Month: May 2015

Vaccinating pregnant women offers the best way to protect newborns against whooping cough, a panel of experts says. If that doesn’t happen, everyone having close contact with the baby should get the vaccine as soon as possible, the panel says. The new advice comes from an expert group called the Global Pertussis Initiative. Pertussis bacteria cause whooping cough. The new report is based on a close look at previous research. Several studies show that whooping cough rates among babies less than 3 months old have dropped in recent years. This drop occurred after increased promotions of pertussis booster shots for pregnant women. Women who get the shots while pregnant can pass on some of their immunity to their babies before birth. Babies can’t get their own shots until age 2 months. That’s when they get their first dose of the vaccine against diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus.

Men who take statins may be better able to fight off advanced prostate cancer than those not taking statins, a new study suggests. The new study included 926 men with advanced prostate cancer. They were taking drugs to reduce the hormone testosterone. This hormone helps prostate cancer grow. Some of the men also were taking statins to lower cholesterol and help prevent heart attacks. Researchers kept track of the men for an average of about 6 years. In men taking statins, prostate cancer remained stable for an average of 27.5 months before getting worse. Among men not taking statins, the cancer got worse faster, in an average of 17.4 months. Researchers think the statins may keep testosterone from entering cancer cells. This would help the hormone-blocking drugs work better. The journal JAMA Oncology published the study. HealthDay News wrote about it May 7.            

People who eat healthier diets may also be less likely to lose mental sharpness as they get older, a new study finds. The study included nearly 28,000 older adults from 40 countries. Researchers gave them tests of mental sharpness and asked them questions about diet. Then they kept track of people for about 5 years. In that time, tests showed that 14% of those with the healthiest diets had a decline in thinking and memory. Among people with the least healthy diets, 18% suffered declines. Better diets were those that included more fruits, vegetables, fish, nuts, whole grains and soy. Diets classified as poorer in quality included those with more red meat, deep-fried foods, alcohol and sweets. The study was not able to show whether diet actually caused the difference between the 2 groups.