Health Headlines - August 4

Researchers Develop Dementia Risk Test

A test that uses lifestyle factors to predict dementia risk has been developed by researchers in Sweden.

People with any one of the risk factors -- cardiovascular disease, obesity, high blood pressure and high cholesterol -- have double the risk of developing dementia. Having all the factors increases the risk by six times, the Associated Press reported.

Researchers tested the risk score on 1,409 middle-aged people and found that it was 70 percent accurate.

The risk factors for dementia are virtually identical to those known to increase cardiovascular disease risk, the AP reported.

"We have known for years that trying to control obesity, blood pressure and cholesterol can prevent heart disease, but now it's not only the heart you can save, but also the brain," said lead author Dr. Miia Kivipelto, associate professor at the Aging Research Center in Stockholm.

The findings were published Thursday in the journal Lancet Neurology, and were previously presented in mid-July at the International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders, in Madrid, Spain.

Thompson Urges Medicaid Reform

Responsibility for long-term care of the growing population of elderly Americans should be shifted to the federal government, while states focus on acute care for people under age 65, says a white paper on Medicaid reform to be released Friday by Tommy G. Thompson, former secretary of health and human services.

"The federal government is the only one large enough to handle this growing problem," Thompson told the Washington Post. "The states are going broke right now under the Medicaid system. Who else is going to be able to handle the elderly?"

His white paper also suggests that health literacy and disease-prevention programs be used to help Medicaid recipients take a more active role in their care. In addition, Medicaid needs to use technology, such as electronic medical records, to help manage cases and improve its ability to collect public health information.

Making Medicare more efficient could save money that states could use to cover the 45.8 million uninsured people in the United States, according to Thompson, who left the Bush cabinet nearly two years ago.

Much of what Thompson is proposing is not new or radical, Diane Rowland, director of the nonprofit Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, told the Post.

Suspected Bird Flu Cases in Indonesia Prove Negative

Tests results on six people in Indonesia suspected of having bird flu have come back negative, easing fears of another outbreak of the deadly H5N1 virus, Agence France Presse reported.

The six people live in a district in North Sumatra where a cluster of seven H5N1 deaths occurred in May. That cluster was the first confirmed incidence of human-to-human transmission of bird flu.

These latest suspected cases raised fears of another outbreak of human-to-human transmission of H5N1. The six suspected patients had flu-like symptoms and were found during surveillance checks of dead poultry in their village, AFP reported.

Scientists fear that if H5N1 mutates into a form that's easily transmitted between people, it could spark a global pandemic.

FDA Approves Seasonal Flu Vaccines

Flu vaccines designed to counter the three strains of seasonal influenza most likely to hit the United States this winter have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The agency said the four manufacturers licensed to sell their vaccines in the United States should have 100 million doses available for the upcoming flu season, which should guarantee that there will be no shortages, the Associated Press reported.

The formulation for the 2006-07 flu season includes one strain used in last season's vaccines and two new strains.

Chiron Corp., GlaxoSmithKline PLC, MedImmune Inc., and Sanofi Pasteur SA are the four manufacturers approved to sell the flu vaccines in the United States, the AP reported.

Each year, between 5 percent and 20 percent of the U.S. population gets the flu, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and there are more than 200,000 hospitalizations and about 36,000 flu-related deaths each year.

Seasonal flu vaccines don't protect people against the bird flu virus. Scientists are attempting to create vaccines to counter that virus.

Doctors Charged in 'High-Tech Drug Dealing' Case

U.S. prosecutors have accused two doctors of being involved in "high-tech drug dealing" by helping sell millions of dollars of diet drugs through on online pharmacy.

The charges state that the doctors -- Ranvir Ahlawat of Toms River, N.J., and Steven Klinman of Elkins Park, Pa. -- approved thousands of prescriptions without seeing any patients in person. It's alleged that most of the orders were for highly addictive, controlled drugs, the Associated Press reported.

The doctors' actions helped RxMedical One.com rake in more than $33.6 million in nine months.

"This is high-tech drug dealing," said U.S. Attorney Patrick Meehan.

The prosecutors charge that Ahlawat and Klinman reviewed questionnaires that customers sent in with their drug orders. It's alleged that Ahlawat sometimes reviewed 1,000 to 1,500 questionnaires a day, the AP reported.

More people could be charged in the case, said prosecutors, who noted that five doctors approved more than 350,000 prescriptions from September 2003 to May 2004.

Merck Wins 1st Vioxx Case in California

Drug maker Merck & Co. has scored a victory in the first Vioxx case to go to trial in California.

A Los Angeles County jury ruled late Wednesday that retired construction manager Stewart Grossberg failed to prove that the painkiller caused his heart attack, the Los Angeles Times reported.

This is Merck's fifth win in eight Vioxx trials. Some experts regard it as an important victory because it came in the Central Civil West courthouse, which is known for granting large awards in product-liability cases.

However, other experts view the verdict as only a qualified victory for Merck because Grossberg's case was considered weak, the Times reported.

Merck faces more than 16,000 Vioxx-related lawsuits in the United States.