tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11483184206203720552024-03-13T08:06:03.171-04:00CHIS: Health News & Information You Can Use EverydayCHIS is a blog for finding information on health conditions, new and old medications,and FDA medication recalls. To schedule your health information search with me go to http://www.coastalhealthinfoservicedotcom.wordpress.com click on the Introduction Tab and follow the instructions for contacting me.Angela Carterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08588522389141474439noreply@blogger.comBlogger384125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1148318420620372055.post-68950909957048644462012-05-07T11:45:00.001-04:002012-05-07T11:45:45.127-04:00How Pharmaceutical Companies Influence Doctors<a href="http://www.jonbarron.org/natural-health/bl070706/blog-pharmaceutical-companies-doctors?utm_source=iContact&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Jon+Barron&utm_content=NL+Skeptic+Robert+Carroll+5%2F7%2F12">Natural Alternative to Doctors & Big Pharma -- Health Blog</a><br />
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Here's an interesting site you might want to take a look at. Although designed for doctors, the information is fascinating for the layperson as well. The MGH Institute of Health Professions, an academic affiliate of Massachusetts General Hospital, launched a new <a class="ext" href="http://www.perxinfo.org/perx/" style="color: #003333; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">continuing education documentary and interactive website</a><span class="ext" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: url(http://www.jonbarron.org/sites/all/modules/extlink/extlink.png); background-origin: initial; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding-right: 12px;"></span>designed to educate doctor/prescribers about drug industry influence. Ironically, the program is funded by Pfizer as a result of the Neurontin settlement.</div>
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In particular, you might want to check out their documentary film modules that explain how drugs get approved and marketed -- and the influence pharmaceutical companies have on those outcomes. It's surprisingly pointed, considering that it came out of mainstream medicine. Then again, the documentaries were produced by former pharmaceutical rep, now filmmaker and consumer health advocate, Kathleen Slattery-Moschkau.</div>Angela Carterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08588522389141474439noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1148318420620372055.post-66112044158679505842012-05-07T11:37:00.001-04:002012-05-07T11:37:25.703-04:00Rebutting Robert Carroll's Skeptic Dictionary -- Natural Health Newsletter<a href="http://www.jonbarron.org/natural-health/rebutting-Robert-Carroll-skeptic-dictionary?utm_source=iContact&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Jon+Barron&utm_content=NL+Skeptic+Robert+Carroll+5%2F7%2F12">Rebutting Robert Carroll's Skeptic Dictionary -- Natural Health Newsletter</a><br />
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<span style="background-color: #cccccc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">Several weeks ago, the staff here at the Foundation brought to my attention Robert Carroll's "Skeptic's Dictionary" website that focuses on "exploring strange beliefs, amusing deceptions, and dangerous delusions." High on the site's list is alternative medicine. As the site says, "Some will be harmed by AM [alternative medicine] and many people will benefit from it, </span><strong style="background-color: #cccccc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">but the entire benefit from AM comes from the placebo effect and the reduction of stress hormones due to the calming effect of good ritual</strong><span style="background-color: #cccccc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">" -- a rather sweeping indictment, I must say. In any case, the reason the staff brought it to my attention is that there is now a featured page on the site -- dedicated to me.</span><a class="see-footnote" href="http://www.jonbarron.org/natural-health/rebutting-Robert-Carroll-skeptic-dictionary?utm_source=iContact&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Jon%20Barron&utm_content=NL+Skeptic+Robert+Carroll+5%2F7%2F12#footnote1_fqcm6u2" id="footnoteref1_fqcm6u2" style="background-color: #cccccc; color: #003333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.9em; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; position: relative; top: -0.25em; vertical-align: top; word-wrap: break-word;" title=" The Skeptic's Dictionary. (Accessed 21 April 2012.) <http://www.skepdic.com/barron.html> ">1</a><span style="background-color: #cccccc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"> When I read the page, I found it uproariously funny, filled with misstatements, distortion of fact, and packed with innuendo and a number of juvenile comments -- surprising, considering that the site's author is a retired teacher of "logic" and "critical thinking," albeit at a city college. In any case, the staff insisted we craft a response, even though the site has no facility for leaving comments, and the site says that it will only rarely post them anyway. Nevertheless, I wrote one up, which the staff then toned down and sent on to Dr. Carroll (Ph. D.). The rebuttal was never published, and no response to the email was forthcoming from Dr. Carroll.</span>Angela Carterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08588522389141474439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1148318420620372055.post-22335025136570595132011-12-10T11:00:00.001-05:002011-12-10T11:00:06.784-05:00Overuse of Antibiotic Use In The Southeastern US<br />
New research suggests a pattern of outpatient antibiotic overuse in parts of the United States-- particularly in the Southeast --a problem that could accelerate the rate at which these powerful drugs are rendered useless, according to Extending the Cure, a project of the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy.<br />
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These findings come out just as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) kicked off an annual effort to reduce overuse of antibiotics called "Get Smart: Know When Antibiotics Work." The campaign, which lasts throughout the week, urges Americans to use antibiotics wisely. The CDC estimates that $1.1 billion is spent annually on unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions for adult upper respiratory infections alone. These prescriptions also speed the development of resistance to important antibiotic therapies.</div>
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Also, on Monday of this week, Extending the Cure introduced a new tool that allows non-experts to track changes in antibiotic effectiveness over time. The new Drug Resistance Index (DRI) is similar in concept to the Consumer Price Index and is described in a paper in the <i>British Medical Journal Open</i>.</div>
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<b>Trends in Antibiotic Use Paint a Troubling Picture</b></div>
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Interactive maps released by Extending the Cure track antibiotic use in the <a class="textTag" href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/united+states/" rel="tag" style="color: #0e3266;">United States</a> from 1999 to 2007 and show how overall antibiotic dispensing has decreased; consumption fell by about 12% over this time period. However, they also highlight alarmingly high antibiotic use across the Southeast compared to states in the Pacific Northwest. For example, residents of West Virginia and Kentucky, where antibiotic use rates are highest, take about twice as many antibiotics per capita as people living in Oregon and Alaska.</div>
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Additional key findings include: </div>
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<li>The five states with the highest antibiotic use in the nation are West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Louisiana and Alabama. However, the maps show higher than average use of antibiotics in other regions of the country as well. Check your state's antibiotics use at ResistanceMap.</li>
<li>Prescribing rates for a powerful class of antibiotics known as fluoroquinolones shot up by 49 percent from 1999 to 2007. At the same time, antibiotic resistance is increasing: these drugs are now seven times less likely to work against Escherichia coli, the most frequent cause of bacterial infections, than they were in 1999.</li>
<li>Penicillins remain the most popular antibiotics -- accounting for nearly one out of three prescriptions filled in the United States. At the same time, the market share of these standard drugs has declined by 28 percent as physicians increasingly turn to more powerful antibiotics.</li>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Sans; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">High per capita antibiotic use rates could reflect an environment in which consumers mistakenly demand antibiotics – and physicians prescribe them -- when they have a cold or the flu, which are caused by viruses and cannot be treated with these drugs. However, additional research must be done to better understand the driving factors behind antibiotic use.</span><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Sans; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
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The data was released today as part of Extending the Cure's ResistanceMap, an interactive web-based tool that tracks drug resistance.</div>
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<b>Novel Way to Track Resistance: Drug Resistance Index (DRI)</b></div>
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In a report published this week in the <i>British Medical Journal Open</i>, Ramanan Laxminarayan, Director of Extending the Cure, and Keith P. Klugman, Professor of Global Health at Emory University, describe a first-of-its-kind index for tracking resistance. Like a Consumer Price Index (CPI) for <a class="textTag" href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/drug+resistance/" rel="tag" style="color: #0e3266;">drug resistance</a>, the tool aggregates information about resistance trends and antibiotic use into a single measure of antibiotic resistance over time.</div>
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Hospitals can use the DRI to track resistance levels in their facility and to measure the success of interventions including antibiotic stewardship and infection control programs. The tool also offers decision makers a convenient way of communicating progress and pitfalls in the fight against resistance, according to the study authors. The index is designed to be applicable at any level, from local hospitals to national healthcare system surveillance.</div>
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In this paper, researchers explain how the index can be used by assessing trends in resistance associated with two disease-causing micro-organisms: Escherichia coli and Acinetobacter baumannii. The index can also illuminate how physicians adapt to trends in resistance. For example, in this analysis, the index showed how physicians were able to use other drugs to treat infections caused by resistant strains of E. coli but had very few options left for treating Acinetobacter, a superbug that increasingly is resistant to all available antibiotics.</div>
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"Mapping the geography of antibiotic use and summarizing their effectiveness with a <a class="textTag" href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/drug/" rel="tag" style="color: #0e3266;">Drug</a> Resistance Index bring us one step closer to the solutions we urgently need in order to curtail this public health crisis," Laxminarayan said. "If we do nothing, resistance will continue to develop and our most valuable antibiotics ultimately will fail."</div>
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Extending the Cure research suggests that policymakers must address the broader problem of antibiotic resistance by putting comprehensive solutions in place, including better infection control and surveillance as well as stepping up efforts to curtail overuse of <a class="textTag" href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/antibiotics/" rel="tag" style="color: #0e3266;">antibiotics</a>, a solution that would help preserve the power of the drugs we have left on the shelf.</div>
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<br />Angela Carterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08588522389141474439noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1148318420620372055.post-33696231304650213122011-12-09T11:00:00.000-05:002011-12-09T11:00:06.976-05:00Be Careful With Your Pain Meds<br />
Patients who are dependent on opioids (narcotic pain relievers) for pain management before knee replacement surgery have much more difficulty recovering, a study recently published in the <i>Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery</i> (<i>JBJS</i>) has found. These patients tend to have longer hospital stays, more post-surgical pain, a higher rate of complications, and are more likely to need additional procedures, than patients who are not opioid-dependent.<br />
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"We expected to find that the opioid-dependent patients have worse outcomes," says <a class="textTag" href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/orthopaedic+surgeon/" rel="tag" style="color: #0e3266;">orthopaedic surgeon</a> Michael A. Mont, M.D., the principal investigator and Director of the Center for Joint Preservation and Reconstruction at the Rubin Institute for Advanced Orthopaedics at Sinai Hospital of Baltimore. "But the differences between the two groups of patients were even greater than we thought they would be. The chronic narcotics users did significantly worse in every category."</div>
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<b>Study Findings:</b></div>
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Patients included in the study were matched according to age, sex, body-mass index, insurance type, as well as a variety of medical factors. When those factors were accounted for, the study still found that chronic opioid users: </div>
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<li>had to remain in the hospital longer after surgery</li>
<li>were more likely to need referrals for pain management</li>
<li>were more likely to suffer unexplained pain or stiffness</li>
<li>had lower function and less motion in the replaced knee</li>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Sans; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">"This doesn't mean that opioid users shouldn't have the surgery," Mont says. "But those patients and their physicians should know that their results may not be as optimal. It might be possible that we can work with these patients to improve their</span><a class="textTag" href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/surgical+outcomes/" rel="tag" style="background-color: white; color: #0e3266; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Sans; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">surgical outcomes</a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Sans; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">."</span><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Sans; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
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Dr. Mont and his co-authors outline several strategies to help improve <a class="textTag" href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/patient+outcomes/" rel="tag" style="color: #0e3266;">patient outcomes</a>; including: </div>
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<li>weaning patients off strong opioid medications prior to surgery</li>
<li>prescribing alternate, non-opioid <a class="textTag" href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/pain+medications/" rel="tag" style="color: #0e3266;">pain medications</a></li>
<li>considering non-pharmaceutical pain management strategies</li>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Sans; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">The study's authors acknowledge that some patients who become dependent on opioids before surgery may have lower pain thresholds than those who do not. In addition, those patients may be less compliant with rehabilitation plans and other post-surgical treatments. However, the results of this study are important enough to warrant attention to this issue.</span><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Sans; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
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"Previous studies have found that patients who use opioids are more dissatisfied after surgery," Mont says. "But these are more powerful findings since patients require additional surgeries. This is a topic our orthopaedic community and other care providers need to address together."</div>
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Provided by American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (<a href="http://medicalxpress.com/partners/american-academy-of-orthopaedic-surgeons/" rel="news" style="color: #0e3266; font-weight: bold;">news</a> : <a href="http://www.aaos.org/home.asp" style="color: #0e3266; font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">web</a>)</div>
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I found this study to be a bit alarming because I have used Tramadol since 1998 to control my pain and I have had total knee replacement with absolutely no complications. As a matter of fact, my therapist and doctor were amazed at my recovery. I was a month ahead on my rehab then everyone else who had the surgery the same day I did.</div>
