Feds Grant Katrina Victims Special Status, Streamline Benefits
The federal government is making it easier for victims of Hurricane Katrina to obtain health benefits from programs like Medicaid and Head Start, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt said Tuesday.
In a statement, Leavitt said President Bush has granted evacuees special status, giving states the option to enroll evacuees in programs without requiring standard documents like tax returns or proof of residency. People who have lost most forms of identification can show simple forms of ID like a driver's license, the statement said.
Leavitt began a two-day visit Tuesday to shelters in Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi to explain the array of benefits available to hurricane victims.
The confirmed death toll from Katrina hovered near 500 with Monday's discovery of 45 bodies at a New Orleans hospital that had been abandoned more than a week earlier, the Associated Press reported.
In Mississippi, Gov. Haley Barbour said on Monday that the confirmed death toll was 218.
FDA Rejects New Osteoporosis Drug
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has rejected Pfizer's petition to approve the new osteoporosis drug Oporia (lasofoxifene), the company told the Associated Press on Tuesday.
The FDA wouldn't disclose why the petition was denied, and Pfizer wouldn't comment beyond issuing a press release announcing the agency's decision, the AP said. The company also has applied to use the drug against vaginal atrophy.
Also Tuesday, Abbott Laboratories Inc. said an FDA expert advisory panel did not recommend the company's prostate cancer drug, Xinlay, for approval by the full agency. According to the AP, the company submitted combined results from two failed clinical trials, hoping to show that the drug helped at least a subset of trial participants.
Abbott said it respected the committee's decision, but nonetheless awaited a ruling by the full agency. The FDA usually abides by the decisions of its advisory panels.
Senate Defeats Attempt to Roll Back Mercury Rules
The U.S. Senate voted 51-47 on Tuesday to defeat a challenge to the Bush Administration's rules that govern mercury emissions from power plants, the Associated Press reported.
The rules put out by the Environmental Protection Agency were finalized last March. But Democrats and the nine Republicans who backed the repeal criticized the rules as being too lenient, the wire service said.
The White House had warned that President Bush would veto any attempt to reverse the rules. Mercury has been linked to serious neurological damage to newborns and young children.
The administration rules, supported by the utility industry, set a national cap on emissions and an allowable level for each state. Individual plants, however, are able to buy "credits" from other plants that are under allowable levels, the wire service said.
Workers to Absorb More Health-Care Costs: Survey
U.S. employers are anticipating a nearly 10 percent increase in health-care costs next year and plan to pass more of the burden on to employees, a preliminary survey finds.
The poll of more than 1,800 firms, conducted by Mercer Human Resource Consulting, found that employers are budgeting for an average increase of 6.4 percent in their spending for health-care benefits, the Associated Press reported. The difference is to be made up by employees.
A spokesman for Mercer said companies plan to shift more costs by requiring employees to pay higher deductibles, premiums, and co-payments. They're also limiting workers' choice of insurance plans, the AP said.
Employees of smaller firms, which tend to rely less on self-funded plans than larger companies, probably will see smaller cost increases next year compared with employers of 500 or more people, the wire service said.
Diabetes Drug Reduces Heart Attack and Stroke Risk
The diabetes drug Actos (pioglitazone) reduced the risk of heart attack, stroke and death by 16 percent in high risk patients with type 2 diabetes, according to a study presented Monday at a meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes.
The 19-country clinical trial involving more than 5,000 patients was funded by Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. of Japan, which makes Actos.
Despite the positive findings, Takeda said more study is needed, AFX News reported.
"The PROactive study is the first in the world to prospectively show that a specific oral glucose lowering medication, namely pioglitazone, can significantly improve cardiovascular outcomes by helping to delay or reduce heart attacks, strokes and death in high-risk patients," PROactive Study steering committee chairman Dr. John Dormandy, a professor of vascular sciences at St. George's Hospital in London, said in a prepared statement.
"This groundbreaking study gives new hope to people with type 2 diabetes who, despite their attempts to control blood glucose and take medications, fear these life-threatening events," Dormandy said.
