Hypertension drug linked to cancer?A drug commonly used to treat high blood pressure increases the risk of cancer in the elderly, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the latest study on the controversial treatment. Beginning in 1988, Marco Pahor of the University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (UT), sometimes called the University of Tennessee at Knoxville (UT Knoxville or UTK), is the flagship institution of the statewide land-grant University of Tennessee public university system in the American state of Tennessee. in Memphis, researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH "Not invented here." See digispeak. NIH - The United States National Institutes of Health. ), and their colleagues studied 5,052 men and women age 71 and over who live in Massachusetts, Iowa, and Connecticut. Of this group, 9 percent were taking the short-acting form of calcium-channel blockers. The researchers did not look at the newer, longer-acting versions of these drugs. During the 4 years of the study, cancer was diagnosed in 420 participants. After adjusting for numerous other risk factors, such as smoking, alcohol use, and age, the researchers concluded that people taking calcium-channel blockers face a 72 percent greater risk of developing cancer than those not taking these drugs. The team notes in the Aug. 24 Lancet that other research has shown that calcium-channel blockers may interfere with mechanisms that limit cancer cell growth. Some researchers theorize the·o·rize v. the·o·rized, the·o·riz·ing, the·o·riz·es v.intr. To formulate theories or a theory; speculate. v.tr. To propose a theory about. that such drugs block apoptosis apoptosis or programmed cell death Mechanism that allows cells to self-destruct when stimulated by the appropriate trigger. It may be initiated when a cell is no longer needed, when a cell becomes a threat to the organism's health, or for other reasons. , a process in which a cell destroys itself. An editorial accompanying the Lancet report notes that some of the researchers involved in the debate have received death threats, which are being investigated by the FBI. NIH says the new findings are preliminary and advises patients who are taking the drugs to talk to their physicians. Several different types of drugs are effective in lowering blood pressure. The Lancet study and a report in the Sept. 11 Journal of the American Medical Association JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association is an international peer-reviewed general medical journal, published 48 times per year by the American Medical Association. JAMA is the most widely circulated medical journal in the world. have intensified the debate over calcium-channel blockers. The latter study finds a calcium-channel blocker called isradipine may cause cardiovascular problems. Earlier research had linked these drugs to increased risk of heart attack (SN: 9/9/95, p. 164). |
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