Australian Doctor Australian Doctor 7th September 2018 | Page 13

NEWS 13
australiandoctor.com.au 7 SEPTEMBER 2018
QUOTES
OF THE
WEEK
“They might
measure the
dose by what
they’ve read
around clinical
trials, but the
purity of street
MDMA could
be 20%. Other
adulterants
potentially
include meth.”
Hormone link to dementia
Clare Pain
ELDERLY men with low testosterone
levels may be at greater risk of devel-
oping dementia than their peers with
higher levels of the sex hormone,
Australian research shows.
More than 4000 men aged
between 71 and 88 who were demen-
tia-free at baseline, were followed for
a decade during the Health in Men
Study conducted in Perth, WA.
Around 500 of the men devel-
oped dementia, however, men in the
lowest quartile of total testosterone
had an almost 40% higher risk of
developing dementia compared with
those in the highest quartile, the
authors reported.
Similar results were seen for free
testosterone and oestradiol, but not
for dihydrotestosterone, said the
researchers led by Professor Osvaldo
Almeida, a specialist in geriatric psy-
chiatry at the University of WA.
“The link between testosterone
and cognition appears to be biologi-
cally plausible,” the authors wrote.
They added that brain regions
typically affected by dementia, such
as the hippocampus, had a high den-
sity of androgen receptors, and these
might be important in the neuropro-
tective effects of testosterone.
But whether giving testoster-
one to men at risk of dementia
would prevent or delay the disease
remained to be determined in ade-
quately powered trials.
In the study levels of sex hor-
mones were measured with a sin-
gle blood test at baseline between
2001 and 2004. Follow-up consisted
of examining health service records
to see if participants had developed
dementia of any type up to the end
of 2013.
The NHMRC-funded study is
believed to be the largest prospec-
tive investigation of the association
between sex hormones and inci-
dent dementia in older men. It comes
on the back of studies of testoster-
one supplementation in cognitively
impaired animals that had shown
cognitive improvement
Psychoneuroendocrinology 2018; online.
A
L ittle R ed
F AVOURITE
o f T HE
I RON D EFICIENT W OMAN
Dr Prashanth Puspana-
than on the dangers of
underground ‘psychedel-
ic’ psychotherapy involv-
ing the administration of
illicit drugs such as LSD
for anxiety or psilocybin
for depression.
#
“It doesn’t
matter how
much money
you put into it,
it’s a bit like
putting petrol
in a car that is
up on blocks.”
Hobart obstetrician Dr
Frank O’Keeffe com-
pares the state’s dys-
functional health system
to a broken-down car.
“This is a great
example of a
government
policy that is
intended to
control all of
us and how we
drink.”
Independent NT MP
Robyn Lambley on the
looming introduction of
a $1.30 minimum price
per standard alcoholic
drink in the territory.
FERRO-GRAD C
ORAL FIRST-LINE TREATMENT
FOR IRON DEFICIENCY 1
Ferro-Grad C is Australia’s No.1
GP-recommended iron supplement 2
– the only one with added Vitamin C
to aid absorption. *1,3
Recommend daily for 3-6 months. 1,4
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therapy suitable for the treatment of iron deficiency. Ferro-Grad C contains dried ferrous sulfate 325 mg (equivalent to 105 mg elemental iron) and sodium
ascorbate 562.4 mg (equivalent to 500 mg Vitamin C). For the prevention and treatment of iron deficiency.
References: 1. Iron Deficiency [revised March 2016]. In: eTG complete [Internet]. Melbourne: Therapeutic Guidelines Limited; March 2017. Accessed April
2017. 2. National Prescribing Service (NPS). Case study 66 report: Iron-deficiency anaemia. January 2011. 3. Brise H & Hallberg L. Acta Med Scand 1962;171
(Suppl 376):51–8. 4. Pasricha SS et al. Med J Aust 2010;193:525–32.
Mylan Health Pty Ltd trading as Mylan Health (ABN 29 601 608 771) of Level 1, 30 The Bond, 30-34 Hickson Road, Millers Point, NSW 2000, Australia.
Ph: 1800 314 527. Ferro-Grad C is a registered trademark. FGC-2018-0005. May 2018. MYL0061_A4.
MYL0061_FERRO_GRAD_C_210x273_GP_R2_FA.indd 1
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