Saturday, September 30, 2006

Health Headlines - September 30

FDA Issues Warning About Blood-Loss Drug

A drug designed to prevent blood loss during certain types of heart surgeries appears to increase users' risks of kidney failure, heart failure and stroke, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Friday. The agency advised doctors to carefully monitor patients given the Bayer Pharmaceuticals drug, Trasylol (aprotinin injection).

The drug, made from the lung tissue of cattle, is used to slow or prevent bleeding, avoiding the need for a blood transfusion. On Sept. 27, Bayer informed the FDA of new study data about Trasylol showing the drug could increase a user's chances of death, serious kidney damage, congestive heart failure and stroke, the agency said in a statement. The study involved 67,000 patients who had undergone coronary artery bypass graft surgery.

The FDA said it was unaware of this new information when its advisors met last week to discuss the drug's safety. The agency said further study was needed since many of the people who were given Trasylol were already at greater-than-average risk of serious complications.

Until the agency is able to review the latest data, it advises doctors to carefully monitor Trasylol patients for damage to the kidneys, heart, or brain, and to promptly report any adverse reactions to Bayer or to the FDA. The agency also says doctors should limit the drug's use to cases where Trasylol's use is "essential to medical management of the patient and outweighs the potential risks."

Hotel Guests Leave Behind Cold Germs

Hotel guests with colds leave behind germs on surfaces like door handles, pens, light switches, and TV remotes after they check out of a room, researchers said Friday at a meeting of the American Society for Microbiology.

The scientists studied 15 people with colds who spent a night in individual rooms at a hotel. After the guests checked out the next morning, researchers tested 10 items in each room that were touched by the sick volunteers. About one third of the items were contaminated with cold viruses, the Associated Press reported.

Cold germs were found on 7 of 14 door handles, 6 of 14 pens, 6 of 15 light switches, TV remotes and faucets, and 5 of 15 phones. Viruses were also detected on alarm clocks, coffee makers, and shower curtains.

However, the germ testing was done before the room was cleaned by hotel staff, the AP reported.

California Drug Program Can Be National Model: Group

A new California bill requiring drugmakers to significantly discount prescription medicines for low-income and uninsured people should send a message to the U.S. Congress that it can do the same for Medicare beneficiaries, says the nonprofit group Consumers Union.

The California bill was to be signed Friday by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The discount program is expected to offer savings of up to 40 percent on brand name drugs and up to 60 percent on generic drugs to millions of people.

"If California can use its purchasing power to negotiate lower drug prices for the needy and uninsured, why shouldn't Medicare do the same for seniors and the disabled," Earl Lui, senior attorney for Consumers Union, said in a statement.

"California's leaders on both sides of the political aisle agree that drug price negotiation makes sense, not only for patients, but for taxpayers, as well. Congress should do the same and remove the roadblock it specifically put in the Medicare program against price negotiation," Lui said.

In passing the new Medicare Part D drug benefit, Congress prohibited Medicare from negotiating with drug companies for lower drug prices for seniors and the disabled, Consumers Union said.

European Union Approves Anti-Smoking Pill

The European Union has approved the sale of the anti-smoking pill Champix, drugmaker Pfizer said Friday.

Champix (varenicline) will be available with a patient support plan that can be customized by smokers to help them tackle individual smoking behaviors, the Associated Press reported.

It's believed the drug reduces the severity of the urge to smoke and eases many withdrawal symptoms suffered by smokers when they try to quit. The drug may also reduce the satisfaction associated with smoking.

In May, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the drug (sold in the U.S. under the name Chantix) to help smokers quit, the AP reported.

Workers at Small Firms Pay Higher Health Insurance Deductibles

American workers at the largest private-sector companies pay about half as much in health insurance deductibles as workers at the smallest firms, says a report released Thursday by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

It said that workers at companies with 1,000 or more employees paid, on average, $859 to meet their deductible for family plan coverage in 2004, while workers at companies with fewer than 10 employees paid an average of $1,779.

The report also said that:

The average annual deductible for workers in firms with 10 to 99 employees was $1,700, and $1,114 for workers in companies with 100 to 999 employees.
About 59 percent of private-sector workers were enrolled in company-sponsored health insurance plans that required deductibles to be met before benefits were paid.
Workers at the smallest firms had an average co-payment of $19.40 per doctor office visit, compared to $17.42 for employees of the largest companies.

Judge Halts Medicare Repayment

A U.S. federal judge on Thursday halted the Bush administration's attempt to recoup about $50 million erroneously paid out to 230,000 Medicare beneficiaries, The New York Times reported.

The mistake involved refunds of premiums paid for prescription drug coverage. The government had ordered the beneficiaries to repay the money by Saturday, Sept. 30.

Judge Henry H. Kennedy Jr. of the Federal District Court in Washington, D.C., said that many of the beneficiaries might qualify for waivers because repayment of the premium refunds might cause them hardship.

He ordered the government to immediately send all 230,000 beneficiaries a notice informing them they have the right under federal law to request such waivers, the Times reported.

Kennedy said the Bush administration can't enforce its demand for repayment of the money unless it first gives beneficiaries the opportunity to seek an exemption. If a beneficiary does request a waiver, the government can't seek repayment until the Secretary of Health and Human Services rules on the request, the judge said.

Friday, September 29, 2006

Health Headlines - September 29

ADHD Drug Use a Family Affair: Study

Taking attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) drugs seems to be a family affair in the United States, according to an analysis of prescription claims filed in 2005 for more than 107,000 children ages 5 to 19 and their parents.

The study found that parents of children on ADHD drugs were nine times more likely than other parents to be taking the drugs themselves, the Associated Press reported. It's long been recognized that ADHD runs in families.

The study was conducted by Medco Health Solutions, Inc. Among the other findings:

In families where a parent and child both started taking ADHD drugs last year, the parent started taking the drug first nearly 50 percent of the time.
Among children taking ADHD drugs, 7 percent had a parent also using such drugs.
The average age at which children started taking ADHD drugs was 13 for children and 43 for adults.
The study also found that mothers accounted for 60 percent of cases where a parent and child started taking ADHD drugs last year, even though ADHD is two to three times more common in males.

The explanation is that more women are being examined for attention-deficit problems, one expert told the AP.

MS Drug Helps Prevent Relapses

An investigational multiple sclerosis (MS) drug called FTY720 appears effective in preventing disease relapse, according to mid-stage clinical trial results released Thursday by the company that developed the drug.

The study showed that 77 percent of MS patients who received the drug were free of relapses for more than two years and more than 80 percent of them were found not to have active inflammation, the Associated Press reported.

It also found that patients who received a placebo during the first six months of the study showed marked improvement after being switched to FTY720 and that improvement was sustained through to end of the second year of the study.

The data was released by Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp., the U.S. unit of Swiss drug maker Novartis AG, the AP reported. The drug is currently being tested in late-stage clinical trials.

Bird Flu Virus Able to Mutate

The H5N1 bird flu virus is showing indications of being able to mutate and develop resistance to anti-viral drugs and potential vaccines, a World Health Organization (WHO) scientist said Thursday.

Mike Perdue, a team leader with WHO's influenza program, said that the H5N1 virus is splitting into genetically different groups, the Associated Press reported. He took part in a two-day bird flu conference earlier this week.

Scientists have yet to develop a vaccine against the H5N1 virus but are confident they'll be able to do so. However, Perdue said that will be more difficult if the H5N1 virus can mutate as seasonal flu viruses are known to do.

"We are going to have to come to the realization that these viruses are genetically variable. The vaccines that we have predicted to be protective today may not be protective a year from now," Perdue said.

He also said that there have been cases of H5N1 resistance to the two most effective anti-viral drugs -- Tamiflu and amantadine -- used to fight the virus, the AP reported.

In related news, Indonesian officials said Thursday that they've ruled out human-to-human transmission of the H5N1 virus in a case involving two brothers and a sister. Both brothers died.

One brother was diagnosed with H5N1. The other brother had H5N1-like symptoms before he died, but was buried before any test samples were collected. It's believed both brothers caught the virus from the same source, Agence France Presse reported.

The sister was diagnosed with ordinary influenza, health officials said.

Most Uninsured U.S. Children Have Working Parents

The majority (about 88.3 percent) of the 9 million U.S. children with no health insurance coverage live in homes with at least one working parent, concludes a report being released Thursday by the group Families USA, which promotes universal health coverage.

The report also found that 70 percent of uninsured children age 18 and under live in homes where a parent works full-time throughout the year, the Associated Press reported.

Families USA said the findings contradict the stereotype that many people have about those who don't have health insurance.

"I think they believe these are low-income people who don't work, who are very different from themselves," Ron Pollack, the group's executive director, told the AP.

But many of the uninsured are "people who work, who are doing the right thing," Pollack said.

The report said the five states with the highest rates of uninsured children are: Texas, 20.4 percent; Florida, 17 percent; New Mexico, 16.7 percent; Nevada; 16.4 percent; and Montana, 16.2 percent.

The states with the lowest rates of uninsured children include: Vermont, 5.6 percent; and Hawaii, Michigan, and New Hampshire at 6.4 percent. The U.S. national average is 11.6 percent, the AP reported.

The Families USA study noted that about two-thirds of uninsured families would qualify for government-sponsored coverage of their children if the parents applied for it. However, many parents don't know about this assistance and the enrollment process is cumbersome, Pollack said.

Group Studies Link Between TV Ads, Childhood Obesity

The link between television ads, youngster's viewing habits, and rising rates of childhood obesity in the United States will be the focus of a study by a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) task force.

The task force will start meeting early next year and produce a report that includes recommendations on how the food and media industries can work to combat childhood obesity, the Associated Press reported.

