Technorati Tags: Cancer, colon cancer, Diabetes, health care, Healthcare, pharmacist, pharmacy

by David Prentice

Technorati Tags: Adult Stem Cells, Blood Disorders, Stem Cells

During January 12 –February 25, CDC received reports of 11 laboratory-confirmed cases of P. falciparum malaria acquired in Haiti.

Patients included seven U.S. residents who were emergency responders, three Haitian residents, and one U.S. traveler. This report summarizes the 11 cases and provides chemoprophylactic and additional preventive recommendations to minimize the risk for acquiring malaria for persons traveling to Haiti.

Of the seven emergency responders, six were U.S. military personnel. Among the six, four cases were uncomplicated and treated locally in Haiti. Two other patients were moderately to seriously ill and transferred to the United States for intensive care; one required intubation and mechanical ventilation for acute respiratory distress syndrome. All are expected to make a full recovery.

All six military personnel had been provided oral chemoprophylaxis with doxycycline before departure from the United States and personal protective equipment (e.g., insect repellent and insecticide-treated netting and uniforms) after arrival in Haiti. Of the 11 total patients, chemoprophylaxis was indicated for the seven emergency responders and the lone U.S. traveler. Six of these eight patients (including the two hospitalized military personnel) reported nonadherence to the recommended malaria medication regimen. Adherence status was unknown for the remaining two patients.

Three cases occurred in Haitian residents who traveled to the United States, including one Haitian adoptee. The number of U.S. malaria cases imported from Haiti likely is underestimated because typically not all cases are reported to CDC.

Click on this link for the whole article from the Center for Disease Control - CDC

Technorati Tags: Haiti, Malaria

by Aleksander Phillips

Millions of diabetics have been prescribed Avandia, which is sold by GlaxoSmithKline PLC, since it came on the market in 1999.

However, in May 2007, Avandia was linked to a 43 percent greater risk of heart attack and death in a scientific analysis published by the New England Journal of Medicine.

Upon the release of the 2007 study, GlaxoSmithKline downplayed the report and encouraged continued use of Avandia.  Dr. Lawson McCartney, who led Glaxo’s diabetes drug development, said, “We remain very confident in the safety and of course in the efficacy of Avandia as an important diabetic medicine.”

But a piece in today’s New York Times says hundreds of people taking Avandia needlessly suffer heart attacks and heart failure every month, according to confidential Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reports obtained by the newspaper, recommending the drug be removed from the market.

The reports say that if every diabetic now taking Avandia were instead given a similar pill named Actos, about 500 heart attacks and 300 cases of heart failure would be averted every month because Avandia damages the heart.

Avandia, whose generic name is rosiglitazone, is intended to treat Type 2 diabetes.  It was linked to 304 deaths during the third quarter of 2009.

In cases such as this, where a drug maker refuses to pull a potentially fatal medication off the market, doesn’t the FDA have the authority to force a recall?  Not necessarily.  The FDA has authority to force a “black box warning” be placed on the drug, but does not have explicit power to force a company to remove the drug from the market, in the interest of free commerce.  As long as the risks and benefits of a drug are fully disclosed to a patient and the patient voluntarily consents to its use, the FDA has no power to interfere in that patient’s treatment.

Article link: FDA recommends recall of  Avandia

Technorati Tags: Avandia, Diabetes

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Bipolar Disorder is a mental illness that will cause mood, energy and intellectual processes to cycle.Between 3% and 5% of Americans have bipolar disorder. That is about 4 million people. Bipolar disorder used to be called “manic depression” because that term described the most severe cases. The term bipolar was adopted in a effort to describe how this disorder has symptoms that range between two “poles”.

The symptoms of Bipolar disorder vary along a spectrum in which the symptoms can be very different from one person to the next. Two people with bipolar disorder can look and act very different. Symptoms can varies from one hour to the next, from one day to the next, one week to the next, or they can cycle over a period of months.

Many people with this disorder can go undiagnosed for years. In rare cases, there are distinct manic episodes followed by an episode of pure depression. People are more likely to go see a doctor when they are depressed and so many people are misdiagnosed and are told they suffer from depression. As result, they are treated for depression with little or no benefit.

