Internal Medicine News articles from April 2003

Internal Medicine News archives from April 2003

Doctors hail new reform initiatives: Bush proposals on Medicare, tort reform.
April 1, 2003... WASHINGTON -- The undercurrent in the hotel ballroom ranged from "Right on!" and "You said it!" to a standing ovation and a loud roar of approval. It seemed that no matter what politicians from the White House and Capitol Hill said, members of...

Delay in TPA use after stroke still a frequent problem: failure to call 911 cited as factor in nearly 5-hour delay prior to hospital admission. (3-Hour Window for Treatment).
April 1, 2003... PHOENIX, ARIZ. -- Time continues to be the major hurdle preventing ischemic stroke patients from getting the brain-saving, clot-busting drug tissue plasminogen activator. The biggest delay comes between onset of the stroke and completion...

ACIP gauges supply of flu vaccine for 2003-2004: high-risk patients should get shots early. (Two Manufacturers Remain).(Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... ATLANTA -- Uncertainty about the future supply of influenza vaccine has prompted a renewed call for prioritization of patients during the 2003-2004 influenza season. The recommendation emerged during a meeting of the Centers for Disease...

Lapses in stroke care observed in preliminary data from four states. (Acute Stroke Registry).
April 1, 2003... PHOENIX, ARIZ. -- Preliminary data from pilot states enrolled in the Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Registry reveal "significant room for improvement in care," Dr. Michael R. Frankel said at the 28th International Stroke Conference. ...

Task force proposes trust fund for teaching hospitals: financial pressures. (News).
April 1, 2003... WASHINGTON -- Creating a public trust fund for teaching hospitals and affiliated medical centers would make their financing more accountable, predictable, and transparent, policy makers said at a press briefing sponsored by the Commonwealth...

Physicians' legal anxiety drives testing, referrals: 83% don't trust justice system. (News).
April 1, 2003... WASHINGTON -- Physicians are running scared from a legal system they no longer trust. A Harris Interactive poll of 300 physicians showed that 83% didn't trust the current system of justice to achieve a "reasonable result" if sued. ...

FDA proposes regulating supplement manufacturers: focus on safety, not efficacy. (News).
April 1, 2003... The Food and Drug Administration has addressed the growing public unease about the safety of dietary supplements by proposing industrywide "current good manufacturing practices." As the popularity of herbs and other natural remedies has...

Dietary supplements: sales and market share in 2000. (Data Watch).
April 1, 2003... DATA WATCH Dietary Supplements: Sales and Market Share in 2000 Sales % of (in billions) Market Vitamins $5.9 35 Herbals and...

FDA investigates ephedra, proposes a warning label: risk of heart attack, seizure, stroke. (News).
April 1, 2003... Individuals should avoid or use extreme caution before taking ephedra while the Food and Drug Administration investigates whether the substance should be placed under greater control or banned, federal officials announced. In February the...

Adverse events linked to supplement use: data from U.S. poison control centers. (News).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Inadequate surveillance and underreporting of adverse events associated with the unregulated use of dietary supplements are contributing to a substantial public health hazard. In a prospective study in which U.S. poison control centers...

Let's talk about sex.(Editorial)
April 1, 2003... Now more than ever, it's important for physicians to have a broad perspective on the subject of sexual health. Today's consumers are much more sophisticated than in the past. They are inundated with information about what should considered...

Do statins and ACE inhibitors have a class effect? (Pro & Con).
April 1, 2003... YES The drugs that make up YES each of these two classes, the statins and the angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, are similar. All statins have similar effects on serum levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and all ACE...

Letters.(Letter to the Editor)
April 1, 2003... Tobacco Ad Cessation Rather than remove popular magazines from physician waiting rooms because they contain ads for tobacco products, consider altering the ads so that they deliver your professional and personal opinion of tobacco use to...

Clarification.('Treat Syndrome X With a Low-Carbohydrate Diet,' in Jan. 15, 2003 issue)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Due to an overwhelming response, Katherine Chauncey, Ph.D., of Texas Tech University Lubbock, was unable to personally answer queries from readers interested in learning about the "whole foods" diet for treating dietary syndrome X ("Treat...

