Selena Gomez Gets Bangs, Simultaneously Has Her Millionth Good Hair Day

Stop everything you are doing. Selena Gomez just debuted a brand new set of bangs, and if you’ve ever chickened out over getting fringe, this might just convince you to take the plunge. Simultaneously, this haircut documents what we can only assume is her millionth good hair day. Have you ever seen her with a hair don’t? Didn’t think so.

Gomez is currently on the East Coast for her Revival tour, and she was spotted last week wearing a much lighter hair shade (hey, it’s summer!), but apparently the makeover didn’t stop there.

The singer revealed her new ‘do in two very sexy snapshots for hairstylist Marissa Marino’s Instagram account.

RELATED: Behold: Selena Gomez’s Revival Tour Makeup Looks

The last time we saw bangs on Gomez was in her “Hands to Myself” video at the end of last year, but this time she went for a softer look with layered side bangs. Thinking you should probs take this pic into the salon. It’s that good.

This article originally appeared on InStyle.com/MIMI.

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Antibiotics Overprescribed for Possible STDs: Study

THURSDAY, June 9, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Three-quarters of emergency room patients who received antibiotics to treat suspected sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) tested negative for the infections, a new study showed.

“We have to find the appropriate balance between getting people tested and treated for STDs, but not prescribing antibiotics to patients who don’t need them,” said researcher Karen Jones, an infection preventionist at St. John Hospital & Medical Center in Detroit.

Genital cultures are often collected from patients with possible symptoms of STDs, but results are not immediately available, the investigators noted.

For the study, the researchers examined the medical records of more than 1,100 patients who underwent STD testing in the emergency room.

Forty percent were treated with antibiotics for suspected gonorrhea and/or chlamydia. Of those, more than 75 percent ended up testing negative for the STDs.

Among the 60 percent of patients who did not receive antibiotics, 7 percent tested positive for one of the STDs.

The study was to be presented Thursday at the annual meeting of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, in Charlotte, N.C.

“There is a tricky balance between not furthering antibiotic resistance by over-prescribing, but also still getting people treatment for STDs they might have,” Jones said in an association news release.

Experts continue to sound alarms about the overuse of antibiotics in the United States.

“According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly a third of antibiotics prescribed in doctors’ offices, emergency rooms and hospital-based clinics in the U.S. are not needed,” said Susan Dolan, association president.

“Improving the use of antibiotics is a national and international priority to help prevent antibiotic resistance, which would threaten our ability to treat even the simplest of infections,” added Dolan, a hospital epidemiologist at Children’s Hospital Colorado in Aurora.

Studies presented at medical meetings are usually considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed medical journal.

More information

The U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has more on STDs.

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Better Lung Cancer Survival? There’s an App for That

By Dennis Thompson
HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, June 9, 2016 (HealthDay News) — A new smartphone app may help lung cancer patients live longer and better by monitoring their symptoms and alerting doctors to potential problems, researchers report.

The Moovcare smartphone and web application proved so effective that researchers ended the clinical trial early, said study author Dr. Fabrice Denis, a researcher at the Institut Inter-regional de Cancerologie Jean Bernard in Le Mans, France.

About 75 percent of high-risk lung cancer patients were alive one year after they started using the Moovcare app, compared with 49 percent of patients provided typical cancer care, Denis said.

Patients also lived seven months longer, on average, when using Moovcare — about 19 months compared to an average of 12 months for nonusers.

Further, Moovcare patients required less regular CT scanning. “The number of imaging scans were reduced by 50 percent per patient per year,” Denis said.

Cancer expert Dr. Patricia Ganz called the results “a tremendous advance.”

“If we had a drug or some new intervention that caused this level of survival benefit, wouldn’t we want to go out and use it?” said Ganz, director of cancer prevention and control research at the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, in Los Angeles. Ganz moderated a briefing Monday at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting in Chicago, where Denis shared the findings.

Lung cancer is the world’s top cancer killer. There were 1.8 million new lung cancer cases worldwide in 2012, the researchers said in background information, and an estimated 1.6 million deaths due to the disease.

The Israel-based maker of Moovcare, Sivan Innovation, helped fund the trial, Denis said. The app is still in prototype, but is expected to go on the market in January 2017.

