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August 29, 2009

Meds

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Zenpep (pancrelipase) delayed-release capsules to treat a pancreatic

 

 

disorder that prevents people from properly digesting food, Dutch drug maker Eurand NV said.

 

Exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI) is caused by a lack of digestive enzymes produced by the pancreas, a possible symptom of conditions including cystic fibrosis and pancreatic cancer.Zenpep was approved in different strengths for adults and children as young as a year old, Eurand said in a news release. It's expected to be available at U.S. pharmacies

 

later this year.

 

The most common adverse reactions reported during clinical testing of Zenpep included gastrointestinal problems, abdominal pain, headache, cough and loss of weight, the company said.

Doug

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August 28, 2009

meds

More than half of children taking the swine flu drug Tamiflu experience side effects such as nausea and nightmares.

Studies of 103 children showed that 51 to 53 percent had one or more side effects from the medication.

The most common side effect was nausea (29 percent), followed by stomach pain or cramps (20 percent) and problems sleeping (12 percent). Almost one in five had a “neuropsychiatric side effect,” such as inability to think clearly, nightmares and “behaving strangely.”
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August 27, 2009

obesity

For every excess pound piled on the body, the brain gets a little bit smaller.

 

That's the message from new research that found that elderly individuals who were obese or overweight had significantly less brain tissue than individuals of normal weight.

 

"The brains of obese people looked 16 years older than their healthy counterparts while [those of] overweight people looked 8 years older," said UCLA neuroscientist Paul Thompson, senior author of a study published online in Human Brain Mapping.

 

Much of the lost tissue was in the frontal and temporal lobe regions of the brain, the seat of decision-making and memory, among other things.

 

The findings could have serious implications for aging, overweight or obese individuals, including a heightened risk of Alzheimer's, the researchers said.

 

"We're all trying to protect our bodies and our brains from aging and this is just one factor that's accelerating that on top of all the other factors such as pollution, smoking, alcohol. We all lose some tissue as we get older and they're saying this is being accelerated," said Paul Sanberg, distinguished professor of neurosurgery and director of the University of South Florida Center for Aging and Brain Repair in Tampa.

doug

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August 26, 2009

meds

A common gene variation explains why many people are not helped by the widely prescribed blood thinner Plavix, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday in a study confirming earlier research and paving the way for tests to screen patients before they get the drug.

They said one version of the gene CYP2C19, carried by nearly a third of the general population, plays a major role in their response to Plavix or clopidogrel, an $8 billion a year drug made by Sanofi-Aventis and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co to prevent heart attacks and strokes.

Those who had the variation and took Plavix after a procedure to open blocked heart arteries were 2.4 times more likely to die or have a heart attack or stroke than those who did not have the variant and took the drug.

The gene variation "is a strong predictor of response to clopidogrel or Plavix," said Dr. Alan Shuldiner of the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore.

About 30 percent of Caucasians and blacks have this variation, Shuldiner said in a telephone interview. But it is much more common in Asians -- up to 60 percent of them have at least one copy of it.

Shuldiner, whose study appears in the Journal of the American Medical Association, said the mutated gene produces a deficient enzyme.

"People with this variation do not convert Plavix from its inactive form to its active form, and therefore are less responsive to clopidogrel," he said.

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August 25, 2009

appendix

"Everybody likely knows at least one person who had to get their appendix taken out - slightly more than 1 in 20 people do - and they see there are no ill effects, and this suggests that you don't need it," Parker said.

 

However, Parker and his colleagues recently suggested that the appendix still served as a vital safehouse where good bacteria could lie in wait until they were needed to repopulate the gut after a nasty case of diarrhea. Past studies had also found the appendix can help make, direct and train white blood cells.

 

Now, in the first investigation of the appendix over the ages, Parker explained they discovered that it has been around much longer than anyone had suspected, hinting that it plays a critical function.

 

"The appendix has been around for at least 80 million years, much longer than we would estimate if Darwin's ideas about the appendix were correct," Parker said.