<br />Angela Carterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08588522389141474439noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1148318420620372055.post-73171657675702792542011-12-08T11:00:00.001-05:002011-12-08T11:00:04.598-05:00Opioid Painkillers for Abdominal Pain More Than Doubled<br />
Across U.S. outpatient clinics between 1997 and 2008, opioid prescriptions for chronic abdominal pain more than doubled, according to a new study in <i>Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology</i>, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association.<br />
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Chronic abdominal pain is a common symptom and a frequent reason for health-care visits. Because it is often incurable, clinicians often find it challenging to help their patients manage their abdominal pain over time.</div>
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"Opioid use for persistent abdominal pain highlights the growing challenges clinicians face trying to manage <a class="textTag" href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/chronic+illness/" rel="tag" style="color: #0e3266;">chronic illness</a> without the time, infrastructure and incentives needed to take the integrated approach that experts suggest," said Spencer D. Dorn, MD, MPH, of the University of North Carolina and lead author of the study. "Writing a prescription for a <a class="textTag" href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/pain+killer/" rel="tag" style="color: #0e3266;">pain killer</a> may be the path of least resistance; doing so may satisfy the patient's demand for relief and mitigate the clinician's possible feelings of inadequacy."</div>
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The researchers concluded that the dramatic nationwide rise in opioid use to treat chronic abdominal pain is concerning for several reasons. First, using opioids to treat non-cancer chronic pain is supported by very limited evidence. Second, opioids are frequently misused and sometimes abused. Finally, when used over long periods of time, opioids may trigger other <a class="textTag" href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/gastrointestinal+symptoms/" rel="tag" style="color: #0e3266;">gastrointestinal symptoms</a>, such as constipation, <a class="textTag" href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/nausea+and+vomiting/" rel="tag" style="color: #0e3266;">nausea and vomiting</a>, and may even paradoxically worsen abdominal pain.</div>
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The researchers speculate that the growth in opioid use has likely been driven by numerous factors, including a tendency to generalize recommendations for the use of opioids in treating pain, campaigns to recognize pain as the "fifth vital sign," and widespread direct-to-consumer advertising, which, in the case of OxyContin, was considered misleading and illegal.</div>
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Provided by American Gastroenterological Association (<a href="http://medicalxpress.com/partners/american-gastroenterological-association/" rel="news" style="color: #0e3266; font-weight: bold;">news</a> : <a href="http://www.gastro.org/" style="color: #0e3266; font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">web</a>)</div>
<br />Angela Carterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08588522389141474439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1148318420620372055.post-14498030888146466562011-12-07T11:00:00.001-05:002011-12-07T11:00:09.260-05:00Lipitor Is Going Generic<br />
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Lipitor came on the market in 1997, and has raked in some $100 billion for Pfizer even in a crowded market that includes various other cholesterol-lowering statins, many of which have already gone generic.</div>
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In the United States, anti-cholesterol drugs account for 255 million prescriptions a year, and about nine million people are taking Lipitor.</div>
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India's pharmaceutical giant Ranbaxy won US approval to make the first generic version of Lipitor, known as atorvastatin, from its New Jersey lab, after the company had faced delays from US authorities due to problems with quality control at some of of its Indian factories.</div>
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US-based Watson Pharmaceuticals also announced a deal to distribute a generic version made by Pfizer, whereby Pfizer manufactures the drug and Watson sells it, sharing net sales with Pfizer until 2016.</div>
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"There should be a price war in that first six months," as more companies elbow for market share of the cheaper generic version of Lipitor, said Morningstar analyst Damien Conover.</div>
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Meanwhile, Pfizer is left hunting for new sources of revenue to replace the cash flow from its longtime star, which made up 15 percent of annual sales.</div>
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Pfizer has not released its projected losses due to the patent expiration, but its company forecasts call for sales in 2012 of $63-63.5 billion, versus $67.8 billion in 2010.</div>
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Lipitor global sales were over $10 billion last year, according to earnings reports. Conover estimated a sales figure of $3.8 billion in 2012.</div>
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Pfizer already lost exclusive rights on the product in Canada, Spain, Mexico and Brazil last year, but it continues to earn revenue in developing countries.</div>
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In the United States, Pfizer is aiming to defend its territory and undercut its competitors in the generic market.</div>
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By forming alliances with pharmacies and health insurance companies, Pfizer will continue to offer Lipitor "at or below generic cost" during the next 180 days, company spokesman MacKay Jimeson told AFP in an email.</div>
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"In this 180-day period, typically payers do not receive a significant cost-savings by utilizing a generic," he added.</div>
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Lipitor currently costs about $120 per month, a price that should drop 30 percent in December, slightly more than the typical 10-20 percent that a drug price typically falls after a patent expires.</div>
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Pfizer has made a deal with Diplomat Specialty Pharmacy in the northern state of Michigan to create the program "Lipitor For You," so customers can sign up online to continue to get the drug in their pharmacy or home-delivered.</div>
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It is too early to know if this approach will continue beyond six months. Pfizer could decide to continue to compete with other generic makers but it would have to lower prices even more, which may not prove profitable.</div>
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Pfizer is counting on licensing deals that will continue to generate revenue from Lipitor, such as one signed with the French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi-Aventis which will make and market its generic version in France starting in May 2012.</div>
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"I don't think they'll be able, in the short term, to compensate, but they have a lot of products in pipeline," said Conover, referring to Pfizer.</div>
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Among them are an anti-clotting drug known as Eliquis, and another against rheumatoid arthritis known as tofacitinib, which together could make up a billion dollars in annual sales.</div>
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Ratings agency Standard and Poor's said it views the New York-based drug giant as well-placed to survive the expiration of the patent on Lipitor.</div>
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"Over the next two years, the company will be able to weather the upcoming storm of patent expirations and associated revenue loss while maintaining its excellent business risk profile and a solidly minimal financial risk profile."</div>
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A two-year study released earlier this month showed that maximum doses of Lipitor and its competitor Crestor, made by AstraZeneca, were similarly effective and safe in cutting down plaque in the arteries. Side effects may include liver and muscle problems.</div>
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With Lipitor now generic, Crestor will be left as the sole major brand-name statin on the market.</div>
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"The market for Crestor will go close to zero," said Cam Patterson, chief of cardiology at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.</div>
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<i>(c) 2011 AFP</i></div>Angela Carterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08588522389141474439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1148318420620372055.post-46007947050697531352011-12-06T11:02:00.001-05:002011-12-06T11:02:00.343-05:00Coming Soon: Cartilage Replacement!!!!!<br />
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Self-assembling sheets of <a class="textTag" href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/mesenchymal+stem+cells/" rel="tag" style="color: #0e3266;">mesenchymal stem cells</a> permeated with tiny beads filled with growth factor formed thicker, stiffer cartilage than previous tissue engineering methods, researchers at Case Western Reserve University have found. A description of the research is published in the <i><a class="textTag" href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/journal+of+controlled+release/" rel="tag" style="color: #0e3266;">Journal of Controlled Release</a></i>.</div>
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"We think that the capacity to drive cartilage formation using the patient's own stem cells and the potential to use this approach without lengthy culture time prior to implantation makes this technology attractive," said Eben Alsberg, associate professor in the departments of Biomedical Engineering and <a class="textTag" href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/orthopaedic+surgery/" rel="tag" style="color: #0e3266;">Orthopaedic Surgery</a>, and senior author of the paper.</div>
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Alsberg teamed with biomedical engineering graduate students Loran D. Solorio and Phuong N. Dang, undergraduate student Chirag D. Dhami, and Eran L. Vieregge, a student at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine.</div>
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The team put transforming growth factor beta-1 in biodegradable gelatin<a class="textTag" href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/microspheres/" rel="tag" style="color: #0e3266;">microspheres</a> distributed throughout the sheet of stem cells rather than soak the sheet in growth factor.</div>
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The process showed a host of advantages, Alsberg said.</div>
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The microspheres provide structure, similar to scaffolds, creating space between cells that is maintained after the beads degrade. The spacing results in better<a class="textTag" href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/water+retention/" rel="tag" style="color: #0e3266;">water retention</a> – a key to resiliency.</div>
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The gelatin beads degrade at a controllable rate due to exposure to chemicals released by the cells. As the beads degrade, growth factor is released to cells at the interior and exterior of the sheet, providing more uniform cell differentiation into neocartilage.</div>
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The rate of microsphere degradation and, therefore, cell differentiation, can be tailored by the degree to which the microsphere are cross-linked. Within the microspheres, the polymer is connected by a varying number of threads. The more of these connections, or cross-links, the longer it takes for enzymes the cell secretes to enter and break down the material.</div>
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The researchers made five kinds of sheets. Those filled with: sparsely cross-linked microspheres containing growth factor, highly cross-linked microspheres containing growth factor, sparsely cross-linked microspheres with no growth factor, highly cross-linked microspheres with no growth factor, and a control with no microspheres. The last three were grown in baths containing growth factor.</div>
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After three weeks in a petri dish, all sheets containing microspheres were thicker and more resilient than the control sheet. The sheet with sparsely crosslinked microspheres grew into the thickest and most resilient neocartilage.</div>
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The results indicate that the sparsely cross-linked microspheres, which degraded more rapidly by cell-secreted enzymes, provided a continuous supply of <a class="textTag" href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/growth+factor/" rel="tag" style="color: #0e3266;">growth factor</a> throughout the sheets that enhanced the uniformity, extent, and rate of stem cell differentiation into cartilage cells, or chondrocytes.</div>
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The tissue appeared grossly similar to articular cartilage, the tough cartilage found in the knee: rounded cells surrounded by large amounts of a matrix containing glycosaminoglycans. Called GAG for short, the carbohydrate locks water ions in the tissue, which makes the tissue pressure-resistant.</div>
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Testing also showed that this sheet had the highest amount of type II collagen – the main protein component of articular cartilage.</div>
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Although the sheet was significantly stiffer than control sheets, the mechanics still fell short of native cartilage. Alsberg's team is now working on a variety of ways to optimize the process and make replacement cartilage tough enough for the wear and tear of daily life.</div>
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One major advantage of this system is that it may avoid the troubles and expense of growing the cartilage fully in the lab over a long period of time, and instead permit implantation of a cartilage sheet into a patient more rapidly.</div>
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Because the sheets containing microspheres are strong enough to be handled early during culturing, the researchers believe sheets just a week or two old could be used clinically. The mechanical environment within the body could further enhance <a class="textTag" href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/cartilage/" rel="tag" style="color: #0e3266;">cartilage</a> formation and increase strength and resiliency of the tissue, completing maturation.</div>
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Provided by Case Western Reserve University (<a href="http://medicalxpress.com/partners/case-western-reserve-university/" rel="news" style="color: #0e3266; font-weight: bold;">news</a> : <a href="http://www.case.edu/" style="color: #0e3266; font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">web</a>)</div>Angela Carterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08588522389141474439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1148318420620372055.post-90881355146805113842011-12-05T05:52:00.000-05:002011-12-05T05:52:05.156-05:00Baby Boomers Feed The Need For Joint Replacements<br />
US baby boomers are fueling a wave of joint replacement surgeries, hoping to use new artificial knees and hips to stay active as they get older.<br />
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With 76 million <a class="textTag" href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/baby+boomers/" rel="tag" style="color: #0e3266;">baby boomers</a> still kicking, many are rejecting the <a class="textTag" href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/sedentary+lifestyle/" rel="tag" style="color: #0e3266;">sedentary lifestyle</a> of their parents' generation, and are using advances in technology and surgical techniques to keep on running, cycling, skiing and engaging in other sports.</div>
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The 45-64 age group accounted for more than 40 percent of the more than 906,000 total <a class="textTag" href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/knee/" rel="tag" style="color: #0e3266;">knee</a> or total <a class="textTag" href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/hip+replacement/" rel="tag" style="color: #0e3266;">hip replacement</a> surgeries in 2009, the last year for which figures were available from the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons.</div>
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Boomers will account for a majority of these joint replacements in 2011, according to projections by Drexel University specialist Steven Kurtz.</div>
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The study projects the 45-64 age group will account for a 17-fold increase in knee replacements alone to 994,000 by 2030. Active boomers often accelerate the arthritis which wears down their joints, and obesity is another factor.</div>
