Drug Search and News

Psychotropic Drugs: What Are They?

noreply@blogger.com (Anton Small) — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 20:47:00 +0000

ABC News: "While doctors aren’t exactly sure how antipsychotics work, most experts believe antipsychotics block specific dopamine receptors in the brain, which are thought to be overactive in patients with symptoms of psychoses, such as hallucinations and delusions. There are limited approvals by the FDA for the use of these drugs for children with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and in some cases irritability associated with autism."

Popular painkiller can be deadly

noreply@blogger.com (Anton Small) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 23:51:00 +0000

Image via Wikipedia

USATODAY.com: "Taking slightly too much of the pain reliever acetaminophen (best known by the brand name Tylenol) over time can lead to an overdose that can cause liver failure and death, according to a new study."

Avastin: What is it?

noreply@blogger.com (Anton Small) — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 01:23:00 +0000

latimes.com: "Avastin (bevacizumab) is a so-called biological therapy and the first drug approved by the FDA that was designed to inhibit growth of blood vessels feeding tumors."

Drug shows promise in treating rare form of lung cancer

noreply@blogger.com (Anton Small) — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 09:06:00 +0000

Image via Wikipedia The Columbia Daily Tribune "Since his diagnosis, Harris had been following Pfizer’s clinical trials for a new drug called crizotinib, available under the brand name Xalkori.

Ramaswamy Govindan, a professor in the division of medical oncology at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis who conducted the study, said early tests found crizotinib to be effective in treating a specific type of lung cancer characterized by the presence of a protein called anaplastic lymphoma kinase, or ALK. This ALK protein causes cell mutations that become lung cancer. Govindan said crizotinib works by turning the protein off."

Promise for epilepsy found in new drug

noreply@blogger.com (Anton Small) — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 02:52:00 +0000

NewsOK.com: "But researcher and internationally recognized pediatric neurologist Yu-Tze Ng knows that a peek inside their brains would reveal something surprisingly similar.
Their neurons short-circuit. When that happens, these children go into epileptic seizures that can last from 30 seconds to hours. Some seizures can last for days and are potentially fatal."

New drug seems well-tolerated and merits further investigation in patients with Huntington's disease

noreply@blogger.com (Anton Small) — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 10:23:00 +0000

Image via WikipediaMedical Xpress "Until now, no drug has been shown to improve the loss of the ability to move muscles voluntarily. The only drug currently approved for HD, tetrabenazine, treats only chorea (involuntary movements) and is associated with serious side-effects.
Pridopidine belongs to a new class of drugs known as dopidines, which act as dopaminergic stabilisers and are designed to restore the brain's dopamine levels to normal. Findings from a phase 2 study suggested that pridopidine improved voluntary motor function without worsening chorea."

New Drug Attacks Fat, Helps Obese Monkeys Slim Down - ABC News

noreply@blogger.com (Anton Small) — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 10:16:00 +0000

Image via Wikipedia ABC News: "Scientists have developed a new drug that attacks excess body fat, and a new study reports that it helped a small group of obese monkeys lose weight. Experts say the drug's fat-attack mechanism is an intriguing approach to weight loss, but questions remain about the drug's effectiveness and safety in humans."

Distinguishing Candy From Medicine A Challenge Kids And Teachers

noreply@blogger.com (Anton Small) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 01:16:00 +0000

Medical newsToday "At least one in every four children and one fifth of teachers had a problem telling medicines from candy in a new study carried out by two seventh-grade students. Casey Gittelman and Eleanor Bishop presented their study at the American Academy of Pediatrics National conference Exhibition, Boston, Mass. They had tested people's ability to distinguish drugs from candy at Ayer Elementary School, Cincinnati, Ohio"

Panel's Pitch to Nix Routine Prostate Cancer Tests Draws Strong Reaction

noreply@blogger.com (Anton Small) — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 13:01:00 +0000

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force said Friday that prostate specific antigen tests, known as PSAs, that are done to detect prostate cancer could be doing more harm than good. Jeffrey Brown discusses the latest controversial recommendation from the influential panel with The Washington Post's Rob Stein.

