Aspirin Does Not Prevent Pregnancy Loss,

Increased live birth rate in subgroup of participants

A daily low dose of aspirin does not appear to prevent subsequent pregnancy loss among women with a history of one or two prior pregnancy losses, according to researchers at the National Institutes of Health.

However, in a smaller group of women who had experienced a single recent pregnancy loss, aspirin increased the likelihood of becoming pregnant and having a live birth.

Many health care providers prescribe low dose aspirin therapy for women who have had a pregnancy loss (miscarriage or stillbirth), and who would like to get pregnant again.  However, the effectiveness of this treatment has not been proven, the researchers wrote.

In the largest study of its kind, the researchers randomly assigned more than 1,000 women with a history of pregnancy loss to either daily low dose aspirin or a placebo.  The women began taking the equivalent of one low dose aspirin (81 milligrams) each day while trying to conceive.  The researchers reported that, overall, there was no difference in pregnancy loss rates between the two groups.

“Our results indicate that aspirin is not effective for reducing the chances of pregnancy loss in most cases,” said first author Enrique Schisterman, Ph.D., Chief of the Epidemiology Branch at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development,

Dr. Schisterman, added, however, that additional research was needed to investigate the finding that women who had experienced a single, recent pregnancy loss (before 4 1/2 months of pregnancy and within the past year) had an increased rate of pregnancy and live birth while on aspirin therapy.

Among this group, 78 percent of those who took aspirin became pregnant, compared with 66 percent of those who took the placebo.  For this subset of women, 62 percent of the aspirin group and 53 percent of the placebo group gave birth.

The study authors hypothesized that aspirin therapy might increase the conception rate by increasing blood flow to the uterus.  The researchers called for additional research to determine if aspirin therapy might be helpful for improving fertility in other subgroups as well, such as women who can’t establish a pregnancy because the embryo fails to implant in the uterus.

The researchers referred to their study as the Effects of Aspirin in Gestation and Reproduction trial. The study took place at four university medical centers over a five-year period.  Women participating in the trial were between 18 and 40 years of age and predominantly white. Participants took a daily dose of either aspirin and folic acid or placebo and folic acid. Folic acid is recommended for all women of childbearing age, because it reduces the risk for neural tube defects, a class of birth defects that can affect the brain and spine.

Women were followed for up to six menstrual cycles while they were trying to become pregnant and through pregnancy if they became pregnant. Aspirin was stopped at 36 weeks (about eight months) of gestation.

For the total number of women in the study, 13 percent of women who took aspirin and became pregnant subsequently experienced another loss, compared with 12 percent who took the placebo.  Ultimately, 58 percent of women taking aspirin and 53 percent of the placebo group got pregnant and later gave birth.

Canada: Breakfast Wrap Recalled Due to Listeria

Updated Food Recall Warning to include Belich's Market and Creekside Market brands Breakfast Wraps recalled due to Listeria

Castle Cheese Inc.made the cheese in these products The cheese was contaminated with listeria It was distributed in British Columbia

listeria,The food recall warning issued on March 26, 2014 has been updated to include additional product information identified during the Canadian Food Inspection Agency's (CFIA) food safety investigation. The following products are being recalled because they were made from or contain shredded cheese products voluntarily recalled by Castle Cheese Inc. due to Listeria.

Industry is recalling Belich's Market and Creekside Market brands Breakfast Wraps from the marketplace due to possible Listeria contamination. Consumers should not consume the recalled products described below.

Recalled products

Brand Name	Common Name	Size	Code(s) on Product	UPC	Additional Info
Creekside Market	Break fast Wrap	250g	Packed Date up to and including 2014AL01 and Best Before date up to and including 2014AL11	200732 804994	Sold from Creekside Market, 305-2071, Lake Placid Rd., Whistler, BC
Belich's Market	Breakfast Wrap	N/A	Sold from March 10 to 28, 2014	N/A	Sold from Super Valu, 415 Dollarton Hwy., North Vancouver,BC

Check to see if you have recalled products in your home. Recalled products should be thrown out or returned to the store where they were purchased.

Food contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes may not look or smell spoiled but can still make you sick. Symptoms can include vomiting, nausea, persistent fever, muscle aches, severe headache and neck stiffness. Pregnant women, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems are particularly at risk. Although infected pregnant women may experience only mild, flu-like symptoms, the infection can lead to premature delivery, infection of the newborn or even stillbirth. In severe cases of illness, people may die.

HIV-infected Men at Increased Risk for Heart Disease

The buildup of soft plaque in arteries that nourish the heart is more common and extensive in HIV-infected men than HIV-uninfected men, independent of established cardiovascular disease risk factors, according to a new study by National Institutes of Health grantees. The findings suggest that HIV-infected men are at greater risk for a heart attack than their HIV-uninfected peers, the researchers write in Annals of Internal Medicine.

Plaque buildup in the arteries that nourish the heart, a condition called coronary atherosclerosis, narrows the arteries and increases the risk of heart attack.

