Do You Read All Of Our Cancer Blogs?

Do you read all of the blogs published by medicineworld.org? Many of our bloggers are busy keeping you updated on the various health related topics. We publish the following blogs at this time.

Cancer blog: I manage the cancer blog with lots of help and support form other bloggers. Through this cancer blog my friends and I try to bring stories of hope for patients with cancer. The cancer blog often republishes important blog posts from other cancer related blogs at Medicineworld.org. If you are searching for a blog that covers wide variety of cancer topics, this may be the one for you.

Breast cancer blog: Breast cancer blog is run by Emily and other bloggers and they bring you the latest stories, news and events that are related to breast cancer. Increasing awareness about breast cancer among women and in the general population is the main goal of this breast cancer blog.

Lung cancer blog: Lung cancer blog is managed by Scott with the help of other bloggers. Through this blog Scott and his friends constantly remind the readers about the dangers of smoking. It's a never-ending struggle against this miserable disease with which a social stigma of smoking is associated.

Colon cancer blog: Colon cancer blog is run by Sue and other bloggers. Sue brings a personal touch to the colon cancer blog since her mother died of colon cancer few years ago. She writes about stories, research news and advances in treatment related to colon cancer.

Prostate cancer blog: Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among American men. American Cancer Society estimates that over 230,000 new cases of prostate cancer occur in the United state every year. This important blog about prostate cancer is run by Mark and other bloggers. This blog brings news, stories, and other personal observations related to prostate cancer.

Medicineworld.org publishes a diabetes watch blog and this blog is run by JoAnn other bloggers. This diabetes watch blog brings you the latest in the field of diabetes. This includes personal stories, advances in diagnosis and treatment, and other observations about diabetes. Improving awareness about diabetes is an important mission of this group.

Janet      

Immunosuppressive Drug Effective In MS

A medicine that reduces relapse rates in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) appears to be effective in reducing new brain inflammatory lesions and is well tolerated, as per a studyin the recent issue of the Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

The drug is azathioprine, an immunosuppressive agent that is well tolerated, easy to administer and monitor, and has been used for a number of years in the therapy of transplant rejections and autoimmune diseases. Azathioprine reduces relapse rates in MS patients, but its effects on the frequency and accumulation of new brain inflammatory lesions has not been studied in MS, according to background information in the article. MS is a disease of the central nervous system, marked by numbness, weakness, loss of muscle coordination, and problems with vision, speech, and bladder control.

Luca Massacesi, M.D., and his colleagues at the University of Florence, Italy, conducted an open-label therapy study to evaluate the effect of azathioprine treatment on new brain lesion suppression in MS. They used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to evaluate brain lesions of 14 patients with relapse-remitting MS (RRMS) of short duration. RRMS is a form of the disease characterized by relapses, when new symptoms can appear and old ones resurface or worsen, followed by periods of remission, when the person fully or partially recovers from the deficits acquired during the relapse. The patients were evaluated for six months before and six months during therapy with azathioprine, and new lesions were evaluated during the same periods and after an additional six months.

"The results of this study show, for the first time, that the immunosuppressive agent azathioprine suppresses new brain lesions evaluated using MRI in patients with RRMS," the authors report.

"Indeed, the therapy induces remarkable new brain lesion reduction, stable for 12 months," they write. "This activity was obtained at doses that can be well tolerated and that are associated with low circulating lymphocyte numbers."

Adverse events were observed in six patients, mainly at the beginning of the evaluation period, but they were transient or reversed after dose reduction and no patient interrupted treatment. Neurologic disability was stable, and the relapse rate decreased consistently with the new brain lesion rate.

"If considered in the context of prior clinical trials, the present study indicates that azathioprine may represent an alternative to immunomodulatory medications specifically approved for RRMS," the authors conclude.


Source: JAMA and Archives

Did you know?
A medicine that reduces relapse rates in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) appears to be effective in reducing new brain inflammatory lesions and is well tolerated, as per a studyin the recent issue of the Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. The drug is azathioprine, an immunosuppressive agent that is well tolerated, easy to administer and monitor, and has been used for a number of years in the therapy of transplant rejections and autoimmune diseases. Azathioprine reduces relapse rates in MS patients, but its effects on the frequency and accumulation of new brain inflammatory lesions has not been studied in MS, according to background information in the article. MS is a disease of the central nervous system, marked by numbness, weakness, loss of muscle coordination, and problems with vision, speech, and bladder control.