'Magic Mushroom' Drug May Improve Personality Long Term

noreply@blogger.com (Anton Small) — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 15:13:00 +0000

Image via WikipediaMedPage Today: "Many individuals who took a single dose of psilocybin -- the active ingredient in what the drug culture calls "magic mushrooms" -- showed alterations in personality characteristics, largely for the better, that persisted for more than a year, a prospective scientific study showed.
"

Drug Combination Slows Breast Cancer

noreply@blogger.com (Anton Small) — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 15:20:00 +0000

OzarksFirst.com: "(Stockholm) -- A drug used to treat kidney and pancreatic cancers prevents breast cancer from getting worse when it's used with another breast cancer drug.

A new study out today shows that combining Novartis' Afinitor with Pfizer's Aromasin more than doubles the time before a certain type of advanced breast cancer gets worse."

Bayer Drug Hailed As Prostate Cancer Game Changer

noreply@blogger.com (Anton Small) — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 10:49:00 +0000

TheStreet: "The Bayer/Algeta drug known as Alpharadin was hailed as a major advance in prostate cancer treatment by experts at a European cancer research meeting in Sweden because the drug is the first to improve bone symptoms and prolong survival."

Prostate Cancer – Have We Cracked The Code?

noreply@blogger.com (Anton Small) — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 10:24:00 +0000

Online News Heard Now: "In a medical breakthrough that is shocking the world, news comes from the Royal Marsden Hospital in London that a powerful drug has proven itself so successful in treating prostate cancer that trials which normally take years have been stopped and the treatment will be available for men around the world."

Breast cancer drug offers fresh hope

noreply@blogger.com (Anton Small) — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 10:17:00 +0000

Telegraph: "Research shows the treatment for women with HER2-positive breast cancer – a particularly aggressive form of the disease – slows the progression of cancer by five months longer than conventional drugs.
Doctors said the treatment – called T-DM1 – which combines the drug Herceptin with an antibody drug, instead of with standard chemotherapy, appeared to stop the cancer "in its tracks"."

FDA to Primatene Users: Get Asthma Prescription Now

noreply@blogger.com (Anton Small) — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 22:26:00 +0000

WebMd "The Primatene Mist inhaler is going away on Dec. 31, and prescription inhalers are the only alternative to the over-the-counter asthma drug.

Don't wait to get that prescription. The FDA warns that Primatene supplies may not last until the end of the year.

"All inhalers that might substitute require a prescription," the FDA's Andrea Leonard-Segal, MD, said at a news teleconference. "So those who use Primatene need to take action now to see a health care provider to get a replacement product." Leonard-Segal is the director of the FDA's division of nonprescription clinical evaluation."

Medical News: Oral Contraceptives Pulled Over Packaging Error

noreply@blogger.com (Anton Small) — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 20:08:00 +0000

Image via WikipediaMedPage Today: "Generic drugmaker Qualitest Pharmaceuticals pulled several lots of a number of oral contraceptives due to a packaging error that obscured the products' lot number and expiration date.

Affected products contained a blister that had been rotated 180 degrees on the card it was packed on, thereby reversing the weekly tablet orientation and hiding the expiration date, a company statement issued Thursday said."

Pharmaceutical drug poisonings rise in children

noreply@blogger.com (Anton Small) — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 14:59:00 +0000

Image via Wikipedialatimes.com: "Child-safety caps were a great invention. They significantly reduced the number of kids accidentally poisoned by taking all kinds of medicines. The caps worked so well that adults complained the bottles were hard to open.

But prescription dispensing has changed, and there are indications that children are finding ways to ingest drugs that are not meant for them. According to a study published Friday, the rate of child accidental poisonings with prescription drugs rose dramatically in the United States in the last decade."

