1.5 Million U.S. Students Victims of Dating Violence: CDC
One in 11 U.S. high school students, or about 1.5 million students nationwide, reported they had been the victims of physical dating violence in the previous year, according to a new government survey released Thursday.
The adolescents who said they had been hit, slapped or physically hurt by a boyfriend or girlfriend in the past year were more likely to report involvement in binge drinking, suicide attempts, physical fighting and current sexual activity, says the study, which was based on data from the 2003 Youth Risk Behavior Survey.
Other findings from the survey, which was published in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report:
* Both high school girls and boys have about the same risk of being a victim of physical dating violence.
* 13.9 percent of black adolescents reported physical dating violence, compared to 9.3 percent of Hispanic teens and 7 percent of whites.
* Lower grades in school were associated with higher reported levels of dating violence.
"This study illustrates the importance of teaching adolescents how to have good relationships," Dr. Ileana Arias, director of the CDC's National Center for Injury Violence and Prevention, said in a prepared statement.
In order to reduce teen dating violence, the CDC has launched a campaign called Choose Respect, which focuses on teaching healthy relationship skills to adolescents, ages 11 to 14 years old.
Here's where you can find out more about Choose Respect.
U.S. Panel Recommends Widespread Shots in Future Mumps Outbreaks
A U.S. federal panel recommended Wednesday that all people in the region of a potential mumps outbreak should get mumps shots, unless childhood exposure has made them immune to the virus or they've already been vaccinated.
The immunization advisory committee, which advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, also said that healthcare workers under age 50 should get two doses of measles-mumps-rubella vaccine unless they still have immunity from childhood, the Associated Press reported.
The panel's advice is usually adopted by the CDC.
This aggressive policy is meant to impede future mumps outbreaks, like the one currently afflicting Iowa and some other Midwestern states. Iowa health officials said there are still more than 1,700 cases, but the number of cases seems to be dropping, the AP reported.
In 1998, the panel recommended that healthcare workers born in 1957 or later receive a single dose of vaccine, which is about 80 percent effective. The new recommendation is for two doses, which is about 90 percent effective.
Denver Hospital Alerts Six Patients About Deadly Brain Disease
Six brain surgery patients at Littleton Adventist Hospital in Denver have been alerted about the case of another patient who died of classic Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD), a rare degenerative brain disorder, hospital officials said Thursday.
The six patients were alerted because there's a remote possibility that the disease could be transmitted by surgical instruments, even after they've been sterilized. The six patients had neurosurgery after the patient with CJD, the Associated Press reported.
It's not yet clear whether the same surgical instruments used on that patient were also used on the other six patients.
Unlike variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, classic CJD is not related to mad cow disease. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that classic CJD, which occurs in about one in a million people in the United States each year, progresses quickly and is always fatal, the AP reported.
Multivitamin Benefits Unclear: Report
There isn't enough evidence to make a decision to recommend for or against the use of multivitamins and mineral supplements, a U.S. panel said Wednesday.
The panel noted that Americans spend about $23 billion a year on multivitamins and multi-mineral supplements in the belief that the products will help prevent heart disease, cancer and other chronic diseases, the Washington Post reported.
About 52 percent of adults in the United States reported taking multivitamins, according to a recent national survey, and slightly more than a third said they take the products regularly.
The evidence that multivitamins and other supplements promote health and prevent some common diseases is "quite thin," noted panel chairman J. Michael McGinnis, senior scholar at the U.S. National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine.
He and his colleagues analyzed numerous studies and could not come to any conclusion about whether people actually benefit from taking multivitamins, the Post reported.
The panel said there are only three situations where vitamins or other supplements actually provide a clear health benefit. They are:
* The use of folic acid to prevent birth defects of the spine and brain.
* Supplementation with vitamins C and E, beta carotene, and the minerals zinc and copper to reduce the risk of vision loss in people with early signs of macular degeneration, one of the leading causes of age-related blindness.
* Calcium and vitamin D supplements to reduce the risk of bone fractures in post-menopausal women.
Thursday, May 18, 2006
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
Health Headlines - May 17
Five More Bird Flu Deaths in Indonesia
Five more people in Indonesia have died from bird flu and there are conflicting reports about the possibility of human-to-human transmission of the disease, BBC News reported.
Four of the five victims were from the same family and one Indonesian agriculture official said the possibility of human-to-human transmission of the H5N1 virus in those cases could still not be ruled out.
However, a health ministry spokesman said the disease spread to the victims from poultry or other animals and there is no proof of human-to-human transmission.
The four family members lived in northern Sumatra and up to eight members of the family could be involved. Tests are being conducted to determine if the sick relatives of the dead people are infected with H5N1, BBC News reported.
The fifth death occurred in East Java.
The deaths bring to 30 the number of people in Indonesia who have been killed by bird flu so far this year, the most deaths of any country this year. Since 2003, bird flu has killed 115 worldwide and devastated poultry stocks. So far, all human infections are believed to have been due to direct contact with sick poultry.
FDA Documents Reveal Concerns About HPV Vaccine
Gardasil, a vaccine designed to block infection by four types of human papilloma virus (HPV) that cause most cervical cancers and genital warts, may actually increase the risk of disease in some patients, according to U.S. Food and Drug Administration documents released Wednesday.
The briefing documents were released in advance of a meeting Thursday at which an outside panel of experts will discuss whether to recommend approving the use of Gardasil. The FDA's decision is expected by June 8, the Associated Press reported.
The agency documents reveal that an FDA review of studies of the vaccine suggest it is safe and effective, but the agency did identify two important concerns.
The first concern is that Gardasil may result in an increased number of cases of a cancer precursor among patients who are already infected by one of the four targeted HPV types when they're given the vaccine; and whose immune systems haven't eliminated the virus from their bodies, the AP reported.
Secondly, any advantage provided by the vaccine in protecting against the four targeted HPV types could be offset by infection by the numerous other HPV types that aren't affected by the vaccine.
The briefing documents also requested that the expert panel examine five cases in which women who received the vaccine around the time of conception gave birth to children with birth defects.
HPV is the most common sexually transmitted disease among females ages 9 to 26. About 80 percent of young women are infected with HPV five years after they become sexually active. In most women, the immune system clears the virus. But, if HPV remains in the body, there's an 800-fold increased risk of cervical cancer or precancerous lesions.
Each year, cervical cancer kills about 3,500 women in the United States.
Tests found that Gardasil, made by Merck & Co., is nearly 100 percent effective against HPV and works for at least five years, the AP reported. Up to two-thirds of cervical cancers could be prevented if the vaccine were widely used, experts estimate. However, that reduction would not be seen for many years, because cervical cancer can take two decades to develop.
Gardasil requires three shots over six months at an estimated total cost of $300 to $500, the AP reported.
Stress During Pregnancy May Benefit Babies
Pregnant women don't need to worry about being worried -- a bit of stress may actually be good for their child, suggests a study by researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore.
The study of 137 women with normal, low-risk pregnancies concluded that those who reported moderate stress between the 24th and 32nd weeks of pregnancy had children who were more advanced at age 2 than other children, BBC News reported.
The researchers said they expected to find that stress during pregnancy would be associated with bad behavior and temperamental dysfunction when the women's children were 2 years old. Instead, they found the reverse was true.
There may be two possible explanations. Pregnant women experiencing stress may produce higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which "could be enhancing the development of organs before birth," said study author and developmental psychologist Janet DiPietro.
She also said the women who have higher stress levels are those who challenge themselves and challenge their babies after birth, which prompts faster development.
The study appears in the journal Child Development.
Debate Rises Over RU-486 Abortion Pill
Opponents of the RU-486 (Mifeprex) abortion drug contend it's dangerous to women and want the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to take the drug off the market.
Those leading the campaign against the drug point to the deaths in recent years of four to eight young women who took the drug, particularly four deaths from the bacterium Clostridium sordelli, the Washington Post reported.
As part of the debate over RU-486, the U.S. House Government Reform subcommittee on Criminal Justice is scheduled to hold a meeting Wednesday into the supposed dangers of the drug.
"Considering the evidence we have of deaths and serious side effects, the maker of this drug should have taken it off the market long ago," Michelle Gress, counsel to the subcommittee and spokeswoman for subcommittee chairman Rep. Mark Edward Souder, R-Ind., told the Post.
However, experts at the FDA and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have linked the clostridium bacterium to the deaths of more than a dozen women after childbirth or miscarriage. This makes it unclear whether there is a direct association between RU-486 and Clostridium sordelli.
"We think it's premature to say there is a direct relationship between (RU-486) and these (four) clostridium deaths. The situation is far more complicated than we originally imagined, and far more broad than anything limited to this drug," Sandra Kweder, deputy director of the FDA's Office of New Drugs, told the Post.
Company Failed to Give FDA Prompt Notice About Eye Infections
U.S. eye-care products maker Bausch & Lomb did not promptly notify the federal Food and Drug Administration about 35 cases of dangerous fungal eye infections among people in Singapore who used the company's ReNu with MoistureLoc contact lens solution.
The company's failure to notify the FDA about the Singapore infections within 30 days was one of 20 potential violations noted by the FDA after inspecting the Bausch & Lomb factory in Greenville, S.C., the Associated Press reported.
The Greenville plant made ReNu with MoistureLoc for sale in the United States and several Asian countries. The contact lens solution was removed from markets worldwide Monday. It's been linked to potentially blinding Fusarium keratitis infections in Asia and the United States.
The FDA also noted that Bausch & Lomb failed to notify the agency in writing that the company had removed ReNu with MoistureLoc from the Singapore and Hong Kong markets in February.
Five more people in Indonesia have died from bird flu and there are conflicting reports about the possibility of human-to-human transmission of the disease, BBC News reported.
Four of the five victims were from the same family and one Indonesian agriculture official said the possibility of human-to-human transmission of the H5N1 virus in those cases could still not be ruled out.
However, a health ministry spokesman said the disease spread to the victims from poultry or other animals and there is no proof of human-to-human transmission.
The four family members lived in northern Sumatra and up to eight members of the family could be involved. Tests are being conducted to determine if the sick relatives of the dead people are infected with H5N1, BBC News reported.
The fifth death occurred in East Java.
The deaths bring to 30 the number of people in Indonesia who have been killed by bird flu so far this year, the most deaths of any country this year. Since 2003, bird flu has killed 115 worldwide and devastated poultry stocks. So far, all human infections are believed to have been due to direct contact with sick poultry.
FDA Documents Reveal Concerns About HPV Vaccine
Gardasil, a vaccine designed to block infection by four types of human papilloma virus (HPV) that cause most cervical cancers and genital warts, may actually increase the risk of disease in some patients, according to U.S. Food and Drug Administration documents released Wednesday.
The briefing documents were released in advance of a meeting Thursday at which an outside panel of experts will discuss whether to recommend approving the use of Gardasil. The FDA's decision is expected by June 8, the Associated Press reported.
The agency documents reveal that an FDA review of studies of the vaccine suggest it is safe and effective, but the agency did identify two important concerns.
The first concern is that Gardasil may result in an increased number of cases of a cancer precursor among patients who are already infected by one of the four targeted HPV types when they're given the vaccine; and whose immune systems haven't eliminated the virus from their bodies, the AP reported.
Secondly, any advantage provided by the vaccine in protecting against the four targeted HPV types could be offset by infection by the numerous other HPV types that aren't affected by the vaccine.
The briefing documents also requested that the expert panel examine five cases in which women who received the vaccine around the time of conception gave birth to children with birth defects.
HPV is the most common sexually transmitted disease among females ages 9 to 26. About 80 percent of young women are infected with HPV five years after they become sexually active. In most women, the immune system clears the virus. But, if HPV remains in the body, there's an 800-fold increased risk of cervical cancer or precancerous lesions.
Each year, cervical cancer kills about 3,500 women in the United States.
Tests found that Gardasil, made by Merck & Co., is nearly 100 percent effective against HPV and works for at least five years, the AP reported. Up to two-thirds of cervical cancers could be prevented if the vaccine were widely used, experts estimate. However, that reduction would not be seen for many years, because cervical cancer can take two decades to develop.
Gardasil requires three shots over six months at an estimated total cost of $300 to $500, the AP reported.
Stress During Pregnancy May Benefit Babies
Pregnant women don't need to worry about being worried -- a bit of stress may actually be good for their child, suggests a study by researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore.
The study of 137 women with normal, low-risk pregnancies concluded that those who reported moderate stress between the 24th and 32nd weeks of pregnancy had children who were more advanced at age 2 than other children, BBC News reported.
The researchers said they expected to find that stress during pregnancy would be associated with bad behavior and temperamental dysfunction when the women's children were 2 years old. Instead, they found the reverse was true.
There may be two possible explanations. Pregnant women experiencing stress may produce higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which "could be enhancing the development of organs before birth," said study author and developmental psychologist Janet DiPietro.
She also said the women who have higher stress levels are those who challenge themselves and challenge their babies after birth, which prompts faster development.
The study appears in the journal Child Development.
Debate Rises Over RU-486 Abortion Pill
Opponents of the RU-486 (Mifeprex) abortion drug contend it's dangerous to women and want the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to take the drug off the market.
Those leading the campaign against the drug point to the deaths in recent years of four to eight young women who took the drug, particularly four deaths from the bacterium Clostridium sordelli, the Washington Post reported.
As part of the debate over RU-486, the U.S. House Government Reform subcommittee on Criminal Justice is scheduled to hold a meeting Wednesday into the supposed dangers of the drug.
"Considering the evidence we have of deaths and serious side effects, the maker of this drug should have taken it off the market long ago," Michelle Gress, counsel to the subcommittee and spokeswoman for subcommittee chairman Rep. Mark Edward Souder, R-Ind., told the Post.
However, experts at the FDA and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have linked the clostridium bacterium to the deaths of more than a dozen women after childbirth or miscarriage. This makes it unclear whether there is a direct association between RU-486 and Clostridium sordelli.
"We think it's premature to say there is a direct relationship between (RU-486) and these (four) clostridium deaths. The situation is far more complicated than we originally imagined, and far more broad than anything limited to this drug," Sandra Kweder, deputy director of the FDA's Office of New Drugs, told the Post.
Company Failed to Give FDA Prompt Notice About Eye Infections
U.S. eye-care products maker Bausch & Lomb did not promptly notify the federal Food and Drug Administration about 35 cases of dangerous fungal eye infections among people in Singapore who used the company's ReNu with MoistureLoc contact lens solution.
The company's failure to notify the FDA about the Singapore infections within 30 days was one of 20 potential violations noted by the FDA after inspecting the Bausch & Lomb factory in Greenville, S.C., the Associated Press reported.
The Greenville plant made ReNu with MoistureLoc for sale in the United States and several Asian countries. The contact lens solution was removed from markets worldwide Monday. It's been linked to potentially blinding Fusarium keratitis infections in Asia and the United States.
The FDA also noted that Bausch & Lomb failed to notify the agency in writing that the company had removed ReNu with MoistureLoc from the Singapore and Hong Kong markets in February.
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Health Headlines - May 16
FDA Orders Stronger Warnings on Three Asthma Medicines
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has ordered the makers of the asthma drugs Advair Diskus, Foradil Aerolizer and Serevent Diskus to update their labels with new warnings that the medicines may increase the risk of severe asthma episodes, and death when those episodes occur.
The medicines belong to a class called long-acting beta 2-adrenergic agonists (LABA), which are long-acting bronchodilator medicines that help relax the muscles around the airways in the lungs.
Even though LABAs decrease the frequency of asthma attacks, they can make asthma attacks more severe when they do occur, the FDA said in a public health advisory released Monday.
