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New drug Juvisync combines Merck's diabetes pill Januvia with the popular cholesterol drug Zocor. Patients with both diabetes and high cholesterol are at increased risk for heart disease, stroke, kidney disease and other chronic conditions
Patients with Diabetic Macular Edema, a swelling of the retina that occurs in people who suffer from diabetes retinopathy, have experienced significant and prolonged sight improvement with injections of Roche's Lucentis. In fact, better than 50% of the patients with DME who received monthly injections of Lucentis over 2 years improved so significantly that they would qualify for a driver's license in most states! Currently, Lucentis is indicated for wet age-related macular degeneration.
"This is a real game changer. This can give you a rapid prolonged improvement of vision and it's sustained for at least two years," Dr. David Boyer, who presented the data on Tuesday at the American Diabetes Association (ADA) meeting in San Diego, said in a telephone interview.
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Pharmacies soon will no longer be able to stock the Diabetes drug Avandia.
After November 18th, only certified doctors will be able to prescribe the drug and only patients who know the risks and are willing to fill their prescription through the mail from specific pharmacies may receive the drug, USA Today reported. In case you were not aware, FDA drug-safety expert David Graham told an advisory committee in 2007 that Avandia had caused heart problems, including deaths, in 66,000 to 200,000 people.
More research is needed but over a period of five years, 138 instances of bladder cancer were reported from patients taking diabetes medications. Over 28 of these patients were taking Actos (pioglitazone). This suggests a "disproportionate risk" in comparison with other anti-diabetics, said study author Dr. Elisabetta Poluzzi of the University of Bologna in Italy."Disproportion is indicative of possible risk," Poluzzi added, "not of an actual risk."
The FDA has said patients should not stop taking Actos unless told to do so by their doctor.
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Researchers at the Salk Institute have recently discovered that the liver enzyme HDAC stimulates the production of glucose. In a series of trials performed on four different types of mice, scientists have found a way to suppress liver HDAC (histone deacetylases) which will hopefully lead to trials on humans.
"The discovery of HDAC (histone deacetylases) in the liver could have a major impact on the discovery of new compounds for the treatment of diabetes," said Robert Henry, president for science and medicine at the American Diabetes Association. "A new class of drugs that are specific inhibitors of HDAC would target the excess production of glucose by the liver which is a major contributor to high glucose levels in diabetes."
For a better and easier way to receive YOUR Diabetes medications or supplies, click here.
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People with Type II Diabetes have a new treatment option with the approval of Tradjenta,a new once daily oral tablet. "This approval provides another treatment option for the millions of Americans with type 2 diabetes," said Mary Parks, MD, director of the FDA's division of metabolism and endocrinology products. "It is effective when used alone or when added to existing treatment regimens."
In the same class as Januvia and Onglyza, Tradjenta comes in only ONE strength (5mg) and can be taken with other diabetes medications, like Glucophage (Metformin), Glimepiride (Amaryl), and Pioglitazone (Actos).The drug is used in combination with diet and exercise and has been proven to be safe and effective in Type II Diabetics.
New FDA mandates will make it far more difficult for doctors to prescribe the diabetes drug Avandia. Although the European Medicines Agency has suspended European sales of Avandia-containing drugs, the FDA has NOT banned Avandia in the United States. Regulators say the heart attack risks associated with the drug are ju great a safety concern
Avandia will be available to new patients only if they cannot achieve [blood sugar] control on other agents and cannot take Actos," FDA commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg, MD, said at a news conference. "Current patients can continue taking Avandia only if they benefit and understand the risks."
Avandia maker GlaxoSmithKline will be required to establish a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) program. Patients, their doctors, and their pharmacists will have to enroll in the program in order to receive, prescribe, or sell Avandia.
In a statement, GlaxoSmithKline says it "continues to believe that Avandia is an important treatment for patients with type 2 diabetes," but that it will work with the FDA and the European Medicines Agency to implement their decisions.
Coming soon to a pharmacy near you: AFREZZA, a new fast-acting form of inhaled insulin. According to recent studies, AFREZZA , will provide "glycemic control similar to standard insulin treatments with less risk of hypoglycemia and weight gain." Still waiting for FDA approval, it also appears that AFREZZA will have a lower risk of causing lung problems than Exubera, the first inhalable insulin on the market.
"AFREZZA is an ultra-rapid-acting insulin, and clinical studies have shown us that it has the potential to change diabetes therapy, because in the body, AFREZZA looks like the insulin that's normally in a person's body," said Andrea Leone-Bay, vice president of pharmaceutical development for MannKind Corp., manufacturer of AFREZZA.
It is intended for use at mealtimes to control rapid rises in blood sugar that occur after meals in people with diabetes. The idea of an inhaled insulin appeals to diabetics who must use insulin every time they eat.
For information on diabetes supplies or insulin pumps, click here!
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DrugWatch.com features a comprehensive list of drugs and medications that are currently on the market, or were previously available worldwide.
According to Sean McCahill, the National Awareness Coordinator for DrugWatch.com, the website is dedicated to educating the public about the details of prescription and over-the-counter medications, as well as aiding in the protection of patients and consumers by informing them of any associated side effects. Also featured is updated information concerning drug recalls, medication approvals, and current developments in the medical field.
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Two weeks ago I upgraded my cellphone to an I-phone. Learning all of the different functions has been a slow process but I'm getting there and I'm loving it more every day. My son Andrew has been very helpful in this process and he has shown me how to download the"applications" that I would use everyday such as CNN, ESPN, etc.
