National Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net
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Friday, April 12, 2013
Good Health
Aspirin could be bad for the eyes, study reveals SAM EFERARO
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tudies over the years have shown that taking an aspirin just once a month could reduce the risk of heart disease. But a new study now suggests it could also be bad for the eyes as it is also linked with age-related vision loss when taken regularly over a long period. In a study published recently in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) has revealed an association between the pain killer and an increased risk of developing the more severe “wet” form of age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness and vision loss in people over age 60. It occurs when the small central portion of the retina, known as the macula, deteriorates damaging central vision and the ability to see objects clearly. In the study, 2300 people got 4 eye exams over a 15-year period. Among the regular aspirin users, a little more than 9% had developed macular degeneration while the condition was found in only about 4% of non-aspiring users. The result confirms another recent study, which also found that regular aspirin use for at least 10 years slightly raises the risk of developing macular degeneration. The researchers found that the relationship was “dose-dependent” -- meaning, the more aspirin a person took regularly, the higher the risk of the vision loss condition. Age-related macular degeneration is often characterised by loss of sight in the center of the field of vision, and is separated into two main types of macular degeneration: Dry, which is more common, and
wet, which is rarer but more severe. According to a report by the American Mayo Clinic, wet age-related macular degeneration occurs when blood vessels leak into the macula (which is located in the middle of the retina), thereby blocking vision. The new study, conducted by University of Sydney researchers, included 2,389 people whose aspirin habits and vision loss were tracked over 15 years (via four examinations). Of those people, 257 (or 10.8 percent) regularly took aspirin; however, researchers didn’t have full information on why these people took the drug. noted. By the end of the study period, 24.5 percent of the study participants had developed “wet,” or neovascular, age-related macular degeneration. But researchers found that a greater proportion of regular aspirin users had the disease as they followed up throughout the years than the aspirin non-users. Another study, published in 2011 in the journal Ophthalmology, showed that people who take aspirin twice a day have a doubled risk of advanced age-related
mascular wegenration, compared with people who don’t regularly take aspirin. However, the risk is still relatively low. Meanwhile, newer studies have suggested that aspirin should not be taken by everyone as the drug has been found to be harmful in some patients.
Researcher at St. George’s, University of London recently reported that they had analyzed nine randomized studies of aspirin use in the United States, Europe and Japan that included more than 100,000 participants. The study subjects had never had a heart attack or stroke; all regularly took aspirin or a placebo to determine whether aspirin benefits people who have no established heart disease. In the combined analysis, the researchers found that regular aspirin users were 10 percent less likely than the others to have any type of heart event, and 20 percent less likely to have a nonfatal heart attack. While that sounds like good news, the study showed that the risks of regular aspirin outweighed the benefits. Aspirin users were about 30 percent more likely to have a serious gastrointestinal bleeding event, a side effect of frequent aspirin use. The overall risk of dying during the study was the same among the aspirin users and the others. And though some previous studies suggested that regular aspirin use could prevent cancer, the new analysis showed no such benefit. Over all, for every 162 people who took aspirin, the drug prevented one nonfatal heart attack, but caused about two serious bleeding episodes. “We have been able to show quite convincingly that in people without a previous heart attack or stroke, regular use of aspirin may be more harmful than it is beneficial,” said Dr. Sreenivasa Seshasai of the Cardiovascular Sciences Research Centre at the London hospital The findings are likely to add to the confusion about who should regularly take aspirin and who should not.
YOUR RIGHT TO KNOW
High blood pressure in pregnancy may spell hot flushes later
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omen who have hypertensive diseases during pregnancy seem to be at higher risk of having troublesome hot flashes and night sweats at menopause, report researchers from the Netherlands in an article published online today in Menopause, the journal of The North American Menopause Society. This is the first study to look The investigators examined the relationship between hypertensive diseases in pregnancy, such as preeclampsia, and vasomotor symptoms (hot flashes and night sweats) among 853 women who visited a cardiology clinic in Kampen, the Netherlands. Of these, 274 women had a history of hypertensive diseases during pregnancy. More of them (82%) had hot
flashes and night sweats than women who never had these diseases during pregnancy (75%) -- a modest but significant difference. Moreover, women who had hypertensive diseases during pregnancy also tended to have more severe and longer lasting hot flashes and night sweats.
Study confirms effectiveness of spray in dry mouth sensation
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hat Improves Dry Mouth Sensation Caused by Anti-Depressants Researchers from the universities of Granada and Murcia have confirmed the effectiveness of a spray containing 1% malic acid, which greatly improves xerostomy, or dry mouth, caused by anti-depressant drugs. This product, combined with xylitol and fluorides, in a spray format, stimulates saliva production in patients with this illness, thus improving their quality of life. Xerostomy is a dry-mouth sensation that patients have, often caused by reduced salivary secretion or biochemical changes in the saliva itself. Patients with xerostomy often find difficulty in chewing, swallowing or even talking. It is a subjective sen-
sation, whilst hyposalivation refers to an actual reduction in salivary flow, meaning that it is objective and, therefore, quantifiable. As the main author of this study, University of Granada lecturer, Gerardo Gomez Moreno, explains, one of the main causes of dry mouth is the consumption of different medications. “There are over 500 drugs, belonging to 42 pharmacological groups, which can provoke xerostomy as a side effect. Those that are most related are anti-depressants, the prescription of which has increased over recent years, thus leading to a higher number of patients with xerostomy from taking anti-depressive drugs, above all in 45-50 year olds.”