Tag Archives: health officials

Doubts on suicide-anti-smoking drug Chantix link

in.reuters.com

Doubts on suicide-anti-smoking drug Chantix link

Despite earlier health agency warnings, there is no strong evidence that the anti-smoking drug Chantix raises the risk of suicidal thoughts or depression compared to other stop-smoking products, researchers reported Thursday in the British Medical Journal.

Back in July of this year, U.S. health officials ordered strong “black box” warnings be added to Chantix (also called varenicline) as well as anti-smoking drug Zyban, following more than five thousand reports of depression, hostility and other behavioral changes possibly associated with use of these drugs.

“There have been recent concerns that varenicline, a relatively new smoking cessation product, may increase the risk of suicidal behavior and suicide,” study co-author Dr. David Gunnell of the University of Bristol, UK, explained in an email to Reuters Health.

“We found no clear evidence of an increased risk of self-harm or depression associated with varenicline,” he said.

The findings stem from data on more than 80,660 would-be quitters in the UK who used different smoking cessation products between September 2006 and May 2008.

A total of 63,265 of these individuals used nicotine replacement products, 10,973 used Chantix, and 6,422 used Zyban, an antidepressant also called bupropion, which has been found to help smokers quit.

When researchers looked at medical records, they didn’t find any evidence of an increased risk of serious mental health problems (i.e., self-harm, suicidal thoughts or depression) while they were using these products and during the three months after the last prescription was filled.

Gunnell cautioned, however, that based on the size of the study, it’s still possible that Chantix does increase the risk of suicide – or even decrease it.

“Other studies should be undertaken to provide further evidence on this issue,” he concluded.

Doubts on suicide , Doubts on suicide  Health, Doubts on suicide  Health Latest, Doubts on suicide  Health Information, Doubts on suicide Health information, Doubts on suicide  Health Photo,Doubts on suicide  for Weight Health photo, Doubts on suicide  Health Latest, Doubts on suicide  Health latest, Doubts on suicide  for Weight  Health Story, Doubts on suicide  Video, Doubts on suicide  video, Doubts on suicide  Health History, Doubts on suicide  Health history, Doubts on suicide  over Picture, history, Doubts on suicide  Asia, Doubts on suicide   asia, Doubts on suicide  Gallery, Doubts on suicide  for Weight gallery, Doubts on suicide Photo Gallery, Doubts on suicide Picture, Doubts on suicide  picture, Doubts on suicide  Web, Malaysia Health, web Health, web Health picture, video photo, video surgery, gallery, laparoscopy, virus, flu, drug, video, Health Health, calories, photo, nutrition, health video, symptoms, cancer, medical, beating, diet, physical, Training, organic, gym, blister, exercise, weightloss, surgery, spiritual, eating, tips, skin, operation, bf1,

Swine flu vaccine due next week in Pa., N.J.

swine-flu-and-you-af

Swine flu vaccine due next week in Pa., N.J.

After months of anticipation, the first doses of swine flu vaccine are expected to arrive next week, public health officials said yesterday as the federal government began accepting orders from the states.

In Pennsylvania, they will go to healthy children ages 5 to 9 in just three regions of the state, including the southeast. New Jersey will direct a smaller number of doses to ages 2 through 24 statewide.

The priority lists are likely to change weekly, if not daily, as the federal government ramps up the biggest vaccination campaign it has ever attempted.

Pregnant women, for example, are among those at highest risk from the disease – but the first doses, in a nasal spray, will be a form of live virus that isn’t safe for them. Shots made with an inactivated or “dead” virus should arrive a week or so later.

The live virus is safe for children without underlying medical conditions. Children are the most likely of all age groups to catch and spread the new flu. While most people will require one dose, children under 10 will need two, nearly a month apart, to trigger a robust immune response. (The same applies to children getting seasonal flu vaccine for the first time.) So children will get first dibs.

“Targeting the healthy and the young is a good way to get this vaccine out quickly to a significant population,” said Susan Walsh, a deputy state health commissioner in New Jersey.

Where to get the vaccine?

Officials in both states urged parents to call their pediatricians, although they are not likely to know that they will have the vaccine until it actually arrives. Many schools, including those in Philadelphia, will hold vaccination clinics; letters and permission forms will go out to parents beforehand.

Health department Web sites for New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Philadelphia – the three local overseers for swine flu vaccination – will list locations when more doses become available, officials said. All vaccinations are voluntary.

Because the swine flu vaccine was purchased entirely by the federal government, providers can charge only an administration fee, and many will offer it free. It generally will not be available from supermarkets and pharmacies that run clinics for seasonal vaccine.

Swine flu was more common than the seasonal strains in the southern hemisphere, which experienced a full influenza season after the novel H1N1 first appeared in Mexico and the United States in April.

That has led to scattered reports in the north that the seasonal vaccine would be unnecessary. Public health officials strongly disagreed.

“We have no idea what the interplay is going to be between [swine] flu and the seasonal flu,” said Stephen Ostroff, Pennsylvania’s acting physician general.

Those seeking to cover all their bases might also want to consider a report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention yesterday saying that, as in previous flu pandemics, bacterial pneumonia contributed to some swine flu deaths in spring and summer.

Pneumococcal vaccine is in plentiful supply, as is seasonal flu vaccine.

But no one knows how many people will want them, let alone the new swine flu vaccine. Just 35 percent of adults in New Jersey and 38 percent in Pennsylvania said they got the seasonal flu vaccine last year, according to the most recent federal survey.

And a Consumer Reports poll released yesterday found that just 35 percent of parents said they definitely would have their children vaccinated for swine flu.

“Who wants it? Who knows?” said Caroline Johnson, director of the division of disease control for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health.

Despite the newness of the vaccine, public health officials say they have no safety concerns. It is essentially the “seasonal vaccine with a different strain contained in it,” said Ostroff.

The first-to-arrive spray form of the vaccine contains no thimerosal – a preservative that some people believe is linked to other diseases – and later versions will be available both with or without it, officials said.

Swine flu  , Swine flu   Health, Swine flu   Health Latest, Swine flu   Health Information, Swine flu   Health information, Swine flu   Health Photo,Swine flu   for Weight Health photo, Swine flu   Health Latest, Swine flu   Health latest, Swine flu   for Weight  Health Story, Swine flu   Video, Swine flu   video, Swine flu   Health History, Swine flu   Health history, Swine flu   over Picture, history, Swine flu   Asia, Swine flu    asia, Swine flu   Gallery, Swine flu   for Weight gallery, Swine flu  Photo Gallery, Swine flu   Picture, Swine flu   picture, Swine flu   Web, Malaysia Health, web Health, web Health picture, video photo, video surgery, gallery, laparoscopy, virus, flu, drug, video, Health Health, calories, photo, nutrition, health video, symptoms, cancer, medical, beating, diet, physical, Training, organic, gym, blister, exercise, weightloss, surgery, spiritual, eating, tips, skin, operation, bf1