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Vitamin C May Have Effect in Cancer Treatment

As reported by HealthDay News, the latest research that involved mice suggests that intravenous doses of vitamin C could one day reduce the size of cancerous tumors in people.

As these findings are only preliminary, they still will have to be confirmed in humans. And even if Vitamin C works, the researchers say that it won't make it possible to completely cure a cancer patient with only Vitamin C. Other drugs in combination with Vitamin C would be used in treatment of such patients.

Vitamin C is one of the most popular vitamins, widely used for its supposed ability to treat many deceases, from colds to heart disease.

Viagra also provides satisfaction to women with depression.

As reported by Reuters Health in July 2008, the latest research data presented in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows that Viagra, which is a well-known anti-impotence pill, may also benefit some women on antidepressants by helping them have better sex.

The research study was conducted by Dr. H. George Nurnberg of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque and colleagues. It was funded by Pfizer Inc, producer of Viagra, which is known generically as sildenafil.

The erectile dysfunction drug Viagra may have found a new, potentially life-saving use in hospital pediatric intensive care units, researchers report.

Australian researchers gave the drug to 15 babies with congenital heart disease who were being weaned from inhaled nitric-oxide therapy, a treatment that ICUs use to help these infants survive.

The researchers found that a dose of Viagra prevented a common life-threatening complication called rebound pulmonary hypertension. They also found that it significantly reduced the amount of time the babies spent on mechanical ventilation and in the ICU.

"Rebound pulmonary hypertension is a very common problem," said Dr. Steven Abman of The Children's Hospital in Denver, who was not part of the study. "This is the most rigorous study that's ever been done to demonstrate that Viagra can prevent this complication."

The study results were published in the November issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

Viagra is useful for treating both erectile dysfunction and preventing rebound pulmonary hypertension because it affects pathways involved in both conditions.

"Viagra enhances the body's levels of cyclic-GMP, a naturally occurring substance that relaxes arteries and reduces their pressure, which is why its primary indication is for men with erectile dysfunction," explained the study's lead researcher, Dr. Lara Shekerdemian of the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne.

"However, cyclic-GMP is abundant in the lungs and is the molecule via which nitric oxide acts as a dilator of pulmonary arteries," Shekerdemian said. "That's why its use was explored in the setting of pulmonary hypertension in the newborn."

In the study, Shekerdemian and colleagues gave a single dose of Viagra to 15 infants with congenital heart disease who were undergoing withdrawal from nitric oxide, which is used to relax pulmonary blood vessels in mechanically ventilated lungs. Another 14 infants undergoing withdrawal were given placebo.

None of the Viagra-treated infants developed rebound pulmonary hypertension compared to 10 of the placebo-treated infants. After more than 24 hours, all of the infants who developed rebound hypertension were given Viagra during a subsequent and successful attempt to wean them from nitric oxide.

The Viagra-treated infants also spent less total time on a mechanical ventilator than the placebo-treated infants -- a little over 28 hours compared to 98 hours -- and had a considerably shorter stay in the intensive care unit (47.8 hours vs. 189 hours).

"Although we expected to see an avoidance of rebound, we were not expecting to see these additional benefits," Shekerdemian said. "Any intervention that smoothes their course in the intensive-care unit would have at least a short-term positive influence on their recovery from their underlying condition."

Unless there's some reason for not using Viagra, Shekerdemian said that it should be routinely used as infants are weaned from nitric oxide. "We certainly do so now in our pediatric intensive-care unit," she said.

Many hospitals are already doing just that. "I think it already has become standard clinical practice, because the idea of using Viagra for this is not new," Abman said. "What's new is that this is the first study to look at it with a nice protocol in which they randomized patients and controlled in a blinded way. So it verifies what we've already been doing in clinical practice."

Shekerdemian and her team are now conducting a similar study in the Royal Children's Hospital's Neonatal Intensive-Care Unit to see if Viagra can prevent rebound pulmonary hypertension in premature infants.

Viagra Helps COPD Patients Control Pulmonary Blood Pressure

The drug sildenafil, popularly known as Viagra, may help people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease control the illness-related blood pressure spikes in the heart's pulmonary artery, a new study found.

