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Tuesday, April 26, 2011


MediGuard.org

Teva Pharmaceuticals Recalls Three Lots of Pravastatin Sodium Tablets 20 mg and 40 mg

Teva Pharmaceuticals is recalling several lots of Pravastatin Sodium Tablets 20 mg and 40 mg. The following lot numbers are being recalled because these lots did not meet the testing and manufacturing standards set by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA):

Pravastatin Sodium Tablets, 20 mg - Lot numbers 04Y223 and 04Y233
Pravastatin Sodium Tablets, 40 mg - Lot number 05Y219

Pravastatin is used in the treatment of high cholesterol. Pravastatin is also sold under the brand name Pravachol. No other lots, strengths, or brands of pravastatin were involved in this recall.

To view the FDA notice about this recall, please visit:
http://www.mediguard.org/r/0brbhDC8g0zw
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WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?This recall for Pravastatin Sodium Tablets 20 mg and 40 mg from Teva Pharmaceuticals was issued at a warehouse and pharmacy level only. The FDA and the manufacturer have determined that any recalled product that may have been dispensed to patients does not pose a significant health risk. If you take Pravastatin Sodium Tablets 20 mg or 40 mg and are concerned, you should speak to your doctor.
For updated risk ratings on all of your registered medications, or to update your medication list, please log into your profile (https://www.mediguard.org/user).You can also reach your profile by clicking on the link in the top right corner of any page on our web site.
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DISCLAIMER
MediGuard is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice. MediGuard cannot and does not take into consideration every possible interaction or account for individual responses to medicine. Different individuals may respond to medication in different ways. The absence of a warning for a given drug or drug combination in no way should be construed to indicate that the drug or drug combination is safe, effective, or appropriate for any given patient. Always seek the advice of a qualified health provider with any questions you may have before making any changes to your treatment. The use of the MediGuard site and its content is at your own risk. (c) 2011 iGuard, Inc.. All rights reserved. iGuard, Inc., 66 Witherspoon St #262, Princeton, NJ 08542.
For more information about MediGuard, please visit: http://www.mediguard.org



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Monday, April 25, 2011

Natural immune modulators may provide a key to beating immune disorders

Natural immune modulators may provide a key to beating immune disorders

(NaturalNews) The immune system is normally our natural first line of defense against illness and bad health. However, sometimes immune systems function abnormally due to deficiencies and disorders where the body either loses its natural immunity or else the immune system turns against the body it is supposed to protect. In either case, natural immune modulators may provide the key to maintaining a strong and properly functioning immune system.

Immunodeficiency (or immune deficiency) is a state in which the immune system's ability to fight infectious disease is compromised or entirely absent. There are more than 80 different immune-deficiency syndromes, including the most common and well-known immune deficiency, AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome).

Mainstream medicine has little understanding and no cure for immunodeficiency and often attempts to manage it through long-term antibiotics. Antibiotics often have dangerous side effects. In addition, long term use of antibiotics destroys the body's beneficial intestinal bacteria which leads to bacterial overgrowth, lowered digestion and absorption of nutrients and ultimately even lower natural immune function.

Autoimmune disorder is a condition that occurs when the immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys healthy body tissue due to an inability to distinguish between healthy body tissue and antigens (such as microbial pathogens). The result is an immune response that destroys normal body tissues.

As is the case with immunodeficiencies, mainstream medicine has little understanding and no cures for autoimmune disorders. In most instances, mainstream medicine employs unnatural immunosuppressive drugs to reduce the immune system response. Besides a number of dangerous side effects such drugs often cause, they also reduce the body's natural immune response to actual illness.

Nature may provide a key for controlling and beating immune disorders in the form of natural immune modulators. Immune modulators can either up-regulate or down-regulate natural immune response as needed, enabling people with immune disorders to have more normalized immune function without the side effects of unnatural medications.

Five powerful natural immune modulators are:

Magnesium

Magnesium is a powerful and essential immune modulator. Known as the "master mineral", magnesium is involved in no fewer than 300 body processes. A deficiency in magnesium has been strongly linked to immune disorders and it has been variously estimated that anywhere from 70 to 95 percent of us are deficient in magnesium.

