Drugs News and Research

RSS

No link found between statins and breast cancer

According to a new study by U.S. researchers, women who use statin drugs to lower their cholesterol are no more likely to develop breast cancer than women who do not use the drugs.

17 May 2006

Too many teens abusing the family medicine cabinet to get high

According to new research teenagers in the U.S. are using the family medicine cabinets in their search for drugs to get high on.

16 May 2006

Critics say expert's figure of 350,000 Russians with HIV an underestimation

Russia is experiencing a burgeoning epidemic as HIV/AIDS continues to spread beyond the ranks of drug users, gay men and prostitutes, into the larger population.

16 May 2006

Malaria - the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing!

The World Health Organisation (WHO) is quite rightly patting itself on the back because it has persuaded as many as 13 drug companies to abandon the marketing and promotion of monotherapy in the treatment of Malaria.

16 May 2006

New compound shows unique potency against cancer cell proliferation

By determining how a class of compounds blocks signaling in cells, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) scientists have identified what is perhaps the most potent drug candidate yet against a highly lethal kind of brain tumor.

16 May 2006

Steroid and xenobiotic receptor and vitamin D receptor crosstalk mediates CYP24 expression and drug-induced osteomalacia

Long-term therapy with some antiepileptic drugs and antibiotics can cause osteomalacia, a condition marked by softening of the bones that is usually the result of vitamin D and calcium deficiency.

16 May 2006

Common genetic variation makes some people more susceptible to coronary heart disease

Caucasians who carry this polymorphism, named K55R, were at significantly higher risk of coronary heart disease, independent of other risk factors, like cigarette smoking, diabetes, and hypertension.

16 May 2006

A review of percutaneous kyphoplasty

A procedure that fills in fractured vertebrae with injected cement has not been shown to improve a person's back pain or quality of life, according to a new analysis of studies.

16 May 2006

Full year of treatment with pyrimethamine and sulfadiazine helps infants and children with toxoplasmosis

The first long-term study shows that treatment with pyrimethamine and sulfadiazine (two anti-parasitic drugs) during the first year of life leads to a lasting reduction in brain and eye damage for children with congenital toxoplasmosis.

16 May 2006

Role of acetaminophen in acute myocardial infarction

Acetaminophen is safe to use as a pain reliever and fever reducer after a heart attack, but it does not protect the heart muscle, a new study using sheep and rabbits concluded.

16 May 2006

Thanks to WHO effective combo malaria therapy will be de-rigueur

Following pressure from the World Health Organization (WHO), 13 pharmaceutical companies have agreed to comply with their recommendation that single-drug artemisinin medicines for the oral treatment of malaria need to be phased out.

15 May 2006

What is it about grapefruit juice that affects some drugs?

Researchers in the United States say they have identified the compound in grapefruit juice that affects how some drugs are absorbed in the body and produces unwanted side effects.

14 May 2006

Study holds promise for malarial susceptibility test

Cell and animal studies conducted jointly by scientists at Johns Hopkins, Yale and other institutions have uncovered at least one important contributor to the severe anemia that kills almost half of the 2 million people worldwide who die each year of malaria.

12 May 2006

K55R polymorphism gene variation linked to coronary heart disease

New research at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, part of the National Institutes of Health, found that a common genetic variation makes some people more susceptible to coronary heart disease (CHD).

12 May 2006

Signaling pathway mTOR plays a role in the brain's ability to sense how much energy the body has available

A cell-signaling pathway in the brain that is linked to the development of cancer and diabetes is also a key part of networks that regulate food intake, say University of Cincinnati (UC) researchers.

12 May 2006

Majority of sexual assaults drug facilitated

Almost 62 percent of sexual assaults were found to be drug facilitated, and almost 5 percent of the victims were given classic 'date-rape' drugs, according to a new study at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

11 May 2006

Ghrelin involved in development of diabetes

Ghrelin, a hormone long considered a key player in obesity, may instead take a major role in maintaining the balance between insulin and glucose and the development of diabetes, said Baylor College of Medicine researchers in a report in the current issue of the journal Cell Metabolism.

11 May 2006

Lilly to extend patient assistance programs for Medicare patients

Eli Lilly and Company has announced that it will be extending its existing patient assistance program, LillyAnswers, through the end of this year to qualifying patients currently participating in the program, to help bridge the gap in coverage for people who need Lilly medicines, but are not yet enrolled in Medicare Part D.

11 May 2006

Intrauterine device as satisfactory as surgery for treating heavy menstrual bleeding

For women who experience heavy periods, surgery is more effective than oral or intrauterine medication in reducing volume of bleeding at one year, according to a systematic review of studies.

11 May 2006

Healthy habits and appropriate treatments help prevent stroke

Stroke is the third leading cause of death and a major source of disability in the United States. Every year about 700,000 people in the United States suffer a stroke, resulting in nearly 158,000 deaths.

10 May 2006