GLG News by Physicians who Treat Peripheral Vascular Disease

Recent studies have demonstrated higher rates of subacute and late stent thrombosis for DES after discontinuation of Plavix compared to bare metal stents and this calls into question the safety of this trend.Drug-eluting stents account for 90% of stents placed in many institutions in the US and Europe....

The article presents a laboratory assay of platelet inhibition after Prasugrel or Clopidogrel administration. The findings are that Prasugrel achieves faster and more effective inhibition of platelets compared with Clopidogrel using an in vitro assay. The implication is that Prasugrel should be more...

Percutaneous valves have been in development for several years.There are 2 percutaneous valves in clinical trials now - Edwards PVT valve and the Corevalve product.At this time, they are only indicated for patients deemed too sick for standard valve replacement or those with a life - limiting disease...

Americans spend billions of dollars yearly on medications to treat or prevent diseases of self abuse.Coronary artery disease, diabetes, hypertension, obesity, COPD and cancer are all caused by or exacerbated by lifestyle choices or habits that we choose.Articles such as this remind us that moderation...

Rimonabant is a novel CB1 inhibitor which blocks the endogenous endocannibinoid receptor that leads to overeating.Rimonabant has been shown to cause a much greater weight loss than previous medications without any of the serious side effects seen with them to date.These results have been sustained for...

Pay for performance sounds wonderful - who doesn't want their doctors to practice the best possible medicine?The concept of paying more to those physicians who have the best outcomes and to stimulate those with worse outcomes to improve also seems beneficial.Compliance with established guidelines and...

MRSA which was previously only a hospital acquired infection is now rampant in several communities and present in almost all.Many patients enter the hospital as carriers and develop invasive disease or pass the bacterium to other susceptible patients.This strain of MRSA is particularly virulent and...

The mainstay of treatment for hypercholesterolemia now is a statin drug (HMG CoA reductase inhibitor) to reduce LDL levels.These statin drugs have been proven to reduce LDL cholesterol and to reduce cardiac events.Another major independent cardiovascular risk factor is low levels of HDL cholesterol...

It has become increasingly clear that the FDA requires "clinically relevant" endpoints for approval of cardiovascular drugs and devices.

The importance of this article has nothing to do with this quarter's earnings - the importance is the soon to be released trial results on PolyHeme.PolyHeme, a hemoglobin solution that acts as a blood substitute for trauma patients, can be stored with a shelf life > 1 year and requires no refrigeration.Because...