Drugs News and Research

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Heroin overdose kit saves lives of addicts

Health officials in Massachusetts have announced that heroin addicts will now be supplied with a kit containing an antidote called Narcan in order to cope with situations where they have overdosed.

5 Nov 2007

Big question over new blood-clot buster drug Prasugrel

New research has revealed that the drug Prasugrel produced by drug company Eli Lilly increases the risk of serious bleeding when compared to the standard therapy.

5 Nov 2007

New view of lung cancer genome

An international team of scientists, supported in part by the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), one of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), have announced that its systematic effort to map the genomic changes underlying lung cancer has uncovered a critical gene alteration not previously linked to any form of cancer.

5 Nov 2007

Medical causes of iatrogenic renal disorders

Nephrologists and other health care providers need to be aware of certain medications and diagnostic test preparations that, in some patients, can cause damage to the kidneys, according to a special clinical update being presented at the American Society of Nephrology's 40th Annual Meeting and Scientific Exposition in San Francisco.

5 Nov 2007

Hepatitis C virus found to spread directly from cell to cell by-passing antibodies

Scientists looking for an effective treatment for Hepatitis C may face an even bigger task than anticipated. Recent studies looking into how the virus spreads in liver tumour cells have demonstrated that the virus uses two different routes, which may explain why the body's natural occurring antibodies are ineffective at controlling the virus.

5 Nov 2007

Comprehensive view of the abnormal genetic landscape in lung cancer cells

An international team of scientists has announced the results of a systematic effort to map the genetic changes underlying lung cancer, the world's leading cause of cancer deaths.

5 Nov 2007

FDA requests recall of True Man Sexual Energy and Energy Max

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration yesterday requested a recall of True Man Sexual Energy Nutrient Capsules and Energy Max Energy Supplement Men's Formula Capsules, illegal drug products that contain potentially harmful, undeclared ingredients.

5 Nov 2007

Relation exists between emotional intelligence and the use of tobacco and/or cannabis

Emotional Intelligence (EI) has become increasingly popular in the past few years, both at social and professional levels. The objective of the research carried out with UAB psychology students consisted in analysing the possible relation between Emotional Intelligence and the use of tobacco and cannabis.

5 Nov 2007

Common blood pressure medications ACEIs and ARBs provide equal control

Two common classes of blood pressure medications – angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) – are equally effective at controlling high blood pressure, according to a report released by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

5 Nov 2007

Carnegie Mellon researchers to develop new stem cell-based drug delivery therapy

Carnegie Mellon University's Stefan F. Zappe is using adult neural stem cells to develop a new stem cell-based drug delivery therapy that may ultimately help treat a variety of inherited genetic disorders like Hunter syndrome.

5 Nov 2007

Hairpin peptide mimetics show promise as new drugs to fight HIV

When a host cell is infected with HIV, the virus brings its own genetic material into the host cell. This cell then replicates, reads the viral RNA, and uses it as a blueprint to produce more viral proteins.

5 Nov 2007

Drug rehab - a waste of public money?

Despite millions being spent on drug rehabilitation programmes in the UK it seems success stories are few and far between.

4 Nov 2007

HRT breast cancer case thrown out of court

A woman who claimed hormone replacement therapy (HRT) caused her breast cancer has had her case thrown out of court.

4 Nov 2007

Antibody might help starve cancerous tumors

An antibody might offer a safe and effective complement to anti-cancer therapies designed to starve malignant tumors by pruning the blood vessels that feed them, researchers report in the November 2 issue of the journal Cell, a publication of Cell Press.

2 Nov 2007

Chemical peroxynitrite tolerates pain

The repeated use of opiate drugs such as morphine to relieve chronic pain results in individuals having to take higher and higher doses of the drug to achieve equivalent pain relief (they are said to exhibit antinociceptive tolerance).

2 Nov 2007

Substance abuse practitioners ask 'what is recovery?'

Abstinence from alcohol and drugs is just the starting point in defining "recovery" for people with substance abuse disorders, according to a paper in the October issue of the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment (JSAT).

2 Nov 2007

Studies attribute recent increase in multiple myeloma survival to novel therapies

Multiple myeloma is one of the most common and devastating bone marrow cancers in the U.S., but survival rates have risen dramatically over the past decade.

2 Nov 2007

Anti-leukemia drug dexamethasone increases patient fatigue

The anti-leukemia drug dexamethasone contributes to a relentless fatigue and poor quality of sleep in children undergoing treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), according to a new study from St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

2 Nov 2007

PET scan distinguishes Alzheimer's from other dementia

A PET scan (positron emission tomography) that measures uptake of sugar in the brain significantly improves the accuracy of diagnosing a type of dementia often mistaken for Alzheimer's disease, a study led by a University of Utah dementia expert has found.

2 Nov 2007

Discovery of master switch that regulates blood pressure

A team of Oregon Health & Science University researchers studying a rare form of hypertension has identified the mechanism by which they believe a protein complex in the kidney operates as a master switch that regulates blood pressure, a finding that has broad implications for the treatment of more common forms of hypertension.

2 Nov 2007