The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today approved revised labeling for Trasylol (aprotinin injection) to strengthen its safety warnings and to limit its approved usage to specific situations. Trasylol is given to patients before heart surgery to reduce bleeding and the need for blood transfusions. Trasylol is marketed by Bayer Pharmaceuticals Corporation, Leverkusen, Germany.
Based on results recently presented at the 2006 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, researchers speculate that a sudden decrease in the incidence of breast cancer in 2003 may be due to a reduction in the use of postmenopausal hormone therapy.
The largest-ever study of carotid stenting in high-surgical risk patients has shown that with proper education and training, community physicians are just as successful at using catheter-based techniques to unclog arteries supplying blood to the brain as are those who pioneered the procedure at major university medical centers.
A study published in Journal of the American Geriatrics Society finds that moderate alcohol intake (1-2 drinks/day for 3-6 days/week, depending on alcoholic content) may lead to increased quality of life and survival in older women. The Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health followed nearly 12,000 women in their 70’s over a six-year period. The group was comprised of non-drinkers, occasional drinkers and moderate drinkers.
An analysis of previous studies suggests that for people with a history of vascular disease, folic acid supplementation does not decrease the risk of coronary heart disease or stroke, as has been suggested in some research, according to a review article in the December 13 issue of JAMA.
Although some Americans gain five to seven pounds with a diet of big meals and sweets between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, most people only gain a pound or two during the holidays, according to a UT Southwestern Medical Center registered dietitian.
A team from the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee has applied for a patent on their work to isolate, grow and identify a new and readily-available type of adult stem cell that is found in the bulge of hair follicles, and appears to have a potential for diversification similar to that of embryonic stem cells.
A new research report by The George Institute for International Health, in collaboration with Auckland City Hospital and the University of Auckland, has revealed a 40 percent decline in the number of deaths after stroke in the total population of Auckland, New Zealand over the past 25 years.
Epilepsy specialists at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center have found that brain injury patients in a coma can benefit from prolonged electroencephalographic (EEG) testing that may diagnose whether seizure activity is contributing to their coma state.
FDA was notified that Pfizer will suspend a large, Phase 3 trial evaluating the investigational cardiovascular therapy torceptrapib/atorvastatin (T/A) due to an increased rate of mortality (death) in patients receiving the combination compared to those receiving atorvastatin alone.