Edmund's Newsletter November 4, 2008 Issue: #45 Volume 8 Join Our List In This Issue Daylight Savings Time: Clock Shifts Affect Risk of Heart Attack Researchers Find New Chemical Key That Could Unlock Hundreds Of New Antibiotics Major Step Toward More Targeted Cold Prevention And Treatment Vaccine Could Prevent Deaths, Save Costs in Flu Pandemic Study Identifies Three Effective Treatments for Childhood Anxiety Disorders Grapes And Grape Extracts May Lower Cardiovascular Disease Risk Interferon Could Be A Key To Preventing Or Treating Multiple Sclerosis Believe It Or Not News From MedWatch Recently Approved Drugs/Indications FDA Recalls and Safety Alerts in the Past 60 Days Drug Shortages Quick Links Edmund's Blog Edmund's Newsletter Edmund's Web Page Past Issues SPECIAL THANKS TO Michael R. Cohen President The Institute for Safe Medication Practices and Dr. Stephen Barrett Quackwatch Some links in Edmund's Newsletter will point to a page that requires registration.  In all cases the most you will have to do is fill out a simple form to enroll as a member.  In no case will I point you to a site that requires payment to view the page. PRAY FOR PEACE © 2001,2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 Join Our List Daylight Savings Time: Clock Shifts Affect Risk of Heart Attack Turning the clocks back in autumn reduces the risk of heart attacks, according to a new Swedish study published in the October 30 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. But, adjusting the clocks to daylight savings-- "spring head" on the last Sunday in March -- increases the risk of myocardial infarction in the following week. Scientists at Karolinska Institute have examined how the incidence of heart attack in Sweden has changed with the summer and winter clock shifts since 1987. Their results show that the number of heart attacks, on average, increases by about five percent during the first week of summer time. "There is a small increase in risk for the individual, especially during the first three days of the new week," says Dr. Imre Janszky, one of the researchers involved in the study. "The disruption in the chrono-biological rhythms, the loss of one hour's sleep and the resulting sleep disturbance are the probable causes," he says. Read more..... Researchers Find New Chemical Key That Could Unlock Hundreds Of New Antibiotic Chemistry researchers at The University of Warwick and the John Innes Centre, have found a novel signalling molecule that could be a key that will open up hundreds of new antibiotics unlocking them from the DNA of the Streptomyces family of bacteria. With bacterial resistance growing researchers are keen to uncover as many new antibiotics as possible. Some of the Streptomyces bacteria are already used industrially to produce current antibiotics and researchers have developed approaches to find and exploit new pathways for antibiotic production in the genome of the Streptomyces family. For many years it was thought that the relatively unstable butyrolactone compounds represented by "A-factor" were the only real signal for stimulating such pathways of possible antibiotic production but the Warwick and John Innes teams have now found a much more stable group of compounds that may have the potential to produce at least one new antibiotic compound from up to 50% of the 1000 or so known Streptomyces family of bacteria. Colonies of bacteria such as Streptomyces naturally make antibiotics as a defence mechanism when those colonies are under stress and thus more susceptible to attack from other bacteria. The colonies need to produce a compound to spread a signal across the colony to start producing their natural antibiotic weapons. Read more..... Major Step Toward More Targeted Cold Prevention And Treatment University of Calgary scientist confirms that it is how our immune system responds, not the rhinovirus itself, that causes cold symptoms. Of more than 100 different viruses that can cause the common cold, human rhinoviruses are the major cause. The research, published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, is the first study to comprehensively review gene changes in rhinovirus. "The study's findings are a major step toward more targeted cold prevention and treatment strategies while also serving as a valuable roadmap for the broader respiratory science community," says David Proud, PhD, a professor in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics at the Faculty of Medicine, and lead author of the study. Proud adds that while colds are usually considered to be minor infections of the nose and throat, they can have much more serious health repercussions. "Rhinovirus is the major cause of the common cold, but it is also an important pathogen in more serious conditions, such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)," Proud says. Read more..... Vaccine Could Prevent Deaths, Save Costs in Flu Pandemic A new predictive model shows that vaccinating infants with 7 valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7) - the current recommendation - not only saves lives and money during a normal flu season by preventing related bacterial infections; it also would prevent more than 357,000 deaths during an influenza pandemic, while saving $7 billion in costs. Keith P. Klugman, PhD, professor of global health at Emory University's Rollins School of Public Health, presented results of the research using the predictive model at the joint ICAAC/IDSA meeting in Washington, DC, Oct. 25-28. (ICAAC/IDSA is the Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy/Infectious Disease Society of America). Bacterial infections, particularly pneumococcal disease, can follow a viral illness such as flu and cause secondary infections that worsen