Medicine

From Fish to Pharmacies
by Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Enter the salmon, which, like humans, produces a hormone called calcitonin that helps regulate calcium and decreases bone loss. For osteoporosis patients, taking salmon calcitonin, which is 30 times more potent than that secreted by the human thyroid

Why Should FDA Regulate Drugs?
by Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
That's a question many people raise as FDA strives to maintain a delicate balance between too much regulation and not enough. The answer is explained in an interview with the director of FDA's drug center.

Thalidomide
by Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Thalidomide was not a lifesaving drug, but only one of many tranquilizers that had come onto the market in the decade after World War II. It was promoted by its maker as being nontoxic, with no side effects, and completely safe for pregnant women.

New Ways to Deliver Drugs
by Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
High tech is enabling us to get drugs to the body in unconventional ways. These methods can bring increased convenience and decreased side effects. But in a few cases, there have been unexpected problems.

Truth in Drug Advertising
by Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
You may have seen the advertisement: A melodrama of crime and corruption, conflict and emotion, centering on indoor hit men like dust and dander, and outdoor hit men such as pollen and ragweed, all threatening to offend a young and very beautiful woman's

Diuretics
by Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Potassium-sparing diuretics-hydrochlorothiazide combinations are most commonly used to control high blood pressure (hypertension). Untreated, high blood pressure can cause serious problems such as heart failure, blood vessel disease, stroke, or kidney

Medications and Older Adults
by Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
As people age, their medicine cabinets may begin to overflow. To avoid dangerous side effects and interactions, communication and organization are essential. People ages 65 and older consume more prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) medicines

Going Metric: American Foods and Drugs Measure Up
by Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Realities of the global marketplace have increased the urgency for this country to join most of the rest of the world in using metric measurements. FDA is taking steps to make sure food and drug labels are not out of step.

Unproven Medical Treatments Lure Elderly
by Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Sixty percent of those who try untested medical treatments are over age 65, according to one report. Not only can these treatments be a waste of money but, according to FDA, they can also be dangerous.

Aspirin: A New Look at an Old Drug : Part 2
by Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Because of its risks, aspirin is not approved for decreasing the risk of heart attack in healthy individuals. Even Hennekens isn't ready to recommend an aspirin a day for everyone, although he headed up the celebrated 1988 Physicians' Health Study

On FDA's Front Lines : Part Cop, Part Counselor
by Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
In fact, the oxygen repacker MacLaughlin inspected was in Richmond. FDA has five investigators in Richmond, but one was preparing for a three-week assignment inspecting European drug firms, another was handling seafood inspections, and the other three

Medicines from Space
by Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Experience and experiments on space flights are yielding answers for treating earthly ills, from osteoporosis to diabetes to abnormal blood pressure. A principal objection to space manufacturing is the expense of transporting products back to Earth

Drug Name Confusion : Part 2
by Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Every drug usually has three names: chemical, generic (non-proprietary), and brand (proprietary), and each is subject to different rules and regulations. The chemical name specifies the chemical structure of the drug.

The Advent of Food and Drug Regulation
by Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
One hundred years ago, government volunteers dined on carefully prepared foods laced with potentially poisonous preservatives in the interest of science.

Psychedelic Drugs : Part 2
by Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Early research suggested medical promise for psychedelic drugs. According to a 1992 report by Richard Yensen, Ph.D., and Donna Dryer, M.D., director and medical director at the Orenda Institute, a 1960s' study of 135 alcoholics found that six months after

Rare Disease Treatments: Orphans' Saving Lives
by Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
The lives of many with rare conditions, such as leprosy, severe combined immunodeficiency, AIDS, and Wilson's disease, have been improved--and often extended--by products developed under the Orphan Drug Act.

Save Money On Prescription Drugs : Generic Drugs
by Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Many Americans have been buying prescription drugs from foreign countries as a way to cut costs, but experts at the Food and Drug Administration warn that this practice comes with potential safety risks.

Label Literacy for Over the Counter Drugs
by Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Information on a medicine label should be in plain English and larger type and should emphasize side effects and warnings with boldface type and bullets, a sampling of consumers told the Food and Drug Administration.

Experimental Treatments: A Difficult Decision, Is The Risk Worth It?
by Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
All things being equal, is it worth it for a patient to get access to an experimental medication? For society the additional safety information about the new drug may prove useful. And sometimes it does make a difference for individual patients.

Buying Drugs Online
by Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
The scene is becoming increasingly common in the United States: Consumers are replacing a trip to the corner drugstore with a click onto the Internet, where they find hundreds of Web sites selling prescription drugs and other health products.