New warning added to contraceptive patch
Fri, 18 Jan 2008 22:05:19 GMTWASHINGTON - A new study showing an increased risk of blood clots among women using a contraceptive skin patch prompted the Food and Drug Administration on Friday to add that finding to the drug's label.
The agency said the label on the Ortho Evra Contraceptive Transdermal Patch will include the results of a study in women aged 15-to-44 indicating a higher risk of clots than for women using birth control pills.
The blood clots could potentially lead to a lung embolism, the agency said.
"For women that choose to use contraceptives, it is important that they thoroughly discuss with their health care providers the risks and benefits involved," said Dr. Janet Woodcock, the FDA's deputy commissioner for scientific and medical programs.
The agency said it believes the patch is a safe and effective method of contraception, but recommends that women with concerns or risk factors for serious blood clots talk with their health care provider about contraceptive options.
The possibility of blood clots was first placed on the Ortho Evra label in September 2006.
Ortho Evra is a prescription patch that releases hormones through the skin into the blood stream. Because the hormones are processed by the body differently than hormones from birth control pills, women using the product will be exposed to about 60 percent more estrogen than if they were using typical birth control pills, FDA said.
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Brain surgery lets woman listen to music
Fri, 18 Jan 2008 03:50:52 GMTBy FRANK ELTMAN, Associated Press Writer
GARDEN CITY, N.Y. - Now that surgeons have operated on Stacey Gayle's brain, her favorite musician no longer makes her ill. Four years after being diagnosed with epilepsy, Gayle recently underwent brain surgery at Long Island Jewish Medical Center to cure a rare condition known as musicogenic epilepsy.
Gayle, a 25-year-old customer service employee at a bank in Alberta, Canada, was suffering as many as 10 grand mal seizures a day, despite being treated with medications designed to control them. The condition became so bad she eventually had to quit her job and leave the church choir where she sang.
Eighteen months ago, she began to suspect that music by reggae and hip-hop artist Sean Paul was triggering some of her seizures. She recalled being at a barbecue and collapsing when the Jamaican rapper's music started playing, and then remembered having a previous seizure when she heard his music.
Her suspicions were confirmed on a visit to the Long Island medical center last February, when she played Paul's hit "Temperature" on her iPod for doctors. Soon after, she suffered three seizures.
"Being that the seizures could be triggered by the music, this was a very interesting opportunity to study Stacey's brain," said Dr. Ashesh Mehta, the hospital's director of epilepsy surgery.
During the first surgery, doctors implanted more than 100 electrodes in the right side of her brain to pinpoint the abnormal area of her brain.
The surgeons followed that procedure with a second surgery to remove the electrodes, along with parts of her brain suspected of causing the seizures.
"We used the latest techniques, including image guidance, to pinpoint the areas of abnormality, and the operating microscope to perform the procedure during a four-hour operation," Mehta said.
Within three days, the woman was released from the hospital and has not experienced a seizure since.
"I always live each day like it's my last," she said. "I want to show others that life does not end at epilepsy. I know I have what it takes to succeed."
