Health line

Compiled from Times wires
© St. Petersburg Times
published July 30, 2002

COULD PEOPLE BE INOCULATED against drug addictions the way they can be against some infectious diseases?

Recent research indicates that the approach has merit. In one study, about 50 smokers in Belgium were injected with an unusual drug, code-named TA-NIC. After taking as many as five doses in 10 weeks, two of the study's subjects quit smoking. Several others reported less desire to smoke, says Xenova PLC, the drug's British maker.

The experimental drug is one of the first attempts to design an antismoking vaccine. By producing antibodies in the user's blood, it prevents nicotine molecules from entering the brain and triggering a "high." Denied such pleasure, a smoker theoretically has less incentive to light up again.

ALMOST 1,000 U.S. DENTISTS now use a laser instead of a drill for many procedures, making novocaine almost obsolete for many of their patients.

The dental laser, a powerful cutting instrument, can remove decay from a tooth, just as a drill does, essentially vaporizing it with a stream of laser light.

The nation has about 200,000 dentists, and most still don't use lasers. A big hindrance is cost. Most dentists have small practices and can't afford the $50,000 laser equipment. Many dentists also have been turned off by the aggressive marketing and relentless stock promotion of some dental laser makers. And some dentists remain concerned that the laser may overheat and damage the tooth.

Nevertheless, the number of dentists using lasers is expected to increase sharply over the next few years, particularly as patients, lured by the promise of needle-free dentistry, start demanding the treatment.

THE FOOD AND DRUG Administration has approved the first drug for women with a form of irritable bowel syndrome, an often painful disorder that afflicts millions of Americans.

The drug, Zelnorm, made by the Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis International, was approved for short-term use by women with irritable bowel syndrome characterized by constipation, a group an FDA official said could number 3.7-million. The drug's effectiveness in men, who are less likely to develop irritable bowel syndrome, has not been established by clinical trials.

Though patients can take laxatives or painkillers approved for other uses, Zelnorm is the first drug specifically approved for this form of the syndrome and the first that the drug agency says can reduce not only constipation but pain and bloating as well.

-- Times wires were used in this report.

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