medicines

Fake drug racket found by CBI

2010-11-12T19:33:00.000-08:00

CBI has declared that some of the hospitals are in India are providing fake and out dated medicines to the patients. CBI has found this astonishing fact after a raid in accordance with Central Government Health Scheme. CBI along with state drug controllers and CGHS department has started raids in the hospitals all over India.

They have found out huge lot of fake medicines in the hospitals. Some of the medicines are out dated too. Several hospitals of Andhra Pradesh and Bangalore were also investigated under the same process. They have also found out that treatment gas been going on with expired medicines in some hospitals of Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam and Bangalore.

These cases are under investigation and more evidences are expected to be found out after the tests of medicines which may be completed within a month as reported by CBI. Chennai has also rackets of supply of such fake and expired medicines to the government as well as private hospitals. These medicines will undoubtedly cause critical problems to the patients admitted to these hospitals. Investigations have also pointed out there may be a possibility of secrete link between medicine companies and drug rackets.

Privacy Policy

2010-07-26T16:24:00.000-07:00

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Chinese acupuncture

2010-06-03T18:17:00.001-07:00

Chinese acupuncture and moxibustion are based on the traditional Chinese medicine theory that heat from burning moxa transmitted to the skin indirectly through needles can help relieve pains on the waist, neck, or shoulder

Cupping

2010-06-03T18:11:00.000-07:00

Cupping is a treatment that claims to take the heat out of the body, by using cups that are heated before being placed on the body pf the patient.

A treatment in the Islamic religion

Treatment of Parkinson's disease

2010-06-03T18:06:00.001-07:00

London, Dec 5 : Scientists from Dundee University have suggested that C. elegans worm might prove to be an effective research model for studying why some people develop Parkinson''s Disease.

Worms share 50pct of their genes with humans, including those involved with inherited Parkinson''s.

The team will study why the condition causes patient''s brain cells to die.

"Research leading to an eventual cure for Parkinson'' s disease is a daunting task and requires a very broad and multidisciplinary approach,” BBC News quoted lead researcher Dr Anton Gartner.

Polio

2010-06-03T17:58:00.000-07:00

SV40 was the 40th virus found in rhesus monkey kidney cells when these cells were used to make the polio vaccine. This virus contaminated both the Inactivated Polio Vaccine (IPV) created by Dr. Jonas Salk and the Oral or “Live” Polio Vaccine (OPV) created by Dr. Albert Sabin.

In 1961, SV40 was discovered by Dr. Bernice Eddy of the National Institute of Health, Division of Biologics when she took the material used to grow polio vaccines and injected it into hamsters. Tumors grew in the hamsters. Her discovery was subsequently validated by Drs. Maurice Hilliman and Benjamin Sweet of Merck.

Upon the discovery that SV40 was an animal carcinogen that had found its way into the polio vaccines, a new federal law was passed in 1961 that required that no vaccines contain this virus. However, this law did not require that SV40 contaminated vaccines be thrown away or that the contaminated seed material (used to make all polio vaccines for the next four decades) be discarded. As a result, known SV40 contaminated vaccines were injected into children up until 1963. In addition, it has been alleged that there have been SV40-contaminated batches of oral polio vaccine administered to some children until the end of the 1990′s. (SV40

Insulin

2010-06-03T17:51:00.000-07:00

Diabetes exacts its toll on many Americans, young and old. For years, researchers have painstakingly dissected this complicated disease caused by the destruction of insulin producing islet cells of the pancreas. Despite progress in understanding the underlying disease mechanisms for diabetes, there is still a paucity of effective therapies. For years investigators have been making slow, but steady, progress on experimental strategies for pancreatic transplantation and islet cell replacement. Now, researchers have turned their attention to adult stem cells that appear to be precursors to islet cells and embryonic stem cells that produce insulin.

Diabetes

2010-06-03T17:46:00.000-07:00

Diabetes is a birth defect where the body just doesn’t produce enough insulin to keep blood sugar at normal levels. Type 2 Diabetes afflicts mostly people with excessive weight and the condition is characterized by the inability of the body to use insulin secreted by the pancreas. There is also a less common type of Diabetes – Gestational Diabetes – that occurs in women during the second half of pregnancy and disappears after delivery.

The hepatitis B vaccine

2010-06-01T19:11:00.000-07:00

The hepatitis B vaccine is recommended for healthcare workers, people who live with someone with hepatitis B, and others at higher risk. The hepatitis B virus can damage liver cells. Immunization is also recommended for all infants and unvaccinated adolescents.

Symptoms of cholera

2010-06-01T18:58:00.000-07:00

The symptoms of cholera include nausea, vomiting, severe diarrhea, and abdominal cramps leading to profound dehydration.

HIV/AIDS

2010-06-01T18:55:00.000-07:00

What is also amazing about HIV is its viral complexity and ability to constantly mutate. As a result it is proving to be difficult to observe and understand, let alone to find ways of destroying it:

The genome of a single-strand RNA virus such as HIV, which comprises only 10,000 nucleotides, is small and simple compared with that of most cells. Yet from a molecular standpoint, it is unimaginably complex. Each of those nucleotides contains one of four possible bases: adenine, uracil, guanine or cytosine. The unique sequence specified by the genome of HIV therefore represents just one choice out of 4 10,000 possibilities -- a number roughly equivalent to a one followed by 6,000 zeroes (Eigen, 1993 p. 42).
Anatomy of AIDS Virus

sexually transmitted diseases

2010-06-01T18:49:00.000-07:00

Chlamydia

Chlamydia is a sexually transmitted disease (STD) caused by the bacteria Chlamydia trachomatis. When transmitted through sexual contact, the bacteria can infect the urinary and reproductive organs.

The term chlamydia typically refers to Chlamydia trachomatis, the STD. But two other types of this bacteria also can lead to illness: Chlamydia pneumoniae, which can be spread through coughing and sneezing, and Chlamydia psittaci, which birds can pass to humans.

Chlamydia can be treated with antibiotics. But in many cases, it causes no symptoms, so people can be infected without even knowing it. If chlamydial infections go untreated, they can lead to more serious health problems, such as infertility. So it's important to take the precautions to prevent chlamydia, and if it's suspected, to seek treatment as soon as possible.

Cancer Type

2010-05-31T07:42:00.000-07:00

Blood Cancer

2010-05-31T07:36:00.000-07:00

Blood cancer is a generalized term for malignancy which attacks the blood, bone marrow, or lymphatic system। There are three kinds of blood cancer: leukemia, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma.

