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February is heart month

Visit your local Wal-Mart and Sam's Club on Feb.20-21 for your free cholesterol check with the CardioChek analyzer distributed by QAS. Click here for more information about cholesterol management with the CardioChek.

From the FDA

New Colon Cancer Drug Receives FDA Approval

The US Food and Drug Administration recently approved a new drug to treat advanced stage colon cancer among patients who have not responded to standard drugs. The drug, Eloxatin, when taken together with older drugs, about 9 percent of treated colon cancer patients saw their tumors shrink significantly and they gained about two extra months before the cancer started growing again.

But until now these incredibly hard-to-treat patients have had no other alternative once standard treatment failed. The FDA is anticipating data that could prove whether Eloxatin works better when given in earlier stages of the disease. Sanofi followed FDA's advice in designing a 463-patient study that promised, and delivered, some of the cancer industry's most statistically solid results. Participants were divided into thirds, getting either standard therapy, Eloxatin alone or a combination.

Combining Eloxatin with the standard drugs 5FU and leucovorin made it work much better, something scientists may never have known had researchers performed a cheaper but less rigorous study. Eloxatin was approved under a special FDA program that allows promising cancer drugs to be sold before there is proof they actually prevent or delay death.

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Anticoagulation News

Study Finds Blood Clots Not Treated Preventively

In a nationwide study of hospitalized patients, researchers at Duke University Medical Center and Brigham and Women's Hospital found that individuals at risk for developing deep vein thrombosis (DVT), a disorder characterized by the formation of blood clots in the deep veins of the legs, often fail to receive preventive medications. DVT can cause death when leg clots break free and lodge in the lungs, a condition known as pulmonary embolism.

The study found that, of more than 5,000 patients who developed DVT, the majority failed to receive prophylactic therapy in the 30-day period prior to their diagnosis. In patients with DVT, physicians often failed to prescribe the drugs proven most effective for treating the disorder, opting instead for older treatment methods.

Administration of low-dose anticoagulants, including unfractionated heparin, low molecular weight heparin and warfarin, have been found to significantly reduce the risk of DVT. Once clots have formed, higher doses of the drugs act as effective treatments. For the study, over a period of six months, physicians at 183 sites nationwide enrolled 5,451 patients with DVT in the registry. The study investigators obtained information about patients' histories from medical records.

Less than 30 percent of patients enrolled in the registry received preventive blood thinning drugs within 30 days prior to their diagnosis of DVT. Of the 2,726 patients who developed DVT while in the hospital, 42 percent failed to receive prophylaxis within 30 days prior to diagnosis, the team reported.

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Readers Comments

Melatonin May Regulate Blood Pressure

"I think my blood pressure medication is interfering with my sleep. Is there another medication I can ask my doctor about that would allow me to sleep better?"

The sleep hormone melatonin may help control high blood pressure at night, according to findings from a recent study. melatonin is traditionally used as a natural sleep aid, but some patients have used it for high blood pressure. The study was conducted by the Netherlands Institute for Brain Research in Amsterdam.

For three weeks, researchers gave 16 men with untreated high blood pressure from no known cause either a placebo or 2.5 milligrams of melatonin one hour before they went to sleep. They compared the effect of this treatment to having patients take melatonin only one day.

The scientists found that patients taking melatonin for the longer period had lower nighttime systolic (top number) blood-pressure readings. They registered, on average, 6 millimeters lower on the gauge than the control group. Their diastolic (bottom number) reading was lower by 4 mm. on average. Those taking the single dose showed no change. Those taking melatonin for the longer period also reported improved sleep. Researchers intend to launch more large-scale studies to improve understanding of the relationship between melatonin and blood pressure.

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New Treatment

Vitamins C and E Reduce Alzheimer's Risk

A study involving more than 4700 participants strongly suggests that the combination of vitamin C and E lowers the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. Although more research trials are still necessary, investigators believe vitamin C and E supplements have wide-ranging health benefits and could represent a viable new prevention strategy.

The findings come from the Cache County Study, which looked at the prevalence of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias in terms of genetic and environmental risk factors. As part of the study, people aged 65 and older were assessed for dementia between 1995 and 1997 and again between 1998 and 2000.

The participants were categorized as "vitamin E users" if they took an individual vitamin E tablet or a multivitamin containing more than 400 international units of vitamin E every day. They were classified as "vitamin C users" if they took at least 500 milligrams per day of vitamin C as a stand-alone tablet or in a multivitamin. If they took multivitamins containing lower doses of these two vitamins, they were categorized as "multivitamin users."

The Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health identified 200 cases of Alzheimer's disease between 1995 and 1997 and 104 new cases during follow-up of 4740 participants. According to the team's analysis, reported in The Archives of Neurology, use of vitamin E and C supplements in combination lowered the odds of having Alzheimer's disease at the start of the study by about 78 percent, and the odds of developing the disease by about 64 percent during the follow-up period.

There was also a trend toward reduced Alzheimer's risk among people who took vitamin E and multivitamins containing vitamin C. In contrast, there was no evidence of a protective effect with the use of vitamin E or C supplements alone, with multivitamins alone, or with vitamin B-complex supplements.

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Life Style

Coffee Lowers Diabetes Risk

People who drink several cups of coffee each day can greatly lower their risk of developing diabetes later in life, even if they are overweight, according to recent research. The study of 125,000 people suggests that caffeinated coffee, not caffeine-free, may affect the body's metabolism in positive ways, according to researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health. Published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, the study did not identify what caffeinated coffee does to reduce the risk of type-II or adult-onset diabetes.

Caffeine is known to affect how the body handles sugar. Caffeine also raises metabolism and may affect other aspects of metabolism such as fat oxidation and mobilization of glycogen in muscle. The results validate a recent Dutch study that also showed coffee-drinkers lowered their risk of diabetes.

An estimated 15 million Americans have type-II diabetes, the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. Linked strongly with being overweight and with a lack of exercise, diabetes can lead to heart disease, stroke, blindness, limb loss and other disabilities.

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Tech Talk

Clot Spearing Corkscrew Opens Arteries

A tiny corkscrew that spears blood clots lodged deep within the brain appears to be a promising new tool for stopping strokes.

A doctor who tested the approach said recently that in some cases, it immediately reversed paralysis and loss of speech when used in the first hours of a stroke.

Nearly 90 percent of all strokes result from clots that block the brain's arteries, cutting off circulation and starving brain cells. The goal of the new device is to extract these clots before they do permanent harm.

"It's like pulling the cork out of a wine bottle," said Dr. Sidney Starkman, co-director of the UCLA Stroke Center. "What you want is to get the blood flowing back to the brain."

The device is the most advanced of several new stroke treatment tools discussed at a meeting in San Diego of the American Stroke Association.

The only treatment now available for the emergency care of strokes is TPA, the clot-dissolving medicine also used to stop heart attacks. Only about 5 percent of stroke victims receive it, and among those, it helps only about one in eight.

TPA can be used only within the first three hours after a stroke. Most victims arrive at the hospital too late, or they have other conditions that could cause the TPA to trigger disastrous bleeding in the brain.

The corkscrew successfully retrieved the clot in half of them. Three-quarters of these patients survived, and 40 percent had few or no lasting disability. Among those in whom the clot could not be removed, half survived and just 6 percent had a good recovery.

"What's really remarkable is we can see the problem and pull it out," he said. "In some patients, the moment the clot came out, they could move again or talk normally. It was instantaneous."

Source: CNN.com/health

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Fitness Watch

Study May Improve Asthma Treatment

Scientists from North Carolina State University recently identified a compound that blocks excessive production of mucus and could improve treatment for several health conditions, including asthma, cystic fibrosis, and chronic bronchitis. Mucus, a thick fluid produced by mucus membranes, moistens and protects areas such as the digestive and nasal canals. Excess production of mucus in diseases such as asthma can block airways.

Scientists studying asthmatic mice found that excess mucus production could be sharply reduced or completely eliminated using a peptide called MANS. It blocks the protein that causes the excess secretion. In one study group, excess mucus was reduced by 80 percent or more, with larger doses cutting the mucus to below normal flows. Long-term studies are necessary to determine the safety of the compound.

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Product of the Month

QAS is excited to introduce our newest web site, dedicated to the effective management of cholesterol for the consumer and physician.

LipidPanel.com is becoming a comprehensive educational and product supply website for the complete management of cholesterol and related conditions that require periodic testing of HDL, LDL, Total cholesterol, Triglycerides, Ketones and Glucose.

As LipidPanel.com expands over the next few months, be sure and visit the site for continuing education and information of interest, as well as products and services for the management of cholesterol conditions that your family or friends may encounter.

For questions or additional information related to LipidPanel.com and the CardioChek monitor, call us toll free at: 800.563.5484

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