“Polypills” of generic drugs may dramatically reduce heart attacks and strokes in poor countries, a new study suggests. Some experts still aren’t enthusiastic. Giving people an inexpensive pill containing generic drugs that prevent heart attacks — an idea first proposed 20 years ago but rarely tested — worked quite well in a new study, slashing...
Tag: <span>Drug</span>
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Finger-prick blood test could help reduce antibiotic use for some patients
by University of Oxford A simple finger-prick blood test could help prevent unnecessary prescribing of antibiotics for people with the lung condition chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), according to a new study by researchers from Cardiff University, University of Oxford and King’s College London. With funding from the National Institute for Health Research, the team demonstrated that using a CRP finger-prick blood test resulted in 20%...
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Study shows some generics can cost medicare recipients more than brand-name drugs
VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER Medicare Part D enrollees may pay more out of pocket for high-priced specialty generic drugs than their brand-name counterparts, according to new research by health policy experts at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Researchers examined differences in brand-name and generic or biosimilar drug prices, formulary coverage and expected out-of-pocket spending across all of...
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Deadly tick-borne virus cured with experimental flu drug, in mice
Only a few cases of the newly discovered Bourbon virus have been reported, and two of them ended in death, partly because no specific treatments are available for the tick-borne illness. Now, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified an experimental antiviral drug that cures mice infected with the potentially lethal virus. The drug, favipiravir, is approved in Japan but not the...
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Common acne drug could prevent artery hardening
By Catharine Paddock PhD Fact checked by Paula Field The depositing of calcium, or calcification, helps to harden tissues in the body. Tissue hardening is essential for healthy bone development, but it can cause health problems when it occurs in arteries. Stiff, or hard, arteries impede the flow of nourishing blood to tissues and organs. This...
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A Cheap Diabetes Drug Shows Potential as a Life-Extension Therapy
But pharmaceutical companies have little financial incentive to research it. Off-Label Angel investor Ariel Poler thinks he’s discovered a way to live a longer, healthier life — and it’s only costing him $2 a month. Millions of people with diabetes take the drug metformin to help lower their blood sugar levels. But in recent years, Poler and a growing...
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Researchers discover a critical receptor involved in response to antidepressants like ketamine
UMD School of Medicine Research helps uncover how certain receptors play role in the mechanism of fast-acting antidepressants UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND SCHOOL OF MEDICINE Effective treatment of clinical depression remains a major mental health issue, with roughly 30 percent of patients who do not respond to any of the available treatments. Researchers at the University of Maryland...
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Promising new drugs for old pathogen Mtb
UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT Tuberculosis (TB), an ancient and notoriously difficult disease to treat, has killed millions through the course of human history; and the antibiotics that have been used to fight the disease in recent history are becoming less and less effective. In the face of this reality, Dennis Wright, professor of medicinal chemistry in...
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Four-to-seven-day opioid Rx likely sufficient for acute pain treatment
(HealthDay)—An opioid supply for seven or fewer days might be sufficient for most patients seen in primary care settings for acute pain who appear to need opioid analgesics, according to research published in the Feb. 15 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Mallika L. Mundkur, M.D.,...
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Painful intercourse in women improved with fibromyalgia drug
Women with chronic pain or discomfort around the vulva showed improved sexual function with an oral nerve pain medication used to treat pain caused by a previous herpes infection as well as fibromyalgia, according to a Rutgers study. IMAGE: GLORIA BACHAMANN WAS THE LEAD AUTHOR IN THIS STUDY, WHICH WAS THE FIRST TO ANALYZE SEXUAL FUNCTION IN WOMEN WITH VULVA PAIN TREATED...