Asthma treatment

http://www.healasthma.com. MondayMorning (USA) – FDA ROUNDUP Mylan Laboratories Inc. (Canonsburg PA) won approval to sell a generic version of extended-release albuterol sulfate, the active ingredient of Dava Pharmaceuticals’ VoSpire ER. Elsewhere, India-based Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd. was cleared to sell its generic version of Valtrex caplets. Valtrex, a shingles and genital herpes treatment, is made by GlaxoSmithKline. Israel’s Teva Pharmaceutical Industries was cleared to sell a generic version of Novartis AG’s Focalin. Teva’s… . MEDICATION CAN HELP THOSE WITH EMPHYSEMA To Your Health DEAR DR. DONOHUE My wife, years old, has emphysema. She is OK as long as she does nothing. When she does the slightest exertion, she gasps for air and coughs. She uses an albuterol inhaler. I would appreciate some information from you R.S.ANSWER Emphysema (em-fuh-SEE-muh) is widespread destruction of the lungs’ tiny air sacs, through which oxygen passes from the lungs into the blood. With exertion, no matter how slight, the body needs more oxygen to… . The key to control of asthma is in the genes, Tailor-made medicine reduce attacks, report says In a step toward an age of “personalized medicines,” researchers have found gene variations that affect the way individual asthma sufferers respond to a drug widely used to control acute attacks.Out of thousands of variations in a single gene, the researchers said they have identified that determine how well asthma patients respond to albuterol, a drug commonly used to prevent or to control acute attacks.The study appeared earlier this month in the… . Los Angeles Times – Nation IN BRIEF / NEW JERSEY Recall Issued for Asthma Inhalers Schering-Plough Corp., based in Madison, N.J., said it is recalling some of its prescription asthma inhalers because they not contain active drugs. The recall includes the Proventil and Warrick brands of inhalation aerosols, generic albuterol inhalers, and various doses of Vanceril inhalers made from Sept. , to Sept. , . Asthma patients who are using their Proventil or Warrick brand of albuterol inhalers with good results do not need to replace them, regardless of when they… . Washington Post – Put the Asthmatic Child First Q. My -year-old son has asthma which we treat with albuterol nebulizers and steroids, but we still must keep his triggers to a minimum.This is hard to do. My father and mother (a nurse) smoke, they have a dog and we celebrate every holiday at their house as our family is large and they have the biggest place.However I ask them to cooperate, they make no effort to keep their cigarette smoke — or their dog — away from my son. They say they will try to be better but then they smoke… . Times Union, The (Albany, NY) – LONG-LASTING DRUG FOR ASTHMA BACKED CHICAGO A new asthma inhalant drug works better at preventing attacks and lasts longer than a widely used medication, researchers say.The new drug, salmeterol xinafoate, was recently approved for marketing in the United States under the brand name Serevent.Researchers reporting in Wednesday’s issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association compared the drug’s effectiveness with albuterol and a placebo among asthmatics ages and up…. . New Hampshire Union Leader (Manchester, NH) – Dartmouth gets genetics research grant. For asthma, personalized medicine closer WASHINGTON — The Dartmouth Medical School has been awarded a , , grant from the Department of Health and Human Services National Institute of Health to support renovations of research laboratories at the school’s Department of Genetics. The funding will support at least three to five new laboratories and related space to consolidate the facilities for senior and junior investigators.—- For asthma, personalized medicine closer WASHINGTON (AP) — In a… . Consumer Corner Asthma-Inhaler Maker Announces Recall KENILWORTH, N.J – Schering-Plough Corp., the company that makes the No. allergy pill, Claritin, said it was recalling lots of asthma inhalers because of concerns that some might not contain any active drug, Bloomberg News reported.The company said it was pulling from the market Vanceril and Proventil as well as Warrick-brand products containing albuterol that were manufactured before Sept. , . Some generic albuterol inhalers made… . Patients gasp at cost of new inhalers Environmentally friendly version phased in. Feb. –Asthma inhalers are going green. And users are seeing red over paying more for the new, environmentally friendly devices.But like it or not, asthmatics who carry inhalers containing albuterol, a quick-acting drug that opens airways, will be switched to new inhalers soon — if they haven’t already — that are free of chlorofluorocarbons, an ozone-depleting propellent.The old devices — called CFC inhalers — will be banned for use in the United States on… . Journal News, The (Westchester County, NY) – Nyack Ambulance adds asthma, allergy medicines to its rigs NYACK – Ambulances crews now have a new tool to help treat people who have asthma or allergies in an emergency.The Nyack Community Ambulance Corps has received permission from a state agency to carry Albuterol, a common asthma medication, and epinephrine auto injectors, which are used to treat people having allergic reactions.Both medications will help save lives, said Paul Morer, captain of the volunteer ambulance corps.People suffering asthma attacks are one of the most common… –

