Psychotropic Drugs: What Are They?

 ABC News: "While doctors aren’t exactly sure how antipsychotics work, most experts believe antipsychotics block specific dopamine receptors in the brain, which are thought to be overactive in patients with symptoms of psychoses, such as hallucinations and delusions.   There are limited approvals by the FDA for the use of these drugs for children with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and in some cases irritability associated with autism."

Popular painkiller can be deadly

Image via Wikipedia

USATODAY.com: "Taking slightly too much of the pain reliever acetaminophen (best known by the brand name Tylenol) over time can lead to an overdose that can cause liver failure and death, according to a new study."

Related articles

• Tiny overdoses of Tylenol can turn deadly (vitals.msnbc.msn.com)

Avastin: What is it?

 latimes.com: "Avastin (bevacizumab) is a so-called biological therapy and the first drug approved by the FDA that was designed to inhibit growth of blood vessels feeding tumors."

Drug shows promise in treating rare form of lung cancer

Image via Wikipedia The Columbia Daily Tribune  "Since his diagnosis, Harris had been following Pfizer’s clinical trials for a new drug called crizotinib, available under the brand name Xalkori.

Ramaswamy Govindan, a professor in the division of medical oncology at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis who conducted the study, said early tests found crizotinib to be effective in treating a specific type of lung cancer characterized by the presence of a protein called anaplastic lymphoma kinase, or ALK. This ALK protein causes cell mutations that become lung cancer. Govindan said crizotinib works by turning the protein off."

Related articles

• Pfizer, docs: New cancer pill gives hope, strategy (seattletimes.nwsource.com)