Category: news-perspectives

Many U.S. patients may be able to save money on drugs soon. Several popular brand-name drugs are losing patent protection in the next 14 months. They are likely to face less costly generic competition soon afterward. Patents will include many blockbusters, the Associated Press (AP) said July 26. Among them are the world’s two top sellers, Lipitor and Plavix. Lipitor (atorvastatin) is a cholesterol drug. Plavix (clopidogrel) is a blood thinner. Others with expiring patents include drugs for blood pressure, asthma, diabetes, depression, high triglycerides and other conditions. Among them are 5 of the top 20 drugs sold in the world, AP said. Generic medicines are chemically equivalent to the brand-name drugs that they copy. They work in the same way. They typically cost 20% to 80% less than brand-name drugs.

Antibiotics prevent more urinary tract infections (UTIs) than cranberry pills, a new study has found. But taking antibiotics also led to more resistant bacteria. The study included 221 women. All of them had at least 3 UTIs in the last year. They were randomly divided into two groups. One group took 2 daily cranberry pills and 1 placebo pill. The other group took trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. This antibiotic is sold as Bactrim, Septra and other brands. These women took 1 antibiotic pill and 2 placebo pills each day. The women did not know which drug they were getting. In the next year, women who took the antibiotics had an average of 2 UTIs. The average was 4 infections with the cranberry pills. Within the first month, 85% of those taking the antibiotic had resistant E. coli in their bodies. E. coli bacteria are the most common cause of UTIs.

Children with ADHD may have more difficulty with crossing the street safely, a new study finds. The problem was not attention, researchers said. In the research study, kids with ADHD did stop and look both ways before crossing. But they did not judge the amount of time needed to cross safely as well as other children. The study included 78 children with ADHD and 39 without ADHD. All were ages 7 to 10. The two groups were matched by age and gender. Kids who took ADHD medicine were asked to skip it for 24 hours ahead of the experiments. Street crossing was done in a virtual environment using an avatar. The children decided when to cross in different virtual situations. Researchers said the children with ADHD were less likely to cross safely than the other children. Several had close calls during their virtual crossings. The journal Pediatrics published the study.

A positive outlook on life may reduce your risk of stroke, a new study finds. Researchers based their study on data from a large study of U.S. adults. All were over age 50. More than 6,000 men and women in the study took standard tests of optimism. The test was scored on a 16-point scale. None of them had ever had a stroke when the study began. In the next 2 years, 88 strokes occurred. Adjusted for age, each point increase on the optimism scale was linked to a 9% lower risk of stroke. Researchers also adjusted the numbers to account for differences in people’s blood pressure, weight and other factors. The optimists still were less likely to have a stroke. The journal Stroke published the study online July 21. HealthDay News wrote about it.

Some U.S. soldiers have returned from war with a rare lung disease, new research has found. Doctors who did the study reported on 80 soldiers who had breathing problems. The cause was unclear. The soldiers had served in Iraq or Afghanistan. While there, they had been exposed to toxins in the air. They had breathing problems when they exercised. But standard tests showed normal lung function. Doctors did lung biopsies on 49 of the soldiers. All of them had abnormal lung tissue. Doctors diagnosed 38 of them with constrictive bronchiolitis. This condition causes very narrow airways in the lungs. In all, 28 of those with the condition had been exposed to a sulfur-mine fire in Iraq. But other things, such as dust storms, may have played a role, doctors said. The New England Journal of Medicine published the study. The Associated Press wrote about it July 21.

It takes longer for do-not-resuscitate (DNR) orders to be written in the hospital when a spouse, relative or family member (“surrogate”) rather than the patient is making the decision, according to a new study. A do-not-resuscitate (DNR) order means that if the heart stops, a patient does not want cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) or other live-saving measures. The study looked at the hospital records of 668 people 65 and older that had a DNR order placed by a doctor. Doctors prefer to have patients make the decision regarding DNR. However, many patients are too ill or have impaired brain function to make this decision. Researchers asked doctors to indicate if the DNR order came following discussion with the patient, a surrogate or both.

Protein powder supplements may slightly lower blood pressure, a study suggests. The study included 352 young adults. Some had early-stage high blood pressure. Others had pre-hypertension. This is blood pressure that is above normal, but too low for a diagnosis of high blood pressure. People in the study received 3 types of powdered food supplements. They were made of soy protein, milk protein or carbohydrates. Each person received one supplement at a time, for 8 weeks. There was a 3-week “wash-out” period with no supplements before each person switched to a different one. Blood pressure dropped about 2 points after people took either of the protein powders. It did not change with the carbohydrate powder. The study leader acknowledged that the drop in blood pressure was small. But he said it could have an impact on the overall population.

Frequent falls or protein deposits in the eye could signal an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease, two studies suggest. Both were presented at a conference in France. The fall study included 125 people with normal brain function. Their average age was 74. Journals they kept showed that 48 fell at least once in a 6-month period. Everyone was given a spinal tap to look for substances that can detect Alzheimer’s risk. People with these substances in their spinal fluid were much more likely to fall than others. The eye study compared photographs of the retina for 3 groups. These included 13 people with Alzheimer’s and 13 with mild cognitive impairment. This condition can lead to Alzheimer’s. The third group consisted of 110 healthy people. Blood vessels in people with Alzheimer’s were narrower. This showed they had a protein buildup in the vessels.

A new study finds that taking one type of pain reliever long-term may be risky for people with high blood pressure and heart disease. The study focused on nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Some of the most popular over-the-counter pain relievers are NSAIDs. They include ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin and others) and naproxen (Aleve, Naprosyn and others). The group also includes a prescription medicine, celecoxib (Celebrex). The study focused on 882 people who took NSAIDs regularly. They were compared with almost 22,000 people who used these drugs from time to time or never. Everyone in the study had coronary artery disease and high blood pressure. Researchers kept track of them for about 3 years. In that time, the rate of death, heart attack and stroke was 47% higher in regular NSAIDs than in those who used the drugs less or not at all.

A fake treatment (placebo) can make asthma patients feel better just as well as a real treatment, a new study suggests. But tests showed the real treatment improved breathing more. The study included 39 asthma patients. Each person visited a doctor’s office 3 times, with a few days between visits. They received treatments each time, in random order. They were treated with a standard albuterol inhaler, a fake inhaler or fake acupuncture. They also were given no treatment sometimes. People also received repeated tests of their ability to exhale. These tests showed 20% improvement with the albuterol inhaler and 7% with the other approaches. But patients thought their breathing improved about 45% to 50% with all three of the active treatments. They thought there was a 21% improvement with no treatment. The study raises many questions about the so-called placebo effect.