Airport noise could raise the risk for high blood pressure, a new study suggests. Greek researchers studied 420 people living near Athens International Airport, where an average of 600 airplanes take off and land every day. Maps made during construction of the airport divided the surrounding area by noise level: less than 50 decibels, 50 to 60 decibels (60 decibels is about the noise level of a room air conditioner) and more than 60 decibels. About two-thirds of the residents lived in the areas that regularly experienced noise at the 50- to 60-decibel level, and almost half of them had high blood pressure when the study began. During the next 10 years, there were 71 newly diagnosed cases of hypertension. The study, in Occupational and Environmental Medicine, found that for each 10-decibel increase in noise at night, the risk of developing hypertension more than doubled. Cardiac arrhythmia was also associated with nighttime exposure.

Doctors have plan to reduce cancer drug costs

A group of prominent cancer doctors is planning a novel assault on high drug costs, using clinical trials to show that many oncology medications could be taken at lower doses or for shorter periods without hurting their effectiveness. As Exhibit A, they point to their pilot study involving a widely prescribed drug for advanced prostate cancer. Cutting the standard dose of Zytiga by three-quarters was as effective as taking the full amount — as long as patients swallowed the medication with a low-fat breakfast rather than on an empty stomach, as directed by the label. Reducing the dosage of the $9,400-a-month medication as studied could sharply lower costs even for well-insured patients. The doctors now want to run full trials to see whether the doses of other oral oncology drugs can be ratcheted back because of the "food effect," which can alter how a medication is absorbed.

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