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July 31, 2009

Meds

Roche Holding AG's (ROG.VX) eye disease drug Lucentis proved effective in helping to improve vision in patients suffering from a condition known as central retinal vein occlusion, Roche's Genentech unit said.

This was the second six-month, late-stage study of Lucentis for retinal vein occlusion to deliver statistically significant results showing vision improvement compared with a placebo.

The drug developed by Genentech, which was acquired by the Swiss drugmaker earlier this year, is currently approved to treat wet age-related macular degeneration -- the leading cause of blindness in the elderly.

Retinal vein occlusion, or RVO, is a common cause of vision loss that occurs when blood flow through a retinal vein becomes blocked, such as by a blood clot, causing fluid to build up and vision to cloud.

Doug

CDIstaffing.com

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July 29, 2009

meds

Dental fillings that contain mercury are safe, but have been upgraded from low-risk to moderate-risk devices, the FDA said.

 

In its final rule on dental amalgam, the FDA recommended that product labeling include warnings against use in patients with mercury allergy and that dental professionals use adequate ventilation when handling the product.

 

The label should also have a statement about the product's benefits and risks -- including those from inhaling mercury vapor, the agency said.

 

The FDA's action is the latest development in a long and contentious battle involving the agency, the American dental establishment, and a variety of consumer and environmental groups who argue that mercury-based amalgam fillings are potentially harmful.

 

The rule was originally proposed in 2002 but received a large number of comments and was investigated further.

 

A 2006 advisory committee meeting of dental and neurology experts asked that the FDA probe deeper into the scientific literature on dental amalgam before making a final rule. Consumer groups eventually filed a lawsuit to compel the agency to act.

 

Throughout its review, the agency said it considered 200 scientific studies, reflected in the final rule issued today.

Doug

CDIstaffing.com

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meds

Dental fillings that contain mercury are safe, but have been upgraded from low-risk to moderate-risk devices, the FDA said.

 

In its final rule on dental amalgam, the FDA recommended that product labeling include warnings against use in patients with mercury allergy and that dental professionals use adequate ventilation when handling the product.

 

The label should also have a statement about the product's benefits and risks -- including those from inhaling mercury vapor, the agency said.

 

The FDA's action is the latest development in a long and contentious battle involving the agency, the American dental establishment, and a variety of consumer and environmental groups who argue that mercury-based amalgam fillings are potentially harmful.

 

The rule was originally proposed in 2002 but received a large number of comments and was investigated further.

 

A 2006 advisory committee meeting of dental and neurology experts asked that the FDA probe deeper into the scientific literature on dental amalgam before making a final rule. Consumer groups eventually filed a lawsuit to compel the agency to act.

 

Throughout its review, the agency said it considered 200 scientific studies, reflected in the final rule issued today.

Doug

CDIstaffing.com

Posted by doug at 02:08 PM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

July 28, 2009

Stress

Divorce causes more than bitterness and broken hearts. The trauma of a split can leave long-lasting effects on mental and physical health that remarriage might not repair, according to research released this week.

 

"People who lose a marriage take such damage to their health," said Linda Waite, a sociologist at the University of Chicago in Illinois.

 

Waite and co-author Mary Elizabeth Hughes, of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, found that divorced or widowed people have 20 percent more chronic health conditions such as heart disease, diabetes or cancer than married people. They also have 23 percent more mobility limitations, such as trouble climbing stairs or walking a block.

 

Their article, published in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior, examined the marital history and health indicators for 8,652 middle-aged people in research funded by the National Institute on Aging. The authors found differences between the overall health of those who remain married and those who divorce.

 

Almost half of all U.S. marriages end in divorce, according to the National Institutes of Health.

 

"Losing a marriage or becoming widowed or divorced is extremely stressful," Waite said. "It's financially, sometimes, ruinous. It's socially extremely difficult. What's interesting is if people have done this and remarried, we still see, in their health, the scars or marks -- the damage that was done by this event.

