Once Again Certain Antibiotics Can Cause Neuropathy Vid

Today's post from click2houston.com (see link below) is another media report on the growing opposition to fluoroquinolone antibiotics, which can cause significant health problems as side effects. This especially applies to neuropathy patients and those susceptible to nerve damage. If your doctor is prescribing one of these antibiotics, ask him or her if he is aware of the potential health problems and if an alternative may be better for you. If you're at all worried, or not satisfied with your doctor's answer, do your research and if necessary, stamp your foot until a better option is presented - these drugs are clearly dangerous to many people with nerve damage, or potential nerve damage (diabetics, alcoholics, HIV patients, cancer patients and many more).

Thousands of adverse reactions reported from common antibiotics.
Patients claim they were not properly warned of side effects from Levaquin, Ciprofloxacin 
Author: Haley Hernandez, Reporter Published On: Apr 13 2015


 

HOUSTON -

Less than a year ago, David Crain, a healthy and vibrant 33-year-old musician and personal trainer, was in the prime of his life.

“I was running 6 miles in the August heat with my shirt off, screaming, yelling, listening to music effortlessly,” he said.

Now, he can barely play his guitar.

“Just about all I can do. It's hurting. If I do it now, I'll pay for it later,” Crain said.

Last June Crain went to the emergency room for what doctors believed was colitis. He was prescribed the antibiotic Ciprofloxacin, a generic form of Bayer’s Cipro, and began taking the recommended dosage.

“I think around about day seven or day eight, I just noticed like every time I would stand up I’d just be super-fatigued,” Crain said. “My ears rang all the time, I had trouble walking in the second month. My shoulders hurt, my tendons hurt.”

Tammy Renzi was prescribed the antibiotic Levaquin for a sinus infection. Six days into her 10-day dosage, she said she knew something wasn't right.

“I had a heaviness in my thighs. I had pressure in my lower spine. My vertebrae felt like they were rubbing on each other and I could hear the snapping in them,” Renzi said.

Both Crain and Renzi are not alone. From November 1997 to May 2011, more than 85,000 adverse reactions to Levaquin were reported to the Food and Drug Administration, including 1,174 deaths.

More than 67,000 adverse reactions to Cipro were also reported, including 1,257 deaths.

Dr. Charles Bennett, state chair of Medication Safety at the University of South Carolina, has been tracking the issue. He said Crain and Renzi's reactions may be caused by a mysterious genetic predisposition.

“Research should be done to identify those genetic factors,” Bennett said. “You certainly wouldn't want to take a drug if you knew you had a genetic predisposition to its side effects.”

Until that research is done, Bennett has petitioned the FDA, requesting stronger warnings.

“The current insert has a black box warning for tendon rupture and neurologic damage. It needs to be beyond the package insert,” he said.

Channel 2 Investigates reached out to both drug manufacturers.

According to Bayer Corporation, the FDA issued a drug safety communication requiring that "the drug labels and medication guides for all fluoroquinolone antibacterial drugs be updated to better describe the serious side effect of peripheral neuropathy."

Johnson & Johnson, Levaquin’s parent company, wrote, “Since 2004, the Levaquin label has informed physicians and patients about possible side effects related to peripheral neuropathy.”

Crain and Renzi said they want everyone to know the risks so that they don't end up with the same fate.

“I wouldn't take it again if my life depended on it,” Renzi said.

“My biggest fear is that I’m, you know, my son is never going to know who I was,” Crain said.

Renzi and Crain are not currently considering legal action, but in 2012 Johnson & Johnson settled lawsuits with 845 plaintiffs who claimed they were not properly warned about the risks.

http://www.click2houston.com/news/more-than-2000-adverse-reactions-reported-from-common-prescription-medications/32350128

BIOCHEMICAL CAUSE OF SEASONAL DEPRESSION CONFIRMED

New research confirms why some people suffer from the winter blues while others get through the winter without any problems. A longitudinal study from a group of researchers from the University of Copenhagen has found that that people with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) show significant seasonal differences in the way they regulate the neurotransmitter serotonin in comparison to the majority of the population. This work is being presented at the ECNP congress in Berlin.

