Green and Black Tea Consumption and Risk of Stroke. A Meta-Analysis

Moral of the story: Drinking black and green tea can help prevent a stroke. A meta-analysis is an analysis of all the literature on a single topic. This study found that taken all together, studies suggest that 3 cups of tea may be effective.

Green and Black Tea Consumption and Risk of Stroke. A Meta-Analysis

Lenore Arab PhD^*;

Weiqing Liu MS; and David Elashoff PhD

From UCLA's School of Medicine, Los Angeles, Calif.

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: Larab@ucla.edu.

Background and Purpose—Experimental models of stroke provide consistent evidence of smaller stroke volumes in animals ingesting tea components or tea extracts. To assess whether a similar association of black or green tea consumption with reduced risk is evident in human populations, we sought to identify and summarize all human clinical and observational data on tea and stroke.

Methods—We searched PubMed and Web of Science for all studies on stroke and tea consumption in humans with original data, including estimation or measurement of tea consumption and outcomes of fatal or nonfatal stroke. Data from 9 studies involving 4378 strokes among 194 965 individuals were pooled. The main outcome was the occurrence of fatal or nonfatal stroke. We tested for heterogeneity and calculated the summary effect estimate associated with consumption of 3 cups of tea (green or black) per day using random-effects and fixed-effects models for the homogeneous studies. Publication bias was also evaluated.

Results—Regardless of their country of origin, individuals consuming 3 cups of tea per day had a 21% lower risk of stroke than those consuming <1> 0.85). The proportion of heterogeneity not explained by chance alone was 23.8%.

Conclusions—Although a randomized clinical trial would be necessary to confirm the effect, this meta-analysis suggests that daily consumption of either green or black tea equaling 3 cups per day could prevent the onset of ischemic stroke.

Key words: black tea • Camelia sinensis • green tea • ischemic stroke • theophylline

Long-Term Control of HIV by CCR5 Delta32/Delta32 Stem-Cell Transplantation

Moral of the story: There may be a cure for HIV infection, and we may find it soon. This person was cured of HIV thanks to a bone marrow transplantation (he had leukemia) that inserted a certain type of stem cell into his body that did not allow for HIV infection of the immune system. Incredible. Notice they are much more cautious than I and have called it long-term control. Any way you cut it, this is huge.

Long-Term Control of HIV by CCR5 Delta32/Delta32 Stem-Cell Transplantation
Gero Hütter, M.D., Daniel Nowak, M.D., Maximilian Mossner, B.S., Susanne Ganepola, M.D., Arne Müßig, M.D., Kristina Allers, Ph.D., Thomas Schneider, M.D., Ph.D., Jörg Hofmann, Ph.D., Claudia Kücherer, M.D., Olga Blau, M.D., Igor W. Blau, M.D., Wolf K. Hofmann, M.D., and Eckhard Thiel, M.D.
SUMMARY
Infection with the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) requires the presence of a CD4 receptor and a chemokine receptor, principally chemokine receptor 5 (CCR5). Homozygosity for a 32-bp deletion in the CCR5 allele provides resistance against HIV-1 acquisition. We transplanted stem cells from a donor who was homozygous for CCR5 delta32 in a patient with acute myeloid leukemia and HIV-1 infection. The patient remained without viral rebound 20 months after transplantation and discontinuation of antiretroviral therapy. This outcome demonstrates the critical role CCR5 plays in maintaining HIV-1 infection.

Nature.com - Webby award for best science website

Moral of the story: There is some good stuff in here and not just hard data that is impossible to understand without a PhD. Check this out: http://www.nature.com/nature/focus/beinghuman/ or this: http://www.nature.com/reports/index.html. They cover everything from music and religion to stem cells in a relatively easy to read format while still being scientifically spot on.

Vaccines do not cause autism - a special court ruling

Moral of the story: Vaccines are a GOOD thing, get them.