Doug

CDIstaffing.com

 

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July 26, 2009

Cancer

Medically induced menopause, particularly when it involves removal of both ovaries, nearly doubles a younger woman's risk for developing lung cancer, a new Canadian study has found.

The finding, published online in the International Journal of Cancer, is based on a study of 999 patients from hospitals across Montreal, including 422 women with lung cancer. The researchers analyzed the patients' socio-demographic information, place of residency, jobs, medical and smoking history, and (among women) menstruation and pregnancy histories.

"Although smoking is the dominant cause of lung cancer, we know other factors can play an important role in enhancing the impact of tobacco carcinogens," Koushik added. "This research suggests that, in women, hormonal factors may play such a role."

Doug

CDIstaffing.com

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July 24, 2009

Meds

When cells turn into fully-formed adult heart muscle they stop dividing, and cannot replace tissue damaged by disease or deformity.

But a US team have found a way to coax the cells to start dividing again, raising hopes they could be used to regenerate healthy tissue.

The study, carried out on mice and rats by Children's Hospital Boston, appears in the journal Cell.

Doug

CDIstaffing.com

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July 23, 2009

diet

Sticking with a healthy diet and lifestyle can reduce the risks of high blood pressure and heart failure, in which the heart cannot pump enough blood to supply the body with oxygen and nutrients, according to the findings of two studies in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

In the first investigation, Dr. Luc Djousse, from Harvard Medical School in Boston, and colleagues analyzed data from 20,900 men in the Physicians' Health Study I (1982-2008) to assess the link between lifestyle factors and the lifetime risk of heart failure. The subjects were followed for 22.4 years, on average.

The lifetime risk of heart failure, assessed at age 40 years, was about one in seven, the report indicates.

A variety of healthy lifestyle habits were linked to a lower risk of heart failure. These habits included maintaining a normal body weight, not smoking, regular exercise, moderate alcohol intake, consumption of breakfast cereals, and consumption of fruits and vegetables.

doug

cdistaffing.com

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July 21, 2009

Meds

After a 50-year drought of new drugs and a string of disappointing failures of potential treatments for lupus, researchers said Monday that they have found an experimental drug that can ameliorate the symptoms of the life-threatening autoimmune disorder that afflicts as many as 1.5 million Americans.

In unpublished results released by the company, a team from Human Genome Sciences said that the experimental drug Benlysta significantly reduced lupus symptoms in a randomized trial of more than 850 patients, reducing their need for debilitating steroids and improving quality of life.
Doug

cdistaffing.com

 

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July 16, 2009

Swine Flu

Did the University of Wisconsin have anything to do with the virus getting out ov their lab?

 

Doug

CDIstaffing.com

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July 13, 2009

Obesity

 

A British study discovered that a child becomes overweight due to the influence of his or her same-sex parent and not because of genetics, the Australian Associated Press reported.

For example, if a girl’s mother is overweight, then she is more likely to gain weight, according to a study from the Peninsula Medical School at the Universities of Exeter and Plymouth in England. The same thinking holds true for sons and fathers.

The discovery proposes that behavior, not genetics, has more to do with determining a child’s size.

Doug

CDIstaffing.com

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Meds

Schizophrenia patients given a cheap older drug are less likely to die prematurely than people on newer treatments, despite the older product's well-known adverse side effects, Finnish researchers said on Monday.

The finding may lead to wider use of clozapine -- sold by Novartis as Clozaril, but also available as a generic -- instead of newer drugs like AstraZeneca's Seroquel, the current market leader.

Clozapine was the first of a new generation of schizophrenia drugs, known as atypical antipsychotics, but its use has been restricted by health authorities because of safety concerns, and patients taking it require regular blood tests.

Despite this, an analysis of 10 years' records for 67,000 patients in Finland found that, compared with treatment with the first-generation drug perphenazine, the risk of early death for patients on clozapine was reduced by 26 percent.

By contrast, mortality risk was 41 percent higher for those on Seroquel, known chemically as quetiapine; 34 percent higher with Johnson & Johnson's Risperdal, or resperidone; and 13 percent higher with Eli Lilly's Zyprexa, or olanzapine.

