Disaster Relief Efforts Underway
As the massive damage and ongoing threat to human life from Hurricane Katrina came into sharper focus along the Gulf Coast on Tuesday, health officials across the country scrambled to provide aid and comfort to the survivors.
Among the relief efforts, according to news reports:
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) positioned 23 disaster medical assistance teams and seven search and rescue teams around the stricken region.
FEMA also delivered generators, tarps and stockpiles of water, ice and ready-to-eat meals, according to agency officials. And the agency has 500 truckloads of ice, 500 truckloads of water and 350 truckloads of meals available to distribute over the next 10 days.
The American Red Cross, in what it called one of the largest emergency operations in its history, opened 239 shelters by Monday night and sent 166 emergency response vehicles and thousands of volunteers to the stricken area, according to spokeswoman Renita Hosler.
Private relief agencies, including the Southern Baptist Disaster Relief Fund and Spirit of America, a humanitarian group, moved in mobile kitchens and had prepared more than a half million hot meals for storm evacuees by Monday night.
The Environmental Protection Agency dispatched emergency crews to Louisiana and Texas because of concern about oil and chemical spills.
The Agriculture Department said its Food and Nutrition Service would provide meals and other commodities, such as infant formula, distilled water for babies and emergency food stamps.
The Health and Human Services Department sent 38 doctors and nurses to Jackson, Miss., to be used where needed, and 30 pallets of medical supplies to the Gulf Coast, including first aid materials, sterile gloves and oxygen tanks.
World's Oldest Person Dies at 115
The world's oldest person died peacefully in her sleep Tuesday at age 115, according to the director of the home for the elderly where she lived in the Netherlands.
"She was very clear mentally right up to the end, but the physical ailments were increasing," the home's director, Johan Beijering, told the Associated Press. "She felt that being the oldest person in the world for more than a year was long enough."
Known as "Henny" van Andel-Schipper, she lived in Hoogeveen since World War II, and moved to the elderly home when she was 106. Born in 1890, she celebrated her 115th birthday on June 29 and her status as "oldest person" was recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records last year.
She advised others who wanted a long life to "keep breathing" and eat pickled herring, a favorite Dutch snack, AP reported.
Guinness spokesman Sam Knights said the oldest authenticated person now is Elizabeth Bolden, 115, of Memphis, Tenn., born Aug. 15, 1890. The oldest man is Emiliano Mercado del Toro, 114, of Puerto Rico.
Some Medicare Drug Premiums Will Fall Below $20: HHS
Some monthly premiums for the Medicare prescription drug benefit that kicks in next year will be lower than expected -- $20 or less, the government said Monday.
Plans offering zero deductibles or deductibles lower than $250 annually are other options that will be available when the prescription drug coverage begins Jan. 1, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement.
Some plans will offer coverage that exceeds Medicare's standard plan. These plans will help beneficiaries pay for costs beyond $2,250 and before out-of-pocket costs hit $3,600 a year -- the gap in Medicare's standard coverage.
Beneficiaries with limited incomes will be able to choose from zero-premium plans offered by at least five organizations, the HHS statement said. Between 11 and 23 organizations will offer prescription plans in each region of the country, it added.
By mid-October, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said it will mail a Medicare & You handbook to more than 41 million U.S. households. Assistance also will be provided through various churches, senior centers, pharmacies and "other centers where seniors and people with disabilities work, live, play and pray," the agency said.
President Bush on Monday urged Americans to at least learn about the new prescription drug benefit -- even if they didn't plan to enroll, the Associated Press reported.
"I fully understand, and our government fully understands, many seniors don't want to change," Bush said. But he asked that they "at least be open-minded enough to listen" to what the new program has to offer.
Mouthwash Recalled for Bacteria Contamination
Medline Industries, of Mundelein, Ill., is recalling an unspecified number of alcohol-free mouthwash kits because the mouthwash may be contaminated with Burkholderia cepacia bacteria, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Monday.
