$50 eye drug found equal to $2,000 dose
Study may alter patient choices
By Deborah Kotz
Boston Globe
April 29, 2011
An expensive eye injection that’s approved to treat macular degeneration — the most common cause of age-related blindness — works no better than a much cheaper drug at preventing vision loss. That’s the finding of a long-awaited study published online yesterday by the New England Journal of Medicine.
The study, involving more than 1,200 patients with the “wet’’ form of macular degeneration, found no difference between those who were randomly treated for one year with the more expensive drug Lucentis — which costs about $2,000 a dose — and the cheaper drug Avastin, which costs $50.
“Lucentis and Avastin were equivalent for visual acuity,’’ said study leader Dr. Daniel Martin, chair of ophthalmology at the Cleveland Clinic Cole Eye Institute during a press conference. “When we looked at the number of letters gained or lost on an eye chart, the lost or gained lines of vision, the two drugs are virtually identical.’’
For about five years, doctors have been treating most macular degeneration patients “off-label’’ with Avastin (bevacizumab), which is primarily a cancer treatment, since it’s chemically similar to Lucentis (ranibizumab). (They use a fraction of the dose given cancer patients.) But there was always uncertainty as to whether it was just as safe and effective. Experts say the new study indicates that it is...
Friday, April 29, 2011
Monday, April 18, 2011
ACS President Resigns Over Controversial Editorial
ACS President Resigns Over Controversial Editorial
By Emily P. Walker
MedPage Today
April 18, 2011
The president-elect of the American College of Surgeons has resigned in light of backlash over an editorial he penned on the mood-enhancing effects semen has on women,
The ACS announced the resignation of Lazar Greenfield, MD, in an email sent to its members on Sunday.
In the article, Greenfield, an emeritus professor of surgery at the University of Michigan, cited research from the Archives of Sexual Behavior and wrote, "Female college students having unprotected sex were significantly less depressed than were those whose partners used condoms."
The article offended many in the surgeons' group, and some said it was sexist and perpetuates the boys club mentality of surgery.
Greenfield expressed his "deep regret" and then his resignation to the group's Board of Regents, which met Sunday to consider the status of the 78-year-old surgeon.
Writing in the Valentine's Day editorial, which was published in Surgery News -- and has since been retracted -- Greenfield discussed research that suggests semen includes mood enhancers including oxytocin and serotonin (and a sleep enhancer, melatonin).
He concluded: "So there's a deeper bond between men and women than St. Valentine would have suspected, and now we know there's a better gift for that day than chocolates."
The ACS received "numerous communications from the surgical community about the editorial," wrote the group's president, L. D. Britt, MD, along with Carlos Pellegrini, MD, chairman of the Board of Regents, and David Hoyt, MD, executive director.
At least one female ACS member, Colleen Brophy, MD, a professor of surgery at Vanderbilt University, resigned from the ACS over the editorial.
Writing in a letter to the Board, Brophy said the editorial is "just a symptom of a bigger issue," and that that college needs to be more transparent in choosing its leaders and conducting business.
"The fact that Dr. Greenfield apologized for me, for my 'taking offense' to his op ed without any insight into the implications that a physician leader advocated for unprotected sex, disturbs me," she wrote.
In a brief email to MedPage Today, Greenfield dismissed the claim that his editorial pointed to a larger sexist culture in surgery.
ACS officials acknowledged the contributions of Greenfield, including his invention of the "Greenfield Filter" a device placed in the inferior vena cava of patients who are particularly vulnerable to pulmonary embolism, to prevent venous emboli from entering the pulmonary circulation.
"We wish to honor Dr. Greenfield and celebrate his inestimable contributions to the College and the surgical community," the ACS officials wrote. "We also know that at this critical juncture for surgery and health care in America, it is important that the American College of Surgeons not be distracted by any issues that would diminish its focus on improving care of the surgical patient."
The group announced it would appoint a woman, Patricia Numann, MD, a retired surgeon from SUNY Upstate Medical Center, as the next president-elect...
By Emily P. Walker
MedPage Today
April 18, 2011
The president-elect of the American College of Surgeons has resigned in light of backlash over an editorial he penned on the mood-enhancing effects semen has on women,
The ACS announced the resignation of Lazar Greenfield, MD, in an email sent to its members on Sunday.
