Health Briefs: One-Dose Antibiotic Developed

Hate taking medication? A new one-dose antibiotic said to cure respiratory infections could cut the usual multi-day antibiotic regimen to a single dose, according to drug maker Pfizer.

The unnamed drug is a form of azithromycin. If approved, it would be the first to cure such infections in one dose.

That would be especially useful for the many patients who stop taking antibiotics when they feel better, said Jeanne DeMars Breen, Pfizer’s senior director of infectious disease clinical research. Skipping even a few days of prescribed antibiotics can cause bacteria to resist some future treatments, Breen said.

Pfizer submitted results of three trials to the Food and Drug Administration and hopes for approval sometime next year.

Surgery battles weight, more

Stomach reduction and gastric bypass surgery not only help the extremely obese lose weight, but they also can alleviate type 2 diabetes and return high cholesterol levels to normal, according to a new study reported recently in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Dr. Henry Buchwald and his colleagues at the University of Minnesota combined data from 136 separate studies involving 22,094 patients and concluded that the procedures — which range from simple rubber bands that reduce the size of the stomach to more complicated procedures that bypass large parts of the digestive system — are remarkably effective at restoring health and improving quality of life.

They found patients typically lost more than 60 percent of their excess weight, usually more than 100 pounds. Diabetes was resolved in nearly 77 percent of patients with the disease. Cholesterol levels were lowered in at least 70 percent of patients. Blood pressure was returned to normal in nearly 62 percent of patients who had high levels before surgery. Obstructive sleep apnea was cured or improved in 83.6 percent of patients who had the breathing disorder.

Because those conditions are closely linked to obesity, the Minnesota team expected to see benefits from the procedures, “but we were a little surprised” by how large the benefits were, Buchwald said.

Cure for nicotine addiction?

Is tobacco about to meet its match?

New insights into how nicotine behaves in the body are paving the way for better drugs to help smokers beat their addiction, researchers reported last week at the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists’ annual meeting in Baltimore.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 70 percent of the nation’s 46 million smokers say they want to quit. But fewer than 5 percent of those who go cold turkey manage to stay nicotine-free. Most last less than a week.

Smokers who turn to cessation aids, including behavioral therapy and drugs such as Zyban or nicotine gums and patches, fare better — but not by much. Fewer than 25 percent of smokers who use cessation aids are tobacco-free after one year. One result: 440,000 Americans die from smoking-related causes annually.

One of the more promising experimental drugs being tested in humans is Varenicline. Developed by Pfizer, the drug is the first anti-smoking therapy specifically designed to target the brain’s nicotine receptors.