SAD affects a significant amount of people as daylight levels drop in autumn. At Northern European latitudes (for example all of Scandinavia, Glasgow and Moscow) around 1 person in 6 suffers from SAD.

The researchers scanned 11 SAD patients and 23 healthy individuals using Positron Emission Tomography; they were able to show significant summer to winter differences in the levels of the serotonin transporter (SERT) protein; SAD patients showed higher levels of SERT in the winter months, corresponding to a greater removal of serotonin in winter.

Serotonin (also known as 5-HT) is a neurotransmitter which affects mood, in fact many anti-depressant drugs, such as SSRIs (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors, such as Prozac) work by allowing serotonin to be retained in the synapse where it exerts its effects.

Lead researcher, Brenda Mc Mahon said "We believe that we have found the dial the brain turns when it has to adjust serotonin to the changing seasons. The serotonin transporter (SERT) carries serotonin back into the nerve cells where it is not active, so the higher the SERT activity the lower the activity of serotonin. Sunlight keeps this setting naturally low, but when the nights grow longer during the autumn, the SERT levels increase, resulting in diminishing active serotonin levels. Many individuals are not really affected by SAD, and we have found that these people don't have this increase in SERT activity, so their active serotonin levels remain high throughout the winter."

The SAD patients had an average 5% higher SERT level in the winter compared to the summer, whereas the healthy participants on average showed no significant change.

Commenting for the ECNP, Professor Siegfried Kasper (Vienna) said "SERT fluctuations associated with SAD have been seen in previous studies, but this is the first study to follow patients through summer and winter comparisons. It seems to offer confirmation that SERT is associated with SAD"

Another Suspect Fluoroquinolone Antibiotic May Cause Neuropathy

Today's post from aboutlawsuits.com (see link below) is another one in the growing row about fluoroquinolone antibiotics (in this case Avelox) and their potential for causing nerve damage. It's worth bearing in mind that fluoroquinolones are by far the commonest antibiotic prescribed in the USA but nobody can ignore the evidence that shows that they are a danger for people susceptible to nerve damage and even more damaging for those who already have it. Even the FDA has insisted that the industry display clear warnings on the packaging of these drugs and yet doctors still prescribe them widely, either through lack of knowledge or lack of professional attention to detail. The problem is that this class of antibiotics comes under many brand names and people aren't always aware that the tiny print reveals that they are fluoroquinolones (and sometimes not even that). If you have neuropathic problems and/or immune system illnesses, you really need to have a serious discussion with your doctor as to whether these are the right drugs for you, especially as there are enough alternatives available.

Avelox Lawsuit Filed Over Peripheral Neuropathy Risk Written by: Irvin Jackson September 26, 2014

According to claims raised in a recently filed product liability lawsuit against Bayer and Merck, consumers and the medical community were provided inadequate warnings about the link between Avelox and peripheral neuropathy for years, which allegedly left a Tennessee woman with irreversible and permanent nerve damage.

The complaint (PDF) was filed last month by Sherri Kellerman, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Kellerman indicates that she developed peripheral neuropathy from side effects of Avelox (moxifloxacin), which is a popular antibiotic that is part of a class of medications known as fluoroquinolones. Other medications in the same class include the blockbuster antibiotics Levaquin and Cipro.

Fluoroquinolone Antibiotic Failure to Warn

The case joins a growing number of antibiotic peripheral neuropathy lawsuits being pursued nationwide, which all involve similar allegations that makers of fluoroquinolones provided false and misleading information about the risk of permanent nerve damage that may result from use of the medications.

Peripheral neuropathy involves damage to the nerves, which may impair sensation, movement and other aspects of health. Symptoms may include pain, burning, tingling, numbness, weakness and sensitivity to light touches, temperature and motion in the arms and legs.

Until last year, the peripheral neuropathy warnings provided with Avelox suggested that the problems were “rare” and failed to adequately disclose that users may be left with irreversible nerve damage, according to allegations raised by Kellerman.

In August 2013, the FDA required new, more stringent warnings about the peripheral neuropathy risk with Avelox, Levaquin, Cipro and other fluoroquinolone antibiotics, indicating problems may last for months or years after an individual stops taking the drug.