In the article, Greenfield, an emeritus professor of surgery at the University of Michigan, cited research from the Archives of Sexual Behavior and wrote, "Female college students having unprotected sex were significantly less depressed than were those whose partners used condoms."
The article offended many in the surgeons' group, and some said it was sexist and perpetuates the boys club mentality of surgery.
Greenfield expressed his "deep regret" and then his resignation to the group's Board of Regents, which met Sunday to consider the status of the 78-year-old surgeon.
Writing in the Valentine's Day editorial, which was published in Surgery News -- and has since been retracted -- Greenfield discussed research that suggests semen includes mood enhancers including oxytocin and serotonin (and a sleep enhancer, melatonin).
He concluded: "So there's a deeper bond between men and women than St. Valentine would have suspected, and now we know there's a better gift for that day than chocolates."
The ACS received "numerous communications from the surgical community about the editorial," wrote the group's president, L. D. Britt, MD, along with Carlos Pellegrini, MD, chairman of the Board of Regents, and David Hoyt, MD, executive director.
At least one female ACS member, Colleen Brophy, MD, a professor of surgery at Vanderbilt University, resigned from the ACS over the editorial.
Writing in a letter to the Board, Brophy said the editorial is "just a symptom of a bigger issue," and that that college needs to be more transparent in choosing its leaders and conducting business.
"The fact that Dr. Greenfield apologized for me, for my 'taking offense' to his op ed without any insight into the implications that a physician leader advocated for unprotected sex, disturbs me," she wrote.
In a brief email to MedPage Today, Greenfield dismissed the claim that his editorial pointed to a larger sexist culture in surgery.
ACS officials acknowledged the contributions of Greenfield, including his invention of the "Greenfield Filter" a device placed in the inferior vena cava of patients who are particularly vulnerable to pulmonary embolism, to prevent venous emboli from entering the pulmonary circulation.
"We wish to honor Dr. Greenfield and celebrate his inestimable contributions to the College and the surgical community," the ACS officials wrote. "We also know that at this critical juncture for surgery and health care in America, it is important that the American College of Surgeons not be distracted by any issues that would diminish its focus on improving care of the surgical patient."
The group announced it would appoint a woman, Patricia Numann, MD, a retired surgeon from SUNY Upstate Medical Center, as the next president-elect...
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
U.S. researchers develop new drug shrinking cancer in animals
U.S. researchers develop new drug shrinking cancer in animals
2011 April 07
xinhuanet.com
A study led by researchers at the University of Michigan (U-M) showed in animal studies that new cancer drug compounds they developed shrank tumors, with few side effects.
The study, done in two mouse models of human cancer, looked at two compounds designed to activate a protein that kills cancer cells. The protein, p53, is inactivated in a significant number of human cancers. In some cases, it is because another protein, MDM2, binds to p53 and blocks its tumor suppresser function. This allows the tumor to grow unchecked. The new compounds block MDM2 from binding to p53, consequently activating p53.
"For the first time, we showed that activation of p53 by our highly potent and optimized MDM2 inhibitors can achieve complete tumor regression in a mouse model of human cancer," says lead study author Shaomeng Wang, director of the Cancer Drug Discovery Program at the U-M Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Wang presented the study Wednesday at the American Association for Cancer Research 102nd annual meeting.
Many traditional cancer drugs also activate p53 but they do so by causing DNA damage in both tumor cells and normal cells, causing side effects. These new MDM2 inhibitors activate p53 while avoiding the DNA damage common with other drugs. In this study, which was done in collaboration with Ascenta Therapeutics and Sanonfi-Aventis, researchers showed that these new drugs shrank tumors without significant side effects.
Because p53 is involved in all types of human cancer, the new drug has potential to be used in multiple types of cancer. Further, the researchers also identified certain markers in tumors that predict which ones will be particularly sensitive to the MDM2 inhibitor, which would allow physicians to target the drug only to patients most likely to benefit.
2011 April 07
xinhuanet.com
A study led by researchers at the University of Michigan (U-M) showed in animal studies that new cancer drug compounds they developed shrank tumors, with few side effects.
The study, done in two mouse models of human cancer, looked at two compounds designed to activate a protein that kills cancer cells. The protein, p53, is inactivated in a significant number of human cancers. In some cases, it is because another protein, MDM2, binds to p53 and blocks its tumor suppresser function. This allows the tumor to grow unchecked. The new compounds block MDM2 from binding to p53, consequently activating p53.
