Pharmacology

New research finds that progesterone supplements in the first trimester of pregnancy do not improve outcomes in women with a history of unexplained recurrent miscarriages. The study of 826 women with previously unexplained recurrent miscarriage showed that those who received progesterone treatment in early pregnancy were no less likely to miscarry than those who received a placebo. This was true whatever their age, ethnicity, medical history and pregnancy history. Nearly two thirds of the women in the trial had their baby, whether they had progesterone or the placebo. The live birth rate was…

Smoking high potency 'skunk-like' cannabis can damage a crucial part of the brain responsible for communication between the two brain hemispheres, according to a new study. Researchers have known for some time that long-term cannabis use increases the risk of psychosis and recent evidence suggests that alterations in brain function and structure may be responsible for this greater vulnerability.  Exploring the impact of cannabis potency is particularly important  since its popularity has grown, with twice as many teens using it as a short while ago, and high-potency 'skunk-like'…

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is one of the most commonly diagnosed childhood disorders and can continue through adolescence into adulthood. Diagnoses exploded in the 1990s and now it is found in about 5% of children, but such diagnosis is based on clinical judgment rather than objective diagnostic markers. Symptoms include difficulty focusing attention and remaining "on task", impulsive behavior and extreme hyperactivity but some diagnoses have been made even when those behaviors were mild, so chemical interventions should be cautiously - but they are not. Methylphenidate,…

Kids and teens who take medications like Ritalin to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder are also twice as likely to be physically or emotionally bullied by peers. At even higher risk were middle and high school students who sold or shared their medications--those kids were four-and-a-half times likelier to be victimized by peers. The main findings are the same for both sexes, said the study's first author, Quyen Epstein-Ngo, research assistant professor in gender studies at the University of Michigan.  Kids who have a harder time making and keeping friends are bullied and…

A paper in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology warns that the use of unvalidated natural "medicine" may lead to severe poisoning. A 45-year-old Chinese woman was diagnosed with a severe heart-rhythm disorder, bidirectional ventricular tachycardia (BVT), associated with aconitine poisoning. BVT is a rare form of tachycardia (characterized by a resting heart rate over 100 beats per minute) and a distinct pattern of ECG waves on presentation. The patient's husband reported that she had drunk about 50 milliliters of a medicinal liquid about 30 minutes before she developed a sudden drop in blood…

Smokeless tobacco is used far less than cigarettes, primarily among men and young people, but it has become a cause for concern due to links with adverse health effects and identification as a cause of cancer. Survey results and biomarkers published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers&Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, find that U.S. adults who used only smokeless tobacco products had higher levels of biomarkers of exposure to nicotine and a cancer-causing toxicant -- the tobacco-specific nitrosamine NNK -- compared with those who only used cigarettes…

Warning labels on medications about the dangers of driving don't stop people from getting behind the wheel, according to Dr Tanya Smyth, from the Queensland University of Technology   Centre for Accident Research&Road Safety. Driving while affected by prescription and over-the-counter medications had the potential to be as dangerous as driving under the influence of illegal drugs. Medication warning labels and accompanying pharmacist advice were the primary method to control drug driving but required the user to self-assess their impairment. "With 275 million prescriptions dispensed…

Good news for space travelers on medication - expiration dates aren't different in the low orbit of the International Space Station (ISS).  While the ISS is regularly resupplied with medicines to replace those which have passed their expiry date, this may not be possible on exploration missions that travel to more distant points. On Earth, medicines degrade over time, particularly when exposed to light, oxygen, or humidity. Although temperature and humidity conditions on board the ISS are generally within ideal ranges for medicine storage on Earth, until now, there has been little…

The opioid addiction for more than half of female methadone clinic patients began with painkillers prescribed by doctors, according to a paper in Biology of Sex Differences. More than half (52%) of women and a third (38%) of men reported doctor-prescribed painkillers as their first contact with opioid drugs, a family of drugs which include prescription medicines such OxyContin and codeine, as well as illicit drugs such as heroin. What to do? Doctors are routinely demonized as the problem but pain is a non-specific system and women report far more pain than men. We can imagine what would…

One organization and one law, the federal government's National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (formerly the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine) and the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA), are why a govenment that won't let you get a haircut without a certification and hygiene standards won't do anything about supplements until dead bodies show up. Hundreds of times a year, FDA recalls dietary supplements that contain pharmaceuticals. Examples include tainted sexual enhancement products that contained prescription…