Leukemia is malignancy of cells in the blood। Lymphoma refers to malignant tumors of the lymph system. Myeloma is malignancy of plasma cells. Plasma cells are the cells in bone marrow that produce antibodies. Collectively they are called Hematological malignancies.

Mad Cow Disease

2010-05-31T07:24:00.000-07:00

BSE is a concern because it can be transmitted to people if they eat meat that came from a cow with BSE। If a person eats BSE-infected beef, the person is at a higher risk for getting a human form of the disease, called Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, or CJD. It is a very serious disease that affects the brain, but CJD is very rare in the United States. Only 1 in a million people get it. And it is not contagious, meaning a person can't catch it from someone who has it. Likewise, a cow that has BSE can't infect other cows.

Ritalin effect

2010-05-28T15:13:00.000-07:00

This drug is often prescribed to treat attention deficit disorder. It is becoming an illicit street drug as well. Drug users looking for a high will crush Ritalin into a powder and snort it like cocaine, or inject it like heroin. It then has a much more powerful effect on the body. It causes severe headaches, anxiety, paranoia, and delusions.

Methamphetamine effect

2010-05-28T15:11:00.000-07:00

Known on the street as meth, speed, chalk, ice, crystal, and glass, methamphetamine is an addictive stimulant that strongly activates certain systems in the brain.

LSD effect

2010-05-28T15:07:00.000-07:00

While some people use LSD for the sense of enhanced and vivid sensory experience, it can cause paranoia, confusion, anxiety, and panic attacks. Like Ecstasy, the user often blurs reality and fantasy, and has a distorted view of time and distance.

Inhalants effect

2010-05-28T15:02:00.000-07:00

Inhalants, such as glue, gasoline, hair spray, and paint thinner, are sniffed. The effect on the brain is almost immediate. And while some vapors leave the body quickly, others will remain for a long time. The fatty tissues protecting the nerve cells in the brain are destroyed by inhalant vapors. This slows down or even stops neural transmissions. Effects of inhalants include diminished ability to learn, remember, and solve problems.

Alcohol effect

2010-05-28T15:00:00.000-07:00

Alcohol is no safer than drugs. Alcohol impairs judgment and leads to memory lapses. It can lead to blackouts. It distorts vision, shortens coordination, and in addition to the brain can damage every other organ in the body.

Cocaine effect

2010-05-28T04:46:00.001-07:00

Cocaine, both in powder form and as crack, is an extremely addictive stimulant. An addict usually loses interest in many areas of life, including school, sports, family, and friends. Use of cocaine can lead to feelings of paranoia and anxiety. Although often used to enhance sex drive, physical effect of cocaine on the receptors in the brain reduce the ability to feel pleasure (which in turn causes the dependency on the drug).

Heroin effect

2010-05-28T04:39:00.000-07:00

Heroin is a highly addictive opiate (like morphine). Brain cells can become dependent (highly addictive) on this drug to the extent that users need it in order to function in their daily routine. While heroin use starts out with a rush of pleasure, it leaves the use in a fog for many hours afterwards. Users soon find that their sole purpose in life is to have more of the drug that their body has become dependant on.

Marijuana effects

2010-05-28T04:32:00.000-07:00

The parts of the brain that control emotions, memory, and judgment are affected by marijuana. Smoking it can not only weaken short-term memory, but can block information from making it into long term memory. It has also been shown to weaken problem solving ability.

MOST HARMFUL DRUGS

2010-05-28T04:25:00.000-07:00

A graph showing the drugs that are more reciprocating

drugs

2010-05-27T16:46:00.000-07:00

advice to be away from drugs

Whenever you are tired, stressed, angered, irritated, follow these steps:
1. Close your eyes and start paying attention your breath.
Feel the air you inhale and the air you exhale. Feel the cold fresh air entering
your nostrils and the warm air that comes out. Count your breathing.
2. Do the counting in reverse way. Say 50, 49, 48…to 1and be aware of your breathing.
3. Place your hand on your abdomen. Feel the expansion of your abdomen, like a balloon, as you inhale and the contractions of your abdomen as you exhale.
4. Feel movement of your diaphragm and your chest as you breathe in and breathe out.
You can practice all the steps or any one of the steps. It can be practiced anywhere, any time, and for any short/ long duration. Even two minutes of concentration on your breathing can give excellent stress relief.

Viagra aids in conceiving

2010-05-27T16:44:00.000-07:00

Viagra aids in conceivingIt was a surprise for the British couple David and Kerry Horan, who were blessed with a girl child. As it was established, if a woman (instead of a man) consumes Viagra she might conceive, reports CARE Nottingham fertility clinic.

Viagra is used as medication for men with erectile dysfunction as it increases the blood flow. In case of Kerry, who suffered a miscarriage in 2005 after 12 weeks, she was having trouble conceiving.

Dr George Ndukwe, who performed the experiment, came to know that if IVF had failed due to poor blood flow in the womb then it needs radical treatment.

The lining was too thin for an embryo to be implanted and thus Viagra was used that helped in increasing blood flow and thickened the lining.

Once the wall had thickened, the doctors implanted the IVF embryos. After few days it was reported that she was pregnant.

However, Dr Ndukwe clarified that it will pose a health risk if the procedure isn't performed under supervision.

Since there are many couples all across the world who suffer from the same problem, it would be beneficial for them.

Viagra

2010-05-27T16:39:00.000-07:00

More men should get access to Viagra on the NHS in a bid to slow down the trade in fake sex medicines, doctors' leaders said today।

The British Medical Association called on the Government to look again at who is eligible for drugs to treat erectile dysfunction.

Chairman Dr Hamish Meldrum said the BMA had "always been against the rather discriminatory way" in which some patients got Viagra and others did not.

The BMA's view is that doctors should be able to prescribe Viagra and other impotence drugs to all patients with a demonstrable clinical need.

Dr Meldrum said there was currently a "rather awful half-way house" where some men were treated while others were denied help.

This meant some men were forced to go private while others turned to the internet to buy pills that could be fake or harmful.

"We are aware that many internet sites are offering it (Viagra) at a price lower than you would get it at the chemist," he said.

"There are problems with this, the first that you might not actually be getting Viagra.

"At best it may be an inert substance, at worst a positively dangerous substance," he said.

The second problem was that patients did not undergo a thorough consultation to see if the drug may interfere with other medicines they were on.

It was the job of the Government rather than the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) to look at the issue, he added.

"This is really almost a political decision about whether you get it on the NHS.

