Increasing Milk Intake Will Not Significantly Reduce Risk For Hip Fracture.
Laura Dean writing in Medwire reported that, according to a study in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, increasing milk intake will not significantly cut a person’s risk for hip fracture. The study looking at both men and women found no correlation between milk intake and reduced risk for fractures of the hip.
John Martens writing in Bloomberg News reported, “Ablynx NV, the developer of drugs based on the antibodies found in llamas, said an experimental rheumatoid-arthritis medicine licensed to Pfizer was found effective in a mid-stage clinical study. Ablynx said in a statement that injections with “80 milligrams of ozoralizumab every four weeks reduced the incidence of swollen joints in patients with rheumatoid arthritis after 16 weeks compared with placebo.”
Experts Note Lack Of Research On Pregnant Women With Physical Disabilities.
The Associated Press reported that “while the vast majority of women with disabling conditions appear to have healthy babies, specialists say far too little is known about moms’ risks of complications, their special needs and barriers to good care.” Over one “million women of childbearing age have a physical disability – meaning they report needing some sort of assistance with daily living because of such conditions as MS, rheumatoid arthritis, spinal cord injuries or cerebral palsy, says a recent report in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology.” However, “when the National Institutes of Health convened experts to examine the issue, they couldn’t even find a good estimate of how many of those women give birth each year.”
Megan Brooks writing in Medscape Medical News reported “In patients with prior heart attack, most non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), even when taken for as little as one week, are associated with an increased risk for death and recurrent MI, new observational data indicate. Use of NSAIDs was associated with a 45 percent increased risk for death or recurrent heart attack in the first seven days of treatment and a 55 percent increased risk if treatment continued to three months. The findings were published in Circulation. “We found that short-term treatment with most NSAIDs was associated with increased and instantaneous cardiovascular risk,” stated first author Anne-Marie Schjerning Olsen, MB, from Copenhagen University in Hellerup, Denmark.
RA Treatment With Rituximab May Carry Modest Risk Of PML.
Crystal Phend writing in MedPage Today reported, “Rheumatoid arthritis treatment with rituximab (Rituxan) carries a modest risk of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) at approximately one case per 25,000 individuals treated,” according to a study published online in the Archives of Neurology. “Four such cases in an estimated population of 129,000 exposed to rituximab for rheumatoid arthritis were reported by” the researchers.
Megan Brooks writing in Medscape Medical News reported “In patients with prior heart attack, most nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), even when taken for as little as 1 week, are associated with an increased risk for death and recurrent MI, new observational data indicate. Use of NSAIDs was associated with a 45% increased risk for death or recurrent heart attack in the first 7 days of treatment and a 55% increased risk if treatment continued to 3 months. The findings were published in Circulation. “We found that short-term treatment with most NSAIDs was associated with increased and instantaneous cardiovascular risk,” stated first author Anne-Marie Schjerning Olsen, MB, from Copenhagen University in Hellerup, Denmark.
About Half Of Osteoporosis Patients Find The Decision To Take Medication After Fragility Fracture “Difficult.”
Laura Dean writing in Medwire reported, “Just under half of osteoporosis patients find the decision to take medication following a fracture is not an easy one,” according to a study in the journal BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders. For the study, researchers “conducted an analysis among six men and 15 women aged 65-88 years, who had sustained a fragility fracture within the previous five years.” Nine subjects “reported greater difficulty making their decision; they needed time to think and took several factors into consideration when making their choice. The team observed that these patients were unconvinced by their healthcare provider, engaged in risk-benefit analyses using other information sources, and were concerned about side effects.”
Whew: In my mind, after seeing the pain of an osteoporosis related fracture and knowing these fractures can lead to nursing home placement and death, I don’t understand the findings of this study.
Approximately 58,000 Patients Every Year In US May Wake Up With Stroke Symptoms.
Mary Brophy Marcus writing in USA Today reported, “One in seven strokes happens at night, and sufferers may not get medicine that could prevent brain damage, suggests a new study” published in Neurology. Investigators “analyzed data from 1,854 patients over 18 who had been treated in hospital emergency departments in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky over the course of a year for ischemic strokes.” The researchers “found that 273 patients experienced wake-up strokes.”
Thyroid Medication May Increase Risk Of Fractures In Elderly Patients.
The BBC News reported, “Many elderly people may be taking ‘excessive’ medication for their thyroid problems, increasing their fracture risk,” according to a study in the British Medical Journal. Although a “synthetic hormone, thyroxine, is given to people whose thyroid glands produce too little naturally,” Dr. Lorraine Lipscombe, of Women’s College Research Institute in Toronto, and colleagues, “say having too much boosts fracture risk and doses may need to be reduced as people age.”
Miranda Hitti writing in WebMD described a study from Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and the University of Pittsburgh. The lead researcher was Ryosuke Kuroda, MD, PhD and the research was published in Arthritis & Rheumatism. Kuroda’s team took stem cells from mouse muscles, placed the stem cells in chemical “glue,” and used the mixture on mice with knee injuries. They manipulated the stem cells’ genes to increase production of a bone-building protein called BMP-4. When mice with knee injuries got those stem cells, their knees healed better than other mice with the same injuries.
