Common BP drug may lead to Diverticulosis in elderly

A team of scientists have found that blood pressure drug belonging to class of calcium channel blockers may lead to diverticulosis in elderly. 

Diverticulosis causes small bulges or pouches to appear in the lining of the intestine and can in some cases can lead to a medical emergency if the pouches become infected or burst.

High blood pressure affects onw in ten adults across the globe and increases the risk of heart attack and stroke. The most common treatments for high bP are lifestyle changes and medications.

A team of scientists incestigated the effectiveness and side effects of 3 common BP medications- ACE inhibitors, beta-bloackers and calcium channel blockers.

The 3 main medications which are being taken by millions were investigated and their potential side effects as well as studying their effectiveness for treating other diseases can be difficult and often involves lengthy and expensive clinical trials.

Therefore in order to overcome this problem, the research team used genetic analyses to study the effects of the drugs. By investigating versions of genes that mimic the effects of these drugs, the team were able to study the drugs' effectiveness and their potential side effects.

First, the researchers identified the proteins targeted by the drugs, and which helps lower BP. Next, they analysed genetic data from around 750,000 people and identifies the so-called genetic variants that code for these proteins.

The team, then studies whether these gene variants which cause increased production of these proteins, were linked to an increased or decreased risk of other diseases.

The good news was that, as expected, these so-called genetic variants ( which coded for proteins involved in lowering BP) were linked to lower heart disease and stroke risk.

However after assessing the risk of around 900 different diseases- using data from the study, the team found that the versions of genes related to the effects of a particular type of calcium channel blocker- the non-dihydropyridine class, were linked to an increased the risk of a bowel condition called diverticulosis.

The team compared their findings with further genetic data, and supported the potential link with an increased risk of the bowel condition.

The link now needs further investigation with larger trials, explains the co-lead author of the research. This is the first time that this class of BP drug has been associated with diverticulosis. We're not sure of the underlying mechanism- although it may relate to effects on the fiction of intestine muscles, which perform contractions to transport food through the gut.

Senior author added, the study of genetic variants that mimic the effect of drugs is evolving as a powerful concept to help prioritise clinical trials and design clinical trials more likely to be successful.

The researchers caution the findings should not change current prescribing guidelines and that people should not stop taking their medications unless first consulting their doctor.

He added, these findings should not change clinical practice, but instead should act as a catalyst for further research.

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Red meat and inflammatory bowel condition

A new study suggests that men who regularly eat red meat are much more likely to develop an inflammatory bowel condition called diverticulitis.

Examining diets of more than 46,000 men between the ages of 40 and 75 over the course of 26 years, researchers found that eating six or more meals per week containing red meat increases the chances of developing diverticulitis by 58 percent.

Diverticulitis occurs when the small pockets or bulges lining the large intestine or colon get acutely infected or inflamed. It is characterised by bloating, constipation, stomach pain, diarrhea, fever, nausea and rectal bleeding.
 
“Previous studies have shown that a high fiber diet is associated with a lower risk of diverticulitis, however, the role of other dietary factors in influencing risk of diverticulitis was not well studied,” said senior study author Andrew Chan, a researcher at Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

“Our result show that diets high in red meat may be associated with a higher risk of diverticulitis,” Chan added by email.

The study found that higher consumption of poultry or fish was not linked with risk of incident diverticulitis.

“However, substitution of one serving of unprocessed red meat per day with poultry or fish was associated with a 20% lower risk of diverticulitis," said the study.

While it's not certainly clear what causes diverticulitis, but it has been linked to smoking, taking nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (or NSAIDs) and a lack of physical activity.

The researchers also found that men who ate unprocessed meats like beef, pork and lamb had a greater risk of developing diverticulitis than their peers who ate processed meats like bacon or sausage.

It’s possible the higher cooking temperatures typically used to prepare unprocessed meats may influence the composition of bacteria in the gut or inflammatory activity, though the exact reason for the increased risk tied to these foods is unknown, the researchers note, adding that these factors need to be studied further.

In 2015, processed red meat - for instance bacon – made headlines when the World Health Organisation (WHO) linked the processed meat to cancer.

Other limitations of the study include its reliance on men to accurately recall and report how much meat they ate and the possibility that the results may not apply to women, the authors point out.

Even so, the findings should offer yet another reason to consider cutting back on red meat, said Samantha Heller, a nutritionist at New York University Langone Medical Center in New York City who wasn’t involved in the study.

Diverticulitis leads to more than 200,000 hospitalisations a year in the US at a cost of more than $2 billion, Chan and colleagues note in the journal Gut.

Diverticulitis can often be treated with a liquid, low-fiber diet or antibiotics, however, severe cases may require hospitalisation and surgery to fix complications like perforations in the gut wall.

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