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Pesticides May Be Linked to Slightly Smaller Babies, Shorter Pregnancies

Posted 5 Apr 2012 by Drugs.com

THURSDAY, April 5 – Exposure to a type of pesticide commonly used on crops eaten by U.S. consumers is linked to shorter pregnancies and smaller babies, new research says. The pesticides are known as organophosphates, which kill insects by disrupting their brains and nervous systems. Originally developed as nerve poisons during World War II, they can disrupt human nervous systems as well, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The effects seen in the study were relatively small. Pregnancies for women exposed to higher levels of organophosphates had babies that were, on average, 1/3 pound lighter than women exposed to lower levels of the pesticides, and their pregnancies were about three to four days shorter. Spread out over millions of babies, however, lighter babies and shorter pregnancies could have serious health consequences, said senior study author Dr. Bruce ... Read more

Cadmium in Diet May Increase Breast Cancer Risk

Posted 15 Mar 2012 by Drugs.com

THURSDAY, March 15 – Consuming the toxic metal cadmium in the foods you eat may raise your risk for breast cancer, a new Swedish study suggests. Cadmium, which is found in many farm fertilizers, can make its way into soil and water, the researchers explained. Some of the main sources of cadmium in the diet are bread and other cereals, potatoes, root crops and vegetables. Once it enters the body, cadmium may mimic the effects of the female hormone estrogen, which can fuel the growth of certain breast cancers. "Modern life has become increasingly dangerous for our breast health," said Dr. Marisa Weiss, director of breast radiation oncology and breast health outreach at Lankenau Medical Center in Wynnewood, Pa. "Now, there's cadmium hanging onto our carrots and whole grains, the very vegetables that are supposed to be good for us," she noted. "To help our patients reduce their exposure to ... Read more

Illicit Drugs Bought Off Internet May Be Poisons, Experts Warn

Posted 9 Feb 2012 by Drugs.com

THURSDAY, Feb. 9 – A case study of two men who were poisoned and turned blue after ingesting what they thought was a recreational drug that they had bought on the Internet highlights the dangers of such purchases, a new report claims. The case study appears in the Feb. 10 issue of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, which is published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The term "research chemicals" is a phrase used to illegally sell stimulants on the Internet, to avoid regulations that ban their use, the report authors said. The authors described the case of two Oregon men who believed they had bought the designer amphetamine derivative 2C-E online. But the product they actually received was aniline, a highly toxic industrial chemical. Even though these research chemicals all carry a warning label that they are "not for human consumption," the two men ... Read more

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Hard Drug Use in Middle Age Could Prove Fatal, Study Finds

Posted 3 Feb 2012 by Drugs.com

FRIDAY, Feb. 3 – People who start using hard drugs – such as cocaine, opiates and amphetamines – as young adults and continue to use them into their 50s have a fivefold increased risk of early death, researchers report. The finding is from an analysis of hard drug use among 4,300 U.S. adults who took part in a long-term study of cardiovascular disease and risk factors. The participants, including blacks, whites, men and women, were recruited when they were 18 to 30 years of age and followed from 1985 to 2006. The University of Alabama at Birmingham researchers compared those who stopped drug use early in life to those who continued, and calculated their risk of premature death. "Fourteen percent of the people in the study reported recent hard-drug use at least once, and of these, half continued using well into middle age," lead author Dr. Stefan Kertesz, an associate professor in the ... Read more

Smart Kids More Likely to Try Illicit Drugs as Young Adults

Posted 15 Nov 2011 by Drugs.com

TUESDAY, Nov. 15 – Brainy children are at increased risk for illegal drug use when they're young adults, a new study says. Researchers analyzed data from nearly 8,000 people in the ongoing 1970 British Cohort Study of drug use, education and socioeconomic status. The participants' IQ scores were checked at ages 5 and 10 years, and their use of illegal drugs (marijuana, cocaine, uppers, downers, LSD and heroin) was self-reported at ages 16 and 30. At age 30, about 35 percent of men and nearly 16 percent of women had used marijuana in the previous year, and 8.6 percent of men and 3.6 percent of women had used cocaine during that time. In general, men were twice as likely as women to use drugs. The investigators found that 30-year-old men who had high IQ scores at age 5 were about 50 percent more likely than those who had low IQ scores to have used amphetamines, ecstasy and several ... Read more

Chemicals May Raise Health Risks for Nail Salon Workers

Posted 6 May 2011 by Drugs.com

FRIDAY, May 6 – Nail salon workers may be at increased risk of exposure to harmful chemicals, a new study warns. Researchers recruited 80 Vietnamese women who worked at 20 nail salons in California and measured their work-related exposure to toluene, ethyl acetate and isopropyl acetate. The results, published online May 5 in the American Journal of Public Health, showed that the workers were exposed to higher-than-recommended levels of these solvents. One-third of the women reported health problems such as headaches, irritations, nausea and breathing problems after they started working at a nail salon. Irritations of the nose, throat, lungs, skin and eyes were the most common complaints, reported by 26.5 percent of the study participants, the authors noted in a news release from the American Public Health Association. "Our findings underscore the need for more attention to preventive ... Read more

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Prenatal Exposure to Pesticides May Harm Kids' Development

Posted 7 Feb 2011 by Drugs.com

MONDAY, Feb. 7 – Children whose mothers had higher levels of exposure to a substance found in a commonly used pesticide were more likely to get lower scores on a mental developmental test at 3 years of age than children whose mothers were exposed to lower levels or not at all, new research says. Megan Horton, a postdoctoral research fellow at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health in New York City, and her colleagues followed 348 mothers from low-income areas of New York City whose prenatal exposure to pyrethroid insecticides – found in pesticides commonly used around the home – was tracked. The researchers measured not the common pyrethroid called permethrin but rather piperonyl butoxide (PBO), a chemical added to permethrin that boosts its potency, Horton said. They measured PBO because permethrin is metabolized quickly and difficult to measure, she added. The study ... Read more

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Kids Under 6 Account for Two-Thirds of Drug-Related ER Visits

Posted 15 Oct 2010 by Drugs.com

FRIDAY, Oct. 15 – Children aged 5 years or younger accounted for 68.9 percent of the estimated 100,340 U.S. emergency department visits in 2008 that involved accidental ingestion of prescription medicines and other drugs, says a U.S. government report. About two-fifths of these children were 2 years old and 29.5 percent were 1 year old. Males accounted for 55.7 of the cases, according to the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) report released by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Pharmaceuticals were involved in 99 percent of cases involving young children, while illicit drugs or alcohol were involved in only 1 percent. "While caretakers may be alert to securing obviously dangerous substances such as cleaning products and chemicals, they may be less aware of the danger of leaving pharmaceutical products belonging to parents or other family members in ... Read more

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U.S. Campaign Aims to Combat Prescription Drug Abuse

Posted 9 Oct 2010 by Drugs.com

SATURDAY, Oct. 9 – In a nationwide campaign to prevent prescription drug abuse, accidental poisonings and overdoses, a coalition of U.S. medical, drug and law enforcement agencies is calling on consumers to routinely dispose of any expired and unused medications. To raise awareness of the problem, the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, the American College of Emergency Physicians, poison control centers and other coalition members are sponsoring an event on Nov. 13 called the "American Medicine Chest Challenge," in which citizens purge their medicine cabinets of old prescription drugs and lock up the rest. According to agencies involved in the campaign, regular clean-ups are crucial because 70 percent of people who abuse prescription pain relievers indicate they got them from friends or relatives, and the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) reports that upwards of 9 million ... Read more

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