FEN

Letrozole Beats Tamoxifen in Breast Cancer Therapy

Novartis' Femara (letrozole), one of a new class of breast cancer drugs, worked better than standard therapy with tamoxifen in treating breast cancer in women// with advanced disease. Femara is a member of a new class of drugs called aromatase inhibitors, which work differently to prevent certain kinds of breast cancer than does tamoxifen. This new drug, Letrozole shrank tumors better...

Ibuprofen weakens aspirin's effect

Many heart patients regularly take aspirin because it thins the blood and prevents the clots that cause heart attacks. Ibuprofen belongs to a widely used class of pain relievers known as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.// Ibuprofen is widely used for arthritis and other aches and pains. The popular pain reliever ibuprofen blocks the heart-protecting effects of aspirin, according to a...

Defence against free radicals

UK scientists say they have discovered molecules in the body that can protect against the harmful action of free radicals.With further research, the research could potentially lead to the prevention of certain degenerative diseases.// Oxidative damage has been linked with ailments such as cardiovascular disease, strokes, autoimmune diseases like arthritis and diabetes, cancer and Alzheime...

Cell transplants used to fend off Parkinson's symptoms

Doctors report they have had long-term success implanting cells into the brains of Parkinson's disease patients by passing a needle through the skull. Dr. Ray Watts, professor of //neurology at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, told that patients had improved motor function - movement of their arms and legs - by up to 60% using this procedure. Watts implanted retinal pigm...

Tamoxifen does not adversely affect the brain

The breast cancer drug tamoxifen does not damage the brains of elderly women, alleviating fears of a neurotoxic effect of such treatment, recent study has revealed. According to researchers, tamoxifen has a similar effect on the brain to oestrogen, which has been linked with potentially neuroprotective action //against cognitive decline. The researchers used proton magnetic resonance s...

Tamoxifen reduces breast cancer risk

In a new study, researchers from Cancer Research Insitiute, UK suggests that women on tamoxifen have a reduced breast cancer risk compared to those on placebo.// They report on a large scale trial of tamoxifen to prevent breast cancer. A group of 6050 women aged 36 to 65 years, from the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Europe took either tamoxifen or placebo for five years. All the women we...

Tamoxifen reduces breast cancer risk

In a new study, researchers from Cancer Research Insitiute, UK suggests that women on tamoxifen have a reduced breast cancer risk compared to those on placebo. They report on a large scale trial of tamoxifen to prevent breast cancer. A group of 6050 women aged 36 to 65 years, from the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Europe took either tamoxifen or placebo for five years.// All the women we...

Defending against Tuberculosis

The deadliest bacterial pathogen may soon be fighting a losing battle. Scientists from Rockefeller University in New York say they have successfully stopped the tuberculosis pathogen's ability to operate from the immune system.// It typically hides out in the immune system in a cell called a macrophage. The researchers say they have identified a new pathway (LRG-47) triggered by a host...

Ibuprofen to lower risk of Parkinson’s diseas

Scientists from Harvard School of Public Health have reported that over the counter anti-inflammatory drugs// like ibuprofen are beneficial as they can lower the risk of Parkinson’s disease. The study had tracked participants who took daily one ibuprofen tablet, men and women, for over the period of 8.5 yrs. These people seemed to have a 38% less chance of having Parkinson’s disease t...

Dairy products Defends Diabetes

An interesting prospective study undertaken by the researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital// and the Harvard School of Public Health, has shown that higher intake of low-fat dairy may lower the risk of type II diabetes in men. In type II diabetes, either the body does not produce enough insulin or the cells ignore the insulin. Insulin is necessary for the body to be able to use sug...

Fentanyl Narcotic Pain Patch under Scrutiny

Fentanyl skin patches (brand name Duragesic) a potent narcotic medication for pain management// is under FDA scrutiny after reports of deaths in patients using the patch were reported. The FDA says it is conducting an investigation into the deaths associated with these patches as it is unclear if the deaths are due to inappropriate use of the patch or factors related to the quality of the...

Exercise may be best defense against heart disease

exercise are crucial factors. But according to the research finding published by the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, // it has been found that calorie intake may not be a major factor in causing death by heart disease. The finding was based on a 17-year study of almost 9,790 Americans, who participated in the First National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a national st...

Aromatase Inhibitors drug Femara after Tamoxifen therapy protects from breast cancer recurrence

Aromatase Inhibitors drug, Femara given after 5 years of Tamoxifen therapy is found to give protection against occurrence of Breast cancer recurrence. Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer// in women. Breast cancer mostly occurs in post menopausal women and various risk factors are attributed for the occurrence of breast cancer. Treatment of breast cancer initially involve...

Safest painkiller Ibuprofen found to cause severe GI bleeding

Gastrointestinal bleeding is three times more likely to occur in patients who take high doses of ibuprofen on a regular basis despite the safety profile of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). // Furthermore, the effect can be observed as early as three days after starting an ibuprofen regimen. Ibuprofen is considered to have one of the most favorable safety profiles of all...

