Two common painkillers don't prevent memory loss in elderly

Results from a large government experiment are dimming hopes that two common painkillers can prevent Alzheimer's disease or slow mental decline in older people.

The arthritis drug Celebrex and the over-the-counter painkiller Aleve showed no benefit on thinking skills, new findings show. Scientists have speculated that nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories might prevent Alzheimer's by reducing inflammation in the brain.

The experiment of more than 2,000 people 70 and older was stopped several years early in 2004 when heart risks turned up in a separate study on Celebrex. Researchers also had noticed more heart attacks and strokes in the people taking Aleve in the study.

Despite the study's early end, there was still enough data to hint at how the drugs act on thinking and memory. The findings were posted online Monday and will appear in July's Archives of Neurology. "These were not the results we were hoping for," said co-author Barbara Martin of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. "We designed this study hoping we would see a protective effect of these drugs."

GAY-RIGHTS GROUPS RATE HOSPITALS

Slightly more than half of 88 hospitals got top marks under a new rating system created by two national gay-rights groups that hope the standards will result in more compassionate treatment of gay and lesbian patients.

The ratings consider patient nondiscrimination, visitation and decision-making rights for partners, diversity training for staff, and nondiscriminatory employment practices. The Healthcare Equality Index was designed by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association.

Some survey responses came from hospital networks. Kaiser Permanente, answering on behalf of 31 hospitals in California and Hawaii, said all met the survey's 10 criteria. They were among 45 hospitals in all with top marks.

University Hospitals of Cleveland, representing 10 Ohio hospitals, said they fully met only two criteria -- domestic partner benefits for employees and a patient nondiscrimination policy that includes sexual orientation.

The HRC and the medical association said their goal is to highlight hospitals with high rankings and induce others to abandon inequitable practices.

AIR POLLUTION RAISES RISK OF CLOTS IN VEINS

Long-term exposure to air pollution raises risks of potentially fatal blood clots in the leg and thighs, a Harvard study found.

The scientists measured the amount of very small particles and liquid droplets, called particulate matter, in the Lombardy region of Italy as well as in almost 2,000 patients. The average level of pollution in the region is about the same as the amount in many North American cities, according to an editorial accompanying the study, appearing in today's Archives of Internal Medicine. The study matched 870 patients with blood clots in the legs to more than 1,000 people in a control group free of blood clots. The researchers used the average concentration of particulate matter for each area of the region, obtained by monitors at 53 sites, to estimate the amount of the subjects' exposure the year before.

Previous studies established links with pollution and diseases that primarily affect arteries, blood vessels that carry blood from the heart to the rest of the body. This study is the first of its kind in veins, which carry blood to the heart.

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