A new blood test can detect changes in cancer cells, which will help doctors determine if a patient's treatment is working. Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in Boston have found that placing just a teaspoon of blood on a device called a CTC-chip, is enough for scientists to view tumour cells circulating in the bloodstream. The cells can be counted to determine if a patient's drug therapy is working, and can be observed for mutations.

"The CTC-chip opens up a whole new field of studying tumours in real time," Dr. Daniel Haber, director of the MGH Cancer Center and the study's senior author, said in a statement.

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A pledge to give patients any approved medication on the basis of clinical need rather than cost risks creating an almost limitless drugs bill, the Government has been warned.

Plans for a new NHS constitution, to be unveiled by the Prime Minister today, will enshrine a universal right to treatment if clinically appropriate in an attempt to end the “postcode lottery” of access to new drugs.

Experts gave warning that the pledge, one of a series of new measures in the landmark draft document, carried huge costs that could not be covered by current NHS budgets.

Publication of the new constitution comes at the start of a week of celebrations to mark the 60th anniversary of the NHS. It will set out a “right to expect local decisions on funding of other drugs and treatment to be made rationally following a proper consideration of the evidence”.

While the drive to reduce inequalities of access to drugs will be welcomed, health economists question how the Government will be able to devise a policy that delivers on such a pledge without punitive costs.

Roy Lilley, a former director of an NHS trust and independent health policy analyst, said: “We have to ask ourselves the question: will drugs get more complex? Yes. Will they get more expensive? Yes.

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U.S. regulators have told Merck & Co they cannot yet approve Merck's application to expand marketing of its cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil to an older group of women, the drugmaker said on Wednesday.

Merck had applied for the use of Gardasil in women ages 27 through 45. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said in a letter regarding the application that it has completed its review and there are "issues" that preclude approval within the expected review time frame, Merck said.

"It's hard to get a feel for if this is a dead issue or if this is delayed," said Linda Bannister, an analyst for Edward Jones. "At the minimum, it's going to be delayed."

Merck said it also failed to win FDA approval to expand Gardasil to protect against more strains of the Human Papillomavirus that causes cervical cancer. The company for now is dropping plans to pursue that expansion, a spokeswoman said.

Shares of the New Jersey-based drug maker, which also reiterated its long-term revenue and earnings targets, fell 0.8 percent.

Gardasil, approved in June 2006 for preventing cervical cancer and genital warts in females ages 9-26, has been one of Merck's most successful newer products and has helped the company recover after the 2004 withdrawal of its Vioxx arthritis treatment.

The Gardasil setbacks could raise concerns about the degree of growth that Merck can hope to achieve with the product, which is the world's first vaccine to prevent cervical cancer.

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The ancient art of herbal medicine has long been tainted with associations with new age quacks. But, as MATTHEW JENKIN discovers, there is more to the Western tradition than spells and potions.

HERBAL medicines are often the last resort for people when it comes to preventing and treating illness.

However, after having a consultation with a professional, I realised the practise offers real help for many.

I have suffered from mild insomnia for many years and have tried almost everything for a quick cure.

But, apart from prescription drugs and a stiff drink, nothing seemed to work.

So, when the chance to see a medical herbalist was offered, I was the first in line.

advertisementThe consultation with Richard Adams was held at his home in Maidenstone Hill, Blackheath.

I was greeted with a smile and a cup of strong, but delicious, liquorice and fennel tea.

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Medicare and the Food and Drug Administration have announced a joint venture that promises to improve prescription drug safety and potentially reduce wasteful spending on medications.

The agencies said Thursday they have agreed on rules for using information from Medicare's giant claims databases to create a computerized early warning network for problems with medications and medical devices that come to light after they go on the market.

Medicare will not turn over individual patient data to the FDA, but the two agencies' computers will be able to "talk" to each other, to pose and answer questions that may reveal potentially risky side effects in new drugs. Since pre-market testing usually involves a limited number of patients, serious problems sometimes become evident only after hundreds of thousands of people begin using a product.

The system, called the Sentinel Initiative, will eventually include private insurers as well - to fill in information gaps about drugs that the elderly don't use, such as contraceptives.The FDA's current early warning system relies on self-reporting by drugmakers, hospitals and doctors and is believed to capture only between 1 percent and 10 percent of problems.

Privacy advocates are expected to scrutinize the new rules.

For the first time in recent times, most Americans are using prescription drugs. Pharmacy benefits manager Medco Health Solutions Inc. said that in 2007 51 percent of those insured took prescription medicines for chronic health ailments. Furthermore, around 20 percent of the U.S. population used three or more prescription drugs. The largest increase was seen in the 20- to 44-year-old age group. In this age group an increase of 20 percent was recorded.

