Medications and treatments Archive

A new medication for the treatment of obesity has been approved by the FDA, and it received significant media attention in the months leading up to its approval. A high-dose injectable hormone, it already existed in a different form as a treatment for type 2 diabetes, but in this form and dosage it has advantages over other available weight-loss medications, as well as its own potential risks.

Essential tremor causes involuntary shaking, most often in the hands, head and voice. It may be an inherited condition and is different from another well-known tremor disorder called Parkinson's disease. There is no cure, but symptoms can be managed through medication and lifestyle changes.

Some men use growth hormone as an anti-aging treatment, even though it is illegal to market it for this purpose. Studies of test subjects who took growth hormone found a high incidence of side effects such as joint pain and carpal tunnel syndrome.

Though recently discovered, the endocannabinoid system regulates and controls many of our critical bodily functions. Researchers are investigating the ECS's role in learning and memory and in hunger, hoping that these avenues of research may lead to new drug discoveries.