Symptoms of a Depressive Episode

• Persistent sad, down or empty moods
• Feeling helpless, hopeless and pessimistic
• Feelings of guilt or being worthlessness
• Loss of interest or pleasure in ordinary activities
• Decreased energy, a feeling of fatigue or of being “slowed down”
• Difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions
• Restlessness or irritability
• Sleeping too much or excessively
• Loss of appetite and weight loss
• Increased appetite and weight gain

In a depressed phase of bipolar disorder, a person can have great difficulty thinking. These people tend to thinking more slowly. In a deep depression that will often stare off and seem disconnected from others. There is a loss of creativity and they have difficulty seeing the relationship between events, feeling and thoughts. They tend to remember depressing times and can’t remember better times. The depression tends to deepen and become worse before it changes. The slide into depression is emotionally painful as the person realizes that their life feels less interesting, less rewarding and less meaningful. Nothing seems to matter. Desire and motivation tends to slip away. They tend to isolate and come to feel like they can’t do anything to feel better. They believe their situation won’t change, will be this way forever and that their situation is hopeless (even when it is not). They forget about things in life that matter. Many depressed people try to fight their depression by involving their self in stimulating and high risk behavior or drug and alcohol abuse. Depressed people are drawn to and find momentary relief using stimulants like cocaine, meth, tobacco and amphetamines. This can include drugs like Adderall and Ritalin that are used to treat attention deficits.

Treatment of a bipolar patient during a depressed phase with an antidepressant can in 8 to 15% of individuals, cause a severe reaction. The reaction can include increased irritability, low frustration tolerance, hyperactivity, anger, aggression, suicidal behavior, and even violence. In some cases, a depressed person will become extremely manic.

Manic symptoms are high energy and accelerated states. Giving people an antidepressant (a type of stimulant) can trigger in some people a manic episode on top of a depressed mood. The rapid onset of a mixed phase of depression and mania can cause people to lose control and become very impulsive, reckless, self-destructive or dangerous. Their behavior can be very unstable and reactive.

Pure manic episodes are rare. They can last hours or many weeks. There is seldom a set pattern. The severity and duration is never the same.

Symptoms of a Manic Episode

• Increased energy, activity and restlessness
• Racing thoughts and rapid speech
• Denial that anything is wrong
• High risk behavior
• Impulsiveness or reckless behavior
• Excessive “high” or moderately positive feelings
• Poor sleep or decreased sleep
• Unrealistic beliefs in one’s ability
• Poor judgment
• A sustained period of behavior that is different from usual behavior
• Increased sexual drive
• Abuse of drugs and alcohol
• Provocative, intrusive, or aggressive behavior

Technorati Tags: Bipolar, Bipolar Disorder, Paranoia

This notice is to advise relief workers and other personnel traveling to Haiti to assist with the humanitarian response following the January 12th earthquake near Port-au-Prince. Conditions in the area remain hazardous, including extensive damage to buildings, roads, and other infrastructure.

Before You Depart for Haiti

Recommended Vaccines

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A number of vaccines are recommended for travelers to Haiti. See your doctor before you travel to make sure you have had all necessary vaccines.

• Routine: Be sure that you are up to date on vaccines such as measles/mumps/rubella (MMR), diphtheria/pertussis/tetanus (DPT), polio, seasonal and H1N1 flu, and varicella. It is especially important to have a current tetanus shot.
• Hepatitis A or immune globulin (IG): Even if your departure is imminent, one dose of hepatitis A vaccine provides adequate short-term protection for healthy people. For long term protection, a second dose is required 6–18 months after the first dose, depending on the brand of vaccine used.
• Typhoid: There are 2 vaccines available for typhoid prevention. The injectable vaccine may be preferable to the oral vaccine in cases where travel is imminent. The  oral vaccine requires refrigeration and 4 tablets taken every other day over one week.
• Hepatitis B: If your departure is imminent, the first in a 3-dose series (day 0, 1 month and 6 months) may provide some protection. An accelerated dosing schedule may be used (doses at days 0, 7, and at 21–30 days with a booster at 12 months).

