Life or Death News

BOOSTING VITAMIN D LEVELS PROTECTS YOUR HEART: 
I only bring this up because there’s been a lot of doubt cast recently in the mainstream media on the importance of normalizing vitamin D levels and health risks.  Research results recently announced at this year’s annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology tells us that patients who reached normal levels of vitamin D had significantly lower rates of heart attacks, death and other undesirable outcomes.  The study was an observational study of 9491 patients — 78% women — whose baseline 25 OH Vitamin D levels were only 19.3 nanograms per milliliter.  Those who boosted their levels to over 44 nanograms per milliliter had the lowest rates of death, heart attack, new onset diabetes, heart failure, depression and renal failure. 

Although it was not known exactly how levels were increased, the reasonable assumption is that it was done with supplements, as there are precious few food sources of vitamin D (salmon, herring, sardines) and people are unlikely to increase their sun exposure for fear of skin cancer.  The take-home is to continue to supplement with Vitamin D3 to a level — 44 nanograms per milliliter or more.  The amount of vitamin D required to increase levels from 19 ng/ml to 44 ng/ml is approximately 2000 to 2500 IUs a day for most people.

BLOOD PRESSURE MEDS TIED TO INCREASE IN CANCER RISK . . . OOPS!: 
A widely used category of blood pressure medications – angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) – are associated with a modestly increased risk of cancer in a study form Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.  This was prompted by a study published in the Lancet (2003; 362: 759-66) in which there was an “unexpected finding” of higher numbers of significantly fatal cancers in people taking the ARB candesartan.  Although the effect was not great, it was present for both new cancers and recurrent cancers.  The clue as to why ARBs may cause cancer comes from animal research which shows the angiotensin-renin system is involved in the regulation of cell proliferation, tumor growth, the formation of blood vessels around tumors that help support their growth and metastasis, or the spreading of tumor cells. 

I have decided to discontinue the use of these drugs in my practice.  As one of my patients told me “I want zero increased risk of cancer, thank you”.   This finding of increased cancer risk is another example of the unintended adverse effects a powerful drug may have in other parts of the body —> that is, poison an enzyme and pay the price.  Not surprisingly, the authors noted that the findings “warrant further investigation”.

ARBs include candesartan, eprosartan, irbesartan, losartan, olmesartan, telmisartan and valsartan.

OLMESARTAN CAUSES INCREASED DEATH FROM HEART ATTACKS IN PEOPLE WITH DIABETES: 
In a finding related to the one above, olmesartan is apparently associated with increased numbers of deaths from heart attacks in people with diabetes.  In a German study called ROADMAP, there were 15 deaths in the group receiving olmesartan, vs. 3 in the placebo group.  In a Chinese/Japanese study called ORIENT, there were 10 deaths in the drug group, vs. 3 in the placebo.  These results were enought to prompt an FDA safety review. 

CATARACT RISK 15% HIGHER IN PEOPLE WHO TAKE SSRI ANTIDEPRESSANTS: 
SSRI antidepressants are commonly used to treat depression around the world.  A recent Canadian study looked at over 206,624 people and revealed that the 18,784 on SSRIs were 15% more likely to develop cataracts than non-users.  The drugs responsible for the effect were fluvoxamine and paroxetine along with venlafaxine, a serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor.  Others were not implicated. Representatives from GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer said they needed more time to review the study before commenting.  Jazz Pharmaceuticals, the makers of fluvoxamine, apparently ignored requests for comment.  Fluvoxamine was the riskiest, increasing the chances of having to undergo cataract surgery by over 50%.  Here again we see an unintended adverse consequence of a powerful molecule aimed at a specific target, wreaking havoc elsewhere.