Health Headlines - March 7

U.S. Surgeon General Urges Action Against Underage Drinking

Americans must mobilize to stop 11 million underage drinkers from using alcohol and to prevent other young people from starting to drink, the U.S. Surgeon General said in a Call to Action against underage drinking issued Tuesday.

"Too many Americans consider underage drinking a rite of passage to adulthood," Acting Surgeon General Dr. Kenneth Moritsugu said in a prepared statement.

"Research shows that young people who start drinking before the age of 15 are five times more likely to have alcohol-related problems later in life. New research also indicates that alcohol may harm the developing adolescent brain. The availability of this research provides more reasons than ever before for parents and other adults to protect the health and safety of our nation's children," he added.

Almost 7.2 million of the 11 million underage drinkers in the United States are binge drinkers, which means they may consume more than five drinks on a single occasion. About 2 million are classified as heavy drinkers.

"Alcohol remains the most heavily abuse substance by America's youth. This Call to Action is attempting to change the culture and attitudes toward drinking in America. We can no longer ignore what alcohol is doing to our children," Moritsugu said.

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HIV/AIDS Programs Must Address Violence Against Women: Report

International agencies need to do more to address violence against women in HIV/AIDS programs, says a report released Tuesday by Women Won't Wait, a new international coalition of women's groups.

The issues of violence against women and HIV/AIDS are intertwined, said Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland and a speaker at the launch of the coalition's campaign to end HIV and violence against women.

"It is vital that the policies, programs and funding streams of national governments and international agencies transparently address the intersection of HIV and AIDS and violence against women," Robinson said.

Violence is both a cause and a consequence of the rapid spread of HIV among women, the report said. Women account for at least half of HIV-infected people worldwide and more than 60 percent of HIV-infected people in sub-Saharan Africa.

The coalition's report said that leaders in the fight against HIV/AIDS have failed to consistently and adequately address the relationship between violence against women and HIV/AIDS.

The report examined the policies, programs and funding patterns of major international agencies dealing with the global HIV/AIDS crisis, including the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the World Bank, and UNAIDS.

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Lower Nicotine Levels in Cigarettes Could Backfire: FDA Chief

U.S. government controls on nicotine levels in cigarettes could have the unintended effect of pushing smokers to use more cigarettes and inhale more deeply, warns Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach, head of the Food and Drug Administration.

Last month, a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers introduced legislation that would give the FDA the authority to regulate tobacco, including the power to order lower nicotine levels in cigarettes, the Associated Press reported.

But if the FDA ordered a cut in cigarette nicotine levels, smokers would alter their smoking habits in order to maintain their current levels of the addictive substance, von Eschenbach said in an interview Tuesday with the AP.

"We could find ourselves in the conundrum of having made a decision about nicotine only to have made the public health radically worse. And that is not the position FDA is in; we approve product that enhance health, not destroy it," Eschenbach said.

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2nd Major Recall of Contact Lens Solution Underway

Bausch & Lomb Inc. recalled 1.5 million bottles of its ReNu MultiPlus contact lens solution Tuesday because trace amounts of iron could cause the cleaner to lose its effectiveness.

The company's second major recall in a year involved a limited 12 lots of ReNu MultiPlus solution after three customers reported discolored solution. No one was reported hurt, according to an Associated Press report.

Bausch & Lomb last spring issued a worldwide recall on its ReNu with MoistureLoc solution, which was blamed for an outbreak of severe fungal eye infections.

. About a million bottles of the ReNu MultiPlus solution were distributed in the United States and another 500,000 in Canada, Korean, Taiwan and Latin America. The company said it has notified the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and regulators in the other countries.

The company said that the discoloration was caused by trace amounts of iron in a single batch of raw material from an outside supplier. As a result, it added, the affected lots could have a shorter shelf life than the two-year expiration date.

"I want to emphasize that this is completely unrelated to and different from the MoistureLoc recall," company spokeswoman Barbara Kelley told AP.

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Most American Women Don't Get Enough Sleep: Survey

Stay-at-home moms are most likely to sleep poorly, according to a new U.S. survey that found 60 percent of American women only get a good night's sleep a few times a week and that 67 percent frequently experience a sleep problem.

The 2007 Sleep in America poll of 1,003 women, ages 18 to 64, which was released Tuesday by the National Sleep Foundation, also found that 43 percent of the respondents said daytime sleepiness interferes with their daily activities.

Working mothers (72 percent) and single working women (68 percent) were more likely to report such symptoms of sleep problems as insomnia, but stay-at-home moms reported the highest level of overall sleep problems.

The poll found that 74 percent of stay-at-home mother reported symptoms of insomnia at least a few nights a week, 59 percent said they frequently woke up feeling un-refreshed and 9 percent said they slept with a child or infant, which adds to the sleep disturbances experienced by the mothers.

While many American women struggle with lack of sleep, it doesn't slow them down. The survey found that 80 percent of women said that when they experience daytime sleepiness, they just accept it and keep going. In order to push through their day, 65 percent are likely to use caffeinated beverages, with 37 percent consuming three or more caffeinated beverages per day.

Even though they may be tired, many women aren't going to bed earlier. Instead, they're watching television, finishing household chores, doing family activities, going online, or doing job-related work.

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FDA Approves New Hypertension Drug

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday approved Novartis Pharmaceutical's hypertension drug Tekturna, the first new type of hypertension drug in more than a decade.

Tekturna (aliskiren), a new molecular entity, is the first high blood pressure drug that inhibits renin, a kidney enzyme associated with the regulation of blood pressure.

"Hypertension is rightly called 'the silent killer' because it usually has no symptoms until it causes major damage to the body organs," said Douglas C. Throckmorton, deputy director of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, in a prepared statement. "Today's approval adds a new safe and effective treatment option for people who need help to control their blood pressure."

The drug's effectiveness in lowering blood pressure was proven in six placebo-controlled, eight-week clinical trials involving more than 2,000 patients with mild to moderate hypertension. The effect was maintained for up to one year. However, black patients tended to have smaller reductions in blood pressure than whites and Asians, the agency said.

The drug's safety was evaluated in more than 6,460 patients, including 1,740 who were treated longer than six months, and more than 1,250 treated longer than a year. Side effects were usually mild and brief. The most common side effect was diarrhea.

Hypertension affects an estimated 25 percent of Americans and causes increased risk of stroke, heart attack, kidney failure, heart failure and death, according to FDA estimates.

The United States is the first country to approve the drug, which should be available in U.S. pharmacies later this month, the Associated Press reported.