One day your eyes could be a window not just to your soul, but to your blood sugar level. Two separate groups of researchers are working to develop an experimental contact lens that detects glucose in human tears, The Associated Press reports. If they make it to the market, these lenses could provide a painless way for people with diabetes to monitor their blood sugar levels; all they'd have to do is look in the mirror for color changes in the lens. Even people who don't need vision correction might be able to wear the lenses, the researchers say. A study on the sensor material used in the lenses is to be published next month in the American Chemical Society's publication Analytical Chemistry, the AP says.

US Drug companies pay out millions after overcharging
In US , the German pharmaceutical giant Bayer is to plead guilty to criminal charges and pay $257m (Rs 1200 cr) in fines and civil damages for overcharging Medicaid, the US state and federally funded health insurance plan for patients with low income aged under 65 years. US prosecutors have called the case the biggest Medicaid fraud recovery in the country's history. The British drug company GlaxoSmithKline will pay out $87.6m ( Rs 420 cr ) to settle a similar case. Both companies were accused of breaching rules which demand that companies participating in Medicaid offer the programme the lowest available prices for their drugs. Instead, they offered the drug to the health maintenance organisation Kaiser Permanente at lower prices, without telling Medicaid.

Kaiser threatened to stop buying Bayer's antibiotic ciprofloxacin (marketed as Cipro) in 1995, after Johnson and Johnson offered an alternative, ofloxacin (Floxin), at a lower price. Bayer made a deep discount to keep the health maintenance organisation's business, but as the price was lower than that which Medicaid paid for ciprofloxacin, Bayer would have owed tens of millions of dollars in rebates to Medicaid. To avoid having to report the low price, Bayer relabelled the drugs sold to Kaiser Permanente using Kaiser's national drug code number rather than Bayer's. Prosecutors said GlaxoSmithKline had also relabelled drugs sold to Kaiser, namely paroxetine (Paxil) and the allergy spray fluticasone (Flonase). Whereas Bayer will plead guilty to criminal charges under the US Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, GlaxoSmithKline's payment is an out of court settlement of a civil case.

US FDA approves Device for Acid Reflux
Enteryx, made by Boston Scientific Corp, is a liquid solution, containing a polymer and a solvent, that solidifies into a sponge-like material after being introduced into the muscular valve between the esophagus and stomach. The purpose is to reinforce the valve that is supposed to keep stomach acid from flowing into the throat. The Food and Drug Administration cleared Enteryx for treating gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD, which causes frequent heartburn. "The device has been found to help eliminate or reduce the need for medications.
The FDA approved Enteryx for use in patients who have GERD symptoms and who require and respond to proton pump inhibitors. The maker hopes the device will appeal to GERD patients who want to reduce or eliminate medication use Physicians implant Enteryx by advancing a tube through a patient's mouth and esophagus and injecting the liquid into the muscular valve between the esophagus and stomach. The procedure is known as endoscopy.

Statins May Cut Alzheimer's Risk
That's the conclusion of a study by researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas that appears in the April 21 issue of the journal Archives of Neurology. The study of 44 people with Alzheimer's disease found that taking statins lowered their brain cholesterol levels by 21.4 percent. Brain cholesterol contributes to the formation of waxy buildups called amyloid plaques -- a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease -- that damage brain cells The researchers found that the three statin drugs reduced brain cholesterol levels by at least 20 percent, while the extended-release niacin reduced brain cholesterol levels by 10 percent "If we limit cholesterol synthesis in the brain, we may be able to decrease the production of amyloid plaques

Antioxidant (alpha lipoic acid) helps in Diabetic Neuropathy
Alpha lipoic acid, an over-the-counter antioxidant supplement, eases the burning, pain, and numbness associated with diabetic neuropathy, say researchers. In a new study, alpha lipoic acid offered quick and dramatic relief without the side effects of drugs currently used. After just 14 treatments, patients with diabetic neuropathy who received high doses of intravenous alpha lipoic acid had a threefold improvement in pain, numbness and other symptoms compared with those treated with placebo. .Alpha lipoic acid seems to actually change the metabolism of the nerve or blood supply to the nerve, and we noted some relief in symptoms." Say the scientists. . The study, reported in the March issue of Diabetes Care, involved 120 patients with the most common form of diabetic neuropathy, which causes pain, numbness, and a burning sensation and often leads to foot problems. Alpha lipoic acid is available over-the-counter in dosages of 50 to 150 mg.. The powerful antioxidant has been used for nearly 30 years in Europe to treat diabetic neuropathy and is being studied in the U.S. as a treatment for HIV, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, and other conditions.

Aspirin, the miracle drug Can Help Prevent Heart Attack, Stroke and Cancer.
A daily aspirin is proving to be a powerful agent in preventing the top three killers in America - heart disease, stroke and cancer. Aspirin is considered a safe over-the-counter medication. But like all drugs, aspirin presents risks, including stomach irritation, gastrointestinal bleeding and brain hemorrhage. People who have kidney or liver trouble, asthma or uncontrolled hypertension should avoid aspirin . There are thousands of cases of complications with aspirin -- ulcers and strokes. But for most people, aspirin's benefits far outweigh its risks.

