FDA Drug Trials Snapshots and Diversity When Testing New Drugs
By: John J. Whyte, M.D., M.P.H. Did you know that some drugs affect men and women differently? For instance, women are often prescribed only half the dose that men take of the sleep medication, Ambien (zolpidem). Race and ethnicity also … Continue reading → (Source: FDA Voice)
Source: FDA Voice - February 25, 2017 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs
Medications that Increase the Risks of Falling
Falls are the leading cause of both fatal and non-fatal injuries for adults 65 and older, and research suggests that those taking four or more medications are at an even greater risk than those who don ’t.ByAlzheimer's Reading RoomWhat ’s the Difference Between Alzheimer’s and DementiaHow to Test Your Memory for Alzheimer's and DementiaHow to Get Answers To Your Questions About Alzheimer's and Dementia“Falls are the leading cause of both fatal and non-fatal injuries for adults 65 and older, and research suggests that those taking four or more medications are at an even greater risk than those who don’t – perhap...
Source: Alzheimer's Reading Room, The - February 1, 2017 Category: Neurology Tags: alzheimer's care care of dementia patients dementia care health help alzheimer's help with dementia care medications falls Prescription Medications Risks risk of falling senior care Source Type: blogs
Make Sleep Meds Work For You
I’ve been busier than I like, and haven’t had as much time for posting. But I spend a lot of time answering emails from my patients, and some of my responses may be useful for others. Below I’ll share my answer to a patient who has been unable to get quality sleep. Next week I’ll find another answer to share with readers.
This patient asked whether her insurance would cover Lunesta. She wrote at 2 AM that she is up most of the night tossing and turning. She now takes 10 mg of Ambien, and wrote that it ‘stopped working’. She doesn’t think 20 mg of Ambien would be covered b...
Source: Suboxone Talk Zone - November 27, 2016 Category: Addiction Authors: Jeffrey Junig MD PhD Tags: pharmacology Research ambien best sleep medication insomnia treatments lunesta sleep medication no working sleeping pills Source Type: blogs
Dementia Care, Which Drugs Increase the Risk of Falling
Medications can increase the risk of falls and falling; and, are a major cause of injuries and death in older adults.By Bob DeMarcoAlzheimer's Reading RoomDuring the entire 8 and a half years, 3,112 days, that I was taking care of my mother, I worried about her falling.Falls can result in hip injuries, head injuries, or something worse.If you loved one is falling, or complaining of "dizziness" check out the list of medications below; and then, consult with your personal care doctor.Problems with Balance, Walking, Falling an Early Sign of DementiaThe drugs older people take can make them more susceptible to falling.Research...
Source: Alzheimer's Reading Room, The - September 7, 2016 Category: Neurology Tags: alzheimer's care Alzheimer's Dementia dementia care dementia falls dementia help for caregivers family caregiving help alzheimer's help with dementia care memory care searches related to falling Source Type: blogs
Alzheimer's Care, 6 Ways to Solve Problems with Sleep
Statistics indicate as many as 24 percent of Alzheimer's patients wake up caregivers at night.By Bob DeMarcoAlzheimer's Reading RoomRecently I received several emails about sleeping problems.Specifically, about Alzheimer's patients staying up at night, or Alzheimer's patients waking up the caregiver at night.Some doctors recommend antipsychotic medications for this problem. This is completely inappropriate and should be avoided. See -Antipsychotic Medications Linked to Increased Risk of Pneumonia in Alzheimer ’s Patients.Coping with Alzheimer'sStatistics indicate as many as 24 percent of Alzheimer's patients wake up care...
Source: Alzheimer's Reading Room, The - September 4, 2016 Category: Neurology Tags: alzheimer's care Alzheimer's Dementia alzheimer's sleep dementia care dementia help for caregivers family caregiving help alzheimer's help with dementia care memory care Source Type: blogs
Benzodiazepine addiction is real. This physician shares his story.
Say the words, “drug addiction,” and most of us think of heroin, alcohol, cocaine, or opiates. However, lurking in the shadows is a less talked about epidemic: addiction to benzodiazepines, commonly known as “benzos.” I should know because after taking a nighttime dose of lorazepam (Ativan) for about ten years; I finally weaned myself off this and all other prescription sleep medications.
About twelve years ago, my father died and then my dog. But that was nothing in comparison to the fight to save my marriage from alcohol addiction: not mine, but my wife’s. It occurred around the same time. S...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - July 24, 2016 Category: Journals (General) Authors: < a href="http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/david-mokotoff" rel="tag" > David Mokotoff, MD < /a > Tags: Meds Medications Source Type: blogs
Sleep Drugs: What Every Woman Should Know
The post below first appeared on Law Street.
Sleepless nights; nights full of tossing and turning. It happens to all of us–but for some it’s more frequent than others. In fact, an estimated 50 to 70 million American adults suffer from sleep disorders like insomnia or obstructive sleep apnea. Many turn to prescription sleep medications for relief– but women are more likely to take sleep drugs than men. About 3.1 percent of American men and 5 percent of American women report having used a prescription sleep medication within the last 30 days.