"We know that clozapine has the highest efficacy of all the antipsychotics and it is now clear, after all, that it is not that risky or dangerous a treatment," study leader Jari Tiihonen of the University of Kuopio said in a telephone interview.

"We should consider whether clozapine should be used as a first-line treatment option."

THOUSANDS OF PREMATURE DEATHS

Tiihonen estimates clozapine is given to around one fifth of Finnish schizophrenia patients, but less than 5 percent in the United States.

Clozapine's side effects include agranulocytosis, a potentially fatal decline in white blood cells, and current rules stipulate the drug can only be used after two unsuccessful trials with other antipsychotics.

Doug

CDIstaffing.com

Posted by doug at 12:02 PM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Meds

Schizophrenia patients given a cheap older drug are less likely to die prematurely than people on newer treatments, despite the older product's well-known adverse side effects, Finnish researchers said on Monday.

The finding may lead to wider use of clozapine -- sold by Novartis as Clozaril, but also available as a generic -- instead of newer drugs like AstraZeneca's Seroquel, the current market leader.

Clozapine was the first of a new generation of schizophrenia drugs, known as atypical antipsychotics, but its use has been restricted by health authorities because of safety concerns, and patients taking it require regular blood tests.

Despite this, an analysis of 10 years' records for 67,000 patients in Finland found that, compared with treatment with the first-generation drug perphenazine, the risk of early death for patients on clozapine was reduced by 26 percent.

By contrast, mortality risk was 41 percent higher for those on Seroquel, known chemically as quetiapine; 34 percent higher with Johnson & Johnson's Risperdal, or resperidone; and 13 percent higher with Eli Lilly's Zyprexa, or olanzapine.

"We know that clozapine has the highest efficacy of all the antipsychotics and it is now clear, after all, that it is not that risky or dangerous a treatment," study leader Jari Tiihonen of the University of Kuopio said in a telephone interview.

"We should consider whether clozapine should be used as a first-line treatment option."

THOUSANDS OF PREMATURE DEATHS

Tiihonen estimates clozapine is given to around one fifth of Finnish schizophrenia patients, but less than 5 percent in the United States.

Clozapine's side effects include agranulocytosis, a potentially fatal decline in white blood cells, and current rules stipulate the drug can only be used after two unsuccessful trials with other antipsychotics.

Doug

CDIstaffing.com

Posted by doug at 12:02 PM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Meds

Schizophrenia patients given a cheap older drug are less likely to die prematurely than people on newer treatments, despite the older product's well-known adverse side effects, Finnish researchers said on Monday.

The finding may lead to wider use of clozapine -- sold by Novartis as Clozaril, but also available as a generic -- instead of newer drugs like AstraZeneca's Seroquel, the current market leader.

Clozapine was the first of a new generation of schizophrenia drugs, known as atypical antipsychotics, but its use has been restricted by health authorities because of safety concerns, and patients taking it require regular blood tests.

Despite this, an analysis of 10 years' records for 67,000 patients in Finland found that, compared with treatment with the first-generation drug perphenazine, the risk of early death for patients on clozapine was reduced by 26 percent.

By contrast, mortality risk was 41 percent higher for those on Seroquel, known chemically as quetiapine; 34 percent higher with Johnson & Johnson's Risperdal, or resperidone; and 13 percent higher with Eli Lilly's Zyprexa, or olanzapine.

"We know that clozapine has the highest efficacy of all the antipsychotics and it is now clear, after all, that it is not that risky or dangerous a treatment," study leader Jari Tiihonen of the University of Kuopio said in a telephone interview.

"We should consider whether clozapine should be used as a first-line treatment option."

THOUSANDS OF PREMATURE DEATHS

Tiihonen estimates clozapine is given to around one fifth of Finnish schizophrenia patients, but less than 5 percent in the United States.

