggest that PL extract could be beneficial as a natural compound in treating invasive breast cancer. However they warned people not to buy the extract until it has been proved safe and effective.
Source: "Phellinus linteus suppresses growth, angiogenesis and invasive behaviour of breast cancer cells through the inhibition of AKT signalling" British Journal of Cancer 2008:98, 1348-1356
Vitamin supplements do not prolong life and may be harmful
The review looked at 67 studies involving 233,000 people who were either sick or healthy and had been taking very high-dose synthetic vitamins supplements for disease prevention. The outcome that they looked at was death from any cause and the researchers found no reduction in death from taking antioxidant supplements. They also found increased risk of death from vitamin A, beta-carotene and vitamin E, but no significant effects from vitamin C or selenium.
The authors concluded that there is "no evidence to support antioxidant supplements for primary or secondary prevention" and sufficient evaluation should be carried out before marketing these supplements.
Source: "Antioxidant supplements for prevention of mortality in healthy participants and patients with various diseases." Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2008, issue 2
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Statins may also reduce blood pressure
The researchers said that these reductions "may contribute to the reduced risk of stroke and cardiovascular events reported on statins", but critics said it is not possible to say whether statins have similar effects in people with high blood pressure.
Source: "Reduction in Blood Pressure With Statins - Results From the UCSD Statin Study, a Randomized Trial" Archive of Internal Medicine. 2008;168(7):721-727.
Arsenic could be used to treat leukaemia
Source: "RNF4 is a poly-SUMO-specific E3 ubiquitin ligase required for arsenic-induced PML degradation" Nature Cell Biology Published online: 13 April 2008 doi:10.1038/ncb1716
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Doctors give "tree man" hope
His plight was highlighted in a Discovery Channel documentary last year and the team took an American dermatologist, Anthony Gaspari of University of Maryland, to Indonesia to see if he could identify the condition and find a cure.
After months' investigation, Dr Gaspari found that the affliction was caused by an extreme case of Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) in combination with a rare immune system deficiency and proposed a treatment that could transform his life.
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Children with cancer suffer less at the end of life
The study found that in those cases, hospice care was discussed earlier and more often, do-not-resuscitate orders were put in place earlier, deaths in the intensive care unit decreased. Parents reported less child suffering from pain and breathing problems and they felt prepared in the child's last month of life.
Source :"Easing of suffering in children with cancer at the end of life:is care changing?" Journal of Clinical Oncology, 2008:26(10); 1717-1723
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Elderly should be offered hypertension drugs
The study looked at 3,845 patients from 13 countries with an average age of 83 and had high blood pressure and the use of one particular type of diuretic blood pressure medication. Within a year of treatment, there was a 21% reduction in death rates and 64% drop in heart failure, 39% drop in stroke deaths and 34% reduction in cardiovascular events.
Source:"Treatment of Hypertension in Patients 80 Years of Age or Older" New England J of Medicine. March 31, 2008 (10.1056/NEJMoa0801369)
Tai chi can help diabetics control their sugar levels
The first study, by a Taiwanese team, included 30 people with diabetes who took part in a weekly 3 hour- sessions of tai chi. The study found that blood sugar levels dropped "significantly" and the level of cells and chemical involved in the body’s immune response have increased significantly in the diabetics.
The second study by the University of Queensland, based on just 11 participants, produced similar results. Critics argued that any form of exercise would improve individuals' health, fitness and energy levels and that the clinical significance of the findings is unclear.
Source: "Regular Tai Chi Chuan exercise improves T cell helper function of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus with an increase in T-bet transcription factor and IL-12 production" British J Sports Medicine; 2008: Online First
Peter Hill report - From knowledge to health in the 21st Century
There are 50 recommendations, I think the followings may be of particular interest to clinical teams that support evidence-based practice:
In every NHS organisation, someone at board level should be entrusted with the role of Chief Knowledge Officer (CKO) for that organisation with the responsibility as described
Every clinical or management team in the NHS should identify someone in the team as Team Knowledge Officer (TKO) who will have responsibility for ensuring the effective nput of evidence to enable the team to function properly
Library & related information/knowledge services must be regarded as part of the core business of the NHS by the DH & all NHS organisations, all of whom need access to an appropriate service & an skilled librarian
The last DH guidance on library service was issued in 1997.If you are a clinician, do you regard the library & knowledge services part of the core business of the NHS? What is your view?