The FDA watches risk factors of different drugs and occasionally they will either put out a warning or in some cases pull a product all together. Well today one product type for pain relief did get pulled

On July 7, 2009, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced actions it was taking to reduce the risk of overdose in people who use pain medications, such as Darvon and Darvocet. These medications contain the drug propoxyphene, which is linked to death from overdoses.

FDA finds there is evidence that propoxyphene can effectively treat pain at recommended doses. But because of the drug’s potential risks, the agency is requiring manufacturers to provide more information to help physicians and patients decide whether propoxyphene is the appropriate pain treatment. Read the rest of this entry »

Looking to make a change and lose some weight? I have reviewed the top diet on the internet and you can go and read over 200 comments people have made about why this diet has worked well for them, as well as some of the problems.

Tags: Darvon, dizziness, fda, food and drug administration, lightheadedness, nausea, pain, vomiting

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Caldolor, the first injectable dosage form of the common pain medication ibuprofen, to treat pain and fever.

“Injectable ibuprofen and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are promising pain management options,” said Bob Rappaport, M.D., director, Division of Anesthesia, Analgesia and Rheumatology Drug Products in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. “But until now there were only oral forms of most NSAIDs. An injectable ibuprofen product can provide patients with relief from pain and fever when they cannot take oral products.”

Caldolor will be available for hospital use only. It is approved to be administered in 400 mg to 800 mg doses, over 30 minutes, every 6 hours for acute pain. To treat fever, the drug is approved in a 400 mg dose administered over 30 minutes, followed by 400 mg every 4 to 6 hours, or 100-200 mg every 4 hours, as necessary. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: allergic reactions, Bob Rappaport, Congestive heart failure, director, Division, Division of Anesthesia, fda, FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, fever, headache, high blood pressure, hysterectomy, ibuprofen, nausea, pain, pain management, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, vomiting

Hydroxycut is a product that many of us in the weight loss and muscle gain community have watched and used before and after health scares. Hydroxycut in the early part of the is decade, even in the 90s was a great product for stripping fat in the Spring and was already pulled once off the market and now Hydroxycut is gone again.

Hydroxycut has a history as a fat loss supplement and was one of the first popular products to have and ECA stack. Back in the 90s the ECA stack was Ephedra and caffeine to raise the metabolism and aspirin as a buffer to help your stomach and get rid of any shakes from the ephedra and caffeine. Well once ephedra was pulled from the market for giving seemingly healthy people heart attacks Hydroycut was gone to, at least I thought so.

Hydroxycut was eventually successfully relaunched as a completely natural product and I wrote a review of it just a little while back (now I will pull that review) and now the FDA had pulled Hydroxycut off the market again. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: abdominal pain, cardiovascular disorders, fatigue, Hydroxycut, Iovate Health Sciences Inc., Iovate Health Sciences USA Inc., itching, kidney failure, liver failure, liver injuries, liver transplant, nausea, Oakville, Ontario, rhabdomyolysis, seizures, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, vomiting

Detoxification diets are specially-developed with the main purpose of sanitizing and cleansing the body by flushing out toxins and other synthetic chemicals. Detox diet plans are proven to have good beneficial effects on the over-all state of health of users. However, some scientific studies have revealed that detox diets can harm the body, especially to young people.

What are Detox Diets?

It is common knowledge that detox programs involve fasting. There are various versions of fasting: full, moderate, and maintenance. The full version requires complete absence of solid foods during the detoxification period. The moderate fasting allows only fresh fruits and vegetables with the detox diet. Lastly, the maintenance version set aside one day of full-version fasting every week-which is a diet of no-solid-all-liquid.

