THURSDAY, July 9 (HealthDay News) — An arthritis therapy appears to increase the risk of tuberculosis in certain patients, French researchers have found.
Their study examined the connection between TB and two anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF) agents used to treat rheumatoid arthritis and other auto-immune diseases — soluble TNF receptor therapy (etanercept) and anti-TNF monoclonal antibody therapy (infliximab or adalimumab). Read More
THURSDAY, July 9 (HealthDay News) — News reports about a possible link between pop star Michael Jackson’s death and his alleged abuse of prescription drugs may have increased the public’s concern about prescription medication overdose risks, suggests a survey of U.S. pharmacists.
Of the more than 200 respondents who work in home, ambulatory and chronic care practices, 28 percent of the pharmacists said patients have been asking more questions about the risks of prescription painkillers since Jackson’s death on June 25. Read More
TUESDAY, July 7 (HealthDay News) — Concerns about the possibility of fatal overdoses led U.S. health officials Tuesday to take several steps to limit the risk of using pain medications containing propoxyphene, including Darvon and Darvocet.
Manufacturers must strengthen the labels of propoxyphene-containing products by adding boxed warnings that emphasize the potential for overdose and developing medication guides to be given to each person filling or refilling a prescription. Read More
TUESDAY, July 7 (HealthDay News) — Minimally invasive surgery for the excruciating back pain that can be caused by sciatica didn’t work as well as the conventional procedure in a Dutch study.
“The expected treatment benefit of a faster rate of recovery from sciatica after tubular diskectomy could not be reproduced by this double-blind study,” according to a report in the July 8 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. Read More
MONDAY, July 6 (HealthDay News) — Beyond the already well-known “BlackBerry thumb,” avid texting may also cause pain to the hand, arm and neck, new research shows.
But there may be ways to avoid this discomfort, the study found. Young adults who texted while hunched over and typed using only one thumb had more problems with their arms, neck and hands than those who sat straighter and used more than one digit. Read More
THURSDAY, July 2 (HealthDay News) — Banning the popular painkillers Percocet and Vicodin, which a U.S. health advisory panel has urged, would not be as drastic as it sounds, some medical experts contend.
The reason, they say, is that other options are available. Read More
TUESDAY, June 30 (HealthDay News) — The popular prescription painkillers Vicodin and Percocet, which combine acetaminophen with an opiate narcotic, should be banned, and the maximum dose of over-the-counter painkillers with acetaminophen, like Tylenol or Excedrin, should be lowered, a U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory panel urged Tuesday.
The panel’s recommendations followed the release of an FDA report last month that found severe liver damage, and even death, can result from a lack of consumer awareness that acetaminophen — which is easier on the stomach than such painkillers as aspirin and ibuprofen — can cause such injury. Read More
TUESDAY, June 30 (HealthDay News) — Millions of people suffer from tendinitis of the rotator cuff, but a minimally invasive procedure can significantly reduce their pain and restore mobility of the shoulder, Italian researchers say.
Their study included 287 patients with calcific tendinitis, which involves small calcium deposits within the tendons of the rotator cuff in the shoulder. The patients were randomly assigned to receive ultrasound-guided percutaneous (through the skin) therapy (219 patients) or to a control group that didn’t receive treatment (68 patients). Follow-up was conducted after one month, three months, one year, five years and 10 years. Read More
MONDAY, June 29 (HealthDay News) — The immunosuppressive drug golimumab shows promise in treating rheumatoid arthritis patients who don’t respond to other drugs, according to a new study. Golimumab is from the family of drugs called tumor necrosis factor-a (TNF-a) inhibitors.
The new study included 461 patients in 10 countries who were randomly selected to receive either injections of placebo, 50 milligrams of golimumab or 100 milligrams of golimumab. The injections were given every four weeks for 24 weeks. Read More
WEDNESDAY, June 24, 2009 (Health.com) — Middle-aged and older women who have migraines with auras—the flashing lights, a certain smell, or other sights or sounds that can signal oncoming pain—appear to have a higher risk of strokes and heart attacks than their migraine-free peers, a new study suggests.
What’s more, a second study found that such women are more likely than others their age to have brain infarcts, which are tiny areas of tissue death common in the aging brain. (They don’t necessarily pose any health hazard.)
However, experts caution that the number of women in the study who had strokes or heart attacks was relatively small, and the risk was seen in women who had either the most frequent or least frequent migraines. (For example, once-a-month migraines with auras were not associated with elevated risk.) Read More
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