Latest news with #Celebrex
Time of India
04-05-2025
- Health
- Time of India
Turmeric to cinnamon: Common herbs and spices you shouldn't mix with your medicine
Herbs and spices have long been considered a natural and safe way to flavor your food, aid digestion and support immunity. While these centuries-old superfoods are still used as kitchen staple, and trusted for their potential to boost wellness and prevent chronic diseases like arthritis, Alzheimer's, and heart disease, one should exercise caution when combining them with certain medications. In particular, too much of these 5 popular spices should be avoided when taking certain medications. People on blood thinners, blood pressure medicines, and heart rhythm drugs especially need to be careful. Cinnamon A pinch of cinnamon may make your curry or tea flavoursome, but think twice before increasing its consumption, or taking a cinnamon supplement without a doctor's advice, as a new study has found it may interact with your medicine and lessen its effect. A recent study published in Food Chemistry: Molecular Sciences has raised new concerns about how concentrated forms of cinnamon such as supplements or essential oils may interfere with the body's ability to process certain prescription medications. Researchers from the University of Mississippi's National Center for Natural Products Research simulated human digestion and investigated how cinnamon and its key chemical components like cinnamaldehyde, cinnamic acid, and cinnamon oil affect the body's xenobiotic receptors. These receptors help regulate how drugs are metabolized and cleared from the body. It was found that cinnamaldehyde and cinnamic acid activated these drug-processing receptors, which could lead the body to break down medications more quickly than intended. This may result in reduced drug effectiveness, especially for medications that require steady levels in the bloodstream to be effective. Ginger Any spice added in limited quantity to food is unlikely to cause any harm. It's the overdose of it that one must be cautious about. Ginger in recommended amounts is known to ease nausea, reduce inflammation, boost digestion, and control cholesterol and blood pressure. However, excess of this beneficial spice, can harm your health, especially if you are on blood thinners. People on anticoagulant therapy - blood thinners such as warfarin, aspirin and others - should seek advice from their healthcare experts regarding their ginger consumption. While having a cup of ginger tea or using it in your recipe, may not be harmful, too much of it can be risky. Besides, large amounts of ginger may affect insulin and lower blood sugar. Licorice Licorice root, not to be confused with licorice-flavored candy, can interact with a wide range of medications and may pose serious health risks if not consumed with caution. It has been shown to raise blood pressure and interfere with heart and blood pressure medications. The herb may also affect how the liver processes various drugs, including common pain relievers and anti-inflammatory medications like celecoxib (Celebrex), diclofenac (Voltaren), and ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin), as well as medications like glipizide for diabetes and fluvastatin for cholesterol. Women taking oral contraceptives have reported increased blood pressure and lowered potassium levels when combining them with licorice. It can also intensify the effects of certain antidepressants and corticosteroids, leading to heightened side effects. In people using stimulant laxatives, licorice can exacerbate potassium loss, which may be harmful. Additionally, it may interfere with blood sugar levels in those taking insulin or diabetes medications, and reduce the effectiveness of blood thinners, increasing the risk of clotting. St John's Wort Commonly taken as a natural remedy for mild to moderate depression, St. John's Wort can significantly interfere with many medications, says study . It can reduce the effectiveness of antidepressants, leading to potential worsening of mood symptoms. It may also lower the efficacy of birth control pills, increase the risk of unplanned pregnancy, and affect the performance of blood thinners, immunosuppressants, and certain heart medications. This herb speeds up how the liver breaks down drugs, which can reduce their concentration in the body and make them less effective. Turmeric Turmeric in your curry is fine, but you should think twice when taking supplements. Too much of it can interact with your medicine. This happens due to the spice's active component called curcumin, which may pose risks when combined with certain medications. One key concern is its potential to increase bleeding risk when taken alongside blood thinners such as warfarin, aspirin, or clopidogrel, says study . While turmeric is generally safe to add in your food, concentrated supplements can amplify these effects, making it important for those on anticoagulants or upcoming surgeries to consult a healthcare provider before use. Combat Monsoon Cold & Cough: Here's A Quick Fix With Indian Borage Leaf And Turmeric Masterclass for Students. Upskill Young Ones Today!– Join Now