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"We are still doing patients 65 years and up, but the volume is increasing dramatically among 45-64 year-old patients," said Douglas Dennis, a Colorado orthopedist who has performed some 5,000 knee replacements and 4,000 hip replacements over his career.</div>
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Decades earlier, most replacements were in <a class="textTag" href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/elderly+patients/" rel="tag" style="color: #0e3266;">elderly patients</a> unable to walk. But Dennis said, "We are now performing them in younger age patients. We have made great strides in our ability to revise them should they fail."</div>
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A number of his patients are avid skiers who have had several attempts to repair<a class="textTag" href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/knee+injuries/" rel="tag" style="color: #0e3266;">knee injuries</a>, but want to keep active.</div>
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"We encourage the patients to be active," he said. "But I don't favor things like racquet sports, soccer or basketball" which can put extra strain on joints.</div>
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Some patients are drawing hope from new technology, such as a so-called 30-year knee from British-based Smith & Nephew, endorsed by former tennis star Billie Jean King.</div>
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"I feel like I'm 20 again, and I'm back on the courts playing tennis," King says in her endorsement after double knee <a class="textTag" href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/replacement+surgery/" rel="tag" style="color: #0e3266;">replacement surgery</a>. But some physicians say people these claims may not be realistic.</div>
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"That knee has been designed in the last five years, so how can you say it is going to last 30 years?" says Dennis.</div>
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"It is disingenuous marketing... It is harmful rather than helpful. If I had 20 years of data on young patients playing racquet sports, and it showed good survivorship, I would change my opinion. But we don't have that data."</div>
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Still, some boomers persist.</div>
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Dick Beardsley, an avid distance runner who came within two seconds of winning the Boston Marathon in 1982, said he is determined to show he can come back from two knee replacements.</div>
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"I've been a runner all my life," Beardsely told AFP from his home in Austin, Texas, a year after he had replacement surgery for his left knee.</div>
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"For a while I thought I might become a cyclist. But I had to give this a try."</div>
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Beardsley, 55, is back to running 70-80 miles a week to prepare for the April marathon in Boston, without any problem for his left knee replaced in 2010 or his right knee replaced three years ago.</div>
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"The first six to eight weeks (after surgery) are brutal," he said.</div>
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"But I would keep at it, run a mile... eventually I got back to running the same pace I was before the knee surgery."</div>
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Beardsley, who works as a motivational speaker and operates running camps for adults, said he knows he is flying in the face of medical advice.</div>
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When he told his doctor about his training, "He told me, 'I'm not going to tell you to keep running, but I'm not going to tell you to stop.'"</div>
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His exams have shown no excess wear on the joints, and believes this is in part due to his small frame and a technique he uses -- "midfoot, forefoot" without striking his heels.</div>
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Allen Beale, a 62-year-old computer consultant in Durham, North Carolina, said he is extremely satisfied with the hip replacement he received two years ago, when he was barely able to walk.</div>
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Now, he is back at golf, motorcycling and other activities.</div>
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Before the surgery, he said, "it had gotten to the point where I couldn't stand up and move... Now it feels so good I don't even know it's there."</div>
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Among celebrities getting surgery are former Olympic gymnast Mary Lou Retton (hip), singer Billy Joel (double hip) and actress and workout guru Jane Fonda (knee).</div>
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Even if the new joints work as promised, it remains unclear whether supply will be able to keep up with demand, and if the costs will become overwhelming.</div>
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A study appearing the journal Health Affairs suggests the costs may reach $50 billion for the government Medicare program alone by 2030 if current trends continue.</div>
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And with government reimbursement reduced, and private insurance following suit, the incentives for doctors are declining.</div>
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A separate study co-authored by Thomas Fehring showed that if current trends continue, by 2016, 46 percent of needed hip replacements and 72 percent of needed knee replacements will not be able to be completed.</div>
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"I was somewhat shocked at the shortfall that we predicted," said Fehring, an orthopedic surgeon in Charlotte, North Carolina.</div>
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"The number of people getting joint replacements is going up, the number of young surgeons is going down," said Dennis.</div>
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"There are fewer people going into this specialty."</div>
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If boomers can't wait, technology may come up with alternatives which may avert the need for radical surgery.</div>
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Kurtz notes in his study that he did not account for the "potential for future alternative technologies, such as cartilage regeneration or tissue engineering, or drug therapies that limit progression of joint diseases, which may preempt the need" for <a class="textTag" href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/joint+replacement/" rel="tag" style="color: #0e3266;">joint replacement</a>.</div>
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<i>(c) 2011 AFP</i></div>
<br />Angela Carterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08588522389141474439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1148318420620372055.post-651021345209186922011-11-15T11:00:00.001-05:002011-11-15T11:00:05.151-05:00Little Evidence of Heart Risks From ADHD Meds<br />
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TUESDAY Nov. 1, 2011 -- <a class="itxtrst itxtrsta itxthook" href="http://www.drugs.com/news/little-evidence-heart-risks-adhd-meds-34602.html#" id="itxthook0" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 100, 0); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.1em; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; color: darkgreen; display: inline !important; float: none !important; font-family: inherit; left: auto; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: static !important; right: auto; top: auto;"><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook0w0" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;">Medications</span></a> commonly used to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder don't appear to raise the risk of heart attacks and other cardiovascular problems in children and young adults, new research shows.</div>
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And if any increased risk from stimulants such as <a href="http://www.drugs.com/ritalin.html" rel="nofollow" style="color: #1177bb;">Ritalin</a>, <a href="http://www.drugs.com/adderall.html" rel="nofollow" style="color: #1177bb;">Adderall</a> and <a href="http://www.drugs.com/concerta.html" rel="nofollow" style="color: #1177bb;">Concerta</a> does exist, the danger in absolute numbers would be extremely low, said Dr. William O. Cooper, lead author of a study published online Nov. 1 in the <i>New England Journal of Medicine</i>.</div>
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"This is the largest study to date, and I feel this provides reassuring information about risk," said Cooper, a professor of pediatrics and preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn.</div>
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Almost 3 million children in the United States take prescription medications for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (<a href="http://www.drugs.com/condition/attention-deficit-disorder.html" rel="nofollow" style="color: #1177bb;">ADHD</a>) each year. Children with the neurobehavioral disorder have excessive levels of activity, inattention and impulsiveness.</div>
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For the typical child diagnosed with the disorder, "if ADHD medications appear to be an important part of a treatment regimen, the worry about these <a class="itxtrst itxtrsta itxthook" href="http://www.drugs.com/news/little-evidence-heart-risks-adhd-meds-34602.html#" id="itxthook1" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 100, 0); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.1em; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; color: darkgreen; display: inline !important; float: none !important; font-family: inherit; left: auto; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: static !important; right: auto; top: auto;"><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook1w0" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;">cardiac</span></a> risks should certainly be less," Cooper continued. "Having said that, it's really important that each child be evaluated by his or her health care provider to decide if it makes sense."</div>
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Several years ago, a few reports of sudden death, <a class="itxtrst itxtrsta itxthook" href="http://www.drugs.com/news/little-evidence-heart-risks-adhd-meds-34602.html#" id="itxthook2" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 100, 0); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.1em; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; color: darkgreen; display: inline !important; float: none !important; font-family: inherit; left: auto; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: static !important; right: auto; top: auto;"><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook2w0" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;">heart</span></a> attacks and stroke among users raised concern among parents and health care providers about the safety of these medications, which are prescribed to help children focus and manage their behavior.</div>
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Canadian <a class="itxtrst itxtrsta itxthook" href="http://www.drugs.com/news/little-evidence-heart-risks-adhd-meds-34602.html#" id="itxthook3" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 100, 0); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.1em; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; color: darkgreen; display: inline !important; float: none !important; font-family: inherit; left: auto; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: static !important; right: auto; top: auto;"><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook3w0" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;">health</span></a> authorities briefly removed Adderall from the market in 2005, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) required that ADHD drugs carry a "black box" label warning and a patient guide.</div>
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Subsequently, the American Heart Association stated it would be "reasonable" to give kids screening electrocardiograms before starting them on stimulant medication.</div>
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"This really added to the concern and confusion among families and <a class="itxtrst itxtrsta itxthook" href="http://www.drugs.com/news/little-evidence-heart-risks-adhd-meds-34602.html#" id="itxthook4" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 100, 0); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.1em; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; color: darkgreen; display: inline !important; float: none !important; font-family: inherit; left: auto; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: static !important; right: auto; top: auto;"><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook4w0" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;">health</span><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook4w1" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;"> </span><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook4w2" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;">care</span><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook4w3" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;"> </span><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook4w4" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;">providers</span></a>," Cooper said.</div>
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To try to settle the question, Cooper and his colleagues analyzed data on 1.2 million children and <a class="itxtrst itxtrsta itxthook" href="http://www.drugs.com/news/little-evidence-heart-risks-adhd-meds-34602.html#" id="itxthook5" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 100, 0); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.1em; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; color: darkgreen; display: inline !important; float: none !important; font-family: inherit; left: auto; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: static !important; right: auto; top: auto;"><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook5w0" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;">young</span><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook5w1" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;"> </span><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook5w2" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;">adults</span></a> aged 2 to 24 enrolled in four large health plans around the United States. This was called a meta-analysis.</div>
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"We compared those currently using ADHD <a class="itxtrst itxtrsta itxthook" href="http://www.drugs.com/news/little-evidence-heart-risks-adhd-meds-34602.html#" id="itxthook6" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 100, 0); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.1em; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; color: darkgreen; display: inline !important; float: none !important; font-family: inherit; left: auto; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: static !important; right: auto; top: auto;"><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook6w0" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;">medicines</span></a> to those not using these medications to look at their risk for sudden death, heart attack and stroke," Cooper explained. The medications included <a href="http://www.drugs.com/methylphenidate.html" rel="nofollow" style="color: #1177bb;">methylphenidate</a> (Ritalin, Concerta), <a href="http://www.drugs.com/cdi/dexmethylphenidate.html" rel="nofollow" style="color: #1177bb;">dexmethylphenidate</a> (<a href="http://www.drugs.com/focalin.html" rel="nofollow" style="color: #1177bb;">Focalin</a>), <a href="http://www.drugs.com/cdi/dextroamphetamine.html" rel="nofollow" style="color: #1177bb;">dextroamphetamine</a>(<a href="http://www.drugs.com/cdi/dexedrine.html" rel="nofollow" style="color: #1177bb;">Dexedrine</a>), amphetamine salts (Adderall), <a href="http://www.drugs.com/cdi/atomoxetine.html" rel="nofollow" style="color: #1177bb;">atomoxetine</a> (<a href="http://www.drugs.com/strattera.html" rel="nofollow" style="color: #1177bb;">Strattera</a>) and <a href="http://www.drugs.com/mtm/pemoline.html" rel="nofollow" style="color: #1177bb;">pemoline</a> (<a href="http://www.drugs.com/mtm/cylert.html" rel="nofollow" style="color: #1177bb;">Cylert</a>).</div>
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The authors concluded that there was really no raised risk of heart problems with these medications, although they also acknowledged the possibility of up to an 85 percent increased risk.</div>
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That's because the large size of the study and the rarity of events made it difficult to track the relative increased risk.</div>
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"Placing that in context, even if there was a doubling, the absolute risk would be very, very low," Cooper said.</div>
