The FDA has issued a warning for consumers to stop using and discard 3 zinc-containing Zicam intranasal (through the nose) products, which may cause a loss of sense of smell.

The products involved are 3 that contain zinc:
• Zicam Cold Remedy Nasal Gel (15mL, NDC 62750-003-10)
• Zicam Cold Remedy Swabs (20 swabs, NDC 67250-003-20)
• Zicam Cold Remedy Swabs, Kids Size (20 swabs, NDC 67250-003-21)
These products are sold as cold remedies and are widely sold in pharmacies, other retail stores, and on the Internet.
Although Zicam Cold Remedy Swabs, Kids Size, has already been discontinued, the FDA is concerned that consumers may still …read more

You’ve likely heard by now. After weeks of hesitating, the World Health Organization has declared the H1N1 virus infections to be a Level 6 on the pandemic scale, which means a pandemic has been announced. The thing is, your life is still the same. My life is still the same. Nothing has changed from the five minutes before the announcement and five minutes after the announcement. That’s what people need to remember before beginning to panic.
Here is some information that may help you learn more about pandemics, viruses, etc.
What’s the difference between a pandemic and an epidemic?

Tick season is in full force in many places in the United States and a few in Canada. Tick-borne diseases, like Lyme disease, can have serious consequences in previously healthy people.
The five types of tick-borne diseases are:

Babesiosis
Ehrlichiosis and Anaplasmosis
Lyme Disease
Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever
Tularemia

Of course, prevention is the best medicine. If you can’t avoid areas where ticks live, there are some steps you can take to reduce the risk of being bitten:

Avoid sitting directly on the ground or fallen logs
Avoid sitting on stonewalls or woodpiles
Walk in the center of trails
Wear light-colored long pants and long …read more

Health Canada, the Canadian equivalent of the U.S. FDA, has issued a warning against Slim Magic Herbal products, used for weight loss. This warning was issued because investigators found an undeclared pharmaceutical ingredient similar to the prescription medication sibutramine, which is a prescription drug to help treat obesity. The products also contain a thick soluble fiber used to make you feel full as it expands when it absorbs water. This may cause an obstruction to your esophagus.
According to the warning issued by Health Canada earlier today:
The use of sibutramine may cause serious side-effects, including cardiovascular reactions, such as increased blood …read more

Breast cancer. After skin cancer, it’s the most common cancer in women in the United States. American women have a one in eight chance of developing some type of breast cancer in their lifetime. The American Cancer Society says that “an estimated 192,370 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed among women in the United States.” But, as shocking at the numbers may be, it’s not new news. We’ve heard it all before.
Imagine now, a 10-year-old girl discovering a lump in her breast tissue – a lump that turns out to be cancer. Not only that, the …read more

Granted, most of us aren’t hurtling ourselves into outer space, but this is an interesting finding. Astronauts are subject to space headaches caused by their out-of-world exerpience.
According to findings of a study recently published in the journal Cephalalgia,

12 of the 17 astronauts (71 per cent) reported 21 headache episodes during the space missions – nine during launch, nine during the stay at the space station, one during activities outside the space station and two during landing. None of the astronauts had a history of recurrent headache on earth.
Five astronauts reported headaches during one of the time frames, six during …read more

Have you ever wondered how you can  find out what products have been recalled? We often hear about the recalls on the news, but for various reasons, we don’t always.
If you’re in the United States, you can always check the FDA site, which has a specific section for recalled products: Recalls, Market Withdrawals, & Safety Alerts . In Canada, you can access the Health Canada website for this type of information: Advisories, Warnings, and Recalls .
Other countries:
United Kingdom: Safety Warnings and Product Recalls
Australia: Product Safety Recalls
New Zealand: Pharma Product Recalls
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Image: Newscom.com

If being diagnosed with breast cancer isn’t enough of a nightmare, how would finding out that your breast cancer test results may wrong feel like? That’s what is happening to thousands of women in the Canadian province of Quebec.
A study, done out of the University of Montreal, had concluded that between 15 and 20% of breast cancer tests had been interpreted incorrectly and that many women may have been given the wrong type of treatment based on this erroneous test results.
It is important, however, to understand that just because the tests may have been incorrect, this does *not* mean that …read more

Transient ischemic attacks (TIAs) are often referred to as mini-strokes. You can have all the symptoms of a stroke, but they only last a short time. Some people may have several of them without any long-term effects, others may have only one or two and then have a major stroke not long after.
Almost 50% of people who end up having a major stroke after a TIA have it within 24 hours of the first TIA. For this reason, researchers say you should get to the hospital as soon as possible if you have symptoms of a TIA.
A press release issued …read more

Lamictal XR (lamotrigine) Extended Release Tablets have been approved by the US FDA for prescription to people, aged 13 or older, who have partial onset seizures. The original version of Lamictal has been available since the mid-1990s.
Instead of trying to explain how it works, here is a video of a pharmacist explaining what Lamictal is. Just click on the TV screen:

The newly approved extended version, Lamictal XR, limits the number of pills a person must take in a day – some people take several. The fewer medications a person has to take, the lower the chance of mistakes and the …read more