Newer treatments for age-related macular degeneration (AMD) — including an intravitreous (into the eye) injection of a chemotherapy drug and use of a related compound approved for use against the eye disease — do not appear to be associated with a…
Washington, DC, SEPTEMBER 14, 2010 — A widely prescribed class of drugs is highly effective in reducing common bone fractures in people with osteoporosis, but an expert panel announced today that these same drugs — when used long term — may be …
Scientists are calling for more research on the possibility that some supposedly healthful plant-based antioxidants — including those renowned for their apparent ability to prevent cancer — may actually aggravate or even cause cancer in some i…
New findings by McMaster University researchers contradict earlier reports that people with a certain genetic make-up don’t benefit from the blood-thinner clopidogrel, also known as Plavix.
After researchers from the United States, France and Germ…
INDIANAPOLIS — Cost but not convenience plays a significant role in attitudes about vaccination for common human papillomaviruses for women over the age of 26, according to the authors of a recent article in the journal Sexual Health.
Currently, …
OAK BROOK, Ill. — Some nuclear-based breast imaging exams may increase a woman’s risk of developing radiation-induced cancer, according to a special report appearing online and in the October issue of Radiology. However, the radiation dose and ris…
In an operating room in Carle Hospital in Urbana, Ill., on May 7, as scientists from the University of Illinois (UI) and Sandia National Laboratories watched, surgeon Michael Goldwasser fitted a highly unusual ceramic prosthetic device into the mouth of an elderly woman who had lost most of her teeth and along with it, much of the bone of her lower jaw.
Despite a dearth of information about the use of medication for treating pediatric sleep disorders, about 75 percent of community-based pediatricians in a recent survey had recommended nonprescription medication, and more than 50 percent had prescribed a sleep medication to patients with difficulties falling and staying asleep.
The first comparative study to examine the risk of taking ephedra with that of taking other commonly used herbs calls into question the herbal stimulant’s current standing as an unrestricted dietary supplement. Researchers found that products containing ephedra accounted for less than 1 percent of the herbal supplement sales in the United States in 2001. These products, however, were responsible for 62 percent of all herbal-related reports made to poison control centers nationwide that year, according to the study by researchers at the San Francisco VA Medical Center (SFVAMC).
Drug company AstraZeneca said it has submitted an application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for approval of quetiapine (Seroquel) as a treatment for acute mania associated with bipolar disorder, or manic-depressive illness. The application follows the completion of a clinical trial programme in bipolar disorder undertaken by the company which reportedly found quetiapine effective as a treatment of acute mania on two levels: as monotherapy (i.e to be prescribed on its own) and as adjunctive therapy with standard mood stabilising medication. These clinical trials have delivered strong and positive results in both the monotherapy and adjunctive therapy studies, which confirm quetiapine to be an ideal first line therapy for the treatment of acute mania associated with bipolar disorder, the company said.
The Bush Administration said it will ask Congress for legislation requiring drug companies to conduct pediatric clinical trials on new medicines. Clearer legislative authority is needed, instead of pursuing appeals in the courts, the administration believes. “The fastest and most decisive route for establishing clear authority in this area is to work with Congress for new legislation,” Secretary Tommy Thompson said. “Children are a special population that need to have access to drugs that can benefit them, and these drugs need to be properly tested for pediatric use, not prescribed and sold without testing. Congress alone can speak clearly on the authority that FDA needs and the provisions that may be appropriate for drug manufacturers when they are required to carry out these tests.”
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the sale of a new wheelchair that enables users to operate on two wheels, allowing them to better negotiate obstacles like stairs and uneven pavement. Powered by a rechargeable battery that can operate up to a full day on a single charge, the wheelchair uses an integrated system of electronic, sensor and software components to automatically adjust itself according to the seat’s movement and the user’s center of gravity. These components are accompanied by a backup system to assure the safety of the user. It was invented by Dean Kamen, founder of DEKA Research and Development Corporation, best known for the two-wheeled Segway transporter.