Patients used Moovcare once a week to report on 12 clinical symptoms that are associated with a relapse of lung cancer or a potentially dangerous medical condition associated with the disease, Denis said.

Their self-reported data was analyzed by an algorithm that triggered an email alert to the patient’s cancer care team if it looked like the risk was high for a relapse or a medical emergency, he said.

For this clinical trial, Denis and his colleagues recruited 133 patients with stage 3 or 4 lung cancer, and randomly assigned them to use either the Moovcare app or undergo standard follow-up.

Standard follow-up consisted of a doctor visit and CT scan every three to six months, depending on the stage of the patient’s lung cancer, Denis said.

Moovcare patients had the same number of planned doctor visits but underwent planned CT scans only every six to 12 months.

The idea was that Moovcare would allow doctors to address health problems promptly, rather than allowing illness to brew between scheduled visits, Denis said.

Because relapsing patients often wait weeks before seeing a doctor, they aren’t always able to receive the best cancer care possible because they’ve become too sick to handle the toxic effects of chemotherapy, Denis explained.

The clinical trial proved that to be true. About 74 percent of Moovcare patients undergoing a lung cancer relapse had good enough health to endure optimal cancer care, compared with only 33 percent of patients receiving standard care.

Moovcare patients also received supportive care when they needed it, improving their quality of life, Denis added.

That led to an overall survival and average survival advantage for patients using Moovcare, Denis said.

However, it will only work if doctors restructure their practices to make sure someone is heeding the incoming Moovcare alerts, Ganz said.

“You actually need someone in the office practice, whether it’s a nurse or some other person, who is looking at the data as it’s coming in and triggering a response,” Ganz said. She added that the real cost of the system would be in additional personnel rather than the technology itself.

Dr. Gregory Masters is a lung cancer specialist at Christiana Care’s Helen F. Graham Cancer Center, in Newark, Del. He said, “The study shows this is one way to engage patients and allow them to take more of an active role in their care, which is really a critical factor.”

However, Masters added that Moovcare might not the best follow-up care option for patients who are very infirm or are uncomfortable with smartphone or computer technology.

“This is one way to monitor symptoms, and certainly the survival data looked really encouraging, but we have to figure out how we would actually implement it,” he said. “We want to make sure this is worth implementing a whole new system for monitoring patients.”

More information

For more on lung cancer, visit the U.S. National Cancer Institute.

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California Enacts Right-to-Die Law

By Dennis Thompson
HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, June 9, 2016 (HealthDay News) —
California on Thursday becomes the fifth and largest state in the country to allow terminally ill patients to end their own lives.

With the state’s right-to-die law in effect, the percentage of terminally ill U.S. adults who can ask for medical aid in dying will leap from 4 percent to 16 percent, according to advocacy group Compassion & Choices.

As many as 34,000 terminally ill Californians per year are expected to ask their doctors for information about the law, according to the group, and up to 1,500 prescriptions will be written each year. That’s based on experiences in states that have already enacted similar legislation.

“We know in Oregon that for every one prescription that is written, it’s noted that 25 people inquire about the process,” said Sean Crowley, national spokesman for Compassion & Choices.

Stanford University family physician Dr. Catherine Sonquist Forest believes the law will comfort patients dealing with a fatal illness.

“Studies have demonstrated that simply having the option of medical aid in dying and the ability to shorten an unbearable dying process provides great peace of mind to terminally ill people and their families,” said Sonquist Forest, medical director of the Stanford Health Center at Los Altos and a clinical assistant professor at Stanford Medicine.

“I’m relieved to know that starting [Thursday], mentally capable terminally ill California adults with a medical prognosis of six months or less to live will have the option to request physician-prescribed aid in dying,” she added.

Three states have already passed right-to-die laws — Oregon, Washington and Vermont. A court has ruled that medical aid in dying is legal in Montana.

Elizabeth Wallner, a 52-year-old single mother from Sacramento, Calif., told reporters that she’s “grateful” to have the option provided by the new law.

Wallner has been battling advanced colon cancer since March 2011, undergoing 18 weeks of chemotherapy, six surgeries to remove parts of her liver, lung, diaphragm, gall bladder and colon, and additional radiation therapy. Her cancer has since spread to her liver and lungs.