"Nobody is arguing about the effectiveness of Viagra or other treatments for erectile dysfunction."

Dr Meldrum called for a more equitable system, adding: "I think where they are drawing the line at the moment is not a very good place."

The current restrictions on prescribing Viagra and other ED drugs caused a huge row in 1999.

Then health secretary Frank Dobson put limits on who could get access to Viagra.

expired-medicines

2010-05-27T16:34:00.000-07:00

expired-medicines-1

A few small steps can make an important difference in safeguarding lives and protecting the environment.
Follow your medication prescriber’s instructions and use all medications as instructed. If you do not use all of your prescribed or over-the-counter medication, you can take a few small steps to make a huge impact in safeguarding lives and protecting the environment by disposing of unused medicines properly:

1. DO NOT FLUSH unused medications and DO NOT POUR them down a sink or drain. *
* Pour medication into a ziploc plastic bag. If medication is a solid (pill, liquid capsule, etc.), crush it and add water to dissolve it.
* Add kitty litter, sawdust, coffee grounds (or any material that mixes with the medication and makes it less appealing for pets and children to eat) to the plastic bag.
* Seal the plastic bag and put it in the trash.
* Remove and destroy ALL identifying personal information (prescription label) from all medication containers before recycling them or throwing them away.
2. Be Proactive and Dispose of Unused Medication In Household Trash. When discarding unused medications, ensure you protect children and pets from potentially negative effects:
3. Check for Approved State and Local Collection Programs. Another option is to check for approved state and local collection alternatives such as community based household hazardous waste collection programs. In certain states, you may be able to take your unused medications to your community pharmacy or other location for disposal.
4. Consult your pharmacist with any questions.

herbal medicines

2010-05-27T13:14:00.000-07:00

An herb is a plant or plant part used for its scent, flavor or therapeutic properties. Herbal medicine products are dietary supplements that people take to improve their health. Many herbs have been used for a long time for claimed health benefits. They are sold as tablets, capsules, powders, teas, extracts and fresh or dried plants. However, some can cause health problems, some are not effective and some may interact with other drugs you are taking.

To use an herbal product as safely as possible

* Consult your doctor first
* Do not take a bigger dose than the label recommends
* Take it under the guidance of a trained medical professional
* Be especially cautious if you are pregnant or nursing

Chiropractic

2010-05-27T13:08:00.000-07:00

Chiropractic is an alternative medical system. It takes a different approach from standard medicine in treating health problems.

The basic concepts of chiropractic are

* Your body has a powerful self-healing ability
* Your body's structure (mainly the spine) and its function are related
* The goal of chiropractic therapy is to normalize this relationship

Chiropractic professionals are doctors of chiropractic, or D.C.s. They use a type of hands-on therapy called spinal manipulation or adjustment. Many people visit chiropractors for treatment of low back pain.

Acupuncture

2010-05-27T13:03:00.000-07:00

Acupuncture is the practice of inserting thin needles into specific body points to improve health and well-being. It originated in China more than 2,000 years ago. American practices of acupuncture use medical traditions from China, Japan, Korea and other countries. In the United States, the best-known type involves putting hair-thin, metallic needles in your skin.

Research has shown that acupuncture reduces nausea and vomiting after surgery and chemotherapy. It can also relieve pain. Researchers don't fully understand how acupuncture works. It might aid the activity of your body's pain-killing chemicals. It also might affect how you release chemicals that regulate blood pressure and flow.

Anabolic Steroid Abuse

2010-05-26T11:37:00.000-07:00

Persistent reports of anabolic steroid abuse by professional athletes, many of whom are regarded as role models by young people, highlight the fact that we are now facing a very damaging message in our society—that bigger is better, and being the best is more important than how you get there.

Abuse of anabolic steroids differs from the abuse of other illicit substances because the initial abuse of anabolic steroids is not driven by the immediate euphoria that accompanies most drugs of abuse, such as cocaine, heroin, and marijuana, but by the desire of abusers to change their appearance and performance, characteristics of great importance to adolescents. The effects of steroids can boost confidence and strength, leading abusers to overlook the potential serious and long-term damage that these substances can cause.

While anabolic steroids can enhance certain types of performance or appearance, they are dangerous drugs, and when used inappropriately they can cause a host of severe, long-lasting, and in some cases, irreversible negative health consequences. Anabolic steroids can lead to early heart attacks, strokes, liver tumors, kidney failure, and serious psychiatric problems. In addition, because steroids are often injected, users who share needles or use nonsterile techniques when they inject steroids are at risk for contracting dangerous infections, such as HIV/AIDS and hepatitis B and C.

I hope that students, parents, teachers, coaches, and others will take advantage of the information about anabolic steroids found on the NIDA Web site and join us in our prevention and education efforts. Participating in sports offers many benefits, but young people and adults should not take unnecessary health risks in an effort to win.

Drugs and Chemicals of Concern

2010-05-26T11:35:00.001-07:00

METHAMPHETAMINE

Introduction:

Methamphetamine is a highly addictive drug with potent central nervous system (CNS) stimulant properties. In the 1960s, methamphetamine pharmaceutical products were widely available and extensively diverted and abused. The 1971 placement of methamphetamine into schedule II of the Controlled Substance Act (CSA) and the removal of methamphetamine injectable formulations from the United States market, combined with a better appreciation for its high abuse potential, led to a drastic reduction in the abuse of this drug. However, a resurgence of methamphetamine abuse occurred in the 1980s and it is currently considered a major drug of abuse. The widespread availability of methamphetamine today is largely fueled by illicit production in large and small clandestine laboratories throughout the United States and illegal production and importation from Mexico. In some areas of the country methamphetamine abuse has outpaced heroin and cocaine.

Licit Uses:

Methamphetamine was originally used in nasal decongestants and bronchial inhalers (the levo isomere of methamphetamine is still utilized for these indications). Later it was available in tablets and injectable formulations and used for weight control, depression, and to increase alertness and prevent sleep. A broad segment of society from housewives to truckers to military personnel used methamphetamine products for stimulant effects. Today there is only one product, Desoxyn®, currently marketed in 5 mg tablets. Desoxyn® has very limited use in the treatment of obesity, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Chemistry/Pharmacology:

Methamphetamine is chemically and pharmacologically similar to amphetamine although it has more potent effects on the CNS that can last for 6 to 8 hours. Methamphetamine increases the release of the neurotransmitter, dopamine, which stimulates brain cells, enhancing mood and energy. At low doses, methamphetamine produces such effects as increased wakefulness, increased physical activity, increased heart rate and blood pressure, decreased appetite, increased respiration and body temperature (hyperthermia), and euphoria. High-dose chronic use has been associated with irritability, tremors, convulsions, anxiety, paranoia, and neurotoxic effects that cause damage to neurons and blood vessels. Aggressive and violent behavior, often directed at spouses and children, pose a significant risk to those individuals in contact with methamphetamine addicts. Death has resulted from extreme anorexia, hyperthermia, convulsions, and cardiovascular collapse (including stroke and heart attacks).

