Features

ABCDE !

Green Tea & Prostate

Vitamin C Alert !

Aggressive Statin !

Skin Cancer Vaccine !

SMS Alert !

New Products of SQUARE Pharmaceuticals Ltd.

EDITORIAL TEAM

OMAR AKRAMUR RAB

MBBS, FCGP, FIAGP,FRSH (UK)

P G Dip. Business Management

LATIFA NISHAT, MBBS

ASHRAFUL ALAM, MBBS

MAHBUBUR  RAHMAN, MBBS

The ABCDE of Acute Coronary Treatment

A recent change to the once complex way of managing acute coronary syndrome(ACS) may be as easy as learning the ABCs, literally. In the past, acute coronary syndrome, which is chest pain at rest or mild exertion, was managed by a system doctors considered to be complicated. Lead investigator for the study, says, "Many doctors think existing guidelines are lengthy and complex and therefore difficult to implement in the clinic and at home by patients." This prompted the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association to implement new guidelines to manage ACS. After reviewing peer-reviewed publications, they developed the "ABCDE" approach believed to be more patient friendly. This new system includes the "A" step for antiplatelet therapy, anticoagulation, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibition, and angiotensin-receptor blockade; the "B" step for beta-blockade and blood pressure control; the "C" step for cholesterol treatment and cigarette smoking cessation; the "D" step for diabetes management and diet; and the "E" step for exercise.

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Green Tea Fights Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer is currently one of the most common male cancers and the second leading cause of cancer death in men. Researchers are counting up the ways green tea may help fight prostate cancer in a new report in the most recent issue of Cancer Research. The animal study showed polyphenols present in the drink combat the disease on multiple levels. Polyphenols alter the insulin-like, growth-factor-driven pathway present in prostate tumors and cause reduced expression of proteins known to cause the cancer to spread to other parts of the body. The green tea polyphenols also cut down on the amount of vascular endothelial growth factor in the tumors, a substance known to play a role in developing new blood vessels to carry nutrients to the tumor. The University of Wisconsin study builds on previous work by the same investigators, which showed an oral dose of green tea achievable in humans resulted in significant inhibition of prostate cancer and progression of the disease. Since prostate cancer usually strikes older men, the researchers believe substances such as green tea that are capable of holding off the disease for as long as possible could have important health benefits. They write: “The limited available options for the treatment of prostate cancer have prompted the need for developing alternative strategies for the management of prostate cancer. Chemoprevention by the use of dietary or nontoxic synthetic agents have offered a viable option to block neoplastic inception or delay disease progression.”

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Vitamin C in Pregnancy Causes Harm to Offspring

According to a new study total Vitamin C intake during pregnancy may increase the likelihood of eczema and asthma in children by age 2. Researchers from the University of Aberdeen in the United Kingdom studied 2,000 women to determine how antioxidant intake during pregnancy affects the development of asthma and eczema in children. The full two-year study was completed by 1,300 of the women. The women were required to fill out questionnaires that asked them about their dietary habits during pregnancy. They also and had their blood tested for antioxidant levels. Follow-ups were conducted at 06-, 12-, and 24-month intervals on 1,924 of the children born to the study participants. Results show children whose mothers had the highest levels of total vitamin C intake were also the most likely to develop eczema and asthma by age 2. Other antioxidants test such as vitamin E, selenium, beta-carotene, magnesium, copper, or zinc were not associated with early childhood eczema or asthma. However, vitamin E did appear to decrease both asthma and eczema risk. Authors conclude, “This study suggests maternal dietary antioxidant intakes during pregnancy may modify the risks of developing asthma and eczema during early childhood. Further follow-up of the children will determine whether maternal diet during pregnancy is associated with asthma and atopic disease later in childhood.”

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Aggressive Statin Lowers Both LDL & C-reactive Protein

A pair of studies appears to have confirmed the importance of C-reactive protein in coronary heart disease. The studies were designed to compare aggressive statin therapy versus moderate statin therapy while measuring the relationship between LDL cholesterol and C- reactive protein in coronary artery disease. Previous studies have confirmed that statins, which inhibit cholesterol synthesis in the blood, can reduce the level of LDL cholesterol and C-reactive protein, but the relationship between the two, and between C-reactive protein and atherosclerosis, was always uncertain. The pair of studies found that aggressive statin therapy lowered the levels of both LDL cholesterol and C-reactive protein, compared to moderate statin therapy. Furthermore, people with lower levels of both experienced fewer heart attacks or cardiovascular events. Perhaps more importantly, the studies also found that patients with lower levels of C-reactive protein fared better than patients with higher levels of C-reactive protein, regardless of their cholesterol level. According to the researchers, this strongly suggests an independent role for inflammation in atherosclerosis. Based on this, the authors of the study recommend that C- reactive protein, as well as cholesterol levels, should be monitored during statin therapy. Moreover, patients on moderate doses on statins might consider increasing their dosage to reduce their risk of heart attack.

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Vaccine for Skin Cancer

Advanced melanoma may be successfully treated by injecting patients with tumor proteins (called MAGE-3), according to two articles published in the latest Journal of Experimental Medicine. Researchers studied the effect on vaccinating patients with tumor antigens and found injecting patients with these tumor antigens increased the amount of killer T-cells that can attack a tumor. Results also show that these killer T-cells mainly recognized tumor proteins not contained in the vaccine. They did not expand to as large of a number as the non-tumor specific T-cells after the vaccination. Many melanoma patients have detectable, tumor-specific T-cells in their blood and tumors, but these T-cells are not able to attack the tumor, and it is unclear why. Also unclear is why vaccination can cause tumors to regress, when tumor specific T-cells do not increase nearly as much as non-tumor specific T-cells. Lead researcher believes the few tumor specific T-cells that are stimulated by the vaccine may create an environment that somehow wakes up the other T-cells to attack the tumor.

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Too Many Text Messages Bad for Health

Excessive text messaging may be bad for health, or at least for fingers. That's what some Italian doctors think. They are telling people, particularly the young, that furious typing on mobile phones could lead to acute tendonitis. A 13-year-old girl in the northern Italian city of Savona needed treatment from an orthopaedic specialist after typing at least 100 short message services (SMSs) a day. She was prescribed anti-inflammatory medicine and ordered to rest her hands. According to a recent study conducted for children's rights group Telefono Azzurro, some 37 percent of Italian children are "cell phone addicts". Irritability and mood swings were other symptoms linked to very frequent cell phone use among the young.

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