http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. (HealthDay)—There has been a dramatic increase in the number of emergency-room visits related to sleep medications such as Ambien, according to a new U.S. study. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-er-tied-ambien.html Medications Wed, 01 May 2013 12:20:01 EST news286627285 Marijuana provides greater pain relief when taken in pill form than when it is smoked, according to a study published on Monday that touches on a controversial medical issue. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-cannabis-pill-pain-relief.html Psychology & Psychiatry Mon, 22 Apr 2013 13:00:02 EST news285853663 US scientists on Wednesday said they had used baker's yeast to make a key ingredient of malaria drugs, a feat that could iron out fluctuations in supply caused by sourcing the chemical from a Chinese herb. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-lab-boost-precious-anti-malaria-drug.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 10 Apr 2013 15:34:04 EST news284826838 A reformulated version of an anti-HIV gel developed for vaginal use was found safe and acceptable by HIV-negative men and women who used it rectally, according to a Phase I clinical trial published today in PLOS ONE. The study, led by researchers with the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded Microbicide Trials Network (MTN), tested a reduced glycerin formulation of tenofovir gel, and has spurred the development of an expanded safety study of the gel, expected to launch later this year. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-gel-safe-approach-hiv-anal.html HIV & AIDS Wed, 03 Apr 2013 17:00:11 EST news284215947 The Food and Drug Administration is warning U.S. doctors about another counterfeit version of the cancer drug Avastin, the third case involving the best-selling Roche drug in the past year. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-fake-batch-cancer-drug-avastin.html Medications Wed, 06 Feb 2013 11:41:09 EST news279373260 (HealthDay)—Taking too much acetaminophen, an active ingredient in many commonly used drugs for fever and pain relief, including Tylenol, can cause liver damage, experts at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warn. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-cold-flu-remedies-liver.html Medications Wed, 30 Jan 2013 18:10:04 EST news278789293 There is no strong evidence to back the use of cannabis extract in the treatment of Multiple Sclerosis (MS), concludes a review of the available evidence on the first licensed preparation, published in the December issue of Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin (DTB). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-strong-evidence-cannabis-multiple-sclerosis.html Neuroscience Wed, 12 Dec 2012 18:30:05 EST news274554384 (AP)—Healthpoint Ltd. and DFB Pharmaceuticals will pay up to $48 million to settle allegations that Healthpoint marketed a prescription skin ointment without approval from federal regulators. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-healthpoint-dfb-48m-drug-case.html Medications Thu, 06 Dec 2012 11:54:00 EST news274017234 Tefina, the first testosterone based intranasal gel, has been in part developed by the ULg's Galenic Pharmacy Laboratory. It is currently at the stage of testing before being marketed by the Canadian company, Trimel Pharmaceuticals. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-tefina-female-viagra.html Medications Mon, 19 Nov 2012 07:52:56 EST news272533966 A new prototype for medicated chewing gum has been developed for motion sickness that may offer many advantages over conventional oral solid dosage forms. About 33 percent of people are susceptible to motion sickness in mild circumstances and 66 percent are affected in more severe conditions. This research is being presented at the 2012 American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) Annual Meeting and Exposition in Chicago, Ill., Oct. 14 – 18, an international event anticipating more than 8,000 attendees. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-gum-motion-sickness.html Medications Wed, 17 Oct 2012 10:36:45 EST news269688997 Cannabis seems to ease the painful muscle stiffness typical of multiple sclerosis, indicate phase III trial results, published in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-cannabis-eases-sclerosis-stiffness.html Neuroscience Tue, 09 Oct 2012 04:33:59 EST news268976030 (AP)—Teva Pharmaceuticals has stopped shipping its generic version of a popular antidepressant off the market after a U.S. government analysis showed the pill does not work properly. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-teva-antidepressant-ineffective.html Medications Wed, 03 Oct 2012 16:52:40 EST news268501948 Up to eight percent of malaria drugs approved by the World Health Organization or other regulators do not contain the right dose and may fuel resistance, researchers said Tuesday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-who-approved-malaria-drugs-fall-short.html Medications Tue, 10 Jul 2012 17:20:53 EST news261159648 An ancient heart drug that's inspired the work of herbalists and poets for centuries may treat a condition that plagues millions of overstressed and overweight Americans today. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-ancient-heart-drug-body-mechanisms.html Medications Thu, 14 Jun 2012 12:58:00 EST news258897461 A significant number of adults are at risk of unintentionally overdosing on over-the-counter (OTC) pain medication, according to a new study in the US by Dr. Michael Wolf, from Northwestern University in Chicago, and his colleagues. Their work, looking at the prevalence and potential misuse of pain medication containing the active ingredient acetaminophen as well as the likelihood of overdosing, appears online in the Journal of General Internal Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-misuse-over-the-counter-pain-medication-potential.html Medications Wed, 30 May 2012 10:09:36 EST news257591301 Poor-quality and fake antimalarial drugs are leading to drug resistance and inadequate treatment that is endangering global efforts made to control and eliminate malaria over the past 10 years, according to a review of the evidence published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases. In particular, the emergence of resistance to artemisinin drugs, currently the most effective treatment against malaria, on the Thailand-Cambodia border should be a wake up call, warn the authors. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-poor-quality-antimalarial-drugs-threaten-jeopardize.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 21 May 2012 18:30:01 EST news256816149 (AP) -- The Food and Drug Administration is warning doctors that a second counterfeit version of the best-selling cancer drug Avastin has been found in the U.S., packaged as the Turkish brand of the medication. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-fda-vials-fake-cancer-drug.html Medications Wed, 04 Apr 2012 11:14:47 EST news252756879 At the molecular level, drugs like salvinorin A (the active ingredient of the hallucinogenic plant Salvia divinorum) work by activating specific proteins, known as receptors, in the brain and body. Salvinorin A, the most potent naturally occurring hallucinogen, is unusual in that it interacts with only one receptor in the human brain — the kappa opioid receptor (KOR). Scientists know of four distinct types of opioid receptors, but until now the structure of the 'salvia receptor', and the details about how salvinorin A and other drugs interact with it, was a mystery. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-salvia-receptor-reveals-salvinorin-interacts.html Medical research Wed, 21 Mar 2012 14:00:02 EST news251556219 (AP) -- Counterfeit versions of the popular cancer drug Avastin obtained by European regulators contain a variety of chemicals, but not the active ingredient found in the genuine drug, according to drugmaker Roche. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-fake-avastin-chemicals-drug.html Medications Tue, 28 Feb 2012 14:27:07 EST news249661614 (AP) -- The discovery that a fake version of the widely used cancer medicine Avastin is circulating in the United States is raising new fears that the multibillion-dollar drug-counterfeiting trade is increasingly making inroads in the U.S. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-counterfeit-drugs-big-business-worldwide.html Medications Thu, 16 Feb 2012 04:32:42 EST news248589152 Brain scans of people under the influence of the psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, have given scientists the most detailed picture to date of how psychedelic drugs work. The findings of two studies being published in scientific journals this week identify areas of the brain where activity is suppressed by psilocybin and suggest that it helps people to experience memories more vividly. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-fmri-brain-imaging-illuminates-magic.html Neuroscience Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:00:18 EST news246550261 (Medical Xpress) -- A research team from the Institute for Cancer Research at the MedUni Vienna has decoded a previously unknown mechanism of the active ingredient imiquimod in tumour defence. They have been able to prove that imiquimod transforms plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) into “tumour-killers” which can fight the tumour independently from other immune cells. This discovery could be an important step on the way to a more efficient treatment for cancer. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-mechanism-efficient-cancer-treatment-decoded.html Cancer Thu, 19 Jan 2012 07:00:04 EST news246177441 How sildenafil, the active ingredient in Viagra, can alleviate heart problems is reported by Bochum's researchers in cooperation with colleagues from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester (Minnesota) in the journal Circulation. They studied dogs with diastolic heart failure, a condition in which the heart chamber does not sufficiently fill with blood. The scientists showed that sildenafil makes stiffened cardiac walls more elastic again. The drug activates an enzyme that causes the giant protein titin in the myocardial cells to relax. "We have developed a therapy in an animal model that, for the first time, also raises hopes for the successful treatment of patients" says Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Linke of the RUB Institute of Physiology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-viagra-heart-failure-mechanism.html Cardiology Fri, 23 Dec 2011 10:03:30 EST news243857003 The active ingredient boceprevir has been available since the middle of 2011 as a treatment for chronic hepatitis C of genotype 1. In an early benefit assessment pursuant to the "Act on the Reform of the Market for Medicinal Products" (AMNOG), the German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) has now examined to establish whether boceprevir offers added benefit in comparison with the previous standard therapy. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-boceprevir-indication-added-benefit-specific.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Fri, 09 Dec 2011 10:37:27 EST news242649434 Many tumors cause chronic inflammations, which, in their turn, suppress specific attacks against the tumor by the immune system. Scientists at the German Cancer Research Center and Medical Faculty Mannheim at Heidelberg University have now shown in mice with melanoma that sildenafil - the active ingredient in Viagra - cancels the suppression of the specific immune response. Cancerous mice treated with the drug survived more than twice as long as untreated fellow animals. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-viagra-combat-malignant-melanoma.html Cancer Tue, 08 Nov 2011 11:36:10 EST news239974553 Medical researchers at the University of Alberta have discovered that an active ingredient in the Persian spice saffron may be a potential treatment for diseases involving neuroinflammation, such as multiple sclerosis. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-important-link-ingredient-saffron-multiple.html Medical research Fri, 04 Nov 2011 14:35:01 EST news239636081 Since the start of 2011, the active ingredient ticagrelor can be prescribed in Germany in addition to acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) to avoid blood clots in patients with acute ischaemia of the cardiac muscle. The German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) has now examined whether ticagrelor offers advantages to patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in comparison with conventional drugs. This is the first co-called "early benefit assessment" that IQWiG has performed on the basis of a dossier provided by the manufacturer, in accordance with the new legal regulations. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-ticagrelor-considerable-added-benefit-specific.html Medical research Tue, 11 Oct 2011 11:41:32 EST news237552078 The active ingredient in a traditional Chinese herbal remedy might help treat deadly brain tumors, according to a new study by researchers at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-indirubin-component-chinese-herbal.html Cancer Tue, 12 Jul 2011 13:42:44 EST news229696950 An extract of the poisonous shrub Jatropha curcas acts as a strong painkiller and may have a mode of action different from conventional analgesics, such as morphine and other pharmaceuticals. Details of tests are reported in the current issue of the International Journal of Biomedical Engineering and Technology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-natural-pain-relief-poisonous-shrub.html Medical research Mon, 11 Jul 2011 12:54:51 EST news229607671 Using a technique that silences genes promoting infection, researchers have developed a novel, topically-applied molecular microbicide capable of preventing HIV transmission. The microbicide is predicted to have long-lasting effects in mice, opening the door to developing an intravaginal microbicide that could protect women against HIV infection potentially for weeks at a time and bolster public health efforts to halt the spread of HIV/AIDS. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-aptamer-approach-hiv-transmission.html HIV & AIDS Mon, 16 May 2011 12:38:44 EST news224768311