Remember my antibiotic post last October? Here's one more reason why both patient and doctor shouldn't be so 'trigger-happy' with taking and prescribing antibiotics. A new research says there is a positive association between frequent antibiotic use during adulthood and the risk of NHL and most major NHL subtypes.
A little background: NHL is Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, which is a cancer affecting the body's lymphatic system. In the vernacular, the structures involved are called "kulani." Lymphomas are of 2 types, HD or Hodgkin's disease, and NHL, which is Non-Hodgkin's. They are differentiated because of the presence of a specific type of cells called Reed-Sternberg cells, which are found only in HD. Doctor Thomas Hodgkin was the man with whom the lymphomas were named after. According to this website, he was "the most prominent British pathologist of his time and a pioneer in preventive medicine."
Doctor Ellen Chang, along with colleagues also mentioned in the study published in the current issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology that "high cumulative use" of another medication --- NSAIDs or your nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen and naproxen --- was shown to be "marginally associated with elevated NHL risk."
21 November 2005
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