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Current Status Of The Development Programs Of New Indications And Formulations For Aricept(R) For Enhancing Patient Value
Eisai Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Tokyo, President & CEO: Haruo Naito, "Eisai") and Eisai Corporation of North America (Headquarters: Woodcliff Lake, NJ, Chairman and CEO Hajime Shimizu) are currently focusing on three clinical development programs for the company"s major product Aricept(R) (donepezil hydrochloride tablets) to further contribute to patients with Alzheimer"s disease. As progress in those programs has been made, Eisai announces the status as follows:
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CDC, National Chlamydia Coalition Partner To Raise Awareness, Testing Rates
The National Chlamydia Coalition is partnering with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to increase public awareness and screening efforts for chlamydia, the most common sexually transmitted infection in the U.S., the Wall Street Journal reports. According to CDC, there were 1.1 million recorded cases of chlamydia in 2007, although experts estimate that there are twice as many cases that are not detected largely because the infection often causes few symptoms and many people go unscreened. The infection is three times more common in women than men, which experts say could be because men eliminate it from their bodies more readily than women. Chlamydia is treatable with a single dose of antibiotics, but if left untreated, it can lead to infertility or increased risk for ectopic pregnancies in women.CDC recommends that all sexually active women younger than age 26 be tested annually for the infection, as well as older women who have had a change of sexual partners. However, fewer than 40% of women in those groups are tested, the Journal reports. Chlamydia is particularly prevalent in women ages 15 to 19 and blacks, although sample studies have shown nearly 10% of all female Army recruits, 10% of female college freshmen and 14% of women in managed care plans are infected with chlamydia.Despite its prevalence, chlamydia is one of the least known STIs, which has compounded the difficulty of promoting screening efforts, the Journal reports. It causes few symptoms, and many people are unaware they were exposed to it. According to the Journal, many patients do not ask to be screened for the disease because the few symptoms it causes -- such as bleeding between periods, occasional vaginal discharge, pain during intercourse, pelvic pain in women, and burning upon urination in men -- are common to many conditions. While most screening efforts aim to identify active cases in younger women, there is a serious risk of infertility to older women who were exposed to the bacteria when they were younger, the Journal reports.According to the Journal, the chlamydia bacteria can move to a woman"s upper genital tract and set off pelvic inflammatory disease, which often leaves inflammation and scar tissue that obstructs a woman"s fallopian tubes and fertilization. PID is the most common cause of ectopic pregnancy and can cause endometriosis, a condition in which small portions of the uterine lining tissue grow outside the uterus, which can cause infertility and pain. Miklos Toth, a New York City-based ob-gyn, said, "It"s not the infection itself but the body"s response to get rid of the bacteria that causes scarring. And even if just some fragments of the bacteria remain, the immune system thinks an active infection is still present."According to the Journal, about 25% of women treated for chlamydia are re-infected within six months likely because of a partner who was not treated. CDC recommends that doctors prescribe a second course of antibiotics for partners of people with the infection. However, many doctors do not screen for or discuss chlamydia during office visits with their patients, especially pediatricians who may be uncomfortable discussing sexual activity with their younger patients, the Journal reports. Lynn Barclay, president of the American Social Health Association, said, "A lot of health care providers aren"t making the connection when they are dealing with adolescents. But to pretend that teenagers aren"t having sex is very dangerous."The Journal reports that the issue of how minors can pay for chlamydia testing can also create barriers. All 50 states allow minors to be tested and treated for STIs without parental consent. However, if a minor"s health insurance is provided by his or her parents, a lab fee listed on an explanation of benefits report for the testing could be considered a breach of confidentiality. Although some doctors suggest that minors pay the $40 to $90 cost for the test in cash, many refer younger patients to STI or family planning clinics that offer low- or no-cost testing. The Jour
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What Is An Aneurysm? What Causes Aneurysm?
An aneurysm occurs when part of a blood vessel (artery) or cardiac chamber swells, - either the blood vessel is damaged or there is a weakness in the wall of the blood vessel. As blood pressure builds up it balloons out at its weakest point. The swelling can be quite small or very large - when large it tends to extend along the blood vessel. As the aneurysm grows there is a greater risk of rupture - this can lead to severe hemorrhage, and other complications, including sudden death.
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Supreme Court Should Be 'Reined In' To Return Power To Legislative Branch, NYT Columnist Writes

Although Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor"s confirmation hearings are more than a month away, "it"s easy to predict how they will go," New York Times columnist Ross Douthat writes. Douthat predicts that Senate Judiciary Committee members "will attempt to divine Sotomayor"s position on a variety of controversial topics," such as abortion rights, and in "a series of polite, evasive answers, the nominee will feign a studious neutrality on almost every issue that could come before her during what"s likely to be decades as one of the most powerful women in the world." According to Douthat, the "deeper stakes" that likely will be ignored are that "Sotomayor will be joining a high court that"s gradually become a kind of extra legislative body." He cites research from Harvard Law School professor Jed Shugerman showing that the court over roughly the past 50 years has invalidated both state and federal statutes at an unprecedented rate. Douthat also points to data from Evan Caminker of the University of Michigan showing that in one eight-year period, the court invalidated 16 federal laws in 5-4 votes, something that occurred only 25 times in the previous two centuries. Douthat writes that "settling so many vexing controversies with 5-to-4 votes -- effectively making Anthony Kennedy the nation"s philosopher king -- is an awfully poor way to run a republic."Douthat continues that the "modern court"s most enduringly controversial power grabs -- with Roe v. Wade leading the way -- were usually the work of liberal justices" but that "in practice, the main divide between liberal and conservative judges tends to be over the responsibilities of the federal government, not judicial activism per se." He writes, "There are bipartisan ways that the Court could be reined in, and the legislative branch reinvigorated," including the idea of a supermajority rule that would require a 6-3 vote to overturn federal legislation. This idea "might spur the court toward greater consensus, and perhaps greater modesty as well," according to Douthat. Another possibility would be to implement 12-year term limits, he says. Douthat concludes that these suggestions would not "reduce the Supreme Court"s power directly, but it would help us see the court for what it has become -- a deeply political institution, as fallible as any other, and answerable, when all is said and done, to us" (Douthat, New York Times, 6/2). Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You can view the entire Daily Women"s Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women"s Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company. © 2009 The Advisory Board Company. All rights reserved.


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