Harvard Health Content API

Taking statins — cholesterol-lowering drugs — may reduce the risk of rheumatoid arthritis, says a new study. Rheumatoid arthritis is an inflammatory disease that causes pain, stiffness, redness and swelling in joints. Researchers studied more than 200,000 people in Israel who were prescribed a statin drug. People who did not take the drug regularly were 51% more likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis than people who took the drug most often. The study was published September 7 in the journal PLoS Medicine. Reuters wrote about it the same day.

Despite many years of public education on the risks of tobacco, U.S. smoking rates remain at about 1 out of 5, researchers report. The rate is similar for both teens and adults. The adult rate has held steady for about 6 years. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released the smoking report September 7. It was based on government surveys. A second CDC study focused on secondhand smoke. It found that 98% of children who live with a smoker have toxins in their bodies. This study looked at blood levels of cotinine, a chemical from tobacco smoke, in more than 30,000 nonsmokers. It also found that more than half of U.S. children ages 3 to 11 are exposed to secondhand smoke. The Associated Press (AP) wrote about the reports. Officials interviewed by AP said the fight against smoking has lost momentum.

This year, health officials recommend flu shots for every adult and all children 6 months old and older. On August 31, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) released its recommendation that all children ages 6 months and older get a flu shot this season. The AAP also outlined recommendations for certain groups at higher risk for flu complications. September 1, the Associated Press wrote about earlier updated recommendations from U.S. health officials that suggest all adults be vaccinated against flu. This year’s flu vaccine includes protection from H1N1, or “swine flu,” as well as two other common seasonal strains. There is also a new vaccine available for older adults (65 and over).

Race affects which drug combinations will control high blood pressure best for each person, new research finds. And a hormone called renin may help to guide decisions about the best drugs for each patient. These are among the results of new studies in the American Journal of Hypertension. Renin levels help determine whether high blood pressure is caused mainly by squeezing of blood vessel walls or by too much fluid. One study of 954 people focused on renin. People with low levels responded well to diuretics. These drugs remove extra fluid in the blood. But people with high renin levels did better with ACE inhibitors. These drugs relax blood vessels. Another study found that blacks had low renin levels and did better with diuretics. South Asians had good results with an ACE inhibitor and a drug called a calcium channel blocker. Blacks did worse with this combination.

A new, faster test can reveal if a person has tuberculosis (TB). It also can tell if the disease is resistant to antibiotics. The new test takes less than two hours. The old one could take up to a week. The old test also misses cases of TB, so sick people are mistakenly told they are healthy. In a study of 1,730 people, the new test identified 98% of TB cases. It also identified 98% of the cases that were resistant to rifampin, a common drug used to treat TB. Tuberculosis is a bacterial infection. It causes more than 1.8 million deaths each year. The new test is not the same as the skin test. The skin test is done to see if someone has ever been exposed to TB. The new test would be done in people who have TB symptoms. The study about the test appeared in the September 1 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. The Associated Press wrote about it the same day.

Women with BRCA gene mutations can benefit from having healthy ovaries removed. So says the largest study of its kind, published September 1 in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Women with these gene mutations have 10 times the risk of ovarian cancer, compared with the general population. The study included about 2,500 women. About 4 in 10 had their ovaries removed. Over the next four years, these women had lower risks of ovarian and breast cancer, compared with similar women who did not have the surgery. They also had a lower risk of dying. The Associated Press wrote about the study September 1.

A new study suggests that African-Americans have almost three times the risk of having a heart attack after having a drug-coated stent placed to treat their chest pain, compared to other races. Bare metal stents seem to be safer options. The medical journal Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association published the study on August 30.

While colon cancer rates have not changed over the past several decades among people under age 40, rates of new rectal cancer have increased steadily, says a new study. This trend was seen is all races and in both sexes. Researchers looked at colon and rectal cancer rates from 1973 to 2005. They used data from the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results cancer registry. The rate of rectal cancer diagnosis rose 2.6% overall. Between 1984 and 2005, it rose 3.8% per year. The journal Cancer published the study online on August 23.