Doctors estimate that given the current trend the number of those taking prescription medication will only increase. The 2007 numbers are up from 50 percent in 2006 and 47 percent in 2001. Dr. Robert Epstein, chief medical officer at Medco, underlined that a lot of the prescription drug use is related with the disastrous rate of obesity in the United States.

"Honestly, a lot of it is related to obesity," he said. "We've become a couch potato culture (and) it's a lot easier to pop a pill," he told AP.

The numbers will skyrocket in the next decades, as the ever-increasing weight of those who are now children will bring about near-certain problems in adult life. Health care spending in the United States is estimated to rise to 25 percent of the economy by 2025, from 16 percent now.

"These chronic conditions are incredibly costly for the nation and will become exponentially so if we're seeing these problems show up at a younger and younger age," Dr. Robert Epstein in a statement.

It may be more than coincidence that the decrease in the quality of Americans' diets has occurred simultaneously with increased reports of depression. While there are situations in which medication or psychotherapy are the only effective means to treat depression, studies show that dietary changes can sometimes be a mood booster.

Here are some ways to use food as a tool to fight depression:

Schedule an appointment with your physician to help ensure your symptoms are not signs of something bigger. Food allergies, thyroid abnormalities, nutrient deficiencies and other medical conditions all can cause depression.

Increase your intake of omega-3s. Research indicates that low levels of essential fatty acids can contribute to depression. Increasing intake of fish and flax or supplementing with their oils may improve your mood.

Pump up your diet. Food contains vitamins and minerals that are essential for making neurotransmitters that keep your mood in check. Aim for whole foods first rather than nutritional supplements or fortified foods. Whole foods contain many other compounds that help the vitamins and minerals work correctly. Focus on foods rich in B-vitamins and minerals, such as grains, nuts, lean meats, and fruits and vegetables.

Reduce or eliminate alcohol, caffeine, tobacco and food additives. Processed foods may contain food additives that can interfere with normal neurotransmitter functioning in some individuals.

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JACQUI Smith defied the Government’s own experts today by announcing that laws on cannabis will be toughened up.

The Home Secretary said the drug must be upgraded from Class C to Class B to avoid risking the future health of young people.

The move comes despite the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) concluding that the health dangers from cannabis did not justify its inclusion in the higher category.

A report from the group said scientific evidence pointed to a probable, but weak, causal link between psychotic illness, including schizophrenia, and cannabis use.

Those who take ibuprofen on a regular basis for five years may be less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease as they get older, according to a new study. And people who take nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medicines in general may have a decreased risk. But the findings are not concrete enough to warrant advising patients to take a daily dose of ibuprofen, or any other type of NSAID, to ward off Alzheimer's, noted the researchers, led by Steven Vlad, a fellow in rheumatology at Boston University School of Medicine. Long-term use of NSAIDs carries a risk of gastrointestinal problems.

Still, "this trial is big enough and the results are good enough that it may reopen the debate--that we should do a prevention study with these medications," William Thies, vice president of medical and scientific relations for the Alzheimer's Association, told HealthDay.

Find out how to reduce your risk for dementia by shedding excess belly fat, and learn the difference between Alzheimer's disease and other types of dementia.

Autism and Schizophrenia May Be Related

A new study supports the idea in autism research that people diagnosed with either schizophrenia or autism often share the same rare genetic mutations, Nancy Shute reports. Julie Daniels, an epidemiologist at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, looked at the health records of the parents of 1,227 Swedish children with autism who were born between 1977 and 2003. Those parents were twice as likely to have been diagnosed with schizophrenia as parents of children who didn't have autism. Other studies of early childhood brain development have shown that in both autism and schizophrenia, the brain development process is accelerated from birth to age 3.

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Senate President Manuel Villar Jr. has voiced misgivings at the effectiveness of a newly passed law that promises to bring down the price of medicine, in the process apparently taking a swing at a possible rival in the 2010 presidential election.

Villar said he believed that the measure which came out of the House of Representatives, which provided for a drug price regulatory board and required doctors to prescribe only generics, would have been more effective instead of the version of the Senate, whose principal author is Sen. Manuel Roxas II.

The final version of the law followed Roxas’ bill, dropping the provision that required doctors to prescribe only the generic names of medicine and, doing away with a price regulatory board, authorizes the President to impose ceilings on drug prices.

“For me any version is acceptable. I believe both versions would help lower the price of medicine. Only maybe the decrease in prices would be bigger under the House version,” Villar said.

“But prices will also go down under the approved version. What’s important is that the law has been approved,” he quickly added.

Villar and Roxas have made plain their intentions to contest the 2010 presidential elections, both taking the helm of their respective political parties (Nacionalista Party for Villar and Liberal Party for Roxas).

Congress on Tuesday ratified the final version of the law, officially called “Universally Accessible Cheaper and Quality Medicines Act of 2008” and submitted it to Malacañang for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s signature.

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