According to a new study, post-menopausal women are 35 percent more likely to suffer a hip fracture if they take indigestion drugs, or “proton pump inhibitors” (PPIs).
These drugs are the most common medicines used around the world and are often used to treat heartburn and acid reflex.
However, PPIs can inhibit the absorption of calcium, which leads to the increased risk of fractures.
Researchers looked at the association between PPIs and hip fractures in just under 80,000 post-menopausal women over an eight year period from 2000 to 2008.
The team found that women …

A study published in the British Medical Journal found a link between long-term use of proton pump inhibitors and bone fractures in smokers.
Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are used to treat heartburn, reflux and ulcers.
A UK expert said the absolute risk was small but gave women another reason not to smoke.
The research tracked almost 80,000 nurses in the US aged between 30 and 55.
They were followed up in later life to see how many had developed hip fractures after the menopause.
The researchers found that smokers or ex-smokers taking proton pump inhibitors …

The first drug that treats an underlying cause of cystic fibrosis, rather than just the symptoms, was approved by the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday, more than 22 years after the gene responsible for the disease was first identified.
The drug, called Kalydeco and developed by Vertex Pharmaceuticals, counters the effect of one specific mutation in the gene that accounts for 4 percent — or about 1,200 — cystic fibrosis cases in the United States.
¶ “This is a breakthrough therapy for the cystic fibrosis community because current therapies only treat …

On Monday, the US Food and Drug Administration approved a new type of drug to treat adult patients with advanced basal-cell carcinoma, the most common type of skin cancer.
The drug’s generic name is vismodegib and was developed by the US part of Roche Holding AG. It will be sold in the US by Roche’s South San Francisco-based Genentech under the brand name Erivedge.
Basal cell carcinoma is a slow growing, painless cancer that starts in the epidermis, the top layer of skin. It usually starts in places that are regularly exposed …

Scientists in Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, have developed a new vaccine to treat cancer at the pre-clinical level. The research team led by Professor Kingston Mills, Professor of Experimental Immunology at Trinity College Dublin discovered a new approach for treating the disease based on manipulating the immune response to malignant tumours. The discovery has been patented and there are plans to develop the vaccine for clinical use for cancer patients.
The first cancer vaccine Sipuleucel-T (Provenge™) was licensed last year for use in prostate cancer patients unresponsive to hormone treatment. Unfortunately, …