"Small children can't weed out the marketing messages from their favorite shows. Especially when the marketing campaigns feature favorite TV characters like SpongeBob or Scooby-Doo," FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said Wednesday at a news conference.

He noted that research shows that the average American child sees about 40,000 TV ads a year. The majority of those are for fast food, cereal, candy, and toys.

The task force will include FCC officials, health experts, members of consumer advocacy groups and representatives from the food, television and advertising industries, AP reported.

New Anthrax Vaccine Shows Promise

Scientists are making progress in the development of a new anthrax vaccine designed to work faster and have fewer side effects than the current vaccine, according to study results released Wednesday.

Researchers conducted the first round of human tests in 111 healthy adults. The volunteers received two doses of the investigational vaccine in a single month. There were no signs of safety problems and the vaccine produced responses that suggested recipients were developing immunity to anthrax, the Associated Press reported.

The findings were reported Wednesday at a meeting of the American Society for Microbiology. A larger test of the Avecia vaccine involving more than 600 people is currently underway.

Thursday, September 28, 2006

Health Headlines - September 28

Jury Rejects Vioxx Lawsuit

A federal jury ruled Tuesday there was insufficient evidence to blame a Kentucky man's heart attack on the now-banned painkiller Vioxx.

Robert Garry Smith, 56, had taken Vioxx for knee pain for about 4 1/2 years. His lawsuit claimed the drug contributed to a heart attack he suffered in 2003 while shoveling snow, the Associated Press reported.

However, after deliberating for about three hours, the jury rejected Smith's claim.

Merck & Co. Inc., which made Vioxx, has now won five such cases and lost four. There are at least 14,200 Vioxx-related cases pending in the United States.

The painkiller went on sale in the U.S. in 1999 but was pulled from the market two years ago after a study concluded that the drug increased the risk of heart attack in people who took it for more than 18 months or longer.

Overcrowding Common in U.S. Emergency Departments

Between 40 percent and 50 percent of U.S. hospitals experience crowded emergency departments (EDs), according to a report released Wednesday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Some of the report's other findings:

* Nearly two-thirds of metropolitan hospital EDs experienced crowding at times.
* Crowding in metropolitan EDs was associated with a higher percentage of nursing vacancies, higher patient volume, and longer patient waiting and treatment times.
* More than half the EDs saw fewer than 20,000 patients a year, but 10 percent handled more than 50,000 patients a year.
* About a third of hospitals reported having to divert an ambulance to another hospital's ED due to overcrowding or staff shortages.

U.S. Communities Not Ready for Rise in Elderly

Fewer than half of the communities in the United States have started to prepare for the expected rapid increase in the population of elderly over the next few decades, a new study warns.

Only 46 percent of the 1,790 towns, counties and other municipalities surveyed said they are looking at strategies to deal with an aging population of baby boomers (people born between 1946 and 1964), the Associated Press reported.

By 2030, there will be more than 71 million Americans over age 65 -- double the number in the year 2000, noted the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging.

The Washington, D.C.-based group was one of the sponsors of the report, titled The Maturing of America -- Getting Communities on Track for an Aging Population.

The study looked at health care, nutritional programs, transportation, public safety and emergency awareness, volunteer opportunities and other services for older adults, the AP reported.

More Family Doctors Needed in U.S.

At least five states -- Arizona, Florida, Idaho, Nevada and Texas -- could experience a serious shortage of family doctors by 2020, warns a report to be released Wednesday by the American Academy of Family Physicians.

While the report says more doctors will be needed all across the United States in coming years, population growth and increasing numbers of older people will make the need most critical in those five states, the AP reported.

From 1997 to 2005, the number of U.S. medical graduates going into family practice has declined by more than 50 percent. Many young doctors prefer to become specialists to get better pay and have more control over their work hours.

In order to meet demand, the number of family doctors in the United States must increase by 39 percent over the next 14 years, according to the report. There are currently about 100,000 licensed family doctors in the country, the AP reported.

To address the issue, Congress should increase Medicare payments to family physicians, the academy says.

New York City Moves to Limit Trans Fats Served in Restaurants

Artificial trans fats may soon be severely restricted in New York City restaurants.

The city's Board of Health voted unanimously Tuesday to move ahead with plans to forbid the Big Apple's 20,000 restaurants from serving food that contains more than a minute amount of artificial trans fats, The New York Times reported.

Artificial trans fats are chemically modified ingredients believed to increase the risk of heart disease. This plan would set a limit of a half-gram of artificial trans fats per serving of any menu item.

The health board will accept written comments on the proposal and plans to hold a public meeting on Oct. 30. It will take a final vote on the plan in December. The health board can adopt the plan without the consent of any other agency.

Many of the city's restaurant owners oppose the move, saying it would increase their costs and change the taste of some food items, the Times reported.

Tuesday's Board of Health vote comes about a year after it conducted an unsuccessful campaign to persuade restaurants to voluntary eliminate trans fats from their menu items. If the plan is approved, New York would become the first major U.S. city to strictly limit such fats in all restaurants.

French Doctors Perform First Zero-Gravity Surgery

French doctors on Wednesday said they had completed the world's first zero-gravity surgery, successfully removing a cyst from a man's arm during flight maneuvers that created near-weightless conditions.

The experiment is part of an effort to design surgical robots for use in outer space, the Associated Press reported. While prior surgeries conducted under zero-gravity conditions had been performed on a rat in 2003, this is the first such operation on a human.

A team led by Dr. Dominique Martin removed the cyst in about 10 minutes, while in an airplane that was soaring and diving in order to create a weightless environment. The five-member surgical team was strapped to the walls of the airplane as it made 25 roller coaster-like maneuvers (parabolas) to simulate zero gravity.

The patient chosen for the surgery, Philippe Sanchot, is an avid bungee jumper and therefore accustomed to dramatic changes in gravity, the AP reported. Cyst-removal surgery is relatively simple and requires only a local anesthetic.

The surgery went "exactly as we had expected," Martin told reporters gathered near Merignac airport outside Bordeaux. He said the doctors' experiences so far "allow us to think that operating on a human in the conditions of space would not present insurmountable problems."

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Health Headlines - September 27

U.S. Health Insurance Premiums Outpace Inflation

U.S. health insurance premiums increased by 7.7 percent this year, more than twice the rate of inflation, according to a survey released Tuesday by the Kaiser Family Foundation, an independent health care research organization.

The increase in premiums is the smallest since 1999. However, health insurance premiums have increased 78 percent overall since 2000, while wages have increased by 20 percent, the Associated Press reported.

"Yes, the rate of increase is down, but I don't think anybody is celebrating," Dr. Drew Altman, president and chief executive officer of the Kaiser Family Foundation, told the AP.

Overall, the average cost of health insurance for an individual is now $4,242 a year and $11,480 a year per family.

The telephone survey included 3,159 randomly selected private and public employers, the AP reported. More than 155 million Americans get their health insurance through their workplace. On average, employers pay 84 percent of the cost of health insurance for individuals and 73 percent for families.

Most Arthritis Drugs Offer Same Benefits, Risks

Two classes of drugs -- non-steroidal anti inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and COX-2 inhibitors -- commonly used to treat osteoarthritis (OA) provide about the same level of pain relief and carry a similar increased risk of heart attack, concludes a U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality report released Tuesday.

One exception is the NSAID naproxen (Aleve), which may present a lower risk of heart attack than other NSAIDs or COX-2 inhibitors, the report said.

The authors reviewed 360 published studies on 26 drugs. Among their conclusions:

* All NSAIDs and COX-2 inhibitors can cause or worsen hypertension, congestive heart failure, swelling and impaired kidney function.
* Most NSAIDs and COX-2 inhibitors pose similar increased risks of heart attack.
* There's no clear difference in pain relief effectiveness among NSAIDs and COX-2 inhibitors.
* The risk for serious adverse gastrointestinal events among people taking Celebrex is about the same as for those taking Motrin, Advil, Voltaren and other NSAIDs.
* More research is needed to compare the cardiac and gastrointestinal risks of aspirin at doses effective for OA-related pain relief versus other NSAIDs.
* Acetaminophen is generally less effective against OA-related pain than NSAIDs, but carries a smaller risk of gastrointestinal problems.

Scientists Complete Map of Mouse Brain

U.S. scientists have completed a map of the mouse brain that includes details of individual cells, the Associated Press reported.

The map is available online free of charge to neuroscientists studying brain circuitry and chemistry. Since there are similarities between the brains of mice and humans, this information could aid research into neurological disorders and a number of diseases.

This mapping project found that more than 80 percent of genes in the body are switched on in the brain, while previous studies put that number at 60 percent to 70 percent, the AP reported.

The mouse brain map, announced Tuesday, is the first project to be completed by the Allen Institute of Brain Science, funded by Microsoft Corp. co-founder Paul G. Allen.

Scientists at the Swedish Medical Center in Seattle are already using the new Allen Brain Atlas to study the genetics of brain cancers, the AP reported.

New Warnings Added for Colorectal Cancer Drug

New warnings about the risk of a brain-bleeding condition and deterioration of nasal tissue have been added to the labeling of the colorectal cancer drug Avastin.

The new warnings, outlined on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Web site, say the drug can cause a rare brain-capillary leak that can trigger headache, seizure, blindness and other vision and neurological problems, the Associated Press reported.

Drug maker Genentech said the condition, which is reversible, has been reported in less than 0.1 percent of the 60,000 patients treated with Avastin.

The labeling changes also include a warning of possible nasal septum perforation in patients taking Avastin, the AP said. This condition, which results in a small hole between the cartilage separating the two nostrils and includes side effects such as bleeding and nasal discharge, has been reported in seven patients taking the drug.

Genentech is currently seeking FDA approval for Avastin as a treatment for advanced lung cancer and breast cancer.

