Jul
05
2008
An acute session of moderate aerobic exercise, but not heavy aerobic or moderate strength exercises, can reduce the anxiety state and improve the sleep quality of insomnia patients, according to a research abstract presented at SLEEP 2008, the 22nd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies (APSS).
The study, authored by Giselle S. Passos, of Federal University of Sao Paulo in Brazil, focused on 36 patients (eight men and 28 women) with primary chronic insomnia, who were divided into three experimental groups (moderate aerobic exercise, heavy aerobic exercise, and moderate strength exercise) and a control group.
According to the results, after the exercise session, reductions were shown in sleep onset latency (54 percent) and wake time (36 percent) in the moderate aerobic exercise group, while increases were shown in total sleep time (21 percent) and in sleep efficiency (18 percent). A significant increase in the total sleep time (37 percent) and reduction in the sleep onset latency (40 percent) were observed in the sleep log of volunteers of the moderate aerobic exercise group. Finally, a significant reduction (seven percent) in the anxiety state was also observed after moderate aerobic exercise session.
"These findings indicate that there is a way to diminish the symptoms of insomnia without using medication," said Passos. "This study is the first to look at the importance of using physical exercise to treat insomnia, and may contribute to increased quality of life in people with one of the most important kind of sleep disorders around the world."
Insomnia is a classification of sleep disorders in which a person has trouble falling asleep, staying asleep or waking up too early. It is the most commonly reported sleep disorder. About 30 percent of adults have symptoms of insomnia. It is more common among elderly people and women.
It is recommended that adults get between seven and eight hours of nightly sleep.
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) offers the following tips on how to get a good night’s sleep:
Follow a consistent bedtime routine.
Buy generic levitra Establish a relaxing setting at bedtime.
Get a full night’s sleep every night.
Avoid foods or drinks that contain caffeine, as well as any medicine that has a stimulant, prior to bedtime.
Do not bring your worries to bed with you.
Do not go to bed hungry, but don’t eat a big meal before bedtime either.
Avoid any rigorous exercise within six hours of your bedtime.
Make your bedroom quiet, dark and a little bit cool.
Get up at the same time every morning.
Those who suspect that they might be suffering from insomnia, or another sleep disorder, are encouraged to consult with their primary care physician or a sleep specialist.
—————————-
Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release.
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More information about insomnia is available from the AASM at http://www.sleepeducation.com/Disorder.aspx?id=6.
The annual SLEEP meeting brings together an international body of 5,000 leading researchers and clinicians in the field of sleep medicine to present and discuss new findings and medical developments related to sleep and sleep disorders.
More than 1,000 research abstracts will be presented at the SLEEP meeting, a joint venture of the AASM and the Sleep Research Society. The three-and-a-half-day scientific meeting will bring to light new findings that enhance the understanding of the processes of sleep and aid the diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders such as insomnia, narcolepsy and sleep apnea.
SleepEducation.com, a patient education Web site created by the AASM, provides information about various sleep disorders, the forms of treatment available, recent news on the topic of sleep, sleep studies that have been conducted and a listing of sleep facilities.
Source: Kathleen McCann
American Academy of Sleep Medicine
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Jul
05
2008
The negative effects of stress on cognitive functioning appear to be amplified by a genetic variation associated with Alzheimer’s disease, a new federally funded study has found. The genetic variation may, in effect, accelerate the development of age-related cognitive decline by as much as eight years.
Researchers from the Baltimore Memory Study report in The American Journal of Psychiatry (AJP), the official journal of the American Psychiatric Association, that a high level of the stress hormone cortisol in study participants aged 50 to 70 years was associated with worsened cognitive abilities. The researchers also found that the effect was greater among those with a common form of the gene for apolipoprotein E (APOE), which has been shown to increase the risk for Alzheimer’s disease.
This gene-environment interaction is reported by Brian Lee, M.H.S., Brian Schwartz, M.D., and colleagues at Johns Hopkins University. The group’s findings will be presented online on July 1 under AJP in Advance .
The effect appears to increase as the number of copies of a specific APOE gene in the individual increases. Everyone inherits two versions of the APOE gene, known as alleles - one from each parent. The most common APOE alleles are epsilon-2, -3, and -4. generic lasix online buy Having at least one epsilon-4 allele increases an individual’s risk of late-onset Alzheimer’s disease. Individuals with two copies of the esiplon-4 version of the gene are particularly susceptible to the damaging effects of cortisol in the brain.
"Our findings indicate that the APOE epsilon-4 allele may increase vulnerability of the aging brain to elevated cortisol levels," said lead author Lee, a doctoral student in epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. "While our results remain to be replicated, the observed cortisol-APOE interaction is intriguing since both cortisol and APOE have been implicated in cognitive decline associated with aging as well as in Alzheimer’s disease."
