Health Headlines - August 16

U.S. Caesarean Rates on the Rise

More than a quarter of babies born each year in the United States are delivered by Caesarean section, says a report released Tuesday by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

The analysis of 2003 data found that the use of C-section in the United States rose 38 percent since 1997, when about a fifth of babies were delivered that way.

Other findings:

* There's been a 60 percent decline in the rate of women who give birth vaginally after they've had a previous child delivered via C-section.
* The rate of repeat Caesareans has increased 33 percent.
* In 2003, the total cost for childbirth in the United States was $34 billion. Hospital stays involving C-section delivery accounted for nearly half that amount -- $15 billion.
* Medicaid was billed for 43 percent of childbirths overall and 41 percent of C-section deliveries.

Americans More Finicky About Purchases Than Picking a Doctor: Survey

Americans take nearly twice as long to research major household purchases -- such as a car or a computer -- as they do to select a doctor, says a national survey released Tuesday by Chicago-based Destiny Health, which sells consumer-directed health plans.

On average, people said they took 20 days to research a household purchase, compared with about 9.7 days to choose a doctor.

The survey of 1,000 adults also found that about 60 percent of respondents would not bother to shop for lower-cost or higher-quality doctor care, even if they had easy access to such information.

Only 10 percent of respondents said they would be "extremely likely" to shop around for medical services, while 29 percent said they would be "very likely."

Too Few Children Get Emergency AIDS Therapy

Only 5 percent of the 660,000 children around the world who need emergency AIDS drug therapy have access to it, the medical relief agency Doctors Without Borders (Medecins sans frontieres - MSF) said Tuesday at the International AIDS Conference in Toronto.

The agency said many children who need such treatment live in developing nations and were infected by HIV-positive mothers who themselves had no treatment, Agence France Presse reported.

MSF said urgent action is needed to treat these children and to slash the cost of high-priced pediatric HIV/AIDS drugs.

The group noted that, due to the lack of medical care, about half the children born with HIV die before age two, AFP reported.

"We know that treating children works, but with better tools, we could be treating so many more," said Dr. Moses Masaquoi of MSF in Malawi.

U.S. Drug Directory Full of Errors and Omissions: Report

Tens of thousands of drugs no longer on the market are listed in a U.S. federal prescription drug directory, but it doesn't include more than 9,000 medications that are available, says a new report by the inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services.

The report said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's National Drug Code Directory is not complete or accurate and that its omissions and errors limit its usefulness, the Associated Press reported.

The directory is supposed to help the FDA and other government agencies identify medication errors, control imports, and handle recalls. As of February 2005, the directory listed 123,856 prescription drugs.

The report said the directory failed to catalog about 9,200 drugs but did include more than 34,000 drugs either no longer sold in the U.S. or listed in error, the AP reported.

The FDA was in general agreement with the report and said it's working to correct the problems with the drug directory, the wire service said.

Experts Call for Widespread HIV Testing

Widespread routine testing for HIV is needed in order to halt the spread of the AIDS-causing virus, according to experts attending the International AIDS Conference in Toronto, Canada.

More than 90 percent of people with HIV don't know they have the virus, which means they don't take steps to ensure they don't infect other people. The experts said large scale routine testing could have a significant impact in preventing transmission of HIV, BBC News reported.

"Prevention has to be at the center of our response. We are not going to solve this epidemic just by scaling up treatment," said Dr. Kevin De Cock of the World Health Organization.

Other experts expressed concern that routine testing for HIV could infringe on civil liberties. They said informed consent is essential for such testing, which would have to be accompanied by comprehensive treatment and support programs, BBC News reported.

In many countries, people who test positive for HIV face social stigma and violence, noted Joanne Csete of the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network.

"HIV is not like other diseases. Women do not get abandoned by their communities, or beaten up by their partners for having other diseases in the way that still unfortunately happens with HIV," Csete said.

Hot Dogs May Contain Cancer-Causing Compounds: Study

Some hot dogs may contain DNA-mutating compounds that could increase a consumer's risk of colon cancer, according to a University of Nebraska study in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry.

Sodium nitrite, used as a preservative in hot dogs, can help form N-nitroso compounds, some of which have been shown to cause cancer in lab animals.

In this study, the researchers mixed extracts from hot dogs with nitrites, which led to the formation of what appeared to be DNA-mutating N-nitroso compounds, LiveScience.com reported.

When these extracts were added to Salmonella bacteria, there were double to quadruple the normal number of DNA mutations. This kind of increase in DNA mutations may increase colon cancer risk, the researchers said.

In the next phase of their research, the scientists plan to feed hot dog meat to mice to see if they develop colon cancer or precancerous conditions, LiveScience.com reported.

This is a preliminary report and the "carcinogenic risk to humans of the compounds studied has not been determined,' said James Hodges, president of the American Meat Institute Foundation.

Food Fact:
Some like it hot.

With good reason -- chiles' heat may bring you significant health protection. Capsaicin, the compound that gives chile peppers their firey heat, contains an anticoagulant that might help prevent heart attacks and strokes caused by blood clots. Chile peppers also contain a mixture of cancer-fighting antioxidants. Remember, don't touch your eyes as you're working with chile peppers, and wash your hands thoroughly afterward. As a general rule, the larger the pepper, the milder it is. To reduce a pepper's intensity, remove the core and seeds.

Fitness Tip of the day:
Get in-line.

Step into a pair of skates for a head-turning pair of legs and a killer derriere. In-line skating is a strength-training and cardio workout all in one. Studies find in-line skating to be more aerobic than cycling, easier on your joints than running, and a great way to shape and tone muscles. Get rolling and you can burn 570 - 900 calories an hour!

FAQ of the day:
Does cranberry juice cure urinary tract infections?

Cure is too strong a word, but cranberry juice has been shown in carefully controlled experiments to help prevent recurrent urinary tract infections, or UTIs. Research in the late 1980s reported that cranberry juice (as well as blueberry juice) prevented common bacteria from adhering to cells that line the urinary tract. Studies in the '90s found that women who drank about 10 oz. of cranberry juice a day had lower levels of bacteria in their urine, and were 75% less likely to develop urinary tract infection in the next month.