While demand for prescription stimulants is surging, a shortage of the drugs persists, so federal officials have stepped in and asked drug companies to ramp up production of the medications. Officials from both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) made the joint request. “The FDA and DEA do not manufacture drugs and cannot require a pharmaceutical company to make a drug, make more of a drug or change the distribution of a drug,” FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf and Drug Enforcement Administration leader Anne Milgram wrote in a letter issued Tuesday. “That said, we are working closely with numerous manufacturers, agencies and others in the supply chain to understand, prevent and reduce the impact of these shortages.” The agencies are also asking prescribers to carefully monitor their prescribing practices. “The lack of availability of certain medications in recent months has been understandably frustrating for patients and their families,” Califf and Milgram wrote in their letter. Reasons for the shortage include manufacturing delays by one drugmaker last fall. Meanwhile, demand for prescription stimulants for adults surged during the pandemic, according to a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report. The FDA first announced a shortage of Adderall last October; that medication is commonly used for those with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The DEA limits the amount of…  read on >  read on >

Millions of American smokers suffer from a potentially serious lung disease that’s not technically chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a new study finds. They would benefit from a clear diagnosis, though, and the new findings demonstrate a major gap in care for people with a history of tobacco use, the researchers said. Among folks who smoked at least one pack of cigarettes a day for 20 or more years, half had persistently high respiratory symptoms, including shortness of breath, daily cough and phlegm, and decreased ability to exercise, although they did well in the breathing tests used to spot COPD. The researchers call the condition “tobacco exposure preserved spirometry” (TEPS). “We first described TEPS in 2016. What we’re showing here is the long-term follow up, and it’s not like an early COPD. It stays persistent the way it is over time,” said lead researcher Dr. Prescott Woodruff, division chief of pulmonology at the University of California, San Francisco. Right now, there is no treatment for TEPS, he said. “It does improve in many people when they stop smoking, but not everyone,” Woodruff said. Woodruff’s team tried treating patients with bronchodilators used to treat COPD. The drugs improved lung function but not the symptoms, he said. “TEPS may be due to abnormal mucus production, so therapies that could control mucus might be the best therapies,” Woodruff…  read on >  read on >

As Americans continue to grapple with the effects of long COVID, the Biden administration on Monday announced the creation of a new office focused on research about the condition that will be part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Office of Long COVID Research and Practice will lead the U.S. response to long COVID, which incudes trials that have already been launched, the HHS said in an agency news release. “As our nation continues to make strides in combating COVID-19, it is crucial that we address the impact of long COVID and provide resources to those in need,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. “Last year, President Biden called on HHS to coordinate the response to long COVID. The official establishment of the Long COVID Coordinating office and the launch of the RECOVER clinical trials solidifies this issue as an ongoing priority.” The $1.15 billion RECOVER research program is meant to better understand, treat and prevent long COVID; as many as 23 million Americans have developed the condition, according to HHS estimates. Research has identified 12 possible symptoms of long COVID, including worsening of health after mental or physical activity, fatigue, brain fog and dizziness, changes in taste or smell, thirst and changes in sexual desire or capacity. It can also include gastrointestinal symptoms, heart palpitations, chronic cough, chest pain and abnormal…  read on >  read on >

TUESDAY, Aug. 1, 2023 (HealthDay News) – It’s well known that smoking in pregnancy can harm a developing baby’s growth. Now, a new study suggests that using e-cigarettes may be more effective that traditional nicotine replacement therapy, such as patches, in helping pregnant women kick the habit and reduce the risk of low birthweight. “E-cigarettes seem more effective than nicotine patches in helping pregnant women to quit smoking and because of this, they seem to also lead to better pregnancy outcomes,” said researcher Peter Hajek, director of the health and lifestyle research unit at Queen Mary University of London. “The evidence-based advice to smokers already includes, among other options, a recommendation to switch from smoking to e-cigarettes. Such a recommendation can now be extended to smokers who are pregnant as well,” Hajek said in a university news release. Researchers studied this in 1,140 pregnant women who were trying to stop smoking. Half of the women received e-cigarettes. The others were given nicotine patches. Both approaches were equally safe, according to the study. The study found that fewer women in the e-cigarette group had children with low birthweight, which can lead to poorer health later in life. Researchers said was most likely because e-cigarettes were more effective in reducing the use of conventional cigarettes. Women later reported whether they had quit smoking. Some women had quit…  read on >  read on >

(HealthDay News) – Millions of people live with acne, and it can take a dramatic toll on their quality of life, but is any one treatment better than the rest? Yes, suggests a new review of more than 200 studies. When researchers compared acne treatments, a clear winner emerged: oral isotretinoin, best known as Accutane. Isotretinoin is a high-dose vitamin A that targets the main causes of acne by shrinking oil-producing sebaceous glands, killing bacteria that can cause breakouts, preventing clogged pores and cooling inflammation. The study results are in line with what acne experts see every day in their practices. “Isotretinoin is the most predictably effective drug we have for the treatment of acne,” said Birmingham, Ala.-based dermatologist Dr. Julie Harper. She is the founding director and past president of the American Acne and Rosacea Society. “Not only does it clear acne, it also yields a long-lasting clearance in the majority of people who take it,” said Harper, who wasn’t involved in the study. Not everyone can or will take isotretinoin due to its potential side effects, she noted. While highly effective, isotretinoin does confer its fair share of side effects, namely a risk for severe birth defects and concern about liver problems and depression. “When treating acne without isotretinoin, we have to rely on combinations of agents with different modes of action,” she…  read on >  read on >

