Keep abreast of what your patients are currently seeing in the media with our round-up of popular news stories, available from WHF as abstracts with links to the full-text articles.

From the week of February 4, 2008

Choosing Radical Cancer Surgery

The number of women electing to have double mastectomies has greatly risen in recent years, prompting concern from some doctors. In the past, many women had no other option than to have one or both breasts removed. However, medical advancements have made lumpectomies, in which only the tumor and a small amount of surrounding breast tissue is removed, chemotherapy, and radiation viable treatment options for breast cancer. The women who undergo this radical surgery generally cite a greater sense of safety as their primary reason for having their breasts removed. Many women felt like having a double mastectomy would enhance their chance of survival, and lower their risk of developing another tumor. Some subsequently have plastic surgery to reconstruct their breasts. Physicians have mixed reactions to the increase in mastectomies, some of whom feel that women are taking greater control of their own health, and that the choice is empowering. Others feel that these patients are not well enough informed about other treatment options. Mastectomies reduce but do not eliminate the risk of getting a second cancer, nor do they reduce the chance of dying from breast cancer. Women should weigh all of their treatment options carefully before deciding on a mastectomy, a lumpectomy, and any other options available to them.

Read the full story on washingtonpost.com

Older Women More Likely to Suffer Depression

According to a new study conducted by researchers at Yale, older women are more likely than older men to become and remain depressed. The study focused on men and women over the age of 70, and followed them for approximately 8 years. The study participants were assessed for depression at the beginning of the study, and then at five 18-month intervals. Not only did more women than men succumb to depression during the study, but they were also less likely to recover from their depression than the males. This finding surprised researchers, because women are more likely than men to seek treatment for depression. The findings suggest that women do not receive as aggressive treatment as men for late-in-life depression, and that they do not respond as well to treatment. The study authors believe additional research is needed to explain older women’s tendency to remain depressed and their resistance to conventional treatment.

Read the full story on healthday.com

FDA Issues Health Advisory on Pfizer's Chantix Tablets

Last month Pfizer Inc, the drug company that markets the smoking-cessation drug Chantix, warned that patients should be monitored for suicidal behavior. Last week, the FDA followed up on this warning, issuing a public health advisory on Chantix’s possible tie to serious psychiatric symptoms. Chantix is an oral tablet taken twice daily for 12 weeks. It has proven successful in helping adults to quit smoking and has been approved as a smoking-cessation aide since May 2006. Reported side effects include depression, behavioral changes, and suicidal thoughts. It is not yet known whether Chantix is directly responsible for these psychiatric side effects, but preliminary findings by the FDA appear to point in that direction. Patients should discuss the benefits of the drug along with the possible side effects, and make an informed decision whether the drug is appropriate for them. For patients who elect to use the drug to help them stop smoking, they should be monitored for any sudden changes in behavior or suicidal thoughts.

Read the full story on wsj.com

Born to Be Obese?

New research suggests that the brain circuitry regulating appetite might be wired differently in some individuals, predisposing them to obesity. In a study conducted at the University of Southern California, researchers studied the neural circuits coming from the appetite, hunger, and body-weight control center of the brain (known as the ARH) in rats that were bred to be either prone to or resistant to obesity. In the obesity-prone rats, there were fewer neural connections stemming from the ARH than in the rats bred to be resistant to obesity. The lack of neural connections was evident at a young age, before the rats became obesity. The obesity-prone rats were also resistant to leptin, the hormone that controls the development of these brain circuits. The research indicates that certain individuals’ brains are actually hard-wired to promote obesity. The researchers at USC believe these findings directly relate to human obesity and the way humans’ brains are wired. The results do not mean that lifestyle does not contribute to obesity. Exercise and healthy eating are still important and can combat obesity even in those individuals who might be predisposed to being overweight. The researchers plan on investigating possible drugs that might stimulate development of the appropriate neural connections, which could override a person’s predisposition to obesity.

Read the full story on healthday.com