Sobre a resistência aos antibióticos

https://www.theguardian.com/global/2019/mar/24/the-drugs-dont-work-what-happens-after-antibiotics

Citando:
"Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) – the process of bacteria (and yeasts and viruses) evolving defence mechanisms against the drugs we use to treat them – is progressing so quickly that the UN has called it a “global health emergency”. At least 2 million Americans contract drug-resistant infections every year. So-called “superbugs” spread rapidly, in part because some bacteria are able to borrow resistance genes from neighbouring species via a process called horizontal gene transfer. In 2013, researchers in China discovered E coli containing mcr-1, a gene resistant to colistin, a last-line antibiotic that, until recently, was considered too toxic for human use. Colistin-resistant infections have now been detected in at least 30 countries."
(...)
"Making a dent in antibiotic resistance will require such international efforts. Some 90% of forecast deaths from AMR will take place in Africa and Asia – the countries where antibiotic overuse, and resistant infections, are highest. When the AMR review was published in 2016, O’Neill was encouraged by the international response. But since then, Brexit and the Trump administration have knocked AMR off the news agenda. And despite enthusiastic rhetoric, pharmaceutical companies continue to tread water.

“I occasionally think that pharmaceutical company CEOs say to themselves, ‘We’ll just wait until it becomes a real crisis,’” says O’Neill."

Problemas com medicamento Nolotil em Espanha?

https://observador.pt/2018/11/07/laboratorio-que-comercializa-nolotil-nega-restricoes-do-medicamento-em-espanha/

Fonte 2:
https://www.jm-madeira.pt/nacional/ver/46750/Infarmed_aconselha_cuidados_no_uso_de_medicamentos_com_metamizol_como_o_Nolotil

Citando:
"A Autoridade Nacional do Medicamento (Infarmed) aconselha cuidados especiais no uso de medicamentos para as dores contendo metamizol, como o Nolotil, porque podem ter efeitos secundários graves.

Esta recomendação do Infarmed surge na sequência de um alerta da Autoridade para o Medicamento Espanhola para a utilização de medicamentos com metamizol, na sequência da morte de 10 britânicos que compraram o medicamento em Espanha.

Em outubro, a Agência Espanhola de Medicamentos e Produtos Sanitários (AEMPS) atualizou a ficha técnica do metamizol para alertar para o risco de efeitos adversos como a agranulocitose (doença aguda do sangue caracterizada pela falta ou acentuada redução de glóbulos brancos).

Em comunicado disponível hoje, o Infarmed indica que o metamizol é um medicamento utilizado para o tratamento da dor e febre há cerca de 40 anos. Em Portugal, os medicamentos comercializados contendo metamizol são o Nolotil, Dolocalma e Meramizol Cinfa."

Ai as estatinas outra vez (desta vez sim, dizem eles)!

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/statins-side-effects-thousands-dying-heart-attacks-stroke-lancet-peter-sever-nocebo-effect-a7714796.html

Citação:
"A major new study into the side effects of the cholesterol-lowering medicine suggests common symptoms such as muscle pain and weakness are not caused by the drugs themselves.

The study, which involved around 10,000 patients at risk of heart and artery disease, highlighted a psychosomatic response where the expectation of a bad outcome led to reports of physical symptoms."
(...)
"What our study shows is that it’s precisely the expectation of harm that is likely causing the increase in muscle pain and weakness, rather than the drugs themselves causing them.”

Professor Sever, from Imperial College London, said “tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands” of people are dying because they are choosing not to take statins for fear of side-effects that do not exist.

Statins, prescribed to help reduce the risk of potentially deadly cardiovascular disease, are the most-prescribed drug in the UK, taken by around six million people every day."

Subida de preços de medicamentos contra o cancro

Investigação desconfia de métodos discutíveis para forçar a subida de preços:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4411194/Drug-giant-plotted-destroy-stocks-cancer-medicines.html

Citando:
"The paper reported that in 2013 the cost of leukaemia drug busulfan rose from £5.20 to £65.22 in England and Wales, a 1,100 per cent jump, while blood cancer medicine chlorambucil went from £8.36 per pack to £40.51.

It is understood Aspen was able to impose the price rises by taking advantage of a loophole that allows increases if a brand name is dropped."

Deficit de atenção: uma fraude (dos psicólogos e da indústria)?

http://curiousmindmagazine.com/harvard-psychologist-says-adhd-largely-fraud/

Ai os glifosatos - n.º69!

Afinal a UE diz que os glifosatos "dão saúde e fazem crescer", quando parecia que iam ser banidos (e foram em Portugal):

• 
  
• https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/mar/15/no-cancer-risk-to-using-glyphosate-weedkiller-says-eu-watchdog
• http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/roundup-weedkiller-glyphosate-not-cancer-causing-european-expert-committee-echa-a7631796.html
• https://www.ft.com/content/82325be6-9d2f-3022-8129-944626ca22bc

Citando do FT: 

"The recommendation is good news for German chemicals group Bayer, which has been vilified for its courtship of Monsanto. The deal was also built in part on hopes for an expansion of the market for genetically-modified products such as glyphosate-resistant seeds. Monsanto sells a range such seeds in North America, but they have not been approved for use in the European Union.

