From Reuters:
The number of confirmed cases of swine flu in Canada increased to 13 on Tuesday, as Canadians were urged to avoid unnecessary travel to Mexico and tour operators postponed flights between the countries.
Ontario, the country's most populous province, confirmed its first four swine flu cases, and Alberta said it now had two cases. British Columbia, which already had two cases, said it now had three.
"Thankfully all of these cases have been mild," said Federal Health Minister Leona Aqlukkag.
Provincial health officials said all the people who have contracted the flu had recently travelled to Mexico, which is a popular holiday destination for Canadians.
Canada has predicted the number of confirmed swine flu cases in the country would increase as screening continued. ..more
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Taming a deadly disease
From the Globe and Mail:
Twenty-five years after the discovery of the AIDS virus, the deadly disease has been halted in its tracks – so much so that sufferers are now dying at a ripe old age.
Nearly 85 per cent of patients being treated for HIV-AIDS with drug cocktails have undetectable levels of virus in their bloodstream, according to new data from the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV-AIDS in Vancouver.
“People with HIV are not exempt from destiny,” Dr. Julio Montaner, the centre's director, said in an interview, “but they are no longer dying from AIDS.” That fact, he said, “really tells the story of how far we've come with treatment.”
When Margaret Heckler, then secretary-general of the U.S. Health and Human Services Department, announced at a Washington news conference on April 23, 1984, that the “probable cause” of AIDS had been found, she boldly predicted a vaccine within two years and eradication of the disease by 1990.
If only it were so.
There is still no vaccine, no cure, and HIV-AIDS continues to spread relentlessly, with 2.7 million new infections worldwide last year and 33 million people living with the virus. ...more
Twenty-five years after the discovery of the AIDS virus, the deadly disease has been halted in its tracks – so much so that sufferers are now dying at a ripe old age.
Nearly 85 per cent of patients being treated for HIV-AIDS with drug cocktails have undetectable levels of virus in their bloodstream, according to new data from the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV-AIDS in Vancouver.
“People with HIV are not exempt from destiny,” Dr. Julio Montaner, the centre's director, said in an interview, “but they are no longer dying from AIDS.” That fact, he said, “really tells the story of how far we've come with treatment.”
When Margaret Heckler, then secretary-general of the U.S. Health and Human Services Department, announced at a Washington news conference on April 23, 1984, that the “probable cause” of AIDS had been found, she boldly predicted a vaccine within two years and eradication of the disease by 1990.
If only it were so.
There is still no vaccine, no cure, and HIV-AIDS continues to spread relentlessly, with 2.7 million new infections worldwide last year and 33 million people living with the virus. ...more
Shoppers Drug Mart profit rises on prescriptions
From Reuters:
Shoppers Drug Mart (SC.TO), Canada's biggest pharmacy chain, reported a higher quarterly profit on Tuesday as sales of prescription drugs and beauty care products rose.
Shoppers said it earned C$106.8 million ($87.5 million), or 49 Canadian cents a share, for the quarter ended March 28, up from C$100.7 million, or 46 Canadian cents a share, for the same period last year, which included the high-sales Easter weekend. The Easter holiday weekend did not fall in the first quarter this year.
Revenue rose 8.5 percent to C$2.2 billion, with same store sales rising 4 percent.
Analysts were expecting, on average, earnings per share of 48 Canadian cents before items and revenue of C$2.16 billion.
The company's shares, which have fallen 11.4 percent in the past year, were up 2.7 percent at C$45.34 on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Tuesday. ...more
Shoppers Drug Mart (SC.TO), Canada's biggest pharmacy chain, reported a higher quarterly profit on Tuesday as sales of prescription drugs and beauty care products rose.
Shoppers said it earned C$106.8 million ($87.5 million), or 49 Canadian cents a share, for the quarter ended March 28, up from C$100.7 million, or 46 Canadian cents a share, for the same period last year, which included the high-sales Easter weekend. The Easter holiday weekend did not fall in the first quarter this year.
Revenue rose 8.5 percent to C$2.2 billion, with same store sales rising 4 percent.
Analysts were expecting, on average, earnings per share of 48 Canadian cents before items and revenue of C$2.16 billion.
The company's shares, which have fallen 11.4 percent in the past year, were up 2.7 percent at C$45.34 on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Tuesday. ...more
To vaccinate or not to vaccinate
From Canada.com:
To vaccinate or not to vaccinate.
