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| Arthritis Drug Easing Pain
Maria Sciarrone and Nicole Riley are enjoying a remarkable turnaround -- their arthritis now only a painful memory.
For ten years, 46 year old Maria tried every medication on the market, yet her hips, elbows and hands remained affected. Climbing the stairs was an impossibility, she was depressed and life was grim. "It got the point where we thought about selling the home because I couldn't get up and down the stairs. I wouldn't be able to do my shopping or even carry two bags of shopping, even with the children doing sports or kicking a football, couldn't do that", Maria said.
Then Maria's rheumatologist involved her in the trial of a new drug called Tocilizumab. It's given intravenously once a month and having exhausted every other avenue, it was the mother of three's last roll of the dice. "It's changed my life right around", Maria said.
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| SOURCE |
Today Tonight
(Channel 7 Perth) |
| DATE |
27th June, 2008 |
| FULL STORY |
click here |
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| More Gaps for Private Patients - Federal Government Increases the Number of Gapped Prostheses
The number of prostheses with gaps will increase significantly on 8 July 2008 to 15.8% following the release of the Prostheses List by the Federal Government. The Prostheses List is produced by the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing and sets the amount of benefits to be paid for privately insured patients requiring a prosthesis. Prostheses include implantable devices such as hips, knees, spinal plates and cardiac devices.
Over the past three years since the current Prostheses List process was introduced the number of products on the List with gaps has grown significantly from 1.2% or 111 items in November 2005 to 6.4% or 602 items in August 2006 to 15.8% or 1469 items in July 2008. This represents an increase in the number of gapped items of more than 130% in less than 2 years for continuously listed items.
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| SOURCE |
Medical Technology Association of Australia |
| DATE |
26th June, 2008 |
| FULL STORY |
click here |
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| TNF Blocker Use In Children Linked To Cancer
CONCERNS have been raised about possible links between childhood use of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) blockers and the development of lymphomas and other cancers.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced it is investigating a possible association after it received approximately 30 reports of cancer in children and young adults who had used TNF blockers in conjunction with other immunosuppressive therapies to treat juvenile idiopathic arthritis, Crohn's disease, or other diseases.
NOTE: Arthritis Australia's Medical Director, Prof Graeme Jones concurs with the comments of Ric Day in the article, saying that "we need well controlled data to tell if this number is in excess of background risk. There is data in adults as well linking these agents to lymphoma but it is still hotly debated, if it is real."
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| SOURCE |
Medical Observery |
| DATE |
13th June, 2008 |
| FULL STORY |
click here |
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| Potential New Oral Medicine for RA Could Challenge Dominance of the TNF-a Inhibitors
Positive data in December from Rigel Pharmaceuticals’ phase 2 trial of R788, an oral rheumatoid arthritis (RA) drug, caused Wall Street to snap to attention. The product passed its first efficacy test in RA with flying colors. Rigel, of South San Francisco, California, is positioning R788 (tamatinib fodium), an inhibitor of Syk kinase, as a direct challenger to the tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-a) inhibitor biologics. A safe and effective oral drug would threaten several multibillion-dollar biologic franchises, not only in rheumatoid arthritis but also in several other autoimmune conditions, including Crohn’s disease and psoriasis. An oral inhibitor would not only have delivery advantages over TNF-a inhibitors, which require injection, but also might have an improved side effect profile compared with biologics, which can cause fulminant opportunistic infections.
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| SOURCE |
Nature Biotechnology |
| DATE |
February, 2008 |
| FULL STORY |
click here |
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| Real Women, Real Pain - 2008 Declared The Global Year Against Pain in Women
The International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) has declared 2008 the Gloabal Year Against Pain in Women. As pasrt of this initiative, they have launched the "Real Women, Real Pain" campaign which aims to empower women and raise awareness of specific pain issues affecting women worldwide.
Chronic pain affects a higher proportion of women than men around the world, but unfortunately women are also less likely to receive treatment compared to men. This is due to various factors, including societal and cultural norms and economic and governmental barriers. Through this campaign, IASP hopes to provide a voice to these women by drawing attention to this global issue as a first step towards reducing pain and suffering for women around the world.
