Focus

Report from Science Newsline, Expert Review of Clinical Pharmacology and Movement Disorders While statins produce a dramatic reduction in cholesterol levels they have failed to substantially improve cardiovascular outcomes, according to a critique in the Expert Review of Clinical Pharmacology. The authors claim that many positive studies about statins not only 'neglected to account for the numerous serious adverse side effects of the drugs', but supporters of statins have used 'statistical deception" to make inflated claims about their effectiveness. Meanwhile, a National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences study cast doubts on reports that statins may protect against Parkinson's disease.

Report from LA Times, Reuters, WISH, CDC, and NHS materials The role of hospital medical devices in patient deaths is the focus of new protocols from the US Centres for Disease Control (CDC) and Britain's National Health Service (NHS). The CDC's non-mandatory guidelines come upon the heels of two deaths when nearly 180 patients were exposed to bacteria from contaminated endoscopes. The CDC has been investigating duodenoscope-transmitted infections since 2013. The NHS has issued a patient safety alert on non-invasive ventilators (NIVs) after four deaths. Unlike life support ventilators, NIVs can lack the features to warn staff of delivery problems, such as disconnection and loss of oxygen supply.

A massive study, drawing on the data of nearly a million people over 10 years, adds at least five diseases and 60,000 deaths a year to the toll taken by tobacco in the US. Previously, smoking was already blamed for nearly half a million US deaths from 21 diseases, including 12 types of cancer. * Smokers were about twice as likely to die from infections, kidney disease, respiratory ailments not previously linked to tobacco, and hypertensive heart disease. * Smokers were six times more likely to die from a rare illness caused by insufficient blood flow to the intestines. Other recent research: * A major British-Canadian study shows new evidence that long-term smoking could cause thinning of the brain's cortex. * Smoking impairs the response to drugs used to treat inflammatory arthritis affecting the lower back, found a Swiss study. * A University of California study found that children exposed to tobacco smoke while in the womb are predisposed to developing diabetes as adults. Summary drawn from New England Journal of Medicine, The New York Times, Science Daily, Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, and the Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease

A four-part British Medical Journal investigative report claims to expose 'extensive links – going much deeper than previously known – between public health scientists and the sugar industry. Although the investigation was conducted in the UK, it is bound to raise questions in other countries, as the findings implicate international food and drinks manufacturers.

A New York State Attorney-General's Office  investigation of the herbal products sold by four prominent national retailers found that four out of five products tested did not include any of the herbs listed on their labels. Worse, hidden ingredients and contaminants could be dangerous to people with allergies to those substances.  Meanwhile, South African health and beauty retailer Clicks has said it would continue to sell US-based GNC's products despite the NYC finding that these were 'fraudulent and potentially dangerous'. GNC has rejected the AG's findings were based on 'inappropriate' DNA bar-coding tests.

Contrary to popular belief and American Heart Association guidelines, chest compressions deeper than 55mm result in decreased survival, possibly because of collateral damage to other internal organs, according to a review of research by University of Texas emergency medicine physicians. About half of responders were also giving compressions faster than the 100 to 120 per minute that are optimal for survival, the findings, from two independent studies, showed.

Summary report drawn from JAMA Internal Medicine and The Guardian A US study has found that over-the-counter sleeping aids and hay fever treatments can increase the risk of Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia significantly over several years. The sleeping medication Nytol and anti-allergy pills Benadryl and Piriton all belong to a class of drug having 'anticholinergic. blocking effects on the nervous system. Other drugs on the risk list include older 'tricyclic' antidepressants such as doxepin, and the bladder control treatment Ditropan (oxybutynin). Many of these medicines are taken by vulnerable older people, according to the scientists, who say their findings have public health implications.

Summary report drawn from MedicineNet, Time, Reuters Health, Journal of Hepatology, Stroke, Advances in Nutrition and JAMA Pediatrics The dangerous effects of alcohol have been studied for centuries, but research continues to throw up interesting new findings: * It has been assumed cirrhosis is a function of the volume of alcohol consumed irrespective of drinking patterns. Investigators have now established that alcohol drinking pattern has a significant influence. * Too much alcohol in middle age can increase stroke risk as much as high blood pressure or diabetes. Midlife heavy drinkers were likely to have a stroke five years earlier in life, irrespective of genetic and lifestyle factors, a study found. * For years, research has suggested that mixing alcohol and heavily-caffeinated energy drinks could have negative health effects. Research as now found that combining the two seems to make you want to drink more, as well as mask signs of inebriation.

