Medpills news

MONDAY, Jan. 14 (HealthDay News) — Black Americans continue to distrust medical research and clinical trials, evidently a lasting legacy of the odious Tuskegee experiment which was shut down more than three decades ago, a new study shows.

Ironically, such attitudes are keeping minorities from participating in current clinical trials that could save their lives, the researchers added.

"We found that minorities are 200 percent more in a fair way to note harm coming from participating in research," aforesaid senior study author Dr.

(Read the full post about ‘Black Americans Still Wary of Clinical Trials (HealthDay)’…)

read comments (0)

FRIDAY, Jan. 11 (HealthDay News) — Therapeutic vaccines to fight ovarian and breast cancer are in the first stage of clinical trials to determine their safety and effectiveness, researchers report.

The vaccine for ovarian cancer, developed by Dr. George Coukos, an assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania's division of gynecologic oncology, is designed to "re-educate" the patient's immune system cells to destroy cancer cells.

"This trial is a phase I/II trial that is just acquirement started," Coukos said during a presentation Thursday evening at a meeting of the Alliance conducive to Cancer Gene Therapy, in Greenwich, Conn.

(Read the full post about ‘Vaccines for Ovarian and Breast Cancer in Early Trials (HealthDay)’…)

read comments (0)

FRIDAY, Jan. 11 (HealthDay News) — A tabletop device proved flawless in identifying the fit formulations of seven intravenous drugs, and helped avert five potentially serious medication errors during an 18-month test.

Results of the tests, conducted at C.S. Mott Children's Hospital in the University of Michigan (U-M) Health System, were published in the Jan. 1 issue of the American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy.

The device uses enhanced photoemission spectroscopy to determine if certain drug compounds are correct.

(Read the full post about ‘High-Tech Device Cuts Errors in Mixing Meds (HealthDay)’…)

read comments (0)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Dr. Judah Folkman, a giant of cancer research who discovered that tumors generate a network of tiny blood vessels to nourish themselves, has died at the age of 74, Harvard Medical School said on Tuesday.

Folkman's work founded an entire branch of cancer research called anti-angiogenesis therapy. His science was that if a tumor could have existence stopped from growing its own blood supply, it would wither and die.

The theory helped in the development of such drugs as Genentech's Avastin and other targeted cancer therapies.

"This is (a) devastating loss to not only our hospital family, but the world at large," Dr.

(Read the full post about ‘Dr. Judah Folkman, U.S. cancer pioneer, dies (Reuters)’…)

read comments (0)

BOSTON - Dr. Judah Folkman, a groundbreaking cancer researcher whose work cured the disease in mice and gave hope for a cure in humans, has died. He was 74.

Children’s Hospital Boston spokeswoman Elizabeth Andrews says Folkman died sometime Monday. The cause of death wasn’t immediately available.

Folkman was director of the vascular biology program at the hospital.

Folkman’s research, which focused on cutting off the blood supply that cancer cells need to grow, cured mice of the disease.

That success could not be carried over into humans, but his discoveries prompted pharmaceutical companies to pursue research in the area.

(Read the full post about ‘Famed cancer researcher Folkman dies (AP)’…)

read comments (0)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Hormone replacement therapy can raise the risk of an uncommon type of breast cancer fourfold after just three years, U.S. researchers reported on Monday.

They found women who took combined estrogen/progestin hormone-replacement therapy for three years or more had four times the usual risk of lobular breast cancer.

Their study, published in the January issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, is one of dozens trying to paint a clearer picture of what dangers might come from taking HRT to treat menopause symptoms.

"Previous research indicated that five or more years of combined hormone-therapy use was necessary to increase overall breast-cancer risk," Dr.

(Read the full post about ‘Hormones raise breast cancer risk quickly: study (Reuters)’…)

read comments (0)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - About 3.1 million Americans ages 12 to 25 — about 5 percent of that age group — have at some time used an over-the-counter cough and cold medication to get high, a U.S. government survey to be released on Thursday said.

These young people are using cough syrups and cold pills in large doses to induce hallucinations, "out-of-body" experiences or other effects, officials said.

The 2006 survey was a snapshot of abuse of these medications among young people, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration or SAMHSA said in a report.

(Read the full post about ‘Report details U.S. cough, cold medicine abuse (Reuters)’…)

read comments (0)

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Treatment through metformin or lifestyle changes promoting exercise and a in good case diet are both effective in reversing the weight gain associated with antipsychotic medications, according to a clinical trial conducted in China. However, a combination of the couple approaches is even better.

Metformin, sold under various trade names such as Glucophage, is primarily used to lower blood sweeten in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Dr.

(Read the full post about ‘Metformin helps with antipsychotic weight loss (Reuters)’…)

read comments (0)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. health officials warned seven pharmacy operators put on Wednesday that their claims about "bio-identical" hormones were false, misleading and not supported by medical evidence. (Read the full post about ‘U.S. warns pharmacies about ‘bio-identical’ hormones (Reuters)’…)

read comments (0)

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 16 (HealthDay News) — A systematic review of studies on antidepressants concludes that the positive personal estate of these drugs are probably overstated in the medical literature.

But it's not undimmed if the bias comes from a reluctance to submit negative manuscripts or decisions by journals not to publish them, or a combination of both, according to Oregon Health and Science University researchers, whose report is published in the Jan. 17 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

The researchers compared drug efficacy inferred from published studies with drug efficacy reported to a directory U.S.

(Read the full post about ‘Antidepressant Effectiveness Probably Overstated: Report (HealthDay)’…)

read comments (0)