A second injectable diabetes drug has been approved for weight loss in overweight and obese adults, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Wednesday. The weight-loss drug Zepbound contains the same active ingredient, tirzepatide, as the diabetes drug Mounjaro. Both medications are made by Eli Lilly and Co. “Obesity and overweight are serious conditions that can be associated with some of the leading causes of death such as heart disease, stroke and diabetes,” Dr. John Sharretts, director of the Division of Diabetes, Lipid Disorders, and Obesity in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in an agency news release. “In light of increasing rates of both obesity and overweight in the United States, today’s approval addresses an unmet medical need.” The approval mirrors the FDA’s earlier approval of Wegovy to treat obesity. That blockbuster drug contains the same active ingredient as the diabetes drug Ozempic. About 7 in 10 American adults are overweight or obese, the FDA said, and many of those folks have at least one weight-related health risk, such as high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes or elevated cholesterol levels. Losing 5% to 10% of body weight has been associated with a reduced risk of heart disease in adults carrying excess weight, the FDA added. Zepbound works by activating hormone receptors in the body to reduce appetite and food intake, the…  read on >  read on >

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 8, 2023 (Healthday News) — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday that it plans to pull a veterinary drug used commonly in the pork industry because it might pose a cancer risk to humans who eat pig products. The antimicrobial, carbadox (Mecadox), is typically added to pig feed to fight infections and fatten up the animals. But pork contaminated with “carcinogenic residues” from the drug could wind up in foods like hot dogs and cold cuts, though the agency stressed in its notice that it isn’t telling people to change their food choices at the moment. The FDA’s concerns with carbadox date back decades: When it was first approved in 1998, the agency’s worries were abated by a strategy that involved testing edible parts of pigs that had been given carbadox. According to the agency, data now shows that those testing methods do not adequately measure the cancer risk posed by pork produced while using the drug. After issuing its first warning about pulling the drug in 2016, it isn’t clear why the agency didn’t move sooner to actually do so, CBS News reported. “This action itself arrived long overdue. The European Union and Canada prohibited use of carbadox in 1999 and 2006, respectively, due to concerns about residues and the safety of workers handling the drug,” advocacy groups wrote in…  read on >  read on >

Amid reports of more illnesses and additional product recalls, U.S. health officials have expanded their investigation into potentially lead-tainted pouches of apple cinnamon pureed fruit. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said in an updated alert posted Friday that it has received reports of seven illnesses in at least five states possibly linked to contaminated puree. Two new companies, Schnucks Markets of St. Louis and Weis Markets of Sunbury, Pa., announced recalls of certain cinnamon applesauce products because they may contain high levels of lead. WanaBana of Coral Gables, Fla., had previously recalled all lots and expiration dates of its apple cinnamon fruit puree. Eating the contaminated products could result in “acute toxicity,” FDA officials said. Parents and caregivers should not buy or serve the cinnamon applesauce products, which are sold through multiple retailers, including Amazon, Dollar Tree, Weis Markets, Schnucks and Eatwell Markets. Children and others who have consumed the products should be tested for possible lead poisoning, the agency said. Just last week, the FDA issued an initial warning after four children in North Carolina were found to have high levels of lead in their blood that was linked to the WanaBana products, the FDA said.  State health officials detected “extremely high” concentrations of lead in the pouches after analyzing multiple lots.  Lead can enter food products through soil, air, water and industrial…  read on >  read on >

