April 2012 Drug Information Update - Pharmacy Benefits ...

Survival increased for all groups of children, except for infants 1-years-old and younger, the
study said.
Article link: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-12/leukemia-no-longer-a-deathsentenceas-90-of-children-live-study-shows.html
Source website: http://www.bloomberg.com/
Can Statins Prevent Parkinson's Disease?
March 12, 2012
It's too early to say, but study suggests younger users may gain some benefit. People taking
popular cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins may have a slightly lower risk than others of
developing Parkinson's disease, new research suggests. This effect may be even more
pronounced among people younger than 60, according to the study published in the March issue
of Archives of Neurology.
Article link: http://consumer.healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=662667
Source website: http://consumer.healthday.com/
One Antibiotic Appears to Ease Severe E. Coli Infection
March 13, 2012
Small study looked at bacteria that caused German outbreak. Patients suffering from a strain of
E. coli that produces Shiga toxin, which can be deadly, appear to respond to the antibiotic
azithromycin (Zithromax), according to German researchers.
Article link: http://consumer.healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=662723
Source website: http://consumer.healthday.com/
Experimental Pill May Ease Multiple Sclerosis Disability
March 14, 2012
Latest trial shows laquinimod can also help prevent relapse. Yet another orally taken medication
shows some promise in preventing relapse and disability for people with relapsing-remitting
multiple sclerosis, a new report suggests. In the new study, laquinimod reduced the annual
relapse rate by 23 percent, and disability progression by 36 percent.
Article link: http://consumer.healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=662753
Source website: http://consumer.healthday.com/
Ibuprofen may ward off altitude sickness
March 20, 2012
Ibuprofen has been used for decades to treat pain. Now, research suggests the drug's antiinflammatory
properties also may help prevent the piercing headaches and other symptoms of
altitude sickness. A small new study, published this week in the Annals of Emergency Medicine,
found that people who took four 600-milligram doses of ibuprofen over a 24-hour period in
which they ascended to 12,570 feet above sea level were less likely to experience altitude
sickness than people taking a placebo.
Article link: http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2012/03/20/ibuprofen-may-ward-off-altitude-sickness/
Source website: http://www.cnn.com/
Hippocrates’s 3-Cent Aspirin a Day May Keep Cancer at Bay
Mar 21, 2012
Aspirin, the 3-cent painkiller whose origins can be traced to Hippocrates, reduces the chances of
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