Information for your health

A new study in the July 19 issue of The Lancet suggests that amyloid plaques in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease may not be the cause of the disease.

The study showed that removal of amyloid plaques from the brain did not stop progression of Alzheimer’s.

In the study, Dr. Clive Holmes from the Memory Assessment and Research Centre at Moorgreen Hospital in Southampton and colleagues looked at data on 80 Alzheimer's patients who had received an experimental vaccine called AN1792.

Researchers have successfully grown functional human blood vessels in lab mice using cells from adult human donors, according to a new study in Circulation Research: Journal of the American Heart Association. The success could be an important step in developing strategies to grow issue in a laboratory for treatment of heart attack, acute injuries and wound healing.

FDA is notifying the makers of fluoroquinolone antimicrobial drugs for systemic use of the need to add a boxed warning to the prescribing information about the increased risk of developing tendinitis and tendon rupture in patients taking fluoroquinolones and to develop a Medication Guide for patients. The addition of a boxed warning and a Medication Guide would strengthen the existing warning information already included in the prescribing information for fluoroquinolone drugs.

CHAPEL HILL – Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have created a list of prescription drugs that increase the risk of falling for patients aged 65 and older who take four or more medications on a regular basis.
"Falls are the leading cause of both fatal and non-fatal injuries for adults 65 and older, and research suggests that those taking four or more medications are at an even greater risk than those who don't – perhaps two to three times greater," said Susan Blalock, Ph.D., an associate professor at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy.

FDA is notifying the makers of fluoroquinolone antimicrobial drugs for systemic use of the need to add a boxed warning to the prescribing information about the increased risk of developing tendinitis and tendon rupture in patients taking fluoroquinolones and to develop a Medication Guide for patients. The addition of a boxed warning and a Medication Guide would strengthen the existing warning information already included in the prescribing information for fluoroquinolone drugs.

TUESDAY July 8, 2008 -- Results of a small trial show that taking fish oil and red yeast can effectively lower bad cholesterol in the blood and triglycerides, proving that the alternative therapy may be a safe replacement for statins.

Statins, which cause adverse effects in many patients, are the standard treatment used in the Western medicine to lower cholesterol in hopes to reduce the risk of heart disease.

June 12, 2008

HOW MUCH do doctors who research new treatments for diseases benefit personally from drug company money? It's hard to know for sure. With government funding on the wane, money from pharmaceutical companies and medical device makers for research is unavoidable. The public at least deserves full and accurate disclosure of potential conflicts that accepting drug company consulting and speaking fees could pose. But recent congressional investigations give patients little reason for confidence.
more stories like this