Recent studies suggest regular aspirin use can have an impact on the risk of breast cancer and colorectal cancer. The drug had an even greater effect in reducing the risk of advanced colon lesions, decreasing the likelihood by 40 percent. The Women's Health Initiative announced that regular aspirin and ibuprofen use could cut breast cancer risk by as much as half.. Chewing an aspirin after a heart attack decreases the odds of dying by 40 percent. Though aspirin's effectiveness against cardiovascular disease was long attributed to blood thinning, the drug's strength may actually lie in its anti-inflammatory properties. Last year, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force gave its strongest endorsement to low doses of aspirin for Americans considered at risk of coronary heart disease. According to the recommendation, men over 40, postmenopausal women and people with other factors such as hypertension, diabetes and smoking, should discuss taking aspirin with their doctors.

Higher asthma and eczema rates found in children of mothers who used contraceptive pills.
A study of 2,754 children has found that children whose mothers take the contraceptive pill are up to twice as likely to suffer from conditions such as asthma and eczema. The study, carried out by the Institute of Epidemiology in Neuherberg, Germany, found higher rates of allergies among children whose mothers used oral contraceptives before becoming pregnant. Among children whose mothers only started taking the contraceptive pill after giving birth, the researchers found higher rates of allergy related conditions such as runny or blocked noses, wheezing, rashes, and itchy skin. The authors of the study concluded that their research raises doubts about a true biological association between oral contraceptive use and atopic diseases. The research team leader, Dr Joachim Heinrich, commented, "Our study shows that children whose mothers took the Pill before pregnancy are more likely to suffer from allergies, but so are children whose mothers only started taking the Pill after they were born. One possibility is that children whose mothers only start using it after birth are exposed to the oral contraceptive through breast-feeding. Like all drugs taken by breast-feeding mothers, small amounts of the Pill can be transferred to the infant via the milk.

Withdrawing drugs: nefazodone ( antidepressant), the latest
In 1982 the analgesic benoxaprofen was withdrawn in the UK but still marketed in the USA. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) afterwards insisted that companies submit reports of adverse events to them--no matter from which country the report originated.

This reporting was in addition to the international reporting system set up by WHO in the International Programme of Drug Monitoring in1968. In the USA, Public Citizen, which represents 125 000 consumers and is very active in drug safety, is petitioning the FDA to ban nefazodone, a new antidepressant which has been linked with serious liver toxicity in other countries the petition states that liver toxicity has been studied in Australia in 1998 as well in the USA and Spain. In Sweden, the regulatory Medical Products Agency asked for a requirement that liver function should be monitored in all patients on nefazodone, with the result that the company withdrew nefazodone in January, 2003, throughout Europe, since other European countries were thinking of the same

Diabetis drug helps in normal menses and fertility in women
If, as the research strongly suggests, insulin resistance turns out to be one of the primary causes of PCOS, it is expected that drugs which reverse insulin resistance would also relieve hyperandrogenism, restore normal menses, and help eliminate the infertility associated with PCOS. At the top of that list of pharmaceutical agents is metformin, which was developed in 1957 to treat type 2 diabetes. Metformin reduces insulin resistance of peripheral tissue and allows muscle and adipose cells to take in glucose at normal insulin levels. The drug also reduces intestinal absorption of glucose and decreases the production of glucose by the liver, without causing hypoglycemia. [5] The drug significantly reduced serum luteinizing hormone (LH) and increased follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG). It also reduced free testosterone levels by 49% and total testosterone by 52%. None of the women had a normal menstrual cycle before entering the study, but after taking metformin, three became pregnant, and seven out of seven women who took the drug for more than 8 weeks resumed normal menstrual cycles. In a subsequent study, 21 out of 22 women treated with metformin for 6 months resumed normal menstrual cycles and four became pregnant.

The first placebo-controlled clinical trial that looked at metformin for the treatment of PCOS used 500 mg three times daily for 4 to 8 weeks in 24 obese women. The drug caused insulin levels to drop and caused decreases in GnRH-stimulated LH release and free testosterone; it also increased SHBG levels. These improvements occurred in the absence of any change in body weight. Unfortunately, not all the evidence on metformin is so positive. In a placebo-controlled 16-week trial, French investigators concluded that metformin had no additional benefit over diet in improving hyperinsulinemia and hyperandrogenism These studies suggest that the drug will not benefit PCOS patients suffering from morbid obesity. But despite these negative findings, there have been over 20 subsequent studies that have shown that the drug improves insulin metabolism, hormonal parameters, or both.

Compiled from www By Venkatappaji Padmanabhuni
Email: appajipv@hotmail.com