Source: The MarkUp Date: May 6th, 2021 Author: Colin Lecher If you’re a drug manufacturer looking for patients, one company has become a major destination in the past few years: Facebook. The social media giant, through its power to target users based on their interests, is especially attractive to pharmaceutical companies looking to sell drugs to potential patients. The Washington Post reported last year that health and pharmaceutical companies spent almost $1 billion on just Facebook mobile ads in 2019. The draw? Unlike a traditional TV or radio ad, Facebook’s ad categories help those companies target their drug ads at users who likely suffer from a specific illness the drug treats. And data from The Markup’s Citizen Browser project—which collects Facebook data from thousands of users—shows how precise and wide-ranging that targeting is. Though Facebook does not offer advertisers categories that explicitly identify people’s health conditions, The Markup identified dozens of ads for prescription pharmaceuticals targeted at people with “interests” in topics like “bourbon,” “oxygen,” and “Diabetes mellitus awareness.” Indeed, The Markup found, “awareness” of a disease is a frequent proxy for illness in targeting decisions made by advertisers. Zejula, a drug manufactured by pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline, for example, is prescribed to treat advanced ovarian cancer. We found the drug targeted at users who Facebook determined had shown an interest in “cancer awareness.” Piqray, another cancer treatment, manufactured by Swiss company Novartis, was shown to users with an interest in “National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.” Several drugs were targeted at either [...]

Source: El Paso Herald Post Date: April 1st, 2021 Author: Staff Reporter Thursday morning, city officials announced that they will be offering referral services and health screenings to decrease the rate of oral cancer diagnoses and save lives, in recognition of April’s National Oral Cancer Awareness Month. “Improving oral and oropharyngeal cancer awareness in our community is imperative,” said Angela Mora, Department of Public Health Director. “Oral cancer has an incidence rate of about 7.2 per 100,000 residents in El Paso County and affects males twice as much as females in the U.S., but we as a community can work to reduce the incidence rate by participating in Oral Cancer Awareness month.” Mora said residents can take part in Oral Cancer Awareness month by: Reducing the use of tobacco products Tobacco use and vaping significantly increases the risk of infection by the human papillomavirus (HPV) which causes oral or oropharyngeal cancer. Getting Screened Oral and oropharyngeal cancers occur most often in the tongue, soft and hard palate, tonsils, gums and back of the throat which is why regular oral and dental examinations by a health professional is important. Getting the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) Vaccine According to the CDC, HPV is known to cause approximately 70 percent of oral and oropharyngeal cancer cases, and the HPV vaccine was developed to prevent infection by the high-risk types of HPV that cause cancers such as oral and oropharyngeal cancer. For more information on the services and health screenings provided by the Department [...]

Source: Yahoo! Finance Date: February 18th, 2021 CHICAGO, Feb. 18, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Sunstar Americas, Inc. (SAI) is voluntarily recalling GUM® Hydral Dry Mouth Relief Oral Spray products bearing an expiration date from 2021-11 through 2022-05 (see specific lots below) to the consumer level. This product may be contaminated with the bacteria Burkholderia cepacia. Use of the defective product in the immunocompetent host may result in oral and, potentially, systemic infections requiring antibacterial therapy. In the most at-risk populations, the use of the defective product may result in life-threatening infections, such as pneumonia and bacteremia. To date, no adverse events have been reported to SAI related to this recall. The oral spray, available through retail, is indicated for use for lubricating, moisturizing, soothing, and refreshing properties to help relieve and manage the symptoms of dry mouth: 1800R/1800RA GUM® Hydral Dry Mouth Relief Oral Spray is distributed in 2.0 fluid ounce Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) bottles with white polypropylene caps and a separate spray nozzle. GUM® Hydral Dry Mouth Relief Oral Spray was distributed Nationwide to Grocery and Drug Wholesalers, Grocery and Drug chains, Web distribution and sales, and direct to consumers. SAI is notifying its direct distributors and customers by USPS Priority mail and is arranging for return of all recalled products. Patients, pharmacies, and healthcare facilities in possession of these products should stop using and dispensing immediately. Consumers with questions regarding this recall can contact SAI by phone at 1-800-528-8537 or email [email protected] on Monday-Friday from 8am-5pm CST. Consumers should [...]

Source: Scientific American Author: Claudia Wallis Image courtesy of Fatinha Ramos When people hear that they might have cancer, perhaps the only thing more frightening than the C word is the M word. Metastatic disease—in which the malignancy has traveled beyond its primary site to other spots in the body—is responsible for nine out of every 10 cancer deaths. Recently an unexpected player in this process has emerged: a common bacterium. Fusobacterium nucleatum, which normally lives harmlessly in the gums, appears to have a role in the spread of some cancers of the colon, esophagus, pancreas and—possibly—breast. Laboratory studies and evidence in patients indicate that the microbe can travel through the blood and infect tumor cells by attaching to a sugar molecule on their surface. There it provokes a range of signals and immune responses known to cause tumor cells to migrate. If further confirmed, the work with F. nucleatum could add to a growing understanding of how the microbiome influences cancer progression and may even point the way to fresh approaches to treatment. In a healthy human mouth, F. nucleatum is a law-abiding member of the microbial community. With poor dental hygiene, uncontrolled diabetes and other conditions, however, it can go rogue and cause periodontitis, tonsillitis, appendicitis and even preterm labor. A connection to colorectal cancer was first hinted at about nine years ago, when two research groups discovered that the bacterium’s DNA was overrepresented in colon tumor tissue compared with normal tissue. Dozens of studies have since found [...]