Possible Human-to-Human Bird Flu Transmission in Indonesia

A possible cluster case of human-to-human transmission of the H5N1 bird flu virus is being investigated by Indonesian officials.

The situation involves three brothers, ages 25, 20, and 15, who developed symptoms of bird flu. The oldest brother died Sunday, but was buried without any test samples taken from his body, Agence France Presse reported.

The other two brothers are in a hospital that's a government-appointed center for treatment of bird-flu patients.

"As the three are blood-related and suffer from the same symptoms, we are suspecting a new cluster case here, but we still have to make the necessary tests to ascertain what they are suffering from," Fatimah Resmiati, an official in the West Java health office, told AFP.

Resmiati said the family regularly fed dead chickens to their dogs. This means the three brothers may have contracted the virus from poultry, rather than each other. Samples have been taken from the rest of the brothers' family and their close neighbors.

Health experts say that cluster cases of human-to-human transmission increase the risk of the H5N1 virus mutating into a version that's easily transmitted between people, which could result in a global pandemic.

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Health Headlines - September 26

Universal Health Guarantees Suggested in Report to Bush

Americans want blanket protection from high medical expenses and guaranteed coverage for specific treatments and checkups -- such as annual breast cancer exams, says a citizens' group report delivered Monday to President Bush.

"Americans clearly want a system that guarantees health care for everyone," said the report by the Citizens' Health Care Working Group, which was created by Congress in 2003, the Associated Press reported.

The 15 members of the group represent consumers, healthcare providers, organized labor, businesses, and the disabled.

President Bush is expected to respond to the report's recommendations, and five congressional committees will hold hearings on the report's findings, the AP said.

The group gathered input from 6,650 people at 84 meetings around the United States and from 14,000 people who responded to an Internet poll. Since the group started meeting, the number of uninsured Americans has risen by more than a million, the report noted.

Judge Okays Lawsuit Over 'Light' Cigarettes

A U.S. District Court judge has given the green light to a class-action lawsuit on behalf of smokers of "light" cigarettes, who seek $200 billion in damages from tobacco companies.

In a 1,505-page opinion released Monday, Brooklyn Judge Jack Weinstein ruled that a suit filed by eight light-cigarette smokers may go forward on behalf of all such users in the United States, the Bloomberg news service reported.

The suit alleges that the tobacco companies defrauded smokers by misleading them into believing that light cigarettes are safer than cigarettes with higher levels of tar.

Lawyers for the smokers noted that light cigarettes accounted for 85 percent of industry sales in 2002, Bloomberg reported.

The judge's ruling may be appealed.

Diet Affects Leg Pain in Female Athletes

Women athletes who are watching their weight may be more likely to suffer leg pain and stress fractures than their peers, says a small Saint Louis University study published in this month's issue of the American Journal of Sports Medicine.

The study, which included 76 female college athletes playing NCAA Division I sports, concluded that eating disorders and low-calorie eating habits may increase the risk of leg pain and injury, the Associated Press reported.

Women who consumed too few calories due to dieting or abnormal eating habits had decreased estrogen production, the study found. Estrogen plays an important role in bone development.

The study included female cross-country runners and soccer, field hockey, and volleyball players. Three-quarters of study participants had suffered leg pain in the past and 28 percent had leg pain while the study was conducted, the AP reported.

The researchers said that diet -- more so than the amount of running or type of athletic shoe -- appeared to be the single most important factor in leg pain.

Football Player has Emergency Spleen Removal

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Chris Simms, 26, was reported in stable condition after emergency surgery to remove his spleen Sunday night following a game against the Carolina Panthers.

Simms is doing well and is expected to make a full recovery, said a statement released by team doctor Joe Diaco. He didn't say how long Simms would be sidelined, but the average recovery time after removal of the spleen is four to six weeks, the Bloomberg news service reported.

The spleen, located in the upper left of the abdomen, helps prevent infections.

Simms took several hard hits from Carolina players during Sunday's game, but it's not clear when he may have suffered the spleen injury, Bloomberg reported. He left the game for a short time after a third-quarter touchdown run, but returned to lead a fourth-quarter field goal drive.

After the game, Simms was taken by ambulance to the hospital. He's the son of former New York Giants quarterback Phil Simms.

Indonesia Reports 51st Bird Flu Fatality

A 9-year-old boy who died two hours after being admitted to a Jakarta hospital Friday is Indonesia's 51st confirmed victim of bird flu, a government health official said Monday.

The boy had recent contact with chickens infected with the H5N1 bird flu virus, the Associated Press reported. He first started showing symptoms of bird flu nine days before he was admitted to hospital.

"By the time he arrived at hospital, it was too late," Health Ministry official Nyoman Kandun told the AP.

Indonesia has the most confirmed human fatalities from bird flu. The country has been criticized for not dong enough to control the spread of the virus in poultry.

Worldwide, the H5N1 virus has killed at least 144 people, according to the World Health Organization. Most of those deaths have been due to contact with infected birds but some experts fear that the virus could mutate into a form that's easily transmitted between people, sparking a global pandemic.

Gentle Walking May Not be Enough: Study

On its own, low-intensity walking may not be enough to significantly help a person's health, says a Canadian study presented at a meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine.

The University of Alberta study of 128 people compared a 10,000-step-a-day gentle exercise program to a more moderate-intensity exercise regimen. The researchers found that people who did moderate-intensity exercise had significantly higher fitness levels, BBC News reported.

"Generally, low-intensity activity such as walking alone is not likely to give anybody marked health benefits compared to programs that occasionally elevate the intensity," said lead researcher Dr. Vicki Harber.

She and her colleagues are concerned that there may be too much emphasis on simply getting people to exercise, without also stressing the need for a certain level of intensity, BBC News reported.

However, they did note that the gentle 10,000-step-a-day walking program did help motivate people to exercise and was an excellent way to start being active.

"But to increase the effectiveness, one must add some intensity or "huff and puff" to their exercise," Harber said. "Across your day, while you are achieving those 10,000 steps, take 200 to 400 of them at a brisker pace."

Monday, September 25, 2006

Health Headlines - September 25

Big Jump Seen in War Vets Suffering From Stress

A new Veterans Health Administration report found that more than one-third of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are now seeking medical treatment for stress or other mental disorders -- a ten-fold increase in the last 18 months, the Associated Press reported.

The surge in cases, which coincides with more troops facing multiple tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan to combat stubborn insurgency groups, has prompted some veterans organizations to say they're concerned the VA may not be able to meet the demand for mental-health services. They say veterans have had to contend with long waits for doctor appointments, staffing shortages, and lack of equipment at VA-run medical centers, the AP said.

On the plus side, VA and Defense Department officials said the increase in soldiers complaining of stress or mental-health problems may indicate that efforts to reduce the stigma of problems such as post-traumatic stress disorder are working. Also, commanders and medical personnel may be more skilled at recognizing symptoms.

VA officials say they've increased funding for mental-health services, have hired at least 100 more counselors, and aren't struggling to meet the rising demand, the AP said.

"We're not aware that people are having trouble getting services from us in any consistent way or pattern around the country," said Dr. Michael Kussman, acting undersecretary for health and the top doctor at the VA.

Possible New Approach to Stem-Cell Research Reported

European researchers say they may have come up with an alternative method of harvesting embryonic stem cells, one that doesn't require destruction of an embryo.

If the research proves successful, it could blunt criticism of embryonic stem-cell research, which opponents say leads to the destruction of human life.

The scientists, from Spain and England, said they created a stem-cell line from a human embryo that had stopped developing naturally in a laboratory setting. The researchers studied embryos donated by an in-vitro fertilization clinic with consent of the patients. Part of the research focused on 132 "arrested" embryos -- those that had stopped dividing for 24 or 48 hours after reaching various stages of development, the Associated Press reported.

Thirteen of those embryos had developed more than the others, reaching 16 to 24 cells before cell division stopped. The researchers were able to create a stem-cell line from just one of these embryos. But, these stem cells performed normally on a series of tests, Miodrag Stojkovic of the Prince Felipe Research Center in Valencia, Spain, told the AP.

The research was published online Thursday by the journal Stem Cells.

But opponents of stem-cell research said there's no way to know if an arrested embryo would have continued growing if it had been removed from a lab dish and placed into woman's womb, said Robin Lovell-Badge of the Medical Research Council's National Institute for Medical Research in London.

Many scientists believe that embryonic stem cells have the ability to develop into any cell type in the body. They envision a future where stem cells might help replace diseased or injured tissue, thereby treating a host of ailments.

FDA Needs New Tools to Fix Drug System: Study

The safety of the nation's drug supply is inadequate, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's oversight is beset with poor management, internal squabbling and chronic underfunding, according to a congressional advisory report released Friday.

The report by the Institute of Medicine, a nonprofit organization created by Congress to advise the federal government on health issues, was conducted at the FDA's request, the New York Times reported Friday.

Among the panel's recommendations, most of which would require Congressional authorization:

* Drugs should only be approved for five-year periods so that the FDA can thoroughly review post-approval safety questions.
* Newly approved drugs should display a black triangle on their labels to warn consumers that their safety is more uncertain than that of older drugs.
* Drug advertisements should be banned during this initial period.
* The FDA should be given the authority to issue fines, injunctions and withdrawals when drug makers fail to complete required safety studies.
* The FDA commissioner should be appointed to a six-year term.

The report also suggested that one of the agency's biggest problems is a deal struck between Congress and the drug industry in 1992, in which drug makers agreed to pay millions in fees in order to speed reviews, and thereby increased pressures on drug reviewers to act quickly, the Times reported.

It is unlikely that Congress will act on the proposals before next year, when it must reauthorize the 1992 funding deal with the drug industry. Despite its strong words, however, the report, according to the Times, may actually bolster the confirmation prospects of Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach, who is now the FDA's acting commissioner.

