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Studies Examine Morning Sickness Drug, Progesterone Use To Prevent Premature Birth
The following summarizes news coverage on two pregnancy-related studies. ~ Morning sickness: The commonly prescribed heartburn drug metoclopramide -- sold generically and under the brand-names Reglan, Octamide and Maxolon -- can be used to treat morning sickness without harming the health of the fetus, according to a study published on Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine, Time reports. The drug, which also has anti-nausea properties, is not FDA-approved for use in pregnant women in the U.S., though it is commonly prescribed in European and other countries to treat morning sickness (Park, Time, 6/10). According to the Los Angeles Times, U.S. physicians occasionally prescribe metoclopramide to treat severe morning sickness cases. The new study found that there were no statistically significant differences between infants born to women who took metoclopramide and those who did not. Researchers said that the findings "provide reassurance regarding the safety of metoclopramide for the fetus when the drug is given to women to relieve nausea and vomiting during pregnancy." The study involved 81,703 births among women enrolled in Israel"s largest health HMO, including 33,458 who used the drug (Maugh, Los Angeles Times, 6/11). Jennifer Niebyl, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Iowa, said, "There are very few drugs approved for use in the first trimester of pregnancy. But this study could lead to metoclopramide getting approved to treat morning sickness because this is good data with big numbers" (Time, 6/10).~ Progesterone: The hormone progesterone was not effective at preventing premature births among women pregnant with twins, despite evidence suggesting its effectiveness at preventing premature births in single pregnancies, according to a University of Edinburgh study published in the journal Lancet, Reuters reports. Multiple pregnancies have a larger health risk for women and significantly increase the likelihood of miscarriage, premature birth and long-term health problems. The study involved 500 women who took either progesterone or a placebo daily for 10 weeks. Although previous studies have shown that progesterone might prevent premature birth in certain high-risk pregnancies, the new findings show the treatment did not reduce the likelihood of premature delivery or a fetus dying in utero in twin pregnancies. Twenty-five percent of women delivered or had a fetus die before 34 weeks in the progesterone group, compared with 20% in the placebo group (Kahn, Reuters, 6/10).
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Every Daytime Sedentary Hour Adds Three Minutes To Time Children Take To Fall Asleep
Every hour of the day children are inactive adds three minutes to the time it takes them to fall asleep, finds research published ahead of print in Archives of Disease in Childhood.
News of the day
IAS Conference: Low-Cost CD4 Tests; HIV Prevalence Among Pregnant Zimbabweans; Treating HIV-TB With ARVs; Vaccine Trials
The following are stories from this week"s 5th International AIDS Society (IAS) Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention meeting in Cape Town, South Africa:
Diagnostics

Abilify Has Made Strong Gains In Patient Share Across All Lines Of Therapy Since Last Year's Analysis Of Prescribing Trends In Schizophrenia

Decision Res, one of the world"s leading research and advisory firms focusing on pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, finds that the patient share of Bristol-Myers Squibb/Otsuka"s Abilify has grown in the first three lines of therapy since the 2008 analysis of prescribing trends in newly diagnosed schizophrenia patients. Abilify is second to risperidone (Janssen"s Risperdal, generics) in first and second lines of therapy and leads other atypicals in the third line. "Abilify"s first-line patient share grew from 4.2 percent in our 2008 analysis to 14.6 percent in the current dataset. Pfizer"s Geodon also grew substantially compared with our 2008 analysis whereas both Eli Lilly"s Zyprexa and AstraZeneca"s Seroquel lost first-line patient share," stated Nicole Westphal, Ph.D., analyst at Decision Res. "These data suggest that Abilify and Geodon"s better penetration of first-line therapy came at the expense of others in the class and we attribute Zyprexa"s and Seroquel"s declining use across early lines of therapy to concerns about their metabolic side effects." The new Treatment Algorithms in Schizophrenia report also finds that surveyed psychiatrists will remain focused on an agent"s metabolic or weight gain side effects when treating current and newly diagnosed patients. The majority of surveyed psychiatrists will switch patients from atypicals with unfavorable metabolic side-effect profiles to those with more favorable profiles or increasingly consider weight gain and metabolic side-effect profiles when choosing an antipsychotic in the first-line. By combining patient-level claims data with physician survey data, this report can be used to build patient-flow models and analyze the assumptions driving these models. Patient-flow analysis for Janssen"s Invega shows that only three percent of all users took the drug as a first-line agent. However, surveyed psychiatrists expect to substantially increase their first- and second-line prescriptions for the drug. As Invega continues to experience increased uptake in early lines of therapy, surveyed psychiatrists indicate that risperidone and Zyprexa will lose the most share. These data indicate that marketers of current and emerging atypical antipsychotics will need to position themselves against Invega"s growing use as an early-line agent. About Treatment Algorithm Insight Series Decision Res combines in-depth primary research with the most extensive claims-based longitudinal patient-level data from IMS Lifelink: Health Plans Claims database to provide exceptional insight into physicians" prescribing trends and the factors that drive therapy product choice, from diagnosis through multiple courses of treatment, for a specific disease. About Decision Res Decision Res is a world leader in market research publications, advisory services and consulting designed to help clients shape strategy, allocate res and master their chosen markets. Decision Res is a Decision Res, Inc. company. About Decision Res, Inc. Decision Res, Inc. is a cohesive portfolio of companies that offers best-in-class, high-value information and insights on important sectors of the healthcare industry. Clients rely on this analysis and data to make informed decisions. All company, brand or product names contained in this document may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders. Decision Res


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