When it Rains, it Pours

[Guest guest]

Poor you! Your tale puts me in mind of my MIL. She had four children under the

age of 6 and they all came down with chicken pox together, on the same day the

cat had kittens under the bed and my FIL was out of town...it must have been

bedlam there for a while.

 

jaime

 

 

[Guest guest]

" HSI - Jenny Thompson " <hsiresearch

HSI e-Alert - When it Rains, it Pours

Wed, 03 May 2006 06:50:00 -0400

 

 

 

 

 

HSI e-Alert - When it Rains, it Pours

 

Health Sciences Institute e-Alert

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May 03, 2006

 

Dear Reader,

 

You wake up. It's pouring rain. You jam your toe on the foot of the

bed. You burn the toast. You open up the morning paper and your

horoscope says: " Go back to bed. Things just aren't going to go your way. "

 

That's what I imagine life must be like for executives at the drug

giant Merck & Co. these days. A few months ago their best selling

arthritis drug Vioxx had to be pulled from the market because of

proven increased risks of heart attacks and strokes. This was followed

by a perfect storm of Vioxx lawsuits (as many as 10,000 by some

counts), along with accusations that Merck insiders knew about the

drug's dangers for years.

 

And now Fosamax has taken a hit.

 

Fosamax is Merck's $3 billion per year osteoporosis drug that's

drawing fresh controversy with a court battle over an unusual side

effect. And then - as if all that weren't enough - along come

alternative health care writers who tell their readers about safe,

non-drug methods for treating and preventing osteoporosis.

 

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Rain, rain, rain

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According to the Associated Press (AP), a lawsuit filed in Florida

claims that Merck has been negligent by attempting to downplay one of

the drug's side effects.

 

In the e-Alert " Bad to the Bone " (4/30/03), I told you about a New

England Journal of Medicine report that linked Fosamax (and other

drugs in a class of pharmaceuticals known as bisphosphonates) with

ocular inflammation. When untreated, this condition causes blurred

vision, swelling and even blindness.

 

The Florida lawsuit highlights another unusual bisphosphonate side

effect: osteonecrosis of the jaw; also known as " jaw necrosis " or " jaw

death, " prompted by a loss of blood supply to the jawbone. The suit

has been filed on behalf of 250 Fosamax users who developed this

condition.

 

The AP article notes that Merck representatives responded to the suit

by stating that no cases of osteonecrosis of the jaw were reported

among more than 17,000 subjects in clinical trials. Nevertheless, in

January 2005 the FDA directed Merck to update the Fosamax label with a

warning about the side effect. The company complied later in the year,

but the lawsuit claims that the warning is not sufficient.

 

According to the Fosamax web site, other side effects include

inflammation and ulceration of the esophagus, painful swallowing,

stomach pain, indigestion and nausea.

 

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Grain drain

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When the subject of osteoporosis comes up, you'll rarely see any

mainstream attention given to the fact that diet may be a key

aggravating factor for many osteoporosis patients.

 

The problem: celiac disease (CD), a condition in which gluten - a

component of grains - reduces the small intestine's ability to absorb

essential nutrients, such as calcium. The gluten dilemma is further

complicated by the fact that celiac disease symptoms are so subtle

that doctors often miss the diagnosis.

 

A 2005 study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine examined

the link between celiac disease and osteoporosis in a test that

compared 260 celiac patients with 580 healthy subjects. Blood tests

revealed that CD was much more common among subjects with

osteoporosis. In addition, subjects with the most severe cases of

celiac disease tended to have the most severe cases of osteoporosis.

 

Subjects who were diagnosed with CD were asked to follow a gluten-free

diet for one year. Bone mineral density (measured before and after the

follow up year) was considerably improved in subjects who followed the

non-gluten diet.

 

Barley, rye, oat and wheat are the four gluten-rich grains that CD

patients need to avoid. Unfortunately, gluten is hidden in many

processed foods such as soups, soy sauce, low-fat or non-fat products,

and even candy. Some common food ingredients that may contain gluten

include modified food starch, hydrolyzed vegetable or plant protein,

and some binders and fillers, as well as malt and natural flavorings.

 

Long-term calcium deficiency also plays a key role in osteoporosis.

I'll address the calcium issue in an e-Alert next week.

 

*************************

 

...and another thing

 

Got a pain in the neck? Fish oil may help with that.

 

The omega-3 fatty acids found in fish and fish oil supplements have

been shown to help manage inflammation, which is a common factor in

many chronic health problems.

 

University of Pittsburgh researchers believe that reduced inflammation

may be the key to the results of a recent study that tested fish oil

treatments on 250 patients who had neck or back pain. Most of the

patients had degenerative disc disease, which affects about one in

four people.

 

At the outset of the study, all of the subjects were taking

non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) to address neck and

back pain. For two weeks, each subject received a fish oil supplement

containing 2.4 grams of omega-3s. For an additional two weeks,

patients cut their omega-3 intake in half, and were asked to gradually

discontinue their NSAID use.

 

At the end of the four-week study period, subjects were surveyed about

their pain levels and painkiller use. Almost 60 percent had stopped

taking NSAIDs. Results also showed that 60 percent reported

improvement in pain, and nearly 90 percent said they planned to keep

using the fish oil supplements.

 

This was not a placebo-controlled study so further research is needed.

But the Pittsburgh researchers regard their work as a promising

" starting point " for examining the effectiveness of fish oil as a

treatment for neck and back pain.

 

To Your Good Health,

 

Jenny Thompson

 

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Sources:

 

" Lawsuit Alleges Merck Negligent " Theresa Agovino, Associated Press,

4/12/06, ap.org

" Bisphosphonates and Ocular Inflammation " The New England Journal of

Medicine, 2003 March 20:348(12):1187-88, nejm.org

" Fish Oil May Help Ease Back Pain " Miranda Hitti, WebMD Medical News,

4/6/06, webmd.com