Health Headlines - April 8

9/11 Survivors Still Struggling With Health Problems: Report

Many survivors of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center are still suffering respiratory problems and psychological symptoms, according to a new government study.

About 62 percent of the survivors were enveloped in the dust, smoke and debris spewed into the air as the towers collapsed, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report released Friday said.

About 57 percent reported new or worsening respiratory problems after the attacks, and 21 percent have had severe headaches, the agency said according to a Bloomberg report.

More than 64 percent said they were depressed, anxious or had other emotional problems; almost 11 percent were in severe psychological distress at the time they were interviewed, the Daily News reported.

The collapse released particles of concrete, glass, plastic and paper into the air; fires at the 16-acre pile of rubble burned for about 3 months, and many people inhaled the fumes when they returned to work in lower Manhattan, the CDC report said.

Between Sept. 5, 2003, and Nov. 20, 2004, the city Health Department interviewed 71,437 who had been affected by the attacks in 2001. The CDC then sampled data from 8,418 people on the registry -- excluding those involved in rescue and recovery efforts.

The government plans to periodically monitor the physical and mental health of the 71,437 people for 20 years as part of its World Trade Center Health Registry program.

Silicone Implants Linked to High Platinum Levels in Women: Study

High and potentially dangerous levels of the metal platinum were found in the bodies of women who'd had silicone gel breast implants for many years, according to research published this week in the journal Analytical Chemistry, published by the American Chemical Society.

The findings were released just as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration appears poised to allow silicone implants back on the market, the Washington Post reported.

Platinum is used in the implants as a catalyst to transform the silicone into a gel-like form.

The study found high levels of platinum salts in the hair, urine and breast milk of 16 women who'd had silicone gel implants for an average of 14 years. The researchers concluded that the platinum in the women's bodies was in a form that made it a potential source of toxic or severe allergic reactions.

The FDA is "carefully reviewing the article, and we don't know how long that will take," spokeswoman Susan Cruzan told the Post.

Last year, the agency deemed two applications to sell silicone gel implants to be "approvable," but the FDA has not yet given final approval to those applications.

"This is the first time the research has found platinum in this possibly harmful form in implanted women," Marlene Keeling, president of Chemically Associated Neurological Disorders, told the Post. The Houston nonprofit group helped fund the research, and Keeling has filed a citizen's petition with the FDA requesting that the two applications be delayed until further research is conducted into the platinum issue.

OTC Diet Drug Moves Closer to Market

An over-the-counter (OTC) version of the prescription diet drug Xenical received an "approvable" letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, drug company GlaxoSmithKline said Friday.

The company is confident that the OTC product -- with the proposed name Alli -- could be in U.S. drugstores later this year, following further discussions with the FDA, Steven L. Burton, vice president of weight control products for Glaxo's consumer health division, told The New York Times.

That would make this drug the first FDA-approved weight-loss product sold without a doctor's prescription. The drug works by blocking fat absorption.

In January, an FDA advisory panel voted 11 to 3 that the lower-dose version of Xenical could be sold without a prescription. The OTC version would be cheaper than Xenical, which costs about $2 a pill, The Times reported.

Clinical studies of the OTC version found that people who used the drug lost an average of five to six additional pounds over six months, compared to people on similar diets who did not take the drug.

Norovirus Outbreak Kills 2 at Washington Retirement Home

Two people have died and more than 40 residents and staff at a Vancouver, Wash.-retirement home are sick after an outbreak of norovirus.

One patient died late Wednesday and the other Thursday morning.

The 180 residents of the Cascade Inn have been asked to remain in their rooms and their friends and families are being urged not to visit them. All social activities have been cancelled, the Associated Press reported.

Norovirus is common and includes symptoms such as diarrhea, nausea and vomiting.

Healthcare Worker Shortages Threaten 57 Countries: WHO

Many countries are vulnerable to disease outbreaks, such as a potential bird flu pandemic, because they lack enough doctors, nurses and midwives, the World Health Organization warns in its annual report released Friday.

The report estimates that 57 nations have "critical shortages" of healthcare workers and require another 2.4 million people to deal with health emergencies, Bloomberg news reported. Countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia have the worst healthcare worker shortages.

The report noted that health crisis funding is adequate but that "many national health systems are weak, unresponsive, inequitable, even unsafe."

Bird flu, which has killed more than 100 people worldwide since 2003, "is indicative of a more fundamental need for effective international capacity to marshal the requisite human resources" during disease outbreaks.