Frovatriptan may prevent puncture-related headache
Frovatriptan, used to prevent and treat migraine headaches, may also be of use in preventing post-dural puncture headache, according to Italian researchers.
In the journal Cephalalgia, Dr. Gennaro Bussone of Istituto Nazionale Neurologico Carlo Besta, Milan and colleagues note that post-dural puncture headache is associated with the loss of CSF following dural puncture and subsequent shifts in cranial contents.
Viagra boosts feel-good “love” hormone: study
Impotence drugs such as Viagra may do more than help men physically have sex—they may also boost levels of a hormone linked with feelings of love, U.S. researchers reported on Thursday.
Viagra, known generically as sildenafil, raised levels of the hormone oxytocin in rats; the team at the University of Wisconsin-Madison reported the Journal of Physiology. This hormone is involved in nursing and childbirth, and also in orgasm and feelings of sexual pleasure.
Diabetes may impair tuberculosis treatment response
Patients with tuberculosis and diabetes do not respond as well to tuberculosis therapy as those who are non-diabetic, Dutch researchers report.
The reason for this is unclear, but screening for and aggressively treating diabetes may improve the outcomes of patients receiving tuberculosis therapy, Dr. Reinout van Crevel, from Radboud University Medical Center in Nijmegen, note in the current issue Clinical Infectious Diseases.
New study may explain Vioxx side-effects
Vioxx and related pain medications were taken off the market in 2004 because they caused dangerous heart problems in some people. A group of scientists, led by Timothy Hla at the University of Connecticut, may now have figured out how these drugs trigger these life-threatening side-effects. The new study will be published online in the The Journal of Experimental Medicine on August 27.
The target of these drugs is an enzyme called COX-2, which is produced in response to infection or injury and releases pain- and fever-inducing byproducts.
New cancer fighter may help ICU patients beat infections
HSP 90 inhibitors, which are finding favor in fighting cancer, may also help battle overwhelming infection in intensive care patients, researchers say.
Studies in an animal model of sepsis, a major cause of ICU patient death, indicate HSP 90 inhibitors help degrade proteins perpetuating inflammation, says Dr. John D. Catravas, director of the Medical College of Georgia Vascular Biology Center.
