Articles

John Gever, Senior Editor of MedPage Today recently publish an artitle entitled Cancer Risk Forces Actos Off French, German Markets. In it he reports drug regulators in Germany and France have ordered doctors to stop prescribing the type 2 diabetes drug pioglitazone (Actos) following a French study suggesting a heightened risk of bladder cancer.

The Food and Drug Administration is recommending that physicians restrict prescribing high-dose simvastatin (Zocor, Merck) to patients, given an increased risk of muscle damage [1]. The new FDA drug safety communication, issued today, states that physicians should limit using the 80-mg dose unless the patient has already been taking the drug for 12 months and there is no evidence of myopathy.

Click HERE to read the full FDA safety communication.

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June 7, 2011 Boston -- Women who have higher levels of endogenous estrogen before starting hormone therapy appear to have a lower risk of heart disease, according to a subgroup analysis of the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) data reported here.

A new study presented this week at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago, reported that a daily flaxseed bar was no more effective than a placebo in helping with hot flashes in women with or without breast cancer. 188 women were involved in the study and researchers from the Mayo Clinic and North Central Cancer Treatment Group (NCCTG) found that taking 40g of crushed flaxseed did not affect women's hot flashes. This finding contradicts earlier research by the same group.