ADHD Drug Misuse Tied to Higher ER Visits

Polydrug use -- taking at least one other drug in addition to medication for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder -- was a common factor in increased emergency room visits by those 12-to-17 years old and could lead to serious health problems such as heart attack or stroke, a new report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) shows.

In its latest "Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) Report" released Friday, the agency found that emergency visits resulting from misuse of one drug or two drugs by teen patients were higher in 2004 than the rates for patients aged 18 or older. For patients aged 12 to 17 taking methylphenidate (Ritalin) for medical use, there were 1.6 visits to the emergency department per 100,000 people in this age group, compared to 0.4 visits per 100,000 people in the 18-to-24 age group.

For patients aged 12 to 17, taking amphetamine-dextroamphetamine for medical use, there were 1.2 visits per 100,000 people compared to 0.6 per 100,000 people in the 18-to-24 age group.

For all age groups reporting nonmedical use of ADHD medications, 32 percent ingested the ADHD medication alone. For the 68 percent using at least one additional drugs with the ADHD medication, 20 percent reported using alcohol, 26 percent used an illicit drug, and 57 percent used another pharmaceutical, the report found.

Drug-Resistant TB Gaining Ground in U.S.

The worst forms of tuberculosis bug have been gaining ground in the United States, and states with the highest numbers of multi-drug resistant cases in the last decade were New York, California, Texas and Florida, according to a new report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

What is alarming public health officials are imported drug-resistant strains of a disease that is mostly under control in this country but is being brought in by legal visitors. Often those with drug-resistant strains stop taking their medicine when they feel better but aren't cured, and health officials said that simply tightening immigration controls won't solve the problem, the Associated Press reported.

Sunday, September 24, 2006

Health Headlines - September 24

Possible New Approach to Stem-Cell Research Reported

European researchers say they may have come up with an alternative method of harvesting embryonic stem cells, one that doesn't require destruction of an embryo.

If the research proves successful, it could blunt criticism of embryonic stem-cell research, which opponents say leads to the destruction of human life.

The scientists, from Spain and England, said they created a stem-cell line from a human embryo that had stopped developing naturally in a laboratory setting. The researchers studied embryos donated by an in-vitro fertilization clinic with consent of the patients. Part of the research focused on 132 "arrested" embryos -- those that had stopped dividing for 24 or 48 hours after reaching various stages of development, the Associated Press reported.

Thirteen of those embryos had developed more than the others, reaching 16 to 24 cells before cell division stopped. The researchers were able to create a stem-cell line from just one of these embryos. But, these stem cells performed normally on a series of tests, Miodrag Stojkovic of the Prince Felipe Research Center in Valencia, Spain, told the AP.

The research was published online Thursday by the journal Stem Cells.

But opponents of stem-cell research said there's no way to know if an arrested embryo would have continued growing if it had been removed from a lab dish and placed into woman's womb, said Robin Lovell-Badge of the Medical Research Council's National Institute for Medical Research in London.

Many scientists believe that embryonic stem cells have the ability to develop into any cell type in the body. They envision a future where stem cells might help replace diseased or injured tissue, thereby treating a host of ailments.

FDA Needs New Tools to Fix Drug System: Study

The safety of the nation's drug supply is inadequate, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's oversight is beset with poor management, internal squabbling and chronic underfunding, according to a congressional advisory report released Friday.

The report by the Institute of Medicine, a nonprofit organization created by Congress to advise the federal government on health issues, was conducted at the FDA's request, the New York Times reported Friday.

Among the panel's recommendations, most of which would require Congressional authorization:

* Drugs should only be approved for five-year periods so that the FDA can thoroughly review post-approval safety questions.
* Newly approved drugs should display a black triangle on their labels to warn consumers that their safety is more uncertain than that of older drugs.
* Drug advertisements should be banned during this initial period.
* The FDA should be given the authority to issue fines, injunctions and withdrawals when drug makers fail to complete required safety studies.
* The FDA commissioner should be appointed to a six-year term.

The report also suggested that one of the agency's biggest problems is a deal struck between Congress and the drug industry in 1992, in which drug makers agreed to pay millions in fees in order to speed reviews, and thereby increased pressures on drug reviewers to act quickly, the Times reported.

It is unlikely that Congress will act on the proposals before next year, when it must reauthorize the 1992 funding deal with the drug industry. Despite its strong words, however, the report, according to the Times, may actually bolster the confirmation prospects of Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach, who is now the FDA's acting commissioner.

ADHD Drug Misuse Tied to Higher ER Visits

Polydrug use -- taking at least one other drug in addition to medication for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder -- was a common factor in increased emergency room visits by those 12-to-17 years old and could lead to serious health problems such as heart attack or stroke, a new report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) shows.

In its latest "Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) Report" released Friday, the agency found that emergency visits resulting from misuse of one drug or two drugs by teen patients were higher in 2004 than the rates for patients aged 18 or older. For patients aged 12 to 17 taking methylphenidate (Ritalin) for medical use, there were 1.6 visits to the emergency department per 100,000 people in this age group, compared to 0.4 visits per 100,000 people in the 18-to-24 age group.

For patients aged 12 to 17, taking amphetamine-dextroamphetamine for medical use, there were 1.2 visits per 100,000 people compared to 0.6 per 100,000 people in the 18-to-24 age group.

For all age groups reporting nonmedical use of ADHD medications, 32 percent ingested the ADHD medication alone. For the 68 percent using at least one additional drugs with the ADHD medication, 20 percent reported using alcohol, 26 percent used an illicit drug, and 57 percent used another pharmaceutical, the report found.

Drug-Resistant TB Gaining Ground in U.S.

The worst forms of tuberculosis bug have been gaining ground in the United States, and states with the highest numbers of multi-drug resistant cases in the last decade were New York, California, Texas and Florida, according to a new report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

What is alarming public health officials are imported drug-resistant strains of a disease that is mostly under control in this country but is being brought in by legal visitors. Often those with drug-resistant strains stop taking their medicine when they feel better but aren't cured, and health officials said that simply tightening immigration controls won't solve the problem, the Associated Press reported Friday.

In the United States, 128 people were diagnosed with TB in 2004, a 13 percent spike from the previous year, the CDC said. "That's a red light flashing," said Dr. Charles Wallace, an infectious disease specialist with the Texas Department of State Health Services.

Deal Could Ease Ban on Canadian Drug Imports

U.S. House Republicans tentatively agreed to a deal that would allow Americans to carry up to a 90-day supply of medication back to the United States from Canada without being stopped by U.S. Customs agents.

Purchasing cheaper prescriptions over the Internet or by mail-order from Canadian pharmacies would still be prohibited, however, the Associated Press reported on Thursday.

Because of government price controls in Canada, many popular prescription drugs sell there for 30 percent to 80 percent lower than in the United States, according to surveys by the AP and others. On average, brand-name drugs cost 35 percent to 55 percent less in other industrialized nations than they do in the United States, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

"This really breaks the dam, and it shows that it's only a matter of time before we pass a full-blown reimportation bill," Sen. David Vitter, R-La., said of the agreement, which came on the same day that Wal-Mart Stores Inc. announced plans to slash prices for generic prescriptions. Target Corp. said Friday that it would match Wal-Mart's lower prices for generics immediately.

Saturday, September 23, 2006

Health Headlines - September 23

FDA Needs New Tools to Fix Drug System: Study

The safety of the nation's drug supply is inadequate, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's oversight is beset with poor management, internal squabbling and chronic underfunding, according to a congressional advisory report released Friday.

The report by the Institute of Medicine, a nonprofit organization created by Congress to advise the federal government on health issues, was conducted at the FDA's request, the New York Times reported Friday.

Among the panel's recommendations, most of which would require Congressional authorization:

* Drugs should only be approved for five-year periods so that the FDA can thoroughly review post-approval safety questions.
* Newly approved drugs should display a black triangle on their labels to warn consumers that their safety is more uncertain than that of older drugs.
* Drug advertisements should be banned during this initial period.
* The FDA should be given the authority to issue fines, injunctions and withdrawals when drug makers fail to complete required safety studies.
* The FDA commissioner should be appointed to a six-year term.

The report also suggested that one of the agency's biggest problems is a deal struck between Congress and the drug industry in 1992, in which drug makers agreed to pay millions in fees in order to speed reviews, and thereby increased pressures on drug reviewers to act quickly, the Times reported.

It is unlikely that Congress will act on the proposals before next year, when it must reauthorize the 1992 funding deal with the drug industry. Despite its strong words, however, the report, according to the Times, may actually bolster the confirmation prospects of Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach, who is now the FDA's acting commissioner.

ADHD Drug Misuse Tied to Higher ER Visits

Polydrug use -- taking at least one other drug in addition to medication for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder -- was a common factor in increased emergency room visits by those 12-to-17 years old and could lead to serious health problems such as heart attack or stroke, a new report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) shows.

In its latest "Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) Report" released Friday, the agency found that emergency visits resulting from misuse of one drug or two drugs by teen patients were higher in 2004 than the rates for patients aged 18 or older. For patients aged 12 to 17 taking methylphenidate (Ritalin) for medical use, there were 1.6 visits to the emergency department per 100,000 people in this age group, compared to 0.4 visits per 100,000 people in the 18-to-24 age group.

For patients aged 12 to 17, taking amphetamine-dextroamphetamine for medical use, there were 1.2 visits per 100,000 people compared to 0.6 per 100,000 people in the 18-to-24 age group.

For all age groups reporting nonmedical use of ADHD medications, 32 percent ingested the ADHD medication alone. For the 68 percent using at least one additional drugs with the ADHD medication, 20 percent reported using alcohol, 26 percent used an illicit drug, and 57 percent used another pharmaceutical, the report found.

