Talk Drug

New Contraceptive Drug Make Women Take a Period Every Four Months

Yaz Flex is a New contraceptive drug developped by an Australia medical company, the pill will make women who taken it continuously in a long-term have a period every four months, and this pills will go on sale this week.

Yaz Flex comes in packs of 120 pills, the pill comes with a palm-sized dispenser that records usage, notices when a tablet has been missed and provides an alert that alternative contraception must be used.

The Clyk digital tablet dispenser can be programmed to sound a daily alarm to remind women to take the pill.

As reports showed that more than 80 percent of women have forgotten at least to take their contraceptive pill at some stage and about 31 percent forget it once a month, according to a survey funded by Bayer, the drug company that makes Yaz Flex.

Mrs. Alex Trevor, who has used the new pill for a week, loves the new digital dispenser which “keeps me on track”. “There have been times when I’ve forgotten to take the pill in the past,” she said.

Yaz Flex is a new version of the existing monthly contraceptive pill Yaz and both contain a combination of hormones that over time help reduce acnes. Australia is the launch market for the pill, which is made in Germany originally.

Associate professor and gynaecologist Dr Rod Baber said many medical studies had found skipping periods was safe and it could be useful for women who have heavy periods, their periods are painful or they get migraine associated with menstruation.

Ms Trevor, whose mother Dr Christine Read works for Bayer, said she had skipped periods on her old pill but Yaz Flex with its digital dispenser made it easier to keep track of where she was in her cycle.

Attention: Common side-effects of Yaz Flex include nausea, depression, headache, breast pain and unscheduled bleeding.

Furthermore, women taken this drug will also face twice the risk of a blood clot as women using other types of oral contraceptives, but Dr Baber said the risk was still very low – 2.7 in 100,000 women, and women in pregnancy will take the risk of a blood clot is six in 100,000.

* Originally posted: Talk Drug

Brief: A new drug used to treat AIDS-triggered lung infections may prevent the reproduction of HIV and possibly provide a new method for the control and elimination of the virus, Chinese scientists said on last Thursday.

A research team led by Shen Binghui, a life science professor at Zhejiang University, found that a drug containing pentamidine can cut the life cycle of HIV and prevent the reproduction of the virus, helping the body’s immune system and fight off AIDS.

HIV has an incubation period of 10 years on average, during which the virus infects immune cells and uses the cells and proteins to reproduce and spread, gradually damaging the immune system. Research indicates that a kind of human protein called FEN-1 has a decisive function in the reproductive process of HIV.

Shen said his team found that the drug can prevent the reproduction of HIV by destroying the protein. The virus can no longer damage the immune system once it cannot reproduce, and a small amount of HIV can even be eliminated by a healthy immune system.

Shen said the drug that his team is developing can greatly lower treatment costs.

* Originally posted: Talk Drug

Brief: Premature birth may increase the risk for serious mental illness in adolescence and young adulthood, a recent study reports.

Researchers reviewed birth and hospital admissions records of more than 1.3 million Swedes born from 1973 to 1985. They found that compared with those born at term, young adults born very premature – at less than 32 weeks’ gestation – were more than twice as likely to be hospitalized for schizophrenia or delusional disorders, almost three times as likely for major depression, and more than seven times as likely for bipolar illness.

The lead author, Chiara Nosarti, a senior lecturer in neuroimaging at Kings College London, emphasized that while the increase in relative risk is substantial, the absolute increase in numbers of people with the illnesses is not.

“Despite these findings,” she said, “the majority of people born preterm have no psychiatric problems, and the number of people hospitalized with psychiatric disease is very low.”

Still, she added, “routine screening may help to detect early signs of illness.”

The risk also increased for people born late preterm, or 32 to 36 weeks’ gestation, but not as sharply. They were 60 percent more likely to be admitted for schizophrenia or delusional disorders, 34 percent more likely for depressive disorder, and about twice as likely to be hospitalized for bipolar illness.

The researchers acknowledge that the findings could be affected by factors they could not control for, including unmeasured sociodemographic factors, a family history of preterm delivery, maternal substance abuse or smoking, and bacterial or viral infections.

But experts not involved in the study were impressed with the work. “This is an important, expertly executed epidemiological study,” said Catherine Monk, an associate professor of clinical psychology at Columbia who conducts research in perinatal psychiatry and neuroscience. “It provides compelling evidence that our mental health trajectories are initiated early in development.”

Dr. Monk, too, noted that the study did not mean that being born prematurely inevitably leads to mental illness.

“The risk found is still low in an absolute sense, and finally it, too, can be modified by other factors in the child’s development,” she said.

Dr. Bradley Peterson, director of the Center for Developmental Neuropsychiatry at the New York State Psychiatric Institute, said the size of the sample was “stunning” and “allows very strong levels of confidence that the findings are not spurious.”

* Originally posted: Talk Drug

Brief:  ”Bath Salts” , a dangerous synthetic drug that’s on the rise in the United States and might have led to the recent attack in Miami where a man allegedly ate off 80 percent of a homeless man’s face. now, A Delaware senator praised pending legislation proposing a nationwide ban on this new drug.

“Dangerous drugs like bath salts are terrorizing our communities and destroying lives,” Democratic Sen. Chris Coons said in a statement Monday. “Stricter measures must be taken to stem the growing prevalence of bath salts and other new designer drugs.”

