T.G.I.F.

FDA Adds Strong Warnings To Anti-Smoking Drug Labels

"The Food and Drug Administration announced (Wednesday) that it is requiring the smoking-cessation drugs Chantix and Zyban to carry the strongest type of safety warning possible to alert patients that the medications can cause serious mental health problems, including depression and suicide," the Washington Post reports (Stein, 7/1).

"About 100 suicides in patients taking Chantix have been reported to the FDA since 2006, said Curtis Rosebraugh, an FDA official. By comparison, there have been 14 reports of suicide in patients taking Zyban," the Wall Street Journal reports. "Both companies say there is no evidence that their drugs actually cause suicides or mood swings. And along with the FDA, they both note that smokers trying to quit often experience depression, anger and other psychiatric side effects." The FDA also stressed that the warnings aren't meant to advise smokers not to use the drugs (Mundy and Favole, 7/2).

This information was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with kind permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives and sign up for email delivery at kaiserhealthnews.org.

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http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156327.php
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What Is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder? What Is PTSD? What Causes PTSD?

PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) is triggered by a traumatic event - it is a kind of anxiety. The sufferer of PTSD may have experienced or seen an event that caused extreme fear, shock and/or a feeling of helplessness. Most of us experience a brief period of difficulty adjusting and coping with traumatic events. However, we gradually get better with time and healthy coping methods. On the other hand, there are times when symptoms get worse and may last for several months, or years. This study explains how PTSD can surface two years after a traumatic event. Another study found that one in eight Lower Manhattan residents likely had PTSD two to three years after the 9/11 attacks.

The sufferer's life may be completely disrupted - in such cases the person suffers from PSTD. To prevent PTSD from becoming a long-term illness it is crucial that the sufferer receive treatment as soon as possible.

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http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156285.php
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Loneliness and Anxiety Accompany Child Obesity

As childhood obesity rates continue to increase, experts agree that more information is needed about the implications of being overweight. Researchers believe this knowledge may represent a step toward reversing the current obesity trends.

A new study has found that overweight children, especially girls, show signs of the negative consequences of being overweight as early as kindergarten.

“We found that both boys and girls who were overweight from kindergarten through third grade displayed more depression, anxiety and loneliness than kids who were never overweight, and those negative feelings worsened over time,” said Sara Gable, associate professor of human development and family studies in the College of Human Environmental Sciences at the University of Missouri.

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http://psychcentral.com/news/2009/07/03/loneliness-and-anxiety-accompany-child-obesity/6895.html
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Early Health Ed Reduces Risky Adult Behaviors

A new study explores the link between early education programs and adult health, and how early educational interventions affect health outcomes.

Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health researchers found that early education reduces health behavioral risk factors by enhancing educational attainment, health insurance coverage, income, and family environments.

However, since the follow-up survey was conducted at age 40, the cohort may still be too young for these reductions in behavioral risk factors to translate into improvements in overall physical health outcomes.

The study, available online in the American Journal of Public Health, will be published in the August 2009 issue.

The researchers followed children between the ages of 3 and 4 years and through the age of 40 years. Considered a critical window for children’s intellectual and socioemotional development, these prekindergarten years are thought to be especially important for children whose parents have a limited amount of education.

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http://psychcentral.com/news/2009/07/03/early-health-ed-reduces-risky-adult-behaviors/6905.html
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Chantix and Zyban to Receive Boxed Warnings for Serious Neuropsychiatric Symptoms

The smoking-cessation drugs varenicline (Chantix, Pfizer) and bupropion (Zyban, GlaxoSmithKline) must carry a boxed warning in their labeling that use of the drugs has been associated with serious mental health events, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced today.

The drugs' makers must also develop patient medication guides highlighting the risk for serious neuropsychiatric symptoms in patients who use the products. Reported symptoms include changes in behavior, hostility, agitation, depressed mood, suicidality, and attempted suicide.

Similar warnings will be required for bupropion marketed as the antidepressant Wellbutrin and for generic versions of bupropion. They already have black box warnings for suicidal behavior in treating psychiatric disorders.

If patients report experiencing agitation, depressed mood, changes in behavior that are not typical of nicotine withdrawal, or if they experience suicidal thoughts or behavior, the FDA recommends that clinicians advise patients to stop taking varenicline or bupropion immediately.

The warnings are based on reviews of postmarketing adverse event reports for the drugs. Since its approval in 2006, varenicline has been associated with 98 completed suicides and 188 attempts. Bupropion, approved for smoking cessation in 1997, has been associated with 14 completed suicides and 17 attempts during its marketing history.

The reports include observations of a temporal link between use of the drugs and either suicidal events or the occurrence of suicidal ideation and suicidal behavior in patients who had no history of psychiatric illness, Curtis Rosebraugh, MD, director of the FDA’s Office of Drug Evaluation II, said during a media briefing.

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http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/705163
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Study: Acid Reflux Drugs Cause Rebound Symptoms
Stopping PPI Drugs Can Lead to Increased Acid Reflux

Proton pump inhibitors are highly effective treatments for acid reflux symptoms, but taking prescription-strength dosages of the drugs for just a few months can lead to dependency, new research suggests.

Healthy adults in the study with no history of acid reflux symptoms -- such as chronic heartburn, indigestion, or acid regurgitation -- developed such symptoms when they stopped taking the drugs after eight weeks of treatment.

The findings provide the best evidence yet that withdrawal from acid-blocking proton pump inhibitor (PPI) therapy is associated with a clinically meaningful increase in acid production above pre-treatment levels, researchers say.

PPIs like Aciphex, Prilosec, Prevacid, Nexium, and Protonix are among the most widely used prescription medications in the world. By one estimate, 5% of adults in developed countries take the acid-reducing drugs.

“We have known for years that long-term treatment with PPIs induces a temporary increase in the secretion of acid, but the thinking has been that this probably wasn’t clinically relevant,” lead researcher Christina Reimer, MD, of Copenhagen University tells WebMD.

Source and More
http://www.webmd.com/heartburn-gerd/news/20090702/stopping-ppis-causes-acid-reflux-symptoms