In the news of late we have so many studies appearing and conflicts with the experts on which drug to take and for what problem.  In this case Avodart may work on imageon problem; however, the risk of heart failure arises, so what does one do now, prescribe Crestor to handle that part of the issue to keep heart disease at bay?

One More Reason for Statins – May Lower the Risk of Prostate Cancer and Better Senior Sex Life

What do we really believe about statins as well, do they lower risk of prostate cancer too?  If they are already doing this, do we need Avodart too?  These are just some questions that are arising today.  Also as mentioned with Proscar from Merck, if you are going bald as well as wanting to prevent prostate cancer, then this could be the drug of choice without running the higher risks of heart failure?  In this case you may not need the additional statins it appears, but if you are a senior you could miss out on the better sex life, so what do you want?

Doctors are backing a wider consideration of prostate drug - Proscar

Recently from the FDA they said it was ok for everyone to take a statin, but what about their side effects with aching muscles?  Do you want to have aches and pains in your muscles to lower your potential heart attack and stroke risk? 

I guess at this point it might be time to run some algorithms here specific to your conditions and see what the numbers may say, but this is an indication only and a “human” decision from a healthcare professional, doctor is what is going to occur.  image

My Drug is Better than Your Drug – Prostate Cancer

With all of this information today it seems that there’s some areas that are a bit gray in my opinion – what is documented clinical use and what is marketing?  Sure big pharma wants to sell drugs but are we evaluating for better care or better marketing sometimes?  Prostate cancer certainly seems to be high on both lists, care and marketing and sometimes how can you effectively tell the difference?  This even goes into the genetic area of biotech with Myriad, the company who just lost the gene patent legal case, introducing a new test that will predict the recurrence of prostate cancer.  Do we add this test to the battery of information currently available too and do we need this?  I don’t know, I’m just asking and where do you find the ultimate experts?  Their opinions too can change based on new developments and studies released. 

Myriad's BRCA (DNA Breast Cancer) Patent Ruled Invalid Today – US Patent and Trademark Office Also Off the Hook

On the over the counter side of the story, Bayer is being sued for labeling One A Day vitamins as helping prevent prostate cancer.  What does help prevent prostate cancer as an effective drug and where does common sense enter the picture on just perhaps making lifestyle and diet changes to be on the upside of preventing prostate cancer.  Is common sense and life style adjustment enough or is a drug needed and that of course depends on your condition and whether or not one has been diagnosed to begin with. 

Bayer Is Sued Over Labeling Stating It Helps Prevent Prostate Cancer – One A Day

Again, there’s a lot of confusing information out there today and as you can see from the few examples above, selecting the appropriate medication for you, based on clinical decisions could be a bit daunting.  The doctors are out there reading even more than the patients to create an appropriate decision too, so again when you as a patient have questions, talk about it with your doctor.  Sometimes marketing and prescribing treatments are a bit confusing today and at times, you wonder if we can in fact tell the difference on some of this.  BD 

The drug dutasteride, sold under the brand name Avodart, has been used for years to reduce the size of enlarged prostates. A new study promotes an additional benefit: It appears to lower the risk of developing prostate cancer.

But the study also revealed a surprising downside: Subjects who took the drug had heart failure at higher rates than those who took a placebo.

The study, published Thursday in The New England Journal of Medicine, reignited the debate about how to treat a disease that affects 192,000 men a year and kills 27,000.

The study reached a similar conclusion that a government-funded study reached eight years ago about a similar drug called finasteride, which is made by Merck & Co. and marketed as Proscar (it’s also available generically; Merck invented it as a baldness cure and once called it Propecia). That study also showed a reduced risk of prostate cancer among the men who took it, but finasteride showed no evidence of heightened heart-failure risk.

Good news, bad news on prostate drug - Healthy Living : The Orange County Register

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