Illicit Use:

Methamphetamine is abused for its stimulant and euphoric effects. It can be taken orally, snorted, smoked, and injected. Smoking or injecting methamphetamine results in intense euphoria and is often associated with binge use, large escalation in dose with rapid tissue tolerance, and high rates of dependence and addiction. "Ice," "Glass," and "Crystal" are all terms for concentrated d-methamphetamine HCl chunks that are smoked. Yaba is a Thai name for a colored tablet containing methamphetamine combined with caffeine which is gaining popularity among individuals who frequent "raves." According to the 2006 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 5.8% of individuals ages of 12 and older reported illicit use of methamphetamine at least once in their lifetime and 731,000 (0.3%) reported current use.

Illicit Production and Distribution:

Mexican drug trafficking organizations have become the primary manufacturers and distributors of methamphetamine to cities in the Midwest and West. These criminal organizations are able to supply large amounts of methamphetamine at high purity and low cost. Domestic independent laboratory operators also produce and distribute methamphetamine but usually on a smaller scale. These domestic laboratories have proliferated, spreading from the West Coast to the East Coast. In 2005 and 2006, the El Paso Intelligence Center National Clandestine Laboratory database reported seizures of 12,613 and 7,177 methamphetamine laboratories (including active labs, boxed labs, and dumpsites), respectively. In 2005, the five states reporting the greatest number of lab seizures included Missouri (2,195), Indiana (1,014), Illinois (944), Tennessee (870), and Iowa (765). In 2006, Missouri (1,275), Indiana (778), Illinois (769) and Tennessee (661) reported the largest number of lab seizures. Most were small laboratories with some only producing personal-use amounts. Of particular concern is the toxic waste associated with these labs and the fact that many individuals, including children, are at risk of exposure to these toxic chemicals.

There are many ways to manufacture methamphetamine. The methods used are directly impacted by the availability of precursor chemicals and ease of synthesis. Drug traffickers are continuously looking for loopholes in chemical control regulations and altering their methods of synthesis in order to continue their illegal activity. Currently, methamphetamine is primarily produced by utilizing diverted pseudoephedrine combination products. The Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act of 2005 requires retailers of non-prescription products containing pseudoephedrine, ephedrine and phenylpropanolamine to place these products behind the counter or in a locked cabinet. Consumers must show identification and sign a logbook for each purchase.

MDMA - Esctasy

2010-05-26T11:29:00.000-07:00

How Is MDMA Abused?
MDMA is taken orally, usually as a capsule or tablet. It was initially popular among Caucasian adolescents and young adults in the nightclub scene or at weekend-long dance parties known as raves. More recently, the profile of the typical MDMA user has changed, with the drug now affecting a broader range of ethnic groups. MDMA is also popular among urban gay males— some report using MDMA as part of a multiple-drug experience that includes marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine, ketamine, and other legal and illegal substances.

How Does MDMA Affect the Brain?
MDMA exerts its primary effects in the brain on neurons that use the chemical (or neurotransmitter) serotonin to communicate with other neurons. The serotonin system plays an important role in regulating mood, aggression, sexual activity, sleep, and sensitivity to pain. MDMA binds to the serotonin transporter, which is responsible for removing serotonin from the synapse (or space between adjacent neurons) to terminate the signal between neurons. MDMA also causes excessive release of serotonin from neurons containing the neurotransmitter, and it has similar but less potent effects on neurons that contain dopamine and norepinephrine.

MDMA can produce confusion, depression, sleep problems, drug craving, and severe anxiety. These problems can occur soon after taking the drug or, sometimes, even days or weeks after taking MDMA. In addition, chronic users of MDMA perform more poorly than nonusers on certain types of cognitive or memory tasks, although some of these effects may be due to the use of other drugs in combination with MDMA. Research in animals indicates that MDMA can be harmful to the brain—one study in nonhuman primates showed that exposure to MDMA for only 4 days caused damage to serotonin nerve terminals that was still evident 6 to 7 years later.1 Although similar neurotoxicity has not been shown definitively in humans, the wealth of animal research indicating MDMA’s damaging properties strongly suggests that MDMA is not a safe drug for human consumption. This is currently an area of active research.

Addictive Potential
For some people, MDMA can be addictive.2 A survey of young adult and adolescent MDMA users found that 43 percent of those who reported ecstasy use met the accepted diagnostic criteria for dependence, as evidenced by continued use despite knowledge of physical or psychological harm, withdrawal effects, and tolerance (or diminished response).3 These results are consistent with those from similar studies in other countries that suggest a high rate of MDMA dependence among users.4 MDMA abstinence-associated withdrawal symptoms include fatigue, loss of appetite, depressed feelings, and trouble concentrating.2

What Other Adverse Effects Does MDMA Have on Health?
MDMA can also be dangerous to overall health and, on rare occasions, lethal. MDMA can have many of the same physical effects as other stimulants, such as cocaine and amphetamines. These include increases in heart rate and blood pressure—which present risks of particular concern for people with circulatory problems or heart disease—and other symptoms such as muscle tension, involuntary teeth clenching, nausea, blurred vision, faintness, and chills or sweating.

In high doses, MDMA can interfere with the body’s ability to regulate temperature. On rare but unpredictable occasions, this can lead to a sharp increase in body temperature (hyperthermia), which can result in liver, kidney, cardiovascular system failure, or death. MDMA can interfere with its own metabolism (breakdown within the body); therefore, potentially harmful levels can be reached by repeated MDMA administration within short periods of time. Other drugs that are chemically similar to MDMA, such as MDA (methylenedioxyamphetamine, the parent drug of MDMA) and PMA (paramethoxyamphetamine, associated with fatalities in the United States and Australia),5 are sometimes sold as ecstasy. These drugs can be neurotoxic or create additional health risks to the user. Furthermore, ecstasy tablets may be mixed with other substances, such as ephedrine (a stimulant); dextromethorphan (DXM, a cough suppressant); ketamine (an anesthetic used mostly by veterinarians); caffeine; cocaine; and methamphetamine. Although the combination of MDMA with one or more of these drugs may be inherently dangerous, users who also combine these with additional substances such as marijuana and alcohol may be putting themselves at even higher risk for adverse health effects.