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The findings are similar to several reports published after the FDA's <a class="itxtrst itxtrsta itxthook" href="http://www.drugs.com/news/little-evidence-heart-risks-adhd-meds-34602.html#" id="itxthook7" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 100, 0); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.1em; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; color: darkgreen; display: inline !important; float: none !important; font-family: inherit; left: auto; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: static !important; right: auto; top: auto;"><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook7w0" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;">safety</span></a> review was compiled, the authors said.</div>
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Some children may have underlying <a class="itxtrst itxtrsta itxthook" href="http://www.drugs.com/news/little-evidence-heart-risks-adhd-meds-34602.html#" id="itxthook8" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 100, 0); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.1em; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; color: darkgreen; display: inline !important; float: none !important; font-family: inherit; left: auto; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: static !important; right: auto; top: auto;"><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook8w0" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;">heart</span><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook8w1" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;"> </span><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook8w2" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;">disease</span></a> or other problems that could potentially place them at risk, Cooper added. "We would need to think about their individual risk," he said, "but on a population level, this suggests there is no increased risk."</div>
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Dr. Howard S. Weintraub, clinical director of the Center for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City, agreed that the data should allay fears about the drugs' safety.</div>
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The findings indicate that "when these medicines are appropriately utilized and kids are screened appropriately, there is no increased risk," Weintraub said.</div>
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"This is a large trial that scrutinizes the lives of a lot of young kids," he said. "The only issues are that the population was from a Medicaid basis so it may be a little different from how some other people are treated but, if anything, you would expect them to be at greater risk."</div>
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Although there's no longer a universal mandate for EKG screening in children considering stimulant drugs for ADHD, they "should still be screened for <a class="itxtrst itxtrsta itxthook" href="http://www.drugs.com/news/little-evidence-heart-risks-adhd-meds-34602.html#" id="itxthook9" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 100, 0); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.1em; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; color: darkgreen; display: inline !important; float: none !important; font-family: inherit; left: auto; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: static !important; right: auto; top: auto;"><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook9w0" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;">risk</span><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook9w1" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;"> </span><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook9w2" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;">factors</span></a> such as family history of sudden unexplained cardiac death, a child history of unexplained seizures or congenital heart disease," said Dr. Andrew Adesman, chief of developmental and behavioral pediatrics at the Steven and Alexandra Cohen Children's Medical Center of New York in New Hyde Park.</div>
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He added that the results of the new study "hopefully provide further reassurance to <a class="itxtrst itxtrsta itxthook" href="http://www.drugs.com/news/little-evidence-heart-risks-adhd-meds-34602.html#" id="itxthook10" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 100, 0); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.1em; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; color: darkgreen; display: inline !important; float: none !important; font-family: inherit; left: auto; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: static !important; right: auto; top: auto;"><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook10w0" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;">parents</span></a> and professionals that stimulant medications don't pose a significant cardiovascular risk."</div>
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<b>More information</b></div>
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The <a href="http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder/complete-index.shtml" rel="nofollow" style="color: #1177bb;" target="_new">U.S. National Institute of Mental Health</a> has more on ADHD.</div>
<br />Angela Carterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08588522389141474439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1148318420620372055.post-90239176174303263602011-11-10T11:00:00.001-05:002011-11-10T11:00:01.922-05:00New Multiple Sclerosis Therapy Promising in Early Trial<br />
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TUESDAY Nov. 1, 2011 -- <a href="http://www.drugs.com/condition/multiple-sclerosis.html" rel="nofollow" style="color: #1177bb;">Multiple sclerosis</a> patients may eventually benefit from a novel treatment that takes aim at the abnormal behavior of a specific type of immune cell, preliminary research suggests.</div>
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The errant behavior of the cells in question -- known as "B cells" -- is viewed as key to the development of this chronic and disabling nervous system disease, commonly called MS.</div>
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The new therapy's potential is only in the early stages of exploration, cautions an international study team comprised of researchers from the United States, Canada, Switzerland and the Netherlands, in the report published in the Nov. 1 online edition of <i>The Lancet</i>.</div>
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But initial indications suggest that the new antibody drug, called ocrelizumab, successfully targets these renegade cells with hopeful results: a significant reduction in disease-related inflammatory brain lesions.</div>
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"Our findings show that ocrelizumab rapidly suppresses inflammatory activity," noted the study authors, led by Dr. Ludwig Kappos from the University <a class="itxtrst itxtrsta itxthook" href="http://www.drugs.com/news/new-multiple-sclerosis-therapy-promising-early-trial-34589.html#" id="itxthook0" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 100, 0); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.1em; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; color: darkgreen; display: inline !important; float: none !important; font-family: inherit; left: auto; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: static !important; right: auto; top: auto;"><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook0w0" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;">Hospital</span></a>, Basel, Switzerland, in a journal news release.</div>
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Describing the targeting of B cells as an "innovative therapeutic approach," Kappos and his colleagues reported that in testing among 218 patients, the drug's impact on lesions was "rapid and pronounced." What's more, to date the treatment appears to be <a class="itxtrst itxtrsta itxthook" href="http://www.drugs.com/news/new-multiple-sclerosis-therapy-promising-early-trial-34589.html#" id="itxthook1" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 100, 0); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.1em; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; color: darkgreen; display: inline !important; float: none !important; font-family: inherit; left: auto; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: static !important; right: auto; top: auto;"><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook1w0" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;">safe</span></a>.</div>
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The study authors noted that MS is a progressively debilitating disease that attacks an individual's central nervous system, disrupting the normal brain, spinal cord and optic nerve function.</div>
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A classic characteristic of the disease is inflammation, which takes the form of brain lesions.</div>
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The <a class="itxtrst itxtrsta itxthook" href="http://www.drugs.com/news/new-multiple-sclerosis-therapy-promising-early-trial-34589.html#" id="itxthook2" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 100, 0); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.1em; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; color: darkgreen; display: inline !important; float: none !important; font-family: inherit; left: auto; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: static !important; right: auto; top: auto;"><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook2w0" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;">immune</span><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook2w1" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;"> </span><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook2w2" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;">system's</span></a> T cells have long been implicated in disease progression, but the notion that B cells may also play a major role is relatively new.</div>
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With this new potential target in mind, researchers configured ocrelizumab to specifically focus on a <a class="itxtrst itxtrsta itxthook" href="http://www.drugs.com/news/new-multiple-sclerosis-therapy-promising-early-trial-34589.html#" id="itxthook3" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 100, 0); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.1em; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; color: darkgreen; display: inline !important; float: none !important; font-family: inherit; left: auto; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: static !important; right: auto; top: auto;"><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook3w0" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;">protein</span></a> (CD20) found on the surface of certain B cells.</div>
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To test the drug, Kappos and his team recruited patients aged 18 to 55 seeking MS treatment in 79 centers in 20 countries.</div>
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The patients were divided into four groups, treated with: a low dose of ocrelizumab (600 milligrams); a high dose of ocrelizumab (2,000 mg); a well-known MS inflammation treatment known as "intramuscular interferon beta-1a"; or a sugar pill (placebo). After 24 weeks, some of the doses were adjusted.</div>
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The result: at week 24, all of the patients receiving either dose of ocrelizumab fared better in terms of lesion count than either the placebo or standard treatment groups.</div>
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The number of <a class="itxtrst itxtrsta itxthook" href="http://www.drugs.com/news/new-multiple-sclerosis-therapy-promising-early-trial-34589.html#" id="itxthook4" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 100, 0); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.1em; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; color: darkgreen; display: inline !important; float: none !important; font-family: inherit; left: auto; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: static !important; right: auto; top: auto;"><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook4w0" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;">active</span></a> lesions had dropped 89 percent more among the 600-mg group compared with those getting a placebo. Similarly, those in the 2,000-mg group experienced a 96 percent bigger drop in lesions. What's more, relapse rates were much lower among those taking the new drug, in contrast to those taking a placebo.</div>
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The investigators further noted that even eight months after treatment launch, no serious adverse effects were directly attributable to the new drug.</div>
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That said, Dr. Moses Rodriguez, a professor of neurology and immunology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., disputed the premise that ocrelizumab is shaping up as anything new and <a class="itxtrst itxtrsta itxthook" href="http://www.drugs.com/news/new-multiple-sclerosis-therapy-promising-early-trial-34589.html#" id="itxthook5" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 100, 0); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.1em; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; color: darkgreen; display: inline !important; float: none !important; font-family: inherit; left: auto; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: static !important; right: auto; top: auto;"><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook5w0" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;">innovative</span></a>.</div>
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"In fact, there's nothing novel about this at all," he said. "There is another drug, called rituximab, that's been in early trials for MS for years. And all this new drug is attempting to do is replicate the same that rituximab already does. And I see no major advantage of this drug versus that older drug. It's not better or worse. It's the same," Rodriguez noted.</div>
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"So bottom-line, I would not sell this as a major breakthrough in MS," cautioned Rodriguez. "It's not."</div>
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Funding for the study was provided by F. Hoffmann-La Roche and Biogen Idec. Inc.</div>
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<b>More information</b></div>
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For more on multiple sclerosis, visit the <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001747/" rel="nofollow" style="color: #1177bb;" target="_new">U.S. National Library of Medicine</a>.</div>
<br />Angela Carterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08588522389141474439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1148318420620372055.post-85179037428142942542011-11-09T11:00:00.001-05:002011-11-09T11:00:01.377-05:00September First Time Generic Drug Approval<a href="http://www.drugs.com/mtm/levetiracetam.html" style="background-color: white; color: #1177bb; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;">Levetiracetam Extended-Release Tablets</a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px;"> 500 mg and 750 mg</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;">Approved: September 12, 2011 - Actavis Elizabeth LLC; Par Pharmaceutical, Inc.; Apotex, Watson Laboratories, Inc.; Mutual </span><a class="itxtrst itxtrsta itxthook" href="http://www.drugs.com/generic-approvals.html#" id="itxthook0" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 100, 0); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.1em; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; color: darkgreen; display: inline !important; float: none !important; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: static !important; right: auto; text-align: left; top: auto;"><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook0w0" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;">Pharmaceutical</span><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook0w1" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;"> </span><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook0w2" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;">Company</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;">, Inc.; Teva Pharmaceuticals USA</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;">Generic for: </span><strong style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;">Keppra XR</strong><br />
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Levetiracetam is an anti-epileptic drug.</div>
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Levetiracetam is used to treat partial onset seizures in adults and children who are at least 4 years old.</div>
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Levetiracetam is also used to treat tonic-clonic seizures in adults and children who are at least 6 years old, and myoclonic seizures in adults and children who are at least 12 years old.</div>
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Do not stop taking levetiracetam without first talking to your <a class="itxtrst itxtrsta itxthook" href="http://www.drugs.com/mtm/levetiracetam.html#" id="itxthook0" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 100, 0); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.1em; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; color: darkgreen; display: inline !important; float: none !important; left: auto; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: static !important; right: auto; top: auto;"><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook0w0" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;">doctor</span></a>, even if you feel better. If you stop taking levetiracetam suddenly, you may have increased seizures. Tell your doctor if you have new or worsening seizures.</div>
