Harvard Health Content API

People think something with a disease label needs a medicine, even if the medicine won’t work. That’s one conclusion of a new study of 175 parents. People waiting in a child health clinic were asked to read about a fussy baby and respond as if they were the parents. They read that the baby cried and spit up a lot, so they went to the doctor. The doctor explained the cause and said it probably would go away on its own. Half of the parents read that this condition was called gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). The others did not get such a label. All of the parents read that there was a medicine for this problem. But half of them read that it probably would not help. The others got no information about whether the medicine would work. People who were told that the problem was GERD were more likely to want medicine. This was true even if they were told that it wouldn’t help.

An experimental drug may one day help to treat hepatitis C, according to the results of a small study. The study included 36 people with hepatitis C. They were randomly assigned to five weekly injections of the drug miravirsen, or placebo. Three doses of miravirsen were tested. The drug reduced the amount of hepatitis C virus in people’s blood. Higher doses caused greater reductions. The effects lasted for several months. There were no signs of drug resistance. Miravirsen is a new type of drug, called an RNA interference drug. The study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine. National Public Radio wrote about it online.

An experimental test may eventually help to diagnose heart failure. The test uses a person’s exhaled breath. Molecules in the breath are analyzed using a technique called mass spectrometry. Certain molecules and combinations of molecules can signal heart failure. The test was done on 77 patients. Some had already been diagnosed with heart failure. Others did not have signs of heart failure. The test identified all of the heart-failure patients. Doctors say the test may one day be useful in primary-care physicians’ offices. It is still in the early stages of development. The study was published March 25 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. HealthDay News wrote about it.

Chelation therapy showed mininal benefit in preventing heart attack, stroke or death in people who had a previous heart attack, says a study. Chelation therapy uses chemicals that combine with metals or other toxins in the body. It is used to treat lead poisoning and certain medical conditions, such as iron overload. Chelation with a chemical called ethylene diamine tetra-acetic acid (EDTA) has been promoted as a way to remove harmful metals from arteries. It is controversial. The study included 1,708 adults age 50 and older who had a previous heart attack. Half of the patients got 40 infusions of EDTA solution along with high doses of vitamin and mineral supplements into their bloodstreams; half got a placebo solution. The researchers followed the patients for an average of 4.5 years to see who had another heart problem.