Discover the Science of Health
The St. Vincent de Paul (SVDP) Charitable Pharmacy in Cincinnati, Ohio, announced last week that it surpassed $5.1 million dollars worth of medication dispensed to help people in need since it opened in September 2006 [1]. The Charitable Pharmacy is the only pharmacy in southwest Ohio that provides free, professional pharmaceutical care to people in need.
A new study published in The American Journal of Medicine highlights another reason not to light up that cigarette — smokers (current and former) are more likely to suffer from low back pain than people who have never smoked [1]. Although the association is moderate, it is strongest for chronic back pain and for adolescents.
By now, the vast majority of us know that smoking is bad for you. A number of health risks are associated with smoking. Indeed, many women are not aware that smoking is a risk factor for breast cancer [2]. However, there are other conditions associated with smoking besides the key conditions of cancer and heart disease. Previous research has looked at the link between the experience of low back pain and the potential risk factor of smoking [3-6]. The experience of back pain is widespread [7]. “Chronic” back pain is often of particular interest as it is associated with days lost from work and healthcare costs, in addition to the impact on the patient’s quality of life. In the UK, “persistent” back pain is that which has lasted more than 6 weeks [8]. In the US, “chronic” back pain is pain lasting more than 3 months [9]. The causes of back pain are often complex and unclear. In the present study, the association between back pain and smoking was assessed.
Scientists have devised a new computational model that can be used to reveal genetic regulatory elements responsible for development of the human heart and maintenance of its function.
Although the teams focused on the heart, the computational method they developed is broadly applicable to other tissues, and was successfully used to identify regulatory elements for cells of the limbs and brain. Cataloging these regulatory sequences may improve understanding of diseases and lays the groundwork for improved medical treatments.
The research, conducted by scientists at the National Institutes of Health’s National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) and the University of Chicago, is published in the March 2010 issue of Genome Research and is available online.
New analyses from the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) confirm that combination hormone therapy increases the risk of heart disease in healthy postmenopausal women. Researchers report a trend toward an increased risk of heart disease during the first two years of hormone therapy among women who began therapy within 10 years of menopause, and a more marked elevation of risk among women who began hormone therapy more than 10 years after menopause. Analyses indicate that overall a woman’s risk of heart disease more than doubles within the first two years of taking combination HT.
The difference in the initial level of risk does not appear related to age, based on findings that the increased risk of heart disease was similar between women in their 50s on combination hormone therapy and women in their 60s.
The study is in the Feb. 16, 2010, Annals of Internal Medicine. The WHI is sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
The water we drink comes from lakes, streams, rivers and underground aquifers. Thus, it’s very important that everyone do their part to reduce the pollution entering waterways that carry our drinking water. This is particularly important with respect to disposal of prescription and over-the-counter medications.
Most people throw out of their unused, unneeded or expired medicines by flushing or pouring them down the drain. Since wastewater treatment facilities aren’t designed to remove pharmaceuticals, the disposed compounds end up in our lakes and streams, and ultimately in our drinking water. Indeed, a 2002 U.S. Geological Survey identified a broad rand of chemicals, including antibiotics and non-prescription drugs, at low concentrations downstream from areas of intense urbanization and animal production [1].