Vitamin D3

Vitamin D3, known as the "sunshine vitamin", is essential to life itself. Several studies in recent years have indicated that vitamin D3 is a powerful immune modulator which could be useful against autoimmune disorders. Furthermore, like magnesium, deficiency in D3 has been linked to autoimmune disorders. The best source of D3 is sunshine. When that is not feasible, supplemental D3 can help.

Curcumin

Curcumin is the major component of the common kitchen spice "turmeric". It is a wonderful herb which has anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties and it has been shown to inhibit autoimmune disorders. Note: curcumin is ordinarily not very bio-available. Consuming piperine (black pepper) and/or coconut milk may improve absorption somewhat, but the best therapeutic value may be found in curcumin supplements designed for high bio-availability.

Blackseed oil

Blackseed oil (Nigella sativa) is another powerful immunomodulator and it has been used for centuries for a wide variety of illnesses. The prophet Muhammad was reported to have said that blackseed is a "cure for everything but death".

Oleander extract

Oleander is noted as a supreme immune stimulator and for its success against cancer, HIV and other conditions. However, it appears that oleander is also a powerful immune-modulator, with many reports of it helping people with immune disorders. Note: only properly prepared non-toxic supplemental oleander extract should be used since the raw plant is quite toxic.

Sources included:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immuno...
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/...
http://www.sclerodermatt.org/articl...
http://www.naturalnews.com/029804_s...
http://www.nationaljewish.org/healt...
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/...
http://www.islamicboard.com/health-...

Learn more:http://www.naturalnews.com/032121_immune_modulators_disorders.html#ixzz1K0CwZSTX

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Incurable brain tumor breakthrough - St. John's wort compound discovered as promising treatment

Incurable brain tumor breakthrough - St. John's wort compound discovered as promising treatment

(NaturalNews) (NaturalNews) Around 10,000 Americans are diagnosed with a malignant glioma every year. And, unfortunately, they received an almost inevitable death sentence. Gliomas, types of tumors which grow in the brain or spine, are virtually incurable and the average one-year survival rate after diagnosis is only about 50 percent.

But now there is finally hope for a new and effective treatment. The therapy? A compound known as hypericin, originally discovered in the herb St. John's wort.

In findings just published in the journal Cancer, scientists are reporting that synthetic hypericin strongly inhibits the growth of gliomas. The reason appears to be, at least in part, because hypericin inhibits protein kinase C, a family of enzymes that spur on the proliferation of these tumors.

"Because hypericin has shown dramatic results in stopping tumor growth in gliomas in the laboratory, we wanted to examine the safety and potential antitumor activity of synthetic hypericin in patients with recurrent malignant gliomas," said William T. Couldwell, MD, PhD, professor and chairman of neurosurgery at the University of Utah School of Medicine and lead author on the study, in a statement to the press.

Dr. Couldwell and a research team from across the US and Canada gave oral synthetic hypericin to patients with two types of gliomas (anaplastic astrocytoma and glioblastoma). Their tumors had recurred or progressed despite standard chemo and other mainstream medical treatment. The scientists gave the patients gradually increasing dosages of hypericin and checked them for any adverse side effects.

Overall, 40 percent of the patients in the study finished a three-month treatment regimen, showing that hypericin is well-tolerated as an oral medication in glioma patients. Most importantly, the scientists found that 22 of the research participants experienced either no progression or a partial response during treatment with hypericin.

But when they looked at the 18 patients who took hypericin for at least 60 days, the results were even more incredible. Fifty percent of these people -- who, remember, suffered from a tumor considered almost universally fatal -- achieved either stable disease or a partial response.

Bottom line: the herb-derived substance did what no other medical treatment (typically a combination of surgery, radiation and chemotherapy) has been able to do. It kept these research subjects from getting worse (and probably dying) and some got better.

"The patients enrolled in our study were all individuals whose tumors had recurred or progressed after extensive prior therapy," Dr. Couldwell emphasized in the media statement."Finding evidence of potential antitumor activity among this very ill population of patients who had failed conventional treatment is a promising sign that hypericin could be useful as an adjunct to the current standard of care."

"Despite advances in care, the prognosis for patients with malignant glioma remains poor. The next step is to examine the effect of hypericin if given earlier in the course of therapy," Dr. Couldwell stated.

For more information: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/...

Learn more:http://www.naturalnews.com/032108_St_Johns_wort_brain_tumors.html#ixzz1K0BQEnNq