What Treatment Options Exist?
There are no specific treatments for MDMA abuse and addiction. The most effective treatments for drug abuse and addiction in general are cognitive-behavioral interventions that are designed to help modify the patient’s thinking, expectancies, and behaviors related to their drug use and to increase skills in coping with life stressors. Drug abuse recovery support groups may also be effective in combination with behavioral interventions to support long-term, drug-free recovery. There are currently no pharmacological treatments for addiction to MDMA.

How Widespread Is MDMA Abuse?
Monitoring the Future Survey*
While MDMA use is not rising currently, MTF investigators remain concerned because the perceived risk associated with MDMA use has been in decline for several years and may leave young people open to renewed interest in it. In fact, 10th-graders’ and 12th-graders perceived harmfulness dropped significantly between 2008 and 2009. In 2008, 43.2 percent of 10th-graders associated harmfulness with trying MDMA once or twice; in 2009, this percentage fell to 38.9.

InfoFacts Marijuana

2010-05-26T11:26:00.000-07:00

Marijuana is the most commonly abused illicit drug in the United States. It is a dry, shredded green and brown mix of flowers, stems, seeds, and leaves derived from the hemp plant Cannabis sativa. The main active chemical in marijuana is delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol; THC for short.
How is Marijuana Abused?
Marijuana is usually smoked as a cigarette (joint) or in a pipe. It is also smoked in blunts, which are cigars that have been emptied of tobacco and refilled with marijuana. Since the blunt retains the tobacco leaf used to wrap the cigar, this mode of delivery combines marijuana's active ingredients with nicotine and other harmful chemicals. Marijuana can also be mixed in food or brewed as a tea. As a more concentrated, resinous form it is called hashish, and as a sticky black liquid, hash oil.* Marijuana smoke has a pungent and distinctive, usually sweet-and-sour odor.

How Does Marijuana Affect the Brain?
Scientists have learned a great deal about how THC acts in the brain to produce its many effects. When someone smokes marijuana, THC rapidly passes from the lungs into the bloodstream, which carries the chemical to the brain and other organs throughout the body.

THC acts upon specific sites in the brain, called cannabinoid receptors, kicking off a series of cellular reactions that ultimately lead to the “high” that users experience when they smoke marijuana. Some brain areas have many cannabinoid receptors; others have few or none. The highest density of cannabinoid receptors are found in parts of the brain that influence pleasure, memory, thoughts, concentration, sensory and time perception, and coordinated movement.1

Not surprisingly, marijuana intoxication can cause distorted perceptions, impaired coordination, difficulty in thinking and problem solving, and problems with learning and memory. Research has shown that marijuana’s adverse impact on learning and memory can last for days or weeks after the acute effects of the drug wear off.2 As a result, someone who smokes marijuana every day may be functioning at a suboptimal intellectual level all of the time.

Research on the long-term effects of marijuana abuse indicates some changes in the brain similar to those seen after long-term abuse of other major drugs. For example, cannabinoid withdrawal in chronically exposed animals leads to an increase in the activation of the stress-response system3 and changes in the activity of nerve cells containing dopamine.4 Dopamine neurons are involved in the regulation of motivation and reward, and are directly or indirectly affected by all drugs of abuse.

Addictive Potential
Long-term marijuana abuse can lead to addiction; that is, compulsive drug seeking and abuse despite its known harmful effects upon social functioning in the context of family, school, work, and recreational activities. Long-term marijuana abusers trying to quit report irritability, sleeplessness, decreased appetite, anxiety, and drug craving, all of which make it difficult to quit. These withdrawal symptoms begin within about 1 day following abstinence, peak at 2–3 days, and subside within 1 or 2 weeks following drug cessation.5

Marijuana and Mental Health
A number of studies have shown an association between chronic marijuana use and increased rates of anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, and schizophrenia. Some of these studies have shown age at first use to be a factor, where early use is a marker of vulnerability to later problems. However, at this time, it is not clear whether marijuana use causes mental problems, exacerbates them, or is used in attempt to self-medicate symptoms already in existence. Chronic marijuana use, especially in a very young person, may also be a marker of risk for mental illnesses, including addiction, stemming from genetic or environmental vulnerabilities, such as early exposure to stress or violence. At the present time, the strongest evidence links marijuana use and schizophrenia and/or related disorders.6 High doses of marijuana can produce an acute psychotic reaction; in addition, use of the drug may trigger the onset or relapse of schizophrenia in vulnerable individuals.

What Other Adverse Effect Does Marijuana Have on Health?
Effects on the Heart
Marijuana increases heart rate by 20–100 percent shortly after smoking; this effect can last up to 3 hours. In one study, it was estimated that marijuana users have a 4.8-fold increase in the risk of heart attack in the first hour after smoking the drug.7 This may be due to the increased heart rate as well as effects of marijuana on heart rhythms, causing palpitations and arrhythmias. This risk may be greater in aging populations or those with cardiac vulnerabilities.

Effects on the Lungs
Numerous studies have shown marijuana smoke to contain carcinogens and to be an irritant to the lungs. In fact, marijuana smoke contains 50–70 percent more carcinogenic hydrocarbons than does tobacco smoke. Marijuana users usually inhale more deeply and hold their breath longer than tobacco smokers do, which further increase the lungs’ exposure to carcinogenic smoke. Marijuana smokers show dysregulated growth of epithelial cells in their lung tissue, which could lead to cancer;8 however, a recent case-controlled study found no positive associations between marijuana use and lung, upper respiratory, or upper digestive tract cancers.9 Thus, the link between marijuana smoking and these cancers remains unsubstantiated at this time.

Nonetheless, marijuana smokers can have many of the same respiratory problems as tobacco smokers, such as daily cough and phlegm production, more frequent acute chest illness, and a heightened risk of lung infections. A study of 450 individuals found that people who smoke marijuana frequently but do not smoke tobacco have more health problems and miss more days of work than nonsmokers.10 Many of the extra sick days among the marijuana smokers in the study were for respiratory illnesses.

Effects on Daily Life
Research clearly demonstrates that marijuana has the potential to cause problems in daily life or make a person’s existing problems worse. In one study, heavy marijuana abusers reported that the drug impaired several important measures of life achievement including physical and mental health, cognitive abilities, social life, and career status.11 Several studies associate workers’ marijuana smoking with increased absences, tardiness, accidents, workers’ compensation claims, and job turnover.

