In this study the authors analyzed all courses of heparin therapy given to all patients admitted to the coronary care unit of the Hopital du Sacre-Creur de Montreal over a 5-month period. The patients’ medical records were reviewed to obtain data on the heparin treatments.

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INTRODUCTION heparin is commonly administered to cardiac patients, particularly those with acute coronary syndromes. This drug has proven effective for the prevention and treatment of venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolism, for the prevention of mural thrombosis after myocardial infarction, and for the treatment of patients with unstable angina and myocardial infarction. Data from the GUSTO-I [...]

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Speaker: Massimo D’Amato, MD, Senior Investigator, Clinical Pharmacology, Rotta Research Laboratories, Monza, Italy The cholecystokinin (CCK) receptor antagonist dexloxiglu-mide (Rotta Research Laboratories/Forest Laboratories) might be a novel therapeutic agent for the treatment of constipation-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (C-IBS) in female patients, having demonstrated its effectiveness in relieving IBS symptoms, and because it is well-tolerated.

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Novel Proton Pump Inhibitor for GERD with EE Speaker: Donald O. Castell, MD, Professor of Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina Esomeprazole (Nexium generic, AstraZeneca), the S-isomer of generic omeprazole, when taken in doses of 40 mg daily, is more effective in rapidly achieving sustained resolution of daily and nocturnal heartburn in [...]

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Speaker: Paul Reading, PhD, Clinical Neurologist, Department of Neurology, Newcastle General Hospital, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, United Kingdom. Results from an open-exploratory study point out that the cholinesterase inhibitor rivastigmine (Exelon, Novartis) has a positive effect on the neuropsychiatric complications of Parkinson’s disease (PD), particularly hallucinations and sleep disturbances, and significantly enhances cognitive performance without worsening motor control.

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Speaker: Jose Ferreira, MD, Pediatric Epilepsy Neurologist, Pediatric Epilepsy and Neurology Specialists, Tampa, Florida. Topiramate (Topamax medication, Ortho-McNeil), a broad-spectrum antiepileptic, appears to be efficacious and generally well­tolerated in pediatric and adolescent migraine prophylaxis, substantially reducing migraine headache frequency and severity and improving the disability associated with migraine.

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Combination Therapy for Relapsing-Remitting MS Speaker: Silva Markovic-Plese, MD, Clinical Fellow, Neuroimmunology Branch, the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland. Interferon beta-1b (INF-beta-1b) (Betaseron, Berlex) and azathioprine (Imuran drug, Prometheus) combination therapy appears to offer an effective treatment approach in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) who are [...]

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