The medication, in addition to its use as a popular treatment for impotence, has already been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of the chronic version of such blood pressure spikes, known as pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). The drug has been marketed specifically for this purpose under the trade name Revatio. Another drug -- bosentan -- is also approved for similar purposes.

The new research suggests that sildenafil may help all chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients -- even those not diagnosed with full-blown PAH -- who experience potentially dangerous pulmonary arterial blood pressure increases both at rest and following exercise.

The research was led by Dr. Sebastiaan Holverda of the department of pulmonary medicine at VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Holverda and his VU colleagues were to present their findings Wednesday at a Salt Lake City meeting organized by the journal Chest.

According to the American Lung Association, COPD is actually a catch-all for two lung diseases that often strike in tandem -- chronic bronchitis and emphysema. In both cases, airflow is obstructed, impeding normal breathing.

Smoking is the leading cause of COPD, responsible for between 80 percent and 90 percent of all cases in the United States. More than 11 million Americans are estimated to have the illness, and more than 122,000 die from it each year. Women appear to be slightly more at risk than men.

There's no known cure for the disease, and medications primarily take aim at symptom relief and slowing the progressive disability the illness brings.

Pulmonary hypertension -- the incurable condition of continuous high blood pressure in the pulmonary artery located in the right ventricle of the heart -- is one of many serious complications that can strike COPD patients. PAH causes the artery, which is responsible for delivering blood from the heart to the lungs, to work harder than normal. A weakening of the heart muscle can ensue over time, increasing the risk of heart failure and even death.

The Dutch researchers noted that pulmonary hypertension is typically mild to moderate among COPD patients but is particularly aggravated while exercising.

Faced with the combined COPD-PAH threat, the Dutch team explored the potential benefit of treating at-risk chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients with sildenafil both while at rest and during exercise. The drug works by shifting the activity of an enzyme called phosphodiesterase, reducing arterial blood pressure by dilating the smooth muscle of blood vessels that line the lungs. As these vessels expand, blood flow increases, the researchers explained.

The study authors focused on 12 patients who had been diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and were suspected of having PAH. Throughout the study, right heart blood pressure was tracked among all 12 patients by inserting a thin plastic tube into the pulmonary artery -- a procedure known as cardiac catheterization. Cardiac blood pressure was measured at rest and just after all the patients cycled for three minutes.

Then, the study participants were given 50 milligrams of oral sildenafil; 45 minutes later, resting and post-exercise blood pressure readings were taken again.

Holverda and his colleagues found that half the patients had PAH. But, both non-PAH and PAH patients experienced significant cardiac blood pressure increases when exercising.

Sildenafil appeared to control such increases after exercise, reigning in pulmonary blood pressure to markedly lower levels -- higher than at rest, but lower than non-medicated post-exercise readings. And, the non-PAH patients appeared to experience pulmonary blood pressure reductions after taking the drug, both while resting and exercising.

The authors concluded that the drug may help COPD patients -- whether they have developed PAH or not -- quickly control their pulmonary blood pressure in some situations.

Dr. Bartolome R. Celli, chief of pulmonary care at St. Elizabeth's Medical Center in Boston, applauded the Dutch study but called for more research.

"Pulmonary arterial pressure -- when it is elevated -- is a poor prognostic sign and reducing its levels should be of help," he said. "However, more testing is needed to see if those changes in pulmonary arterial pressure are translated into better clinical outcomes and not into any unwanted side effects."

Could a widely used treatment for depression be a remedy for osteoporosis?

Researchers have discovered that the drug Prozac also increases bone mass, at least in adult mice.

"Treating animals for six weeks with Prozac resulted in an increase in trabecular bone mass," said study lead author Ricardo Battaglino, assistant member of the staff in the department of cytokine biology at the Forsyth Institute in Boston. "It was a pretty significant 60 percent increase."

Trabecular bone is one of two main types of bone and makes up most of the spongy interior of the majority of bones.

Although it's way too early to advocate popping Prozac to reverse or stop bone loss, experts say it's a tantalizing lead for future research.

