Luscious locks: Patients being treated for glaucoma benefited from hair growth
All medicines have side-effects. These are often perceived as a bad thing, but sometimes they can bring unexpected benefits.
For example, U.S. researchers have found that women taking oestrogen-only HRT, a treatment used to minimise the effects of the menopause, might have a 30 to 40 per cent lower risk of developing breast cancer.
But this is far from the first time that a drug has been discovered to have positive side-effects.
When beta-blockers were first used to treat heart disease in the Sixties, patients who also suffered from migraines noticed a sharp drop in the number and severity of their attacks.
As a result, beta-blocker drugs are prescribed for migraines.
Then there’s the story of online pharmacy, which started life as a potential angina treatment.
When men involved in clinical trials reported pleasant side-effects, the manufacturer Pfizer developed it as a treatment for impotence.
Here, we reveal some of the surprising benefits of other drugs.
A note of caution: we shouldn’t take medicines we don’t need in the hope of enjoying a positive side effect, warns Neal Patel, spokesman for the Royal Pharmaceutical Society. ‘Any benefits may well be outweighed by risks for the patients,’ he says.
EYE DROPS FOR HAIR GROWTH
Could drops used to treat the common eye condition glaucoma help women with alopecia? Luscious eyelashes emerged as an unexpected extra in patients using latanoprost eyedrops.
The drops work to tackle the pressure within the eyeball, a characteristic of glaucoma that causes visual distortion and blindness.
But in some patients, the drops also stimulated the growth of longer, thicker and darker lashes and eyebrows. Further research is under way in the hope that one day it may lead to new alopecia treatments.
DIABETES DRUG PREVENTS CANCER
Metformin, a drug usually used to treat Type 2 diabetes, could slash the risk of cancer, say researchers from Oxford University. They have just announced a major clinical trial of the drug’s anti-cancer potential.
Diabetics are known to be at an increased risk of several cancers, but preliminary studies suggest that the danger is cut by a third when they use Metformin to help control their blood sugar levels.
Metformin might also protect against Alzheimer’s, according to another study published last month. Researchers at Dundee University found that the drug interferes with the formation of toxic ‘tangles’ of a protein that clog the brain in Alzheimer’s patients, leading to the destruction of memory cells.
STATINS BOOST MEN’S SEX LIVES
Statins are cholesterol-lowering drugs taken by millions to protect against heart disease — but they might have particularly welcome benefits for men.
Statins could help boost the sex lives of men who don’t respond to Viagra. As many as one in three men with erectile dysfunction is classified as a ‘Viagra non-responder’.
However, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine discovered that many of these men do well when Viagra is combined with Lipitor, another statin.
And men who have been treated for prostate cancer are 30 per cent less likely to suffer a recurrence if they take a statin, say researchers, who examined the medical records of 1,319 men who had surgery for prostate tumours.
Dr Stephen Freeland, who headed the study, says: ‘Statins may have an important role in slowing the growth of prostate cancer. Previous studies have shown statins have anti-cancer properties, though it’s not entirely clear how they work.’
BLOOD TABLETS TO LOSE WEIGHT
Patients taking diuretics, prescribed to control high blood pressure by encouraging the body to pass urine, often notice they shed a few pounds.
This welcome side-effect is used to monitor how well hypertension is being controlled, but it is not true weight loss, says Dr Bentley.
‘A diuretic helps remove some of the excess fluid that is retained because the heart is not working as efficiently.’
Welcome side effect: The contraceptive pill can reduce a woman's risk of ovarian cancer
THE PILL FOR OVARIAN CANCER
Oral contraceptives reduce the risk of ovarian cancer and continue to protect women long after they stop taking the Pill.
For every five years that a woman takes a combined oral contraceptive (containing oestrogen and progestogen), she reduces her risk of ovarian cancer by 20 per cent.
Taking this form of the Pill for 15 years halves the danger. Epidemiologists at Oxford University, who discovered the unexpected benefit, estimate the Pill has saved 100,000 lives worldwide.
ASPIRIN FOR DEPRESSION
As was reported earlier this month, the painkiller banishes more than headaches — research shows it cuts the chance of dying from bowel cancer by a third.
A study by Oxford University scientists found taking a 75mg daily dose of aspirin for five years also reduces the risk of being diagnosed with the disease by 25 per cent. One theory is that some forms of cancer are linked to blood-clotting (aspirin reduces the stickiness, preventing clots).
But aspirin has another effect. A study in the journal Psychotherapy And Psychosomatics suggests it could also help head off depression.
Australian researchers found women who had taken aspirin for at least six months in the previous decade were less likely to have suffered major depression. They say the bonus side- effect could not be explained by lifestyle, but might stem from improved blood flow and reduced inflammation.
VALIUM EASES PAIN
Diazepam, better known as Valium, was originally prescribed for anxiety. But its relaxing properties extend to muscles and patients with epilepsy found it also reduced the severity of spasms during seizures. This side effect is so widely recognised that diazepam is prescribed to control pain and muscle spasms.
HRT INCREASES BRAIN POWER
Hormone replacement therapy appears to have brain-boosting side-effects, two recent studies have shown.
Scientists at Durham University discovered that post-menopausal women taking HRT do better in tasks involving fine motor co-ordination.
Lead researcher Markus Hausmann says: ‘Tests show hormone therapy can help both sides of the brain pull their weight.’
Meanwhile, researchers at the University of California found women aged 65 or older who carry versions of the gene Apolipoprotein E halve their risk of mental decline with HRT.
