MedsList » 2008

Archive for May, 2008

Erectile dysfunction predicts heart problems: study

Saturday, May 31st, 2008

Erectile dysfunction predicts heart problems: study

By Amy Norton

Problems with maintaining an erection may foretell heart trouble ahead for men with type 2 diabetes, two new studies show.

A number of past studies have found a connection between erectile dysfunction (ED) and heart disease. But the new findings, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, confirm that ED often precedes and predicts heart trouble.

This, say researchers, suggests that men with ED should be especially vigilant about controlling heart disease risk factors.

In one study, Italian researchers found that among 291 men with type 2 diabetes, those who also had ED had twice the risk of suffering a heart attack, stroke or other cardiovascular complication over the next four years.

At the start of the study, all of the men had had evidence of “silent” heart disease — meaning they had plaque buildup in their arteries on imaging tests, but no heart disease symptoms, such as chest pain. Having ED seemed to pinpoint those men who were at particular risk of a complication.

There was some good news as well, however: Taking cholesterol-lowering statins appeared to reduce the risks associated with ED, according to the researchers, led by Dr. Carmine Gazzaruso of the Clinical Institute “Beato Matteo” in Vigevano, Italy.

In the second study, Hong Kong researchers found that among diabetic men with no indications of heart disease at the outset, those with ED were 58 percent more likely to die of heart disease, or have a heart attack or other non-fatal cardiac “event.”

“Erectile dysfunction is an important warning sign of future adverse heart events or even death,” study chief Dr. Peter Chun-Yip Tong, of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, told Reuters Health.

The main reason, he explained, is that ED is an early manifestation of the blood vessel damage caused by diabetes and other risk factors for heart disease, such as high blood pressure.

Tong recommended that all men with diabetes tell their doctor if they begin to have problems getting or maintaining an erection. They can then have a comprehensive assessment of their cardiovascular risk factors — such as measurements of their blood pressure, cholesterol, waist size and kidney function — and work on getting those under control.

Indeed, the Italian study suggests that diabetic men with ED can cut some of their heart risks by using a statin. Gazzaruso’s team found that among patients with ED, those who were on a statin had a one-third lower chance of suffering a heart attack or other complication during the study.

There was also evidence that men taking a class of ED drugs called PDE-5 inhibitors, which includes Viagra, had lower heart risks. According to the researchers, this may reflect the fact that the drugs improve the function of the inner lining of artery walls.

The bottom line, according to Tong, is that men with diabetes and ED should have all of their modifiable heart risk factors “identified early and treated aggressively.”

SOURCE: Journal of the American College of Cardiology, May 27, 2008.

(original article)

Posted in Health Topics | No Comments »

Thailand’s removal of official who supported compulsory licensing ‘important’ step to ‘protecting patients’ health,’ editorial says

Friday, May 30th, 2008

The Thai government’s removal last week of Vichai Chokevivat — “one of the most vocal opponents” of patent protections for drug companies — from Governmental Pharmaceutical Organization’s board is a “small” but “important” step in “restoring Thailand’s international reputation and protecting patients’ health,” a Wall Street Journal Asia editorial says.(original article)

Posted in Health Topics | No Comments »

Seizure Drug Reverses Cellular Effects In Brain Related To Alcohol Addiction

Thursday, May 29th, 2008

New findings from scientists at The Scripps Research Institute provide evidence that the drug gabapentin affects certain components of the alcohol addiction cycle in the brain, supporting the idea that the medication, which is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for treating seizures and pain, also holds potential for the treatment of alcohol dependence.

In the new research the scientists found that gabapentin normalizes the action of certain brain cells altered by chronic alcohol abuse in an area of the brain known as the central amygdala, which plays an important role in fear- and stress-related behaviors, as well as in regulating alcohol drinking. In the study, alcohol-dependent rodents receiving gabapentin drank less alcohol.

“The results are exciting,” said Scripps Research Assistant Professor Marisa Roberto, Ph.D., who was first author of the study. “Our research shows that gabapentin not only changes the alcohol-consumption patterns of addicted rats (and not of the control group), but also may reverse some of the effects of addiction on a specific neurotransmitter in the brain.”