Correction.('Estrogen Fails Again for Secondary Prevention of CAD,' in Jan. 15, 2003 issue)(Correction Notice)
April 1, 2003... In "Estrogen Fails Again for Secondary Prevention of CAD" (Jan. 15, 2003, p. 45), the dosage of medroxyprogesterone acetate used in Dr. David D. Waters' study was 2.5 mg/day.

Young women more vulnerable to addiction. (Gender Matters).
April 1, 2003... WASHINGTON -- Girls and young women get addicted to drugs more easily than males and suffer more devastating consequences, and the nation's public health infrastructure needs an overhaul to reflect that fact, former Health and Human Services...

Heavy drinking on the rise among women. (22-Year Ongoing Study).
April 1, 2003... COLORADO SPRINGS -- American women of all ages are getting drunk more often. This was one of several unexpected findings of a groundbreaking 22-year ongoing longitudinal study of women and alcohol. The National Institutes of...

COMBINE Study gathers data on treating alcohol dependence: full results expected in 2004. (Clinical Rounds).
April 1, 2003... LAS VEGAS -- Naltrexone and acamprosate appear to be well tolerated in treating alcohol dependence when taken alone and when taken together, Dr. Raymond Anton reported at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry. ...

Myopathy can be traced to food, drink, drugs. (Check Electrolytes).
April 1, 2003... SNOWMASS, COLO. -- If you can get patients with myopathies to tell you everything they've been eating, drinking, or snorting, you'll identify the cause of the problem in many cases, Dr. Robert L. Wortmann said at a symposium sponsored by the...

Acute steroid myopathies rising over past 5 years: suspect rheumatologic drugs. (Clinical Rounds).
April 1, 2003... SNOWMASS, COLO. -- Rheumatologists are being summoned to intensive care units for a newly recognized problem that is known by two names: acute steroid myopathy and critical illness myopathy. "We've seen this more and more frequently over...

Taking opioids for headaches can backfire: greater pain severity. (Clinical Rounds).
April 1, 2003... NEW ORLEANS -- People taking opioids for chronic headache pain have greater pain severity and more interference in daily functioning than do headache sufferers who do not take opioids, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the...

Risk of infarcts tied to migraine with aura: arterial border zone. (Clinical Rounds).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... CHICAGO -- Migraine sufferers with aura are more likely to develop posterior circulation infarcts in an arterial border zone, compared with migraine sufferers without aura or healthy persons, Dr. Mark Kruit said at the annual meeting of the...

Chiropractic for back pain. (Alternative Medicine).
April 1, 2003... * Many patients with back pain experience at least short-term benefits with chiropractic treatments. * A very small but real risk of injury exists with cervical spinal adjustment. History of Use Spinal manipulation has been used...

Educating chronic pain patients raises satisfaction: pain management. (Clinical Rounds).
April 1, 2003... NEW ORLEANS -- When chronic pain patients felt educated by their physician about the pain, they tended to be satisfied with their care in a recent study--and those whose physician disagreed with the patient's assessment of the level of pain...

Pay attention to patients' assessments of pain level: physical functioning affected. (Clinical Rounds).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... NEW ORLEANS -- Physical functioning is worse in chronic pain patients when physicians underestimate the patient's subjective level of pain, a recent study suggests. The mean standardized score on a visual analog scale measuring physical...

Pituitary tumors: not as rare as once thought, easily overlooked; nonspecific symptoms. (Clinical Rounds).
April 1, 2003... NEW YORK -- Consider the possibility of pituitary tumors in the differential diagnosis of any patient who presents with sudden and unexplainable onset of nonspecific symptoms such as headache, fatigue, cognitive deficits, weight gain, or...

Modest steps could restrain obesity trend: more exercise, fewer bites. (Clinical Rounds).
April 1, 2003... The constant expansion up of the national waistline seems inexorable, but reversing the trend could be relatively simple. All that's needed is 15 minutes of walking a day-or just a few less bites of oversized portions, according to James 0....

Drug pipeline fat with weight-loss medications: perhaps 100 agents in development. (Clinical Rounds).
April 1, 2003... Never before, perhaps, have so many novel obesity drugs been in the pipeline. One of those drugs, Axokine, recently received fast-track approval status from the Food and Drug Administration--a first for an obesity drug. The fast-track...