The Associated Press Thursday, February 12, 2009; 10:12 AM
WASHINGTON -- A special court has ruled against parents with autistic children, saying that vaccines are not to blame for their children's neurological disorder.
The judges in the cases said the evidence was overwhelmingly contrary to the parent's claims _ and backed years of science that found no risk.
More than 5,000 claims were filed with the U.S. Court of Claims alleging that vaccines caused autism and other neurological problems in their children. To win, they had to show that it was more likely than not that the autism symptoms were directly related to the measles-mumps-rubella shots they received.
The court still has to rule on separate claims from other families that other vaccines played a role.

CDC Confirms First Case Of Marburg Fever In Colorado

Moral of the story: none, unless you are going to Uganda and going to be near fruit bats, then you had better be careful, very very careful.

CDC Confirms First Case Of Marburg Fever In Colorado Featured ArticleMain Category: Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / VirusesArticle Date: 09 Feb 2009

After repeat testing, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed at the end of last month that a man treated last year in a Colorado hospital had contracted Marburg hemorrhagic fever, the first known case in the United States.According to a report in the online version of Colorado's daily newspaper Rocky Mountain News late on Friday, the man contracted the virus during a visit to Uganda and was treated at Lutheran Medical Center in Wheat Ridge in January 2008. The man recovered and came back for a follow up in June 2008 when he was re-tested.The man, who has not been identified, had visited a python cave in Maramagambo Forest in Queen Elizabeth Park in Uganda. The cave is populated by fruit bats, known to carry the Marburg virus.According to the CDC, Marburg hemorrhagic fever is a rare, severe type of animal-borne hemorrhagic fever that affects both humans and non-human primates.It is caused by a unique member of the filovirus family, of which the five species of Ebola are the only other known members. While the virus is indigenous to Africa, it carries the name Marburg because it was first recognized in 1967 when outbreaks of the fever simultaneously broke out in laboratories in Marburg and Frankfurt in Germany and in Belgrade, in what was then Yugoslavia (now Serbia). The outbreaks killed 37 people in all, some were lab workers and some were family members who had nursed them. The lab workers had caught the virus from African green monkeys that had been imported for research on polio vaccine.Lutheran Medical Center is working with state and local health authorities and the CDC to establish the risk doctors and staff have been exposed to as a result of coming into contact with the patient.A spokeswoman for Exempla Healthcare, of which the Lutheran Medical Centre is a part, told Rocky Mountain News that so far investigations have concluded that none of the doctors and staff who cared for the patient have developed symptoms of the fever. However, any member of staff who is still concerned can still get a blood test, said the paper.Exactly how the virus is transmitted is not known, says the CDC, but the incubation period is about 5 to 10 days and the onset of the disease is quite sudden, with fever, chills, headache, and myalgia (muscle pain). It is most likely passed via bodily fluids, such as blood drops, and doctors and care staff should wear protective gowns, gloves and masks around the patient.About 5 days after the symptoms start, the patient may get a maculopapular rash of spots and bumps, most noticeable on the chest, back and stomach. This may then be followed by nausea, vomiting, chest pain, sore throat, abdominal pain, and diarrhea. Symptoms then become more and more severe, and may include jaundice, inflammation of the pancreas, delirium, shock, severe weight loss, liver failure, and multiple organ dysfunction. The disease can be fatal.Diagnosis of Marburg fever is made difficult by the fact the symptoms are similar to those of other infectious diseases, such as malaria or typhoid fever, says the CDC, which may explain why it wasn't diagnosed at the time, but there was no explanation as to why the first lab test didn't identify it.Officials from the hospital told Rocky Mountain News that they followed the protocols for dealing with an unknown infection. This included:"Contact isolation (gown and glove) and testing for a number of infectious [agents], with some of the tests being performed at the CDC."Click here for more information on Marburg fever (CDC).Sources: Rocky Mountain News, CDC.Written by: Catharine Paddock, PhD Copyright: Medical News Today

Breast cancer risk rapidly drops after stopping hormone therapy

Moral of the story: hormone replacement therapy is a better predictor of breast cancer incidence than mammography frequency. If you are on homone replacement therapy, get those mammo's! Both the Reuters article and NEJM journal abstract are included below.

