Category Archives: Drugs

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/x3cbm9/alzheimer_disease) has announced the addition of Jain PharmaBiotech's new report "Alzheimer Disease - New Drugs, Markets and Companies" to their offering. Alzheimer's disease remains a challenge in management. With nearly 8 million sufferers from this condition in the seven major markets of the world and anticipated increases in the future. Considerable research is in progress to understand the pathomechanism of the disease and find a cure. The only drugs approved currently are acetylcholinesterase inhibitors but they do not correct the basic pathology of the disease, beta amyloid deposits and neurofibrillary tangles. Several new approaches emphasize neuroprotection as well. Early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease is an important first step in management. Several biomarkers in cerebrospinal fluid, blood and urine can detect the disease. They provide a valuable aid to the clinical examination and neuropsychological testing which are the main diagnostic methods supplemented by brain imaging. Genotyping, particularly of ApoE gene alleles is also useful in the evaluation of cases and planning management. The current management of Alzheimer's disease is reviewed and it involves a multidisciplinary approach. Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors are mostly a symptomatic treatment but some claims are made about a neuroprotective effect. Currently the only approved … Continue reading →

Drugs police arrest four in raids on Bramham Grove, in Chapelfields, York 12:00pm Thursday 6th September 2012 in News Exclusive By Jennifer Bell, Crime reporter Two men are arrested after police raid homes in Bramham Grove, Chapelfields, York FOUR people were arrested and a haul of cannabis plants seized when police raided three houses in the same street in York. Police officers and PCSOs swooped on Bramham Grove, in Chapelfields, shortly after 8am yesterday to execute the warrants. On bursting into one house, officers found 20 cannabis plants growing in a loft, as well as a haul of drug paraphernalia. A 29-year-old man and a 47-year-old woman were later led from the property after being arrested on suspicion of cultivation of cannabis. They were taken into police custody. Officers who stormed two other properties on the terraced street brought out another two suspects. In one property, police arrested a 34-year-old man on suspicion of cultivation of cannabis after cannabis plants and drug paraphernalia were discovered in an outbuilding. Following a search of the second house a 33-year-old was arrested on suspicion of being concerned in the supply of a Class B drug after evidence of former cannabis growth was discovered. … Continue reading →

BALTIMORE As the use of synthetic drugs seems to grow across the nation, police are reminding people that a federal law recently went into effect that adds several synthetic drugs to the Food and Drug Administration's list of controlled substances. Officials said 26 drugs commonly found in synthetic marijuana products, such as K2, K3, spice, genie and bath salts, are now being controlled under the Controlled Substances Act. These substances are considered to have a high potential for abuse. The new law also creates a new definition for "cannabamimetic agents," meaning it will create criteria by which similar chemical compounds are controlled. Synthetic marijuana, which has been around since 2002, has become increasingly popular in the past few years and is often marketed throughout the U.S. as an herbal incense or potpourri. Warnings say the product isn't for human consumption, but many young people aren't taking it seriously, health officials said. According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, the American Association of Poison Control Centers received 6,959 calls for synthetic marijuana incidents in 2011. Those who manufacture, sell or use synthetic drugs will be subject to the same penalties as other schedule I drugs, such as cocaine and marijuana. Penalties include … Continue reading →

Malaysian police have arrested three people, one of them a Nigerian, on suspicion of running a major international drugs smuggling ring. Published: Sept. 5, 2012 at 6:30 AM KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Sept. 5 (UPI) -- Malaysian police arrested three people, one of them a Nigerian, on suspicion of running a major international drugs smuggling ring. The Nigerian man, 32, was arrested along with his wife, 31, at their bungalow in Lukut, near the capital's seaside resort area of Port Dickson, after a six-month surveillance operation, a report by The Star newspaper said. The suspect is believed to have arrived in Malaysia less than a year ago, Director of Anti-Narcotics Investigations Department Commissioner Datuk Noor Rashid Ibrahim said. Police also seized two cars -- a BMW and a Toyota -- from the Nigerian suspect who is believed to own several high-value properties in Malaysia. "With his arrest, we hope to find out more about the syndicate's modus operandi and nab more suspects who worked for the syndicate in the days to come," Ibrahim said. None of the arrested suspects was named by police. The third suspect, a man believed to be the Nigerian's lieutenant, was arrested at an apartment in the … Continue reading →

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/lvt7z7/pain_therapeutics) has announced the addition of Jain PharmaBiotech's new report "Pain Therapeutics - Drugs, Markets and Companies" to their offering. This report describes the latest concepts of pathomechanisms of pain as a basis for management and development of new pharmacotherapies for pain. Major segments of the pain market are arthritis, neuropathic pain and cancer pain. Because pain is a subjective sensation, it is difficult to evaluate objectively in clinical trials. Various tools for pain measurement are described, including brain imaging. Most of the currently used analgesic drugs fall into the categories of opioids and nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs such as COX-2 inhibitors. Non-opioid analgesics include ketamine, a N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist. Adjuvant analgesics include antidepressants and antiepileptic drugs used for the treatment of neuropathic pain. Management of pain is multidisciplinary and includes both pharmacological and non-pharmacological methods such as acupuncture, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation and surgery. Various pain syndromes require different approaches in management, for example, the main category of drugs for migraine are triptans such as sumatriptan. Drug delivery is an important consideration in pain treatment. Controlled release preparations provide a steady delivery of analgesics. Well-known non-injection methods such astransdermal, pulmonary and intranasal application have been … Continue reading →