Summary report drawn from The Times, Mail&Guardian, News24, Business Day and the Constitutional Court judgment The South African Constitutional Court yesterday handed government’ legal advisers a stinging rebuke, describing President Jacob Zuma’s signing of a proclamation that forces healthcare workers to obtain government permission to work in their preferred location as ‘irrational and invalid’. The Court nullified sections 36-40 of the National Health Care Act but the legislation remains on the table.

A new antibiotic – the first in nearly 30 years – has been discovered by scientists who claim it appears to be as good, or better, than many existing drugs ,with the potential to work against a broad range of fatal infections such as pneumonia and tuberculosis. Successful in animal tests, the antibiotc is born from a new way to tap the powers of soil microorganisms, Because resistance can evolve quickly, the high costs of drug development aren't seen as having long-term value, and fewer new antibiotics are reaching the market. However, he prototype drug, called teixobactin, works against harmful bacteria in a unique way that is highly unlikely to lead to drug-resistance. Report drawn from The Independent, Smithsonian Mag, Nature, Business Day and The Guardian  

Deadly virus outbreaks are testing the ability of medical services around the globe. BBC News reports that health ministers from 11 West African countries...

Stellenbosch University researchers have called on the scientific and activist communities to ‘cease debating who is “eligible” or not for HIV treatment” in favour...

The 20th Annual Aids Conference held last week in Melbourne, Australia drew the likes of former US president Bill Clinton, singer Bob Geldorf and...

Mpumalanga’s public hospitals have come under fire as being possibly the most haphazard and hazardous in SA. The Times reports that authorities have admitted...

For every worker who dies each year as a result of an accident on a SA mine, nine more die of tuberculosis (TB). The...

The MERS virus has caused nearly 50% more deaths in Saudi Arabia than has been officially reported, a review of medical data by Saudi...

An ambitious programme to fight tuberculosis could see every prisoner, mine worker and school child in the country screened for the killer disease in...

The number of people in the world who are obese or overweight has topped 2.1bn, up from 875m in 1980. And, BBC News reports,...

Everyone over the age of 40 should take cholesterol-busting statins. The Daily Mail reports that this is according to UK heart surgeon, Professor Sir...

Female g enital mutilation (FGM) is not just an African problem. A British helpline received 215 calls in just under 10 months, Sky News...

In the most comprehensive picture of drug resistance across the globe, with data from 114 countries, the World Health Organisation warns of a crisis...

South Africans can attest to the grim consequences of regressive stances on issues of public health: The disastrous HIV/Aids policies of former president Thabo...

A relic from the medical past – the house call – is returning to favour in some US hospitals’ palliative care programmes, which are...

Vast sums may have been wasted on a flu drug that works no better than Paracetamol, reports BBC News. The UK has spent £473m...

It is not a matter of if SA will move to earlier HIV treatment, but when. Health-e reports that this is according to Dr...

With over 400, 000 new HIV infections occurring in 2012, SA ranks first in HIV incidence in the world, says an Human Sciences Research...

Concerns raised by a recent Statistics South Africa’s report regarding causes of death in SA, were rekindled when Liberty Group released claims statistics showing...

With over 400, 000 new HIV infections occurring in 2012, SA ranks first in HIV incidence in the world, says an Human Sciences Research...

The worst ever Ebola outbreak has killed more than 700 people in West Africa and is moving faster than efforts to control it, the...

Hepatitis is now the number one infectious disease killer, ahead of HIV/Aids, TB or malaria, according to data in The Lancet. Charles Gore, CEO...

After potentially serious back-to-back laboratory accidents, US health officials temporarily closed the flu and anthrax laboratories at the Centre’s for Disease Control and Prevention...

A shortage of doctors and nurses is a ‘global crisis’ that is keenly felt in SA. The Times reports that with the country annually...

Whether it is rising cigarette prices or tightening smoking regulations, more people are turning to electronic cigarettes to kick the habit but the debate...

In an advance for HIV vaccine research, a South African- United States scientific team has discovered how the immune system makes a powerful antibody...

As another initiation season looms, Greg Nicolson writes in the Daily Maverick that a new website is trying to improve education around the topic....