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| SOURCE |
International Association for the Study of Pain |
| DATE |
January, 2008 |
| FULL STORY |
click here |
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| Does Tainted Milk Cause Crohn's Disease?
A bacterium known to cause illness in cattle may also cause Crohn's disease in humans. Crohn's disease causes chronic intestinal inflammation, leading to pain, bleeding and diarrhea. A bacterium called Mycobacterium paratuberculosis prevents white blood cells from killing E. coli bacteria. E. coli is known to be present in increased numbers within Crohn’s disease infected tissue. It is believed that the Mycobacteria make their way into the body’s system via cows’ milk and other dairy products.
A video explaining the difference between raw and pasturised milk is available on the associated website.
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| SOURCE |
mercola.com |
| DATE |
13th December, 2007 |
| FULL STORY |
click here |
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| Golimumab reduces signs, symptoms of ankylosing spondylitis
More than half of patients receiving monthly subcutaneous (SC) injections of golimumab (CNTO 148) 50 mg and 100 mg experienced significant and sustained improvements in the signs and symptoms of active ankylosing spondylitis, according to Phase 3 study results presented at the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) annual meeting.
At week 14 of the study, 59 percent of patients receiving golimumab 50 mg and 60 percent of patients receiving golimumab 100 mg achieved at least 20 percent improvement in the Assessment in Ankylosing Spondylitis criteria (ASAS 20) compared with 22 percent of patients receiving placebo (P < 0.001). Investigators also reported that study subjects receiving golimumab 50 mg or golimumab 100 mg showed significant, sustained improvements in physical function through six months as measured by the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index (BASFI).
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| SOURCE |
HULIQ.com |
| DATE |
8th November, 2007 |
| FULL STORY |
click here |
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| Funding knocked back for possible arthritis cure
The country's peak medical research body, the National Health and Medical Research Council, has hit back at criticism over its failure to fund research into a possible cure for a form of arthritis (Ankylosing Spondylitis) that affects more than 20,000 Australians.
Australian genetic scientist Matthew Brown has discovered two new genes that cause the condition and says his find could ultimately lead to a cure. But while his discovery has been acclaimed internationally, Australian authorities are refusing to fund the project.
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| SOURCE |
ABC Radio - The World Today |
| DATE |
24th October, 2007 |
| FULL STORY |
click here |
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| Two new arthritis genes identified
In a world first, a UQ scientist has discovered two new genes responsible for one-third of the risk of developing a hereditary and debilitating form of arthritis known as ankylosing spondylitis.
“The identification of the two new genes will assist doctors to identify those people at high risk of developing ankylosing spondylitis,” Professor Brown, head of this study, said. “They also point to basic processes which cause this disease, for which there is no current treatment to prevent its progression. “Together with the main gene, HLA-B27, the discovery of the two new genes, dubbed ARTS1 and IL23R, means we can now account for 70 percent of the overall cause of ankylosing spondylitis. |
| SOURCE |
University of Queensland News Online |
| DATE |
22nd October, 2007 |
| FULL STORY |
click here |
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| TGA deregisters Prexige for use in Australia following reports of liver damage
Australia's medicines Regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has cancelled the registration of the osteoarthritis drug, Lumiracoxib because of serious liver side effects associated with the use of the drug. Lumiracoxib, marketed by Novartis Pharmaceuticals under the brand name of Prexige, is a Cox 2 inhibitor belonging to the group of medicines known as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS). According to the TGA's Principal Medical Adviser, Dr Rohan Hammett, as of 10th August 2007 the TGA had received 8 reports of serious liver adverse reactions to the drug, including two deaths and two liver transplants.
"It seems that the longer people are on the medicine, the greater the chance of liver injury. The TGA is, therefore, advising people to stop taking the Lumiracoxib immediately and to discuss alternative treatments with their doctor," Dr Hammett said.
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| SOURCE |
TGA Media Centre
Sydney Morning Herald online
NineMSN News website |
| DATE |
11th August, 2007 |
| FULL STORY |
TGA article
SMH article
NineMSN article |
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