Audit Faults FDA on Morning-After Pill Decision
Normal procedures weren't followed when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration rejected over-the-counter sales of the morning-after birth control pill, according to independent audit results released Monday.
Members of Congress who requested the audit noted that some documents suggest that the decision to reject over-the-counter sales of the morning-after pill was made even before scientists had completed their review of the evidence, the Associated Press reported.
This shows that politics took precedence over science, the members of Congress said.
"We are deeply opposed to the subversion of science," 18 lawmakers said in a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt, who oversees the FDA. The letter urged Leavitt to ensure that a pending reconsideration of over-the-counter sales of the morning-after pill "is based on the best available science instead of ideology."
The Government Accountability Office audit of the FDA decision uncovered conflicting accounts of whether the decision to reject over-the-counter sales of the pill was made months before experts completed their review of scientific evidence, the AP reported.
The audit also found that there was unusual involvement from high-ranking FDA officials and that three FDA directors who normally have responsibility for signing off on such decisions refused to do so because they disagreed with the decision.
Free Memory Screenings Offered
Free memory screenings will be offered Tuesday, Nov. 15 at more than 750 sites across the United States during National Memory Screening Day, an annual event to promote early detection of Alzheimer's disease and related illnesses.
The event, held by the Alzheimer's Foundation of America, also provides families with community resources and educational materials about Alzheimer's disease and brain health.
The face-to-face memory screening takes about 10 minutes and consist of questions and tasks designed to assess memory. The screening is not intended to provide any diagnosis but can indicate whether a person should have a full medical exam to check for a possible memory disorder.
Early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease or related illnesses can help people take advantage of medical treatments, social services assistance and long-term planning that can improve their quality of life.
To find a site close to you, call toll-free 1-866-232-8484 or go to the National Memory Screening Day Web site.
Physical Punishment Increases Kids' Risk of Aggressiveness, Anxiety
Even if it's a normal part of the culture, physical punishment makes children more likely to be aggressive and anxious, says a study of 336 families in six countries.
Researchers interviewed mothers and children in China, India, Italy, Kenya, the Philippines and Thailand. Mothers in Thailand were most likely to physically discipline their children while mothers in India and Kenya were least likely to do so, BBC News reported.
No matter the country, all children who were subject to physical discipline were more likely than other children to show higher levels of aggression, anxiety and other emotional problems, said the study published in the journal Child Development.
However, the study did find that these problems weren't as bad in countries where physical discipline was more common and culturally accepted compared to countries were physical discipline was less accepted, BBC News reported.
"One implication of our findings is the need for caution in making recommendations about parenting practices across different cultural groups," noted study lead researcher Jennifer Lansford said.
Effective CPR Training Takes 20 Minutes, Researchers Say
Lifesaving cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) can be effectively taught in as little as 20 minutes, new research contends.
Researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas found that 20 minutes of CPR instruction and five minutes of defibrillator training was as effective as a standard four-hour course, the Associated Press reported.
The study, presented Sunday at the American Heart Association meeting in Dallas, compared 150 people who took the short CPR course with 118 people who received standard CPR instruction. After their courses, the study volunteers were tested on computerized mannequins and were graded by instructors.
The people who took the short course did as well or better than those who took the standard training and had similar CPR knowledge retention rates six months later, the AP reported.
The study's finding suggests that it may be possibly to greatly increase the number of Americans who can perform CPR and use defibrillators, which are increasingly common in U.S. airports, schools and other public places, experts said.
Older Brains Handle Memories Differently
Healthy older brains store and encode memories differently than younger brains, according to a Johns Hopkins study in rats published online by the journal Nature Neuroscience.
If this finding is found to also be true in human brains, it could lead to the development of new prevention and treatment methods for memory problems.
"We found that aged rats with preserved cognitive abilities are not biologically equivalent to young rats in some of the basic machinery that neurons use to encode and store information in the brain," study co-author Michela Gallagher, chair of the department of psychological and brain sciences at Hopkins' Zanvyl Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, said in a prepared statement.
He and his colleagues found that, compared to younger rats, older rats with healthy brains relied less on a synaptic receptor that's linked to a common mechanism for storing memories.
"Instead, successful agers relied more than young rats on a different mechanism for bringing about synaptic change. This 'switch' could serve the same purpose - storing memories - but through a different neurochemical device," Gallagher said.
High-Fat, Low-Carb Diet Reduces Heart Energy: Study
High-fat, low-carb diets can reduce heart energy, according to new U.K. research.
Oxford University researchers monitored 19 people for two weeks and found the amount of energy stored in heart decreased an average of 16 percent among those who ate a high-fat, low carbohydrate diet. Some of them lost as much as at third of their heart energy, BBC News reported.
But it's unclear whether this reduction in heart energy can damage a person's health, and more research is needed, the study authors said.
The hearts of the people on the high-fat, low-carb diet also became somewhat "stiffer," which meant their hearts did not relax quite as much as they did before the diet. These changes in heart energy and stiffness reversed within two weeks after the study participants went back to normal diet.
The study was presented at the annual meeting of the American Heart Association in Dallas.
Food Fact:
Attention, Popeye!
Here's a secret for getting the most iron from spinach. Have a glass of orange juice! Our bodies are far better able to access the iron in iron-rich plant foods -- fortified grains, legumes and dark greens -- if eaten with something acidic, such as citrus juice or tomato sauce. And even though Popeye was always carrying the spinach around, it's more likely that his sweetie Olive Oyl needed the iron more -- 75% of American women under the age of 50 are iron-deficient. If you're concerned about iron deficiency, see your doctor for a blood test, the only way to properly diagnose the condition. Adult men rarely need iron supplements.
Fitness Tip of the day:
Get back on track.
Fell off the exercise wagon? It's never too late to get back on! Losing your routine may slow you down, but you can get back on track in short order if you resume regular sessions. Get motivated by setting new goals; when you start back up, reduce by half the difficulty level where you left off.
FAQ of the day:
What's the difference between an herb and a spice?
Spices are generally derived from the dried seeds, roots or bark of a plant, often a tropical one. Herbs generally come from leaves, flowers and stems.
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