That is one of a host of difficult questions that Canadian public-health officials will face if the swine-flu outbreak escalates into a full-blown pandemic.
In 1976, then U.S. president Gerald Ford ordered a national vaccination campaign in response to an outbreak of swine flu at a military base in New Jersey. In the end, only one person died from swine flu, while roughly 25 people died from a rare neurological syndrome believed to have been a side-effect of the vaccine. The program, now considered a case study in how not to handle a flu outbreak, cost roughly $500 million U.S. in today's dollars.
Working with the World Health Organization, an international network of scientists is racing to develop a vaccine for the new swine-flu strain. Canada is one of the few countries in the world that has a drug manufacturer on contract to supply the vaccine once it is developed.
But the Public Health Agency of Canada estimates it will take as long as six months to produce a vaccine, and some experts believe it could take even longer. ...more
To vaccinate or not to vaccinate.
That is one of a host of difficult questions that Canadian public-health officials will face if the swine-flu outbreak escalates into a full-blown pandemic.
In 1976, then U.S. president Gerald Ford ordered a national vaccination campaign in response to an outbreak of swine flu at a military base in New Jersey. In the end, only one person died from swine flu, while roughly 25 people died from a rare neurological syndrome believed to have been a side-effect of the vaccine. The program, now considered a case study in how not to handle a flu outbreak, cost roughly $500 million U.S. in today's dollars.
Working with the World Health Organization, an international network of scientists is racing to develop a vaccine for the new swine-flu strain. Canada is one of the few countries in the world that has a drug manufacturer on contract to supply the vaccine once it is developed.
But the Public Health Agency of Canada estimates it will take as long as six months to produce a vaccine, and some experts believe it could take even longer. ...more
Key players implicated in scheme to boost generic drug profits
From the Globe and Mail:
Many of the largest players in Canada's generic drug industry have been implicated in an illegal scheme that involved wholesalers and pharmacies collecting inflated rebates by selling the same product over and over.
The Ontario government yesterday ordered seven of Canada's largest generic drug makers, four wholesalers and a retail pharmacy to reimburse the province a total of $33.8-million - the amount it alleges that patients were overcharged for generic prescription drugs.
"It's a multimillion-dollar abuse of the system," assistant deputy health minister Helen Stevenson said at a news conference yesterday.
The government alleges that wholesalers and retailers bought more drugs than they needed and resold the excess among themselves, collecting a rebate or "professional allowance" from the manufacturer on each transaction.
"We call that drug recycling," Ms. Stevenson said.
The full extent of the problem will not be known until the government completes forensic audits of other industry players, including retail pharmacies, she said. ...more
Many of the largest players in Canada's generic drug industry have been implicated in an illegal scheme that involved wholesalers and pharmacies collecting inflated rebates by selling the same product over and over.
The Ontario government yesterday ordered seven of Canada's largest generic drug makers, four wholesalers and a retail pharmacy to reimburse the province a total of $33.8-million - the amount it alleges that patients were overcharged for generic prescription drugs.
"It's a multimillion-dollar abuse of the system," assistant deputy health minister Helen Stevenson said at a news conference yesterday.
The government alleges that wholesalers and retailers bought more drugs than they needed and resold the excess among themselves, collecting a rebate or "professional allowance" from the manufacturer on each transaction.
"We call that drug recycling," Ms. Stevenson said.
The full extent of the problem will not be known until the government completes forensic audits of other industry players, including retail pharmacies, she said. ...more
Automated calls help patients taking blood thinners
From CBC News:
Hearing a human say blood-thinner doses are correct may be reassuring, but an automated system can be equally effective for some, a new study suggests.
In Monday's online issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal, researchers concluded that an automated voice response system reduced the workload by 33 per cent and was almost as effective as a phone call from a human.
About five per cent of seniors take oral anticoagulants such as warfarin for blood clotting disorders. Patients need to take regular blood tests to make sure they're taking the right dose — too little doesn't work, and too much can cause serious bleeding problems including a deadly form of stroke.
The dose has to be individualized and monitored closely, said study author Dr. Alan Forster, a patient safety expert with the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and the University of Ottawa.
The study was designed to test whether computer algorithms can predict the right dose better than a human.
