Indian Medicine

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Garlic supplements may lower blood pressure just as effectively as some drugs used to treat hypertension can, according to a new research review.

"Supplementation with garlic preparations may provide an acceptable alternative or complementary treatment option for hypertension," Dr. Karin Ried and colleagues from The University of Adelaide in South Australia write.

Research to date on garlic and blood pressure has had "inconclusive" results, they note, while the last meta-analysis - in which the results of several studies are analyzed collectively -- only included studies done up until 1994.

To provide an updated perspective, Ried and her team included more recently published studies in their analysis, identifying 11 studies in which the patients were randomly assigned to garlic or placebo. In most studies, participants given garlic took it in powdered form, as a standardized supplement. Doses ranged from 600 mg to 900 mg daily, which study participants took for 12 to 23 weeks.

When the researchers pooled the data from the trials, they found that garlic reduced systolic blood pressure (the top number in a blood pressure reading) by 4.6 mm Hg, on average. An analysis limited to people with high blood pressure showed garlic reduced systolic blood pressure by 8.4 mm Hg, on average, and diastolic blood pressure (the bottom number) by 7.3 mm Hg. The higher a person's blood pressure -was at the beginning of the study, the more it was reduced by taking garlic.

The effects were similar to those of widely used drugs for treating hypertension, for example beta blockers, which reduce systolic blood pressure by 5 mm Hg, and ACE inhibitors, which produce an 8 mm Hg average drop in systolic blood pressure, the researchers note.

The 600 mg to 900 mg dosage used in the studies is equivalent to 3.6 mg to 5.4 mg of garlic's active ingredient, allicin, Ried and her team point out. A fresh clove of garlic contains 5 mg to 9 mg of allicin.

In the population as a whole, they note, reducing systolic blood pressure by an average of 4 to 5 points and diastolic blood pressure by 2 to 3 points could cut the risk of heart disease and heart disease-related death by up to 20 percent.

More research is needed to determine whether garlic supplementation might have a long-term effect on heart disease risk, the researchers conclude.

SOURCE: BMC Cardiovascular Disorders, published online June 16, 2008.

Copyright © 2008 Reuters Limited.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The results of animal studies indicate that application of a special patch (Anginera) to the surface of the heart immediately after an attack may prevent heart failure, scientists reported Wednesday at the American Heart Association's Basic Cardiovascular Sciences Conference 2008 in Keystone, Colorado.

"A lot of clinical studies have looked at direct injection of...stem cells into the heart muscle, but the results have not been super stellar," presenter Jordan J. Lancaster told Reuters Health.

For their current research, Lancaster's group used a patch that contained used fibroblast cells embedded in a biodegradable matrix. This absorbable patch has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers.

Lancaster's group from the Southern Arizona VA Medical Center in Tucson and at Theregen Inc. in San Francisco first tested the patch in rats with experimentally induced heart attacks.

Application of the patch allowed the heart to pump normally after a heart attack and helped reverse the muscle damage that usually take place, Lancaster said. The patch worked best when applied to the heart immediately after the attack, though some benefit was seen even when it was used 3 weeks later.

Lancaster said that the patch is now being tested in humans undergoing bypass surgery. In this scenario, the patch is being placed in areas that do not directly receive blood flow during the operation.

Copyright © 2008 Reuters Limited.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - In an animal study of osteoporosis, researchers have shown that low-dose aspirin can decrease the activity of cells that breakdown bone, while increasing the activity of cell that build up bone, according to research published online in the journal PLoS One.

Increased activity of cells that breakdown bone is typically cited as the cause of osteoporosis, but recent evidence suggests that a drop in bone-forming cells may also play a role, Dr. Songtao Shi from University of Southern California School of Dentistry, Los Angeles, and colleagues note.

In lab studies, the team found that aspirin reduced the destruction of bone-forming cells in mice. They further showed that adding low-dose aspirin makes bone-forming cells more active and bone-degrading cells less active, resulting in thicker and stronger bones.

