Archive for May, 2009
« Previous Entries Next Entries »Statins cut stroke risk by a fifth, study finds
Friday, May 15th, 2009Source:Â Reuters
Cholesterol-lowering drugs cut the risk of strokes by about a fifth, according to a pooled analysis of 24 past clinical studies involving 165,000 people.
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The hugely successful class of drugs — a mainstay for millions of people with heart disease — also slow the movement of blockages in the carotid artery carrying blood to the brain, [...]
Kids Take More Drugs for Diabetes, Attention Deficit
Thursday, May 14th, 2009Source: WSJ Health Blog
Pharmacy-benefits manager Medco came out today with its annual report on drug spending by its clients. One item that caught our attention: Kids aged 19 and below were the ones who had the greatest increase in spending, at about 4.5%. In contrast, spending actually fell among seniors 65 and older, by just [...]
Generics “save USA over $1 billion every three days”
Wednesday, May 13th, 2009Use of generic drugs saved the US health care system more than $734 billion from 1999 to 2008 and around $121 billion last year alone, says new research from IMS Health.
At the time the 1984 Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration (Hatch-Waxman) Act was introduced (to promote generic drugs while also retaining financial incentives for [...]
Is Tamiflu ‘better’ than Relenza?
Wednesday, May 13th, 2009I can find no clinical evidence that Roche’s Tamiflu is more effective than GlaxoSmithKline’s less-prescribed Relenza against Type A influenza like H1N1 and H5N1.
I have found abundant evidence, however, that Switzerland-based Roche has run marketing circles around U.K.-based GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) by emphasizing the convenience of swallowing a Tamiflu capsule over the hassle of inhaling Relenza [...]
Tamiflu shelf life can be extended
Tuesday, May 12th, 2009The shelf life of antiviral drug Tamiflu can be extended from five to seven years, European experts have recommended.
After it is approved by the European Commission, this will apply to all newly manufactured Tamiflu capsules.
London-based European Medicines Agency (EMEA) has also said that the five-year expiry date on medicines already in the market can be [...]
Tamiflu: a beginner’s guide
Saturday, May 9th, 2009With schools closing and more cases of swine flu daily, how effective is the antiviral drug and how do you use it?
Source: TimesOnline.co.uk
What does it do?
Tamiflu, and the less talked-about Relenza, are antiviral drugs. They slow down the rate at which viruses infect cells in your body and, therefore, how fast they spread and make [...]
Preventing memory loss
Saturday, May 9th, 2009Preventing memory loss
Memory loss due to Alzheimer’s Disease can’t be reversed. But there are some proven ways to delay further decline, at least over the short term.
According to the Rush Memory and Aging Project, stimulating the brain with puzzles, reading, crosswords, writing, playing the piano, playing games such as chess, or even learning a language [...]
Researchers say investigational anticoagulant showed better efficacy and equivalent safety compared with enoxaparin.
Wednesday, May 6th, 2009Â MedPage Today (5/5, Gever) reported that “the investigational anticoagulant rivaroxaban (Xarelto), given after knee surgery, showed significantly better efficacy and equivalent safety compared with enoxaparin (Lovenox),” according to research published online in The Lancet. These “findings came in the fourth installment in the RECORD series of randomized trials involving rivaroxaban, an oral inhibitor of Factor [...]
Aripiprazole may be effective for treating irritability linked to autism, research suggests.
Tuesday, May 5th, 2009MedPage Today (5/4, Fiore) reported that researchers at the American Academy of Neurology meeting on Monday said aripiprazole (Abilify) “may be effective off-label for treating the irritability associated with autism.” The researchers “conducted two separate eight-week randomized, double-blind, parallel group trials” — one evaluating the efficacy of the drug in a flexible dose (2 to [...]
MEDICARE SAYS IT WON’T HELP SENIORS OVERCHARGED BY PRESCRIPTION DRUG PROGRAM
Friday, May 1st, 2009Source: Kansas City Star
If you’ve been overcharged by Medicare’s prescription drug program, don’t count on getting your money back any time soon, if at all.
And don’t count on Medicare to help you, either.
The government-run elderly health care program appears to have washed its hands of any responsibility for mistakes that have cost subscribers and taxpayers [...]