Breast cancer risk rapidly drops after stopping hormone therapy By Reuters Health February 5, 2009

NEW YORK (Reuters Health), Feb 5 - The elevated risk of breast cancer seen with combined hormone therapy quickly declines after this treatment is stopped, according to a report in the New England Journal of Medicine for February 5.

The results of the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) trial released in 2002 linked use of estrogen plus progestin with increased breast cancer risk in postmenopausal women. Subsequently, use of this therapy in the U.S. decreased substantially accompanied by a drop in breast cancer rates. Whether the two trends were causally related, however, was unclear.

In fact, it was suspected that changes in the frequency of mammographic screening may have accounted for the apparent drop in breast cancer incidence.

To investigate, Dr. Marcia Stefanick, from Stanford University School of Medicine, California, and colleagues analyzed follow-up data from the WHI trial. Included in the postintervention phase of the trial were 7,854 women who had received conjugated equine estrogens (0.625 mg) plus medroxyprogesterone (2.5 mg) daily and 7,533 given placebo.

In the two years prior to the intervention phase of the study, fewer breast cancer diagnoses were seen in the combined hormone therapy group than in the placebo group. During the 5.6 years of intervention, however, the risk of breast cancer was 26% higher in the hormone therapy group.

After stopping hormone therapy, the risk of breast cancer fell rapidly. The annualized incidence decreased 43% within one year, and by two years it was essentially the same as in the placebo group.

Moreover, during this period, "differences in the frequency of mammography between the two groups were unchanged."

Overall, "This is very strong evidence that estrogen plus progestin causes breast cancer," Stefanick said in a statement. "You start women on hormones and within five years, their risk for breast cancer is clearly elevated. You stop the hormones and within one year, their risk is essentially back to normal. It's reasonably convincing cause-and-effect data."

Last Updated: 2009-02-04 17:00:12 -0400 (Reuters Health)

Related Reading

Current HRT use is associated with low-grade breast cancer tumors, October 22, 2008

N Engl J Med 2009;360:573-587

Breast Cancer after Use of Estrogen plus Progestin in Postmenopausal Women

Rowan T. Chlebowski, M.D., Ph.D., Lewis H. Kuller, M.D., Dr.P.H., Ross L. Prentice, Ph.D., Marcia L. Stefanick, Ph.D., JoAnn E. Manson, M.D., Dr.P.H., Margery Gass, M.D., Aaron K. Aragaki, M.S., Judith K. Ockene, Ph.D., Dorothy S. Lane, M.D., Gloria E. Sarto, M.D., Aleksandar Rajkovic, M.D., Ph.D., Robert Schenken, M.D., Susan L. Hendrix, D.O., Peter M. Ravdin, M.D., Ph.D., Thomas E. Rohan, M.B., B.S., Ph.D., Shagufta Yasmeen, M.D., Garnet Anderson, Ph.D., for the WHI Investigators

ABSTRACT

Background Following the release of the 2002 report of the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) trial of estrogen plus progestin, the use of menopausal hormone therapy in the United States decreased substantially. Subsequently, the incidence of breast cancer also dropped, suggesting a cause-and-effect relation between hormone treatment and breast cancer. However, the cause of this decrease remains controversial.

Methods We analyzed the results of the WHI randomized clinical trial — in which one study group received 0.625 mg of conjugated equine estrogens plus 2.5 mg of medroxyprogesterone acetate daily and another group received placebo — and examined temporal trends in breast-cancer diagnoses in the WHI observational-study cohort. Risk factors for breast cancer, frequency of mammography, and time-specific incidence of breast cancer were assessed in relation to combined hormone use.

