New Drug to Treat Major Depression

Glaxosmith kline is conducting or will have conducted clinical trial studies of compound GW856553 to treat major depression.The study is in phase 2 clinical trials which means it should take another 5 years pending approval, before it hits the pharmacy shelves.Its truly promising to see active research going into treating depression.It is a disease often underdiagnosed and payed little attention too.Its about time to move on from fluoxetine(prozac) which has a host of side effects....
Check out the reference below if you are interested, they are currently recruiting research candidates to take part in the clinical trials.........

Stay well all....

Reference
http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00976560?term=NEW+DRUGS&rank=20

FDA approves new ADHD treatment

Acording to the FDA website the drug INTUNIV(guanfacin) has resently been approved for use in the treatment of ADHD in children and adolescents aged 6 to 17.According to the drugs official website the clinical trials for this drug where shown to relieve symtoms of ADHD.The drug is expected to be in pharmacies accross the USA by november 2009.

This is encouraging news, ADHD can be very desruptive to peoples lives

References
http://www.intuniv.com

New radiotherapy treatment for lung cancer

The lancet outlines some new treatment advances for those with non-operable small cell lung cancer (SCLC).They is a by SUNY department of radiation on the use of different radiation based treatment regimes to treat SCLC. In the article it mentions four major radiation based treatment types for SCLC. These include:

1)External beam radiotherapy
2)Three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy
3)Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT)
4)Intraoperative brachytherapy
5)Radiofrequency ablation

For details of the the research check reference and as always ask docter or suitable medical professional regarding these new treatments...takecare and stay well

Reference
The Lancet Oncology, Volume 10, Issue 9, Pages 885 - 894, September 2009

Treatment advances for medically inoperable non-small-cell lung cancer: emphasis on prospective trials
Original TextJohn W Powell MD a, Elisabeth Dexter MD b, Ernest M Scalzetti MD c, Prof Jeffrey A Bogart MD a

Rheumatoid Arthritis fairly new drugs

This is a review or recap of drugs(some on the market) used to treat arthritis.The article in the new endland medical journal gives a summary of the main drugs avaliable and runs through their mode of action (how they work to make you feel better).They is also of these newish drugs includes Leflunomide,Etanercept,Infliximab
Adalimumab.

I realise that some people will have heard of these treatments but this site is also about introducing new fairly recent treatment options to those who perhaps dont know.As always ask your docter or pharmacist about any questions regarding these drugs.

Extract

New Drugs for Rheumatoid Arthritis

Nancy J. Olsen, M.D., and C. Michael Stein, M.B., Ch.B.

Rheumatoid arthritis affects approximately 1 percent of the U.S. population and can cause irreversible joint deformities and functional impairment. The cause of this autoimmune disease remains obscure, but greater understanding of the underlying mechanisms has facilitated the development of new drugs and revolutionized treatment.1

Specific CD4+ T cells are involved in the induction of the immune response in rheumatoid arthritis, most likely as a response to an unknown exogenous or endogenous antigen. Consequently, recruited monocytes, macrophages, and fibroblasts produce cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor (TNF-) and interleukin-1 within the synovial cavity. These cytokines are central to a damag


Reference
New england medical journal Volume 350:2167-2179 May 20, 2004 Number 21

New treatment for children with eye cancer

The times has an interesting article highlighting treatment procedures for children with eye cancer.The procedure allows docters to specifically target the chemotherapy drugs for cancer cells and save the normal tissue.What this means is that they is a high chance that the patient can recover with his or her eye sight intact.


Reference
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article6799343.ece

Asprin as therapy for colorectal cancer

This is an extract of a paper which states new findings about asprins use in treating
colorectal cancer the full story is in JAMA. 2009;302(6):688-689

Extract

Even before the time of Hippocrates, willow extracts, which contain salicylates, were used in medicine as analgesic, anti-inflammatory, and antipyretic agents. Acetylsalicylic acid was isolated in the mid-19th century, and since 1899 when it was patented, aspirin has enjoyed global popularity. The relatively recent discovery of its antiplatelet activity has also led to the widespread use of aspirin as an antistroke and cardioprotective agent, but the list of its medical applications continues to increase.

More than 30 years ago, Sporn et al2 coined the term chemoprevention to describe and propose the use of oral drugs, chemicals, or supplements to reduce the risk of cancer. In the ensuing decades, chemoprevention research has generated high hopes and enormous increases in funding, although only a few agents have shown efficacy in clinical trials, and of those few, most are too toxic for use by average-risk individuals. In addition...... .

Can Killing a hedgehog kill cancer?