Once the act takes effect, “I will then be able to ask my doctors for a prescription for medication that I can decide to ingest if my suffering becomes intolerable in my final days,” Wallner said at Wednesday news briefing held by Compassion & Choices. “That will allow me to have a measure of control and allow me to die peacefully at home in my sleep and surrounded by my loved ones, as opposed to scared, in pain or even worse in the hospital.”

The new law has met with resistance from some religious organizations, however. The California Catholic Conference issued a statement this week saying that California will cross an “unwelcomed threshold” when the law takes effect.

“By allowing doctors to prescribe a lethal dose of drugs to their patients, California is embarking on a dangerous course,” the statement reads. “This new law will place the disabled, the elderly and other vulnerable people at risk for abuse and mistreatment and will undermine the healing professions’ venerable commitment to ‘First, do no harm.'”

But Compassion & Choices’ Crowley said that, under the new law, people are not required to take their life-ending prescription within any sort of timeframe.

“Every year in Oregon, two-thirds of folks end up using the medication, and one-third do not,” he said.

People with a terminal illness must also complete a series of legal hurdles before they can receive a lethal prescription to be filled and used at their own discretion, according to an analysis by the California Medical Association’s legal counsel:

• The person must be able to prove they are a resident of California, and have a physician who has diagnosed them with an incurable disease that is expected to end their lives within six months.
• They must submit two oral requests to their doctor at least 15 days apart, as well as one written request. The written request must be signed and dated in the presence of two witnesses. All three requests must be received by their doctor, not a designee or surrogate.
• Both the person’s doctor and a second consulting physician must agree that the patient is capable of making medical decisions for himself or herself, is not being coerced, and has made an informed decision regarding the right to die.

The patient’s doctor is required to counsel him or her to have another person present when they take the fatal dose, to not take the drug in a public place, to keep the drug in a safe and secure place prior to use, and to consider participating in a hospice program.

The patient is not required to undergo a mental health assessment as part of the process, but their doctor can ask for one if the patient seems to have a mental disorder. The mental health assessment then becomes part of the supporting paperwork.

A mentally ill person can still qualify to receive an aid-in-dying drug, but a mental health specialist must determine that the person is not suffering from impaired judgment and is capable of deciding for themselves, the California Medical Association says.

The law specifically states that a terminally ill patient’s use of a properly acquired aid-in-dying drug is not considered suicide.

The California Catholic Conference said it’s concerned that the law does not require a psychological assessment for all people requesting assisted suicide. It also is concerned there may not be enough safeguards built into the law.

California passed the law following the widely publicized ordeal of Brittany Maynard, a 29-year-old resident of northern California who moved to Oregon in 2014 after being diagnosed with terminal brain cancer.

Maynard became a strong advocate in the right-to-die movement before ending her life on Nov. 1, 2014. Prior to her death, she recorded testimony on behalf of right-to-die legislation being considered in California.

“I am immensely proud of this conversation that my wife Brittany started, and the impact that her voice made on this basic human right,” Maynard’s husband, Dan Diaz, said Wednesday at the news briefing.

More information

For more on helping a loved one cope with a terminal illness, visit the Mayo Clinic.

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20-minute home workout

 

WH&F Head Trainer Sheena-Lauren shares her exclusive 20-minute home workout. All you need is a stopwatch, a mat and a box or chair. Let's go!

The workout

This workout is divided into four five-minute blocks, all you need is 20 minutes. Set your stopwatch for five minutes with the alarm sounding every 10 seconds.

Starting with push-ups and dips, set yourself up over the box (a chair is also good) to form an incline-push-up position. Once you have started your stopwatch, perform push-ups, trying to touch the box with your chest on each descent (maintain your range).

When you hear the 10-second alarm, flip around and launch into your dips.

At the next 10-second alarm, flip back around for push-ups. Continue until you hear your five-minute alarm.

These combinations with endurance are designed to cause serious pain (muscle fatigue)! Next, move on to your second block of five minutes, combining toe taps and crunches, your third block combining squats and squat holds and finally your fourth round, combining explosive squat star jumps and scissor jumps.

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PUSH-UP

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DIP

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TOE-TAP

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CRUNCH

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SQUAT

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SQUAT HOLD

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SQUAT STAR JUMP

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SCISSOR JUMP

 

Looking for more home workouts? Try this gym free circuit. 