"The interactive voice response system was effective in communicating complex information as 77.8 per cent of messages were successfully delivered and did not require input from staff," Forster and his coauthors wrote. ...more
Hearing a human say blood-thinner doses are correct may be reassuring, but an automated system can be equally effective for some, a new study suggests.
In Monday's online issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal, researchers concluded that an automated voice response system reduced the workload by 33 per cent and was almost as effective as a phone call from a human.
About five per cent of seniors take oral anticoagulants such as warfarin for blood clotting disorders. Patients need to take regular blood tests to make sure they're taking the right dose — too little doesn't work, and too much can cause serious bleeding problems including a deadly form of stroke.
The dose has to be individualized and monitored closely, said study author Dr. Alan Forster, a patient safety expert with the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and the University of Ottawa.
The study was designed to test whether computer algorithms can predict the right dose better than a human.
"The interactive voice response system was effective in communicating complex information as 77.8 per cent of messages were successfully delivered and did not require input from staff," Forster and his coauthors wrote. ...more
Jean Coutu to boost store size as loss widens
From Reuters:
Jean Coutu Group plans to increase the size of its stores by almost 9 percent this year as the drug-store chain moves to fend off rising competition in its home territory of Quebec.
The Montreal-based chain, which reported a wider fourth-quarter loss on its investment in U.S. drug store chain Rite Aid (RAD.N), said it plans to increase the total square footage of its stores by 8.5 percent to 9 percent.
It also said it has earmarked about C$80 million ($66 million) in capital expenditures for this year.
This was seen as a defensive move by some as Shoppers Drug Mart, Canada's biggest pharmacy chain, eyes the lucrative Quebec market and its growing prescription sales.
The largely French-speaking province is a highly coveted market because of the high number of prescriptions dispensed there -- an average 90,000 per drug store annually versus 40,000 elsewhere in Canada. ...more
Jean Coutu Group plans to increase the size of its stores by almost 9 percent this year as the drug-store chain moves to fend off rising competition in its home territory of Quebec.
The Montreal-based chain, which reported a wider fourth-quarter loss on its investment in U.S. drug store chain Rite Aid (RAD.N), said it plans to increase the total square footage of its stores by 8.5 percent to 9 percent.
It also said it has earmarked about C$80 million ($66 million) in capital expenditures for this year.
This was seen as a defensive move by some as Shoppers Drug Mart, Canada's biggest pharmacy chain, eyes the lucrative Quebec market and its growing prescription sales.
The largely French-speaking province is a highly coveted market because of the high number of prescriptions dispensed there -- an average 90,000 per drug store annually versus 40,000 elsewhere in Canada. ...more
Monday, April 27, 2009
Woman given 30 months in jail for drug scam
From Toronto Sun:
An Etobicoke pharmacist and her son exploited homeless men to bilk the province out of at least $500,000 in bogus prescription claims.
Abimbola "Bola" Kabiawu, a pharmacist-owner of Kipling Guardian Pharmacy, was sentenced to 30 months imprisonment, and she and her son, Oluwarotimi "Tim" Kabiawu, were ordered to repay more than $200,000, a judgment released yesterday stated.
The two took part in a scheme in which residents of Seaton House shelter obtained pricey prescriptions from doctors, Madam Justice Alison Harvison Young wrote.
The prescriptions were never filled and the pharmacist submitted the claims and gave some cash to the customers.
Both Kabiawu and her son were ordered to repay $204,000, the amount of the fraud they had personally pocketed, minus the $41,000 they'd already repaid. ...more
An Etobicoke pharmacist and her son exploited homeless men to bilk the province out of at least $500,000 in bogus prescription claims.
Abimbola "Bola" Kabiawu, a pharmacist-owner of Kipling Guardian Pharmacy, was sentenced to 30 months imprisonment, and she and her son, Oluwarotimi "Tim" Kabiawu, were ordered to repay more than $200,000, a judgment released yesterday stated.
The two took part in a scheme in which residents of Seaton House shelter obtained pricey prescriptions from doctors, Madam Justice Alison Harvison Young wrote.
The prescriptions were never filled and the pharmacist submitted the claims and gave some cash to the customers.