The advisory highlights a number of recommendations, including not to use LABAs as the first medicine to treat asthma or to treat wheezing that is getting worse.
Report Identifies Top Preventive Health Services
Daily aspirin use, immunization for children and smoker interventions lead a list of the top 25 beneficial and cost-effective preventive health services for Americans, which was released Tuesday by the Partnership for Prevention.
However, the report also found that more than 50 percent of Americans who need recommended preventive health services go without them.
"Currently, about 95 percent of healthcare dollars in the United States are spent on treating diseases, with relatively little attention paid to preventing diseases, which should be a national priority," Dr. David Satcher, former U.S. Surgeon General and chair of the National Commission on Prevention Priorities (NCPP), a blue-ribbon panel convened for the report, said in a prepared statement.
The report was published online Tuesday by the American Journal of Preventive Medicine and will appear in the July print issue.
FDA Approves Resumed Sales of Synthetic THC Drug
A synthetic version of the active ingredient in marijuana -- withdrawn from the U.S. market 17 years ago -- will be back on sale in two or three weeks as a prescription drug for vomiting and nausea caused by chemotherapy.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave approval Monday for the resumption of sales of Cesamet, said manufacturer Valeant Pharmaceuticals International of Costa Mesa, Calif. The company bought the drug, also called nabilone, from Eli Lilly and Co. in 2004, the Associated Press reported.
Valeant currently sells the drug in Canada. It was approved in the U.S. in 1985 but withdrawn in 1989 for commercial reasons, company president Wes Wheeler said. Since purchasing the drug from Eli Lilly, Valeant has revised the label and updated its manufacturing process, Wheeler said.
Cesamet is a synthetic version of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active ingredient in marijuana. Synthetic THC acts on the brain in the same way as THC in marijuana. Cancer patients take the one-milligram Cesamet tablets twice daily before they have chemotherapy, and up to 48 hours after treatment, the AP reported.
Tooth Fairy Paying More: Poll
The current average cost of plucking a baby tooth from under a child's pillow is now $2 in the United States. That's 22 cents more than in 2005, an increase of 12.4 percent, according to an annual Tooth Fairy poll released Tuesday by Securian Dental.
While the average is $2 a tooth, the Tooth Fairy's offerings ranged from a low of 25 cents to a high of $25 per tooth, the poll found.
"The Tooth Fairy is a rite of passage in many American households and presents a great opportunity for parents to talk with their children about practicing good dental habits," Richard Hastreiter, vice president of oral health analytics and dental director for Securian Dental, said in a prepared statement.
The poll, which sampled Securian's commercially insured clients, also found that 74 percent of parents said their children brush their teeth twice a day and that 91 percent of their children have a dental exam every six months.
Last-Minute Rush for Medicare Drug Plan Sign Up
Monday's deadline for enrollment in the new U.S. Medicare prescription drug benefit plan prompted a rush as people who'd waited until the last minute signed up in order to avoid the late-enrollment penalty.
While phone calls to UnitedHealth Group were generally answered within two minutes, callers to Humana often had to wait more than 30 minutes. They're the two biggest Medicare insurers, with 45 percent of the market.
Callers to Medicare's toll-free line often had to wait more than 15 minutes, The New York Times reported.
The Bush administration says it will not waive the financial penalty for people who missed Monday's initial sign-up deadline. That penalty will increase future premiums by 7 percent or more.
U.S. Teen Abuse of Rx Pain Killers Called 'Entrenched Behavior'
The abuse of prescription drugs by American teens has become "an entrenched behavior," says a report released Tuesday by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America.
The 2005 survey of more than 7,300 teens in grades 7 through 12 found that, for the third straight year, about 20 percent of teens have tried prescription drug painkillers such as Vicodin or OxyContin to get high. Nationwide, that works out to about 4.5 million teens, the Associated Press reported.
The survey also found that many teens feel it's safer to experiment with prescription drugs than illegal substances -- 40 percent of teens said prescription medicines were "much safer" than illegal drugs and 31 percent said there was "nothing wrong" with using prescription drugs "once in a while."
Twenty-nine percent of the teens said they believed prescription pain killers are not addictive, the AP reported.
The survey did find that teen smoking and drinking continued to decline.
Nancy Reagan Backing Could Help Embryonic Stem Cell Bill
A letter from Nancy Reagan expressing her support for embryonic stem cell research may be helping fuel a potential showdown between the U.S. Senate and the White House.
Senate Republican leaders are making plans to vote this summer on a bill to restore federal funding of the research, the Associated Press reported. Nearly a year ago, the House passed the measure, with support from 50 Republicans.
The bill seeks to reverse restrictions on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research put in place in 2001 by President Bush. The restrictions allow research only on stem cells created before Aug. 9, 2001. Bush has vowed to veto any move to ease the restrictions.
In a letter to Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Tenn.), Reagan encouraged the Senate to ignore the veto threat and pass the bill to restore federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, the AP reported. Hatch is a sponsor of the bill.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has ordered the makers of the asthma drugs Advair Diskus, Foradil Aerolizer and Serevent Diskus to update their labels with new warnings that the medicines may increase the risk of severe asthma episodes, and death when those episodes occur.
The medicines belong to a class called long-acting beta 2-adrenergic agonists (LABA), which are long-acting bronchodilator medicines that help relax the muscles around the airways in the lungs.
Even though LABAs decrease the frequency of asthma attacks, they can make asthma attacks more severe when they do occur, the FDA said in a public health advisory released Monday.
The advisory highlights a number of recommendations, including not to use LABAs as the first medicine to treat asthma or to treat wheezing that is getting worse.
Report Identifies Top Preventive Health Services
Daily aspirin use, immunization for children and smoker interventions lead a list of the top 25 beneficial and cost-effective preventive health services for Americans, which was released Tuesday by the Partnership for Prevention.
However, the report also found that more than 50 percent of Americans who need recommended preventive health services go without them.
"Currently, about 95 percent of healthcare dollars in the United States are spent on treating diseases, with relatively little attention paid to preventing diseases, which should be a national priority," Dr. David Satcher, former U.S. Surgeon General and chair of the National Commission on Prevention Priorities (NCPP), a blue-ribbon panel convened for the report, said in a prepared statement.
The report was published online Tuesday by the American Journal of Preventive Medicine and will appear in the July print issue.
FDA Approves Resumed Sales of Synthetic THC Drug
A synthetic version of the active ingredient in marijuana -- withdrawn from the U.S. market 17 years ago -- will be back on sale in two or three weeks as a prescription drug for vomiting and nausea caused by chemotherapy.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave approval Monday for the resumption of sales of Cesamet, said manufacturer Valeant Pharmaceuticals International of Costa Mesa, Calif. The company bought the drug, also called nabilone, from Eli Lilly and Co. in 2004, the Associated Press reported.
Valeant currently sells the drug in Canada. It was approved in the U.S. in 1985 but withdrawn in 1989 for commercial reasons, company president Wes Wheeler said. Since purchasing the drug from Eli Lilly, Valeant has revised the label and updated its manufacturing process, Wheeler said.
Cesamet is a synthetic version of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active ingredient in marijuana. Synthetic THC acts on the brain in the same way as THC in marijuana. Cancer patients take the one-milligram Cesamet tablets twice daily before they have chemotherapy, and up to 48 hours after treatment, the AP reported.
Tooth Fairy Paying More: Poll
The current average cost of plucking a baby tooth from under a child's pillow is now $2 in the United States. That's 22 cents more than in 2005, an increase of 12.4 percent, according to an annual Tooth Fairy poll released Tuesday by Securian Dental.
While the average is $2 a tooth, the Tooth Fairy's offerings ranged from a low of 25 cents to a high of $25 per tooth, the poll found.
"The Tooth Fairy is a rite of passage in many American households and presents a great opportunity for parents to talk with their children about practicing good dental habits," Richard Hastreiter, vice president of oral health analytics and dental director for Securian Dental, said in a prepared statement.
The poll, which sampled Securian's commercially insured clients, also found that 74 percent of parents said their children brush their teeth twice a day and that 91 percent of their children have a dental exam every six months.
Last-Minute Rush for Medicare Drug Plan Sign Up
Monday's deadline for enrollment in the new U.S. Medicare prescription drug benefit plan prompted a rush as people who'd waited until the last minute signed up in order to avoid the late-enrollment penalty.
While phone calls to UnitedHealth Group were generally answered within two minutes, callers to Humana often had to wait more than 30 minutes. They're the two biggest Medicare insurers, with 45 percent of the market.
Callers to Medicare's toll-free line often had to wait more than 15 minutes, The New York Times reported.
The Bush administration says it will not waive the financial penalty for people who missed Monday's initial sign-up deadline. That penalty will increase future premiums by 7 percent or more.
U.S. Teen Abuse of Rx Pain Killers Called 'Entrenched Behavior'
The abuse of prescription drugs by American teens has become "an entrenched behavior," says a report released Tuesday by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America.
The 2005 survey of more than 7,300 teens in grades 7 through 12 found that, for the third straight year, about 20 percent of teens have tried prescription drug painkillers such as Vicodin or OxyContin to get high. Nationwide, that works out to about 4.5 million teens, the Associated Press reported.
The survey also found that many teens feel it's safer to experiment with prescription drugs than illegal substances -- 40 percent of teens said prescription medicines were "much safer" than illegal drugs and 31 percent said there was "nothing wrong" with using prescription drugs "once in a while."
Twenty-nine percent of the teens said they believed prescription pain killers are not addictive, the AP reported.
The survey did find that teen smoking and drinking continued to decline.
Nancy Reagan Backing Could Help Embryonic Stem Cell Bill
A letter from Nancy Reagan expressing her support for embryonic stem cell research may be helping fuel a potential showdown between the U.S. Senate and the White House.
Senate Republican leaders are making plans to vote this summer on a bill to restore federal funding of the research, the Associated Press reported. Nearly a year ago, the House passed the measure, with support from 50 Republicans.
The bill seeks to reverse restrictions on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research put in place in 2001 by President Bush. The restrictions allow research only on stem cells created before Aug. 9, 2001. Bush has vowed to veto any move to ease the restrictions.
In a letter to Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Tenn.), Reagan encouraged the Senate to ignore the veto threat and pass the bill to restore federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, the AP reported. Hatch is a sponsor of the bill.
Monday, May 15, 2006
Health Headlines - May 15
Exercise, Healthy Diet May Ward Off Colon Cancer
Exercise and a restricted-calorie diet may help protect against colorectal cancer, suggests a University of Wisconsin-Madison study in mice genetically engineered to be predisposed to develop intestinal polyps, the forerunners of colorectal tumors.
Male mice who exercised on a running wheel and had their food intake restricted developed 25 percent fewer polyps and had smaller polyps than mice in a control group who got no exercise and ate as much as they wanted.
By the end of 10 weeks, six of the 23 mice in the control group had died due to the number of polyps that had grown and the resulting anemia, but all of the 24 exercising mice were still alive.
The findings appear in the journal Carcinogenesis.
"Our studies are relevant for humans in that these mice have a mutation in one of the same genes, APC, that is also mutated in human colon cancer," study lead author Lisa H. Colbert, assistant professor, department of kinesiology, said in a prepared statement.
"The protective effect of exercise and body weight in our mice is consistent with epidemiological evidence in humans that suggests higher levels of activity and lower body weight reduces the risk of colon cancer," she said.
Another study in the same issue of Carcinogenesis concluded that exercise may help protect against skin cancer. The study of female mice found that those who had constant access to a running wheel took longer to develop skin tumors and developed fewer and smaller tumors than mice that didn't have running wheels. Both groups of mice were exposed to tumor-inducing ultraviolet B light.
Parents' Response Influences How Children Cope After Hurricanes
How children cope with the aftermath of a hurricane is closely linked to their parents' psychological health, says a University of South Florida College of Public Health study that examined hundreds of families affected by Hurricane Charley, which struck Florida in 2004.
The study found that children of parents who reported high levels of post-traumatic stress (PTS) symptoms (such as fear, anxiety, anger, and depression) were four times more likely to report high levels of stress compared to children whose parents reported no PTS symptoms. Forty-five percent of children reported high levels of PTS symptoms if their parents also reported high levels of stress symptoms.
The study also found that:
* Seventy-nine percent of parents experienced panic during the hurricane, while 45 percent feared their own death and 42 percent feared their child's death.
* Eight months after Hurricane Charley, nearly 40 percent of parents reported moderate or high levels of PTS symptoms.
* Seventy-eight percent of the children in the study reported at least one symptom of PTS.
* High levels of PTS symptoms were reported by 27 percent of parents who had structural damage to their homes, by 40 percent of parents whose home suffered more damage than their neighbors' homes, and by 55 percent of parents who lost keepsakes and photos.
* More than 50 percent of parents whose children had high levels of PTS symptoms did not believe that counseling would help them or their children.
The study authors said their findings have implications for survivors of Hurricane Katrina.
"I would expect the burden of post-traumatic stress symptoms among Hurricane Katrina survivors to be even higher, because research has shown direct exposure to the dead and wounded is a strong risk factor for developing post-traumatic stress disorder," study director Elizabeth Barnett, associate professor of epidemiology, said in a prepared statement.
Contact Lens Solution Removed From Market
Contact-lens solution maker Bausch & Lomb said Monday it has permanently pulled from the market a lens solution linked to an outbreak of fungal eye infections that can cause blindness.
The number of confirmed cases of Fusarium keratitis had climbed to 122 by last Friday, according to U.S. health authorities, and most of the cases involved contact-lens wearers who reported using Bausch & Lomb's newest cleaner, ReNu with MoistureLoc MultiPurpose Solution.
"Bausch & Lomb's top priority is the safety of our customers, and we want them to have complete confidence in our products," the company's chief executive, Ronald Zarrella, said according to an Associated Press report.
The company halted U.S. sales of MoistureLoc on April 13 after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it was investigating an unusual spike in infections in Americans using the product.
Of the more than 30 million Americans who wear contact lenses, nearly 11 million use MultiPlus, which was launched a decade ago. Another 2.3 million people use MoistureLoc, which was introduced in late 2004 and accounted for $45 million in U.S. sales last year. Bausch & Lomb also makes contact lenses, ophthalmic drugs and vision-correction surgical instruments and generates more than $2 billion in annual revenues.
48 Million in U.S. Don't Use Seatbelts: Report
About 48 million people in the United States don't regularly use seat belts when they're driving, according to a report released Monday by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
Young men who live in rural areas and drive pickup trucks are the least likely to wear seatbelts, the report found, and men in general account for 65 percent of the more than 31,000 people killed each year in passenger vehicle crashes, the Associated Press reported.
The report also found that 58 percent of people killed who weren't wearing seatbelts were in crashes that occurred on rural roads. In crashes involving pickups, about 7 in 10 who died were not wearing seatbelts.
More than 6 in 10 people ages 8 to 44 who died in passenger vehicle crashes were not wearing seatbelts, the AP reported.
For people in the front seats of passenger cars, lap and shoulder safety belts reduce the risk of death by 45 percent and the risk of moderate-to-critical injuries by 65 percent, the NHTSA said.
For people in the fronts seats of pickups, vans and sport utility vehicles, seatbelts reduce the risk of death by 60 percent and the risk of moderate-to-critical injuries by 65 percent.
The agency's "Click It or Ticket" campaign runs from May 22 to June 4, in advance of the summer driving season. It includes public education advertisements, checkpoints, and patrols to help enforce seatbelt laws, the AP reported.
Exercise and a restricted-calorie diet may help protect against colorectal cancer, suggests a University of Wisconsin-Madison study in mice genetically engineered to be predisposed to develop intestinal polyps, the forerunners of colorectal tumors.