NSAIDs May Be Risky Early In Pregnancy

noreply@blogger.com (Anton Small) — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 22:21:00 +0000

Science News: "The popular anti-inflammatory drugs ibuprofen and naproxen could contribute to the risk of miscarriage when taken early in pregnancy, researchers report online September 6 in the Canadian Medical Association Journal."

F.D.A. Staff: 5 Years May Be Enough for Bone Drugs

noreply@blogger.com (Anton Small) — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 13:06:00 +0000

NYTimes.com: "Most women who take bone-building drugs like Fosamax can safely stop taking them after five years, the Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday in a staff report leading up to a broad safety review scheduled Friday by two scientific advisory committees.

Studies show that the drugs do have proven benefits in preventing osteoporosis fractures for the first three years of treatment, but continuing beyond five years does not demonstrate such benefits over no drug use at all, the report said. And women who stop taking the drugs after five years have similar levels of increased bone density and reduced fracture risk as those who continue taking them, it said."

Two doses of HPV vaccine may work as well as three

noreply@blogger.com (Anton Small) — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 11:45:00 +0000

USATODAY.com: "Two doses of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine may offer just as much protection against cervical cancer as the three-dose regimen now being used, new U.S. government research shows."

FDA Advisory Panel Backs Xarelto to Prevent Strokes

noreply@blogger.com (Anton Small) — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 11:34:00 +0000

WebMD "An FDA advisory panel has voted to recommend approval of a new blood thinner to prevent strokes and dangerous blood clots in patients with the heart rhythm disorder atrial fibrillation.

In a vote of nine to two, with one member abstaining, the panel said Xarelto (rivaroxaban) was at least as safe and effective as the older drug warfarin.

Warfarin is also sold under the brand names Coumadin and Jantoven."

Humira, Enbrel Side Effects Linked to Listeria and Legionaire’s Disease

noreply@blogger.com (Anton Small) — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 01:46:00 +0000

AboutLawsuits.com: "Side effects of Enbrel, Humira and other similar medications in the same class, which are used to treat inflammatory ailments, may increase the risk of a Listeria infection or Legionnaire’s disease, according to federal health regulators.

The FDA issued a drug safety communication on September 7, alerting healthcare professionals that the agency was updating the black box warning on a class of drugs known as Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha blockers, or TNF blockers, to include the risk of infection by the pathogens Legionella and Listeria. The drugs were already known to increase the risks of other pathogens."

Pfizer arthritis drug shows mixed results

noreply@blogger.com (Anton Small) — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 01:40:00 +0000

U Reuters: "NEW YORK, Sept 8 (Reuters) - New data from a trial of Pfizer Inc's (PFE.N) experimental pill to treat rheumatoid arthritis showed the medicine was as effective as Abbott Inc's (ABT.N) blockbuster injectable Humira drug, but more patients taking it had serious side effects."

'

Head Louse Prescription Treatment Approved By FDA

noreply@blogger.com (Anton Small) — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 22:16:00 +0000

ThirdAge: "The common head louse is growing resistant to time-tested treatments, but a new Food and Drug Administration-approved hair rinse, Natroba, could put an end to that.

“I expect it [Natroba] will be more effective than products in which geographic resistance patterns have been well established in the U.S.,” Shirley Gordon, director of the Head Lice Treatment and Prevention Project at Florida Atlantic University, told Today Health."

'via Blog this'

NSAID Use Linked to Miscarriage

noreply@blogger.com (Anton Small) — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 22:15:00 +0000

MedPage Today: "The risk of spontaneous abortion more than doubled (OR 2.43) in women who used any nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) during pregnancy, Canadian investigators found."

Drug Search and News

Psychotropic Drugs: What Are They?

Popular painkiller can be deadly

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Avastin: What is it?

Drug shows promise in treating rare form of lung cancer

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Promise for epilepsy found in new drug

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NSAIDs May Be Risky Early In Pregnancy

F.D.A. Staff: 5 Years May Be Enough for Bone Drugs

Two doses of HPV vaccine may work as well as three

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Head Louse Prescription Treatment Approved By FDA

NSAID Use Linked to Miscarriage