Blood Sugar

Epilepsy drug during pregnancy bad for IQ Toddlers of moms who took the epilepsy drug valproate during pregnancy had lower IQs than the children of women who used other anti-seizure medicines, according to a new study. The valproate children had IQ scores six to nine points lower by age 3, said the study's lead author, Dr. Kimford Meador of Emory University. The drug, also sold as Depakote, had previously been linked to birth defects. Women of childbearing age have long been advised to avoid it. In the study, researchers followed pregnant women in the U.S. and United Kingdom between 1999 and 2004.

Candy canes, pumpkin pie, mashed potatoes, oh my. Holiday treats can wreak havoc on anyone's diet plan, but for the approximately 23.6 million Americans with diabetes who are trying to maintain good glucose control, the festive season can be particularly difficult to navigate. Nonetheless, this doesn't mean that diabetics can't join in the festivities, says Michelle Bravo, a dietitian and certified diabetes educator at the Johns Hopkins Diabetes Center. There are steps that can be taken to help maintain good health.

In 2001, I had a very strong urge to chew on ice. After reading in your column that this could be a sign of anemia, I told my doctor about it. The blood work showed anemia, and I was advised to get a colonoscopy. This test showed cancer in the colon. I had surgery and received six months of chemo. The operation removed 10 inches of my colon. Testing the lymph nodes showed that the cancer had spread to three out of 15 tested. I wouldn't have mentioned the craving for ice cubes had I not read about it in your column.

About a month ago, my son-in-law started taking one regular Bayer aspirin each morning and one Bayer PM before going to sleep. Two weeks into this regimen, he started bleeding from the mouth while he was sleeping. He stopped taking the aspirin, and the bleeding stopped as well. Is this a possible side effect? Aspirin can thin the blood by interfering with the sticky part of blood called platelets. Some people are especially susceptible to this effect, so even a standard dose might trigger bleeding.

Federal researchers who tried to reduce heart attacks among diabetics by driving their blood sugar to low levels found that more patients were dying instead. The finding, announced yesterday, prompted officials to halt part of a major study of diabetes and heart disease.

Medicine has made life-saving advances in treating and preventing heart disease, the major killer of people with diabetes, yet female diabetics are dying at higher rates than three decades ago, researchers reported this week. "There's good news here; we are making progress," said Dr. Deborah Burnet, a diabetes expert at the University of Chicago. "The bad news is it appears to be limited to men." The trend has ominous public-health consequences, experts note. Diabetes is growing more common in the U.S. as the population gets older and fatter, and elderly women are the fastest-growing segment of society.

What can you tell me about medication used to fight alcoholism? How would I get it, and how much will it cost? I don't have much money. The prescription medications used to treat alcoholism work best in conjunction with counseling and social support. ReVia (naltrexone) has been available for some time and takes away the pleasurable feelings associated with alcohol. Sadly, the drug is quite expensive (more than $200 for a month's supply), and there is no patient assistance from the manufacturer.

Medication errors injure more than 1.5 million Americans every year at a cost surpassing $3.5 billion, according to a report issued yesterday by the National Academies' Institute of Medicine. "Every component of the medication process has errors," said Dr. Wilson D. Pace, a professor of family medicine at the University of Colorado and an author of the report. Estimating that the average hospital patient is subject to one medication error per day, the report pointed to widespread communication problems among medical personnel, drug companies and patients.

A 17-year federal study has finally answered one of the most pressing questions about diabetes: Can tight control of blood sugar prevent heart attacks and strokes? The answer, reported yesterday in The New England Journal of Medicine, is yes. Intense control can reduce the risk by nearly half. And, the study found, the effect occurred even though the patients had only had a relatively brief period of intense blood sugar control when they were young adults. Nonetheless, more than a decade later, when they reached middle age, when heart disease and strokes normally start to appear, they were protected.