Male mice who exercised on a running wheel and had their food intake restricted developed 25 percent fewer polyps and had smaller polyps than mice in a control group who got no exercise and ate as much as they wanted.
By the end of 10 weeks, six of the 23 mice in the control group had died due to the number of polyps that had grown and the resulting anemia, but all of the 24 exercising mice were still alive.
The findings appear in the journal Carcinogenesis.
"Our studies are relevant for humans in that these mice have a mutation in one of the same genes, APC, that is also mutated in human colon cancer," study lead author Lisa H. Colbert, assistant professor, department of kinesiology, said in a prepared statement.
"The protective effect of exercise and body weight in our mice is consistent with epidemiological evidence in humans that suggests higher levels of activity and lower body weight reduces the risk of colon cancer," she said.
Another study in the same issue of Carcinogenesis concluded that exercise may help protect against skin cancer. The study of female mice found that those who had constant access to a running wheel took longer to develop skin tumors and developed fewer and smaller tumors than mice that didn't have running wheels. Both groups of mice were exposed to tumor-inducing ultraviolet B light.
Parents' Response Influences How Children Cope After Hurricanes
How children cope with the aftermath of a hurricane is closely linked to their parents' psychological health, says a University of South Florida College of Public Health study that examined hundreds of families affected by Hurricane Charley, which struck Florida in 2004.
The study found that children of parents who reported high levels of post-traumatic stress (PTS) symptoms (such as fear, anxiety, anger, and depression) were four times more likely to report high levels of stress compared to children whose parents reported no PTS symptoms. Forty-five percent of children reported high levels of PTS symptoms if their parents also reported high levels of stress symptoms.
The study also found that:
* Seventy-nine percent of parents experienced panic during the hurricane, while 45 percent feared their own death and 42 percent feared their child's death.
* Eight months after Hurricane Charley, nearly 40 percent of parents reported moderate or high levels of PTS symptoms.
* Seventy-eight percent of the children in the study reported at least one symptom of PTS.
* High levels of PTS symptoms were reported by 27 percent of parents who had structural damage to their homes, by 40 percent of parents whose home suffered more damage than their neighbors' homes, and by 55 percent of parents who lost keepsakes and photos.
* More than 50 percent of parents whose children had high levels of PTS symptoms did not believe that counseling would help them or their children.
The study authors said their findings have implications for survivors of Hurricane Katrina.
"I would expect the burden of post-traumatic stress symptoms among Hurricane Katrina survivors to be even higher, because research has shown direct exposure to the dead and wounded is a strong risk factor for developing post-traumatic stress disorder," study director Elizabeth Barnett, associate professor of epidemiology, said in a prepared statement.
Contact Lens Solution Removed From Market
Contact-lens solution maker Bausch & Lomb said Monday it has permanently pulled from the market a lens solution linked to an outbreak of fungal eye infections that can cause blindness.
The number of confirmed cases of Fusarium keratitis had climbed to 122 by last Friday, according to U.S. health authorities, and most of the cases involved contact-lens wearers who reported using Bausch & Lomb's newest cleaner, ReNu with MoistureLoc MultiPurpose Solution.
"Bausch & Lomb's top priority is the safety of our customers, and we want them to have complete confidence in our products," the company's chief executive, Ronald Zarrella, said according to an Associated Press report.
The company halted U.S. sales of MoistureLoc on April 13 after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it was investigating an unusual spike in infections in Americans using the product.
Of the more than 30 million Americans who wear contact lenses, nearly 11 million use MultiPlus, which was launched a decade ago. Another 2.3 million people use MoistureLoc, which was introduced in late 2004 and accounted for $45 million in U.S. sales last year. Bausch & Lomb also makes contact lenses, ophthalmic drugs and vision-correction surgical instruments and generates more than $2 billion in annual revenues.
48 Million in U.S. Don't Use Seatbelts: Report
About 48 million people in the United States don't regularly use seat belts when they're driving, according to a report released Monday by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
Young men who live in rural areas and drive pickup trucks are the least likely to wear seatbelts, the report found, and men in general account for 65 percent of the more than 31,000 people killed each year in passenger vehicle crashes, the Associated Press reported.
The report also found that 58 percent of people killed who weren't wearing seatbelts were in crashes that occurred on rural roads. In crashes involving pickups, about 7 in 10 who died were not wearing seatbelts.
More than 6 in 10 people ages 8 to 44 who died in passenger vehicle crashes were not wearing seatbelts, the AP reported.
For people in the front seats of passenger cars, lap and shoulder safety belts reduce the risk of death by 45 percent and the risk of moderate-to-critical injuries by 65 percent, the NHTSA said.
For people in the fronts seats of pickups, vans and sport utility vehicles, seatbelts reduce the risk of death by 60 percent and the risk of moderate-to-critical injuries by 65 percent.
The agency's "Click It or Ticket" campaign runs from May 22 to June 4, in advance of the summer driving season. It includes public education advertisements, checkpoints, and patrols to help enforce seatbelt laws, the AP reported.
Sunday, May 14, 2006
Health Headlines - May 14
Key Republican Opposes Medicare Drug Plan Late Penalty
As the opportunity to sign up for the Medicare prescription drug program nears its Monday midnight deadline, a key Republican member of Congress has told the Associated Press she'd like to have a vote on eliminating the financial penalty for late enrollment.
Rep. Nancy Johnson, R-Conn., who chairs the House Ways and Means Committee's subcommittee on health, told the wire service that she had talked to enough of her colleagues to believe Congree might vote to have the penalty waived. Those eligible for U.S. government insurance programs to help offset drug costs -- primarily older Americans -- have to sign up by midnight May 15, or they will have to pay a late charge for enrolling in the program after the deadline has passed.
Many Democrats in Congress have called for the deadline to extended, but Johnson's leadership position on Ways and Means may indicate that there's enough Republican support to waive the financial penalty or possibly even extend the deadline, the wire service reports.
Saying she plans to introduce legislation to eliminate the late charge, Johnson added, "The bottom line is this is a democracy, and the Congress responds to the people and shapes the program so it's good for them," according to the A.P.. The wire service also reports that Sen Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, who heads the Senate Finance Committee, hasn't ruled out efforts to keep the late penalty from remaining on the books.
Japan, Austria Report New Cases of Mad Cow Disease
Mad cow disease has been found in two places on separate sides of the world, Austria and Japan.
The Associated Press reports that Japan's case of mad cow was its 26th, a five-year-old Holstein dairy cow near the city of Hokkaido. Austria's was its fourth, found on a farm that officials described as being in upper Austria.
In both cases, the infected animals were destroyed and their carcasses were incinerated. Austrian health officials also said all the cattle on the farm had been destroyed.
Ironically, the news of the latest case in Japan comes right before Japanese officials were to meet with U.S. representatives to discuss lifting a ban on U.S. beef imports because of two reported cases of the disease in the United States, the latest one in March 2006.
Mad cow disease (bovine spongiform encepalopathy BSE) has a human equivalent, Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD), for which there is no cure. The United Kingdom has been hardest hit with 23 reported fatal cases between 2003 and 2004.
Cases of Bird Flu in Southeast Asia this year: Zero
It may be too early to arrive at a conclusion, but the region where the deadly avian bird flu first erupted in 2003 has had no new human cases reported this year, leading health officials speculate that the virus may indeed have an end point.
The New York Times reports that the virus H5N1 hasn't been reported in any part of Southeast Asia in humans during the past 12 months, and no cases in poultry for the past six months, where it was first reported and claimed most of its victims, both avian and human.
The newspaper quotes Dr. David Nabarro, the United Nations' chief pandemic flu coordinator as saying, "In Thailand and Vietnam, we've had the most fabulous success stories." But Nabarro stopped short of saying the virus was dying out, the newspaper reported, adding he said he was "cautious in interpreting these shifts in patterns" because too little is known about how the disease spreads.
This news is particularly significant for these two countries, because Vietnam had almost half the human cases of avian flu worldwide, and there hasn't been a single reported case in either humans or poultry this year, the newspaper reported. Thailand, also particularly hard-hit, hasn't had a human case reported in nearly a year or an avian case in six months, the Times said.
A second significant development, the Times reports, is that birds migrating during the spring from Africa to Europe have not so far carried the H5N1 virus into Europe.
Since bird flu appeared in 2003, more than 100 people have died worldwide, and health experts say that all of them died after having been in contact with birds. This has led to the belief that the virus has not yet mutated to cause human-to-human infection.
Tibetan Yoga to be Focus of Breast Cancer Study
Can a routine of yoga help ease the side effects of chemotherapy in breast cancer patients? Possibly.
The U.S. government's National Cancer Institute (NCI) has decided to spend $2.4 million to find out. The NCI has given the money to the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston to expand research it began in 2004 to determine if practicing a particular discipline called Tibetan yoga will help breast cancer patients receiving chemotherapy.
According to a news release from the Anderson Center, its 2004 research, published in the journal Cancer found that practicing Tibetan yoga improved the sleep of lymphoma patients, and a smaller study revealed that breast cancer patients had a better attitude toward their disease if they practiced Tibetan yoga.
What is Tibetan yoga? "Like other types of yoga, Tibetan yoga involves breathing, physical movements and meditation, but it puts greater emphasis on meditation and visualization," the press release quotes Alejandro Chaoul, an expert in the discipline who will help conduct the study, as saying.
Lorenzo Cohen, the director of the Integrative Medicine Program at M. D. Anderson is the study's principal investigator. According to the news release, the study will involve comparing a Tibetan yoga routine with simple stretching or usual care in women who will be undergoing chemotherapy to treat their breast cancer.
Disgraced Korean Stem Cell Scientist Indicted for Fraud
Discredited South Korean stem cell researcher Hwang Woo-suk was indicted Friday on charges of fraud, embezzlement and bioethics violations in connection with faked research.
Prosecutors also indicted five members of Hwang's research team on lesser charges, the Associated Press reported.
If convicted, Hwang faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. It's expected the first hearing will take place in mid-June.
When Hwang's research was published it was regarded as a stem-cell breakthrough and raised hopes for new treatments for diseases such as Alzheimer's. However, it was revealed late last year that he had fabricated key data.
Hwang is also alleged to have committed fraud by accepting $2 million in private donations based on the outcome of his faked research, as well as embezzling nearly $900,000 in private and government research funds. It's also alleged that Hwang bought human eggs for research -- a violation of South Korea's bioethics law, the AP reported.
As the opportunity to sign up for the Medicare prescription drug program nears its Monday midnight deadline, a key Republican member of Congress has told the Associated Press she'd like to have a vote on eliminating the financial penalty for late enrollment.
Rep. Nancy Johnson, R-Conn., who chairs the House Ways and Means Committee's subcommittee on health, told the wire service that she had talked to enough of her colleagues to believe Congree might vote to have the penalty waived. Those eligible for U.S. government insurance programs to help offset drug costs -- primarily older Americans -- have to sign up by midnight May 15, or they will have to pay a late charge for enrolling in the program after the deadline has passed.
Many Democrats in Congress have called for the deadline to extended, but Johnson's leadership position on Ways and Means may indicate that there's enough Republican support to waive the financial penalty or possibly even extend the deadline, the wire service reports.
Saying she plans to introduce legislation to eliminate the late charge, Johnson added, "The bottom line is this is a democracy, and the Congress responds to the people and shapes the program so it's good for them," according to the A.P.. The wire service also reports that Sen Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, who heads the Senate Finance Committee, hasn't ruled out efforts to keep the late penalty from remaining on the books.
Japan, Austria Report New Cases of Mad Cow Disease
Mad cow disease has been found in two places on separate sides of the world, Austria and Japan.
The Associated Press reports that Japan's case of mad cow was its 26th, a five-year-old Holstein dairy cow near the city of Hokkaido. Austria's was its fourth, found on a farm that officials described as being in upper Austria.
In both cases, the infected animals were destroyed and their carcasses were incinerated. Austrian health officials also said all the cattle on the farm had been destroyed.
Ironically, the news of the latest case in Japan comes right before Japanese officials were to meet with U.S. representatives to discuss lifting a ban on U.S. beef imports because of two reported cases of the disease in the United States, the latest one in March 2006.
Mad cow disease (bovine spongiform encepalopathy BSE) has a human equivalent, Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD), for which there is no cure. The United Kingdom has been hardest hit with 23 reported fatal cases between 2003 and 2004.
Cases of Bird Flu in Southeast Asia this year: Zero
It may be too early to arrive at a conclusion, but the region where the deadly avian bird flu first erupted in 2003 has had no new human cases reported this year, leading health officials speculate that the virus may indeed have an end point.
The New York Times reports that the virus H5N1 hasn't been reported in any part of Southeast Asia in humans during the past 12 months, and no cases in poultry for the past six months, where it was first reported and claimed most of its victims, both avian and human.
The newspaper quotes Dr. David Nabarro, the United Nations' chief pandemic flu coordinator as saying, "In Thailand and Vietnam, we've had the most fabulous success stories." But Nabarro stopped short of saying the virus was dying out, the newspaper reported, adding he said he was "cautious in interpreting these shifts in patterns" because too little is known about how the disease spreads.
This news is particularly significant for these two countries, because Vietnam had almost half the human cases of avian flu worldwide, and there hasn't been a single reported case in either humans or poultry this year, the newspaper reported. Thailand, also particularly hard-hit, hasn't had a human case reported in nearly a year or an avian case in six months, the Times said.
A second significant development, the Times reports, is that birds migrating during the spring from Africa to Europe have not so far carried the H5N1 virus into Europe.
Since bird flu appeared in 2003, more than 100 people have died worldwide, and health experts say that all of them died after having been in contact with birds. This has led to the belief that the virus has not yet mutated to cause human-to-human infection.
Tibetan Yoga to be Focus of Breast Cancer Study
Can a routine of yoga help ease the side effects of chemotherapy in breast cancer patients? Possibly.
The U.S. government's National Cancer Institute (NCI) has decided to spend $2.4 million to find out. The NCI has given the money to the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston to expand research it began in 2004 to determine if practicing a particular discipline called Tibetan yoga will help breast cancer patients receiving chemotherapy.
According to a news release from the Anderson Center, its 2004 research, published in the journal Cancer found that practicing Tibetan yoga improved the sleep of lymphoma patients, and a smaller study revealed that breast cancer patients had a better attitude toward their disease if they practiced Tibetan yoga.
What is Tibetan yoga? "Like other types of yoga, Tibetan yoga involves breathing, physical movements and meditation, but it puts greater emphasis on meditation and visualization," the press release quotes Alejandro Chaoul, an expert in the discipline who will help conduct the study, as saying.
Lorenzo Cohen, the director of the Integrative Medicine Program at M. D. Anderson is the study's principal investigator. According to the news release, the study will involve comparing a Tibetan yoga routine with simple stretching or usual care in women who will be undergoing chemotherapy to treat their breast cancer.
Disgraced Korean Stem Cell Scientist Indicted for Fraud
Discredited South Korean stem cell researcher Hwang Woo-suk was indicted Friday on charges of fraud, embezzlement and bioethics violations in connection with faked research.
Prosecutors also indicted five members of Hwang's research team on lesser charges, the Associated Press reported.
If convicted, Hwang faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. It's expected the first hearing will take place in mid-June.
When Hwang's research was published it was regarded as a stem-cell breakthrough and raised hopes for new treatments for diseases such as Alzheimer's. However, it was revealed late last year that he had fabricated key data.
Hwang is also alleged to have committed fraud by accepting $2 million in private donations based on the outcome of his faked research, as well as embezzling nearly $900,000 in private and government research funds. It's also alleged that Hwang bought human eggs for research -- a violation of South Korea's bioethics law, the AP reported.
