© Rev Dan Catt

According to a study published in the May 6, 2008, issue of Neurology® (the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology), long term use of ibuprofen and other drugs for aches and pain may be associated with reduced risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.

For the study, researchers identified 49,349 US veterans age 55 and older who developed Alzheimer's disease and 196,850 veterans without dementia. The study examined over five years of data and looked at the use of several non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). The veterans received medical care and prescriptions through the VA Health Care system.

The study found people who specifically used ibuprofen for more than five years were more than 40 percent less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease. Results also showed that the longer ibuprofen was used, the lower the risk for dementia. In addition, people who used certain types of NSAIDs for more than five years were 25 percent less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease than non-users.

According to the study author Steven Vlad, MD, with Boston University School of Medicine:

While other NSAIDs such as indomethacin may also have been associated with lower risks, others such as celecoxib did not show any impact on dementia risk. These results suggest that the effect may be due to specific NSAIDs rather than all NSAIDs as a class.

Some of these medications taken long term decrease the risk of Alzheimer's disease, but it's very dependent on the exact drugs used. It doesn't appear that all NSAIDs decrease the risk at the same rate. One reason ibuprofen may have come out so far ahead is that it is by far the most commonly used."

But since this was an observational study, it cannot be interpreted as such entirely what's suggested - it might not be the NSAID use that drove the lower risk of dementia, but rather something else about the people who used a particular NSAID (ibuprofen, etc.).

Definitely, the findings above should not as used to administer NSAIDs to prevent dementia or Alzheimer's disease.

Find more details from the American Academy of Neurology or Science Daily.

Though STD awareness should be an all-year campaign, April was STD Awareness Month.

When I read and think STD, the first thing that comes to my mind is human papilloma virus (HPV) and cervical cancer.


© fadedmilkyway



Where do women get HPV? Through genital contact, from your sexual partner.

From CDC:

Genital HPV is passed on through genital contact, most often during vaginal and anal sex. A person can have HPV even if years have passed since he or she had sex. Most infected persons do not realize they are infected or that they are passing the virus to a sex partner.

While the men should really be tested too if they have HPV, the focus has always been more on women. Take note: the men get HPV too and they suffer genital warts and caner too due to HPV, much like women are.

In women (young and old), it is important to think of getting a cervical cancer vaccine (i.e. Merck's Gardasil), submit themselves to regular cervical cancer screening such as, then pap smear and now, The Digene HPV Test. Most especially sexually active women.

I don't want to rant on why men aren't being tested like women are regarding HPV, but I would like to say that there is nothing wrong if women are given the chance to take charge of their health and sexuality. So I say we do the all the works necessary and let us empower ourselves to doing the right choice, be it in our sexual lives or otherwise.

Over at my cancer blog, Cancer Commentary - I am running a Take The Test HPV Awareness Bracelet contest. Hop on over and spread the word please. Thanks a lot!

There is a myriad of information out there on the web about alternative medicine. However, as consumers, we must be wary and critical of the information we read. Are the health and therapeutic claims substantiated and validated by scientific studies? Are the scientific studies conducted statistically and methodologically valid? One resource which offers such information is rVita.

rVita is a free web-based service to help consumers, both old and new to alternative medicine, research and find remedies and connect with trusted practitioners. We bring this service to consumers in partnership with integrative practitioners from a range of therapeutic systems, e.g. Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Naturopathy, Conventional Medicine, and more.

Everything consumers need for alternative treatments exists. However, they have the burden of sorting through it all. At rVita we gather all the resources in one place and make this easier. Consumers can research remedies and therapies, ask questions of our experts, and share experiences with other consumers. We bring together research information, efficacy data from scientific sources, and consumer ratings for better informed treatment choices. Within our community we capture treatment success data to build a treatment knowledge base.

At rVita we are starting something new. We put consumers in charge. We put all the information in their hands. Then let them drive the process of getting information out to the world about what works for them.

Check it out and decide for yourself!

This post is sponsored by rVita.

My favorite - ChefMD - has a new book. And it's really exciting, from the title alone: ChefMD's Big Book of Culinary Medicine, in a way that only Dr. John La Puma can be bring us.

Said John La Puma, MD in the official email he sent to subscribers to announce the book:

This time, I have to tell you about something very special: my new ChefMD® book that tells you about culinary medicine in ways you've never known about before.

• Bake a pizza at 450 degrees for 7 minutes, instead of 350 degrees for 14 minutes to get twice the antioxidants in the crust.
• Eat watermelon at room temperature instead of ice cold to absorb 40% more lycopene and 13% more beta carotene.
• Add avocado to salads to get 7 times as much eye-protecting lutein from your green vegetables.

Indeed, this new book is more than just amazing recipes.

You can order the book now, click here to find out how to order.

© +lyn


Daily intake of aspirin may lower women's risk of developing estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancers only and not in other types.

Around 75% of breast cancers are estrogen receptor-positive (ER+), which means the cancer cells have receptors for the female hormone estrogen on their surface. Estrogen helps the cancer cells grow, so drugs that block the action of estrogen are often used to treat ER+ cancer.

Such were the study results published in BioMed Central's open access journal Breast Cancer Research.

It is feasible, in theory, that aspirin and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) could lower the total risk of breast cancer. They block an enzyme called cyclooxygenase, an activity that could disrupt breast cancer development in a number of ways - for example, by reducing the amount of estrogen produced in the body.

Unlike other NSAIDs, aspirin has irreversible effects on cyclooxygenase (COX) enzymes, so the study authors looked for differences in cancer development according to whether women used aspirin or another kind of NSAID.

"In summary, our results do not support an important influence of NSAIDs on total breast cancer risk. Daily aspirin use, however, appeared to offer some protection for ER+ breast cancer in this population ... Our results provide support for further evaluating relationships in prospective studies with well-defined measures of NSAID use by NSAID type ... and by ER status."

But if 75% of all breast cancers are ER+, then aspirin has brought potentially good news already.

Source: EurekAlert

With no cure and still of unknown cause - Crohn's disease - is a chronic, inflammatory bowel disease that affects more than 1 million men and women worldwide.

Chron's disease can cause diarrhea, fever, rectal bleeding, malnutrition, narrowing of the intestinal tract, obstructions, abscesses, cramping, and abdominal pain.

Now, the US FDA has approved Cimzia (certolizumab pegol) for the treatment of adults with moderate to severe Crohn's disease who have not responded to conventional therapies.

"Crohn's is a debilitating disease that disrupts the quality of life for its sufferers," said Julie Beitz, M.D., director of the Office of Drug Evaluation III for the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.

"This drug works to reduce the signs and symptoms of Crohn's, but it also carries risks that will require patients on it to be closely monitored by their physicians or other health care professionals."

Patients treated with Cimzia will receive an injection every two weeks for the first three injections. Once benefit has been established, Cimzia should be given once every four weeks.

Cimzia is a product of UCB, Inc. (Smyrna, GA.).

Find more details from the FDA News.

[In Photo: The Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis Fact Book (Hardcover) from Amazon)