Medical Beat: Milk does more good

Monday, August 2, 2004

Milk does a body good
Young women who consume more milk and milk products have a slimmer middle and weigh less. A recent study in the journal Nutrition included 323 girls ages 9 to14.

Results suggest drinking more milk and fewer sugar-sweetened sodas may help teens bring their weight under control.

It is the calcium that is necessary. The National Institute of Child Health and Development says regular, low fat and fat free milk is what these teens should be drinking more of. Each kinds contains the same amount of calcium. An 8 ounce glass has about 300 milligrams of calcium.

Lipitor for your heart
NEW YORK, NY (Market Wire) - Pfizer Inc (NYSE: PFE) announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved its cholesterol-lowering therapy LIPITOR(atorvastatin calcium) for the prevention of cardiovascular disease by reducing heart attack risk in people with normal to mildly elevated levels of cholesterol but with other risk factors for heart disease.
The FDA's decision was based on the findings of a landmark

Learn about Lipitor
	click here or call 1-888-LIPITOR

clinical trial, known as the Anglo-Scandinavian Cardiac Outcomes
Trial: Lipid-Lowering Arm (ASCOT-LLA), which found that LIPITOR, at its lowest dose of 10 mg, reduced the relative risk of heart attack by 36 percent compared to placebo. Because of the significant benefits seen with LIPITOR early in the trial, ASCOT-LLA was halted approximately two years ahead of schedule. The safety profile of the group treated with LIPITOR was comparable to that of the group treated with placebo. The trial involved more than 10,300 people with normal or borderline cholesterol and no prior history of heart disease, but with high blood pressure and at least three other known risk factors for heart disease, such as family history, ageover 55, smoking, diabetes and obesity. ``Despite fairly normal cholesterol levels, patients with multiple risk factors face a greater threat of heart attack,'' said David Waters, M.D., F.A.C.C., Chief of Cardiology at San Francisco General Hospital, CA. ``Adding LIPITOR to their treatment regimen, as the data demonstrate, reduces that threat dramatically. It's becoming increasingly clear that LIPITOR provides cardiovascular
benefits that go well beyond lowering cholesterol.''
   Updated guidelines recently issued by the National Cholesterol
Education Program confirm the added benefit of prescribing
cholesterol-lowering medication like LIPITOR, along with diet and
exercise, to patients at risk for cardiovascular disease.
   Mike Cummo, a 55-year-old design consultant from Rockville
Centre, NY, has a family history of heart disease and is taking
medication to manage his blood pressure. ``Even though my blood
pressure is under control and my cholesterol isn't high, I'm still
worried about my increased risk of having a heart attack,'' he
said. ``I want to watch my grandson grow up so I'm going to ask my
doctor about taking LIPITOR.''
   The FDA also approved LIPITOR to reduce the risk of angina
(chest pain) and to reduce revascularization procedures, such as
balloon angioplasty, that help open blocked arteries.
   Every year, more than 865,000 Americans suffer a heart attack.
There are 7.8 million people in the U.S. who are heart attack
survivors. High blood pressure and elevated cholesterol are the
leading risk factors for heart disease but other factors compound
the risk, including family history of heart disease, age over 55,
smoking, diabetes, obesity and lack of exercise. Direct (medical
costs) and indirect (lost productivity) costs related to coronary
heart disease are expected to exceed $133 billion in 2004.
   ``Today's FDA approval of LIPITOR's additional uses further
supports the growing body of evidence showing that LIPITOR provides significant cardiovascular benefits in a broad range of patients beyond its excellent efficacy in lowering cholesterol,'' said Gary Palmer, M.D., Vice President of Pfizer Cardiovascular's Medical Group.
   LIPITOR is the leading cholesterol-lowering therapy in the world
with more than 76 million patient years of experience. Since the
introduction of LIPITOR seven years ago, its safety and
effectiveness have been supported through the Atorvastatin Landmark Program(TM), an extensive clinical program with more than 400 ongoing and completed trials involving more than 80,000 patients.
   About LIPITOR
   LIPITOR (atorvastatin calcium) is a prescription drug used with
diet to lower cholesterol and to reduce the risk of heart attacks.
LIPITOR is not for everyone, including those with liver disease or
possible liver problems, women who are nursing, pregnant, or may
become pregnant.
   If you take LIPITOR, tell your doctor about any unusual muscle
pain or weakness. This could be a sign of serious muscle side
effects. It is important to tell your doctor about any medications
you are currently taking to avoid possible serious drug
interactions. Your doctor should do simple blood tests to monitor
liver function before and during drug treatment and may adjust your
dose. The most commonly reported side effects are gas,
constipation, stomach pain, and indigestion. They are usually mild
and tend to go away.