Diet rich in 'functional' oil cuts adiposity, improves lipids: fights metabolic syndrome.
April 1, 2003... CHICAGO -- A diet rich in "functional" oil reduces adiposity while improving lipid profiles, Marie-Pierre St-Onge, Ph.D., said at the annual scientific sessions of the American Heart Association. This functional oil consists of...

Direct cost of diabetes has doubled since 1997: federal efforts focus of prevention. (Clinical Rounds).
April 1, 2003... WASHINGTON -- The annual direct cost of diabetes in the United States more than doubled between 1997 and 2002, us. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy C. Thompson announced at a press briefing. In a cost survey conducted by the Lewin...

Insulin resistance appears to be highly heritable among Mexican Americans: expressed via syndrome X. (Clinical Rounds).
April 1, 2003... SAN DIEGO -- Insulin resistance appears to be highly heritable and expressed via syndrome X in Mexican Americans, results from a novel study suggest. Concurrent high heritabilities of insulin resistance, lipid levels, blood pressure...

Quality of care key to avoiding diabetic hospitalizations: doctor supply less crucial. (Clinical Rounds).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... NEW ORLEANS -- Quality of care, not availability of care, appears to be the key to preventing hospitalization among patients with diabetes, Dr. James Bailey said at the southern regional meeting of the American Federation for Medical Research....

Pregnancy safe after radical trachelectomy: study of 80 patients. (Clinical Rounds).
April 1, 2003... NEW ORLEANS -- Pregnancy following radical trachelectomy for cervical cancer is generally safe, according to a study of 80 patients who underwent the procedure. The findings from this study -- the largest to date to address pregnancy...

Today sponge reintroduced to U.S. customers via web sites: back after 8 years. (Clinical Rounds).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... The Today contraceptive sponge is back after an 8-year absence. Last month Allendale (N.J.) Pharmaceuticals reintroduced the sponge through two Canadian Internet sites, which can ship the product to customers in the United States. The...

Calendar management: DateBk5. (Digital Assistance).
April 1, 2003... Overview: DateBk5 is a highly compatible, full-featured calendar program for Palm OS handheld devices. Added calendar views, icon capability, advanced color management, and quick entry template lists are a few of the many enhancements provided...

Estrogens don't protect against cognitive decline: new data from two studies. (Clinical Rounds).
April 1, 2003... High levels of endogenous or exogenous estrogens do not slow the decline of memory and cognition in older women with or without dementia, according to two studies. A study of 202 men and 210 postmenopausal women without dementia examined...

Lung cancer. (The Effective Physician).
April 1, 2003... Background Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in men and women in the United States; annual mortality exceeds that of breast, colon, and prostate cancers combined. The American College of Chest Physicians published guidelines...

Sarcoidosis often takes many visits before diagnosis is clinched: pulmonary symptoms confound. (Clinical Rounds).
April 1, 2003... The diagnosis of sarcoidosis often is delayed, said Dr. Marc A. Judson of the Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, and his associates. Diagnosing sarcoidosis, a multi-system granulomatous disease of unknown cause, usually...

Cowden syndrome more common than suspected: linked to breast cancer risk. (Clinical Rounds).
April 1, 2003... SAN ANTONIO -- Cowden syndrome is much more common than traditionally thought, Dr. Charis Eng said at a breast cancer symposium sponsored by the San Antonio Cancer Institute. Since the discovery that germline mutations of the tumor...

'Hang in there' despite BMD loss during therapy: may rebound in second year. (Clinical Rounds).(bone mineral density)
April 1, 2003... NEW YORK -- A loss of bone mineral density during the first year of osteoporosis treatment with an antiresorprive agent may not indicate treatment failure and may be compensated for by bone mineral density gains in the second year of treatment,...

Four clinical factors flag high fracture risk: osteopenic women. (Clinical Rounds).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... SAN ANTONIO -- A series of four simple, clinical factors can be used to identify postmenopausal women with osteopenia who face the highest risk of a bone fracture. The most powerful is a prior history of fracture, Dr. Paul D. Miller said...

Drug update: genital warts. (Rx).
April 1, 2003... Medical treatment of external genital warts falls into two basic categories: patient applied and provider applied. Patient-applied treatments include imiquimod and podofilox. Agents administered by providers include podophyllin resin,...