Research Disputes Link Between Sprawl and Obesity
There's no connection between urban sprawl and the growing obesity epidemic in the United States, says an Oregon State University (OSU) study.
The finding contradicts the views of many health officials, planners and other experts who contend that suburbs discourage people from walking and, in turn, may promote obesity.
However, the OSU researchers concluded that overweight and sedentary people tend to move into neighborhoods that provide fewer opportunities to walk because walking isn't a priority for them, the Associated Press reported.
The findings appear in the Journal of Regional Science.
"We found very little evidence that it was the physical environment causing obesity. Rather, it seemed to be more about how people choose the types of neighborhoods to live in," researcher Andrew Plantinga told the AP.
However, he added that controlling urban sprawl does offer other benefits, such as reduced traffic and fuel use.
Aspirin Might Counter Side Effects of Cox-2 Painkillers
Few prescription drugs have as tarnished a reputation as Vioxx, the painkiller that was removed from the market last September amid reports that it caused heart attacks.
Now, however, researchers are reporting that an old, inexpensive standby -- aspirin -- may actually reduce the nasty cardiovascular effects of Vioxx and its sister medications.
The research was only done in mice, and tests in humans appear to be out of the question. Still, the findings show promise that aspirin could come to the rescue of painkillers known as cox-2 inhibitors, said study senior author Dr. Thomas Coffman, chief of division of nephrology at Duke University in Durham, N.C. "It's at least an idea that we think has some merit."
Last September, Merck & Co. withdrew its billion-dollar blockbuster drug Vioxx from the market. Two similar drugs -- Celebrex and Bextra -- have also come under fire, and the FDA pulled Bextra from the market last spring. Celebrex is still available, but carries heightened label warnings about cardiovascular side effects.
Cox-2 inhibitors are heavy-duty painkillers designed to provide relief without triggering gastrointestinal problems -- unlike aspirin, which can cause stomach bleeding. Similar to aspirin, cox-2s interfere with chemical pathways that contribute to pain in the body.
But like an rescue force that can cause destruction even as it brings relief to a community, some of these drugs seem to also make the body more prone to high blood pressure and other cardiovascular problems.
Essentially, the drugs inhibit a "good guy" hormone, which widens blood vessels and thins blood, and does nothing to a "bad guy" hormone, which constricts blood vessels and makes blood form dangerous clots, Coffman explained.
In the new study, Coffman and his colleagues genetically engineered mice to see what would happen if they tinkered with the hormones. They report their findings in the September issue of Cell Metabolism.
The researchers found that inhibiting both hormones -- the good and the bad -- is safer for the heart, Coffman said. Low doses of aspirin could make that happen by thinning the blood, he said.
But where can researchers go from here? To test the theory behind the study, researchers would need to recruit cox-2 inhibitor users and assign some to take low-dose aspirin and some to take a placebo, said Dr. Scott Solomon, director of noninvasive cardiology at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. In addition to gauging whether the approach reduces cardiovascular problems, it would also reveal if the aspirin boosts stomach bleeding, he said.
But such a study may be unlikely given the reputation of the cox-2 inhibitors.
Instead, study co-author Coffman said it makes the most sense to use the new knowledge to develop new drugs.
The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health and the medical arm of the Veterans Administration.
Health Tip: Make Your Stairs Safer
Stairs, inside and outside a home, can be a hazard for elderly people.
The City of Ottawa recommends you ensure that:
Stair edges are marked with contrasting colors.
They have a non-slip surface.
Handrails are present on both sides of stairs.
Handrail height feels comfortable when used for support.
Handrails extend 12 inches beyond the top and bottom steps, and are round in shape.
Health Tip: Prevent Vision Loss
By the time you're 65 years old, your chances of suffering some kind of significant, uncorrectable vision loss are one in nine, according to The Canadian National Institute for the Blind.
Here's how you can reduce your risk:
Have regular eye examinations, especially after age 40. Early diagnosis is paramount for preventing further vision loss.
Follow your eye care specialist's directions for taking prescribed medications.
Report any sudden or unusual changes in your vision to your eye doctor immediately.
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