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	<title>Prescribing Advice for GPs</title>
	<link>http://www.prescriber.org.uk</link>
	<description>An NHS Prescribing Advisers' Blog</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Fri, 16 May 2008 10:29:35 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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	<item>
		<title>Hypertension Meta-Analysis</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The British Medical Journal has published the results of a meta-analysis of hypertension trials that aimed to quantify the relative risk reductions achieved with different regimens in younger and older adults.
The study reviewed 31 trials, including 190,606 participants. The primary outcome was major cardiovascular events compared in two age groups, those under 65 and those [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.prescriber.org.uk/2008/05/16/hypertension-meta-analysis/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>May CKS Update</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Clinical Knowledge Summaries (CKS) has been updated in May for the following clinical areas:

Anal fissure
Corneal superficial injury
Dyspepsia - pregnancy associated
Haemorrhoids
Nausea/vomiting in pregnancy

Action: Clinicians who see patients with any of these conditions may find the updated information useful when reviewing current clinical practice.
]]></description>
		<link>http://www.prescriber.org.uk/2008/05/15/may-cks-update/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Immunisation website adds HPV information</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The NHS immunisations website has been updated with information about the human papillomavirus vaccine (HPV) and the vaccination programme due to start this autumn. A recent study highlighted that lack of information was a common reason for refusing the vaccination.
This new website contains:

Information about the vaccine
Information about the disease the vaccine can prevent
A list of [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.prescriber.org.uk/2008/05/14/immunisation-website-adds-hpv-information/</link>
			</item>
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		<title>SMC May Update</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The Scottish Medicines Consortium has issued its monthly advice on new medicines.
Aliskiren (Rasilez&#174;) has been rejected for the treatment of essential hypertension. Escitalopram (Cipralex&#174;) has been rejected for the treatment of social anxiety disorder. Both rejections we made because the manufacturers failed to make a submission.
Action: Clinicians should be aware of the recommendations of the [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.prescriber.org.uk/2008/05/13/smc-may-update/</link>
			</item>
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		<title>Debate on NHS top-up fees</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The British Medical Journal has published a head to head debate asking if patients should be able to pay top-up fees to get the treatment they want.
James Gubb, director of health unit, argues in favour of top-up fees stating that this practice already happens but is in need of some standardisation in terms of cost [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.prescriber.org.uk/2008/05/12/debate-on-nhs-top-up-fees/</link>
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	<item>
		<title>New Observational Smoking Data</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The Journal of the American Medical Association has published the results of an analysis of data from the Nurses&#8217; Health Study that aimed to assess the relationship between cigarette smoking and smoking cessation on mortality.
The Nurses&#8217; Health Study is a prospective observational study of 104,519 American female nurses. The data were analysed for mortality from [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.prescriber.org.uk/2008/05/09/new-observational-smoking-data/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>MeReC Bulletin - Drug Management of Obesity</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The National Prescribing Centre (NPC) has published a MeReC Bulletin (PDF) discussing the drug management of obesity.
The bulletin describes the increasing incidence of obesity and the impact that this has on health. The article also discusses non-pharmacological and pharmacological methods for loosing weight with a more detailed examination of when drugs are appropriate, how effective [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.prescriber.org.uk/2008/05/08/merec-bulletin-drug-management-of-obesity/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Management of Asthma guideline updated</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) has published an update to the British Guideline on the Management of Asthma (PDF).
SIGN and the British Thoracic Society jointly produce the guideline. This update includes:

A rewritten section on diagnosis for both adults and children
A section on special situations including occupational asthma, asthma in pregnancy and the new topic [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.prescriber.org.uk/2008/05/07/management-of-asthma-guideline-updated/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Drug Safety Update, Issue 10</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has published Drug Safety Update Issue 10 (PDF).
This issue includes the following drug safety advice articles:

Rimonabant (Acomplia): depression; psychiatric adverse reactions
Exenatide (Byetta): risk of acute pancreatitis

