Future Prescriber最新文献

Prescribing medicines safely and effectively represents one of the greatest challenges for healthcare systems. Prescribing errors are common. A recent prospective observational study in the UK suggested that 10% of hospital prescriptions contained errors and that senior doctors were almost as frequently culpable as those who had recently graduated.¹ Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Lipid-lowering is established as proven intervention to reduce atherosclerosis. Statins form the basis of care but are not able to treat all aspects of dyslipidaemia. Many novel therapeutic compounds are being developed. These include additional therapeutics for low-density lipo protein cholesterol (LDL-C), eg antisense oligonucleotides or microsomal transfer protein inhibitors (MTPI); triglycerides, eg novel peroxisomal proliferator activating receptors (PPAR) agonists, MTPIs; HDL: delipidation strategies and cholesterol ester transfer protein inhibitors (CETPIs) and modulators of inflammation, eg phospholipase inhibitors. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

On 9 December 1969, in an open letter to President Nixon published in the Washington Post, Dr Sidney Farber, past president of the American Cancer Society was quoted as saying: ‘We are so close to a cure for cancer’.¹ So what happened? Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Aflibercept is a novel vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) inhibitor that has recently been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD). In this Drug profile Mr George Morphis presents the clinical data relating to its efficacy and adverse events, and discusses its potential place in therapy. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

We make two important assumptions when appraising the evidence behind an intervention: that the data are genuine and that they represent the total body of relevant knowledge. Doubts have been growing about both. Research misconduct and selective reporting of clinical trials are undermining confidence in scientific data, and the response of the research establishment has been mixed. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The latest developments in the treatment of cancer were presented in September at the 2011 European Multidisciplinary Cancer Congress in Stockholm, Sweden Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men. Up to 30% of affected men will experience disease recurrence at some point, most of whom will be treated with hormone ablative therapy, which is effective for up to 90%. However, the effect is transient with the emergence of the castration-resistant phenotype. While secondary hormonal manipulations may result in temporary inhibition of disease progression, ultimately this is a fatal phenotype. This article looks at the emergence of two therapies that immunise against tissue-specific antigens in metastatic castrationresistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) to enhance survival. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Bipolar I disorder affects around one in every 100 adults and is a major public health issue. It is usually characterised by a combination of manic and depressive symptoms, with severe episodes of mood disturbance that can last for weeks or even months. Both men and women are affected, and the condition is a debilitating one that can adversely influence all areas of a person's life and his/her normal functioning. In this article, the authors look at the disease and its causes, and discuss both current and promising future treatment options. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Positive news on the development of second-generation inotropes for treating heart failure was reported at the annual British Cardiovascular Society conference in June. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Lung cancer remains a major healthcare challenge despite the recent reduction in incidence in the Western world and introduction of the public smoking ban in some countries. However, the complexity of tumour biology is being unravelled along with a greater understanding of molecular signalling pathways, opening up a new field of research into targeted therapies. Here the authors focus on non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), discussing its current management and some of the promising targeted therapies currently being investigated. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.