Saturday, May 13, 2006
Health Headlines - May 13
Cases of Bird Flu in Southeast Asia this year: Zero
It may be too early to arrive at a conclusion, but the region where the deadly avian bird flu first erupted in 2003 has had no new human cases reported this year, leading health officials speculate that the virus may indeed have an end point.
The New York Times reports that the virus H5N1 hasn't been reported in any part of Southeast Asia in humans during the past 12 months, and no cases in poultry for the past six months, where it was first reported and claimed most of its victims, both avian and human.
The newspaper quotes Dr. David Nabarro, the United Nations' chief pandemic flu coordinator as saying, "In Thailand and Vietnam, we've had the most fabulous success stories." But Nabarro stopped short of saying the virus was dying out, the newspaper reported, adding he said he was "cautious in interpreting these shifts in patterns" because too little is known about how the disease spreads.
This news is particularly significant for these two countries, because Vietnam had almost half the human cases of avian flu worldwide, and there hasn't been a single reported case in either humans or poultry this year, the newspaper reported. Thailand, also particularly hard-hit, hasn't had a human case reported in nearly a year or an avian case in six months, the Times said.
A second significant development, the Times reports, is that birds migrating during the spring from Africa to Europe have not so far carried the H5N1 virus into Europe.
Since bird flu appeared in 2003, more than 100 people have died worldwide, and health experts say that all of them died after having been in contact with birds. This has led to the belief that the virus has not yet mutated to cause human-to-human infection.
Tibetan Yoga to be Focus of Breast Cancer Study
Can a routine of yoga help ease the side effects of chemotherapy in breast cancer patients? Possibly.
The U.S. government's National Cancer Institute (NCI) has decided to spend $2.4 million to find out. The NCI has given the money to the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston to expand research it began in 2004 to determine if practicing a particular discipline called Tibetan yoga will help breast cancer patients receiving chemotherapy.
According to a news release from the Anderson Center, its 2004 research, published in the journal Cancer found that practicing Tibetan yoga improved the sleep of lymphoma patients, and a smaller study revealed that breast cancer patients had a better attitude toward their disease if they practiced Tibetan yoga.
What is Tibetan yoga? "Like other types of yoga, Tibetan yoga involves breathing, physical movements and meditation, but it puts greater emphasis on meditation and visualization," the press release quotes Alejandro Chaoul, an expert in the discipline who will help conduct the study, as saying.
Lorenzo Cohen, the director of the Integrative Medicine Program at M. D. Anderson is the study's principal investigator. According to the news release, the study will involve comparing a Tibetan yoga routine with simple stretching or usual care in women who will be undergoing chemotherapy to treat their breast cancer.
Disgraced Korean Stem Cell Scientist Indicted for Fraud
Discredited South Korean stem cell researcher Hwang Woo-suk was indicted Friday on charges of fraud, embezzlement and bioethics violations in connection with faked research.
Prosecutors also indicted five members of Hwang's research team on lesser charges, the Associated Press reported.
If convicted, Hwang faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. It's expected the first hearing will take place in mid-June.
When Hwang's research was published it was regarded as a stem-cell breakthrough and raised hopes for new treatments for diseases such as Alzheimer's. However, it was revealed late last year that he had fabricated key data.
Hwang is also alleged to have committed fraud by accepting $2 million in private donations based on the outcome of his faked research, as well as embezzling nearly $900,000 in private and government research funds. It's also alleged that Hwang bought human eggs for research -- a violation of South Korea's bioethics law, the AP reported.
Asthma Attack, Not Peanut Kiss, Killed Quebec Girl
A severe asthma attack, not a peanut-contaminated kiss from her boyfriend, killed a 15-year-old Saguenay, Quebec girl last year, a coroner announced Thursday.
Christina Desforges was severely allergic to peanuts but that had nothing to do with her death.
Coroner Michel Miron said she died of asthma-linked respiratory failure. He also noted that traces of the active ingredient of marijuana were found in her system, suggesting that she may have smoked some of the drug before she collapsed, CBC News reported.
Her boyfriend had eaten toast with peanut butter about nine hours before kissing her, but there was no way traces of peanut would have remained in his saliva for that long, Miron said.
Desforges' death was reported worldwide after officials speculated she may have died as a result of a peanut-tainted kiss. Miron went public in March to deny that account because he was concerned that misinformation was circulating about peanut allergies, CBC News reported.
He did not release Desforges' cause of death at that time because he was still waiting for test results and had not filed his final report.
World Cup Fans Warned About Measles
Soccer fans heading to Germany for the World Cup are being advised to get measles vaccinations to protect themselves against an outbreak in the state that will host 11 matches.
More than 1,100 people in North Rhine-Westphalia have been hit with measles in the past 10 weeks, state health officials said. The epidemic has caught the attention of the World Health Organization, which is said to be "concerned" about the situation, Agence France Presse reported.
Since measles is an airborne disease, there's a high risk of catching it in crowded soccer stadiums and at post-game celebrations, warned expert Emil Reisinger of Rostock University.
All World Cup visitors who haven't been vaccinated against measles should get vaccinated before they attend the tournament, said Heinz-Josef Schmitt, of the Robert Koch Institute, Germany's leading center for disease control.
The World Cup runs from June 9 to July 9.
It may be too early to arrive at a conclusion, but the region where the deadly avian bird flu first erupted in 2003 has had no new human cases reported this year, leading health officials speculate that the virus may indeed have an end point.
The New York Times reports that the virus H5N1 hasn't been reported in any part of Southeast Asia in humans during the past 12 months, and no cases in poultry for the past six months, where it was first reported and claimed most of its victims, both avian and human.
The newspaper quotes Dr. David Nabarro, the United Nations' chief pandemic flu coordinator as saying, "In Thailand and Vietnam, we've had the most fabulous success stories." But Nabarro stopped short of saying the virus was dying out, the newspaper reported, adding he said he was "cautious in interpreting these shifts in patterns" because too little is known about how the disease spreads.
This news is particularly significant for these two countries, because Vietnam had almost half the human cases of avian flu worldwide, and there hasn't been a single reported case in either humans or poultry this year, the newspaper reported. Thailand, also particularly hard-hit, hasn't had a human case reported in nearly a year or an avian case in six months, the Times said.
A second significant development, the Times reports, is that birds migrating during the spring from Africa to Europe have not so far carried the H5N1 virus into Europe.
Since bird flu appeared in 2003, more than 100 people have died worldwide, and health experts say that all of them died after having been in contact with birds. This has led to the belief that the virus has not yet mutated to cause human-to-human infection.
Tibetan Yoga to be Focus of Breast Cancer Study
Can a routine of yoga help ease the side effects of chemotherapy in breast cancer patients? Possibly.
The U.S. government's National Cancer Institute (NCI) has decided to spend $2.4 million to find out. The NCI has given the money to the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston to expand research it began in 2004 to determine if practicing a particular discipline called Tibetan yoga will help breast cancer patients receiving chemotherapy.
According to a news release from the Anderson Center, its 2004 research, published in the journal Cancer found that practicing Tibetan yoga improved the sleep of lymphoma patients, and a smaller study revealed that breast cancer patients had a better attitude toward their disease if they practiced Tibetan yoga.
What is Tibetan yoga? "Like other types of yoga, Tibetan yoga involves breathing, physical movements and meditation, but it puts greater emphasis on meditation and visualization," the press release quotes Alejandro Chaoul, an expert in the discipline who will help conduct the study, as saying.
Lorenzo Cohen, the director of the Integrative Medicine Program at M. D. Anderson is the study's principal investigator. According to the news release, the study will involve comparing a Tibetan yoga routine with simple stretching or usual care in women who will be undergoing chemotherapy to treat their breast cancer.
Disgraced Korean Stem Cell Scientist Indicted for Fraud
Discredited South Korean stem cell researcher Hwang Woo-suk was indicted Friday on charges of fraud, embezzlement and bioethics violations in connection with faked research.
Prosecutors also indicted five members of Hwang's research team on lesser charges, the Associated Press reported.
If convicted, Hwang faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. It's expected the first hearing will take place in mid-June.
When Hwang's research was published it was regarded as a stem-cell breakthrough and raised hopes for new treatments for diseases such as Alzheimer's. However, it was revealed late last year that he had fabricated key data.
Hwang is also alleged to have committed fraud by accepting $2 million in private donations based on the outcome of his faked research, as well as embezzling nearly $900,000 in private and government research funds. It's also alleged that Hwang bought human eggs for research -- a violation of South Korea's bioethics law, the AP reported.
Asthma Attack, Not Peanut Kiss, Killed Quebec Girl
A severe asthma attack, not a peanut-contaminated kiss from her boyfriend, killed a 15-year-old Saguenay, Quebec girl last year, a coroner announced Thursday.
Christina Desforges was severely allergic to peanuts but that had nothing to do with her death.
Coroner Michel Miron said she died of asthma-linked respiratory failure. He also noted that traces of the active ingredient of marijuana were found in her system, suggesting that she may have smoked some of the drug before she collapsed, CBC News reported.
Her boyfriend had eaten toast with peanut butter about nine hours before kissing her, but there was no way traces of peanut would have remained in his saliva for that long, Miron said.
Desforges' death was reported worldwide after officials speculated she may have died as a result of a peanut-tainted kiss. Miron went public in March to deny that account because he was concerned that misinformation was circulating about peanut allergies, CBC News reported.
He did not release Desforges' cause of death at that time because he was still waiting for test results and had not filed his final report.
World Cup Fans Warned About Measles
Soccer fans heading to Germany for the World Cup are being advised to get measles vaccinations to protect themselves against an outbreak in the state that will host 11 matches.
More than 1,100 people in North Rhine-Westphalia have been hit with measles in the past 10 weeks, state health officials said. The epidemic has caught the attention of the World Health Organization, which is said to be "concerned" about the situation, Agence France Presse reported.
Since measles is an airborne disease, there's a high risk of catching it in crowded soccer stadiums and at post-game celebrations, warned expert Emil Reisinger of Rostock University.
All World Cup visitors who haven't been vaccinated against measles should get vaccinated before they attend the tournament, said Heinz-Josef Schmitt, of the Robert Koch Institute, Germany's leading center for disease control.
The World Cup runs from June 9 to July 9.
Friday, May 12, 2006
Health Headlines - May 12
Disgraced Korean Stem Cell Scientist Indicted for Fraud
Discredited South Korean stem cell researcher Hwang Woo-suk was indicted Friday on charges of fraud, embezzlement and bioethics violations in connection with faked research.
Prosecutors also indicted five members of Hwang's research team on lesser charges, the Associated Press reported.
If convicted, Hwang faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. It's expected the first hearing will take place in mid-June.
When Hwang's research was published it was regarded as a stem-cell breakthrough and raised hopes for new treatments for diseases such as Alzheimer's. However, it was revealed late last year that he had fabricated key data.
Hwang is also alleged to have committed fraud by accepting $2 million in private donations based on the outcome of his faked research, as well as embezzling nearly $900,000 in private and government research funds. It's also alleged that Hwang bought human eggs for research -- a violation of South Korea's bioethics law, the AP reported.
Asthma Attack, Not Peanut Kiss, Killed Quebec Girl
A severe asthma attack, not a peanut-contaminated kiss from her boyfriend, killed a 15-year-old Saguenay, Quebec girl last year, a coroner announced Thursday.
Christina Desforges was severely allergic to peanuts but that had nothing to do with her death.
Coroner Michel Miron said she died of asthma-linked respiratory failure. He also noted that traces of the active ingredient of marijuana were found in her system, suggesting that she may have smoked some of the drug before she collapsed, CBC News reported.
Her boyfriend had eaten toast with peanut butter about nine hours before kissing her, but there was no way traces of peanut would have remained in his saliva for that long, Miron said.
Desforges' death was reported worldwide after officials speculated she may have died as a result of a peanut-tainted kiss. Miron went public in March to deny that account because he was concerned that misinformation was circulating about peanut allergies, CBC News reported.
He did not release Desforges' cause of death at that time because he was still waiting for test results and had not filed his final report.
World Cup Fans Warned About Measles
Soccer fans heading to Germany for the World Cup are being advised to get measles vaccinations to protect themselves against an outbreak in the state that will host 11 matches.
More than 1,100 people in North Rhine-Westphalia have been hit with measles in the past 10 weeks, state health officials said. The epidemic has caught the attention of the World Health Organization, which is said to be "concerned" about the situation, Agence France Presse reported.
Since measles is an airborne disease, there's a high risk of catching it in crowded soccer stadiums and at post-game celebrations, warned expert Emil Reisinger of Rostock University.
All World Cup visitors who haven't been vaccinated against measles should get vaccinated before they attend the tournament, said Heinz-Josef Schmitt, of the Robert Koch Institute, Germany's leading center for disease control.
The World Cup runs from June 9 to July 9.
Paxil May Increase Risk of Suicide Attempts, Drug Maker Warns
Data from clinical trials indicates that the antidepressant drug Paxil appears to increase the risk of suicide attempts in some young adults, drug maker GlaxoSmithKline warns in a letter sent to doctors.
The labeling on Paxil has been changed to reflect the finding of the Glaxo study, which analyzed data from clinical trials involving about 15,000 people, the company said. The analysis found that 11 of 3,455 people taking Paxil for treatment of depression reported an attempted suicide, compared to 1 in 1,978 of those who took a placebo, The New York Times reported.
Most of those who reported an attempted suicide were ages 18 to 30. Overall, the analysis found no increased risk of suicidal behavior in people over 30.
Among the people taking Paxil in the clinical trials, there was one suicide, the Glaxo researchers said.
Glaxo sent the warning letters out voluntarily and said that it believes that Paxil's benefits outweigh the risk for people with depression, The Times reported.
"We are now advising doctors to monitor all patients to make sure their symptoms don't worsen," during the full course of treatment with the drug, company spokeswoman Mary Anne Rhyne said.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is still evaluating the data and, "we are recommending that consumers and prescribers follow current advice to carefully observe adults being treated with antidepressants for worsening of depression and for increased suicidal thinking and behavior," the agency said in a statement.
"It is essential that patients taking Paxil do not suddenly stop taking their medication," the FDA statement said.
Merck Study: No Increased Heart Risk in Year After Stopping Vioxx
According to drug maker Merck & Co., patients who used its painkiller drug Vioxx weren't at increased risk for stroke or heart attack a year after they stopped taking the drug.
The findings come from the study that led to the withdrawal of Vioxx from the market. This new data comes from a "preliminary safety analysis" of an additional year of follow-up, the Associated Press reported.
This follow-up, part of the original study plan, found no statistical difference in the rate of strokes and heart attacks among people who took Vioxx and those who took a placebo.
The study included a three-year treatment phase. In the 12 months after the end of the study, 28 patients who took Vioxx suffered heart attacks or strokes caused by blood clots, compared with 16 patients who'd been given a placebo, the AP reported.
"We believe that the data don't provide for a claim for a patient who had an event after they stopped taking their medicine," Merck general counsel Kenneth Frazier said during a conference call with reporters.
Merck is facing about 10,000 lawsuits over Vioxx.
Discredited South Korean stem cell researcher Hwang Woo-suk was indicted Friday on charges of fraud, embezzlement and bioethics violations in connection with faked research.
Prosecutors also indicted five members of Hwang's research team on lesser charges, the Associated Press reported.
If convicted, Hwang faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. It's expected the first hearing will take place in mid-June.
When Hwang's research was published it was regarded as a stem-cell breakthrough and raised hopes for new treatments for diseases such as Alzheimer's. However, it was revealed late last year that he had fabricated key data.