The effects on cognitive functioning extended to six of the seven areas that were studied: language, eye-hand coordination, executive functioning, verbal memory/learning, visual memory, and ability to copy a complex visual design.
The deficits are similar in magnitude to those seen with advancing age. The authors estimated the equivalent years of increased age, represented by the poorer cognition of the study participants with high cortisol and the epsilon-4 form of the APOE gene. For language ability, the lower scores of people with high cortisol levels and one epsilon-4 copy were comparable to an age increase of eight years. For those with two epsilon-4 copies, the comparable age increase was even larger.
The study was supported by the National Institute on Aging and the National Institutes of Health Division of Research Resources.
Reference
Lee BK, Glass TA, Wand GS, McAtee MJ, Bandeen-Roche K, Bolla KI, Schwartz BS: Apolipoprotein E Genotype, Cortisol and Cognitive Function in Community-Dwelling Older Adults. Am J Psychiatry (published online July 1, 2008; doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2008.07091532)
About the American Journal of Psychiatry
The American Journal of Psychiatry is the official journal of the American Psychiatric Association. Statements in this press release or the articles in the Journal are not official policy statements of the American Psychiatric Association. AJP in Advance is a regular online feature where original research articles accepted for publication in The American Journal of Psychiatry are posted online in advance of their appearance in print.
About the American Psychiatric Association
The American Psychiatric Association is a national medical specialty society whose more than 38,000 physician members specialize in diagnosis, treatment, prevention and research of mental illnesses including substance use disorders. Visit the APA at and
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Jul
05
2008
Boehringer Ingelheim announced that the European Commission has granted marketing authorisation of the new powerful strength of their fixed dose combination antihypertensive drug MicardisPlus® 80/25 in all 27 EU member states. It will be launched in Germany and Denmark in the coming weeks, followed soon by Ireland, the United Kingdom and the rest of EU, and when approved also in other countries around the world.
The product is licensed for the treatment of essential hypertension in patients whose blood pressure is not adequately controlled on MicardisPlus® 80/12.5 (80 mg telmisartan/12.5 mg hydrochlorothiazide) or patients who have been previously stabilized on telmisartan and hydrochlorothiazide separately at the same dosages. 1,2
The new strength will be marketed by Boehringer Ingelheim in all 27 countries of the European Union under the brand name MicardisPlus® 80/25. It’s co-marketing partners will market the new drug in selected countries under their own brands.
"The approval of MicardisPlus® 80/25 provides physicians with a powerful new drug for patients with difficult to treat essential hypertension", said Dr Andreas Barner, Member of the Board of Boehringer Ingelheim and responsible for Research, Development and Medicine.
European approval of MicardisPlus® 80/25 follows the submission of efficacy and safety data from 12 clinical trials performed in patients with mild to moderate hypertension. The core clinical development programme consisted of two consecutive trials designed to demonstrate the superiority of the fixed dose combination 80 mg telmisartan/25 mg hydrochlorothiazide (T80/H25) versus 80 mg telmisartan/12.5 mg hydrochlorothiazide (T80/H12.5).2 971 patients, who were inadequately controlled for their blood pressure (BP) on existing antihypertensive treatment, were enrolled in the programme. Treatment with T80/H25 provided superior diastolic and systolic blood pressure lowering power after 8 weeks of treatment1 compared to T80/H12.5. In the consecutive follow up trial 639 patients (633 patients evaluated for efficacy) were treated with the T80/H25 for further 6 months. At the end of this treatment interval the proportion of patients achieving DBP control had increased from 52.4% to 71.4%.2
No clinically meaningful differences in the adverse event profiles of T80/H25 and T80/H12.5 were detected. No specific increased incidence was identified for all adverse events. No additional specific safety issues have been identified1,2. Other studies considered by the EMEA showed clearly superior clinical benefits for a T80/H25-based treatment compared with 160 mg valsartan /25 mg hydrochlorothiazide, the market leading ARB??s high strength combination. 3
Landmark trial ONTARGET® proves cardio & vascular protective effects of telmisartan
Boehringer Ingelheim continues to explore new strategies to improve cardiovascular therapy: The results of ONTARGET® (The ONgoing Telmisartan Alone and in Combination with Ramipril Global Endpoint Trial) with 25,620 patients have recently proven that telmisartan is as protective as the current gold standard, ramipril, in reducing the risk of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, stroke and hospitalisation for congestive heart failure in a broad cross section of high-risk cardiovascular patients. With 25,620 high-risk patients followed up for up to 6 years ONTARGET® was the largest ARB outcome trial ever. "The ONTARGET®results have important implications for the management of patients with cardiovascular diseases. We now have a new treatment option for high-risk patients which is effective and better tolerated," comments Salim Yusuf, lead investigator of the ONTARGET® Trial Programme and Director of the Population Health Research Institute at McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada.
