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1/4 Of Patients On Highest Investigational Doses Of CP-690,550 Achieve ACR70 At Week 12
A quarter of active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients receiving either 10mg (24.6%) or 15mg (28.1%) twice daily of the investigational oral JAK-3 (janus-associated kinase) inhibitor CP-690,550 (CP) achieved ACR70* after 12 weeks, according to the results of a new study presented at EULAR 2009, the Annual Congress of the European League Against Rheumatism in Copenhagen, Denmark. The primary outcome for the study was ACR20*, with 75.4% of patients achieving this measure at 12 weeks for both 10mg and 15mg doses.
Polygraphy
Opinion Piece Criticizes Winfrey For 'Unbalanced' Medical Advice On Hormone Replacement Therapy
Oprah Winfrey "has scored good ratings with her health episodes" of her television show, but "in doing so, she seems to have thrown therapeutic caution to the wind," such as on her shows featuring actress Suzanne Somers" opinions on bioidentical hormone replacement therapy, Salon contributor and physician Rahul Parikh writes in an opinion piece. Somers, while advocating for the use of bioidentical HRT as a safe alternative to traditional HRT for postmenopausal women, said she used "mega-doses of bioidenticals continuously and aggressively," according to Parikh. Parikh writes that Somers, on television and in her 2007 book, "argues that these hormones are more natural, more effective and safer than what doctors prescribe." According to Parikh, "In reality, ...÷ there are no good medical studies to back up those claims."Parikh says that although "what Somers was advocating was radically different from standards of medical care," Winfrey "was not concerned" and even said that Somers ""might be a pioneer,"" Parikh continues. Winfrey billed the episode as part of a ""great debate"" on hormone therapy, but she "didn"t ask about whether [Somers"] super-hormone regimen could have contributed to Somers" history of breast cancer"; "her hysterectomy, the result of pre-cancerous changes in her uterus from her use of HRT"; or the "validity of Somers" book"s s, many of whom are neither experts in women"s health or endocrinology, nor board-certified physicians, nor experienced researchers," Parikh states. He adds, "It"s not that Winfrey doesn"t try to maintain medical credibility in her shows," but "her efforts seem subpar," noting that her show "reaches millions of people, while each doctor can reach only one patient at a time." Parikh concludes, "That could easily be corrected by Winfrey providing more thought and balance in her medical advice" (Parikh, Salon, 5/15).
News of the day
FDA Grants Full Approval For SPRYCEL For The Treatment Of Adults With Chronic Myeloid Leukemia
Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE: BMY) announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted full approval for SPRYCEL® (dasatinib) for the treatment of adults in all phases of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) (chronic, accelerated, or myeloid or lymphoid blast phase) with resistance or intolerance to prior therapy including Gleevec®* (imatinib mesylate).
Cardiovascular

Smoking, High Blood Pressure And Diabetes In Mid-life Can Lead To Dementia

Middle aged people who smoke, have high blood pressure or diabetes are far more likely to develop dementia in later life, suggests research published ahead of print in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry. People should consider modifying their lifestyle in mid-life to avoid developing dementia, claims the US research. Dementia is a growing public health problem affecting older people in developed countries. In the US, where the research took place, estimates show that one in six people older than 70 have dementia. Estimates are that the number of people with dementia will grow threefold by 2050, compared with 2000. Previous studies have shown that the presence of cardiovascular risk factors including high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity and smoking increase the risk of developing subsequent dementia, but have often failed to show the relationship. Researchers from the universities of Minnesota, North Carolina and John Hopkins and the University of Mississippi Medical Center studied more than 11,000 people aged 46-70 who were participants in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study in 1990-92. People underwent a physical examination and cognitive testing at that time and they were followed up until 2004 to see how many were hospitalised with dementia. After following their progress, the researchers identified 203 cases of hospitalisation with dementia. Smoking, high blood pressure and diabetes were all strongly associated with dementia in white participants and African-Americans. The results showed that rates of hospitalisation with dementia increased exponentially with age in men and women and in different ethnic backgrounds. Overall, African-Americans had a two and a half times higher rate of hospitalisation than white people and African-American women in particular had the highest rates of all. Current smokers were 70% more likely than those who had never smoked to develop dementia, people with high blood pressure were 60% more likely than those without high blood pressure, and people with diabetes were more than twice as likely than those without diabetes to develop it. No association was found between people who were obese/overweight and dementia in later life. The authors say the results suggest that smoking cessation and prevention or control of high blood pressure and diabetes starting in midlife may have the added benefit of decreasing dementia hospitalisation risk. They conclude: "Our results emphasise the importance of early lifestyle modification and risk factor treatment to prevent dementia." "Risk of dementia hospitalisation associated with cardiovascular risk factors in midlife and older age: the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study." J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry2009; doi 10.1136/jnnp.2009.176818 Journal Of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry


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