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Study Shows The Negative Side To Positive Self-Statements In Self-Help Books
In times of doubt and uncertainty, many Americans turn to self-help books in search of encouragement, guidance and self-affirmation. The positive self-statements suggested in these books, such as "I am a lovable person" or "I will succeed," are designed to lift a person"s low self-esteem and push them into positive action. According to a recent study in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, however, these statements can actually have the opposite effect.
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Gpx5: Sperm Shouldn't Leave The Testes Without This Protein
Joel Drevet and colleagues, at Clermont Universitç©, France, have identified a protein that helps protect immature mouse sperm after they have been released into a region of the testis known as the epididymis, which is where they undergo maturation. Although male mice lacking this protein, Gpx5, had normal looking sperm and were equally as efficient as normal male mice at fertilizing female mice, an increased incidence of miscarriages and fetal developmental defects were observed when normal female mice were mated with Gpx5-deficient males over 1 year old compared with normal male mice of the same age. Further analysis indicated that Gpx5 acts as an antioxidant in the epididymis, protecting the sperm from oxidative stress. As discussed by the authors, and, in an accompanying commentary, John Aitken, at the University of Newcastle, Australia, these data have immense clinical relevance as age-related DNA damage to human sperm has been associated with a range of adverse outcomes including decreased fertility, and increased rates of miscarriage and childhood disease.
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Use Of Acid-Suppressive Medications Associated With Increased Risk Of Hospital-Acquired Pneumonia
Hospitalized patients who receive acid-suppressive medications such as a proton-pump inhibitor have a 30 percent increased odds of developing pneumonia while in the hospital, according to a study in the May 27 issue of JAMA.
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New Treatments Should Be Introduced Gradually To Avoid Later Problems, Says Expert

Concerns over whether the tests a treatment undergoes before release onto the market are enough to ensure its long-term safety are raised in an editorial published by BMJ Clinical Evidence today. Dr Vijay Sharma suggests that treatments should be introduced gradually so that evidence can be built up and the treatment can find its proper niche. To illustrate this, he discusses the recent debate on the long-term safety of drug-eluting stents. Stents (small tubes) are used to unblock arteries that have become thickened by fatty deposits. They improve blood flow and reduce the risk of death from coronary artery disease. Drug-eluting stents slowly release drugs to stop blood clots blocking the stented arteries, a process called restenosis. Drug-eluting stents were used with great enthusiasm when first introduced in 2002, but since 2006 several reports have highlighted an increased risk of clotting as late as one year after treatment (known as late-stent thrombosis). But why was this risk not detected sooner, asks the author? One reason may relate to the outcomes that early clinical trials set out to measure. Another may be that trials have predominantly focused on low risk cases, yet drug-eluting stents were also used in complex cases, where the underlying risk of clotting is higher. More complex cases also require the use of more stents and longer stents, further increasing the risk of late-stent thrombosis, he explains. All adverse effects must be carefully assessed in large-scale studies, writes Dr Sharma. But they must also be balanced against the threat posed by coronary artery disease itself, and interpreted in the context of other treatment options. He concludes: "Treatments are often greeted with enthusiasm when they first appear only to fall into disfavour when adverse effects are found. Then, with time, some of these treatments return with a more limited and clearly defined use. To avoid this pattern, adverse effects should be actively sought, and treatments should be introduced gradually so that experience and evidence can be built up and the treatment can find its proper niche." British Medical Journal


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