Evidence for renal protective effects of telmisartan
Further evidence of the exceptional properties of telmisartan has already been seen in previous trials. In 2007, the AMADEO® trial showed that telmisartan achieved significantly greater reduction in proteinuria compared with the ARB losartan beyond blood pressure reduction effects, demonstrating the potential for renal protection with telmisartan in diabetic patients.5
Proven powerful antihypertensive efficacy
In addition, in 2006 the PRISMATM trials in hypertensive patients demonstrated that telmisartan achieved more powerful blood pressure reductions over the full 24hour period compared with the ACE-inhibitor ramipril. 6,7
Please be advised
This release is from Boehringer Ingelheim Corporate Headquarters in Germany. Please be aware that there may be national differences between countries regarding specific medical information, including licensed uses. Please take account of this when referring to the information provided in this document. This press release is not intended for distribution within the U.S.A.
About telmisartan (Micardis®/Kinzal®/Pritor®)
Telmisartan is a modern member of the Angiotensin II Receptor Blocker (ARB) class and is being investigated in the most ambitious and far-reaching research programme conducted with an ARB. In the clinical trial programmes ONTARGET®, PROTECTION® and PRoFESS®, over 58,000 patients have been enrolled to investigate the cardiovascular protective effects of telmisartan (for more information please visit ).
Telmisartan was discovered and developed by Boehringer Ingelheim. Under the trademarks MICARDIS® and MICARDISPLUS® (combination with hydrochlorothiazide) the company markets telmisartan in 84 countries around the world, including the USA, Japan and European countries. Telmisartan is marketed in cooperation with Astellas Pharma Inc. in Japan, Bayer HealthCare in Europe and GlaxoSmithKline in selected markets.
Astellas Pharma Inc. co-promotes telmisartan under the trademark MICARDIS®, Bayer HealthCare promotes telmisartan under the brand names Kinzalmono®, Kinzalkomb® (combination with hydrochlorothiazide), and Pritor® and PritorPlus® (combination with hydrochlorothiazide) in markets across Europe. Pritor® and PritorPlus® is also marketed by GlaxoSmithKline in selected markets.
About ONTARGET®
The ONTARGET® Trial Programme consists of two randomised, double-blind, multicentre international trials: the principle trial, ONTARGET® which reports its results today, and a parallel trial TRANSCEND® (Telmisartan Randomized AssessmeNt Study in ACE-I INtolerant subjects with cardiovascular Disease), which is planned to be reported later in the year.3
The treatment arms for the ONTARGET® Trial were telmisartan 80mg, ramipril 10mg, and combination therapy with telmisartan 80mg and ramipril 10mg. In the TRANSCEND® trial the treatment arms are telmisartan 80mg or placebo both on top of standard blood pressure care, not including an ACE or another ARB.3
Patients enrolled in The ONTARGET®
Trial Programme were aged ?
Jul
04
2008
Pfizer Inc announced that it has entered into an agreement with generics manufacturer Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd. of India and certain of its affiliates to settle substantially all their patent litigation worldwide involving Lipitor, the world’s most-prescribed cholesterol-lowering medicine. Under the terms of the agreement, Ranbaxy will have a license to sell generic versions of Lipitor and Caduet in the United States effective November 30, 2011. Generic lasix pills no prescription Caduet is a medicine that combines the active ingredients of Lipitor and Norvasc and treats both high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
The settlement provides shareholders of Pfizer and Ranbaxy, as well as patients, with substantial certainty regarding the potential date - November 30, 2011 - for entry of a generic version of Lipitor in the United States. In addition, the agreement provides a license for Ranbaxy to sell generic versions of Lipitor on varying dates in seven additional countries: Canada, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Italy and Australia. Pfizer and Ranbaxy have also resolved their disputes regarding Lipitor in Malaysia, Brunei, Peru and Vietnam.
The lawsuits between Pfizer and Ranbaxy regarding Lipitor and Caduet will be dismissed in the specified countries, and Ranbaxy will no longer contest the validity of Pfizer’s patents in the specified countries, including the United States, according to the agreement. The settlement also resolves all patent litigation with Ranbaxy relating to Accupril in the United States and Viagra in Ecuador.
