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Planning Pregnancy May Cut Birth Defects
Posted 6 Apr 2012 by Drugs.com
FRIDAY, April 6 – Women who'd like to become pregnant – especially those who are taking medications for chronic conditions – may need to add something to their to-do list: Plan, plan, plan. That's because some medications are known to cause birth defects. Avoiding all medications during pregnancy is not always possible, however, and sometimes not taking a prescribed medication could be harmful, too. "The best thing for women to do, all women, is to plan their pregnancy," said Dr. Diane Ashton, deputy medical director for the March of Dimes. "Women should speak with their physician about their plans to become pregnant. If they have a condition that requires medication, that's an ideal time to switch to medications that have less risk, if necessary. And, it gives time for the condition to be stabilized." About 120,000 babies born each year in the United States – or about one of every ... Read more
Related support groups: Accutane, Claravis, Isotretinoin, Amnesteem, Sotret
Cancer Patients Should Ask Doctors to Use Simple Terms
Posted 28 Sep 2011 by Drugs.com
WEDNESDAY, Sept. 28 – Cancer patients are often faced with many difficult-to-understand treatment choices that can have serious side effects and even mean the difference between life and death. That's why it's crucial that patients insist doctors use plain language in explaining the options, advised Angela Fagerlin, an associate professor of internal medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School and a researcher at the U-M Comprehensive Cancer Center. "People are making life and death decisions that may affect their survival and they need to know what they're getting themselves into. Cancer treatments and tests can be serious. Patients need to know what kind of side effects they might experience as a result of the treatment they undergo," Fagerlin said in a university news release. She and her colleagues outlined a number of tips to help patients get the information they need ... Read more
Related support groups: Cancer, Methotrexate, Provera, Breast Cancer, Lupron, Accutane, Depo-Provera, Prostate Cancer, Tamoxifen, Femara, Arimidex, Lupron Depot, Medroxyprogesterone, Claravis, Gleevec
Severe Acne May Up Suicide Risk: Study
Posted 11 Nov 2010 by Drugs.com
THURSDAY, Nov. 11 – Severe acne may significantly increase suicide risk, and patients taking isotretinoin (Accutane) for the skin condition should be monitored for at least a year after treatment ends, Swedish researchers report. "Treatment with Accutane actually entails an increased risk of suicide attempts," said lead researcher Anders Sundstrom, a pharmacoepidemiologist at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. However, depression caused by the acne, rather than the drug itself, is probably the culprit, he said. The risk of suicide is very small, Sundstrom stressed. There could be one suicide attempt among 2,300 people taking Accutane, and that assumes that the drug caused the suicide attempt, he said. For the study, published online Nov. 12 in BMJ, Sundstrom's team collected data on 5,756 people treated for severe acne with Accutane from 1980 to 1989. The average age of the men was ... Read more
Related support groups: Acne, Accutane, Claravis, Isotretinoin, Amnesteem, Sotret
Acne, Psoriasis Meds Don't Raise Fracture Risk
Posted 17 May 2010 by Drugs.com
MONDAY, May 17 – Patients who take drugs like Accutane and Soriatane for acne and psoriasis don't seem to be at higher risk of breaking bones, a new study finds, even though similar dietary supplements have been linked to fractures. Accutane and Soriatane – known generically as isotretinoin and acitretin – are similar to vitamin A, which has been linked to broken bones when taken in high doses. The drugs themselves, which are used to treat acne and psoriasis, have been connected to lower levels of bone density. In the new study, researchers at Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark studied 124,655 patients with broken bones from the year 2000. They compared them to people of the same age and sex who didn't have broken bones. The researchers found that the drugs didn't boost the risk of broken bones, even at high doses. The study appears in the May issue of the Archives of Dermatology. ... Read more
Related support groups: Accutane, Claravis, Isotretinoin, Amnesteem, Soriatane, Sotret, Acitretin, Soriatane CK
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Related Condition Support Groups
Acne, Rosacea, Melanoma - Metastatic, Granuloma Annulare, Acute Nonlymphocytic Leukemia, Pityriasis rubra pilaris
Related Drug Support Groups
Accutane, Claravis, Amnesteem, Sotret, Myorisan