In addition, blockage in a coronary artery was most common among HIV-infected men whose immune health had declined the most over the course of their infection and who had taken anti-HIV drugs the longest, the scientists found, placing these men at even higher risk for a heart attack.

“These findings from the largest study of its kind tell us that men with HIV infection are at increased risk for the development of coronary artery disease and should discuss with a care provider the potential need for cardiovascular risk factor screening and appropriate risk reduction strategies,” said Gary H. Gibbons, M.D., director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

“Thanks to effective treatments, many people with HIV infection are living into their 50s and well beyond and are dying of non-AIDS-related causes—frequently, heart disease,” said Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID),. “Consequently, the prevention and treatment of non-infectious chronic diseases in people with HIV infection has become an increasingly important focus of our research.”

Past studies of the association between heart disease and HIV infection have reached inconsistent conclusions. To help clarify whether an association exists, the current investigation drew participants from the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study(MACS), a study of HIV/AIDS in gay and bisexual men established by NIAID nearly 30 years ago.

“One advantage of the MACS is that it includes HIV-uninfected men who are similar to the HIV-infected men in the study in their sexual orientation, lifestyle, socioeconomic status and risk behavior, which makes for a good comparison group,” said Wendy S. Post, M.D., who led the study. Dr. Post is a professor of medicine and epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore.

Another advantage was the MACS’ size, with nearly 7,000 men cumulatively enrolled, 1,001 of whom participated in the new study. The participants included 618 men who were HIV-infected and 383 who were not. All were 40 to 70 years of age, weighed less than 200 pounds, and had had no prior surgery to restore blood flow to the coronary arteries.

Dr. Post and colleagues investigated whether the prevalence and extent of plaque buildup in coronary arteries, a condition called coronary atherosclerosis, is greater in HIV-infected men than HIV-uninfected men and whether that plaque is soft or hard. Coronary atherosclerosis, especially soft plaque, is more likely to be a precursor of heart attack than hard plaque.

The scientists found coronary atherosclerosis due to soft plaque in 63 percent of the HIV-infected men and 53 percent of the HIV-uninfected men. After adjusting for cardiovascular disease risk factors, including high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, high body mass index and smoking, the presence of soft plaque and the cumulative size of individual soft plaques were significantly greater in men with HIV infection.

In addition, by examining a subgroup of HIV-infected men, the scientists discovered two predictors of advanced atherosclerosis in this population. The first predictor deals with white blood cells called CD4+ T cells, which are the primary target of HIV and whose level, or count, is a measure of immune health. The researchers found that for every 100 cells per cubic millimeter decrease in a man’s lowest CD4+ T cell count, his risk of coronary artery blockage rose by 20 percent. The scientists also found that for every year a man had taken anti-HIV drugs, his risk of coronary artery blockage rose by 9 percent.

Because the investigators examined coronary artery plaque at a single point in time, further research is needed to determine whether coronary artery plaque in HIV-infected men is less likely to harden over time, or whether these men simply develop greater amounts of soft plaque, according to Dr. Post. In addition, she said, studies on therapies and behavioral changes to reduce risk for cardiovascular disease in men and women infected with HIV are needed to determine how best to prevent progression of atherosclerosis in this population.

Obesity Primes the Colon for Cancer

Obesity, rather than diet, causes changes in the colon that may lead to colorectal cancer, according to a study in mice by the National Institutes of Health. The finding bolsters the recommendation that calorie control and frequent exercise are not only key to a healthy lifestyle, but a strategy to lower the risk for colon cancer, the second leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States.

Paul Wade, Ph.D., and Thomas Eling, Ph.D., scientists at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, led a collaborative team that made the discovery.

A large body of scientific literature says people who are obese are predisposed to a number of cancers, particularly colorectal cancer, Eling said. To better understand the processes behind this link, he and his colleagues fed two groups of mice a diet in which 60 percent of the calories came from lard. The first group of mice contained a human version of a gene called NAG-1, which has been shown to protect against colon cancer in other rodent studies. The second group lacked the NAG-1 gene.

The NAG-1 mice did not gain weight after eating the high-fat diet, while mice that lacked the NAG-1 gene grew plump.

The researchers noticed another striking difference between the two groups of animals.

“The obese mice exhibited molecular signals in their gut that led to the progression of cancer, but the NAG-1 mice didn’t have those same indicators,” Eling said.

The researchers looked for molecular clues, by isolating cells from the colons of the mice and analyzing a group of proteins called histones. Histones package and organize DNA in a cell’s nucleus, and sometimes undergo a process known as acetylation, in which chemical tags bind to their surface. The pattern of acetylation varies depending on the chemical processes taking place in the cell.

Wade explained that the acetylation patterns for the obese mice and the thin NAG-1 mice were drastically different. Patterns from the obese mice resembled those from mice with colorectal cancer. The additional weight they carried also seemed to activate more genes that are associated with colorectal cancer progression, suggesting the obese mice are predisposed to colon cancer.

“Any preexisting colon lesions in these animals are more likely to evolve rapidly into malignant tumors,” Wade said. “The same thing may happen in humans.”

