“Come on down!” Those are awfully familiar words to any “Price is Right” guru. Ever notice how the items being bid on are all brand names? It’s part of “branding,” and it works well if you’re targeting a fan of the CBS hit television show, even post-Bob Barker!

There’s a time and a place for brand names. I choose Kraft Macaroni and Cheese over the store brand, it’s my personal preference. Why? In my opinion, Kraft has a better product, and the difference is definitely noticeable. (Yes, it is the cheesiest!) I could save about $25 a year by choosing the store brand, which adds up to about $1,250 over my lifetime.

Now, this is crazy. The average person has one prescription per month, and the cost of the brand name prescription, on average, is $100.00. Let’s say from age 45 to age 68, a person spends this amount per month on the same brand name prescription. That’s $27,600! What? $27,600! Sorry, it was just SO worth repeating!

Now, let’s take this same person and imagine the same prescription is available in a generic form (which is an exact replica of the brand name) for only $4.00 per month. Now we’re talking! That’s just $1,104.00 over 23 years. While I’m sure you can do the math, basically the difference is, well, a new Honda Civic Hybrid, or two Kia Rios!

The truth is that generic prescriptions are the exact same make-up of the brand-name prescription. They carry the same dosage amounts, label the same intended use, side effects, and warnings, they are distributed the same, and are produced with the same risks, safety, and strength as the brand name drug. I assure you if the store brand mac ‘n cheese had the exact same ingredients, directions, label and quality as Kraft, and the only difference is a huge savings for me, I’d buy the store brand! Wouldn’t you?

So you see, we’re not talking mac’n cheese any more. While “The Price is Right” for some purchases, it’s better to “come on down” on prescription drug spending.

Biological relationships are relatively simple to establish by means of DNA analysis. There was a time not so long ago when testing was complex and time consuming, and involved blood samples taken by doctors. Now, however, developments in sampling procedures and instrumental DNA analysis has brought the cost down to a level affordable by private individuals, and various forms of DNA screening and testing are now commonplace. The paternity DNA test is one that has grown in popularity along with fidelity testing. All that is required today are oral swabs containing saliva and skin cells from the inside of the cheek, and biological relationship scan be proved beyond all reasonable doubt.

When you order a test the laboratory involved will send you a free DNA kit consisting of swabs, containers or envelopes for returning the samples to the laboratory, documentation to be filled in and clear instructions on how to collect and return the samples. The actual contents will vary between test providers, but these will be the basic contents. There might be additional material such as advertisements and promotions, but each will contain the above as a minimum.

It is important to many people that the instructions are very clear, because some are concerned about not collecting the samples properly and getting a false result. Although this cannot happen, it is a concern and should be addressed. Written instructions are open to interpretation, and at the very least there should be a diagram. Even better would be a video showing the whole procedure from start to finish.

Another concern for many is prying eyes. They would rather that others that it does not concern should know nothing about the tests they are organizing, and require privacy when their free test kit arrives. This can be done if the laboratory is informed that the customer would prefer the free DNA kit delivered in a plain package with no external indication of its contents. Once received it should be used, and the paternity problem resolved once and for all.

The market today is experiencing a growth in homeopathic and natural cures for yeast infections. As people realize the benefits of such treatments, more and more people have chosen this type of treatment in treating candidiasis (other name for yeast infection). And for all the right reasons too, through time, women have experienced that treating yeast infection with natural methods has proven to be more safe, with little to no side effects than most of the medications, pills or creams in the market today. Also lets not forget about the ease and affordability of methods for natural cures for yeast infection. They are affordable, and they are also readily accessible, most of the ingredients are readily found in any modern kitchen today.

One such great ingredient that’s been produced by mother nature to fight off yeast infection naturally is garlic. Method of application also could not be any more easier, simply take a piece of fresh garlic, pick off a clove and peel of the skin, next thing is you dip it into an oil for lubrication, best if you have olive oil, then simply place the clove into the vaginal canal. For maximum effect, it is best done four times a day until any signs and symptoms of yeast infection disappear.

