The Student Pharmacists Association at the St. Louis College of Pharmacy recently collected $2,897 at its fourth annual auction. This year, $1,000 of the proceeds was donated to St. Louis Shriners Hospital. The remaining proceeds went to StLCoP C.A.R.E.S. (Community Awareness Reaching Everyone in St. Louis), which is the College’s largest campus-wide community service day where students volunteer throughout the community and participate in health awareness activities.
This year’s total was the most ever, exceeding last year’s amount by nearly $800, said students Michael Spinner and Alicia Thatcher, co-chairs of SPA’s fundraising committee.
National recall of topical acne cream
CSI brands sold at Dollar General, Wal-Mart, Kroger
CSI, USA, Inc. issued a voluntary nationwide consumer product recall of all lots of 1 ounce (28 g) tubes of 10% Benzoyl Peroxide Acne Cream with the following names: “DG Maximum Strength Acne Medicated Gel” (sold at Dollar General); “Kroger Acne Gel 10% Benzoyl Peroxide Acne Medication” (sold at Kroger); and “Equate: Medicated Acne Gel” (sold at Wal-Mart).
These products are being recalled because samples of the products were found to contain bacteria identified as “Burkholderia Cepacia,” formerly known as Pseudomonas Cepacia.
CSI said the risk of illness in healthy individuals following use of this product is very low but there could be an increased health risk of infections for individuals with cuts, scrapes, rashes or other compromised skin conditions; or those with weakened or suppressed immune systems.
No consumer adverse health events related to this issue have been reported.
No other acne medications sold by Dollar General, Kroger or Wal-Mart are affected by this recall.
Consumers should discontinue using the product and may obtain a full refund by mailing the tube or proof of purchase to: CSI USA, Inc.,170 Commerce Way, Gallatin, TN 37066 Attn: ACNE CREAM RECALL. Additional information can be found at www.acnemedrecall.com.
CDC says community physical activity programs are money well spent
Community-based physical activity interventions designed to promote more active lifestyles among adults are cost-effective in reducing heart disease, stroke, colorectal and breast cancers, and type 2 diabetes, according to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Using a rigorous economic model developed to assess the cost-effectiveness of community-based physical activity interventions, the study found them to be cost-effective; reducing new cases of many chronic diseases and improving quality of life.
The programs appeared to reduce new cases of disease by: five to15 cases per 100,000 people for colon cancer; 15 to 58 cases per 100,000 for breast cancer; 59to 207 cases per 100,000 for type 2 diabetes and 140 to 476 cases per 100,000 for heart disease.
Community-based physical activity interventions broadly fall under the following strategies:
• Community campaigns such as mass communication efforts (TV/radio, newspapers, billboards, advertisements).
• Social support networks such as exercise groups to encourage behavior change.
• Tailored behavior change to encourage people to set physical activity goals and monitor their individual progress.
• Enhanced access to services that support active lifestyles such as fitness centers, bike paths and walking trails.
“Our study found that public health strategies that promote physical activity are cost effective, and compared with other well-accepted prevention strategies, such as treatment for high cholesterol or motor vehicle air bags, offer good value for the money spent,” said Larissa Roux, M.D., Ph.D., lead author of the study.
The study, “Cost Effectiveness of Community-Based Physical Activity Intervention,” is being published in the online version of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
“This study supports the value and effectiveness of the physical activity interventions that were studied,” said William Dietz, M.D., Ph.D., director of CDC’s Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity. “This study also shows the importance of the new physical activity guidelines put forth last month by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.”
The new guidelines recommend two-and-a-half hours each week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity, such as brisk walking or an hour and 15 minutes each week of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity such as jogging or running.
Scientists discover cell pathway of deadly sub-type of breast cancer
An intra cellular pathway not previously linked to breast cancer is driving a sub-type of the disease that is highly lethal and disproportionately over-represented in African American women.
The pathway regulates how cells identify and destroy proteins and represents a class of genes called proteasome targeting complexes. The work shows that basal cancer cells degrade the tumor suppressor gene p27 by making a new type of proteasome targeting complex. The gene p27 is one of a handful of proteins that are expressed in normal cells and act to prevent rapid cell growth, which is indicative of cancer. Beyond chemotherapy, no specific therapeutic target has been identified for this sub-type of cancer, found in between 12 to 15 percent of breast cancers in the general population and up to 25 percent of cases in African American women.
“The possibility that this new proteasome targeting complex might provide targets for therapeutic intervention is a completely new area for breast cancer research,” said Tim Lane, senior author of the paper and a researcher at UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.
The research, done in animal models and human breast cancer cell lines, was published in the Nov. 15 issue of the journal Genes and Development. Scientists have identified five to seven different sub-types of breast cancer. Basal-like breast cancers currently are among the most difficult to treat.
Another reason to quit: smoking causes bladder cancer
The American Urological Association (AUA) gives smokers another good reason to quit: smoking causes bladder cancer. Only about 33 percent of people know that smoking is a leading risk factor for the disease, according to a new study published in The Journal of Urology. The American Cancer Society estimates that smokers are twice as likely to get bladder cancer as nonsmokers.
Bladder cancer is the fourth most common type of cancer in men and eighth most common in women. About 53,000 men and woman are diagnosed with bladder cancer each year and about 14,000 die annually of the disease. In recent decades, there has been a steady increase in the incidence of bladder cancer. Along with smokers, people who work with dyes, metal, paints, leather, textiles and organic chemicals may be at a 20 to 25 percent higher risk. People who have chronic bladder infections may also be at higher risk.
“A smoker’s bladder is continuously exposed to carcinogenic substances which, over time, can affect the bladder lining and potentially lead to cancer,” said Tomas Griebling, MD, associate professor of urology, vice chair of urology and assistant scientist in the Center on Aging at the University of Kansas School of Medicine in Kansas City. “If the threat of lung cancer isn’t serious enough to inspire a patient to quit smoking, perhaps the thought of losing your bladder to cancer will be.”
Exercise, rest reduce women’s cancer risk
Exercise is good for more than just your waistline. A recent study presented at the American Association for Cancer Research’s Seventh Annual International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research suggests that regular physical activity can lower a woman’s overall risk of cancer n but only if she gets a good night’s sleep. Otherwise, lack of sleep can undermine exercise’s cancer prevention benefits.
“Greater participation in physical activity has consistently been associated with reduced risk of cancer incidence at several sites, including breast and colon cancers,” said James McClain, Ph.D., cancer prevention fellow at the National Cancer Institute and lead author of the study. “Short duration sleep appears to have opposing effects of physical activity on several key hormonal and metabolic parameters, which is why we looked at how it affected the exercise/cancer risk relationship.”
Even though the exact mechanism of how exercise reduces cancer risk isn’t known, researchers believe that physical activity’s effects on factors including hormone levels, immune function, and body weight may play an important role. The study examined the link between exercise and cancer risk, paying special attention to whether or not getting adequate sleep further affected a women’s cancer risk.
Researchers assessed the association between physical activity energy expenditure (PAEE), sleep duration and incidence of overall, breast, and colon cancer in 5,968 women at least 18 years old with no previous cancer diagnoses. The women completed an initial survey in 1998 and were then tracked through the Washington County Cancer Registry and Maryland State Cancer Registry for nearly 10 years.
The results pointed to a sleep-exercise link. “Current findings suggest that sleep duration modifies the relationship between physical activity and all-site cancer risk among young and middle-aged women,” he said.
The next step, says McClain, would be to confirm current findings and investigate potential mechanisms underlying the interaction between sleep and exercise in order to better understand their roles in cancer prevention.