Vaginal atrophy drug Ospemifene found effective in breast cancer Prevention

Study results from two research papers have shown that use of the drug Ospemifene in combination with other anti-estrogens for vaginal atrophy reduces the incidence of breast cancer. // The study has been proved in mouse model and researchers are planning for a clinical trial. DeGregorio and his colleagues at UC Davis compared the ability of ospemifene, tamoxifen and raloxifen to inhi...

Use Of Ibuprofen Safe For Short Periods

The painkiller Ibuprofen will not raise the chances of a heart attack if it were used only for a short duration. This has been revealed by Madrid based// researchers who studied the use of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) in 4,975 patients who had had heart attacks, and 20,000 healthy individuals. They found that taking NSAIDs for less than a year does not increase the r...

Minister Defends Hike in AIIMS Treatment Charges

Health Minister of India Anbumoni Ramdoss justified the increase in the fees for lab tests and treatment at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences //(AIIMS), saying that this was necessary to maintain the quality of the services. This is incidentally the first time that a hike is taking place at the institution since 1995. The budget of the AIIMS is at Rs. 420 crores while the revenu...

Tamoxifen Ineffective In Presence Of Genetic Variation in Breast Cancer

Researchers at the University of Michigan and the Mayo Clinic say that the flagship breast cancer drug, tamoxifen might not be very effective in women who inherit a common genetic variation. // This particular variant gene has the ability to influence the levels of a crucial enzyme that is vital to activate tamoxifen against breast cancer. The study which was conducted by James Rae, Ph.D...

New Drug More Effective than Tamoxifen in Preventing Breast Cancer Relapse

New research appearing in the December 29 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine says that a new drug called as Femara is better than tamoxifen fro preventing the chances // of a relapse of breast cancer. Femara is a drug manufactured by Novartis AG and is chemically letrozole. This belongs to a class of drugs called as the aromatase inhibitors of which Arimidex is also a part. I...

Self-defense Mechanism of food borne bugs found

Professor Ray Dixon and his research team from Georgia Institute of Technology, US and the John Innes Center, UK have found a mechanism by which the pathogenic bacteria defends itself from the defense mechanism of the host. //The researchers have reported the results of their research in the Journal Nature. Pathogenic bacteria cause food borne illness by producing toxins in the food...

Novel Protein, Staufen2 Important In Maintenance Of Nerve Synapses

Researchers from Max Plank Institute of Developmental Biology have uncovered some of the molecular mysteries associated with synaptic connections between the neurons, that represent the structural and functional unit of the brain. // In simple terms, the junction between two neurons is referred to as a synapse. It serves as a gateway of communication between the same. Storage and tra...

GlaxoSmithKline Defends Its Products

Pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline which produces Panadol products like Panadol Extra has sought to dispel doubts with regard to the safety of its products. People in the Middle East Region // are reported to have received messages questioning the safety with regard to particular batch of its products, namely batch number 050292. The company has confirmed the safety of the produc...

"Defensive Pessimism" Before Exam Results Not a Good Strategy

A new study by Margaret Marshall of Seattle Pacific University and Jonathon Brown of the University of Washington has found that the strategy// of expecting the worst results after an examination does not pay off in the long run and individuals who adopt such defensive pessimism are not better off than their normal counterparts. Reporting in the latest issue of the journal Cognition and...

Ibuprofen and Vitamins C and E Could Halt Alzheimer's

A new study has suggested that patients who are at a high risk for developing Alzheimer's disease would benefit from taking a combination of vitamins E and C// plus ibuprofen. This therapy appears to be of maximum benefit in people who have a mutated gene for apolipoprotein, APOE-4, which is a high-risk condition predisposing them to Alzheimer's disease. Researchers at the Johns Hopki...

Paralyzed Girl Pardons Her Offender

A six-year-old girl was magnanimous enough to pardon her offender who shot and shattered her spine, at a house in Dorchester, MA that resulted in paralyzing her from the // waist down. Sitting on a wheelchair, she forgave him in the court, where he was produced to face the trial. According to foodconsumer.org, in court, Kai Leigh Harriott broke down and cried hard initially. With a sip...

Raloxifene Better Than Tamoxifen For Breast Cancer

The osteoporosis drug Evista is better than Tamoxifen in preventing breast cancer in high risk post-menopausal women, new research// has suggested. Researchers said that both drugs reduce the risk of cancer by 50 percent. But the results of a 19,000-woman trial show that Eli Lilly and Co's Evista, known generically as raloxifene has fewer side effects. This fact could prompt clinicians to...

Countries Defenceless Against Bird Flu

The World Health Organisation (WHO) and certain Indian officials say that once the virus takes hold in any country developed or not it would become very difficult to eradicate. // Officials admitted that they are facing an uphill battle against bird flu, which they fear could mutate and spread easily from person to person, triggering a pandemic. The officials say that Bird flu is sprea...

