Generic Pharmacy Drug News

ANALYSIS-Rule changes rock German generic drugs market

admin — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 08:39:54 +0000

FRANKFURT, Sept 28 (Reuters) - For foreign manufacturers of generic drugs, Germany has been hard to crack because of its complex regulatory system. All of a sudden the door to Europe’s biggest generics market is open.

Keen to curb rising healthcare costs, the government is for the first time allowing public health insurers to choose cheap drugs for patients through a system of tenders, replacing a structure where doctors or pharmacists made the choice of drug brand. (more…)

Obesity Won’t Affect Seniors’ Memory

admin — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 06:37:51 +0000

Being overweight or obese doesn’t increase the odds that seniors will experience memory trouble, a new study finds.”While past studies have found obesity in middle age increases a person’s risk for dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, our finding shows obesity in old age has no effect on a person’s memory. These findings are consistent with previous studies showing that weight loss or low body mass index in old age may be a precursor of cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s disease,” study author Dr. Maureen T. Sturman, a researcher at the Rush Institute for Healthy Aging, said in a prepared statement.

The six-year study included more than 3,800 people over the age of 65. Of those, nearly 25 percent were obese (body mass index over 30), and 37 percent were overweight (BMI between 25 and 29.9). Participants underwent cognitive tests at regular intervals over the course of the study. (more…)

Cialis boosts sex after spinal cord injuries: study

admin — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 09:40:55 +0000

The impotence pill Cialis appears to work even in men with spinal cord injuries, French researchers said on Monday.

Impotence often follows spinal cord injuries. Only about 25 percent of men with such injuries are capable of having sex, Dr. Francois Giuliano and colleagues at the Raymond Poincare Hospital in Garches, France said. (more…)

Babies born to diabetic mothers prone to obesity

admin — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 07:05:45 +0000

Diabetes can leave your child prone to childhood obesity. Now here’s a good reason for new mothers to monitor their blood sugar levels.

A new study shows that babies born to mothers with a condition called Gestational diabetes run double the risk of childhood obesity. (more…)

A Win for Generic Drugs: Indian Court Rules Against Drug Maker Novartis

admin — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 07:17:43 +0000

An Indian court earlier this month ruled against Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis’ challenge to India’s right to refuse patents on existing medicines. While international aid agency Oxfam and the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), an institutional investor organization, see the verdict as “an important victory for global public health,” Novartis is worried that the “Indian court ruling will discourage investments in innovation needed to bring better medicines to patients.” Novartis is a widely held stock in socially screened portfolios.

The ramifications of this ruling by the High Court in Chennai reach well beyond India to other developing nations, largely because of India’s important role as a manufacturer of generic drugs. Oxfam reports that over two-thirds of the generic drugs made in India are then exported to other developing countries for considerably less cost than the patented brand medicines. Unicef, Doctors Without Boarders, and other aid programs also depend on the low cost generic medicines manufactured in India. (more…)

Baby weight charts are redrawn in obesity war

admin — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 05:30:13 +0000

Charts used to check whether babies are the right weight are being revised amid concern that they lead to overfeeding.

Up to now the growth charts used by health visitors have been based on the weight gain of babies given formula milk - which is faster than those being breastfed. (more…)

Cosmetic Breast Surgeries Tied to Increased Suicide Risk

admin — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 06:42:02 +0000

Women who undergo cosmetic breast augmentation surgeries are three times as likely to commit suicide as those who don’t have surgically enhanced breasts, a new study finds.The increase in suicide risk does not emerge until about 10 years or more after women receive the implants, the research shows.

This latest study adds to a growing body of research finding that women with cosmetic breast implants are much more likely to take their own lives, said study lead investigator Loren Lipworth, a senior epidemiologist at the International Epidemiology Institute in Rockville, Md. “It’s one of five studies that have consistently shown an increased risk of suicide among women with cosmetic breast implants,” she noted. (more…)

Obesity before pregnancy can result in birth defects in offspring

admin — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 04:51:29 +0000

Women who are obese just before becoming pregnant face the risk of delivering babies having birth defects, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Texas. The details of the study appear in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.

Researchers used data from the National Birth Defects Prevention Study and analyzed over 15,000 cases before arriving at this conclusion. They also examined data from 1997 and 2002 and looked at 10,000 babies with birth defects, comparing them to 4,000 normal babies. (more…)

Obese weighing heavily on morgues

admin — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 04:01:02 +0000

EXTREMELY obese bodies are becoming a safety hazard in mortuaries, according to pathologists who are calling for new “heavy duty” autopsy facilities as Australians get fatter.

Forensic scientists say they are struggling to cope with a growing number of morbidly obese corpses that are difficult to move and dangerously heavy for standard-size trolleys and lifting hoists. (more…)

The 237 reasons to have sex

admin — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 03:38:46 +0000

If you think people have sex for pleasure and for procreation, you’re right. They also have sex to get rid of a headache, to celebrate a special occasion, to get a promotion and to feel closer to God.

New research published in the August issue of Archives of Sexual Behavior has come up with a list of 237 reasons that motivate people to have sex. (more…)