Many people with constipation are confused about the cause of their condition and its appropriate treatment with laxatives. Results of a new large-scale global survey, announced today, show that many people wrongly fear that laxatives are addictive and that their use for long periods of time actually causes constipation.1,2
Combined data analysis from two trials demonstrated that treatment success is associated with mucosal healing in patients with moderately active ulcerative colitis who received either 2.4 or 4.8 grams of mesalamine per day. By 6 weeks, 67% of patients achieved both treatment success and mucosal healing, while only 5% achieved treatment success without demonstrating mucosal healing. The results were presented by University of Chicago researcher David T. Rubin, MD, at the annual scientific meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG).
Poor adherence to medication is a recognized medical problem, costing an estimated $100 billion a year in the United States.(i) New data show that while there is a steady decline in adherence to medications for ulcerative colitis (UC), drug formulation and the number of pills taken each day do not affect long-term adherence. The data were presented today at the annual scientific meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology by University of Chicago researcher Sunanda Kane, M.D.
Merck & Co., Inc. announced that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted unanimously to recommend that adults 60 years of age and older be vaccinated with ZOSTAVAX? [Zoster Vaccine Live (Oka/Merck)] to help prevent shingles (herpes zoster), a frequently painful disease marked by a blistering rash.
Bayer HealthCare (BHC) and Topsun Science and Technology Co., Ltd. (Topsun, 600771.SS) together announced that BHC’s Consumer Care Division has signed an agreement in China to acquire the Western over-the-counter (OTC) cough and cold portfolio of Topsun Science and Technology Qidong Gaitianli Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. for the consideration of RMB 1,072 million (approximately EUR 103 million) plus contingent payments of RMB 192 million (approximately EUR 19 million) subject to fulfilment of certain performance criteria.
Novartis announced the US regulatory approval of Tyzeka(TM) (telbivudine) as a new once-a-day oral treatment for patients with chronic hepatitis B, a disease estimated to affect about 1.25 million people in the US but more than 350 million globally and considered the tenth leading cause of death.
In a first-of-its-kind study, UCLA researchers have shown that segments of the HIV-infected population who have little to no consistent outpatient medical care ? and yet are most in need of such services ? are overwhelmingly minorities, the poor and substance abusers.
Exercise, jogging and fitness is not only an effective way to control body weight, but it might also help smokers quit their bad habit. According to a new study conducted by researchers at the American College of Physicians, smokers who combine traditional anti-smoking techniques with physical exercise are more likely of never using the drug ever again than those who resort only to nicotine replacements.
A new NIH-funded study shows that a specific gene variant in humans affects both sensitivity to short-term (acute) pain in healthy volunteers and the risk of developing chronic pain after one kind of back surgery. Blocking increased activity of this gene after nerve injury or inflammation in animals prevented development of chronic pain.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation on Tuesday pledged US$23 million to help Indian health authorities in their efforts to combat HIV. The funds, to be disbursed over the next three years, will be used to “enhance the capacity of the government of India’s HIV prevention response,” Tadataka Yamada of the Foundation’s Global Health Program, said in New Delhi.