Pharmacology

A new study in Neurology associates calcium supplements with an increased risk of dementia in older women who have had a stroke or other signs of cerebrovascular disease.  Calcium from food affects the body differently than calcium from supplements and is safe or even protective against vascular problems.  Cerebrovascular disease is a group of disorders that affect blood flow in the brain. These diseases, including stroke, are the fifth leading cause of death in the United States and increase the risk of developing dementia. The study involved 700 dementia-free women between the…

The combination of two plant compounds that have medicinal properties - curcumin and silymarin - holds promise in treating colon cancer, according findings in the Journal of Cancer. Curcumin is the active ingredient in the spice turmeric, which is present in spicy curry dishes, and silymarin is a component of milk thistle, which has been used to treat liver disease. The researchers and their students studied a line of colon cancer cells in a laboratory model. They found treating the cells initially with curcumin, then with silymarin was more effective in fighting cancer than treating the…

Last week, a press release reached me announcing that a Chinese herbal medicine called "Phynova Joint and Muscle Relief Tablets" and containing the active ingredient Sigesbeckia is now on sale in the UK for the first time, in Boots The Chemist:  Sigesbeckia is the first traditional Chinese treatment granted a traditional herbal registration (THR) under the traditional herbal medicines product directive in the UK, by drug safety watchdog the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). Oxford based Phynova which manufactures the product was granted the UK licence last year…

Eating a powdered food supplement based on a molecule produced by bacteria in the gut, reduces cravings for high-calorie foods such as chocolate, cake and pizza, according to a small pilot study which asked 20 volunteers to consume a milkshake that either contained an ingredient called inulin-propionate ester, or a type of fiber called inulin. Previous studies have found that bacteria in the gut release a compound called propionate when they digest the fiber inulin, which can signal to the brain to reduce appetite. However the inulin-propionate ester supplement releases much more propionate…

MINNEAPOLIS - A drug commonly used to treat pain, epilepsy, anxiety and other brain health disorders may be associated with an increased risk of major birth defects, according to a study in Neurology.  The drug pregabalin is approved by the FDA to treat epilepsy, fibromyalgia and neuropathic pain, such as pain from diabetic neuropathy or pain after shingles or spinal cord injury. It is also used for generalized anxiety disorder and other mental health issues. This is called off-label prescribing. For the study, information was collected in seven countries from 164 women who took…

As I am new here, it might be a good idea to briefly introduce myself. I am a physician, trained in Germany, whose very first post as a freshly-backed doctor happened to be in Germany’s only homeopathic hospital. At the time (mid 1970s), I had no idea that this experience would determine so much of my professional life. Subsequently, I became a conventional doctor until I risked a complete career change: I went to London and worked in a research laboratory. This is when I began to think as a scientist. Later, I returned to Germany, did a PhD and, for many years, worked simultaneously as a…

Supplements gone awry. Pregnant women are told they need folate to ensure proper neurodevelopment of their babies, but new research from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health suggests there could be serious risks in having too much of it. The researchers found that if a new mother has a very high level of folate right after giving birth - more than four times what is considered adequate - the risk that her child will develop an autism spectrum disorder doubles. Very high vitamin B12 levels in new moms are also potentially harmful, tripling the risk that her offspring will…

Isotretinoin (popularly marketed as Accutane) is used to treat severe acne and has been approved in Canada since 1983. The average age of isotretinoin users in Canada is estimated to be 24 years, and half of all prescriptions are written for females, a concern because it can severely harm a fetus, causing craniofacial, cardiac and central nervous system defects, as well as a high likelihood of miscarriage or medical termination.  Even Canada's program recommends informed written consent, two negative pregnancy tests before beginning treatment and the use of two reliable birth control…

The smoking cessation aids varenicline (Chantix) and bupropion (Zyban) do not show a significant increase in neuropsychiatric adverse events compared to the nicotine patch and a placebo, according to data published in The Lancet. After reports claiming varenicline and bupropion might cause adverse neuropsychiatric events, such as increased agitation, depression, hostility or suicidal behavior, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requested that both medications carry boxed warnings in their labeling, which resulted in limitation in use and thus fewer ways to quit. There are 1 billion…

When people take the psychedelic drug LSD, they sometimes feel as though the boundary that separates them from the rest of the world has dissolved. Now, the first functional magnetic resonance images (fMRI) of people's brains while on LSD help to explain this phenomenon known as "ego dissolution." As researchers report in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on April 13, these images suggest that ego dissolution occurs as regions of the brain involved in higher cognition become heavily over-connected. The findings suggest that studies of LSD and other psychedelic drugs can produce…