January 2nd, 2011 by Glenn Laffel, M.D., Ph.D. in Better Health Network, News
Tags: Alli, Anti-Obesity Drugs, Bupropion, Contrave, Dr. Glenn Laffel, Endrocrinology, FDA, Food and Drug Administration, Lorcaserin, Meridia, Naltrexone, Orexigen, Orlistat, Overweight, Pizaazz, Qnexa, Sibutramine, Weight Loss, Weight Management, Xenical
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The FDA has been tough on diet drugs of late. Three years ago it scuttled an attempt to get the European diet drug rimonabant approved for use in the U.S. More recently it rejected, at least temporarily, applications for Qnexa and Lorcaserin.
But that trend may have been reversed last week, when an advisory committee set the stage for possible FDA approval of Orexigen’s investigational diet drug, Contrave. By a 13-7 vote, the committee said in essence that the somewhat modest beneficial effects of the drug outweighed its tendency to increase blood pressure.
The FDA will make final decision on the matter by the end of January. It is not required to follow the advice of its advisory committees, but as was the case for the three diet drugs mentioned above, it usually does. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Pizaazz*
December 31st, 2010 by PeterWehrwein in Better Health Network, Health Tips, News, Research
Tags: Annals Of Internal Medicine, Cold and Flu, Cold Remedy, Common Cold, Echinacea, Harvard Health Blog, Harvard Health Letter, Harvard Health Publications, Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, Infectious Disease, National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Natural Medicines, Natural Remedies, Nature Medicine, Naturopathy, NCCAM, NIH, Peter Wehrwein, Self-Care
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Does echinacea, the popular natural cold remedy, really work?
It depends on what you mean by “work.” Results [recently] reported in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that echinacea may reduce the length of a week-long cold by 7 to 10 hours and make symptoms a little less onerous. That can’t be characterized as a major effect, so many people may figure that the trouble and expense of echinacea just isn’t worth it (fortunately, side effects from echinacea don’t seem to be much of an issue.)
But others may decide that some benefit is better than none, and these results do fit with others that have left the door slightly ajar for echinacea having some effect as a cold remedy — a modest effect, but an effect, nonetheless.
A summary for patients published by the Annals summed up the situation nicely:
People who take echinacea to treat colds may experience a decrease in the length and severity of their cold symptoms but to such a small degree that they may not care about the difference. Although many studies of echinacea have been performed, researchers still disagree about its benefits in treating the common cold. This study is unlikely to change minds about whether to take this remedy.
Have you tried echinacea as a cold remedy? Has it worked? How do research findings, pro and con, affect your opinion of so-called alternative medicines?
Many of the echinacea studies, especially early on, were sponsored by companies making or selling the product. This study was supported by a grant from the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, which is part of the National Institutes of Health.
– Peter Wehrwein, Editor, Harvard Health Letter
*This blog post was originally published at Harvard Health Blog*
December 31st, 2010 by Medgadget in Better Health Network, News, Research
Tags: Cellphone Technology, Cellphones and Healthcare, Cellphones and Medicine, Diagnostic Platform, Disposable Test Strip, Electronic Medical Records, EMRs, GENTAG, Lab Studies, Lab Tests, Laboratory Testing Platform, Medgadget, Medical Technology, Near Field Communication, NFC, Rapid Test Results, Self-Testing
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GENTAG, Inc. has announced a new diagnostic platform which uses near field communication (NFC) technology to transmit test results from a disposable test strip to a patient’s cellphone. Once results have been sent to a phone, they can then be uploaded to internet-connected EMR systems. The company claims their platform can test for pregnancy, HIV/AIDS, pathogens, and a number of different cancers, and monitor glucose, fever, as well as deliver drugs.
From the press release:
GENTAG started with well-established immunoassay technology and made it wireless and compatible with Near Field Communication (NFC) technology, which enables consumers to use their cell phones as diagnostic tools to instantly test for pathogens, allergens or common medical conditions at any time, no matter where they are.
NFC is currently being integrated into all major cell phone brands, and GENTAG is working with major OEMs [original equipment manufacturers] worldwide to promote the uses of its disposable wireless sensor platform for consumer markets.
Press release: Cell Phones Are Now Personal Diagnostic Tools That Can Monitor Fertility, Pathogens, AIDS, Drugs, and Allergens…
GENTAG products page…
*This blog post was originally published at Medgadget*
December 30th, 2010 by Iltifat Husain, M.D. in Better Health Network, News, Research
Tags: David Zar, Dr. Satish Misra, Healthcare Apps, Iltifat Husain, iMedicalApps, iPad, Medical Apps, Medical Imaging App, mHealth, MIT Enterprise Forum, Mobile Health Expo, Mobile Medical Apps, Mobisante, Ultrasound
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Imagine walking into the room of a patient with ascites and pulling out your iPad (which you were just using to put in orders on another patient), pulling an ultrasound probe out of your pocket, connecting the two, and finding a fluid pocket from which to drain the abdominal fluid.
We’ve already shown how iPad’s can be useful in the OR. Now they, along with other tablets and smartphones, can be applied to bedside diagnostics and therapeutics to enhance patient safety while reducing costs. It’s a pretty exciting prospect being put forth by an mHealth startup called Mobisante. And having won awards at an MIT Enterprise Forum as well as the Mobile Health Expo, others certainly seem to buying in as well.
Mobisante, an mHealth company based in Redmond, WA, has recently been showing a new smartphone peripheral at conferences across the country: An ultrasound probe. According to the MIT Technology Review, the current prototype connects to a Toshiba TG01 smartphone and was originally developed as a laptop peripheral by David Zar, a computer engineer at Washington University in St. Louis. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at iMedicalApps*
December 30th, 2010 by admin in Better Health Network, News, Research, True Stories
Tags: ACP Internist, American College Of Physicians, Amgen, Anemia, Biochemistry, Dialysis, Dr. John Schumann, End Of Life, End Stage Renal Disease, EPO, Epogen, Erythropoietin, Gene Goldwasser, GlassHospital, Hormone, Internal Medicine, Kidney Failure, Medical Discoveries, Merrill Goozner, New Red Blood Cell Production, Pharmaceuticals, Pharmacology, Prostate Cancer, University of Chicago
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Gene Goldwasser died last week. He was 88, and he was my friend.
I wrote previously about a series of conversations I conducted with Gene and Rabbi A.J. Wolf a few years ago. I met Gene one spring day after calling to invite him to sit in on a class I was teaching to a small group of medical students about social issues in healthcare.
I’d read about him in a book called “The $800 Million Pill,” by Merrill Goozner. In the book, Goozner writes the story of Gene’s two-decade hunt to isolate the hormone erythropoietin (EPO).
Part of the story relates how Gene tried to interest traditional big pharma companies in his discovery, only to be brushed aside. Instead, Gene wound up sharing his discovery with what became Amgen. The company went on to make a windfall from recombinant production of the hormone and licensing it as a drug for patients with anemia and kidney failure. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Internist*
The FDA has been tough on diet drugs of late. Three years ago it scuttled an attempt to get the European diet drug rimonabant approved for use in the U.S. More recently it rejected, at least temporarily, applications for Qnexa and Lorcaserin.
