Health Headlines - March 10

Bird Flu Worries May Curb Poultry Exports

Worries about bird flu have dampened trade prospects for American poultry producers who already are facing lower prices, the Agriculture Department said Friday.

The United States should export 5.3 billion pounds of poultry this year, the department said in its monthly crop report. That's a drop of 95 million pounds from last month's projections, but it remains above last year's 5.14 billion pounds of poultry exports.

Despite fears of bird flu, demand by U.S. consumers should stay strong, the department said.

The average person is expected to eat 87.7 pounds of chicken this year, up from a forecast of 87.2 pounds last month. Americans ate an average of 85.8 pounds of chicken last year, the department said.

Sagging exports and rising production have kept poultry prices low. Prices for beef and pork should remain steady, the department said.

Also Friday, the department raised its price forecasts for corn and soybeans, lowered projections for the price of rice and made no change in the forecast for wheat prices.

Drought continued to stress winter grains across the southern Plains and the Southwest and is spreading north through the central Plains, the department said. Drought also persisted in the central Corn Belt, according to the report.

Snow helped protect Nebraska's winter wheat from a bad cold snap last month, but Montana's wheat was less protected against temperatures dipping as low as minus-30 degrees, according to the report.

More Than Immobility Triggers In-Flight Clots

It's not just sitting still for hours that puts air travelers at higher risk for blood clots.

The low-pressure, low-oxygen environment of the plane cabin may also play a role, new research suggests.

"Something in the environment of an airplane, for instance the low pressure, affects the clotting system of some people in a way that predicts a higher risk of thrombosis, and particularly those with risk factors," said Dr. Frits R. Rosendaal, senior author of a new study and a professor of clinical epidemiology of haemostasis and thrombosis at Leiden University Medical Centre in the Netherlands.

But because the risk of thrombosis after air travel appears to be only mildly increased, "indiscriminate medicine prophylaxis" -- excessive attempts to lower the risk -- are not warranted, Rosendaal added.

Although the study, which appears in this week's issue of The Lancet, was a small one, Dr. Steven Deitelzweig, chairman of hospital medicine at the Ochsner Clinic Foundation in New Orleans, called the finding "provocative," one that could point the way to effective prevention strategies.

Previous research has found a two-fold to four-fold increased risk of blood clots after plane travel (a phenomenon sometimes known as "economy class syndrome"). However, the mechanisms behind the phenomenon remain unclear. Data also suggest that longer flights carry a greater risk than shorter ones.

"Whilst recent research has shown that air travel is related to an increased risk of thrombosis, there were questions about the cause: just sitting still for a long time (known to increase the risk in various circumstances, as shown in London during WWII when people sought shelter in the underground) or also factors specific to air travel," Rosendaal explained. "For the latter, people have suggested that the low pressure in the cabin (equal to a mountain altitude of 2,500 meters) could increase the tendency to clot of the blood," he added.

The medical name for these clots is "deep-vein thrombosis" (DVT) whenever a clot forms in the leg, and a pulmonary embolism (PE) when a clot breaks free and travels to arteries feeding the lungs. Both are also known as venous thromboembolism.

This study involved a small group of people, 71 men and women. Concentrations of blood-clotting markers in the blood were measured before, during and immediately after an eight-hour flight as well as before, during and after eight hours of sitting in a movie theater, and during eight hours of a regular, mobile day.

Forty percent of the participants started out with an increased risk of clots either because they had a mutation in the factor V Leiden clotting gene, or because they were taking birth control pills.

"About 10 percent of people showed clear clotting activation, or a change in blood indicative of higher risk of clotting, during air travel, and only very few during cinema or daily life circumstances," Rosendaal said. "These were mainly the women with factor V Leiden or oral contraceptive use," he added.

In other words, something about air travel above and beyond the forced immobilization contributed to an increased risk of blood clots.

The findings do not point to any clear change in current practice, however.

"It doesn't change the management approach," Deitelzweig said. "People at high risk still get low molecular heparin [an anticlotting drug]."

He added, "Everybody needs to be well-hydrated, and compression stockings may play a role" in preventing clots..

Rosendaal stressed that "indiscriminate use of aspirin, heparin or other drugs to prevent thrombosis should be discouraged, since the risks are likely to outweigh the benefits. However, while the risks are low on average, they are higher in some people, i.e., those with risk factors and the elderly. Those [people] should consider safe preventive measures, such as refraining from sleeping pills or excess alcohol during air travel, and regular exercise."

Rosendaal's team has proposed doing further research to find effective and safe preventive strategies.

A larger study, Deitelzweig pointed out, might indeed point to different ways to manage the problem.

Some medical ads in China full of lies: delegates

China should ban all medical advertising to protect public health, members of parliament were quoted by state media as saying on Friday, accusing most ads of "cheating and misleading" consumers.

Advertisements promising cures for everything from hemorrhoids to balding are plastered all over Chinese cities, on the sides of buses, inside taxis, in newspapers and even crudely glued to lamp posts.

"Nowadays medical advertisements about hospitals and medicines are flooding the Chinese media, and some of them are full of appalling lies," Xinhua news agency quoted Kang Jiaoyang, member of a parliamentary advisory body, as saying.

Some adverts promised "miraculous cures" for cancer and AIDS, added Wu Liying, a delegate from the northeastern province of Liaoning.

"Falling for these lies, many patients have suffered from delayed treatment and even lost their lives," said Wu, a health official.

Another delegate said each year 2.5 million people in China took the wrong medication because of misleading advertising.

Medical care in China was provided free of charge during the Communist heyday, but since the country began reforming its economy in the late 1970s, the sector has become increasingly commercialized and many cannot afford to see a doctor.

Hospitals and pharmaceutical companies collaborate to push their drugs, whose prescription may not be totally appropriate, said delegate Huang Taikang.

"The hospitals and pharmaceutical companies are paying big money for publication and broadcast of cheating ads, while some immoral media organizations simply turn a blind eye to the fake information for the pursuit of profits," Huang said.

The nearly 3,000 delegates to the largely ceremonial National People's Congress are meeting for their 10-day annual session to discuss and approve policies set in place by the ruling Communist Party.

Food Fact:
Miso hungry!

This fermented soybean paste packs a lot of flavor in a very small quantity. The Japanese staple is usually made from a combination of soybeans and rice, although additional soybeans or barley may be used in place of the rice. Miso is usually sold in pint-sized recloseable plastic tubs at large supermarkets, whole foods stores and Asian markets. Refrigerated miso will keep for several months. Miso is very high in sodium, so use it sparingly in soups, marinades and salad dressings.

Fitness Tip of the day:
Sore feet?

The problem may be your running shoes. Buy new footwear every time you log 300 - 500 miles, or every 6 months or so. You'll avoid blisters, corns, calluses and many more serious injuries. Your shoes should be suitable for daily workouts -- be sure they're the right size and in good shape. If you have persistent knee, hip or back pain after walking or running, or problems that don't respond to self-treatment, see a podiatrist.

FAQ of the day:
Do I really need a "cooldown" after a workout?

Cooling down after a workout is even more important than the preworkout warm-up. During a cooldown, blood slowly returns from the extremities to the heart, capillaries return to normal dilation, and your respiration and heart rate slow down. If you skip your cooldown, you risk light-headedness and muscle spasms. It's also harder on your heart to go suddenly from 60 to zero. Walk slowly at the end of a run, do a few slower minutes on the stair climber or bike, and remember to stretch.