Reuters
27-02-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Drugmaker Viatris forecasts weak 2025 results after import curbs on India plant
Feb 27 (Reuters) - Viatris (VTRS.O), opens new tab forecast annual revenue and profit below Wall Street estimates on Thursday, two months after the U.S. health regulator restricted imports from one of the drugmaker's key plants in India. Shares of Viatris fell 14.6% in premarket trading. Viatris in December 23, 2024 disclosed that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has restricted imports of 11 products from its facility in Indore, India due to violations of federal requirements. The company estimated on Thursday that the FDA action will reduce its 2025 total revenues by about $500 million and adjusted core earnings by about $385 million. "Although in the past we and investors had assumed a minimal impact from Indore warning letter, today's guidance shows a significant negative impact," said Ashwani Verma, an analyst at brokerage UBS. The Canonsburg, Pennsylvania-based Viatris forecast 2025 revenue between $13.5 billion and $14 billion, below analysts' estimates of $14.27 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG. The company expects 2025 adjusted earnings per share between $2.12 and $2.26, compared with estimates of $2.59. The FDA has permitted exceptions for four Viatris products due to shortage concerns, though the specific products have not been disclosed. Viatris, formed through the merger of generic drugmaker Mylan and Pfizer's (PFE.N), opens new tab Upjohn business in 2020, has generic and branded drugs in its portfolio, including erectile dysfunction drug Viagra, anti-anxiety medication Xanax, epilepsy treatment Lyrica and arthritis treatment Celebrex. The drugmaker also fell short of market expectations for fourth-quarter revenue and profit. On an adjusted basis, the company reported a profit of 54 cents per share, compared with analysts' estimates of 57 cents per share, according to data compiled by LSEG. It reported a revenue of $3.52 billion for the fourth quarter, compared with analysts' average estimate of $3.61 billion.
Reuters
31-01-2025
- Health
- Reuters
Health Rounds: Old anti-inflammatory may delay colon cancer recurrence
Jan 31 (Reuters) - Patients with colon cancer who still have cancer cells in their blood after surgery may improve their survival odds with daily use of the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory pill celecoxib, new research suggests. In a large trial, patients with positive blood tests for circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) after surgery had worse outcomes in general. But treatment with celecoxib, sold under the brand name Celebrex by Viatris (VTRS.O), opens new tab, significantly prolonged the amount of time they lived without their cancer recurring, according to data presented at the in San Francisco. Celecoxib, which belongs to a class of drugs known as COX-2 inhibitors, has been associated with a reduced risk of colorectal polyps and cancer in earlier trials. In the current study, the 2,526 study participants with cancer confined to the colon and nearby lymph nodes all underwent surgery and received chemotherapy for either three or six months. Patients received either celecoxib or a placebo daily for three years. While the celecoxib did not appear to prevent cancer recurrence, in a subsequent analysis researchers found that in patients with ctDNA, the drug significantly improved disease-free survival, or the time it takes for the cancer to recur. They also found that in this subset, recurrence developed in 61% of the celecoxib group and in 77% of the placebo group. After six years of follow-up and after taking patients' individual risk factors into account, cancer recurrence was 37% less likely with daily celecoxib than with a placebo. 'This is one of the first studies to show that ctDNA status has predictive utility in terms of selecting patients that respond better to a drug,' study leader Dr. Jonathan Nowak of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston said in a statement. 