Parenteral therapies for systolic heart failure: one drug approved, two in trials. (Rx).
April 1, 2003... SAN FRANCISCO -- A recently approved drug and two investigational ones employ new mechanisms of action in the treatment of acute decompensated chronic systolic heart failure, Dr. Teresa DeMarco said at a meeting sponsored by the American...

Low-dose doxycycline emerges for acne, rosacea. (Off-Label Studies).
April 1, 2003... DORADO, P.R. -- Low-dose doxycycline, Food and Drug Administration--approved for adult periodontal disease, is showing promise for treating acne, rosacea, and perioral dermatitis, speakers said at the Caribbean Dermatology Conference. ...

Targeting B cells may break rheumatoid arthritis. (Interim Analysis).
April 1, 2003... NEW ORLEANS -- Selectively targeting B cells may help break the molecular chain of events that results in the signs and symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, according to research being conducted at University College, London. In preliminary...

Peptide deformylase inhibitors target antibiotic resistance. (Block Messenger RNA).
April 1, 2003... BOCA RATON, FLA. -- A new class of drugs known as peptide deformylase inhibitors could help overcome bacterial resistance to antibiotics, Dr. Stephan Billstein said at the annual meeting of the Noah Worcester Dermatological Society. These...

Alert: counterfeit, contaminated Procrit; pathogens found in three lots. (Rx).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... The Food and Drug Administration is warning health care providers and patients to be on the alert for counterfeit Procrit (epoetin alfa). FDA testing has shown that some counterfeit product contains no active ingredient, and three lots of...

Global program aims to curb sepsis; 5-year goal: 25% lower mortality. (Infectious Diseases).
April 1, 2003... SAN ANTONIO -- A global initiative to reduce mortality associated with sepsis by 25% within the next 5 years is underway, Dr. Mitchell M. Levy announced at a meeting sponsored by the Society of Critical Care Medicine. Entitled "Surviving...

Drotrecogin alfa may be useful in wider sepsis population: not just for high-risk patients. (Infectious Diseases).
April 1, 2003... SAN ANTONIO -- Early clinical experience with drotrecogin alfa for the treatment of sepsis suggests that limiting its use to patients with the highest risk of death may be unnecessary. The drug--the human recombinant form of activated...

For ventilator-linked pneumonia, linezolid wins: compared with vancomycin. (Infectious Diseases).
April 1, 2003... SAN ANTONIO -- Critically ill patients who developed ventilator-associated pneumonia showed improved survival if treated with linezolid rather than vancomycin, Dr. Mann H. Kollef said at a meeting sponsored by the Society of Critical Care...

Finding ways to cut pneumonia risk following esophagectomy: 217 patients followed. (Infectious Diseases).
April 1, 2003... SAN DIEGO -- Undergoing total thoracic esophagectomy and being a woman are among the significant predictors of pneumonia following esophagectomy. The results of a 217-patient study suggest that the risk of postoperative pneumonia could be...

Nebulized antibiotics may clear recalcitrant, chronic sinusitis: uncontrolled pilot study. (Infectious Diseases).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Nebulized antibiotics appear to clear the infections of many patients who have chronic sinusitis following functional endoscopic sinus surgery, reported Dr. Winston C. Vaughan and Dr. Gerard Carvalho of Stanford (Calif.) University. In an...

Switching to oral therapy for pneumonia. (Bottom Line).
April 1, 2003... Programs that encourage early conversion from intravenous to oral therapy for community-acquired pneumonia reduced costs by nearly $500 per patient, George Delgado Jr., Pharm.D., said at the Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and...

HIV resistance despite perfect HAART adherence: complete viral suppression needed. (Infectious Diseases).
April 1, 2003... SAN FRANCISCO -- Even perfect adherence to highly active antiretroviral therapy will not prevent the appearance of resistant viral strains in HIV infection, Dr. David Bangsberg said at a meeting on HIV management sponsored by the University of...

Marijuana boosts weight, CD8 cells in HIV patients: randomized clinical trial. (Infectious Diseases).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... SAN FRANCISCO -- A randomized trial of smoked marijuana and dronabinol in HIV-positive patients revealed significant weight gain in both experimental groups and significant increases in CD8 cell counts in the marijuana group. In the study,...

Hepatitis C effects on HIV. (Clinical Capsules).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Hepatitis C infection did not affect survival in HIV patients on highly active antiretroviral therapy, reported Dr. Ellen M. Tedaldi of Temple University, Philadelphia, and her colleagues. In 823 HIV-positive patients receiving highly...