Hwang is also alleged to have committed fraud by accepting $2 million in private donations based on the outcome of his faked research, as well as embezzling nearly $900,000 in private and government research funds. It's also alleged that Hwang bought human eggs for research -- a violation of South Korea's bioethics law, the AP reported.
Asthma Attack, Not Peanut Kiss, Killed Quebec Girl
A severe asthma attack, not a peanut-contaminated kiss from her boyfriend, killed a 15-year-old Saguenay, Quebec girl last year, a coroner announced Thursday.
Christina Desforges was severely allergic to peanuts but that had nothing to do with her death.
Coroner Michel Miron said she died of asthma-linked respiratory failure. He also noted that traces of the active ingredient of marijuana were found in her system, suggesting that she may have smoked some of the drug before she collapsed, CBC News reported.
Her boyfriend had eaten toast with peanut butter about nine hours before kissing her, but there was no way traces of peanut would have remained in his saliva for that long, Miron said.
Desforges' death was reported worldwide after officials speculated she may have died as a result of a peanut-tainted kiss. Miron went public in March to deny that account because he was concerned that misinformation was circulating about peanut allergies, CBC News reported.
He did not release Desforges' cause of death at that time because he was still waiting for test results and had not filed his final report.
World Cup Fans Warned About Measles
Soccer fans heading to Germany for the World Cup are being advised to get measles vaccinations to protect themselves against an outbreak in the state that will host 11 matches.
More than 1,100 people in North Rhine-Westphalia have been hit with measles in the past 10 weeks, state health officials said. The epidemic has caught the attention of the World Health Organization, which is said to be "concerned" about the situation, Agence France Presse reported.
Since measles is an airborne disease, there's a high risk of catching it in crowded soccer stadiums and at post-game celebrations, warned expert Emil Reisinger of Rostock University.
All World Cup visitors who haven't been vaccinated against measles should get vaccinated before they attend the tournament, said Heinz-Josef Schmitt, of the Robert Koch Institute, Germany's leading center for disease control.
The World Cup runs from June 9 to July 9.
Paxil May Increase Risk of Suicide Attempts, Drug Maker Warns
Data from clinical trials indicates that the antidepressant drug Paxil appears to increase the risk of suicide attempts in some young adults, drug maker GlaxoSmithKline warns in a letter sent to doctors.
The labeling on Paxil has been changed to reflect the finding of the Glaxo study, which analyzed data from clinical trials involving about 15,000 people, the company said. The analysis found that 11 of 3,455 people taking Paxil for treatment of depression reported an attempted suicide, compared to 1 in 1,978 of those who took a placebo, The New York Times reported.
Most of those who reported an attempted suicide were ages 18 to 30. Overall, the analysis found no increased risk of suicidal behavior in people over 30.
Among the people taking Paxil in the clinical trials, there was one suicide, the Glaxo researchers said.
Glaxo sent the warning letters out voluntarily and said that it believes that Paxil's benefits outweigh the risk for people with depression, The Times reported.
"We are now advising doctors to monitor all patients to make sure their symptoms don't worsen," during the full course of treatment with the drug, company spokeswoman Mary Anne Rhyne said.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is still evaluating the data and, "we are recommending that consumers and prescribers follow current advice to carefully observe adults being treated with antidepressants for worsening of depression and for increased suicidal thinking and behavior," the agency said in a statement.
"It is essential that patients taking Paxil do not suddenly stop taking their medication," the FDA statement said.
Merck Study: No Increased Heart Risk in Year After Stopping Vioxx
According to drug maker Merck & Co., patients who used its painkiller drug Vioxx weren't at increased risk for stroke or heart attack a year after they stopped taking the drug.
The findings come from the study that led to the withdrawal of Vioxx from the market. This new data comes from a "preliminary safety analysis" of an additional year of follow-up, the Associated Press reported.
This follow-up, part of the original study plan, found no statistical difference in the rate of strokes and heart attacks among people who took Vioxx and those who took a placebo.
The study included a three-year treatment phase. In the 12 months after the end of the study, 28 patients who took Vioxx suffered heart attacks or strokes caused by blood clots, compared with 16 patients who'd been given a placebo, the AP reported.
"We believe that the data don't provide for a claim for a patient who had an event after they stopped taking their medicine," Merck general counsel Kenneth Frazier said during a conference call with reporters.
Merck is facing about 10,000 lawsuits over Vioxx.
Thursday, May 11, 2006
Health Headlines - May 11
Few U.S. Troops Get Referred for PTSD Treatment: GAO
Few U.S. troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are being directed to treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to a Government Accountability Office report that was to be released Thursday.
The report found that only about one in five members of the U.S. military who, through a screening program, were found to he cost of dealing with it, the Post reported.
Of 9,145 service personnel at risk for PTSD, 22 percent were referred for help. The Army and Air Force each referred 23 percent of personnel at risk, compared with 18 percent for the Navy, and about 15 percent for the Marines, the report found.
Asians in NYC Have High Hepatitis B Infection Rate
About 15 percent of Asians living in New York City have chronic hepatitis B infection, a rate that's 35 times higher than the general U.S. population, says a study in the May 12 issue of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Chronic hepatitis B infection often leads to liver inflammation and can progress to cirrhosis and liver cancer.
Researchers screened 1,836 people at 12 healthcare centers and community sites in New York City. Nearly all the participants were born in Asian, mainly in China and Korea.
The infection rate was highest (more than 30 percent) among men ages 20 to 39 who were born in mainland China.
"These rates are extraordinarily high and underscore the need for more intensive screening in this population," study lead author Dr. Henry Pollack, associate professor of pediatrics at New York University School of Medicine, said in a prepared statement.
Hepatitis B is transmitted through unprotected sex, contact with infected blood, needle sharing, or from mother to child at birth. It cannot be transmitted through casual contact such as coughing or hugging.
UCSF Receives $16 Million Donation for Stem Cell Research Center
The University of California, San Francisco has received a $16 million donation to help create a stem cell research center that will operate without U.S. government funding.
The donation, from sound pioneer Ray Dolby and his wife, will support the Institute for Regeneration Medicine, which was previously called the Institute for Stem Cell and Tissue Biology, the Associated Press reported.
More money is still needed to build the center, which will conduct research on stem cells extracted from human embryos after August 9, 2001. That's the date that President George W. Bush cut off eligibility for U.S. government funding of human embryonic stem cell research.
Bush is among those who believe this kind of stem cell research is immoral because human embryos are destroyed during the research. Internal ethics and scientific boards at UCSF recently gave approval to scientists to being cloning human embryos for their research, the AP reported.
U.S. Health Experts Discuss Safety of Abortion Pill
Scientists from the top U.S. public health agencies are meeting Thursday to discuss the safety of the RU-486 abortion pill.
A bacterial infection caused by Clostridium sordellii led to the deaths of at least five women in the U.S. who took RU-486. The bacterium is also suspected in the death of a sixth women who took the drug, The New York Times reported.
The experts from the U.S. National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration will consider whether the method of administering abortion drugs may make women more susceptible to Clostridium sordelli.
They're also expected to discuss whether the women's deaths may be an indication of a new, more virulent strain of the bacterium that's a threat to all pregnant women, not just those who are given RU-486, the Times reported.
In 2004, the FDA ordered that strong warnings about the risk of Clostridium sordelli infection be put on RU-486 labeling. There are no indications that the FDA is considering tighter restrictions on the use of the abortion pill.
FDA Approves New Replacement Hip
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a replacement hip that preserves more of a patient's bone than traditional artificial hips. The new Birmingham Hip Resurfacing System should be available in the United States this summer.
The FDA said this new system uses a cap to replace only the head or ball atop the thigh bone, and adds a cup to replace the damaged surface of the hip socket. The cap moves within the cup to mimic the natural movement of the hip, the Associated Press reported.
Since it conserves more of the patient's original bone, the Birmingham Hip allows hip replacement in younger and more active arthritis patients, while still leaving them with the option of more traditional hip replacement surgery later in life, the FDA said.
The Birmingham Hip has been implanted in 60,000 patients in 26 countries, says Smith & Nephew Orthopaedic Reconstruction, the Memphis, Tenn.-based division of the British company that makes the device.
New Artificial Knee Joint Specifically for Women
The first artificial knee designed specifically for women has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
But there may be some debate as to whether the knee is simply a clever marketing angle or an actual medical advance, the Associated Press reported.
Zimmer Holdings, a leading maker of artificial joints, said the knee is "the first replacement knee to fit a woman's anatomy." But there is no actual evidence that the knee will be a better fit for women than traditional artificial knees.
To get FDA approval, Zimmer only had to prove the female-specific knee would not perform worse than the current artificial knees made by the company, the AP reported.
There are no patient studies of the new knee. The first eight Gender Solutions knees were implanted this week.
"It's known that women have more problems with knee implants than men, but who knows if this is an adequate way of dealing with these issues?" Jan D. Wald, an orthopedics industry analyst at A.G. Edwards & Sons, told the AP. "It's a marketer's dream to distinguish a segment of the market and claim you have the only approved product."
Average male and female knees do have a number of differences. For example, the end of the thigh bone where it meets the knee is narrower in women and also attaches to the shin bone at a different angle, due to women's wider hips, the AP reported.
Few U.S. troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are being directed to treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to a Government Accountability Office report that was to be released Thursday.
The report found that only about one in five members of the U.S. military who, through a screening program, were found to he cost of dealing with it, the Post reported.
Of 9,145 service personnel at risk for PTSD, 22 percent were referred for help. The Army and Air Force each referred 23 percent of personnel at risk, compared with 18 percent for the Navy, and about 15 percent for the Marines, the report found.
Asians in NYC Have High Hepatitis B Infection Rate
About 15 percent of Asians living in New York City have chronic hepatitis B infection, a rate that's 35 times higher than the general U.S. population, says a study in the May 12 issue of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Chronic hepatitis B infection often leads to liver inflammation and can progress to cirrhosis and liver cancer.
Researchers screened 1,836 people at 12 healthcare centers and community sites in New York City. Nearly all the participants were born in Asian, mainly in China and Korea.
The infection rate was highest (more than 30 percent) among men ages 20 to 39 who were born in mainland China.
"These rates are extraordinarily high and underscore the need for more intensive screening in this population," study lead author Dr. Henry Pollack, associate professor of pediatrics at New York University School of Medicine, said in a prepared statement.
Hepatitis B is transmitted through unprotected sex, contact with infected blood, needle sharing, or from mother to child at birth. It cannot be transmitted through casual contact such as coughing or hugging.
UCSF Receives $16 Million Donation for Stem Cell Research Center
The University of California, San Francisco has received a $16 million donation to help create a stem cell research center that will operate without U.S. government funding.
The donation, from sound pioneer Ray Dolby and his wife, will support the Institute for Regeneration Medicine, which was previously called the Institute for Stem Cell and Tissue Biology, the Associated Press reported.
More money is still needed to build the center, which will conduct research on stem cells extracted from human embryos after August 9, 2001. That's the date that President George W. Bush cut off eligibility for U.S. government funding of human embryonic stem cell research.
Bush is among those who believe this kind of stem cell research is immoral because human embryos are destroyed during the research. Internal ethics and scientific boards at UCSF recently gave approval to scientists to being cloning human embryos for their research, the AP reported.
U.S. Health Experts Discuss Safety of Abortion Pill
Scientists from the top U.S. public health agencies are meeting Thursday to discuss the safety of the RU-486 abortion pill.
A bacterial infection caused by Clostridium sordellii led to the deaths of at least five women in the U.S. who took RU-486. The bacterium is also suspected in the death of a sixth women who took the drug, The New York Times reported.
The experts from the U.S. National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration will consider whether the method of administering abortion drugs may make women more susceptible to Clostridium sordelli.
They're also expected to discuss whether the women's deaths may be an indication of a new, more virulent strain of the bacterium that's a threat to all pregnant women, not just those who are given RU-486, the Times reported.
In 2004, the FDA ordered that strong warnings about the risk of Clostridium sordelli infection be put on RU-486 labeling. There are no indications that the FDA is considering tighter restrictions on the use of the abortion pill.
FDA Approves New Replacement Hip
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a replacement hip that preserves more of a patient's bone than traditional artificial hips. The new Birmingham Hip Resurfacing System should be available in the United States this summer.
The FDA said this new system uses a cap to replace only the head or ball atop the thigh bone, and adds a cup to replace the damaged surface of the hip socket. The cap moves within the cup to mimic the natural movement of the hip, the Associated Press reported.
Since it conserves more of the patient's original bone, the Birmingham Hip allows hip replacement in younger and more active arthritis patients, while still leaving them with the option of more traditional hip replacement surgery later in life, the FDA said.
The Birmingham Hip has been implanted in 60,000 patients in 26 countries, says Smith & Nephew Orthopaedic Reconstruction, the Memphis, Tenn.-based division of the British company that makes the device.
New Artificial Knee Joint Specifically for Women
The first artificial knee designed specifically for women has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
But there may be some debate as to whether the knee is simply a clever marketing angle or an actual medical advance, the Associated Press reported.
Zimmer Holdings, a leading maker of artificial joints, said the knee is "the first replacement knee to fit a woman's anatomy." But there is no actual evidence that the knee will be a better fit for women than traditional artificial knees.
To get FDA approval, Zimmer only had to prove the female-specific knee would not perform worse than the current artificial knees made by the company, the AP reported.
There are no patient studies of the new knee. The first eight Gender Solutions knees were implanted this week.
"It's known that women have more problems with knee implants than men, but who knows if this is an adequate way of dealing with these issues?" Jan D. Wald, an orthopedics industry analyst at A.G. Edwards & Sons, told the AP. "It's a marketer's dream to distinguish a segment of the market and claim you have the only approved product."
Average male and female knees do have a number of differences. For example, the end of the thigh bone where it meets the knee is narrower in women and also attaches to the shin bone at a different angle, due to women's wider hips, the AP reported.
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Health Headlines - May 10
No H5N1 Virus in Birds Migrating From Africa to Europe
Migrating birds returning to Europe from Africa did not carry the H5N1 avian flu virus with them, say scientists.
That conclusion eases health experts' fears that wild birds would carry the virus to Africa during the winter migration and then return it to Europe this spring with potentially devastating results, the International Herald Tribune reported.
"It is quiet now in terms of cases, which is contrary to what many people had expected," said Ward Hagemeijer, an avian influenza expert with the Netherlands-based environmental group Wetlands International.
Scientists analyzed thousands of samples collected in Africa this winter and did not find H5N1 in a single wild bird. In Europe, there have been only a few H5N1 cases found in wild birds since April 1, the International Herald Tribune reported.
The good news has prompted many European countries to lift restrictions designed to protect domestic poultry from wild birds infected with H5N1.
However, scientists caution that the virus could make a strong return to Europe in the future.
Nearly Two Million Drug-Related Visits to U.S. ERs in 2004: Report
There were nearly two million drug-related visits to U.S. emergency departments in 2004, and nearly 1.3 million of those involved drug or alcohol misuse or abuse, according to data released Wednesday by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
The data, from the new Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN), show that: 30 percent of the 1.3 million ER visits associated with drug misuse or abuse involved only illicit drugs; 25 percent involved only prescription or over-the-counter medications; eight percent involved alcohol only in patients under age 21; 15 percent involved illicit drugs and alcohol; 8 percent involved both illicit drugs and pharmaceuticals; and 14 percent involved illicit drugs, pharmaceuticals and alcohol, all in the same person.