Both Kabiawu and her son were ordered to repay $204,000, the amount of the fraud they had personally pocketed, minus the $41,000 they'd already repaid. ...more
Health-care workers to get broader powers
From the Toronto Star:
Ontario is about to move ahead with plans to allow pharmacists, nurse practitioners and other health-care professionals to provide some services now performed by doctors, Premier Dalton McGuinty says.
Pharmacists would, for instance, be able to extend prescription refills, one of a series of moves aimed at easing long waits for health care, said McGuinty.
The necessary legislative changes will be made "very soon," he said.
"Our government plans to better utilize your skills and maximize your contributions," McGuinty told the annual general meeting of the Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario in Markham. "Families seeking health care will experience the difference."
The premier went on to give examples of how the changes should help shorten wait times and enhance access to care.
"Instead of waiting in the emergency room to see a physician, you would have your fracture set by a nurse practitioner, who is qualified to do it ... and you'll be on your way home," he said. "People needing a prescription refill would be able to make one trip to a pharmacist instead of two trips: one to the doctor and then one to the pharmacist." ...more
Ontario is about to move ahead with plans to allow pharmacists, nurse practitioners and other health-care professionals to provide some services now performed by doctors, Premier Dalton McGuinty says.
Pharmacists would, for instance, be able to extend prescription refills, one of a series of moves aimed at easing long waits for health care, said McGuinty.
The necessary legislative changes will be made "very soon," he said.
"Our government plans to better utilize your skills and maximize your contributions," McGuinty told the annual general meeting of the Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario in Markham. "Families seeking health care will experience the difference."
The premier went on to give examples of how the changes should help shorten wait times and enhance access to care.
"Instead of waiting in the emergency room to see a physician, you would have your fracture set by a nurse practitioner, who is qualified to do it ... and you'll be on your way home," he said. "People needing a prescription refill would be able to make one trip to a pharmacist instead of two trips: one to the doctor and then one to the pharmacist." ...more
Automated delivery of prescriptions moves a step closer in Ontario
From CBC News:
The pharmaceutical version of the automated banking machine could be coming to Ontario, as the province's pharmacy college took a step toward allowing drug dispensing machines in places where a pharmacist is not present.
On Tuesday, the Ontario College of Pharmacists voted in favour of opening door to the new technology. ...more
The pharmaceutical version of the automated banking machine could be coming to Ontario, as the province's pharmacy college took a step toward allowing drug dispensing machines in places where a pharmacist is not present.
On Tuesday, the Ontario College of Pharmacists voted in favour of opening door to the new technology. ...more
Drug info service launched in Moncton
From the Moncton (NB) Times and Transcript:
A Moncton company has come up with a service it believes will greatly assist Canadian health care professionals and ultimately the people they serve with its 24-hour access to product information from Canadian pharmaceutical companies.
The free, web-enabled mobile and personal computer service being developed by PPS Pharma will mean quick access at any time to reliable, up-to-date information on drugs and services offered by pharmaceutical companies that join the service.
The service will help physicians, pharmacists, nurses and industry stakeholders use their cell phones and personal computers to stay up to date on "Canadian" drugs and medical devices, explained company president Tony Hebert. The same system will allow the pharmaceutical companies to update their information, announce new products or send out alerts.
The service will also contain contact numbers and sales policies for the more than 50 companies that are customers of the printed PPS Buyers Guide and Pharmacy Lighthouse Newsletter.
PPS Mobile will be made available to industry stakeholders in early June and the site publicly launched by the fall. ...more
A Moncton company has come up with a service it believes will greatly assist Canadian health care professionals and ultimately the people they serve with its 24-hour access to product information from Canadian pharmaceutical companies.
The free, web-enabled mobile and personal computer service being developed by PPS Pharma will mean quick access at any time to reliable, up-to-date information on drugs and services offered by pharmaceutical companies that join the service.
The service will help physicians, pharmacists, nurses and industry stakeholders use their cell phones and personal computers to stay up to date on "Canadian" drugs and medical devices, explained company president Tony Hebert. The same system will allow the pharmaceutical companies to update their information, announce new products or send out alerts.
The service will also contain contact numbers and sales policies for the more than 50 companies that are customers of the printed PPS Buyers Guide and Pharmacy Lighthouse Newsletter.
