Archive for March 2016

FDA approves Cinqair to treat severe asthma

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Cinqair (reslizumab) for use with other asthma medicines for the maintenance treatment of severe asthma in patients aged 18 years and older. Cinqair is approved for patients who have a history of severe asthma attacks (exacerbations) despite receiving their current asthma medicines.

Cinqair is administered once every four weeks via intravenous infusion by a health care professional in a clinical setting prepared to manage anaphylaxis.

Cinqair is a humanized interleukin-5 antagonist monoclonal antibody produced by recombinant DNA technology in murine myeloma non-secreting 0 (NS0) cells.

Cinqair reduces severe asthma attacks by reducing the levels of blood eosinophils, a type of white blood cell that contributes to the development of asthma.

Compared with placebo, patients with severe asthma receiving Cinqair had fewer asthma attacks, and a longer time to the first attack. In addition, treatment with Cinqair resulted in a significant improvement in lung function, as measured by the volume of air exhaled by patients in one second.

Cinqair can cause serious side effects including allergic (hypersensitivity) reactions. These reactions can be life-threatening. The most common side effects in clinical trials for Cinqair included anaphylaxis, cancer, and muscle pain.

Crash Risk Soars When Truck Drivers Don’t Treat Sleep Apnea

The study was published online March 21 in the journal Sleep.

“The most surprising result of our study is the strength and robustness of the increase in the crash risk for drivers with sleep apnea who fail to adhere to mandated treatment with positive airway pressure therapy [CPAP],” said study author Stephen Burks. He’s principal investigator of the Truckers & Turnover Project at the University of Minnesota.

The rate of serious, preventable crashes was five times higher among truckers with sleep apnea who didn’t use their CPAP machine, compared to the control group. The crash rate among drivers with sleep apnea who always or sometimes used their CPAP machine was similar to that of the control group.

Sleep Apnea Has a Negative Impact On Neurocognitive Function in Children

There is significant deleterious impact of Seep Disordered Breathing, particularly of moderate to severe OSA, and also that even snoring alone affects neurocognitive functioning.