Jewish World Review Nov. 16, 2001 / 1 Kislev, 5762
By Robert A. Wascher, M.D., F.A.C.S.
http://www.jewishworldreview.com --
Over the past 2-3 years, there has been growing evidence that the class of
cholesterol-lowering drugs known as "statins" may substantially reduce the
risk of heart attacks and strokes.
As reported by the BBC, a British study
of 20,000 high risk volunteers has shown that statin drugs can reduce the
risk of heart attack and stroke by approximately one third. The protective
effects of these drugs did not appear to vary with the age, sex or even the
cholesterol levels of the volunteers taking statins.
Perhaps most striking
was the finding that even volunteers with normal blood cholesterol levels
also experienced a reduced risk of heart attack and stroke. Volunteers
received either 40 mg of simvastatin per day or a placebo tablet, and were
followed for an average of more than five years.
The Oxford University
study's authors also found that, contrary to previous studies, vitamins A, C
and E did not appear to reduce the risk of heart disease. These findings
add to the growing evidence that drugs in the statin class may have a
powerful effect on reducing the incidence of stroke and heart disease, and
that this effect may be independent of the drugs' direct effects on
cholesterol levels.
Additional large multicenter trials are needed to
confirm these findings, but the implications of this Oxford University study
on the effects of the statins on the number one cause of death in the USA
and the UK are potentially staggering.
SUPPLEMENTAL RADIATION THERAPY REDUCES RISK OF BREAST CANCER RECURRENCE
In this multicenter study,
over 5,000 patients with early breast cancer (stages I or II) were divided
into two groups. One group received the standard radiation therapy dose,
and the other group received the standard radiation treatment plus an
additional dose of radiation to the affected breast. After a median
follow-up period of 5 years, the patients receiving the standard radiation
treatment dose had a 7.3% rate of local recurrence while the group treated
with the enhanced radiation therapy dose had a 4.3% rate of recurrence in
the affected breast.
This result represents a 40% reduction in the incidence
of recurrent cancer in the affected breast with the addition of supplemental
radiotherapy. It should be noted that, at least in the 41 to 50 year old
age group, no impact on survival was seen between the two treatment groups
during the somewhat limited 5 year follow-up period.
However, these results
provide impressive evidence that an enhanced radiation therapy protocol may
further drive down the risk of locally recurrent breast cancer in patients
with early stage disease, and who undergo breast preserving treatment.
BRAINS OF WOMEN MAY ANSWER AGE-OLD QUESTIONS....
However, while the 15% increase noted in
the density of brain cells in the frontal lobes of women is intriguing, it
may not actually translate into gender-specific differences in the functions
of these areas of higher cognition.
On the average, the brain volumes of
women are less than those of men, and women appear to lose brain cells in
these same regions more quickly than men with advancing age. Indeed, among
the elderly, there appear to be no differences between the sexes in the
density of brain cells in the frontal lobes.
On the surface, though, these
findings may stimulate further debate regarding possible differences in how
men and women view issues with respect to moral and social implications.
The more rapid loss of frontal lobe brain cells in women as they age may
also have some relevance to the observation that Alzheimer's disease occurs
more commonly in women than in
JWR contributor Dr. Robert A. Wascher is a senior research fellow in molecular & surgical oncology at
the John Wayne Cancer Institute in Santa Monica, CA.
Comment by clicking here.
Cholesterol-lowering drugs reduce risk of heart attack
The current issue of the New England Journal of Medicine reports on an
interesting study of breast cancer patients in Europe. Radiation therapy to
is usually given to patients who elect to preserve their breast following
the surgical removal of a breast cancer tumor.
Also from the BBC, researchers from Canada's McMaster University recently
reported that the areas of the brain involved in personality, moral
judgments, and task planning appear to be more densely packed with nerve
cells in women as compared to men.
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