Health Headlines - January 8

Sharon Shows Further Improvement

Israeli doctors plan to bring Prime Minister Ariel Sharon out of a medically induced coma Monday after a new brain scan Sunday showed more improvement, a hospital official said.

Hadassah Hospital director Dr. Shlomo Mor-Yosef said in Jerusalem that Sharon, 77, remained in critical condition, but his vital signs, including the pressure inside his skull, were normal, his brain swelling had decreased and his cerebral spinal fluid was draining well.

"His condition is still serious but stable, and there is improvement in the CT picture of the brain," he told reporters, according to the Associated Press.

Doctors had initially planned to stop the coma-inducing sedatives Sunday but decided to wait another day before assessing the extent of brain damage Sharon suffered from a massive stroke Wednesday and three rounds of emergency brain surgery after that.

On Saturday, however, one of his surgeons said that Sharon's chances of survival are high, but that his ability to think and reason would be impaired.

"He will not continue to be prime minister, but maybe he will be able to understand and to speak," Dr. Jose Cohen said.

That massive stroke followed a mild one Sharon had Dec. 18 and occurred the night before he was scheduled to undergo a procedure to repair a hole in his heart that was discovered after the first stroke.

Deadly Bird Flu Strain May Have Spread to Turkey's Capital

Preliminary tests showed two young brothers and an adult in Turkey's capital of Ankara have a deadly strain of bird flu, officials said Sunday.

The cases announced Sunday but not yet confirmed by world health officials raise to seven the number of cases detected since Wednesday, and also raise concerns that the virus is spreading in Turkey, the Associated Press reported.

World Health Organization officials confirmed Saturday that two teenage siblings who died of bird flu in eastern Turkey last week had been infected with the deadly H5N1 strain.

The deaths mark the first time the virus has killed humans outside of East Asia, WHO officials told AP.

European health officials were on "high alert" after a third child in eastern Turkey was confirmed to have bird flu and more than two dozen people there were under observation at a local hospital.

The unusual cluster of human cases has raised the possibility that the virus may have become more contagious to humans, The New York Times reported.

Health authorities said the Turkish children from the town of Dogubeyazit probably became ill after close contact with sick or dead chickens infected with the virus. Reports in the Turkish press said that two siblings who died, Mehmet Ali Kocyigit, 14, and his sister, Fatma, 15, had been playing catch with the heads of dead chickens.

Two other children in the Kocyigit family were also recently hospitalized in the city of Van with severe respiratory disease. One died Friday, and the other is recovering, although tests have not yet confirmed their diagnoses.

An additional 26 people are in the Van hospital under observation for possible bird flu, the Turkish Anatolia news agency reported.

While the H5N1 virus does not readily infect humans or pass between them, scientists worry that it may acquire that ability through naturally occurring processes, a development that could ultimately set off a flu pandemic.

They add, however, that the Turkey cluster of cases does not mean a mutation has occurred. But WHO and the European Commission have sent a team of scientists to the region.

FDA to Revise Herpes Test Rules

Revised rules that could make herpes virus tests cheaper and more widely available have been proposed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

In a proposal released Friday but dated Dec. 21, the FDA said it may change the classification of tests for herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2 to class II from class III, which would reduce the regulatory burdens associated with the tests, the Associated Press reported.

The change would open the way for companies seeking to develop and market herpes tests and would also relax the training requirements for laboratories and medical offices that offer the tests, FDA spokeswoman Julie Zawisza said.

The FDA considered reclassifying the tests as long ago as 1980, but said the tests posed a "potential unreasonable risk of illness or injury" at the time. With the older tests, a false positive could expose a pregnant mother or her fetus to unnecessary treatment with antiviral drugs or lead to an unnecessary Caesarean delivery of the child. And a false negative could result in the infection of a newborn infant, which can be fatal.

The agency now says the reliability and performance of the tests has improved. It set an April 10 deadline for comments on the reclassification.

At least 45 million Americans 12 and older have genital herpes, which is generally caused by the type 2 virus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Baltimore Named America's Fittest City; Chicago the Fattest

Baltimore has been named America's fittest city by Men's Fitness magazine, and Chicago America's fattest.

The top fittest cities behind Baltimore were Honolulu, Virginia Beach, Va., Tucson, and Milwaukee. And the top fattest cities behind Chicago, according to the magazine, were Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Dallas and Houston.

Last year, Baltimore was ranked as the 25th fittest city on a list of Top 25. It vaulted to the lead of this year's list because it was favored by new factors that were taken into account in determining the rankings, the Associated Press reported.

These included: access to health care; air quality; the amount of public park space; the relatively small number of fast-food restaurants, and the leadership of Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley.

Last year's fittest city, Seattle, dropped to No. 8 position. Chicago took over the lowest spot from Houston.

Food Fact:
Wanna-beefs.

With the right substitution, you can cut back on red meat and still enjoy a "beefy" flavor. For patties that look, smell (sort of) and taste like beef, look for veggie burgers with "soy protein concentrate" as the first ingredient, followed closely by "natural flavors," and you're probably looking at a good choice to satisfy beefy cravings.

Fitness Tip of the day:
Do the stroll.

The Surgeon General and American Heart Association agree -- you can walk away from serious disease. Each says adopting a routine of daily physical activity will help you achieve this goal and more. For starters, daily walks help control your weight, both by burning additional calories and by increasing the size of your working muscles (which in turn reduces the number of calories converted into body fat). Regular walks also reduce your risk of dying prematurely, significantly reduce your risk of dying from coronary artery disease or a heart attack (exercise has as much effect as quitting smoking), and increase your likelihood of quitting or cutting back on smoking.

FAQ of the day:
How much fish should I eat to be healthy?

Fatty fish contains omega-3 fatty acids, which have been shown to be good for the heart. No one knows for sure how much omega-3 fatty acid is enough, but epidemiological evidence suggests that eating fatty fish as little as once a week can be beneficial. To preserve the good omega-3 fats without adding harmful saturated or hydrogenated fats, stay away from fried fish -- choose seafood that's baked, broiled, poached, steamed or grilled.