Latest news with #gabapentin
Medscape
04-06-2025
- Health
- Medscape
1 in 7 HIV PrEP Users Face Alcohol Use Disorder
Nearly 12% of individuals using preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV prevention, were diagnosed with alcohol use disorder (AUD) within 6 months of initiating PrEP, whereas nearly 3% were diagnosed before initiation. Fewer than 9% of those diagnosed received any US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)–approved medication for AUD. METHODOLOGY: Researchers carried out a retrospective cohort study using data from the US health claims to assess the prevalence of AUD among individuals using PrEP for the prevention of HIV. They included 43,913 individuals (mean age, 35.8 years; 90.1% men) who received a PrEP prescription between January 2014 and December 2021. The study outcome was an AUD diagnosis within 6 months before or after PrEP initiation, identified using suitable codes in inpatient and outpatient service claims. Individuals diagnosed with AUD were evaluated for receipt of FDA-approved medications, including oral and injectable naltrexone, acamprosate, and disulfiram. The use of non–FDA-approved medications such as baclofen, gabapentin, and topiramate was also estimated. TAKEAWAY: Overall, 14.29% of PrEP users had an AUD diagnosis — 2.84% were diagnosed before and 11.45% were diagnosed after initiating PrEP. Among individuals diagnosed with AUD, only 8.46% of them received FDA-approved medications, whereas gabapentin was the most frequently prescribed non-FDA approved medication. Those assigned male at birth were less likely to be diagnosed with AUD both before starting PrEP (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.62; P < .001) and after starting PrEP (aOR, 0.81; P < .001). < .001) and after starting PrEP (aOR, 0.81; < .001). Individuals with an AUD diagnosis were significantly more likely to have mental health disorders, including depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder, and bipolar disorder ( P < .001 for all); testing for sexually transmitted infections was also more common among those with an AUD diagnosis. IN PRACTICE: 'Given the prominence of unhealthy alcohol use among candidates for PrEP, standardized screening for unhealthy alcohol use and, as indicated, assessment for AUD are needed by clinicians. All clinicians, including those working in primary care and sexual health clinics, ought to be comfortable talking about and managing unhealthy alcohol use,' the authors of an invited commentary wrote. SOURCE: This study was led by Anton L.V. Avanceña, PhD, The University of Texas at Austin. It was published online on April 25, 2025, in JAMA Network Open . LIMITATIONS: Reliance on health claims data may have led to the omission of those without insurance or those seeking care outside conventional healthcare settings. The health claims database only included individuals with employer-sponsored commercial insurance, possibly affecting the generalizability of the findings. Moreover, the database did not provide information on gender, sexual orientation, race, or ethnicity. DISCLOSURES: This study was supported by the Texas Institute for Sexual and Gender Minority Health Research, the Dell Medical School Office of Research and the Office of Health Equity, and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health. One author reported receiving grants from Merck Sharp & Dohme outside the submitted work.
The Sun
31-05-2025
- General
- The Sun
I'm suffering from neuralgia in my head after having shingles for seven or eight weeks – help!
Q) I AM suffering from neuralgia in my head after having shingles for seven or eight weeks. Do you have a cure for the pain, which is now in the left hand side of my face, affecting my eye and my tongue? My head is sore from the nape of my neck to the top of my head. A) Postherpetic neuralgia is the most common complication of shingles. It's a long-lasting pain that affects areas where shingles rashes were present, including the eye and potentially the tongue. It usually gets better eventually, but can vary from a few months to over a year. Different types of painkiller medications may need to be tried. Paracetamol or paracetamol with codeine helps some people. Medicines to treat nerve pain would usually be tried next, such as amitriptyline, duloxetine, gabapentin or pregabalin. These may not work straight away – the dose is usually increased gradually over weeks until it becomes effective. It's important to be aware of the potential side-effects before starting them. Plasters containing lidocaine (a local anaesthetic) can help some people manage pain of the skin, but not the eye or tongue. Others benefit more from CBT talking therapy, which can be particularly useful if the pain is impacting your daily activities. Live fat jab Q&A Are you curious about side- effects, whether they could be right for you, or how to best eat while on them? Send me your questions for a Live Q&A on the hot topic. No question is too big, small or silly. Send your questions to the address below.