Nearly 30,000 pounds of dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets have been recalled by maker Tyson Foods Inc. after customers discovered small bits of metal in some of the nuggets. There has been one reported minor oral injury associated with consumption of the nuggets, which were produced on Sept. 5, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) said in a statement it released Saturday. FSIS said it has received no additional reports of injury or illness from consumption of these products. Anyone who’s worried about an injury or illness should contact a healthcare provider, the agency said. The recall is specifically for the 29-ounce plastic bags of the product called Fully Cooked Fun Nuggets Breaded Shaped Chicken Patties, the FSIS said. Approximately 29,819 pounds of the Fun Nuggets are affected by the recall, and they were shipped to distributors in Alabama, California, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia and Wisconsin. The plastic packages contain “Tyson FULLY COOKED FUN NUGGETS BREADED SHAPED CHICKEN PATTIES” with a Best If Used By date of SEP 04, 2024, and lot codes 2483BRV0207, 2483BRV0208, 2483BRV0209 and 2483BRV0210, the agency added. The products subject to recall also have the number “P-7211” on the back on the package. The problem was discovered after Tyson Foods notified FSIS that it had received consumer complaints reporting small metal pieces in the chicken patty…  read on >  read on >

Put down the saltshaker — especially if you’re at risk of type 2 diabetes. While the condition brings to mind the need to avoid sugar, a new study links it to frequent salt consumption. “We already know that limiting salt can reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases and hypertension, but this study shows for the first time that taking the saltshaker off the table can help prevent type 2 diabetes as well,” said lead study author Dr. Lu Qi. He is chair and professor at the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine in New Orleans. “It’s not a difficult change to make, but it could have a tremendous impact on your health,” Qi said in a university news release. To better understand the link, the researchers surveyed more than 400,000 adults registered in the UK Biobank about their salt intake. Over almost 12 years on average, the research team saw more than 13,000 cases of type 2 diabetes develop. Compared to those who “never” or “rarely” used salt, participants who “sometimes,” “usually” or “always” added salt had a respective 13%, 20% and 39% higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to the study. Why high salt intake would have this impact is not fully understood. Qi thinks salt encourages people to eat larger portions, which then increases the chances of developing…  read on >  read on >

Despite progress in recent decades, too many Americans still have dangerously high LDL cholesterol levels, and about a quarter don’t even know it, new research finds. That puts those people at risk for a longer span of artery clogging disease and increases their risk of heart attack and stroke, a new study says. “We are not talking about mildly elevated levels in this particular study,” said co-author Dr. Salim Virani, vice provost in the Office of Research and Graduate Studies at Aga Khan University in Karachi, Pakistan. “We are talking about levels where you need to start treatment right away.” Doctors may recommend diet and lifestyle changes for mildly elevated cholesterol levels, but someone with levels of 190 mg/dL or higher should also take cholesterol-lowering medication, experts say. A family history of heart disease further heightens the risk. “In those people, treatment needs to be started right away. If you don’t, then there’s a very high probability that a lot of these patients will end up having heart attacks and strokes at a very young age,” Virani said. Of course, you can only start treatment for high cholesterol if you know your cholesterol numbers are high. “That’s why it’s absolutely imperative that everybody should get their cholesterol checked and they should know their numbers,” Virani said. A simple blood test is all you need. Treatment…  read on >  read on >

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 1, 2023 (HealthDay News) — A new gene therapy for sickle cell disease was deemed safe by a U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory panel on Tuesday, paving the way for full approval by early December. The FDA had already decided that the therapy, known as exa-cel, was effective. Developed by Vertex Pharmaceuticals of Boston and CRISPR Therapeutics of Switzerland, exa-cel frees patients from the excruciating symptoms of sickle cell disease. If approved by Dec. 8, as expected, it would become the first medicine to treat a genetic disease with the CRISPR gene-editing technique, CRISPR Therapeutics said in a news release. But it won’t be the only new treatment for the inherited condition coming down the pike: By Dec. 20, the FDA will also decide on a second potential cure for a disease that typically strikes Black people, a gene therapy crafted by Bluebird Bio, of Somerville, Mass. “We are finally at a spot where we can envision broadly available cures for sickle cell disease,” said Dr. John Tisdale, director of the cellular and molecular therapeutics branch at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and a member of the advisory committee, the New York Times reported. In the case of exa-cel, the one-time treatment permanently changes DNA in a patient’s blood cells. How does it work? Stem cells are removed from a patient’s…  read on >  read on >