Hypertension and diabetes mellitus are significant and independent risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Antihypertensive therapy reduces cerebrovascular and cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in patients with hypertension. Tight blood pressure (BP) control [target diastolic BP (DBP)...

Intravenous esomeprazole (Nexium) is approved in Europe for the prevention of rebleeding following therapeutic endoscopy for acute bleeding gastric or duodenal ulcers. In a pivotal clinical trial, patients with peptic ulcer bleeding and high-risk stigmata who received intravenous esomeprazole...

Varenicline (Chantix, Champix) is an orally administered α4β2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor partial agonist that is indicated as an aid to smoking cessation. Well designed clinical trials indicate that varenicline is an effective aid to smoking cessation. During the last 4 weeks of...

Breast cancer is the most common malignancy affecting women and imposes a substantial economic burden on society. Estrogen is thought to play a major role in both the initiation and promotion of hormone dependent breast cancer, and a number of well recognized risk factors for breast cancer...

Alzheimer disease is a common, progressive neurodegenerative disorder of the elderly, affecting approximately 3% of individuals 65-74 years of age, and up to half of those aged =85 years. Along with progressive loss of memory and cognitive function, other symptoms include depression and...

Schizophrenia is a chronic disease that typically manifests during adolescence and early adulthood. Treatment of this disease consumes a significant proportion of the healthcare budget (billions of dollars in the US). Primary management options for schizophrenia include both pharmacologic and...

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the airways. The worldwide prevalence of asthma has increased in recent decades. There is an approximately 20-fold variation (range 1.6% to 36.8%) in the prevalence of childhood asthma throughout the world. The highest prevalence rates are in the UK,...

Diabetes mellitus is a common metabolic disorder characterized by high blood glucose levels resulting from an insulin deficiency (type 1 diabetes mellitus) or a combination of insulin deficiency and insulin resistance (type 2 diabetes mellitus). The chronic hyperglycemia associated with diabetes...

Mirtazapine is a noradrenergic and specific serotonergic antidepressant (NaSSA). The antidepressant efficacy of mirtazapine has been established in randomised, double-blind comparative studies. Mirtazapine has generally shown similar efficacy to other antidepressants. There is evidence for a...

According to the WHO, approximately 350 million people have chronic hepatitis B. Individuals with chronic hepatitis B have a highly variable and unpredictable clinical course and are at risk for developing cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Lamivudine is the only oral antiviral agent...