Drug That Lowers Cholesterol Also Raises Bone Density
Statins, a family of drugs now widely used to lower cholesterol, may also increase bone density and reduce the risk of fractures in the elderly, two new studies suggest.
In the first study, Dr. K. Arnold Chan and colleagues from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston studied 928 women over age 60 who had suffered a fracture during a one-year period and compared them with 2,747 women who had not suffered a break. The team reported in Saturday’s Lancet (https://www.thelancet.com) that women who had taken statins for at least 13 of the previous 24 months had a significantly lower incidence of fractures.
In a separate study in the same journal, Dr. Tim Spector and his colleagues at St. Thomas’ Hospital in London reported on a study of 41 post-menopausal women taking statins. They found that bone density of the women’s hips and spines was 8% higher than that of age-matched women not taking the drugs.
Laboratory research on rats and human cells had previously shown that the drugs increase the density of bones, and the new research apparently confirms that effect in humans.
Team Assesses Risks of Pregnancies After Age 35
The chances of a successful pregnancy decline markedly in women who are older than 35, according to Danish researchers who confirmed a belief generally held by physicians.
A team from the Danish Epidemiology Science Centre in Copenhagen studied the outcomes of pregnancies in more than 600,000 Danish women from 1978 to 1992.
The team reported in Saturday’s British Medical Journal (https://www.bmj.com) that about one-fifth of pregnancies in 35-year-old women were unsuccessful because of spontaneous abortion, ectopic pregnancies or stillbirths, with the failure rate rising to more than half in 42-year-old women.
The risk of a spontaneous abortion rose from 8% at age 22 to 84% by age 48. Postponing pregnancies, the team concludes, increases both the risk of unsuccessful pregnancies and the cost of health care.
Study Favors Combo for Malignant Melanoma
A combination of the cancer drugs tamoxifen and cisplatin, neither of which has much effect against malignant melanoma when used alone, can significantly extend the lives of patients with the deadly cancer, according to researchers from UC San Diego.
Dr. Edward F. McClay and his colleagues studied 153 malignant melanoma patients who were at high risk of recurrence or who had already suffered a recurrence. Patients received tamoxifen for seven days each month for four months, with cisplatin added on the second day of each treatment cycle. The team reports in the July issue of the British Journal of Cancer Research that based on 36-month results, it can predict with confidence that 79% of the patients will be alive after five years and that 62% will not have had a recurrence during the five years. With the best currently available treatment, the survival rate in such patients is only about 35% to 45%.
Malignant melanoma is highly treatable if it is detected early, but is much more likely to be fatal if it becomes advanced before it is detected or if the patient suffers a recurrence.
FDA OKs Treatment for Rare Growth Ailment
The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved the first drug for treating Prader-Willi syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that causes short stature, an involuntary, continuous urge to eat, poor muscle tone and mental disabilities.
The drug is Genotropin, a genetically engineered version of human growth hormone produced by Pharmacia Corp.
The approval was based on clinical trials in which 23 children with Prader-Willi syndrome who received Genotropin were compared with a group not receiving the drug. At the end of a year, children receiving the drug had grown taller and had more muscle mass than those not receiving it. More information is available at https://www.pwsausa.org and https://www.pharmacia.com.
It is estimated that between 17,000 and 22,000 Americans suffer from the disorder.
Triglycerides Linked to Fatal Heart-Attack Risk
High levels of a blood fat called triglycerides can sharply increase a person’s risk of dying from a heart attack even if his or her cholesterol level is normal, according to researchers from the University of Washington School of Public Health and Community Medicine in Seattle.
Epidemiologist Melissa A. Austin and her colleagues used medical history data collected in the early 1970s from 101 families in which cardiovascular disease was prevalent and levels of triglycerides were high. They then traced the health status and cause of death for 685 family members over the next two decades.
They reported in Tuesday’s Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Assn. (https://circ.ahajournals.org/) that the risk of death from heart attacks was 70% higher in patients with a genetic condition that predisposes them to both high triglyceride and cholesterol levels than in their normal spouses, and 100% to 200% higher in those with a genetic predisposition to elevated triglyceride levels.
Triglycerides have long been associated with heart disease, but the new study is the first to show that high levels can, independently of cholesterol levels, predict the risk of heart attack deaths years in advance.
New Sleep-Deprivation Remedy Tests Well
A new drug called Provigil can increase alertness and performance in sleep-deprived individuals, according to three studies presented Wednesday at a Las Vegas meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies.
In one study, Dr. Charles A. Czeisler of Harvard Medical School studied the drug, generically known as modafinil, in 16 subjects who simulated sleep deprivation caused by shift work, in this case a 10 p.m.-to-6 a.m. shift. They found that the drug improved alertness and performance compared with a placebo, and did not impair or disrupt subsequent sleep opportunities.
Neurobiologist Nancy Wesensten of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Washington, D.C., compared the drug with a placebo and with high doses of caffeine in 50 volunteers who remained awake for 54 hours, with the drug administered in the 40th hour. They also found improved alertness and performance.
And John A. Caldwell of the U.S. Army Aeromedical Research Laboratory at Fort Rucker, Ala., observed similar improvements in attention in helicopter pilots using a flight simulator after 40 hours without sleep.
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Medical writer Thomas H. Maugh II can be reached at thomas.maugh@latimes.com.