 

Moreover, the appendix appears in nature much more often than previously acknowledged. It has evolved at least twice, once among Australian marsupials such as the wombat and another time among rats, lemmings, meadow voles, Cape dune mole-rats and other rodents, as well as humans and certain primates.

 

"When species are divided into groups called 'families,' we find that more than 70 percent of all primate and rodent groups contain species with an appendix," Parker said.

Doug

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August 24, 2009

Car Seats

Car safety seats are one of the most effective ways to protect children from injury and death in the first years of life. But a new study published by the American Academy of Pediatrics suggests they can reduce a baby’s oxygen level.

For the best protection in a crash, car seats require infants to be placed in an upright position. However, this posture can partially compress the chest wall and reduce airway size, resulting in lower levels of oxygen.

The study, “A Comparison of Respiratory Patterns in Healthy Term Infants Placed in Car Safety Seats and Beds,” compared oxygen levels in 200 newborns while in a hospital crib, car bed and car seat. The mean oxygen saturation level was significantly lower in the car seat (95.7 percent) and the car bed (96.3 percent) compared to the crib (97.9 percent).

Previous studies have found similar effects on premature infants; this study confirms the respiration of full-term infants is also affected by car seats and car beds.

The study authors suggest these safety devices should be used only for protection during travel, and not as replacement for cribs.

Doug

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August 23, 2009

Meds

The Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved the first drug for treating infantile spasms, a rare and devastating disease that wracks infants with hundreds of spasms every day, interferes with neurological development and kills as many as 20% of victims.

 

The approval of the drug, called Sabril, represents the end of a 15-year odyssey for Dr. W. Donald Shields, a pediatric neurologist at UCLA's Geffen School of Medicine, who pioneered studies of the drug in the U.S.

 

"I can't tell you how excited I was yesterday when I found out" the drug was approved, he said today. "This is a drug we really need to have."

 

The drug, known generically as vigabatrin, is not perfect. As many as 30% of those who use it suffer from a loss of peripheral vision, although it does not affect central vision and such tasks as reading. Patients who use the drug will have to be monitored very closely for loss of vision, but most parents Shields has encountered are not overly concerned about the problem. "If you lose peripheral vision but are developmentally normal, it is probably worth it," he said.

 

 Doug

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August 21, 2009

Mercury

Scientists have detected mercury contamination in every one of hundreds of fish sampled from 291 freshwater streams, according to a U.S. government study released on Wednesday.

More than a quarter of those fish contained concentrations of mercury exceeding levels set by the Environmental Protection Agency for the protection of people who eat average amounts of fish, the U.S. Geological Survey report said.

More than two-thirds exceeded the EPA-set level of concern for fish-eating mammals.

"This study shows just how widespread mercury pollution has become in our air, watersheds, and many of our fish in freshwater streams," Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said in a statement. The USGS is part of the Interior Department.

The neurotoxin enters the environment chiefly as an air pollutant spewed into the atmosphere by industrial emissions, then falls back to the surface in precipitation and particulate matter carried over long distances.

The main source of atmospheric mercury, according to the EPA, is coal-fired power plants.

Doug

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August 20, 2009

meds

For postmenopausal women with breast cancer, treatment with the drug letrozole (Femara) increases survival after surgery more than the widely used tamoxifen, a new study confirms.

 

Both letrozole and tamoxifen have been used to prevent recurrence of breast cancer in postmenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive cancer, but whether one drug is better than the other has been unclear. The new study compared the impact of the newer drug, letrozole, to tamoxifen.

 

"This study reinforces the benefits of letrozole over tamoxifen, and leaves five years upfront use [of letrozole] as the preferred option, especially in patients judged to be at higher risk for recurrence," said lead researcher Dr. Alan Coates, co-chair of the scientific committee of the International Breast Cancer Study Group and a clinical professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Sydney, Australia.

 

The report is published in the Aug. 20 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

 

 doug

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August 19, 2009

meds

Clearer U.S. guidelines on how to treat elderly heart attack patients appear to have saved lives, with a marked reduction in heart attack deaths over 10 years, researchers reported on Tuesday.

