Edmund's Newsletter February 17, 2009 Issue: #7 Volume 9 Check Out My Book Check Out My Book Join Our List In This Issue Treating Sleep Apnea Can Be a Lifesaver Anti-HIV Gel Shows Promise in Large-scale Study in Women Second-hand Smoke May Cause Dementia Marijuana Use Linked to Increased Risk of Testicular Cancer New Findings Raise Questions About Process Used to Identify Experimental Drug for Rare Genetic Diseases Happy Hospitals Make Happy Patients Study Reveals High Level of Adverse Drug Reactions in Hospitals 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 Treating Sleep Apnea Can Be a Lifesaver Obstructive sleep apnea isn't merely a snoring problem. This serious medical condition strains the cardiovascular system and increases the risk of high blood pressure, congestive heart failure, irregular heart rhythms, stroke and sudden cardiac death. The February issue of Mayo Clinic Health Letter examines this condition, including risk factors and common symptoms and treatments. Obstructive sleep apnea occurs when the muscles at the back of the throat relax during sleep and obstruct airflow. The airway narrows or even closes at the end of the exhalation. Breathing may stop momentarily. Read more..... Anti-HIV Gel Shows Promise in Large-scale Study in Women An investigational vaginal gel intended to prevent HIV infection in women has demonstrated encouraging signs of success in a clinical trial conducted in Africa and the United States. Findings of the recently concluded study, funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the NIH, were presented today at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Montreal. The study investigators found the microbicide gel-known as PRO 2000 (Indevus Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Lexington, Mass.)-to be safe and approximately 30 percent effective (33 percent effectiveness would have been considered statistically significant). This is the first human clinical study to suggest that a microbicide-a gel, foam or cream intended to prevent the sexual transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections when applied topically inside the vagina or rectum-may prevent male-to-female sexual transmission of HIV infection. "Although more data are needed to conclusively determine whether PRO 2000 protects women from HIV infection, the results of this study are encouraging," says NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. Read more..... Second-hand Smoke May Cause Dementia Exposure to second-hand smoke could increase the risk of developing dementia and other forms of cognitive impairment, according to research published on the British Medical Journal website. A possible link between active smoking and cognitive impairment has already been established and previous findings also suggest that second-hand smoke exposure could be linked to poor cognitive performance in children and adolescents. However, this is the first large-scale study to conclude that second-hand smoke exposure could lead to dementia and other neurological problems. The authors, Dr David Llewellyn and his research team from the University of Cambridge, Peninsula Medical School and the University of Michigan, examined saliva samples from almost 5000 non-smoking adults over the age of 50 using data from the 1998, 1999 and 2001 waves of the Health Survey for England (HSE). The participants had also taken part in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA). Read more..... Marijuana Use Linked to Increased Risk of Testicular Cancer researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. The study results were published online Feb. 9 in the journal Cancer. The researchers found that being a marijuana smoker at the time of diagnosis was associated with a 70 percent increased risk of testicular cancer. The risk was particularly elevated (about twice that of those who never smoked marijuana) for those who used marijuana at least weekly and/or who had long-term exposure to the substance beginning in adolescence. The results also suggested that the association with marijuana use might be limited to nonseminoma, a fast-growing testicular malignancy that tends to strike early, between ages 20 and 35, and accounts for about 40 percent of all testicular-cancer cases. Read more..... New Findings Raise Questions About Process Used to Identify Experimental Drug for Rare Genetic Diseases A study by National Institutes of Health (NIH) researchers has revealed surprising new insights into the process used to initially identify an experimental drug now being tested in people with cystic fibrosis and muscular dystrophy. Researchers emphasized that the clinical implications of their findings are unclear, but said the results suggest more work may be needed to make sure the screening process to select promising agents was not flawed by its effects on a firefly enzyme used as a marker. The study was published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Over the past several years, an experimental drug called PTC124 has generated excitement among those seeking treatments for inherited diseases caused by a type of genetic alteration that leads to production of abnormally short proteins. Scientists refer to such alterations as nonsense mutations. About 10 percent of cystic fibrosis cases and about 15 percent of Duchenne muscular dystrophy cases are thought to arise from nonsense mutations. In addition, nonsense mutations may affect a substantial portion of the approximately 25 million Americans suffering from other rare, genetic disorders. The enzyme that makes fireflies glow, called luciferase, is widely used in biomedical experiments and in high-throughput screening often utilized to discover drugs. In a positive reaction, the tested material literally lights up. Read more..... Happy Hospitals Make Happy Patients Imagine a hospital where morale is high, employee turnover is low and patient call buttons rarely go unanswered-and if they do, you can call the hospital's CEO. That's exactly the type of culture and service that "delights" patients and makes for the most successful community hospitals in the country, as rated by caregivers and patients, says John Griffith, professor in the University of Michigan School of Public Health. In a newly published report, Griffith examined the attributes of 34 community hospitals in nine states that have earned the Health Care Sector Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, a nationally recognized quality benchmark for various industries. Griffith's findings suggest that the single-biggest factor in patient satisfaction is hospital employee morale, which starts with outside-the-box thinking at the very top management levels. Read more..... Study Reveals High Level of Adverse Drug Reactions in Hospitals In a study of more than 3,000 patients, researchers at the University of Liverpool have found that one in seven admitted to hospital experience adverse drug reactions to medical treatment. Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are a major cause of hospital admissions, but recent data on ADRs that develop following hospital treatment is lacking.  To further understanding of the clinical characteristics of ADRs, researchers at Liverpool assessed drug reactions of patients on 12 hospital wards over a six-month period. Researchers found that 15% of patients admitted to hospital experienced one or more adverse reactions, which included constipation, confusion, renal problems, bleeding and infection with Clostridium difficle.  Drugs most commonly associated with ADRs were anticoagulants, analgesics and diuretics. Read more..... Believe it or not Woman's record-length fingernails broken in crash Woman's record-length fingernails broken in crash Lee Redmond shows off her fingernails, which are about 30 inches long in Salt Lake City, Aug. 8, 2006. ... SALT LAKE CITY - A Utah woman listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for her long fingernails has lost them in a car crash. Lee Redmond of Salt Lake City sustained serious but non-life-threatening injuries in the accident Tuesday. Redmond's nails, which hadn't been cut since 1979, were broken in the crash. According to the Guinness Web site, her nails measured a total of more than 28 feet long in 2008, with the longest nail on her right thumb at 2 feet, 11 inches. Salt Lake County Sheriff's Lt. Don Hutson says Redmond was ejected from an SUV in the crash and taken to the hospital in serious condition. Redmond has been featured on TV in episodes of "Guinness Book of World Records" and "Ripley's Believe It or Not." 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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