The new label announced by the FDA required the drug makers to warn patients that if they experience symptoms of peripheral neuropathy, they should contact their doctors and be switched to another antibiotic from a different class of drugs.

Avelox Risks Withheld

Fluoroquinolones are among the most widely used antibiotics in the United States, with about 23.1 million patients receiving prescriptions for an oral version of the antibiotics in 2011. Since it was introduced in 1999, Avelox has increased in popularity within the class, approaching blockbuster drug status.

Kellerman alleges that Bayer and Merck knew or should have known about the Avelox peripheral neuropathy risk for years, indicating that studies have linked fluoroquinolones to a risk of permanent nerve damage for years before the medication was even introduced.

A study published last month in the medical journal Neuorology suggested that users of oral fluoroquinolones may face double the risk of developing peripheral neuropathy. Researchers found that current users of Avelox and other similar antibiotics faced an 83% increased risk of suffering nerve damage, and new users faced more than double the risk of peripheral neuropathy compared to those not taking the drugs.

“Defendants failed to appropriately and adequately inform and warn Plaintiff and Plaintiff’s prescribing physicians of the serious and dangerous risks associated with the use of Avelox concerning peripheral neuropathy, as well as other severe and personal injuries, which are permanent and/or long-lasting in nature, cause significant physical pain and mental anguish, diminished enjoyment of life, and the need for medical treatment, monitoring and/or medications,” according to Kellerman’s complaint.

The Avelox lawsuit pursues claims for strict liability, failure to warn, negligence, breach of warranty, fraud, negligent misrepresentation and fraudulent concealment. It comes amid a growing number of similar Levaquin lawsuits and Cipro lawsuits being pursued on behalf of former users of those related antibiotics, which have also been linked to a risk of peripheral neuropathy.

Related Stories
Psychiatric Warning Should Join Antibiotic Peripheral Neuropathy Warnings, According to FDA Citizen Petition (9/22/2014)
Levaquin Peripheral Neuropathy Lawsuit Filed Against Johnson & Johnson (9/3/2014)
Study Links Side Effects of Levaquin, Cipro to Nerve Damage Risk (8/25/2014)
Cipro Nerve Side Effects May Be Cause of Gulf War Illnesses: Report (11/6/2013)
FDA Warns About Risk of Nerve Damage from Levaquin, Cipro, Avelox (8/16/2013)

http://www.aboutlawsuits.com/avelox-neuropathy-claim-70392/

Diabetes Is Not The Only Cause Of Neuropathy

Today's post from tulsaworld.com (see link below) is a sensible response from a doctor to a question as to why a patient suffers from neuropathy when they don't have diabetes. In the wider world, if people have heard of neuropathy at all, it's generally associated with diabetes but there are over 100 different causes of neuropathy and over 100 different forms of the disease too. So every bit of publicity highlighting the vast range of neuropathy causes is useful. I would say that 7 out of 10 internet articles also have 'diabetes' in the title when they talk about nerve damage because diabetes is unquestionably the most common cause. If you have neuropathy (and not diabetes) you can safely ignore the diabetes reference and trust the information will apply to you too. The one clear thing about neuropathy is that once it's diagnosed, the progress and treatment of the disease is pretty much the same for most people.

Dr. K: Peripheral neuropathy is not always caused by diabetes
Posted: Thursday, September 22, 2016 

Dear Doctor K: I have peripheral neuropathy. I know that people with diabetes often get neuropathy, but I’m not diabetic. What else can cause this condition? And what can I do about it?

Dear Reader: Neuropathy is a medical term that means nerve damage. The type of nerve damage that people with diabetes get involves specific nerve fibers in all nerves, particularly the nerves that travel to the legs and feet. (There are other conditions in which a single nerve leading to the legs and feet is pinched, causing pain. An example is what is often called a “slipped disk’’ or “herniated disk’’ in the lower part of the spine.)

The symptoms of peripheral neuropathy include numbness and tingling. Some cases cause burning, shooting or stabbing pain. When the doctor does a physical examination and touches your feet and lower legs with something as light as a feather (like some cotton), you may not feel it. However, you will feel it if the cotton touches your skin in the thigh or elsewhere on the body. You may also lose sensation to a pinprick in the lower legs and feet, but not the rest of you.

