In the HOPE trial of over 10,000 patients, those taking the ACE inhibitor ramipril had a 3.6% chance of developing diabetes versus 5.4% of those in the placebo group, over a mean follow-up period of 4.5 years. JAMA 2001;286(15):1882.

In this trial of 7705 postmenopausal women, raloxifene decreased the risk of heart attack or stroke among the subgroup of women at high risk of cardiovascular disease. However, among all women studied raloxifene had no effect upon hard cardiac events or stroke. Journal of the American Medical Association 2002;287:847-857.

This study of 295 women found that high dietary folate was associated with a decreased likelihood of colon cancer. International Journal of Cancer 2002;97:864-867

In this study of 92 couples, those who lived together prior to marriage were more verbally aggressive with eachother and less supportive of eachother. Journal of Marriage and Family 2002;64:180-192.

In this study of 153 smokers, those who viewed ultrasound images of fatty plaques in their arteries were four times more likely to quit smoking than those who just received counseling. Preventive Medicine 2002;34:215-220

In this study of 1092 people over an eight year follow-up period, high homocysteine blood levels were positively associated with the development of Alzheimer's Disease. Since certain B vitamins such as folate reduce homocysteine levels, it is postulated that a diet rich in these vitamins may help prevent Alzheimer's. New England Journal of Medicine 2002;346:466-468,476-483.

Direct-to-consumer advertising by pharmaceutical companies in the United States increased from $791 million in 1996 to nearly $2.5 billion in 2000. New England Journal of Medicine 2002;346:498-505,524-531

This study of 242 women aged 15 - 19 years old found that human papillomavirus infection was contracted within 3 months of first sexual intercourse by nearly 25% of the women, or nearly half of the 46% who contracted HPV during the 3 year follow-up period. BJOG: an International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. 2002;109:96-98

This study of 7277 Dutch men and women over 55, the use of nonsteroidal anti-inflamatory drugs (NSAIDS) was positively associated with an increased risk to suffer a relapse of congestive heart failure. The reason may be related to NSAIDS causing fluid retention and increased blood pressure. Archives of Internal Medicine 2002;162:265-270

Britain is considering making Viagra an over-the-counter medication as part of its national program to reduce the number of medications requiring a prescription. [news article]

This 9 year study of nearly 11000 married men found that divorce combined with several work stressors increased the rate of death 69%. Archives of Internal Medicine 2002;162:309-315 [news article]

The California Department of Health recently found that two different prostate health herbal formulas contained prescription medications. One contained warfarin, the other contained alprazolam. [news article]

This meta-analysis of 15 trials involving nearly 2200 patients found that over-the-counter cough medications act primarily as a placebo. British Medical Journal 2002;324:329-331

This review found that many patients experience the opposite of the placebo effect when taking a new medication, i.e. they experience negative side effects when they take a placebo. This has been called the "nocebo" effect. Journal of the American Medical Association 2002;287:622-627.

Drug-resistent salmonella has been show to be transmitted from pigs to humans in Taiwan. The pigs got the drug resistent salmonella from the inappropriate use of fluoroquinolones in their animal feed. There is a great concern over the excessive, widespread, routine use of antibiotics in animal feed, especially in the United States. New England Journal of Medicine 2002;346:413-419 [news article]