Are cholesterol medicines even helpful? January 19, 2008
Posted by healthandsurvival in Diet and Nutrition, Diseases, Drugs, Survival, health, medicine.Tags: cholesterol, drug companies, lipids, lipitor, Merck, mevacor, zocor
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Martin Winn’s cholesterol level was inching up. Cycling up hills, he felt chest pain that might have been angina. So he and his doctor decided he should be on a cholesterol-lowering medication called a statin. He was in good company. Such drugs are the best-selling medicines in history, used by more than 13 million Americans and an additional 12 million patients around the world, producing $27.8 billion in sales in 2006. Half of that went to Pfizer (PFE) for its leading statin, Lipitor.
Statins certainly performed as they should for Winn, dropping his cholesterol level by 20%. “I assumed I’d get a longer life,” says the retired machinist in Vancouver, B.C., now 71. But here the story takes a twist. Winn’s doctor, James M. Wright, is no ordinary family physician. A professor at the University of British Columbia, he is also director of the government-funded Therapeutics Initiative, whose purpose is to pore over the data on particular drugs and figure out how well they work.
Just as Winn started on his treatment, Wright’s team was analyzing evidence from years of trials with statins and not liking what it found….read the rest
Merck wants to have cholesterol medicine sold over the counter– January 19, 2008
Posted by healthandsurvival in Diseases, Drugs, Obese, Politics and Medicine.Tags: cholesterol, drug companies, lipids, lipitor, Merck, mevacor, zocor
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By LAURAN NEERGAARD, AP Medical Writer
WASHINGTON – The government is questioning if too many of the wrong people will take cholesterol-lowering Mevacor if it’s sold without a prescription, days before Merck & Co. makes its third try to move the drug over the counter.
A preliminary Food and Drug Administration review released Tuesday agreed that nonprescription Mevacor would be “a reasonably safe and effective” option — if consumers used it as directed.
But when Merck tested if consumers could judge who was a proper Mevacor candidate, only 20 percent answered all the questions completely correctly — 50 percent if researchers counted people who said they’d check some things with their doctor before purchasing, concluded FDA’s lead medical reviewer.
Moreover, about 30 percent of people who already were diagnosed with heart disease, diabetes or had had a stroke wanted to purchase over-the-counter Mevacor, people who need a doctor’s care, the FDA documents say.
The studies “have not convinced this reviewer that there is adequate consumer comprehension of the proposed product label to ensure safe and effective use of this product,” the preliminary assessment concluded.
Merck argues that most people made the right decision on whether they should buy OTC Mevacor even if they missed some answers.
On Thursday, Merck will present its case to the FDA’s independent scientific advisers, hoping they will recommend that Mevacor become the first in the family of cholesterol-lowering “statin” drugs to be sold in this country without a prescription. Twice before, FDA has said no.
Rambo fighting bad guys in Burma January 19, 2008
Posted by healthandsurvival in Society.Tags: burma, fighting, Life, news, politics, Survival, war
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The people in Burma want Democracy…. the USA does nothing. Our goverment wants to give IRAQ unwanted democracy at a trillion dolllar cost to the American people. It is estimated that the average US household will be pay $4000 for the war, save your money. The new Rambo movie will bring discussion about the problems of Burma to the table. Burma is a real country with a real story to tell. Will the people care?
Help needed in Burma- January 19, 2008
Posted by healthandsurvival in Society.Tags: burma, danger, health, Life, myanmar, news, Survival, violence
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Tragedy in Burma, Learn about it, talk about it and share it. Their health and survival depends on it. The new Rambo movie will bring the story and history of the Burmese civil war to the forefront.
No Income Tax for 1 year to help economy…. January 19, 2008
Posted by healthandsurvival in health.Tags: economy, income tax, Life, news, Survival, tax
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I have a better idea to help us survive! Why not pass a 1 year freeze on federal income taxes. Since most of the money we pay in income tax goes to pay the interest on our national debt (really the interest is paid to private banks, ie Federal Reserve, who prints our money on a machine then lends it to the governement so we can pay the interest), we could keep all the money we earn and help our economy that way….. what do you think?
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WASHINGTON – With recession fears rising and the stock market tumbling, President Bush on Friday called for up to $150 billion in tax relief for consumers and business — and said there was no time to waste. Bush’s urgent remarks gave fresh impetus to congressional leaders already hard at work on an economic rescue package that would include extra money for food stamps and jobless benefits in addition to tax rebates of hundreds of dollars each for millions of Americans. The hope is that people would immediately spend those rebates and give the economy a badly needed boost.
“I believe we can come together on a growth package very quickly, and we’re going to need to,” Bush said.
Wall Street remained skeptical. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 59.91 points after plummeting 306 points a day earlier… read the rest of the story