Diabetes is the most common cause of peripheral neuropathy. But neuropathy can result from other causes as well. These include:

• Excessive alcohol intake.

• Hypothyroidism. In this condition, the thyroid gland does not produce enough thyroid hormone.

• Amyloidosis, a disease in which an abnormal protein accumulates in the body.

• Vitamin deficiencies, particularly vitamin B1, B12 and folate deficiency.

• Infection with human immunodeficiency virus.

• Critical illness, particularly if you develop a severe inflammatory response to infection.

• Guillain-Barre syndrome. This uncommon autoimmune disorder damages the peripheral nerves.

• Chemotherapy.

Diagnosing peripheral neuropathy is best done by electromyography and nerve conduction studies. Such testing often is not necessary, as your symptoms, your medical history and your doctor’s physical examination make the diagnosis likely.

Treatment of peripheral neuropathy begins with treating the underlying cause of the condition. For example, let’s say your neuropathy is related to heavy drinking. You should severely restrict, or better yet abstain, from alcohol. If your neuropathy is caused by hypothyroidism, treatment with replacement doses of thyroid hormone should help.

The other goal of treatment is to relieve symptoms. In particular, treatment targets pain caused by peripheral neuropathy. Several medications can help. Gabapentin, an anticonvulsant medication, is usually effective. Tricyclic antidepressants can also effectively relieve pain.

Finally, while neuropathy itself causes pain, it (strangely enough) reduces sensitivity to pain caused by outside injuries. This makes you particularly vulnerable to foot damage. If you develop a cut or sore on your foot, without pain to alert you, you may not even notice the injury. Untreated, a simple wound may become severely infected. To prevent this, carefully check your feet every day and treat any foot injury immediately.

This column ran originally in October 2013.

Write to Dr. Komaroff at AskDoctorK.com or Ask Doctor K, 10 Shattuck St., Second Floor, Boston, MA 02115.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/scene/askdrk/dr-k-peripheral-neuropathy-is-not-always-caused-by-diabetes/article_b49e6305-a1b4-53ea-80c9-4fae63ecddb3.html

A PEANUT THAT WONT CAUSE ALLERGIC REACTION

A university of Florida scientist has moved one step closer to his goal of eliminating 99.9 percent of peanut allergens by removing 80 percent of them in whole peanuts.

Scientists must eliminate peanut allergens below a certain threshold for patients to be safe, said Wade Yang, an assistant professor in food science and human nutrition and member of UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.

If Yang can cut the allergens from 150 milligrams of protein per peanut to below 1.5 milligrams, 95 percent of those with peanut allergies would be safe. It’s challenging to eliminate all peanut allergens, he said, because doing so may risk destroying peanuts’ texture, color, flavor and nutrition. But he said he’s using novel methods like pulsed light to reach an allergen level that will protect most people.

Yang, whose study is published online in this month’s issue of the journal Food and Bioprocess Technology, cautioned that he has done peanut allergen experiments only in a laboratory setting so far. He hopes to eventually conduct clinical trials on animals and humans.

Dr. Shih-Wen Huang, professor emeritus in the Department of Pediatrics and Head of the Pediatric Allergy Clinic at UF Health, is familiar with the UF/IFAS research. Huang outlined more steps in the peanut allergen research.

The first is to see if the allergic antibody in the serum of peanut allergy patients will still bind with the residual allergy protein from the refined peanut products. The second is to see if the refined peanut extract would elicit skin-test reactions in peanut allergy patients.

The third step would be to conduct a double blind, placebo-controlled test to see if patients develop allergy symptoms after eating the refined products.

“I am pleased to see their work is progressing well,” Huang said. “However, more challenges are waiting until the final products are accepted from the public, especially the patients with peanut allergies.”

Two years ago, Yang was using his technique on peanut extract. He’s now testing it on the peanut itself. In his 2012 study, he removed up to 90 percent of the allergic potential from peanut protein extracts.

“This process proves that pulsed light can inactivate the peanut allergenic proteins and indicates that pulsed light has a great potential in peanut allergen mitigation,” Yang said.

About 1.9 million people, or 0.6 percent of U.S. residents, are allergic to peanuts, according to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health.

