Releases Saturday 17 March 2001
No 7287 Volume 322
Please remember to credit the BMJ as source when publicising
an
article and to tell your readers that they can read its full text on
the
journal's web site (http://bmj.com).
If your story is posted on a website please include a link back to
the source BMJ article (URL's are given under titles).
(1) DURATION OF BREAST FEEDING MAY INFLUENCE
HEALTH IN LATER LIFE
(2) VIAGRA
PASSES INITIAL SAFETY TEST, BUT MORE
RESEARCH IS
NEEDED
(3) SOCIAL
DEPRIVATION LINKED TO INCREASED RISK
OF BLINDNESS
FROM GLAUCOMA
(4) PRIVATISATION CAN AFFECT HEALTH
(1) DURATION OF
BREAST FEEDING MAY INFLUENCE
HEALTH IN LATER LIFE
(Duration of breast feeding and arterial
distensibility in early adult
life: population based study)
http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/322/7287/643
(Editorial: Does the duration of
breast feeding matter?)
http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/322/7287/625
Breast feeding in infancy is related to
reduced arterial function 20
years later, finds a study in this week's
BMJ. Although breast
feeding should continue to be recommended
to promote infant
health, these findings raise an important
question about the
optimal duration of breast feeding.
Leeson and colleagues measured arterial
distensibility (a marker
of early cardiovascular disease) in 331
young adults. They found
a greater "stiffness" of the artery wall
in those who were breast
fed for four months or more compared with
those who were
breast fed for less than four months or
exclusively bottle fed.
At this stage, our findings should not
influence current advice on
the importance of breast feeding, stress
the authors. Even if
prolonged breast feeding were confirmed
to have disadvantages,
these would need to be carefully weighed
against the advantages.
Further work is needed to explore the
optimal duration of breast
feeding in relation to cardiovascular
health in later life, they
conclude.
Although the superiority of breast feeding
remains unchallenged,
it may eventually become necessary to
reappraise the view that
breast feeding is currently recommended
for "as long as is
mutually desired" writes Ian Booth, Professor
of Paediatrics and
Child Health, in an accompanying editorial.
"Independent
corroboration in different populations
is required before the
potential impact of these observations
can be assessed," he says.
Contacts:
[Paper]: C P M Leeson, Research Fellow,
Medical Research
Council Childhood Nutrition Research Centre,
Institute of Child
Health, London, UK
Email: cpm_leeson{at}hotmail.com
[Editorial]: Ian Booth, Professor of Paediatrics
and Child Health,
University of Birmingham, UK
Email: i.w.booth{at}bham.ac.uk
(2) VIAGRA PASSES
INITIAL SAFETY TEST, BUT MORE
RESEARCH IS NEEDED
(Cardiovascular events in users of
sildenafil: results from first
phase of prescription event monitoring
in England)
http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/322/7287/651
A study in this week's BMJ finds no evidence
for a higher
incidence of fatal heart attack or ischaemic
heart disease among
English men taking sildenafil (Viagra).
Although reassuring,
further evidence is needed to confirm
these findings, report the
authors.
Users of sildenafil were identified from
NHS prescriptions in
England. Simple questionnaires were posted
to the prescribing
general practitioners about five months
after the first prescription,
requesting details of events after the
drug had been prescribed.
Of 5,601 questionnaires analysed, ten fatal
events from
ischaemic heart disease (6 heart attacks
and 4 ischaemic heart
disease deaths) were reported. When compared
with death rates
in the general population of England in
1998, there was no
evidence for a higher incidence of mortality
in this group.
Though the results are reassuring, it is
inappropriate to accept
these comparisons as definitive evidence
of equivalence between
this cohort of sildenafil users and men
in the general population in
England, say the authors. This hypothesis
needs to be examined
further, they conclude.
Contact:
Saad Shakir, Director, Drug Safety Research
Unit, Bursledon
Hall, Southampton, UK
Email: saad.shakir{at}dsru.org
(3) SOCIAL DEPRIVATION
LINKED TO INCREASED RISK
OF BLINDNESS FROM GLAUCOMA
(Deprivation and late presentation
of glaucoma: case-control
study)
http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/322/7287/639
People with the least material and psychosocial
resources seem
to be at greatest risk of going blind
from glaucoma, finds a study
in this week's BMJ. This study has important
implications for
government policy aimed at reducing social
inequalities in health.
Researchers at University College London
measured the
socioeconomic status of 220 patients newly
diagnosed with
glaucoma at three hospitals in England.
Patients who presented
with advanced glaucoma (late presenters)
were of lower
occupational status, and lower educational
level, were less likely
to have access to a car, and more likely
to be tenants. Since
existing evidence shows that late presentation
is an important risk
factor for subsequent blindness, these
results suggest that
deprived groups are at greater risk of
going blind from glaucoma,
explain the authors.
Access to and use of health services are
undoubtedly important
factors, say the authors. In addition,
long term deprivation may
lead to more rapidly progressive and aggressive
disease, add the
authors. "Glaucoma should be included
among conditions
targeted in policy aimed at reducing social
inequalities in health,"
they conclude.
Contact:
Eric Brunner, Senior Lecturer, Department
of Epidemiology and
Public Health, University College London,
UK
Email: e.brunner{at}ucl.ac.uk
(4) PRIVATISATION CAN AFFECT HEALTH
(Employment status and health after
privatisation in white collar
civil servants: prospective cohort
study)
http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/322/7287/647
A study in this week's BMJ finds that loss
of secure public sector
employment through privatisation has a
direct effect on minor
psychiatric illness and longstanding health.
Over 600 employees of one civil service
department that was
sold to the private sector were surveyed
to examine the health
implications of job loss and re-employment.
In general, illness
was greater among those insecurely re-employed
or unemployed
than among those securely re-employed.
Insecure re-employment and unemployment
was associated with
an increase in minor psychiatric illness
compared with people
whose new employment was secure. In addition
to this increase
in individual illness, explain the authors,
the loss of secure public
sector employment adds to NHS costs through
increased
consultations with a general practitioner.
This is possibly due to
the increased minor psychiatric illness
associated with
privatisation, they conclude.
Contact:
Jane Ferrie, Senior Research Fellow, International
Centre for
Health and Society, University College
London Medical School,
UK
Email: j.ferrie{at}public-health.ucl.ac.uk
FOR ACCREDITED JOURNALISTS
Embargoed press releases and articles are available from:
Public Affairs Division
BMA House
Tavistock Square
London WC1H 9JR
(contact: pressoffice{at}bma.org.uk)
and from:
the EurekAlert website, run by the American Association for the
Advancement of Science
(http://www.eurekalert.org)
What's new
Keep updated
Services
Tools
Online poll
Resources
Print issues
