A small and intriguing study suggests that serious cases of Tourette syndrome can be treated by sending electric impulses to specific parts of the brainThe technique known as deep brain stimulation, or DBS, has shown success for Parkinson’s and dystonia (another movement disorder), and there have been a handful of reports suggesting that it can [...]
Sanofi-Aventis says it’s making progress developing a vaccine for dengue fever, a tropical disease spread by mosquitoes that strikes up to 100 million people each year. The early results are encouraging. A trial of the French companyÂ’s experimental vaccine in 25 healthy adults generated a protective immune response against all four strains of the dengue [...]
A big heart may be hazardous to one’s health. In fact, an enlarged heart is the leading cause of sudden death among young athletes, and some doctors are calling for more and better screening for the condition, the AP reports from the American Heart AssociationÂ’s annual science meeting in Orlando, Fla.Heart problems that can cause [...]
U.S. Army surgeon Col. John Holcomb is a man of action. And in his role as head of the ArmyÂ’s Institute of Surgical Research, he’s been at the center of two medical controversies in trauma care, the New York Times reports. Should surgeons use a drug developed for hemophiliacs to control bleeding in soldiers wounded [...]
In a rare smackdown for a copycat drug, the FDA rejected a bid by Novartis and Momenta Pharmaceuticals to sell a generic version of Lovenox, a blockbuster anti-clotting drug derived from pigs’ intestines.Momenta disclosed in an SEC filing that FDA told Sandoz, Novartis’s generics arm, that it wouldn’t approve the companies’ version of enoxaparin, generic [...]
The Health Blog has a bad cold this week and gives thanks for Sudafed. But the Chicago Tribune points out that cold meds for the younger set aren’t flying off the shelves quite as fast as they move for adults this time of year.Parents tend to be a worrisome bunch. And while the Health Blog [...]
In a decision that may fan the debate over the use of powerful psychiatric medicines in children, the FDA gave Bristol-Myers Squibb the go-ahead to sell its schizophrenia drug Abilify for use in adolescents.Abilify belongs to a class of meds called atypical antipsychotics that carry a risk for weight gain and diabetes, among other side [...]
Cheaper medicines for the developing world are on the agenda this week at a World Health Organization’s powwow in Geneva. And the debate there over patents is likely to give drug makers agida.It’s the second meeting of a WHO public health working group that’s trying to put together an action plan to present to the [...]
Tests that assess broad panels of genetic markers to predict a person’s risk of illness and death are becoming as simple as sending a sample of saliva to a lab and logging on via the Web for the results.Too good to be true? Some critics think so, reports Ron Winslow in todayÂ’s WSJ. “Many genetic [...]
Every so often we at the Health Blog tear ourselves away from the computer just long enough to meet some real people. This weekend we had the pleasure of moderating a couple panels at the annual get-together of Harvard Business School alumni and students interested in health care. The session on the Swiss health system [...]