Insect-borne Diseases

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Malaria

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Malaria occurs in all parts of Haiti. Ways to prevent malaria include the following:

Click here to read to rest of this CDC article

Technorati Tags: Haiti Earthquake, Haiti Relief

By Brenda Goodman

Technorati Tags: arthritis, Drug Recall, Tylenol arthritis, Tylenol Arthritis Recall

Dozens sent money to fake federal agents after being told they would be prosecuted for buying medicine from foreign countries online or by telephone, the FDA reports.

By Diane C. Lade

Reporting from Fort Lauderdale, Fla. - Extortionists posing as federal agents have taken as much as $31,000 from frightened people who thought they would be prosecuted for purchasing their medications from outside the country, federal regulators say.

The Food and Drug Administration has received 75 to 100 reports nationwide recently of people receiving calls from individuals claiming to be FDA special agents or law enforcement officials, the agency said this week. The targets were told that buying drugs online or over the phone was illegal and that if they did not immediately pay their “fine,” they would be arrested, jailed or deported, the FDA said.

Several dozen people sent the money, usually through a wire service, to an address in the Dominican Republic, FDA spokesman Tom Gasparoli said. Most paid about $1,000 to $5,000, although some sent much more.

Click here to read the rest of this article

Technorati Tags: Canadian Prescriptions, Medicine Scam, Online Prescriptions

Accelerated approval process used in flu vaccine approval

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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Fluzone High-Dose, an inactivated influenza virus vaccine for people ages 65 years and older to prevent disease caused by influenza virus subtypes A and B.

People in this age group are at highest risk for seasonal influenza complications, which may result in hospitalization and death. Annual vaccination remains the best protection from influenza, particularly for people 65 and older.

Fluzone High-Dose was approved via the accelerated approval pathway. FDA’s accelerated approval pathway helps safe and effective medical products for serious or life-threatening diseases become available sooner. In clinical studies, Fluzone High-Dose demonstrated an enhanced immune response compared with Fluzone in individuals 65 and older.

Click here to read the rest of this FDA seasonal flu press release

Also

H1N1 Swine Flu Update

Technorati Tags: flu vaccine, Season flu

by David B. Schulman M.D., F.A.A.D.

There is a true epidemic of skin cancer in America. One million cases of skin cancer will occur this year in America. Lifelong sun exposure is increasing for Americans as we spend more time outdoors and the sun’s rays are becoming more intense with our loss of ozone. The use of tanning booths is a new way to further damage our skin and raise our risk for skin cancers. There are three common forms of skin cancer and we are seeing dramatic annual increases in the number of these skin cancers. Melanoma, which is the most aggressive form of skin cancer, is now the most common cause of cancer deaths in American women under forty years old.

Basal Cell Carcinoma The most common and least aggressive form of skin cancer is basal cell carcinoma. This is the most common cancer in America and happily it causes nearly no fatalities. This cancer is most common on light skinned people and thirty percent of Caucasian people in America are expected to have a basal cell in their lifetime. The great majority of basal cell carcinomas will occur on the head and neck. Though this form of cancer almost never enters the bloodstream or the lymph system, it may be locally invasive. Basal cells do grow by local extension and over time can erode and invade not just skin, but other important areas down to muscle or bone. There are more aggressive forms of basal cell carcinoma that will infiltrate and extend below the surface more than above the surface. These tumors are especially dangerous for the surrounding tissue. Basal cell tumors often appear as pale or translucent patches or raised bumps on the skin with fine blood vessels in them. They may grow for months or years without detection. The often ulcerate and bleed as they grow, but otherwise have no symptoms like itching or pain. The tendency towards growing basal cells is inherited and many patients report at least one family member with a history of basal cell. Patients will often have more than one basal cell in their lifetime and I have seen patients who have had dozens of them. Darker skin tends to get fewer basal cells but one of the first lesions I had in my new practice was an African-American women with a basal cell on the leg. She is fine and nearly everyone who has this is fine. With early detection and removal this should simply be a speed bump on the road of life.

Click here for the rest of this article from South Charlotte Dermatology

Technorati Tags: Basal Cell Carcinoma, Melanoma, Squamous Cell Carcinoma