Archive for March, 2009
Next Entries »Stopping medicine suddenly can lead to withdrawal
Monday, March 9th, 2009Source: People’s Pharmacy
Starting a new medicine is easy. Stopping can be hell.
Mention the word “withdrawal” and images of dope addicts or alcoholics come to mind: a junkie trying to kick a heroin habit or a wino going through the hallucinations and shakes of delirium tremens.
But a surprising number of upstanding citizens who have done nothing [...]
Aripiprazole Boosts Efficacy of Antidepressants in Older Patients With Major Depressive Disorder: Presented at AAGP
Sunday, March 8th, 2009Source: DocGuide.com
Adjunctive aripiprazole appears to be effective in relieving the symptoms of depression in patients aged 50 years or older, according to research presented at the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry (AAGP) 22nd Annual Meeting.
J. Craig Nelson, MD, University of California San Francisco School of Medicine, San Francisco, California, and colleagues presented the findings here [...]
Asthma inhalers: Which one’s for you?
Sunday, March 8th, 2009Inhalers allow asthmatics to lead active lives.
Inhalers have transformed asthma treatment. They enable children and adults with asthma to deliver medicine directly to their lungs nearly anytime and anywhere. A variety of inhalers are available to help relieve or control asthma symptoms.
Types of inhalers
Inhalers are hand-held portable devices that deliver medication directly to the lungs. [...]
Statins help elderly as well as young after stroke
Sunday, March 8th, 2009Elderly people who’ve suffered a recent stroke benefit almost as much from treatment with a “statin” drug as do younger stroke patients, researchers report in the medical journal Neurology.
The cholesterol-lowering statins reduce the risk of heart disease. A study called SPARCL (for Stroke Prevention by Aggressive Reduction in Cholesterol Levels) was performed to see if [...]
Ash, elm trees pollen starts the allergy season
Wednesday, March 4th, 2009Coughing, sneezing or wheezing? Allergy season has arrived in the Valley.
The most common things that cause allergies are trees.
“Ash trees, elm trees, there are many trees here that pollinate,” said Dr. Mark Shubert.
And, Shubert said, the next few weeks could be even more miserable.
“Mulberry trees and then capping off the season, the olive tree. That [...]
McCain Pushes Drug-Import Bill Sought by Obama Budget
Wednesday, March 4th, 2009Prescription-drug imports, supported by President Barack Obama’s budget, would be allowed under a measure being introduced in the Senate by his campaign rival, Senator John McCain.
Obama wants to reduce health-care costs to pay for plans to expand medical coverage for uninsured Americans. McCain, an Arizona Republican defeated by Obama for the presidency, proposed the bill [...]
Drug Cocktail May Slow Alzheimer’s
Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009Memantine is marketed for moderate-to-severe Alzheimer’s, but two recent studies suggest it is effective for all stages of the disease when used in combination with any one of the older Alzheimer’s drugs. While there’s no cure, some doctors say a two-drug cocktail including memantine is the best way to slow deterioration in quality of life.
Alzheimer’s [...]
FDA approves asthma inhaler as a COPD treatment.
Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009WebMD (3/2, Hitti) reported that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) “has approved the use of Symbicort pMDI (pressurized metered-dose inhaler), which is used to treat asthma, to treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).” AstraZeneca officials say that “the FDA approved Symbicort for COPD based on two clinical trials that included more than 3,600 COPD [...]
Drug samples drying up at doctors’ offices
Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009Job losses, economy, patients’ desire for generics all factors
Source: The Columbus Dispatch
When patients are given new medications or say they can’t afford prescriptions, doctors often go to a closet in their office and grab a handful of free drug samples.
But in recent months, those shelves have grown increasingly bare.
“We’re finding we’re getting less samples,” said Dr. [...]