"For several reasons, people need to be cautious because fluoxetine [the generic name for Prozac] has central nervous system effects," said Dr. Grant Mitchell, chief of psychiatry at Northern Westchester Hospital Center in Mount Kisco, N.Y. "But it is interesting that current treatments for bone loss in osteoporosis do not take this approach, so the idea that we could at some point have another approach to reducing bone loss or even rebuilding new bone is actually exciting. Having more options would be great."

The study, which was funded by the U.S. National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, is expected to be published in an upcoming issue of the Journal of Cellular Biochemistry.

Previous research, some of it by the same team, had found that serotonin receptors were commonly expressed on the surface of bone cells. Serotonin receptors govern the entry of serotonin -- a molecule that helps transmit signals between neurons and is implicated in anxiety and depression -- into cells.

Prozac is a member of a group of antidepressants called "selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors" (SSRIs) that act on this receptor.

The fact that these receptors populated bone cells "was surprising for us," Battaglino said, "because we were taking bone cells and serotonin, two molecules that apparently didn't have much to do with each other."

The next question was whether Prozac, which has an effect on serotonin, also exerted an influence on bone cells and, ultimately, bone mass.

For this study, laboratory mice were treated with Prozac for six weeks. The investigators were specifically interested in seeing if the drug stimulated new bone formation under normal conditions and if it blocked bone loss caused by inflammation or by loss of estrogen after taking out the ovaries.

Prozac both spurred the formation of new bone under normal conditions and reversed overall bone loss triggered by inflammation.

The drug was administered both systemically (like taking a pill) and locally (directly to the bone), and the effects were observed with both delivery methods, the researchers reported.

"They developed a way to deliver locally to the bone, which makes more sense," Mitchell pointed out. "The idea there would be to avoid the [potential] brain effects."

Oddly, a prior study using Prozac found that the drug actually hindered bone growth. The discrepancy may have been due to the way bone mass or density was measured and also to the fact that it involved children, not adults, Battaglino said.

In the new study, Prozac was not effective in female mice without circulating estrogen (i.e. after their ovaries had been removed). In those cases, Prozac "did not prevent bone loss associated with estrogen deficiency," Mitchell said. "It looks like, to be effective in relation to bone loss, Prozac needs to be in the presence of estrogen." This has implications for women moving into menopause who lose estrogen and have an increased risk of osteoporosis, he said.

The findings need to be replicated and, of course, tried in humans, but, given the number of people taking Prozac, the implications could be enormous.

"Fluoxetine is one of the most widely prescribed psychoactive drugs in this country and most likely the world, and it's been like that for at least 15 or 20 years," Battaglino said. "From the public health point of view, this would be pretty relevant."

The jury is still out on whether other SSRIs -- such as Celexa, Paxil and Zoloft -- might have the same effect on bone, Battaglino added, since similar tests on those drugs haven't yet been performed.

"This could be a class effect for SSRIs," he said. "However, it is known that in addition to blocking the serotonin transporter, Prozac can target other molecules -- for instance, some nicotinic acetylcholine receptors and even some serotonin receptors. So, this effect could be specific for Prozac. The experiments will have to be done to answer the question."

Cola may not be so sweet for women's bones, according to new research that suggests the beverage boosts osteoporosis risk.

"Among women, cola beverages were associated with lower bone mineral density," said lead researcher Katherine Tucker, director of the Epidemiology and Dietary Assessment Program at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University.

There was a pretty clear dose-response, Tucker added. "Women who drink cola daily had lower bone mineral density than those who drink it only once a week," she said. "If you are worried about osteoporosis, it is probably a good idea to switch to another beverage or to limit your cola to occasional use."

The report was published in the October issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

About 55 percent of Americans, mostly women, are at risk for developing osteoporosis, according to the National Osteoporosis Foundation.

In the study, Tucker's team collected data on more than 2,500 participants in the Framingham Osteoporosis Study, averaging just below 60 years of age. The researchers looked at bone mineral density at three different hip sites, as well as the spine.

They found that in women, drinking cola was associated with lower bone mineral density at all three hip sites, regardless of age, menopause, total calcium and vitamin D intake, or smoking or drinking alcohol. Women reported drinking an average of five carbonated drinks a week, four of which were cola.