DAWN estimates that 495,732 visits to U.S. ERs in 2004 were related to nonmedical use of prescription and over-the-counter medicines. Of these, 57 percent involved more than one drug. Opiates and opioid analgesics (prescription pain killers) were the most common, involved in 32 percent of ER visits due to nonmedical use of medicines.
The most frequently used prescription pain killers were: hydrocodone products (42,491 ER visits); oxycodone products (36,559 visits); and methadone (31,874 visits).
Study Shows 13-Month Delay in Autism Diagnosis
Some children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) can experience up to a 13-month delay before they're diagnosed, says a study of children in metropolitan Atlanta.
On average, children were evaluated when they were 4 years old but weren't diagnosed with ASD until they were an average age of 5 years, 1 month. There was a great deal of variability, the study noted, with an age range of 1 year, 4 months to 8 years, 6 months for initial evaluation, and an age range of 1 year, 5 months to 8 years, 8 months for diagnosis.
The study did not examine reasons for the delay in diagnosis, but did find that most children were first diagnosed with other conditions, such as language delay or general developmental delay.
The findings appear in the April autism supplement of the Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics.
"Although this study draws upon data from the metro Atlanta area, it serves as an important indicator of the nationwide challenges of diagnosing autism, particularly more mild cases," Dr. Jose Cordero, director of the U.S. National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, said in a prepared statement.
Women Judge Men by Their Faces: Study
Women were able to tell from a photo of a man's face whether he likes babies and would likely make a good long-term partner, says a University of Chicago study.
They were also able to identify men with higher levels of the male hormone testosterone and were more attracted to these masculine men for a short-term fling, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
Men with rounder faces -- like actor Tom Hanks -- were judged to like babies, while men with prominent face bones and squarer jaws -- like actor Mickey Rourke -- were considered to be more masculine.
For this study, 29 women, ages 18 to 20, looked at photos of 39 men, ages 18 to 33. The women rated the men on a 1-to-7 scale on attributes such as "likes children" and "masculine." The women also rated each man's attractiveness as a long-term or short-term romantic partner, the Sun-Times reported.
Prior to this, the researchers had measured the men's testosterone levels and gauged their interest in babies.
The women, "were surprisingly accurate in judging men's interest in infants, as well as their masculinity," said study co-author and behavioral biologist Dario Maestripieri.
Increase in Cases of Eye Infections Linked to ReNu Products: CDC
There has been a sharp increase since last week in the number of fungal eye infections linked to Bausch & Lomb's ReNu brand of contact lens solutions, U.S. health officials said Tuesday.
The overall number of confirmed cases of potentially blinding Fusarium fungus eye infections in the United States now stands at 106, an increase of four since Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
Over that same time, the number of cases linked to ReNu products has increased from 54 to 87, The New York Times reported.
Most of those involve ReNu with MoistureLoc, which was recalled from U.S. store shelves last month. However, the CDC also noted that the number of eye infections linked to another Bausch & Lomb product, ReNu with MultiPlus, has increased to 19 from 15 cases last week.
That has prompted calls for Bausch & Lomb to stop selling ReNu with MultiPlus, instead of advising consumers to switch to that product from ReNu with MoistureLoc, the Times reported.
The CDC also confirmed reports of eye infections in contact lens wearers who rely completely or partly on products from Advanced Medical Optics and Alcon.
Green Tea Doesn't Reduce Heart Disease Risk: FDA
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday that it has found no credible scientific evidence that green tea lowers heart disease risk.
The agency reviewed 105 articles and other literature before rejecting a petition to allow labels on green tea or green tea extract to state that the tea reduces the risk of heart disease, the Associated Press reported.
The petition, submitted in June 2005 by Ito En Ltd. of Japan and its U.S. subsidiary Ito En (North America) Inc., sought to make the claim that drinking at least five ounces of green tea a day may reduce the risk of heart disease.
Previously, the FDA has said green tea probably does not lower the risk of breast, prostate or any other kind of cancer, the AP reported.
Migrating birds returning to Europe from Africa did not carry the H5N1 avian flu virus with them, say scientists.
That conclusion eases health experts' fears that wild birds would carry the virus to Africa during the winter migration and then return it to Europe this spring with potentially devastating results, the International Herald Tribune reported.
"It is quiet now in terms of cases, which is contrary to what many people had expected," said Ward Hagemeijer, an avian influenza expert with the Netherlands-based environmental group Wetlands International.
Scientists analyzed thousands of samples collected in Africa this winter and did not find H5N1 in a single wild bird. In Europe, there have been only a few H5N1 cases found in wild birds since April 1, the International Herald Tribune reported.
The good news has prompted many European countries to lift restrictions designed to protect domestic poultry from wild birds infected with H5N1.
However, scientists caution that the virus could make a strong return to Europe in the future.
Nearly Two Million Drug-Related Visits to U.S. ERs in 2004: Report
There were nearly two million drug-related visits to U.S. emergency departments in 2004, and nearly 1.3 million of those involved drug or alcohol misuse or abuse, according to data released Wednesday by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
The data, from the new Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN), show that: 30 percent of the 1.3 million ER visits associated with drug misuse or abuse involved only illicit drugs; 25 percent involved only prescription or over-the-counter medications; eight percent involved alcohol only in patients under age 21; 15 percent involved illicit drugs and alcohol; 8 percent involved both illicit drugs and pharmaceuticals; and 14 percent involved illicit drugs, pharmaceuticals and alcohol, all in the same person.
DAWN estimates that 495,732 visits to U.S. ERs in 2004 were related to nonmedical use of prescription and over-the-counter medicines. Of these, 57 percent involved more than one drug. Opiates and opioid analgesics (prescription pain killers) were the most common, involved in 32 percent of ER visits due to nonmedical use of medicines.
The most frequently used prescription pain killers were: hydrocodone products (42,491 ER visits); oxycodone products (36,559 visits); and methadone (31,874 visits).
Study Shows 13-Month Delay in Autism Diagnosis
Some children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) can experience up to a 13-month delay before they're diagnosed, says a study of children in metropolitan Atlanta.
On average, children were evaluated when they were 4 years old but weren't diagnosed with ASD until they were an average age of 5 years, 1 month. There was a great deal of variability, the study noted, with an age range of 1 year, 4 months to 8 years, 6 months for initial evaluation, and an age range of 1 year, 5 months to 8 years, 8 months for diagnosis.
The study did not examine reasons for the delay in diagnosis, but did find that most children were first diagnosed with other conditions, such as language delay or general developmental delay.
The findings appear in the April autism supplement of the Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics.
"Although this study draws upon data from the metro Atlanta area, it serves as an important indicator of the nationwide challenges of diagnosing autism, particularly more mild cases," Dr. Jose Cordero, director of the U.S. National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, said in a prepared statement.
Women Judge Men by Their Faces: Study
Women were able to tell from a photo of a man's face whether he likes babies and would likely make a good long-term partner, says a University of Chicago study.
They were also able to identify men with higher levels of the male hormone testosterone and were more attracted to these masculine men for a short-term fling, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
Men with rounder faces -- like actor Tom Hanks -- were judged to like babies, while men with prominent face bones and squarer jaws -- like actor Mickey Rourke -- were considered to be more masculine.
For this study, 29 women, ages 18 to 20, looked at photos of 39 men, ages 18 to 33. The women rated the men on a 1-to-7 scale on attributes such as "likes children" and "masculine." The women also rated each man's attractiveness as a long-term or short-term romantic partner, the Sun-Times reported.
Prior to this, the researchers had measured the men's testosterone levels and gauged their interest in babies.
The women, "were surprisingly accurate in judging men's interest in infants, as well as their masculinity," said study co-author and behavioral biologist Dario Maestripieri.
Increase in Cases of Eye Infections Linked to ReNu Products: CDC
There has been a sharp increase since last week in the number of fungal eye infections linked to Bausch & Lomb's ReNu brand of contact lens solutions, U.S. health officials said Tuesday.
The overall number of confirmed cases of potentially blinding Fusarium fungus eye infections in the United States now stands at 106, an increase of four since Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
Over that same time, the number of cases linked to ReNu products has increased from 54 to 87, The New York Times reported.
Most of those involve ReNu with MoistureLoc, which was recalled from U.S. store shelves last month. However, the CDC also noted that the number of eye infections linked to another Bausch & Lomb product, ReNu with MultiPlus, has increased to 19 from 15 cases last week.
That has prompted calls for Bausch & Lomb to stop selling ReNu with MultiPlus, instead of advising consumers to switch to that product from ReNu with MoistureLoc, the Times reported.
The CDC also confirmed reports of eye infections in contact lens wearers who rely completely or partly on products from Advanced Medical Optics and Alcon.
Green Tea Doesn't Reduce Heart Disease Risk: FDA
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday that it has found no credible scientific evidence that green tea lowers heart disease risk.
The agency reviewed 105 articles and other literature before rejecting a petition to allow labels on green tea or green tea extract to state that the tea reduces the risk of heart disease, the Associated Press reported.
The petition, submitted in June 2005 by Ito En Ltd. of Japan and its U.S. subsidiary Ito En (North America) Inc., sought to make the claim that drinking at least five ounces of green tea a day may reduce the risk of heart disease.
Previously, the FDA has said green tea probably does not lower the risk of breast, prostate or any other kind of cancer, the AP reported.
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
Health Headlines - May 9
U.S. Has Poor Newborn Survival Rate: Report
The United States has the second highest death rate for newborns among industrialized nations, according to a new global report.
The death rate for U.S. newborns is 5 per 1,000 live births, the same as Hungary, Malta, Poland and Slovakia, the Save the Children report released Monday showed. Latvia had the worst rate -- 6 per 1,000 -- among industrialized countries, the Associated Press reported.
Japan had the lowest newborn death rate -- 1.8 per 1,000 -- among the 33 industrialized nations. The Czech Republic, Finland, Iceland and Norway tied for second place with 2 per 1,000.
Racial and income disparities are factors in the poor U.S. ranking. Among black Americans, the newborn death rate is 9 per 1,000, which is closer to rates in developing nations than rates in industrialized countries, the AP reported.
A lack of national health insurance and short maternity leaves in the United States may also be factors, the report authors said.
"Every time I see these kinds of statistics, I'm always amazed to see where the United States is, because we are a country that prides itself on having such advanced medical care and developing new technology ... and new approaches to treating illness. But at the same time not everybody has access to those new technologies," Dr. Mark Schuster, a Rand Co. researcher and pediatrician with the University of California, Los Angeles, told the AP.
Liberia had the highest newborn death rate among all nations -- 65 deaths per 1,000 live births.
U.S. Employees at Smaller Firms Pay More in Health Insurance
Workers at the smallest U.S. businesses (1 to 9 employees) pay an average of 18 percent more in health insurance than people who work at the largest companies (1,000 + employees) when the percentage of total medical expenses paid by the health plan (actuarial value) is taken into account, says a Commonwealth Fund-supported study released Tuesday.
The type of health plan is a major factor in determining actuarial value and adjusted cost. Adjusted premiums are 25 percent higher for indemnity plans and 18 percent higher for preferred provider organization (PPO) plans than HMOs, the study said.
Factors that contribute to the differences in premiums include: higher administrative costs from marketing; medical underwriting (the process of assessing medical risk), and greater risks.
The study also found that workers in states with large urban populations -- such as California, Massachusetts, New York and Pennsylvania -- tend to get more value for their premium dollar than workers in rural states like Maine, West Virginia, Wyoming and Wisconsin.
The findings appear in the May/June issue of the journal Health Affairs.
The study also found:
* Fifty-two percent of workers in small firms (1 to 49 employees) have deductibles, compared with 44 percent of workers in firms with 50 or more employees, and 40 percent of workers in firms with 1,000 or more employees.
* For workers in small firms who have deductibles, the average amount is $599, compared with $386 for workers in large firms.
FDA Argues to Restore Ephedra Ban
As part of its legal fight to restore a ban on dietary supplements that contain low doses of the weight-loss aid ephedra, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Monday that the federal judge who lifted the ban misunderstood the law.
The ban was successfully challenged last year by Utah-based Nutraceutical Corp. when U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell in Salt Lake City ruled that the ban couldn't be enforced against supplements that contained up to 10 milligrams of ephedra, the Associated Press reported.
But Campbell didn't understand the law or the FDA's duties in regulating dietary supplements, a lawyer for the FDA told a three-judge panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Monday.
Lawyer Christine Kohl also argued that Campbell ignored scientific information on ephedra's effects on the body, the AP reported.
The FDA banned ephedra two years ago. It has been linked to dozens of deaths and thousands of reports of health problems, including increased blood pressure and heart attacks.
In court Monday, an attorney for Neutraceutical Corp. argued that Campbell was correct in ruling that the FDA should have researched the effects of various doses of ephedra and, instead of a blanket ban, should have developed specific, dose-based regulations for ephedra, the AP reported.
Get Morning-After Pill in Advance, Ob-Gyn Group Urges U.S. Women
Women in the United States should get an advance prescription for the morning-after pill so they'll have it on hand if they need it, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) advises in a new "Ask me" campaign.
The effort is meant to increase access to the emergency birth control after the Bush administration refused to allow over-the-counter (OTC) sales of the contraceptive, the Associated Press reported.
Last year, senior Food and Drug Administration officials overruled their own scientists' decision that OTC sales of the morning-after pill would be safe. The FDA indefinitely postponed a decision on the issue.
The "Ask me" campaign includes distribution of waiting-room posters to the ACOG's 49,000 members. The posters urge women of childbearing age to ask about getting a prescription for the morning-after pill that they could keep on hand in case they need it, the AP reported.
The morning-after pill reduces the risk of pregnancy by up to 89 percent if it's used within 72 hours of sex. However, it can be difficult -- especially on weekends or holidays -- to find a doctor to write a prescription in time.
The morning-after pill is sold without a prescription in Britain, Canada and in a few U.S. states, the AP reported.
Despite Laws, Many Pregnant Women Not Tested for HIV
Despite state laws requiring that all pregnant women be offered HIV testing multiple times during pregnancy, about 20 percent of Florida women reach their third trimester without being tested for HIV, according to a review of Florida women conducted from 2004-04.
The findings were presented Monday at the annual meeting of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
Rapid HIV testing of more than 1,300 women who lacked proof of HIV testing when they reached the delivery room identified one HIV-positive mother. Doctors were able to preventively reduce the baby's risk of infection, said Dr. Andrew W. Helfgott, chief of the section of maternal-fetal medicine at the Medical College of Georgia who previously worked in a high-risk pregnancy program in Pensacola, Fla.
"The problem we found in Pensacola is the women either didn't get offered testing in the third trimester or -- and this will remain a problem all over the country until we go totally to electronic medical records -- we had trouble getting prenatal care records while women were in labor and delivery," Helfgott said in a prepared statement.
The United States has the second highest death rate for newborns among industrialized nations, according to a new global report.
The death rate for U.S. newborns is 5 per 1,000 live births, the same as Hungary, Malta, Poland and Slovakia, the Save the Children report released Monday showed. Latvia had the worst rate -- 6 per 1,000 -- among industrialized countries, the Associated Press reported.
Japan had the lowest newborn death rate -- 1.8 per 1,000 -- among the 33 industrialized nations. The Czech Republic, Finland, Iceland and Norway tied for second place with 2 per 1,000.
Racial and income disparities are factors in the poor U.S. ranking. Among black Americans, the newborn death rate is 9 per 1,000, which is closer to rates in developing nations than rates in industrialized countries, the AP reported.
A lack of national health insurance and short maternity leaves in the United States may also be factors, the report authors said.
"Every time I see these kinds of statistics, I'm always amazed to see where the United States is, because we are a country that prides itself on having such advanced medical care and developing new technology ... and new approaches to treating illness. But at the same time not everybody has access to those new technologies," Dr. Mark Schuster, a Rand Co. researcher and pediatrician with the University of California, Los Angeles, told the AP.
