Could Coffee Lower Men's Risk for Prostate Cancer?

Men who drink at least six or more cups of coffee a day may be cutting their risk for advanced prostate cancer by 60 percent, new research suggests. This is the first large study looking specifically at the relationship between coffee and metastatic prostate cancer, lead researcher Kathryn Wilson said. "This is an exciting finding, because there aren't many modifiable risk factors for prostate cancer." A definite cause-and-effect link is still far from proven, experts say, and just how coffee might help thwart prostate malignancy isn't clear.

"There are a lot of compounds in coffee that have various biological effects. It's a major source of antioxidants and that might have anti-cancer effects," said Wilson, a research fellow in epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health, Boston. "Also, coffee seems to have effects on insulin and has been associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes. In addition, insulin is thought to play a role in many cancers, including prostate cancer." Compounds in coffee also have an impact on sex hormone levels, according to the study.

But right now, the findings point only to an association between a love of "java" and a healthier prostate. More study will be needed to confirm the findings and to see if a biological explanation for the phenomenon exists, Wilson said. The bottom line, she said: "It's probably too early to tell someone that should go out and start drinking coffee just because of this study." The report was published in the May 17 online edition of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed and the second leading cause of cancer death in men in the United States. In the U.S. it affects one in six men during their lifetime. More than 2 million Americans and 16 million men around the world are prostate cancer survivors, the researchers say.

FDA Panels to Weigh Dosing Labels for Kids' OTC Fever Relievers

Two U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory committees plan to meet Tuesday and Wednesday to decide whether to recommend that the dosing instructions on the labels of medicines containing acetaminophen need to be fine-tuned to protect children under the age of 2 against possible liver failure and even death. Currently, the labels of such fever-reducing medications, which include Children's Tylenol, have dosing instructions for children aged 2 and up. For kids under 2, the labels simply tell parents to "ask a doctor." The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and drug manufacturers are both strongly in favor of giving parents the additional dosing information.

"If we give parents better information, they will be able to give enough of the medicine to work well, at the same time minimizing the side effects," said Dr. Daniel Frattarelli, a pediatrician in Dearborn, Mich. who chairs the academy's drug committee and who plans to testify before a joint, two-day meeting of the Nonprescription Drugs Advisory Committee and the Pediatric Advisory Committee. "Parents want to do the right thing for their children," he said. "We as a medical community have to give them that information so they are able to do this." Although the evidence shows that acetaminophen is safe for young children, parents have to be careful with it, pediatricians noted. Giving too much can be toxic to the liver, causing poisoning and even liver failure.

In 2010, there were 270,000 reported overdoses of acetaminophen, according to the American Association of Poison Control Centers. Dosing errors involving children's acetaminophen products accounted for almost 7,500 cases nearly 3 percent. In an ideal world, the parents of infants and toddlers would still consult with their pediatrician or pharmacist to get the proper medication dosing, said Dr. William Basco, director of general pediatrics at the Medical University of South Carolina. But the reality is that many parents aren't doing that and are instead guessing about proper dosing. "There is no benefit to having parents guess at the right dose," Basco said.

Little Evidence That Diet, Lifestyle Cuts Alzheimer's Risk

Numerous studies have attempted to link specific behaviors and health conditions to the onset of Alzheimer's disease, but scientists still can't say for sure that anything you do or don't do will prevent the brain disorder, according to a new U.S. review of recent research. The U.S. National Institutes of Health convened a conference last spring to analyze 18 studies of potential risk factors, such as poor eating habits, chronic illness, smoking or little exercise, and development of Alzheimer's disease. "Although we are not dismissing the potential or important role that these major risk factors might play in the development of Alzheimer's disease, at this time, with what we have currently, we cannot confirm any risk associations," said study lead author Dr. Martha L. Daviglus, a professor of preventive medicine and medicine at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.

"So we need to conduct more research, if we want to have the evidence in hand," she added. The study, which summarizes the NIH conference results, is published in the May 9 online edition and September print issue of the Archives of Neurology. For now, older age is the leading known risk factor for Alzheimer's disease, the study noted. A gene variation is also tied to increased risk, it said. An estimated 5.3 million Americans struggle with Alzheimer's, a figure projected to grow as the country's Baby Boomer population ages, the authors said. The disease is responsible for between 60 and 80 percent of dementia cases. "What we're talking about here is something that is going to affect so many Americans in the years to come," said one expert, Catherine Roe, an instructor in neurology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. "In fact, there's going to be an explosion in the next 50 years, because everyone is living longer in general," she said.

The studies included in the NIH research review were conducted between 1984 and 2009 in English. Participants were at least 50 years old and living in developed countries. Some of the studies looked into dietary influences, such as folic acid intake, Mediterranean diet and nutritional supplements. Others looked for a link between health problems, such as diabetes or high cholesterol, and Alzheimer's. Still others explored levels of physical activity or alcohol consumption and risk of Alzheimer's disease. The NIH team found that, as a whole, the studies were "compromised by methodological limitations" that undercut the ability to draw a firm association between any particular behavioral habit and/or health condition and Alzheimer's.

