Nasal Spray

MedImmune Inc.'s push to market what it hopes will be its next blockbuster drug got a key endorsement yesterday when an expert panel that advises the Food and Drug Administration gave what amounts to a recommendation for its approval, though for a smaller population than the company sought. The Gaithersburg company previously had said it expected FluMist to generate as much as $1 billion in revenue within five years. But the company's estimate was based on the assumption that the vaccine would be approved for ages 1 through 64, not ages 5 through 49 as recommended by the panel.

No needle, no tears. A nasal-spray vaccine to protect children against the flu and painful middle-ear infections is showing great promise in a five-year National Institute of Health study being conducted around the country.In the first three years, the vaccine has been 93 percent effective in preventing flu and 98 percent effective against influenza-associated ear infections in children.Researchers are trying to determine whether widespread immunization of children 18 months to 18 years old will provide communitywide protection against influenza.

Imagine a headache so severe that you can barely stand it. Migraines produce nausea, sensitivity to light and misery so intense that many victims have been driven to seek refuge in a dark room until the attack passed. That often took hours to days.Classical migraines, with bizarre visual symptoms and one-sided pain, have been familiar to medicine for centuries, but until recently treatments were limited. Many migrain sufferers abused over-the-counter medications to ease the pain. Others turned up in emergency rooms begging for narcotics to relieve their anguish.

Three-fourths of smokers want to quit, but less than 10 percent who try each year succeed long-term, according to health researchers. Smokers who resolve to kick their deadly habit in 1998 should find it a little easier, though.A new smokeless nicotine inhaler that resembles a fat plastic cigarette, and the first non-nicotine anti-smoking drug were approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1997. They join a number of other products and social support systems to aid in stubbing out that tobacco habit:Smokeless nicotine inhaler: The smokeless nicotine inhaler has just become available by prescription in the Baltimore-Washington area.

Drug manufacturers must think allergy victims are dummies. Some of the most ridiculous ads we've ever seen are aimed at hay fever sufferers this fall. For many, the barrage has resulted in amusement and confusion.Can you surf down a mountain meadow, or windsurf through a wheat field? Then maybe you'll be interested in "Ahhh! Allegra" to help you "get out there" or "really go for it this year." Do you feel that you are chained to a steel tissue box? "Break free from your runny nose," urges the maker of Atrovent nasal spray.

Q: I read your column on the dangers of over-the-counter medicines and was struck with the issue of nasal spray and rebound congestion. That is what I am dealing with.My problem started in 1990 when I was pregnant. I had nasal congestion and used Afrin, as I didn't want to take any oral medication. I have been using the spray ever since.If I stop, my nose becomes completely plugged up within 6hours, which I can't tolerate. I cannot sleep through the night without using the spray. I also keep a bottle in my purse and in my lab coat at work.

Doping nasal spray alleged in E. GermanyExperts in former East Germany developed a doping nasal spray before the 1988 Olympics that was virtually undetectable, a leading swimmer alleged yesterday.Raik Hannemann, who on Monday admitted taking performance-enhancing drugs, said the spray had the same effect as anabolic steroids and traces of its use would disappear after three days.Hannemann and other athletes yesterday accused former East German sports chiefs of developing a perfect, systematic doping program and of offering hard currency as an incentive for taking drugs.

There is a distinct medical downside to this season of cool weather, falling leaves and gentle melancholy: hay fever. If you want to call it something more serious, you might try "seasonal allergic rhinitis," but the terms mean the same thing. It's the time of runny nose and eyes and a feeling of stuffiness that's caused vTC by allergies.Hay fever can be a terrible nuisance, but it's not dangerous and there are several measures that can counteract its effects.Hay fever occurs when antibodies initiate defensive reactions against plant seeds floating in the air.The body has a defensive reaction when foreign objects appear in the upper respiratory tract -- the sinuses, nose, throat, mouth and trachea -- which filters out potentially harmful material to keep it from the lungs.