July 1st, 2010 by admin
Drugs such as amphetamine-type stimulants and prescription medications are more and more what people are choosing according to the United Nations Drug Report for 2010. The number using such drugs will eventually exceed those using opiates and cocaine. Drug use in developed countries has remained relatively stable says the document. But in developing countries it is increasing.
Continue reading ‘Synthetic Drug Users at Thirty to Forty Million’
April 29th, 2010 by admin
Obesity rates for American adults have stabilized while the rate of childhood and minority obesity is rising, according to a study in the journal Medical Decision Making, published by SAGE. Using a novel simulation approach based on national data from 2000-2004 and validated against 2005-2006 data, the study looked at future projections for the distribution of body mass index in the United States. The research explored statistics for many categories of Americans based on gender, age and race, seeking to discover which overweight groups were the most likely to have stable, rising or lower rates of weight.
Continue reading ‘Forecasting Rates of Overweight’
February 10th, 2010 by admin
In many cases, when a pathogen becomes immune to an antibiotic, it will simply continue to grow with or without the antibiotic being present. By contrast, a new strain of Tuberculosis will actually stop growing when Rifampicin is removed from the environment. This effect was directly observed in a patient from China that got sicker during treatment with Rifampicin, and then recovered once the antibiotic was suspended. Today, Rifampicin is one of the gold standard drugs used to treat Tuberculosis infections in humans. It may also be one of many antibiotics used on commercial meat farms in order to promote growth.
Continue reading ‘Rifampicin Promotes Radical Tuberculosis Strain Found in China’
February 8th, 2010 by admin
The FDA completed reviewing data that appeared to indicate an increase in cancer rates and cancer deaths stemming from the use of Zetia and Vyotrin. The FDA concluded that it was unlikely that either of these drugs boost cancer rates. The FDA also left the door open for future study by stating that the links may still exist. The statement issued by the FDA has led many to conclude that both Zetia and Vyotrin have very little, if any impact on oncogenesis and malignant tumor development.
Continue reading ‘FDA Says Vyotrin not a Likely Cause of Cancer’
February 4th, 2010 by admin
Even though there are no safety issues related to AstraZeneca’s recall of 4.7 million doses of swine flu vaccine, other issues remain. In particular, the nasal spray version loses an unacceptable amount of potency while in storage. As a general rule of thumb, drugs and vaccines all lose potency over time. This is one of many reasons why vaccine potency is monitored even after doses become available for sale. There are also federal guidelines that stipulate a minimum level of potency that must be maintained.
Continue reading ‘4.7 Million Doses of Flu Vaccine Recalled by AstraZeneca’
