|
|
|
Are Herbal Remedies The Answer?
It seems that almost every day we come across a story in a newspaper or magazine which raises concerns about the use, misuse, or overuse of a particular pharmaceutical remedy in the treatment of minor ailments, or serious medical conditions. Often...
Catch the wave!
Catch the wave! There has never been a better opportunity for chiropractic medicine…and it’s going to get even better! Living in Southern California the ocean waves and the surfing environment inspire you. You cannot help but draw the analogy of...
How To Solve Men’s Problem
Love is something special in our life. It’s what we dream of, what we desire and what makes us really happy if we find it even for a short while. But relationship between man and woman may just be ruined because of “man’s” problem. It’s a pity when...
Make Fear a Nine Day Wonder - Motivate Yourself with Fun!
Have you heard something referred to as a "nine day wonder"? The phrase refers to something that causes a sensation for a brief period of time and then fades into obscurity. The origin of this phrase is usually tied to the nine-day reign of Lady...
Mind Power - Discover The Hidden Superpowers Inside Your Mind
Your mind, what it contains and how you use it, is an infinite wonder. It has the fantastic ability to transmute your desires into physical counterparts and create a new reality for you. You can do anything that your mind can conceive, as long as...
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Arthritis Drugs Celebrex-Vioxx Safety in Doubt
“Arthritis drugs Vioxx, Celebrex safety in doubt”
In doubt and may not be as safe as previously thought. Research earlier this
year has shown that these drugs increased the risk of heart attacks although a
relatively low risk, over those taking a pain reliever. The FDA is debating
whether to add information about the increased risk on both drugs’ labels.
One Wall Street analyst has warned that this problem could have an adverse
effect on Merck, the drug company responsible for these drugs be placed on the
market - along with Pharmacia, which makes Celebrex, generating $2.3 billion in
12 months to March 31 of this year, Merck having sold $1.7 billion Vioxx during
the same 12 months.
Studies done last year showed that patients taking Vioxx had four times the risk
of heart attacks over patients taking Naproxen - another pain reliever. Naproxen
is also sold under the brands names of Naprosyn and Aleve. The risk of heart
attacks increases over time, at about four heart attacks per 1,000 patients.
This study was sponsored by the Merck company, which also stated that their
research does not show this problem of increased heart attacks with Vioxx.
These two drugs are among the best-sellers of prescription drugs in the world.
They cause fewer ulcers that many other drugs given for pain. Richard R. Stover,
a pharmaceutical industry analyst at Arnhold & S. Bleichroeder Inc, reported on
April 27 that he did his own analysis on what he called “disturbing data” from
Merck’s study. He stated that he was warning his clients, many of whom were
institutional investors holding stock in Merck, that they should watch the issue
carefully because it could effect the company’s stock price.
Dr. M. Michael Wolfe, chief of the gastroenterology section at the Boston
University School of Medicine and a member of the FDA advisory committee stated
that there should be a warning, after a review of the issue earlier this year,
stating that
“The marketing of these drugs is unbelievable, I’m sure there are many people
out there who are taking these drugs that should not be.”
There is a current debate going on between some doctors and Merck’s scientists
as to whether the higher risk of heart attacks is a result of Vioxx causing
damage in some patients or to an absence of the benefits that Naproxen may have
in protecting the heart, that Naproxen stops or slows the production of
thromboxane, which is thought to cause platelet in the blood to form clots,
similar to the aspirin effect.
Vioxx and Celebrex have been shown to have the same benefit in protecting the
heart.
Several doctors say they are worried about the possibility of heart attacks
because many of the arthritis patients
taking the drugs are elderly and have a
higher risk of cardiovascular problems to begin with.
The current debate centers on whether the higher heart attack rate found in
patients taking Vioxx is a result of the drug’s actually causing damage in some
patients or to an absence of the heart-protecting benefits that Naproxen may
have.
“Naproxen had a similar anti-platelet effect to aspirin,” said Dr. Eve E.
Slater, senior vice president of external policy for Merck’s research labs,
“and those people had fewer heart attacks.”
Neither Vioxx nor Celebrex has been shown to have the same heart-protecting
benefit.
Slater also said that Stover’s report was flawed and biased in favor of
Pharmacia. But regulators and some doctors say they still worry that there may
be more of a problem with Vioxx.
And even if Vioxx and Celebrex do not damage the heart, the fact that they do
not have the heart-protecting benefits of aspirin reduces the ability of the
companies to market them as being significantly safer than other pain relievers.
Merck recommended last year that doctors involved in clinical trials of Vioxx
consider prescribing low doses of aspirin to patients taking Vioxx if they are
at high risk of heart attacks - although low doses of aspirin could increase the
risk of ulcers. Ulcers are the main side effect that Vioxx and Celebrex were
developed to avoid.