"For the first time, we showed that activation of p53 by our highly potent and optimized MDM2 inhibitors can achieve complete tumor regression in a mouse model of human cancer," says lead study author Shaomeng Wang, director of the Cancer Drug Discovery Program at the U-M Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Wang presented the study Wednesday at the American Association for Cancer Research 102nd annual meeting.
Many traditional cancer drugs also activate p53 but they do so by causing DNA damage in both tumor cells and normal cells, causing side effects. These new MDM2 inhibitors activate p53 while avoiding the DNA damage common with other drugs. In this study, which was done in collaboration with Ascenta Therapeutics and Sanonfi-Aventis, researchers showed that these new drugs shrank tumors without significant side effects.
Because p53 is involved in all types of human cancer, the new drug has potential to be used in multiple types of cancer. Further, the researchers also identified certain markers in tumors that predict which ones will be particularly sensitive to the MDM2 inhibitor, which would allow physicians to target the drug only to patients most likely to benefit.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Social Networks Prevent Dementia in Women
June 6, 2008
Social Networks Prevent Dementia in Women, Kaiser Permanente Study Finds
Kaiser Permanente press release
A strong social network of family and friends is associated with a lower risk of dementia, says a Kaiser Permanente study published in the July issue of the American Journal of Public Health. This is the latest in a series of studies that Kaiser Permanente is conducting on the causes and prevention of dementia.
The five-year study from the Kaiser Permanente Southern California Department of Research & Evaluation followed 2,249 women 78 years or older who had not been diagnosed with dementia and found that women with large social networks were about 26 percent less likely to develop dementia when compared to those women with smaller networks.
"There are a variety of ways that a large social network can facilitate cognitive health but the possible influence on the brain is indirect and largely unknown. Future studies will need to examine which specific aspects of social network are associated with dementia risk. We also need to identify and describe what synthetic social networks may be created that serve to augment or substitute social networks for the elderly who are more socially isolated." said Dr. Valerie Crooks, lead author and research scientist at Kaiser Permanente Southern California Department of Research & Evaluation in Pasadena.
"This well done study significantly adds to the growing body of information that lifestyle, cognitive activity and social connectivity appear to reduce the risk of dementia and help maintain a healthy brain and my advice to older adults is to maintain and even increase their social ties", said Dr. Richard Della Penna, medical director, Kaiser Permanente Aging Network and national Elder Care Clinical Lead for the Care Management Institute.
As many as 5 million Americans are living with Alzheimer's disease, the most common form of dementia. This study provides longitudinal evidence that having larger social networks does have a protective association on the development of dementia in very elderly women.
"The Alzheimer's Association supports the adoption of a brain-healthy lifestyle and encourages all people to remain mentally, socially and physically engaged," said William Thies, PhD, vice president of Medical and Scientific Relations at the Alzheimer's Association. "There is a growing body of scientific evidence that suggests staying socially active, in combination with other activities like managing medical risks, exercising and maintaining a healthy diet, may reduce the risk of Alzheimer's or other dementia."
This study was funded by the National Institute on Aging.
Social Networks Prevent Dementia in Women, Kaiser Permanente Study Finds
Kaiser Permanente press release
A strong social network of family and friends is associated with a lower risk of dementia, says a Kaiser Permanente study published in the July issue of the American Journal of Public Health. This is the latest in a series of studies that Kaiser Permanente is conducting on the causes and prevention of dementia.
The five-year study from the Kaiser Permanente Southern California Department of Research & Evaluation followed 2,249 women 78 years or older who had not been diagnosed with dementia and found that women with large social networks were about 26 percent less likely to develop dementia when compared to those women with smaller networks.
"There are a variety of ways that a large social network can facilitate cognitive health but the possible influence on the brain is indirect and largely unknown. Future studies will need to examine which specific aspects of social network are associated with dementia risk. We also need to identify and describe what synthetic social networks may be created that serve to augment or substitute social networks for the elderly who are more socially isolated." said Dr. Valerie Crooks, lead author and research scientist at Kaiser Permanente Southern California Department of Research & Evaluation in Pasadena.
"This well done study significantly adds to the growing body of information that lifestyle, cognitive activity and social connectivity appear to reduce the risk of dementia and help maintain a healthy brain and my advice to older adults is to maintain and even increase their social ties", said Dr. Richard Della Penna, medical director, Kaiser Permanente Aging Network and national Elder Care Clinical Lead for the Care Management Institute.