What Treatment Options Exist?
Behavioral interventions, including cognitive behavioral therapy and motivational incentives (i.e., providing vouchers for goods or services to patients who remain abstinent) have shown efficacy in treating marijuana dependence. Although no medications are currently available, recent discoveries about the workings of the cannabinoid system offer promise for the development of medications to ease withdrawal, block the intoxicating effects of marijuana, and prevent relapse.

The latest treatment data indicate that in 2006 marijuana was the most common illicit drug of abuse and was responsible for about 16 percent (289,988) of all admissions to treatment facilities in the United States. Marijuana admissions were primarily male (73.8 percent), White (51.5 percent), and young (36.1 percent were in the 15–19 age range). Those in treatment for primary marijuana abuse had begun use at an early age: 56.2 percent had abused it by age 14 and 92.5 percent had abused it by age 18.**

How Widespread is Marijuana Abuse?
National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH)***
According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, in 2007, 14.4 million Americans aged 12 or older used marijuana at least once in the month prior to being surveyed, which is similar to the 2006 rate. About 6,000 people a day in 2007 used marijuana for the first time—2.1 million Americans. Of these, 62.2 percent were under age 18.

Monitoring the Future Survey****
The Monitoring the Future survey indicates that marijuana use among 8th-, 10th-, and 12th-graders—which has shown a consistent decline since the mid-1990s—appears to have leveled off, with 10.9 percent of 8th-graders, 23.9 percent of 10th-graders, and 32.4 percent of 12th-graders reporting past-year use. Heightening the concern over this stabilization in use is the finding that, compared to last year, the proportion of 8th-graders who perceived smoking marijuana as harmful and the proportion who disapprove of the drug’s use have decreased.

HYDROCODONE

2010-05-26T11:22:00.000-07:00

Hydrocodone diversion and abuse has been escalating in recent years. In 2008, hydrocodone was the most frequently encountered opioid pharmaceutical (37,804 items) in drug evidence submitted to state and local forensic laboratories as reported by the National Forensic Laboratory Information System (NFLIS). During the first six months of 2009, 20,128 hydrocodone items were reported by NFLIS. DEA forensic laboratories identified 473 hydrocodone items/exhibits in 2008 and 294 items/exhibits from January to June 2009. The total number of drug items seized and reported to federal, state, and local laboratories has increased by 109% since 2004. The DEA is currently reviewing a petition to increase the regulatory controls on hydrocodone combination products from schedule III to schedule II of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).

Licit Uses:

Hydrocodone is an antitussive (cough suppressant) and analgesic agent for the treatment of moderate to moderately severe pain. Studies indicate that hydrocodone is as effective, or more effective, than codeine for cough suppression and nearly equipotent to morphine for pain relief.

Hydrocodone is the most frequently prescribed opiate in the United States with more than 136 million prescriptions for hydrocodone-containing products dispensed in 2008 (IMS Health™). There are several hundred brand name and generic hydrocodone products marketed. All are combination products and the most frequently prescribed combination is hydrocodone and acetaminophen (Vicodin®, Lortab®).

Chemistry/Pharmacology:

Hydrocodone [4,5α-epoxy-3-methoxy-17-methyl-morphinan-6-one tartrate (1:1) hydrate (2:5), dihydrocodeinone] is a semi-synthetic opioid most closely related to codeine in structure and morphine in producing opiate-like effects. The first report, that hydrocodone produces euphoria and habituation symptoms, was published in 1923. The first report of hydrocodone dependence and addiction was published in 1961.

Illicit Uses:

Hydrocodone is abused for its opioid effects. Widespread diversion via bogus call-in prescriptions, altered prescriptions, theft and illicit purchases from Internet sources are made easier by the present controls placed on hydrocodone products. Hydrocodone pills are the most frequently encountered dosage form in illicit traffic. Hydrocodone is generally abused orally, often in combination with alcohol.

Of particular concern is the prevalence of illicit use of hydrocodone among school-aged children. The 2008 Monitoring the Future Survey reports that 2.9%, 6.7% and 9.7% of 8th, 10th, and 12th graders, respectively, used Vicodin® nonmedically in the previous year.

The American Association of Poison Control Centers (AAPCC) reports that in 2007, there were 24,558 case mentions, 11,001 single exposures and 23 deaths associated with hydrocodone. According to the 2008 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), 22,838 people aged 12 and older used hydrocodone for nonmedical purposes in their lifetime.

As with most opiates, abuse of hydrocodone is associated with tolerance, dependence, and addiction. The co-formulation with acetaminophen carries an additional risk of liver toxicity when high, acute doses are consumed. Some individuals who abuse very high doses of acetaminophen-containing hydrocodone products may be spared this liver toxicity if they have been chronically taking these products and have escalated their dose slowly over a long period of time.

User Population:

Every age group has been affected by the relative ease of hydrocodone availability and the perceived safety of these products by medical prescribers. Sometimes viewed as a "white collar" addiction, hydrocodone abuse has increased among all ethnic and economic groups.

Illicit Distribution:

Hydrocodone has been encountered in tablets, capsules, and liquid form in the illicit market. However, hydrocodone tablets with the co-ingredient, acetaminophen, are the most frequently encountered form. Hydrocodone is not typically found to be clandestinely produced; diverted pharmaceuticals are the primary source of the drug for abuse purposes. In 2006, the DEA has documented the diversion of millions of dosage units of hydrocodone from illicit Internet sources. Doctor shopping, altered or fraudulent prescriptions, bogus call-in prescriptions, diversion by unscrupulous physicians and pharmacists, and drug theft are also major sources of the diverted drug.

Control Status:

The U.S. Congress placed hydrocodone (bulk or single entity products) in schedule II of the CSA and its products containing specified doses in combination with specified amounts of isoquinoline alkaloid of opium or one or more nonnarcotic substances in recognized therapeutic amounts as schedule III products when the CSA was enacted.

Heroin

2010-05-26T11:21:00.000-07:00

Heroin is a highly addictive drug, and its abuse has repercussions that extend far beyond the individual user. The medical and social consequences of drug abuse - HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, fetal effects, crime, violence, and disruptions in family, workplace, and educational environments - have a devastating impact on society and cost billions of dollars each year.

