Arthritis pain news: creams lose effectiveness

Topical non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) lose their effectiveness against osteoarthritis pain after two weeks, according to an analysis of previous research published online by BMJ, formerly British Medical Journal.

That’s significant because current guidelines recommend their use. Oral NSAIDS are associated with more stomach problems, so doctors like to prescribe topical treatments, that is, creams applied to the skin. While topical NSAIDS were better than a dummy treatment in relieving pain due in the first two weeks, trials lasting four weeks showed no benefit.

The British researchers recommended revising current guidelines. Read the full paper.

Salads better with a little fat

Low-fat salad dressing may inhibit the body's absorption of certain nutrients in raw vegetables, according to a study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Iowa State University researchers noted a greater absorption of lycopene and beta-carotine when salads were eaten with full-fat rather than reduced-fat salad dressing.

Read the abstract. One caution: This was a very small study, involving only seven participants.

Americans favor smoking bans

How do Americans feel about smoking bans?

Earlier this month, Massachusetts joined five other states with statewide smoking bans. Massachusetts' ban covers indoor smoking at bars, restaurants and workplaces.

The American public is fairly accepting of such bans, according to Gallup Tuesday Briefing released today. Six in 10 Americans say they favor a ban in their state that would make it illegal to smoke in all workplaces, restaurants and bars.

Click here for help quitting tobacco.

A top-shelf idea

George gave David an unusual birthday present on last night’s "Six Feet Under": a neti pot. Intrigued by George’s advice for better nasal health? Learn more here.

Cancer experts to answer questions during online chat

A live online chat with experts on leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma will be held Wednesday from 11 a.m. to noon, Pacific (that's 2 to 3 p.m., Eastern). The session will cover symptoms, clinical trials, stem cell transplantation and new drug therapies.

The chat will take place on the American Society of Clinical Oncology's patient web site, People Living With Cancer.

To submit a question in advance, click here. Transcripts will be available on the site by Thursday.

Tampons with something extra

With baby boomer women reaching menopause, tampon sales are falling. Companies are looking for a new edge in the market. One company, Rostam, plans production of a tampon that releases lactic and citric acids to fight toxic shock syndrome. The Wall Street Journal reported last week that the product is expected to be the first in a wave of medicated tampons. Read more.

One study, many headlines

Health journalists seldom get to write their own headlines, which is often frustrating to us. Take a look at the following headlines, all generated by the same research study:

Study backs antidepressant-suicide link

Prozac ruled out as suicide risk

Study: Antidepressant Suicide Risk Not Due to Drugs

Suicide Risk Greatest One Month After Starting Antidepressants

Read the abstract of the research paper and write your own headline.

(Thanks to JR for this idea!)

Compare your local hospitals with new web-based tool

The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations has a new comparison tool on its web site.

Consumers can see how their hospitals perform on the care of patients with heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia and pregnancy. They also can compare nursing homes, labs and other types of health-care businesses.

Don’t expect too much from this tool yet. For example, there are no Spokane nursing homes listed for comparison. You’ll get more on nursing homes from a similar comparison tool on the Medicare web site.

In some cases, the JCAHO tool just tells you how well an organization filled out the paperwork. Sacred Heart Medical Center, the largest hospital here, found that out the hard way.

Heart attack patients are supposed to receive a beta blocker upon arrival at the hospital and that’s one of the standards JCAHO uses to evaluate a hospital’s care. But since Sacred Heart receives a significant number of heart attack patients as transfers from other hospitals, and since the hospital didn’t mark some of its heart attack patients who came from other hospitals as "transfer patients," and since the hospital documented that they had not received a beta blocker at Sacred Heart, the hospital ended up with a "minus" grade for caring for heart attack victims.

There's evidence for eating germs

You’ve heard of antibiotics, but how about probiotics? They are naturally occurring microbes that can live in the human gut and help fight disease.

Don’t be surprised if someone -- say that friend who knows all the latest natural remedies -- suggests you eat germs in order to stay healthy. Yogurt, with its live lactic acid bacteria, is just the beginning. A growing number of companies are marketing edible germs in powder, tablet and liquid form.

And there is actually some reliable research supporting the use of probiotic preparations for fighting diarrhea. A review of 23 research trials by the Cochrane Collaboration concludes that probiotic preparations based on lactic acid bacteria or some yeasts are moderately effective in easing infectious diarrhea. You can read a summary of the research here.

Researchers also are experimenting with other disease-fighting germs, according to the July 22nd issue of The Scientist. But the article included a cautionary note about how the probiotics industry may be getting ahead what the research actually says.

"There does seem to be lots of potential there, but it's a very complicated area," nutritionist Rosemary Stanton, in Sydney, Australia, told The Scientist. "I think it sounds good and I want to be a believer. But when you read the studies they don't match the headlines. The food industry is pushing to be able to make more health claims for these products, but, based on what we know so far, I think it would be foolish to allow that."

Some employers expected to drop retiree drug coverage

One-third of retirees with employer-sponsored drug coverage are expected to lose some or all of that coverage when Medicare begins offering drug coverage in 2006, according to new government estimates.

Read more in this New York Times article.

Web coverage of AIDS conference

You can follow the International AIDS Conference in Bangkok, Thailand, this week via webcasts and interviews at kaisernetwork.org.

Toy jewelry contains lead

Four toy importers are recalling 150 million pieces of children’s jewelry that was sold in vending machines. Some of the jewelry contains dangerous levels of lead. Check this U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission site for photos of the toy jewelry.

Soy not a fountain of youth

Soy protein supplements did not improve thinking, bone density or cholesterol levels in a study of 175 postmenopausal women. Results from the double-blind, randomized study were published in this week's Journal of the American Medical Association.

Soy contains isoflavones which are thought to mimic the effects of estrogen. The study’s authors wrote that starting soy supplements before menopause might be more effective and suggested further research. Read the abstract.

Price of beauty?

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today alerted consumers to adverse reactions to certain shades of ink used in permanent makeup, a form of tattooing.

The reactions include swelling, cracking, peeling, blistering and scarring. Read more.

Is it live? Or is it Memorex?

Place a rubber hand on a table. Hide your right hand under the table. Have someone stroke both hands, yours and the fake one, with a paintbrush.

In a study that sheds light on phantom limb syndrome (the eery sense of still having all one's limbs that's sometimes felt by amputees), a London research team did just that. They found that within 11 seconds, volunteers in the study started to feel that the rubber hand was theirs. Read more.

Acupuncture: What are the risks?

Informed Health Online says acupuncture with sterile needles is safe and has grown safer over the years. For example, no cases of hepatitis associated with acupuncture were found after 1988. Risks associated with okibari and hot needle acupuncture are higher, however. Read more.