Back in May of 2007, I wrote a piece entitled “Is fibromyalgia a real illness?” in which I stated that “…there is no question that it is real.” I wrote that “Fibromyalgia is a common cause of chronic pain in the bones and muscles” even though no musculoskeletal abnormalities have ever been found in fibromyalgia patients. Now recent research has provided an explanation for this seeming discrepancy.
Researchers in France studied 20 women with fibromyalgia using a special kind of brain scan called SPECT and found significant differences in brain function when they were compared with 10 other women without fibromyalgia. Further, these differences were found to be directly correlated with the severity of the disease. An increase in blood flow was found in that region of the brain known to discriminate pain intensity, and a decrease was found within those areas thought to be involved […]
Original post by ginac and weightlossopinions.com
St. John’s wort, an herb long thought to be effective for the treatment of depression, is used widely in many countries for this purpose and is available over-the-counter in the United States (but not approved by the FDA as an antidepressant). But clinical studies have sometimes yielded conflicting results, in part because of variations in study designs (such as the exact definition of depression) as well as variations in the preparation of the herbal extract and the dosages used. But a new meta-analysis has reviewed 29 separate studies involving nearly 5500 patients and found that, overall, St. John’s wort was more effective than placebo and similar in efficacy to both older antidepressants (such as those called tricyclics of which amitriptyline is typical) and newer ones (such as those called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs, of which Prozac and Celexa are typical). Most of the patients studied […]
Original post by natalieb and weightlossopinions.com
While the FDA dithers and the chemical industry stalls, now’s the time for you to act by reducing your and your family’s exposure to the toxic chemical bisphenol A, commonly referred to as BPA. That’s because the results of the first major epidemiologic study looking at the potential health effects of BPA in humans, published in the September 17, 2008 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) , found a significant relationship between the amount of BPA that people had in their body (as measured by its excretion in their urine) and the occurrence of cardiovascular disease, diabetes (type 2 or what’s typically called adult onset diabetes) and abnormalities of liver enzymes (suggesting some type of liver damage). And while a study of this type cannot prove causality (that BPA actually caused these problems), it comes on the heels of many previous studies showing the […]
Original post by natalieb and weightlossopinions.com
On Friday July 25, 2008, California became the first U.S. state to ban trans fats (from restaurants beginning in 2010 and from baked goods in 2011). Similar bills are pending in more than 12 other states and are already on the books in several cities including Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore. But while banning trans fats is a good idea, it is only a partial fix as it is likely that they will be replaced by other hidden fats, which, while they may be less bad than trans fats, are nonetheless bad. In order to help you understand this complex but important issue, I am reprinting my April 3, 2008 piece on this subject:
Most people know that foods containing trans fats are bad, which is good. But not everyone realizes that foods containing no trans fats are not necessarily good, which is bad. You can hardly […]
Original post by natalieb and weightlossopinions.com
That’s right, even water can be a scam these days. That’s because of relentless marketing, widespread misinformation and an ingrained mythology surrounding what ought to be a pretty simple fact of modern life: If you’re thirsty, have a glass of tap water. That would stand in contradistinction to a claim such as, “You need to drink at least eight eight ounce glasses of water a day (the 8×8 rule), preferably bottled, regardless of whether you’re thirsty and regardless of whether you live in a hot climate or engage in strenuous physical activity.” In fact, the 8×8 rule is so thoroughly entrenched in our common psyche that even most healthcare practitioners and nutritionists will spout it without a moment’s hesitation.
Unfortunately, however, the 8×8 rule is a complete myth, and there never has been any scientific research done that would lead us to such a conclusion. It is […]
Original post by natalieb and weightlossopinions.com
The antidepressant Cymbalta (duloxetine), marketed by Lilly, has received FDA approval for the treatment of fibromyalgia. While certain antidepressants are considered first-line therapy for fibromyalgia, most notably the tricyclic antidepressants such as amitriptyline, none had been approved by the FDA for this use until now. Cymbalta belongs to a newer class of antidepressants known collectively as serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs), which are somewhat similar to the serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), of which Prozac, also marketed by Lilly, is the most widely known. Cymbalta is already marketed for the treatment of depression, anxiety and for pain associated with diabetic peripheral neuropathy. It was first approved for U.S. marketing in 2004.