Clozapine's side effects include agranulocytosis, a potentially fatal decline in white blood cells, and current rules stipulate the drug can only be used after two unsuccessful trials with other antipsychotics.

Doug

CDIstaffing.com

Posted by doug at 12:02 PM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

July 12, 2009

Recalls

Medtronic Inc. is voluntarily recalling Lot 8 of its Quick-set infusion sets, which deliver insulin from MiniMed Paradigm insulin pumps to diabetes patients. The reason for the recall: Some of those infusion sets don't work properly and could lead to dangerous insulin doses. "Patients should discontinue using 'Lot 8' Quick-set infusion sets," states a Medtronic news release. The lot number is on the product box and on each infusion set package. The affected lot numbers all start with 8, followed by other numbers. Medtronic says it recently learned that about 2% of the "Lot 8" Quick-set infusion sets may not allow the insulin pump to vent air pressure properly. "This could potentially result in the device delivering too much or too little insulin and may lead to serious injury or death," states Medtronic, noting that 2% of Lot 8 is about 60,000 infusion sets out of an estimated 3 million infusion sets that customers currently have. Doug CDIstaffing.com

Posted by doug at 11:14 AM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Recalls

Medtronic Inc. is voluntarily recalling Lot 8 of its Quick-set infusion sets, which deliver insulin from MiniMed Paradigm insulin pumps to diabetes patients. The reason for the recall: Some of those infusion sets don't work properly and could lead to dangerous insulin doses. "Patients should discontinue using 'Lot 8' Quick-set infusion sets," states a Medtronic news release. The lot number is on the product box and on each infusion set package. The affected lot numbers all start with 8, followed by other numbers. Medtronic says it recently learned that about 2% of the "Lot 8" Quick-set infusion sets may not allow the insulin pump to vent air pressure properly. "This could potentially result in the device delivering too much or too little insulin and may lead to serious injury or death," states Medtronic, noting that 2% of Lot 8 is about 60,000 infusion sets out of an estimated 3 million infusion sets that customers currently have. Doug CDIstaffing.com

Posted by doug at 11:14 AM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

July 10, 2009

Diet

Eating less helped monkeys live longer and prevented disease in a study that holds promise for humans hoping to stay young.

U.S. scientists, who already knew that cutting calories prolonged the life of rodents and worms, first began to investigate the effect on rhesus monkeys in 1989. Their findings are published in the journal Science today.

The dieting animals didn’t just live longer, they had less than half the cancer and heart disease of those allowed to splurge, Richard Weindruch of the University of Wisconsin- Madison and his colleagues found. None of the lean monkeys developed diabetes and the parts of their brains devoted to mental and motor functions were better preserved.

“We observed that caloric restriction reduced the risk of developing an age-related disease by a factor of three and increased survival,” Weindruch said in a statement.

Doug

CDIstaffing.com

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July 09, 2009

meds

 A simple change in the technique used to deliver the abortion pill reduced the number of serious infections attributed to the drug by more than half, and dropped infection rates to nearly zero when antibiotics were introduced, according to a study released today.

Since March 2006, Planned Parenthood has had women take the second drug by placing it in their mouth, between their cheek and gums, and letting it dissolve. Some researchers say that method retains the effectiveness of the drug, and according to the latest study, it significantly cuts the rate of infection.

"Just changing the route of the misoprostol, which costs nothing, had an effect. And it's certainly no less convenient for women," said Dr. Paul Blumenthal, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Stanford University School of Medicine and director of Stanford's Center for Contraceptive Health and Research.

Doug

CDIstaffing.com

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July 08, 2009

Stem Cells

Cellular Dynamics International Inc., a firm founded by stem cell pioneer James Thomson of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said Wednesday that its researchers have generated pluripotent stem cells from small volumes of human blood samples.

The stem cells, which have the ability to generate all tissue types in the body, pose the potential of establishing new cellular therapies for disease. Generating pluripotent stem cells from human blood samples, either freshly collected or stored in repositories, provides a convenient source of patient-specific stem cells that can be used for personalized treatments.

