St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital study shows how compounds blocking an enzyme universal to all influenza viruses may allow development of new antiviral drugs that also avoid the problem of drug resistance Newswise (MEMPHIS, Tenn. August 2, 2012) Scientists at St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital have reported details of how certain drugs can precisely target and inhibit an enzyme essential for the influenza virus replication. Since all strains of the virus require the same functioning enzyme, researchers believe their findings will yield drugs that can effectively treat new strains of the virus, which may be resistant to current antiviral treatments. When new strains of influenza emerge, it can take many months for a vaccine to be developed. Experts are concerned that the emergence of any highly virulent strains could result in large numbers of people being hospitalized, and if the strain is or becomes resistant to current treatments, the impact could be catastrophic. The researchers findings may lead to the ability to develop drugs that not only treat influenza but impede the ability of the virus to develop drug resistance. The study appears online in the August 2 issue of PLoS Pathogens. St. Jude scientists tested drugs aimed at blocking … Continue reading →

(CBS News) More than one-third of Americans are now considered obese. Experts now say we may be entering a new era in the battle to lose weight after the Food and Drug Administration recently approved two new diet drugs. Belviq and Qysmia should be on the market this fall. Larger waist size may be bad news for men's sexual and urinary health Obesity to affect 42% of Americans by 2030 with $550 billion in costs, say researchers To qualify for the medications, people have to be at least 30 pounds overweight, according to Dr. Louis Aronne, director of the Comprehensive Weight Control Program at New York Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center. "This is not medication for someone who wants to lose the last 10 pounds." Belviq, which is just one medicine, can help the average person lose five to 10 percent of their body weight. Qsymia is more effective because it's two medicines together, Aronne said. The average person loses 10 to 15 percent of their body weight with the drug, which he said is "very, very good weight loss." Dr. Christine Ren, chief of Bariatric Surgery at NYU Langone Medical Center, who also appeared on "CTM," said these drugs … Continue reading →

Blame it on the drugs. That is essentially the message that Cavan Redmond, new CEO for health information services provider WebMD Health (Nasdaq: WBMD) , gave in the company's earnings conference call following poor quarterly results. Redmond, hired away from Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) just two months ago, had the unenviable task in his inaugural earnings call of explaining why WebMD's revenue and earnings declined sharply during the second quarter. He pointed primarily to reduced advertising spending by major biopharmaceutical customers due to expiring drug patents. Is this really the main cause of WebMD's woes? Let's take a look. Fading brands Mr. Redmond certainly makes a good point about many heavy-hitter drugs going off patent. Pfizer lost exclusivity for Lipitor and Protonix in 2011. The two drugs combined for $6 billion in U.S. sales in 2010. Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) lost its U.S. patent protection for antibiotic Levaquin and ADHD/ADD drug Concerta. These two accounted for over $2.2 billion in sales. Several blockbuster drugs lose patent protection in 2012 as well. Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) says goodbye to exclusivity for Plavix, which topped $7 billion in sales last year. Merck (NYSE: MRK) loses protection for Singulair. The asthma drug brought … Continue reading →

Editor's Note: This story is one in a series Behind the Badge: Yuma Police Department that looks behind the scenes at issues facing the YPD. Sgt. Marty Raebel is a realist. Drugs will always be around, even with police officers like himself specifically assigned to go after them. Some of what's out there, like heroin, has been used for generations. But newer designer, synthetic drugs like Spice and other products that mimic marijuana, or bath salts and the similar glass cleaner, which are stimulants keep police officers, especially drug interdiction specialists like Raebel, on a steeper learning curve. Raebel heads up the Narcotics Street Crimes Unit for the Yuma Police Department. Along with four detectives and an analyst, the crew keeps tabs on day-to-day drug activity within the city. It's hard to put a number on how many criminal cases have a drug connection, Raebel said. Statistics don't really tell the story because they're not collected on drugs as an aggravating factor for example, in an assault carried out by somebody high on meth, or in a burglary committed by somebody who wanted to fence the loot for crack. And ultimately, a burglary is prosecuted the same whether the perpetrator … Continue reading →