Cystic fibrosis (CF) is an inherited genetic disease that affects the lungs, digestive system, sweat glands, and male fertility. Its name derives from the fibrous scar tissue that develops in the pancreas, one of the principal organs affected by the disease.
FDA approves two new pancreatic enzyme products to aid food digestion — Approvals to help ensure adequate supply of these medications – Two new pancreatic enzyme products used to help aid food digestion, Ultresa (pancrelipase) and Viokace (pancrelipase), were approved today by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Combination therapy provides hope for cure of dangerous infections of cystic fibrosis patients – An over-the-counter drug used to treat diarrhea combined with minocycline, an antibiotic used to treat bacterial infections, could one day change the lives of those living with cystic fibrosis.
Eurand Granted FDA Approval for ZENPEP(TM) — First and Only FDA-Approved Pancreatic Enzyme Product Clinically Tested in Patients Under 12 Years Old. – U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Eurand’s New Drug Application (NDA) for ZENPEP(TM) (pancrelipase) Delayed-Release Capsules for the treatment of exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI) in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) or other conditions.
Mountaineers measure lowest human blood oxygen levels on record – The lowest ever levels of oxygen in humans have been reported in climbers on an expedition led by UCL (University College London) doctors.
Obesity: Reviving the promise of leptin; The first known leptin-sensitizing agents induce mice to lose weight. – The discovery more than a decade ago of leptin, an appetite-suppressing hormone secreted by fat tissue, generated headlines and great hopes for an effective treatment for obesity. But hopes dimmed when it was found that obese people are unresponsive to leptin due to development of leptin resistance in the brain. Now, researchers at Children’s Hospital Boston report the first agents demonstrated to sensitize the brain to leptin: oral drugs that are already FDA-approved and known to be safe. Findings were published January 7 by the journal Cell Metabolism.
Any exposure to secondhand smoke adversely affects both cross-sectional and longitudinal measures of lung function in individuals with cystic fibrosis CF. Variations in the gene that causes CF (CFTR) and a CF-modifier gene (TGF?1) amplify the negative effects of secondhand smoke exposure. – Exposure to secondhand smoke is associated with adverse effects on lung function among persons with cystic fibrosis, with this effect being worse for persons with certain gene variations, according to a study in the January 30 issue of Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
A gene helps protect newborns from the most common respiratory cause of infant death in the United States ? respiratory distress syndrome. – Yale School of Medicine researchers have isolated a gene that helps protect newborns from the most common respiratory cause of infant death in the United States – respiratory distress syndrome.
