Month: December 2011

Drugs for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) don’t increase adults’ risk of heart attack or stroke, a new study finds. Researchers reviewed 20 years of health records for more than 150,000 adults. Their ages ranged from 25 to 64. They had taken ADHD drugs, such as Ritalin, for an average of a year. But some people took the drugs up to 14 years. This group was compared with a similar group that did not take the drugs. Their rates of heart attack, stroke and sudden heart-related deaths were about the same. There was no increase in risk for people who took the drugs for longer than average. Some heart attacks and sudden deaths had been reported in recent years among people taking ADHD drugs. But U.S. drug regulators decided in 2006 not to require heart-related warning labels for these drugs.

Most U.S. children who develop gallbladder disease are overweight or obese, a new study suggests. In the past, the disease was less common. It also was more closely linked to blood diseases such as sickle cell. But the number of children needing gallbladder removal is up sharply. So researchers from Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston took a closer look. They reviewed 404 gallbladder removals that were done at the hospital from 2005 through most of 2008. The patients’ average age was 13. About 23% had a blood disease. But even more cases were linked with excess weight. Among the children who did not have a blood disease, 35% were obese and 18% were severely obese. Another 16% were overweight but not obese. Children having surgery were also more likely to be teenagers or Hispanic. Obesity increases the risk of gallbladder disease in adults as well.

Low-risk prostate cancer may need a new name to encourage more men to avoid treatment they may not need, an expert panel says. More research also is needed on the best way to monitor these men, the panel says. The U.S. National Institutes of Health appointed the panel of experts. The panel released its report December 7. It found that more than half of the prostate cancers diagnosed today fall into the low-risk category. Long-term follow-ups show that only about 5% of men with low-risk prostate cancer die from it. Treatments for prostate cancer can lead to problems with urine control and sexual function. But more than 90% of men with low-risk prostate cancer decide to get treated right away. Many of these men might be better off with “active surveillance,” the panel said. This means having regular prostate-specific antigen (PSA) tests and perhaps prostate biopsies as well.

Newer drugs used to treat depression work about equally well, says a study that analyzed previous research. But side effects can differ, the study noted. Researchers looked at 234 studies. Each included more than 1,000 people. They focused on “second-generation” drugs for depression. They include fluoxetine (Prozac), sertraline (Zoloft) and several others. No drug worked better than any other. But some, such as Remeron (mirtazapine), started working faster. Bupropion (Wellbutrin and other brands) was less likely to cause sexual side effects. Some were more likely to cause insomnia, and others weight gain. Some had lower costs or needed to be taken less often. These factors can help doctors decide which drug to try first for each patient. The journal Annals of Internal Medicine published the study. HealthDay News wrote about it December 5.

Maintaining or improving fitness can help you live longer, whether you lose weight or not, a new study concludes. The research included more than 14,000 middle-aged men. They were given treadmill tests to measure fitness at the start of the study and about 6 years later. Fitness was measured in metabolic equivalents (METs). In all, researchers kept track of the men for 11 years. In that time, men who became more fit had a 40% lower death rate from heart disease and from all causes than those who became less fit. Just staying at the same fitness level reduced death rates by 30%. Every 1-MET increase in fitness was linked to a 19% decrease in death rates from heart disease and stroke. The risk of death from any cause was 15% lower for each increase in METs. But a reduction in body mass index, a measurement of weight linked to height, did not change death rates.