Drugs As Good As Stents For Angina Pain

Someone suffering from the frightening chest pain of angina is no doubt ready for a quick fix to make that pain go away. Many angina patients turn to stents for the quickest relief, opting out of drug therapy, which takes a little longer to take effect. New information made available in today’s New England Journal of Medicine says, in the long run, the pain-relieving effects of stenting, or angioplasty, disappears in two or three years’ time, eventually bringing no more relief than a steady course of drug therapy would have. Read more

Getting Drugs No Problem For Today’s Teens

Almost one in five teens recently surveyed said it’s much easier to purchase prescription drugs than it is to purchase beer, cigarettes, and marijuana. Another 25% of the study participants said marijuana is the easiest party drug to buy. It takes less than an hour to buy pot, according to 43% of the 17-year-olds. Read more

Critic Urges Caution Over Exercise Pill Study

It could be a matter of dilution of the message as the scientific data was reinterpreted and broadcast by journalists everywhere recently when the prestigious Salk Institute for Biological Studies published, in the journal, Cell, a paper describing a drug under laboratory investigation that mimics some of the body’s responses to regular exercise.  The study has frequently been described as the “exercise pill” study. Read more

10% of Kids Get Cough, Cold Drugs Every Week

Researchers working from the Slone Epidemiology Center at Boston University have just released the findings of an analytical study they’ve conducted to discover how often parents in the United States are giving their children oral medications formulated to relieve the symptoms of allergies, colds, and coughs.  Their alarming discovery is that 10.1% of all kids in the US get at least one dosage of this type medication every week, in spite of the fact there is no conclusive evidence that these drugs are safe and effective when taken by children. Read more

Exercise in Pill Form May Answer Prayers of Many

Most of us would have a hard time trying to discern the links between world-class athletes, veterans suffering from physical disabilities,  couch potatoes, and the frail, the elderly, and the obese but researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies would tell us they’re all likely candidates for a new drug they’ve been investigating that mimics the healthful effects of exercise.  Tested only on laboratory mice, the mice getting the drug dramatically increased endurance during exercise, did not gain weight on a high-fat diet, and their body’s response to insulin improved as well. Read more

Death by Prescription, Street Drug Combo

The dangers of an overdose of prescription medications made headlines around the world when the 28-year-old Australian actor, Heath Ledger, died last January.  A team of sociologists in California have just released the findings of an extensive study in which they evaluated the causes of death due to medication errors similar to the one that cost Ledger his life.  Their findings address four different situations, with one of them, death occurring at home because of an overdose of prescription medications when the patient was also consuming alcohol, street drugs, or both, rose a skyrocketing 3,196% between 1983 and 2004. Read more

Statins Stave Off Dementia in High-Risk Group

Some medical situations increase the risk of developing dementia as we age but a University of Michigan (UM) study has proven that individuals taking the statin class of drugs to reduce “bad” cholesterol levels did not develop dementia as expected.  In fact, they were only about half as likely to develop dementia than study participants who had not taken statins. Read more

Bootleg Fentanyl Caused Overdose Epidemic

April 21, 2006, was marked by an extreme number of overdoses in Camden, New Jersey, with reports of similar overdose outbreaks coming in from other parts of the state as well as from Maryland, Chicago, Detroit, and Philadelphia. The Detroit and Chicago overdoses occurred a few months earlier than those in Camden and elsewhere and, in the beginning, were attributed to illicit use of heroin. Read more

OTC Lidocaine Soothes Fears, Pain of Mammogram

Many women delay or avoid getting mammography exams because the process itself can cause a considerable degree of discomfort in some women and others fear the possibility.  Researchers may have discovered a way to come to the rescue.  And the rescue comes in the form of an inexpensive anesthetic gel sold everywhere.  Women can apply it themselves, at home, before leaving for their mammogram appointments. Read more

Will Depressed Women Take Viagra?

Ask a depressed woman if she’d take Viagra to invigorate a faded libido caused by the antidepressants she’s taking to keep the blues away and she’s likely to say the proposition sounds like a pretty bitter pill to swallow. Others, however, would jump at the chance. If only it worked that way. Read more

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