Health Headlines - August 5

Group Sues EPA Over Beach Pollution

An environmental group has sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, charging that it failed to protect beaches around the country from pollution and exposed swimmers to potential illnesses.

The lawsuit was filed Thursday by the Natural Resources Defense Council in U.S. District Court, the Associated Press reported.

Under a law passed by Congress in 2000, the EPA was supposed to update its beach water quality health standards by 2005. The lawsuit says the agency missed that deadline and its current standards are two decades old.

The Natural Resources Defense Council wants the court to order the EPA to complete the water quality studies and issue revised standards, the AP reported.

An EPA spokesman did not comment on the lawsuit but said the state of the nation's beach health "remains high," the AP reported.

Blood Test Detects Early Breast Cancer

A blood test that measures concentrations of proteins can detect the earliest stages of breast cancer, says research published in the Journal of Proteome Research.

The study of 345 women found that the test detected 95 percent of breast cancers, BBC News reported.

The blood test developed by American and British researchers detects minor changes in the concentrations of certain proteins in the blood. Some of these proteins are specific for breast tissue, while others indicate tumor-related inflammation and new blood vessel growth.

The researchers said that by changing the combination of proteins the test detects, it could be used to spot other kinds of cancers, BBC News reported.

"Our pilot studies show that using blood samples, breast cancer and several other types of epithelial cancers can be detected with much better sensitivity and specificity," said Professor Jasminka Godovac-Zimmermann of University College London.

The researchers are studying different protein marker combinations in an effort to identify ones that can be used to screen for several cancers in a single blood test, BBC News reported.

Rabies Outbreak Prompts Dog Slaughter in China

As many as half a million dogs in eastern China could be killed as officials move to control a rabies outbreak that's caused 16 human deaths in the past eight months.

The state news agency Xinhua said the deaths occurred in a number of villages in Shandong province. Authorities have ordered the slaughter of all dogs within a five-kilometer (3.1-mile) radius of each affected village.

It's expected that dogs outside the village kill zones will be vaccinated against rabies, Xinhua said. If the rabies outbreak continues to spread, more dogs will be killed.

Last week, officials in Muding county in the southwest province of Yunnan ordered the slaughter of more than 50,000 dogs in an effort to contain a rabies outbreak that killed three people, Agence France Presse reported.

Scientists Identify Proteins That Detect Sour Taste

Two proteins -- called PKD1L3 and PKD2L1 -- in the taste buds of the tongue are responsible for detecting sour tastes, says a study led by Duke University Medical Center researchers.

This is the first study to define how humans perceive sour taste. The basis for perception of other types of tastes, such as bitter and sweet, was already known.

The finding could lead to methods of manipulating taste perception in order to fool the mouth that something sour, such as some health foods or children's medicines, tastes sweet, said study team senior scientist Hiroaki Matsunami, assistant professor of molecular genetics and microbiology.

The study appears in the online edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and will be published in the Aug. 15 print issue.

Matsunami said he plans to use this new information to screen for chemicals that can block the function of sour taste cells. He said the study findings could also help scientists better understand how the sense of taste functions in the brain.

Radiation Treatments Can Trigger Security Alarms

Patients who are receiving radiation treatments -- such as radioiodine for thyroid problems -- need to be warned that they may falsely trigger airport and other security alarms, say researchers at City Hospital in Birmingham, UK.

They had a 46-year-old patient who underwent six weeks of radioiodine therapy and set off a U.S. airport security alarm. The man was interrogated and strip searched before he was finally released, BBC News reported.

After they heard about their patient's experience, the team at City Hospital started issuing all affected patients with a radionuclide card that explains the risk of persisting radioactivity following treatment and outlines potential problems this may cause.

The researchers reviewed the medical literature and found four similar cases.

Radioiodine treatment isn't the only one that can trigger security alarms. An increasing number of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures -- including some heart, bone, and lung scans -- use radioactive particles, BBC News reported.

In the British Medical Journal, the City Hospital researchers wrote: "Airports worldwide are deploying more sensitive radiation detection systems and one would therefore expect more such cases unless we take the responsibility of forewarning our patients."

Track Coach Trevor Graham Banned from USOC Facilities

Controversial American track coach Trevor Graham has been banned from U.S. Olympic Committee facilities because of his connections to more than a half-dozen athletes sanctioned or implicated in doping offenses, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Thursday's USOC announcement came five days after it was revealed that U.S. track star Justin Gatlin had tested positive for testosterone. Graham has for years coached Gatlin, the 2004 Olympic gold medalist and co-world record holder in the 100 meters.

Graham has also coached Tim Montgomery, a former 100-meter world record holder who was suspended after being found liable last December of doping.

In a related announcement, a German track promoter announced Thursday that athletes trained by Graham would not be allowed to compete in a lucrative event in Berlin on Sept. 3.

The USOC ban on Graham may not have much effect, because Graham's base is a Raleigh, N.C., track that isn't under USOC control, the Times reported.

However, the USOC's action against Graham is regarded as a sign of a renewed bid by the committee to take a leadership role in the fight against sports-related doping.