Cymbalta is now the second drug approved by the FDA for the treatment of fibromyalgia. Almost exactly one year ago the FDA approved Pfizer’s Lyrica (pregabalin) and I alerted readers to that approval in a posting; at […]
Original post by natalieb and weightlossopinions.com
I don’t really know if Lindsey Lohan had an asthma attack at 30,000 feet, or whether she spent two hours in an LA emergency room or had to be admitted for treatment, because the news reports are conflicting and unclear as of this writing. But I do know that millions of Americans suffer acute asthma attacks every year (11 million during each year between 1997 and 2004), that they often require emergency room treatment (1.8 million asthma ER visits for each year between 2001 and 2003), and hospitalization (an average of 500,000 hospital admissions each year). Worse yet, there were about 4,200 deaths from asthma each year between 2001 and 2003. Those alarming statistics come from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
What these numbers mean is that a lot of people depend on albuterol-based rescue inhalers to treat their acute asthma symptoms (as well as people with […]
Original post by natalieb and weightlossopinions.com
I don’t really know if Lindsay Lohan had an asthma attack at 30,000 feet, or whether she spent two hours in an LA emergency room or had to be admitted for treatment, because the news reports are conflicting and unclear as of this writing. But I do know that millions of Americans suffer acute asthma attacks every year (11 million during each year between 1997 and 2004), and that they often require emergency room treatment (1.8 million asthma ER visits for each year between 2001 and 2003) and hospitalization (an average of 500,000 hospital admissions each year). Worse yet, there were about 4,200 deaths from asthma each year between 2001 and 2003. Those alarming statistics come from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
What these numbers mean is that a lot of people depend on albuterol-based rescue inhalers to treat their acute asthma symptoms (as well as people […]
Original post by natalieb and weightlossopinions.com
The FDA has granted approval of Cimzia [certolizumab pegol] as the fourth biologic agent for the treatment of Crohn’s disease. Cimzia, like Remicade [infliximab] and Humira [adalimumab], is an antibody that blocks the action of TNF (tumor necrosis factor), a pro-inflammatory chemical known to play a central role in causing the pathology of a variety of inflammatory disorders including Crohn’s, ulcerative colitis, rheumatoid arthritis, and psoriasis. Tysabri [natalizumab], the fourth biologic for Crohn’s, is also an antibody, but it works by blocking the action of certain types of white blood cells that are involved in the inflammatory process.
Cimzia [certolizumab pegol] received approval for treating adults with moderate to severe Crohn’s disease who have not responded to conventional therapies.
All biologics approved for Crohn’s disease must be given by injection. Remicade and Tysabri are given by IV infusion while Cimzia and Humira are given by subcutaneous injection. Humira […]
Original post by admin and weightlossopinions.com
Most people know that foods containing trans fats are bad, which is good. But not everyone realizes that foods containing no trans fats are not necessarily good, which is bad. You can hardly walk through the supermarket without being bombarded with product messages announcing “No Trans Fats,” as if that fact automatically rendered them healthful. In fact, a product could contain no trans fats and actually be 100 percent pure fat! That’s because there are two main types of fats; namely, saturated and unsaturated fats. And while avoiding trans fats is a good idea, equally, if not more important, is monitoring and limiting saturated fat intake because saturated fat (along with trans fat and cholesterol) raise the bad LDL form of cholesterol and lower the good HDL form.
The way this works is that typically we think of saturated fats as being “bad,” and unsaturated fats […]
Original post by admin and weightlossopinions.com