Results In the clinical trial, there were fewer breast-cancer diagnoses in the group receiving estrogen plus progestin than in the placebo group in the initial 2 years of the study, but the number of diagnoses increased over the course of the 5.6-year intervention period. The elevated risk decreased rapidly after both groups stopped taking the study pills, despite a similar frequency of mammography. In the observational study, the incidence of breast cancer was initially about two times as high in the group receiving menopausal hormones as in the placebo group, but this difference in incidence decreased rapidly in about 2 years, coinciding with year-to-year reductions in combined hormone use. During this period, differences in the frequency of mammography between the two groups were unchanged.

Conclusions The increased risk of breast cancer associated with the use of estrogen plus progestin declined markedly soon after discontinuation of combined hormone therapy and was unrelated to changes in frequency of mammography.

High resting pulse increases risk of MI, coronary death in women

Moral of the story: know your risk factors. Are you female? Do you have a resting heart rate higher than 75 bpm? Then you are at an increased risk for MI (heart attack) and coronary disease/death. Make sure to take especially good care of your heart if you fall into both of those categories

Heartwire
Clinical cardiology
High resting pulse increases risk of MI, coronary death in women
February 4, 2009

Washington, DC - A high resting heart rate is associated with an increased risk of MI or coronary death in females, a new analysis from the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) shows [1]. Dr Judith Hsia (AstraZeneca, Wilmington, DE, who was at George Washington University when this research was done) and colleagues report the findings online February 3, 2009 in BMJ.

"Multiple studies in men have previously shown that a high heart rate, after adjustment for other potential confounders such as blood pressure and cholesterol, is associated with an increased risk of heart attack and coronary death," Hsia explained to heartwire. "But this is the first demonstration in women that having a high heart rate increases this risk."

She points out that it was only women in the highest quintile (with a heart rate of 76 bpm or higher) who had a significantly increased risk and that there was no relationship between high resting pulse and risk of stroke in this cohort.

In terms of implications for doctors, Hsia says, as physicians already check resting pulse as part of their global cardiovascular risk assessment, "they may just consider this in addition to the factors they already use when deciding how aggressively people need to be managed. If, for example, you have a patient who is reluctant to take something for their blood pressure or cholesterol, maybe they should think again if they have a high resting heart rate."

Association present across ethnic groups, strongest in younger women

In their analysis, Hsia et al identified 2281 women with MI or coronary death and 1877 with stroke over a mean of 7.8 years of follow-up among 129 135 postmenopausal women in the WHI with no history of cardiovascular events. They evaluated associations between resting heart rate and cardiovascular events in Cox regression models adjusted for multiple covariates. Hsia points out that the WHI is one of the few studies to have detailed information on physical activity, which was also adjusted for.

Higher resting heart rate was independently associated with a 26% increased risk of coronary events (hazard ratio 1.26 for highest quintile [>76 bpm] vs lowest quintile [<62 bpm]; p=0.001), but not with stroke (HR 1.01).

The relation between resting pulse and risk of coronary events was stronger in younger postmenopausal women (aged 50 to 64) than in older ones (65 and over), and heart rate was similarly predictive for coronary events across all ethnic groups included in the study, Hsia said.
What's attractive about this analysis is that heart rate is such a low-tech assessment.
The strength of this association, from lowest to highest quintile of heart rate, is less than the association with cigarette smoking or diabetes mellitus, Hsia and colleagues add, but they say it "might be large enough to be clinically meaningful," and they stress that it is independent of physical activity.

"We don't know exactly why this higher heart rate is associated with increased heart-attack risk," Hsia told heartwire. "Heart rate is thought to reflect a balance between the adrenaline side of the system and the vagal side, so it may be that the 'thermostat' is set on the high side for adrenaline in those women who have a higher heart rate.

"What's attractive about this analysis is that heart rate is such a low-tech assessment" compared with more elaborate, time-consuming, and expensive methods to assess autonomic tone, she concludes.

Source
Hsia J, Larson JC, Ockene JK, et al. Resting heart rate as a low tech predictor of coronary events in women: prospective cohort study. BMJ 2009; DOI:10.1136/bmj.b219. Available at: http://www.bmj.com.