What does this use of sleep aids mean for women? Read on to learn more...
Source: Disruptive Women in Health Care - May 11, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: dw at disruptivewomen.net Tags: Women's Health Source Type: blogs
A better way to think about Altered Mental Status
I recently had occasion to prepare a talk on the various causes of Altered Mental Status. As it happens, EM:RAP had a nice Continuous Core Content segment recently on the same topic. (Don't listen to EM:RAP? You should. Want to try it for free? Rob Orman of ERCast has an offer for a three month free trial. Use the code ERTHANKS.)* They used a practical case-based format to structure the approach, which I like, but also fell back on the old mnemonic of AEIOU TIPS. God I hate that mnemonic. It's so haphazard and utterly disorganized: just like the typical approach to AMS.A ...
Source: Movin' Meat - February 9, 2016 Category: Emergency Medicine Source Type: blogs
The Ten Worst Wellness Programs and What They Do to Harm Employees
By AL LEWIS and VIK KHANNA
If corporate wellness didn’t already exist, no one would invent it. In that sense, it’s a little like communism, baseball, or Outlook.
After all, why would any company want to purchase programs that damage morale,reduce productivity, drive costs up…and don’t work 90%-95% of the time? And that’s according to the proponents. What the critics say can’t be repeated in a family publication such as ours.
Still, those are the employers’ problems. However, the employers’ problems become the employees’ problems when employees are “voluntarily” forced to submit to programs that...
Source: The Health Care Blog - December 4, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: John Irvine Tags: THCB Al Lewis Vik Khanna Wellness Source Type: blogs
A Quick Lesson on Medical Terminology with 1980’s Batman
Today, I’m digging back in the archive to 1994 to the Knightquest storyline in order to present a brief lesson about medical terminology.
With it’s quasi-Latin and quasi-Greek, medical terms can be confusing and don’t always mean what you expect. Case in point, Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #59. In this comic, physician Shondra Kinsolving has been kidnapped by her evil step-brother so he can use her telepathic powers to kill from a great distance. Understandably, Shondra doesn’t want to be a part of this, so he brother injects her with a drug of his own invention:
For those of you who may...
Source: Polite Dissent - February 9, 2014 Category: Family Physicians Authors: Scott Source Type: blogs
Results of the Survey on Who Are the Mentally Ill?
Thank you to everyone who participated!The survey was published on Shrink Rap from December 10, 2013 - December 22, 2013.Respondents were solicited through social media, including blogs, listservs, Facebook, and Twitter. Respondents were not limited to the United States. Please note that the survey was not validated. The data below was pasted directly from the Google "Summary of Responses" with no analysis or interpretation.SummaryAnyone who has seen a therapist is mentally illTrue172%False67698%Anyone who has been in psychotherapy with a psychiatrist is mentally illTrue619%False63091%Anyone who take...
Source: Shrink Rap - January 2, 2014 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: Dinah Source Type: blogs
Merck's Drug Development in The New Yorker
The New Yorker has an article about Merck's discovery and development of suvorexant, their orexin inhibitor for insomnia. It also goes into the (not completely reassuring) history of zolpidem (known under the brand name of Ambien), which is the main (and generic) competitor for any new sleep drug.
The piece is pretty accurate about drug research, I have to say:
John Renger, the Merck neuroscientist, has a homemade, mocked-up advertisement for suvorexant pinned to the wall outside his ground-floor office, on a Merck campus in West Point, Pennsylvania. A woman in a darkened room looks unhappily at an alarm clock. It’s 4 ...
Source: In the Pipeline - December 3, 2013 Category: Chemists Tags: Drug Development Source Type: blogs
7 Ways To Avoid Murder On Thanksgiving
I’m sure you know that the holiday period is the most stressful time of the year, but my guess is you don’t know exactly how stressful it is is and how that stress is likely to manifest itself.
But worry not, I’m here to help you make sure that your family get together to give thanks for turkeys (and other flightless tasty birds) doesn’t turn into another St Valentines Massacre.
But first a sobering fact for you to take into consideration.
The chances of you, or a loved one, turning into a homicidal maniac and slaughtering your family and all your neighbors on Thanksgiving rises from the usual 5,000,000 to 1 to a s...
Source: Life Coach Blog: The Discomfort Zone : - November 26, 2013 Category: Life Coaches Authors: Tim Brownson Tags: Life Coaching Source Type: blogs
Despite Critics Dismissal - Off Label Prescribing May Benefit Patients
Over the past several years, the federal government and law enforcement agencies have increasingly investigated and prosecuted large pharmaceutical and medical device companies for off-label marketing. Various media outlets have covered these settlements and cases and others have even conducted their own investigations (e.g., ProPublica.
Consequently, a recent article from the Pacific Standard, written by Ford Vox, a rehabilitation physician at Shepherd Center, addressed an investigation conducted by The Washington Post that looked into off-label prescribing. Vox, who treats survivors of acquired brain injury and sp...
Source: Policy and Medicine - October 9, 2013 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Thomas Sullivan Source Type: blogs
