Breakthroughs in Research and Clinical Practice Helping Patients

Pharmaceutical and medical device companies make significant breakthroughs in research to develop innovative treatments and technologies that have prolonged the lives of millions of Americans and made millions more live healthier, pain free lives.  Consequently, several recent articles have underscored the critical contributions such companies and their products have had on in several disease areas including Crohn’s disease, hypertension, and cholesterol.  Crohn’s Disease  A recent article from Med Page Today reported that “Patients with treatment-refractory Crohn's disease obtained long-term improvement when treated with the investigational agent vedolizumab, which selectively targets lymphocytes in the gut, according to results of a randomized, placebo-controlled trial.”  Almost twice as many patients achieved clinical remission after 52 weeks of maintenance therapy with vedolizumab compared with placebo.  Additionally, 50% more patients treated with vedolizumab had at least a 100-point improvement in the Crohn's Disease Activity Index (CDAI), and twice as many achieved corticosteroid-free remission, as reported here at the American College of Gastroenterology meeting.  The study was supported by Millennium Pharmaceuticals.  Hypertension, Blood Pressure  A second article from Med Page Today reported that “Americans are using more antihypertensive drugs, and more drugs in combination, a trend that is paying off with better control of hypertension.” ...
Source: Policy and Medicine - Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Source Type: blogs