The general idea of eliminating waste materials from the body is very good. Who want to store toxins inside their bodies? Cleanliness, inside and out, is very much desired by users of detox diets; even though they have to suffer from several side effects during the cleansing period. Most people experience headaches, dizziness, vomiting, and fatigue. These are negative reactions shown by the body while getting detoxified. It is not surprising that body systems are shocked while massive amount of harmful substances passes through on their way out. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: body systems, dizziness, energy levels, flushing, headaches, pain, synthetic chemicals, vomiting

Maybe you have heard of lapband surgery or maybe not. Actually lapband gastric surgery simply put is a method to squeeze the stomach so that you would feel fuller and not eat as much. The surgery is less invasive, I guess, than Gastic bypass but is still full of complications and often needs to be either adjusted or removed althogether.

In a surgical procedure, the band is placed around the upper part of the stomach, creating a small pouch that can hold only a small amount of food. The narrowed opening between the stomach pouch and the rest of the stomach controls how quickly food passes from the pouch to the lower part of the stomach. The system helps the patient eat less by limiting the amount of food that can be eaten at one time and increasing the time it takes for food to be digested.

Depending on the patient’s needs, after the device is implanted the narrowed opening between the pouch and the lower part of the stomach can be adjusted in size by inflating or deflating the hollow band. Inflating the band makes the opening smaller, causing food to pass more slowly. Deflating the band makes it wider, causes food to pass more quickly. This adjustment is made by adding or removing fluid inside the hollow band. The doctor does this by injecting or removing the fluid through a small button-like part called the access port. This access port is placed under the skin in a muscle in the chest wall. The port is connected to the band by the tubing. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: abdominal pain, body mass index, bypass, Bypass surgery, eating habits, food, food passes, Gastic bypass, intestinal disorders, nausea, stomach pouch, surgery, surgical weight loss, United States, vomiting

Just caught this long article on Eating disorders on the main MSN.ca site. There are a lot of facts in this article and it is interesting that when people want to better their health sometimes they go to far and actually harm themselves by losing to much weight. I used to hate the talk of Anorexia and Bulimia being a disease thinking that it was just a way for some people to get attention but have really learned over the last few years that this is something that is a very dangerous disease with very deep rooted causes.

Eating disorders have increased in frequency as a consequence of society’s emphasis and preoccupation with thinness. Eating disorders are multi-factorial, with genetic, traumatic and nutritional causes. In North America, anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are the two most important eating disorders. They predominantly affect females.

What is the difference between anorexia and bulimia?

Anorexia nervosa is a psychiatric condition where people intentionally starve themselves because of a false belief that they are fat, or for fear of becoming obese. In reality, they are almost always underweight or of normal weight when the condition starts. It is estimated that more than 90% of all those diagnosed with anorexia nervosa are female, often from middle and upper socioeconomic backgrounds. This disorder usually starts in the years between adolescence and young adulthood, with the average age at onset of 14 years. Anorexia nervosa afflicts about 1 per 100,000 in the population at large, but the rate is believed to be higher among Caucasian adolescent girls – about 1 in 200. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: affective disorder, alcohol abuse, American Psychiatric Association, anorexia nervosa, anxiety disorders, binge-purge syndrome, bulimia nervosa, cognitive behavioural therapy, constipation, Counselling, dangerous disease, dehydration, depression, digestive and reproductive systems, dizziness, drug abuse, Drug therapy, dysfunctional family environments, eating disorder, eating disorders, enemas, esophagitis, food, food craving, food cravings, food restriction, inflammation, low blood pressure, malnutrition, Mumps, nervous and hormonal systems, north America, obesity, obsessive compulsive disorder, olanzapine, panic disorder, parenting, Psychotherapy, runner, schizophrenia, social phobias, starvation, vomiting

Eating before or after a workout is one of the most important determinants to whether you perform at the peak of your ability and recover from the workout as best as possible. There is a lot of science behind exercise and eating and in this article, I found this article in a magazine at a hockey rink a couple of weeks ago and could not believe how great it was, thanks to the Calgary minor Hockey Association we can tell you exactly how to eat. Following this pregame and postgame eating should make your workouts better and your performance better as well.

