Anti-obesity drug claims disputed

Claims that an anti-obesity drug offers benefits outside those associated with weight loss may not be justified, experts have said.

Rimonabant (brand name Acomplia) has been described as the "new wonder slimming drug", with trials showing it helps obese people shed excess pounds.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) is currently appraising the drug for use on the NHS.

But experts writing in the Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin (DTB), from the British Medical Journal (BMJ), questioned claims by the manufacturer, Sanofi-Aventis.

They said there was no proof that the drug had any beneficial effects outside those expected by weight loss.

According to the Sanofi-Aventis website, the drug "has a beneficial effect on blood glucose and lipid levels - a more beneficial effect than would be expected from weight loss alone".

Advertisements for the drug have suggested that half of the drug's effects on cardiometabolic risk factors are beyond those expected by weight loss alone.

Cardiometabolic risk relates to factors that can be combined to heighten a person's chance of developing heart disease and/or type 2 diabetes.

Such factors include obesity, "bad" cholesterol, fat levels in the blood, high blood pressure and insulin resistance.

The DTB researchers also said the drug had not been effectively compared with other, cheaper drugs for weight loss. They cited Xenical (orlistat) and Reductil (sibutramine), which cost less and are approved for use on the NHS.

Source: www.epsdrugstore.com

10 Yogurt tips

First off, your body needs to have a healthy amount of ''good'' bacteria in the digestive tract, and many yogurts are made using active, good bacteria. One of the words you’ll be hearing more of in relation to yogurt is 'probiotics.' Probiotic, which literally means 'for life', refers to living organisms that can result in a health benefit when eaten in adequate amounts.

The health benefits of yogurt are so impressive that many health-conscious people make it a daily habit.

Here are 10 things to consider when you thinking about yogurt;

1. Decide Between Whole-Milk, Low-fat or Nonfat Yogurt
When buying yogurt, your first decision is whether you want regular-fat, low-fat, or fat-free. You probably have a favorite brand, with just the right texture or tang for your taste buds. If so, stick with it. But do check the label for sugar content. Some flavors and brands have more than others.

2. Choose Your Sweetener
The other decision is whether you want artificial sweeteners (which are used in most ''light'' yogurts) or whether you’re OK with most of the calories coming from sugar. If you are sensitive to aftertastes, you may want to avoid light yogurts. If you don't mind NutraSweet, there are lots of light yogurts to choose from, and all taste pretty good.

3.Look for Active Cultures and Probiotics
To make sure your yogurt contains active cultures, check the label. Most brands will have a graphic that says ''live and active cultures''.If you want to know which specific active cultures your yogurt contains, look to the label again. Under the list of ingredients, many brands list the specific active cultures. For Activia by Dannon, for example, L.Bulgaricus, S.Thermophilus, and bifidobacterium are listed. This particular yogurt contains the probiotic culture bifidus regularis, which works to regulate your digestive system. So if constipation is your challenge, this might be the probiotic for you.

4.Team Yogurt With Flaxseed
Get in the habit of stirring in a tablespoon of ground flaxseed every time you reach for a yogurt. A tablespoon of ground flaxseed will add almost 3 grams of fiber and approximately 2 grams of healthy plant omega-3s, according to the product label on Premium Gold brand ground golden flaxseed.

5.Look for Vitamin D
When enjoying calcium-rich yogurt, why not choose one that also boosts your intake of vitamin D? Some brands list 0% of the Daily Value for vitamin D; others have 20%.

6. Make Yogurt Part of the Perfect Snack
Make the perfect snack by pairing high-protein yogurt with a high-fiber food like fruit (fresh or frozen) and/or a high-fiber breakfast cereal. You can find many lower-sugar breakfast cereals with 4 or more grams of fiber per serving.

7. Whip Up a Creamier Smoothie With Yogurt
Make your smoothie creamy and thick by adding yogurt instead of ice cream or frozen yogurt. Cup for cup, light and low-fat yogurt is higher in protein and calcium than light ice cream. It's also usually lower in fat, saturated fat, and calories.

8.Customize Your Yogurt
If you want to create your own flavored yogurt, start with your favorite plain yogurt and stir in all sorts of foods and flavors. Here are a few ideas:

• Add chopped strawberries (1/4 cup) and 1/8 teaspoon of vanilla extract to 6 ounces of plain yogurt to make Strawberries and Cream Yogurt.
• Add canned crushed pineapple (1/8 cup) and a tablespoon of flaked or shredded coconut to 6 ounces of plain yogurt to make Pina Colada Yogurt.
• Add 1 tablespoon of cool espresso or extra-strong coffee and 1 tablespoon of chocolate syrup to 6 ounces of plain yogurt to make Mochaccino Yogurt.
• Add 1/4 cup chopped orange segments or mandarin oranges and 1 tablespoon reduced-sugar orange marmalade to 6 ounces of plain yogurt to make Orange Burst Yogurt.

9. Eat Yogurt at Work

Buy some yogurt and keep it in the office refrigerator (don’t forget to put your name on it). On those days when you need a morning or afternoon snack, that yogurt will be ready for you.