"Aspirin may offer a new approach" for treating the osteoporosis commonly seen in postmenopausal women, the researchers conclude.

Although human studies have suggested that regular use of aspirin may have a moderate beneficial effect on bone thickness in postmenopausal women, "more detailed studies are necessary to (clarify) the underlying mechanism by which aspirin may prevent and treat osteoporosis," Shi added in comments to Reuters Health.

SOURCE: PLoS One 2008.

Copyright © 2008 Reuters Limited.

[NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A simple blood test that identifies the odds of heavy drinking in the previous four to six weeks is being used in several settings as an objective, non-judgmental way of identify problem drinkers and intervene, a researcher told the annual meeting of the American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC) this week.

"The test for heavy drinking works by measuring the changes in blood chemistries due to the effect of heavy drinking on various organ systems in the body," AACC presenter Dr. James Harasymiw, Director of Alcohol Detection Services in Big Bend, Wisconsin noted in a telephone interview with Reuters Health.

It's estimated that about 100,000 Americans die each year from alcohol abuse, including more than 17,000 people who die annually in alcohol-related traffic accidents.

"We defined heavy drinking as a woman having more than three drinks a day or a man having more than four drinks a day or binge drinking at least two times a week," Harasymiw said. "The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism has data showing that medical problems and psychological and social problems start to occur at this level of drinking."

The test is currently being used in several different settings, Harasymiw said. "It is being used in alcoholism treatment centers and we have a pilot project in one county in Wisconsin with repeat offense drunk drivers to see if we can see if we can reduce the rate of recidivism," he explained.

Drug courts are using the test to monitor individuals and the family courts in Wisconsin are using it where there are concerns about child safety, he told Reuters Health.

"We've used the test for heavy drinking to allow people to rebuild credibility after they've gone through treatment and are able to demonstrate that they are staying sober and that's allowed some women to get their children back," Harasymiw said.

Los Angeles County uses the test in some of their pre-employment screening.

The next proving ground for the test is doctor's offices. "We are hoping in time to have doctors use it; doctors have been resistant to screening for heavy drinking but we are trying to get a pilot going in medical settings to see if it can be integrated into office practice," Harasymiw said.

Doctors could show patients test results to help convince them that their drinking is causing "serious damage" to their body, he added.

Copyright © 2008 Reuters Limited.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - While most people know that smoking can cause lung cancer, a new study shows that few know that it is a major risk factor for bladder cancer -- even among people who have the disease.

In a research review published in the Journal of Urology, investigators found that in one recent study, just over one third of adults knew that smoking raises the risk of bladder cancer. In contrast, 98 percent correctly identified the habit as a risk factor for lung cancer.

What's more, a study of patients with early-stage bladder cancer found that just 22 percent knew that smoking contributes to the disease.

All of this points to a serious shortcoming in patient education, according to Drs. Seth A. Strope and James E. Montie of the University of Michigan Health System in Ann Arbor.

"A big gap exists between patient knowledge and their actual risk," Strope said in a written statement.

Smoking is believed to be responsible for half of bladder cancer cases, the researchers note, so quitting could substantially reduce a smoker's risk of the disease. And for people who've been successfully treated for early bladder cancer, quitting can reduce the chances of a recurrence.

One study Strope and Montie reviewed found that when smokers with bladder cancer quit after their diagnosis, they reduced their risk of recurrence by about 30 percent compared with patients who continued to smoke.

Despite this, the researchers found that many smokers -- even those with bladder cancer -- say their doctor never advised them to quit. In a government study of U.S. adults, only half of smokers with a physician said they had received advice to quit. And a UK study of bladder cancer patients found that only 7 percent said their urologist had told them to quit smoking.

"Our study suggests that physicians must do a much better job of communicating the risk to our patients, and directing them toward smoking cessation programs," Strope said.

SOURCE: Journal of Urology, July 2008.

Copyright © 2008 Reuters Limited.