DIABETES CARE
News about insulin
[black small square] Insulin products discontinued.
Innovations in insulin therapy have prompted Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, IN, to discontinue production of several insulin products: Iletin II Pork Insulin (regular and NPH formulations), Humulin U Ultralente, and Humulin L Lente (Humulin U and Humulin L). The products are expected to be available in pharmacies through the end of 2005.
Rapid-acting analogs and other new insulin therapies on the market have led to declining use of some of the traditional products. Eli Lilly estimates that less than 2% of patients with diabetes will be affected by the decision to discontinue these products.
[black small square] Long-acting insulin approved.
As some of the more conventional insulin drugs are discontinued, a new one-Levemir (insulin detemir [rDNA origin])-has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Manufactured by Novo Nordisk, Inc., Princeton, N.J., Levemir is a long-acting form of insulin, with activity for up to 24 hours. It's said to cause little weight change.
Levemir is indicated for once- or twice-daily subcutaneous injection in adults, depending on blood glucose control and insulin requirements throughout the day. It can be used alone, added to oral antidiabetic agents, or used in combination with a rapid-acting insulin.
The new drug is also currently under review by the FDA for use in children.
HEART HEALTH
Statins improve MI survival rates
[black small square] There's good news for patients given statins in the first hours following a myocardial infarction (MI): The cholesterol-lowering drugs reduce their long-term death rate, according to new research published in the American Journal of Cardiology. The study, said to be the largest of its kind, involved a review of 170,000 records from a national database of individuals admitted to hospitals after an MI.
When the drug was administered was a significant factor in survival: Patients who received statin therapy within 24 hours of hospitalization for an MI had a more than 50% lower risk of dying in the hospital, regardless of whether they were taking statins before being admitted.
Why are statins so helpful? The researchers said that it's because these drugs increase the level of nitric oxide in the body. This decreases inflammation and helps open up clogged arteries.
PEDIATRICS
All in one shot
[black small square] The first and only vaccine to protect against four diseases in a single injection has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. PROQUAD, from Merck & Co., Inc., Whitehouse Station, N.J., combines the company's M-M-R II and VARIVAX vaccines to simultaneously protect against measles, mumps, rubella (German measles), and varicella (chickenpox) in children age 12 months to 12 years. PROQUAD is also approved for use in children age 12 months to 12 years if a second dose of measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine is to be administered.
Pediatric patients are sure to welcome the option of having only one needle stick to receive multiple vaccinations. But that's not the only benefit that such a vaccine may offer.
In a 1999 report, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices noted the potential advantages of combination vaccines. They include:
* reducing multiple injections
* improving timely vaccination coverage
* reducing health care providers' costs related to stocking and administering separate vaccines
* reducing parents' health care costs for extra office visits.
DID YOU KNOW?
[black small square] Irritable bowel syndrome and depression are more likely to affect women with interstitial cystitis than women who don't have bladder problems, according to a study published in the September 2005 issue of the Journal of Urology. Bladder and bowel pain may result in depression in this population, the researchers said.