'These findings will help develop a personalized approach to additional therapy for patients with early-stage colon cancer,' Dr. Jeffrey Meyerhardt of Dana-Farber, who also worked on the study, said in a statement. Off-the-shelf CAR-T cells closer to reality A less expensive 'off-the-shelf' version of revolutionary CAR-T cell blood cancer therapies may someday be possible, a report published on Thursday in Nature, opens new tab suggests. In CAR-T cell therapy, a patient's own immune cells are removed and altered so they will attack cancer cells. These T cells are extracted from the blood, genetically modified to fight the individual's cancer, and then reinfused into the patient, a costly and time consuming process that limits access. Use of cheaper non-personalized, or allogeneic, CAR-T cells has so far not been feasible because the patient's immune system rejects them. To protect allogeneic CAR-T cells from attack by patients' immune cells, researchers at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York studied viruses that have evolved and have proteins that help them survive such an assault. One such protein, or evasin, in the human immunodeficiency virus, called HIV Nef, helps HIV-infected cells evade the immune system. In experiments in mice, HIV nef added to allogeneic CAR-T cells worked via multiple pathways to help the CAR-T cells evade the immune system and continue to function, according to the report. 'Our study illustrates key principles that inform allogeneic CAR-T cell engineering,' the researchers said. 'Virus-like immune escape can harness multiple mechanisms that act in concert to enhance the therapeutic efficacy of allogeneic CAR T cells.' Tiny pieces of plastics block brain arteries in mice Scientists who tracked microplastics moving through the bodies of mice in real time found they eventually become lodged in blood vessels in the brain, according to a report in the journal Science Advances, opens new tab. It is not clear whether such obstructions occur in people, but in the mice the plastics in brain vessels appeared to affect their movement and behavior, researchers said. The researchers gave mice water laced with fluorescent spheres of polystyrene, commonly used in manufacturing of appliances, packaging and toys. They used a fluorescence imaging technique to observe the mouse brains through a transparent window surgically implanted into the skull. Immune cells known as neutrophils and phagocytes ingested the bright plastic specks and traveled through blood vessels to the brain, where they got trapped in tiny blood vessels, the researchers determined. Mice with plastic clots in the brain moved more slowly, and performed cognitive tasks less efficiently, compared to control mice, the researchers said. Most of the clots eventually dissolved during the four-week study, and behavior returned to normal. 'Humans and mice have different immune systems, coagulation systems, and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular circulatory systems,' so the findings are not directly applicable to humans, the researchers noted. Some, however - such as people with a history of heart attack or stroke, and those with obesity and clogged blood vessels – might be more vulnerable to plastic clots in blood vessels, they suggested. They called for more research into the potential obstructive effects of microplastics in humans. Keep up with the latest medical breakthroughs and healthcare trends with the Reuters Health Rounds newsletter. Sign up here.
CNN
31-01-2025
- Health
- CNN
FDA approves first new type of pain medication in 25 years
The US Food and Drug Administration signed off Thursday on the first new type of pain reliever to be approved in more than two decades. The drug, suzetrigine, is a 50-milligram prescription pill that's taken every 12 hours after a larger starter dose. It will be sold under the brand name Journavx. 'A new non-opioid analgesic therapeutic class for acute pain offers an opportunity to mitigate certain risks associated with using an opioid for pain and provides patients with another treatment option,' Dr. Jacqueline Corrigan-Curay, acting director of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in a news release. 'This action and the agency's designations to expedite the drug's development and review underscore FDA's commitment to approving safe and effective alternatives to opioids for pain management.' Government surveys show that analgesics, or medications that control pain, are the most commonly prescribed type of drug in hospitals. About 80 million Americans fill prescriptions each year for medications to treat new instances of moderate to severe pain, according to a study by Vertex Pharmaceuticals, the company that developed the new drug; about half those prescriptions are written for opioid medications, which can lead to dependence and addiction. Suzetrigine is the first new painkiller approved in the US since Celebrex, a type of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug called a Cox-2 inhibitor, which was approved in 1998. Multiple parts of the body are involved in the sensation of pain, explains Dr. Sergio Bergese, an anesthesiologist at Stony Brook University's Renaissance School of Medicine. Nerve cells carry an electrical signal from the site of tissue damage up to the brain, which perceives the signal as pain. Unlike opioid medications, which dull the sensation of pain in the brain, suzetrigine works by preventing pain-signaling nerves around the body from firing in the first place. 