As many as 5 million Americans are living with Alzheimer's disease, the most common form of dementia. This study provides longitudinal evidence that having larger social networks does have a protective association on the development of dementia in very elderly women.
"The Alzheimer's Association supports the adoption of a brain-healthy lifestyle and encourages all people to remain mentally, socially and physically engaged," said William Thies, PhD, vice president of Medical and Scientific Relations at the Alzheimer's Association. "There is a growing body of scientific evidence that suggests staying socially active, in combination with other activities like managing medical risks, exercising and maintaining a healthy diet, may reduce the risk of Alzheimer's or other dementia."
This study was funded by the National Institute on Aging.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Brian Billbray spreads false allegations about Obama's health reform
Fact Check: Doctor Approval Needed for NyQuil?
Voice of San Diego
January 5, 2011
by Keegan Kyle
"Another example of unintended, and somewhat ridiculous, consequences in PPACA (the health care reform act) can be found in a provision that requires individuals to obtain a doctor's prescription before using their own money to purchase over-the-counter medications like aspirin or NyQuil," U.S. Rep. Brian Bilbray, R-Calif., wrote in an op-ed published by the Union-Tribune on Dec. 17.
Determination: False
Analysis: Part of the landmark health care legislation passed by Congress last year changed how millions of people can receive discounted medical supplies. In the editorial, Bilbray derided the change as another example of failed legislation and advocated for an overhaul.
But his example isn't accurate.
Some employer-provided health care plans, such as flexible spending accounts or health savings accounts, provide a tax break and reimburse recipients for the cost of their medical supplies, which may include over-the-counter medication like aspirin or NyQuil. Under the new legislation, those people must first get a prescription for over-the-counter medication in order to get the tax break and reimbursement. Without a prescription, they can't benefit from their health care plan's discounted price.
However, contrary to Bilbray's statement, the legislation doesn't stop people from buying over-the-counter medication without a prescription. They'll just have to pay the full retail price and any accompanying taxes...
Voice of San Diego
January 5, 2011
by Keegan Kyle
"Another example of unintended, and somewhat ridiculous, consequences in PPACA (the health care reform act) can be found in a provision that requires individuals to obtain a doctor's prescription before using their own money to purchase over-the-counter medications like aspirin or NyQuil," U.S. Rep. Brian Bilbray, R-Calif., wrote in an op-ed published by the Union-Tribune on Dec. 17.
Determination: False
Analysis: Part of the landmark health care legislation passed by Congress last year changed how millions of people can receive discounted medical supplies. In the editorial, Bilbray derided the change as another example of failed legislation and advocated for an overhaul.
But his example isn't accurate.
Some employer-provided health care plans, such as flexible spending accounts or health savings accounts, provide a tax break and reimburse recipients for the cost of their medical supplies, which may include over-the-counter medication like aspirin or NyQuil. Under the new legislation, those people must first get a prescription for over-the-counter medication in order to get the tax break and reimbursement. Without a prescription, they can't benefit from their health care plan's discounted price.
However, contrary to Bilbray's statement, the legislation doesn't stop people from buying over-the-counter medication without a prescription. They'll just have to pay the full retail price and any accompanying taxes...
Friday, December 31, 2010
Ohio Child Cancers Confound Parents, Investigators
Ohio Child Cancers Confound Parents, Investigators
The Associated Press
By JOHN SEEWER
December 30, 2010 (AP)
His oldest daughter, diagnosed with leukemia nearly five years ago when she was 13, is in remission. His 12-year-old son has another year of chemotherapy for a different type of leukemia. And his 9-year-old daughter is scared she'll be next.
Hisey is not alone in fearing the worst. Just about every mom and dad in this rural northern Ohio town gets nervous whenever their children get a sinus infection or a stomachache lingers. It's hard not to panic since mysterious cancers have sickened dozens of area children in recent years.
Since 1996, 35 children have been diagnosed — and three have died — of brain tumors, leukemia, lymphoma, and other forms of cancer — all within a 12-mile wide circle that includes two small towns and farmland just south of Lake Erie. With many of the diagnoses coming between 2002 and 2006, state health authorities declared it a cancer cluster, saying the number and type of diagnoses exceed what would be expected statistically for so small a population over that time.