“This is an example of the strength of the translational approach of the Pearson Center, where the clinical uses of gabapentin led us to hypothesize that gabapentin may act to restore homeostatic dysregulation of the GABAergic system,” said George Koob, Ph.D., chair of the Scripps Research Committee on the Neurobiology of Addictive Disorders and co-director of the Pearson Center for Alcoholism and Addiction Research at Scripps Research. “Cellular and behavioral studies converged to suggest that indeed gabapentin could normalize GABAergic tone in a specific brain region known to be dysregulated in dependent animals. Such results provide a strong rationale for translating these observations back to the clinical setting for the treatment of alcoholism.”

In previous studies, gabapentin has been shown to effectively treat alcohol withdrawal and reduce alcohol consumption and cravings following detoxification in alcoholics. However, how gabapentin could act to combat alcohol dependence in the brain has been unclear. The new study sheds light on this question by detailing the action of gabapentin (known commercially as Neurontin)–a structural analogue of the inhibitory synaptic transmitter gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA)–on neural signaling in the brain.

In the new study, the scientists first tested the effects of gabapentin on the behavior of alcohol-dependent and non-dependent rats. The researchers found that alcohol-dependent rats that received gabapentin drank significantly less alcohol and demonstrated fewer anxiety-like behaviors in the face of alcohol abstinence than those who did not receive the drug. The behavior of non-dependent rats receiving gabapentin remained unaffected. These results were observed both when the rats received gabapentin systemically and when the medication was infused directly into the central amygdala region of the brain.

At the cellular level, dependence on alcohol has been associated with increased strength of inhibitory synapses (junctions between two nerve cells) in the central amygdala. In the new study, the scientists found gabapentin, like alcohol, increased the strength of these central amygdala inhibitory synapse cells from non-dependent rats, but decreased their strength in cells from alcohol-dependent rats.

Interestingly, these effects of gabapentin disappeared in the presence of a specific inhibitor of so-called GABAB receptors, indicating that gabapentin’s cellular mechanisms likely involve changes in release of the transmitter GABA at the inhibitory synapses. The scientists also found that the sensitivity of GABAB receptors decreased with alcohol dependence, suggesting a biological mechanism for the development of alcohol dependence in general and for gabapentin’s contrasting effects before and after long-term alcohol exposure in particular.

The scientists plan to further explore the mechanism of action of gabapentin in the brain. In addition, clinical trials on the effectiveness of gabapentin as a treatment for alcohol dependence are currently under way at The Scripps Research Institute.

The work was supported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism of the National Institutes of Health, the Harold L. Dorris Neurological Research Institute at Scripps Research, and The Scripps Research Institute.

Journal reference:

Marisa Roberto, George Koob, Nicholas W. Gilpin, Maureen T. Cruz, and George R. Siggins of Scripps Research; Laura E. O’Dell of the University of Texas at El Paso; and Andrew C. Morse of Brain Cells. Cellular and Behavioral Interactions of Gabapentin with Alcohol Dependence. Journal of Neuroscience, May 28, 2008

Adapted from materials provided by Scripps Research Institute, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Posted in Health Topics | No Comments »

Handlebars- A song about survival by Flobot

Thursday, May 29th, 2008

(original article)

Posted in Health Topics | No Comments »

Brand-name prescription drug companies reached 14 deals with generic manufacturers to delay sale of generics in FY 2007

Wednesday, May 28th, 2008

Brand-name prescription drug makers in fiscal year 2007 reached 14 agreements with generic drug makers to delay market entry of generic medications, according to a report released on Wednesday by the Federal Trade Commission, Reuters reports (Bartz, Reuters, 5/23).(original article)

Posted in Health Topics | Comments Off

Bureaucracy has delayed plans for three FDA offices in China

Wednesday, May 28th, 2008

HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt on Friday said that Chinese bureaucracy has delayed plans to establish FDA offices in three cities — Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou — that would monitor exports of food, medications, medical devices and other consumer products to the U.S., the Associated Press reports.(original article)

