Health news: Pop a pill for headlice, red spray juice beats cholesterol and new drug to end pain of shingles
In our round-up of health news this week, a pill to kill headlice, how red grape juice can lower levels of bad cholesterol and a drug to banish the agony of shingles.
Pop a pill to scare away headlice
Head to head: Ivermectin, a new pill that kills headlice is more effective than a traditional lotion applied to the hair
A new pill that kills headlice is not only easier to administer, but also more effective than a traditional lotion applied to the hair.
In a trial, more than 800 people infected with head lice were given malathion lotion, an insecticide applied directly to hair, or Ivermectin, given in tablet form.
After 15 days, 95 per cent of those treated with Ivermectin were free of head lice compared to 85 per cent of those treated with malathion.
The drug works by killing headlice when they ingest the drug-filled blood.
'There is a risk of side effects - such as fever - which is why we'd recommend Ivermectin as a second option for people whose infestation does not clear up with other treatments,' says Professor Olivier Chosidow, a dermatologist who co-ordinated the French study.
It's hoped the pill may become available in a few years.
How drinking red grape juice beats beats cholesterol
Could a daily glass of red grape juice can lower levels of bad cholesterol. The juice is thought to be full of natural antioxidants - in particular polyphenols - that help protect the body against disease.
During a Spanish trial, healthy volunteers were given 100ml of concentrated red grape juice every day for a fortnight. Their blood was tested before, during and after.
Results showed their blood was not only lower in cholesterol, but also in compounds known to increase the risk of heart disease.
Blood tests six months after the trial found that levels were still low compared to a control group who did not have the juice.
It's thought polyphenols help slow or prevent cell damage caused by free radicals, the potentially damaging molecules linked to disease.
They may also have other protective effects, including reducing abnormal heart rhythms.
New drug to end the misery of shingles
An anti-viral drug said to be 10,000 times more potent than other treatments may banish the agony of shingles.
The drug, developed at the University of Cardiff, could be available in three years.
Code-named FV-100, it works by dampening down nearly all of the symptoms caused by shingles, such as acute pain, rash and blisters.
Shingles is a notoriously painful condition that affects one in five people at some point in their lives.
It is caused by the same virus responsible for chickenpox. After triggering the childhood disease, it can lurk in the spine before being reactivated and causing shingles.
Traditionally, doctors treat it with the drug acyclovir, which stops the virus from replicating, but this has to be given within the first 48 hours to have any impact.
But the new once-a-day drug destroys the virus and could bring better relief to millions more sufferers.
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