Marion County Medical Center

Health Shorts

April 2004

Drug Interactions To Avoid
Any time you take two or more medications or one medication plus a herbal supplement, there's the possibility of a negative drug interaction. Unless you check specifically with your doctor or pharmacist, possible interactions may get over looked.

Some important drug interactions cited by Dr. David Bates, author of a, 2003 article on adverse drug effects in the Journal of the American Medical Association, include:

Warfarin (Coumadin), a "blood thinner" often prescribed to heart patients, can cause serious bleeding if combined with antibiotics such as cotrimoxasole (Bactrim, Septra).
Potassium is theoretically good for your blood pressure, but potassium supplements can cause serious problems, including cardiac arrest, if taken with a potassium-sparing diuretic such as triamterene or spironolactone.
When combined with nitrate-based drugs, all three erectile dysfunction medications (Viagra, Levitra and Cialis) can cause a sudden dangerous drop in blood pressure.
If you're taking a statin drug to lower your cholesterol, you should avoid oral anti-fungal medications. The combination can cause muscle damage.

[SOURCE: "Bad Combinations: Drug Interactions You and Your Doctors Need To Worry About," Harvard Health Letter, April, 2004]

ED and Heart Disease-Another Link
A recent study confirmed the already established link between erectile dysfunction (ED) and heart disease. The most common cause of ED is poor blood circulation in the penis, and this study, published in Circulation, found that ED patients also tend to have poor blood vessel function in their arms.

The cause, according to researchers, is probably a defect in smooth muscle cells within arteries-indicating an increased risk of heart disease.
[SOURCE: "Longevity Facts," The Johns Hopkins Medical Letter, April, 2004]

Propecia Fattens Hair
In a four-year study of 66 balding males, aged 22 to 40, those taking finasteride (Propecia) showed a mean 21.6 percent increase in hair weight-which takes into account the number of hairs per unit of scalp, hair thickness and rate of growth. Subjects given placebo had a 24.5 percent decrease in hair weight-a difference of 46.1 percent between the two treatment groups.
[SOURCE: Hawaii Dermatology Seminar, Skin Disease Foundation Meetings, 2003; Bruce Jancin, "Four-Year Data Show Finasteride Fattens Hair," Family Practice News, April 15, 2003]

Balding May Be Marker for Heart Disease
Male pattern hair loss is not a disease and does not cause any medical disorder, but it may be a marker for cardiovascular disease. According to data from the large Physicians' Health Study, men with severe baldness on the vertex of the head were 36 percent more likely to develop heart disease compared to men with full heads of hair.

Mild balding was associated with a 23 percent increased risk; moderate hair loss, with a 32 percent greater risk. No increased risk was associated with frontal baldness.
[SOURCE: "Baldness: Does Appearance Matter?" Harvard Men's Health Watch, November, 2002; P.A. Lotufo, et al, "Male Pattern Baldness and Coronary Heart Disease: The Physicians' Health Study," Archives of Internal Medicine, January 24, 2000]

Don't Sweat the Wrinkles, Gray Hair
Most Americans associate gray hair, balding and facial wrinkles with aging, but there's no reason to worry if you show any of these signs earlier than expected. The Copenhagen City Heart study, using a random sample of 20,000 men and women, found no association between these signs of aging and a shorter life span.

The one exception involved a small subgroup of men with no gray hair and a slight but significant reduced risk of death.
[SOURCE: Peter Schnohr, Jorgen Nyboe, Peter Lange and Gorm Jensen, "Longevity and Gray Hair, Baldness, Facial Wrinkles, and Arcus Senilis in 13,000 Men and Women," The Journals of Gerontology, Series A, September, 1998]

Who Benefits from 'Potency' Exercises?

Studies have found that many men with erectile dysfunction benefit from pelvic floor and other exercises that improve blood flow in the area of the hips, thighs and pelvis. These exercises are most likely to be effective for men who have nightly erections during sleep and do not have hormonal deficiencies or nerve problems related to diabetes, trauma or surgery.
[SOURCE: Frank Sommer, M.D., VigorRobic: Increased Potgency through Specific Fitness Training, Meyer & Meyer Sport, 2002]

ED, Aging and Depression
The incidence of erectile dysfunction increases with age, affecting nearly 70 percent of men age 70 and over in the Massachusetts Male Aging Study. The risk of depression also increases with age, and many men presenting with erectile dysfunction also have symptoms of depression.

