Drugs


ROUND-UP: HRT and the risk of breast cancer – a review of the Million Women Study questions the link (Journal of Family Planning and Reproductive Health Care*) – experts respond

Tue Jan 17, 2012

EMBARGO LIFTED  at 10.30am AEDT, Tue January 17, 2011
In the ongoing debate over the benefits and harms of hormone replacement therapy, an international team of researchers has suggested that findings from the Million Women Study, which were used to establish that hormone replacement therapy (HRT) causes breast cancer, do not in fact prove a causal [...]

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NEWS BRIEFING: Spotlight on drug addiction

Thu Jan 5, 2012

EMBARGO LIFTED 11.00 AM AEDT Fri Jan 6 (The journal has made a special concession for Australian media on this occasion, allowing Australian newspapers to run the story on Friday as long as nothing appears online before 11am AEDT on Fri 6 Jan)
ONLINE NEWS BRIEFING - Thu Jan 5 at 10.30 AM AEDT
A series of [...]

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ROUND-UP: Are intelligent children more likely to use illicit drugs as adults? (Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health *) – experts respond

Tue Nov 15, 2011

Embargo lifted 10.30am AEDT Tues Nov 15, 2011
UK authors used a 1970 cohort study to suggest a link between a high childhood IQ and subsequent illegal drug use, particularly among women. Below an Australian expert who is independent of the research responds.

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ROUND-UP: Does high blood pressure during pregnancy increase the risk of birth defects? (BMJ*) – expert responds

Wed Oct 19, 2011

Embargoed until 9.30am AEDT Wed 19 October. Australian newspapers must wait until Thursday to run this story
US researchers examine a reported link between using a type of drug to treat high blood pressure (angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors) during the first trimester of pregnancy and the risk of birth defects in the baby. The authors suggest [...]

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ROUND-UP: Heart risk and pain relief medication (PLoS Medicine) – experts respond

Wed Sep 28, 2011

Embargo lifted 7am AEST Wed September 28, 2011

Australian and Canadian researchers have analysed the risk of heart attack and stroke from commonly used non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as Nurofen and Voltaren. The study uses collated data from observational studies. It suggests that among the drugs investigated, naproxen and low-dose ibuprofen (Nurofen) are least likely [...]

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ROUND UP: New research into common drugs and risk of cognitive impairment and mortality in older people (Journal of the American Geriatrics Society) – UK experts respond

Fri Jun 24, 2011

Embargo lifted 9am AEST Friday June 24, 2011
“Anticholinergic activity” is a known side effect of many prescription and over-the-counter drugs used for a variety of conditions. UK researchers have led the first systematic investigation into the long-term impacts of this side effect on over 65s. The effect appears to increase the risks of both cognitive [...]

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RAPID ROUNDUP: Cannabis linked to onset of early psychosis (Archives of General Psychiatry) – expert responds

Tue Feb 8, 2011

Embargo lifted 8am AEDT Tue 8 February 2011

A meta-analysis of 83 previous peer-reviewed studies links cannabis use with earlier onset of psychotic illness by an average of 2.7 years. The meta-analysis compared 8,167 substance-using patients with 14,352 patients who were not substance users.

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RAPID ROUNDUP: Aspirin reduces cancer risk (The Lancet) – experts respond

Tue Dec 7, 2010

UK researchers have shown that aspirin reduces death rates from a range of common cancers. The researchers studied deaths due to all cancers during and after randomised trials of daily aspirin versus control and showed that allocation to aspirin reduced death due to cancer by 21% during the trials. Australian experts respond to these findings.

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