Health News - Monday, February 19, 2007
Avastin, one of a new family of drugs that starves tumors of their blood supply, can slow the growth of the most common and deadly form of brain cancer, researchers reported on Monday. Avastin combined with standard chemotherapy could temporarily stop the growth of brain tumors known as gliomas, the researchers reported in the journal Clinical Cancer Research.
Made by Genentech under the chemical name bevacizumab, Avastin is currently approved to treat lung and colorectal cancers. "These results are exciting because of the possible implications for a patient population that currently has the poorest possible prognosis going into treatment -- those with malignant brain tumors that have recurred after initial treatment," said Dr. James Vredenburgh of Duke University, who led the study. Continue reading
As if people needed another excuse to like chocolate, new studies suggest a specially formulated type of cocoa may boost brain function and delay decline as people age, researchers said on Sunday. Scientists, speaking at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in San Francisco, presented results from early studies testing the effects on the brain of flavanols, an ingredient found in cocoa.
Funded by candy maker Mars Inc., which provided a specially formulated liquid cocoa concoction for the research, the studies suggest that flavanols increase blood flow to the brain and may hold promise for treating some vascular impairments. Mars, a private company, has made a study of the health benefits of cocoa. Its CocoaVia line of chocolates, made with a process that retains flavanols, have been shown in clinical trials to have benefits for the heart. The latest research also suggests benefits for the brain. Continue reading
Tamoxifen, a drug commonly prescribed to prevent breast cancer recurrence, may cause swelling within the eyes, U.S. researchers conclude.
Tamoxifen is one of two types of drugs often used to prevent breast cancer recurrence. Tamoxifen blocks estrogen receptors in the breast, while new types of medications, called aromatase inhibitors, inhibit estrogen production, according to background information in the study. Researchers at the Oregon Health & Science University studied a part of the eye called the optic cup -- a depression inside the eye close to where the optic nerve exits on its way to the brain -- in three groups of women: those taking tamoxifen; those taking an aromatase inhibitor; and those with no history of breast cancer who weren't using any kind of hormonal medication. Continue reading
Restylane, a popular cosmetic treatment for temporarily plumping out wrinkles, actually makes the skin produce more collagen, the natural stuff that makes skin look young, researchers said on Monday. That means the product, which millions of people have had injected around their lips, cheeks and foreheads, has effects beyond even what its manufacturers claim, the team at the University of Michigan Health System reported.
The researchers tested Restylane, marketed by Q-Med AB of Uppsala, Sweden and Medicis Pharmaceutical Corp. It and rival products use hyaluronic acid, which holds onto water in the skin. "Everybody had thought that the whole story with this stuff is that you inject it and because of its volume-filling nature that ... it would go in and fill up whatever defect is there and that is why it made people look better," dermatologist Dr. John Voorhees, who led the study, said in a telephone intervew. Continue reading
Women who use a contraceptive patch appear to be more than twice as likely to develop a dangerous blood clot in their veins as those who use an oral contraceptive, new research shows. Dr. Alexander M. Walker and colleagues, from i3 Drug Safety in Auburndale, Massachusetts, note that it was not known if users of the patch system ran the same risk of stroke, heart attack and venous blood clots as users of oral contraceptives.
They point out that the FDA changed the labeling for the patch contraceptive system in 2005 to warn of a possible increased risk of so-called "thrombotic events," because of a higher average circulating estrogen levels with the product. The investigators' study, reported in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology, involved 49,000 women using the Ortho Evra patch and 202,000 who used oral contraceptive pills between April 2002 and December 2004. Continue reading
Japanese researchers said on Sunday they had grown normal-looking teeth from single cells in lab dishes, and transplanted them into mice. They used primitive cells, not quite as early as stem cells, and injected them into a framework of collagen, the material that holds the body together.
After growing them, they found their structures had matured into the components that make teeth, including dentin, enamel, dental pulp, blood vessels, and periodontal ligaments. They were "arranged appropriately when compared with a natural tooth," the researchers reported in the journal Nature Methods. Continue reading