(HealthDay News) – For the fourth summer in a row, Americans are experiencing a COVID-19 surge, this one marked by a rise in hospital admissions, emergency room visits, test positivity rates and wastewater data. The good news: It’s unlikely that most cases will be severe or that the surge will be long-lasting, experts say. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is reporting a rise in testing, though lab testing is not at the levels it was before the public health emergency ended in May. “I do see some early signs that we are heading into another wave. Of course, we don’t know what lies ahead. So, it may yet peter out,” Caitlin Rivers, an assistant professor in the Department of Environmental Health and Engineering at the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told CNN. “It doesn’t seem to be driven by a new variant, which I find encouraging,” Rivers added. Gene sequencing company Helix has seen cases rise 30% to 40% since June, CNN reported. The company has been helping the CDC track gene changes of the COVID virus. Numbers were at low levels before the recent rise, noted Shishi Luo, associate director of bioinformatics at Helix. “When we look at our data, we have noticed that since late June to the beginning of July and probably through now, there has been…  read on >  read on >

If you’ve ever slammed a door on your finger, you know how badly an injured nail feels, but do you know how to treat one? First, do what you can to prevent one. “To prevent a nail injury, I tell my patients to keep their nails short, so they do not bend or catch on objects,” said Dr. Shari Lipner, an associate professor of clinical dermatology at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City. “Not only do short nails stay cleaner and break less often, they’re also good for your overall health because they are less likely to harbor dirt and bacteria, which can lead to an infection,” she said in an American Academy of Dermatology news release. “It’s also important to make sure your shoes fit well and have a wide toe box to prevent rubbing. If you play sports, make sure to wear the proper gear to protect your nails,” Lipner advised. But if you do smash your nail, Lipner has some suggestions on how to treat it: Treat your wound. If any part of your nail is hanging off, gently trim away the part not connected to your skin. Clean the wound using soap and water. If the wound is bleeding, apply petroleum jelly to keep the wound moist, then cover with gauze or a bandage. Repeat these steps every day while…  read on >  read on >

When it comes to falling down stairs, young women are more prone to take a tumble than their male counterparts. According to a new study, this is because they are more likely to be distracted or to wear impractical footwear. Going down a staircase while talking or texting on the phone or engaging in other distractions is an invitation to take a header, researchers report. Women were more likely to be talking to another person than men while on stairs in the study. “When we found that women were talking to a friend more than men, it was like a groan because we’re confirming the stereotype, which you never want to do,” researcher Shirley Rietdyk, a professor of kinesiology at Purdue University, told NBC News. “But when we only looked at people who were walking with someone else, there was no difference in the rate of talking, so it’s not that women talk more than men — it’s that they’re more likely to be with a friend than a man is.” Falling on the stairs is more likely to result in injuries than other falls. In the United States, children under the age of 3, young adults in their 20s and adults over 85 are those most at risk for falling down stairs, the researchers said. For the study, published online July 26 in the…  read on >  read on >

People who have psoriasis may want to get their vitamin D levels checked. New research suggests that blood levels of the so-called “sunshine vitamin” may affect the severity of their condition. In psoriasis, skin cells build up and form dry, itchy, sometimes painful patches. While synthetic vitamin D creams are an emerging therapy, the study suggests that a diet rich in vitamin D or oral supplements could also ease psoriasis symptoms, said Rachel Lim, a study author and MD candidate at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. If the role of vitamin D can be proved after further study, “it may present a very accessible and safe addition to the treatment regimen of the millions of Americans living with psoriasis,” Lim said. About 8 million Americans have psoriasis. For the study, researchers analyzed 491 cases in a U.S. national health and nutrition survey, including 162 from 2003 to 2006 and 329 from 2011 to 2014. Their analysis found that lower vitamin D levels and deficiency were significantly associated with more severe psoriasis. Patients with the highest average vitamin D levels had the least amount of psoriasis-affected skin. Those who had the most affected area had the lowest average vitamin D levels. The amount of vitamin D a person would need to consume isn’t clear. “While we can’t talk about the optimal vitamin D…  read on >  read on >

If you’re drinking soy, oat or almond milk, you may not be getting the same nutrients as you would with a glass of cow’s milk. A new analysis of more than 200 plant-based milk alternatives found that few contain the calcium, vitamin D and protein that can be found in cow’s milk. Only 12% of the alternative milk products studied had comparable or greater amounts of all three nutrients, the University of Minnesota study showed. “Our results provide evidence that many plant-based milk alternatives are not nutritionally equivalent to cow’s milk,” said Abigail Johnson, associate director of the University of Minnesota School of Public Health Nutrition Coordinating Center. “Based on these findings, consumers should look for plant-based milk alternative products that list calcium and vitamin D as ingredients. They may also want to consider adding other sources of calcium and vitamin D to their diets.” Both calcium and vitamin D were identified in the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans as nutrients of public health concern for underconsumption. “We know from our dietary assessments for nutrition studies that consumers are choosing more plant-based milk alternatives,” Johnson said in a news release from the American Society for Nutrition. The study aimed to increase the number of milk alternatives available in the Nutrition Coordinating Center’s database of about 19,000 foods. The researchers used nutrition and ingredient information from…  read on >  read on >