THE PREGAME MEAL

What you eat each day can have a big effect on how you perform. What you consume right before a game can be critical. Wrong choices can slow you down and even take you out of the game, while right choices can give you that competitive edge. The pregame meal can supply your body with significant amounts of energy, although don’t rely on it to supply you with everything you’re going to need. You’ll want to have eaten the right kinds of food for several days prior to your game to charge up your muscles with glycogen. Your body converts food into glycogen – the key energy source your muscles use during intense physical activity such as hockey. The pre-event meal can help with the following; Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Alberta, competition eating, dehydration, diarrhea, eating exercise, energy, fat dairy products, fatigue, food, food choices, food remaining, hockey, Illinois, key energy, nausea, postgame meal, pregame meal, registered dietitian, Sport Medicine Council of Alberta, sports drinks, sports performance, the Calgary minor Hockey Association, University of Illinois, vomiting

Causes of Respiratory Allergies

Doctors don’t know for sure why some people get allergies or allergic asthma. However, they have identified some factors that make a person more likely to develop these conditions:
• Family history-the tendency to develop allergies may be inherited
• Exposure to air pollution
• Being exposed to certain substances in the workplace
• Exposure to secondhand smoke
• Having certain health conditions, such as respiratory infections during childhood or being overweight

Diagnosing Allergies
Some allergies are easy to identify, because there is an obvious pattern of symptoms following exposure to certain substances. For example, if a person always sneezes around cats, that points to an allergy to cats. Someone who gets a runny nose and itchy, watery eyes every spring may be allergic to pollen.

A visit to the doctor’s office for a physical exam¬ination is important. When the allergy trigger is not obvious, the doctor may recommend a specialist called an allergist who will likely do a series of skin tests to identify the allergens that are causing the problem.

Treating Allergies

Avoiding the allergen is the best way to prevent an allergy attack, but this isn’t always possible. Someone who is allergic to pollen, for example, can’t hide in a closet during allergy season. However, there are some steps people can take to reduce their exposure to allergens. If pet dander is the trigger, it will help to limit the areas of the home that family pets are allowed to be in. If dust is the problem, regular cleaning will help to keep it from accumulating. Avoiding damp areas will help if mould is the culprit.

Medications can help ease the symptoms. Some can be bought over-the-counter; others require a prescription. Allergy medicines fall into several different categories:
• antihistamines
• decongestants
• corticosteroids
• bronchodilators
• mast cell stabilizers
• leukotriene modifiers

When medications don’t provide enough relief, a doctor may recommend immunotherapy (allergy shots) to reduce sensitivity to the allergy triggers.

Not every treatment is right for all allergy sufferers, so it is very important to discuss possible treatments with your doctor.

Anaphylactic Shock

Sometimes the sensitivity to an allergen is so extreme that the body goes into anaphylactic shock (also known as anaphylaxis). This is a sudden, severe allergic reaction that affects various systems in the body. The result is:

• difficulty breathing
• swelling of the face, throat, lips, and tongue
• rapid drop in blood pressure
• nausea and vomiting
• dizziness
• unconsciousness.

If it is not treated rapidly, it may lead to death. Anaphylaxis can happen within seconds of being exposed to a triggering substance, or it might happen up to two hours later. Among the most common causes of anaphylaxis are peanuts, seafood, and insect stings.

Anaphylaxis requires immediate treatment. People who know they have severe reactions should carry medication (epinephrine) with them at all times. The medication comes in a small syringe that may look like a pen, and it must be injected. Highly allergic people, their family members, and their friends should know how to give the injection in an emergency. This knowledge could save a life. Medical treatment is important even after the shot is given, because a single injection is not always enough.

Your pharmacist will be happy to answer any questions you have about allergies or allergy treatments and to help you select products to ease your family’s symptoms.

Tags: air_pollution, allergic reaction, allergies, allergy, allergy_attack, allergy_medicines, allergy_season, anaphylactic shock, anaphylaxis, Asthma, bronchodilators, corticosteroids, dizziness, epinephrine, family_pets, immunotherapy, itchy_watery_eyes, nausea, pet_dander, pharmacist, respiratory infections, respiratory_allergies, sneezes, unconsciousness, vomiting

Treatment of severe acne is something that some of us need to deal with at one time or another. Severe acne is when you have lumpy acne that does not go away and is very red. When I was younger I took Accutane to get rid of my severe acne as well as injections and drainage to get rid of my severe acne.

