The Year In Medicine From A To Z

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With 44 people infected and 32 dead from the avian flu, it wasn't a good year to spend time near ducks or chickens, particularly in Southeast Asia. Millions of fowl were culled in Thailand and Vietnam, which bore the brunt of this year's outbreak of H5N1 influenza, as fear of a widespread epidemic mounted. Public-health officials were particularly alarmed when the virus showed up in tigers, leopards and pigs, mammals that often serve as influenza bridges from animal reservoirs to humans. And in Thailand scientists identified one case of what they fear was human-to-human transmission: a mother fell ill and died from the flu after caring for her infected daughter. In the U.S., health officials are conducting trials on a bird-flu vaccine, hoping to head off a pandemic before it occurs.

BREAST CANCER

Genes play a leading role in determining who gets breast cancer, but environmental factors--such as the food you eat and the medications you take--were the big news this year. Researchers in Mexico reported that eating a high-carbohydrate diet, common in that country, seems to increase the risk, probably by raising levels of insulin in the body, which can in turn trigger cells to grow abnormally. In another study out of the University of Washington, doctors found that women who filled 25 or more prescriptions for antibiotics over a 17-year period developed breast cancer at twice the rate of those who didn't take the drugs. Researchers suspect that antibiotics may reduce the activity of gut microbes that normally protect against cancerous agents. Or the drugs may promote an inflammatory process that triggers tumor growth.

There was good news as well. A landmark study at Columbia University showed that women taking aspirin at least four times a week for three months cut their risk of developing breast cancer 30%. Doctors warn, however, that it's too early to recommend avoiding carbs and antibiotics or turning to aspirin to treat breast cancer. Though all three studies revealed potentially useful associations, none of them can show a direct connection.

C

CAFFEINE

Two separate reports showed a link between coffee consumption and a reduced risk of Type 2 diabetes. In a study that tracked coffee drinkers in the U.S. over a period of 18 years, doctors found that men who drank at least six cups a day were half as likely to develop diabetes, while women cut their risk 30%. In a separate study in Finland, which boasts the world's highest per capita coffee consumption, people who drank three to four cups of coffee a day had an almost 30% lower risk of diabetes, and serious caffeine users (more than 10 cups a day) cut their risk 60%. It's not clear whether the coffee was directly responsible for the lower diabetes rates, but further studies may confirm the connection, as caffeine is known to influence the way the body processes sugar.

CLONING