Wade and Eling want to find out exactly how obesity prompts the body to develop colorectal cancer. Wade said that the likely candidates for triggering tumor growth in the colon are fat cells, but there are many more possibilities. Finding these cellular switches may give rise to production of medications to keep people from getting colorectal cancer.

“Once we identify the signaling pathways and understand how the signal is transduced, we may be able to design ways to treat colorectal cancer in obese patients,” Wade said.

Supplements for Sexual Enhancement Recalled

Nova Products, Inc. of Aston, Pennsylvania is voluntarily recalling the following products: African Black Ant (Lot# 2006-000926), Black Ant (Lot# 2006-3627878), XZen Gold (Lot# 130310GL), ZXen Platinum (Lot# 130520PL), XZen 1200 (Lot# 13051012), XZone Gold (Lot# 131110GL), and XZone 1200 (Lot# 13071012) at the retail level. Lot numbers are identified on the back or side of each product. FDA laboratory analysis on these products has determined that they contain undeclared amounts of sildenafil and tadalafil, active ingredients of FDA-approved drugs used to treat erectile dysfunction.

These undeclared active ingredients pose a threat to consumers because they can interact with nitrates found in some prescription drugs (such as nitroglycerin), resulting in decreased blood pressure. Prescription drugs containing nitrates are frequently prescribed for individuals with diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or heart disease. Additionally, these products may cause side effects such as headaches and flushing. recalled

These products are marketed as dietary supplements for sexual enhancement and packaged in blister packs, envelopes, bottles, and/or boxes distributed to consumers nationwide at retail stores. Nova Products, Inc. has discontinued distribution and sales of these products.

Nova Products, Inc. is notifying its distributors by mail of this voluntary recall. Consumers that possess these products should stop using them immediately and can return the products to Nova Products, Inc., 5 Mount Pleasant Road, Aston, Pennsylvania.

Consumers with questions regarding this recall can contact Nova Products, Inc. by telephone at 610-459-7709 between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. EST. Consumers should contact their physician or healthcare provider if they have experienced any problems that may be related to taking or using these products. Consumers can report adverse reactions or quality control problems to the FDA's MedWatch Adverse Event Reporting program online, by regular mail, or by fax as follows:

• Complete and submit reporting form online at http://www.fda.gov/MedWatch/report.htm; or
• Mail or fax reporting form. Download form at http://www.fda.gov/MedWatch/getforms.htm or call 1-800-332-1088 to request a reporting form. Complete and return to the address on the pre-addressed form, or submit by fax to 1-800-FDA-1078.

Salted Fish, Recalled Due to Health Risk

Lao Thai Nam Corp., of Dallas, Texas is recalling Number One Sompa Salted Fish, because it has the potential to be contaminated with Clostridium botulinum, a bacterium which can cause life-threatening illness or death. Consumers are warned not to use the product even if it does not look or smell spoiled.

Botulism, a potentially fatal form of food poisoning, can cause the following symptoms: general weakness, dizziness, double-vision and trouble with speaking or swallowing. Difficulty in breathing, weakness of other muscles, abdominal distension and constipation may also be common symptoms. People experiencing these problems should seek immediate medical attention.

Number one Sompa Salted Fish was distributed in the state of Texas (Irving and Houston areas) through retail stores, prior to 03/31/2014.

Number One Sompa Salted Fish is contained in a clear vacuum packaged pouch. The pouch contains red and black lettering with a fish logo on the left hand portion. The product is a 7-ounce package containing a whole processed Tin Foil Barb fish, UPC: 8 8433200019 4.

Consumers who have purchased 7-ounce Number One Sompa Salted Fish are urged to return it to the place of purchase. Consumers with questions may contact the company at 469-213-8718, Monday – Friday, 7am – 3:30pm, CDT.

4/1/14 Health News: LISTERIA STAYED FOR YEARS AT SEAFOOD-PROCESSING FACILITY ♦ Room-Temperature Vaccine for Developing Countries ♦ Antibiotic Errors Common

LISTERIA MOVED IN, STAYED FOR YEARS AT NOW-CLOSED NYC SEAFOOD-PROCESSING FACILITY

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Room-Temperature Vaccine Could Be Boon to Developing Countries

Scientists have developed a revolutionary vaccine that does not require refrigeration or booster shots, making the so-called nanovaccine a potential “game-changer” in curbing disease in the developing world. Experts believe the drug, which is delivered in a nose spray, could extend immunization to millions of people who are not now vaccinated against dangerous, infectious diseases. Scientists say the vaccine is the first to use nanoparticles, a relatively new technology in medicine that embeds proteins from disease-causing organisms into tiny, polymer spheres five hundred times smaller than the width of a human hair.Continue Reading

Antibiotic Errors Common in Community Hospitals

More than one patient in three treated for a bloodstream infection in community hospitals got inappropriate antibiotic therapy, researchers reported. In a multicenter retrospective cohort study, 38% of patients in a network of community hospitals were treated incorrectly. The proportion varied across institutions, ranging from 22% to 71% with a median of 33%.. Most healthcare in the U.S. is delivered in community hospitals, Continue Reading