Research in the news

NSAID risks calculated
A SYSTEMATIC review has calculated the risks of major cardiovascular events with widely used non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. The highest overall risks were with rofecoxib and diclofenac, while ibuprofen and naproxen were the safest. The review was published in PLoS Medicine and was reported on the ABC AM program.

Coffee cuts depression risk
A LONGITUDINAL study of more than 50 000 women in the US has shown the risk of depression risk decreases with increasing coffee consumption. The research, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, found that the relative risk of depression among women who drank four or more cups per day was 0.80 compared with women who drank less than one cup a week. The research was reported in The Guardian.

Too much care
A SURVEY of US primary care physicians shows 42% believe patients in their practice receive too much medical care, with only 6% saying patients received too little care. Factors for this included malpractice concerns and clinical performance measures, according to the report in the Archives of Internal Medicine. The research was reported by the Huffington Post.

Sari filters cut cholera
A SIMPLE method of filtering water by using saris has proven effective in reducing the incidence of cholera in Bangladesh, according to a study in mBio, the journal of the American Society for Microbiology. The filtering method reduced the incidence of cholera by 48% in the study of 7233 women who collected water daily for their households. The study was reported in the Sydney Morning Herald.

Killer rockmelons
THE US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is investigating how rockmelons from a Colorado-based farming company were contaminated with listeria, resulting in the deaths of 13 people in several US states by late last week. The FDA said it was conducting a root-cause investigation, including an environmental assessment, into an outbreak of listeriosis linked to whole rockmelons from the company. The outbreak was reported by the Herald Sun.

Posted 4 October 2011