Latest News and Reviews

Injectable Drug On Test May Reduce Weight By 25% In Just A Week

A drug test conducted on mice brings new hope to quick obesity fix when it reduced their weight significantly in short period of time. Result from the test may serve as a possible solution for humans around the world who are suffering from obesity. As far as the composition of the drug is concerned, it is a combination of synthetic versions of 2 glucose hormones linked to metabolism: GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1) and glucagon. The level of glucose in the blood is boosted by glucagon produced in pancreas and reduced by GLP-1.

The researchers in Indiana University injected a drug that combined both glucagon and GLP-1 into the mice and found that within a period of one week, their weight reduced by 25% and fat mass dropped by 42%. Within a month, their body weight lost by 28% and their fat mass dropped by 63%. The researchers said in the Nature Chemical Biology journal that the drug was successful at suppressing the appetite and enhancing the calorie usage of the mice.

Dr Richard DiMarichi who leads the study commented that extra weight can be closely linked to several chronic diseases like cardio vascular diseases and diabetes, therefore main objective of this research is to look for a therapy which could help patients to lose their weight fast and easy as well as to treat diabetes. Dr DiMarchi also said that currently there is no single agent that is able to reduce weight of obese people by more than 5-10%. The concept of combining multiple drugs together to achieve the desired results is still being tested; it is hope that one day obesity can be treated more effectively.

Keeping in view the increase in obese people around the world, there have been unlimited numbers of pills that claim to shed body weight. But most of them are not fully efficient to fulfill their claim or they at least have some note worthy side effects. Apart from that, most of the pills are only effective as far as the patient is consuming them. Whenever the patient stops taking the pills, he or she will get obese again. Researchers are so excited about this finding but they also warned that the drug’s effectiveness on humans is yet to be tested. They believed that it may take a few years for this drug to come into market.

Student Loan Debt - Minnesota Lawyer Not To Be Absolved

While he has amassed perceptible pity from lower courts, a three-judge appeals panel is not going to allow a Minnesota attorney to run away with his student loan debt.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit rallied against a bankruptcy court and a district court and made it mightily clear that Mark Allen Jesperson cannot get a waiver any higher than $ 360000 in student loans debt. The lower court had earlier suggested that the loan repayment would be akin to a gargantuan task that would create unnecessary economic fragility for Jesperson. The three-judge panel claimed that self-created limitations which are a harbinger for only $ 48000 (gross income) can’t be enough excuse for abating debts.

Jesperson has graduated from Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, Ore., in the year 2000 and has come to garner some $363,218 cumulatively as student loan principal, interest and collection costs. This was at a time when he filed for bankruptcy. He has worked in the capacity of a judicial clerk, a lawyer and lately as a temporary legal worker for Kelly Services, quitting each time stating myriad personal reasons. Jesperson, in his bankruptcy filing, rallied for a debt relief claiming exceptional financial imbalance caused by the loan; it is notable that he hasn’t paid any of his student loans.

The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Minnesota in 2007 is strong in conviction that Jesperson has been fairly smudged with acute lack of discipline and commitment and he has not been co-operative at all in partaking workplace responsibilities. Having said this, the court also put Jesperson on a favorable footing when it suggested that Jesperson doesn’t get anything left in the kitty after fending off child support and additional expenses.

In the meantime, lenders have nailed Jesperson on the grounds of refusing federal repayment programs. They argued that Jesperson should have a surplus of $900/month if he used the program in which his loan payment would have been only $629/month.

The appeals panel also did not concur to the steadfastness with which the lower courts have refused hardship analysis in light of federal loan repayment program. The panel claimed that if borrower can find aid in ICRP program and can clear student loan dues while still keeping up with a moderate living standard then lack of fresh start is nowhere close to undue hardship. Also, according to the panel, the lower courts have miscalculated the tax bracket of Jesperson suggesting it to be 33 percent rather than 17.5 percent.

Changes In Student Loans, US Bank

US Bank, one of the biggest student loan lenders in the market has announced that it is going to suspend the new subsidized loans during September, the step that will change the way college students receive loans for their academic related requirements. Financial aid offices all over Northern Kentucky and Greater Cincinnati have been told that the US Bank is going to disperse its existing loans under the program of Federal Family Education Loan through the next summer season, which means that the current students do not need to search for new money lenders for now.

The Fifth Third Bank is one of the top student loan lenders in Cincinnati and it has announced that it will not suspend guaranteed loans itself. While other banks across the country have already taken this step, the US Bank is preparing for eliminating the federal guaranteed loan program. It is part of the plan to convert all the loans into direct federal loans. This is a suggestion by congressional Democrats and President Barack Obama who think that it will save around $100 billion in the next 3 years in guarantees.

