According to a systematic review published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, exercise training in sedentary patients with chronic conditions may significantly reduce their anxiety, regardless of whether the exercise was classified as moderate or vigorous.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a name change for the heartburn drug Kapidex (dexlansoprazole) to avoid confusion with two other medications—Casodex and Kadian. Effective in late April 2010, Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America Inc. will market Kapidex under the new name Dexilant™.
A retrospective analysis of data from the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) published in the Annals of Internal Medicine suggests that combination hormone therapy (HT) increases risk for coronary heart disease (CHD) in healthy postmenopausal women during the first 2 years of use and offers no cardioprotection during the first 8 years of use. The increased risk was statistically significant only among women who began the therapy more than 10 years after menopause, and the results do not apply to women who take estrogen-only hormones following hysterectomy.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Baxter Healthcare, the manufacturer of the HomeChoice and HomeChoice PRO dialysis systems, have notified patients of a Class I device recall after a number of reported injuries and one death. Recalls receive Class I status when there is reasonable probability that a device or drug will cause serious injury or death.
According to newly revised guidelines from the American Cancer Society (ACS), men should discuss the benefits and risks of prostate cancer screening with their doctors. While this is not a radical change from the previous recommendations, the new guidelines offer clearer guidance on what should be discussed. The revised recommendations, last updated in 2006, are based, in part, on early findings from two large American and European studies that looked at whether prostate cancer screening with the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test and digital rectal exam (DRE) saves lives.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Prevnar 13™, a pneumococcal 13-valent conjugate vaccine, for infants and young children ages 6 weeks through 5 years.
The office of the U.S. Surgeon General has announced a collaboration with Microsoft® HealthVault™ that will provide new features and expand access to My Family Health Portrait, a free Internet-based resource.
A study published in the British Journal of Medicine suggests that the antidepressant paroxetine (Paxil ™; GlaxoSmithKline) may significantly increase the risk of breast cancer mortality in women who also take tamoxifen. The same magnitude of risk was not noted with five similar antidepressants.
A study published in Pediatrics suggests that, when compared with standard length needles (1.0-inch), a longer (1.5-inch) needle yielded better results in obese adolescents after immunization with hepatitis B vaccine (HBV). Although all the participants in the study had enough antibodies to be considered protected against hepatitis B, the response was markedly less robust when the shorter needle was used.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is requesting public comment on a revision to the definition of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) in the NIH “Guidelines for Human Stem Cell Research.”
