Pregnancy News and Research

Latest Pregnancy News and Research

FDA approved KOMBIGLYZE XR for type 2 diabetes mellitus now available in pharmacies

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, and AstraZeneca today announced that KOMBIGLYZE™ XR (saxagliptin and metformin HCl extended-release), approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on November 5, 2010, is now available by prescription in pharmacies across the United States.

7 Jan 2011

Sucampo, Takeda initiate dosing in third lubiprostone phase 3 trial for opioid-induced bowel dysfunction

Sucampo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America, Inc. today announced the dosing of the first patient in the third phase 3 clinical trial of lubiprostone for the treatment of opioid-induced bowel dysfunction (OBD) in subjects with chronic, non-cancer pain, excluding those taking methadone. The primary endpoint is an overall responder rate based on the change from baseline in the reported frequency of spontaneous bowel movements (SBMs).

7 Jan 2011

Regular blood test shows pre-diabetes risk factors, reduces treatment costs

A simpler form of testing individuals with risk factors for diabetes could improve diabetes prevention efforts by substantially increasing the number of individuals who complete testing and learn whether or not they are likely to develop diabetes.

7 Jan 2011

Problems reported with Implanon contraceptive implant

Quite a few women have reported accidental and unwanted pregnancies while using Implanon, a hormone implant injected into the arm which is designed to last three years. Although the hormonal implant is described to be 99% effective, is thought to be due to problems with the initial implantation, rather than its efficacy once correctly inserted beneath the skin.

6 Jan 2011

Celgene announces regulatory submissions for blood cancer therapies REVLIMID and ISTODAX

Celgene International Sàrl announced regulatory submissions for its blood cancer therapies REVLIMID (lenalidomide) and ISTODAX (romidepsin).

5 Jan 2011

Safe vaccine protects mice against effects of cocaine

Researchers have produced a lasting anti-cocaine immunity in mice by giving them a safe vaccine that combines bits of the common cold virus with a particle that mimics cocaine.

5 Jan 2011

Researchers create model that predicts drug effects on fetal development

When pregnant women need medications, there is often concern about possible effects on the fetus. Although some drugs are clearly recognized to cause birth defects, and others are generally recognized as safe, surprisingly little is known about most drugs' level of risk. Researchers in the Children's Hospital Boston Informatics Program have created a preclinical model for predicting a drug's teratogenicity based on characterizing the genes that it targets.

5 Jan 2011

Increased amounts of MMP-1 enzyme may explain preeclampsia symptoms in pregnant women

Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine researchers have found that a significant increase of an enzyme in the blood vessels of pregnant women with preeclampsia may explain some of the symptoms associated with the condition, including hypertension, swelling and protein in the urine.

5 Jan 2011

New options in fertility preservation for oncology patients

Many young people who've just learned that they have cancer also are told that the therapies that may save their lives could rob them of their ability ever to have children. Infertility caused by chemotherapy and radiation affects a sizable population: Of the 1.5 million people diagnosed with cancer in 2009, nearly 10 percent were still in their reproductive years.

4 Jan 2011

FDA approves 200 mg formulation of INTELENCE for HIV-1

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a label update to include a 200 mg formulation of INTELENCE® (etravirine), a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) indicated for the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) in treatment-experienced adults with resistance to an NNRTI and other antiretroviral (ARV) agents.

3 Jan 2011

Home births on the decline in UK: Midwives protest

According to a leader of Britain’s midwives, more and more women are being discouraged from giving birth at home. Cathy Warwick, general secretary of the Royal College of Midwives said that many GPs are citing harms of a home birth like dangerous bleeding where their midwives may be unable to help. Warwick said, “There are doctors that still tell women scary things that aren’t evidence-based that then put them off having a home birth…

30 Dec 2010

Race to have the first baby of the new year

"The race to have the first baby is something all hospitals share enthusiasm for, especially in large cities like Chicago, and, unfortunately, not all hospitals play fair," said Karen Deighan, MD, OB/GYN, director of OB/GYN at Gottlieb Memorial Hospital, part of Loyola University Health System.

30 Dec 2010

Neuroscientists say that general anesthesia is a reversible coma

The brain under general anesthesia isn't "asleep" as surgery patients are often told -- it is placed into a state that is a reversible coma, according to three neuroscientists who have published an extensive review of general anesthesia, sleep and coma, in the Dec. 30 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.

30 Dec 2010

Vitamin D levels of newborns appear to predict their risk of respiratory infections

The vitamin D levels of newborn babies appear to predict their risk of respiratory infections during infancy and the occurrence of wheezing during early childhood, but not the risk of developing asthma. Results of a study in the January 2011 issue of Pediatrics support the theory that widespread vitamin D deficiency contributes to risk of infections.

27 Dec 2010

The Candie's Foundation welcomes drop in teen birth rates, says more work still to be done

The Candie's Foundation, a teen pregnancy prevention organization, announced today that it welcomes the news that in 2009, the teen birth rate dropped to an all time low. The Candie's Foundation aims to raise awareness about the devastating consequences of teen pregnancy through public service announcement (PSA) campaigns.

24 Dec 2010

Vatican issues communique to clarify Pope's statement on condoms

"The Vatican on Tuesday issued its most authoritative clarification on Pope Benedict XVI's recent remarks that condoms could sometimes be used for disease prevention, saying that the pope in no way justified their use to prevent pregnancy," the New York Times reports (Donadio, 12/21).

23 Dec 2010

Merck announces FDA approval for GARDASIL against HPV-related anal cancer

Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved GARDASIL® [Human Papillomavirus Quadrivalent (Types 6, 11, 16, and 18) Vaccine, Recombinant] for the prevention of anal cancer caused by human papillomavirus (HPV) types 16 and 18 and for the prevention of anal intraepithelial neoplasia (AIN) grades 1, 2 and 3 (anal dysplasias and precancerous lesions) caused by HPV types 6, 11, 16 and 18, in males and females 9 through 26 years of age.

23 Dec 2010

In State budgets, Medicaid goes under the knife; Costs high for Florida Medicaid's doctor-immunity plan; N.J. practices to launch ACOs

Governors nationwide are taking a scalpel to Medicaid, the jointly run state and federal health-care program for 48 million poor Americans, half of whom are children. The single biggest expense for states, Medicaid consumes about 22 percent of their total $1.6 trillion in expenditures, more than what is allocated to elementary and secondary education, according to a National Governors Association report.

23 Dec 2010

FDA approves Novartis' Amturnide for treatment of high blood pressure

Today Novartis announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Amturnide (aliskiren, amlodipine and hydrochlorothiazide) tablets for the treatment of high blood pressure. Amturnide combines the only approved direct renin inhibitor worldwide, Tekturna (aliskiren), with the widely used calcium channel blocker amlodipine and the diuretic hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ).

23 Dec 2010

FDA approves Watson's novel oral contraceptive

Watson Pharmaceuticals today announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of a novel oral contraceptive product – the first and only low dose oral contraceptive to combine 0.8 mg norethindrone and 0.025 mg ethinyl estradiol in chewable form, with four 75 mg ferrous fumarate (iron) placebo tablets. Taken orally, once daily, the product is proven effective in lowering the risk of pregnancy.

22 Dec 2010