Yes,the latest issue of the new england medical journal highlights a new drug GDC-0449 in clinical trials which blocks the so called hedgehog signiling pathway which is activated during a wide range of cancers.It is belived that blocking this pathway could yield a greater degree of selectivity and as a result produce less sideeffects.
For details on the study buy the lastest issue of the new england medical journal.

Its always good that to see new treatments that take into account sideeffects.....

Reference
new england medical journal, septemter 17 2009

Type 2 diabetes treatments (information)

WebMD has a pretty comprehnsive list on drugs that are in current and possibly future use for type 2 diabetes patients, the article is quite insightful.One thing is it looks at combination therapy to treat patients.e.g Metformin and Precose.It also talks about Januvia (sitagliptin).

Refer to http://diabetes.webmd.com/features/new-type-2-diabetes-treatment-options?page=2

New Treatment for respiratory failure

With swine flu season approaching, they is an intresting article at lancet that covers a new treatment for acute respiratory failure .The treatment is called edextracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) which works by bypassing the heart and lungs to treat acute respiratory failure.Details of the trial can be found here: http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(09)61069-2/fulltext

Takecare everyone

new treatment for asthma

A new device called the alair system is pending approval by the FDA to treat asthma patients chronic and acute.The device uses radiowaves or radiofrequency energy to improve the quality of patients lives.If approved this would be the first non-pharmaceutical intervention treatment for asthma.For details on the study visit the reference link below it goes into detail about the trials conducted,which involved some 297 asthmatics using this treatment.

Reference
http://esciencenews.com/articles/2009/05/18/new.severe.asthma.treatment.uses.radiofrequency.energy.improve.patient.quality.life

New drug for high blood pressure

A new drug darusentan is in clinical trails for patients with treatment resistant hypertention.The reasearch is funded by pharmacuetical company gliead.

For full details go to
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(09)61500-2/fulltext

Advanced breast cancer treatment

In its pipeline of drugs, the pharmaceutical company astrazeneca has the drug faslodex in phase 3 clinical trials for the treatment of firstline advanced breast cancer.The company records show that it is due to get a marketing authorisation for this drug Q4 2009 which is this winter.

Faslodex facts
This is what is classified as an ostrogen receptor antagonist and has shown very promising results its due for a 2010 release.......ask your GP or go to
http://www.faslodex.net/

Treatment for crohns (cimizia)

This might be abit of old news but webmd has an article talking about the drug cimizia for the treatment of CD......its good to hear that research in this field is paying off.For details visit the site below.

Visit:http://www.webmd.com/ibd-crohns-disease/crohns-disease/news/20080423/fda-oks-new-crohns-disease-drug-cimzia

Omapro to treat chronic myeloid leukemia

Story coverved by the hearld sun australia talks about new drug that has been submited to the FDA for approval in the treatment on myeloid leukemia.Whats amazing about this story is that it only took them about 5 years to develope the drug..this means that drugs to help suffers of this condition can comeout twice as fast and thats a good thing.

reference
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/business/geelong-biotech-chemgenex-in-cancer-drug-first/story-e6frfh4f-1225771414522

prozac could kill cancer cells

Reaserch published this years indicates that those taking antipsychotic drugs such are prozac are less prone to cancer.The results have shown that these drugs reduce the probability of the cancer to survive.Further research has also shown that using cholesterol lowering treatments such as statins can further limit the growth of a prospective cancer.

Reference

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/160600.php

New treatment for (SCLC),prostate,colorectal cancer

The pharmaceutical company poniard has developed the drug picoplatine for the treatment of small cell lung cancer (SCLC).The drug is in phase 3 clinical trials and data from its Phase III SPEAR trial is to be announced soon.This is a very promising step, a drug that reaches phase will see its self on the shelf in 2 to 3 years pending any further verification by regulatory agencies like the FDA or MHRA.
The drug has also been in phase 2 clinical trials for treatment in colorectal and prostate cancer and the results look promising...(Watch this space is all i have to say)

Reference
http://www.fiercebiotech.com/special-reports/five-biotech-companies-watch

Clinical trial news (Ovarian cancer)

It looks promising for overian cancer suffers it appears that glaxo has a drug in phase 1 clinical trials its a biopharmaceutical called iboctadekin† + Doxil its a IL18 immunomodulator + topoisomerase ll inhibitor and has been indicated for ovarian cancer.As it is still in phase 1 in clinical trials it has a long way to go, about 7 years or so.....

Clinical trial news (COPD)

It appears glaxo is working on a drug that can treat COPD and depression in the company documents the drug is Iosmapimod (856553) a p38 kinase inhibitor which is indicated for cardiovascular disease (also COPD & depression).This is promising news for those friends and families afflicted by the diesease....The drug is said to be in phase 2 clinical trials which means there is atleast another 4 year or so until it is on the pharmacy shelf.