http://www.healasthma.com past six monthsthe past twelve months Search Hint Connecting terms with OR broadens your search to give more results …more on search operators – . Asthma sufferers will pay more for their inhalers Asthma sufferers who rely on fast-acting “rescue inhalers” soon be scrambling to find the gadgets that help quell their sudden, agonizing attacks. The inhalers, which propel medicine into users’ airways, are in short supply at some hospitals and pharmacies across the country. And their availability is expected to worsen, as drugmakers make a switch from the traditional devices to inhalers that are more environmentally friendly.The shortage… . Sun-Sentinel – BUSINESS BRIEFING Andrx sells Massachusetts unit.Andrx Corp. sold its Massachusetts aerosol manufacturing operations, ending the company’s production of Albuterol metered-dose inhalers after continued underutilized capacity at the plant.The Davie-based drug company sold the aerosol inhaler-making unit, Armstrong Pharmaceuticals, to Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Inc., a California-based generic and specialty pharmaceutical maker.The deal calls for Andrx to buy certain amounts of Albuterol inhalers… CFC-free asthma drugs, Green inhalers It won’t happen overnight. But global treaties curbing ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, have spurred the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to propose a strategy for phasing out asthma inhalers that use CFCs as propellants. Under the plan, to be announced in four to six weeks, the devices will be removed from the market and be replaced by new CFC-free formulations. The first to be replaced be Schering’s Proventil (albuterol), one of the drugs… Business Briefcase BREATHING EASY Sepracor Inc. of Marlboro said yesterday it recently presented data showing its anti-asthma drug candidate R-albuterol fought the disease successfully at dosages producing far fewer side effects than other albuterol therapies. OVERHAUL Two senators will introduce a bill Monday to overhaul federal commodity trading laws and ease federal oversight of the nation’s futures exchanges. The bill won’t contain language to rewrite the so-called… New inhalers protect ozone layer, They’re more costly, take getting used to, asthma patients find Asthmatics are going green, whether they know it or not.And they are forking over the green to do it.The Food and Drug Administration’s ban on the sale of rescue inhalers that use chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, which damage Earth’s protective ozone layer, takes effect Wednesday.The green rescue inhalers use the chemical hydrofluoroalkane, or HFA, in place of CFCs, to pump medicine to open the airways during an asthma attack. The medicine inside the… . Datamonitor – AstraZeneca’s Symbicort found effective in comparative study AstraZeneca has reported positive data from a new study which showed that the combination asthma maintenance therapy, Symbicort has provided greater and faster bronchodilatory effects compared with Advair in adults with mild to moderate asthma. In addition, Symbicort has provided a similar bronchodilatory response to albuterol. Bronchodilatory response is defined as the mean time to achieve improvement in lung function. In both studies, bronchodilatory response was measured by the… . FD (FAIR DISCLOSURE) WIRE – Q Sepracor Earnings Conference Call – Final OPERATOR Welcome to Sepracor’s fourth-quarter and full-year earnings conference call. Hosting the call today from Sepracor is Mr. Adrian Adams, President and Chief Executive Officer. At this time all participants have been placed in a listen-only mode and the floor will be open for your questions following the presentation. (OPERATOR INSTRUCTIONS) It is now my pleasure to turn the floor over to your host, Mr. Adrian Adams. Sir, you begin.ADRIAN ADAMS, PRESIDENT… . FD (FAIR DISCLOSURE) WIRE – Event Brief of Q Teva Pharmaceutical Earnings Conference Call – Final PARTICIPANTS . Kevin Mannix, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Investor Relations . Shlomo Yanai, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., President & CEO . George Barrett, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Corporate EVP, Global Pharmaceutical Markets and President & CEO – Teva North America . Dan Suesskind, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., CFO . David Buck, Buckingham Research Group, Analyst . Rich Silver, Lehman Brothers, Analyst . Corey… . FD (FAIR DISCLOSURE) WIRE – Q Teva Pharmaceutical Earnings Conference Call – Final OPERATOR Greetings, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. second quarter results conference call. At this time all participants are in a listen-only mode. A brief question-and-answer session will follow the formal presentation. (OPERATOR INSTRUCTIONS) As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is my pleasure to introduce your host, Mr. Kevin Mannix. Thank you, you begin. KEVIN MANNIX, INVESTOR RELATIONS, TEVA PHARMACEUTICAL… Consider the patient This letter was addressed to Congressman Wayne T. Gilchrest, R-Md.- st.Re Petition before the Food and Drug Administration to remove “Albuterol” inhaler presently effective and available as a generic with an alternate with no known improvement but available at a percent increase in cost.Albuterol delivered via an inhaler is used by millions to enable asthmatics, emphysema and assorted other lung disease patients. The inhaler has been on the market in… –