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You may have thoughts about suicide while taking this medication. Your doctor will need to check you at regular visits. Do not miss any scheduled appointments.</div>
Call your doctor at once if you have any new or worsening symptoms such as: mood or behavior changes, depression, anxiety, or if you feel agitated, hostile, restless, hyperactive (mentally or physically), or have thoughts about suicide or hurting yourself. Carry an ID card or wear a <a class="itxtrst itxtrsta itxthook" href="http://www.drugs.com/mtm/levetiracetam.html#" id="itxthook1" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 100, 0); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.1em; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; color: darkgreen; display: inline !important; float: none !important; left: auto; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: static !important; right: auto; top: auto;"><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook1w0" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;">medical</span></a> alert bracelet stating that you are taking levetiracetam, in case of emergency. Any doctor, dentist, or emergency medical care provider who treats you should know that you are taking levetiracetam. Levetiracetam can cause side effects that may impair your thinking or reactions. Be careful if you drive or do anything that requires you to be awake and alert.<br />
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You should not use this <a class="itxtrst itxtrsta itxthook" href="http://www.drugs.com/mtm/levetiracetam.html#" id="itxthook2" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 100, 0); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.1em; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; color: darkgreen; display: inline !important; float: none !important; left: auto; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: static !important; right: auto; top: auto;"><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook2w0" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;">medication</span></a> if you are allergic to levetiracetam.</div>
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Before using this medication, tell your doctor if you are allergic to any drugs, or if you have kidney disease. You may need a dose adjustment or special tests during treatment.</div>
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You may have thoughts about suicide while taking this medication. Tell your doctor if you have new or worsening depression or suicidal thoughts during the first several months of treatment, or whenever your dose is changed.</div>
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<a class="itxtrst itxtrsta itxthook" href="http://www.drugs.com/mtm/levetiracetam.html#" id="itxthook9" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 100, 0); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.1em; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; color: darkgreen; display: inline !important; float: none !important; font-family: inherit; left: auto; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: static !important; right: auto; top: auto;"><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook9w0" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;">Your</span><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook9w1" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;"> </span><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook9w2" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;">family</span></a> or other caregivers should also be alert to changes in your mood or symptoms. Your doctor will need to check you at regular visits. Do not miss any scheduled appointments.</div>
FDA pregnancy category C. It is not known whether levetiracetam is harmful to an unborn baby. Before taking this medication, tell your doctor if you are pregnant or plan to <a class="itxtrst itxtrsta itxthook" href="http://www.drugs.com/mtm/levetiracetam.html#" id="itxthook3" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 100, 0); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.1em; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; color: darkgreen; display: inline !important; float: none !important; left: auto; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: static !important; right: auto; top: auto;"><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook3w0" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; color: darkgreen; display: inline !important; float: none !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static !important; right: auto; top: auto;">become</span><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook3w1" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; color: darkgreen; display: inline !important; float: none !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static !important; right: auto; top: auto;"> </span><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook3w2" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; color: darkgreen; display: inline !important; float: none !important; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static !important; right: auto; top: auto;">pregnant</span></a> during treatment. Levetiracetam can pass into breast milk and may harm a nursing baby. Do not use this medication without telling your doctor if you are breast-feeding a baby. Do not give this medication to a child without the advice of a doctor.<br />
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<br /></div>Angela Carterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08588522389141474439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1148318420620372055.post-62153493557660648242011-11-08T11:00:00.000-05:002011-11-08T11:00:01.554-05:00<br />
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TUESDAY Nov. 1, 2011 -- Age in itself should not be a factor in deciding whether blood <a class="itxtrst itxtrsta itxthook" href="http://www.drugs.com/news/mini-stem-cell-transplant-may-help-seniors-blood-cancer-34607.html#" id="itxthook0" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 100, 0); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.1em; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; color: darkgreen; display: inline !important; float: none !important; font-family: inherit; left: auto; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: static !important; right: auto; top: auto;"><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook0w0" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;">cancer</span></a> patients are candidates for stem cell transplantation, according to a new study.</div>
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Blood cancers include <a href="http://www.drugs.com/condition/leukemia.html" rel="nofollow" style="color: #1177bb;">leukemia</a>, <a href="http://www.drugs.com/condition/lymphoma.html" rel="nofollow" style="color: #1177bb;">lymphoma</a> and myeloma.</div>
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For the study, researchers analyzed long-term outcomes among 372 blood <a class="itxtrst itxtrsta itxthook" href="http://www.drugs.com/news/mini-stem-cell-transplant-may-help-seniors-blood-cancer-34607.html#" id="itxthook1" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 100, 0); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.1em; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; color: darkgreen; display: inline !important; float: none !important; font-family: inherit; left: auto; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: static !important; right: auto; top: auto;"><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook1w0" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;">cancer</span><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook1w1" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;"> </span><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook1w2" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;">patients</span></a> aged 60 to 75 who underwent a "mini-transplant," which is a "kinder, gentler" form of allogeneic (cells from another person) stem cell transplantation developed at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle.</div>
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The five-year rates of overall survival and disease progression-free survival among the patients were 35 percent and 32 percent, respectively. Comparable survival rates were seen when the patients were divided into three age groups -- 60 to 64, 65 to 69, and 70 to 75 -- suggesting that age plays a limited role in the success of the mini-transplant.</div>
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While a survival rate of one-third may seem low, all of the patients would have died within months if they didn't have the transplant, Dr. Mohamed Sorror, an assistant member of the Hutchinson Center's <a class="itxtrst itxtrsta itxthook" href="http://www.drugs.com/news/mini-stem-cell-transplant-may-help-seniors-blood-cancer-34607.html#" id="itxthook2" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 100, 0); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.1em; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; color: darkgreen; display: inline !important; float: none !important; font-family: inherit; left: auto; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: static !important; right: auto; top: auto;"><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook2w0" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;">Clinical</span><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook2w1" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;"> </span><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook2w2" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;">Research</span></a> Division, noted in a news release from the Center.</div>
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The investigators also found that greater cancer aggressiveness and having a larger number of <a class="itxtrst itxtrsta itxthook" href="http://www.drugs.com/news/mini-stem-cell-transplant-may-help-seniors-blood-cancer-34607.html#" id="itxthook3" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 100, 0); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.1em; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; color: darkgreen; display: inline !important; float: none !important; font-family: inherit; left: auto; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: static !important; right: auto; top: auto;"><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook3w0" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;">medical</span></a> problems not linked to cancer ("comorbidities") were two factors that affected survival, regardless of age.</div>
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For example, the five-year survival for patients with less aggressive cancer and fewer comorbidities was 69 percent, compared with 23 percent for patients with more aggressive cancer and a large number of comorbidities, according to the report in the Nov. 2 issue of the <i>Journal of the American Medical Association</i>.</div>
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Conventional stem cell transplants are generally not performed on blood cancer patients older than 60 because high doses of total-body radiation and potent chemotherapy are used to prepare patients for transplantation.</div>
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However, the mini-transplant relies on the donor's immune cells to kill the cancer, and low-dose radiation and chemotherapy is used to suppress the <a class="itxtrst itxtrsta itxthook" href="http://www.drugs.com/news/mini-stem-cell-transplant-may-help-seniors-blood-cancer-34607.html#" id="itxthook4" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 100, 0); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.1em; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; color: darkgreen; display: inline !important; float: none !important; font-family: inherit; left: auto; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: static !important; right: auto; top: auto;"><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook4w0" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;">immune</span><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook4w1" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;"> </span><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook4w2" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;">system</span></a> rather than destroy it.</div>
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<b>More information</b></div>
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The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more about <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/features/HematologicCancers/" rel="nofollow" style="color: #1177bb;" target="_new">blood cancers</a>.</div>
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<br />Angela Carterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08588522389141474439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1148318420620372055.post-39553023240466999102011-11-04T11:00:00.002-04:002011-11-04T11:00:00.800-04:00Uprizing 2.0: Recall - Undeclared Drug Ingredient: Synthetic Steroid<br />
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<strong>ISSUE</strong>: FDA notified the manufacturer that lab analyses found that the product, sold as a testosterone booster, contains superdrol, a synthetic steroid, making it an unapproved new drug. Acute liver injury is known to be a possible harmful effect of using products containing synthetic anabolic steroids. In addition, use of synthetic anabolic steroids may cause other serious long-term adverse <a class="itxtrst itxtrsta itxthook" href="http://www.drugs.com/fda/uprizing-2-0-recall-undeclared-ingredient-synthetic-steroid-13032.html#" id="itxthook0" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 100, 0); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.1em; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; color: darkgreen; display: inline !important; float: none !important; font-family: inherit; left: auto; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: static !important; right: auto; top: auto;"><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook0w0" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;">health</span></a> consequences in men, women, and children. These include shrinkage of the testes and male infertility, masculinization of women, breast enlargement in males, short stature in children, a higher predilection to misuse other drugs and alcohol, adverse effects on blood lipid levels, and increased risk of heart attack, stroke, and death.</div>
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<strong>BACKGROUND</strong>: On August 5, FDA made Superior Metabolic Technologies Inc aware that Uprizing 2.0 contains superdrol, which is banned by the FDA. Uprizing 2.0 was distributed through retail <a class="itxtrst itxtrsta itxthook" href="http://www.drugs.com/fda/uprizing-2-0-recall-undeclared-ingredient-synthetic-steroid-13032.html#" id="itxthook1" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 100, 0); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.1em; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; color: darkgreen; display: inline !important; float: none !important; font-family: inherit; left: auto; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: static !important; right: auto; top: auto;"><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook1w0" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;">health</span><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook1w1" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;"> </span><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook1w2" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;">food</span></a> stores in Alabama, Arizona, California, Georgia, Mississippi, New Jersey, South Carolina, and Texas.</div>
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<strong>RECOMMENDATION</strong>: Consumers who purchased Uprizing 2.0 are urged to return it to the place of purchase.</div>
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<a class="itxtrst itxtrsta itxthook" href="http://www.drugs.com/fda/uprizing-2-0-recall-undeclared-ingredient-synthetic-steroid-13032.html#" id="itxthook2" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 100, 0); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.1em; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; color: darkgreen; display: inline !important; float: none !important; font-family: inherit; left: auto; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: static !important; right: auto; top: auto;"><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook2w0" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-style: solid; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;">Healthcare</span></a> professionals and patients are encouraged to report adverse events or side effects related to the use of these products to the FDA's MedWatch Safety Information and Adverse Event Reporting Program:</div>
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<li style="line-height: 1.2; padding-bottom: 0.6em;">Complete and submit the report Online: <a href="http://www.fda.gov/MedWatch/report.htm" rel="nofollow" style="color: #1177bb;" target="_blank">www.fda.gov/MedWatch/report.htm</a></li>
<li style="line-height: 1.2; padding-bottom: 0.6em;"><a href="http://www.fda.gov/Safety/MedWatch/HowToReport/DownloadForms/default.htm" rel="nofollow" style="color: #1177bb;" target="">Download form</a> or call 1-800-332-1088 to request a reporting form, then complete and return to the address on the pre-addressed form, or submit by fax to 1-800-FDA-0178</li>
<li></li>