HPV load, cervical cancer risk. (Clinical Capsules).(human papillomavirus)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Viral burden as a marker of persistent human papillomavirus infection may predict risk for subsequent cervical cancer precursors, reported Dr. Nicolas E Schlecht of McGill University (Montreal) and his colleagues. In 417 HPV-positive...

Tuberculosis hits lab workers. (Clinical Capsules).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Delayed or missed diagnosis of tuberculosis appears to put laboratory workers at elevated risk for tuberculosis infection because they are handling specimens that they don't know are hazardous, reported Dr. Dick Menzies of the Montreal Chest...

Smallpox vaccine risks. (Clinical Capsules).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Reports of adverse events associated with the ongoing smallpox vaccination program are emerging, while the Department of Health and Human Services has announced contracts with two companies--Acambis Inc. (Cambridge, Mass.) and Bavarian Nordic...

Statin-induced myopathy is underrecognized: premature fatigue, fixed weakness. (Cardiovascular Medicine).
April 1, 2003... SNOWMASS, COLO. -- An estimated 6 out of every 100,000 patients taking lipid-lowering statin drugs develop statin-induced myopathy, but that number is just the tip of the iceberg, Dr. Robert L. Wortmann said at a symposium sponsored by the...

Guidelines on acute coronary syndrome incorporate new data on anticoagulation: risk factor scoring systems. (Cardiovascular Medicine).
April 1, 2003... SAN FRANCISCO -- Revised guidelines on managing unstable angina and non-ST elevation acute myocardial infarction incorporate new scoring systems to estimate risk and new data on clot-busting drugs, Dr. Melvin D. Cheitlin said at a meeting...

Head elevation in doubt for acute ischemic stroke: flat position boosts blood flow by 20%. (Cardiovascular Medicine).
April 1, 2003... SAN ANTONIO -- Patients with acute ischemic stroke may fare better if the head of the bed is not elevated. Routine practice for patients with many acute neurologic diagnoses includes elevating the head of the bed to a 30-degree angle. But...

Stroke risk mapped down to county level: Atlas of Stroke Mortality. (Cardiovascular Medicine).
April 1, 2003... The Stroke Belt has been mapped out -- in great detail. For the first time, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released data on stroke mortality at the county level. The data, which are from 1991 to 1998, are further broken...

Anemia plus renal disease boosts stroke risk: new risk factor. (Cardiovascular Medicine).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... CHICAGO -- Patients with anemia and impaired renal function face a 7.5-fold increased risk of stroke compared with people with normal renal function and hemoglobin levels, based on data collected from 13,794 community-dwelling subjects. ...

Chest protection, sudden death. (Clinical Capsules).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Safety measures meant to reduce an athlete's risk of sudden death from a blow to the chest could actually raise that risk. This form of sudden death, known as commotio cordis, is most likely to be produced by impacts at about 40 miles per...

Contrast medium nephropathy. (Clinical Capsules).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... In patients with diabetes or renal impairment undergoing angiography, using a contrast medium that is iso-osmolar to blood such as iodixanol may prevent nephrotoxicity, said Dr. Peter Aspelin of Huddinge University Hospital, Stockholm, and his...

Postsurgical Aspergillus aortitis. (Clinical Capsules).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... When patients develop persistent fever but have negative blood cultures after cardiac surgery that may have damaged the aortic wall, consider Aspergillus aortitis. Only immediate diagnosis and aggressive treatment will prevent a fatal...

Myocarditis rare in influenza. (Clinical Capsules).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... The prevalence of myocarditis during influenza infection is lower than previously estimated, while the prevalence of skeletal muscle injury is much higher, said Dr. Kim Greaves of St. Bartholomew's Hospital, London, and associates. ...

INR target of 2-3 still best for most patients on chronic warfarin Tx: lower target didn't cut bleeding. (Cardiovascular Medicine).(international normalized ratio, treatment)
April 1, 2003... PHILADELPHIA -- For most patients on chronic warfarin treatment, the standard, international normalized ratio target of 2-3 works best. An international normalized ratio (INR) target range of 1.5-1.9 did not reduce the risk of bleeding...

