Low glycaemic index diets seem to be particularly effective for those who are obese, as well as for diabetics.
According to the Straight from the Doc blog, “Foods like lentils release energy slowly once consumed as opposed to foods that rapidly release sugar into the blood stream like white bread.”
Novartis’ diabetes drug, Galvus, is one step closer to approval in the European Union after an EU advisory committee issued a positive opinion on the drug.
Galvus is a once-daily oral medicine for patients with type 2 diabetes. The company reports that Galvus significantly reduced blood sugar levels in people age 65 and older without the increased risk of side effects that often limits more aggressive treatment in these patients.
Galvus is awaiting FDA approval in the United States, where the agency has twice delayed approval of Galvus pending further data to show that skin lesions and kidney impairments seen in an earlier animal study have not occurred in humans.
A similar drug called Januvia is marketed by Merck, and was approved by the FDA in October 2006.
Recommendations by the European Committee for Human Medicinal Products usually lead to approval of the drug for sale in all the European Union countries, and Novartis indicated that it expects a final decision within the next 90 days.
Yet another report of Chinese products that seem to be dangerous, at least to some consumers. A woman reports that after wearing her Walmart-purchased flip-flops, her feet exhibit burns along the areas that were in contact with the flip-flops.
Walmart’s response was to pass responsibility on to the Chinese manufacturer of the flip-flops. Click here for photos.
For some women who are at higher risk for breast cancer, the American Cancer Society’s has new guidelines that recommend those women get an MRI scan along with their annual mammogram.
While MRI’s are more sensitive and is likely to show more spots in the breast, it is often difficult to know if those spots are cancerous, and biopsy may be required. This is why the MRI is only recommended for high-risk women.
According to the American Cancer Society, an MRI screening in addition to mammograms is recommended for women who meet at least one of the following conditions:
With more and more technologies becoming available, doctors are finding that they must increasingly weigh the side effects of testing procedures.
After gaining FDA approval in 2004, CT angiography, a high resolution scan of the heart for blocked arteries, has been much more widely used. However, there is a risk–especially to younger people, as these scans expose patients to 20 times the amount of radiation as a mammogram.
Researchers reported that a CT angiography should be used sparingly, especially on young women, who have a 1-in-143 chance of developing cancer after just one high resolution CT scan.
The study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
A steam pipe blast that injured dozens of people in downtown Manhattan spewed debris that contained asbestos particles, according to New York City’s Department of Emergency Management. The department says they found asbestos in six of ten samples taken.
"People who may (have come) into contact with the steam or debris should take a shower and place their clothes in plastic bags for cleaning or disposal," the statement said.
The blast resulted in dozens of injuries, and at least one death.
Asbestos is a very dangerous material that can cause a form of cancer called mesothelioma.
Most people who develop mesothelioma have worked on jobs where they inhaled asbestos particles, or have been exposed to asbestos dust by handling clothes of those who work in such an environment. Home renovation and demolition may also expose people to asbestos dust.
There are numerous treatment options for menopause-related hot flashes, from pharmaceutical drugs, to alternative therapies and exercise.
Hormones might not be safe for everyone, and some supplements may not be safe or effective.
Since supplements are not widely tested or regulated by the FDA, it is more difficult to determine their effectiveness.
Alternative therapies, such as black cohosh or Chinese herbs are widely used, and some have been shown to have a positive placebo effect. However, researchers have shown that using black cohosh, for example, is not effective.
Other pharmaceutical drugs, such as Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI’s) have been found to significantly reduce hot flashes in women with menopause, though these anti-depression drugs have not been approved by the FDA for treatment of menopause symptoms
(Drugs such as fluoxetine (Prozac), paroxitene (Paxil) and venlafaxine (Effexor) have all been found to help relieve menopause symptoms.
Several studies have shown that women who exercise regularly have fewer hot flashes, likely due to increased endorphin production.
Source: ABC News/KGO (1/3/07)
It is recommended to eat 5 servings of fruits and vegetable a day. A clinical study of women who ate twice as much as the recommended servings found that both groups had about the same in long term breast cancer survival.
The results were not what the researchers expected, as they thought the extra nutrients would improve the body’s ability to fight off recurrence of breast cancer. The extensive study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
While new diabetes drugs have been introduced on the market, recent studies have found that the older drugs, such as second generation sulfonylureas and metformin (sold under the brand names Glucophage, Diabex, Diaformin, Fortamet, Riomet, Glumetza, and others) work just fine in controlling blood glucose for most patients.
These older drugs are less expensive, and, according to researchers, a drug such as Metformin appears to have the best benefit, particularly when risk is accounted for.
Metformin was first approved by the FDA for diabetes treatment in 1994 and marketed in the United States for diabetes treatment in 1995 by Bristol Myers Squibb under the brand name Glucophage.
The study did not examine the effectiveness of the most recent class of anti-diabetes drugs called incretin mimetics, such as exenatide (Byetta) and sitagliptin (Januvia).
During the early 1900’s, Dr. William Coley learned something that seemed to be a very effective cancer treatment. By infecting tumors with the Streptococcus pyogenes bacteria, he found that the body’s immune system eventually killed off the tumors.
He began treating his cancer patients by injecting the bacteria directly into tumors, and found that the treatment was quite succesful, particularly when the treatment resulted in recurring fevers.
Today, radiation treatment is a preferred method, possibly because Coley’s superior’s at the time believed that radiation treatment could be improved to become a more successful cancer treatment.
Today, the Cancer Research institute, founded by Coley’s daughter, carries on the research.
Sources: