Category Archives: Drugs

WASHINGTON (AP) Lindsay Porter's kidneys were failing rapidly when a friend offered to donate one of his. Then she made an unusual request: Would he donate part of his immune system, too? Every day for the rest of their lives, transplant recipients must swallow handfuls of pills to keep their bodies from rejecting a donated organ. The Chicago woman hoped to avoid those problematic drugs, enrolling in a study to try to trick her own immune system into accepting a foreign kidney. It's one of a series of small, high-stakes experiments around the country that has researchers hopeful that they're finally closing in on how to help at least some transplant patients go drug-free. The key: Create a sort of twin immunity, by transplanting some of the kidney donor's immune-producing cells along with the new organ. "I'm so lucky," says the 47-year-old Porter, who stumbled across the research at Chicago's Northwestern University. Porter was able to quit her pills last summer, a year after her transplant, and says, "I feel amazing." These experiments are a big gamble. If the technique fails, patients could lose their new kidney, possibly their lives. Doctors stress that no one should try quitting anti-rejection drugs … Continue reading →

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Cheap generic drugs were meant to change the life of Nandakhu Nissar, whose mouth is swollen by a cancerous tumor. But the cashless and hungry 55-year-old sleeps on a pavement staring up at the windows of Mumbai's biggest cancer hospital. "What is a generic drug?" shrugs Nissar, who has travelled over 1,500 km (900 miles) from his home in the hope of treatment. "I have borrowed money from friends and relatives and it is running out fast," says Nissar, his pale eyes filling with tears. A ruling this week that for the first time allowed an Indian drugmaker to make and sell a blockbuster cancer drug at a fraction of the market price has been hailed as a breakthrough by campaigners for cheaper medicine in the emerging economy. The generic version of the drug, German drugmaker Bayer's Nexavar, will be produced under what is known as a compulsory license, available to nations to issue in certain cases where life-saving treatments are unaffordable. Yet no amount of compulsory licenses will help the millions of poor Indians suffering from diseases like cancer, because even the generic version of Nexavar will be priced beyond the reach of India's poor, experts … Continue reading →

Editor's Choice Main Category: Cancer / Oncology Article Date: 17 Mar 2012 - 13:00 PDT email to a friend printer friendly opinions Current Article Ratings: 5 (2 votes) 3.67 (3 votes) The authors determined that 23-74% of patients were taking 1 of 9 oral cancer drugs along with another medication which had the power to take away the strength of the cancer drug, and increase the dangers of it. The cancer drugs which the researchers studied are called oral kinase inhibitors. They included: "Whats as important is knowing what other medications the patient is on. The fact that about one quarter to 75 percent of patients on these oral drugs may not be getting the full benefit of their treatment or may in facet be putting their health at further the risk because of another medication they are taking is concerning. Our oncology pharmacists are able to alert doctors about potential medication interactions through our Drug Utilization Review programs that have a complete picture of their prescription drugs." To determine their findings, the researchers administered drugs which may affect the potential of the oral cancer drugs to 4,617 patients. 43% of them were given one which the authors believe would … Continue reading →

Cheap generic drugs were meant to change the life of Nandakhu Nissar, whose mouth is swollen by a cancerous tumour. But the cashless and hungry 55-year-old sleeps on a pavement staring up at the windows of Mumbai's biggest cancer hospital. "What is a generic drug?" shrugs Nissar, who has travelled over 1,500 kms (900 miles) from his home in the hope of treatment. "I have borrowed money from friends and relatives and it is running out fast," says Nissar, his pale eyes filling with tears. The generic version of the drug, German drugmaker Bayer's Nexavar, will be produced under what is known as a compulsory license, available to nations to issue in certain cases where life-saving treatments are unaffordable. Yet no amount of compulsory licenses will help the millions of poor Indians suffering from diseases like cancer, because even the generic version of Nexavar will be priced beyond the reach of India's poor, experts and medical professionals say. Increased state spending on free and accessible healthcare and policies to extend insurance cover to its poorest citizens would be far more effective weapons. "The government has to start taking cancer seriously. They haven't done anything," said Dr M Krishnan Nair, an … Continue reading →

NEW YORK, March 15, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Reportlinker.com announces that a new market research report is available in its catalogue: Commercializing Pancreatic Cancer Drugs in Cancer: The Faster Route to Consider Your Options and Position of Others http://www.reportlinker.com/p0794929/Commercializing-Pancreatic-Cancer-Drugs-in-Cancer-The-Faster-Route-to-Consider-Your-Options-and-Position-of-Others.html#utm_source=prnewswire&utm_medium=pr&utm_campaign=Drug_and_Medication This report will excel your competitive awareness and decrease your decision making time in managing pancreatic cancer drug development. Find out whether you are number one, two or further down the ladder in this highly competitive market. Locate the right drugs to benchmark against and see were others may have succeeded or failed before you. This report comprises defined and up to date development strategies for 247 pancreatic cancer drugs within the portfolio of 158 companies world-wide, from Ceased to Marketed. The report extensively analyses their 197 identified drug targets, organized into 163 drug target strategies, and assesses them in pancreatic cancer. BioSeeker has applied its unique drug assessment methodology to stratify the pancreatic cancer drug pipeline and discern the level of competition in fine detail. Major Findings from this report: * The identified competitive landscape of pancreatic cancer drugs is split between the half which have unique drug target strategies and the other half which have head-to-head target competing drugs in … Continue reading →

