Pepin’s Pharmaceutical Prattle for 01-03-2005

Quote of the day:  Use your imagination not to scare yourself to death but to inspire yourself to life.  - Adele Brookman

Good morning! 

Imagine a blank piece of paper. Push yourself to see this paper as the year 2005. Just a blank… no mistakes or glory.  Look over your shoulder at the volume you wrote last year. It should be thick, full of activity (for good or worse) and lots of headlines. Look back at the blank page titled "2005 A.D."  with your name as subtitle.  What would you have the volume read as you look back at it from the threshold of 2006?  How many hour of TV would like entered versus hours of exercise?  How much donated in time, talent and treasure to the less fortunate will be recorded? What professional and personal accomplishments will make headlines?  See how I press you further…. Imagine a great novel. You may not be able to plan for every plot twist or dodge every scurrilous character to enter your life but you can make a plan. There will be new drugs approved and probably more recalls. Do what you can to keep the day-to-day on an even keel so you will be able to respond to the firedrills you know will intrude. "Plan your work and work your plan" or "Those who fail to plan do thus plan to fail".

 Now take a real page of blank paper and write down (down the middle of the page) 5 things you would like to accomplish in 2005. Put them down as if they were already accomplished. What would have to happen just before these are accomplished. To the right of each line write down how it makes you feel.  (If "I won the lotto" was one item them "buying a ticket" would be written to the left of it and "rich and grateful" would be to the right.) Don't hide the page but leave it out where you can see it throughout the year. It is your page, it is your life. Think then do and enjoy

 For all of us the page is still blank.  This issue is my first entry…

 Wishing you a prosperous and happy new year.

Steve

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ps. Best answer this week to the question "How are you?" was "Optimistic!" 

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1) Happy Chinese new drug…

(Not New Year)…Yale is investigating a combination of herbal medicines as potential therapies for cancer and other maladies. While they might find something worthwhile the "logic" may not be. Because something has been in use for thousands of years does not mean that it actually works…. just that people think it might. (Case in point: the horn of a Black Rhinoceros has been used to enhance male potency for centuries…. then along came Viagra, Cilais, and Levitra which actually do work. Maybe these drug will inadvertently save the Rhino from extinction.)

http://www.wfsb.com/Global/story.asp?S=2729510

2) Hangover cure… the spines of the cactus that bit you?

The best defense is never getting drunk to start with but it appears that the extract of prickly pear cactus may help against the nausea, dry mouth and loss of appetite (nothing said about the dreaded headache). (Hey it’s a slow "real drug news" week!)

http://www.newsday.com/news/health/orl-livhangover123104dec31,0,6244440.story?coll=ny-leadhealthnews-headlines

3) Be prepared for Next big wave…

Not exclusively pharmaceutical but the link below will tell you more that you could ever want to know about tsunami, This continues to be a huge humanitarian disaster. Links for contacting anyone you know who may have been in the region, charitable giving (if you wish to help with the relief efforts)  or just general information about tsunami.

http://www.firstgov.gov/Citizen/Topics/Asia_Tsunamis.shtml

4) Last FDA approval of 2004…

Lyrica (pregabalin) was approved on 12/31 by the FDA for neuropathologies. It did not receive some indications it originally sought but physicians are free to use it for off-label use. (This is ironic because it was meant to replace gabapentin [Neurontin] which was an anticonvulsant which was primarily used for neuropathic pain on an off-label basis). It appears that this drug will be a controlled substance. The drug will still do well although selling against the, now available, generic gababetin. Patients with "fibromyalgia" are already singing the praises of Lyrica.

http://www.pfizer.com/are/investors_releases/2004pr/mn_2004_1231.cfm

 5) Stupid ex-doc uses home-brewed botulism…(follow-up from a few weeks ago) on himself, girl-friend, and another couple.

Originally thought to be a bad batch of commercial Botox (from ppp http://www.pharmworks.com/ppp_12_06_2004.htm item #5) now found to be the result of some HOME BREWED botulism toxin. All four people required respirators. If he lives, he faces many charges including practicing medicine after the second suspension of his osteopathy  license.

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/state/ny-bc-nj--botulismprobe1226dec26,0,3770288.story?coll=ny-region-apnewjersey

6) Not Navy Seals but Marine Snails provide relief…

FDA approves new drug patterned after a substance found in marine snails that works against severe pain.  Before you get too excited about trying it you should know that it has to be injected into your head through special injection devices. Appears to block the transmission of pain impulses instead of dulling the pain receptors.This one will provide great promise for those with the highest needs.

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/041228/285192_1.html  or http://www.reuters.com/financeNewsArticle.jhtml?type=hotStocksNews&storyID=7194122

7) Before you reach for that final holiday cookie…

This is not NEW news but once again we face the fact that hormonal contraceptives are more likely to fail in obese women. (5% failure) vs women of normal weight (still 3% failure). This is true for oral as well as the patches and the ring. Only one sure way to prevent pregnancy… but most don't want to hear the "A- word".  Abstinence is 100% effective… with no side effects at all… and carries the further protection from sexually transmitted diseases. Next best thing is the symptothermic method, also known as Natural Family Planning (NFP) http://www.ccli.org/ Takes some self control and effort….

Article=  http://www.healthday.com/view.cfm?id=523135

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