Drug-Resistant TB Gaining Ground in U.S.

The worst forms of tuberculosis bug have been gaining ground in the United States, and states with the highest numbers of multi-drug resistant cases in the last decade were New York, California, Texas and Florida, according to a new report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

What is alarming public health officials are imported drug-resistant strains of a disease that is mostly under control in this country but is being brought in by legal visitors. Often those with drug-resistant strains stop taking their medicine when they feel better but aren't cured, and health officials said that simply tightening immigration controls won't solve the problem, the Associated Press reported Friday.

In the United States, 128 people were diagnosed with TB in 2004, a 13 percent spike from the previous year, the CDC said. "That's a red light flashing," said Dr. Charles Wallace, an infectious disease specialist with the Texas Department of State Health Services.

Deal Could Ease Ban on Canadian Drug Imports

U.S. House Republicans tentatively agreed to a deal that would allow Americans to carry up to a 90-day supply of medication back to the United States from Canada without being stopped by U.S. Customs agents.

Purchasing cheaper prescriptions over the Internet or by mail-order from Canadian pharmacies would still be prohibited, however, the Associated Press reported on Thursday.

Because of government price controls in Canada, many popular prescription drugs sell there for 30 percent to 80 percent lower than in the United States, according to surveys by the AP and others. On average, brand-name drugs cost 35 percent to 55 percent less in other industrialized nations than they do in the United States, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

"This really breaks the dam, and it shows that it's only a matter of time before we pass a full-blown reimportation bill," Sen. David Vitter, R-La., said of the agreement, which came on the same day that Wal-Mart Stores Inc. announced plans to slash prices for generic prescriptions. Target Corp. said Friday that it would match Wal-Mart's lower prices for generics immediately.

EPA Chief Rejected Key Soot Recommendation: Report

The Environmental Protection Agency's administrator has tightened by half the short-term daily standards regulating minute particles of soot in the nation's air, but rejected a broader annual standard recommended by his own staff and independent science advisors, the New York Times reported Thursday.

Last updated in 1997, the new standards increase short-term exposure rates of fine particles from 65 micrograms of particles per cubic meter to 35 micrograms of particles per cubic meter of air. Particle pollution exposure has been linked to health problems ranging from aggravated asthma to premature death in people with heart and lung disease. But the annual standard, which affects long-term chronic exposure, would remains at its original level of 15 micrograms per cubic meter, the Times reported.

E.P.A. chief Stephen L. Johnson, rejecting the staff recommendations, said that the annual standard would remain at its current level while research continued. No change was made now, he said, due to insufficient evidence linking health problems to long-term exposure. All but two of the 22 members on the agency's Clean Air Scientific Advisory Council had urged that the long-term standard be lowered to a range of 12 to 14 micrograms per cubic meter, the Times reported.

Reaction from medical and environmental groups was sharp, however. Frank ODonnell, head of Clean Air Watch, a Washington-D.C.-based environmental lobbying group, told the Times that particle soot kills more people than any other form of air pollution.

Friday, September 22, 2006

Officials find E. coli concerns in inspections

U.S. officials searching for the source of an E. coli outbreak that may have killed three people said on Friday they had found "situations of concern" at farms and food processing plants in California but cleared spinach grown elsewhere in the country.

The Food and Drug Administration said 166 people in 25 states had been sickened in the outbreak, with one death. State health officials reported on Friday a 2-year-old boy from Idaho and an 86-year-old woman from Maryland had died and said they suspected E. coli from spinach was to blame. FDA officials said they could not confirm that link.

Federal and state officials were inspecting nine farms in California's Salinas Valley, where the outbreak of E. coli 0157:H7 is suspected to have originated.

"There are some situations of concern, may I say, that would warrant some possible correction in the near future," Mark Roh, acting regional food and drug director for the FDA's Pacific Region, told reporters. He declined to give details.

Roh and Dr. David Acheson of the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition said inspectors were looking at 10 fields representing six growers in California's Salinas Valley, looking for evidence of contaminated water, equipment or other signs of poor hygiene.

"All the farms that we have been visiting have been linked somehow to the illnesses," Roh said.

"We know that spinach grown in the rest of the United States ... has not been implicated in the current E. coli 0157 outbreak," Acheson added.

"Therefore, the public can be confident that spinach not grown in the implicated areas is safe."

He said the food industry was working with the FDA to get safe spinach back on store shelves.

State health officials were recording reports of diarrheal illness without a fever, which could indicate E. coli infection. Acheson said it could take up to two more weeks to hear about all the possible cases.

TAKING SAMPLES

Each time a case is reported, doctors must take fecal samples to be sent for testing. Field officers ask questions about what the patient ate, where the food was bought and then search for the actual packages, which can be traced back to the farms.

"The current information that we have from the bags we have allowed us to narrow it down from nationwide to the state of California to three counties," Acheson said. "The intention is to narrow it further within these three counties."

Growers pledged to help find and plug safety gaps.

The Produce Marketing Association, the largest group representing companies along supply chains for fruits, vegetables and flowers, estimates farmers and food processors may lose up to $100 million a month if consumers stop eating spinach.

"Obviously there was a breakdown in the system somewhere," added Dave Kranz, spokesman for the California Farm Bureau Federation, the state's largest farm organization.

"Now we need to find out if the system was flawed ... or if it was a breakdown that can be corrected."

At least two Democratic congressmen raised questions about farm and food safety regulation.

"Quick action is needed at the federal level. Today, we have 12 different federal agencies stumbling over each other to ensure the safety of our food supply," Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin told a news conference held with consumer and food safety advocates.

"I am concerned that FDA has not conducted adequate inspections of the plants that process spinach and other produce," California Democratic Rep. Henry Waxman wrote in a letter to the FDA.

Tainted spinach sickens 166 in 25 states

Spinach grown outside California's Salinas Valley got the all-clear from federal health officials Friday, but it could be days before the leafy green returns to store shelves.

An ongoing outbreak of E. coli linked to spinach has sickened 166 people in half the states as of midday Friday. That's up from 157 victims in 23 states a day earlier, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

For more than a week, the Food and Drug Administration has recommend people not eat fresh, raw spinach. State and federal investigators since have traced the contaminated spinach back to three California counties, and already farm inspections there are turning up possible problems.

On Friday, officials said spinach grown anywhere outside that area is safe to eat -— but industry needs to figure out how to let consumers know the origin of what they're buying before the green can return to sale, said Dr. David Acheson of the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.

"The public can be confident that spinach grown in those non-implicated areas can be consumed and industry is working to get spinach from these areas back on the market," Acheson told reporters.

"I anticipate it will be fast," he later said of that process. "Whether it will be three days, four days -— I don't know. That will be an industry determination."

Of those infected in the outbreak, 88 have been hospitalized, including a Wisconsin woman who died. Two other deaths have been reported in suspected cases -— a child in Idaho and an elderly woman in Maryland -— but those cases are still being investigated.

A team of 20 state and federal investigators on Friday were to visit the 10th California field associated with the contaminated spinach, said Mark Roh, the FDA's acting regional food and drug director for the Pacific region. Inspectors were looking for standing water, animal droppings and anything else unusual, as well as assessing the sanitation practices of farm workers. They also have taken 188 water, soil and produce samples from fields and processing plants.

The team already has spotted some potential problems.

"There are some situations of concern, may I say, that would warrant some possible corrections in the near future," Roh told reporters by telephone. When asked to elaborate, a spokeswoman broke in and said the FDA would not, citing the ongoing nature of the investigation. The farm and plant inspections are expected to last another week.

Last week, Natural Selection Foods LLC of San Juan Bautista, Calif., recalled all its spinach and spinach-containing products. Many people reported eating the company's spinach, sold under multiple brands, before falling sick. And a package of Dole baby spinach, one of those brands, taken from a victim's refrigerator tested positive for E. coli.

On Friday, S.T. Produce, based in Seattle, became the third company to recall salad products that may have included Natural Selection spinach. The other two are River Ranch Fresh Foods of Salinas, Calif., and RLB Food Distributors of West Caldwell, N.J.

S.T. Produce said its salads were distributed to stores and delis in Washington state, Oregon, Idaho and Montana.

States newly reporting cases as of Friday were Maryland, with three cases, and Tennessee, one.

Other states reporting cases are: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

Acheson said the CDC could continue to receive new reports of illness into the first week of October.

Health Headlines - September 22

Wal-Mart to Test Price Cuts on Generic Drugs

Wal-Mart has announced a test program to sell generic versions of about 300 widely prescribed drugs for as low as $4 for a standard prescription to its workers and customers, The New York Times reported.

If implemented, the move by the nation's largest retailer, frequently criticized for its poor employee-health benefits, would mark the first time that the giant discounter has used its economic clout to lower health-care costs for customers they way it has on toys, clothing and groceries. On average, generic drugs cost between $10 and $30 for a 30-day prescription.

A Wal-Mart spokeswoman said the company would test the lower prices in 65 Tampa, Fla.-area stores and, depending on consumer response, would likely expand the program around the state and the country next year, the Times reported.

In the past year, the company has introduced several programs to improve workers' benefits, such as extending insurance coverage to the children of part-time workers and starting a benefit plan with monthly premiums as low as $11. Critics, nevertheless, complain that the insurance is out of reach for many of Wal-Mart's 1.3 million U.S. employees, forcing thousands of them to turn to state-sponsored programs or forgo health coverage altogether.

Several states have considered legislation that would force the chain to increase its spending on health care, according to the Times, but only one such bill, in Maryland, became law. The law has since been struck down by a judge, and its future is in doubt.

Report Urges Pay-for-Performance System for Medicare

A report requested by Congress has urged that Medicare replace its current fee-for-service payment system and replace it with a new pay-for-performance system for reimbursing participating health-care providers.

