Health Headlines - October 10

Company Orders Lettuce Recall in Six States

A California company that distributes a popular brand of fresh lettuce has recalled its product from six Western states because of E. coli concerns.

While saying that there have been no cases of the bacteria, which has caused three deaths and more than 100 hospitalizations nationwide from contaminated spinach, The Nunes Company of Salinas announced Sunday the voluntary recall of green leaf lettuce shipped Oct. 3 through Oct. 6 under the Foxy brand, according to an announcement on the company's Web site.

The San Jose Mercury News reports that the company suspected the possibility that the lettuce was irrigated with water containing E. coli. "We are being proactive. We're just not going to take the chance with this," the newspaper quotes Tom Nunes Jr., president of the family-owned company, as saying.

Foxy lettuce is distributed nationwide, but the lettuce in Arizona, California, Nevada, Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana. So far, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not commented on the recall, other than to say it was aware of it.

On Friday, the government announced that an Iowa company was recalling about 5,200 pounds of ground beef products distributed in seven states because they could be contaminated with E. coli.

Jim's Market and Locker Inc. of Harlan produced the ground beef patties and packages Aug. 31 and Sept. 1, and sent them to distributors in Georgia, Iowa, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New York, Texas and Wisconsin, and to one retail establishment in Iowa, the U.S. Food Safety and Inspection Service announced, according to the Associated Press.

Meanwhile, a third death has been confirmed from the tainted spinach outbreak.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Friday that an elderly Nebraska woman died from complications caused by E. coli O157, the bacterial infection that health officials believe was spread nationwide through the consumption of fresh spinach distributed by a California processor.

The first death was an elderly woman in Wisconsin, and the second was a two-year-old Idaho boy, the CDC said. The agency also announced it was also investigating another fatality in Maryland that may have been spinach-related.

In all, 26 states reported cases of E. coli, with 102 hospitalizations.

Three More Hospitalized by Botulism in Carrot Juice

Two Canadians and one American have been added to the list of those poisoned by botulism toxin in bottled carrot juice made by California-based Bolthouse Farms.

Two people in Toronto are paralyzed and in the hospital after they drank carrot juice that contained botulism toxin, the Toronto Star reported.

An unidentified woman in Florida has also been in the hospital since mid-September and is unresponsive, Jylmarie Kintz, Hillsborough County Health Department epidemiologist, told the Associated Press.

Three people in Georgia who suffered respiratory failure after drinking the bottled carrot juice in early September remain hospitalized on ventilators, U.S. health officials added.

Symptoms of botulism poisoning include double vision, droopy eyelids, trouble speaking or swallowing, and paralysis that can restrict breathing.

Last week, Bolthouse announced a recall of carrot juice with a best-before date of Nov. 11 sold in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Hong Kong, the AP reported. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is investigating the botulism poisonings.

France Announces Smoking Ban

In a move that's sure to spark heated debate, the French government said Sunday that it's going to snuff out smoking in public places.

Starting next February, smoking will be banned in schools, offices and other public buildings, followed by restaurants, dance clubs, and bars in 2008, the Associated Press reported.

While many French cherish smoking in cafes, bars and restaurants, the government decided that public health trumped that smoky tradition. Within the next few days, the smoking ban will be ordered by decree, which avoids the necessity of a potentially explosive parliamentary debate.

Smokers who violate the ban will get burned with a 75-euro ($95 U.S.) fine and proprietors of buildings where smoking offenses occur will be fined twice that amount.

Members of the service and hospitality industry say the ban will hurt their businesses and have vowed to fight anti-smoking laws, the AP reported.

However, Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin said the French people are ready for a smoking ban. Britain, Ireland, Italy and Spain have adopted similar laws.

Unstructured Playtime Helps Kids' Development: Report

Children need more old-fashioned, unstructured playtime for healthy development, concludes an American Academy of Pediatrics report to be released Monday at its annual meeting.

Too often, parents sacrifice children's spontaneous free play for structured learning and activities in an effort to help the youngsters excel. However, the report noted that this can create stress for both parents and youngsters and increase the risk of childhood obesity, the Associated Press reported.

Unstructured play -- such as romping on the floor with parents or playing with "true" toys such as block or dolls -- offers many benefits. These include helping children to become creative, develop problem-solving skills, relate to others, discover their own passions, and adjust to school settings, the report said.

"Perhaps, above all, play is a simple joy that is a cherished part of childhood," the report noted.

Noted pediatrician and author Dr. T. Berry Brazelton praised the report and said he hoped it would have an effect, the AP reported.

Cosmetic Outcome of Lumpectomy Creates Some Dissatisfaction

About one-third of all women who have a lumpectomy as part of their breast cancer treatment are unhappy with how their breasts look, a new survey says.

A lumpectomy is a procedure usually performed in concert with radiation when malignant breast tumors are detected at an early stage, and doctors don't believe it's necessary to perform the much more radical mastectomy, which involves removal of most of the breast tissue.

The survey, presented at the annual American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) Plastic Surgery 2006 conference in San Francisco, said that many of those unhappy with the outcome of a lumpectomy would consider reconstructive breast surgery.

According to an ASPS news release, of the 28 percent of the patients who said they were unhappy with how the lumpectomy made their breasts look, 46 percent said their physical appearance was worse or much worse after the surgery and were considering reconstruction. By contrast, only nine percent of patients who were satisfied with the outcome would consider reconstruction.

"Patients should know their options and understand that just because they undergo a lumpectomy to save their breast does not mean they will be happy with the cosmetic outcome," said Dr. Howard Wang, co-author of the study, in the news release.