A meta-analysis published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology indicates that the world’s most widely prescribed blood pressure medication, hydrochlorothiazide, is only a little more than half as effective in treating high blood pressure as newer classes of drugs like ACE inhibitors and calcium channel blockers.While over a 24-hour period ACE (angiotensin converting enzyme) inhibitors were shown to reduce patients’ systolic or “top” blood

Dr. Elizabeth Whelan, President of American Council on Science and Health, sent the following open letter to the New York Assembly Health Committee urging against the passing of a law prohibiting e-cigarettes:

For women looking for another reason to quit smoking, a new study strongly supports the notion that smoking increases the risk of breast cancer.

Post-menopausal women using bisphosophonates to treat osteoporosis may also be reducing their risk of colorectal cancer (CRC), according to a new case-control study presented at the Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium (ASCO-GI) yesterday. Researchers at the University of Haifa in Israel followed up with 1,800 women taking bisphosphonates and found that their CRC risk decreased the longer they were on the therapy, maxing out at an 80 percent decrease after three years.

Though less shocking than the prospect of electroconvulsive therapy, a new, recently FDA-approved antidepressant appears to have a significantly lower risk of sexual side effects. Sold under the brand name Viibryd and intended for major depression, vilazodone is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), plus it’s a dual mechanism medication that also affects the 5HT gene.

On Thursday, the FDA will consider whether to downgrade the classification of the devices used to deliver electroshock therapy (or electroconvulsive therapy, ECT) to the “medium risk” category, thus waiving the need for new safety testing prior to entering the market.

Dissatisfied with the pace of new drug development by the pharmaceutical industry, the federal government is establishing a research center devoted to expediting drug discovery beginning this October.

A study published in The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal provides more powerful evidence of the transformative effect of childhood vaccination — the celebrity critics of it notwithstanding. Researchers in four countries proved that the rotavirus vaccine saves lives. Worldwide rotavirus is responsible for the death of 500,000 infants and children annually.

Late last week brought news that the World Health Organization (WHO) has been working to facilitate a worldwide ban on ads for foods high in sugar, fat and salt intended for children. To that end, the WHO has arranged for a meeting of heads of state to discuss restrictions on ads for foods the WHO considers unhealthy.

The New York Times reported on Friday that an FDA advisory panel recommended the approval of an imaging test for Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) which can detect plaque build-up in the brain and provide early warning of the first signs of the disease. AD currently affects five million Americans, and the figure is likely to rise rapidly as the population ages.The agency usually follows the recommendations of these panels.