Reactions can range from skin rashes to anaphylaxis, which can be fatal. Currently, the best way for those allergic to peanuts to stay safe is to avoid them, according to the NIH. Many people carry epinephrine injectors that help offset their allergy symptoms until they reach a hospital.

In the latest study, Yang and his colleagues applied the pulsed ultraviolet light technology to whole peanuts. That makes the findings more useful, because peanut processing usually starts from whole-peanut roasting, and roasted peanuts are then packaged to sell as whole peanuts or made into peanut butter, he said.

“The latest study moves one step closer to the actual production,” Yang said.

For the study, Yang used a pulsating light system – two lamps filled with xenon, two cooling blowers, one treatment chamber with a conveyor belt and a control module ─ to direct concentrated bursts of light to modify the peanut allergenic proteins. That way, human antibodies can’t recognize them as allergens and begin to release histamines.

Histamines create allergy symptoms such as itching, rashes and wheezing. The pulsing light reduced the allergenic potential of the major peanut proteins Ara h1-h3.

A Summary Of How Agent Orange Can Cause Neuropathy

Today's post from publichealth.va.gov (see link below) is a summary of the US government's final acknowledgement of the neuropathic effects of agent orange in war situations (amongst other things such as birth defects). Agent orange and other herbicides can cause nerve damage and many veterans of wars in Korea and Vietnam (as well as local populations) have neuropathic problems as a result of exposure. The Red Cross of Vietnam estimated that up to a million people are disabled or have health problems due to Agent Orange. The US government has consistently challenged these figures but had to face the facts when it came down to their own servicemen, having clear and obvious nerve damage problems as a result of agent orange and other defoliants. You may well have seen other articles on the internet relating to agent orange and neuropathy and wondered what link there was to the neuropathy that we're all familiar with; this short official article puts it in a nutshell. Many prominent neuropathy sufferers have fought long and hard for official recognition of the problem.

Peripheral Neuropathy And Agent Orange
Publichealth.va.gov September 2013

VA presumes Veterans' early-onset peripheral neuropathy is related to their exposure to Agent Orange or other herbicides during service when the disease appears within one year of exposure to a degree of at least 10 percent disabling by VA’s rating regulations. VA's final regulation eliminating the requirement that symptoms resolve within two years took effect on Sept. 6, 2013.

About peripheral neuropathy

Peripheral neuropathy is a condition of the peripheral nervous system, which consists of nerves outside the brain and spinal cord.

Symptoms include numbness, tingling or prickling in the toes or fingers in early stages. This may spread to the feet or hands and may cause burning, throbbing or shooting pain that is worse at night. Other symptoms include pain equally in both sides of the body (in both hands or in both feet), muscle weakness, loss of balance or coordination, and extreme sensitivity to touch.

Visit MedlinePlus to learn more about peripheral neuropathy, treatment, the latest medical research, and more from the National Institutes of Health.
VA benefits for early-onset peripheral neuropathy

Veterans with early-onset peripheral neuropathy that appeared within one year of exposure to Agent Orange or other herbicides to a degree of at least 10 percent disabling by VA’s rating regulations may be eligible for disability compensation and health care.

Veterans who served in Vietnam, the Korean demilitarized zone or another area where Agent Orange was sprayed may be eligible for a free Agent Orange registry health exam.
Research on peripheral neuropathy and herbicides used in Vietnam

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academy of Sciences concluded in its report Veterans and Agent Orange: Update 1996 that there is some evidence to suggest that neuropathy of acute or subacute onset may be associated with herbicide exposure. Based on this evidence, VA presumed an association between herbicide exposure during service and acute and subacute peripheral neuropathy.

The IOM report Veterans and Agent Orange: Update 2010 concluded that there is "limited or suggestive evidence of an association" between herbicide exposure and "early-onset peripheral neuropathy that may be persistent". In response to this report, VA eliminated the requirement that acute and subacute peripheral neuropathy appear within "within weeks or months" after exposure and resolve within two years. The final regulation took effect Sept. 6, 2013.

View more research on health effects of Agent Orange.

http://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/agentorange/conditions/peripheral_neuropathy.asp