Harvard Reviews of Health News

Harvard physicians review daily news headlines and provide commentary as well as advice on how a consumer should react to the news. Over 200 new articles are written annually.

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Sample Headlines

Condom Labels Disputed

A conservative senator wants the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to require changes to the wording regarding effectiveness on condom labels, the Associated Press (AP) reported June 28. Condoms are very effective against HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, but the evidence is weaker regarding their use against other sexually transmitted diseases. Condoms reduce the risk of HIV infection by about 80 percent, AP reported. A recent U.S. government report said that for other infections studies cite prevention rates of 18 percent to 92 percent, depending on the disease.

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Vitamin C and Colds

Regularly taking vitamin C doesn't usually keep people from catching colds, but it might make their colds end a little faster, says an article published June 28 in U.S. News and World Report. The article is based on a review of 55 previous studies, published June 27 in the journal PLoS (Public Library of Science) Medicine. According to the review, most studies found that taking the vitamin didn't help after symptoms had started, but in one large study people who took 8,000 milligrams on the first day of symptoms recovered faster, U.S. News reported. People exposed to extreme physical stress -- such as marathon runners -- also got only half as many colds if they regularly took vitamin C.

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GERD and Cancer

More cases of a rare cancer may be associated with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) than doctors previously believed, says a study in the June issue of the Archives of Surgery. According to the journal's press release, GERD may increase the risk of all tumors found at the far end of the esophagus, where it meets the stomach. In the past, researchers thought only some of these tumors could be linked with GERD, which causes stomach acids to flow backward into the esophagus.

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