Antidepressants increase the risk of breast cancer

Saturday, July 23, 2011 by: J. D. Heyes

(NaturalNews) Women who take an SSRI - selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor - antidepressant have a higher risk of developing breast cancer, according to a meta-analysis of 61 separate studies indicated.

"Reviewing the evidence is a critical public health issue in light of the increasing prevalence of antidepressant use, especially among women, and in light of the fact that one in eight women will be diagnosed with cancer of the breast during their lifetime," said the study, according to a report from the Alliance for Human Research Protection.

An astounding 27 million Americans regularly use antidepressants - most of whom are women, the report said. In fact, women are twice as likely as men to be diagnosed with MDD - Major Depressive Disorder - and three times as likely to be diagnosed with other Dysthymic Disorder, a chronic type of depression in which a person's moods are regularly low.

Worse, antidepressants are increasingly being prescribed for a host of other conditions including hot flashes, neuropathy, headaches, back pain and eating disorders. In fact, the report said, antidepressants are now the third-most prescribed medications, behind cholesterol-lowering drugs and painkillers.

That's bad news for women, based on the meta-analysis findings regarding the higher incidence of breast cancer. But it's also disturbing for women - and, more often, children as well - because of the increased risk to them posed by the dangerous effects of SSRI's.

That class of drugs, "which disturb the brain's chemistry, raising levels of serotonin, increase suicide and have been implicated in homicide cases," said the AHRP report. "They are also linked to birth defects."

And yet, it's difficult to get the word out, mostly because of the medical establishment's ties to Big Pharma and other beholden interests - a phenomenon the AHRP report acknowledges.

The study's authors "report the difficulty of uncovering the serious risks posed by SSRIs from the journal reports that fail to disclose serious negative findings. The tainted reports are often ghostwritten, but signed by prominent psychiatrists who have financial ties to drug manufacturers. The reports serve as industry promotional marketing vehicles--thus, any findings that might interfere with marketing goals are buried."

SSRI-related problems are especially growing in the United States, because doctors here prescribe them freely.

Antidepressant use in the U.S. alone doubled in a 10-year period, between 1996 and 2005. At the same time, research has shown that SSRI use is linked to a number of illnesses and conditions, including increased risk of stroke and heart disease, as well as - oddly enough - psychological problems, many of which have led to suicide.

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/033099_antidepressants_breast_cancer.html#ixzz1UUK875y9

Kentucky and Ohio are now exchanging prescription data, but system needs more use by health-care providers and police

Kentucky and Ohio are now automatically exchanging data on prescription drugs, with a new electronic network called the Prescription Monitoring Information Exchange. PMIX links the Kentucky All- Schedule Prescription Electronic Reporting (KASPER) system and the Ohio Automated Rx Reporting System (OARRS). Now perhaps all we need is a Big Old Automatic Terminal (BOAT) so Kasper can row it with the Ohio oars.

Kidding aside, "The announcement marks a highly anticipated milestone for prescription drug monitoring programs and ongoing work to fulfill a need to share data across state lines," Gov. Steve Beshear's office said in a press release. "Kentucky’s Cabinet for Health and Family Services oversees KASPER, which is considered a national model for prescription drug monitoring." The Ohio-Kentucky linkup is federally funded.

Authorized users in the two states can securely access prescription monitoring data from both systems. "A physician in Kentucky will be able to request a KASPER patient report and stipulate that they need Ohio data included on the report," the release says. "Doctor shoppers often seek controlled substances from multiple providers and cover increasingly large territories to obtain the drugs."

Kentucky and several other states allow a prescriber, dispenser, or law-enforcement officer from another state to register and get their prescription data, but "Due to the effort required to establish and maintain separate accounts with each state and review multiple reports and formats, only a limited number of practitioners and law enforcement officers have done so," the release says, then quotes KASPER coordinator Dave Hopkins: “We think the PMIX pilot will facilitate efforts to share prescription drug monitoring program data among all states.”