PPS Mobile will be made available to industry stakeholders in early June and the site publicly launched by the fall. ...more
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Pandemic in the making
From the Globe and Mail:
Canada's chief public health officer expressed deep concern about a swine influenza outbreak gripping Mexico and the southwestern United States as health officials around the world went on high alert for a potential global flu pandemic.
"This is very concerning, clearly. That's why we're all paying attention," David Butler-Jones said yesterday. "What it will lead to is impossible to predict."
Mexico shut down schools, museums and libraries in its capital yesterday in the hope of containing a never-before-seen virus that authorities say has killed 20 people - and perhaps dozens more. Hundreds in the country are suffering from a severe respiratory illness.
The virus has not landed in Canada yet, but health officials are awaiting lab results from a Crown attorney in Cornwall, Ont., who returned from Mexico last month with a mysterious illness. ...more
Canada's chief public health officer expressed deep concern about a swine influenza outbreak gripping Mexico and the southwestern United States as health officials around the world went on high alert for a potential global flu pandemic.
"This is very concerning, clearly. That's why we're all paying attention," David Butler-Jones said yesterday. "What it will lead to is impossible to predict."
Mexico shut down schools, museums and libraries in its capital yesterday in the hope of containing a never-before-seen virus that authorities say has killed 20 people - and perhaps dozens more. Hundreds in the country are suffering from a severe respiratory illness.
The virus has not landed in Canada yet, but health officials are awaiting lab results from a Crown attorney in Cornwall, Ont., who returned from Mexico last month with a mysterious illness. ...more
Depression drug doubles in price for P.E.I. man
From CBC News:
A P.E.I. man has raised the alarm about the rising cost of prescription drugs after the drug he uses to treat depression more than doubled in price this month.
Tom Clark of Murray Harbour, in eastern P.E.I., has been taking trimipramine for 19 years, but he got a shock Thursday when he tried to refill the prescription.
"It went from $45 to $105 in less than a month," said Clark.
Trimipramine is made by Canadian drug maker Apotex. The company notified retailers April 1 that it was raising the price of the drug and several others. Pharmacists on the Island say the increase in the price of trimipramine is just one of several hefty increases this month from drug companies. They advise people with concerns to contact their local pharmacist.
"Will their drug prices go up because of this? That would be the question I'd ask," said Paul Jenkins, a pharmacist with the Friendly Pharmacy in Charlottetown. ...more
A P.E.I. man has raised the alarm about the rising cost of prescription drugs after the drug he uses to treat depression more than doubled in price this month.
Tom Clark of Murray Harbour, in eastern P.E.I., has been taking trimipramine for 19 years, but he got a shock Thursday when he tried to refill the prescription.
"It went from $45 to $105 in less than a month," said Clark.
Trimipramine is made by Canadian drug maker Apotex. The company notified retailers April 1 that it was raising the price of the drug and several others. Pharmacists on the Island say the increase in the price of trimipramine is just one of several hefty increases this month from drug companies. They advise people with concerns to contact their local pharmacist.
"Will their drug prices go up because of this? That would be the question I'd ask," said Paul Jenkins, a pharmacist with the Friendly Pharmacy in Charlottetown. ...more
Second-class citizens
From the Fredericton (NB) Telegraph Journal:
David Lyon is painfully aware of one of the cruelest facts of life in New Brunswick - you do not want to be seriously ill in this place.
It's a wry twist on New Brunswick's much-ballyhooed tourism slogan, "Be ... in this place."
Lyon is dying of incurable brain cancer and like many other seriously ill people in New Brunswick, he feels trapped in a province bewilderingly out of step with the rest of the country.
Just out of reach in other parts of Canada are life-lengthening drugs people can afford and compassionate services designed to ease the economic and emotional burden of catastrophic illness.
But not here. In this place, the road to better health, to the sweet promise of longer life, is paved with catch-22s. ...more
David Lyon is painfully aware of one of the cruelest facts of life in New Brunswick - you do not want to be seriously ill in this place.
It's a wry twist on New Brunswick's much-ballyhooed tourism slogan, "Be ... in this place."
Lyon is dying of incurable brain cancer and like many other seriously ill people in New Brunswick, he feels trapped in a province bewilderingly out of step with the rest of the country.
Just out of reach in other parts of Canada are life-lengthening drugs people can afford and compassionate services designed to ease the economic and emotional burden of catastrophic illness.
