Here are some of the latest health and medical news
developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay:
Study Questions Use of Coated Aspirin
Coating on aspirin may interfere with the way the drug is
absorbed by the body, which may explain why some people appear to
be resistant to its heart attack and stroke prevention benefits, a
new study says.
It's long been suggested that between five and 40 percent of
people may be "aspirin resistant." But some prominent doctors have
challenged that belief,
The New York Timesreported.
In this University of Pennsylvania study, researchers say they
did not find a single case of true aspirin resistance in any of the
400 people they examined. Instead, they concluded that a
stomach-protective coating used on some types of aspirin interfere
with the way the drug enters the body, which makes it appear that
the drug is ineffective.
The study was published Tuesday in the journal
Circulation.
The findings "question the value of coated, low-dose aspirin,"
Dr. Garret FitzGerald, chairman of pharmacology at the University
of Pennsylvania and one of the study's authors, said in a statement
accompanying the article,
The Timesreported.
"This product adds cost to treatment, without any clear benefit. Indeed, it may lead to the false diagnosis of aspirin resistance and the failure to provide patients with an effective therapy," he added.
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New Decongestant Can't be Used to Make Meth: Company
A St. Louis company that makes a new pseudoephedrine-based
decongestant says the drug cannot be used to make
methamphetamine.
Highland Pharmaceuticals spent years developing the form of
pseudoephedrine used in its decongestant called Zephrex-D, company
spokeswoman Emilie Dolan told the
Associated Press.
The product, which is being sold at several pharmacies in the
St. Louis area, is being reviewed by the federal Drug Enforcement
Agency.
Pseudoephedrine, which can be found in cold and allergy pills,
is a vital component in most meth recipes, the
APreported.
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Dick Cheney Writing Book About Heart Disease
Former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney is writing a book about
his long history of heart disease and the medical advances that
have helped keep him alive.
Cheney, 71, is collaborating on the book with his daughter Liz
Cheney and his cardiologist Dr. Jonathan Reiner. Publication is
scheduled for next fall, the
Associated Pressreported.
The currently untitled book is being published by Scribner, an
imprint of Simon & Schuster.
Cheney suffered his first heart attack when he was 37. Over the
next 30 years he had four more heart attacks. In 2010, he had a
battery-powered device installed to help his heart pump blood and
in March 2012 he had a heart transplant.