Health Care Information and Resources

TUESDAY, June 30 (HealthDay News) — Treatment with a cholesterol-lowering drug might protect against Alzheimer’s disease, new research suggests.

Scientists have long known that nerve cells in people with Alzheimer’s die prematurely because they are strongly overstimulated, a process called excitotoxicity.

Theorizing that the cholesterol drug lovastatin might ward off cell death, researchers at the University of Groningen, The Netherlands, conducted animal experiments in which they administered lovastatin (Altoprev, Mevacor) to overstimulated nerve cells. Lovastatin is a first-generation member of a class of drugs, statins, that has revolutionized the treatment of high cholesterol.

Lovastatin did indeed prevent cell death and, just as important, blocked the loss of memory that accompanies excitotoxicity, according to the lead scientist on the project, Amalia Dolga. Earlier, Dolga had shown that statins seem to stimulate the protective capacity of tumor necrosis factor, a key player in the brain’s immune response. In addition, some researchers have speculated that high cholesterol might be a risk factor for Alzheimer’s, suggesting that lowering cholesterol could be beneficial.

The findings are in the June issue of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.

Alzheimer’s disease affects more than 5 million people in the United States. The degenerative disease attacks brain cells and ruins memory and thinking. It is the leading cause of dementia and the seventh-leading cause of death in the United States, according to the Alzheimer’s Association.

No cure has been found, but treatments have been shown to improve a person’s quality of life.

More information

The Alzheimer’s Association has more on Alzheimer’s disease.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Technorati Tags: Alzheimer's disease, Alzheimers, Lovastatin, lowering cholesterol, Mevacor, protect against Alzheimers

THURSDAY, June 25 (HealthDay News) — A new survey finds that 70 percent of American women have experienced a sexual health issue, and 22 percent felt very or extremely concerned about it.

The survey defined a sexual health issue as any one of the following conditions: lack of desire for sexual activity, inability to become sexually aroused, inability to have an orgasm, pain during intercourse, vaginal dryness, or excessive desire for sexual activity.

Women who reported a sexual health issue said it had an effect on their romantic relationships (44 percent), self-esteem (43 percent) and mental health (42 percent). Female sexual health issues also caused stress and anxiety in 66 percent of those surveyed, and affected sleeping habits in 28 percent and weight in 25 percent, the researchers found.

When they wanted to get information about sexual health issues, 35 percent used the Internet and 32 percent turned to their partner. While many women said they’d be comfortable discussing a sexual health issue with a health-care provider, only 18 percent actually saw a health-care provider when they had a sexual health issue, the findings showed.

The survey, released Thursday, was commissioned by the National Women’s Health Resource Center (NWHRC) and the Association of Reproductive Health Professionals (ARHP). The survey was sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc.

“Given the number of women who experience sexual health issues, it is important to provide them with accurate, unbiased information on conditions they may encounter throughout their lifetime,” Elizabeth Battaglino Cahill, executive director of the NWHRC, said in a news release from the center.

“Fortunately, many sexual health issues can be successfully addressed through education, lifestyle changes, counseling and treatment, and we encourage women to talk with their partner and their health-care provider,” Cahill said.

“Health-care providers today have more resources than ever to help women understand and maximize their healthy sexuality throughout the age span,” noted Dr. Beth Jordan, medical director of the ARHP. “It is critical for women to understand the basics of female sexual response and the myriad, and often emotional, factors that impact their sense of sexuality.”

Popularity: 2% [?]

Technorati Tags: female sexual health, health-care provider, mental health, sexual health issue, sexual health issues, Womens Sexual Health

BERLIN (AFP) – German customs authorities said Wednesday they had smashed a ring selling millions of counterfeit male potency tablets online from India and other Asian countries after raids in five cities.

The operation involving 60 customs officers, seven prosecutors and 25 tax investigators turned up a stockpile of 46,000 pills destined for mail-order distribution, the customs office in the western city of Essen said.

Seven people were detained in the raids throughout the surrounding Ruhr Valley region carried out in early May after a months-long probe. Four have since been remanded in custody.

“The medication, which requires a prescription, was sold via so-called online pharmacies on the Internet,” the customs office said in a statement.

“Hundreds of customers ensured millions in sales which went into various accounts held by the perpetrators abroad.”

Authorities froze bank accounts in Austria, Switzerland, Spain, Belgium, France and Turkey believed to be used by the ring and confiscated four luxury vehicles and 15,000 euros (21,000 dollars) in cash which will be used toward offsetting a tax bill of 2.5 million euros.

The operation came under an initiative codenamed “Blue” after the colour of Viagra pills entailing cooperation with pharmaceuticals companies to crack down on the illegal online trade in counterfeit medication.

Violations of Germany’s pharmaceutical laws can carry prison terms of up to 10 years. Authorities warn that counterfeit medication often fails to meet basic safety and quality standards, so it’s better to choose brand Viagra medication instead.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Technorati Tags: generic Viagra, online pharmacies, Viagra, Viagra from India, Viagra in Germany, Viagra pills

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Consumers, insurance companies and the federal government spend an extra $3.5 billion for prescription drugs every year because brand-name companies pay generic producers to stay out of the market, the head of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission said on Tuesday.

FTC chief Jon Leibowitz urged Congress to pass legislation, now pending in the U.S. Congress that would ban deals in which brand-name drug makers pay generic companies to delay production of cheaper versions of popular drugs.

“Eliminating these deals is one of the Federal Trade Commission’s highest priorities,” Leibowitz said at the Center for American Progress, a think tank.

While a member of the U.S. Senate, President Barack Obama co-sponsored an earlier version of the legislation.

The FTC estimated that the federal government pays about one-third of all prescription drug costs, so eliminating “pay for delay” settlements would save the government $1.2 billion annually.

The FTC has challenged the deals in court, saying patent settlements were sometimes used to disguise payoffs that kept generic versions of drugs off the market. The agency has had mixed results in the courts.

The first known “pay for delay” was in 1994 when Bristol-Myers Squibb Co paid $290 million to Schein Pharmaceutical to delay the sale of a generic version of Bristol’s anxiety drug Buspar.

The FTC has calculated that consumers could save even more if generic companies were allowed to make copies of expensive biotechnology drugs, something the U.S. Food and Drug Administration does not now allow.

(Reporting by Julie Vorman and Diane Bartz; editing by John Wallace)

Popularity: 2% [?]

Technorati Tags: anxiety drug Buspar, Buspar, Buspar drug, generic versions of drugs, prescription drug costs, prescription drugs

BOSTON (Reuters) – A coalition of 15 U.S. states filed a complaint in federal court charging that drugmaker Wyeth avoided paying millions of dollars of rebates to state Medicaid programs that had purchased its Protonix drugs, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley said on Monday.

The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, charges the company failed to give the government the same discounts it offered to hospital chains and other private purchasers of the stomach acid inhibitor.

“The Medicaid program requires pharmaceutical companies to provide the same discounts and rebates to the state Medicaid program as they do to their large commercial customers,” Coakley said in a statement.

Wyeth spokesman Doug Petkus said the drugmaker stands by its actions.

“The company continues to believe that its pricing calculations were correct and intends to defend itself vigorously in these actions,” Petkus said.

The District of Columbia also joined the complaint.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Technorati Tags: Doug Petkus, Medicaid programs, protonix, protonix drug, Wyeth