In addition, this issue contains a hot topic containing information about monitoring the safety of antiretroviral drugs. There is also a pointer [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.prescriber.org.uk/2008/05/06/drug-safety-update-issue-10/</link>
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		<title>Bisphosphonates linked to AF</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The Archives of Internal Medicines has published the results of a case-control study that aimed to assess any relationship between alendronate use and risk of incident atrial fibrillation (AF).
The recent HORIZON study found an unexpected increase in the risk of AF in patients assigned to the study drug. This study reviewed an American patient database [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.prescriber.org.uk/2008/05/02/bisphosphonates-linked-to-af/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>NICE should be more transparent</title>
		<description><![CDATA[An appeal launched by the manufacturer of an anti-Alzheimer&#8217;s drug into the processes used by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has ruled that they should have been more transparent in the way they made decisions. The BBC has reported the ruling.
NICE had earlier been supported in five of the six areas [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.prescriber.org.uk/2008/05/01/nice-should-be-more-transparent/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Additional glitazone fracture data</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The Archives of Internal Medicine has published the results of an analysis that examined the association between the use of glitazones or other oral anti-diabetic drugs and the risk of fracture.
The analysis queried the UK General Practice Research Database for patients aged 30 to 89 years who had a fracture between January 1994 and December [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.prescriber.org.uk/2008/04/30/additional-glitazone-fracture-data/</link>
			</item>
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		<title>Medicines Zone on NHS Direct</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The NHS Direct website has launched a new area containing a wealth of information for patients about medicines.
The new Medicines Zone is an in-depth guide to medicines, prescriptions, immunisation, contraception and more. The zone is arranged into sections covering topics such as pregnancy, side effects, travel and immunisations.
Commonly asked questions about taking medicines are answered [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.prescriber.org.uk/2008/04/29/medicines-zone-on-nhs-direct/</link>
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		<title>Enoxaparin contamination</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) have issued a press release (PDF) warning clinicians about potential contamination of enoxaparin (Clexane&#174;) injections.
Enoxaparin is a low molecular weight heparin injection. Some batches contain low levels of an impurity called over-sulphated chondroitin sulphate (OSCS). New product entering the supply chain is unaffected.
Existing stocks are not being [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.prescriber.org.uk/2008/04/28/enoxaparin-contamination/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>More information required for HPV vaccination</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The British Medical Journal has published the results of a prospective cohort study that aimed to assess the feasibility and acceptability of delivering a human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine to adolescent girls. The BBC has reported the results of this study.
The study collected vaccination data for 2,817 girls aged 12 and 13 years old who attended [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.prescriber.org.uk/2008/04/25/more-information-required-for-hpv-vaccination/</link>
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		<title>Drug Evaluations for the gliptins</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The Regional Drug and Therapeutics Centre has produced New Drug Evaluations for sitagliptin (Januvia&#174;) and vildagliptin (Galvus&#174;).
The evaluation of sitagliptin recommends that this drug &#8220;may be considered as an option for patients who fail to achieve glycaemic control despite an adequate trial of established first and second-line regimens&#8220;. It also notes that long term safety [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.prescriber.org.uk/2008/04/24/drug-evaluations-for-the-gliptins/</link>
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		<title>Rosuvastatin of no benefit in heart failure</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The New England Journal of Medicine has published the results of the CORONA study. This study aimed to assess the cardiovascular benefits of rosuvastatin (Crestor&#174;) in older patients with heart failure.
The study recruits 5,011 patients who were at least 60 years of age and had a diagnosis of heart failure (New York Heart Association class [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.prescriber.org.uk/2008/04/22/rosuvastatin-of-no-benefit-in-heart-failure/</link>
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		<title>Vitamin supplements: No benefit and may cause harm</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The Cochrane Library has published a review of antioxidant supplements for preventing mortality in health individuals and those with various diseases. The general media (The Times) have reported the findings.
The study identified 67 trials including 232,550 participants. 21 trials were conducted in 164,439 healthy individuals and 46 trials were conducted in 68,111 participants with various [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.prescriber.org.uk/2008/04/21/vitamin-supplements-no-benefit-and-may-cause-harm/</link>
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		<title>SMBG not cost effective</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The British Medical Journal has published the results of a study that aimed to assess the cost effectiveness of self monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) in patients with non-insulin treated type 2 diabetes. This study has been covered by the general media (BBC).
Data from the diabetes glycaemic education and monitoring (DiGEM) study were analysed comparing [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.prescriber.org.uk/2008/04/18/smbg-not-cost-effective/</link>
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		<title>Rimonabant - two year data</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The European Heart Journal has published data from a two year follow up of the Rimonabant In Obesity - Europe study. A summary of the article is available via the National Electronic Library for Medicine.
The original RIO-Europe study recruited 1,057 individuals with a body mass index (BMI) of 30kg/m2, or BMI 27kg/m2 and either hypertension [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.prescriber.org.uk/2008/04/17/rimonabant-two-year-data/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Dust mite control ineffective for asthma</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The Cochrane Library has published a review of house dust mite control measures for asthma. The review aimed to assess the efficacy of reducing dust mite allergen levels with the intention of reducing asthma symptoms.
The review included forty-nine trials including 2,733 patients that assessed both physical and chemical methods of controlling dust mite allergen levels. [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.prescriber.org.uk/2008/04/16/dust-mite-control-ineffective-for-asthma/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>April CKS Update</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Clinical Knowledge Summaries (CKS) has been updated in April for the following clinical areas:

Anaemia - B12 and folate deficiency
Blepharitis
Smoking cessation
Sore throat - acute
Urinary tract infection - children

Action: Clinicians who see patients with any of these conditions may find the updated information useful when reviewing current clinical practice.
]]></description>
		<link>http://www.prescriber.org.uk/2008/04/15/april-cks-update/</link>
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		<title>Low targets in Primary Prevention?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The Journal of the American Medical Association has published the results of a study that compared the attainment of aggressive targets with standard targets in patients with type 2 diabetes.
The study recruited 499 American Indian men and women aged 40 years or older with type 2 diabetes and no prior CVD events. The trial was [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.prescriber.org.uk/2008/04/14/low-targets-in-primary-prevention/</link>
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		<title>MTRAC update glitazone advice</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The Midlands Therapeutics Review and Advisory Committee (MTRAC) has issued updated advice for pioglitazone (Actos&#174;) and rosiglitazone (Avandia&#174;).
The pioglitazone review places this drug as having weaker evidence and having a lower place in therapy. It is suitable for restricted prescribing in primary care because of conflicting evidence in the long-term clinical effects of this drug [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.prescriber.org.uk/2008/04/11/mtrac-update-glitazone-advice/</link>
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	<item>
		<title>Sativex results disappointing</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The manufacturer of Sativex&#174;, the cannabinoid oromucosal spray, has announced that a phase III study failed to reach statistical significance for pain relief in patients with central neuropathic pain due to Multiple Sclerosis (MS).
The study recruited 339 patients who had failed to get adequate pain relief with existing therapies. Patients were randomised to active treatment [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.prescriber.org.uk/2008/04/10/sativex-results-disappointing/</link>
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