LMW heparin beats warfarin for treating venous thrombosis in cancer patients: long-term dalteparin. (Cardiovascular Medicine).(low-molecular-weight)
April 1, 2003... PHILADELPHIA -- "Long-term treatment with dalteparin is a major clinical advance for treating cancer patients with venous thromboembolism," Dr. Agnes Y. Lee said at the annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology. The...

Fondaparinux may match heparins for VTE: convenient dosing. (Cardiovascular Medicine).(venous thromboembolism)
April 1, 2003... PHILADELPHIA -- Fondaparinux, a synthetic anticoagulant, appears to be as safe and effective as a low-molecular-weight heparin or unfractionated heparin for the initial treatment of symptomatic venous thromboembolism, Dr. Harry R. Buller said...

Robotic surgery promising for atrial fibrillation: success rate near 85% in 150+ patients. (Cardiovascular Medicine).
April 1, 2003... BOSTON -- Closed-chest open-heart surgery to correct atrial fibrillation sounds like a pipe dream. Yet the semantic incongruity became a reality recently at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York, where cardiothoracic surgeons used a...

Framingham pegs lifetime risk of atrial fib at 25%: aged 40 years and older. (Cardiovascular Medicine).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... CHICAGO -- Men and women aged 40 years or older have an average lifetime risk of atrial fibrillation of about 25%, based on an analysis of data collected in the Framingham Heart Study. The risk of developing atrial fibrillation (AF) rises...

Effexor XR sprinkles. (Products).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Sprinkle administration of Effexor XR (venlafaxine HCl) has been approved for the treatment of depression and generalized anxiety disorder. Patients with swallowing difficulties can now open the capsule and sprinkle the contents onto a spoonful...

Taxotere approval. (Products).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Taxotere (docetaxel) for injection concentrate is now approved for unresectable locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer in combination with cisplatin in patients who have not received prior chemotherapy It is also indicated as...

Aralast approved. (Products).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Aralast [[alpha].sub.1]-proteinase inhibitor (human) is approved for as augmentation therapy for patients with congenital deficiency of [[alpha].sub.1] proteinase inhibitor and clinically evident emphysema. For more information, contact Baxter...

Dipentum relaunched. (Products).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Dipentum (olsalazine sodium capsules) is being relaunched in the United States. It is indicated for the maintenance of remission of ulcerative colitis in patients intolerant of sulfasalazine. The drug's mechanism of action is not dependent on...

Blood Glucose Monitors. (Products).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... The BD Logic Blood Glucose Monitor and the BD Latitude Diabetes Management system are now available. Both products use BD Ultra-Fine 33 lancets, require 0.3 [mu]L of blood, and record up to 250 blood glucose results and insulin doses. The...

Xanax XR. (Products).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Xanax XR (alprazolam) is approved for the treatment of panic disorder. The extended-release tablets are contraindicated in patients with known sensitivity to benzodiazepines or with acute narrow-angle glaucoma. The drug is also contraindicated...

Dialysis solution. (Products).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Extraneal (icodextrin) peritoneal dialysis solution is approved for single daily exchange for the long dwell (8-16 hours) during continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis or automated peritoneal dialysis for the management of chronic renal...

Pelvic floor muscles. (Products).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... GyneFlex pelvic floor muscle exerciser is approved for the treatment of urinary incontinence in women. The device, which is made of polymer plastic and can be inserted into the vagina, is available in three resistance strengths: light, for...

Topical anesthetic. (Products).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Ethyl Chloride Pain-Ease topical anesthetic helps to make patients more comfortable during venipuncture, intravenous procedures, minor surgical procedures, and injections. It is available in cans in either a mist or stream application, or in a...

Tear production. (Products).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Restasis (cyclosporine ophthalmic emulsion) 0.05% has been approved to increase tear production in patients whose tear production is presumed to be suppressed due to ocular inflammation associated with keratoconjunctivitis sicca. Increased tear...

Natalizumab may quell Crohn's disease, MS: selective adhesion-molecule inhibitor. (Gastroenterology).(multiple sclerosis)
April 1, 2003... Natalizumab appeared to be effective in treating two autoimmune diseases--Crohn's disease and multiple sclerosis--in separate clinical trials. Natalizumab (Antegren), a humanized monoclonal antibody, is an [[alpha].sub.4] integrin...