US Pharm. 2006;5:14.    

Smoking Out the Truth
For the last 41 years, the U.S. Surgeon General has been officially warning us that smoking can be hazardous to our health. While the effects of smoking on the lungs and heart should be obvious, three recent reports indicate that smoking and secondhand smoke may also be linked to cervical cancer, impotence, and diabetes.

Based on a report in the International Journal of Cancer, data from 23 studies on the effects of smoking on the risk of cervical cancer indicates that current smokers have a 60% greater risk of cervical cancer, which was related to the age at which a person started to smoke.

Studies in Tobacco Control uncovered that men who smoked were 40% more likely to suffer from impotence than those who do not. According to researcher Dr. Christopher Millett, "It is not just older men who suffer from impotence; younger men are also affected as well."

Findings in the British Medical Journal revealed that while there was a direct relationship between the number of cigarettes smoked and the incidence of glucose intolerance, a correlation also existed between secondhand smoke and glucose intolerance.

Cox-2 Inhibitor Could Lower Colon Cancer Risk
The risk of serious cardiac problems has led to the withdrawal of all but one Cox-2 inhibitor from the market: Pfizer's Celebrex. In an unusual twist of events in 2004, when researchers had been testing Merck's Cox-2 inhibitor Vioxx for cancer prevention, the discovery of heart risks surfaced, and it was pulled from the market (along with Pfizer's Bextra).

A study done by the National Cancer Institute and Pfizer indicates that Celebrex cut the chances of developing precancerous growths (polyps) 33% to 45% in people who had already had such growths removed. The downside of this study is that about 3.4% of those taking the drug had heart attacks, strokes, or other serious cardiac events versus 2.5% of those taking placebo.

Midlife Obesity Raises Risk of AD
Researchers from the Kaiser Permanente Foundation Research Institute report that being overweight during one's early 40s increases the risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD) decades later.

The researchers factored diabetes, stroke, high cholesterol, and hypertension into their study and concluded that there was a "strong independent effect for people with high levels of adiposity." According to researcher Dr. Rachel A. Whitmer, "Subjects with high levels of fat in the arm and back were nearly three times more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease than those with low levels." The findings were presented at the American Academy of Neurology's annual meeting.

In other AD news, Swedish researchers are reporting that a drug used to treat mild to moderate AD seems to reverse some cognitive and functional deterioration in patients with severe forms of the disease. A research team led by Dr. Bengt Winblad found that patients receiving Aricept (donepezil) experienced improvements in cognition and in their ability to perform daily activities. "The drug is effective in the severe stage of Alzheimer's," Winblad said. The data appeared in the online version of the Lancet.

ADHD Drug Has Less Potential for Abuse
Some patients and caregivers have shied away from using methylphen­ idate because of its potential for abuse. According to researcher Dr. Thomas J. Spencer, that abuse may be lessened if methyl­ pheni­ date is given in a delayed-release form.

The abuse potential of immediate-release methyl­ phenidate was compared to that of the controlled-release version in 12 healthy adults. None of the volunteers had been diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyper­ activity disorder (ADHD) or any neurologic or psychiatric disorder. Although both formulations led to similar drug concentrations in the blood, the controlled-release formulation required a longer time period to reach peak blood and brain levels. The study was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health and McNeil Consumer and Specialty Pharmaceuticals.

Kaposi's Sarcoma Human Cell Surface Molecule Identified
Researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases have identified a critical human cell surface molecule that is believed to be involved in the infection Kaposi's sarcoma herpes virus, the virus that causes Kaposi's sarcoma and certain forms of lymphoma. Kaposi's sarcoma is the most common cancer associated with HIV/AIDS and typically manifests itself as multiple, purple-hued skin lesions. The finding was reported in Science.

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