Bone density among women who drank cola daily was almost 4 percent less, compared with women who didn't drink cola, Tucker said. "This is quite significant when you are talking about the density of the skeleton," she said.

Cola intake was not associated with lower bone mineral density in men. The findings were similar for diet cola, but weaker for decaffeinated cola, the researchers reported.

The reason for cola's effect on bone density may have to do with caffeine, Tucker said. "Caffeine is known to be associated with the risk of lower bone mineral density," she said. "But we found the same thing with decaffeinated colas."

Another explanation may have to do with phosphoric acid in cola, which can cause leeching of calcium from bones to help neutralize the acid, Tucker said.

One expert agrees that women should reduce the amount of cola they drink.

"I would expect this finding," said Dr. Mone Zaidi, director of the Mount Sinai Bone Program at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, in New York City. "It's probably a caffeine-related problem."

Women should limit their caffeine intake, Zaidi said. "Caffeine interferes with calcium absorption, which results in less bone formation," he said.

This can be a problem for younger women who never develop peak bone density, Zaidi noted. "Younger women who have a lot of coke will not form bone to an extent their peers would; so, years later, in menopause, they are going to be disadvantaged," he said.

Propecia Increases Hair Weight And Quality, Improves Scalp Coverage: Presented at ADV

AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS -- September 29,1999 -- The first-ever pill for male hair loss holds new promise for millions of men, following the results of a new study.

The treatment, Propecia (finasteride 1mg) has been proven to significantly increase hair weight and improve hair quality - making hairs thicker and longer in addition to increasing their number. This improvement in hair quality is good news for men who are concerned about their hair loss because improved hair quality provides improved scalp coverage.

Dr. Vera Price, of the Department of Dermatology, University of California, San Francisco, CA, presented findings from the Hair Weight Study for the first time today at the 8th European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology meeting, in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Results from a study involving 66 men taking either one Propecia tablet daily or placebo showed that after 96 weeks of treatment, Propecia increased hair growth on the scalp by improving the weight of hair.

Furthermore, the beneficial effects of Propecia continued throughout the two-year study period. The difference in total scalp hair coverage between the men taking Propecia and those taking placebo became greater as the study progressed - that is, men taking Propecia continued to grow more hair, thicker hair and longer hair, while those taking placebo were gradually losing hair.

The net improvement in hair weight between men treated with Propecia compared to those treated with placebo was 35.8 percent (P<0.001) after 96 weeks.

"The increase in hair weight produced by treatment with finasteride 1mg as demonstrated in this latest study, reflects the beneficial effects of the drug on the key aspects of hair quality. These aspects include increased hair number, shown in previous studies as well, and additionally improved hair thickness and hair length," said Dr. Price.

Hair weight is a quantitative, reliable measure of hair growth and provides an integrated measure of changes in hair growth rate and total hair mass (length, hair thickness and hair number). Hair growth rate and total hair mass determine hair quality, and improved hair quality provides improved coverage of the scalp. Therefore, hair weight is an accurate way to measure the cosmetic benefits of treatment for male pattern hair loss.

By using phototrichogram methodology it has been shown that Propecia actually stimulates resting hair follicles to grow, thereby increasing the total number of growing hairs at any one time (Van Neste, et al.). These additional growing hairs observed in treated patients have now been shown to grow longer and thicker, signifying an improvement in hair quality and an improvement in scalp coverage.

Evidence of the cosmetic benefits of Propecia can be fully substantiated by worldwide clinical trial results. Propecia after two years of treatment has been shown to prevent further hair loss in five out of six men treated (83 percent, v. 28 percent placebo) and to re-grow hair that visibly increased scalp coverage in two out of three men (66 percent, v. 7 percent placebo).

The world's first hair loss pill for men is only available by prescription from a doctor and has proven to be well tolerated in clinical trials. Drug-related adverse events occurred in less than 2 percent of men taking Propecia. These side effects went away in all men who discontinued therapy and also disappeared in most men who chose to continue taking Propecia.

Propecia was first launched in the United States in 1997. It is currently available in most European countries and 22 other countries worldwide.

Propecia is administered as a 1mg oral tablet once daily. It is not indicated for use in women or children. It is a product of Merck, Sharp & Dohme.