Posts Tagged “fda”

The FDA is advising people to be more aware of food labels and has written and extensive article on what to look at and why. I also wrote and article on how to decipher the important parts of understanding food labels last year.

Consumers often compare prices of food items in the grocery store to choose the best value for their money. But comparing items using the food label can help them choose the best value for their health.

The food label identifies a variety of information about a product, such as the ingredients, net weight, and nutrition facts.

“The food label is one of the most valuable tools consumers have,” says Barbara Schneeman, Ph.D., Director of the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) Office of Nutrition, Labeling and Dietary Supplements. “The food label gives consumers the power to compare foods quickly and easily so they can judge for themselves which products best fit their dietary needs.”

For example, someone with high blood pressure who needs to watch salt (sodium) intake may be faced with five different types of tomato soup on the shelf, says Schneeman. You can quickly and easily compare the sodium content of each product by looking at the part of the label that lists nutrition information (Nutrition Facts Label) to choose the one with the lowest sodium content.

Read the rest on the FDA site on Food Labeling

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today notified the public that Botox and Botox Cosmetic (Botulinum toxin Type A) and Myobloc (Botulinum toxin Type B) have been linked in some cases to adverse reactions, including respiratory failure and death, following treatment of a variety of conditions using a wide range of doses.

In an early communication based on the FDA’s ongoing safety review, the agency said the reactions may be related to overdosing. There is no evidence that these reactions are related to any defect in the products.

The adverse effects were found in FDA-approved and nonapproved usages. The most severe adverse effects were found in children treated for spasticity in their limbs associated with cerebral palsy. Treatment of spasticity is not an FDA-approved use of botulism toxins in children or adults. Read the rest of this entry »

How many times a day does every man and woman receive an email promoting some kind of pill that is supposed to help with Erectile Dysfunction? Fortunately I do not suffer from this but I know that enough people do that Viagra and Levitra are the biggest spam email products on the internet today.

One of the big problems for many of the people taking Viagra or Levitra is that the Erectile Dysfunction that they suffer from is a  by product of but health and the drugs if not watched may cause heart attacks or even death. Because of this it is not a good idea to buy a drug that you are not too sure of the side effects of.

The reason that I am even writing this post is because I just ran across an FDA warning that the government is trying to crack down on products that promise a lot but may not deliver anything. Read the rest of this entry »

Earlier this year there were some stories around about fears that Prilosec and Nexium may not be quite as healthy as they should be for people taking them for dealing with acid reflux disease and that they increased heart attack risk. The FDA is now saying that there are no increased risk of heart attacks with these drugs in the long term

Long-term use of Prilosec (omerprazole) and Nexium (esomeprazole) is not likely to be associated with an increased risk of heart problems.

FDA has completed a comprehensive, scientific review of known safety data for both drugs, which are used to treat the symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and other conditions caused by excess stomach acid. While long-term studies reported to the agency on May 29, 2007, collected safety data, the study protocols did not specify how heart problems, such as heart attacks, were defined or verified. As a result, evaluating the information that was gathered about the safety of both drugs in these studies was challenging. Read the rest of this entry »