 

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No Sex Please, I’m a Stressed New Mom

By Amy Norton
HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, June 8, 2016 (HealthDay News) — First-time parents may see their sex life hit the skids if mom feels stressed about her parenting skills, a new study suggests.

Researchers found that when a new mother was anxious about her parenting abilities, she and her partner tended to be less satisfied with their sex life, compared to other first-time parents.

For men, it was different: Only their partners’ stress levels — and not their own — seemed to affect their views on their sex life.

It’s no secret that having a baby affects a couple’s sex life. But it’s not only because caring for an infant can be exhausting, said Chelom Leavitt, the lead researcher on the new study.

A first-time mom’s worries about her new role may be one of the other factors, said Leavitt, a doctoral student in human development and family studies at Penn State University.

The findings are based on interviews with 169 couples who’d recently had their first baby. All were heterosexual and most were married.

When the baby was about 6 months old, the couples were surveyed about parenting stress. They rated how strongly they agreed or disagreed with statements like, “My child smiles much less than I expected,” and “I find myself giving up more of my life to meet my child’s need than I ever expected.”

Later, when their baby was about 1 year old, couples rated their satisfaction with their sex lives.

On average, the researchers found, couples were only “somewhat satisfied.” But there was a wide range in responses — and satisfaction tended to be lower when women had high levels of parenting stress.

It’s not clear, though, that stress over parenting is to blame, according to Lonnie Barbach, a clinical psychologist on faculty at the University of California, San Francisco.

Many factors can influence a new mother’s sexual satisfaction — from fatigue and physical discomfort to breast-feeding and body image issues, said Barbach, who wasn’t involved in the study.

Leavitt agreed that the study didn’t look at whether, for instance, stressed-out moms were more likely to have problems with body image, too. And the researchers didn’t gauge couples’ sexual satisfaction before the baby arrived — so it’s not clear whether their sex lives actually declined.

Still, Barbach said it’s likely that stress over parenting can affect some couples’ intimacy.

But why would only moms’ parenting stress matter? Leavitt said it may be because men and women have different views on their roles as parents.

Society puts more pressure on new mothers to naturally be “good” at it, whereas new fathers are almost expected to make mistakes.

“In general,” Leavitt said, “women are more likely to see motherhood as part of their identity as a woman.” And that, she added, could take a toll on some women’s sexual satisfaction.

Despite that, women in the study were actually more satisfied with their sex lives, overall, than men were. About 69 percent of mothers were at least somewhat satisfied, versus 55 percent of men.

According to Leavitt, that might be related to expectations. Couples were surveyed when their babies were 12 months old, and at that point many women might have been happy that their sex lives were getting back on track, Leavitt said.

Men, on the other hand, may still have been wanting more.

Barbach agreed. And it’s not only because men typically have a greater sex drive, she noted.

“For men, sex is a major way to connect emotionally,” Barbach said.

She suggested that if couples are unhappy with their post-baby romantic life, they talk about it — in a “positive,” rather than judgmental, way.

“Talk about how you can make more time for each other,” Barbach said. “Have ‘date nights.’ It’s cliche, but it’s really important.”

She stressed the importance of not “pushing” the sex issue, however — especially in the first three to six months after the baby is born.

“There’s a period where sex just gets put on the back burner,” Barbach said.

To Leavitt, the study findings suggest that new parents — especially moms — will fare better if they have “realistic expectations.”

“Be less judgmental of yourself, and try to enjoy the experiences of being a parent as they come,” she said.

The study was published online in the journal Sex Roles.

More information

The March of Dimes has suggestions for coping with ‘new mom’ stress.

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Study Questions Use of Antidepressants for Children, Teens

By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, June 8, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Treating children and teens suffering from depression with antidepressants may be both ineffective and potentially dangerous, a new analysis suggests.

Of the 14 antidepressants studied, only fluoxetine (Prozac) was more effective in treating depression than an inactive placebo in children and teens, the review found.

And Effexor (venlafaxine) was linked to a higher risk of suicidal thoughts and attempts compared to a placebo and five other antidepressants, the researchers reported.

“In the clinical care of young people with major depressive disorder, clinical guidelines recommend psychotherapy — especially cognitive behavioral therapy or interpersonal therapy — as the first-line treatment,” said study author Dr. Andrea Cipriani. He is an associate professor in the department of psychiatry at the University of Oxford, in England.