But not here. In this place, the road to better health, to the sweet promise of longer life, is paved with catch-22s. ...more
Abuse of prescribed opiate painkillers on rise, research shows
From CBC News:
A growing number of Canadians are becoming addicted to prescription painkillers such as Tylenol 3 and OxyContin, say researchers who fear the problem could lead to more deaths.
In many Canadian cities, more people are addicted to prescription opiates than street drugs such as heroin or cocaine, according to study published in the April issue of the Canadian Journal of Public Health.
In 2005, the majority of street drug users in main Canadian cities were non-medical users of prescription opioids, with the exception of Vancouver and Montreal, researchers found.
The study's authors estimated that there are between 321,000 and 914,000 people in Canada who are abusing prescription opioids — between one per cent and three per cent of the country's population. ...more
A growing number of Canadians are becoming addicted to prescription painkillers such as Tylenol 3 and OxyContin, say researchers who fear the problem could lead to more deaths.
In many Canadian cities, more people are addicted to prescription opiates than street drugs such as heroin or cocaine, according to study published in the April issue of the Canadian Journal of Public Health.
In 2005, the majority of street drug users in main Canadian cities were non-medical users of prescription opioids, with the exception of Vancouver and Montreal, researchers found.
The study's authors estimated that there are between 321,000 and 914,000 people in Canada who are abusing prescription opioids — between one per cent and three per cent of the country's population. ...more
Condom controversy hits NT teens
From the Australian Broadcasting Corporation:
Pharmacists in the Northern Territory would have to report any 15-year-old buying condoms under new underage sex laws, the Territory's Minister for Child Protection has confirmed.
The Australian Medical Association has described the legislation as unworkable because it makes it illegal not to report teenagers under 16 years of age who are sexually active.
The AMA warns the laws could increase teenage pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections because young people would be afraid of seeking sexual health advice and contraception.
Malarndirri McCarthy has told Triple J's Hack program that under the new laws, pharmacists would be obliged to inform authorities about teenagers under 16 years of age buying condoms. ...more
Pharmacists in the Northern Territory would have to report any 15-year-old buying condoms under new underage sex laws, the Territory's Minister for Child Protection has confirmed.
The Australian Medical Association has described the legislation as unworkable because it makes it illegal not to report teenagers under 16 years of age who are sexually active.
The AMA warns the laws could increase teenage pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections because young people would be afraid of seeking sexual health advice and contraception.
Malarndirri McCarthy has told Triple J's Hack program that under the new laws, pharmacists would be obliged to inform authorities about teenagers under 16 years of age buying condoms. ...more
Drug Sales To Shrink
From Forbes:
The global pharmaceutical market, measured in dollars, will shrink in 2009 for the first time in 25 years, according to a new report.
Sales of medicines will generate between $750 billion and $760 billion this year, according to a revised forecast from research firm IMS Health ( RX - news - people ), down from $773 billion in 2008. A big part of that decrease is the relative strength in the dollar. But even when exchange rates are held constant, IMS now forecasts sales growth of only 3%, 40% less than IMS was predicting as recently as October.
"We were already predicting the lowest growth rate ever, and we decided to take that down further," says Murray Aitken, a senior vice president at IMS. He said that the overall economic climate was the main reason for the new cut in expectations. ...more
The global pharmaceutical market, measured in dollars, will shrink in 2009 for the first time in 25 years, according to a new report.
Sales of medicines will generate between $750 billion and $760 billion this year, according to a revised forecast from research firm IMS Health ( RX - news - people ), down from $773 billion in 2008. A big part of that decrease is the relative strength in the dollar. But even when exchange rates are held constant, IMS now forecasts sales growth of only 3%, 40% less than IMS was predicting as recently as October.
"We were already predicting the lowest growth rate ever, and we decided to take that down further," says Murray Aitken, a senior vice president at IMS. He said that the overall economic climate was the main reason for the new cut in expectations. ...more
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Study links morning sickness to brighter kids
From CTV News:
Moms who spend part of their pregnancies vomiting and nauseated can take heart: Canadian research suggests they might actually have a smarter baby.
Researchers at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children's Motherisk Program have discovered that morning sickness appears to be linked to enhanced neurodevelopment of the fetus.
Morning sickness, which affects as many as 80 per cent of pregnancies, is often one of the first signs of pregnancy, typically beginning around the second week of pregnancy. The name is a bit of a misnomer, since the nausea and vomiting that result can come on at any time of the day.
