A CDC survey found three infant deaths in 2005 associated with cough and cold medicines.
According to the report, in the latest MMWR, the infants ranged in age from 1 to 6 months, and all had high blood levels of what appeared to be pseudoephedrine. The survey was based on e-mail queries to medical examiners and a review of news and journal reports, and because the response was low, the CDC cautioned that the total might have underestimated the true number of cases.

Higher doses of sildenafil impair olfactory function, which is possibly linked to an impairment in nasal airflow that sildenafil can induce, German researchers report in the January issue of The Journal of Urology.

A team led by Dr. V. Gudziol at the University of Dresden Medical School studied 20 healthy, young male volunteers who received 50 mg, 100 mg and placebo in random order in a double-blind, crossover trial.

خلفية عن الدراسة:

حالات الاكتئاب والإصابة بالكسور الناتجة عن هشاشة العظام تعتبر من الأمراض الشائعة بين كبار السن، وحيث أن مضادات الاكتئاب المانعة لإعادة امتصاص السيروتونين الانتقائية (SSRIs) تستخدم بشكل شائع لعلاج حالات الاكتئاب فإن العلاقة بين استخدامها اليومي وقابلية حدوث الكسور في العظام غير واضحة.

FDA informed consumers and healthcare professionals of the potential hazards of using skin numbing products containing topical anesthetic drugs such as lidocaine, tetracaine, benzocaine, and prilocaine in a cream, ointment, or gel. Numbing products are widely used to numb the skin for medical and cosmetic procedures, and to relieve pain, burning and itching due to a variety of medical conditions. FDA has approved many of these products for these uses. Some of these products must be prescribed by a doctor, others may be purchased without a prescription.

أوقفت وزارة الصحة مستحضري (Pohli) و(Baly) التي تستخدم لتبييض البشرة وأمرت بحصرهما وسحبهما من الصيدليات المحلية و محلات العطارة ومن الوكيل نفسه نظراً لارتفاع نسبة مادة الزئبق السامة في المنتجين حيث وصلت إلى (38796) جزء في المليون لمستحضر Pohli و(3000) الآف جزء في المليون لمستحضر Baly وما تشكله هذه المادة من مخاطر كبيرة على صحة مستخدمي هذين المستحضرين الغير مسجلين لدى الجهات المختصة في وزارة الصحة.

The FDA announced the removal of two indications from the labeling for the antibiotic Ketek (telithromycin), as well as the addition of a black-box warning.

Following the recommendations issued by an advisory panel in December, the FDA removed indications for acute bacterial sinusitis and acute bacterial exacerbation of chronic bronchitis from Ketek's label. The drug's sole remaining indication is for the treatment of mild to moderate community-acquired pneumonia.

Topical high-potency steroid treatment of vitiligo in children is often successful, but may be associated with systemic effects, Canadian and US researchers report in the February issue of the Journal of the American College of Dermatology.

The treatment repertoire for vitiligo is "somewhat limited," Dr. Elena Pope told Reuters Health, but "high-potency steroids are efficacious in repigmentation of the lesions."

FDA notified healthcare professionals of updated labeling for Cialis, Levitra and Viagra to reflect a small number of post-marketing reports of sudden vision loss, attributed to NAION (non arteritic ischemic optic neuropathy), a condition where blood flow is blocked to the optic nerve. FDA advises patients to stop taking these medicines, and call a doctor or healthcare provider right away if they experience sudden or decreased vision loss in one or both eyes.