Liberia had the highest newborn death rate among all nations -- 65 deaths per 1,000 live births.
U.S. Employees at Smaller Firms Pay More in Health Insurance
Workers at the smallest U.S. businesses (1 to 9 employees) pay an average of 18 percent more in health insurance than people who work at the largest companies (1,000 + employees) when the percentage of total medical expenses paid by the health plan (actuarial value) is taken into account, says a Commonwealth Fund-supported study released Tuesday.
The type of health plan is a major factor in determining actuarial value and adjusted cost. Adjusted premiums are 25 percent higher for indemnity plans and 18 percent higher for preferred provider organization (PPO) plans than HMOs, the study said.
Factors that contribute to the differences in premiums include: higher administrative costs from marketing; medical underwriting (the process of assessing medical risk), and greater risks.
The study also found that workers in states with large urban populations -- such as California, Massachusetts, New York and Pennsylvania -- tend to get more value for their premium dollar than workers in rural states like Maine, West Virginia, Wyoming and Wisconsin.
The findings appear in the May/June issue of the journal Health Affairs.
The study also found:
* Fifty-two percent of workers in small firms (1 to 49 employees) have deductibles, compared with 44 percent of workers in firms with 50 or more employees, and 40 percent of workers in firms with 1,000 or more employees.
* For workers in small firms who have deductibles, the average amount is $599, compared with $386 for workers in large firms.
FDA Argues to Restore Ephedra Ban
As part of its legal fight to restore a ban on dietary supplements that contain low doses of the weight-loss aid ephedra, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Monday that the federal judge who lifted the ban misunderstood the law.
The ban was successfully challenged last year by Utah-based Nutraceutical Corp. when U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell in Salt Lake City ruled that the ban couldn't be enforced against supplements that contained up to 10 milligrams of ephedra, the Associated Press reported.
But Campbell didn't understand the law or the FDA's duties in regulating dietary supplements, a lawyer for the FDA told a three-judge panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Monday.
Lawyer Christine Kohl also argued that Campbell ignored scientific information on ephedra's effects on the body, the AP reported.
The FDA banned ephedra two years ago. It has been linked to dozens of deaths and thousands of reports of health problems, including increased blood pressure and heart attacks.
In court Monday, an attorney for Neutraceutical Corp. argued that Campbell was correct in ruling that the FDA should have researched the effects of various doses of ephedra and, instead of a blanket ban, should have developed specific, dose-based regulations for ephedra, the AP reported.
Get Morning-After Pill in Advance, Ob-Gyn Group Urges U.S. Women
Women in the United States should get an advance prescription for the morning-after pill so they'll have it on hand if they need it, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) advises in a new "Ask me" campaign.
The effort is meant to increase access to the emergency birth control after the Bush administration refused to allow over-the-counter (OTC) sales of the contraceptive, the Associated Press reported.
Last year, senior Food and Drug Administration officials overruled their own scientists' decision that OTC sales of the morning-after pill would be safe. The FDA indefinitely postponed a decision on the issue.
The "Ask me" campaign includes distribution of waiting-room posters to the ACOG's 49,000 members. The posters urge women of childbearing age to ask about getting a prescription for the morning-after pill that they could keep on hand in case they need it, the AP reported.
The morning-after pill reduces the risk of pregnancy by up to 89 percent if it's used within 72 hours of sex. However, it can be difficult -- especially on weekends or holidays -- to find a doctor to write a prescription in time.
The morning-after pill is sold without a prescription in Britain, Canada and in a few U.S. states, the AP reported.
Despite Laws, Many Pregnant Women Not Tested for HIV
Despite state laws requiring that all pregnant women be offered HIV testing multiple times during pregnancy, about 20 percent of Florida women reach their third trimester without being tested for HIV, according to a review of Florida women conducted from 2004-04.
The findings were presented Monday at the annual meeting of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
Rapid HIV testing of more than 1,300 women who lacked proof of HIV testing when they reached the delivery room identified one HIV-positive mother. Doctors were able to preventively reduce the baby's risk of infection, said Dr. Andrew W. Helfgott, chief of the section of maternal-fetal medicine at the Medical College of Georgia who previously worked in a high-risk pregnancy program in Pensacola, Fla.
"The problem we found in Pensacola is the women either didn't get offered testing in the third trimester or -- and this will remain a problem all over the country until we go totally to electronic medical records -- we had trouble getting prenatal care records while women were in labor and delivery," Helfgott said in a prepared statement.
Monday, May 08, 2006
Health Headlines - May 8
Gene Variant Increases Prostate Cancer Risk
A variant gene that greatly increases the risk of prostate cancer has been identified by a team of scientists who say their finding may lead to a test to help doctors determine which patients would be the best candidates for aggressive treatment of their cancer.
This variant is more common in black Americans, which may explain why they have a greater incidence of prostate cancer, The New York Times reported.
The researchers at DeCode Genetics, a gene-finding company in Iceland, said that men with the variant have a 60 percent increased risk of prostate cancer, compared to men without the variant. About 26 percent of black American men and 13 percent of men of European ancestry carry the variant, The Times reported.
The findings were published online Sunday in the journal Nature Genetics.
This newly identified variant was first detected in men in Iceland, then among Swedish men and in two populations of males in the United States.
U.S. Experts to Discuss Abortion Pill/Infections
Rare but deadly infections among women who took the abortion pill mifepristone (brand name Mifeprex) will be the topic of a meeting Thursday involving the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Experts will discuss the origins, causes and need for future research about infections caused by the bacterium Clostridium sordellii, which resulted in the deaths of four young U.S. women who took mifepristone (also called RU-486). The drug is given in combination with another drug -- misoprostol -- in order to induce abortion in the early stages of pregnancy, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Another infection -- involving a woman in Colorado -- is still being investigated.
It's expected that scientists at the meeting will analyze the five cases, along with other Clostridium sordellii infections that occurred in women who didn't take the abortion drug. They'll also discuss the bacterium Clostridium difficule, which has no link to the drug, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The meeting's agenda won't include discussion of possible regulatory actions regarding mifepristone. The FDA has already ordered that warnings to be added to the drug's label. An FDA official told the Wall Street Journal that the agency may consider further action, but first wants more scientific information.
Pfizer Drug Test on Children Violated International Law: Report
Drug company Pfizer Inc. violated international law when it tested the unapproved drug Trovan on children with meningitis during a 1996 epidemic in Nigeria, according to a Nigerian government report that was never released.
The report, obtained by the Washington Post, said Pfizer gave the unapproved oral antibiotic to nearly 100 children and infants at the Infectious Diseases Hospital in Kano.
The report, written by a panel of Nigerian medical experts, concluded that Pfizer violated the International Declaration of Helsinki that governs ethical medical research and the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The oral form of Trovan had never been given to children with meningitis, said the report, which also noted that there are no records to indicate that Pfizer informed the children or their parents that this was an experimental use of the drug, the Post reported.
Five children died after being treated with Trovan and others developed signs of arthritis. However, there is no evidence that the antibiotic was responsible. Six other children died after receiving a comparison drug.
Pfizer says it conducted the experiment with the full knowledge of the Nigerian government and in a way that was consistent with that country's laws.
CDC Reports More Eye Fungus Infections
U.S. health officials said the number of confirmed cases of a rare eye fungus that can cause scarring of the cornea has climbed to 102. But the source of the infection linked to contact lens cleaners remains unknown, the Associated Press reported.
Bausch & Lomb Inc. stopped U.S. sales of its ReNu with MoistureLoc contact-lens solution on April 10 when the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it was investigating numerous reports of Fusarium keratitis infections in Americans using the product.
The proportion of patients who said they used MoistureLoc has held steady at around 50 percent to 60 percent of the cases confirmed so far, the CDC said. Other patients have reported using other ReNu brands and six said they used cleaners made by Alcon Inc. and Advanced Medical Optics Inc., the AP reported.
"At this point, it is too early in the investigation to say whether a particular product or solution may be responsible for the outbreak," the CDC said in a statement.
U.S. Buys More Anthrax Vaccine
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said it has purchased five million additional doses of Anthrax Vaccine Adsorbed (AVA), a licensed anthrax vaccine, for $120 million.
This supply of AVA anthrax vaccine, from the BioPort Corporation of Lansing, Mich., is in addition to the five million doses of AVA vaccine purchased from BioPort last year. It will be kept in the nation's Strategic National Stockpile, where it will be available in the event of a bioterror anthrax attack, HHS said in a statement released Friday afternoon.
Coupled with an existing supply of antibiotics -- the nation's first line of defense against an anthrax attack -- the additional AVA vaccine should further diversify the nation's stockpile of medical treatments, the statement said.
"We are committed to protecting the nation from the consequences of an anthrax attack," said Stewart Simonson, HHS assistant secretary for public health emergency preparedness.
New Guidelines for Cancer Therapy
The American Society of Clinical Oncology has developed revised guidelines for the use of white blood cell growth factors -- also known as hematopoietic colony stimulating factors, or CSFs -- to prevent a potentially dangerous side effect from cancer treatment called febrile neutropenia.
White blood cell growth factors are proteins that help the body produce the white blood cells that help fight infection. Some cancer treatments can destroy white blood cells, leading to a condition called neutropenia. Febrile neutropenia -- or neutropenia with a fever -- is a dangerous condition that often requires hospitalization.
ASCO's 2006 Update Committee agreed that reduction in febrile neutropenia is an important goal that justified the use of CSFs when the risk of febrile neutropenia is 20 percent or higher, and no other effective chemotherapy regimen with a risk of febrile neutropenia lower than 20 percent is available. The previous guideline had recommended CSF use when the risk of febrile neutropenia was 40 percent or higher, the society said in a prepared statement.
The guidelines also include new recommendations for the use of CSFs for patients receiving radiation treatment and for older patients; and updates on recommendations for patients with specific diseases, such as acute leukemia and myelodysplastic syndromes, and for pediatric patients.
A variant gene that greatly increases the risk of prostate cancer has been identified by a team of scientists who say their finding may lead to a test to help doctors determine which patients would be the best candidates for aggressive treatment of their cancer.
This variant is more common in black Americans, which may explain why they have a greater incidence of prostate cancer, The New York Times reported.
The researchers at DeCode Genetics, a gene-finding company in Iceland, said that men with the variant have a 60 percent increased risk of prostate cancer, compared to men without the variant. About 26 percent of black American men and 13 percent of men of European ancestry carry the variant, The Times reported.
The findings were published online Sunday in the journal Nature Genetics.
This newly identified variant was first detected in men in Iceland, then among Swedish men and in two populations of males in the United States.
U.S. Experts to Discuss Abortion Pill/Infections
Rare but deadly infections among women who took the abortion pill mifepristone (brand name Mifeprex) will be the topic of a meeting Thursday involving the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Experts will discuss the origins, causes and need for future research about infections caused by the bacterium Clostridium sordellii, which resulted in the deaths of four young U.S. women who took mifepristone (also called RU-486). The drug is given in combination with another drug -- misoprostol -- in order to induce abortion in the early stages of pregnancy, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Another infection -- involving a woman in Colorado -- is still being investigated.
It's expected that scientists at the meeting will analyze the five cases, along with other Clostridium sordellii infections that occurred in women who didn't take the abortion drug. They'll also discuss the bacterium Clostridium difficule, which has no link to the drug, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The meeting's agenda won't include discussion of possible regulatory actions regarding mifepristone. The FDA has already ordered that warnings to be added to the drug's label. An FDA official told the Wall Street Journal that the agency may consider further action, but first wants more scientific information.
Pfizer Drug Test on Children Violated International Law: Report
Drug company Pfizer Inc. violated international law when it tested the unapproved drug Trovan on children with meningitis during a 1996 epidemic in Nigeria, according to a Nigerian government report that was never released.
The report, obtained by the Washington Post, said Pfizer gave the unapproved oral antibiotic to nearly 100 children and infants at the Infectious Diseases Hospital in Kano.
The report, written by a panel of Nigerian medical experts, concluded that Pfizer violated the International Declaration of Helsinki that governs ethical medical research and the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The oral form of Trovan had never been given to children with meningitis, said the report, which also noted that there are no records to indicate that Pfizer informed the children or their parents that this was an experimental use of the drug, the Post reported.
Five children died after being treated with Trovan and others developed signs of arthritis. However, there is no evidence that the antibiotic was responsible. Six other children died after receiving a comparison drug.
Pfizer says it conducted the experiment with the full knowledge of the Nigerian government and in a way that was consistent with that country's laws.
CDC Reports More Eye Fungus Infections
U.S. health officials said the number of confirmed cases of a rare eye fungus that can cause scarring of the cornea has climbed to 102. But the source of the infection linked to contact lens cleaners remains unknown, the Associated Press reported.
Bausch & Lomb Inc. stopped U.S. sales of its ReNu with MoistureLoc contact-lens solution on April 10 when the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it was investigating numerous reports of Fusarium keratitis infections in Americans using the product.
The proportion of patients who said they used MoistureLoc has held steady at around 50 percent to 60 percent of the cases confirmed so far, the CDC said. Other patients have reported using other ReNu brands and six said they used cleaners made by Alcon Inc. and Advanced Medical Optics Inc., the AP reported.
"At this point, it is too early in the investigation to say whether a particular product or solution may be responsible for the outbreak," the CDC said in a statement.
U.S. Buys More Anthrax Vaccine
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said it has purchased five million additional doses of Anthrax Vaccine Adsorbed (AVA), a licensed anthrax vaccine, for $120 million.
This supply of AVA anthrax vaccine, from the BioPort Corporation of Lansing, Mich., is in addition to the five million doses of AVA vaccine purchased from BioPort last year. It will be kept in the nation's Strategic National Stockpile, where it will be available in the event of a bioterror anthrax attack, HHS said in a statement released Friday afternoon.
Coupled with an existing supply of antibiotics -- the nation's first line of defense against an anthrax attack -- the additional AVA vaccine should further diversify the nation's stockpile of medical treatments, the statement said.
"We are committed to protecting the nation from the consequences of an anthrax attack," said Stewart Simonson, HHS assistant secretary for public health emergency preparedness.
New Guidelines for Cancer Therapy
The American Society of Clinical Oncology has developed revised guidelines for the use of white blood cell growth factors -- also known as hematopoietic colony stimulating factors, or CSFs -- to prevent a potentially dangerous side effect from cancer treatment called febrile neutropenia.
White blood cell growth factors are proteins that help the body produce the white blood cells that help fight infection. Some cancer treatments can destroy white blood cells, leading to a condition called neutropenia. Febrile neutropenia -- or neutropenia with a fever -- is a dangerous condition that often requires hospitalization.
ASCO's 2006 Update Committee agreed that reduction in febrile neutropenia is an important goal that justified the use of CSFs when the risk of febrile neutropenia is 20 percent or higher, and no other effective chemotherapy regimen with a risk of febrile neutropenia lower than 20 percent is available. The previous guideline had recommended CSF use when the risk of febrile neutropenia was 40 percent or higher, the society said in a prepared statement.
The guidelines also include new recommendations for the use of CSFs for patients receiving radiation treatment and for older patients; and updates on recommendations for patients with specific diseases, such as acute leukemia and myelodysplastic syndromes, and for pediatric patients.
Sunday, May 07, 2006
Health Headlines - May 7
CDC Reports More Eye Fungus Infections
U.S. health officials said the number of confirmed cases of a rare eye fungus that can cause scarring of the cornea has climbed to 102. But the source of the infection linked to contact lens cleaners remains unknown, the Associated Press reported.