http://www.healasthma.com – . Asian News International (New Delhi, India) – Caffeine help reduce exercise-induced asthma symptoms Washington, (ANI) Intake of caffeine within an hour of exercise can reduce the symptoms of exercise-induced asthma (EIA), according to a study.In the study, researchers at Indiana University found that a large dose — milligrams of caffeine per kilogram of body weight — was as effective as the use of an albuterol inhaler, which is commonly used to treat or prevent exercise-induced asthma. Smaller amounts of caffeine-for example, and milligrams of caffeine per… . Switch to �green’ asthma inhalers raises possibility of hoarding, cutting back ST. LOUIS – With the year drawing close, people who suffer from asthma and other respiratory ailments only have a few days before the last of the inhalers that use ozone-depleting chemical disappear from pharmacy shelves and are replaced with new “green” devices. Because the new devices are more expensive, the switch has raised the possibility of last-minute hoarding. It has also triggered concerns that the added expense of the new inhalers – which could cost… . Daily Post (San Francisco, CA) – Green inhalers % costlier Asthma inhalers will cost signi fi cantly more as they go “green” in the United States on Dec. , under an international agreement.The medicine inside these rescue inhalers – albuterol, which quickly opens airways during an asthma attack – is not changing.The chemicals used to puff the drug into the lungs are. No more chloro fl uorocarbons, or CFCs, which allegedly damage Earth’s protective ozone layer. By year’s end, all albuterol… . NO BREATHING ROOM Rules intended to protect the environment are forcing asthma patients to turn to a different emergency inhaler.But the switch doesn’t come cheap, and asthma sufferers say they aren’t getting the same burst of medicine and relief that they got before.The Food and Drug Administration is phasing out the albuterol inhalers that use chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, to propel the medicine into the lungs, in favor of the environmentally conscious hydrofluoroalkane, or… Does she need all these drugs? DEAR DR. GOTT I would like your opinion about the drugs my -year-old daughter has been prescribed. These include Xenical, Lipitor, Paxil, thyroxine, Axcid, Protonix, Neurontin, Cardizem, fish oil, Serevent, Flovent and Albuterol. This seems like a lot to me. Are all these drugs compatible with one another?DEAR READER I don’t know, but I’d certainly be suspicious that the interactions between these prescriptions could cause problems. Also, I note that she is… . Some herbal remedies can be dangerous Dear Dr. Donohue I hear lots of talk about the dangers of ephedra and ephedrine as stimulants and diet pills, but are they still considered safe in asthma medicines? My husband uses an albuterol inhaler and takes Advair Diskus daily. Should we be concerned about those medications?.. – C.V.Ephedrine and ephedra are similar compounds. Ephedrine is synthesized in laboratories. Ephedra comes from the ephedra plant and is an herbal remedy.Both are stimulants and expand airways…. . The Gazette (Cedar Rapids-Iowa City) – Herbal remedy can be dangerous Dear Dr. Donohue I hear lots of talk about the dangers of ephedra and ephedrine as stimulants and diet pills, but are they still considered safe in asthma medicines? My husband uses an albuterol inhaler and takes Advair Diskus daily. Should we be concerned about those medications? – C.V. Answer Ephedrine and ephedra are similar compounds. Ephedrine is synthesized in laboratories. Ephedra comes from the ephedra plant and is an herbal remedy. Both are stimulants. Both expand… . THE ORLANDO SENTINEL – SOME ASTHMA INHALERS HAVE NO MEDICINE NEW YORK – Schering-Plough Corp. said Wednesday that it is recalling some of its prescription asthma drugs because they not work. The recall includes the Proventil and Warrick brands of inhalation aerosols, generic albuterol inhalers, and various doses of Vanceril inhalers made from Sept. , to Sept. , . The company said that because of manufacturing problems it identified last year some of the inhalers not contain any active medicine. Asthma patients who are using… . (Madison, WI) – STUDY MEASURES DRUG FOR ASTHMA Americans spend more than billion a year treating asthma, but researchers aren’t yet sure how best to spend that money.“The degree and manner in which to treat mild asthma is an incredibly hot is sue right now,” said Dr. Robert Lemanske, head of the Pediatric Asthma Center at the UW Chil dren’s Hospital in Madi son.“The question essen tially boils down to regu lar drug treatment vs. symptomatic… Better news for asthmatics Although you not realize it, they’re everywhere. They look like other children and even play like other children, but they’re different. They’re children suffering from asthma a chronic, obstructive disease of the bronchial tubes, which supply air to the lungs.In the United States, nearly -million children suffer from asthma. In Florida alone, asthma strikes more than children. During an asthma attack the muscle surrounding these… –

