COX1 vs COX2

Well, I didn't really have a grip on why COX 2 inhibitors could increase the risk of cardiovascular events. This article (BMJ 2006;Vol 332 :895-8) really explains it well. I can now think of it as a balance between prostacyclin mediated repair effects at a site of damaged vascular endothelium (inhibited by COX2) and platelet aggregation (inhibited by COX1). The COX2 specific NSAID's diminish the repair and do nothing to the platelets, the non specific NSAID's have an effect on both, reducing the risk of an event. I think....

Moderate Drinking - cardioprotection myth

the BMJ news section this week reports on an article (Addiction Research and Theory, doi:10.1080/16983) which seems to confirm what I had heard rumoured recently.

This metanalysis shows a flaw in the methodology of papers purporting support the notion that there is a reduction in mortality in moderate drinkers. Most papers report non-drinkers as including people who had stopped drinking, which people often do as they get older or become unwell. So for now at least the "J-shaped curve" suggesting a cardioprotective effect from moderate alcohol intakes seems to be something that needs more research.