Study briefs, 5/30: Prostate cancer, heart disorder, iron supplements,

 No comments  
 E-mail Story
 Print Story
  Share

 digg it!
 Facebook
 del.icio.us
Seed Newsvine
Fark It
Reddit

Text Size: 

Tools Sponsor

By The Washington Post

Aggressive treatment seems to have mixed effects in prostate cancer

THE QUESTION If detected early, prostate cancer often can be stopped with radiation or surgical removal of the gland. However, given that this treatment can have side effects that reduce the quality of a man’s life and that this type of cancer generally spreads slowly, does such aggressive treatment make sense for older men?

THIS STUDY analyzed the medical records of 465 men who were 75 to 84 years old when diagnosed with prostate cancer that had not spread. The disease in 175 men (38 percent) was treated aggressively, with a radical prostatectomy or radiation therapy; it was treated conservatively, with hormone therapy or with no treatment unless the condition worsened, in 290 men (62 percent). In the two years after their diagnoses, men who had gotten aggressive treatment were more likely to have urinary, bowel and sexual dysfunction than were those in the conservative-treatment group. During the study, 155 men died, most of them (82 percent) from something other than prostate cancer. After five years, 98 percent of the men treated aggressively and 92 percent of the conservative treatment group had survived.

WHO MAY BE AFFECTED BY THESE FINDINGS? Older men diagnosed with prostate cancer. An estimated 2 million American men have this cancer, with more than 70 percent of them over age 65.

CAVEATS The authors suggested that “older men facing treatment decisions for localized prostate cancer need to balance the potentially harmful effects of treatment with an uncertain survival benefit.”

FIND THIS STUDY May issue of the American Journal of Medicine; abstract available online at www.sciencedirect.com.

LEARN MORE ABOUT prostate cancer at www.cancer.gov and www.prostatecancerfoundation.org.

In high doses, corticosteroids may be linked to heart disorder

THE QUESTION In some people, the quivering heartbeat of atrial fibrillation stems from underlying heart disease. But in others, what triggers the rhythm disorder remains unclear, with an overactive thyroid, lung disease or exposure to caffeine or tobacco among the suspects. Should corticosteroids be added to that list?

THIS STUDY analyzed medical and prescription data on people over 55 who participated in a study on diseases and aging in older people, comparing 395 people who began taking corticosteroids within a month of the start of the study with 6,364 people not taking them. In a 10-year period, 385 people were diagnosed with atrial fibrillation. Overall, those taking a corticosteroid developed the disorder at a rate nearly four times greater than those who never took the drug. The risk increased, to six times greater, for people taking the highest doses. Rates stayed basically the same regardless of the condition for which the drug had been prescribed (including asthma, allergies, arthritis and blood cancer).

WHO MAY BE AFFECTED BY THESE FINDINGS? People taking corticosteroids.

CAVEATS Suddenly stopping corticosteroids can cause serious side effects (headache, dizziness, muscle aches, joint pain and fever) and even be life-threatening. Anyone with concerns should talk with a doctor before stopping or changing a prescribed treatment.

FIND THIS STUDY May 8 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine; abstract available online at www.archinternmed.com.

LEARN MORE ABOUT atrial fibrillation at www.americanheart.org and www.mayoclinic.com.

Iron supplements during pregnancy seem to affect child’s behavior, not IQ

THE QUESTION In studying animals, researchers have found that iron deficiency during pregnancy has a negative effect on the brains of offspring. In people, does a pregnant woman’s taking of iron supplements affect her child’s development?

THIS STUDY randomly assigned 430 women to take 20 milligrams daily of iron or a placebo from the 20th week until the end of their pregnancies. At the time of delivery, 1 percent of the women taking iron were anemic, compared with 11 percent of the others. Four years later, the IQs of their children were basically the same. Sixteen percent of children born to women who had taken iron supplements had behavioral problems, compared with 8 percent of those in the placebo group.

WHO MAY BE AFFECTED BY THESE FINDINGS? Pregnant women, for whom the recommended daily intake of iron increases from 18 milligrams to 27 milligrams to support growth of the fetus and their general health.

CAVEATS Whether a higher dose of iron would change the results remains unclear.

FIND THIS STUDY May issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition; abstract available online at www.ajcn.org.

LEARN MORE ABOUT iron needs during pregnancy at http://ods.od.nih.gov and http://womenshealth.gov/faq (click “Anemia”).