Major depression affects about 3 percent of children aged 6 to 12, and 6 percent of teens aged 13 to 18, the researchers noted.

“Prozac should be considered only for patients who do not have access to psychotherapy or have not responded to non-pharmacological interventions,” Cipriani said.

Because the available studies of antidepressant use among children and adolescents are limited and of questionable quality, “we should not underestimate these potential risks,” he added.

“Children and adolescents taking antidepressant drugs should be closely monitored regardless of the treatment chosen, particularly at the beginning of treatment,” Cipriani advised.

In 2004, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a “black box warning” about antidepressant use among teens and children because of fears that these drugs might increase the risk of suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts.

Despite the FDA warning, the use of antidepressants in these age groups crept up between 2005 and 2012. For example, the proportion of kids and teens taking an antidepressant rose from more than 1 percent to nearly 2 percent in the United States, Cipriani said.

One expert was not surprised by the findings.

This study shows what has been known — that these “medicines look less effective and riskier in children and adolescents than they do in adults,” said Dr. Peter Kramer. He is a clinical professor emeritus of psychiatry and human behavior at Brown University, in Providence, R.I.

“Among them, Prozac has always stood out as relatively more effective,” Kramer said.

But it isn’t clear how antidepressants work in children, Kramer noted. “We just know so little about these medicines and what they do in children with developing brains,” he pointed out.

In general, treatment should begin with psychotherapy, but for some patients Prozac might be an option, he suggested.

“There are a lot of desperate cases where the illness is so destructive that doing something that’s highly imperfect may seem like the right move,” Kramer added.

For the study, Cipriani and his colleagues reviewed 34 studies that included more than 5,200 children and teens. This kind of study, called a meta-analysis, tries to find common ground among numerous trials. Its limitations are that the conclusions rely on how well the studies that are included were done.

Moreover, most of the trials (65 percent) were financed by drug companies. And 90 percent had a risk of being biased in favor of the medication, Cipriani said.

The investigators found that only with Prozac did the benefits outweigh the risks in terms of relieving symptoms with few side effects.

The antidepressants Effexor, imipramine (Tofranil) and duloxetine (Cymbalta) had the worst side effects, causing more patients to stop taking them than those taking a placebo, the review authors found.

The review was published online June 8 in The Lancet.

“This study gives us real concern about the usefulness of antidepressants,” said the author of an accompanying journal editorial, Dr. Jon Jureidini.

With a meta-analysis, the benefits of antidepressants may be overstated and the harms understated, said Jureidini. He is a research leader at the Robinson Research Institute of the University of Adelaide in Australia.

“Unfortunately, we cannot rely on the truthfulness of how the information has been processed,” Jureidini said. “So we can’t even be confident about using Prozac in children and adolescents.”

Jureidini said that before prescribing an antidepressant, a doctor must be sure the benefits will outweigh the harms.

“We should shift our practice away from prescribing and toward other treatments, because drugs are being oversold to us,” he said.

Young children should never be given antidepressants and they should be given sparingly to teens, Jureidini said. “I would almost never use them,” he said.

Jureidini said that treatment starts with understanding what is troubling the child or teen, and why they have withdrawn from social activities, school and friends.

“We need to help young people get back into their lives, and their depression will get better,” he said. “They need help and support to re-engage with the world.”

More information

Visit the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health for more on teens and depression.

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New Psoriasis Drug Works Longer Term, Too

By Amy Norton
HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, June 8, 2016 (HealthDay News) — A new drug that has shown “unprecedented” effects on the skin condition psoriasis seems to work well in the longer term, too, researchers report.

The drug, called ixekizumab (Taltz), was approved in March by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. That came after initial trials showed that over 12 weeks, the drug soundly beat standard medication for moderate-to-severe psoriasis.

The new findings show the benefits are still there after 60 weeks. At that point, about 80 percent of patients were seeing at least a 75 percent improvement in their skin symptoms, the researchers said.

So far, ixekizumab has shown “unprecedented efficacy” against more severe cases of psoriasis, said Dr. Joel Gelfand, a dermatologist who wasn’t involved in the research.

