PRx Blog

The consumer health week in review: Counterfeit drugs; Big gulp or little sip; Prediction: cancer increases; Go ahead eat a bite of dark chocolate!

Hard pill to shallow, counterfeit drugs
Earlier this week the FDA warned consumers and healthcare professionals about a counterfeit version of Teva’s Adderall, a drug approved to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorders (ADHD) and narcolepsy. The FDA’s announcement says preliminary laboratory tests revealed the counterfeit version of Teva’s Adderall 30 mg tablets contained the wrong active ingredients. Currently on the FDA’s drug shortage list, Adderall is in short supply due to active pharmaceutical ingredient supply issues. The FDA warns consumers should be extra cautious when buying their medicines from online sources.

NYC Super-Sized soda ban? A whole lot of carbonation
Mid-week Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced a proposed ban that intends to restrict sales of soft drinks to no more than 16 ounces a cup in restaurants, movie theaters, stadiums and arenas. The move to ban super-sized sugared soft drinks is the latest of several anti-obesity and nutrition initiatives undertaken by the administration. It is among strategies to combat what the administration has described as an epidemic of obesity and related illnesses such as heart disease and diabetes. In 2008, the city required restaurant chains to post calorie-counts on menus. According to an article in Bloomberg, the Health Department plans to propose the ban as an amendment to the Health Code at a June 12 meeting of the City’s Board of Health.

Cancer cases to rise says International Agency for Research on Cancer
A paper from the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) issued today says the number of people with cancer is set to surge by more than 75 percent across the world by 2030. The study looks at how present and future rates of cancer might vary between richer and poorer countries, as measured by the development rankings defined in the United Nations' Human Development Index (HDI). It noted there will be sharp rises in poor countries as populations adopt unhealthy "Westernized" lifestyles. According to Reuters  IARC researchers found how patterns of the most common types of cancer varied according to four levels of human development, and then used these findings to project how the cancer burden is likely to change by 2030. The seven most common types of cancer worldwide are lung cancer, female breast cancer, colorectal cancer, stomach cancer, prostate cancer, liver cancer and cervical cancer.

Ending on a sweet note
Little bite of dark chocolate does the heart good says a new Australian study. Eating 3.5 ounces of dark chocolate daily may cut the odds of heart attack and stroke in high-risk people. Researchers used a mathematical model to predict the long-term health effects of daily consumption of dark chocolate among more than 2,000 people who had high blood pressure and metabolic syndrome, a group of conditions that increase a person's risk of heart disease and diabetes. According to HealthDay News dark chocolate is rich in flavonoids, antioxidant substances known to have heart protective effects. The potential benefits of dark chocolate on heart health have only been examined in short-term studies, until this study published online in the BMJ.

Posted by- Erin Zwirn

Posted by Davida Dinerman on June 1, 2012 at 1:01 PM