What I didn't know was that there are applications for the I-Phone that would be valuable for pharmacists or anyone who would would like medication information available at their fingertips. Richard Hemby has posted a list of eleven top applications that are easily downloaded and very useful to pharmacists in their daily work. From the latest medication news to identifying medications to pharmacy calculations, I'm sure you'll be able to find an application that suits you.
For information on insulin pumps or diabetic medical supplies, click here!
A recent study has demonstrated that giving mice a combination of low doses of Metformin (brand name Gluophage) with the common chemotherapy medication Doxorubicin (brand name Adriamycin) shrank breast-cancer tumors and prevented their recurrence more effectively than chemotherapy alone.
Chemotherapy is effective against many tumors, said Kevin Struhl, a Harvard Medical School researcher and principal investigator of the study. "The problem is cancer stem cells acquire resistance" to treatment, he said. "They are able to regenerate the tumor and as a result you end up with a relapse."
Researchers said the combination of metformin and doxorubicin killed both regular cancer cells and cancer stem cells. In contrast, doxorubicin alone had limited effect on the stem cells.
A new drug for both Type 1 and Type II diabetes,called Exsulin, is in the "pipeline" and could be sent to the FDA for approval in a few years. Alexander Fleming, MD, former US Food and Drug Administration official and Exsulin Corp. Chief Medical Officer, said "the drug causes the cells in the pancreas to develop into insulin-secreting cells.This is actually a natural hormone we’re developing as a therapy.” Exsulin will be injected like insulin, but it won't have any direct effect on blood sugar.
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A newly approved diabetes drug, Onglyza, is now available in U.S. pharmacies, effective Friday August 14, 2009.
Bristol Myers-Squibb and AstraZeneca PLC, which co-developed and will co-market the drug, said that Onglyza was approved as an adjunct to diet and exercise to improve blood-sugar control in adults for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus.
It belongs to a class of drugs known as DPP-4 inhibitors, and will compete directly with the only other such drug on the market, Merck & Co.'s (MRK) Januvia, which has had the DPP-4 market to itself since it was introduced in 2006.
For more information on Onglyza go to http://www.onglyza.com/
Click here to learn more about diabetes medications available through Focus Express Mail Pharmacy!
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Many articles have been written about how the economy has affected people who have no health insurance and have to pay cash for their medications and medical supplies. The high cost of prescription medications have caused many of these people to cut their pills in half or take their pills every other day instead of daily. Some are even splitting their blood glucose testing strips in half to get 2 tests from one! Studies have shown that by not taking or by skimping on medicines, symptoms and outcomes worsened and the rates of heart attacks and strokes have increased.
Now, research is showing that even people who HAVE insurance are being affected. New studies has shown that as co-pay amounts doubled, the percentage of patients who had started their medications dropped. As an example, it was found that "five years after their diagnosis, about 82 percent of people with hypertension had begun taking the drugs they needed to get their blood pressure under control, versus only about 66 percent of those whose co-pays were twice as much"
If you are experiencing difficulty paying for your medications, shop around for the best price. If you have insurance but pay high co-pays, search for a pharmacy that may be able to help you save money on your co-pays. Check out the website www.FocusPharmacy.com and see if Focus can help reduce your co-pay payment.
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Ryan Haight was born on December 28, 1982 and died on February 12, 2001 from an overdose of prescription drugs he had purchased on the Internet. He was only 18 when he died.
The Ryan Haight Act, also known as the "Internet Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act" attempts to prevent the growing sale of prescription drugs over the Internet without a valid prescription by:
Focus Express Mail Pharmacy has recently complied with all of the requirements of the Ryan Haight Act. If all fully licensed, certified, and legitimate pharmacies who advertise on the internet comply with this act, families will not have to endure the loss of a child due to unscrupulous and rogue internet pharmacies again.
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Insulin, a hormone that is produced by the pancreas in the body, helps the body utilize glucose properly. Proper amounts of insulin prevent hyperglycemia and the complications of diabetes.
However, new research has shown that high amounts of insulin may be harmful. Researchers have found that women with the highest levels of insulin were 50 percent more likely to develop breast cancer than women who had the lowest insulin levels.
Among these women, the influence of insulin on breast cancer risk was quite high," says lead author Marc Gunter, Ph.D. of the Albert Einstein School of Medicine at Yeshiva University, New York City and assistant professor of epidemiology and population health. "Women with the highest insulin levels in their blood were more than two times more likely to develop breast cancer than women with the lowest insulin levels." Moreover, "when we controlled for insulin, the association between obesity and breast cancer became much weaker," Dr. Gunter says. "This means that a large component of that obesity-cancer relationship may be mediated by insulin levels
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Researchers at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York have found that adding an oral medication, such as Metformin or Glyburide , makes insulin more effective and lowers the risk for Alzheimer's," This finding may help some people with Diabetes lower their risk of developing dementia.
In a study by Chinese scientists, treating Type 2 diabetes early and aggressively with insulin therapy was able to push the disease into remission.The premise behind the therapy is that by giving the failing beta cells of the pancreas a chance to rest, one might interrupt a cycle of decline and allow for some recovery. The beta cells produce the insulin the body needs to keep blood sugar levels in check; it is the inability of those cells to meet the body's insulin needs that triggers Type 2 diabetes
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