A final decision on the chemical will be made by the European Commission, but had Echa ruled that glyphosate does cause cancer, the commission would likely have forced companies to warn every customer about its health effects.

The EU already warns that glyphosate is toxic to aquatic life and can cause irreversible eye damage; Echa maintained those warnings.

The decision was criticised by environmental campaigners. Greenpeace EU food policy director Franziska Achterberg said “the data vastly exceeds what’s legally necessary for the EU to ban glyphosate, but Echa has looked the other way”.

However, Echa executive director Geert Dancet has defended the agency’s independence, writing in a series of open letters last week that last week that it is “an organisation built on science”, and its “independence policy builds on international best practice”."

Ibuprofen e outros anti-inflamatórios (sem esteróides) associados a problemas cardíacos

Estes medicamentos são de venda livre no RU sendo usados para a dor (apesar de existirem alternativas com menos riscos):
http://m.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/uk/ibuprofen-linked-to-increased-risk-of-cardiac-arrest-35533110.html

Citando:
"He said: "Allowing these drugs to be purchased without a prescription, and without any advice or restrictions, sends a message to the public that they must be safe.

"The findings are a stark reminder that NSAIDs are not harmless.

"Diclofenac and ibuprofen, both commonly used drugs, were associated with significantly increased risk of cardiac arrest.

"NSAIDs should be used with caution and for a valid indication. They should probably be avoided in patients with cardiovascular disease or many cardiovascular risk factors."
(...)
"The most common cause of a cardiac arrest is a life-threatening abnormal heart rhythm called ventricular fibrillation (VF).

It causes electrical activity in the heart to become so chaotic that the organ ceases to pump rhythmically and quivers or "fibrillates" instead. Without immediate treatment to keep the circulation going, death occurs in minutes.

Sales of over-the-counter painkillers amounted to almost £600 million in the UK in 2015, according to The Pharmaceutical Journal."

História da "Vitamina" D e necessidade ou não da suplementação

Depois das notícias (p.e. da Time) sobre como evitar constipações (R: Tomando vitamina D), algumas críticas à recomendação e um pouco de história:
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2017/02/definitive-vitamin-d/517302/

Citando:
"The scientific process behind the health claims was ethically fraught, too, in that it came from University of Wisconsin researchers who owned the patent on producing the compound that had recently been named “vitamin D.” The term started as a colloquialism for what chemists know as cholecalciferol and ergocalciferol, which are not structurally or functionally similar to the other compounds widely known as “vitamins.”

D is technically a pre-hormone involved in multiple metabolic processes but mainly known to affect the levels of calcium and phosphorus in our bodies. Though little was known in the 1930s about exactly how “vitamin D” worked to prevent people’s bones from warping, the biochemist who patented the process of synthesizing the compound said, “If the public should demand vitamin D in its beer, there is no reason why [we] should not provide it.”

The demanding people weren’t ready for vitamin beer, apparently, and Schlitz took it off the market two years later. Instead cow’s milk became the delivery vehicle for vitamin D supplements in the United States. A milk-fortification law was passed to combat the scourge of rickets. So arose the belief that drinking cow’s milk was necessary for strong bones. As the dairy industry made the case in government-sponsored advertising, vitamin D actually became a primary selling point for milk—the reason that many Americans believe drinking cow’s milk is necessary still today. (Even though adult cows don’t drink it.)"

Imunoterapia a 2 ou 3 anos?

Depende da terapia (há alergias para as quais há esta terapia). É uma alternativa ao uso continuado (para o resto da vida?) de anti-histamínicos ou outros medicamentos que (apenas) aliviam sintomas, uma vez que a imunoterapia promete a remissão dos sintomas (definitivamente).
Dito assim parece um bom negócio (e é se houver remissão). Mas também é um bom negócio dizer que afinal dois anos não chegam, são precisos mais (NQ as vacinas a tomar mensalmente podem chegar a custar centenas de euros / ano):
http://health.usnews.com/health-care/articles/2017-02-14/immunotherapy-not-a-quick-fix-for-hay-fever

Vozes contra a indústria farmacêutica e custos excessivos de medicamentos contra o cancro

Cientistas do RU contra custos de tratamentos contra o cancro.

Citando:
"Pharmaceutical companies used to justify their prices by pointing to the high cost of clinical trials involving many thousands of patients. But that is no longer always necessary, the scientists say in their paper. The new targeted drugs require a test for a genetic biomarker to see whether patients will respond or not. That means the drug can be trialled on far fewer people. The drug crizotinib, used for advanced lung cancer, was approved following a trial involving only 347 patients, they point out. Trastuzumab (Herceptin) was first approved for advanced breast cancer and later for early breast cancer, increasing the market for the company but with no reduction in price."
(...)
"Workman, together with colleagues from the US and the Netherlands, proposes that academic discovery centres like his should forge relationships with new commercial partners – probably not the major drug companies but smaller biotech or generic drug firms. Academics should take greater control of the drugs they discover, they argue, and join with small companies that will agree to cap the price when the drug reaches the market. They would not have the expectation of big profit margins, as the major pharmaceutical companies do. But in an era where drugs are tested on smaller populations and genetic testing means they are more likely to be effective, they would not need to “cost in” all the failed attempts at producing blockbusters, as the big companies do."

