HEALTH

BOCA RATON, Fla. Weight-management products company Smart for Life has developed a diet cookie for those with gluten sensitivity.

The gluten-free banana chocolate chip granola square has no preservatives and is made with many organic ingredients and a balanced protein formula with healthy fats and carbohydrate ratios. As with all Smart for Life products, this gluten-free line also effectively suppresses the appetite, the company said.

NEW YORK Mission Skincare on Monday announced a new licensing agreement with Major Leagure Baseball Properties around its external analgesic Mission maximum-strength muscle rub.

CHICAGO Spurred by a difficult economy, over-the-counter medications increasingly are playing a dual role for consumers looking to minimize healthcare expenditures, the SymphonyIRI Group found in a new research paper titled “Over-the-Counter Medications: State of the Industry 2010” that was released last week.

SILVER SPRING, Md. A popular beauty treatment has won approval as a medical treatment as well.

The Food and Drug Administration announced Friday the approval of Allergan’s Botox (onabotulinumtoxinA) for preventing headaches in adult patients with chronic migraine.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT During the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy 2010 Educational Conference held Oct. 13 to 15, CVS Caremark shared data to further demonstrate ways to curb drug costs. This is important because what these studies, and others like it, continue to illustrate is that there are a variety of ways to reduce prescription drug costs beyond simply cutting prices to levels that could compromise a pharmacy's ability to deliver the high-quality service necessary to achieve better health outcomes.

REUS, Spain New research has found a Mediterranean diet can cut the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes by 50% in nondiabetics with high cardiovascular risk.

The study was conducted by Jordi Salas-Salvado and colleagues and published online in the Oct. 7 edition of Diabetes Care. This is the first randomized clinical trial to look specifically at use of the Mediterranean diet for the prevention of diabetes, the investigators said.