Good to hear from you.  I was worried.
I bet it was nice to have some one do the thanksgiving cooking for a change.
Wow!  In one night all the snow went away.  Maybe we will get back to global
warming again. I could use some of it.  I dropped 30 lbs last year to get
ready for old age, now I really feel the cold.  Bought some winter underwear
to compensate.  I sleep with a sleeping bag, a nice warm one.  Mother clued
me in on that, holds body heat and moisture, much better quality sleep and
the cats love it too.
Dropped my grooming down to 2 a day, enjoying it a lot more exept the cold
windy days.  I have a good heater but have to keep turning it on and off.
What is the back problem???
Gotta get going, a shaggy sheltie waiting for me in Rockland...thinking of
you...Cliff
----- Original Message -----
From: "Kathleen Cochran" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, December 11, 2002 10:40 PM
Subject: Mayo story: Permax and heart valve damage


http://www.startribune.com/stories/1556/3523697.html

Mayo: Parkinson's drug may damage heart valvesMaura Lerner
Star Tribune Published Dec. 11, 2002    VALV11Mayo Clinic doctors say a drug
for Parkinson's disease could damage people's heart valves in much the same
way as the diet drug combination known as fen-phen.
Mayo physicians discovered heart valve disease in three women taking
pergolide, or Permax, a drug used to treat restless-leg syndrome as well as
Parkinson's, according to a study released Tuesday.
They said the valve damage was "strikingly similar" to that found in
patients
taking fen-phen (fenfluramine and phentermine), the diet pill combo that was
pulled off the market in 1997 after Mayo brought to light the valve
problems.
"Given this possible association, we recommend that all patients taking
pergolide undergo a thorough cardiovascular examination," the authors
reported in December's Mayo Clinic Proceedings.
The drug's manufacturer, Eli Lilly and Co., said it has received about a
dozen reports of valve disease in the half-million patients who have taken
Permax in the past 13 years. "We're talking about very rare occurrences,"
said Kindra Strupp, a corporate spokeswoman in Indianapolis.
But she said the company is changing its warning label to add that risk, at
the request made by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration several weeks ago,
about the same time that the company learned of the Mayo Clinic's study.
"There's not really a clear causal relationship," she said of the findings.
But "we just know that, given the nature of the reports, that it seems
prudent to make sure we include this in our label."
The report, by cardiologist Dr. Raul Espinosa and colleagues, urged patients
to stop taking pergolide if valve disease is detected.
In an accompanying editorial, another cardiologist says the danger deserves
notice. "Is the association with use of the drug real? Yes, until proved
otherwise," wrote Dr. Shahbudin Rahimtoola, a professor at the University of
Southern California at Los Angeles.
"One could argue that this is a report of only three patients and that we
should wait for more cases; however, try telling that to patients and
families of those who subsequently develop [disease] that requires valve
replacement."
He said more research is needed to confirm the risk.
The drug has been known to pose risks to people with irregular heartbeats.
-- Maura Lerner is at [log in to unmask]

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