B. cepacia is a well-known cause of hospital infections and can be resistant to many antibiotics, the agency said. It can lead to serious respiratory infections, especially in people with compromised immune systems.
The alcohol-free mouthwash, in 2- and 4-oz. bottles, was distributed to hospitals, medical centers and long-term care facilities nationwide, the agency said in a statement.
Lot numbers beginning with 0503 through 0508 are affected. Bottles also have the identification code RA05CRR on the lower portion of the product label.
The FDA also announced the recall of Trypan Blue 0.06 percent ophthalmic solution, an eyedrop used during cataract surgery. The product may be contaminated with Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a bacterium that could cause blindness, the agency said.
Breast Cancer Drug on FDA Fast Track
Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG announced Monday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted its breast cancer drug letrozole priority review for use in postmenopausal women after surgery to prevent tumor recurrence.
If cleared for this new indication, letrozole, sold as Femara, will become the only breast cancer treatment approved in the United States to significantly reduce the risk of recurrence for both the adjuvant setting and in extended adjuvant treatment following standard therapy, the company said according to AFX news report.
Novartis said it had asked for the priority review, which is an accelerated approval process, in June based on the drug's enhanced efficacy in high-risk subgroups for which existing therapies have not shown benefit.
In January, the results of one of the largest trials ever conducted showed that letrozole reduced the risk of disease recurrence and metastasis, and prolonged disease-free survival compared to tamoxifen, the most commonly used drug.
Letrozole works by reducing the production of estrogen, depriving cancer cells of the source of the hormone. It is the second drug belonging to the new class of anticancer drugs called aromatase inhibitors that has been proven to be more effective than tamoxifen.
Health Tip: Prevent Diaper Rash
Few babies escape outbreaks of diaper rash, but you can help prevent frequent flare-ups with these tips from The Nemours Foundation:
Change your baby's diapers often, especially after a bowel movement.
Use a diaper ointment to prevent and heal rashes. Look for one with zinc oxide, which acts as a barrier against moisture.
Let your baby go undiapered for part of the day.
If you use cloth diapers, wash them in dye- and fragrance-free detergents, and avoid drying them with scented drying sheets.
Health Tip: Avoid Alcohol While Breastfeeding
Breastfeeding mothers should avoid drinking alcohol, advises Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. Alcohol is readily passed into breast milk, and heavy drinking or a daily drink can harm your baby.
A baby's body metabolizes alcohol very slowly, so even a small amount can affect nursing and sleep patterns. Regular alcohol exposure can also affect a baby's behavior and coordination.
If you're craving a drink, you can limit yourself to an occasional single three-ounce glass of wine -- then wait two hours or more before nursing your baby. This way, your body will be able to clear both your blood and milk of alcohol.
Food Fact:
Culture club.
When yogurt's live active cultures colonize your digestive system, they draw a line in the sand against disease. The cultures -- especially acidophilus and bifida - muscle out potentially threatening bacteria. Low-fat or fat-free yogurt has a lot of other things going for it: It's easy to digest, especially for those who are lactose-intolerant and have difficulty digesting milk and many cheeses; it's an excellent source of calcium, protein, riboflavin (a B vitamin), vitamin B-12 (which may be low in vegetarian diets) and vitamin A; and provides selenium, potassium and magnesium.
Fitness Tip of the day:
Battling exercise "burnout."
To keep your enthusiasm up, it may pay to put a few exercises down for a while. Changing your exercise program every couple of months may help beat boredom. Besides, after a while, your body adapts to the exercise stressors your current program had introduced, and craves new challenges.
FAQ of the day:
Can certain foods prevent cancer?
No one can say with absolute certainty how powerful is diet in preventing cancer. But at least a third (and possibly more) of all cancers have been linked to diet. People who eat the most fruits and vegetables have been shown to have about half the risk of developing cancer as people who rarely eat them. Your genes and other lifestyle factors, such as smoking, have a strong say in your susceptibility to cancer. But it's likely that improving the typical American diet would make a big dent in new cases of cancer, the nation's second biggest killer after heart disease.
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