HIV DRUG MAY RAISE CANCER RISK
Babies exposed to AZT, a drug used to prevent HIV transmission from mother to child, should be monitored over the long term for cancer, researchers recommend. That precaution is advised in view of findings that suggest AZT (zidovudine) can cause genetic damage that may increase future cancer risk, scientists said in Environmental and Molecular Mutagenesis. Doctors still favor using AZT, which can prevent HIV transfer to newborns exposed to the AIDS virus before birth, during labor or while nursing. Untreated, these babies face a 25 percent chance of becoming infected and even developing AIDS. Anti-retroviral drug combinations, which typically include AZT, slash that rate to under 2 percent. Yet, the new studies found AZT-exposed mice and rats suffered increased rates of malignancy with gene changes that frequently occur in such human cancers as of the blood vessel lining, liver and reproductive system or in a type of leukemia, according to Dale Walker of Experimental Pathology Laboratories in Herndon, Va. It's "highly plausible" exposed children will face increased cancer risk in mid- to late adulthood, the authors warned in a statement.
LIVING WITH CANCER SURVIVOR MAY POSE RISKS
Living with a cancer survivor may prove hazardous to your mental health. Over the long term, partners face similar stresses as do the survivors and, in some cases, may even be at greater risk for depression and other quality-of-life problems, according to a survey in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. The study of families of cancer survivors treated with blood and marrow transplants found the partners reported better physical health and less fatigue and cognitive dysfunction but showed equal levels of mental impairment, according to lead author Michelle Bishop of the University of Florida in Gainesville. Depressed partners were less likely than depressed survivors to receive mental-health treatment, 34 percent to 58 percent. Partners also reported less social support, spiritual well-being, marital satisfaction and more loneliness than did survivors. Previous research showed partners experienced as much, if not more, anxiety, distress and depression as did the patients themselves.
MUCH ADO ABOUT GLYCEMIC LOAD
If you're counting calories and determining the glycemic load to maintain a healthy weight, you may be working too hard. Much has been made about restricting both to shed extra pounds, but a study by Tufts University researchers in Boston suggests glycemic load may have little to do with weight control. In the survey of 34 overweight men and women, scientists found restricting calories by 30 percent shed the flab -- whether the glycemic load was high or low. One year after the study started, all the dieters enjoyed comparable body-fat loss -- averaging 8 percent of their original weight -- metabolic rate, energy intake and feelings of hunger and satiety, said author Susan Roberts. The study, funded by the National Institute on Aging, contradicts earlier findings -- perhaps because it was the only one to keep exact tabs on what the participants ate by providing them with all the food, the investigators said. At the study's midpoint, those on low-glycemic diets had lost an average of 10.4 percent body weight, compared to 9 percent for the high- glycemic crowd. By year's end, both groups had shed an average of 8 percent of their starting weight. Over time, the low-glycemic group had a greater tendency to regain the lost fat. Glycemic load refers to the relative amount of carbohydrate in a food and the speed at which that food is converted to blood sugar. A low-glycemic diet contains 40 percent carbohydrates and 30 percent each of fat and protein, compared to a 60-20-20 spread in a high-glycemic diet. Bean and barley stew, low-fat cottage cheese and pumpernickel bread exemplify LG foods, while bagels, candied sweet potatoes and shepherd's pie with mashed potatoes belong in the HG category.
COCOA AS BLOOD PRESSURE BUSTER
If you want to lower your blood pressure, better drink more cocoa than tea, scientists say. Current guidelines on fighting hypertension call for stocking up on fruits and vegetables rich in polyphenols or flavonoids, compounds thought to produce beneficial effects on blood pressure and cardiovascular risk. "Tea and cocoa products account for the major proportion of total polyphenol intake in Western countries," Dr. Dirk Taubert and colleagues at the University Hospital of Cologne, Germany, said in a statement. "However, cocoa and tea are currently not implemented in cardio-protective or anti-hypertensive dietary advice, although both have been associated with lower incidences of cardiovascular events." Their analysis of five cocoa studies concluded the effects on blood pressure were comparable to those of anti-hypertensive drugs. The expected long-term benefit would be a reduction in the risk of stroke by 20 percent, of coronary heart disease by 10 percent and of mortality by some 8 percent, the authors said. On the other hand, a survey of five tea studies found little association with lowered blood pressure. Because of its high levels of sugar, fat and calories, cocoa cannot be universally recommended for lowering blood pressure, the authors said. Rather, they advised substituting coca products such as dark chocolate for other fattening dessert and dairy dishes. "Rationally applied, cocoa products might be considered part of dietary approaches to lower hypertension risk," they wrote in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
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