New Drugs Trail Many Old Ones In Effectiveness Against Disease
Despite the more than $50 billion that U.S. pharmaceutical companies have spent every year since the mid-2000s to discover new medications, drugmakers have barely improved on old standbys developed decades ago.
Research published on Monday showed that the effectiveness of new drugs, as measured by comparing the response of patients on those treatments to those taking a placebo, has plummeted since the 1970s.
While that is already unwelcome news to drug and biotech companies, the ...
Make Summer Great For Your Health
It is only a few weeks away—SUMMER! My childhood memories bring back trips in my parent’s car in the summer and hearing that song on the radio over and over again about “lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer.” Growing up on the east coast of the United States, I certainly remember the “hazy” days and I guess sometimes all of the heat and humidity can make you a little “crazy”, but it never pays to be “lazy.”
All year long, we look forward to summertime when we have more ...
It Just Won’t Come Off (Part 2)
(In part 1, we discussed the main issues for people who just can’t seem to lose weight no matter what they are trying. In the continuation of this article, we talk about acceptance of what is when a person really reaches a dead-end in their weight loss journey)
Yes, we can still make every attempt to be healthy as we have discussed but we also must be accepting of what we have. A recent article by Ellen Goldman M.Ed. caught my attention in which she emphasizes the fact the humans have ...
Health: It Just Won’t Come Off (Part 1)
It’s frustrating! You have changed around your eating habits or you have begun walking every day. You have cut out some of the higher calorie foods that you used to eat regularly. You really need to lose about 10 kilos (22 pounds) and as your health is at stake, you have every incentive in the world to succeed. You drop a few kilos and now you are stuck. It just won’t come off. All this work; all this time and effort and you just can’t get there. It can be maddening and ...
Study: Prescription Drugs Cost Least At Costco And Most At CVS
Some of the most popular prescription drugs that recently became available in generic form are sold at the lowest prices at Costco and at the highest prices at CVS Caremark, according to an analysis by Consumer Reports.
Failing to comparison shop for drugs - such as generic Lipitor to lower cholesterol or generic Plavix to thin the blood - could result in overpaying by $100 a month or even more, depending on the drug, the report said.
The article will be available in the May issue of ...
FDA Proposes Tighter Rules For Emergency Defibrillators
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is proposing new rules aimed at improving the reliability of emergency defibrillators following some 45,000 reports of device failures over the past seven years.
The defibrillators, found in hundreds of airports, shopping malls and restaurants across the country, are designed to jump-start the heart after it has suddenly stopped.
The FDA said its proposal would require manufacturers to provide clinical data or other evidence proving their devices are ...
Sweet Drinks Tied to Higher Calorie Consumption in Kids
Children who drink sugar-sweetened beverages consume more calories than other children and the beverages are the main reason for that higher calorie intake, a new study reveals.
In addition, children who drink sugar-sweetened beverages eat more unhealthy foods than other children, the researchers found.
Evidence shows that consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages -- which include sodas, fruit drinks, sports and energy drinks -- has risen in the past 20 years.
For the study, researchers ...
Health: Time for Action
The chances are that if you are reading this column, you have some interest in health, wellbeing and wellness in general. You might even be an avid reader of articles and books written about weight loss, fitness, nutrition and healthy living. But when it comes down to it, we still need to get ourselves out of contemplation and into taking specific action so that we can get the words off the page and translate the actions into better health and a better quality of life. With Pesach upon us, ...
Quitting Smoking Helps Hearts, Even With Weight Gain
People who have quit smoking have a lower chance of suffering a heart attack or stroke than current smokers, even if they put on a few extra kilos in the process, according to an international study.
The long-term cardiovascular benefits of kicking the smoking habit have been well-established, but researchers whose report appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association said that it's been unclear how the weight gain that often accompanies quitting fits into the ...
U.S. FDA Says Zithromax Can Cause Fatal Irregular Hearth Rhythm
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned on Tuesday that the antibiotic azithromycin, sold as Zithromax, can cause a potentially fatal irregular heart rhythm in some patients.
A study in the New England Journal of Medicine last May compared the risk of cardiovascular death from different antibacterial drugs and found that the drug, which is made by Pfizer Inc and is also sold by generic drugmakers, had a higher rate of death.
In its warning, the FDA said the drug can cause abnormal ...
U.S. Warns Health Officials To Be Alert For Deadly New Virus
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Thursday warned state and local health officials about potential infections from a deadly virus previously unseen in humans that has now sickened 14 people and killed 8.
Most of the infections have occurred in the Middle East, but a new analysis of three confirmed infections in Britain suggests the virus can pass from person to person rather than from animal to humans, the CDC said in its Weekly Morbidity and Mortality Report on ...
Superbug Reports On The Rise Across The Country
Health officials are reporting an alarming increase in some dangerous superbugs at U.S. hospitals.
These superbugs from a common germ family have become extremely resistant to treatment with antibiotics. Only 10 years ago, such resistance was hardly ever seen in this group.
Infections from these superbugs are still uncommon. But in the first six months of last year, nearly 200 U.S. hospitals - about 4 percent - saw at least one case, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevent reported ...
Studies: Too Much Salt May Trigger Autoimmune Diseases
Increased salt consumption may be a key culprit behind rising rates of autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis, researchers reported on Wednesday in a trio of papers looking at the role of a specific class of cells linked with inflammation.
Reporting in the journal Nature, the researchers said high-salt diets increased levels of a type of immune cell linked with autoimmune disease. And mice genetically engineered to develop multiple sclerosis (MS) got much worse when they ate what ...
Is that L'Chaim Worthwhile?
Isn’t it a wonderful custom that we have? We take a small shot of whisky, say “L’Chaim” and swig it down. According to Rabbi Shraga Simmons of Aish HaTorah, the custom of saying "L’Chaim" when drinking wine is first mentioned in "Machzor Vitri" 80, s.v. "Shnayim."
At one time, they used to give wine to the condemned so that their execution would be less painful for them - (source: "Midrash Tanchuma" Parshat Pekudei 2). Jews started to say "LeChaim" (which means "to life") ...
Just Say Don't: Doctors Question Routine Tests And Treatments
Now there are 135.
That's how many medical tests, treatments and other procedures - many used for decades - physicians have now identified as almost always unnecessary and often harmful, and which doctors and patients should therefore avoid or at least seriously question.
The lists of procedures, released on Thursday by the professional societies of 17 medical specialties ranging from neurology and ophthalmology to thoracic surgery, are part of a campaign called Choosing Wisely. Organized ...
Poll: 1 in 8 Americans Has Type 2 Diabetes
A staggering one in eight Americans has been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, a new Harris Interactive/HealthDay poll suggests.
And more than one third of those polled have been diagnosed with diabetes or have a parent, sibling, spouse or child with the condition.
"Type 2 diabetes has become one of the most common and fastest growing diseases. Fully one in eight adults -- approximately 29 million people -- now report that they have been diagnosed with this dangerous condition," said Harris ...
Study: Wide Salt Reduction Could Prevent Thousands Of Deaths
The United States could prevent up to half a million deaths over the next decade if Americans cut their salt intake to within national guidelines, according to a U.S. study.
That finding, which comes the week New York City announced success toward its goals of cutting salt levels by one-quarter by 2014, is based on computer simulations using data from various studies on the effects of extra sodium on blood pressure and heart risks.
The Institute of Medicine recommends most healthy people ...
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