FDA Bans Wheat Gluten From China Firm Linked to Pet Food Deaths
Imports of wheat gluten from a Chinese company have been banned by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration after an investigation implicated the wheat gluten in the recent pet food-related deaths of dogs and cats, the Associated Press reported.
The action against Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development Co. in Wangdian comes after the recall of nearly 100 brands of pet food tainted with the chemical melamine. An unknown number of pets have suffered kidney failure after eating contaminated food.
The FDA has found melamine in samples of wheat gluten used in the recalled pet foods and treats. The chemical has also been found in cats that died after eating contaminated food, the AP reported. Melamine is used in a number of products, including plastics, glue and fire retardants.
"The wheat gluten that is positive for melamine all has come from this manufacturer," said Neal Bataller, director of the division of compliance with the FDA's veterinary medicine office.
It appears unlikely that the contaminated wheat gluten was used in any human food, the FDA said.
Also Monday, the Eight in One pet food company announced a nationwide recall of dog, cat and ferret treats because they may be contaminated with salmonella. The bacteria could infect both animals and people handling the food, the AP reported.
The company is recalling all packages of Dingo Chick'N Jerky, Dingo Kitty Chicken Jerky and Dingo Ferret Chicken Jerky.
Salmonella is a bacteria that produces an infection called salmonellosis. Most persons infected with the germ develop diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps 12 to 72 hours after infection. The illness typically lasts four to seven days, and most persons recover without treatment.
But for some, the diarrhea may be so severe that the patient needs to be hospitalized. In these patients, the infection may spread from the intestines to the blood stream, and then to other body sites, and can cause death unless the person is treated promptly with antibiotics, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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Study Links Smoking and Mental Disorders in Pregnant Women
There's a significant link between smoking and mental disorders in pregnant women and the presence of these disorders may make it more difficult for these women to quit smoking, says a U.S. study in the April issue of the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Researchers found that 21.7 percent of the 1,516 pregnant women in the study smoked cigarettes and of those, 57.2 percent were nicotine dependent. Based on those figures, the researchers estimated that 12.4 percent of pregnant women in the United States are addicted to cigarettes.
The study also found that pregnant women who were nicotine dependent were more likely to meet the criteria for at least one mental disorder than pregnant women who did not smoke. Researchers said there were significant associations between smoking and panic disorder, major depression, and dysthymia (a chronic depressive condition).
"Understanding that these co-morbidities exist may shed light on why some women are unable to abstain from smoking during pregnancy even though they understand the negative health impact for them and their unborn children," Dr. Nora D. Volkow, director of the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse, said in a prepared statement. The institute helped fund the study.
"There is tremendous value in screening pregnant women who are unable to abstain from smoking for mental disorders -- to not only identify and treat those who have been undiagnosed but also to improve successful quit-smoking attempts," Volkow said.
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Religion Can Help Cut HIV Infection Rates: Study
HIV-positive people who are religious tend to have fewer sexual partners and engage in risky sexual behavior less often than other people with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. This means that HIV-positive people with stronger religious ties are less likely to spread the virus, says a study released Tuesday by the RAND Corporation.
The finding may help in efforts to reduce HIV infection rates.
The study did not examine specific factors of religiosity that may affect the sexual activity of HIV-positive people. But moral beliefs and membership in a faith community may be two important components, suggested principal investigator and RAND senior behavior scientist David Kanouse.
"Moral beliefs may indicate an underlying altruism and a desire to make sure no one else is infected with HIV. Promoting these feelings could then be used as a component of HIV prevention programs," Kanouse said in a prepared statement.
"The study suggests that there's a role for religious institutions to play in the fight against the spread of HIV," study lead author Frank H. Galvan, assistant professor in the department of psychiatry and human behavior at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in Los Angeles, said in a prepared statement.
"They have these core belief systems that do have a positive impact on the lives of people who are HIV-positive and who are sexually active. Religiosity is an untapped resource in the whole struggle against HIV and AIDS, and should be looked at more thoroughly," Galvan said.
The study was published in the February issue of the Journal of Sex Research.
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Medicare Advantage Providers Get Payment Increase
Insurance companies that operate private Medicare plans will receive a higher-than-expected payment increase next year, the U.S. government announced late Monday.
Preliminary payments to companies that run Medicare Advantage programs will increase by 3.5 percent in 2008, said the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Market analysts had predicted an increase of between 2 percent and 3 percent, the Associated Press reported.
Medicare Advantage programs run by private insurers cover about 8 million of the 43 million Americans 65 years and older who receive health care through Medicare. Medicare Advantage was created to expand Medicare and better manage costs.
A nonpartisan advisory group recently reported that the federal government spends 12 percent more on patients in Medicare Advantage than on those in traditional Medicare. That prompted a Congressional hearing into whether Medicare Advantage providers are overpaid, the AP reported.
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Humira Effective Against Psoriasis: Drug Maker
The arthritis drug Humira eased symptoms of psoriasis of patients in two clinical trials and drug maker Abbott Laboratories says it will apply for U.S. and European approval to market the drug to treat the skin disease.
One study found that Humira cleared up all symptoms of psoriasis while the other study found the drug led to an 80 percent improvement in patients, Bloomberg News reported.
Symptoms of psoriasis include inflamed, scaly skin lesions that can crack and bleed. The disease affects about 125 million people worldwide.
Currently, Humira is approved to treat the immune system disorders rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, spinal arthritis, and Crohn's disease. The drug works by blocking the activity of a protein called TNF. Too much TNF can cause the immune system to attack healthy tissue, Bloomberg News reported.
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Weight Gain in Pregnancy Linked to Overweight Children
Women who gain the recommended amount of weight during pregnancy are four times more likely to have a child who is overweight by age 3, a U.S. study finds. Outcomes are similar for women who gain more weight than suggested by guidelines established by the U.S. Institute of Medicine.
The guidelines call for women with a "normal" body mass index (BMI) to gain 25 to 35 pounds during pregnancy. Women with higher BMIs are advised to gain less, while those with lower BMIs are told to gain more, the Associated Press reported.
The study, which included 1,044 and their 3-year-olds, compared the mothers' weight gains during pregnancy to their toddlers' BMIs. The children were defined as overweight if they had a BMI greater than 95 percent of children of the same age and sex.
About half the mothers in the study gained more than the recommended amount of weight during pregnancy, about one-third gained the recommended amount, and 14 percent gained less than the recommended amount, the AP reported.
It's not clear why greater weight gain during pregnancy may increase the risk that a child will be overweight, said study lead author Dr. Emily Oken of Harvard Medical School. The study appears in the April issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.
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