</ul>Angela Carterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08588522389141474439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1148318420620372055.post-42291793080830406042011-11-03T11:00:00.001-04:002011-11-03T11:00:10.816-04:00Chantix Study<br />
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1148318420620372055&postID=4229179308083040604" id="rrtaa40" name="sa"><b>Safety Announcement</b></a></div>
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<b>[10-24-2011] </b>The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has reviewed the results from two FDA-sponsored epidemiological studies that evaluated the risk of neuropsychiatric adverse events associated with the smoking cessation drug Chantix (varenicline).</div>
<table align="right" border="2" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="2" id="rrtable0" style="background-color: #b2b1a4; color: #484138; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;" summary="layout"><tbody>
<tr id="rrtr0"><td bgcolor="#17529f" id="benefit" scope="col"><div align="center" id="rrdiv14">
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Facts about Chantix (varenicline)</div>
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<tr id="rrtr1"><td bgcolor="#baccca" id="header1" scope="col"><ul id="rrul4" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; height: auto; list-style-image: url(http://www.fda.gov/ucm/groups/fdagov-public/@system/documents/system/img_fdagov_orangebullet.gif); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<li id="rrli11" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; height: auto; margin-bottom: 1%; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 1%; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">A prescription medicine used to help adults quit smoking</li>
<li id="rrli12" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; height: auto; margin-bottom: 1%; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 1%; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Increases the likelihood of abstinence from smoking for as long as one year compared to treatment with placebo.</li>
<li id="rrli13" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; height: auto; margin-bottom: 1%; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 1%; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Works by blocking the effects of nicotine (from smoking) on the brain.<sup>1</sup></li>
<li id="rrli14" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; height: auto; margin-bottom: 1%; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 1%; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">From approval in May 2006 through July 2011, approximately 21.8 million Chantix prescriptions were dispensed and approximately 8.9 million patients received Chantix prescriptions from U.S. outpatient retail pharmacies.<sup>2</sup></li>
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Neither study found a difference in risk of neuropsychiatric hospitalizations between Chantix and nicotine replacement therapy (NRT; e.g., NicoDerm patches). However, both studies had a number of study design limitations, including only assessing neuropsychiatric events that resulted in hospitalization, and not having a large enough sample size to detect rare adverse events (see <a href="http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/ucm276737.htm#data" id="rrtaa41" style="color: #0f2a8c; text-decoration: none;">Data Summary</a> below for more information). Although these two studies did not suggest an increased risk of neuropsychiatric events that result in hospitalization, they do not rule out an increased risk of other neuropsychiatric events with Chantix.</div>
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Healthcare professionals and patients should continue to follow the recommendations in the physician label and the patient Medication Guide, and to monitor for neuropsychiatric symptoms when prescribing or using Chantix. Based on FDA’s assessment of currently available data, the Agency continues to believe that the drug’s benefits outweigh the risks and the current warnings in the Chantix drug label are appropriate.</div>
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The risk of serious neuropsychiatric events with Chantix is currently highlighted in the<em>Boxed Warning and Warnings and Precautions</em> section of the physician label and in the patient Medication Guide. Such events can include changes in behavior, hostility, agitation, depressed mood, and suicidal thoughts or actions. These warnings were based on postmarketing reports describing changes in mood and behavior during and after Chantix use (see <a href="http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/PostmarketDrugSafetyInformationforPatientsandProviders/DrugSafetyInformationforHeathcareProfessionals/PublicHealthAdvisories/ucm051136.htm" id="rrtaa42" style="color: #0f2a8c; text-decoration: none;" target="">2008 Public Health Advisory</a> and <a href="http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/PostmarketDrugSafetyInformationforPatientsandProviders/DrugSafetyInformationforHeathcareProfessionals/PublicHealthAdvisories/ucm169988.htm" id="rrtaa43" style="color: #0f2a8c; text-decoration: none;" target="">2009 Public Health Advisory</a>).</div>
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FDA is continuing to evaluate the risk of neuropsychiatric events with Chantix. The drug manufacturer is conducting a large safety clinical trial of Chantix to assess neuropsychiatric adverse events, and results from this study are expected in 2017.</div>
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1148318420620372055&postID=4229179308083040604" id="rrtaa44" name="pat"><b>Additional Information for Patients</b> </a></div>
<ul id="rrul5" style="background-color: #b2b1a4; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #484138; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; height: auto; list-style-image: url(http://www.fda.gov/ucm/groups/fdagov-public/@system/documents/system/img_fdagov_orangebullet.gif); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;" type="disc">
<li id="rrli15" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; height: auto; margin-bottom: 1%; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 1%; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Some patients have experienced changes in behavior, hostility, agitation, depressed mood, and suicidal thoughts or actions while using Chantix to help them quit smoking. Some patients had these symptoms soon after they began taking Chantix, and others developed them after several weeks of treatment, or after stopping Chantix.</li>
<li id="rrli16" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; height: auto; margin-bottom: 1%; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 1%; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Before taking Chantix, patients should inform their healthcare professional if they have ever had depression or other mental health problems.</li>
<li id="rrli17" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; height: auto; margin-bottom: 1%; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 1%; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">If a patient develops agitation, hostility, depressed mood, or changes in behavior or thinking that are not typical for them, or if a patient develops suicidal ideation or behavior, they should immediately discontinue Chantix and report these symptoms to their healthcare professional.</li>
<li id="rrli18" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; height: auto; margin-bottom: 1%; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 1%; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Patients should read the Medication Guide that they get along with their Chantix prescription. It explains the risks associated with the use of Chantix.</li>
<li id="rrli19" style="background-image: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; height: auto; margin-bottom: 1%; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 1%; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Patients should report serious side effects from the use of Chantix to the FDA MedWatch program.</li>
<li></li>
</ul>Angela Carterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08588522389141474439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1148318420620372055.post-64322057236516988662011-11-02T08:06:00.000-04:002011-11-02T08:06:15.655-04:00<br />
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FDA Approves Juvisync</h2>
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<a class="video-image" href="http://www.drugs.com/juvisync.html" style="color: #1177bb; float: left; height: 85px; margin-right: 6px; position: relative; width: 120px;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: url(http://images.ddccdn.com/img/layout/form-sprite.png); background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px -265px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; bottom: 0px; height: 30px; left: 0px; position: absolute; width: 120px;"></span><img alt="Video preview" height="85" src="http://images.ddccdn.com/images/hnvideo/diabetes.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" width="120" /></a><a class="video-content-title" href="http://www.drugs.com/juvisync.html" style="color: #1177bb; display: block; font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.1; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 6px;">Diabetes</a><div style="line-height: 1.2; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; padding-bottom: 6px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
Why managing blood sugar is so important.</div>
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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Juvisync (sitagliptin and simvastatin), a fixed-dose combination (FDC) prescription medication that contains two previously approved medicines in one tablet for use in adults who need both sitagliptin and simvastatin.</div>
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Important information about Juvisync</h2>
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Serious side effects can happen in people taking Juvisync, including inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis) which may be severe and lead to death. Certain medical problems make you more likely to get pancreatitis.</div>
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Before you start taking Juvisync:</div>
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Tell your doctor if you have ever had</div>
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<li style="line-height: 1.2; padding-bottom: 0.6em;">pancreatitis</li>
<li style="line-height: 1.2; padding-bottom: 0.6em;">stones in your gallbladder (gallstones)</li>
<li style="line-height: 1.2; padding-bottom: 0.6em;">a history of alcoholism</li>
<li style="line-height: 1.2; padding-bottom: 0.6em;">high blood triglyceride levels</li>
<li style="line-height: 1.2; padding-bottom: 0.6em;">kidney problems</li>
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Stop taking Juvisync and call your doctor right away if you have pain in your stomach area (abdomen) that is severe and will not go away. The pain may be felt going from your abdomen through to your back. The pain may happen with or without vomiting. These may be symptoms of pancreatitis.</div>
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What is Juvisync?</h2>
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<li style="line-height: 1.2; padding-bottom: 0.6em;">Juvisync is a prescription medicine that contains two medicines, sitagliptin and simvastatin, in one pill. Juvisync can be used in adults who need both sitagliptin and simvastatin.</li>
<li style="line-height: 1.2; padding-bottom: 0.6em;">Sitagliptin can be used along with diet and exercise to <a class="itxtrst itxtrsta itxthook" href="http://www.drugs.com/juvisync.html#" id="itxthook0" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 100, 0); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.1em; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; color: darkgreen; display: inline !important; float: none !important; font-family: inherit; left: auto; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: static !important; right: auto; top: auto;"><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook0w0" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;">lower</span><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook0w1" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;"> </span><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook0w2" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;">blood</span><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook0w3" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;"> </span><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook0w4" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;">sugar</span></a> in adults with type 2 diabetes.</li>
<li style="line-height: 1.2; padding-bottom: 0.6em;">Simvastatin can be used with diet and exercise in adults at high risk for heart attack or stroke to lower your chance of:<ul style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1.1em; margin-right: 1.1em; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
<li style="line-height: 1.2; padding-bottom: 0.6em;">death from heart problems</li>
<li style="line-height: 1.2; padding-bottom: 0.6em;">having a heart attack or stroke</li>
<li style="line-height: 1.2; padding-bottom: 0.6em;">needing certain blood vessel procedures</li>
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</li>
<li style="line-height: 1.2; padding-bottom: 0.6em;">Simvastatin can be used in adults with certain cholesterol problems to lower levels of total cholesterol, LDL (bad) cholesterol, and fatty substances called triglycerides in the blood. In addition, simvastatin raises levels of HDL (good) cholesterol. Simvastatin is for people who cannot control their cholesterol levels by diet and exercise alone. You should stay on a cholesterol-lowering diet while taking this medicine.</li>
<li style="line-height: 1.2; padding-bottom: 0.6em;">Sitagliptin is not for people with <a class="itxtrst itxtrsta itxthook" href="http://www.drugs.com/juvisync.html#" id="itxthook1" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 100, 0); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.1em; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; color: darkgreen; display: inline !important; float: none !important; font-family: inherit; left: auto; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: static !important; right: auto; top: auto;"><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook1w0" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;">type</span><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook1w1" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;"> </span><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook1w2" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;">1</span><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook1w3" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;"> </span><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook1w4" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;">diabetes</span></a>.</li>
<li style="line-height: 1.2; padding-bottom: 0.6em;">Sitagliptin is not for people with <a class="itxtrst itxtrsta itxthook" href="http://www.drugs.com/juvisync.html#" id="itxthook2" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 100, 0); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.1em; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; color: darkgreen; display: inline !important; float: none !important; font-family: inherit; left: auto; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: static !important; right: auto; top: auto;"><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook2w0" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 2px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; display: inline; float: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; right: auto; top: auto;">diabetic</span></a> ketoacidosis (increased ketones in your blood or urine).</li>
<li style="line-height: 1.2; padding-bottom: 0.6em;">If you have had inflammation of your pancreas (pancreatitis) in the past, it is not known if you have a higher chance of getting pancreatitis while you take sitagliptin.</li>
<li style="line-height: 1.2; padding-bottom: 0.6em;">Juvisync has not been studied in people who have an increase of chylomicrons (Fredrickson types I and V).</li>
<li style="line-height: 1.2; padding-bottom: 0.6em;">Juvisync is not for people with certain kidney problems.</li>
<li style="line-height: 1.2; padding-bottom: 0.6em;">It is not known if Juvisync is safe and effective when used in children under 18 years of age.</li>
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For more information, see the sections called <i>What is type 2 diabetes?</i> and <i>What should I know about high cholesterol?</i>.</div>Angela Carterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08588522389141474439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1148318420620372055.post-76651947772006489882011-11-02T06:15:00.000-04:002011-11-02T06:15:02.501-04:00Nostrilla Nasal Decongestant: Recall - Bacterial Contamination<br />
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<strong>ISSUE</strong>: Insight Pharmaceuticals, LLC recalled one lot (lot #11G075, UPC Code 6373673005, 34,092 bottles) of <a href="http://www.drugs.com/mtm/nostrilla.html" rel="nofollow" style="color: #1177bb;">Nostrilla</a> Nasal Decongestant nasal spray to the consumer level, because it may contain the bacteria <i>Burkholderia cepacia</i>.<i>Burkholderia cepacia</i> may cause serious infection in individuals with a compromised immune system or chronic lung condition (i.e. cystic fibrosis).</div>