Garlic as a natural cure for yeast infection is not only limited to genital yeast infections. Candidiasis can manifest also in the skin, in the form of rashes, which would lead to irritation and itchiness. Treatment is simply a matter of slicing a peeled garlic clove into small pieces, put some olive oil to make paste, and then simply apply the paste into the affected area. This will help tremendously in easing the pain and itchiness, and almost instantly too.

Another ingredient on the spotlight would be Hydrogen Peroxide. It is very cheap and ready available in any local pharmacy, just in case you don’t have it in your kitchen or in the house yet. What you want to do is make a douche out of it and apply it to the affected area; it is already proven to be effective in eliminating Candida Albicans, the causative agent of yeast infections. In making the douche, you’ll 1 cup of water, filtered to be safe, and add 1 teaspoon of hydrogen peroxide. Remember the ration, 1 teaspoon to 1 cup; this would be the optimum ratio for effectiveness when using hydrogen peroxide as natural cures for yeast infection.

Yogurt is next on our list when it comes to natural cures for yeast infections. Again, it is readily available and cheap. What makes yogurt good for treating candidiasis is that it contains good bacteria to fight off the overgrowth of Candida Albicans. For methodology, it is best that you refrigerate before application, the cool temperature of the yogurt will greatly help in easing the irritation and itchiness of the affected area when you apply it, and yes, you only need to put it directly in the affected area like how you apply topical creams or lotions. For maximum effectiveness, it’s also advisable that you ingest some yogurt. This combination of topical and oral treatment has been proven to eliminate yeas infections.

Recently, an international team of researchers based in Texas and Japan, have been experimenting with an obesity treatment nicknamed “Fatostatin”, that has been shown to not only make mice lose weight, but also shows great promise in the treatment of diabetes, and even the lowering of cholesterol. These scientists have identified a small molecule therapy program that alters the genetic code involved in the way the human body turns food into fat. Because it has been proven to be effective in dramatic weight loss, and in lowering cholesterol levels, it has been considered to be an efficient treatment in the struggle to treat diabetes.

This Fatostatin drug works to block increases in body weight, fat accumulation, and blood glucose, even with unconstrained food intake. It is important to note that the only successful tests done so far have only taken place with the use of animal subjects, but the scientists are very optimistic. They believe this new, experimental drug could have a huge impact, not only in weight loss, but in controlling cholesterol levels, blood glucose levels, and insulin levels in the body, which could be used to treat diabetes. The scientists believe it goes back to the origin of fat synthesis, where scientists believe they have actually found a way for the body to stop gaining weight. But is this even possible

This new Fatostatin drug works by interfering with element binding proteins that influence a group of genes that are triggered during excessive food consumption. It works by essentially, switching off the body’s negative reaction to food, by turning food directly into energy, or waste, and not stored fat. After one month of treatment, the mice used in this study have seen a 12% reduction in their body fat levels, as well as a staggering 70% drop in their blood sugar levels. As promising as this may seem, many obesity drugs, even with prior success on animal test patients, have had little success in humans. But according to some high ranking pharmaceutical consultants, this drug could be the way of the future for not only fighting obesity, but curing complications to obesity like cholesterol, heart disease and diabetes.

According to some in the bio-tech industry, as well as prominent pharmaceutical consultants, further testing is needed to really find out if Fatostatin is the new miracle drug of the future, or if it’s just a flash in the pan. But as new technology surfaces in the ever evolving Bio-Tech industry, molecular breakthroughs like this could be commonplace. As for now, scientists are very excited about Fatostatin and are looking to test it out on humans soon.

