Cholesterol drug hits diabetes with one-two punch, Tulane study says
Patients with type 2 diabetes may soon be able to control their glucose and their cholesterol levels with a single drug, according to a study led by Vivian A. Fonseca, professor of medicine and pharmacology at Tulane University School of Medicine and chief of the Tulane University Health Sciences Center Diabetes Program.
Results from the clinical trial demonstrated that the compound colesevelam HCl, in combination with Sulfonylurea-based therapy in patients with inadequately controlled type 2 diabetes, achieved significantly reduced glucose levels versus those in the study taking a placebo. The study was recently presented at the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists’ 16th Annual Meeting and Clinical Congress.
FDA warns of new risks to babies with Roche drug
U.S. regulators on Thursday warned doctors of new risks to newborn babies, including death, associated with combining an antibiotic made by Swiss drugmaker Roche Holding AG with certain other treatments.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said that the injection, called Rocephin, should not be combined with calcium or calcium-containing products, following reports of an unspecified number of cases of fatal reactions in the lungs and kidneys of newborns.
Dental assistants at risk of lung problems
Dental assistants who work with substances called methacrylates may be at risk of developing asthma or chronic respiratory symptoms, a study has found.
Methacrylates are used in dental filling materials and bonding agents, like those used to cement porcelain veneers, crowns and orthodontic brackets. Dental assistants are exposed to airborne methacrylate particles when mixing these materials or during placement or removal of dental restorations.
Children Prefer Large Portions … of Some Foods
Given the choice, Canadian fifth-graders prefer larger portions of snacks and fast foods and smaller portions of vegetables than the recommended amounts, according to researchers at Dalhousie University in Canada.
The researchers showed nearly 5,000 children a variety of portion sizes of french fries, meat, cooked vegetables and potato chips and asked them to indicate their “usual portion sizes.”
Prenatal secondhand smoke tied to mental problems
Pregnant women exposed to secondhand smoke are more likely than their unexposed counterparts to have children with psychological problems such as conduct disorder, attention deficits, and behavior problems, a study suggests.
While such problems are known to be more common among children whose mothers smoked while pregnant, this study is the first to find that passive smoking poses a risk as well, Drs. Lisa M. Gatzke-Kopp and Theodore P. Beauchaine of the University of Washington in Seattle note in the journal Child Psychiatry and Human Development.
