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 June 15, 2008:

Women Get Lung Cancer From Smoking at Same Rates as Men

A large US study found that lung cancer does not discriminate by gender for individuals who smoke. Although it was previously believed that female smokers were more likely to develop lung cancer than male smokers possibly due to an increased sensitivity to carcinogens in cigarettes, this theory was debunked by the study which found a similar rate of incidence of lung cancer in men and women who smoked comparable amounts of cigarettes. Researchers analyzed data collected from 279,214 men and 184,623 women between the ages of 50 and 71, and took into account factors such as diet, exercise, alcohol consumption, and whether the subjects were current smokers, ex-smokers, or had never smoked. Both men and women who smoked more than two packs of cigarettes a day were about 50 times more likely to develop lung cancer than non-smokers. The most effective way to prevent lung cancer is to never start smoking, or for current smokers, to quit smoking. For non-smokers, however, women may be at a slightly greater risk for lung cancer than men. In the study, women who had never smoked were found to be 1.3 times more likely to develop lung cancer than men who had never smoked.

Read the full story on healthday.com

FDA Warns About Fraudulent Cancer Treatments

Marketing herbal remedies and dietary supplements as cures for various types of cancers has become an increasingly profitable business in recent years. Companies selling herbal, fungal, and animal-based health products—none of which are subject to FDA approval before being sold to consumers—target cancer patients, claiming to be able to relieve symptoms and cure maladies that doctors and traditional medicine have not been able to alleviate. Now the US FDA is taking action, sending letters to 23 companies selling fraudulent cancer cures, warning them to remove unverified statements concerning the curative powers of their products from all marketing information. The FDA is also warning consumers to be wary of products that claim to be able to cure or prevent cancer, and is asking them to report any suspicious products to the FDA. Popular products often are made with shark cartilage, turmeric extract, flaxseed oil, dried mushrooms, herbal teas, and skin salves made from bloodroot. Most of these companies are preying on consumers’ fears, and their products have never been proven to provide any actual health benefit. The FDA has compiled a list of 125 known fake cancer cures that consumers are advised to avoid, which can be accessed online at http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/factsheets/fakecancercures.html.

Read the full story on washingtonpost.com

Mother’s Diet May Affect Daughter’s Puberty

Findings from a recent study conducted on rats suggest that a mother’s diet during pregnancy may affect the age at which her daughter starts puberty. An early first menstrual period can affect a girl’s health later in life, raising her risk factor for conditions such as breast cancer, teenage depression, obesity, and insulin resistance. The findings were presented at this week’s annual meeting of the Endocrine Society. Researchers fed an experimental group of pregnant rats a high-fat diet during pregnancy and throughout lactation, while a control group of pregnant rats received a regular rat chow diet. After being weaned, the baby rats were also divided into groups eating a regular diet and a high-fat diet. All of the rats whose mothers ate a high-fat diet during pregnancy experienced an early onset of puberty, regardless of their own diet. The rats who were fed a high-fat diet after birth also started puberty early. This research indicates that the fetal environment influences the onset of puberty as much, if not more so, than childhood nutrition.

Read the full story on nytimes.com

Cymbalta^® Approved for Fibromyalgia

The US FDA has approved the use of Cymbalta^® (duloxetine) for treating fibromyalgia. Cymbalta, an antidepressant, is marketed by drug company Eli Lilly. About 5 million Americans—mostly women—suffer from fibromyalgia, a chronic disorder marked by widespread pain. Before the approval of Cymbalta for treating fibromyalgia, the only approved drug used to treat the condition was Pfizer’s Lyrica, which was approved in June 2007. Scientists are still conducting research to better understand fibromyalgia, but at this time there is no cure. In two 3-month trials, Cymbalta provided significant pain relief compared to placebo in patients with fibromyalgia. Common side effects included nausea, dry mouth, constipation, decreased appetite, and fatigue. Cymbalta is also approved for the treatment of major depressive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder in adults 18 and older.

Read the full story on healthday.com