U.S. Hospitalizations Rise for Serious Brain Injuries
After a decade of decline, admissions to American hospitals for the most serious type of head injury -- type 1 traumatic brain injury -- rose nearly 38 percent from 2001 to 2004, says the latest News and Numbers report from the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
The report said:
- In 2004, there were nearly 204,000 hospitalizations for traumatic brain injury at a cost of $3.2 billion. Seven of 10 hospitalizations involved people with type 1 brain injury at a combined cost of $2.7 billion.
- 40 percent of people suffered type 1 injuries due to falls -- such as off ladders, down stairs, or on ice. Other causes included: motor vehicle accidents (26 percent), sports, being hit by a falling object (8 percent), bicycle mishaps and other transportation accidents (4 percent), and shootings (2 percent).
- People age 65 and older accounted for 35 percent of hospitalizations for type 1 injuries, followed by those ages 18 to 44 (31 percent), ages 45 to 64 (19 percent), and children and adolescents (15 percent).
- About 13 percent of people with type 1 injuries died while in the hospital, and nearly 28 percent were transferred to a nursing home or some other kind of rehabilitation facility. Among people with other types of head injuries, 1 percent died while in the hospital and about 8 percent were discharged to a nursing home or rehab facility.
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Brain Injury Can Alter Moral Judgments, Study Says
Damage to a part of the brain thought to generate emotional behavior may change a person's moral judgment, according to new research.
The New York Times reports that the research, published in the March 22 issue of the journal Nature, found that an injury to this section of the brain, called the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, could actually change a person's willingness to harm or kill another person.
The study, done by scientists at the University of Iowa, was a small one, the newspaper reports, and the findings are hypothetical: No one in the study actually altered his or her behavior because of the brain injury.
But, the researchers found, people could dramatically change their behavior and rationalize it when that section of the brain is "offline." For example, those with the brain injury were twice as likely as a control group to justify killing a crying baby if they thought the noise would reveal people who were hiding from enemy soldiers.
"The difference was very clear, for all of the ventromedial patients," the Times quotes study leader Dr. Michael Koenigs as saying.
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Millions of Unused Flu Vaccines to be Destroyed
Millions of doses of unused flu vaccine in the United States will be destroyed after June 30, even though the vaccine is still good and could remain useful for a few more years, the Associated Press reported.
The June 30 expiration date is set by the Food and Drug Administration. The annual destruction of vaccines from the previous flu season clears the way for creation of a new vaccine against strains expected to dominate the next flu season.
"What they don't want to have happen is people inadvertently getting vaccinated with last year's vaccine," which would not be as effective in a new flu season because the prior vaccine targets older flu strains, Dr. Peter Patriarca, a scientist who once led the FDA's flu vaccine division, told the AP.
Some experts argue that having no vaccine during the summer means that American travelers can't get a flu shot before they visit other parts of the world where the flu is in season. It also means no summer vaccinations for children, who need two doses the first time they're vaccinated against the flu.
"All of those issues have come up in the past," but there's great reluctance to change the policy, government vaccine adviser Dr. William Schaffner, of Vanderbilt University, told the AP. "These ideas clearly have merit and at the very least ought to be discussed."
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Report Knocks Chinese Restaurant Food
Many items on a typical Chinese restaurant menu are bad for your waistline and blood pressure, says a new report by the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
Here are some examples cited in the consumer group's report:
- A plate of stir-fried greens has 900 calories and 2,200 milligrams of sodium.
- An order of eggplant in garlic sauce has 1,000 calories and 2,000 milligram of sodium.
- A plate of General Tso's chicken with vegetables has 1,300 calories, 3,200 milligrams of sodium and 11 grams of saturated fat.
- Egg rolls have 200 calories and 400 milligrams of sodium.
The average adult needs about 2,000 calories and 2,300 milligrams of salt per day, the Associated Press reported.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest said not much has changed since it examined Chinese restaurant food in a similar report 15 years ago.
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Babies of Illegal Immigrants in U.S. Will Get Medicaid Coverage
The Bush administration made a sudden policy reversal Tuesday when it announced that infants born to undocumented immigrants with low incomes would automatically qualify for one year of Medicaid coverage, the same as babies born to U.S. citizens, The New York Times reported.
Before the reversal, federal officials had insisted that immigrants document the citizenship of their newborns. That policy was adopted last July.
The White House stance was widely criticized and challenged by opponents who noted that, under the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, people born in the country are United States citizens, The Times reported.
"We have heard the concerns and are taking action to ensure that newborns in similar circumstances are treated the same under Medicaid eligibility rules. We intend to modify the documentation requirements to put all babies born in the United States whose deliveries are covered by Medicaid on an equal footing," said Leslie V. Norwalk, acting administrator of the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid.
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Japanese Doctors Warned Not to Give Teens Tamiflu
The Japanese government has ordered the distributor of Tamiflu to warn doctors against prescribing the anti-flu drug to teens. The move follows several reports of dangerous and deadly behavior in teens taking Tamiflu.
The Health Ministry issued the emergency instructions to distributor Chugai Pharmaceutical Co. on Tuesday. The company started distributing warnings to doctors, pharmacies and hospitals on Wednesday, the Associated Press reported.
Japanese concerns over Tamiflu increased after two separate incidents in February in which a boy and a girl, both 14, fell to their deaths from their condominiums. Both teens were taking Tamiflu at the time of their deaths. There have been a number of reports of unusual behavior, such as hallucinations and delirium, in Japanese teens taking the drug.
Officials at Roche Holding AG, the Swiss manufacturer of Tamiflu, said they didn't understand the Japanese government's reasons for the warning order.
"No causal relationship has been established between Tamiflu and these reports, and we don't see this as an appropriate course of action," Roche spokeswoman Martina Rupp told the AP.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which added a new precaution to the Tamiflu label in November, has said it received more than 100 reports of delirium, hallucinations and other unusual psychiatric behavior, mostly in Japanese children treated with Tamiflu, between Aug. 29, 2005, and July 6, 2006, the AP reported.
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High Blood Sugar Increases Women's Cancer Risk
High blood sugar levels increase a woman's risk of cancer, according to new research out of Swedish.
The 13-year study of 64,500 people by University of Umea researchers found that high blood sugar was associated with an increased risk for cancers of the pancreas, skin, womb and urinary tract in women. High blood sugar was also linked with increased breast cancer risk for women younger than age 49, BBC News reported.
Overall, women with the highest blood sugar levels were 26 percent more likely to develop cancer than those with the lowest blood sugar levels, the study found.
This link between high blood sugar and increased cancer risk was not noted in men.
"The results of this research are concerning," said Dr. Greg Martin, science and research manager for the World Cancer Research Fund UK., which helped fund the study. "However, (the findings) are important because if women are aware of the facts, they are likely to be more motivated to change their lifestyle if their blood sugar levels are too high."
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