The drug, given by injection, targets an inflammatory protein called IL-17, said Gelfand, who directs the Psoriasis and Phototherapy Treatment Center at the University of Pennsylvania.

The FDA approved another IL-17 inhibitor, called Cosentyx, last year.

“Targeting the IL-17 pathway has proven to be yet another revolution in our ability to treat psoriasis,” Gelfand said.

That said, he added, researchers need to keep tracking the drugs’ long-term effects.

In the United States, between 5 million and 7 million people have psoriasis, according to government statistics. The disease arises from an abnormal immune response that triggers a rapid turnover of skin cells. That causes cells to pile up on the skin’s surface.

Most people have what’s called “plaque” psoriasis, says the U.S. National Institutes of Health. In that form, people periodically develop thick, scaly patches on the skin that can be itchy or painful.

Some people also suffer painful joint damage and fatigue known as psoriatic arthritis.

Skin treatments or ultraviolet light therapy can be enough to treat the symptoms of milder psoriasis. For more severe psoriasis, doctors often prescribe drugs that suppress the immune system — including injection drugs called “biologics.”

Older biologics include brands like Enbrel and Remicade, which target an immune system chemical called TNF. The new IL-17 blockers are also considered biologics, but their action appears more specific to psoriasis, said Dr. Kenneth Gordon, the lead researcher on the new study.

While the new drugs zero in on IL-17, the anti-TNF drugs seem to eventually get there, said Gordon, a professor of dermatology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.

The hope is that the IL-17 blockers, with their less-extensive immune effects, will also be safer, Gordon said. TNF-blockers carry a risk of sometimes-serious infections.

IL-17 blockers also dampen a portion of the immune response, so infections are still a concern. So far, Gordon said, colds and fungal infections have been the main side effect, which is “encouraging,” he noted.

However, Gordon added, there’s always the chance that more serious infections could be a problem with longer use or in vulnerable patients.

A small number of patients also developed inflammatory bowel disease, according to the report.

The findings, published online June 8 in the New England Journal of Medicine, are based on almost 4,000 patients who took part in three trials. In one trial, ixekizumab was tested against a placebo; in the other two, it was pitted against a placebo and Enbrel for the first 12 weeks, and then just the placebo from then on.

After the initial 12-week period, patients took the drug either once a month or every 12 weeks.

After 60 weeks, almost three-quarters of patients in the once-a-month group had only “minimal” psoriasis, based on doctors’ ratings. That compared with 7 percent of placebo patients.

About four out of five patients who took the drug monthly had at least a 75 percent improvement in their skin symptoms, the researchers said.

In the initial 12-week study, ixekizumab also beat Enbrel by a significant margin, the study authors said.

Gordon said IL-17 blockers are “taking (medication) responses to a whole new level. We haven’t seen rates like these before.”

That does not mean the new drugs are for everyone, Gordon stressed. “If you’re doing well on your current medication, there’s no reason to switch,” he said.

Taltz is marketed by Eli Lilly, which funded the study. The recommended dose is one injection every couple of weeks for the first three months, and then every four weeks thereafter, according to the company.

In general, biologics are very expensive, costing up to several thousand dollars per injection. Gordon acknowledged that patients could face hurdles in getting insurance coverage.

“The insurance aspect is always difficult with a new medication,” he said.

More information

The U.S. National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases has more on psoriasis.

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Think Twice Before You Get That Tattoo: FDA

WEDNESDAY, June 8, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Tattoos are increasingly popular in the United States, but getting one carries risks, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says.

There are increasing reports of people developing infections from contaminated tattoo inks and having bad reactions to the inks, according to Dr. Linda Katz, director of the FDA’s Office of Cosmetics and Colors.

She offered some advice for people trying to decide whether to get a tattoo.

Think carefully before you make a decision. Removing a tattoo is a painstaking — and potentially painful — process and complete removal without scarring may not be possible, Katz said.

If you do decide to get a tattoo, confirm the tattoo parlor and artist are in compliance with all state and local laws. The National Conference of State Legislatures has a web page on state laws, statutes and regulations governing tattooing and body piercing. To find out about local regulations, contact your county or city health department.

You need to be concerned about unhygienic practices, non-sterile needles and contaminated ink, Katz warned.

