Category Archives: Drugs

In countries such as South Africa, drugs commonly used to treat tuberculosis are becoming less effective as strains of the diseases develop resistance. Image: Tom Fox/Dallas Morning News/Corbis Showcasing more than fifty of the most provocative, original, and significant online essays from 2011, The Best Science Writing Online 2012 will change the way... Read More From Nature magazine More than 40% of tuberculosis infections that are resistant to front-line treatments are also resistant to some common backup drugs, according to research published this week in The Lancet1. Efforts to control tuberculosis are being hampered by the emergence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) strains of the disease, which resist treatment with two front-line antibiotics, rifampicin and isoniazid. In some parts of the world, as many as 50% of tuberculosis cases are resistant to these drugs2. Alternative treatment options are toxic and expensive, relying on second-line drugs that are not as effective and must be given in lengthy courses. Unfortunately, the majority of MDRtuberculosis cases occur in developing countries that cant afford the several billion dollars that the global Stop TB Partnershipestimates3 will be required to combat the disease. More recently, strains of tuberculosis have emerged that are resistant not only to front-line antibiotics, … Continue reading →

30 August 2012 Last updated at 02:23 ET The number of deaths from drugs misuse in Wales fell in 2011, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). However, the overall trend has shown a sharp rise in the death rate over the past two decades. Last year 137 people died, but that compared with 33 in 1993 and 89 in 2005. The death rate peaked in 2010 with 152 deaths, and the rate still remains higher in Wales compared with every other region in England, said the ONS. However, Ifor Williams, chief executive of the Swansea Drugs Project, was encouraged by last year's fall in deaths and said it showed education and prevention projects were working. "I think it's important that we take the positive rather than seeing the figures from the last 20 years," he said. There's no real evidence to show there are fewer people taking drugs, but this does show us that education and prevention is taking effect Mr Williams said the Welsh government has been "focused" in the last couple of years on preventing deaths and users have been able to carry the antidote naloxone. Naloxone works by temporarily blocking the effect of the opiate … Continue reading →

A biotech company called Cerulean says its nanoparticle-delivered cancer drugs are better at attacking tumors. One result of the side effects of cancer treatments is that patients often can't tolerate or survive a combination of different drugs at the same timewhich can limit a doctor's ability to knock out the disease. The head of a Boston-area biotech called Cerulean Pharmathinks the solution is nanoparticle-delivered drugs, which have fewer and less severe side effects. They could make it easier for doctors to mount a multipronged attack on tumors and kill the cells before they can develop a resistance to any one compound. Cancer cells can develop resistance to individual drugs very quickly, says Oliver Fetzer, CEO of Cerulean. And he points to recent studies showing that different cells within the same tumor can have different genetic mutations. In some cases, that means that a drug that kills cancer cells in one part of a tumor may not work in other parts. This tumor diversity suggests that it would be best to hit cancer cells with multiple drugs at once to make it extremely difficult for the tumor to develop resistance to all therapies. Nanoparticles could help achieve this goal. The nanoparticles … Continue reading →

When successful athletes use drugs, like Lance Armstrong allegedly did, it sullies their athletic feats and causes fans to become disillusioned. CHRISTOPHE ENA/AP Certain forms of art are performed in private. The painter is alone when he paints, the writer likewise. But the most pertinent aspect of the performing arts is that they are watched. Dance, music, drama and sport are most challenging -- and most thrilling -- precisely because they are real, happening before our eyes. All of them, of course, can be tainted by human foible. We make athletes heroes at our peril. Athletes, for example, fix games. They cheat when they can. They can be cruel on the field, and off it brutish ---- especially in their treatment of women. Just read the paper any day and be disappointed. But none of all these iniquities taken together violates sport as drugs do alone. Athletics, like the other performing arts, is primarily a function of the body. Yes, it helps to understand well the game you are playing, but, ultimately, sports are physical. They require strength, speed, balance, hand-eye coordination and often, endurance. To succeed, the athlete must excel in at least one of these qualities, or even … Continue reading →

Cocaine. Cough syrup. Crystal meth. You name it, Bryan Saunders has probably swallowed or snorted it. Since March 30, 1995, Saunders has drawn at least one self-portrait each and every day. He now has more than 8600 of them and plans to continue drawing one every day for the rest of his life. Drugs and drawing them ... were a way to 'productively' escape. But the 43-year-old Tennessee-based artist takes an approach to his practice that is unconventional to say the least.He often creates these self-portraits under the influence of various drugs. All in the name of art. Unconventional approach ... Bryan Saunders. "At the time I was emotionally troubled and using art as therapy," he explains. "Drugs and drawing them, in hindsight, were a way to 'productively' escape." Advertisement The series, appropriately titled DRUGS, began in 2001 with a stint in which Saunders tried 18 different drugs in 11 days."Artistically it was wonderful and exciting to see myself in new ways," he says. "Physically, I suffered quite a bit and some damage to both my mind and body." The drugs in question range from illicit narcotics such as cocaine and crystal meth, to prescription pills including Klonopin and Xanax. … Continue reading →

