A Link Between Smoking and Diabetes

Swedish researchers say they have discovered another reason pregnant women should not smoke: It can significantly increase the risk to their children of developing diabetes as adults.

Dr. Scott M. Montgomery and Dr. Anders Ekbom of the Enheten for Klinisk Epidemiologi in Stockholm used data from the British National Child Development Study of about 17,000 births from March 3 to 9 in 1958. The participants had been examined at age 16 and again at age 33, and their mothers’ smoking habits were recorded at birth.

The team reported in the Jan. 5 British Medical Journal that adults whose mothers had smoked 10 or more cigarettes per week during pregnancy were at least four times as likely to develop Type 2 diabetes as those whose mothers had not smoked. Those who had smoked as teens themselves had a similar increase in risk. The researchers speculated that exposure to smoke in the uterus may result in “lifelong metabolic dysregulation,” possibly due to fetal malnutrition or toxicity of the smoke.

FDA Is Investigating Kava Kava Effects

The Food and Drug Administration said last week that it is investigating the possibility that the herbal supplement kava kava can damage the liver. Kava kava is sold to promote sleep and stress relief. The FDA action follows reports from Germany and Switzerland that six people suffered liver failure after using the supplement and that one of them died. In Britain, the Medicines Control Council has already negotiated the removal of kava kava from stores.

Chelation Falls Short for Clogged Arteries

Chelation therapy provides little or no benefit in patients with clogged arteries, a new study affirms. Each year in the United States, an estimated 500,000 to 800,000 patients receive chelation therapy in the belief that infusions of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, or EDTA, will remove calcium from plaque, clearing coronary arteries. But the value of the treatment has never been proven.

Researchers from the University of Calgary and the University of Alberta studied all patients who had undergone coronary angiography in Alberta during 1995 and 1996, tracking them for six years. The team reported in the Dec. 15 American Journal of Medicine that 8% of the patients were using or had used chelation therapy. Those who were using chelation therapy were as likely to undergo a coronary artery bypass as those who did not use it; those who had used it in the past were more likely to have undergone a bypass.

Killing Bacteria Puts Ulcers at Disadvantage

Killing bacteria in the stomach can reduce the incidence of ulcers caused by chronic aspirin use, a new study has found.

The gastrointestinal bacterium Helicobacter pylori is the major cause of stomach ulcers, but long-term use of aspirin and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs, is also a major risk factor. Physicians have never been sure, however, how the bacteria and drugs interact and whether eradicating the bacteria can make NSAID use safer. Two new studies indicate that killing the bacteria is a major advantage.

In one study, Dr. Francis K. L. Chan and colleagues at the Prince of Wales Hospital in Hong Kong studied 100 arthritis patients. All were given the NSAID diclofenac for their arthritis. Half were also given antibiotic therapy to eradicate H. pylori and half a placebo. The team reported in the Jan. 5 Lancet that, after six months, five of 51 patients in the eradication group had developed an ulcer, compared with 15 of 49 in the placebo group.

In a separate study in the same journal, Dr. Richard Hunt and his colleagues at Canada’s McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, combined results from 16 studies of NSAID users. They found that ulcers were more than twice as likely in patients who were negative for H. pylori infections as in patients with an infection. Both groups conclude that patients undergoing long-term arthritis therapy with NSAIDs should have H. pylori infections eradicated to reduce their ulcer risk.

Steroids Can Ease Sore-Throat Pain

Steroids can ease the pain of a sore throat, according to researchers at the Mayo Clinic. Dr. Julie Wei and her colleagues studied 118 sore-throat patients, giving half a pill or shot containing 10 milligrams of the steroid dexamethasone and half a placebo. Wei reported in the January issue of the journal Laryngoscope that 67% of those given the steroid returned to normal activity in 12 hours, and 84% in 24 hours. In contrast, only 33% of those receiving the placebo returned to normal activities in 12 hours, and 50% after 24 hours. It did not matter whether patients took a pill or received an injection of the dexamethasone.

Acupuncture Falters in Study of Cocaine Addicts

Though acupuncture has shown some benefit for treating heroin addiction, researchers at Yale University have found that the therapy is of little value in treating cocaine addicts.

The technique, called auricular acupuncture, involves placing needles in particular points in the ear. It has been used to treat heroin addicts, and researchers have assumed that it would have similar value for cocaine addiction. It is offered at more than 400 substance-abuse clinics in the United States.

Dr. Arthur Margolin and his colleagues at Yale studied 620 cocaine-dependent adults. They were randomly assigned to one of three groups: auricular acupuncture; a similar number of needles placed in regions not normally used for acupuncture; or relaxation therapy that involved watching instructional videos. All patients received drug counseling.

The researchers reported in the Jan. 2 Journal of the American Medical Assn. that patients receiving acupuncture were no more likely than patents in the other two groups to reduce cocaine use or to remain in therapy. Overall, more than half of the subjects dropped out of therapy during the eight weeks of the program.

Researchers Say Too Much Q Is Harmful

Consuming large amounts of the popular dietary supplement coenzyme Q, also known as ubiquinone, may be hazardous, according to UCLA researchers. In a paper in the Jan. 4 issue of Science, UCLA biochemists Pamela Larsen and Catherine Clarke report that the supplement accelerates aging and death in Caenorhabditis elegans worms, which are widely used for studying metabolism. Adult worms on a diet without coenzyme Q lived 60% longer than those consuming the supplement, the team found. Ironically, coenzyme Q is promoted as an anti-aging remedy.

The biochemists believe large quantities of Q will harm humans as well. “Like cholesterol, coenzyme Q is produced naturally by the body and cells require it for life,” Clarke said. “But like cholesterol, too much of it is harmful.”

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Times medical writer Thomas H. Maugh II can be reached at thomas.maugh@latimes.com.