Although heroin abuse has trended downward during the past several years, its prevalence is still higher than in the early 1990s. These relatively high rates of abuse, especially among school-age youth, and the glamorization of heroin in music and films make it imperative that the public has the latest scientific information on this topic. Heroin also is increasing in purity and decreasing in price, which makes it an attractive option for young people.

Like many other chronic diseases, addiction can be treated. Fortunately, the availability of treatments to manage opiate addiction and the promise from research of new and effective behavioral and pharmacological therapies provides hope for individuals who suffer from addiction and for those around them. For example, buprenorphine, approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2002, provides a less addictive alternative to methadone maintenance, reduces cravings with only mild withdrawal symptoms, and can be prescribed in the privacy of a doctor's office.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has developed this publication to provide an overview of the state of heroin abuse and addiction. We hope this compilation of scientific information on heroin will help to inform readers about the harmful effects of heroin abuse and addiction as well as assist in prevention and treatment efforts.

Cocaine

2010-05-26T11:17:00.000-07:00

Cocaine is a powerfully addictive stimulant drug. The powdered hydrochloride salt form of cocaine can be snorted or dissolved in water and then injected. Crack is the street name given to the form of cocaine that has been processed to make a rock crystal, which, when heated, produces vapors that are smoked. The term “crack” refers to the crackling sound produced by the rock as it is heated.

How Is Cocaine Abused?

Three routes of administration are commonly used for cocaine: snorting, injecting, and smoking. Snorting is the process of inhaling cocaine powder through the nose, where it is absorbed into the bloodstream through the nasal tissues. Injecting is the use of a needle to insert the drug directly into the bloodstream. Smoking involves inhaling cocaine vapor or smoke into the lungs, where absorption into the bloodstream is as rapid as it is by injection. All three methods of cocaine abuse can lead to addiction and other severe health problems, including increasing the risk of contracting HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases.

The intensity and duration of cocaine’s effects—which include increased energy, reduced fatigue, and mental alertness—depend on the route of drug administration. The faster cocaine is absorbed into the bloodstream and delivered to the brain, the more intense the high. Injecting or smoking cocaine produces a quicker, stronger high than snorting. On the other hand, faster absorption usually means shorter duration of action: the high from snorting cocaine may last 15 to 30 minutes, but the high from smoking may last only 5 to 10 minutes. In order to sustain the high, a cocaine abuser has to administer the drug again. For this reason, cocaine is sometimes abused in binges—taken repeatedly within a relatively short period of time, at increasingly higher doses.

How Does Cocaine Affect the Brain?

Cocaine is a strong central nervous system stimulant that increases levels of dopamine, a brain chemical (or neurotransmitter) associated with pleasure and movement, in the brain’s reward circuit. Certain brain cells, or neurons, use dopamine to communicate. Normally, dopamine is released by a neuron in response to a pleasurable signal (e.g., the smell of good food), and then recycled back into the cell that released it, thus shutting off the signal between neurons. Cocaine acts by preventing the dopamine from being recycled, causing excessive amounts of the neurotransmitter to build up, amplifying the message to and response of the receiving neuron, and ultimately disrupting normal communication. It is this excess of dopamine that is responsible for cocaine’s euphoric effects. With repeated use, cocaine can cause long-term changes in the brain’s reward system and in other brain systems as well, which may eventually lead to addiction. With repeated use, tolerance to the cocaine high also often develops. Many cocaine abusers report that they seek but fail to achieve as much pleasure as they did from their first exposure. Some users will increase their dose in an attempt to intensify and prolong the euphoria, but this can also increase the risk of adverse psychological or physiological effects.

What Adverse Effects Does Cocaine Have on Health?

Abusing cocaine has a variety of adverse effects on the body. For example, cocaine constricts blood vessels, dilates pupils, and increases body temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure. It can also cause headaches and gastrointestinal complications such as abdominal pain and nausea. Because cocaine tends to decrease appetite, chronic users can become malnourished as well.

Different methods of taking cocaine can produce different adverse effects. Regular intranasal use (snorting) of cocaine, for example, can lead to loss of the sense of smell; nosebleeds; problems with swallowing; hoarseness; and a chronically runny nose. Ingesting cocaine can cause severe bowel gangrene as a result of reduced blood flow. Injecting cocaine can bring about severe allergic reactions and increased risk for contracting HIV/AIDS and other blood-borne diseases. Binge-patterned cocaine use may lead to irritability, restlessness, and anxiety. Cocaine abusers can also experience severe paranoia—a temporary state of full-blown paranoid psychosis—in which they lose touch with reality and experience auditory hallucinations.

Regardless of the route or frequency of use, cocaine abusers can experience acute cardiovascular or cerebrovascular emergencies, such as a heart attack or stroke, which may cause sudden death. Cocaine-related deaths are often a result of cardiac arrest or seizure followed by respiratory arrest.

Added Danger: Cocaethylene
Polydrug use—use of more than one drug—is common among substance abusers. When people consume two or more psychoactive drugs together, such as cocaine and alcohol, they compound the danger each drug poses and unknowingly perform a complex chemical experiment within their bodies. Researchers have found that the human liver combines cocaine and alcohol to produce a third substance, cocaethylene, which intensifies cocaine’s euphoric effects. Cocaethylene is associated with a greater risk of sudden death than cocaine alone.1

What Treatment Options Exist?

Behavioral interventions—particularly, cognitive-behavioral therapy—have been shown to be effective for decreasing cocaine use and preventing relapse. Treatment must be tailored to the individual patient’s needs in order to optimize outcomes—this often involves a combination of treatment, social supports, and other services.

Currently, there are no FDA-approved medications for treating cocaine addiction; thus, developing a medication to treat cocaine and other forms of addiction remains one of NIDA’s top research priorities. Researchers are seeking to develop medications that help alleviate the severe craving associated with cocaine addiction, as well as medications that counteract cocaine-related relapse triggers, such as stress. Several compounds are currently being investigated for their safety and efficacy, including a vaccine that would sequester cocaine in the bloodstream and prevent it from reaching the brain. Current research suggests that while medications are effective in treating addiction, combining them with a comprehensive behavioral therapy program is the most effective method to reduce drug use in the long term.

Cocaine Abuse and Addiction

2010-05-26T11:07:00.000-07:00

Cocaine abuse and addiction continue to plague our Nation. Today, about one in six Americans (15 percent in 2007) has tried cocaine by the age of 30, and 7 percent have tried it by their senior year of high school. But recent discoveries about the inner workings of the brain and the damaging effects of cocaine offer us unprecedented opportunities for addressing this persistent public health problem.