Drainage and Surgical Excision
Some large cysts do not respond to medication and may require drainage and extraction. Drainage and extraction, or acne surgery as it is also called, should not be performed by patients. Dermatologists are trained in the proper technique and perform acne surgery under sterile conditions. Patient attempts to drain and extract comedones by squeezing or picking, can lead to infection, worsening of the acne and scarring.

Severe acne requires an aggressive treatment
regimen and should be treated by a dermatologist.

Acne Injections
When an acne cyst becomes severely inflamed, there is a good chance it will rupture and scarring may result. To treat these severely inflamed cysts and prevent scarring, dermatologists may inject such cysts with a much-diluted corticosteroid. This lessens the inflammation
and promotes healing. An interlesional corticosteroid injection works by “melting” the cyst over a period of 3 to 5 days. As painful as this may sound I never found it to be bad at all, the needle is this and it is really good to get rid of the lumpy red zits.

Accutane
Accutane is a potent drug reserved for treating severe cystic acne and acne that has proven itself resistant to other medications. Accutane is a synthetic (man-made) retinoid (form of vitamin A) that comes in pill form. It is usually taken once or twice a day for 16 to 20 weeks.

Today, it is the most effective acne treatment available because it is the only acne treatment that works on all four factors that predispose a person to acne – excess oil production, clogged skin pores, P. acnes and inflammation. The remissions achieved with Accutane usually last for many months to many years. For many patients, only one course of Accutane therapy is needed.

While Accutane is the most effective acne treatment available, it cannot be prescribed to everyone due to a number of potential side effects, some serious. One of the most serious side effects is the potential to cause severe birth defects in a developing fetus. For this reason, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires that women not be (or become) pregnant while taking Accutane. FDA regulations require women of childbearing age to take 2 pregnancy tests prior to beginning Accutane therapy and use 2 forms of birth control for 1 month before therapy begins, while taking the drug and for 1 full month after therapy. It is also important that women not breast feed during this time. Women who wish to become pregnant after taking Accutane should talk to their dermatologist and gynecologist about when it is safe to get pregnant after receiving Accutane therapy.

Other possible severe side effects that may occur while taking Accutane include:

* Severe pain in the chest or abdomen
* Trouble swallowing or painful swallowing
* Severe headache, blurred vision or dizziness
* Bone and joint pain
* Nausea or vomiting
* Diarrhea or rectal bleeding
* Depresion
* Dryness of the skin, eyes and nose
* Thinning hair

If any side effect occurs, the patient’s dermatologist or other healthcare practitioner should be contacted immediately because some of these side effects can lead to serious health problems.

While taking Accutane, patients are regularly monitored for side effects through follow-up visits. For most people, these side effects are tolerable and not a reason to discontinue therapy before remission is achieved. However, it is important to keep appointments for follow-up visits because monitoring can reveal conditions that a patient might not notice. For example, a patient may not realize a rapid increase in bad cholesterol that is detected through a blood test.

The decision to use Accutane should be made jointly by patient and dermatologist. When used with all due caution under close medical supervision, Accutane can resolve severe acne that has not responded to other therapy. It has proven especially effective in resolving cystic acne, a severe form of acne that usually does not respond to other therapies.

For a substantial number of patients, one course of Accutane therapy is all they will ever need. A small number of patients require more than one course of Accutane therapy to control severe acne.

It is important to take Accutane as prescribed even if the skin clears before all of the pills have been taken to prevent relapse. At the end of an effective course of Accutane therapy, all or most of the acne lesion will have cleared. Patients may notice residual erythematous (reddish) macules (flat spots) where acne lesions were present. These macules are not scars, and they will fade in 6 to 8 weeks.

After therapy, patients should continue to follow the Skin Care Guidelines for People with Acne.

Antibiotic pills
Oral antibiotics have been a mainstay of therapy for severe acne for many years. Like topical antibiotics, oral antibiotics work to reduce the P. acnes population (a contributing factor in acne), which, in turn, decreases inflammation. Treatment with oral antibiotics usually begins with a high dosage, which is reduced as the acne resolves. Over time, the P. acnes bacteria can become resistant to the antibiotic being used to treat it. When this happens, another antibiotic can be prescribed. Numerous studies support the effectiveness of the following broad-spectrum oral antibiotics that are used to treat acne in the United States: doxycline, erythromycin, minocycline and tetracycline. For information about each of these oral antibiotics, see Prescription Acne Medications.

Birth Control pills
Birth Control pills have been shown to effectively clear acne in women by suppressing the overactive sebaceous glands. Oral contraceptives can be used as long-term acne therapy; however, this medication should not be prescribed to women who smoke, have a blood-clotting disorder, are older than 35 or have a history of migraine headaches without the advice of a gynecologist.

Spironolactone, a synthetic steroid, may be used in combination with birth control pills to treat acne in adult females. Spironolactone inhibits androgen production. Side effects include irregular menstruation, breast tenderness, headache and fatigue

Are these tips all you need to prevent acne? If not you should be interested in a proven method to rid you of your acne. Then read my review of a best acne cure. Another great product I have reviewed is Acnezine.

Tags: accutane, acne, Acne Treatment, acne_cures, antibiotics, birth control, birth defects, blood-clotting disorder, cyst, cysts, diarrhea, dizziness, drainage, excess oil production, gynecologist, headache, healthcare practitioner, inflammation, joint pain, migraine headaches, nausea, Oral, Oral contraceptives, pain, scars, surgery, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, United States, vitamin a, vomiting

I just ran across this warning from the FDA about how you should never buy Accutane online. As you may or may not know there are a lot of health issues and warnings related to Accutane. When I took Accutane for my acne years ago I had to get blood tests done before, during and after I got my Accutane prescription and as well there is a risk of birth defects if you are taking Accutane while you are pregnant.

Accutane is a potentially dangerous prescription medicine that should only be taken under the close supervision of your healthcare professional and pharmacist. If you are pregnant or may get pregnant, Accutane can cause birth defects, miscarriage, premature births, and death in babies. (Isotretinoin is sold under the brand name of Accutane and in generic versions called Amnesteem, Claravis, and Sotret.) Buying this product over the Internet bypasses important procedures to ensure that patients can take this drug safely. When these procedures are ignored, isotretinoin can cause serious and harmful side effects. Patients taking Accutane may experience side effects including bad headaches, blurred vision, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, seizures, stroke, diarrhea, and muscle weakness. Additionally, serious mental health problems, such as depression and suicide, have been reported with Accutane use.

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1. You should NEVER buy Accutane  or any of the generic versions of Accutane without first seeing your healthcare professional.

2. You should NEVER take Accutane  or any of the generic versions of Accutane if you are pregnant or trying to get pregnant or could accidentally become pregnant.

3. Some websites sell prescription drugs without a prescription.
This is illegal and DANGEROUS.

When you buy drugs over the Internet, especially from sites that don’t require a prescription, you may get counterfeit products, products with dangerous ingredients, products that don’t work, and products that were not labeled or shipped correctly.

Although Accutane kind of worked for me (after two cycles of it) I am still not a fan of cracked and bleeding lips and excessively dry skin. As you probably know I have reviewed a couple of alternative and very effective acne cures. First there is my review of an Acne Pill and there is also the review I did for an acne treatment book that teaches you a good diet and cleaning program.

Tags: accutane, acne, Acne Treatment, acne treatments, birth defects, claravis, counterfeit products, depression, diarrhea, dizziness, fda, headaches, healthcare professional, isotretinoin, miscarriage, muscle weakness, nausea, pharmacist, premature births, seizures, stroke, vomiting