http://www.healasthma.com past six monthsthe past twelve months Search Hint Connecting terms with AND narrows your search to give more precise results …more on search operators – . SHORT OF BREATH ASTHMA OFTEN TREATED WITH ‘RESCUE’ DRUGS, BUT DOCTORS FOCUS ON LONG-TERM SOLUTIONS Chris Gyves has never worried that his asthma might kill him. His deadly allergy to peanuts evokes far more fear than his asthma ever has.But the severe allergy attack that struck him one night last year made him realize that he needed more help for his allergies than he was getting. Now, he inhales steroids twice a day to help keep his asthma under control.Asthma is a disease associated with an ongoing inflammation of the breathing tubes. When an asthma attack occurs, the tubes and… . (New Jersey) – SCHERING-PLOUGH ISSUES RECALL ON ASTHMA INHALERS Schering-Plough Corp. is recalling some of its prescription asthma inhalers because they not contain active drugs, the pharmaceutical maker said Wednesday.The recall includes the Proventil and Warrick brands of inhalation aerosols, generic albuterol inhalers, and various doses of Vanceril inhalers made from Sept. to Sept. , .The company said it identified manufacturing problems as the cause.Asthma patients using the Proventil or Warrick brand of albuterol… Schering-Plough recalls some asthma inhalers NEW YORK – Schering-Plough Corp. said Wednesday it is recalling some of its prescription asthma inhalers because they not contain active drugs. The recall includes the Proventil and Warrick brands of inhalation aerosols, generic albuterol inhalers, and various doses of Vanceril inhalers made from Sept. to Sept. , . The company said it identified manufacturing problems as the cause.Asthma patients who are using their Proventil or Warrick brand of albuterol inhalers… . ASTHMA DRUG SHOWS PROMISE Adding another medicine to the traditional two-drug treatment for severe childhood asthma attacks substantially reduces the need to hospitalize sufferers, a study found. Researchers examined the effect of adding ipratropium bromide to the standard emergency room therapy for asthma attacks, albuterol and steroids. The result was a percent drop in the need for hospitalization, according to the study in today’s New England Journal of Medicine. … . Times, The (London, England) – Medeva asthma deal in US MEDEVA, the pharmaceutical group, has been given exclusive rights in America and Canada to sell two asthma drugs in a new type of CFC-free inhaler. The dry powder, multi-dose inhaler, trademarked Pulvinal, and the asthma drugs, salbutamol (albuterol) and beclomethasone, are being developed by Chiesi Farmaceutici, an Italian company.The drugs are about to enter the final stage of clinical trials in the US. Medeva said incidence of asthma was rising and the US market was worth … . NEW ASTHMA DRUG LASTS LONGER, IS MORE EFFECTIVE, STUDY FINDS CHICAGO — A new asthma inhalant drug works better at preventing attacks and lasts longer than a widely used medication, researchers say.The new drug, salmeterol xinafoate, was recently approved for marketing in the United States under the brand name Serevent.Researchers reporting in yesterday’s issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association compared the drug’s effectiveness with albuterol and a placebo among asthmatics ages and up…. . The Arizona Daily Star – New asthma drug is effective, report says A new asthma inhalant drug works better at preventing attacks and lasts longer than a widely used medication, researchers say.The new drug, salmeterol xinafoate, was recently approved for marketing in the United States under the brand name Serevent.Researchers reporting in yesterday’s issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association compared the drug’s effectiveness with albuterol and a placebo among asthmatics ages and up.Albuterol is a… . (New Jersey) – STUDY SAYS NEW DRUG IS EFFECTIVE FOR ASTHMA A new asthma inhalant drug works better at preventing attacks and lasts longer than a widely used medication, researchers say.The new drug, salmeterol xinafoate, was recently approved for marketing in the United States under the brand name Serevent.Researchers reporting in Wednesday’s issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association compared the drug’s effectiveness with albuterol and a placebo among asthmatics ages and up.Albuterol is a… . Copley blames bacteria for tainting drug Copley Pharmaceutical Inc. yesterday pinned the blame for contamination of an asthma drug on bacteria that grew in a damp machine, according to published reports. Officials at the Canton-based company were unavailable to confirm or comment on the report published in the Patriot Ledger.The apparent explanation would be the first to come from the company since the recall of Albuterol was announced Jan. , setting off a devastating wave of negative publicity about the maker of generic… . The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution – Nation in Brief Drug firm recalls inhalation solution A Massachusetts generic drug company said Wednesday it is recalling millions of vials of an inhalation solution widely used by asthma patients and others with breathing problems. Copley Pharmaceutical Inc. said some of its -milliliter Albuterol Sulfate Inhalation Solution was contaminated by microbial organisms. It poses special risks of serious infection to people with compromised immune systems, including those with AIDS, cystic fibrosis, chronic obstructive lung disease and cancer… –