 

They found a 3 percent drop in the number of patients who died within a month of having a heart attack between 1995 and 2006, after Medicare started applying clearer standards on treatments.

 

"Among Medicare beneficiaries, for every 33 patients admitted in 2006 compared with 1995, there was 1 additional patient alive at 30 days," Dr. Harlan Krumholz of the Yale University School of Medicine in Connecticut and colleagues wrote in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

 

They also found a lot less variation in death rates from one hospital to another -- a finding that might support healthcare reform efforts that include more standardized guidelines on patient care.

Doug

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August 18, 2009

obesity

Adults who suffered from severe sleep apnea, blocking their breathing and interrupting their sleep, were almost 50% more likely to die than those with normal respiration, according to a large, taxpayer-funded study.

Doctors at Johns Hopkins and six other institutions measured the sleep and breathing patterns of more than 6,400 people and followed them for the next eight years. Men younger than 70 who suffered from the condition were twice as likely to die as those who didn't have the breathing problem.

More than 12 million Americans are thought to have sleep apnea. Four in five are unaware they have the condition and aren't getting treatment, experts say.

Rates of sleep apnea are rising with obesity levels because excess fat in the neck and throat can clog the airways, blocking them temporarily and forcing people to gasp for breath.



Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/health/2009/08/18/2009-08-18_sleep_apnea_a_deadly_risk_factor_docs_find.html#ixzz0OX0oNwVX

doug

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August 17, 2009

recalls

 The Food and Drug Administration is warning diabetes patients that certain blood sugar tests can give inaccurate results in patients taking other medications.

Public health regulators told consumers on Friday not to use certain glucose testing strips from Roche, Abbott Laboratories and other companies in combination with dialysis and other biologic drugs. According to FDA those formulations contain non-glucose sugars, which can falsely elevate blood sugar results and increase the risk of insulin overdose.

People with the disease often have to inject insulin, which helps break down carbohydrates, because their bodies have become resistant to the protein.

Dialysis and so-called immunoglobulins are most often taken by patients with serious medical ailments, including kidney failure and rheumatoid arthritis. The biologic drugs' labeling already warns that they can interfere with glucose monitoring tests, but FDA says the products continue to be used together despite past warnings.

Since 1997 the FDA received 13 reports of death related to the use of glucose testing strips and biologic drug formulations.

doug

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August 16, 2009

Obesity

Obesity is the elephant in the room of health care reform, a public health catastrophe that kills more than 100,000 Americans a year, cost the nation $147 billion last year and threatens to shorten U.S. life expectancy for the first time since the Civil War.

 

Whatever Washington does this year to reduce medical spending seems likely to be swamped by the nation's rising weight. Obesity lurks behind the top chronic illnesses - heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and colon, breast and prostate cancers, among many others - whose treatments routinely cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

 

One of every three Americans, and one of every four Californians, is obese and rates are rising at an alarming pace, particularly among children, experts say.

 

"Rising obesity rates are increasing health care expenditures per person in a way that is going to be very difficult to finance," said Jay Bhattacharya, a doctor and health economist at Stanford University's Center for Primary Care and Outcomes Research.

 

"Unless there is some vast improvement in the efficiency of the health care system - and I mean vast - we're going to be spending a lot more just because a lot more people will have diabetes" and other obesity-related diseases, he said.

 

Obesity is all but impossible to treat. Prevention is the only cure. Yet while health care legislation in Congress would increase spending on prevention of chronic disease, it does little to tackle the underlying obesity epidemic directly. Most of the bills are silent on what many health experts contend would be one of the most effective weapons: a tax on soda.

Doug

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August 15, 2009

cancer

Researchers have discovered a way to identify drugs that can specifically attack and kill cancer stem cells, a finding that could lead to a new generation of anticancer medicines and a new strategy of treatment.

