Although the FDA review discounted an excess bleeding risk with dabigatran, it did not address another potential concern — the ability to reverse the anticoagulant effect acutely in cases of emergency.
Antman acknowledged that there is no specific, approved antidote for dabigatran or any of the novel anticoagulants, although it is an area of active investigation and the topic of several studies that will be presented at the AHA meeting in the coming days.
He said it’s not true, however, that clinicians don’t have any options. Intravenous administration of blood coagulation factors — prothrombin complex concentrates that are available in every hospital — can help to reverse the effect, though not completely.
In comparison, the effects of warfarin can be reversed with the administration of vitamin K. Antman noted. But that that doesn’t always work either, and patients can die because of it, he added.
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Linzess – Think IBS with Constipation
Linzess is felt to act as a guanylate cyclase-C agonist. An agonist increases the activity of a process, the opposite of an antagonist. Linzess seems to act locally on the surface of the inside of the intestinal lining cells and by activation of guanylate cyclase-C increases levels of intracellular cGMP (cyclic guanosine monophosphate) which results in increased levels of chloride and bicarbonate in the intestinal lumen and speeds up gastrointestinal transit.
Homeopathy: An Introduction | NCCAM
Homeopathy: An Introduction | NCCAM.
A good overview in case you encounter medical records that include homeopathic remedies in your work.
Quest Diagnostics to Eliminate as Many as 600 Jobs – Bloomberg
Quest Diagnostics to Eliminate as Many as 600 Jobs – Bloomberg.
No word on the street yet how many of these cuts are from ExamOne.
Coffee: The Original Wonder Drug?
Coffee: The Original Wonder Drug?.
Great online slideshow with a number of excellent references.
Mirapex (pramipexole) Possible Risk of Heart Failure
ISSUE: FDA notified healthcare profesionals about a possible increased risk of heart failure with Mirapex (pramipexole). Results of recent studies suggest a potential risk of heart failure that needs further review of available data. Because of the study limitations, FDA is not able to determine whether Mirapex increases the risk of heart failure. FDA is continuing to work with the manufacturer to clarify further the risk of heart failure with Mirapex and will update the public when more information is available.
Eyeball Shots and Butt Chugging
5 Shocking Ways Your Kids Try to Get Drunk – ABC News.
Link presented without additional comment.
Life Index MIB August 2012 -1.9%
Billions Wasted on Approved Bogus Disability Claims
In Oklahoma, the administrative law judge Howard O’Bryan, age 87, approved 5,401 disability claims from 2007 to 2009, committing taxpayers to $1.6 billion in expenditures. The investigation detected a “strange pattern” in which applicants denied for physical ailments would later successfully appeal listing their disability as “mental retardation.”
Heavy Drinking May Lead to Early Stroke
Drinking three or more alcoholic beverages a day may raise the risk for spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage at a much younger age than typical, researchers found.
These strokes occurred at an average age of 60 with such high alcohol consumption, 14 years earlier than seen without heavy drinking (P<0.0001), Charlotte Cordonnier, MD, PhD, of the University of Lille Nord de France in Lille, France, and colleagues,
Heavy drinking also predicted a near doubling in 2-year mortality risk after a deep intracerebral hemorrhage before age 60, the group reported in the Sept. 11 issue of Neurology.
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