"Medicare beneficiaries are not getting the highest possible quality of care because the program's payment system encourages volume rather than efficiency and quality," said committee chairman Steven A. Schroeder, Distinguished Professor of Health and Health Care at the University of California, San Francisco. "Pay for performance has demonstrated sufficient promise based on early experience that it should be pursued, albeit cautiously, and in a manner that allows for learning and adjustment as needed," he added.

Medicare currently provides more than $300 billion in benefits annually to about 42 million older and disabled Americans through a system that reimburses participating providers for services delivered. Reimbursement rates do not vary with the quality of the care that patients receive, the report noted. And the program does not generally reimburse for preventive services such as patient education or coordination of patients whose conditions involve multiple providers.

The committee deferred to Congress to determine how much to decrease Medicare base payments to create a pool of funds for bonus payments. However, it did recommend that the percentage be sufficient to create rewards large enough to motivate health-care providers' participation until other, more sustainable long-term strategies are explored.

The study was sponsored by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

EPA Strengthens U.S. Air Standards on 'Soot'

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Thursday that it was strengthening standards by almost 50 percent on particulate matter in the nation's air -- commonly known as "soot" -- calling the move its strongest in history to improve air quality for America's 300 million citizens.

Last updated in 1997, the standards increase short-term exposure rates of fine particles from 65 micrograms of particles per cubic meter to 35 micrograms of particles per cubic meter of air. Particle pollution exposure has been linked to health problems ranging from aggravated asthma to premature death in people with heart and lung disease. Revising the daily fine particle standard will yield additional estimated health benefits valued at between $9 billion to $75 billion a year, the EPA said.

EPA said it was also retaining the current annual standard for long-term exposure to fine particles at 15 micrograms per cubic meter. Based on recently updated benefits estimates, meeting this standard will result in benefits ranging from $20 billion to $160 billion a year, EPA added.

A critic of the new regulations, however, called the action "inadequate and demonstrably unhealthy."

"The science is clear," Dr. John E. Heffner, president of the American Thoracic Society, said in a prepared statement Thursday. "People develop respiratory disorders and those with existing lung, heart, and other chronic diseases die prematurely because they are exposed to these microscopic pollutants at levels well below those set by the EPA today."

The Thoracic Society and other medical associations supported both a tighter annual standard -- 12 micrograms per cubic meter -- and a more stringent 24-hour standard -- 25 micrograms per cubic meter.

Human Stem Cells Found to Help Rats' Vision

Oregon Health and Science University scientists report that they have used human embryonic stem cells to improve vision in rats suffering from a disease similar to age-related macular degeneration.

A group led by Raymond Lund, a retinal cell expert, injected the human cells into the retina of a special breed of rat in which the retina degenerates shortly after birth. Subsequent tests found that the cells rescued the rats vision for three months after birth, The New York Times reported.

The injected human cells seemed to behave as retinal cells should, and the treated rats retained some six layers of rods and cones in their retinas, as much as half the normal value. While more research lies ahead before any clinical test of the cells in patients with macular degeneration could be tried, Dr. Neal Adams of the Wilmer Eye Institute in Baltimore said the development was important and "shows us some of the hope that regenerative medicine possesses," the Times reported.

The findings were published Wednesday in the journal Cloning and Stem Cells.

Company Recalls 'Natural' Male Performance Supplement

Makers of a "natural" impotence drug sold over the Internet have recalled their product because it contains an active ingredient similar to the prescription impotence drug Viagara.

Nasutra LLC said Wednesday that it was withdrawing its Nasutra-brand dietary supplements marketed as treatments to enhance male sexual performance. U.S. Food and Food and Drug Administration tests showed that the supplements contained acetildenafil, which is similar to sildenafil, the active ingredient in Viagra, the impotence drug made by Pfizer Inc. and sold only by prescription in the United States, the Associated Press reported.

The FDA had warned consumers in July not to buy Nasutra and six other brands of similar supplements because they illegally contained ingredients similar to sildenafil or to vardenafil in Levitra, an impotence drug sold by GlaxoSmithKline and Schering-Plough. Acetildenafil can interact with ingredients in other prescription drugs and lower blood pressure to dangerous levels, the FDA said.

Thursday, September 21, 2006

Health Headlines - September 21

Surveys Find Outright Hunger Among N.C. Latino Immigrants

Latino immigrant families in North Carolina and parts of southwestern Virginia live with hunger at a rate up to eight times the national average, according to four new U.S. health studies released Wednesday.

The studies, paid for by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health, were conducted by Wake Forest University School of Medicine researchers. They found that about 40 percent of the respondents in each study reported "food insecurity," which was worrying that food would run out and that food bought would not last.

The overall U.S. hunger rate is 4.3 percent, but the Wake Forest surveys found that hunger among Latino immigrants ranged from almost twice the national rate (8 percent) to more than eight times the national rate (35.6 percent). The results are reported in the October issue of the Journal of Nutrition.

"Although the United States enjoys a relative lack of hunger, there are segments of the N.C. population -- Latino immigrants -- with hunger more severe than areas of persistent poverty like Appalachia," Sara A. Quandt, lead author from the department of family and community medicine, said in a prepared statement.

Quandt and her colleagues found that "food insecurity" ranged from 35.6 percent to 41.8 percent in the four surveys, compared to 13.3 percent in the United States in general.

In addition, more than 25 percent of the respondents in each study reported that their children were not eating enough because of lack of money to buy food, the researchers added. Immigrants who lived in the mountain counties were better off because of the year-round nature of the Christmas tree industry, but specific data on overall participation in food programs wasn't collected, the authors said.

FDA Advisers Support Spinal Disc Device

A two-part stainless steel device meant as an artificial alternative to spinal fusion surgery in patients with degenerative disc disease should get government approval, U.S. health advisers said Tuesday.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Orthopaedic and Rehabilitation Devices panel unanimously recommended the agency approve the device with conditions, including a requirement that the company continue to study the device after it's marketed. While the FDA isn't required to follow the advice of its advisory committees, it usually does.

The manufacturer of the Prestige Cervical Disc System, Medtronic Inc., said the apparatus could replace natural but diseased shock-absorbing disks in the neck and help maintain motion and flexibility while relieving pain, the Associated Press reported. The device is surgically implanted between the bones of the spine, with plates screwed into the vertebrae. The ball-and-socket connection between the device's two plates allows for movement.

An FDA review of the device found it just as safe and effective as the surgical fusing of vertebrae in the neck area of the spine, AP reported.

Acne Drug Linked to Depression in Mice

Roaccutane, a treatment for severe acne used by some 13 million people worldwide, has been found to produce depressive behavior in mice, British scientists reported Tuesday.

Working with colleagues at the University of Texas at Austin, British researchers from the University of Bath gave Roaccutane to adolescent mice over a six-week period and monitored the animals' behavior. While there was no change in their physical abilities, the rodents spent more time being immobile in response to stress tests, which was interpreted as a sign of depression. The drug's maker, Roche, does include a warning about depression in packets, BBC News reported.

"Without more research, it is difficult to say for sure whether the same link applies to people taking the drug," said researcher Dr. Sarah Bailey of the University of Bath. Bailey said teenagers should not stop taking the drug, but should seek medical advice if they start to feel depressed. Parents should also watch out for any mood changes in their children, she added.

From 1992 until this month, Britain's drug regulatory agency has received 1,588 reports of suspected adverse events among people taking Roaccutane, including 25 people who died from suicide, the BBC reported.

The mouse study was published in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology.

Third Preemie Dies After Blood Thinner Mishap

A third premature infant who was inadvertently given an adult dose of a powerful blood thinner has died at an Indianapolis hospital, the Associated Press reported Wednesday.

The latest death came at a different institution, where the infant was transferred after being born at Methodist Hospital, the wire service said.

Methodist officials say a total of six premature infants were mistakenly given adult doses of the blood thinner heparin, used to prevent blood clots from clogging I.V. tubes. Two other infants died before the latest fatality, and three infants remain hospitalized, the AP said.

Adult doses of the drug -- similar in look and size to child doses -- were mistakenly stored in a drawer normally reserved for preemies, the hospital said. A spokesman said the hospital has taken unspecified steps to prevent a recurrence.

1st Penis Transplant Reversed After 14 Days

Doctors in China said Tuesday that they had successfully transplanted a penis on a man who had lost his own in an accident, but were forced to remove it only two weeks later because of psychological problems experienced by the man and his wife.

Surgeons at Guangzhou General Hospital in southern Guangdong Province performed the transplant in September 2005, a hospital spokesperson said. The penis came from a 22-year-old brain-dead man whose parents had agreed to donate the organ. But the report did not explain how the 44-year-old man lost his own penis, saying only that "an unfortunate traumatic accident" left him with a small stump, unable to urinate or have sex normally, the Associated Press reported.

Fourteen days after the penis transplant, the recipient and his wife asked that the organ be removed "because of the wife's psychological rejection as well as the swollen shape of the transplanted penis," the surgeons reported in the journal European Urology, published by the European Association of Urology.

The doctors said lab examinations showed no sign of rejection. The procedure was believed to the first such transplant reported in a medical journal, according to the AP.

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Health Headlines - September 20

1st Penis Transplant Reversed After 14 Days

Doctors in China said Tuesday that they had successfully transplanted a penis on a man who had lost his own in an accident, but were forced to remove it only two weeks later because of psychological problems experienced by the man and his wife.

Surgeons at Guangzhou General Hospital in southern Guangdong Province performed the transplant in September 2005, a hospital spokesperson said. The penis came from a 22-year-old brain-dead man whose parents had agreed to donate the organ. But the report did not explain how the 44-year-old man lost his own penis, saying only that "an unfortunate traumatic accident" left him with a small stump, unable to urinate or have sex normally, the Associated Press reported.