flu symptoms and increase influenza-related risk. Bacterial infections may have been the cause of nearly half of the deaths of young soldiers during the 1918 flu pandemic. "We've known for years that bacterial infections can develop after influenza," says Klugman. "Unlike the 1918 flu pandemic, which preceded the antibiotic era, we now have vaccines that can prevent these types of pneumococcal infections. This model shows what a dramatically different outcome we could expect with standard PCV vaccination." Read more..... Study Identifies Three Effective Treatments for Childhood Anxiety Disorder Treatment that combines a certain type of psychotherapy with an antidepressant medication is most likely to help children with anxiety disorders, but each of the treatments alone is also effective, according to a new study funded by the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). The study was published online Oct. 30, 2008, in the New England Journal of Medicine. "Anxiety disorders are among the most common mental disorders affecting children and adolescents. Untreated anxiety can undermine a child's success in school, jeopardize his or her relationships with family, and inhibit social functioning," said NIMH Director Thomas R. Insel, M.D. "This study provides strong evidence and reassurance to parents that a well-designed, two-pronged treatment approach is the gold standard, while a single line of treatment is still effective." The Child/Adolescent Anxiety Multimodal Study (CAMS) randomly assigned 488 children ages 7 years to 17 years to one of four treatment options for a 12-week period: Read more..... Grapes And Grape Extracts May Lower Cardiovascular Disease Risk A growing body of research data suggests that consuming foods rich in polyphenols from grapes, including red wine, helps reduce the risk of heart disease, according to a review article in the November issue of Nutrition Research. "Consumption of grape and grape extracts and/or grape products such as red wine may be beneficial in preventing the development of chronic degenerative diseases such as cardiovascular disease," write Wayne R. Leifert, Ph.D., and Mahinda Y. Abeywardena, Ph.D., of Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation in Adelaide, Australia. The authors review the accumulating evidence that grape polyphenols work in many different ways to prevent cardiovascular and other "inflammatory-mediated" diseases. Polyphenols are natural antioxidants found in grapes and some other plant foods. Their types and actions vary, depending on where in the grape they are found. Grape seeds, grape skin, and grape juice contain several types of polyphenols, including resveratrol, phenolic acids, anthocyanins, and flavonoids. Read more..... Interferon Could Be A Key To Preventing Or Treating Multiple Sclerosis Multiple sclerosis (MS) results when the body's own defense system attacks nerve fibers in the brain and spinal cord. Now scientists led by John Russell, Ph.D., at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown that interferon-gamma plays a deciding role in whether immune cells attack and injure the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) in mice. Interferon-gamma is an immune system protein that helps the body defend itself from invaders. In their latest research, which appeared in the October issue of the Journal of Experimental Medicine, the researchers show that interferon-gamma determined whether activated immune cells - previously primed to go after nerve cells - would actually cause nerve damage in experimental mice. The researchers found that in the cerebellums and brainstems of the mice, interferon-gamma was protective. However, in the spinal cord, interferon-gamma had the opposite effect, permitting nerve cell damage. Read more..... Believe it or not Ky. man, 82, accused of trading drugs for sex Police investigating an elderly man's complaints about theft at his home discovered the man allegedly traded prescription drugs for sexual favors. Police charged the 82-year-old man with trafficking in a controlled substance. The man was released on bond. The Lexington Herald-Leader reported that police said they were initially concerned that women in their 20s, often seen at the man's home, were taking advantage of him. Police begin their investigation after the man called the department several times to report missing medication, household items and a television. But officers soon discovered he gave two women the prescription drug OxyContin in exchange for sex. The man's attorney said a possession of a controlled substance charge was dismissed against his client because he had prescriptions for the drugs. His lawyer declined further comment. News From MedWatch Keep up-to-date on all of the recent MedWatch reports that gives you timely safety information on the drugs and other medical products regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration by  CLICKING HERE   Recently Approved Drugs/Indications Keep up-to-date on all of the recently approved drugs and/or approved new indications on already FDA approved drugs by CLICKING HERE   FDA Recalls and Safety Alerts in the Past 60 Days: To see a list of all FDA Recalls and product safety alerts for the last 60 days CLICK HERE   Drug Shortages: As many of you are aware, many drugs in the US are either unavailable or in short supply.  To view a list of these drugs CLICK HERE   Recommend Edmund's Newsletter Edmund's Newsletter is published for only one reason and that is expand our knowledge base, join people together with like minds and to disseminate valuable information. If you feel this newsletter is of worth, please pass it along to your friends and colleagues. 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