SCHIZOPHRENIA MEDICINE GETS GREEN LIGHT
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a treatment for schizophrenia. The new medication, called Abilify (aripiprazole), will be sold by Bristol-Myers Squibb and Otsuka America Pharmaceuticals. A study of 1,238 patients with the chronic mental disorder has shown the tablets to be effective and to cause few side effects. Current treatments can bring on undesirable effects so that some patients discontinue their use or switch to other therapies. Schizophrenia affects more than 2 million Americans. "Abilify represents an important new treatment for schizophrenia," said Dr. Jeffrey Lieberman, vice chairman of psychiatry and professor of psychiatry and pharmacology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. "Clinical data show that patients treated with Abilify experience significant improvement of their symptoms, and the medication demonstrated an excellent safety and tolerability profile. Given that a large percentage of patients discontinue or switch antipsychotic medication due to inadequate response or side effects, the addition of Abilify to our armamentarium is very exciting." The medication should be available to consumer within two weeks.
SLEEP DISORDER LINKED TO DAMAGED BRAIN
For many years, scientists have thought a common sleep disorder called obstructive sleep apnea results solely from a narrowed airway caused by enlarged tonsils, a small jaw or excess fat in the throat. New evidence, however, points to another potential cause: faulty brain wiring that occurs early in life. University of California, Los Angeles, researchers have discovered patients with the disorder show gray matter loss in brain areas that regulate breathing and speech. Nearly 40 percent of these patients stuttered as children. This suggests the night-time breathing disorder may arise from a mechanism gone haywire at an early age. The study is published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. "For decades, we have blamed sleep apnea solely on a narrowed airway," said Dr. Ronald Harper, principal investigator and professor of neurobiology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. "Our findings show, however, that sleep apnea patients also suffer disordered wiring in brain regions that control muscles of the airway. These glitches may lead to the syndrome, which is exacerbated by a small airway." The findings suggest sleep apnea is a pre-existing condition -- that abnormal brain wiring from childhood contributes to the onset of the disorder in adulthood, Harper said.
DRUG GETS NEW WARNING LABEL
A drug used to ease the pain or osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and menstruation will be carrying a new warning on its label. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration added the warning, citing the potential of life-threatening side effects for some patients from the drug Bextra (valdecoxib). Patients who suffer allergies to sulfa-containing products should avoid using the treatment, FDA officials said. The drug maker Pharmacia is alerting health care professionals about the new warning, which is being issued due to reports of adverse effects in some patients. These include life-threatening skin reactions, including serious allergic reactions. Cases of serious skin and hypersensitivity reactions have been reported since Pharmacia started marketing the drug in March. These included rare cases of Stevens Johnson syndrome, toxic epidermal necrolysis, exfoliative dermatitis and erythema multiforme. Anyone who develops a rash after taking the drug should discontinue use immediately, doctors advised.
FIBROID SURGERY LAUDED
A study of 400 women indicates a non-invasive procedure used to treat uterine growths called fibroids is effective, with a low rate of complications or recurrence of symptoms and no regrowth of the benign tumors. The study, reported in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, showed 84 percent of women improved following the procedure called uterine artery embolization, which cuts the sustaining blood supply to the fibroid. While most women have fibroids, only a minority needs treatment due to heavy menstrual bleeding, menstrual pain, abdominal swelling or bleeding and other pressure effects. "This prospective study adds to the growing body of evidence that uterine artery embolization is a clinically effective treatment for fibroids," said Dr. James Spies, associate professor of interventional radiology and vice chairman of radiology at Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, D.C. A previous study suggested the procedure might result in increased risk of pregnancy complications for women who conceive after undergoing the treatment.
(EDITORS: For more information about SCHIZOPHRENIA, contact Tracy Furey at 609-252-3208 or [email protected]; about APNEA, call 310-825-5303; about DRUG, contact Kim Rawlings at 301-436-2288 or [email protected]; about FIBROID, call 703-691-1805.)
