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In a University of California, Los Angeles study of 36 elderly men and women, … Naturally, a Web site service provider to natural health stores nationwide. …

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… information on the school’s degree programs in acupuncture and Oriental medicine. … Yo San University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (Los Angeles) …

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Researchers have found that the probability of the breast cancer gene mutation BRCA among women with a history of breast cancer is greater when the number of older, female relatives in the family is smaller, according to a study in the June 20 issue of JAMA. This finding may challenge the accuracy of some breast cancer prediction models, which may not take family structure into account.

“Germline BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutations significantly increase a woman’s risk of breast cancer (50 percent - 85 percent) and ovarian cancer (16 percent - 50 percent),” the authors write. “Documented efficacy of screening and risk reduction interventions provides evidence for individualized risk management advice, making genetic cancer risk assessment (GCRA) a component of medically necessary care. Identifying appropriate candidates for GCRA is challenging.”

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Eli Lilly is to buy back worldwide marketing rights for Yentreve/AriClaim (duloxetine hydrochloride) from Boehringer Ingelheim. As a stress urinary incontinence (SUI) treatment, along with future related urinary incontinence indications, the drug will continue to be marketed outside the US by Lilly but other treatments using duloxetine will remain under both firms.

Lilly president and chief operating officer John Lechleiter said: “Based on our collective experiences to date in the marketplace, both companies believe that the Yentreve/AriClaim opportunity is best suited and can be best commercialised in markets outside the US with the support of one company. “This is about ‘right sizing’ our investments to address our greatest opportunities and the greatest patient needs.” Dr Alessandro Banchi, Boehringer Ingelheim chairman of the board of managing directors, added: “There has been an excellent spirit of collaboration in our alliance with Lilly.
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New results from a substudy of the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) Estrogen-Alone Trial show that younger postmenopausal women who take estrogen-alone hormone therapy have significantly less buildup of calcium plaque in their arteries compared to their peers who did not take hormone therapy. Coronary artery calcium is considered a marker for future risk of coronary artery disease.

Results of the WHI Coronary Artery Calcium Study are published in the June 21, 2007, issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. The WHI is sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health.

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Women can safely have DIY abortions at home, a study has concluded. The pilot study, set up by the Department of Health (DoH), found that women less than nine weeks pregnant could safely have the medical abortion outside of hospital.

None of the 172 women, who were given tablets to terminate their pregnancy supervised by a nurse in a health centre, suffered serious complications. Shirley Butler, who managed the pilot project, said: “This has been a successful pilot and it has proved that abortion is safe outside a hospital. “We have had few problems. Some women experienced pain and they were given painkillers. “One woman had haemorrhaging, but if she had been at home she would have called our helpline and she would have been given help.”
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GPs are more likely to prescribe headache drugs to middle-aged women than men, a study has claimed. Researchers at King’s College London found women aged between 45 and 54 were three times as likely to visit their GP about headaches while men were more likely to be referred to hospital.

Prescribing was most common for women aged 45 to 54, who were given 78 prescriptions for every 100 consultations. They also found one in three women were given migraine drugs compared to one in four men, while women aged 15 to 24 were the group most likely to see their GP about headaches. In a study of 253 GP practices over a nine-year period, it was found women’s consultation rate for headaches was 6.4 out of every 100 per year compared to 2.5 for men. Headaches are the most common neurological symptom seen by neurologists and family doctors. They also rank among the top ten reasons for consulting a doctor and account for 20 per cent of sick leave taken by workers.
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The Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) has given its approval of Bonviva (ibandronic acid) for the use within NHS Scotland for the treatment of osteoporosis. The body stated that the once a month treatment was found “to significantly reduce the risk of vertebral fractures in postmenopausal women”.

The SMC move has been welcomed by the National Osteoporosis Society (NOS) in Scotland that said the decision now widens the range of osteoporosis treatments available. NOS development manager for Scotland Anne Simpson said: “For women living in fear of breaking bones and those already coping with the debilitating consequences of fracture, another effective treatment option, with a more flexible dosing regimen that is easy to take and well tolerated, offers hope for a brighter future and a better quality of life.”
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SACRAMENTO—In the wake of ongoing disclosures about pharmaceutical companies’ suppression of negative clinical trial results, a Pacifica father joined labor, senior, health, and consumer groups on the steps of the Capitol to call on members of the state Assembly to pass legislation that could prevent another tragedy like the one suffered by his family.

James Torlakson’s daughter committed suicide in 2004 while taking Celexa, an anti-depressant whose side-effects were downplayed by its manufacturer. The makers of Celexa and other antidepressants like it have come under increasing scrutiny for their failure to warn doctors and patients about negative studies involving the drugs’ use in adolescents.

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STANFORD, Calif. - The drug most commonly used to arrest preterm labor, magnesium sulfate, is more likely than another common treatment to cause mild to serious side effects in pregnant women, according to a study from researchers at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital and Stanford University School of Medicine.

Their findings suggest that, since the effectiveness of the two drugs appears similar, physicians should consider side effects more strongly when choosing which drug to prescribe.

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