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The Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan offers a range of medical treatment options that include robotic prostatectomy, bariatric surgery, advanced cancer treatment, brain tumor treatment and heart care. As part of the Canadian Mount Everest Medical Operations Expedition, the Henry Ford staff was faced with the challenge of performing mock surgery and diagnostics thousands of kilometers away from the hospital. The mission goal was to see if effective remote diagnostics were possible on Mount Everest. If it were to be successful, the same or similar technology could be used for the benefit of astronauts in space who, although faced with different environmental and physical conditions, are also located out of geographic reach of any established health care facility.

In order to evaluate the extent of injuries such as broken or fractured bones, collapsed lungs, and muscle atrophy, ultrasound is used. A mobile ultrasound machine the size of a large laptop is manufactured by General Electric (GE) and is suitable for expeditions and other extreme environments. While finding the equipment to complete an ultrasound did not pose a problem to the expedition crew, finding somebody who was able to understand and evaluate the output of the ultrasound machine was another story.

In the end, the Mount Everest expedition crew settled on some of the latest techniques in telemedicine and remote diagnostics. The GE ultrasound machine was connected to a VGA2USB Pro video capture device, which converted the video output from the GE machine to a digital format. Then, a MacBook Air laptop coupled with an external satellite antenna was used to relay the images back to Henry Ford via satellite in real time and diagnostic lossless quality.

The result was that a surgeon or radiologist sitting at Henry Ford in Detroit was able to remotely diagnose and consult members of the expedition and ask them to scan different parts of the patient’s body. By using modern video capture technology paired with the latest broadcasting methods, the Canadian Mount Everest Medical Operations Expedition turned out to be a success.

As people live longer, and as lifestyles become less healthy, so-called diseases of affluence are becoming more prevalent in certain areas of the world. Heart disease and diabetes can kill, whether slowly or suddenly. People have been looking for different ways to counter and prevent the onset of these diseases.

There has been some buzz recently about a compound that could help address this problem. Resveratrol, a chemical some plants use to fight disease or attack, has been tested on laboratory animals and proven to lower their blood sugar. It has also helped to re-balance their bodies’ processing of carbohydrates, which not only leads to lower blood sugar but also lower body fat and better cardiovascular health.

Resveratrol also seems to have effects that increase metabolism. This means that your body will store less sugar and fat, even if you eat the same amount of food and do the same amount of exercise as usual. Yet again, most of this information comes from tests on laboratory animals, rather than on humans. Still, studies of human metabolism show that a similar metabolic pathway can be found in a human body, and may also respond to Resveratrol. With less cholesterol, especially in your veins, your heart will not have to work as hard to pump blood around, so heart attacks and burst blood vessels may be less of a risk. Resveratrol is definitely worth thinking about, especially if your metabolism is slow, and/or your family has a history of obesity or cardiovascular disease.

The good news is that it does not appear to matter whether you get your Resveratrol from a pill or from “natural” sources like wine or Japanese knotweed. After all, the food may contain other substances that might be harmful to you. It does seem rather counterproductive to be getting drunk regularly in order to improve the condition of your heart, since regular high alcohol consumption can actually lead to heart failure. Resveratrol will have more or less the same effect on your body whether or not it comes from a pill. However, the pill brings with it less “excess baggage,” and allows you more control of your diet because you will not have to be packing your meals with Resveratrol-high foods in order to get the benefits. Keep in mind that researchers have suggested that you might need a few grams of Resveratrol per day in order to see a noticeable drop in your blood sugar.

In addition, Resveratrol may have similar effects on the body as calorie restriction, minus the loss of strength, amenorrhea and near starvation. Scientists are still somewhat baffled by the benefits of calorie restriction, such as better heart condition and a potentially longer life, but Resveratrol could be one way to get a piece of them without the rather disturbing side effects.

If you are looking for a natural way to improve your heart condition, but cannot afford to radically alter your lifestyle, try to look into what Resveratrol can do for you.

Diabetes is quickly becoming one of the most dangerous illnesses around, as diets become less healthy, and life becomes longer and more sedentary. Though often not lethal, and much less high-profile than infectious diseases, diabetes can still quietly ruin your body, especially if you also have hypertension. Given the lifestyle behaviors that help give rise to ailments, diabetes and hypertension often go together. It has been known that this combination of diseases can lead to gangrene, amputation and death. This is not to frighten you, it is just a fact.