'This drug, what it is doing is interrupting that path, so even though the tissue injury exists, the brain doesn't know,' Bergese said. And crucially, suzetrigine creates no euphoria or high like opioids sometimes can, so doctors believe there's no potential for it to create addition or dependence in people who use it. The medication was discovered after researchers learned about a family of fire walkers in Pakistan and discovered that they lacked a gene allowing pain signals fire in their skin. Members of this family could walk over hot coals without flinching. 'They knew that they were on something hot; they knew they could feel the coals. So it's not impacting the nerves that do heat and touch and stuff like that. It is just these pain-conducting nerves,' said Stuart Arbuckle, chief operating officer of Vertex Pharmaceuticals. 'They were, in every other way, normal.' Still, it took scientists 25 years to figure out how to exploit that pain-conducting mechanism to develop a medication. 'Neurons talk to each other by producing series of nerve impulses, like a Morse code,' said Dr. Stephen Waxman, who directs the Center for Neuroscience and Regeneration Research at the Yale School of Medicine. 'And nerve impulses are produced by tiny molecular batteries within the membranes of neurons. The molecular batteries are called sodium channels.' Suzetrigine works by closing one sodium channel that conducts only pain signals. There have been many false starts along the way to finding a drug that could block one specific sodium channel. Suzetrigine's approval means other drugs that could work even better are likely to follow, Waxman said. 'It is an important step forward, because it provides proof of concept that a [sodium-channel blocker] can reduce pain in humans,' said Waxman, who has no financial ties to the new drug. 'That opens up the door to a second generation of even more effective [medications].' Suzetrigine is a pill that's given in two dosages. In studies, participants got an initial dose of 100 milligrams, followed by 50 milligrams every 12 hours. Doctors stress that it may not be the right drug for everyone or for every type of pain. In two clinical trials that included almost 600 participants, suzetrigine controlled pain after abdominal and foot surgeries better than an inactive placebo pill. About as many people said suzetrigine reduced their pain by at least half after surgery as those who took Vicodin, which is a combination of acetaminophen and the opioid hydrocodone. The research wasn't designed to directly compare suzetrigine to Vicodin, however, so it's hard to know whether one worked better than the other. On a well-known rating scale that runs from 0 to 10, the study participants started with pain of about seven, on average, and suzetrigine reduced it roughly 3.5 points. 'It's not like eliminating all pain,' Arbuckle said. 'It's reducing pain by about 50%.' In a third study, of people who had back pain caused by sciatica, suzetrigine reduced pain by about 2 points, the same amount reported by people taking a placebo, suggesting that this drug might not be a standout for chronic pain. Vertex disagrees, saying that it has tested the drug in different types of chronic pain and that it seems to work for long-term pain, too. The company is continuing to test it in people who have diabetic neuropathy, in which high blood sugar levels damage nerves over time, leading to symptoms such as numbness, tingling, pain and muscle weakness. The sciatica study was smaller than the others, with about 100 people in the suzetrigine arm and in the placebo group, so there may not have been enough participants to show clear differences between the groups. Placebos tend to have large effects in pain studies too, which complicates their interpretation. Get CNN Health's weekly newsletter Sign up here to get The Results Are In with Dr. Sanjay Gupta every Friday from the CNN Health team. 'In our opinion, the drug did what we expected to do in terms of the amount of pain relief,' Arbuckle said. 'But unfortunately, as often happens in studies in pain, there is quite a large placebo response.' Doctors who help people manage pain said they were excited to have a new option. 'The more options we have, the better we're able to treat each and every patient,' said Dr. Kimberley Mauer, an anesthesiologist at Oregon Health and Science University. Mauer said cost might be a big factor in how the drug is used. Vertex said that it has set a wholesale cost of $15.50 per 50-mg pill but that patient assistance programs would be available. Mauer said doctors and patients would have to wait to learn what insurance companies might do in terms of coverage. 'It might limit some patients getting it. So we just have to kind of see, and it's hard to tell until it kind of gets out on the market,' she said.