Taking drugs to relieve pain during labour works better than alternatives such as massage, machines and hypnosis, new research shows. Painkillers such as an epidural, as well as gas and air, are more effective than softer approaches but do have more side effects, according to the review of 310 studies. Experts found that epidural, combined spinal epidural (CSE) and inhaled gas and air effectively managed pain in labour. CSEs relieved pain more quickly than traditional or low-dose epidurals while epidurals resulted in higher rates of assisted delivery, such as forceps or ventouse, and women were more likely to suffer problems such as high blood pressure and fever. Women taking gas and air were more likely to experience vomiting, nausea and dizziness, the study also found. Meanwhile, being immersed in water, relaxation techniques, acupuncture, massage and non-opioid drugs such as sedatives were described as interventions that "may work" with fewer adverse effects. Both relaxation and acupuncture decreased the use of forceps and ventouse in delivery, with acupuncture also decreasing the number of caesarean sections. But the team found there was "insufficient evidence" to make judgments on whether treatments such as hypnosis, sterile water injections, aromatherapy, TENS machines (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation … Continue reading →

By Jeremiah Tucker, Sauk Prairie Eagle | Posted: Wednesday, March 14, 2012 8:54 am | A 17-year-old Sauk Prairie High School student was cited for possession of drug paraphernalia last week after police searched her car parked near school grounds and found materials they said they think were used to intravenously inject amphetamine The car was parked in the 100 block of Ninth Street and searched as part of a schoolwide K-9 search by the Sauk Prairie Police Department on Thursday. After the K-9 dog indicated it smelled drug residue, the police searched the car by hand and uncovered cooking tins, a rubber band, two needles and cotton filters, according to a police report. Lt. Travis Hilliard said the materials were consistent with heroin use, but one needle and drug residue found in the car both tested positive for amphetamine, which can be found in prescription drugs. Hilliard said he thinks the pills were being crushed, heated and injected in a manner similar to heroin. Hilliard said the student was cited and released to her parents. Our biggest concern is that weve had reports that some kids are using heroin, Hilliard said. When asked if the drug is prevalent among … Continue reading →

Arthritis drugs could provide a new approach to treating heart disease by targeting inflammation, research suggests. Two new genetic studies have found a clear causal link between a specific inflammation signalling pathway and the development of coronary heart disease. The evidence indicates that heart disease can be tackled using certain anti-inflammatory drugs. One such drug, tocilizumab, is already commonly used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, an auto-immune disease. Inflammation is a basic immune response to infection or injury which can become too strong and end up damaging body tissue. Experts have long suspected that it plays a role in heart disease by contributing to artherosclerosis, the build-up of hard deposits on artery walls, but until now no causal link involving a specific inflammatory pathway has been found. The new research, published online in The Lancet medical journal, focused on an inflammatory signalling protein called interleukin-6 receptor (IL6R). Combined data from more than 2,000 people taking part in 82 studies found that one variant of the IL6R gene protected against heart disease. The mutation dampened the effects of inflammation, and each of two copies of the gene inherited reduced the risk of heart disease by 3.4%. A separate "meta-analysis" pooling the results … Continue reading →

Taking drugs to relieve pain in labour works better than alternatives such as massage, Tens machines and hypnosis, new research shows. Painkillers such as an epidural, as well as gas and air, are more effective than softer approaches but do have more side-effects, according to the review of 310 studies. Experts found that epidural, combined spinal epidural (CSE) and inhaled gas and air effectively managed pain in labour. CSEs relieved pain more quickly than traditional or low dose epidurals while epidurals resulted in higher rates of assisted delivery, such as forceps or ventouse, and women were more likely to suffer problems such as high blood pressure and fever. Women taking gas and air were more likely to experience vomiting, nausea and dizziness, the study also found. Meanwhile, being immersed in water, relaxation techniques, acupuncture, massage and non-opioid drugs such as sedatives were described as interventions that "may work" with fewer adverse effects.Both relaxation and acupuncture decreased the use of forceps and ventouse in delivery, with acupuncture also decreasing the number of caesarean sections. However the team found there was "insufficient evidence" to make judgments on whether treatments such as hypnosis, sterile water injections, aromatherapy, Tens machines or opioids such as … Continue reading →

By Kaustubh Kulkarni and Henry Foy MUMBAI (Reuters) - India's move to strip German drugmaker Bayer of its exclusive rights to a cancer drug has set a precedent that could extend to other treatments, including modern HIV/AIDS drugs, in a major blow to global pharmaceutical firms, experts say. On Monday, the Indian Patent Office effectively ended Bayer's monopoly for its Nexavar drug and issued its first-ever compulsory license allowing local generic maker Natco Pharma to make and sell the drug cheaply in India. It is only the second time a nation has issued a compulsory license for a cancer drug after Thailand did so on four drugs between 2006 and 2008, also on affordability grounds. Thailand also issued licenses for HIV/AIDS and heart disease treatments. "This could well be the first of many compulsory rulings here," said Gopakumar G. Nair, head of patent law firm Gopakumar Nair Associates and former president of the Indian Drug Manufacturers' Association. "Global pharmaceutical manufacturers are likely to be worried as a result ... given that the wording in India's Patent Act that had been amended from 'reasonably priced' to 'reasonably affordable priced' has come into play now." The new wording is seen as a … Continue reading →