A common asthma drug reduced pancreatic cancer cell growth in laboratory experiments and animal tests, a new study reports.A protein called S100P is found in excess amounts in some cancers and is important for pancreatic cancer cell growth and survival. This protein also activates a cell surface protein receptor called RAGE that plays a role in Alzheimer disease, diabetes, and cancer. [click link for full article]
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Health Canada is advising consumers not to use a product called Eden Herbal Formulations Sleep Ease Dietary Supplement, because it was found to contain an undeclared drug estazolam, which can be habit-forming when used for as little as a few months. Consumers who may still have this product in their homes are advised to consult with a health care professional before they stop taking the capsules, because of the risk of withdrawal symptoms. [click link for full article]
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Adams Respiratory Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ARxT) today announced that it has submitted a New Drug Application (NDA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for 600 mg and 1200 mg oral solid extended-release guaifenesin combination products for the treatment of cough. This new drug represents the first prescription product in Adams' current portfolio of respiratory products. [click link for full article]
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Replidyne, Inc. (Nasdaq: RDYN), reported today that the current phase III clinical trial comparing faropenem medoxomil (faropenem) to placebo and Ketek (telithromycin) in patients being treated for acute exacerbation of chronic bronchitis (AECB) is being temporarily stopped to consider the exclusion of the Ketek arm in the study. [click link for full article]
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A team from the Institut Pasteur has recently shown that the tuberculosis bacillus hides from the immune system in its host's fat cells. This formidable pathogen is protected against even the most powerful antibiotics in these cells, in which it may remain dormant for years. This discovery, published in PLoS ONE, sheds new light on possible strategies for fighting tuberculosis. [click link for full article]
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Authorities have confirmed that a tenth person has died of H5N1 bird flu infection in Egypt. A man, aged, 26, is the third person to die so far over the last four days. He was admitted to hospital with bird flu like symptoms, and died ten days later in hospital. Bird flu also killed a 15-year-old girl last Monday as well as a woman, aged 30, on Sunday. All three victims were biologically related and lived in the province of Gharbiya. [click link for full article]
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Hundreds of millions of city dwellers breathe air so polluted with chemicals, smoke and particles that it dramatically exceeds World Health Organization limits with major impacts on health and the environment.A major study on the state of air pollution in 20 of Asia’s key cities shows that while there have been improvements in achieving better air quality, air pollution still poses a threat to health and quality of life of many people. [click link for full article]
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High Risk Patients Use Both Conventional Medicine and Alternative Therapies for Asthma; Some Alternatives Pose Risk In depth interviews with a group of low income mostly female African Americans, all of whom had severe asthma, revealed that all participants used some form of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in combination with conventional medicine. [click link for full article]
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Patients who suffer from chronic cough may be at increased risk for depression, shows a new study. Researchers from Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center in New York followed 100 patients with chronic cough for 3 months. Patients completed the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression (CES-D) scale and provided subjective cough scores reflecting severity of their cough. [click link for full article]
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Gut parasites could hold the key to increasingly common conditions such as eczema, asthma and hay fever, according to scientists at The University of Nottingham.Gut parasites, such as hookworm, have evolved together with their human hosts for millions of years. Over time, these parasites have developed ways of surviving in the human gut by 'turning down' the immune response directed against them, prolonging their survival inside the host. [click link for full article]
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