Morning sickness is little understood, but many doctors speculate it is the result of altered levels of hormones, such as estrogen, HCG (human chorionic gonadotropin), and thyroxine. ...more
Moms who spend part of their pregnancies vomiting and nauseated can take heart: Canadian research suggests they might actually have a smarter baby.
Researchers at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children's Motherisk Program have discovered that morning sickness appears to be linked to enhanced neurodevelopment of the fetus.
Morning sickness, which affects as many as 80 per cent of pregnancies, is often one of the first signs of pregnancy, typically beginning around the second week of pregnancy. The name is a bit of a misnomer, since the nausea and vomiting that result can come on at any time of the day.
Morning sickness is little understood, but many doctors speculate it is the result of altered levels of hormones, such as estrogen, HCG (human chorionic gonadotropin), and thyroxine. ...more
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Canada planning to change breakdown of flu drugs in pandemic stockpile
From the Canadian Press:
Canada will adjust the mix of antiviral drugs in an emergency pandemic stockpile this year, a response to concerns over the vulnerability of the main drug in the arsenal, Tamiflu, to the development of viral resistance.
Supplies of the drug zanamivir - sold as Relenza by GlaxoSmithKline - will be beefed up in the national emergency stockpile, says Dr. Arlene King, the senior official responsible for pandemic influenza planning at the Public Health Agency of Canada.
As well, some stocks of an older flu drug, amantadine, will be added to the mix as an inexpensive extra. Scientists are studying whether using Tamiflu in combination with amantadine or a sister drug, rimantadine, will lower the likelihood flu strains will develop resistance to the few drugs currently marketed to treat influenza.
"I think the general view is that from a scientific perspective, greater diversification (of stockpiles) would be desirable," says King, director general of the public health agency's centre for immunization and respiratory infectious diseases. ...more
Canada will adjust the mix of antiviral drugs in an emergency pandemic stockpile this year, a response to concerns over the vulnerability of the main drug in the arsenal, Tamiflu, to the development of viral resistance.
Supplies of the drug zanamivir - sold as Relenza by GlaxoSmithKline - will be beefed up in the national emergency stockpile, says Dr. Arlene King, the senior official responsible for pandemic influenza planning at the Public Health Agency of Canada.
As well, some stocks of an older flu drug, amantadine, will be added to the mix as an inexpensive extra. Scientists are studying whether using Tamiflu in combination with amantadine or a sister drug, rimantadine, will lower the likelihood flu strains will develop resistance to the few drugs currently marketed to treat influenza.
"I think the general view is that from a scientific perspective, greater diversification (of stockpiles) would be desirable," says King, director general of the public health agency's centre for immunization and respiratory infectious diseases. ...more
Hormone therapy still viable treatment: Report
From Canada.com:
With unprecedented numbers of Canadian women about to enter menopause, Canadian doctors are telling women it's safe to go back on hormones.
An expert panel convened by the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada has concluded that no treatment is as effective as hormone therapy for hot flushes and other symptoms of menopause.
The group says an "extensive" review of new data — along with a re-analysis of a massive study that led women to abandon their hormones in droves seven years ago — shows hormones are a safe option for moderate to severe symptoms, if started early and used over the short term.
The group is recommending using the lowest effective dose. And while there is no fixed timeline, "we suggest that taking it for four to five years is a good starting point," says Dr. Robert Reid, lead author of the updated guidelines and chair of the division of reproductive endocrinology and infertility at Queen's University in Kingston. ...more
With unprecedented numbers of Canadian women about to enter menopause, Canadian doctors are telling women it's safe to go back on hormones.
An expert panel convened by the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada has concluded that no treatment is as effective as hormone therapy for hot flushes and other symptoms of menopause.
The group says an "extensive" review of new data — along with a re-analysis of a massive study that led women to abandon their hormones in droves seven years ago — shows hormones are a safe option for moderate to severe symptoms, if started early and used over the short term.
The group is recommending using the lowest effective dose. And while there is no fixed timeline, "we suggest that taking it for four to five years is a good starting point," says Dr. Robert Reid, lead author of the updated guidelines and chair of the division of reproductive endocrinology and infertility at Queen's University in Kingston. ...more
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