Exciting new research has been announced by the American College of Cardiology regarding the weight loss drug Taranabant. The study has shown that the new drug has a weight-loss result that is nearly as good as Acomplia (Rimonabant) but at one tenth of the dosage of its precursor in this new classification of drugs which target the endocannabinoid system. The study has also shown, however, that Taranabant has the same psychiatric side effects which stopped Acomplia from being licensed in the United States.

The producers of the drug, Merck, said that the two-year trial of Taranabant resulted in patients taking a 2mg dose losing an average of 14.5 pounds compared to a weight loss of 5.7 pounds for the patients that were placed on a placebo. While this result is extremely encouraging, it was also discovered that in the higher doses of 4mg and 6mg Taranabant had a higher incidence of psychiatric side effects than the 2mg dose. For this reason Merck has decided to continue its development of the drug focusing on the 2mg dose.

So how do the psychiatric side effects of a 2mg dose of Taranabant compare with a 20mg dose of Rimonabant? Well, so far, it is too early to make any real comparisons as the measuring and recording of these effects has recently been changed due to a more rigorous approval that has been introduced by the FDA (The American Food and Drug Administration.)

The incidence of psychiatric side effects of Taranabant was 28 percent at 2mg, 40 percent at 4mg and 38 percent at 6mg, though the severity of these side effects has not been released.

Merck has announced that it is to continue working to arrive at a point where Taranabant may be submitted to the FDA for approval as a drug that produces dramatic weight loss at the lowest possible dose.

Most of us are aware of huge number of fake goods that are being produced in the Far East. Handbags, clothes, and electronic goods…the list goes on. Go to any street corner or market in a large city and you will be able to pick up the latest designer bag or sunglasses, which, to the untrained eye, are almost identical to the real thing.

Recently this trend for counterfeit goods has moved into far more dangerous territory- prescription drugs. Buying a fake handbag will, perhaps, cause a loss of profit to the manufacturers of the real things but buying fake drugs could cause real damage to your body.

Every day of the year hundreds of millions of spam emails arrive in the in-boxes of practically every computer around the world advertising unlicensed anti-impotence drugs. These emails contain links to the thousands web of sites selling untested and unlicensed products which are, at best, not as effective as the real thing and at worst contain ingredients which can be dangerous to your health

Whilst it might have seemed that the counterfeiters were concerned predominantly with anti-impotence medication, however, now it seems that they have many other drugs on the agenda: the market for counterfeit drugs is expanding at an alarming rate into ‘cancer treatment’ drugs and even into Tamiflu. It might be hard to fathom that people would stoop so low as to sell fake influenza medication. The production of Tamiflu, however, is big business.

The good news is that scientists in Georgia in the United States have come up with a simple test, which can quickly determine the authenticity of Tamiflu. The whole process takes one minute, twenty times faster than the previously available test. The test uses a process called Desorption Electrospray Ionisation Mass Spectrometry or DESI-MS and is able to determine whether the purported Tamiflu medication is genuine or counterfeit.

Dr. Facundo Fernandez, of the Georgia Institute of Technology said that people should be extremely wary of websites selling very cheap Tamiflu, as it is unlikely to be real. The Online Clinic is one of the few websites in the UK that prescribes genuine Tamiflu following an online consultation. Always check that your medication is coming from a registered pharmacy. If the price looks too good to be true then it probably is!

For many years there have been tales of how a mother’s eating habits could influence the sex of her unborn child. These claims have often been dismissed as old wives tales but now it seems that there could be an element of truth to be had in these stories.

New research claims that a high-calorie diet and regularly eating breakfast in the run up to conception increases the odds of having a boy. It also suggests that a high glucose diet at this time will increase the chance of having a son. It is not exactly clear why this dietary pattern might have an impact but it has been known for some time in IVF research that high glucose levels inhibit the development of a female embryo whist encouraging the development of the male embryo. Although these two observations are separate, there might be some connection in the influence that environmental factors have on the sex of a foetus.

This latest research appears this month in the Royal Society journal Biological Sciences. It followed the eating patterns of 740 first-time mothers-to-be during the months leading up to conception and throughout the pregnancy. The results showed that 56 percent of mothers with the highest calorie intake had boys compared with just 45 percent with the lowest. The scientists also discovered that women who had eaten the widest and highest quality nutrients were more likely to have a son.

The modern trend in developed countries is for women to eat low-calorie diets. This social habit has led to a decline in the number of boys being born: in the last forty years for every thousand children born the number of boys, per year, has dropped by one.

Why diet might have an influence on sex is purely conjecture but nature has a strange way of influencing the balance of the species in response to various external conditions and, in evolutionary terms, a plentiful supply of food would provide a better environment for a male who is capable of fathering more offspring than a female is capable of producing, thereby making potential grandchildren more viable.

