Health briefs: Exercise benefits prostate

Vigorous exercise causes changes in some 180 prostate genes among men with early stage prostate cancer, a new study suggests. Included are genes known to suppress tumor growth and repair DNA, which might mean that exercise could prevent or delay progression of the disease, the researchers said. "There are many reasons to exercise," June Chan, associate professor of epidemiology and biostatistics, and urology at the University of California, San Francisco, said last week. "Here's yet another great reason to exercise and it may offer a prostate cancer-specific benefit."

Heartburn meds and fractures

Postmenopausal women who take popular medications to control indigestion and heartburn may put themselves at higher risk for hip fractures, researchers report. Long-term use of these drugs, called proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), may increase that risk by 35 percent to 50 percent for current or former smokers, the researchers added. Prilosec, Nexium and Prevacid are some examples of these medications. The research was done at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

-- HealthDay