Counterfeit drugs
The Food and Drug Administration is warning the public about counterfeit versions of the drugs Zocor (simvastatin) and carisoprodol that were recently imported from Mexico by individual Americans.

Tests indicate that the counterfeit Zocor did not contain any active

Counterfeit drug warning
	Learn from the Food and Drug Administration

ingredient and that the counterfeit carisoprodol differed in potency when compared to the authentic product. Carisoprodol is a drug used in the treatment of painful musculoskeletal conditions and Zocor is a cholesterol lowering drug.

The counterfeit versions were reportedly purchased at Mexican border town pharmacies and sold under the names Zocor, 40/mg, (lot number K9784, expiration date November 2004), and Carisoprodol, 350/mg, (lot number 68348A). Patients who rely on these counterfeit versions of the drugs could develop serious health risks (with the counterfeit Zocor) or have insufficient pain relief (with the counterfeit carisoprodol).

If you have purchased either of these drugs from Mexico talk with your doctor.

Restless legs syndrome drug
BALTIMORE (AP) - Researchers hope a drug used to treat
Parkinson's disease will help put a major medical cause of insomnia
to rest.
A study published in the August issue of the journal Sleep has

The journal Sleep
	click here to learn more about this study

found that the drug, ropinirole, can bring relief to people
suffering from a condition known as Restless Legs Syndrome.
   About 10 percent of the general U.S. population have the
neurological disorder, researchers say. About 80 percent of them
suffer from uncomfortable feelings that cause their legs to twitch
as they try to sleep.
   Dr. Richard Allen, a neurologist at Johns Hopkins Bayview
Medical Center in Baltimore, is one of the authors of the 12-week
study. Allen said the condition is a significant cause of insomnia.
   ``These are dramatically effective treatments for what remains
an unmet medical need in our society,'' he said.
   People with the condition can take 30 minutes to an hour to get
to sleep, Allen said, but the medicine reduced that time down to
about 8 or 10 minutes.
   ``It also increased the sleep time, so they're getting about a
half an hour more of sleep a night, which may not sound like a lot,
but that's a significant benefit on average,'' Allen said.
   The report was the largest placebo-controlled published sleep
study evaluation of any treatment for the condition. It found that
patients woke up less in the middle of the night when treated with
GlaxoSmithKline's Requip (ropinirole).
   Sixty-five patients with at least a moderately severe form of
the condition took part in the study, which included a placebo
controlled, parallel study at 15 research centers nationwide.
   The 32 patients randomly assigned to receive ropinirole had a
mean age of 55 years and 63 percent were women.
   Fifty-five patients completed the study, including 28 of 32 in
the ropinirole group and 27 of 33 in the placebo group.
   Involuntary leg movements decreased from 49 per hour to 12 per
hour in the group treated with Requip, the study found. That
compared with a decrease of 36 kicks each hour to 34 in the placebo group.
   ``The study indicates that the use of Requip produces a dramatic
reduction in abnormal leg movements during sleep and results inimproved sleep quality, allowing people to then function better on
their next day,'' said Philip Becker, president of Sleep Medicine
Associates of Texas.
   While ropinirole is used to treat Parkinson's disease, the study
found that much less dosages of the drug were needed to treat
Restless Legs Syndrome. A mean dose of 1.8 mg per day reduced the periodic leg movements to normal levels. A pill is taken an hour or two before bed.
   Requip is under review by the Food and Drug Administration for
the treatment of the condition.
   Patients between 18 to 79 were used in the study. The condition
can affect people of all ages, but it tends to worsen in people
over the age of 50. Women suffer from the condition more than men
at a ratio of about 2 to 1.
   Although the underlying cause of the condition remains unknown,
research points to mild alterations in dopamine regulation in the
brains of patients.
   Requip stimulates post-synaptic dopamine receptors in the brain.
   Allen said he hoped the drug could go on the market next year totreat Restless Legs Syndrome.
   Researchers reported no serious side effects from the drug. The
most common reported with Requip versus placebo were headaches
(34.4 percent vs. 18.2), nausea (31.3 vs. 15.2) and dizziness (18.8
vs. 3 percent), according to the study.