CNN
31-01-2025
- Health
- CNN
FDA approves first new type of pain medication in 25 years
The US Food and Drug Administration signed off Thursday on the first new type of pain reliever to be approved in more than two decades. The drug, suzetrigine, is a 50-milligram prescription pill that's taken every 12 hours after a larger starter dose. It will be sold under the brand name Journavx. 'A new non-opioid analgesic therapeutic class for acute pain offers an opportunity to mitigate certain risks associated with using an opioid for pain and provides patients with another treatment option,' Dr. Jacqueline Corrigan-Curay, acting director of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in a news release. 'This action and the agency's designations to expedite the drug's development and review underscore FDA's commitment to approving safe and effective alternatives to opioids for pain management.' Government surveys show that analgesics, or medications that control pain, are the most commonly prescribed type of drug in hospitals. About 80 million Americans fill prescriptions each year for medications to treat new instances of moderate to severe pain, according to a study by Vertex Pharmaceuticals, the company that developed the new drug; about half those prescriptions are written for opioid medications, which can lead to dependence and addiction. Suzetrigine is the first new painkiller approved in the US since Celebrex, a type of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug called a Cox-2 inhibitor, which was approved in 1998. Multiple parts of the body are involved in the sensation of pain, explains Dr. Sergio Bergese, an anesthesiologist at Stony Brook University's Renaissance School of Medicine. Nerve cells carry an electrical signal from the site of tissue damage up to the brain, which perceives the signal as pain. Unlike opioid medications, which dull the sensation of pain in the brain, suzetrigine works by preventing pain-signaling nerves around the body from firing in the first place. 'This drug, what it is doing is interrupting that path, so even though the tissue injury exists, the brain doesn't know,' Bergese said. And crucially, suzetrigine creates no euphoria or high like opioids sometimes can, so doctors believe there's no potential for it to create addition or dependence in people who use it. The medication was discovered after researchers learned about a family of fire walkers in Pakistan and discovered that they lacked a gene allowing pain signals fire in their skin. Members of this family could walk over hot coals without flinching. 'They knew that they were on something hot; they knew they could feel the coals. So it's not impacting the nerves that do heat and touch and stuff like that. It is just these pain-conducting nerves,' said Stuart Arbuckle, chief operating officer of Vertex Pharmaceuticals. 'They were, in every other way, normal.' Still, it took scientists 25 years to figure out how to exploit that pain-conducting mechanism to develop a medication. 'Neurons talk to each other by producing series of nerve impulses, like a Morse code,' said Dr. Stephen Waxman, who directs the Center for Neuroscience and Regeneration Research at the Yale School of Medicine. 'And nerve impulses are produced by tiny molecular batteries within the membranes of neurons. The molecular batteries are called sodium channels.' Suzetrigine works by closing one sodium channel that conducts only pain signals. There have been many false starts along the way to finding a drug that could block one specific sodium channel. Suzetrigine's approval means other drugs that could work even better are likely to follow, Waxman said. 'It is an important step forward, because it provides proof of concept that a [sodium-channel blocker] can reduce pain in humans,' said Waxman, who has no financial ties to the new drug. 'That opens up the door to a second generation of even more effective [medications].' Suzetrigine is a pill that's given in two dosages. In studies, participants got an initial dose of 100 milligrams, followed by 50 milligrams every 12 hours. Doctors stress that it may not be the right drug for everyone or for every type of pain. In two clinical trials that included almost 600 participants, suzetrigine controlled pain after abdominal and foot surgeries better than an inactive placebo pill. About as many people said suzetrigine reduced their pain by at least half after surgery as those who took Vicodin, which is a combination of acetaminophen and the opioid hydrocodone. The research wasn't designed to directly compare suzetrigine to Vicodin, however, so it's hard to know whether one worked better than the other. On a well-known rating scale that runs from 0 to 10, the study participants started with pain of about seven, on average, and suzetrigine reduced it roughly 3.5 points. 'It's not like eliminating all pain,' Arbuckle said. 'It's reducing pain by about 50%.' In a third study, of people who had back pain caused by sciatica, suzetrigine reduced pain by about 2 points, the same amount reported by people taking a placebo, suggesting that this drug might not be a standout for chronic pain. Vertex disagrees, saying that it has tested the drug in different types of chronic pain and that it seems to work for long-term pain, too. The company is continuing to test it in people who have diabetic neuropathy, in which high blood sugar levels damage nerves over time, leading to symptoms such as numbness, tingling, pain and muscle weakness. The sciatica study was smaller than the others, with about 100 people in the suzetrigine arm and in the placebo group, so there may not have been enough participants to show clear differences between the groups. Placebos tend to have large effects in pain studies too, which complicates their interpretation. Get CNN Health's weekly newsletter Sign up here to get The Results Are In with Dr. Sanjay Gupta every Friday from the CNN Health team. 'In our opinion, the drug did what we expected to do in terms of the amount of pain relief,' Arbuckle said. 'But unfortunately, as often happens in studies in pain, there is quite a large placebo response.' Doctors who help people manage pain said they were excited to have a new option. 'The more options we have, the better we're able to treat each and every patient,' said Dr. Kimberley Mauer, an anesthesiologist at Oregon Health and Science University. Mauer said cost might be a big factor in how the drug is used. Vertex said that it has set a wholesale cost of $15.50 per 50-mg pill but that patient assistance programs would be available. Mauer said doctors and patients would have to wait to learn what insurance companies might do in terms of coverage. 'It might limit some patients getting it. So we just have to kind of see, and it's hard to tell until it kind of gets out on the market,' she said.