Fox News
21-05-2025
- Health
- Fox News
Brain cancer patients who received this pain medication lived longer, study shows
Print Close By Melissa Rudy Published May 21, 2025 Glioblastoma, the most aggressive and deadly type of brain cancer, is known to have a very poor prognosis — but a new study suggests that a pain-relieving drug could extend survival. Researchers at Mass General Brigham have found that an already-approved medication — a pain reliever and anti-seizure medication called gabapentin — has been linked to improved survival in patients with glioblastoma. The findings were published in Nature Communications last week. MICHAEL BOLTON HAD STRANGE SYMPTOMS BEFORE BRAIN CANCER DIAGNOSIS: 'SOMETHING'S WRONG' Inspired by previous mouse studies that showed gadapentin's potential in targeting tumors, the researchers studied the medical outcomes of nearly 700 patients with glioblastoma. Many of them had already been taking gabapentin to alleviate nerve pain, according to a press release from MGB. The patients who were taking the drug survived four months longer than those who were not — 16 months compared to 12 months — which was described as "statistically significant." "Ultimately, our goal was to highlight the emerging role of cancer neuroscience in GBM progression and emphasize the importance of exploring creative strategies to therapeutically target this evolving neural-tumor axis," lead author Joshua Bernstock, MD, PhD, a clinical fellow in the Department of Neurosurgery at Brigham and Women's Hospital, told Fox News Digital. BREAST CANCER DRUG COULD HELP PROLONG SURVIVAL FOR CHILDREN WITH BRAIN TUMORS, STUDY FINDS The team was surprised by the survival benefit, Bernstock noted. "It's always incredible to see a hypothesis come to life," he said. "I was also really pleased to see the decrease in serum TSP-1 levels in the UCSF cohort, potentially positioning it as a biomarker of response." Based on the initial findings, Bernstock reached out to researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) to study more glioblastoma patients. Among the 379 patients at USCF, the same outcome was observed — the ones who were taking gabapentin lived 20.8 months on average, compared to 14.7 months for those not taking the drug. "There have been very few advances in survival for GBM patients since the early 2000s." "Across both cohorts (1,072 patients total), gabapentin use was consistently associated with a statistically significant improvement in survival," Bernstock told Fox News Digital. The researchers also noticed that the gadapentin group had lower levels of a protein called TSP-1, which is found in the blood serum, a finding that "needs further investigation." "There have been very few advances in survival for GBM patients since the early 2000s," Bernstock said in the release. "We need to think more creatively about the emerging biology in these tumors and how to target them." What to know about gadapentin The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) initially approved gadapentin in December 1993 to treat seizure activity in adults; the approval was extended to include children in 2000. Two years later, the agency approved gadapentin for nerve pain following shingles, according to the agency. The drug is often prescribed for off-label use to treat a range of pain conditions, studies show. Some of the more common side effects of gadapentin include fatigue, headache, dizziness, fever, nausea and vomiting, memory loss, trouble speaking, weight gain, vision problems, movement problems and recurring infections, according to Cleveland Clinic. Certain medications may interact with gadapentin. Patients should speak with a doctor if they experience severe or persistent side effects, experts recommend. Potential limitations and next steps The study did have some limitations, chiefly that it is retrospective and was not controlled. "While the findings are promising, the study is retrospective — patients were not given gabapentin in a controlled, randomized manner to directly assess its effects," Bernstock told Fox News Digital. "As such, larger prospective clinical trials are needed to validate these results and to further investigate the role of gabapentin and TSP-1 in GBM progression." CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR HEALTH NEWSLETTER Bernstock said he is "cautiously optimistic" by the findings. "While gabapentin is FDA-approved and generally well-tolerated, it's not appropriate to change clinical practice based on these findings alone without a controlled study, something our collaborators at UCSF are working on," he said. "It's not appropriate to change clinical practice based on these findings alone without a controlled study." "That said, in GBM patients who develop neuropathic pain or seizures post-craniotomy, there may be a rationale to consider gabapentin more readily than other agents." For more Health articles, visit Glioblastoma — described by Bernstock as "a relentlessly progressive and nearly universally fatal disease" — is the most common type of primary brain cancer, according to Mayo Clinic. The disease claims the lives of around 14,500 Americans each year. The five-year survival rate is just 6.9%. Print Close URL