BOSTON, MA--(Marketwire -09/05/12)- Approval times for new oncology drugs in the United States during the last decade were shorter than approval times for non-oncology products, while the reverse was the case in the European Union, according to a study recently completed by the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development. For drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration from 2002 through 2011, approval times were 10 months shorter for oncology vs. non-oncology drugs. In contrast, in Europe, approval times were almost two months shorter for non-oncology vs. oncology drugs. During that period, oncology approvals accounted for 19% of all new drug approvals in the U.S. and 12% in the EU. In addition, in both regions there was little difference in approval times between products that had a special designation -- such as fast track, accelerated approval, and orphan designation -- and those that did not. "Oncology drug development continues to be challenging due to smaller patient populations for recruitment and longer periods for evaluation of treatment response," said Christopher-Paul Milne, director of research at Tufts CSDD. "What's encouraging is that while total development time for oncology and non-oncology drugs decreased by half a year during the 2002-11 … Continue reading →

Ald. Roberto Maldonado (26th) addresses reporters at a news conference by the Caravan for Peace with Justice and Dignity, which has come to Chicago to protest the War on Drugs. (Credit: CBS) CHICAGO (CBS) Activists are in Chicago Tuesday to voice their opposition to the War on Drugs. As WBBM Newsradios Brandis Friedman reports, the Caravan for Peace with Justice and Dignity is making its way from San Diego to Washington, D.C., spreading its message. LISTEN: WBBM Newsradios Brandis Friedman reports That message, as heard Tuesday in a news conference at City Hall, is, Drugs are bad, but the War on Drugs is worse. The group of Mexican and American nationals says the decades-old War on Drugs compares to alcohol prohibition in the 1920s, and pointed out that Prohibition turned Chicago into a hub of Mafia crime at the time. Among the participants in the caravan was Javier Sicilia, whose son was murdered along with six others in March 2011. He spoke through an interpreter, Eighty years later, despite Prohibition, this phenomenon has been reproduced but even more brutally, and on an international scale. The caravan has support from the group Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, which argues for decriminalizing drugs … Continue reading →

People with depression often cycle through several drugs before they find one that helps. Now, at least three companies say they can improve the odds that patients get the right therapy quickly. CNS Response, AssureRx Health and Brain Resource are offering new tests designed to find physical and mental patterns that will predict the best treatment for individual patients. In doing so, they are also creating a new testing market that CNS Chief Executive Officer George Carpenter said may reach $2.7 billion a year in the United States. Because there's no one cause for depression, a disorder that can overwhelm its victims with feelings of sadness, frustration and anger, no single medicine works the same for each patient. That can mean months of experimenting before treatment takes hold, an added burden for people already trying to maintain work and personal relationships. Prescribing the right drug is "something we've struggled with for a long time," said Philip Muskin, a professor of clinical psychiatry at Columbia University in New York. "There are no hard criteria to say, use Prozac or Zoloft or any of the other famous antidepressants." About 15.5 million people reported struggling with bouts of depression in a 2010 U.S. … Continue reading →

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/gh388z/global_ovarian_can) has announced the addition of the "Global Ovarian Cancer Drugs Market 2011-2015" report to their offering. TechNavio's analysts forecast the Global Ovarian Cancer Drugs market to grow at a CAGR of 13.1 percent over the period 2011-2015. One of the key factors contributing to this market growth is the increasing prevalence of ovarian cancer. The Global Ovarian Cancer Drugs market has also been witnessing the trend of the use of combination therapies for the treatment of ovarian cancer. Commenting on the report, an analyst from TechNavio's Healthcare team said; ''The current trend witnessed by the Global Ovarian Cancer Drugs market is the use of combination therapies for the treatment of ovarian cancer. Several oncologists believe that chemotherapy drugs are most effective when given in combination with radiation therapy and surgery. Cancer cells that are confined locally can be easily treated by surgery or radiation therapy, while cancer cells that have spread to distant sites can be killed by chemotherapy. Therefore, combination therapies help in the complete removal of tumors and the destruction of cancerous cells. The combination is chosen according to the size of the tumor and the risk of recurrence.'' According to the … Continue reading →

A teenager who smokes and drinks is more likely to abuse prescription painkillers as a young adult, according to a new Yale study. Researchers at the Yale School of Medicine analyzed nationally-representative survey data to explore a possible link between alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use as an adolescent and subsequent abuse of prescription pain medication as a young adult. Their paper, published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, was the first to find that a link between these gateway drugs and prescription painkillers. They found that all three drugs are associated with higher levels of prescription drug abuse in men, but only marijuana use is associated with higher levels of prescription drug abuse in in women. The number of Americans abusing prescription opioids drugs like Vicodin and Percocet has exploded over the past decade, said Lynn Fiellin MED 96, an associate professor of medicine at the School of Medicine and lead author of the study. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2010 more than 12 million Americans reported using prescription painkillers that their doctors had not prescribed for them. Part of our aim was to demonstrate how the emerging epidemic of prescription opioids is a major … Continue reading →