Gay Men More Likely to Have Had Cancer

A new study finds that homosexual men are twice as likely as other males to have been diagnosed with and then survive a cancer, shining a light on the unique medical risks that gay people may face. It's not the first time that researchers have noted differences in health risks linked to sexual orientation. Gay men, of course, are at higher risk of becoming infected with HIV, while lesbians may be more likely than heterosexual women to get breast cancer. Both gay men and lesbians have higher rates of tobacco use than the general population, and research has shown that lesbians drink more and are more prone to obesity than other women.

The new study adds to existing knowledge, but "there's a painful dearth of data about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender health in general," noted Liz Margolies, executive director of the National LGBT Cancer Network, who's familiar with the new research. In the new study, published online May 9 in Cancer, researchers examined surveys involving more than 122,000 California residents from 2001, 2003 and 2005. Among other things, the surveys asked about sexual orientation and whether the participants had ever been diagnosed with cancer. About 8 percent of the gay men in the group reported having had cancer almost double the rate among the heterosexual and bisexual men surveyed.

Lesbians didn't have a higher rate of cancer than other women, but lesbian cancer survivors were about twice as likely to report that they had fair or poor health compared to heterosexual women. The study can't say whether gays and lesbians are more likely to develop cancer in the first place, since it doesn't include people who have died from the disease or may be too ill to answer questions, stressed study author Ulrike Boehmer, an associate professor of community health sciences at Boston University School of Public Health. Experts already believe that gay men face a higher risk of anal, lung, testicular and immune-system cancers, she said. For their part, lesbians are thought to possibly be at higher risk of breast cancer, perhaps because many of them don't give birth.

Can Hormone Therapy or the Pill Prevent Brain Aneurysms?

Taking birth control pills or hormone replacement therapy could protect women against brain aneurysms later in life, a new study suggests, although one neurologist questioned the quality of the research. Cerebral aneurysms occur when a blood vessel in the brain weakens and balloons out, potentially leading to a hemorrhagic (or bleeding) stroke if the vessel bursts. These types of aneurysms are more common in women than men, possibly because lower levels of female hormones after menopause play a role in their development, the study authors noted.

Brain aneurysms are more common after the age of 40 and are most likely to burst when people are in their 50s. In the study, Dr. Michael Chen, of Rush University Medical Center, and colleagues interviewed 60 women who had experienced brain aneurysms and asked about their use of birth control pills and hormone replacement therapy, and compared their answers to those from a group of almost 4,700 other women in the general U.S. public. The women who had brain aneurysms were significantly less likely to have taken birth control pills or received hormone replacement therapy, and were also more likely to have entered menopause earlier, according to the report published online May 4 in the Journal of NeuroInterventional Surgery.

Previous research has suggested that taking birth control pills lowers the risk of hemorrhagic (bleeding) stroke in later life. However, women who either begin menstruating at an early age, don't have children, or both, face a higher risk. Because estrogen is important for the repair and maintenance of blood vessel walls, a drop in the levels of the female hormone is believed to be the reason for the increased risk to the structure of these vessels, the study authors noted in background information about the research. However, commenting on the study, neurologist Dr. Cathy Sila said the research is flawed and its conclusions overstated.

Race Seems to Play Role in Colorectal Cancer Screening

Elderly black and Hispanic Americans are less likely than whites to get colorectal cancer screening, even though Medicare has expanded coverage for screening tests such as colonoscopy and fecal occult blood test, a new study has found. Researchers examined U.S. National Cancer Institute data between 1996 and 2005 to determine rates of colorectal cancer screening among Medicare beneficiaries aged 70 to 89 with no history of any cancer. Blacks were less likely than whites to receive colorectal cancer screening before and after Medicare provided coverage of fecal occult blood test, and after coverage of colonoscopy, according to the University of Texas School of Public Health study.

The investigators also found that Hispanics were less likely than whites to receive colorectal cancer screening after Medicare provided coverage of colonoscopy. The study is published in the current issue of the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention. "Colorectal cancer screening increased as Medicare coverage expanded. However, screening rates were still low according to recommendations," study author Aricia White, an epidemic service officer at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in a news release from the American Association for Cancer Research.

Obese Pregnant Women May Have Tougher Time Fighting Infections

Obese pregnant women may have a harder time fighting off infections than leaner women do, new research suggests. Researchers tested the blood of 30 women who were about six months pregnant. Half were obese and had a body-mass index (BMI) of more than 30 prior to becoming pregnant, while half had a normal BMI of 20 to 25. Obese women had fewer immune system cells that fight infections including T-cells and natural killer cells, researchers found. Obese women also had an impaired ability to produce those cells.

The difference could threaten the health of babies born to obese women, study author Dr. Sarbattama Sen, a researcher in the Mother Infant Research Institute at Tufts Medical Center and Floating Hospital for Children in Boston, said in an American Academy of Pediatrics news release. "Women who are obese before pregnancy have critical differences in their immune function during pregnancy compared to normal-weight women, which has negative consequences for both mother and baby," Sen said. The issue is taking on added urgency due to the increasing numbers of obese women of reproductive age, Sen added. "Maternal obesity has consequences for the mother and baby, which we are only beginning to understand."