10. Use Yogurt in Recipes

Yogurt works as a substitute ingredient in all sorts of recipes. Plain yogurt can take the place of sour cream in a pinch (over baked potatoes or garnishing enchiladas). You can also substitute a complementary flavor of yogurt for some of the oil or butter called for in a muffin, brownie, or cake recipe. It can replace all of the fat called for in cake mixes, too.

Source: www.medical-health-care-information.com

New pill to suppress menstrual bleeding indefinitely

"Nothing has come up to indicate any unexpected side effects," said Segal, who co-authored the book "Is Menstruation Obsolete?" Most doctors say there's no medical reason women need monthly bleeding and that it triggers health problems from anemia to epilepsy in many women. They note women have been tinkering with nature since the advent of birth control pills and now endure as many as 450 periods, compared with 50 or so in the days when women spent most of their fertile years pregnant or breast-feeding.

Dr. Mindy Wiser-Estin, an obstetrician-gynecologist in Little Silver, N.J., has long advocated menstrual suppression.

She has seen a big increase in the last year in patients asking about it, but has one concern that leads her to encourage younger women to take a break every 12 weeks. About 1% of oral contraceptive users become pregnant each year, and young women taking continuous pills who have never been pregnant may not recognize the symptoms, she said. Dr. Amy Marren, director of clinical affairs for Wyeth Pharmaceuticals. said Lybrel contains the lowest dose of two hormones widely used in birth-control pills, ethinyl estradiol and levonorgestrel.

That might cause too much breakthrough bleeding, already a problem with some newer pills with low hormone doses, said Dr. Lee Shulman, a Chicago obstetrician-gynecologist who chairs the board of the Association of Reproductive Health Professionals.

Breakthrough bleeding is bleeding while taking the active pills of combined oral contraceptives, or other hormonal contraceptives. The bleeding is usually light, often referred to as "spotting," though a few women may experience heavier bleeding. Breakthrough bleeding is most common when a woman first begins taking oral contraceptives, or changes from one particular oral contraceptive to another, though it is possible for breakthrough bleeding to happen at any time. Smokers are especially prone to breakthrough bleeding while taking oral contraceptives; though many users experience breathrough bleeding in the first three cycles of taking the Pill, non-smokers tend to see the bleeding dissipate more quickly than smokers.

Many women find that the breakthrough bleeding ceases after one or two cycles. Breakthrough bleeding that does not resolve on its own is a common reason for women to switch to different Pill formulations, or to switch to a non-hormonal method of birth control.

Breakthrough bleeding is most commonly caused by an excessively thick endometrium (uterine lining). This is not a dangerous condition, though the unpredictable and often lengthy periods of bleeding are unpleasant for the woman. Breakthrough bleeding may also be caused by hormonal side effects of ovulation. If the Pill is not suppressing ovulation, the woman is at high risk of pregnancy. Breakthrough bleeding may also itself be a symptom of pregnancy (contraceptive failure).

In testing of Lybrel, 59% of women ended up with no bleeding after six months, but 18% of women dropped out of studies because of spotting and breakthrough bleeding, according to Wyeth. "You're now basically trading scheduled bleeding for unscheduled bleeding, and I don't know whether American women will buy into that," Shulman said.

Source: www.epsdrugstore.com

Smallpox vaccine gets good FDA reviews

An experimental smallpox vaccine appears to work nearly as well as an older vaccine in protecting against the deadly virus.

The newer vaccine, ACAM2000, showed by separate measures that it would be nearly as effective as the older vaccine, Dryvax. ACAM2000 is derived from Dryvax, which is no longer made. Both vaccines pose similar risks of serious side effects, including itch, rash and pain as well as rare cases of inflammation of the heart and surrounding sac.

The FDA released its review of studies of the vaccine ahead of an advisory committee meeting Thursday.

Even though ACAM2000 remains experimental, the United States already has stockpiled 192.5 million doses of the vaccine, according to its manufacturer, Acambis Plc. Acambis anticipates its vaccine, if approved by the Food and Drug Administration, will be used on deployed military personnel and others at risk of smallpox if there is an outbreak.

Acambis also awaits a contract, pending approval, to maintain the ongoing capacity to make more of the vaccine. Dryvax is currently the only U.S.-approved smallpox vaccine. However, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Inc. no longer makes it.

A panel of FDA advisers is scheduled to review Acambis' application on Thursday and make a nonbinding recommendation on whether ACAM2000 merits approval. Acambis hopes to win such approval by Aug. 31.

The U.S. ended routine childhood vaccination against smallpox in 1971. After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, however, the Bush administration ordered some military personnel vaccinated and recommended shots for front-line health care workers. The government since has stockpiled enough smallpox vaccine for everyone in the country.

Acambis Plc is based in Cambridge, England, and Cambridge, Mass. The company ran into trouble in November when it failed to win a further U.S. government smallpox vaccine contract.
Dryvax and ACAM2000 both are made using the vaccinia or cowpox virus, which is closely related to the smallpox virus.