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - A Danish Cycling Union (DCU) board member has been dismissed after failing a drugs test following a veterans race in June, the DCU has said in a statement. Soren Svenningsen, 47, who owned the now disbanded Team Capinordic cycling team, was found to have traces of three banned substances following the race. "On June 30, veteran cyclist Soren Svenningsen tested positive in a doping test in a Danish H40 race. The sample showed traces of two different glucocorticoids and testosterone," the statement said, adding that Svenningsen would leave the board and his position as chair of Holte Cycling Club with immediate effect. "I am deeply shocked to have received the news of Soren Svenningsen's positive drug tests. We stand for a clear and consistent doping position in the DCU," the statement quoted union president Tom Lund as saying. "That a leader in Danish cycling who is also a board member of DCU tested positive, and thus breaks our trust, is inexcusable. "As president of DCU, I would like to emphasize that our anti-doping line will continue to be sharp and consistent, and we will continue to hunt down cheats," said Lund, adding that testing was necessary in … Continue reading →

By Randy Dotinga HealthDay Reporter MONDAY, Aug. 27 (HealthDay News) -- It's OK for some patients with asthma to stick with a combination of medications instead of abandoning one because of concerns about complications, a new analysis of existing research suggests. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has warned that asthma patients who take both long-acting beta-agonist and inhaled corticosteroid medications should be cautious about using them together once their condition is under control. Long-acting beta-agonists -- such as drugs known by the brand names Serevent, Foradil and Brovana -- could cause side effects, the FDA cautioned, as could combination drugs. For that reason, the agency suggested that patients consider going with inhaled corticosteroids alone. However, the new analysis came to a different conclusion. "Adding a long-acting beta-agonist to an inhaled corticosteroid medication makes a lot of sense in a number of patients since you get better control of the disease," said Dr. Thomas Casale, chief of allergy and immunology at Creighton University, and lead author of the report. The report was published online Aug. 27 in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine. At issue is how to best treat adults and older children who suffer from moderate to severe … Continue reading →

NEW YORK, Aug. 29, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Reportlinker.com announces that a new market research report is available in its catalogue: http://www.reportlinker.com/p0196570/Antifungal-Drugs-Technologies-and-Global-Markets.html#utm_source=prnewswire&utm_medium=pr&utm_campaign=Drug_and_Medication INTRODUCTION It should be noted that there is a strong emphasis on early research given the critical need for new and more effective medicines; hence, BCC is including a section of medicines intended for human utilization that are in the preclinical (animal) models of testing, and information on new and novel in vitro therapies. Greater than 98% of medicines at the preclinical level are terminated prior to their utilization in humans, and the research in this area is vast. We are limiting this research to therapies that depict a positive result or represent a very rare and novel approach worthy of further review from R&D groups. Our key objective in this report is to present an in-depth analysis of the current human antifungal market and explore its future direction. In the last five years there has been a vast increase in the number of patent applications filed in this area. Between 1990 and 1999 there were six U.S. patents grantedevidence of the evolution of drug resistance and an increasing mortality rate.[1],[2] Previously, BCC examined the antifungal market in its … Continue reading →

NICE is saying no to more treatments than it did before Cancer Drugs Fund was introduced. campaigners say Fund set up by Government was intended to supplement the number of drugs available Drugs turned down last year include treatments for advanced breast cancer and prostate cancer By Sophie Borland Health Reporter PUBLISHED: 18:40 EST, 28 August 2012 | UPDATED: 18:41 EST, 28 August 2012 The number of cancer drugs being rejected by the health watchdog has risen by 50 per cent in two years, a report has revealed. Campaigners say NICE is saying no to more treatments since the Government introduced its flagship Cancer Drugs Fund, which was meant to supplement the number available. Since 2010, ministers have set aside 200million a year for the fund to pay for cancer drugs which have not been approved by NICE for use on the NHS but which doctors think may help patients. Turned down: Drugs rejected by the health watchdog last year include treatments for advanced breast cancer, bowel cancer and prostate cancer But a leading charity is concerned that since the scheme was set up, the watchdog knows it can afford not to make some drugs available because patients may be … Continue reading →

By Gordon Deegan Tuesday, August 28, 2012 The HSE is faced with an unplanned 30m bill for providing drugs not contained in its national service plan for 2012. A significant part of the cost, between 8m to 10m, will be in providing two Hepatitis C drugs, Boceprevir and Telaprevir. The drugs were made available in June following the intervention of the Department of Health. In a letter to outgoing HSE chief executive Cathal Magee, the departments secretary general Ambrose McLoughlin said Health Minister James Reilly had met with representatives of Hepatitis C patients. He wrote: "The minister is satisfied that there is considerable risk associated with not proceeding with the treatment of clinically appropriate patients with the new drugs to treat Hepatitis C." He called for the drugs to be approved for use with immediate effect. In response, Mr Magee said the drugs would be made available but said the cost of providing the drugs in a full year was 30m. In the letter released through Freedom of Information, Mr Magee stated: "You will be aware from our service plan that no funding is in place within the HSE for new drugs and current spend is significantly exceeding the approved … Continue reading →