Daily Statin Might Raise Your Risk for Cataracts: Study

 

While statins such as Zocor, Crestor and Lipitor protect many people from heart attack and stroke, they may raise the odds of developing the vision problem by 27 percent, the researchers report.

But the risk of developing cataracts -- a clouding of the lens of the eye -- is insignificant compared with the benefits of these drugs, said lead researcher Dr. G.B. John Mancini.

"The benefits of statins are far outweighed by any small risk for cataract surgery," said Mancini, a professor of medicine at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.

"However, the indication for statin use should be solid from the outset and fully understood by patients," he added.

Mancini said this study can't prove that statins cause cataracts. "Careful observations in clinical trials are needed to support or refute this association," he said.

Dr. Mark Fromer, an ophthalmologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, said cataracts are very common. "In one's lifetime, the chance of developing a cataract is 100 percent," he said.

"The goal is we want to keep you alive long enough to get one, and that's where statins come in," he said. "Statins increase the length of life by decreasing strokes and heart attacks."

Cataracts can be treated with surgery that is "quick, painless and 99.9 percent successful," Fromer said. "So, since you are going to get a cataract anyway, you might as well take your statin -- it's in your best interest."

The study was published in the December issue of the Canadian Journal of Cardiology.

For the study, Mancini's team used the British Columbia Ministry of Health database from 2000 to 2007 and the IMS LifeLink U.S. database from 2001 to 2011. In all, they looked at more than 207,000 adults with cataracts and more than 1.1 million without them.

Among people in the Canadian database, those who took statins for at least a year had about a 27 percent increased risk of developing cataracts that needed surgery, compared with people not taking statins. The increased risk for patients in the U.S. database was only 7 percent, but that was still statistically significant, the researchers said.

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BPA in Canned Goods May Raise Your Blood Pressure: Study

 

BPA previously has been linked to a variety of ills, including heart problems, developmental problems in children and high blood pressure. The chemical is widely used in products ranging from plastic bottles and food containers to dental fillings and cash register receipts. In cans, BPA is used as a lining, the researchers said.

"We found that drinking two canned beverages increased systolic blood pressure by 5 mm Hg," said lead researcher Dr. Yun-Chul Hong, director of the Environmental Health Center at Seoul National University College of Medicine in Korea.

Putting that in perspective, he said a 20 mm Hg increase in systolic blood pressure doubles the risk for heart disease. The systolic blood pressure number is always the first of two numbers given in a blood pressure reading.

"Because these results confirm findings from other studies, doctors and patients, particularly those with high blood pressure or heart disease, should be aware of the possible risks from increased blood pressure when consuming canned foods or beverages," he said.

Previous research has shown that BPA in containers can leach into food and beverages.

Since BPA acts like the hormone estrogen, Hong thinks it raises blood pressure as it interacts with cells in the heart and blood vessels that are sensitive to estrogen.

For the study, Hong's team had 60 men and women, aged 60 and up, drink soy milk from either cans or glass bottles on three occasions. The researchers assessed participants' blood pressure and heart rate two hours after drinking the soy milk and also tested their urine for BPA.

Urine tests showed a 1,600 percent increase in BPA among those who drank from cans, compared with those who drank from glass bottles. Soy milk was chosen for the test because it has no known ingredient that elevates blood pressure, the researchers said.

The report was published online Dec. 8 in the journal Hypertension.

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Peanut Protein in Dust May Raise Allergy Risk

In a new study, published online Nov. 18 in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, being exposed to peanut protein in house dust doubled the chance of having a peanut allergy. In children who have eczema, the risk of having peanut allergy was even higher.

Researcher Helen Brough, from the department of pediatric allergy at King's College London, U.K., and colleagues note that eczema "is often cited as the first step in the allergic march."

They say that exposure to peanut proteins in dust through eczema-inflamed skin can trigger a peanut allergy.

How peanut allergies develop is not yet clear, says Carla M. Davis, MD, a specialist in children's allergies at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston. There is still plenty of controversy in the field, she says.

For instance, some researchers are testing a "patch" for people who already have a peanut allergy that would introduce the allergen through the skin to build tolerance. That seems to contradict the findings in this study, she says.

The researchers found out how much peanut protein infants were exposed to by measuring dust vacuumed from the patients' living rooms.

The researchers studied 359 children who had a high risk of developing a peanut allergy because they were already allergic to cow's milk or eggs, or had moderate or severe levels of eczema and had allergies to those foods.

"This study adds to the growing body of evidence that exposure to peanut via a damaged skin barrier [as in ezcema] may increase the risk of peanut allergy,” Brough says in a news release.

Several co-authors report receiving support from the Immune Tolerance Network, the Wellcome Trust Intermediate Clinical Fellowship, DBV Technologies, Dyax, and Hycor Biomedical. One co-author is a minority stockholder in Allertein and Mastcell Pharmaceuticals. Another has stock options with DBV Technologies. Several co-authors report receiving royalties from UptoDate. One co-author is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board for DBV Technologies. Several co-authors report consultancy arrangements or having received payments for lectures from one or more of the following companies or groups: Novartis, Abbott Laboratories, Dow AgroSciences, McNeill Nutritionals, Merck, Schering Plough, GLC Research, ExploraMed Development, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals; Unilever; Allertein Therapeutics; Danone Research Institute; Anaphalaxis Campaign; and the National Peanut Board. ThermoFisher Scientific, UCB, Pfizer, Sodilac, Nestle Nutrition, and GlaxoSmithKline.

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Peanut Protein in Dust May Raise Allergy Risk

Babies exposed to traces of peanut protein in house dust may have a higher risk of peanut allergy, researchers say.

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Low Levels of Vitamin D May Raise Early Death Risk: Study

But having gene variants linked to levels of the vitamin didn't affect rate of deaths from heart causes

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Low Levels of Vitamin D May Raise Early Death Risk: Study

But having gene variants linked to levels of the vitamin didn't affect rate of deaths from heart causes

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Peanut Protein in Dust May Raise Allergy Risk

Babies exposed to traces of peanut protein in house dust may have a higher risk of peanut allergy, researchers say.

View the original article here

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