A combination of pharmaceuticals made up of aspirin, cholesterol drugs and blood-pressure drugs to prevent stroke also reduces stroke severity if one occurs, according to a study published April 25 in the journal Neurology.

People taking all three drugs had less severe strokes, had shorter hospital stays and were better able to function when leaving the hospital than those who were taking one, two, or none of the three drugs.

Researchers looked at how severe the strokes were, how much brain-cell damage occurred and other factors. Study participants were divided into five groups: 69 people were taking none of the three drugs; 47 people were taking aspirin only; 29 were taking aspirin and ACE inhibitors, or blood pressure drugs; 14 were taking aspirin and statins, or cholesterol-lowering drugs; and 20 people were taking all three drugs.

Researchers discovered that even though the amount of initial brain-cell damage was roughly equal on average among the five groups, the amount of brain cells that were still at risk of damage at the time of hospital admission was smaller among those taking all three drugs.

“It's possible that these three drugs work synergistically to reduce the amount of brain tissue that is damaged in the penumbra by improving blood flow,” said Dr. Magdy Selim, study author and neurologist at the Harvard Medical School.

Americans who ate a Mediterranean diet had a reduced risk for Alzheimer's disease as they aged. The Mediterranean diet consists of lots of fruits, vegetables, legumes, cereals, some fish, red wine and only small helpings of dairy and meat.

Experts surmise that diet might play a role in the development of Alzheimer's disease, but epidemiological data on diet and Alzheimer's is conflicting. While individual foods and nutrients have been previously studied, general dietary patterns have not.

Researchers led by Dr. Nikolaos Scarmeas of Columbia University Medical Center designed a community-based study of more than 2,200 nondemented people in New York City funded by the National Institute of Health and the National Institute on Aging.

Researchers gathered medical and neurological history, did a standardized physical and neurological exam, and conducted in-person interviews to assess health and brain function of study participants. The information was used to diagnose a presence or absence of dementia. Subjects were reassessed approximately every 18 months for an average of four years.

Having breast implants is not linked to an increased risk of cancer, reports a study in the April 19 edition of Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Implants were associated with a decrease in breast cancer risk and an increased lung cancer risk, but these results likely reflect the lifestyles and smoking habits of the women in the study rather than an effect of the implants themselves, the authors conclude.

Past reports have examined the association between cosmetic breast implants and cancer risk, particularly breast cancer risk, but no consistent associations have been found. However, few studies have examined this association after more than 15 years.

Dr. Joseph K. McLaughlin of the International Epidemiology Institute in Rockville, Md., and Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville, Tenn., and colleagues examined the incidence of cancer in 3,486 Swedish women who underwent cosmetic surgery for breast implants between 1965 and 1993.

The women were followed until the end of 2002. Data was obtained from the Swedish Cancer Registry, which reports on cancer occurrence for the entire country.

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