| Subject: news artical and my family interfearing with my marrage |
Author:
R H
|
[
Next Thread |
Previous Thread |
Next Message |
Previous Message
]
Date Posted: 05:15:17 03/13/05 Sun
on sept 27 of 99 it is written in my medical files for chronic pain,
im here if any one need or wants to talk to me you all be well please.
Start making way for dual-purpose pills
By Laura Common
Drug-makers have surprises in store: brand new ways to treat some of the hardest-to-treat chronic conditions. For a start, dual purpose pills may well be the wave of the future. They'll combine two drugs in one pill to simultaneously treat two conditions. Other upcoming medicines include a testosterone patch for women and a sublingual cannabis spray for pain. Health Canada willing, watch for them to arrive some time later this year or next.
Drug: Caduet
Active chemicals: atorvastatin and amlodipine
Use: hypercholesteremia and hypertension
Caduet, from Pfizer, is the first medicine in the world to treat two different conditions at once—in one tablet. The new medicine contains Norvasc (amlodipine) for the treatment of high blood pressure and Lipitor (atorvastatin) for high cholesterol.
In the U.S., the FDA has already approved Caduet (February 2004). Presumably Health Canada approval could follow quickly. More than 30 million North Americans have both high cholesterol and high blood pressure, and 60% of all cardiovascular events are experienced by people who have both conditions.
The recent Anglo-Scandinavian Cardiac Outcomes Trial (ASCOT), which involved 19,342 patients, clearly showed that patients benefited when treated for the two conditions simultaneously. Even hypertensive patients who were taking antihypertensive drugs but who had only normal to mildly elevated cholesterol appeared to benefit; they experienced fewer fatal coronary events and non-fatal heart attacks than the patients taking placebo.
Swallowing just one pill (and a fairly small one, at that) is exactly half the nuisance of taking two pills. For that one simple reason, Caduet will undoubtedly encourage compliance in millions of "forgetful" patients with serious coronary heart disease. In addition, Caduet was well tolerated by patients in the clinical trials.
Drug: torcetrapib/Lipitor
Active chemicals: torcetrapib with atorvastatin
Use: raising HDL cholesterol
Here (Pfizer hopes) is another one-two punch against heart disease. After Caduet, Pfizer is planning to launch another combo medication (though this one is farther down the pipeline for Canadians). This new medication will combine Lipitor with torcetrapib for patients with dyslipidemias.
In patients with known coronary heart disease, a low HDL level is the most common lipid abnormality. Even small HDL increases, some trials suggest, may reduce the risk of cardiovascular events. But statins, unfortunately, boost HDL by only a puny 5% to 10%. Torcetrapib, in contrast, appears to raise HDL levels 46% as monotherapy—and even more if combined with Lipitor. The combination also decreased LDL levels. These findings were reported in a New England Journal of Medicine study published April 8, 2004.
Torcetrapib, if approved, will break new ground—no medication up to now has so substantially and safely raised HDL levels. The new combination product of Lipitor and torcetrapib is now in Phase III clinical trails for dyslipidemia. These trials involve 12,000 patients. Continuing large scale studies will (the maker hopes) demonstrate the efficacy and safety of the new combo product versus Lipitor alone.
But will raising HDL actually translate into lower rates of heart disease and fewer deaths? Ongoing studies may give the answer.
Drug: transdermal testosterone
Active chemical: testosterone
Use: to heighten libido in females, post-oophorectomy
Low libido (hypoactive sexual desire disorder or HSDD) is the most commonly reported female sexual health problem—and one particularly distressing to thousands of surgically menopausal women in North America.
Testosterone may help. Findings from a Phase III study of a testosterone patch for women were presented in May, 2004 at the annual meeting of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists in Philadelphia. This landmark study, involving 562 women, showed that transdermal testosterone very significantly improved libido in women who had both ovaries removed. The women in the study reported a 74% increase in the frequency of satisfying sexual activity and a 56% increase in sexual desire.
The 24-week, double-blind, multi-centre study enrolled oophorectomized women who were also taking transdermal or oral estrogen. Average patient age was 49 years. Subjects had their ovaries removed an average of 8.5 years before study entry. They were randomized to receive a placebo patch or a patch delivering approximately 300 mcg of testosterone per day. All patches were changed twice weekly.
The thin, transparent patch for women, developed by Procter and Gamble Inc. and Watson Laboratories Inc., will be a clinical "first," if approved. As of now, there are no products approved by Health Canada for hypoactive sexual desire disorder in women.
Transdermal testosterone may also benefit HIV-positive women. Researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital found that restoring normal testosterone levels in women with HIV improves both muscle strength and function. This study was described in the May 11, 2004 Medical Post.
None of the women in the study who received testosterone patches noted changes in their hair, skin or voice. The study subjects included 57 HIV-infected females with free testosterone levels less than the median of the reference range and weight less than 90% of ideal weight or weight loss greater than 10%.
Placebo group patients, in contrast to patients receiving testosterone, lost strength and muscle function during the study period. Females now compromise almost one-third of U.S. AIDS patients.
Drug: Sativex
Active chemical: medicinal cannabis
Use: for pain
If approved, Sativex will be the first cannabis-based analgesic in the world. The product is a mouth spray for patients who suffer from multiple sclerosis (MS) or from severe neuropathic pain. Bayer Inc. and GW Pharmaceuticals have recently applied to Health Canada for permission to market the drug.
Significant pain afflicts 42% to 65% of all MS patients. In Britain, police arrested so many MS patients for smoking marijuana to relieve their pain that authorities finally allowed GW Pharmaceuticals, who developed Sativex, to grow 40,000 pot plants at a top-secret location. Patients will spray Sativex under the tongue, and early trials show it safely and effectively relieves the MS pain in many people.
Sativex incorporates real marijuana extracts, not a synthesized form. Some patients claim the medicine has changed their lives, although they don't get high.
Laura Common is a Toronto medical writer.
[
Next Thread |
Previous Thread |
Next Message |
Previous Message
]
| |
Feedback: 