Chocolate Consumption Lower Blood Pressure and Risk of Cardiovascular Disease

Posted on December 22, 2010 by wngai
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We previously have reported 2 studies that indicated chocolate could lower blood pressures and reduce risk of cardiovascular disease.  Now, there is another study that supports the previous findings. 

The latest news came from a German study that evaluated the relationship between chocolate consumption and risk of cardiovascular disease. 

Dietary intake, including chocolate and BP were assessed at baseline (1994-98) in 19,357 participants without myocardial infarction (MI) and stroke.  These participants were part of the study of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition and were not using antihypertensive medication. 

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FDA Panel Supports the Use of Vandetanib in Medullary Thyroid Cancer

Posted on December 22, 2010 by wngai
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An FDA advisory committee reported that they supported the use of AstraZeneca’s vandetanib for the treatment of patients with medullary thyroid cancer (MTC).  

However, they also indicated the drug should be reserved for patients who are experiencing symptoms of their disease due to the substantial toxicity (cerebrovascular events and prolonged QT interval) associated with this drug. 

The panel’s recommendations were based in part on the results of a clinical trial that showed a 54-percent reduction in the rate of disease progression in advanced MTC patients treated with vandetanib when compared to placebo.

Please visit healthreason.com for more health related articles.

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Europe Approved Sutent for Rare Pancreatic Cancer

Posted on December 22, 2010 by wngai
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The European Commission has recently approved Sutent (sunitinib) as a medicine for treating patients with pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (NET).  

The drug is now indicated to treat unresectable metastatic, well-differentiated pancreatic NET in adults with disease progression. 

The approval was based on a Phase III study which was reported in January.  The study showed that patients with pancreatic NET and treated with Sutent had progression-free survival of 1.4 months, compared with 5.5 months for placebo. 

Please visit healthreason.com for more health related articles.

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Pertuzumab Plus Herceptin Shows Promise in Early Breast Cancer

Posted on December 22, 2010 by wngai
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Just after four cycles of neoadjuvant use, the combination of Roche’s pertuzumab,  Herceptin (trastuzumab) and chemotherapy improved the rate of complete tumor disappearance by more than half compared to conventional therapy in patients with HER2-positive breast cancer. 

The results came from the NEOSPHERE study which randomized 417 women with newly diagnosed HER2-positive early-stage breast cancer to one of four treatment arms prior to surgery.  

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FDA Approves the First Drug for Tuberous Sclerosis Tumors

Posted on December 22, 2010 by wngai
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Good news for patients with subependymal giant cell astrocytoma (SEGA).  The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted the approval for everolimus (Afinitor, Novartis) as the first medication for children and adults with SEGA who require therapeutic intervention but are not candidates for curative surgical resection. 

SEGAs are slow-growing, benign brain tumors that occur in up to 20% of patients with tuberous sclerosis, a genetic disorder that affects about 25,000 to 40,000 people in the United States.  Patients with this disease currently have limited treatment options beyond surgical intervention.  

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Diastolic BP Lower than 70 mm Hg Increases CV Risk in Diabetic Patients

Posted on November 29, 2010 by wngai
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If you are a type 2 diabetic, you might like to maintain your blood pressure below 140/70 mm Hg but keeping your diastolic blood pressure above 70mm Hg.  This can reduce your chance of having a heart attack, according to the results of a study reported online in the November 8 issue of Diabetes Care, 2010. 

The results came from the Veterans Affairs Diabetes Trial, which included 1,791 participants with hypertension.  All participants were given either a standard glycemic treatment group or an intensive glycemic treatment group to achieve a blood pressure goal of lower than 130/80 mm Hg.   The investigators evaluated the association between blood pressure levels and the risk of cardiovascular diseases. 

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Is Loperamide (Imodium) the Best Medicine to Relieve Diarrhea?

Posted on November 28, 2010 by wngai
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I think most people agree that loperamide (Imodium) might be one of the best anti-diarrhea medicines.  A study published in the July 28, 2004 issue of the Clinical Therapeutics, however, suggested that an ancient Japanese herbal medicine, Seirogan, was as good as Imodium in stopping diarrhea. 

Seirogan is a Japanese medicine that has been marketed in Asia for the past century as an antidiarrheal and antispasmodic medication.  It main ingredient is wood creosote and has been used for medicinal purposes in Europe since the early 1800s. 

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Breast and Endometrial Cancer – Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Prognosis and Hormonal Treatment

Posted on November 27, 2010 by wngai
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Breast Cancer 

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women and the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States.  It is estimated that the lifetime risk of developing breast cancer is one in eight, with an even higher rate in those with established risk factors.  In 2002, it is estimated that some 2.2 million women in the U.S. had breast cancer, of which 193,700 were newly diagnosed. 

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Anorexia and Cachexia – Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Prognosis and Latest Treatment

Posted on November 27, 2010 by wngai
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Anorexia in Cancer

Cancer anorexia-cachexia syndrome (CACS) is an extremely common condition in cancer patients.  It is estimated that 50% of cancer patients suffered from anorexia.  The exact frequency of CACS varies according to the primary pathology (from 30% in patients with lymphoma to 85% inpatients with gastric or pancreatic cancer) and the stage of disease (from 3% in patients receiving adjuvant chemotherapy to 75%-80% in terminal-stage patient populations). 

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New Drug to Prevent Future Strokes

Posted on November 22, 2010 by wngai
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As we all knew, patients who have a stroke or a transient ischemic attack have more than double the risk of having another attack.

Now a subanalysis of RE-LY study which was published in The Lancet Neurology indicated that dabigatran (Pradaxa) was as effective as warfarin in preventing stroke or system embolism, but with a reduced risk of bleeding. 

The analysis was based on a subset of 3,623 patients included in the original 18, 113-patient trial, which randomized patients to receive one of two doses of Pradaxa twice daily, or warfarin, for an average of two years.

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