There have been no studies done to determine whether patients have fewer ulcers
if they take low doses of aspirin with either Vioxx or Celebrex. In February
Dr Maria Lourdes Villalba, at an FDA advisory meeting, stated that Merck had
proved Vioxx [Rofecoxib] caused fewer serious ulcers than Naproxen. However,
she also state that the potential safety advantage was offset by a higher risk
of heart problems,in her opinion. She reported that “Overall, there was no
safety superiority of Rofecoxib over Naproxen, mainly due to an excess of serious
cardiovascular events”.
Dr Villalba also stated that there had been no studies to prove Merck’s claim that
Naproxen worked like aspirin in decreasing heart attacks. The FDA expressed some
concern over the higher rate of heart attacks with Vioxx, stating that this could
be caused by the drug’s ability to produce blood clots.
“There is still a tremendous benefit with these drugs” reported Dr Eve Slater of
Merck.
About the Author
Margot B, Writer, Web Developer
Margot B has written a book and hundreds of articles, specializing in health and the environment.
mailto:margotb@wonderport.com
Web Sites by Margot B:
http://margot.bravepages.com
http://margotsnews.gossimer.net
http://websitebuilder4free.Biz-Page.com
http://www.freewebz.com/nuchatlaht
|
|
|
|
|
| National Library of Medicine - National Institutes of Health |
| Part of the National Institutes of Health, the National Library of Medicine offers access to health information for consumer, patient, and physicians ... |
| www.nlm.nih.gov |
|
| Health and Medical Information produced by doctors - MedicineNet.com |
| Doctor-produced health and medical information written for you to make informed decisions about your health concerns. |
| www.medicinenet.com |
|
| Medicine in the Yahoo! Directory |
| Collection of sites for health professionals, with sections on specific disciplines, organizations, continuing education, conferences, publications, ... |
| dir.yahoo.com |
|
| MedlinePlus Health Information from the National Library of Medicine |
| Health information from the National Library of Medicine. Easy access to Medline and Health topics, medical dictionaries, directories and publications. |
| medlineplus.gov |
|
| Medicine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| Medicine is a branch of health science and the sector of public life ... The practice of medicine combines both science as the evidence base and art in the ... |
| en.wikipedia.org |
|
| Journal Home - Nature Medicine |
| Nature Medicine has a vacancy for a Locum Assistant Editor for six months. The position involves working in all aspects of the editorial process, ... |
| www.nature.com |
|
| The New England Journal of Medicine: Research & Review Articles on ... |
| The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) is a weekly general medical journal that publishes new medical research findings, review articles, and editorial ... |
| content.nejm.org |
|
| eMedicine Clinical Knowledge Base |
| eMedicine features up-to-date, searchable, peer-reviewed medical journals, online physician reference textbooks, and a full-text article database in 62 ... |
| www.emedicine.com |
|
| Open Directory - Health: Medicine |
| the entire directory, only in Health/Medicine. Top: Health: Medicine (11429). Description · Medical Specialties (4888); Surgery (2265) ... |
| dmoz.org |
|
| the www virtual library biosciences medicine |
| www.ohsu.edu/cliniweb/wwwvl/ - Similar pages |
|
|
| Medicine - home |
| Bimonthly journal covering the latest results in clinical investigation relevant to hospital and office practice. |
| www.md-journal.com |
|
| Institute of Medicine |
| The Institute of Medicine serves as adviser to the nation to improve health. |
| www.iom.edu |
|
| ScienceDaily: Health & Medicine News |
| Medical Research News. Health news on everything from cancer to nutrition. Full-text, images, updated daily. |
| www.sciencedaily.com |
|
| Google Directory - Health > Medicine |
| Search only in Medicine Search the Web. Medicine. Health > Medicine, Go to Directory Home. Categories. Alternative Medicine (6308) Basic Sciences (66) ... |
| www.google.com |
|
| the world wide web virtual library biosciences medicine |
| www.mcb.harvard.edu/biopages/medicine.html - Similar pages |
|
|
| PLoS Medicine - A Peer-Reviewed Open-Access Journal |
| PLoS Medicine is a peer-reviewed, international, open-access journal published ... Every issue of PLoS Medicine contains a selection of readers' responses. ... |
| medicine.plosjournals.org |
|
| Medicine On-Line - Medicine Online -The International Medical Journal |
| Medicine Online - independent and peer reviewed journal published by Priory Medical Journals - priory.com. |
| www.priory.com |
|
| Entrez PubMed |
| PubMed is a service of the US National Library of Medicine that includes over 16 million citations from MEDLINE and other life science journals for ... |
| www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov |
|
| Stanford University School of Medicine |
| Home Page of the Stanford University School of Medicine. |
| med.stanford.edu |
|
| Medicine OnLine |
| Meds.com offers medical information and education on cancer (lung cancer, colon cancer, breast cancer, leukemia) and HIV / AIDS for patients, ... |
| www.meds.com |
|
|