Friday, November 12, 2004

Health Headlines - November 12

Smoking and Salt Bad for Stomach Reflux

People who smoke or use high amounts of table salt on their food appear to be at increased risk for gastroesophageal reflux, a disease in which stomach juices flow back into the esophagus, European researchers report.

Blood Transfusions at Birth Often Unneeded

A significant proportion of blood transfusions given to mothers around the time of birth may be unnecessary, Canadian researchers report in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Paxil Appears to Be Effective for OCD in Kids

Paxil is a safe and effective treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in children and adolescents.

'Kangaroo Care' Good for Premature Infants

Continuous skin-to-skin contact between a mother and her premature infant appears to help them to thrive just as well as traditional care in incubators, according to a new report.

Plaques Cut Survival in Young Heart Attack Patients

Blood vessel plaques and the heart's pumping ability influence survival in people under 40 who've suffered a heart attack, new research shows.

Cholesterol Drugs May Not Reduce Risk of Dementia

New study findings suggest that the cholesterol-lowering drugs know as "statins" do not appear to lower the risk of dementia or Alzheimer's disease, except possibly in cases of early-onset Alzheimer's disease.

Sara Lee Unit Voluntarily Recalls Corn Dogs

Bryan Foods, a unit of Sara Lee Corp., is voluntarily recalling about 81,500 pounds of corn dogs because the packaging did not declare the products contained dried egg yolks, which can cause an allergic reaction.

Glaxo Vaccine Stops Virus Linked to Cancer

It's one of the most common cancers in women and kills about a quarter of a million patients each year but scientists said on Friday that a new vaccine could prevent most cases of cervical cancer.

WHO Urges More Flu Vaccine Efforts Before Pandemic

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday urged governments to provide funds to drug makers developing vaccines against a feared influenza pandemic, which could kill millions of people.

Canada Not Trying to Kill Web Drugstores, PM Says

Prime Minister Paul Martin denied on Friday that Canada was trying to drive Internet pharmacies out of business, despite Ottawa's recent complaints over drug sales to the United States.

WHO: Flu Vaccine Available Within Year

With the right coordination, international commitment and about $13 million, scientists could deliver within a year a candidate vaccine to combat global flu outbreaks, the World Health Organization said Friday.

Drug Safety Adviser Booted From Meeting

A federal drug safety adviser said Friday the government rescinded his invitation to participate in a February meeting on the risk of Vioxx and other arthritis drugs because he had already publicly expressed doubts about the medications.

VA Changes Approach to Gulf War Illness

The Veterans Affairs Department said Friday that it no longer will pay for studies that seek to show stress is the primary cause of mysterious ailments afflicting thousands of veterans of the 1991 Gulf War.

CDC Expects Mild Season for West Nile

After two record-breaking years of West Nile virus illnesses and deaths, the nation is experiencing a relatively mild season, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

Master Gene Guards Lungs Against Cigarette Smoke

A gene in mice that defends the lungs against environmental pollutants such as cigarette smoke has been identified by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Health Tip: Weight Training

Weight training is a good way to improve your strength, increase muscle tone, help you lose fat and gain muscle mass, and improve bone density.

Artificial Kidney Helps Those With Renal Failure

A bioartificial kidney may help save the lives of people with acute renal failure, according to results of the first test of the device in humans.

Surgery for GERD in Kids Doesn't Work

A surgical procedure called fundoplication is not an effective treatment for children with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), says a study by researchers at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston.

Exercise Cuts Death Risk Later in Life

People in their 50s and 60s who get regular exercise are about 35 percent less likely to die within eight years than inactive people in the same age group, says a University of Michigan Health System study.

Epileptic Seizures Not as Dangerous as Thought

There's only a low risk of major injury from epileptic seizures, so most people with epilepsy don't need to restrict their daily activities to avoid injury, says a Mayo Clinic study.

Respiratory Problems Plague Kids With Asthma

Respiratory infections, not air pollution, cause a significant worsening of health problems in winter for children with asthma, according to researchers at National Jewish Medical and Research Center.

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