These savings can be invested into new loans, in addition to increasing the amount of the Pell Grant to $5500 in the coming years. It is a federal grant for students with low income. The procedure for Free Application for Federal Student Aid will also be made simple, which has to be filled in by all the students who are applying for financial aid.

The bill has been introduced by the Democrats to authorize the change. According to the advocates, the all-direct lending system will provide protection to the students of small schools and the program will give the same rate of interest, fees and repayment terms to all the students. Although banks are not in support of the change as they claim that they provide sufficient choices to the students.

New College Loan Repayment Rules Benefit Millions

Starting from this month millions of students are going to benefit from the new loan repayment programs worked on federal rules. The improved student loan rules which were announced on July 1st, 2009, on the Department of Education website are intended to alleviate interest rates and forgive loan payment for lower income group. It will ease the pressure on many who have found themselves helpless with the previous loan structure. For those under the student loan hammer, this declaration, in part, is tantamount to Debt Consolidation. Assuming an instance, a college student graduated with a $25K debt will have to pay something like $288 a month if his yearly salary is $30K a year. With the new repayment scheme, he only needs to pay $172/month by spreading his loan repayment for a longer period of time.

The fresh set of rules take due care of monthly remuneration and the size of family for laying out the monthly mortgage spread of a borrower. Something along the lines of 15 percent of yearly salary is being pondered over in the new repayment scheme.

Loan Forgiveness is another aspect that’s greeted with a lot of applaud. Those below poverty levels (with annual income below $16245), will not have to pay the student loans as long as their income is below the defined poverty levels. Though a few critics have thrown brickbats at the measure suggesting that people would likely opt out for low-paying jobs to abate the paying loans, another school of thought suggests that no one in right mind will look to refuse high paying jobs just to save student loan cuts.

Many who have denied public service careers assuming that their emolument would not be handy in meeting the loan repayments, have been rethinking. After all, the new loan forgiveness measure adds to their tank in a positive way. Fresh graduates looking to join the public sector won’t need to repay their loans and those who have serviced for tenure above 10 years will have their outstanding principal waived off.

Another good news is that for the year 09/2010, Pell Grants have diminished interest rates from present 6 % to 5.6%. Also, the upper ceiling of grant is believed to be $5696, that’s a distinct enhancement of $619. (About 11 %)

Over-The-Counter (OTC) Drug Overdose Raise FDA Concern

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is currently trying to find out the possible ways to prevent the deaths that are caused by the over-the-counter drug overdose. They are mainly concerned with the overdosing deaths that are related to drugs which contain acetaminophen. Some of these drugs that use this ingredient include Tylenol, Nyquil and Excedrin. FDA told the media that acetaminophen is the main reason behind these increase in number of deaths and this chemical has resulted in more liver failures in the United Status.

The agency also added that public are yet unaware of the potential risks of taking this chemical above the limit in spite of the efforts taken to educate them regarding this. The advisory committee of FDA had a meeting last week to decide whether prescriptions and medications containing this chemical, acetaminophen need special regulation to stop or prevent overdosing.

When asked about the increase in deaths related to overdosing drugs, Federal regulators said that lot of people are dying just because they are taking in excess amount of these OTC drugs that contain acetaminophen. FDA also made a note that the maximum dosage level that is printed on the label of these drugs is shy of the actual levels that can cause severe liver damage. The chemical is present in hundreds of drugs and this causes the confusion among people and makes them take twice or thrice the dose of these says Sandra Kweeder, Office of new drugs, FDA.

CDC also commented on overdose of acetaminophen when it said the chemical causes lots of deaths and sends almost 56000 people to the emergency ward every year. Kweeder also added to this point and said that there are many people who tend to get confused when they take more than one OTC drug that has this acetaminophen.

The Food and Drug Administration is now considering a viable solution to this problem and is thinking of lowering the recommended dosage of acetaminophen, ways to eliminate acetaminophen – containing drugs and also adding additional warning box to all the products to make people aware of these risks. Drug manufacturers are also aware of these and they are also taking steps to prevent these death related to acetaminophen overdose. Linda Suydam, member of Consumer Healthcare Products Association feels that acetaminophen is a very safe ingredient and more than 99% of people who take this chemical appropriately do not suffer from any problem. When asked about this, the makers of popular OTC drug Tylenol said that they consider safety as their number one priority and they also feel that some of the recommendations of FDA are out of focus and would not serve to solve the root cause of acetaminophen-overdose.

Some drug manufactures are also voluntarily involved in taking corrective steps to prevent this problem. Some of these steps include boosting the info in the warning labels, eliminate non-child bounded packaging and also modify the liquid medications to prevent overdose. Though these steps may prove useful, the most important advice to the public is to read the label thoroughly and follow all directions correctly and do not exceed the daily dosage specified. Not taking more than one drug containing acetaminophen is also a nice step if you wish to prevent overdosing.