Fourteen days after the penis transplant, the recipient and his wife asked that the organ be removed "because of the wife's psychological rejection as well as the swollen shape of the transplanted penis," the surgeons reported in the journal European Urology, published by the European Association of Urology.

The doctors said lab examinations showed no sign of rejection. The procedure was believed to the first such transplant reported in a medical journal, according to the AP.

Hundreds in Oklahoma May Have Been Exposed to TB

Ten people tested positive for tuberculosis at an Oklahoma medical center and more than 2,000 other patients, workers and members of the public may have been exposed by a sick health-care worker, public health officials said Monday.

A letter sent to about 1,650 patients and 350 workers at Integris Southwest Medical Center in Oklahoma City warned of their potential exposure and urged them to get skin tests for the disease, said Dr. Gene Claflin, medical director of the Oklahoma City-County Health Department. About 250 members of the public have also been alerted, the Associated Press reported.

So far, an estimated 600 people have been tested, including all of the hospital's employees. More people are expected to test positive as the examinations continue. The exposure reportedly began with an unidentified female health-care worker at the facility who was found to have the disease Aug. 14 but reported experiencing symptoms six months earlier, the AP reported.

The disease is spread when an infected person coughs, shouts or sneezes and spreads germs in the air that are inhaled by others. TB primarily affects the lungs, and symptoms include coughing, shortness of breath, low-grade fever, chills and possible weight loss.

Health officials said there were 144 confirmed cases of TB in the state last year, while in 2003, 28 percent of all TB cases in the state occurred in Oklahoma County, where the latest outbreak occurred, the AP reported.

Typical HS Gym Workout Averages Just 16 Minutes

U.S. kids aren't exactly go-getters in gym classes, averaging just 16 minutes of half-hearted exercise that might include a few jumping jacks or a lazy game of softball, according to a Cornell University study released Tuesday.

The study was based on annual surveys of 37,000 high schoolers by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to the Associated Press. The data come from the annual youth behavior surveys from 1999, 2001 and 2003, which include questions about students' exercise habits.

The Cornell report also found that adding an additional 200 minutes of physical education a week -- long urged by several groups concerned about the growing obesity epidemic in America -- resulted in boys spending only about 7 1/2 more minutes being active in gym class. For girls, an additional 200 minutes of PE resulted in about eight more minutes of being active in gym each week. The rest of the extra gym time was likely spent being sedentary -- standing around idly while playing sports like softball or volleyball that don't require constant movement, according to the study.

ADHD Cases Linked to Smoke Exposure, Lead

Childhood exposure to lead and smoking during pregnancy may be responsible for one-third of the attention deficit hyperactivity disorder cases in the United States, researchers reported Monday.

The study, headed by researchers at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, was the first to estimate the number of ADHD cases attributable to environmental toxins. The study was published online Tuesday in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, according to an Associated Press report.

The findings build on previous research linking toxic chemicals and other environmental factors to attention problems and developmental and neurological disorders in about 3 percent of all U.S. children.

The researchers analyzed data on almost 4,000 U.S. children ages 4 to 15 who were part of a 1999-2002 government health survey. Included were 135 children treated for ADHD. Children whose mothers smoked during pregnancy were 2.5 times more likely to have ADHD than children who weren't prenatally exposed to tobacco, and children with blood lead levels of more than 2 micrograms per deciliter were four times more likely to have ADHD than children with levels below 0.8 microgram per deciliter.

The government's "acceptable" blood lead level is 10 micrograms per deciliter, and an estimated 310,000 U.S. children ages 1 to 5 have levels exceeding that, the AP reported.

FDA Approves Fast Test for Lead Poisoning

A new machine that can test children and adults for lead poisoning in minutes was approved for use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday, but funding problems may slow its distribution.

Acting FDA Commissioner Andrew C. von Eschenbach said that the testing device -- about the size of a laptop computer -- could be used in as many as 115,000 locations nationwide, including health clinics, schools, mobile labs and workplaces.

"Before today, [testing] was only available in certain settings, like hospitals," he said, adding that devices eliminate the need to send a blood sample to a lab and wait several days for results.

The government has set a goal of eradicating childhood lead poisoning by 2010, The Los Angeles Times reported Monday, but it has not offered financial aid to speed adoption of the technology. The new machines costs about $2,200 each and are considered key to combating the problem because they enables medical personnel to offer immediate guidance to parents on how to help their children.

Lead poisoning is most commonly caused by children's ingestion of dust or other residue from lead-based paints. Lead paint was banned for residential use in 1978, but about 40 precent of the nation's housing still contains some. Medicaid pays for lead tests for low-income families, and federal guidelines call for testing all Medicaid recipients at ages 1 and 2, the Times reported, but fewer than 25 percent of such children are actually tested.

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Health Headlines - September 19

Bioterror Remedy Program Yielding Few Results: Report

A bioterror drug stockpiling program whose roots stem from the 2001 anthrax-by-mail attacks has produced only a fraction of the anticipated remedies, The New York Times reported Monday.

Project Bioshield, a $5.6 billion effort to gather remedies for a host of possible terror threats, is partly stymied by government agencies that can't seem to decide which treatments they want and in what quantities, the newspaper reported.

Also unable to attract the world's largest drugmakers, the government has enlisted smaller start-up firms with no proven history, the Times said.

The problem is most acute in development of a new anthrax vaccine. The two biotech firms picked for the $900 million effort have hired lobbyists to attack each other's pending products, and the delivery date is far behind schedule, the newspaper said.

Outside observers, including Michael Greenberger, director of the Center for Health and Homeland Security at the University of Maryland, offered grim assessments of Project Bioshield's progress.

"The inept implementation of the program has led the best brains and the best scientists to give up, to look elsewhere or devote their resources to medical initiatives that are not focused on biodefense," he told the Times.

A spokesman for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services acknowledged problems, but denied the project was floundering. "Medical discovery is an unpredictable process," spokesman Bill Hall told the newspaper. "It is the nature of science."

Novel Drug Approved for Fungal Infections

A new molecular drug designed to prevent fungal infections in post-surgical patients and others with weaker immune systems has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Schering Corp.'s Noxafil (posaconazole) contains a substance that has never before been approved in the United States, the FDA said in a statement. The drug was approved to prevent infections caused by certain molds and yeast-like fungi called Aspergillus and Candida.

While people with healthy immune systems are normally unaffected by these fungi, they tend to cause invasive infections in people who have had bone-marrow transplants and people with low white blood cell counts, the agency said.

Noxafil's safety and effectiveness were evaluated in clinical trials involving 1,844 people between ages 13 and 82. Common side effects included nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, rash, a drop in blood potassium levels, and in rare cases, problems with heart or liver function.

The drug should be taken with a full meal to allow for adequate absorption into the body, the FDA said.

Preemies Die After Getting Wrong Drug Doses

Two premature infants died after an Indianapolis hospital gave them adult doses of a blood thinner, the Associated Press reported.

Four other infants at Methodist Hospital also got adult doses of Heparin, the wire service said. One may require surgery and the other three were listed in serious condition.

The drug is frequently given to premature infants to prevent blood clots. Experts told the wire service that an overdose could lead to severe internal bleeding.

A hospital spokesman said pre-measured vials containing adult doses of the drug were mistakenly placed in a cabinet drawer that was reserved only for preemies. The packaging for both doses is similar, the AP said.

The hospital said it was investigating the incident and had taken unspecified steps to prevent a recurrence.

DDT Endorsed by World Health Organization to Fight Malaria

DDT, the pesticide long banned in the United States, has received a limited endorsement from an unlikely source -- the World Health Organization (WHO).

In order to combat the growing scourge of malaria, which kills more than 800,000 African children annually, the health expert leading WHO's effort to fight malaria in Africa "unequivocally declared" that DDT should be used in small amounts on the inner walls of people's homes to kill the mosquitoes that carry the disease, according to The New York Times.

WHO's Dr. Arata Kochi was joined at a news conference by Adm. R. Timothy Ziemer, representing the Bush administration's $1.2 billion anti-malaria project. The Times quoted Ziemer as saying that spraying with insecticides was a method "that must be deployed as robustly and strategically as possible."

For almost 45 years, DDT's use as an insecticide has been questioned -- and sometimes banned -- after Rachel Carson's 1962 book "The Silent Spring" documented how massive spraying allowed DDT to enter the food chain and suggested it might be a cause for cancer and genetic damage.

According to the Times, an international nonprofit group, Beyond Pesticides, distributed news releases on Friday opposing WHO's change in direction. Dependence on pesticides like DDT "causes greater long-tem problems than those that are being addressed in the short-term," the group said.

U.K. Scientists Report New Test to Detect TB

A new blood test to detect tuberculosis has been developed by scientists in the United Kingdom. It is hoped that the test will be particularly effective in developing countries where TB still kills millions of people, BBC News reported.

According to the BBC, researchers from George's Hospital and the Medical Research Council National Institute for Medical Research say the serum test is 94 percent accurate. Results of the study were published in the latest issue of The Lancet.

This isn't the first time scientists have tried to come up with an alternative to the standard examination of sputum from the lungs under a microscope. This test requires equipment that may not be available in many parts of the world, and it takes a long time to get results. According to BBC News, the blood test looks for indicators of infection, and these results could outperform alternatives.

The World Health Organization estimates that there were 1.4 million deaths from tuberculosis in 2004, with Southeast Asia and Africa particularly hard hit. In 2003, 14,000 new cases of TB were reported in the United States. The United Kingdom has about 7,000 new cases annually.