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<strong>BACKGROUND</strong>: Nostrilla Nasal Decongestant was distributed nationwide through normal retail outlets and pharmacies. The product comes in a 1/2 ounce, plastic bottle marked with an expiration date of 05/2014 stamped on the side.</div>
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<strong>RECOMMENDATION</strong>: Consumers who purchased "Nostrilla Decongestant, lot #11G075" are urged to return the product and contact the company at 1-877-546-9059 Monday through Friday from 9 am-5 pm EST time zone. Consumers should contact their physician or <a class="itxtrst itxtrsta itxthook" href="http://www.drugs.com/fda/nostrilla-nasal-decongestant-recall-bacterial-contamination-13037.html#" id="itxthook0" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 100, 0); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0.1em; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; bottom: auto; color: darkgreen; display: inline !important; float: none !important; font-family: inherit; left: auto; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: static !important; right: auto; top: auto;"><span class="itxtrst itxtrstspan itxthookspan" id="itxthook0w0" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; 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<li style="line-height: 1.2; padding-bottom: 0.6em;">Complete and submit the report Online: www.fda.gov/MedWatch/report.htm</li>
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<br />[10/21/2011 - <a href="http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm276721.htm" rel="nofollow" style="color: #1177bb;" target="">Press Release</a> - Insight Pharmaceuticals]</div>Angela Carterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08588522389141474439noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1148318420620372055.post-33760463195485036172011-10-16T11:00:00.000-04:002011-10-16T11:00:00.817-04:00<br />
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<a href="http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-arthritis.html">Stopping arthritis before it starts</a><br />
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About 27 million Americans suffer from arthritis, and more than three million of those cases result from a joint injury, often in the knee, that provokes slow and steady cartilage deterioration.<br />
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A new study from MIT suggests that a <a class="textTag" href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/steroid+drug/" rel="tag" style="color: #0e3266;">steroid drug</a> currently used to treat<a class="textTag" href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/inflammatory+diseases/" rel="tag" style="color: #0e3266;">inflammatory diseases</a> could also prevent <a class="textTag" href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/osteoarthritis/" rel="tag" style="color: #0e3266;">osteoarthritis</a> from ever developing in those people, if given soon after the injury.</div>
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“In essence, it’s repurposing an existing drug,” says Alan Grodzinsky, senior author of the study, a professor of biological, mechanical and electrical engineering, and the director of MIT’s Center for Biomedical Engineering.</div>
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Grodzinsky and his colleagues report their findings in the Sept. 2 issue of the journal <i><a class="textTag" href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/arthritis/" rel="tag" style="color: #0e3266;">Arthritis</a> Research and Therapy</i>. Other authors of the paper are Yihong Lu, a recent MIT biological engineering PhD recipient, and Christopher Evans, the Maurice Edmond Mueller Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at Harvard Medical School.</div>
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Severe joint injuries are more common in younger people, who are likelier to participate in sports such as basketball or skiing in which they are at a higher risk of tearing ligaments such as the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). Military service and car accidents are also common sources of joint injuries in young people.</div>
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In most cases, the patient is treated with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen to reduce pain and swelling. Weeks or months later, they might have surgery to stabilize the joint.</div>
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In about 50 percent of those cases, the patient’s cartilage steadily breaks down after the injury, eventually leading to arthritis, says Martin Lotz, professor of molecular and experimental medicine at the Scripps Research Institute, who was not involved in this study. Currently there is no way to prevent this cartilage degradation.</div>
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“There’s an opportunity here,” Lotz says of the MIT strategy of immediate intervention. “If you go in during this time, you would not only improve joint pain and swelling, you could actually reduce the risk of arthritis developing.” </div>
<br />Angela Carterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08588522389141474439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1148318420620372055.post-4150848825271879502011-10-15T11:00:00.000-04:002011-10-15T11:00:05.791-04:00<br />
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<a href="http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-lawson-scientist-joint-pain-treatment.html">Lawson scientist presents joint pain treatment 2.0</a><br />
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Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common form of arthritis, affecting roughly 10% of Canadians. This degradation of the joints is painful and crippling, especially when it affects the knee. Although there are viable OA treatment options, they are short-lived and can have serious side-effects. According to Lawson Health Research Institute's Dr. Robert Petrella, principal investigator in the COR1.0 study, the next generation of OA treatment has arrived.<br />
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When patients have OA in the knee, the fluid in their joint breaks down, causing pain and preventing natural shock absorption. To treat this condition, gel-like substances called "viscosupplements" are injected into the knee. This acts as a supplement for the fluid loss and provides temporary <a class="textTag" href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/pain+relief/" rel="tag" style="color: #0e3266;">pain relief</a>. In the COR1.0 study, Dr. Petrella and his colleagues compared Synvisc-One, the leading market viscosupplement for OA in the knee, to Hydros-TA Joint Therapy. Hydros-TA is a unique dual-action treatment combining <a class="textTag" href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/steroids/" rel="tag" style="color: #0e3266;">steroids</a> within a viscosupplement. It is believed to provide faster acting, longer lasting pain relief than either treatment alone.</div>
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To compare and evaluate the safety and effectiveness of both treatments, Dr. Petrella and his team conducted a double-blinded, multi-center clinical trial. Across eight sites in Canada, Belgium, and The Netherlands, a total of 98 patients were given a single injection and then monitored for six months. Results show trends suggesting Hydros-TA provides superior pain relief and improved function, causes fewer <a class="textTag" href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/adverse+events/" rel="tag" style="color: #0e3266;">adverse events</a>, and has a higher overall response rate. For patients, this could mean greater, more consistent pain relief with faster onset.</div>
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"Patients are really searching for better options for <a class="textTag" href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/osteoarthritis/" rel="tag" style="color: #0e3266;">osteoarthritis</a> therapy," Dr. Petrella explains. "Hydros-TA takes effect very quickly and lasts longer than other available therapies, allowing patients to achieve and sustain a higher quality of life."</div>
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Dr. Petrella and Carbylan BioSurgery Inc., the makers of Hydros-TA, are planning a larger multi-center trial to take place in the United States next year.</div>
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Provided by Lawson Health Research Institute</div>
<br />Angela Carterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08588522389141474439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1148318420620372055.post-23660094731973142012011-10-14T11:00:00.000-04:002011-10-14T11:00:06.299-04:00<br />
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<a href="http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-method-osteoarthritis.html">New method could help prevent osteoarthritis</a><br />
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A new method is set to help doctors diagnose osteoarthritis at such an early stage that it will be possible to delay the progression of the disease by many years, or maybe even stop it entirely.<br />
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The joint disease osteoarthritis is one of our most common <a class="textTag" href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/chronic+diseases/" rel="tag" style="color: #0e3266;">chronic diseases</a> and one of the primary causes of disability for people around the world.</div>
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"Osteoarthritis often attacks the knee and <a class="textTag" href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/hip+joints/" rel="tag" style="color: #0e3266;">hip joints</a> and breaks down the impact absorbing cartilage found there. For those affected, the progression of the disease usually takes many years, with gradually increasing pain which often leads to disability", says Carl Siversson, who has just defended his thesis in Medical Radiation Physics at Lund University in Sweden.</div>
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One of the problems with osteoarthritis has been diagnosing and monitoring the disease before symptoms become evident. It has therefore been difficult to change or delay the course of the disease. A few years ago, researchers from Lund University and Harvard Medical School developed a method to measure the degree of osteoarthritis using an <a class="textTag" href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/mri+scanner/" rel="tag" style="color: #0e3266;">MRI scanner</a>, even at a very early stage. The method is called dGEMRIC (delayed gadolinium-enhanced MRI of cartilage).</div>
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"This was major progress, but one problem was that the measurements could only be performed in a limited part of the cartilage. We have now improved the method so that we can study all the <a class="textTag" href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/cartilage/" rel="tag" style="color: #0e3266;">cartilage</a> in the joint at once. We have achieved this by solving the problem of how to correct all the irregularities in the<a class="textTag" href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/mri+images/" rel="tag" style="color: #0e3266;">MRI images</a>", says Carl Siversson.</div>
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The improved method has now been tested both on healthy individuals and on individuals with <a class="textTag" href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/osteoarthritis/" rel="tag" style="color: #0e3266;">osteoarthritis</a>, and the results show that the disease can now be monitored in ways that were not previously possible, according to Carl Siversson.</div>
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"Now we are continuing our work to make the method easy for doctors to use in their practice. Our hope is that the method will also be significant for future drug development", says Carl Siversson, who after completing his PhD will continue his research at Harvard Medical School in Boston, USA.</div>
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<b>More information:</b> The new method is described in Carl Siversson's thesis Three-dimensional T1 quantification techniques for assessment of cartilage quality using dGEMRIC: <a href="http://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/o.o.i.s?id=24732&postid=2064122" style="color: #0e3266; font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">http://www.lunduni … stid=2064122</a></div>
<br />Angela Carterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08588522389141474439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1148318420620372055.post-23735580329587927632011-10-13T15:32:00.002-04:002011-10-13T15:32:20.925-04:00Have you heard of http://www.FindYourWingsAndSoar.com? It looks like an amazing FREE event for women who are tired of feeling held back by fear and self-doubt. It starts Oct 12th and runs for a month.Angela Carterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08588522389141474439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1148318420620372055.post-55670615271711417572011-10-13T11:00:00.000-04:002011-10-13T11:00:09.546-04:00<br />
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<a href="http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-glucocorticoid-treatment-long-term-joints.html">Glucocorticoid treatment may prevent long-term damage to joints</a><br />
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Joint injury can result in irreversible damage of cartilage which, despite treatment and surgery, often eventually leads to osteoarthritis (OA) in later life. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal <i>Arthritis Research & Therapy</i> demonstrates that short term treatment of damaged cartilage with glucocorticoids can reduce long term degenerative changes and may provide hope for prevention of OA after injury.<br />
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A normal joint is covered by a layer of cartilage containing proteoglycans such as aggrecan and lubricating fluid containing glycosaminoglycans (GAG) such as hyaluronic acid. In a double whammy, after <a class="textTag" href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/injury/" rel="tag" style="color: #0e3266;">injury</a> proteoglycans and other molecules in cartilage begin to break down and the synthesis of these proteoglycans within cartilage is reduced. Additionally proinflammatory cytokines such as TNFα, IL-1β, and IL-6 are released into the synovial fluid after injury and further increase GAG loss from cartilage.</div>
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Using a 'worst-case scenario' system in which cartilage was subjected to mechanical injury and bombarded with immune system-stimulating bio-molecules (TNFα and IL-6) the glucocorticoid dexamethasone (DEX) was able to reduce GAG loss and restore proteoglycan synthesis levels to normal.</div>
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Prof Alan Grodzinsky from the MIT Center for Biomedical Engineering said, "Glucocorticoid injections are sometimes used to relieve the pain of established<a class="textTag" href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/osteoarthritis/" rel="tag" style="color: #0e3266;">osteoarthritis</a>, but there are concerns about long-term use. Our results suggest that short-term glucocorticoid treatment after joint injury may help restore components of <a class="textTag" href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/cartilage/" rel="tag" style="color: #0e3266;">cartilage</a> to preinjury levels and consequently may prevent the long term changes which lead to osteoarthritis."</div>
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Provided by BioMed Central (<a href="http://medicalxpress.com/partners/biomed-central/" rel="news" style="color: #0e3266; font-weight: bold;">news</a> : <a href="http://www.biomedcentral.com/" style="color: #0e3266; font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">web</a>)</div>
<br />Angela Carterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08588522389141474439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1148318420620372055.post-4325646061242075262011-10-12T11:00:00.001-04:002011-10-12T11:00:03.774-04:00<br />
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<a href="http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-chondroitin-sulfate-function-relieves-morning.html">Chondroitin sulfate improves hand function, relieves morning stiffness caused by osteoarthritis</a><br />
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New research shows that chondroitin sulfate significantly decreased pain and improved hand function in patients with osteoarthritis (OA) of the hand compared with those in the placebo group. Results of the clinical trial available today in <i>Arthritis & Rheumatism,</i> a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR), also report that chondroitin sulfate improves grip strength and relieves morning stiffness.<br />
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The ACR estimates that OA—the most common form of <a class="textTag" href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/arthritis/" rel="tag" style="color: #0e3266;">arthritis</a>—affects more than 27 million adults in the U.S., causing joint pain and stiffness. Approximately 10% of the world population, 60 years and older, have symptomatic osteoarthritis according to the Global Burden of Disease 2000 report from the World Health Organization (WHO). Prior studies have found that 20% to 30% of adults have OA of the hand, with the prevalence rising to more than 50% after 60 years of age.</div>