The number of calls to poison centers concerning “bath salts” rose 6,138 in 2011 from 304 in 2010, according to the American Association of Poison Control Centers. More than 1,000 calls have been made so far this year.

These so-called bath salts, not to be confused with cleansing products, are an inexpensive, synthetic, super-charged form of speed. The drug consists of a potpourri of constantly changing chemicals, three of which — mephedrone, MDPV and methylone — were banned last year by the US Drug Enforcement Agency.

Bath salts are still easily available online, though, and come in brand names such as “Purple Wave,” “Zoom” or “Cloud Nine.” A 50-milligram packet sells for $25 to $50.

The drugs create a condition police have come to call an “excited delirium” that makes users paranoid, violent and unpredictable. Miami police last month shot and killed a man who was allegedly feasting on the face of another homeless man in a daylight attack on a busy highway.

Police are investigating whether the drugs found in bath salts were in the alleged attacker’s system. This case is not the first time police have had to respond to people high on the drug committing illegal acts or exhibiting dangerous behavior.

In most cases, the active ingredient found in bath salts is a chemical known as MDPV. As far as the effects they have, bath salts are a central nervous system stimulant that acts something like a mix of methamphetamine and cocaine. They dramatically increase the dopamine and norepinephrine levels in the human brain in two dangerous ways.

It’s a dangerous situation, leading to a high that some drug abuse experts describe as up to 13 times more potent than cocaine. The altered mental status it brings can lead to panic attacks, agitation, paranoia, hallucinations and violent behavior.

Originally Posted: Talk Drug

Brief: Traditional Chinese Medicine(TCM) has a long time-honored history of several thousand years.It is a scientific summary of the rich experiences of Chinese people in their long-tirm struggle against diseases.It is an integral part of the Chinese culture and civilization.

Over the long of the course of the Chinese history,TCM has contributed significantly to the health care of the Chinese people and the prosperity of the Chinese nation.
 
Its unique characteristics and marvelous curative effects are increasingly recognized by people all over the world .Under the influence of “returning to nature”,people in the morden society have become aware of the side effects of chemical drugs and are more receptive to the treatment with TCM and natural medicines.Therefore,TCM is getting more and more popular with the world people.
 
The origin of traditional Chinese medicine ca be traced back to remote antiquity ,but it is uiversally acknowledged that TCM theory was formally recorded from the time of the Warring State to the Qin and Han Dynasties.
 
During that period,the four great classics of TCM came into being ,namely,Huangdi Neijing(Huangdi’s Internal Classic),Nan Jing (Classic on Difficult Issues of Medicine),Shanghan Zabing Lun(Treatise on Cold induced and Miscellaneous Diseases),and Shennong Bencao Jing(Shen Nong’s Classic of Materia Medica).Their creation marked the establishment of the TCM theoretical system.
 
Drawing upon essence of the society and culture of ancient China ,traditional Chinese medicine possesses its own unique features in all aspects of its theory and practice . Generally speaking , TCM is mainly characterized by the concept of holism and syndrome differention and treatment.
    
Holism is a philosophical viewpoint , which emphasizes the intergrated unity of a thing.The concept of holism in TCM involves two main ideas: the human body as an inseparable organic whole , and the close relationship between human and nature.
    
Another important feature of TCM is syndrome differentiation and treatment , which is a basic principle for understanding and treating diseases and a manifestation of dialectic materialism in clinical practice.
    
To sum up , traditional Chinese medicine holds that the human body is an organic whole of unity opposites , and closely related to itts external environment.This capsule contained excess chromium up to 90 times of standard level. Such as Changchun Overseas, Revised Pharmaceutical, Qinghai Glasgow Dandong, Sichuan Sichuan Pharmaceutical and so on,  these well-known pharmaceutical companies in China, also have used this type of capsules made of industrial gelatin . The ‘Weekly Quality Report” programme at CCTV in China reported yesterday.

Orginally post: Talk Drug

Brief: Tanning scraps from Tanneries had been put in the production of industrial gelatin and used which to produce pharmaceutical capsule, then made ​​entry into the various pharmaceutical companies. This capsule contained excess chromium up to 90 times of standard levels.

This capsule contained excess chromium up to 90 times of standard level. Such as Changchun Overseas, Revised Pharmaceutical, Qinghai Glasgow Dandong, Sichuan Sichuan Pharmaceutical and so on,  these well-known pharmaceutical companies in China, also have used this type of capsules made of industrial gelatin . The ‘Weekly Quality Report” programme at CCTV in China reported yesterday.

The food safety alarm is sounding once again. On Sunday, China’s top drug watchdog issued an emergency notice suspending sales of 13 kinds of drugs, all of which were found to have excessive chromium in the capsule. Some of the drugs are manufactured by well-known pharmaceutical companies in China.

The tainted capsules are made from industrial gelatin which is clearly banned in the use of food production. Factories in Hebei, Zhejiang and Jiangxi provinces are involved in producing capsules with cheap gelatin made from waste leather.

Local bureaus of the State Food and Drug Administration have launched investigations. Public security authorities in the three provinces say they will round up the non-edible gelatin and tainted capsules in the market.

The problematic drugs have been detected in Beijing, along with Jiangxi and Jinlin provinces. More than 10, 000 types of drugs are in the market in China. Over ten percent is packed in capsules.

Orginally post: Talk Drug