Categories
Cardiovascular
Diagnostics
Endocrinology
Health Insurance
Medical Devices
Mental Health
Nutrition
Oncology
Public Health
Sexual Health
Popular Articles

Latin America Must Cut Blood Pressure To Thrive
Combating high blood pressure is a global challenge. But while developed countries have enjoyed reductions in cardiovascular disease over recent decades, Latin America has been less fortunate. In fact new research published in the journal Therapeutic Advances in Cardiovascular Disease shows that high blood pressure is on the increase in many Latin American countries, a situation set to worsen unless immediate action is taken.
generic viagra online
200 Percent Increase In Cardiovascular Medication In Canada
A new study in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) reports that the number of prescriptions in Canada for cardiovascular medications has been increasing over the last ten years. There has been a 200 percent increase in costs. Overall costs of cardiovascular medications exceeded $5 billion in 2006. And statins accounted for nearly 40 percent of the expenditure.
News of the day
Potential Medical Applications For Interactive Data Eyeglasses
For car designers, secret agents in the movies and jet fighter pilots, data eyeglasses - also called head-mounted displays, or HMDs for short - are everyday objects. They transport the wearer into virtual worlds or provide the user with data from the real environment. At present these devices can only display information. "We want to make the eyeglasses bidirectional and interactive so that new areas of application can be opened up," says Dr. Michael Scholles, business unit manager at the Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems IPMS in Dresden. A group of scientists at IPMS is working on a device which incorporates eye tracking - users can influence the content presented by moving their eyes or fixing on certain points in the image. Without having to use any other devices to enter instructions, the wearer can display new content, scroll through the menu or shift picture elements. Scholles believes that the bidirectional data eyeglasses will yield advantages wherever people need to consult additional information but do not have their hands free to operate a keyboard or mouse. The Dresden-based researchers have integrated their system"s eye tracker and image reproduction on a CMOS chip. This makes the HMDs small, light, easy to manufacture and inexpensive.
Health Insurance

Wall Street Journal Examines Pharmaceutical Companies Expansion Into Developing Countries

The Wall Street Journal examines the "strategic shift in the $770 billion pharmaceutical industry to target the working poor in the developing world" through the eyes of a Pfizer pharmaceutical representative working in the slums overlooking Caracas, Venezuela. The newspaper writes: "For the first time in a half-century, sales of prescription drugs are forecast to decline this year in the U.S., historically the industry"s biggest and most profitable market ò€¦ As a result, developing countries ò€¦ have begun to look more attractive to the industry." Pfizer has expanded into China, India, Brazil, Russia and Turkey. GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis and Sanofi-Aventis are also expanding their focus on sales to developing countries. Pfizer, which "brought in $1.4 billion in sales from emerging markets in the first quarter of this year," is benefiting from a belief in Venezuela and in much of the developing world that branded medicines are worth paying a premium for because they"re safer and more effective than generics," yet cost 40 to 50 percent more, the newspaper writes. Still, "[s]ome public-health officials question whether Pfizer is promoting what they say is an unfounded perception that generic drugs aren"t trustworthy." "Pfizer says the problem with generics in Venezuela is that laws requiring them to be equivalent to brand-name versions aren"t uniformly enforced" and "up to 30 percent of drugs sold in the developing world are counterfeit and may not be effective." To help mitigate costs, Pfizer offers discounts to doctors. The Wall Street Journal writes that Pfizer"s "program in Venezuela is an exercise in how to reduce prices enough to attract poorer customers while still turning a profit." The article also details Pfizer"s offers of free computers and internet for doctors, creating the opportunity for them to practice telemedicine. "Pfizer says the computers start out as loans and become permanent gifts once the doctors have shown that they are using them for medical purposes and have signed a waiver stating they understand they"re not intended to influence their prescribing," the newspaper writes. Carlos Serrano, a Venezuelan doctor featured in the article whose office is set to receive a refurbishment by Pfizer later this month, "says he"s increased by 40 percent the number of Pfizer drugs he prescribes since" being contacted by the local Pfizer representative, but says he has not been influenced by the aid he"s received from the company. "There are some illnesses that have to be treated with a good product, no matter what the cost," Serrano said (Johnson, 7/7). This information was reprinted from globalhealth.kff.org with kind permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Global Health Policy Report, search the archives and sign up for email delivery at globalhealth.kff.org. © Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.


Add your comment:
Name:
Site address: http://
Your message:
Enter today\\\\'s date, 2 digits
(spam protection):

© Copyright 2009