| Know Any Florida Residents Who Got Cancer (or Other Serious ...
A recent Florida Supreme Court ruling may allow certain cigarette smokers or their families to file individual monetary claims against tobacco companies. The key requirement is that the smoker must have had symptoms or was diagnosed with cancer (or some other serious disease) as a result of smoking cigarettes before Nov. 21, 1996. Pensacola, FL (PRWEB) September 14, 2006 -- Tobacco companies must be furious. A recent ruling by the Florida Supreme Court (No. SC03-1856) is expected to incite a hailstorm of litigation from all over the Sunshine State.
.
Study briefs, 9/12: Cancer, asthma risk, pregnancy
THE QUESTION Various studies have reported that people with rheumatoid arthritis are more likely to develop cancer than are those who don’t have it. Might this be related to the drugs taken to treat the chronic disease?THIS STUDY analyzed medical data on 7,830 people with rheumatoid arthritis, all 65 and older. Most people had been prescribed methotrexate to treat their arthritis symptoms; about 15 percent were taking a different type of disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug (DMARD), including the so-called biologic medications etanercept (Enbrel) and infliximab (Remicade). Blood and lymphatic cancers were diagnosed in 69 people; solid tumors were found in 604 participants. Although blood cancers were somewhat more common among people taking biologic drugs than those taking methotrexate, overall there was less than a 5 percent difference in cancer risk between the groups.WHO MAY BE AFFECTED BY THESE FINDINGS? Anyone with rheumatoid arthritis, a chronic disease that affects more than 2 million Americans.CAVEATS Before they started taking the drugs, people who took biologic DMARDs generally had more severe rheumatoid arthritis than the others.
Molecules in blood foretell development of preeclampsia
High levels of two proteins in the blood of pregnant women appear to indicate the subsequent development of preeclampsia, a life-threatening complication of pregnancy, report a team of researchers from the National Institutes of Health and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. The proteins, which interfere with the growth and function of blood vessels, also signal the development of high blood pressure during pregnancy. The findings appear in the September 7 New England Journal of Medicine. "This finding appears to be an important step in developing a cure for preeclampsia," said Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D., Director of the National Institutes of Health. "It may also provide the basis for predicting whether or not a woman will develop the disorder." Preeclampsia is a leading cause of maternal death and often occurs without warning.
|
