Month: November 2014

About 23% of U.S. high school students use some form of tobacco, new survey data show. And about 90% of those teens smoke cigarettes, cigars, pipes or hookah, the survey found. The new study was based on a 2013 national survey of middle and high school students. They were asked if they had ever used tobacco products and if they were current users (in the last 30 days). Whites were most likely to use cigarettes (14%). So were Hispanics (13.4%). Black high school students were much more likely to use cigars (14.7%) than cigarettes (9%). More than 12% of high school students said they used 2 or more tobacco products. About 4.5% used e-cigarettes, also called “vaping.” Use of all products was lower among middle school students. About 6.5% were current tobacco users. About 46% of high school students and nearly 18% of middle school students had ever tried a tobacco product.

In a study from Japan, taking daily low-dose aspirin did not reduce the risk of early death for people who had a high risk of developing heart disease. The study included 14,464 people, ages 60 to 85. All of them had high blood pressure, high cholesterol or diabetes. They did not have known heart disease, however. They were randomly assigned to take a daily low-dose aspirin or no aspirin. Researchers kept track of people for up to 6½ years. An expert panel then decided to end the study early. They concluded that the treatment was not helping. That’s because the risk of death from heart attack, stroke or related events was no different between the 2 groups. The risk of nonfatal stroke also was the same in both groups. The rates of nonfatal heart attack and transient ischemic attack (“mini-stroke”) were reduced by half in the aspirin group.

People who take anti-clotting drugs longer after a heart procedure may reduce their risk of heart attack, a new study finds. The study included nearly 10,000 people who received balloon angioplasty and a small metal tube called a stent to help keep the artery open. The stent released a drug that helped prevent scar tissue from clogging the artery. But this leaves the stent more likely to cause clots. In the study, everyone took aspirin plus clopidogrel (Plavix) or prasugrel (Effient) for 12 months to prevent clots. Then they took either 2 drugs or aspirin only for the next 18 months. The study lasted 5 years. In that time, 2.1% of those who took both drugs for 30 months had heart attacks. The rate was 4.1% for those who took only aspirin after 12 months. But rates of major bleeding were higher in the 2-drug group. There was no difference in fatal bleeding rates.

U.S. officials are investigating recent large price increases in several generic drugs. A commentary published November 11 in the New England Journal of Medicine addresses the issue. For example, the price of doxycycline, an antibiotic, has increased from 6.3 cents to $3.36 per pill, the commentary says. The Justice Department has sent subpoenas to 2 generic drug makers. It is investigating possible price fixing. A U.S. Senate subcommittee has scheduled a hearing next week about the increases. In a press release, the committee noted that the price of a heart medicine, digoxin, jumped from 11 cents to $1.10 per pill in less than 2 years. Reasons for the price hikes vary from drug to drug. With digoxin, the number of companies that make the drug dropped from 8 to 3 since 2002, the commentary said.