Monday, September 18, 2006

FDA says spinach tampering not suspected

Tampering is not suspected in an outbreak of E. coli linked to fresh spinach, federal health officials said Monday as they probed for a source of the contamination and warned consumers not to resume eating uncooked spinach products.

Growers have been warned on the subject, too. In 2004 and again in 2005, the Food and Drug Administration's top food safety official told California farmers they needed to do more to increase the safety of the fresh leafy greens they grow.

The FDA has linked a California company's fresh spinach to the outbreak, which has killed one person and sickened at least 108 others. Investigators are working to pinpoint the source of the bacteria. Possible sources include contaminated irrigation water, known to be a problem in the state's Salinas Valley, a major produce-growing area.

"At this time we have no evidence supporting tampering," FDA spokeswoman Susan Bro said.

The FBI is monitoring the situation, said FBI spokesman Rich Kolko. Kolko added it was a routine and precautionary measure, and is not indicative of any suspicious activity.

Bro also dismissed a claim by Natural Selection Foods LLC, the country's largest grower of organic produce, that its organic spinach products had been cleared of suspicion. "The FDA has not cleared any products from the list and continues to recommend consumers avoid eating fresh spinach products," Bro said.

The current cases are the latest in a string of 19 food-poisoning outbreaks since 1995 that have been linked to lettuce and spinach. At least eight were tied to produce grown in the Salinas Valley.

"In light of continuing outbreaks, it is clear that more needs to be done," the FDA's Robert Brackett wrote in a Nov. 4, 2005, letter.

Suggested actions included discarding any produce that comes into contact with floodwaters. Rivers and creeks in the Salinas watershed are known to be periodically contaminated with E. coli, Brackett said.

Natural Selection has maintained its recall of 34 brands of fresh spinach products. However, the company said late Sunday the manufacturing codes from packages of spinach that had infected patients turned over to health officials all were from non-organic spinach. The company packages both organic and conventionally grown spinach in separate areas at its San Juan Bautista, Calif. plant.

Those brands include the company's own labels and those of other companies that had contracts with Natural Selection to produce or package its spinach.

Meanwhile, Salinas-based River Ranch Fresh Foods added to its recall spring mixes containing spinach sold under the labels Hy-Vee, Fresh N' Easy and Farmers Market, FDA officials said. All contain spinach purchased from Natural Selection, they said.

The FDA and California Department of Health Services were reviewing irrigation methods, harvest conditions and other practices at farms possibly involved.

The spinach could have been contaminated in the field or during processing. About 74 percent of the fresh-market spinach grown in the U.S. comes from California, according to the California Farm Bureau Federation.

E. coli cases linked to tainted spinach have been reported in 19 states, with Wisconsin reporting the most cases, including the death of a 77-year-old woman.

Other states reporting cases were California, Connecticut, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wyoming, according to the CDC. Seven new cases reported Sunday were in states with previous illnesses.

In Ohio, state health officials said they were investigating the death of a 23-month-old girl who was sickened by E. coli to determine whether the case was related to the outbreak. The girl's mother said she often buys bagged spinach.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Sunday they've started an Atlanta-based emergency operations center to help state health agencies with E. coli testing. Epidemiologists are helping test spinach samples and stool samples of infected people, center spokeswoman Lola Russell said.

Natural Selection recalled its packaged spinach throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico as a precaution after federal health officials said some of those hospitalized reported eating brands of prepackaged spinach distributed by the company.

However, some restaurants and retailers may be taking spinach out of bags before selling it, so consumers shouldn't buy it at all, the FDA said.

Boiling contaminated spinach can kill the bacteria, but washing won't eliminate it, the CDC warned.

Federal officials stressed that the bacteria had not been isolated in products sold by Natural Selection. As the investigation continues, other brands may be implicated, officials said.

Natural Selection was founded in 1984 by Drew and Myra Goodman. Within two years, its best-known brand, Earthbound Farm, began shipping pre-washed, packaged salad fixings, and the company's "spring mix" became a mainstay of restaurants and supermarkets.

Health Headlines - September 18

DDT Endorsed by World Health Organization to Fight Malaria

DDT, the pesticide long banned in the United States, has received a limited endorsement from an unlikely source - the World Health Organization (WHO).

In order to combat the growing scourge of malaria, which kills more than 800,000 African children annually, the health expert leading WHO's effort to combat malaria in Africa "unequivocally declared" that DDT should be used in small amounts on the inner walls of people's homes to kill the mosquitoes that carry the disease, according to the New York Times.

WHO's Dr. Arata Kochi was joined at a news conference by Adm. R. Timothy Ziemer, representing the Bush administration's $1.2 billion anti-malaria project. The Times quotes Ziemer as saying that spraying with insecticides was a method "that must be deployed as robustly and strategically as possible."

For almost 45 years, DDT's use as an insecticide has been questioned -- and sometimes banned -- after Rachel Carson's 1962 book "The Silent Spring" documented how massive sprating allowed DDT to enter the food chain and suggested it might be a cause for cancer and genetic damage.

According to the Times, an international nonprofit group, Beyond Pesticides, distributed news releases on Friday opposing WHO's change in direction. Dependence on pesticides like DDT "causes greater long-tem problems than those that are being addressed in the short-term," the group said.

UK Scientists Report New Test to Detect TB

A new blood test to detect tuberculosis has been developed by scientists in the United Kingdom. It is hoped that the test will be particularly effective in developing countries where TB still kills millions of people, BBC News reports.

According to the BBC, researchers from George's Hospital and the Medical Research Council National Institute for Medical Research say the serum test is 94 percent accurate. Results of the study were published in the latest issue of Lancet.

This isn't the first time scientists have tried to come up with an alternative to the standard examination of sputum from the lungs under a microscope. This test requires equipment that may not be available in many parts of the world, and it takes a long time to get results. According to BBC News, the blood test looks for indicators of infection, and these results could out-perform alternatives.

The World Health Organization estimates that there were 1.4 million deaths from tuberculosis in 2004, with Southeast Asia and Africa particularly hard-hit. In 2003, 14,000 new cases of TB were reported in the United States. The United Kingdom has about 7,000 new cases annually.

Once-a-Year Injection for Osteoporosis Revealed

A once-a-year injection of a drug designed to treat osteoporosis may eventually eliminate the need for taking a pill daily or monthly to combat the bone-thinnning disease.

The Associated Press reports that Reclast, made by the pharmaceutical firm Novartis, appears to prevent spine and hip fractures, according to a presentation given at the annual meeting of the American Society of Bone and Mineral Research in Philadelphia.

Novartis paid for the international research of 7,736 postmenopausal women with osteoporosis into the effects of the drug, known chemically as zoledronic acid. The results showed that spine fractures were reduced by 70 percent and hip fractures by 40 percent, the wire service reported.

"This is very good news," the A.P. quotes Dr. Ethel Siris, president of the National Osteoporosis Foundation and director of the Osteoporosis Center at Columbia University, as saying. "Because it can be given once a year, it's going to be terrific for women who like that option," she added. Siris has consulted for Novartis and other drug companies, the wire service reported.

AARP Campaigns for Foreign Drug Purchases

Starting Sunday, AARP, the advocacy group for older Americans, will unveil a $500,000 advertising campaign in 14 states, designed to persuade the U.S. Senate to pass legislation that would let consumers buy U.S.-made prescription drugs from Canada and other countries.

The Associated Press reported that the ads will appear in newspapers and on radio stations in cities such as Anchorage, Alaska; Baltimore; Des Moines, Iowa; and Indianapolis. AARP said the campaign will zero in on the home states of senators who've shown some support for cross-border purchases of U.S.-made medicines.

Price controls in other countries mean the drugs often cost less than in the United States. Drug companies say such price controls limit profits, threatening future drug development.

The bill backed by AARP, written by Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., has bipartisan support from 31 co-sponsors. It would allow consumers to buy U.S.-made prescription drugs from Canada and eventually from other countries, including Australia, Japan and nations within the European Union, the AP said.

While the new Medicare drug benefit has helped millions of seniors, AARP said millions more aren't yet eligible for the benefit.

Teenage Cancer Patient Seems Better Even After Discontinuing Chemo

A month after he won a court battle to discontinue chemotherapy as part of his cancer treatment, 16-year-old Starchild Abraham Cherrix says he's feeling fine and has "a tremendous boost of energy."

The Associated Press reports that Cherrix, a Virginia resident with Hodgkins disease, which attacks the lymphatic system, appears to be improving since a court ruled in his favor in August and allowed him to pursue alternative therapies. Cherrix had been taking an alternative organic diet and herbal supplements from Mexico to treat the disease, but neither he nor his parents would comment Friday on what medicines he was now taking, the wire service reported.

"His tumor is shrinking very nicely and he's gaining energy and stamina," the A.P. quotes Dr. Arnold Smith, medical director and radiation oncologist at the North Central Mississippi Regional Cancer Center in Greenwood, as saying.

Cherrix and his parents had endured a series of court battles over his desire to discontinue chemotherapy. He claimed the chemo made him nauseated and weak. At one point in July, a Virginia judge had ordered the teenager to report to a local hospital to resume chemotherapy treatment, but that order was overturned in August.

Depression a Major Risk Factor for Suicide: Report

Depression, particularly if combined with substance abuse, is a major risk factor for suicide, according to a new study by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

About 10 percent of surveyed adults who had a major depressive episode actually attempted suicide, 14.5 percent made a plan to commit suicide, 40.3 percent thought about committing suicide, and 56.3 percent thought it would be better if they were dead, the agency said in a statement.

Add alcohol abuse to the equation, and the percentage of people who attempted suicide rose to nearly 14 percent, and nearly 20 percent among those who engaged in illicit drug use.

In 2004, 106,000 visits to the emergency room were attributed to suicide attempts, and if a mental disorder was diagnosed, depression was chief among them, SAMHSA said.