The FDA has given its approval to Toviaz as a cure for overactive bladders in adult patients. The drug is manufactured by Schwarz Pharma of Zwickau, Germany, and is distributed in the United States by Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) of New York. FDA has given approval for two doses of the drug – 4mg and 8 mg.

Toviaz (fesoterodine fumarate) relaxes the smooth muscle tissue of the bladder. Thus it reduces urinary frequency, the urge to urinate and sudden urinary involuntary urination. All these symptoms indicate an active bladder.

A girl student of Paul Revere Middle School died due to meningitis on Friday. But still the health officials were unaware about the real cause of the disease – virus or bacteria.
Meningitis can be both viral as well as bacterial. But only bacterial meningitis is contagious.

The exact cause is difficult to ascertain as 13-year-old Ana Cortez recently took antibiotics. Cortez’ classmates were shocked to learn of her death.

“She was real funny, a smart person. Never tried to put nobody down. She always tried to help you out if you were in need,” classmate Dejune Johnson said.

As a precautionary measure, 12 students and 9 staff members were given antibiotics to fight off a bacterial infection.

A study conducted by British researchers on 2645 pregnant women, with average age 30 and with low risk pregnancies revealed that even low amount of caffeine could lead to low weight babies. 

It was found that the average caffeine intake during pregnancy was 159 milligrams a day which is much lower than the 300 mg/day recommended by the U.K.'s Food Standards Agency. Tea was the main source of caffeine (62 %), followed by coffee (14%), cola (12%), chocolate (8%) and soft drinks (2%).

According to a British study conducted on more than 22,000 adults, including 517 with diabetes, it was revealed that eating fish twice a week can reduce the risk of kidney damage in diabetics.

The subjects answered questionnaires about their diet habits. This also included how much fish they ate in a week. The urine samples of the participants in the survey were analyzed for the presence of a protein called albumin. Presence of albumin in urine is an indicator of kidney damage.

The prevailing stiff global financial conditions have impacted the export business of the country. Exports growth remained less at 10.4 percent in September 2008. However, import business has grown by 43.3 percent for the same period.

India's export stood at $13.74 billion during September 2008 as per the provisional figures released by the Department of Commerce. It was $12.45 billion in the same period last year. Exports grew by 36.7 per cent at Rs 4,05,118 crore during April-September 2008 in terms of Indian currency. It was Rs 2, 96,423 crore in the same period of last year. 

US credit card and banking giant, American Express is likely to start retrenchment drive in India and other locations. It would retrench about 10 percent workforce, cutting around 7,000 jobs. The staff would be eliminated in all business units, including markets and staff groups. Some staff in its Indian operations is also likely to be laid off.