Many researchers believe that tumor growth is driven by cancerous stem cells that, for reasons not understood, are highly resistant to standard treatments. Chemotherapy agents may kill off 99 percent of cells in a tumor, but the stem cells that remain can make the cancer recur, the theory holds, or spread to other tissues to cause new cancers. Stem cells, unlike mature cells, can constantly renew themselves and are thought to be the source of cancers when, through mutations in their DNA, they throw off their natural restraints.

A practical test of this theory has been difficult because cancer stem cells are hard to recognize and have proved elusive targets. But a team at the Broad Institute, a Harvard-M.I.T. collaborative for genomics research, has devised a way of screening for drugs that attack cancer stem cells but leave ordinary cells unharmed.

Cancer stem cells are hard to maintain in sufficient numbers, but the Broad Institute team devised a genetic manipulation to keep breast cancer stem cells trapped in the stem cell state.

doug

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August 14, 2009

Cancer

U.S. researchers have discovered a compound that can kill breast cancer stem cells, a kind of master cancer cell that resists conventional treatment and may explain why many cancers grow back, they reported on Thursday.

The discovery came using a new method of screening for drugs that specifically target and kill cancer stem cells, and it could be used to find drugs targeting other cancer stem cells as well, they said.

Many teams have been looking for ways to destroy these master cancer cells in hopes of making cancer easier to cure.

"There is a lot of evidence to suggest now that these cells are responsible for many of the recurrences that are observed after treatment has stopped," Piyush Gupta of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Broad Institute, whose study appears in the journal Cell, said in a telephone interview on Thursday.

The problem is that cancer stem cells are rare and difficult to study in the lab because they quickly change into other types of cells. And they are hard to kill.

Doug

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August 13, 2009

Excerics

Exercise, along with a Mediterranean-style diet full of fruits and veggies, could help stave off cognitive decline, according to new research published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Researchers tracked the exercise and eating habits of 1,880 adults between 1992 and 2006, noting how strictly participants stuck to a Mediterranean diet

and exercise routine. People who closely followed the diet reduced their risk of developing Alzheimer's disease by 40 percent, and those who exercised most reduced their risk by 33 percent, compared to adults who didn't follow the diet or who did not exercise, the Wall Street Journal reports. In a study released earlier this year, the same team found the Mediterranean diet alone lowered the risk of Alzheimer's.

Doug

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August 12, 2009

Meds

The first member of a new class of osteoporosis drugs reduced spinal fractures by about two-thirds in post-menopausal women and in men undergoing hormone-deprivation therapy for prostate cancer, according to two studies released online Tuesday by the .

The drug, called denosumab, blocks production of cells called osteoclasts that break down bones, and physicians have high hopes for it because of its efficacy, ease of administration and apparent lack of severe side effects. But it's a biological agent rather than a chemical, meaning it's difficult to produce, and it is likely to be the highest-priced osteoporosis drug in an already-crowded marketplace.
The most well-known osteoporosis drug, Fosamax, is in a class known as bisphosphonates. Those drugs actually kill osteoclasts but carry the risk of stomach and esophageal irritation and have been linked to some cases of jaw necrosis.
Doug
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Meds

The first member of a new class of osteoporosis drugs reduced spinal fractures by about two-thirds in post-menopausal women and in men undergoing hormone-deprivation therapy for prostate cancer, according to two studies released online Tuesday by the .

The drug, called denosumab, blocks production of cells called osteoclasts that break down bones, and physicians have high hopes for it because of its efficacy, ease of administration and apparent lack of severe side effects. But it's a biological agent rather than a chemical, meaning it's difficult to produce, and it is likely to be the highest-priced osteoporosis drug in an already-crowded marketplace.
The most well-known osteoporosis drug, Fosamax, is in a class known as bisphosphonates. Those drugs actually kill osteoclasts but carry the risk of stomach and esophageal irritation and have been linked to some cases of jaw necrosis.
Doug
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August 11, 2009

Cancer

For new mothers, breastfeeding their babies may reduce their own risk of developing breast cancer.

This is amazing news, and could result in more new moms opting to breastfeed their children opposed to feeding from a bottle.

