China Gets Serious About Heparin Contamination

China’s State Food and Drug Administration has issued a directive to the makers of heparin and heparin-related products to purchase supplies from only registered suppliers and to strengthen quality control standards. The safety of the raw ingredients has come under fire lately, prompting many recalls around the world, including the United States. Read more

Merck Seeks GARDASIL Approval for Older Women

Merck & Co., Inc., has announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted and designated as priority a review of GARDASIL, a vaccine against types 6, 11, 16, and 18 of the human papillomavirus (HPV), which is strongly associated with cervical cancer and similar diseases. GARDASIL is currently approved for use in females between the ages of 9 and 26. Merck’s current request for review is to obtain approval for the vaccine in women aged 27 through 45. Read more

Substance in Heparin Found

A growing trend from China seems to be undermining the integrity of Chinese products. Last year alone, diethylene glycol, a component of antifreeze, was found in cold medicines made or sourced in China and shipped worldwide. More than 100 people died from taking the tainted cold medicines and many dozens more became ill. Melamine, a flame-retardant, was discovered in pet foods that killed many cats and dogs before being traced to a Chinese supplier. Read more

Report Predicts 14 Million Boomers Will Develop Alzheimer’s

A report released this week by the Alzheimer’s Association estimates that 18% of the nation’s 79 million baby boomers will develop Alzheimer’s disease or another form of dementia at some point in their lives. The oldest baby boomers are turning 62 this year and they are entering the risk zone. The likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s doubles every five years after age 65. Read more

Chronic Sleep Disruption Leads to Heart, Kidney Disease

Shift workers, flight crews, truck drivers, emergency and medical personnel, and even patients in intensive care units don’t often get a full night’s uninterrupted sleep. And for a lot of people, a full night’s sleep occurs during the day. Read more

HGH - All Hype, No Performance?

This certainly seems to be the case, at least under certain circumstances, according to a review of dozens of studies devised to compare the performance enhancing effects of human growth hormone (HGH) against athletes who were not given the so-called wonder drug. Read more

Pass the Popcorn But Beware the “Butter”

For some of us popcorn fanatics, it’s almost sinful to think of gnoshing without the butter. Unfortunately, the “butter” in many popular microwave popcorns isn’t butter anyway. Instead, it’s a blend of chemicals that mimic the flavor of the real stuff. Read more

Rare Disorder Sheds New Light on Obesity, Appetite, Blood Pressure

A rare genetic disorder, Bardet-Biedl syndrome (BBS) is known to interfere with the brain’s ability to signal the body to stop eating when enough food has been consumed. The brain uses the hormone leptin to signal satiety. Leptin is also associated with high blood pressure. Read more

ADHD May Lead to Eating Disorders in Girls

Although more common in little boys, ADHD does affect little girls, too, and new research is showing that it affects girls differently than it does boys, especially once the girls reach adolescence. Read more

Obese Women With Breast Cancer Have Lower Survival Rates

Obese women who are diagnosed with breast cancer have more aggressive disease and lower survival rates, according to a study released in the March issue of Clinical Cancer Research. Read more

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