If you’ve been watching the volley of medical studies released this week, you may be scratching your head. There’s been more debunking, demystifying and plain old craziness going on out there than my brain can process, so here’s a smattering of the world as we (don’t) know it.
Supplements
Contrary to doctors’ advice, two reports published in the July 6 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association have found that aspirin and vitamin E, long believed to help prevent cancer and heart disease, actually have no effect on otherwise healthy people. The study is based on the Women’s Health Study, a 10-year undertaking involving 40,000 women.
Hundred-milligram doses of aspirin and 400 mg of vitamin E were found to have no effect over placebos, according to researchers at Harvard and Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital, who analyzed data from the study.
Some researchers have called for further investigation because they believe dose strengths of the two over-the-counter items were too low. Other studies have shown the supplements to reduce risk factors for lung and colon cancer as well as heart disease, but have relied on doses as many as four times larger, according to the Associated Press.
Prescription drugs
An independent panel review for Health Canada called for the return to sale of controversial painkiller Vioxx, a type of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory known as a COX-2 inhibitor. The research group found that, while painkillers such as Vioxx and Celebrex could cause heart problems, they posed no greater risk than over-the-counter pain reliever ibuprofen, which has been sold in the United States for the last 50 years and retails under the names Motrin and Advil.
The panel recommended that Celebrex and Vioxx be reintroduced to the Canadian market, and that ibuprofen be moved behind the counter so that pharmacists can more thoroughly explain the heart risks of the anti-inflammatory, according to Canada’s Globe and Mail newspaper.
Pain studies
Finally, women are more susceptible to pain than men, according to a new study published by researchers at England’s University of Bath, who examined 98 men and women whose arms were submerged in ice-cold water.
According to researcher Ed Keogh and his team, women feel pain more often, for longer periods of time and in more areas than men.
“Until fairly recently, it was controversial to suggest that there were any differences between males and females in the perception and experience of pain, but that is no longer the case,” said Keogh, in a statement that was released with the study.
Most studies on the topic have focused on genetic and hormonal differences in the sexes, but social and psychological factors are also a vital part of pain perception, according to Keogh, who claims that most women focus on the emotional side of pain while men concentrate on its sensory aspects, possibly increasing their pain tolerance.
Yeah, uh-huh. Call me when there’s a study on male pain reactions in childbirth.