Long-term Ibuprofen Therapy After Brain Injury Deteriorate Cognitive Abilities

The findings of the preliminary, animal-model study, which is set to appear online later in the month in 'Experimental Neurology', has explained on the possible implications for traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients // who are often prescribed such nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) as ibuprofen for chronic pain. Because several studies in animals and humans have shown that...

Diclofenac Drug Banned By MP Government Over Vulture Deaths

Upon the advice of central government, the Madhya Pradesh government banned the use of the drug diclofenac, which is used by vets, saying that it was responsible// for 95 percent of vulture deaths in the country. "The vultures are indispensable natural scavengers responsible for the disposal of wild and domestic carcasses, thus preventing the outbreak of epidemics. But when they themselv...

Health Officials Defend Their Decision To House Patients In Hotels

Doctor, Health officials of the NHS Grampian said that people were offered places in hotels it was deemed clinically appropriate. // The NHS health board said so defending their decision to house hospital patients in Aberdeen hotel accommodation instead of wards. A spokeswoman for NHS Grampian said a doctor always took the decision as to whether it would be suitable for a patient to s...

Arrested Drug Offenders Offered Faster Help

Drug addicts in Aberdeen's police lockups are to be offered immediate access to services to enable them to kick their habit.// This scheme is already underway in many areas of Scotland like Glasgow, Renfrewshire, Tayside, Dumfries and Galloway, Lanarkshire and Edinburgh. Funding has been provided to continue this scheme until 2008 and also to start a new service in Aberdee...

Aromatase Inhibitors Better Than Tamoxifen For Treating Receptor-Positive Early Breast Cancer

Researchers have found that aromatase inhibitors like anastrozole are more effective in treating postmenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive early breast cancer// than tamoxifen according to study published in the "The Lancet Oncology" journal. Researchers followed more than 6,000 postmenopausal women with early breast cancer for more than 5 years and found that patients on ana...

New Guidelines To Rehabilitate Drug Offenders

Recently, new guidelines and principles were issued to rehabilitate drug offenders. The 13 principles are contained in a report prepared by the National Institute// on Drug Abuse (NIDA), a division of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The report, which is titled, Principles of Drug Abuse Treatment for Criminal Justice Populations, uses some of the work conducted by University of Ke...

Breeding Mosquitoes Soon to be a Criminal Offence

With the rapid increase in the number of dengue cases in the national capital civic authorities are considering more strict measures to check the menace//, including prosecuting people who cause mosquitoes to breed at their homes. N.K. Yadav, deputy municipal health officer of Delhi said, "Last week, 66 dengue cases were reported of which six proved to be fatal. We have received strict...

Raloxifene Reduces The Risk Of Breast Cancer

Studies show that 'Raloxifene' can reduce postmenopausal women with any risk levels of breast cancer. According to a new study that has been published in the September 1 issue of Clinical Cancer Research//, Raloxifene could protect postmenopausal women from developing invasive breast cancer immaterial of whether they are at high or low risk of developing the disease. The study had als...

Brain’s natural Antioxidant Defense Syste

The U.S. scientists have claimed that they have found the brain’s natural antioxidant defense mechanism to protect its nerve cells from toxic free radicals//. According to the researchers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, this system protects the brain cells from the harmful effects of toxic ‘free radicals’ that are the waste products of cell metabolism that has been associated with...

Relationship Between Sleep Apnea And Aggression In Sex Offenders Explored

More than 20% of men in western cultures are affected by Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) and sex offenders who suffer from OSA experience more harmful //psychological symptoms than people with normal sleep patterns–says a new study published in Journal of Forensic Sciences. Sex offenders with known OSA were administered a treatment using Continuous Positive Airway Pressure(CPAP), whereby...

Newly Discovered Immune Defense May Be Impaired In CF Airways

A recent University of Iowa study reveals a new immune defense mechanism in normal airways and may help explain why people// with cystic fibrosis (CF) are particularly susceptible to bacterial lung infections. The findings also may point the way to new approaches for treating the disease. The UI study shows how two enzymes generate and use reactive oxygen species (ROS) to destroy bacte...

Study Identifies Mechanism Which May Help Tamoxifen Work Better

The “crosstalk” between estrogen and a special protein responsible for cell development (Notch) helps breast cancer cells// proliferate and spread, a new study shows. “Breast cancer cells respond to loss of estrogen, which is caused by commonly used hormonal therapy, by increasing the Notch signal,” said senior study investigator Dr. Lucio Miele, professor, departments of pathology, p...

Molecular ‘On/Off Switch’ Controls Immune Defenses Against Viruss

Much like flipping a light switch, the hepatitis C virus turns on human immune defenses upon entering the body //but also turns off those defenses by manipulating interaction of key cellular proteins, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have found. This same molecular “on/off switch” controls immunity against many viruses, highlighting a potential new target for novel therapeuti...