Posted in Health Topics | No Comments »

Magnetic nanoparticles for cancer therapy

Wednesday, May 28th, 2008

A measuring procedure developed in the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) can help to investigate in some detail the behaviour of magnetic nanoparticles which are used for cancer therapy.(original article)

Posted in Health Topics | No Comments »

New cancer stem cell identified behind metastatic tumors

Wednesday, May 28th, 2008

The molecular profile of cancer stem cells that initiate metastatic colon tumors is significantly different from those responsible for primary tumors, according to new research from a team at Weill Cornell Medical College.(original article)

Posted in Health Topics | No Comments »

Novel approach to drug insolubility strengthens PolyTherics patent estate

Wednesday, May 28th, 2008

Polytherics Ltd, a biopharmaceutical spin-out company from Imperial College London and the London School of Pharmacy that specialises in the targeted application of polymers to biopharmaceuticals, has announced the grant of a European patent on the application of polymer complexation technology to improve drug efficacy.(original article)

Posted in Health Topics | No Comments »

Cancer Research UK creates ‘crack teams’ to solve cancer’s greatest mysteries

Wednesday, May 28th, 2008

World leading scientists are to be targeted by Cancer Research UK and its development and commercialisation arm Cancer Research Technology (CRT), in an effort to tackle some of cancer’s most pressing scientific challenges.(original article)

Posted in Health Topics | No Comments »

The Energy Non-Crisis

Tuesday, May 27th, 2008

Rev. Lindsey Williams claims that Alaska has enough oil to give the US 200 years of energy .Â He claims there is no energy crisis butÂ that our leaders, who are in business with the Saudis, refuse to drill US oil.Â Why would drilling US oil cause our economy to collapse?

>/>/>/>/>/>/>

(original article)

Posted in Health Topics | No Comments »

Gas prices are not really higher-

Tuesday, May 27th, 2008

A quick google search for “gas prices in 2004″ Â yieldedÂ a CNN Â article whereÂ gas prices hit a record high ofÂ 1.75 Â per gallon nationwide in March 2004.Â Â Â Today, I paid $4.Â Are gas prices really higher or has our dollar just been devalued?

A similar search shows that gold price was $400 per ounceÂ during the same period.Â Today, gold closed at $908/oz after recently reaching a high of $1000/oz a few months ago. In essence, the price of gold is a reflection of the stength of the dollar. When the dollar becomes weaker, the price of gold and other precious metals increase.Â

Actually, you can buy almost the same amount of gas today with 1 oz of gold [$908 (1 oz.Â of gold) / $4 per gallon =Â 227 gallons of gas]Â as you could 4 years ago [$400 (1 oz.Â of gold) /$1.75 per gallon = 228 gallons].Â In otherwords, 1 oz. of gold in 2004 and 2008 would have bought you the same amount of gas.Â

So I guess you can say the price of gas has not really increased. Basically, the value of the dollar hasÂ diminished by over 50%.Â Also, I highly recommend you watch the Lindsey Williams video on who controls oil and where its headed. It is not what you think.

**Please note that I am not a economist.

(original article)

Posted in Health Topics | No Comments »

Global drug research programme comes to Diamond in Oxfordshire

Tuesday, May 27th, 2008

Diamond has announced that USA-based global biotechnology company Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated is the first industrial user at the UK’s world class new research facility, Diamond Light Source(original article)

Posted in Health Topics | No Comments »

Barr confirms Entocort patent challenge

Tuesday, May 27th, 2008

Barr Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today confirmed that its subsidiary, Barr Laboratories, Inc., has initiated a challenge of the patents listed by AstraZeneca LP in connection with its Entocort(R) Enteric Coated Capsules (budesonide), 3mg.(original article)

Posted in Health Topics | No Comments »

Thousands with type 2 diabetes at risk bacause they do not take their drugs

Tuesday, May 27th, 2008

According to Diabetes UK, in excess of 650,000 people with obesity-related diabetes do not take their drugs and the charity says they are putting themselves at risk of developing serious health problems such as stroke and blindness.(original article)

Posted in Health Topics | No Comments »

« Previous Entries •