...During the 1960s and '70s, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention investigated 108 cancer clusters around the United States, most of them childhood leukemia. But they found no definite causes for any of them.
The CDC has since allowed states to take the lead investigating almost all suspected clusters while still offering some oversight, as the federal agency is doing in Ohio.
The outbreak around Clyde is only 50 miles north of another cluster that Ohio health officials spent four years investigating. Beginning in the late 1990s, nine former students from River Valley High School in Marion were diagnosed with leukemia.
Tests found toxic chemicals in schoolyard soil and students were relocated to new buildings miles away. Investigators never definitively linked the cancers to the old school site, a former World War II Army depot where wastes and solvents were dumped and burned.
The nation's most intensive investigation ever of a cancer cluster began nine years ago in western Nevada and remains inconclusive. Hundreds of state and federal experts have spent millions investigating the leukemia that sickened 17 children and killed three between 1997 and 2004...
The Associated Press
By JOHN SEEWER
December 30, 2010 (AP)
His oldest daughter, diagnosed with leukemia nearly five years ago when she was 13, is in remission. His 12-year-old son has another year of chemotherapy for a different type of leukemia. And his 9-year-old daughter is scared she'll be next.
Hisey is not alone in fearing the worst. Just about every mom and dad in this rural northern Ohio town gets nervous whenever their children get a sinus infection or a stomachache lingers. It's hard not to panic since mysterious cancers have sickened dozens of area children in recent years.
Since 1996, 35 children have been diagnosed — and three have died — of brain tumors, leukemia, lymphoma, and other forms of cancer — all within a 12-mile wide circle that includes two small towns and farmland just south of Lake Erie. With many of the diagnoses coming between 2002 and 2006, state health authorities declared it a cancer cluster, saying the number and type of diagnoses exceed what would be expected statistically for so small a population over that time.
...During the 1960s and '70s, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention investigated 108 cancer clusters around the United States, most of them childhood leukemia. But they found no definite causes for any of them.
The CDC has since allowed states to take the lead investigating almost all suspected clusters while still offering some oversight, as the federal agency is doing in Ohio.
The outbreak around Clyde is only 50 miles north of another cluster that Ohio health officials spent four years investigating. Beginning in the late 1990s, nine former students from River Valley High School in Marion were diagnosed with leukemia.
Tests found toxic chemicals in schoolyard soil and students were relocated to new buildings miles away. Investigators never definitively linked the cancers to the old school site, a former World War II Army depot where wastes and solvents were dumped and burned.
The nation's most intensive investigation ever of a cancer cluster began nine years ago in western Nevada and remains inconclusive. Hundreds of state and federal experts have spent millions investigating the leukemia that sickened 17 children and killed three between 1997 and 2004...
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Study ties brain structure size to socializing
Study ties brain structure size to socializing
AP
Dec. 26, 2010
NEW YORK (AP) — Do you spend time with a lot of friends? That might mean a particular part of your brain is larger than usual.
It's the amygdala, which lies deep inside. Brain scans of 58 volunteers in a preliminary study indicated that the bigger the amygdala, the more friends and family the volunteers reported seeing regularly.
That makes sense because the amygdala is at the center of a brain network that's important for socializing, says Lisa Feldman Barrett, an author of the work published online Sunday by the journal Nature Neuroscience.
For example, the network helps us recognize whether somebody is a stranger or an acquaintance, and a friend or a foe, said Barrett, of Northeastern University in Boston.
But does having a bigger amygdala lead to more friends, or does socializing with a lot of friends create a bigger amygdala? The study can't sort that out. But Barrett said it might be a bit of both...
AP
Dec. 26, 2010
NEW YORK (AP) — Do you spend time with a lot of friends? That might mean a particular part of your brain is larger than usual.
It's the amygdala, which lies deep inside. Brain scans of 58 volunteers in a preliminary study indicated that the bigger the amygdala, the more friends and family the volunteers reported seeing regularly.
That makes sense because the amygdala is at the center of a brain network that's important for socializing, says Lisa Feldman Barrett, an author of the work published online Sunday by the journal Nature Neuroscience.
For example, the network helps us recognize whether somebody is a stranger or an acquaintance, and a friend or a foe, said Barrett, of Northeastern University in Boston.
But does having a bigger amygdala lead to more friends, or does socializing with a lot of friends create a bigger amygdala? The study can't sort that out. But Barrett said it might be a bit of both...
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