Medicamentos para Alzheimer ajudam a recuperar... dentes podres?

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/damaged-teeth-regrow-alzheimers-drug-naturally-dentist-kings-college-london-a7517366.html




http://home.bt.com/news/science-news/could-this-be-the-end-of-dreaded-fillings-scientists-may-have-found-a-way-to-regrow-damaged-teeth-11364135159606
Citando:
"(...) [The] lead author of the study, said: “The simplicity of our approach makes it ideal as a clinical dental product for the natural treatment of large cavities, by providing both pulp protection and restoring dentine.
“In addition, using a drug that has already been tested in clinical trials for Alzheimer’s disease provides a real opportunity to get this dental treatment quickly into clinics.”
If a tooth is damaged or infected and the inner pulp is exposed, a band of dentine – the hard material that makes up most of the tooth – will attempt to seal off the pulp to prevent further infection.
The process involves stimulating stem cells – but it is insufficient to effectively repair large cavities. (...)"

Anti-inflamatório Ibuprofen e redução de cancro do pulmão (fumadores)

Se se quiser ignorar os efeitos secundários, parece que o ibuprofeno - em pequenas doses - diminui a probabilidade de os fumadores contrairem cancro do pulmão:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-4009958/Regular-doses-ibuprofen-lowers-smokers-risk-lung-cancer-48.html
Citando:
"Regular [small] doses of ibuprofen 'lowers smokers' risk of lung cancer by 48%'"

@2016-12-28: Editado para Ibuprofen

Efeitos secundários de medicamento contra a malária (Lariam)

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/710190/Anti-malaria-drug-Lariam-banned-ex-soldier-Afghanistan

Estatinas (para o colesterol): O desespero da Indústria (a produzir estudos) ou a imprensa a exagerar?

Um artigo interessante sobre as estatinas do NHS (SNS do Reino Unido):
http://www.nhs.uk/news/2016/09September/Pages/Statins-safe-effective-and-should-be-used-more-widely.aspx

Antibióticos podem atrasar progressão de Alzheimer?

À falta de melhor solução há que reutilizar:
http://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/health/can-antibiotics-slow-alzheimers-progression-2928337/

Sobre o circuito do medicamento (Tese)

... E como a indústria farmacêutica está sob pressão (fim de patentes e aumento de custos de I&D devido a legislação cada vez mais exigente):
http://bdigital.ufp.pt/bitstream/10284/2441/3/TM_16438.pdf

Os números chocantes da saúde nos EUA

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2013/03/26/21-graphs-that-show-americas-health-care-prices-are-ludicrous/?tid=pm_business_pop_b

Medicamentos para diabetes relevantes para Alzheimer? (reutilização)

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/pa/article-3652788/Scientists-diabetes-treatment-drugs-impact-Alzheimers-disease.html


Citando:
"Drugs used to treat diabetes may also be effective against Alzheimer's disease, new research suggests.
Scientists have found that the two conditions are strongly linked, raising the possibility of shared drug responses.
Medicines currently used to control glucose levels in diabetes may also alleviate the symptoms and progression of Alzheimer's, the team claims."

Sobre a resistência a antibióticos - The Economist

http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21699116-how-combat-dangerous-rise-antibiotic-resistance-when-drugs-donu2019t-work


Citando:
"Resistance to antimicrobial medicines, such as antibiotics and antimalarials, is caused by the survival of the fittest. Unfortunately, fit microbes mean unfit human beings. Drug-resistance is not only one of the clearest examples of evolution in action, it is also the one with the biggest immediate human cost. And it is getting worse. Stretching today’s trends out to 2050, the 700,000 deaths could reach 10m. "

Dúvidas nas recomendações para prolongar tratamento cancro da mama

http://www.m.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/news/20160606/longer-use-of-certain-drugs-cuts-recurrence-for-breast-cancer-survivors (relacionado com este artigo anterior)

Citando:
"Many survivors of breast cancers that are sensitive to estrogen are advised to take hormone-suppressing drugs such as tamoxifen for five years, to cut their odds for a recurrence.
Tamoxifen can have onerous side effects, however. Now, new research finds that taking an alternative, and less troublesome, class of medications for a full decade can reduce the risk for recurrence even more -- without affecting a woman's quality of life.
The newer class of hormone-suppressing drugs are called aromatase inhibitors, and include drugs such as letrozole (Femara), anastrozole (Arimidex) and exemestane (Aromasin)."


Críticas / reservas:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/elaineschattner/2016/06/08/major-report-touts-benefits-of-prolonged-femara-use-after-breast-cancer-im-not-convinced/#55fdca8134ff


"