In 1980, world health authorities declared smallpox eradicated. The virus had been fatal in about 30 percent of cases.

Source: www.epsdrugstore.com

Aspirin a day can keep colon cancer away

A daily dose of common pain killer aspirin could cut the risk of getting bowel cancer by more than a third, says a new study. However, scientists do not recommend its continuous use due to possible side effects.

Bowel cancer refers to malignant tumors in the lower end of the gastro-intestinal tract. About 80 percent of bowel cancers occur in the large intestine and 20 percent in the rectum, with anal cancer being rare.

An Oxford University study showed that taking one 300 mg tablet a day for more than five years reduced the incidence of the disease, reported the online edition of Daily Mail.

Millions of people across the world are already taking small doses of aspirin every day to reduce the chance of suffering a second heart attack or stroke.

However, the painkiller can have serious side effects, including stomach bleeding. Researchers have warned in The Lancet medical journal that widespread use of aspirin as a preventive treatment against bowel cancer was not recommended.

But they argued that the potential benefits might outweigh the dangers for those at increased risk of the disease through family history or other factors.

Andrew Chan, of the gastrointestinal unit at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, said the results "provide convincing evidence that aspirin, at biologically relevant doses, can reduce the incidence of colorectal cancer".

He added: "However, with the concerns about the potential risks of long-term aspirin use and the availability of alternative prevention strategies such as screening, these findings are not sufficient to warrant a recommendation for the general population to use aspirin for cancer prevention."

Source: www.epsdrugstore.com

Cholesterol-lowering drugs reduce risk of stroke, heart attack

People whose cholesterol improved after one month on cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins reduced their risk of stroke and heart attack, according to research that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 59th Annual Meeting in Boston, April 28 May 5, 2007.

The study enrolled 4,731 people within one to six months of having a stroke or transient ischemic attack, or mini-stroke, and with no history of heart disease. Half of the participants received the cholesterol-lowering drug atorvastatin and half received a placebo. The participants were then followed for an average of four and a half years.

For each 10-percent decrease in LDL, or low-density lipoprotein "bad" cholesterol, the risk of stroke was reduced by four percent and the risk of heart attack was reduced by seven percent. The average decrease in LDL cholesterol after one month on atorvastatin was 53 percent.

"These findings reinforce the importance of controlling cholesterol," said study author Pierre Amarenco, MD, of Denis Diderot University in Paris, France, and Fellow member of the American Academy of Neurology. "It's encouraging to see that reducing cholesterol so quickly can have positive long-term effects.

"People with higher levels of HDL, or high-density lipoprotein "good" cholesterol, at the beginning of the study and after one month had a lower risk of stroke.

The study was part of a large study called the Stroke Prevention by Aggressive Reduction in Cholesterol Levels (SPARCL) trial.

The study was supported by Pfizer Inc, the maker of atorvastatin.

The American Academy of Neurology, an association of over 20,000 neurologists and neuroscience professionals, is dedicated to improving patient care through education and research. A neurologist is a doctor with specialized training in diagnosing, treating and managing disorders of the brain and nervous system such as Alzheimer's disease, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, and stroke.

Source: www.epsdrugstore.com

Unexpected heart problems seen in bone drugs

Two research reports suggest a possible link between two bone-building drugs and irregular heart rhythms in a small number of women who take the medicine.

The signs of a problem were more pronounced with Reclast, a drug made by Novartis AG and given as a once-a-year, 15-minute intravenous infusion. But there was a hint of similar trouble in a few women who took the leading osteoporosis pill, Fosamax by Merck & Co. The two drugs are in the same class.

The safety question caught researchers by surprise. While uncertain how big a worry it might be, they agreed the overall risk is small. Specialists said women at high risk for bone breaks -- the main target of these osteoporosis drugs -- should keep taking them as prescribed.
But several experts said they'd be cautious about those who also are at risk for a condition called atrial fibrillation, an irregular heart rhythm that can cause strokes.

The two separate reports published Thursday in The New England Journal of Medicine point to elevated rates of serious episodes of that heart condition in women who took Reclast and Fosamax.

"For the first time, there may be a side effect," said a researcher involved in both studies, Dr. Steven Cummings of California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute. Until now, people have assumed Fosamax "was completely safe and could be given to almost anybody."

Fosamax, the Merck brand name for alendronate, is now used by an estimated 1.8 million American women. In a letter to the medical journal, Cummings reported evidence of the heart problem found in a recent review of a 1997 Merck-sponsored study of postmenopausal women on Fosamax.

There appeared to be 50 percent more risk of the serious heart rhythm in women who took the daily pill than among those who didn't take it. About half of the 6,459 women took Fosamax, and 47 developed atrial fibrillation, compared with just 31 cases among the other women.

However, the finding, while not statistically definitive for Fosamax, worried some researchers because it is in line with the results of a new study published in the same issue of the medical journal.

Source: www.epsdrugstore.com