Louisville vascular surgeon provides 'hands on' support for troops

Dr. Andrea Yancey, a vascular surgeon from Louisville, has completed two weeks of volunteer service treating wounded American soldiers transported from Afghanistan and Iraq to the U.S. Army’s Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany.

“I now have a better understanding and enhanced respect and appreciation for our military,” Yancey said in a press release from the Society for Vascular Surgery, which has provided continuous two-week rotations of vascular surgeons at LRMC for the past four years, the release said.

“The soldiers were young, polite, and grateful,” Yancey said. “Their mental and physical toughness and capacity for resilience were hard to comprehend. In spite of their injuries, they never complained or asked for pain medicine. They did not want to inconvenience anyone.”

Yancey is an assistant professor of surgery at the University of Louisville and a surgeon at the Robley Rex Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Louisville.

Its Kelly Rowland Wardrobe Malfunctions

 Unfortunately, Kelly Rowland had an unexpected wardrobe mishap during the last song of her performance at 4sixty6 Lounge in West Orange, NJ last night. . 

CARTIER SUNGLASSES

Forget rose-colored glasses – Jennifer Garner is all about the blue in her glamorous Cartier C Décor sunglasses.

Kentuckians gather to support breastfeeding; part of world event

Kentuckians gathered in several places Saturday to show their support of breast feeding. Events were held in Ashland, Edgewood, Lexington, Louisville, Nicholasville, Owensboro and Paducah as a part of the Big Latch On, “a one-minute synchronized nursing event in multiple locations” sponsored by the La Leche League USA, Valarie Honeycutt Spears of the Lexington Herald-Leader reports. (H-L photo)

Shayna Chasteen of London told Spears she attended the Lexington event “to help make other mothers aware of the benefits of breast-feeding and to promote ‘normalizing breast-feeding in public.” Brion Barnhill, the only father who attended the Lexington event, told Spears, “Luckily my wife cares more about my baby’s health than what somebody else thinks.”

Kentucky law supports breast feeding, allowing mothers to breast-feed or express milk in any public or private location without it being considered public indecency or indecent exposure, Spears reports. “We stress breast-feeding as the gold standard in infant feeding, because of the nutritional and health advantages it provides,” Cabinet for Health and Family Services Secretary Janie Miller said in a statement. “Women have more success with breast-feeding when they receive consistent and accurate information and are supported by their health care providers, family and community.” (Read more)

The Big Latch On was part of the World Breastfeeding Week, Aug. 1-7. To learn more about the event or locate a La Leche League in your area, click here.

Parents should talk to kids about dangers of tanning beds

With teens expected to turn to tanning beds in the fall to keep their bronzy summer glow, parents are encouraged to talk about the dangers of "fake baking."

"Using tanning beds before age 30 increases a person's risk of melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, by 75 percent, research shows," said Dennis Hughes, assistant professor of pediatrics at M.D. Anderson Children's Cancer Hospital in Houston. "So, it's important to talk to your kids about tanning beds just like you'd discuss smoking, sex, drugs and alcohol."

Research-reporting service Newswise says 35 percent of 17-year-old girls have used tanning beds. One study showed tanning beds are addictive, with 80 percent of college kids who habitually tan saying they could not stop. Access to the facilities is easy, with an analysis of 116 American cities showing that tanning salons outnumber Starbucks or McDonald's.

Parent should talk to their children before they start frequenting tanning facilities, Hughes said. Children should know tanning beds emit the same harmful ultraviolet light as the sun and, consequently, are not safe. Rather than making them look attractive, "explain that tanning will actually make them look worse" in the long run, Hughes advised. (Read more)

JET JEANS ON Kim Kardashian

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Kim Kardashian's wedding may not be for a few weeks, but she's already got her something blue: her favorite Jet "Jamie" jeans, which she dresses up with blazers and down with tees.