Anti-oxidant supplements and mortality

Many people believe that vitamin supplementation will improve overall health, but many studies show no obvious benefits and some have even shown harm. A recent meta-analysis was performed on 68 randomized trials involving 230,000 participants to try to determine if these vitamins are beneficial. In analysis of the 47 best trials, beta-carotene, vitamin A and vitamin E significantly increased the overall risk of death compared to the participants who took placebo! Vitamin C and selenium had no effect on the overall risk of death.

The increased risk of death in patients taking the anti-oxidant vitamin supplements was small, but our assumptions that all vitamin supplements are beneficial may need to be changed. It is safer and healthier to eat a diet high in fruits and vegetables.

Surgery or Radiation improves survival compared to observation of localized prostate cancer.

A recently published study analyzed the outcomes of 3,159 men treated either conservatively or with radiotherapy or radical prostatectomy (RP) in the years 1980 to 1997. The study shows that men with localized prostate cancer treated with surgery (radical prostatectomy, RP) or radiation had improved survival compared to men who chose observation, despite the fact that the men who chose treatment had more aggressive cancers.

Participants were younger than 75 years and had socioeconomic, clinical, pathological and demographic data reviewed. Men with positive bones scans were excluded. The primary endpoint was death from all causes and the secondary endpoint was death from prostate cancer. Radiotherapy or RP had to be received by the patient within 6 months of diagnosis.

Surgery reduced the 15-year mortality rate by 59% overall and by 47%, 60%, and 65% for men with grade 1, 2, and 3 tumors, respectively. The overall survival advantage was 8.6 years and was 6.8, 5.5, and 10.4 years for patients with grade 1, 2, and 3 disease, respectively. Radiotherapy patients also experienced a survival advantage with a reduction in mortality of 33%. The survival advantage was also found for CaP-specific survival. Radiotherapy or RP reduced the death rate from CaP by 38% and 63%, respectively, compared with patients treated conservatively.

These results may seem obvious, but there is vigorous ongoing debate about the benefit of aggressive treatment of localized prostate cancer. This is just the latest in a series of studies that show an advatage for treatment, particularly in younger patients and men with at least 10 years of life expectancy.

Herbal extract may aid antibiotics in treating bladder infections, study suggests.

An herbal extract that is sold in health food stores and promoted as an allergy and fat loss aid may improve treatment of bladder infections when it is taken with antibiotics, research suggests.

The bladder is lined with small pouches that allow it to stretch as it fills. Researchers at Duke University reported in Sunday’s online edition of Nature Medicine that some bacteria were able to hide in those pouches, escaping the antibiotics used to treat the infection. In tests in mice, the extract forskolin can cause the pouches to kick out the bacteria, allowing antibiotics to kill them, said the lead researcher, microbiologist Soman N. Abraham. In the experiments, forskolin was injected into some mice and placed directly into the bladders in others, Abraham said.

Forskolin is derived from the Indian coleus plant. Extracts from the Indian coleus were used in ancient Asia to treat a variety of diseases including urinary tract infections, Abraham said. “So, we have come full circle,” he said. The extract is available in health food stores and some people take it by mouth as a supplement, he said. It is promoted as a treatment for allergies, breathing problems and even fat loss. That availability does “absolutely not” mean people should attempt to treat themselves for bladder infections, Abraham said.

Abraham said the next step for the researchers is to experiment in larger animals to see if they can completely eliminate a bladder infection.

Walter Hopkins, a scientist in the Division of Urology at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, said the research shows “forskolin may provide a means to interrupt the infection-reinfection cycle” and lead to a quicker resolution of the illness.

“If these results could be duplicated in human studies, forskolin could offer a new treatment option for recurrent” urinary tract infection said Hopkins, who was not part of the research team.

Dr. Gregor Reid of the Lawson Health Research Institute in London, Ontario, said the research was interesting. “In some patients, such augmentation may be beneficial. Once human studies are done, we’ll have a better idea,” he said. “For now, this concept is a long way from being used in patients,” said Reid, who was not part of the research team.

The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health.