"This agreement is a win-win-win because it is pro-patient, pro-competition and pro-intellectual property," said Ian Read, president of Worldwide Pharmaceutical Operations for Pfizer. "The agreement provides patients with access to a generic product much earlier than if Ranbaxy were unsuccessful in obtaining approval for its product and overcoming the relevant patents. It provides substantial certainty regarding the timing of the entry of a generic version of Lipitor. Finally, the agreement clearly reaffirms the value and importance of intellectual property and this country’s well-balanced system of creating incentives to develop innovative medicines while at the same time establishing a strong generic drug business."
"Without patents and rigorous defense of intellectual property rights, innovators would face significant challenges that could inhibit the discovery of new medicines," Mr. Read added.
The settlement provides Ranbaxy with licenses to all the patents it needs to make the generic product and enables Ranbaxy to manufacture and launch a generic version of Lipitor prior to the expiration of the crystalline and amorphous patents.
The Lipitor patents involved in this agreement are the basic compound patent, which expires in the United States in 2010; the enantiomer patent, which expires in the United States in 2011; as well as various process and crystalline form patents, which expire in 2016 and 2017; and the combination patent for Caduet, which expires in 2018.
The settlement complies with all applicable laws, and does not contain any of the practices ??????" such as "reverse payments" - that have been identified as of concern recently by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.
Pfizer has been defending Lipitor patent challenges by Ranbaxy throughout the world since 2003. The agreement pertains solely to Ranbaxy and its affiliates and does not cover legal challenges to the Lipitor patents involving other generic manufacturers. However, Ranbaxy was the first generic challenger to the listed Lipitor patents and, as such, holds the rights to 180 days of marketing exclusivity in the United States.
The patent infringement litigation between Pfizer and Ranbaxy relating to Lipitor will continue in five other European countries — Finland, Spain, Portugal, Denmark and Romania. Court cases involving the enantiomer patents are pending in Spain and Portugal, while an infringement action on the commercial process patent is pending in Finland. Patent cases involving the enantiomer patent are pending in Denmark and Romania.
About Pfizer Inc
Founded in 1849, Pfizer is the world’s largest research-based pharmaceutical company. Pfizer is taking new approaches to advancing better health as it discovers, develops, manufactures and delivers quality, safe and effective prescription medicines to treat and help prevent disease for both people and animals. Pfizer also partners with healthcare providers, governments and local communities around the world to expand access to medicines and to provide better quality health care and health system support. At Pfizer, approximately 85,000 colleagues in more than 90 countries work every day to help people stay happier and healthier longer and to reduce the human and economic burden of disease worldwide.
View drug information on Caduet; Viagra.
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Jul
04
2008
Men’s Health News
Even though deaths from prostate cancer death have fallen in the U.S. since screening became more common, new research is suggesting that this does not justify the need for such tests.
According to a team of scientists from the University of Bristol many other factors could be involved such as different treatment programmes for American men and some discrepancy over how deaths are reported.
Since screening became widespread in the U.S. mortality rates have fallen four times more than in the UK.
It seems that many men over 80 have evidence of prostate cancer when they die, but it is often unclear whether this or other conditions killed them, which leads to different accounts on death certificates.
The researchers say this does not mean that screening by using a blood test to detect what is known as the prostate specific antigen (PSA), is not saving lives.
But they suggest until research pins down the exact role of screening in decreasing prostate cancer mortality, it remains a matter of speculation.
Whereas prostate cancer screening became common in the States in the early 1990s, and nearly 60% of men over 50 were being tested by 2001, in the UK, between 1999 and 2002, an estimated 6% of men aged 45-84 had been tested.
At the start of the 90s, mortality rates for the two countries were similar, but after this period, the rate of decline in the U.S. at 4.17% per year, was almost four times that of the UK, at 1.17% per year.
Simon Collin a statistician who led the research says other changes were occurring in the treatment of men with prostate cancer in the U.S. during that time and included the use of a particular hormone treatment in older men and more aggressive treatment of those with an advanced form of the disease.
Generic clomid pills no prescription Prostate cancer accounts for a quarter of cancers in men but the National Health Service (NHS) has resisted offering widespread PSA screening because the test is seen as notoriously inaccurate.
Even though 10-15% of men will have high enough PSA levels to justify carrying out a prostate biopsy, only 2-3% will require any treatment.
This means in fact that the majority will have been subjected to unpleasant, invasive and potentially costly investigations for no reason with possible serious side effects such as impotence and incontinence.
Experts say there is an urgent need for a new diagnostic test which could form part of a national screening programme and which would reliably identify the aggressive prostate cancers that need treatment.
The NHS says all screening programmes are based on an assessment that more good than harm will be achieved through their implementation and until there is clear clinical evidence to show real benefit can be gained from routine prostate screening, the NHS will not be screening men who have no symptoms for prostate cancer.
The authors of the study say while the differing outcomes are worrying, the jury is still out on whether screening is worthwhile.
The research is published in Lancet Oncology.
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