You can get infections from ink contaminated with microorganisms such as bacteria and mold. Contamination could occur either in the manufacturing process or at the tattoo parlor. A common culprit is non-sterile water used to dilute the pigments, the agency said.

There’s no guaranteed way to tell if the ink is safe. Looking at or smelling it won’t offer any clues. Ink can be contaminated even if the container is sealed or wrapped, or the label claims the ink is sterile, Katz said.

Signs of a tattoo-related infection include a rash at the site of the tattoo, or a fever. More serious infections could cause high fever, shaking, chills and sweats. Serious infections could require months of antibiotic treatment.

Contact a health care provider if you develop signs of infection or allergic reaction after getting a tattoo, Katz said.

More information

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has more about tattoos and permanent makeup.

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Experimental Drug Acts Fast Against Chronic Migraine

By Amy Norton
HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, June 8, 2016 (HealthDay News) — An experimental drug may bring fast relief to people with debilitating chronic migraines, a new study finds.

Preliminary trials had already found that the drug — dubbed TEV-48125 — can help prevent migraine attacks in people who’ve suffered long-term with headaches.

Now, the new findings suggest that it starts working within three to seven days of the first injection, researchers reported.

“To my knowledge, that’s the fastest separation ever demonstrated in chronic migraine,” said lead researcher Dr. Marcelo Bigal, of Teva Pharmaceuticals, the company developing TEV-48125.

The term “separation” refers to the point at which patients on TEV-48125 started to improve, compared to patients given a placebo (an inactive treatment).

TEV-48125 is one of a new class of drugs being developed to prevent migraines. The medications are all antibodies that block a chemical in the nervous system called CGRP. Research has found that CGRP causes inflammation and blood vessel dilation, and it spikes in the brain during migraine attacks.

Dr. Mark Green is professor of neurology and anesthesiology at the Mount Sinai Icahn School of Medicine, in New York City. “It appears that this antibody works quite quickly,” said Green, who is also director of the Center for Headache and Pain Medicine at Mount Sinai.

Green, who was not involved in the study, called the findings “exciting.” That’s in part because if CGRP-blockers make it to the market, they would be the first drugs specifically designed to prevent migraines.

About 12 percent of Americans suffer from migraines, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health. The headaches typically cause an intense throbbing pain on one side of the head, and sensitivity to light and sound. Some people have nausea, too.

Migraines are considered chronic when they strike at least 15 days out of the month, the study authors said.

Doctors prescribe various medications that can help prevent frequent migraines — including certain blood pressure drugs, antidepressants and Botox injections. But, Green pointed out, all of those drugs were originally designed to treat other conditions. Over the years, doctors have found that they can also reduce migraines in some people.

And of those drugs, Botox is the only one that is actually approved for preventing migraines, Green said.

When Botox works, it typically takes two or three rounds of injections for patients to start seeing the benefit, according to Green. And those treatments are done at three-month intervals. So some patients give up on it, he said.

The oral medications used for migraine prevention kick in faster — typically four to six weeks. But they are also daily pills with potential side effects, such as weight gain, dizziness and fatigue (depending on the medication), Green said.

The new study findings come from a reanalysis of an early trial of TEV-48125. In that study, more than 250 patients with chronic migraine were randomly assigned to take monthly injections of the drug — at a higher or lower dose — or a placebo, for three months.

The original study found that patients on TEV-48125 saw a drop in the number of hours they had headache pain each month.

On average, the whole study group had 162 “headache hours” a month when it started the study. Three months later, that had dropped by 60 to 67 hours, on average, among patients on the new drug.

The new study found that the effects started as early as three days after the higher-dose injection, and seven days after the lower dose.

So far, Green said, there have been “no significant safety signals” with the drug. In the original study, the most common side effects were pain at the injection site and skin irritation.

But it’s still early, Green stressed.

Bigal said ongoing studies will keep looking at the drug’s safety. “No treatment-related serious adverse events have been seen so far,” he said.

If TEV-48125 or its competitors are approved, it’s unlikely that patients will be put off by having to take a monthly injection, according to Green.

“These are people in chronic pain,” he pointed out.

But cost could be an obstacle: In general, antibody drugs like TEV-48125 are very expensive. So patients might find it difficult to get insurance coverage, Green said.

The study was published online June 8 in Neurology.

More information

The American Migraine Foundation has more on chronic migraine.

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