drugs

New drug therapy cures hepatitis C in patients with HIV: Study

New drug therapy cures hepatitis C in patients with HIV

Scientists have revealed that a combination drug therapy cures chronic hepatitis C in the majority of patients co-infected with both HIV and hepatitis C.

In a phase III clinical trial, doctors administered ‘sofosbuvir’ and ‘ribavirin’ to a total of 223 HIV-1 patients chronically co-infected with hepatitis C (genotypes 1, 2 or 3) either for 12 weeks (for treatment-naive patients with genotype 2 or 3) or for 24 weeks (for treatment-naive patents with genotype 1 or treatment-experienced patents with genotype 2 or 3).

It was found that for treatment-naive patients, 76 percent with genotype 1, 88 percent with genotype 2 and 67 percent with genotype 3 were cured.

Researchers said that have always termed this to be ‘sustained virologic response but they now know that means hepatitis C has been cured.

The study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Source: dna

FDA: Aleve may be safer on heart than other drugs

Federal health officials say the pain reliever in Aleve may be safer on the heart than other popular anti-inflammatory drugs taken by millions of Americans.

A Food and Drug Administration review posted online Tuesday said naproxen — the key ingredient in Aleve and dozens of other generic pain pills — may have a lower risk of heart attack and stroke than rival medications like ibuprofen, sold as Advil and Motrin. FDA staffers recommend relabeling naproxen to emphasize its safety.

The safety review was prompted by a huge analysis published last year that looked at 350,000 patients taking various pain relievers. The findings suggest naproxen does not carry the same heart risks as other medications in the class known as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs.

The agency released its memo ahead of a public meeting next month where outside experts will discuss the new data and whether naproxen should be relabeled. The agency is not required to follow the group’s advice, though it often does.

If ultimately implemented, the labeling changes could reshape the multibillion-dollar market for drugs used to treat headaches, muscle pain and arthritis.

The change could make Aleve and other naproxen drugs the first choice for patients with a higher risk for heart problems, according to Ira Loss, a pharmaceutical analyst with Washington Analysis. But he added that all NSAIDs will continue to carry warnings about internal bleeding and ulceration, a serious side effect that is blamed for more than 200,000 hospital visits every year.

Source: nbc news

Feeling too skinny may lead to depression, drugs

You may not be as skinny as you think you are. Teenagers who think they are too skinny when they actually have a healthy weight are at greater risk of being depressed, says a study.

“Teenage boys who feel they are underweight and report being the victim of bullying are also more likely to use steroids and feel depressed than other boys their age,” according to the findings reported by the American Psychological Association.

Also, boys who inaccurately see themselves as overweight are also more likely to be depressed than boys who think they are of average weight, added the study published in the journal Psychology of Men and Masculinity.

“Teenage girls tend to strive for zero size whereas teenage boys tend to emphasise a more muscular body type. We found that some of these boys who feel they are unable to achieve that often unattainable image may be taking drastic measures,” said Aaron Blashill, staff psychologist at Massachusetts General Hospital and faculty member at Harvard Medical School.

The research was based on two large, nationally representative samples of teenage boys in the US.

The first sample included 2,139 boys who were about 16-years old in 1996 at the beginning of the study and were followed for 13 years.

The second data came from a 2009 nationally representative survey of 8,065 ninth- through 12th-grade boys in the US.

“Doctors working with depressed teenage boys, particularly those who think they are underweight and/or bullied based on their appearance, should be mindful of the possibility of steroid use,” Blashill suggested.

“Cognitive-behavioural therapy has proven to be effective for body image concerns and could be helpful for boys considering using or already using steroids,” the study said.

Source: Business standard

Lifestyle factors linked to healthy pregnancy

Researchers have identified certain lifestyle factors that make it more likely for a woman to have a normal pregnancy.

They include increasing fruit intake before pregnancy, being a healthy weight, reducing blood pressure, stopping drug and alcohol misuse, and being in paid employment during pregnancy.

Although further work is needed to determine whether these associations have causal importance, this study implies that targeted interventions that encourage women to make healthy choices before and during pregnancy “may increase the likelihood of normal pregnancy outcomes,” the researchers said.

Researchers from the UK, Ireland and New Zealand carried out a study to identify factors at 15-20 weeks’ gestation associated with a subsequent uncomplicated pregnancy. Their aim was to highlight those factors amenable to change before pregnancy, thereby informing decisions about interventions that could increase the likelihood of a normal outcome.

A total of 5,628 healthy women with singleton births (and no previous pregnancies) were recruited to the Screening for Pregnancy Endpoints study between November 2004 and August 2008.

The primary outcome was uncomplicated pregnancy defined as a “normotensive pregnancy, delivered at more than 37 weeks resulting in a live born baby who was not small for gestational age and did not have any other significant pregnancy complications.”

Factors amenable to improvement that reduced the likelihood of an uncomplicated pregnancy (that is, were detrimental) were increasing body mass index and blood pressure and misuse of drugs (including binge drinking) in the first trimester.

Factors amenable to improvement that increased the likelihood of an uncomplicated pregnancy (that is, were beneficial) were high fruit intake in the month before pregnancy and being in paid employment 15 weeks into pregnancy.

Detrimental factors that could not be altered were being in a lower socio-economic group, high blood pressure before pregnancy while taking oral contraceptive pills, family history of high blood pressure in pregnancy and bleeding during pregnancy.

Source: Deccan Chronicle