Genetic studies are providing critical information about the hereditary influences on the risk of addiction to psychoactive substances, including cocaine. Moreover, sophisticated imaging technologies have allowed scientists to visualize the brain changes that result from chronic drug exposure or that happen when an addicted person is exposed to drug-associated "cues" that can trigger craving and lead to relapse. By mapping the genetic factors and brain regions responsible for the multiple effects of cocaine, these new technologies can help us identify new targets for treating cocaine addiction.

NIDA remains vigilant in our quest for more effective strategies to address the serious public health issues linked to cocaine abuse. We not only support a wide range of basic and clinical research, but also facilitate the translation of these research findings into real-world settings. To this end, we strive to keep the public informed of the latest scientific advances in the field of addiction. We hope that this compilation of scientific information on cocaine abuse will inform readers and bolster our efforts to tackle the personal and social devastation caused by drug abuse and addiction

tamiflu

2010-05-25T10:55:00.000-07:00

Researchers delivered a double dose of good news Sunday in the fight against flu: successful tests of what could become the first new flu medicine in a decade, and the strongest evidence yet that such drugs save lives, not just shorten illness.

A single intravenous dose of the experimental drug, peramivir, cleared up flu symptoms as well as five days of Tamiflu pills did, a large study in Asia found. An IV treatment is badly needed because many sick people can't swallow pills and because illness hinders the body's ability to absorb oral medicines.

Several other studies showed the value of treatment with Tamiflu. In one study of hundreds of people stricken with bird flu around the world, half of those given Tamiflu survived, while nearly 90 percent of those not given flu medicines died. Other research showed Tamiflu improved survival from regular seasonal flu, too.

"There has been an accumulation of evidence over time that the antiviral drugs can save lives," and the new studies confirm that hope, said Nancy Cox, flu chief at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Results were reported Sunday at an American Society for Microbiology conference in California. It is the first big meeting of infectious disease specialists since the new H1N1 swine flu emerged in April. Treatment options are getting huge attention because it will take a month or more for people to get swine flu vaccine and have time to develop immunity from the shot.

In the meantime, reports are streaming in that swine flu is causing havoc in children and young adults.

"After about a week of schools being back in, we've seen a tremendous rise in cases," Dr. Jonathan McCullers, an infectious diseases specialist at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., said at the conference.

In recent weeks, at least 12 children and teens in his city have needed intensive care, including five with no previously known health problems. Some required breathing machines and other life support. One died, and another has developed resistance to Tamiflu, he said.

Swine flu now accounts for most flu cases in the United States. More than 1 million Americans have been infected and nearly 600 have died from it, the CDC estimates.

Treatment with Tamiflu or a similar drug, Relenza, is recommended for anyone hospitalized with flulike symptoms or at high risk of complications. The drugs should be started within two days of first symptoms, and they shorten illness by about a day. With the drugs in limited supply, and worries about resistance developing to them, new medicines are desperately needed.

Peramivir (purr-AM-uh-veer) was tested in nearly 1,100 people with seasonal flu last winter in Asia. They were given either Tamiflu pills for five days or a single infusion of 300 or 600 milligrams of peramivir.

Symptoms cleared in about 78 hours and 81 hours with lower and higher doses of peramivir, respectively, and in 82 hours with Tamiflu. Adverse drug reactions were less common with peramivir, said study leader Dr. Shigeru Kohno of Nagasaki University in Japan.

The fact peramivir is not a pill like Tamiflu or an inhaled drug like Relenza makes it less convenient yet "very promising" and valuable medically, Cox said.

"You can get it into the blood, into the lungs, where infection is occurring," she explained.

Others were cautious.

"I'm very enthusiastic about peramivir for hospitalized patients," but it was compared in a season when many flu cases were at least somewhat resistant to Tamiflu, said Dr. Frederick Hayden, a virus expert at the University of Virginia and a World Health Organization flu consultant.

BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Birmingham, Ala., is developing peramivir with Japan-based Shionogi & Co. The U.S. government gave a major grant for its development, and officials have been discussing stockpiling the drug as part of flu pandemic preparedness plans.

Tamiflu, made by Swiss-based Roche Holding AG, and Relenza, made by British-based GlaxoSmithKline, came on the market in 1999. Most people who get swine flu don't need them, but these drugs can help save the severely ill, studies sponsored by Tamiflu's maker suggest.

The first results from a registry of 215 human cases of bird flu around the world show that nearly 90 percent of patients who did not receive Tamiflu or any other antiviral medicine died, compared with only half of those given Tamiflu treatment.

"The earlier it starts, the better," said study leader Dr. Stephen Toovey, a Roche consultant and former employee now at Royal Free and University College of Medicine in London. "Even as far out as eight days after symptom onset, there is still benefit."

Others looked at Tamiflu for ordinary seasonal flu:

Researchers at six hospitals in Toronto monitored 238 intensive care patients during three recent flu seasons. Seventy percent were found to have flu, and one-fourth died within 15 days of diagnosis. Patients were nearly three times more likely to survive if treated with Tamiflu, even though very few of them got it soon after symptoms appeared, said Dr. Allison McGeer of Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto.

About half of 760 people with confirmed flu cases at two hospitals in Hong Kong in 2007 and 2008 were started on Tamiflu within two days. Only 4 percent of them died in the hospital versus 6 percent of those not given an antiviral drug, said Dr. Nelson Lee of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. afp

influenza

2010-05-25T10:46:00.000-07:00

The term "influenza" refers to illness caused by influenza virus. This is commonly also called "flu", but many different illnesses cause "flu-like" systemic and respiratory symptoms such as fever, chills, aches and pains, cough, and sore throat. In addition, influenza itself can cause many different illness patterns, ranging from mild common cold symptoms to typical "flu" to life-threatening pneumonia and other complications, including secondary bacterial infections.

Swine flu

2010-05-25T10:41:00.000-07:00

: Swine flu
Swine flu is an infection caused by a virus. It's named for a virus that pigs can get. People do not normally get swine flu, but human infections can and do happen. The virus is contagious and can spread from human to human. Symptoms of swine flu in people are similar to the symptoms of regular human flu and include fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue.

There are antiviral medicines you can take to prevent or treat swine flu. There is a vaccine available to protect against swine flu. You can help prevent the spread of germs that cause respiratory illnesses like influenza by

Covering your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
Washing your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. You can also use alcohol-based hand cleaners.
Avoiding touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread this way.
Trying to avoid close contact with sick people.
Staying home from work or school if you are sick.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention