Health Headlines - February 6

Face Transplant Patient Holds First News Conference

The French woman who received the world's first partial face transplant last November held her first news conference Monday and thanked the family of the donor who provided her new lips, chin and nose.

"I now have a face like everyone else," Isabelle Dinoire told reporters in Amiens. "A door to the future is opening."

Dinoire's speech was heavily slurred and difficult to understand, the Associated Press reported. She has a circular scar where the new face tissue was attached during the 15-hour operation on November 27. She appeared to have difficulty moving or closing her mouth, but said she was regaining sensation.

"I can open my mouth and eat. I feel my lips, my nose and my mouth," Dinoire said.

There appeared to be a close match in color between her own skin and the new skin, the AP reported.

"I expect to resume a normal life ... I pay homage to the donor's family," Dinoire said.

Her face was disfigured last May when she was attacked by her own dog. She said she passed out when the dog bit her and didn't realize how badly injured she was until she looked in a mirror.

Pediatricians Should Support Needle Exchange Programs: AAP

In a strengthened policy statement, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) urges pediatricians to speak out in support of needle exchange programs in order to reduce the spread of HIV among injection drug users, the Associated Press reported.

The AAP's previous version of the policy, from 1994, said that clean needle exchange programs should be encouraged and expanded.

The updated policy statement also recommended that pediatricians discuss HIV risk with their teenage patients "with a nonjudgmental approach" and offer confidential help if such action is permitted by local laws, the AP reported.

The new policy statement was published Monday in the journal Pediatrics.

People younger than 25 account for half of new HIV infections in the United States, Henry-Reid noted. Unprotected sex accounts for the majority of HIV infections in young people in the United States, but 13 percent of infections are caused by sharing dirty needles or having unprotected sex with an injection drug user.

U.S. Bird Flu Efforts Lacking Guidance: Report

A lack of money and guidance from the U.S. government is hindering efforts by the nation's 5,000 state and local health departments to prepare for a possible avian flu pandemic, The New York Times reported.

The majority of health departments won't be ready for at least a year, experts say. Only a few departments, particularly in Seattle and New York City, have made major progress in planning for a pandemic.

"It's a depressing situation. We are way, way behind," Jeffrey Levi, an influenza expert at the nonpartisan health policy group Trust for America's Health, told The Times.

While the federal government has earmarked billions of dollars for vaccine and drug research, health departments are to receive only $350 million. Among the 5,000 health departments, that works out to $70,000 each.

The nation's strategy is one of "buying time" until millions of doses of vaccines and antiviral drugs can be produced, Dr. Julie L. Gerberding, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, acknowledged at a conference of avian flu experts, The Times reported.

FDA Orders Human-Tissue Broker to Close

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has ordered a New Jersey-based company that brokered human tissue to close, following accusations that the company harvested body parts from cadavers without family permission and did not always screen the parts for disease, The New York Times reported.

The body parts, which included tissue taken from "Masterpiece Theater" host Alistair Cooke, were used in hospitals in Illinois, North Carolina, Texas, Canada and possibly Europe and Asia, the Chicago Tribune reported.

As a result, dozens of patients who received tissue transplants at at least five Chicago-area hospitals have been advised to undergo precautionary testing for possible infection, the Associated Press reported.

U.S. health officials said there's little risk of infection from possibly diseased tissue, the news service said.

New York authorities have opened an investigation into the harvesting company, Biomedical Tissue Services of Fort Lee, N.J., as well as scores of funeral homes, the AP said.

On Friday, the FDA said it had ordered the company to "immediately cease all manufacturing operations. All tissue products initially recovered from human donors by [Biomedical Tissue Services] were recalled. FDA is carefully monitoring these recalls to account for all of the tissue distributed."

The attorney for Biomedical Tissue Services, Mario Gullucci, confirmed the company had stopped operating. But he said his client, Michael Mastromarino, the firm's chief executive, denied the allegations and planned to go to court so he could reopen, the AP said.

Women's Groups Urge Wal-Mart to Stock Emergency Contraception

A coalition of women's groups and family-planning organizations is urging Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to reverse its policy and start selling emergency contraceptive pills in its pharmacies, the Associated Press reported.

The groups, claiming a total membership of 10 million women, include the National Organization for Women, NARAL Pro-Choice America, Planned Parenthood and the National Council of Women's Organizations, the news service said.

Their joint statement, issued Friday, followed by several days a lawsuit filed by three Boston women who said Wal-Mart violated Massachusetts law by failing to stock emergency contraceptives, also known as "morning-after" pills, the AP said.

"Wal-Mart's actions are clearly an outrageous intrusion into the health and privacy of all U.S. women. When a doctor prescribes emergency contraception for a woman, Wal-Mart does not have the right to overrule that decision," the coalition's statement said.

Wal-Mart spokeswoman Mona Williams said the Bentonville, Ark.-based retail giant had not sold the pills in the past, except where required by law, due to lack of customer demand.

"However, women's health is a high priority for Wal-Mart, so clearly there are broader considerations and we are giving this a lot of thought," Williams told the AP.

Food Fact:
Magic beans.

Beans can help reduce cancer risks -- but you may want to give them a good rinse before cooking. Canned beans have a lot of excess sodium; a little running water will wash it, and that "canned" taste, away. Otherwise, beans, lentils, peas and other legumes are as healthy as tasty food gets. Legumes are full of protease inhibitors, which may protect against several cancers by helping your body repair genetic material, curb out-of-control cell division and inhibit tumors by impairing their enzymes. They're also high in fiber, low in fat, rich in B vitamins (including folate), and contain potassium, magnesium, iron, zinc and trace elements.

Fitness Tip of the day:
Chill out.

One essential step in your workout helps avoid light-headedness and muscle spasms. It's the cool-down period, which is even more important than a preworkout warmup. After vigorous activity, a cooldown gives your heart rate a chance to normalize, and protects you from negative effects.

FAQ of the day:
Why do women need more body fat than men?

It's all about hormones. A woman's body is designed for childbearing and breast-feeding, so her hormones ensure she has a minimum level of body fat. This is why amenorrhea occurs in women who undereat and/or overexercise -- the percentage of body fat drops too low to provide the energy needed to sustain healthy pregnancy and lactation. On the plus side, estrogen helps limit the risk of heart disease by maintaining the average woman's blood-cholesterol profile in a healthier state than a man's.