What the scientists are saying…
HRT is safe after all Taking hormone replacement therapy to combat the symptoms of menopause does not raise a woman’s risk of early death, a major new study has found. In the early 2000s, researchers found an association between taking HRT for five to seven years and a raised risk of cancer and stroke. Over the next few years, the number of women opting for it fell dramatically. But the new follow-up study, involving most of the same 27,000 patients, has found no difference in mortality between the women who had HRT and those who had taken a placebo. Researchers from Harvard University tracked the women for around ten years after they’d stopped taking the drugs, and found that the hormone treatment was not associated with additional risk of death from heart disease or cancer (or from any cause). There was a slight raised risk of cancer, but this did not translate into extra deaths because HRT also has protective effects. Experts said the finding offered “reassurance” to doctors and patients. “All cause mortality provides a critically important summary measure for an intervention, such as hormone therapy, that has a complex matrix of benefits and risks,” said Joann Manson of the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
To be on the safe side, don’t drink Government guidelines on drinking during pregnancy may be unnecessarily strict, a new study has suggested. Last year, the chief medical officer, Dame Sally Davies, warned pregnant women against drinking any alcohol, on the grounds that there is no “safe” level. But when a team at the University of Bristol reviewed all the data from high-quality research into the effect of drinking lightly – defined as up to four units a week – compared with not drinking at all, they found that there was “surprisingly limited” evidence that drinking lightly has a clear detrimental effect. However, they did find that it was associated with an 8% higher risk of having a small baby. That being the case, the team advises that abstaining from alcohol is still a sensible precaution.
Does bleach cause lung disease? Using bleach around the house could make people vulnerable to fatal lung disease, say researchers in the US. A team from Harvard Medical School examined data on 55,000 nurses enrolled in the Nurses II study, and found that those who used bleach and other strong disinfectants at least once a week had a 22% increased risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Previous research has found a link between the fumes from disinfectants and asthma, and that cleaners have an increased risk of lung disease. However, this was the first to look specifically at the impact of a class of cleaning chemicals known as quaternary ammonium compounds (quats) on rates of COPD – which includes bronchitis, and emphysema. The 55,000 nurses were tracked for eight years, in which time 663 of them developed COPD. Nearly 25,000 people a year in England die of COPD.
A drawing test for Parkinson’s Asking patients to draw a spiral is an effective method of diagnosing Parkinson’s disease early enough to allow preventative treatment, an Australian study has found. Currently, the disease is often only diagnosed once the patient is already experiencing rigidity and tremors – by which time many dopamine-producing cells have already been lost. The new test, which measures how long it takes a patient to draw a spiral on a tablet computer, how much pressure they exert, and the characteristics of the lines, was found to be a highly reliable indicator of early stage Parkinson’s; and it is so simple to use, it can be offered by GP surgeries. The team that devised it suggest the test should be included as part of routine screening in patients over a certain age. However, more trials are required to confirm its efficacy.
Medical file The number of people prescribed strong painkillers has doubled in 15 years. One in 20 people were prescribed potentially addictive opioid painkillers such as codeine in 2015, up from one in 40 in 2000, a new study suggests. The drugs are being prescribed for longer, too: the average course was 64 days in 2000; in 2014, it peaked at 102 days. Two-thirds of the prescriptions were for women.