"The ability to use common tissue repositories to create iPS (induced pluripotent stem) cells from donors with known medical history enables us to provide the pharmaceutical industry with a cell portfolio representing individual biology, disease models, retrospective analysis and ethnic diversity," Emile Nuwaysir, chief operations officer of CDI. "This is the first step in paving the way for large-scale processing and industrialization of iPS cells."

Doug

CDIstaffing.com

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July 06, 2009

Alzheimer's

A new U.S. study suggests drinking coffee five cups a day helps protect against and combat Alzheimer's disease.

    "The study gives evidence that caffeine may be a viable treatment for established Alzheimer's disease and not simply a protective strategy," said Dr Gary Arendash of the University of Florida.

    Dr Gary, who led the research, and colleagues tested on 55 mice bred to develop symptoms of Alzheimer's. They then dosed up half mice on caffeine after their memory impairment became apparent.

    Astonishingly, the mice performed far better on memory tests and thinking skills than those who were not given caffeine.

Doug

CDIstaffing.com

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July 05, 2009

Suntan lotion

Scientists from EWG developed a "best" list for sunscreens, lip balms, and moisturizers. On the 10 best sunscreens list (many sold online):

  • Soleo Organics Sunscreen Organic chemical-free sunscreen, SPF 30+
  • Badger Sunscreen, SPF 30
  • UV Natural Sunscreen, SPF 30+
  • Mexitan Sunscreen Lotion, SPF 50
  • Lavera Sunscreen Neutral, SPF 40
  • California Baby Sunscreen Lotion No Fragrance, SPF 30+
  • Trukid Sunny Days Facestick Mineral Sunscreen UVA/UVB Broad Spectrum, SPF 30+
  • Kabana Skin Care Green Screen Organic Sunscreen, SPF 22, Skin Tone Tinted
  • Obagi Nu-Derm Physical UV Block, SPF 32
  • Elta MD UV Physical, SPF 41.

 

Doug

CDIstaffing.com

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July 04, 2009

Meds

The FDA warns that bizarre behavior -- including suicide -- is seen in people taking the stop-smoking drugs Chantix and Zyban.

Both drugs now will carry "black box" labels warning that people taking the drugs should be closely watched for signs of suicidal thoughts, depression, hostility, or other changes in behavior.

"We want people to use these drugs carefully and pay attention," Robert J. Temple, MD, director of the FDA's office of medical policy, said at a news conference. "Stopping smoking is a goal we all want to work toward. We don't want to scare people off these drugs -- we just want them carefully monitored."

It's not at all clear that the drugs actually cause these behavior changes. Smokers are addicted to nicotine -- and when they quit, their withdrawal symptoms can include many bizarre behaviors, including suicide.

Doug

CDIstaffing.com

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July 03, 2009

Hep C

At least nine patients at Rose Medical Center in Denver have tested positive for Hepatitis C. Thousands of surgery patients at the hospital may have been exposed to the incurable virus. Now, the woman at the center of this problem is in trouble with federal officials.

Officials from the medical center say a former Surgery Technician was swapping her own dirty syringes for ones that were filled with powerful narcotics. Those syringes were meant for patients post-surgery.

Doug

CDIstaffing.com

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July 02, 2009

Meds

The manager of a major poison control center on Long Island said Wednesday he is pleased federal officials are considering constraints on acetaminophen because the popular drug, by itself or in combination with a prescription narcotic, is such a potent cause of sickenings and deaths.

Cases of intentional and unintentional acetaminophen poisonings have risen dramatically on Long Island over the past decade, matching a national liver toxicity crisis, experts say. More than 50,000 people are sickened annually and 200 die of acetaminophen liver poisoning. Acetaminophen is the active ingredient in Tylenol.

Doug

CDIstaffing.com

Posted by doug at 11:43 AM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

July 01, 2009

HIV

A law signed under the Bush administration to lift a ban on HIV-positive visitors from entering the United States, got the go-ahead this week from the Obama administration.

Doug

CDIstaffing.com

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