Hepatitis C Treatment Reduces the Virus but Liver Damage Continues

Dec 4 - Treating patients who have chronic hepatitis C and advanced liver disease with long-term pegylated interferon significantly decreased their liver enzymes, viral levels and liver inflammation, but the treatment did not slow or prevent the progression of serious liver disease, a study finds.

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FDA Issues Warning to Bayer HealthCare for Illegally Marketing Two Unapproved Drugs

Oct 29

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today sent Warning Letters to Bayer HealthCare concerning two unlawful, over-the-counter (OTC) aspirin products - Bayer Women's Low Dose Aspirin + Calcium (Bayer Women's) and Bayer Aspirin with Heart Advantage (Bayer Heart Advantage).

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CDC: 3 Million U.S. Children have Food or Digestive Allergies

Oct 22

The number of young people who had a food or digestive allergy increased 18 percent between 1997 and 2007, according to a new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2007, approximately 3 million U.S. children and teenagers under age 18 - or nearly 4 percent of that age group...

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Grape Skin May Prevent Prostate Cancer Cell Growth

Oct 21

Laboratory experiments show that an extract of the skin of muscadine grapes can inhibit growth of prostate cancer cells in the laboratory. Investigators from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, and their research partners also show that muscadine grape ...

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Early Pandemic Flu Wave May Protect Against Worse One Later

Oct 20

New evidence about the worldwide influenza pandemic of 1918-1919 indicates that getting the flu early protected many people against a second deadlier wave, an article co-authored by an NIH epidemiologist concludes.

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FDA Approves Updated Labeling for Psoriasis Drug Raptiva

Oct 20

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced labeling changes, including a Boxed Warning, to highlight the risks of life-threatening infections, including progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), with the use of Raptiva (efalizumab). The labeling changes are based on the FDA's p...

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Rapaflo Approved for of Symptoms of Enlarged Prostate Gland

Oct 14

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Rapaflo (silodosin) capsules for the treatment of symptoms due to benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), a condition also known as an enlarged prostate. BPH is a male disease wherein the prostate gland - located between the bladder, which stor...

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FDA Licenses for Marketing New Therapy for Rare Genetic Disease

Oct 14

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today licensed for marketing the first product in the United States intended to protect people with hereditary angioedema (HAE), a rare and potentially life-threatening genetic disease. HAE affects about 6,000 to 10,000 individuals in the United States.

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Teen Vaccination Coverage Increasing, Still Below 2010 Goals

Oct 9

The nation's immunization coverage rates for preteens and teens are increasing for routinely recommended vaccines, but most still do not have all of the recommended immunizations, according to 2007 estimates released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

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FDA: Melamine Contamination in Flavored Drink

Oct 6

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has increased inspections and product testing efforts in response to the melamine contamination problem which originated in Chinese dairy products. As a result of the FDA's on-going testing program, the agency has detected melamine contamination in Blu...

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Key Gaps Remain in Understanding Health Effects of Vitamin D

Aug 12

Despite considerable progress in research to understand the health effects of vitaminD, experts convened by the NIH to review the available data found major gaps in the evidence. The data are strongest in the area of bone health among elderly men and post-menopausal women, suggesting that increas...

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FDA Approves Upcoming Flu Vaccines

Aug 12

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today announced that it has approved this year's seasonal influenza vaccines that include new strains of the virus likely to cause flu in the United States during the 2008-2009 season. The six vaccines and their manufacturers are: CSL Limited, Afluri...

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Plans to Test Less On Animals Revealed

Feb 5

A new plan to further reduce, refine and replace the use of animals in research and regulatory testing commonly referred to as the 3Rs was unveiled today at a symposium marking the 10-year anniversary of the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative Methods (ICCVAM). The...

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FDA Issues Public Health Advisory on Chantix (varenicline)

Feb 1

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today issued a Public Health Advisory to alert health care providers, patients, and caregivers to new safety warnings concerning Chantix (varenicline), a prescription medication used to help patients stop smoking. On Nov. 20, 2007, FDA issued an Early C...

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Heart Disease Deaths Continue to Decline in American Women

Feb 1

Heart disease deaths in American women continued to decline in 2005, and for the first time, have declined six years consecutively, covering the years 2000-2005, according to newly analyzed data announced today by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of...

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Thin Bones Seen In Boys with Autism and Autism Spectrum Disorder

Jan 29

Results of an early study suggest that dairy-free diets and unconventional food preferences could put boys with autism and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) at higher than normal risk for thinner, less dense bones when compared to a group of boys the same age who do not have autism.

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fMRI Shows Desire for Drugs Outside of Awareness

Jan 29

Using a brain imaging technology called functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), scientists have discovered that cocaine-related images trigger the emotional centers of the brains of patients addicted to drugs - even when the subjects are unaware they've seen anything. The study, published J...

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New HIV Drug Intelence (TM) Approved By the FDA

Jan 22

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved etravirine tablets for the treatment of HIV infection in adults who have failed treatment with other antiretrovirals. Etravirine is a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) that helps to block an enzyme which HIV needs to multi...

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Studies Highlight MRSA Evolution and Resilience

Jan 22

Community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) infections are caused primarily by a single strain - USA300 - of an evolving bacterium that has spread with "extraordinary transmissibility" throughout the United States during the past five years, according to a...

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NIH Develops Down Syndrome Research Plan

Jan 22

The National Institutes of Health has developed a research plan to advance understanding of Down syndrome and speed development of new treatments for the condition, the most frequent genetic cause of mild to moderate mental retardation and associated medical problems. The plan sets research goals...

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FDA: Don't use over the counter cold and cough on under 2's

Jan 17

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today issued a Public Health Advisory for parents and caregivers, recommending that over-the-counter (OTC) cough and cold products should not be used to treat infants and children less than 2 years of age because serious and potentially life-threatening side ...

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FDA Approves Sealant to Control Bleeding During Surgery

Jan 16

On Jan. 2, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expanded the indication for a liquid fibrin sealant to help control bleeding during general surgery. Fibrin is a protein that helps blood clot.

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FDA Issues Documents on the Safety of Food from Animal Clones

Jan 15

After years of detailed study and analysis, the Food and Drug Administration has concluded that meat and milk from clones of cattle, swine, and goats, and the offspring of clones from any species traditionally consumed as food, are as safe to eat as food from conventionally bred animals. There wa...

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