Oral Sex Is Not Free. It Can Cause Throat Cancer.

A study which is appearing in this week's New England Journal of Medicine showed that both men and women who claimed they had six or more oral sex partners during their lifetime had about 9x increased risk of having cancer of the base of the tongue or the tonsils. The Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) was the culprit. In the study, the participants who had HPV infection were 32 times more likely to develop this type of oral cancer than those without the HPV infection.

The Gardasil vaccine contains 4 types of HPV viruses, namely 16 and 18 that cause about 70% of all cervical cancers and 6 and 11 that cause genital warts. In this study, of the 100 cancer patients enrolled, 72 had HPV 16. Two major risks that promote throat cancer are smoking (3 times greater) or drinking (2.5 times greater). These cancers are more common in men than in women. Does it mean that to prevent oral cancer in men who practise oral sex, these men should be offered the Gardasil vaccine? Only more studies can tell.

Between 12,000 and 15,000 new cases of oral and pharynx cancer are diagnosed each hear. 3000 people die form it. Dr. Robert Haddad, clinical director of the Head and Neck Oncology Program at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute has seen younger men in their 30's and 40's getting this cancer. The bottom line is that since men don't know which women will have cancer causing viruses in their vagina, they should avoid oral sex as the price has become too much to ignore.

Reference:

New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM)

Cervical Cancer Vaccine May Prevent Precancerous Changes on the Cervix

An article published in the May 10th New England Journal of Medicine showed that young women not infected with Human Papilloma Virus HPV 16 and 18 who were vaccinated with the Gardasil vaccine had a lower occurrence of the high grade precancerous diseases on the cervix than those who were vaccinated with placebo.

The study was done on 12,167 women aged 15-26 years who had not been previously infected with the HPV. Thus the vaccine, if given to young women who have not already been exposed to the Human Papilloma Virus, is effective in preventing cervical dysplasia in women that will be apparent within years rather than decades.

"Human papillomavirus types 16 (HPV-16) and 18 (HPV-18) cause approximately 70% of cervical cancers worldwide,"

Laura A. Koutsky, PhD, from the University of Washington in Seattle, and colleagues from the FUTURE II study group.

Reference:N Engl J Med. 2007;356:1915-1917.

Gonorrhea -The Super Bug

Gonorrhea, the second most notifiable disease in the US, is rapidly becoming resistant to Fluoroquinolones, such as Cipro according to the CDC. Physicians are advised to use the last line of defense, the Cephalosporins. In the April 13^th issue of the Morbidity and Mortality weekly, the Center for Disease Control reported there was 13% overall resistance. In some areas 39% of the bug is resistant to the Fluoloquinolones. On the basis of this evidence the CDC

"No longer recommends the use of Fluoroquinolones for the treatment of gonococcal infections and associated conditions such as pelvic inflammatory disease."

Mend Your Bones with One Shot per Year

"Preventing hip fractures remains the holy grail of treating osteoporosis, as we know that six months after a hip fracture, nearly a fifth of patients will be dead."

David Reid

University of Aberdeen

A study on brittle bone disease (Osteoporosis) published in the recent edition of the New England journal of Medicine showed that once a year injection of a drug called Zoledronic Acid effectively treated osteoporosis compared to pills. This will be convenient than taking daily or weekly or even monthly pills for the treatment of osteoporosis (brittle bone disease) that afflicts many postmenopausal women.