Month: February 2014

U.S. drug regulators are considering whether to dial back warnings about increased heart-attack risk for the pain reliever naproxen. But an advisory panel voted this week against the idea. Naproxen (Naprosyn, Aleve and others) is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID). Others in this group include aspirin, ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil and others) and the prescription drug celecoxib (Celebrex). They relieve pain and inflammation and reduce fevers. But in the last 10 years evidence has built up that these drugs also may increase the risk of heart attack. The drug labels carry warnings about this risk. But a research analysis published last year suggested there was a lower risk of heart problems with naproxen than with other NSAIDs. So the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it would consider a label change for naproxen.

A long-running study from Canada has added to the debate about the value of screening mammograms. After 25 years, death rates were equal between groups that did and did not get regular mammograms. The study included nearly 90,000 women. Their ages ranged from 40 to 59 when the study began. They were randomly assigned to receive mammograms or not. Those who got the tests received a mammogram each year for 5 years. All of the women 50 and older also received annual breast exams by trained nurses. So did the women in their 40s who got mammograms. The younger no-mammogram group received a single exam at the start of the study. During the next 25 years, 3,250 women in the mammogram group and 3,133 in the no-mammogram group developed breast cancer. About 500 women in each group died of breast cancer. The journal BMJ published the study online. HealthDay News wrote about it February 11.