Pharmacology

Want to avoid a baby mama without getting surgery or enduring condoms that are too small?  Men may soon have the same choice as women when it comes to birth control. A male contraceptive pill has been talked about for decades, but so far none has been successfully created despite strong demand. Recent surveys found that about 70 percent of men would be willing to take a birth control pill if it were available. A new study says such a birth control pill for men, without side effects, may soon be ready.  Working on mice, the team found that a compound called JQ1 acts as an inhibitor…

Women who have breast cancer and are treated with two chemotherapy drugs, anthracycline and trastuzumab, may experience more cardiac problems like heart failure than shown in previous studies, according to a new Cancer Research Network study by Group Health researchers and others in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The study is important because more and more women are surviving longer with breast cancer, so it's becoming a chronic disease, said lead author Erin Aiello Bowles, MPH, an epidemiologist at Group Health Research Institute. Breast cancer is one of the most common…

Despite extensive regulations and preventative efforts, lead poisoning, which can damage the brain, kidneys, and nervous and reproductive systems, still occurs in the United States.  Babies are also at risk. Fetal exposure to lead can adversely affect neurodevelopment, decrease fetal growth, and increase the risk for premature birth and miscarriage.  Yet prevention efforts can only accomplish so much and during 2011–2012, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) investigated six cases of lead poisoning in foreign-born pregnant women associated with the…

With the Supreme Court decision to uphold mandatory health insurance purchasing under the Affordable Care Act, it's going to get more expensive. But for thousands of years people were able to go into the woods and get health care for free, so all is not lost. Maybe they can even get a rebate for using nature. Natural remedies may not be as effective as their synthetic pharmacological cousins but a Harvard post-doc says there may be economic benefits people could receive by relying on such traditional cures.  If that feels like 'ketchup is a vegetable' sweet lemons rationalization, you…

ThromboGenics NV , a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing ophthalmic medicines, today announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Dermatologic and Ophthalmic Drugs Advisory Committee has recommended that the FDA grant ocriplasmin approval for the treatment of symptomatic Vitreomacular Adhesion (VMA). Symptomatic VMA is a progressive condition that if left untreated frequently leads to retinal distortion, further deterioration in vision and has the potential to cause irreversible damage and complications. Market surveys conducted by ThromboGenics suggest that there are…

Almirall, S.A. (ALM.MC) and Forest Laboratories, Inc. announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Tudorza(TM) Pressair(TM) (aclidinium bromide inhalation powder) for the long-term maintenance treatment of bronchospasm associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), including chronic bronchitis and emphysema.  COPD is a common, progressive, and debilitating lung disease characterized by persistent airflow limitation that makes it hard to breathe; it is currently the third leading cause of mortality in the US. Characteristic symptoms include…

Emotional Brain has announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has awarded a new patent (US Patent No. 8,227,453, issued today) for its combination of a PDE5-inhibitor and testosterone for the treatment of Female Sexual Dysfunction (FSD).   There is no FDA-approved medicine available yet for this particular indication area, so American physicians annually prescribe off-label drugs for the treatment of FSD.  Dr Adriaan Tuiten, PhD, CEO of Emotional Brain, explains, 'It ensures protection of our medical applications and medical procedures aimed at the…

When it comes to new legislation, sometimes what you see is not all you get. Just ask Nancy Pelosi, the House Minority Leader who two years ago uttered the now infamous words, “We have to pass the [Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act] so that you can find out what is in it….” Whether or not you support the president's healthcare reform initiatives, the implementation of any vast, complex legislation can result in unintended consequences. That’s certainly the case when it comes to regulation overseeing the emerging era of biologics—a new class of treatments made from living…

Drug addicts are outraged by recent changes to the formula of frequently abused prescription painkiller OxyContin which makes it harder to inhale. So they are taking their business to heroin. For nearly three years, psychiatrists have been collecting information from patients entering treatment for drug abuse and more than 2,500 patients from 150 treatment centers in 39 states have answered survey questions about their drug use with a particular focus on the reformulation of OxyContin. Surveys. Of drug addicts. Calibrate accordingly. OxyContin was originally developed to be part of the…

Silymarin is an extract of milk thistle. Millions of people use this herbal remedy to treat chronic liver disease but it doesn't do much for patients, according to a new study. Milk thistle fruit extracts have been widely used by patients in treating liver disease based on previous evidence showing that it has anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, and potentially anti-viral properties so the new study set out to assess true efficacy in a group of hepatitis C patients who were previously unsuccessfully treated with interferon-based therapy – the standard anti-viral method used to treat the disease…