The links between aging, depression and erectile dysfunction are complex. One study found that successful treatment of ED reduced symptoms of depression by more than 50 percent-regardless of age.
[SOURCE: Dominick J. Carbone Jr. and Allen D. Seftel, "Erectile Dysfunction: Diagnosis and Treatment in Older Men," Geriatrics, September, 2002]

What To Do about Unwanted Hair?
About 5 to 15 percent of American women are troubled by hair they don't want-in typically male areas such as the face, chest, back or abdomen. Excess levels of testosterone, a hormone produced by both males and females, is usually to blame-a condition known as hirsutism.

Hirsutism may be caused by polycystic ovary syndrome, disorders of the adrenal glands or certain drugs such as danazol (used to treat endometriosis and fibrocystic breast disease).

The first step should be a physical examination to determine the cause. Weight loss may help by decreasing production of male hormones in fatty tissue and lessening the effects of polycystic ovary syndrome. In the meantime, unwanted hair can be bleached or shaved (which, contrary to myth, does not increase hair growth). Removing hair with depilatories such as Nair, plucking or waxing is not recommended since these methods can damage skin. Electrolysis and laser removal are effective but costly.
[SOURCE: "Handling Hirsutism: Too Much Hair in All the Wrong Places," Tufts University Health & Nutrition Letter, April, 2004]

Gardening Builds Strong Bones
As a weight-bearing physical activity, gardening is a good way to build bone density and head off osteoporosis, a common health problem for postmenopausal women and older men. A researcher at the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville found that women who worked in the garden regularly-digging, pulling weeds and pushing a mower-had stronger bones than those who did activities such as jogging, swimming, walking or aerobic dance. And, for these women, gardening was more enjoyable.

Another study found that a 180-pound man burned 326 calories and a 132-pound woman, 240 calories during an hour of gardening.
[SOURCE: Ellen Sturm, "Let's Get Physical: For Your Workout, Head to the Full-Service Gym Located Just Outside Your Door," Country Living Gardener, May-June, 2003]

Locating a Community Garden
To find a community garden in your area, call your county cooperative extension office, your neighborhood association, the mayor's office, a garden club or local nurseries.
[SOURCE: Lee Tucker, "Get Down and Dirty: Try the Green Thumb Health Plan," Prevention, July, 2002]

A Garden State of Mind
Any gardener will attest to the healing power of digging in the soil, and research has confirmed that gardening has the capacity to relieve stress.

Some studies have shown that gardeners have brain wave patterns similar to those of people who meditate. A Swedish study found that heart patients recovered faster from surgery when they were given a picture of a garden to enjoy.
[SOURCE: Christy Lochrie, "The Grace of Gardening: In Addition to Its Mental Benefits, Gardening Helps Counteract the Physical Harms of Stress," Vibrant Life, January-February, 2003]

Do You Have Fish-Eating Genes?
A recent study has linked a certain variety of gene with a tendency to develop inflammation and atherosclerosis in blood vessels-a major risk factor for heart disease. The inflammation was made worse when the individual consumed meat or the linoleic acid in vegetable oils but was eased with consumption of omega-3 fatty acids, found in fish. Other studies have found omega-3 fatty acids beneficial to heart health in numerous ways, including reduction of inflammation in blood vessels. It may be, according to this study, that some individuals, because of their genetic makeup, benefit more than others.

The gene linked to inflammation of arteries is found in about six percent of Americans but a much higher percentage of Asians and Pacific Islanders (19.4 percent) and African Americans (24 percent).
[SOURCE: "Your Diet and Your DNA," Harvard Health Letter, April, 2004]

Spoonful of Honey Keeps You Healthy
If you add sweetener to your tea, you might consider using honey for a double dose of good health. Tea is known to be rich in antioxidant polyphenols; and a recent study confirms that honey offers its own profile of these antioxidant substances that help counter the effect of free radicals-unstable byproducts of metabolism that have been implicated in heart disease, cancer and the aging process.

In the study, 25 healthy adults who ate four tablespoons of buckwheat honey each day had increased levels of phenolics at the end of 30 days. The author recommended two to four tablespoons of honey a day. Generally, the darker the honey, the more antioxidants, she said.
[SOURCE: Merritt McKinney, "Dip into Honey Pot for Good Health," Reuters Health, March 29, 2004, interview with Heidrun Gross]