Still, you might personally know—or know of—somebody who has chronic high blood sugar, and still manages to lead an active, normal life with the help of insulin and other treatments. Even so, these treatments can be very expensive over time. In addition, diabetics tend to have weaker immune systems, and may get bad infections from the smallest wounds. Their eyes and other organs also tend to wear out sooner than those of non-diabetics. In other words, it is definitely worth it to start thinking of ways to lower your blood sugar, especially if you are close to (but not over) the threshold, or are only in the milder stages of diabetes.

There are many ways we can try to address diabetes. Cutting down on sweets and excess carbohydrates definitely helps. However, healthy food is often expensive, especially in these rough economic times. It can also be very difficult to come by and time-consuming to prepare—which also translates into a net loss in a contemporary economy where time means money. Medical compounds like insulin can help.

However, insulin is not for everyone. Some people may be borderline diabetics who are looking for treatment, but are not appropriate patients for the more drastic measures, like daily insulin injections. What, then, are they supposed to do if they are trying to prevent their high blood sugar from getting worse?

Such people might benefit from taking Resveratrol, which is a Phytoalexin or simply put an antibiotic produced by plants to protect themselves from attacking organisms. Resveratrol can be made in laboratories, but it can also be found in natural food products, such as red grapes. Scientists have tested the effects of Resveratrol, and found it to greatly lower the blood sugar of laboratory rodents. Over a longer period, it also helped the kidneys and livers of laboratory animals recover from the effects of diabetes, and begin functioning normally.

Clinical studies suggest that Resveratrol must be given in high doses in order to lower blood sugar a great deal. However, the effect of taking smaller quantities on a regular, long-term basis may be helpful, especially if you are only trying to lower your blood sugar a little, or are planning to use Resveratrol in conjunction with dietary changes or other ways to lower your blood sugar.

If you are in danger of developing diabetes, or even if you already have it, taking Resveratrol can be a great way for you to control your blood sugar, and stop advanced diabetes from attacking your body. Depending on what stage you are, you may vary your dosage, or pair Resveratrol with the appropriate medicine and/or diet plan.

The Side Effects

There are a few side-effects of Zoloft that one needs to be aware of. While some of these are quite common and not that serious, a few are rare and can be serious if not dealt with quickly. If you are under the medication and if you are experiencing any of the side effects over a period of time, then it is best to consult your physician. It is wise to seek a specialist’s opinion as early as possible. For the more common side effects however, your physician would most likely make you aware of them and will tell you to wait and watch, because most of them tend to go away over a period of time.

Zoloft is contraindicated in patients who are already taking monoamine oxidase inhibitors or the antipsychotic pimozide. For elderly patients who have issues of liver impairment, Zoloft must be prescribed under extreme caution. This is so because Zoloft slows the rate of elimination of sertraline in these patients.

Common Side Effects

There are a few common effects of Zoloft which have been reported by a large section of patients who have been prescribed the drug. These side effects include nausea (in 25% of patients), insomnia (in 21% of patients), diarrhea (in 20% of patients), ejaculation failure (in 14% of patients), dry mouth (in 14% of patients), somnolence (in 13% of patients), dizziness (in 12% of patients), tremor (in 8% of patients) and decreased libido (in 6% of patients). Some of these side effects have even resulted in the discontinuation or interruption of the treatment using the drug. The most common of these side effects are nausea, insomnia and diarrhea.

Clinical studies have also suggested that akathisia is another adverse effect of the drug Zoloft. A patient suffering from the state of akathisia will exhibit restlessness which is an expression of the inner tension. It has been noted that such symptoms are exhibited after the patient is administered the first dosage of the drug or after the dosage has been increased. The symptoms disappear a few days after the drug is discontinued or the dosage is reduced.

