Saturday, January 08, 2005

Health Headlines - January 8

Allergies Up Healthcare Use by Asthmatic Children

Children with both asthma and hay fever (allergic rhinitis) incur greater asthma drug costs and are hospitalized more often than similar children who have just asthma, according to a new report.

Lyrica Relieves Diabetes Pain

A new drug, Lyrica (pregabalin) is a well-tolerated, effective treatment for pain in the extremities often experienced by people with diabetes, according to a recent report. In addition to reducing the pain, the drug seems to improve sleep.

Medicare May Pay for Implant to Help Hearing

More U.S. Medicare beneficiaries with severe hearing loss could soon receive implantable devices that help recreate sound, government officials said in a proposal on Friday.

Electrical Therapy Improves Walking After Stroke

Adding functional electrical stimulation (FES) to standard rehabilitation improves lower extremity function and walking ability in patients with a first acute stroke, new research shows.

IUD System Benefits Women with Bleeding Disorders

Women with inherited bleeding disorders often find menstruation troublesome. For them, a UK team reports, an intrauterine device that releases the hormone levonorgestrel seems helpful.

Pinless Artificial Leg Seen Better for Amputees

A pin suspension system used to keep an artificial lower-leg in place can disrupt circulation within the remaining limb, leading to skin sores, investigators report. They suggest prostheses that use suction attachment are a better choice.

Red Wine May Reduce Prostate Cancer Risk

The results of a new study add to accumulating evidence that consumption of red wine may reduce the risk of prostate cancer in middle-aged men.

Magnesium Infusion Helps Kids with Asthma Attacks

For children who need to go to the ER because of a severe asthma attack, giving them an intravenous infusion of magnesium sulphate along with conventional medications provides an additional benefit, Hong Kong doctors report.

U.S. Medicare to Test Out Paying for Flu Drugs

Medicare will test the idea of paying for antiviral drugs for some patients who catch influenza, the U.S. government's health insurance plan for the elderly said on Friday.

Wealthy Chinese Kids Have Worse Nutrition

A Chinese study has found that children from wealthy families are more likely to suffer bad nutrition than those from low-income homes, partly because they eat more fast food, state media said on Friday.

Study Links Age to Lab Fertility Success

The biological clock matters even if a would-be mother uses special reproductive technology. The rate of successful pregnancies using laboratory fertility techniques drops from 37 percent to about 4 percent as women get older, a new study shows.

Warm Weather Causes Rare Winter Allergies

A warm spell in the Southeast that has brought people out in shorts and T-shirts in January has also given rise to a fair-weather phenomenon: allergy attacks.

Algae Antitoxin May Help Cystic Fibrosis

The algae bloom known as red tide brings death to marine wildlife, but it may also hold hope for humans who are stricken with cystic fibrosis.

Judge: Listerine No Replacement for Floss

Mouthwash is no substitute for dental floss, a federal judge ruled, calling a Listerine ad campaign false and misleading and a public health risk.

Mandela Lauded for AIDS Disclosure on Son

Former President Nelson Mandela's grief-laden disclosure that his son died of complications from AIDS won widespread praise Friday in a country where the pandemic kills more than 600 a day but is still shrouded in silence.

Supreme Court to Hear Drug Patent Dispute

The Supreme Court agreed to step into a dispute Friday over how far a patent can go to thwart a rival drug company's efforts to conduct research, a question with big-money ramifications in the pharmaceutical industry.

Unexploded Afghan Ammo a Threat to Kids

Unexploded ammunition, weapons and other military ordnance cause more injuries and deaths in Afghanistan than land mines, especially among children, says a study in the Jan. 8 issue of the British Medical Journal.

Guarding Against Falls

Although falls are the second leading cause of accidental injury or death in the United States, many homes lack all the necessary devices to safeguard against them.

Musks in Fragrances May Weaken Immune System

Synthetic musks that are widely used as fragrances in products such as soaps, cosmetics and detergents may reduce the body's ability to defend against toxic compounds.

Wrist Splints at Night Ease Carpal Tunnel Symptoms

A simple treatment -- splinting your wrists at night -- may be all that's needed to improve the numbness and tingling of early carpal tunnel syndrome.

Chamomile Tea May Have Medicinal Value

Chamomile tea, long touted as a cure-all for the sick or the stressed, may relieve a wide range of health problems, including colds and menstrual cramps.

Health agency sees little sign of epidemics among tsunami victims

Health workers have reported cases of diarrhoea, skin and respiratory illnesses in areas devastated by the tsunamis nearly two weeks ago, but no sign of epidemics, the World Health Organisation said.

Italians brace for non-smoking regime

Italy's 14 million smokers braced for a new law which comes into force Monday banning them from smoking in public places including bars, restaurants, discotheques and offices.

Essential post-tsunami health services could take years to rebuild: WHO

Health experts warned it could take years to rebuild health infrastructure in tsunami-devastated parts of Asia where millions of people face potential widespread outbreaks of disease.

Taskforce set up to control deadly bacterial outbreak in Philippines

Health experts set up a taskforce in this northern Philippines resort city to stop the spread of a bacterial infection that has reportedly killed as many as 28 people in recent months.

Malaysia warns of dengue outbreak in Kuala Lumpur, three states

Malaysia warned of a possible dengue epidemic in the capital Kuala Lumpur and three other states in coming months after the number of infections in the country more than doubled.

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