Previous research has also proved that babies who are breastfed have a reduced risk of numerous health problems when they get older, more positive evidence for breastfeeding.

According to the researchers, the benefit to breastfeeding moms was only in womenwho had a family history of the disease.

Doug

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August 10, 2009

Med Errors

Richard Flagg drowned in his blood.

 

Stanley Stinnett choked on his vomit.

 

 

Both were victims of the leading cause of accidental death in America - mistakes made in medical care.

 

Experts estimate that 98,000 people die from preventable medical errors each year. More Americans die each month of preventable medical injuries than died in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

 

Meanwhile, a federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study concluded that an additional 99,000 patients a year succumb to hospital-acquired infections. Almost all of those deaths, experts say, also are preventable.

 

These numbers are not absolutes. There is no definitive study - which is part of the problem - but all of the available research indicates that the death toll from preventable medical injuries and infections approaches 200,000 per year in the United States.

 

Ten years ago, a highly publicized federal report called the death toll shocking and challenged the hospital industry to cut it in half.

 

Instead, federal analysts believe the rate of medical error is actually increasing.

 

A national investigation by Hearst Newspapers, including The Chronicle, found that the hospital industry, the federal government and most states have failed to take the effective steps outlined in the report a decade ago.

 

Consequently, over that period, as many as 2 million Americans have died needlessly of preventable medical mistakes.

 



Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/08/08/MNN9191UIJ.DTL#ixzz0NmBhYuAE

 

 

Doug

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August 09, 2009

Plague

Pneumonic plague has killed 3 during a recent outbreak which began at the end of July in Ziketan, North West China. Pneumonic plague is extremely rare, but is the most deadly type of plague. Since the start of the outbreak, 9 additional human infections with Yersinia pestis, the bacteria which causes plague, have been confirmed in this Tibetan Area of Qinghai Province. The threat of disease spread was considered serious enough that the Chinese authorities took aggressive measures to keep 10,000 inhabitants of Qinghai province under quarantine. Media reports suggest that these restrictions have now been lifted

doug

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August 08, 2009

cancer

Women who have a mastectomy after being diagnosed with breast cancer seem have a similar quality of life in the long term whether they have breast reconstruction surgery or not, a research review suggests.

Many women who undergo mastectomy have breast reconstruction performed, either at the same time as the mastectomy or at a later point. Breast reconstruction is generally thought to improve women's quality of life in the long run, and some studies have suggested as much.

But in the new review, which looked at 33 studies of mastectomy patients' own reports of their long-term well-being, researchers found that overall, women fared similarly whether or not they had reconstruction.

Of 11 studies of quality of life -- measured by factors like physical functioning, emotional well-being and social life -- seven found no differences, on average, between women who had reconstruction and those who did not.

Similarly, nine of 16 studies on body image showed no clear differences -- including each of the three studies the researchers deemed to be "higher-quality."

Doug

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August 07, 2009

Recall

Cargill Inc., owner of Beef Packers Inc. in Fresno, is voluntarily recalling 825,769 pounds of ground beef produced this summer. Much of the meat was packaged and sold in West Coast states, including California, under different brand names, so customers should check with the store where they bought ground beef to find out if it's safe.

 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Safety Inspection Service is investigating the outbreak. So far, 40 people in nine states - including five people in the California counties of Orange and Tulare - have been sickened, according to the California Department of Public Health. At least four people have been hospitalized. All are expected to recover.

Doug

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August 06, 2009

HIV

According to scientists they have managed to decode the entire genome of HIV-1 the strain of virus that attacks humans.

The announcement was made by a team of US scientists from University of North Carolina.

This is a major breakthrough in the fight against the disease, and could open the door to a potential cure.

Since the disease was identified back in the 80’s it has killed millions of people from all parts of the world.

The scientists state that like other viruses, HIV carries its RNA on double-stranded DNA.

The virus actually operates very similar to others, including; influenza, hepatitis C and polio.

For more information on this study, check out the journal Nature.

Doug

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August 05, 2009

meds

Livalo (pitavastatin) is the newest statin to be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat high cholesterol.

