Personal Injury Law

Blood pressure pills could raise cancer risk

By Hurley, McKenna & Mertz

According to new research published by the Lancet Oncology, ?some of the world's most popular blood pressure pills may slightly increase your risk of getting cancer, but doctors say it's too soon to ditch the drugs.? (M. Cheng, AP Medical, 6/14).

In an analysis of five previous studies of approximately 60,000 patients, ?experts found a link between people taking medicines known as angiotensin-receptor blockers, or ARBs, and cancer.? The drugs are consumed by millions of people globally for medical problems such as diabetic kidney disease, high blood pressure, and heart problems.

The study concluded that people who consumed these drugs had ?about a 1 percent higher risk of getting cancer than people who weren't on the drugs.? Cancers included in the study include: prostate, breast and a noticeable spike in lung cancer.

Though a single percentage of increased risk seems minimal, as a medical negligence lawyer I am hopeful that this study is considered seriously and investigated further.

Full post as published by Chicago Medical Malpractice Lawyer Blog on July 08, 2010 (boomark / email).