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"Although hand OA is highly prevalent among adults and can significantly impact the quality of life for suffers, therapeutic options are still limited," said Cem Gabay, M.D., with University Hospitals of Geneva in Switzerland and lead investigation of the Finger <a class="textTag" href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/osteoarthritis/" rel="tag" style="color: #0e3266;">osteoArthritis</a> <a class="textTag" href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/chondroitin/" rel="tag" style="color: #0e3266;">Chondroitin</a> Treatment Study (FACTS). "There are few trials examining therapeutic approaches specific to hand OA and much of the available evidence has been extrapolated from studies investigating other forms of OA."</div>
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The single-center, placebo-controlled FACTS trial included 162 patients with radiographic hand OA who met inclusion criteria—spontaneous hand pain on the visual analogue scale (VAS) of 40 mm (scale 0-100) or more and Functional Index for Hand OA (FIHOA) level of 6 (scale 0-30). Participants received either 800 mg of chondroitin sulfate (80 patients) or placebo (82 patients) once daily for 6 months.</div>
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Results showed that patients in the chondroitin sulfate group had significant decrease in global hand pain compared with the <a class="textTag" href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/placebo+group/" rel="tag" style="color: #0e3266;">placebo group</a>, reflecting an 8.7 decrease on the VAS. Hand function also improved significantly for those taking chondroitin sulfate, decreasing more than 2 points on the FIHOA. Researchers also reported significantly improved hand function and reduction in morning stiffness for participants taking chondroitin sulfate versus placebo.</div>
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"Our findings show chondroitin sulfate is a safe and effective treatment for patients with hand OA," concluded Dr. Gabay. "Alternative therapies, such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), provide similar pain reducing effects, but with considerably more long-term toxicities." Chondroitin sulfate is a naturally occurring molecule and a main component of joint cartilage. The chondroitin sulfate agent used in this study (Chondrosulf®) is licensed as a drug in Europe and not as a nutripharmaceutical; in the U.S. chondroitin <a class="textTag" href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/sulfate/" rel="tag" style="color: #0e3266;">sulfate</a> is sold as a supplement and often paired with glucosamine.</div>
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<b>More information:</b> Symptomatic Effect of Chondroitin Sulfate 4&6 in Hand Osteoarthritis: The Finger osteoArthritis Chondroitin Treatment Study (FACTS): A Randomized Double-Blind Placebo Controlled Clinical Trial." Cem Gabay, Carole Medinger-Sadowski, Danielle Gascon, Frank Kolo, Axel Finckh. <i>Arthritis & Rheumatism</i>; Published Online: September 6, 2011. <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/art.30574" style="color: #0e3266; font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">DOI:10.1002/art.30574</a></div>
<br />Angela Carterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08588522389141474439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1148318420620372055.post-65555949736695636712011-10-11T11:00:00.000-04:002011-10-11T11:00:08.146-04:00<br />
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<a href="http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-bouncer-molecule-halts-rheumatoid-arthritis.html">New 'bouncer' molecule halts rheumatoid arthritis</a><br />
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Researchers at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine have discovered why the immune cells of people with rheumatoid arthritis become hyperactive and attack the joints and bones. The immune cells have lost their bouncer, the burly protein that keeps them in line the same way a bouncer in a nightclub controls rowdy patrons.<br />
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The Feinberg School team has identified this bouncer, a protein called <a class="textTag" href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/p21/" rel="tag" style="color: #0e3266;">P21</a>, which prevents immune cells from launching into their destructive rampage through the<a class="textTag" href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/cartilage/" rel="tag" style="color: #0e3266;">cartilage</a> and bone. When the scientists developed and injected an imitation of the protein into an <a class="textTag" href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/animal+model/" rel="tag" style="color: #0e3266;">animal model</a> of <span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD1" style="background-attachment: scroll !important; background-clip: initial !important; background-color: transparent !important; background-image: none !important; background-origin: initial !important; background-position: 0% 50%; background-repeat: repeat repeat !important; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 153, 0) !important; border-bottom-style: solid !important; border-bottom-width: 1px !important; color: rgb(0, 153, 0) !important; cursor: pointer !important; display: inline !important; float: none !important; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Sans !important; font-size: 15px !important; font-style: normal !important; padding-bottom: 1px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; text-decoration: underline !important;">rheumatoid arthritis</span>, the disease process was halted.</div>
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"The bouncer molecule stopped the immune cells from going crazy," said lead author Harris Perlman, associate professor of <a class="textTag" href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/rheumatology/" rel="tag" style="color: #0e3266;">rheumatology</a> at Northwestern's Feinberg School. "Imagine destructive customers in a bar, and the bouncer says, 'You are going to behave!' That's P21. This discovery opens up a new avenue for future therapies, which are greatly needed for rheumatoid arthritis."</div>
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Previous research by the Feinberg team showed people with rheumatoid arthritiswere low in P21, but the protein's role was unknown. The new study, which will be published in the journal <i>Arthritis & Rheumatism</i>, reveals the protein's vital role in keeping the immune cells in check.</div>
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Currently, there is no effective, nontoxic way to stop the hyperactive immune cells, Perlman said.</div>
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To develop the new approach, Perlman and his team tested five different parts, called peptides, of P21. He slipped each peptide into a "ghostlike" molecule that he injected into mice with a rheumatoid arthritis-like disease. The molecule secretly infiltrated the immune cells. After the seven-day trial, one of the tested peptides had calmed the overactive immune cells without toxic effects. Next, Perlman plans a 30-day study with the same peptide to <span class="IL_AD" id="IL_AD2" style="background-attachment: scroll !important; background-clip: initial !important; background-color: transparent !important; background-image: none !important; background-origin: initial !important; background-position: 0% 50%; background-repeat: repeat repeat !important; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 153, 0) !important; border-bottom-style: solid !important; border-bottom-width: 1px !important; color: rgb(0, 153, 0) !important; cursor: pointer !important; display: inline !important; float: none !important; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Sans !important; font-size: 15px !important; font-style: normal !important; padding-bottom: 1px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; position: static; text-decoration: underline !important;">monitor</span> efficacy and toxicity over a longer period of time.</div>
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Existing treatments for <a class="textTag" href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/rheumatoid+arthritis/" rel="tag" style="color: #0e3266;">rheumatoid arthritis</a> include low-level chemotherapy and steroids. These are not always effective, however, and they are frequently accompanied by side effects. A newer class of therapy, which is sometimes used in combination with chemotherapy and steroids, is biologic response modifiers. These are antibodies or other proteins that reduce the inflammation produced by the hyperactive <a class="textTag" href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/immune+cells/" rel="tag" style="color: #0e3266;">immune cells</a>. These biologics don't work for everyone, though, and can be associated with side effects including the risk of infection.</div>
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Provided by Northwestern University (<a href="http://medicalxpress.com/partners/northwestern-university/" rel="news" style="color: #0e3266; font-weight: bold;">news</a> : <a href="http://www.northwestern.edu/" style="color: #0e3266; font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">web</a>)</div>
<br />Angela Carterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08588522389141474439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1148318420620372055.post-23110771642928203512011-10-10T11:00:00.003-04:002011-10-10T11:00:01.964-04:00<br />
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<a href="http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-biological-agents-rheumatoid-arthritis-skin.html">Biological agents for rheumatoid arthritis associated with increased skin cancer risk</a><br />
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Biological agents used to treat rheumatoid arthritis seem to be associated with an increased risk of skin cancer, indicates a systematic review of published research in the <i>Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.</i><br />
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Inflammatory arthritis has been linked to an increased risk of some cancers, such as lymphoma and lung cancer, but a lower risk of others, such as bowel and breast cancers. But it has been unclear to what extent tumour necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors - drugs which act on the immune system - might affect risk.</div>
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TNF inhibitors include the <a class="textTag" href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/monoclonal+antibodies/" rel="tag" style="color: #0e3266;">monoclonal antibodies</a> infliximab and <a class="textTag" href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/adalimumab/" rel="tag" style="color: #0e3266;">adalimumab</a> and the protein etanercept.</div>
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The researchers base their findings on 21 studies and eight conference abstracts, which met their strict inclusion criteria of reporting data on cancer associated with TNF inhibitors. In all, this provided information on more than 40,000 patients and almost 150,000 cumulative years of exposure to these drugs.</div>
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The studies were drawn from an extensive trawl of clinical research databases, and findings presented to the American College of Rheumatology, the European League against Rheumatism, and the British Society for Rheumatology between 1998 and 2010.</div>
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The pooled risk from seven studies for the development of any cancer showed that there was negligible or no increased risk, overall.</div>
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Two studies indicated that there was no evidence that patients taking TNF inhibitors over the long term were at increased risk of cancer either. And although patients who had had cancer before were more likely to be diagnosed with the disease again, this was not affected by the use of TNF inhibitors.</div>
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But four studies showed that patients treated with these drugs were 45% more likely to develop skin cancer other than melanoma, with two studies indicating that patients taking TNF inhibitors were 79% more likely to develop a melanoma than patients not taking these drugs.</div>
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"This systematic review and <a class="textTag" href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/meta+analysis/" rel="tag" style="color: #0e3266;">meta analysis</a> provides reassurance to physicians and patients that the treatment of [<a class="textTag" href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/rheumatoid+arthritis/" rel="tag" style="color: #0e3266;">rheumatoid arthritis</a>] with TNF inhibitors does not increase the risk of malignancy, particularly lymphoma," write the authors. "However, it does appear to increase the risk of skin cancer, including melanoma," they add.</div>
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Provided by British Medical Journal (<a href="http://medicalxpress.com/partners/british-medical-journal/" rel="news" style="color: #0e3266; font-weight: bold;">news</a> : <a href="http://www.bmj.com/channels/research.dtl" style="color: #0e3266; font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">web</a>)</div>
<br />Angela Carterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08588522389141474439noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1148318420620372055.post-54393507617853727082011-10-09T11:00:00.002-04:002011-10-09T11:00:01.550-04:00<br />
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<a href="http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-chronic-pain-geneidentified.html">Chronic pain gene identified</a><br />
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British researchers say they have identified the gene that controls chronic pain, opening the door to new drug therapies that block the chemical processes that cause chronic back pain, headaches or arthritis.<br />
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Chronic pain, defined as pain that is experienced most days of the week for at least three months, afflicts around 1 in 5 Australians. It commonly disrupts a sufferer’s ability to lead a normal life.</div>
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Now a team led by Professor Peter McNaughton, Head of the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Cambridge, has isolated a gene called HCN2 that produces a protein that causes chronic pain.</div>
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“Individuals suffering from neuropathic pain often have little or no respite because of the lack of effective medications. Our research lays the groundwork for the development of new drugs to treat chronic pain by blocking HCN2,” said Professor McNaughton.</div>
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His team conducted a series of experiments on mice genetically engineered to be born without the HCN2 gene. The researchers observed that these mice responded normally to normal acute pain (which is produced by a sudden injury) but that removing the HCN2 gene abolished neuropathic pain.</div>
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Being able to control chronic pain without affecting normal pain responses was crucial, he said.</div>
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“Many genes play a critical role in pain sensation, but in most cases interfering with them simply abolishes all pain, or even all sensation,” Professor McNaughton said.</div>
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“This finding could be very valuable clinically because normal pain sensation is essential for avoiding accidental damage.”</div>
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Professor Richard Lewis, an expert on <a class="textTag" href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/chronic+pain/" rel="tag" style="color: #0e3266;">chronic pain</a> from the University of Queensland’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience, said the breakthrough was significant.</div>
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“This work appears particularly exciting as it, for the first time, directly links pacemaker channel HCN2 — a membrane protein important in controlling cell excitability — to the development of several difficult-to-treat painful conditions but not normal pain sensations,” said Professor Lewis, who was not involved in the research.</div>
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Chemical disruption of HCN2 could form the basis of much needed new pain therapies, he said.</div>
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“Building on previous research in this area, the work now highlights opportunities to discover and develop safer and more effective pain therapies that can selectively target HCN2 in <a class="textTag" href="http://www.physorg.com/tags/pain/" rel="tag" style="color: #0e3266;">pain</a> pathways.”</div>
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The UK study was published in the September 9 edition of the journal <i><a href="http://news.sciencemag.org/" style="color: #0e3266; font-weight: bold;">Science</a></i>. </div>
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<i>This story is published courtesy of the <a href="http://theconversation.edu.au/" style="color: #0e3266; font-weight: bold;">The Conversation</a> (under Creative Commons-Attribution/No derivatives).</i><br />Angela Carterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08588522389141474439noreply@blogger.com0