Major Side Effects

One of the major side -effects of Zoloft is on babies in the womb, whose mothers are prescribed the drug. This is especially true in cases where the mother has been exposed to the drug during the first trimester of pregnancy. The birth defects that are most likely to be found in babies of mothers under the treatment of the drug include omphalocele, anal atresia and limb reduction defects and septal defects.

As with other drugs of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor class, Zoloft can cause sexual side effects and these would include arousal disorder and problems in achieving orgasm and ejaculation.

Also, like many other antidepressants, Zoloft can increase the rate of suicidal tendency, especially among children and adolescents. Hence, the prescription of such drugs to this age group of patients must be made with extreme care and caution.

Pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies spend thousands of dollars and a considerable amount of man hours on clinical trials of drugs before they are launched in the market. These involves the use of humans to test the efficacy and hazards of a new drug.

Clinical trials are very elaborate procedures that are monitored by stringent regulations. The efficient management of them requires the use of a reliable CTMS that helps scientist monitor the clinical trials, analyze data, report to regulatory bodies and study the effectiveness and adverse effects of the drugs.

CTMS is a computerized system of data management which allows drug manufacturers to collect and organize data from clinical trials. With the CTMS, pharmaceutical firms can:

• Collect, store and organize clinical data
• Assess the efficacy of drugs using stored data
• Research adverse effects using clinical data
• Monitor budgeting
• Handle patient management
• Verify compliance of trial procedures with government regulations
• Work simultaneously with other systems such as data management systems, electronic data capture, and adverse event reporting systems.
• Manage the manufacture and marketing of medicines after launch

CTMS is an indispensible tool to any pharmaceutical or biotechnology company. These systems help save on the time taken to organize and store data. Everyday is vital for a company, as there are thousands of patients waiting for a cure. Drug manufacturing is a very competitive industry; there are so many companies working on the same lines. The faster a pharmaceutical company comes out with a new cure, the sooner it can get the drug patented and the more income it can generate.

CTMS cuts down on administrative costs, helps access valuable data instantly and helps monitor compliance of trials to regulatory standards. Confidentiality is very important during trials. With a centralized access system, the data is kept secure. But most importantly, the system helps ensure the safety of drugs that are under trial.

Medical science has grown in leaps and bounds since the days of Hippocrates. Modern day pharmaceutical drugs are really life-savers. They have increased life expectancy and improved the quality of life for millions of people. But there is the other side of the coin as well. These drugs sometimes have very adverse effects that can even be life-threatening. The drug Vioxx is a case in point.

What is pharmacovigilance?

There is a need to monitor the effects of drugs before and after it’s successfully tested and launched in the market. Pharmacovigilance involves monitoring and assessing the quality of drugs; detecting and preventing any adverse effects of drugs. Pharmacovigilance involves evaluating information provided by healthcare providers, pharmaceutical companies and patients in order to understand the risks and benefits involved with a particular drug.

What is the role of pharmacovigilance?

The goal of pharmacovigilance is to:

• Monitor the quality of drugs
• Identify the health risks involved in the administration of certain drugs
• Prevent harm to patients
• Research the efficacy of drugs

How does pharmacovigilance help the public?

Pharmacovigilance helps save thousands of lives each year. By monitoring the adverse effects of drugs right from the lab to the pharmacy and then on for many years, pharmacovigilance keeps track of any drastic effects of drugs. This way, it prevents harm to patients using those drugs.

?How does pharmacovigilance help drug manufacturers?

Pharmaceutical companies spend millions of dollars and a considerably long-time in developing new drugs. They again spend a lot of money in conducting clinical trials before the drugs are approved and launched in the market. But after all this, if there are adverse effects to the drugs, the company again loses millions of dollars in sales and litigations. Furthermore, the reputation of the company is also severely damaged. Pharmacovigilance monitors the development of the drug across various stages and assesses its effectiveness after its launch for many years. This way it may reduce the adverse risk from drugs, thereby aiding the drug manufacturers.