Health Headlines - March 23

Elizabeth Edwards' Cancer Has Returned

Elizabeth Edwards, wife of Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, announced Thursday that her cancer had returned and was no longer curable.

But Edwards, who was treated for breast cancer in 2004, said she was optimistic about her future and her husband's political campaign.

"I don't look sickly, I don't feel sickly. I am as ready as any person can be for that," she said at a news conference with her husband by her side.

The recurrence of the cancer -- this time in a rib on her right side -- means the disease is no longer curable but can be managed with medications, the couple said.

Edwards, 57, was initially diagnosed with breast cancer in the final days of the 2004 presidential campaign when her husband was the running mate of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry.

John Edwards, a former U.S. senator from North Carolina, said he would continue his push for the presidency, with his wife's blessing.

"The campaign goes on," he said at a news conference outside the couple's home.

Elizabeth Edwards' breast cancer, invasive ductal carcinoma, is the most common form of the disease, accounting for up to 80 percent of all cases of the illness. Almost 180,000 American women will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year, according to the American Cancer Society.

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Tourist States Would be Hardest Hit in Flu Pandemic: Report

Nevada, Hawaii and other states whose economies rely on tourism and entertainment would probably be hit hardest if there was a severe influenza pandemic, according to a report released Thursday by the Trust for America's Health.

The report estimated that Nevada's economy would suffer a decline of more than 8 percent, while Hawaii would feel about a 6.6 percent economic hit, the Associated Press reported.

The gross domestic product in four other states -- Alaska, Louisiana, Nebraska and Wyoming -- would also decrease by more than 6 percent. And while the economies of Virginia and Maryland would likely fare the best during a pandemic, they would still suffer major declines of 5.13 percent and 5.06 percent, respectively, the AP reported.

"In a pandemic, we will see people avoiding discretionary travel and avoiding large gatherings for the legitimate fear of contagion. It's a natural reaction not to want to be in large groups when there is an easily transmittable disease afoot," said Jeffrey Levi, executive director of Trust for America's Health, which conducts research and lobbies for measures to improve public health.

Overall, the United States would experience a $683 billion (5.5 percent) economic loss during a pandemic, the report predicted.

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U.S. Efforts to Eliminate TB Slowing: Report

Progress is slowing in efforts to eliminate tuberculosis in the United States, according to a new federal report.

That trend suggests that multiple steps are needed to accelerate progress in eliminating TB and to guard against a resurgence of the disease in the United States, the report said.

Surveillance data show that national TB rates fell to an all-time low of 4.6 cases per 100,000 people in 2006 -- a total of 13,767 active cases. But, the decline in the TB rate in 2006 (3.2 percent) was one of the smallest in more than a decade.

The report also said that minorities and foreign-born individuals continue to be disproportionately affected by TB. In 2006, Asians were 21 times more likely to have TB than whites, and blacks and Hispanics were about eight times more likely to have TB.

Foreign-born individuals accounted for more than half of all TB cases in the United States in 2006. This group of people had a TB rate nearly 10 times higher than U.S.-born individuals (21.9 vs. 2.3 cases per 100,000), the report said.

The findings are published in the March 23 issue of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Another report in this week's MMWR said there were only 49 documented cases of extensively drug-resistant (XDR) tuberculosis in the United States between 1993 and 2006. While the overall risk of XDR-TB remains low in the country, the 49 cases have been widely dispersed and pose a continued risk to efforts to treat and control the disease, the report said.

In related news, a report released Thursday by the World Health Organization said the worldwide rate of TB infections leveled off in 2005, at less than 150 cases per 100,000 people.

One expert noted that it was the first good news about the worldwide TB epidemic since 1993, the Associated Press reported.

However, while the worldwide rate remained steady, the actual number of TB cases increased, due to a growing global population. The WHO said there were 8.8 million new TB cases and 1.6 million TB deaths in 2005, the last year for which comprehensive data was available.

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Congressional Committee Reviews Anemia Drugs

The marketing and regulation of the commonly used anemia drugs Epogen, Aranesp and Procrit are under review by a U.S. Congressional committee. The review was prompted by recent evidence that the drugs may cause blood clots, worsen cancer or increase the risk of death if overused, The New York Times reported.

The drugs are mainly used to treat patients with anemia caused by kidney failure or chemotherapy.

The House Committee on Energy and Commerce sent letters to drug makers Amgen (Epogen and Aranesp) and Johnson & Johnson (Procrit), asking them to clarify when they knew about the possible risks associated with the drugs and how they have promoted the drugs, the Times reported.

On March 9, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the drug makers agreed to put a "black box" warning (the most serious kind) on the labels of the anemia drugs to warn about the newly identified risks. An FDA advisory panel is scheduled to meet May 10 to discuss the safety of the drugs.

In the letters to the drug companies, committee members said they viewed reports of safety issues associated with the drugs "with increasing alarm." They also noted that as much as $700 million in annual sales of the three drugs were for uses that did not conform to the label, the Times reported.

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Meningitis in Infancy Affects School Performance: Study

Babies who survive meningitis may struggle during their school years, a British study in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood suggests.

Meningitis, an infection of the fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord, can cause serious disability or death.

Imperial College London researchers compared 461 teen students who survived meningitis as babies with 289 students who never had the disease. The study found that 25 percent of the meningitis survivors failed to pass a single national exam, compared with 6.6 percent of students in the comparison group, BBC News reported.

The researchers also found that about eight percent of meningitis survivors were in special schools. That's about four times the British national average.

"The adverse consequences of infantile meningitis clearly extend into adult life and seriously affect educational achievement," the study authors wrote. "It is essential that all cases of bacterial meningitis occurring during the first year of life are followed up fully so that children who require educational and other support are recognized at an early age."