As with other statin drugs, Lavalo is meant for people in whom diet and exercise

fail to lower cholesterol, the agency said in a news release. Statins do this mostly by curbing the liver's ability to produce an enzyme called HMG Co-A reductase.

 

 Livalo was approved based on the results of five clinical studies that compared its safety and effectiveness to three other statins. The most common side effects reported among Livalo users were pain in the muscles, joints, and back, and constipation.

Livalo is produced by Montgomery, Ala.-based Kowa Pharmaceuticals America Inc.

Doug

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meds

Livalo (pitavastatin) is the newest statin to be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat high cholesterol.

As with other statin drugs, Lavalo is meant for people in whom diet and exercise

fail to lower cholesterol, the agency said in a news release. Statins do this mostly by curbing the liver's ability to produce an enzyme called HMG Co-A reductase.

 

 Livalo was approved based on the results of five clinical studies that compared its safety and effectiveness to three other statins. The most common side effects reported among Livalo users were pain in the muscles, joints, and back, and constipation.

Livalo is produced by Montgomery, Ala.-based Kowa Pharmaceuticals America Inc.

Doug

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August 03, 2009

Meds

Millions of U.S. children have disturbingly low Vitamin D levels, possibly increasing their risk for bone problems, heart disease, diabetes and other ailments, according to two new studies that provide the first national assessment of the crucial nutrient in young Americans.

About 9 percent of those ages 1 through 21 -- about 7.6 million children, adolescents and young adults -- have Vitamin D levels so low they could be considered deficient, while an additional 61 percent -- 50.8 million -- have higher levels, but still low enough to be insufficient, according to the analysis of federal data being released Monday.

"It's astounding," said Michal L. Melamed of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, who helped conduct one of the studies published online by the journal Pediatrics. "At first, we couldn't believe the numbers. I think it's very worrisome."

Low Vitamin D levels are especially common among girls, adolescents and people with darker skin, according to the analysis of a nationally representative sample of more than 6,000 children. For example, 59 percent of African American teenage girls were Vitamin D deficient, Melamed's study found.

Doug

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August 02, 2009

Recalls

Officers with the U.S. Marshals Service have seized all skin sanitizers and skin protectants, including ingredients and components, at Clarcon Biological Chemistry Laboratory's facility in Roy, Utah, the Food and Drug Administration said.

The FDA also warned the public Saturday not to use any Clarcon products because they contain harmful bacteria and are promoted as antimicrobial agents that claim to treat open wounds, damaged skin, and protect against various infectious diseases. No cases have been reported to the FDA.

Clarcon voluntarily recalled the affected products, marketed under several different brand names, in June 2009, following an FDA inspection that revealed high levels of potentially disease-causing bacteria in the products.

Doug

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August 01, 2009

meds

The FDA today approved Onglyza, a once-daily treatment for type 2 diabetes to be taken in combination with diet and exercise.

Onglyza, made by Bristol-Myers Squibb and distributed by Bristol-Myers Squibb and AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, was tested in diabetes patients at relatively low risk of heart disease. The FDA approval requires Bristol-Myers Squibb to conduct a postmarketing study to evaluate the drug's heart safety in higher-risk patients.

Onglyza carries the generic name saxagliptin. It belongs to a class of type 2 diabetes drugs called DPP-4 inhibitors. The first drug in this class, Merck's Januvia, was approved in 2006. Like Onglyza, Januvia is taken once daily and is to be used in combination with diet and exercise.

Another DPP-4 inhibitor, Takeda's algoliptin, was rejected by the FDA last month. The U.S. regulatory agency said the company has to provide more data on heart risks before it can be approved. Takeda has said these additional studies will take two years.

All DPP-4 inhibitors work the same way, by blocking an enzyme that degrades GLP-1, a short-lived hormone that stimulates insulin release from the pancreas, thereby lowering blood sugar. Patients taking DPP-4 inhibitors have higher GLP-1 levels and lower blood sugar levels.

doug

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