Americans spend most on Lipitor, drug survey finds
U.S. consumers spent more money on the cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor—more than $9 billion—than any other prescription drug in 2004, according to federal estimates released on Wednesday.
Cholesterol drugs in general raked in the most money for their makers, according to the survey by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
China cigarette packs to get skull health warnings
Chinese cigarette packs will have skulls, blackened teeth or diseased lungs printed on them in the latest effort to tackle smoking, but one expert said the images may actually attract younger people to take up the habit.
The images would have to take up at least 30 percent of the pack’s surface area under rules that would come into force from January 2009, the Beijing Morning Post said, citing an official at the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.
Smokeless tobacco use linked to throat cancer
A study from India shows that use of smokeless tobacco in the form of chewing tobacco or snuff is associated with an increased risk of developing cancer in the “hypopharynx”—the area at the back of the throat immediately above the larynx, or voicebox.
The increasing popularity of smokeless tobacco is a cause for concern, Dr. Amir Sapkota and colleagues write in the October 15th issue of the International Journal of Cancer. Chewing tobacco is consumed in India in the form of pan, khaini, guthka, mawa or zarda—all of which contain tobacco and slaked lime as their main components. Snuffing of tobacco, alone or mixed with slaked lime (naswar) either through nose or mouth, is also popular, they explain.
Obesity may raise the risk of stillbirth
Obese pregnant women may have an increased risk of losing their baby relatively late in pregnancy, and black women appear particularly at risk, a large study suggests.
Researchers found that obese women were 40 percent more likely than normal-weight and overweight women to have their pregnancy end in stillbirth—defined as fetal death in the 20th week of pregnancy or later.
Surgeons Remove Patient’s Gall Bladder Through Vagina
Surgeons at the University of California, San Diego Medical Center have performed the first clinical trial surgery in the Southwest to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of performing abdominal procedures through the body’s natural openings, virtually eliminating scarring.
The UCSD Medical Center procedure involved removing the gallbladder through the patient’s vagina without traditional incisions through the skin. Only one small incision through the naval was required to help guide the surgeon. This procedure received approval for a limited number of patients by UC San Diego’s Institutional Review Board (IRB) which oversees clinical research.
Scientists Eye Secrets of Retinal Regeneration
Peering at microscopic changes within the retina, scientists in the Department of Ophthalmology at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City, have discovered a key mechanism driving eye health and eye disease.
Reporting in the cover article of a recent edition of Cell, the team says they have discovered just how light-sensing discs in the retina’s rod cells regenerate themselves.
