Patients with acute, painful musculoskeletal spasms of the lower back appear to get better and faster relief from the muscle relaxant carisoprodol than from placebo.

    In a clinical trial involving more than 800 patients, 264 patients were randomly assigned to receive carisoprodol 250 mg, 273 patients were assigned to carisoprodol 350 mg, and 269 patients were assigned to the placebo arm.

    February 20, 2008 – A multinational case-control study published in the most recent issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology found that allopurinol was the most common cause of drug induced Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) or toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN). The primary use for allopurinol is the treatment of gout.

    On 29, February 2008 , the Food And Drug Administration (FDA) the American's equivalent to the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) and the American Association of Poison Control Center’s (AAPCC) National Poison Data System have received many reports of patients swallowing Foradil and Spiriva capsules rather than placing the capsules in the inhalation devices.

The objectives of the study were to assess whether supplementation with antioxidants, folinic acid, or both improves the psychomotor and language development of children with Down’s syndrome.

The study was designed to be a randomized controlled trial with two by two factorial design. Participants were 156 infants aged under 7 months with trisomy 21.

The effectiveness of glucosamine sulfate as a symptom and disease modifier for osteoarthritis is still under debate.

The objective of this study was to assess whether glucosamine sulfate has an effect on the symptoms and structural progression of hip osteoarthritis during the 2 years period of treatment.

Riyadh, March 7, 2008 – The Canadian counterpart to the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA), Health Canada, announced new warnings in the prescribing information for the iron reducing drug deferasirox (Exjade) about the possibility of liver toxicity including liver failure.

Vasopressin is commonly used as an adjunct to catecholamines to support blood pressure in refractory septic shock, but its effect on mortality is unknown. Authors hypothesized that low-dose vasopressin as compared with Norepinephrine would decrease mortality among patients with septic shock who were being treated with conventional (catecholamine) vasopressors.

    Interleukin 6 is involved in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis via its broad effects on immune and inflammatory responses. Authors' aim was to assess the therapeutic effects of blocking interleukin 6 by inhibition of the interleukin-6 receptor with tocilizumab in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

    Recent lipid guidelines recommend aggressive low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol lowering in patients with coronary artery disease. To clarify the evidence for this recommendation, Authors conducted this meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials that compared different intensities of statin therapy.