Chronic Bits 

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports the Food & Drug Administration said no way to the release of Arcoxia, Merck's follow-up to the now-unavailable Vioxx. We can hear pain patients across the country crying. 

Good news for Babes with rheumatoid arthritis: green tea may fight joint damage and inflammation, according to WebMD.

Bad news for all of us who live with migraines: those intense attacks might also be causing brain damage. Read on for the details...

So says Nubella, which tells us today that some of the most common food prep methods (broiling, grilling and frying) create toxins that can be linked to chronic illness. They cite research done by the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Food for thought... (ok, that was bad.)

Courtesy of Kerrie at The Daily Headache, here's tons of info on clinical trials, including possible benefits and risks, 10 questions to ask and a glossary of terms. Awesome!

Hey Babe, we want you! We're looking for ideas for Chronic Bits, and we need your help. Have an idea? Just shoot us a quick email with appropriate links and we'll consider running it as a Chronic Bit. Thanks!

The Big Bang! Planets have aligned and Med Valley High has created for us a gorgeous edition of Grand Rounds, with tons of posts. (ChronicBabe is featured on planet Venus.) For newbies, check out the Grand Rounds archives and schedule.

We're busy working here at Stop Time Studio getting ChronicBabe 2.0 in order. Browse and enjoy!

Grand Rounds is fresh at Fat Doctor with just TONS of posts to peruse. Enjoy! And if you have lots of time to spare, check out the Grand Rounds archives.

You've got to read this Open Letter To Those Without Invisible Disability Or Chronic Illness... and send it along to folks you know - especially those who are new to your illness, or who don't seem to understand it. It's poignant, touching, and frank. And you can adapt it as you see fit. We dig!

The REAL Hot 100 is changing the way young women are portrayed in the media, and they need your help. (You may remember that in 2006, Editrix Jenni was one of the women recognized in the inaugural list.) Please cast a vote for The Real Hot 100 so they can be one of 20 social change projects invited to the NetSquared Conference to compete for the Technology Innovation Fund. (Here's the detts on their plan for the award.) Deadline: Saturday, April 14, noon Pacific time. Here at ChronicBabe HQ we really believe in The Real Hot 100 so please join us in supporting their work!

AFFTER (Advocates for Fibromyalgia Funding Treatment, Education and Research) is conducting an online study to evaluate symptoms and characteristics that people with fibromyalgia (FMS) share, and will present results at meetings of the American College of Rheumatology and International MYOPAIN Society. If you can, please take 5 minutes to provide valuable data about the diverse symptoms of FMS. Deadline is April 18th. There are two surveys: A Symptom Study, for those WITH fibromyalgia; and A Control Group, for those WITHOUT fibromyalgia.

Trexima combines sumatriptan 85 mg as the succinate salt and naproxen sodium 500 mg. It's currently under FDA review, and manufacturer Pozen says new research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows the drug, "which is the first migraine-specific product designed to treat both inflammation and vasodilation in a single tablet, provided superior efficacy compared to placebo and its individual components." Read on for more from WebMD, and see what The Daily Headache has to say.

Argh. The Editrix is in big pain today, and it's freakin' snowing. Boo! Hiss! If you have a second, shoot us your favorite cheer-me-ups and help Jenni feel better. Thanks!

Oooooh, we have a little crush on Dr Dork. His version of Grand Rounds today is very excellent, especially the accompanying pics, which made us laugh real hard. Newbies: check out the Grand Rounds archives.

We love Change of Shift, a nifty nursing blog carnival that gives you the inside scoop on how nurses think. Anyone who's stayed at the hospital knows it's the nurses you really need to get to know - they can make things SO much more comfortable. So read on... and enjoy!

Pardon the extreme departure from our usual editorial ramblings, but Editrix Jenni is a rabid Björk fan, and there are little leaks all over YouTube and MySpace that supposedly give us a peek at her newest music. The album is due to hit May 7 in the UK, May 8 in the US - but you can get some teasers right now. Woo hoo!

...and help the Society for Women's Health Research (SWHR). Through April 18, sign up through this link and get a free membership to Revolution Health - and for each new member, the company will give SWHR a small donation. Sweet!

Wow, not only is Grand Rounds very well compiled today (with just TONS of entries), but Urostream has a lovely new design since I last visited. This is the cutest blog about pee pee ever! A must-see. (Grand Rounds archives and schedule here.)

From the FDA: "The Food and Drug Administration has requested that Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation voluntarily discontinue marketing of Zelnorm (tegaserod) based on the recently identified finding of an increased risk of serious cardiovascular adverse events (heart problems) associated with use of the drug. Novartis has agreed to voluntarily suspend marketing of the drug in the United States." We thought you should know.