Label Change for Flomax Following Report of Cataract Surgery Complications
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Who knew that the most commonly prescribed prostate drug may complicate cataract surgery in male patients? David F. Chang, MD and John R. Campbell, MD suspected this after conducting a recently published study that examined the incidence of Intraoperative Floppy Iris Syndrome (IFIS) in their cataract surgery practices.
“Flomax does not affect vision or eye health,” said Dr. Chang. “But it blocks the dilator muscle in the iris, and during cataract surgery, the pupil needs to be dilated.”
Bird Flu and the Global Threat of Emerging Respiratory Diseases
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How serious is the threat posed by bird flu to human health? How might the virus change to spread more easily between humans? Are influenza epidemics cyclical, and can one predict when the next one will strike? What related diseases do we need to be on the look out for? And what measures are being taken to develop effective vaccines and drugs?
In a free, public lecture on Saturday, December 3, 2005 at 5:30pm in Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory’s Grace Auditorium, Dr. Kanta Subbarao will address these and many other intriguing questions about the H5N1 influenza strain of avian influenza, commonly known as bird flu.
Diabetes linked with risk of sudden cardiac death
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Diabetes is a “strong” risk factor for sudden cardiac death, with the risk increasing with the severity of the disease, according to a study published in the European Heart Journal.
“The prevalence of diabetes mellitus in industrialized countries is rapidly increasing, and diabetes is suspected to carry a particularly high risk for sudden cardiac death,” Dr. Xavier Jouven, of Universite Paris-5, France, and colleagues write.
Tricor disappoints in diabetes trial
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Researchers say the results of a large trial of a drug to lower triglycerides failed in its primary goal of significantly reducing heart attacks and coronary deaths among patients with type II diabetes.
But there was some good news in that patients taking Tricor, one of Abbott’s best-selling medicines, fared better than those taking placebos on a number of secondary measures, including a reduction in the need for procedures to clear clogged arteries and for laser treatments of eye disease.
It’s true! study confirms that Glucosamine and Chondroitin relieve arthritis pain
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The millions of Osteoarthritis sufferers in the world will welcome the good news that a new study has confirmed that the dietary supplements glucosamine and chondroitin provide pain relief.
The Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) says that the clinical trial sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), showed that the combined use of the two dietary supplements, glucosamine and chondroitin, provided significant pain relief for sufferers of the joint disease that afflicts tens of millions of Americans.
Common Anti-seizure Drug Could Be Effective for Lupus Patients
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A common anti-seizure drug may be effective against certain conditions associated with lupus, according to animal research at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.
The drug, valproic acid (Depakote), prevents skin disease and reduces the severity of kidney disease in a mouse model of lupus, said Nilamadhab Mishra, M.D., a rheumatologist at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.
Stress Interferes with Problem Solving; Beta Blocker May Help
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An experience as simple as watching graphically violent or emotional scenes in a movie can induce enough stress to interfere with problem-solving abilities, new research at Ohio State University Medical Center suggests. A related study suggests a beta-blocker medication could promote the ability to think flexibly under stressful conditions, neurology researchers say.
The research, presented Nov. 16 at the annual Society for Neuroscience meeting in Washington, D.C., represents the first time scientists have asked participants to combine movie viewing with problem-solving tasks to assess the effects of stress on cognitive flexibility, said David Beversdorf, a neurologist at OSU Medical Center and senior author of the studies. The researchers juxtaposed two very different movies – “Saving Private Ryan” and “Shrek” – to induce stress or set up a control condition before testing participants for verbal mental flexibility.
Women Increasingly Pick Husbands’ Surnames
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What’s in a name – or two names? Quite a bit, says a University of Florida professor, whose research finds that a growing number of brides are returning to tradition when taking a man’s hand in marriage, assuming his name instead of keeping their own as a symbol of independent identity.
“Adopting a husband’s last name remains an entrenched tradition that is on the upswing, despite a temporary blip in the ‘70s, ‘80s and early ‘90s where many young women tended to want to hold on to their birth names,” said UF linguistics professor Diana Boxer, who led a series of studies. “I think it reflects how men’s power continues to influence American society despite the fact that women have made great advances economically and socially.”
Women warned about contraceptive patch
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The makers of a revolutionary contraceptive patch are warning women that they are at a greater risk of blood clots and other serious side-effects because of the higher doses of hormones the patch delivers.
The patch, which is called Evra and is worn on the skin like a plaster, was first introduced in Britain in 2003 amid claims that it would be the greatest family-planning breakthrough since the Pill.
Tis the Season for Heart Attacks
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The holiday season can be a time of good cheer, brightly lit parties, and the pleasure of family reunions. It can also be a lonely or stressful time, and a season of eating, drinking, or spending too much. These downsides, along with other factors, may contribute to a spike in heart disease deaths over the holidays, reports the Harvard Heart Letter.
A handful of small studies have hinted that death has its season, and winter is it. What is it about the holiday season that isn’t conducive to good health? The Harvard Heart Letter points to these possible factors:
Higher placental weight ups breast cancer risk
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For women who have given birth, the risk of breast cancer is directly associated with the weight of the placenta in two consecutive pregnancies, according to a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association this week. Women with higher placental weight in prior pregnancies are at increased risk for breast cancer, the study indicates.
“Our finding of a positive association between placental weight and breast cancer risk may reflect that exposures to elevated levels of hormones influence the risk of breast cancer,” Dr. Sven Cnattingius, from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, and colleagues note in the report.
A New Addition to Your Family’s Thanksgiving Dinner: The PHR?
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Pass the turkey. Pass the dressing. Pass the cranberry sauce. Pass the PHR?
A personal health record (PHR) may not be on your menu this Thanksgiving Day, but the U.S. Surgeon General and health information management specialists at Saint Louis University’s Doisy College of Health Sciences think it should be.
Tamoxifen curbs breast cancer risk, study confirms
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Data from additional years of follow-up of a large study of tamoxifen for the prevention of breast cancer confirm that the drug reduces the risk of the disease in high-risk women.
Tamoxifen “remains the only proven chemopreventive treatment for breast cancer risk reduction,” Dr. Bernard Fisher, from the University of Pittsburgh, and colleagues note in their report in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute this week.
Check homocysteine after pregnancy-induced diabetes
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High homocysteine in the early postpartum period is an independent risk factor for the development of diabetes in women with a history of pregnancy-induced diabetes (a.k.a. gestational diabetes), a study suggests.
Measurement of homocysteine at six week’s postpartum “would be helpful” to identify women with a previous history of pregnancy-induced diabetes at high risk for developing diabetes, study investigators conclude.
Older Brains “Rise to the Challenge’’
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When the going gets tough, older adults’ brains get going, according to new research by a University of Michigan professor studying how key regions of the brain click on when needed.
Several regions in the brain, especially in the frontal cortex, are involved in helping people meet the demands of a constantly changing environment. While earlier research focused on older adults’ failures to activate these regions, the new U-M research found that older adults can activate these regions in response to a challenging task, and may also bring additional brain regions online to help their performance.
