Based on phase III data from a recent study, the FDA has expanded the indication for Actemra, the rheumatoid arthritis (RA) drug tocilizumab. The Actemra label now includes inhibition and slowing of structural joint damage and improvement of physical function in adult patients with moderately to severely active RA, when given in combination with methotrexate.
RA is a debilitating disease afflicting almost two million Americans.
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In order to expand upon research that shows smoking raises bad cholesterol (LDL) and lowers good cholesterol (HDL), a team of researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health recruited 1,500 smokers. The investigators report that among the 36 percent of the smokers who had successfully quit a year later, an average increase of about 5 percent in HDL cholesterol was noted, even though the group that quit smoking gained an average of approximately 10 pounds.
A story in yesterday’s Health Day News points out a worrisome trend: increasing rates of head and neck cancer among the middle-aged and even among the young. The article notes that researchers believe this is a direct result of the more common practice of oral sex in the U.S. Through oral sex, the human papillomavirus (HPV), which can cause these cancers, is transmitted from the genitals to the mouth and larynx.
Due to inclement weather in New York City, ACSH was closed yesterday and was unable to distribute our daily Dispatch. We’re happy to be back on the anti-junk science crusade today with this lineup of great stories.
Yo quiero Taco Bell, with 88 percent beef please. That’s the message the chain restaurant delivered today with its full-page print ads featured in prominent newspapers such as The New York Times. Following a lawsuit filed last week in California federal courts that claimed Taco Bell uses a meat mixture in its tacos and burritos that does not meet the U.S.
As ACSH is preparing to release its new publication Scared to Death: How Chemophobia Threatens Public Health, we were not so surprised to read about three new stories linking chemicals to a multitude of adverse health effects — which is what sadly seems to be a media-fueled national trend these days.
As the bed bug epidemic continues to spread through New York City and elsewhere, the EPA is now planning to commence research aimed at developing pesticide alternatives, especially genetic-based solutions, rather than allow DDT to be used. PBS NewsHour reported Monday that chemically-based anti-bed bug methods, particularly DDT, are “noxious but effective” and highlight the growing resistance of bed-bugs to more commonly employed pesticides. “DDT is not noxious.
First Lady Michelle Obama announced that President Obama has been cigarette-free for a year now. We here at ACSH wish to congratulate him, as we are aware of the great difficulty smokers face while trying to quit. “However, many smokers fall back to smoking even after a year of being smoke-free,” says ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross. So keep up the good work, Mr. President.
After vilifying sugary soft drinks as one of the main causes of our nation’s obesity epidemic, the media is now going after diet sodas as well by publicizing a thoroughly unscientific, poorly executed study presented yesterday at the American Stroke Association International Stroke Conference in Los Angeles. Researchers used data on 163 people who drink one or more diet sodas per day and found that they had a 61 percent increased risk of cardiovascular events compared to 901 participants who reported drinking no diet soda.
Americans should focus on achieving a “balance” in their diets, stressed First Lady Michelle Obama at a press meeting celebrating the first-year anniversary of her anti-obesity Let’s Move campaign yesterday.
VitaminWater advertisements are under attack again, this time by the National Consumers League, for suggesting that the beverage can eliminate the need for flu shots. In a poster ad, consumers are told that flu shots are so last year because VitaminWater s Vitamin C content means more immunity.
Parental fears over trace levels of PCBs in New York public schools made the front page of The New York Times today. News of PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) leaking from old light fixtures spread quickly after a pilot study conducted by the EPA last year found that PCB levels in the air in three public schools exceeded federal health limits.
Under its accelerated approval program, the FDA announced Friday that it has given the go-ahead to K-V Pharmaceutical Co.’s new drug Makena, a synthetic form of progesterone used to reduce the risk of premature delivery.
Hoover Institute Fellow and former ACSH trustee Dr. Henry Miller castigates Surgeon General Dr. Regina Benjamin’s single-minded focus on obesity while ignoring other very important health issues. Instead, Dr. Miller presents former Surgeon General and ACSH friend Dr. C. Everett Koop — who led campaigns to increase awareness of HIV and smoking-related health risks — as a better example to follow. Dr. Miller also recommends that Dr.
Dr. Gilbert Ross in the DesMoines Register, March 2, 2011
Guest opinion: Don't let money cloud the vision of drug regulators
The question of whether the federal government has its priorities straight arises again with news first reported in The New England Journal of Medicine. A new macrolide antibiotic called fidaxomicin has been found to be more effective in treating the common but deadly bacterial infection known as C. difficile than the standard antibiotic currently in use, oral vancomycin.
Yesterday we reported on a bizarre letter from EPA administrator Lisa Jackson that ran in USA Today. Coincident with the missive’s appearance, the agency announced that it was setting new limits on the amount of “toxic substances” permitted in U.S. drinking water. Among the chemicals specified by the EPA as a target is perchlorate.
A study published in The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal provides more powerful evidence of the transformative effect of childhood vaccination — the celebrity critics of it notwithstanding. Researchers in four countries proved that the rotavirus vaccine saves lives. Worldwide rotavirus is responsible for the death of 500,000 infants and children annually.
About 80 percent of stage II colon cancer can be cured by surgery alone. But what about those for whom surgery isn’t enough? Can they be identified? Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. has developed a genetic test that may predict which stage II and III colon cancer patients are most likely to experience a recurrence following surgery.
A new study from sunny Down Under bolsters the link between multiple sclerosis (MS) and sun exposure and vitamin D levels. Multiple sclerosis is a chronic neuromuscular disease with no cure, but several effective treatments exist to delay progression.
While more consumers may begin looking to zinc as remedies for their colds, new data indicate that many parents are inappropriately administering other over-the-counter (OTC) cold remedies to their infants. The National Poll on Children’s Health conducted by researchers at C.S. Mott Children's Hospital in Ann Arbor, Mich.
An observational study published in the journal Diabetes Care is calling into question recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans that recommend adults, and especially diabetics, should consume no more than two-thirds of a teaspoon of salt per day, or about 1.5 grams. Australian researchers followed 638 participants with longstanding type 2 diabetes. Roughly half the patients were obese.
Roche Holding AG’s cancer drug Avastin has been shown in a new study published in this week’s New England Journal of Medicine to hold great promise for treating retinopathy of prematurity, a devastating condition among some premature babies.
A study just published in the New England Journal of Medicine has led to a great deal of faulty reporting and more than a few questionable claims.
ACSH scientific advisor and Professor of Community Health Sciences, Boston University School of Public Health, Dr. Michael Siegel points to a troubling misrepresentation by advocates of smoking bans. University of Iowa researchers claimed that a state ban on smoking in public places had lowered rates of heart disease by, as an NBC TV affiliate put it, “staggering numbers.” But Dr.
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