My Life Substance

Archive for the ‘body’ Category

Lowering cholesterol levels may help the body’s immune system to fight infections, British researchers said.

A study in mice conducted by researchers at the University of Edinburgh found a direct association between immune function and cholesterol levels.

“We discovered that a key immune hormone stimulated infection can lower cholesterol and thus depriving viral infections support they need to grow,” said Peter Ghazal, whose study was published in the journal Public Library of Science (Plops) Biology.

“Currently there are drugs to lower cholesterol levels, but the next step would be to see whether these drugs might also work to help strengthen our immune systems,” he added.
Doctors commonly prescribe stations such as Lipitor, Pfizer, Crestar, AstraZeneca and a generic called simvastatin to reduce LDL “bad” cholesterol, a risk factor for heart disease. These drugs are considered the most successful in preventing heart attacks and strokes.

Ghazal said there are still many years of research to which these results can be translated into treatments for humans, but in the future could be developed stating drugs such anti-infective purposes.

Today the fight viral infections with drugs that target the mechanism that allows the virus to multiply. Antibiotics are used to fight bacterial infections, but these manage to mutate and develop new strains that are resistant to drugs, causing a constant need for new and more powerful drugs.

Ghazal said his research team hopes to use his studies to figure out new ways to fight infections that may mimic such immune signals sent to reduce the production of cholesterol.

These treatments help to overcome the problem of drug resistance, he said, and would seek to strengthen the way the body responds to infection, rather than focusing on attacking the bacteria.

Researchers from the Faculty Pharmacy, University of Ghent, Belgium, found that nearly 31% of the tablets which are divided into fragments move away from their target weight 15% or more. Another 14% of fragmented tablets differ from the recommended dose in 25% or more, according to the study, published in the Journal of Advanced Nursing.

The paper points out that the practice could have serious clinical consequences for the pills, which have a narrow margin between therapeutic and toxic doses.

For the study, five volunteers divided eight pills of various sizes using three tools: a kitchen knife, scissors and a special device to split tablets. Even the most accurate method (appliance division) caused an error margin of 15 to 25% in 13% of cases. Each fragment was weighed after the partition to determine how much is diverted from the target weight.

Dr. Charlotte Verge, research coordinator, said he decided to conduct the study after nursing home nurses asked him what was the best method to split the pills in daily practice, regardless of type or size, or whether there were lines of separation.

The group of five volunteers, only one (lab technician) had experience in the division of pills, Verge said, and believes that this situation is common in nursing homes where there is always a registered nurse performs this task.

Participants divided eight pills of different shapes and sizes, prescribed for conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, congestive heart failure and arthritis in 3,600 halves or quarters. Three pills were no dividing lines; three had a separation line and the other two.

“Nurses are the ones that should split the pills, but not always the case in daily practice” because of staff shortages, said Verge. “Also, I do not think that nurses have special training in the division of tablets,” he added.

The division of tablets and pills is a daily practice in nursing homes. However, according to the authors of the work, not all formulations are suitable for separation, and even when they are large deviations may occur in the dose or target weight loss. This could have serious clinical consequences of drugs where there is little difference between therapeutic and toxic doses. Verge notes that even tiny deviations in the dose of some drugs can cause critical problems, such as remedies for irregular heart rhythm, blood clots and seizures.

Through 70 informational modules located in health units and other strategic points, the Mexican Central Alcoholics Anonymous began Monday with the activities of the National Week XVI Sharing Efforts, which aims to bring information to people who have friends or relatives problems with their drinking.

For a year’s theme “A shared responsibility, necessary response” has, the initiative to raise awareness among the public about the problem involving alcoholism and AA alternatives offered through self-help centers.

To do this from 17 to 23 January, the Ministry of Health of Ithacan open the doors of its health centers and hospitals to AA members modules installed at their place in bigger audiences. The initiative involved the whole health sector, so there will be clinical modules IMSS and ISSSTE, as well as bus stations and airports.

The National Week “effort sharing” was established following the agreement signed in 1995, ratified in 2001 between the Ministry of Health and the Mexican Central Services of Alcoholics Anonymous AC (CMSGAA) to join efforts to prevent alcohol abuse and help people who already suffer from this disease.

The European Commission has asked a series of original drug manufacturers about the agreements signed in 2010 with patents to generic manufacturers in order to verify whether these agreements are delaying the arrival of generics to the market, which could violate law EU competition.

“Patent agreements are an area of special concern because they may delay the market entry of generic drugs,” said Vice President of the Commission responsible for competition, Joaquin Alumina said in a statement. The research will, continued to verify if the problem deals have continued their downward trend last year and to detect cases that require further examination.

The EU executive has not identified the companies to which addressed its request for information.

Research on competition in the pharmaceutical sector by the Committee for 2009 revealed that some patent agreements harm consumers because they delay entry into the market for cheaper generic.

In 2010, Brussels conducted a review, which showed that the number of problematic agreements had fallen to 10% of the total from 22% on average between 2000-2008. The amount of money in the agreements between drug manufacturers and generic manufacturer’s originals also fell more than 200 million to less than 1 million.
EU executive’s view, this shows that it has increased awareness among the industry about the type of agreements that may be investigated for cause competition concerns. In addition, is also good news for consumers?

Brussels examine copies of the agreements that they send pharmaceutical companies in the coming weeks and publish a statistical report for the first half of 2011. If you encounter specific problems in a covenant, could launch a thorough investigation.