Here are some of the latest health and medical news
developments, compiled by the editors of
HealthDay:
FDA Wants to Revoke Approval Of Low Blood Pressure Drug
The low blood pressure drug midodrine hydrochloride should be
taken off the U.S. market because required post-approval studies to
verify the clinical benefit of the drug haven't been done, says the
Food and Drug Administration.
The drug, marketed under the brand name ProAmatine by Shire
Development Inc. and as a generic drug by other companies, was
approved by the FDA in 1996 for treatment of the low blood pressure
condition orthstatic hypotension.
The approval required the manufacturer to verify the drug's
benefit through post-approval studies. This has not been done, so
the FDA on Monday issued a proposal to withdraw approval of the
drug. Shire, the maker of the brand name drug, has 15 days to
request a hearing and makers of generic versions have 30 days to
submit written comments.
People with orthostatic hypotension can't maintain blood
pressure in the upright position and become dizzy and faint when
they stand up. Patients currently taking this medicine should not
stop taking it and should consult their physician about other
treatment options, the FDA said.
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Take Statins With Junk Food, U.K. Experts Suggest
Handing out cholesterol-lowering statin drugs with fast food may
help reduce heart disease risks caused by the fatty meals, suggest
U.K. researchers.
"Statins don't cut out all of the unhealthy effects of burgers and fries. It's better to avoid fatty food altogether," said Dr. Darrel Francis, of the National Heart and Lung Institute at Imperial College London, Agence France-Presse reported.
"But we've worked out that in terms of your likelihood of having a heart attack, taking a statin can reduce your risk to more or less the same degree as a fast food meal increases it," he added.
Francis and colleagues say their proposal is similar to asking
people wear seatbelts when in a car.
But the idea was questioned by Peter Weissberg, medical director
of the British Heart Foundation, who noted that eating junk food
has a number of unhealthy effects beyond raising cholesterol,
AFP reported.
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Diabetes Involved in About 20 Percent of Hospitalizations
In 2008, diabetes was involved in nearly one in five
hospitalizations in the United States and hospitals spent $83
billion caring for diabetes patients, says a federal government
report.
That amount is 23 percent of the total spent by hospitals to
treat all conditions in 2008, according to the latest
News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and
Quality.
The $83 billion in diabetes care included costs associated with
more than 540,000 hospital stays specifically for diabetes and 7.2
million stays for patients with diabetes and diabetes-related
conditions such as heart disease, kidney damage, infection, or foot
or leg amputation.
On average, hospital stays for people with diabetes cost 25
percent more than for patients without diabetes -- $10,937 vs.
$8,746, said the report. The highest hospitalization rate for
diabetes was in the South (2,829 per 100,000 people) and the lowest
was in the West (1,866 per 100,000).