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Mesothelioma: A Killer
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Group urges review of new U.S. statin drug advice
Last Updated: 2004-09-24 11:44:13 -0400 (Reuters Health)
By Maggie Fox
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Consumer advocates backed by some prominent doctors and researchers on Thursday questioned a new U.S. policy recommending wider use of statin drugs to lower cholesterol.
The new guidelines, published in July, suggest that people without high cholesterol levels should take statin drugs to get their levels even lower.
The National Institutes of Health and the National Cholesterol Education Program panel that issued the guidelines cited several studies showing that people who used statins greatly lowered their risk of heart disease.
But the Center for Science in the Public Interest disputed the interpretation of the studies and accused the panel members of having been influenced by their connections to drug companies.
"There is strong evidence to suggest that an objective, independent reevaluation of the scientific evidence from the five new studies of statin therapy would lead to different conclusions than those presented by the current NCEP," reads the CSPI letter, signed by 35 cardiologists, nutritionists and other health professionals.
"The studies cited do not demonstrate that statins benefit women of any age or men over 70 who do not already have heart disease," said John Abramson, a clinical instructor in primary care at Harvard Medical School, who signed the letter.
"Furthermore, we are concerned about the findings from one of the five cited studies showing that statin therapy significantly increases the risk of cancer in the elderly."
The new guidelines say that high-risk people -- who have had a heart attack, diabetes, chest pain, or surgery to clear blocked blood vessels -- should aim for a low-density lipoprotein or "bad" cholesterol level of 70 instead of the usual 100.
Those considered at moderate risk are now told to take drugs if their LDL is 130 or higher.
The guidelines do mention that lifestyle changes can lower cholesterol too, and say that drugs should not be prescribed without advice to exercise and eat more fruits, vegetables and fiber and less fat.
But the CSPI letter says the guidelines give this advice only a cursory mention.
"Eight of the nine authors of the July recommendations have financial ties to statin manufacturers, including Pfizer (Inc.), Merck (and Co. Inc.), Bristol-Myers Squibb, and AstraZeneca -- a fact that was not disclosed when the recommendations were first published in the journal Circulation," the letter reads.
Many researchers have financial ties to drug companies but the issue has received more prominence in recent years as groups such as the CSPI question whether such relationships may influence medical research.
"We have abundant, strong evidence to support the...guidelines and we are in the process of formulating a response to the CSPI," said Susan Sagusti, a spokeswoman for the NIH's National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.
Copyright © 2004 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.
Nearly one third of UK girls smoke by 16: study
Last Updated: 2004-09-23 10:54:05 -0400 (Reuters Health)
LONDON (Reuters) - Nearly one third of British girls smoke by the age of 16 despite campaigns to warn them of the dangers of tobacco, researchers said on Thursday.
A six-year study tracking hundreds of pupils found that twice as many girls as boys have taken up the habit by the time they are 16, the legal smoking age.
The findings are likely to add fuel to an increasingly vocal anti-tobacco lobby, which has spurred the government into investigating new rules on smoking in public places.
In the study, researchers at the University of Leeds found that two percent of boys and two percent of girls were regular smokers when they were between the ages of 11 and 12 years old.
But by the time they were between 13 and 14 years old, 16 percent of girls and eight percent of boys were regular smokers.
When they were between 15 and 16 years, 31 percent of girls and 16 percent of boys were smoking regularly.
"One suggestion is that it is something to do with teenage girls using tobacco as an appetite control mechanism," said Mark Conner, from the University's School of Psychology.
"They are particularly using cigarettes to keep their weight down," he said, adding that the team was hoping to carry out more research into the reasons.
Conner said half the students had received lessons teaching them the dangers of smoking and encouraging them to say "no" to cigarettes.
The researchers found this appeared to reduce the level of smoking among younger students. But when they returned two years later, the lessons appeared to have had little lasting effect.
This emphasises the need to have repeated health education at regular intervals if it is to have any long-term effect, they said.
Copyright © 2004 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.
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