Although the results of the research are interesting from an academic point of view, women should not restrict their diets in an attempt to influence the sex of the child. Even minor alterations at the time of conception and throughout pregnancy could affect the life-long health of their unborn baby.

Pfizer, the manufacturer of Viagra has been reprimanded by the US Food and Drugs Agency over an advert for the erectile dysfunction medication. The advert, which appeared on the interent, featured a group of men singing a song about Viagra in a recording studio.

According to the FDA the video did not set out the risks associated with taking Viagra so therefore breached the law relating to the advertising of prescription drugs in the US. Pfizer has apologised and has withdrawn the advert with immediate effect.

New research just published in the United States has revealed that women attempting to quit smoking may be more or less successful depending on where they are in their menstrual cycle. The research by American scientists was published in the journal Addiction and said that women’s levels of success correlate directly to the levels of the female sex hormone in their body at their time of quitting.

Women attempting to give up cigarettes before ovulation, they claimed, were more likely to smoke again than women who gave up at other times. It is not a huge revelation that there are links between a woman’s mood and where she is in her menstrual cycle. This research shows, however, that women actually smoke more at some points in the cycle.

Considering how difficult it is to kick the habit, this research is extremely useful in maximising a woman’s chance of quitting successfully. The research was conducted on 200 women who were asked to quit smoking either in the period of their menstrual cycle leading up to ovulation (known as the follicular stage) or at the two week stage which completes the cycle (known as the luteal stage). Each stage has marked differences in the hormones produced in the body. Results showed that 86 percent of the women who had attempted to quit in the period leading up to ovulation had smoked at least one cigarette. This compared with just 66 percent of those women who had quit at the end of their cycle.

Although the scientists were not exactly sure how a woman’s hormone levels related to the varying rates of success they suggested that the levels could, perhaps, affect the severity of nicotine withdrawal symptoms felt by the women. They further suggested that hormones might even affect the rate at which nicotine is removed from the body.

The charity Quit has asked female smokers not to become too obsessed with these findings, and have reiterated that there is plenty of help available to them regardless of the time of the month.

A new study just published by the American Academy of Neurology has claimed that heavy drinking and smoking can lead to an early onset of Alzheimer’s disease. Heavy drinking, which for the purposes of the study was defined as more than two drinks a day, brought the onset forward by 4.8 years and heavy smoking, defined as more than twenty cigarettes a day, by 2.3 years. Someone who drank and smoked heavily, therefore, could be accelerating the onset of the disease by as much as 7 years.

On top of this there is a gene which predisposes certain people to Alzheimer’s. The gene which is known as APOE variant 4 brought forward the onset of the disease by three years.

Someone who fulfilled all these criteria that is to say was a heavy drinker, heavy smoker and was in possession of the APOE variant 4 gene could, on average, expect to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s eight and a half years earlier than someone who did not drink, smoke or have the APOE variant 4 gene.

What the survey did not deal with was whether or not lifestyle choices such as smoking, drinking, eating habits or lack of exercise were actual causes of the disease.

There have been other studies which have suggested that drinking a couple of alcoholic beverages a day can actually lower the risk of dementia. A Dutch study revealed that dementia was 42 percent lower in drinkers compared with non-drinkers.

Another study presented at the conference made claims that high cholesterol levels doubled a person’s risk of developing Alzheimer’s

Susanne Sorenson of the Alzheimer’s society said, “The best way to reduce your risk is to eat a balanced diet rich in antioxidants and vitamins and to exercise regularly. Not smoking, drinking only in moderation and getting your blood pressure and cholesterol checked regularly throughout life are also important.”

A new study from the United States has shown that people who suffer with depression are far more likely to be obese and to smoke than people who are not depressed. The knock on effect of this statistic is that those suffering from depression are also more likely to suffer from the chronic diseases associated with smoking and obesity.

The research comes from the Division of Adult and Community Health in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The lead author, Tara Strine, said, "The relationship between obesity and depression is plausible for several reasons. First, some patients who are overweight may be prone to depression because of societal attitudes towards obesity. Also, while depression can lead to decreased appetite and weight loss in some individuals, others eat more and gain weight.” It seems then that many patients suffering from obesity are in a no win situation. The depression causes them to overeat and to smoke and the resulting weight gains lead to them becoming more depressed.

The results were taken from interviewing more than 200,000 adults in 38 American States. About 8.7 percent of the respondents had current depression, 15.7 percent had a previous depression diagnosis and 11.3 percent had had an anxiety diagnosis at some time. The people who were currently suffering from depression were 60 percent more likely to be obese as people who were not depressed. The depressed respondents were also twice as likely to be smokers than their non-depressed counterparts. The survey also highlighted that people with depression were more likely to have problems with alcohol.

Whilst perhaps not revelatory, the results do show the inherent difficulties people have in tackling obesity and the importance of treating patients as soon as they become overweight. Ignoring a patient’s condition, the survey suggests, will make it much more difficult to treat at a later date.