By Anna Edney - 2012-10-01T21:17:45Z Merck & Co. (MRK)s Gardasil, the human papillomavirus vaccine to prevent cervical cancer, was shown to be safe in the second large-scale study in the past year of side effects since the drug was approved six years ago. Fainting and infection were among short-term side effects in a U.S. government-required study of 190,000 females in Kaiser Permanentes California insurance system who were tracked for 60 days after receiving the HPV vaccine. The study today in the Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine showed patients were six times more likely to have fainted the day of the shot than in the following weeks and 1.8 times more likely to report a skin and subcutaneous tissue infection in the two weeks after. Gardasil sparked debate in 2007 as 24 states introduced legislation to mandate HPV shots for school girls, despite the lack of long-term safety studies. U.S. Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota brought the issue back to light last year at a Republican presidential debate, when she chastised Texas Governor Rick Perry for requiring girls in his state to be vaccinated. Todays report is the second to be published in the past year to show no significant … Continue reading →

The HPV vaccine is the stuff of debate, and by that we mean there are parents who feel great about marching their sons and daughters to the doctor to get the shots, and there are parents who would rather put their kids in a canoe without a life preserver than have them vaccinated. Their reluctance is often tied to doubts about the vaccines safety. On the Web site Truth About Gardasil (which makes one of the HPV vaccines), information on the home page states that thousands of girls are having adverse reactions to the HPV Vaccines, some have even died. Among those adverse reaction claims are seizures, strokes, fatigue, stomach pains, insomnia and rashes. A study released today may or may not quell some of those fears. An independent safety committee looked at side effects soon after vaccination among 189,629 women who got one or more doses of the quadrivalent human papillomavirus vaccine between 2006 and 2008. MORE: HPV Vaccine Benefits Those Who Do and Don't Get the Shots The only side effects associated with the vaccine were a higher incidence of fainting soon after being given the shot, and skin infections within two weeks of the shot. A couple … Continue reading →

CTVNews.ca Staff Published Monday, Oct. 1, 2012 3:09PM EDT Last Updated Monday, Oct. 1, 2012 11:50PM EDT An experimental breast cancer treatment that directly targets disease cells appears to shrink tumours and improve survival rates, according to new Canadian research, and could one day lead to more effective treatment of other types of cancer with far fewer side effects. The treatment is a three-drug combination called T-DM1, which is formulated to attack cancer cells and leave healthy cells untouched. The cocktail is designed to treat women who are in the latter stages of HER2-positive breast cancer, a type of cancer in which the protein HER2 plays a role in tumour growth. Nearly 20 per cent of women with breast cancer have tumours with high levels of HER2. The new drug combines Herceptin, a drug already used to treat HER2-positive cancer, with a powerful chemotherapy drug called DM1. The third drug is a chemical that prevents the chemotherapy from becoming active until it reaches the targeted cancer cells. In a study of 991 women with HER2-positive breast cancer, patients were randomly assigned to receive either the new treatment, or standard therapy in the form of the drugs Tykerb and Xeloda. All … Continue reading →

MONDAY, Oct. 1 (HealthDay News) -- Cancer treatment could one day be more effective and less difficult to endure if an experimental breast cancer therapy that offers high-precision targeting of tumors proves successful. The new approach uses a unique three-pronged combination of agents that simultaneously attack cancer cells but prevent the release of chemotherapy until the drug reaches its specific target, said the authors of a new study on the technique. As a result, the treatment attacks cancer with greater power and effectiveness, yet less toxicity, so patients experience fewer side effects, such as nausea and vomiting, hair loss and infections, the study authors said. The drug therapy, called T-DM1, appears to be effective in prolonging life and reducing tumor growth with less impact on the body's healthy cells in a significant proportion of women in the late stages of a specific kind of breast cancer known as HER2-positive. It has not yet been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. T-DM1 is what's known as an "antibody-drug conjugate," designed to deliver potent anti-cancer drugs to tumors while limiting toxicity to healthy cells in the body. "This is a new model for attacking cancer," explained study author Dr. Sunil … Continue reading →

Parker Waichman LLP reports that Propecia (finasteride 1mg), a drug used to treat male pattern baldness, may lead to sexual side effects such as erectile dysfunction, diminished sex drive and orgasm problems. According to two studies published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, these potential complications may persist even after Propecia is stopped. Recent research also suggests that use of the drug is linked to depression. New York, New York (PRWEB) October 01, 2012 Last March, the Journal of Sexual Medicine published a study linking Propecia to persistent sexual dysfunction. The study interviewed 71 Propecia users who reported new-onset sexual side effects, such as: Low sex drive The participants used Propecia for an average of 28 months. Persistent sexual side effects lasted an average of 40 months from the time the drug was discontinued. In July, the Journal of Sexual Medicine published another study confirming these earlier findings. According to the study, 96 percent of men who experienced sexual side effects after taking Propecia continued to suffer these symptoms one year after stopping treatment. The following month, the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry published a study linking the drug to depression. Researchers compared men who experienced sexual side effects for at … Continue reading →