Korlym Side Effects, Safety, and Risks. The symptoms are distressing: A fatty hump between your shoulders like a buffalo hump. A rounded or “moon” face. Acne, obesity and fatty deposits around the abdomen. Pink or purple stretch marks on the skin abdomen, thighs, breasts and arms. Thin and fragile skin that bruises easily. Slow healing of cuts, insect bites and infections.

The disease also brings fatigue, muscle weakness, depression, anxiety and irritability, loss of emotional control and cognitive difficulties, new or worsened high blood pressure and headache.

Women who have this disease have thicker facial hair, and irregular or absent menstrual periods, while men experience erectile dysfunction, decreased libido and fertility.

Continue reading Korlym Drug for Cushing’s Syndrome: Safety, Risks, & Side Effects →

Zioptan Side Effects, Precautions, Dos & Don’ts. It’s been called the “silent thief of sight” because it causes gradual vision loss over a long time. By the time you notice the symptoms, the disease is quite advanced and even with treatment, ten percent of sufferers still end up blind.

It’s glaucoma, and it’s the second leading cause of blindness globally, after cataracts, affecting one in 200 people aged 50 and younger—with that number rising to one in 10 for people over the age of eighty.

Over 60.5 million people worldwide and 120,000 Americans have glaucoma and by 2020, ophthalmologists estimated that their numbers will rise to 79.6 million. The numbers in China and India are bigger, and the disease is a leading cause of blindness among African Americans.

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Whitney Houston’s death draws attention to dangerous drug combos. Paying tribute to the extraordinary singer Whitney Houston, wouldn’t be quite right without a sober contemplation of what her death draws attention to—the growing dangers posed by lethal drug combinations in today’s hectic and quick-fix-crazed world.

While the exact cause of Houston’s death may not be known for a month or more until the official toxicology report is released, doctors suspect the cause of death was a deadly cocktail of the prescription anti-anxiety drug Xanax, other drugs and alcohol.

The 48-year-old singer, after all, had a history of alcohol and drug abuse and a prescription for Xanax, and had checked into rehab centers at least three times during her career.

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Breakthrough drug Kalydeco targets faulty protein to treat rare form of cystic fibrosis . A drug that targets the underlying cause of a rare form of cystic fibrosis (CF), the first medication of its kind, was recently approved by the U.S Food and Drug Administration.

On Jan. 31, the FDA approved the twice-daily pill Kalydeco (ivacaftor) for the treatment of a rare form of CF in patients ages six years and older who have the specific G551D mutation in the Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Regulator (CFTR) gene. The drug targets that defective CFTR protein, the underlying cause of their disease.

“Kalydeco is the first available treatment that targets the defective CFTR protein, which is the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis,” says Janet Woodcock, M.D., FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research director, in a news release. “This is a breakthrough therapy for the cystic fibrosis community because current therapies only treat the symptoms of this genetic disease.”

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FDA approves new extended release combo diabetes pill Janumet: High-sugar and high-fat diets, coupled with desk-bound lifestyles more common in today’s high-paced world are driving the rapid global rise of type 2 diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes, the kind linked more to poor diet and lack of exercise rather than to genetics, makes up 90 to 95 percent of the 300 million people now suffering from diabetes.

The mounting number of cases, as well as the complications—a higher risk for blindness, heart attacks, kidney problems, and loss of limbs—has prodded the World Health Organization to declare a diabetes epidemic.

Because their bodies don’t produce enough insulin or they’ve become resistant to the hormone, which controls blood sugar levels, people with type 2 diabetes are unable to break down carbohydrates properly.

Continue reading Janumet XR Diabetes Pill Gains FDA Approval →