People with a severe form of the skin disease psoriasis are likely to die at a younger age than their healthy peers, according to a study at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia. – Patients with severe psoriasis appear to have an increased risk of death compared with patients without the skin condition, according to a report in the December issue of Archives of Dermatology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
The European health regulator said Pfizer’s Champix, a stop-smoking aid, should carry a warning about the risk of suicide attempts among patients.
– There have been reports of ?suicidal ideation’ (thinking about committing suicide) and suicide attempts in people taking Champix. It is very difficult to know if this is due to Champix, as the act of stopping smoking itself can make people depressed, especially if they already have a mental health problem. Depression is often associated with suicidal thoughts.
FDA is warning consumers not to use Swad brand sindoor because the product contains high levels of lead, leading to lead toxicity or lead poisoning.
– The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers not to use 3.5 oz. packages of Swad brand sindoor, an orange or red powder used in some traditional South Asian Pacific ceremonies that is applied to the face or scalp, imported by Raja Foods LLC of Skokie, Illinois because the product contains high levels of lead. Although the product was not intended to be sold for food use, its labeling is confusing and implies that it may be used as food.
Combining a medication currently used to treat multiple sclerosis with an antibiotic may slow the progress of the disease in multiple sclerosis patients.
– A preliminary study suggests that combining a medication currently used to treat multiple sclerosis with an antibiotic may slow the progress of the disease, according to an article posted online today that will appear in the February 2008 print issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Researchers have discovered that a particular hormone is responsible for driving a cancer enzyme to cause an often deadly red blood cell cancer, Polycythemia vera.
– An Oregon Health & Science University Cancer Institute researcher has discovered that a particular hormone is responsible for driving a cancer enzyme to cause an often deadly red blood cell cancer.
Gleevec has been shown to improve outcomes for children with Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
– Gleevec, the targeted cancer pill that has saved more than 100,000 lives, now is saving more children with a dire leukemia, as well as preventing disease progression with long term use in adults with chronic myeloid leukemia.
Researchers have discovered abnormal cells in the early stem cell population in Chronic myeloid leukemia CML patients.
– Oregon Health & Science University Cancer Institute researchers have opened a new window into the roots of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). “We are looking under the surface of CML to understand better where the cancer is coming from. We have discovered abnormal cells in the early stem cell population in some CML patients, which don’t belong to the CML clone. These are abnormal cells that are not part of the CML clone,” said Thomas Bumm, M.D., OHSU Cancer Institute member.
Adolescents who obtained cigarettes from social sources were less likely to become heavy smokers compared to youth who bought their cigarettes from commercial sources.
– New research in the December issue of Preventive Medicine, published by Elsevier, shows that there was a decline in access to cigarettes from commercial venues from 2000 to 2003. These findings are specific to the Minnesota Adolescent Community Cohort study, a longitudinal telephone survey of youth less than 18 years old.
Children with low weight during infancy or slight developmental delays may be at greater risk for developing depression.
– Psychiatrists remain divided as to how to define and classify the mood and anxiety disorders, the most common mental disorders. Committees across the globe are currently pondering how best to carve nature at its anxious joints for the fifth version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-V), the “gold standard” reference book for psychiatrists.
Mycobacterium paratuberculosis found in cows milk may cause Crohn’s disease in humans, revealed by researchers at the University of Liverpool, UK.
– Researchers at the University of Liverpool have found how a bacterium, known to cause illness in cattle, may cause Crohn’s disease in humans. Crohn’s is a condition that affects one in 800 people in the UK and causes chronic intestinal inflammation, leading to pain, bleeding and diarrhoea.
