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Personal Health: News and Notes
Tips to thwart cyberspace bullies
Just in time for a back-to-school surge in electronic messaging, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued tips to prevent what it calls "electronic aggression" - various forms of bullying that occur in cyberspace. The tips, issued last week, include keeping abreast of what Web sites your child visits, urging the school to educate parents about the issue, and establishing rules about what behavior is OK when your child uses electronic media. The recommendations are available at www.cdc.gov/ncipc/dvp/electronic_aggression.htm. The site also lists examples of this aggression, such as masquerading as someone to send hurtful messages, or spreading rumors, photos or sensitive information via e-mail and public discussion boards. The CDC said 9 percent to 35 percent of youths report being victims of electronic aggression.- Tom Avril
More than you bargained for when you buy herbal pills online
Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine warn of big risks from buying certain traditional herbal pills online. Robert B. Saper and colleagues tested samples of Indian ayurvedic remedies for lead, mercury and arsenic. The remedies were intended to treat various conditions from arthritis to ulcers. A study in last week's issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association reported that one in five of the ayurvedic medicines bought online contained toxic levels of the heavy metals. They were found at the same rate in Indian supplements as those made in this country. The researchers analyzed 193 randomly selected medicines purchased online after identifying 673 products using popular Internet search engines. Nearly 21 percent of the medicines contained toxic levels of heavy metals. In the Indian Rasa Shastra medical tradition, herbs are combined with metals, minerals and crushed gems such as pearls. Experts claim that properly made and given, those mixtures are safe and effective. Saper disputes that and called for strictly enforced toxic-metal limits in supplements.- Josh Goldstein
Making low-dose aspirin less risky at low cost
Good medicine and cheap medicine don't always show up in the same pills, but here are two that might. For years, doctors have recommended a daily low-dose (children's) aspirin for people at risk of coronary heart disease. While effective and cheap, aspirin can cause upper gastrointestinal bleeding, which carries a small risk of death. Another class of drugs known as proton pump inhibitors (PPI) can lessen upper gastrointestinal bleeding. Most are costly prescription drugs, though one is sold over the counter. Researchers wanted to know whether adding a PPI to a daily aspirin is effective - both medically and in terms of cost. The answer: In some cases, it is. Researchers from the University of Michigan and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs plugged known data on effectiveness and cost into a statistical model. Adding a PPI to aspirin reduced the risk of upper GI bleeding lifetime from 9 percent to 3 percent, and related deaths from 1.4 percent to 0.4 percent. The cost of PPI drugs range from around $20 a month for over-the-counter Prilosec to nearly $200 for prescription Nexium, according to Consumers Union. The researchers' conclusion, published in the current Archives of Internal Medicine, is that adding an over-the-counter PPI to aspirin therapy for the rest of your life can be worth it for people over 65 who are at average risk for upper GI bleeding, and may be cost-effective as early as age 50. Adding a PPI at prescription prices is cost-effective only for high-risk patients, such as those with known ulcer disease. The authors reported taking money from many drug firms, including PPI makers.- Don Sapatkin
