Medicine News

If you use any hypnotic drugs you shoul know that recent researches show that it can effect on your body balance and standing steadiness.


Background
Disturbed body balance and standing steadiness are problematic for those who wake up at night or in the morning after using hypnotic drugs. As a result, falls and hip fractures are frequently reported in patients using sleep medication.

Methods
A literature search was performed to identify double blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials that examined body balance and standing steadiness. Drugs that were searched were nitrazepam, triazolam, lorazepam, temazepam, loprazolam, flunitrazepam, flurazepam, and the Z-drugs zopiclone, zolpidem and zaleplon.

Results
A total of 57 studies were eligible for inclusion. Results showed that both benzodiazepine hypnotics and the Z-drugs significantly impair body balance and standing steadiness after single dose administration. Impairments correlate significantly with blood plasma levels and are greatest at peak plasma concentrations, but are sometimes still present upon awakening. Balance problems were dose-related and most pronounced in elderly. Co-administration of alcohol aggravated the impairment. After repeated daily use of hypnotic drugs partial tolerance develops to the impairing effects on standing steadiness.

Conclusion
Single dose administration of benzodiazepine hypnotics and Z-drugs significantly impair body balance in a dose-dependent manner. Zolpidem and zopiclone produced similar significant impairment as benzodiazepine hypnotics. Zaleplon significantly impaired balance up to 2 h after intake. Partial tolerance develops after repeated daily use. In conclusion, patients should be warned about the possible risk of imbalance and falls due to the use of sleep medication.

via www.smrv-journal.com/

With more and more Picture Archiving and Communication System or PACS solutions being offered by different providers, it is essentially important for you to understand the regulations governing the use of PACS or diagnostic image storage solutions in medical practices. There are several regulations that need to be met, and we are going to look at them in this article.

Diagnostic image storage solutions are classified as medical devices, so you need to review the USFDA’s regulations regarding medical devices before completing your purchase. The Food and Drug Administration defines specific guidelines that all system providers must follow. Check if the system you are getting meets these regulations before completing the purchase.

Since the use of PACS is also related to patient’s privacy and sensitive patient details, you must also make sure that the system you are getting is properly secured. HIPAA compliance is a must, so check if the system you are getting is advertised as HIPAA compliant. If you don’t see proper description, don’t hesitate to ask questions regarding this particular compliance.

There are several other specific regulations that you need to understand before you can choose the most appropriate PACS solution to use. The Mammography Quality Standards Act, for example, must be met if PACS is used in conjunction with mammography diagnostic tools.

Gardian reports that orphans and babies as young as three months old have been used as guinea pigs in potentially dangerous medical experiments sponsored by pharmaceutical companies, an Observer investigation has revealed.
British drug giant GlaxoSmithKline is embroiled in the scandal. The firm sponsored experiments on the children from Incarnation Children's Centre, a New York care home that specialises in treating HIV sufferers and is run by Catholic charities.

The children had either been infected with HIV or born to HIV-positive mothers. Their parents were dead, untraceable or deemed unfit to look after them.

According to documents obtained by The Observer, Glaxo has sponsored at least four medical trials since 1995 using Hispanic and black children at Incarnation. The documents give details of all clinical trials in the US and reveal the experiments sponsored by Glaxo were designed to test the 'safety and tolerance' of Aids medications, some of which have potentially dangerous side effects. Glaxo manufactures a number of drugs designed to treat HIV, including AZT.



British drug giant GlaxoSmithKline has agreed to pay $750 million to settle criminal and civil complaints as a result of a whistleblower lawsuit that said the company knowingly sold tainted drugs for years, including GlaxoSmithKline mainstay drugs Avandia, Paxil and Tagamet and a contaminated baby ointment.

Altogether, GlaxoSmithKline sold 20 drugs made at a GlaxoSmithKline plant in Cidra, Puerto Rico according to court papers filed in Boston federal court under the U.S. False Claims Act. The whistleblower's lawsuit was originally filed against GlaxoSmithKline in 2004. It alleged the company submitted false claims to government health programs: drugs manufactured at the plant weren't safe and effective, and thus shouldn't have been covered by government programs.