Bausch & Lomb Inc. stopped U.S. sales of its ReNu with MoistureLoc contact-lens solution on April 10 when the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it was investigating numerous reports of Fusarium keratitis infections in Americans using the product.
The proportion of patients who said they used MoistureLoc has held steady at around 50 percent to 60 percent of the cases confirmed so far, the CDC said. Other patients have reported using other ReNu brands and six said they used cleaners made by Alcon Inc. and Advanced Medical Optics Inc., the AP reported.
"At this point, it is too early in the investigation to say whether a particular product or solution may be responsible for the outbreak," the CDC said in a statement.
U.S. Buys More Anthrax Vaccine
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said it has purchased five million additional doses of Anthrax Vaccine Adsorbed (AVA), a licensed anthrax vaccine, for $120 million.
This supply of AVA anthrax vaccine, from the BioPort Corporation of Lansing, Mich., is in addition to the five million doses of AVA vaccine purchased from BioPort last year. It will be kept in the nation's Strategic National Stockpile, where it will be available in the event of a bioterror anthrax attack, HHS said in a statement released Friday afternoon.
Coupled with an existing supply of antibiotics -- the nation's first line of defense against an anthrax attack -- the additional AVA vaccine should further diversify the nation's stockpile of medical treatments, the statement said.
"We are committed to protecting the nation from the consequences of an anthrax attack," said Stewart Simonson, HHS assistant secretary for public health emergency preparedness.
New Guidelines for Cancer Therapy
The American Society of Clinical Oncology has developed revised guidelines for the use of white blood cell growth factors -- also known as hematopoietic colony stimulating factors, or CSFs -- to prevent a potentially dangerous side effect from cancer treatment called febrile neutropenia.
White blood cell growth factors are proteins that help the body produce the white blood cells that help fight infection. Some cancer treatments can destroy white blood cells, leading to a condition called neutropenia. Febrile neutropenia -- or neutropenia with a fever -- is a dangerous condition that often requires hospitalization.
ASCO's 2006 Update Committee agreed that reduction in febrile neutropenia is an important goal that justified the use of CSFs when the risk of febrile neutropenia is 20 percent or higher, and no other effective chemotherapy regimen with a risk of febrile neutropenia lower than 20 percent is available. The previous guideline had recommended CSF use when the risk of febrile neutropenia was 40 percent or higher, the society said in a prepared statement.
"CSFs are supportive medications, which means they are not intended to treat the cancer, but rather to prevent patients from developing dangerous side effects from cancer treatment," said Dr. Thomas J. Smith, lead author of the guidelines and a medical oncologist with Virginia Commonwealth University's Massey Cancer Center.
The guidelines also include new recommendations for the use of CSFs for patients receiving radiation treatment and for older patients; and updates on recommendations for patients with specific diseases, such as acute leukemia and myelodysplastic syndromes, and for pediatric patients.
FDA Issues Warning on Bowel-Cleansing Products
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned Friday of potential kidney failure associated with certain products used to clean the bowel before colonoscopies and other procedures, the Associated Press reported.
Agency officials, in an alert to doctors and patients, said they had documented 22 cases of acute phosphate nephropathy, a rare but serious form of kidney failure linked to the use of oral sodium phosphates. The products cleanse the bowel by causing patients to loose large amounts of fluid through bowel movements, the AP said.
Twenty-one of the cases involved patients given products such as Fleet Phospho-soda or Fleet Accu-Prep. One patient had taken Visicol tablets. None had taken OsmoPrep tablets, a recently approved oral sodium phosphate product, the FDA said.
No Aspartame-Cancer Link, Says Expert Panel
The popular artificial sweetener Aspartame does not increase the risk of cancer, an independent panel of European food-safety experts said Friday.
They reviewed an Italian study released last year that concluded that aspartame was linked to higher rates of lymphoma and leukemia in rats. But the expert panel for the European Food Safety Authority said the number of tumors did not increase in relation to the amount of aspartame given to the rats, the Associated Press reported.
Many of the rats used in the Italian study had suffered from chronic respiratory disease, which was the most likely cause of the tumors, the panel concluded.
"There is no reason ... to undertake any further extensive review of the safety of aspartame," said toxicologist Iona Pratt, who headed the panel.
The findings come a month after the release of a study of half a million Americans that found no link between aspartame and cancer, the AP reported.
Aspartame is used in thousands of products, including chewing gum, sodas, and many medicines.
California Bill Targets Personal Use of Ultrasound Machines
Call it Cruise Control: The California Assembly voted 55-7 in favor of a bill to restrict the sale of ultrasound machines only to licensed professionals, a move meant to prevent personal use of the medical devices.
The bill, which now moves to the Senate, was introduced after movie star Tom Cruise bought an ultrasound machine to see images of his unborn daughter, who was born last month in Los Angeles, the Associated Press reported.
Doctors criticized Cruise for his actions, noting that improper use of ultrasound can harm a fetus. Technologists and doctors typically receive years of training to conduct ultrasound exams.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says laboratory tests have shown that certain diagnostic levels of ultrasound can affect human tissue, the AP reported.
Saturday, May 06, 2006
Health Headlines - May 6
U.S. Buys More Anthrax Vaccine
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said it has purchased five million additional doses of Anthrax Vaccine Adsorbed (AVA), a licensed anthrax vaccine, for $120 million.
This supply of AVA anthrax vaccine, from the BioPort Corporation of Lansing, Mich., is in addition to the five million doses of AVA vaccine purchased from BioPort last year. It will be kept in the nation's Strategic National Stockpile, where it will be available in the event of a bioterror anthrax attack, HHS said in a statement released Friday afternoon.
Coupled with an existing supply of antibiotics -- the nation's first line of defense against an anthrax attack -- the additional AVA vaccine should further diversify the nation's stockpile of medical treatments, the statement said.
"We are committed to protecting the nation from the consequences of an anthrax attack," said Stewart Simonson, HHS assistant secretary for public health emergency preparedness.
New Guidelines for Cancer Therapy
The American Society of Clinical Oncology has developed revised guidelines for the use of white blood cell growth factors -- also known as hematopoietic colony stimulating factors, or CSFs -- to prevent a potentially dangerous side effect from cancer treatment called febrile neutropenia.
White blood cell growth factors are proteins that help the body produce the white blood cells that help fight infection. Some cancer treatments can destroy white blood cells, leading to a condition called neutropenia. Febrile neutropenia -- or neutropenia with a fever -- is a dangerous condition that often requires hospitalization.
ASCO's 2006 Update Committee agreed that reduction in febrile neutropenia is an important goal that justified the use of CSFs when the risk of febrile neutropenia is 20 percent or higher, and no other effective chemotherapy regimen with a risk of febrile neutropenia lower than 20 percent is available. The previous guideline had recommended CSF use when the risk of febrile neutropenia was 40 percent or higher, the society said in a prepared statement.
"CSFs are supportive medications, which means they are not intended to treat the cancer, but rather to prevent patients from developing dangerous side effects from cancer treatment," said Dr. Thomas J. Smith, lead author of the guidelines and a medical oncologist with Virginia Commonwealth University's Massey Cancer Center.
The guidelines also include new recommendations for the use of CSFs for patients receiving radiation treatment and for older patients; and updates on recommendations for patients with specific diseases, such as acute leukemia and myelodysplastic syndromes, and for pediatric patients.
FDA Issues Warning on Bowel-Cleansing Products
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned Friday of potential kidney failure associated with certain products used to clean the bowel before colonoscopies and other procedures, the Associated Press reported.
Agency officials, in an alert to doctors and patients, said they had documented 22 cases of acute phosphate nephropathy, a rare but serious form of kidney failure linked to the use of oral sodium phosphates. The products cleanse the bowel by causing patients to loose large amounts of fluid through bowel movements, the AP said.
Twenty-one of the cases involved patients given products such as Fleet Phospho-soda or Fleet Accu-Prep. One patient had taken Visicol tablets. None had taken OsmoPrep tablets, a recently approved oral sodium phosphate product, the FDA said.
No Aspartame-Cancer Link, Says Expert Panel
The popular artificial sweetener Aspartame does not increase the risk of cancer, an independent panel of European food-safety experts said Friday.
They reviewed an Italian study released last year that concluded that aspartame was linked to higher rates of lymphoma and leukemia in rats. But the expert panel for the European Food Safety Authority said the number of tumors did not increase in relation to the amount of aspartame given to the rats, the Associated Press reported.
Many of the rats used in the Italian study had suffered from chronic respiratory disease, which was the most likely cause of the tumors, the panel concluded.
"There is no reason ... to undertake any further extensive review of the safety of aspartame," said toxicologist Iona Pratt, who headed the panel.
The findings come a month after the release of a study of half a million Americans that found no link between aspartame and cancer, the AP reported.
Aspartame is used in thousands of products, including chewing gum, sodas, and many medicines.
California Bill Targets Personal Use of Ultrasound Machines
Call it Cruise Control: The California Assembly voted 55-7 in favor of a bill to restrict the sale of ultrasound machines only to licensed professionals, a move meant to prevent personal use of the medical devices.
The bill, which now moves to the Senate, was introduced after movie star Tom Cruise bought an ultrasound machine to see images of his unborn daughter, who was born last month in Los Angeles, the Associated Press reported.
Doctors criticized Cruise for his actions, noting that improper use of ultrasound can harm a fetus. Technologists and doctors typically receive years of training to conduct ultrasound exams.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says laboratory tests have shown that certain diagnostic levels of ultrasound can affect human tissue, the AP reported.
Kaiser Permanente Bungled Kidney Patient Transfers: Report
U.S. regulators were overwhelmed and some patients lost out on new kidneys after Kaiser Permanente launched a massive, new kidney-transplant program in 2004, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The HMO started the program without first discussing with regulators how to safely transfer up to 1,500 of Kaiser Permanente's patients to its San Francisco center from two medical centers -- UC San Francisco and UC Davis -- where they were receiving care paid for by Kaiser.
Officials with the United Network for Organ Sharing told the Times that they weren't informed about the need to move hundreds of kidney patients until September 2004, after Kaiser had already opened its new kidney-transplant program. The United Network is the federal contractor that oversees the U.S. transplant system.
The poor planning and paperwork led to long delays in hundreds of patient transfers. Many patients weren't informed that their transfers had not been processed, which effectively put a new kidney out of reach, the Times reported.
Earlier this week, the newspaper reported that 56 transplants had been performed at Kaiser's transplant center, but about twice as many patients on the waiting list had died.
Kaiser has launched an investigation and will not comment until it's complete, a spokesman said.
Friday, May 05, 2006
Health Headlines - May 5
U.S. Women's Contraceptive Use Declines: Study
There's been a decline in the use of contraceptives by women in the United States, especially among poor women, which puts them at greater risk for unintentional pregnancies and abortions, says a Guttmacher Institute report released Thursday.
From 1994 to 2001, the percentage of sexually active women who were not trying to get pregnant and did not use contraceptives increased from 7 percent to 11 percent, The New York Times reported.
The increase was even greater among women living below the poverty line -- from 8 percent to 14 percent. Among women who earned more than twice the poverty rate, there was an increase from 7 percent to 10 percent.
The number of black women not using contraception increased from 10 percent to 15 percent; among Hispanic women, from 9 percent to 12 percent; and among white women, from 7 percent to 9 percent, the Times reported.
This decline in contraceptive use seems to have slowed the reduction in the U.S. national abortion rate that began in the early 1980s, the report said.
Poor Response to Iowa Mumps Immunization Clinics
Free mumps immunization clinics for young adults in Iowa attracted a low turnout, as the number of confirmed, probable and suspected cases of the disease in the state reached 1,552 as of Wednesday.
The outbreak began earlier this year and mumps have been reported in 74 counties in Iowa, the Associated Press reported.
In an effort to halt the spread of the disease, state health officials last week distributed 25,000 doses of the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine for free to immunization clinics in 35 counties with colleges and universities, to target people ages18 to 22.
The goal is to immunize young adults who may not have received the recommended two doses of MMR. However, there was a poor response to the clinics.
"You have a population that may, very honestly, not be taking this mumps situation very seriously," Kevin Teale, spokesman for the Iowa Department of Health, told the AP. "We need to do our best to convince them how serious this is and get them out to get the shots."
The state plans an expanded series of clinics this week, for people ages 18 to 25 in all 99 counties.
Waterproofing Boot Sprays Linked to Illnesses
Since early last year, nearly 200 people and dozens of pets in the Midwest have been sickened by waterproofing boot sprays, according to a report in this week's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
There were no human deaths, but three housecats died after they were exposed to the aerosol products, the Associated Press reported. Coughing and breathing problems were reported among people exposed to the sprays, and 80 went to hospitals. One man was put on a ventilator and hospitalized for 19 days.
Two Canadian-made products -- Jobsite Heavy Duty Bootmate and Rocky Boot Weather and Stain Protector -- have been linked to most of the cases, the AP reported.
"We're absolutely sure it's the products that caused these illnesses," said article lead author Susan Smolinske, of the regional poison-control center at Children's Hospital of Michigan in Detroit.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is investigating the matter and health officials are conducting tests on the boot sprays to determine what chemical is responsible for the health problems, the AP reported.
The sprays were pulled from U.S. stores in January but people may still have them in their homes, Smolinske noted.
Expert Calls H5N1 Bird-Flu Virus 'Worst' He's Seen
Speaking at a bird-flu conference in Singapore, a U.S. infectious-disease expert said the H5N1 avian-flu virus is the worst flu virus he's ever encountered, and added that a pandemic may prove difficult to control because of deficiencies in knowledge and planning.
"I've worked with flu all my life, and this is the worst influenza virus that I have ever seen," Robert G. Webster, a virologist at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn. told the Associated Press.
When the H5N1 virus infects poultry, it moves into the brain and destroys the respiratory tract -- making the virus a vicious killer, he said.
"If that happens in humans, God help us," Webster said.
Since 2003, there have been about 206 reported human cases of bird flu. Most of those were caused by direct contact with infected birds. But experts worry that the H5N1 virus may mutate into a form that's easily transmitted between humans.
It would take at least 10 more mutations before the H5N1 virus could reach that point, but there's no way to know when, or if, it will happen, Webster told the AP.
He called for more influenza vaccine to be stockpiled and criticized current efforts to build those stockpiles as "miserable."
In related news, the U.S. government announced Thursday that it has awarded $1 billion to five companies to develop and produce cell culture based-influenza vaccines within the country.
Cell culture-based vaccines would provide a quicker way of producing vaccines than the current egg-based technique, which would not be able to meet U.S. demand in the event of a pandemic. Cell culture-based vaccine manufacturing is used in many other modern vaccines.
Tamiflu Prevents Death in Mammals With Bird Flu
The antiviral drug Tamiflu prevented mammals infected with the dangerous H5N1 bird flu virus from dying, says a U.S. study presented this week at a conference in Singapore.
The findings may offer clues about the drug's optimum dosage and the duration of treatment needed to protect humans in the event of a pandemic, the Associated Press reported.
Researcher Elena Govorkova of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., told the conference that ferrets were given Tamifu after being infected with the H5N1 virus circulating in Vietnam. All of the animals survived.
Ferrets that were infected with H5N1 but did not receive Tamiflu died.
An abstract of the study said the results show the benefits of early treatment with the drug, and are in line with the limited research that's been published about the use of Tamiflu to fight bird flu in humans, the AP reported.
There's been a decline in the use of contraceptives by women in the United States, especially among poor women, which puts them at greater risk for unintentional pregnancies and abortions, says a Guttmacher Institute report released Thursday.
From 1994 to 2001, the percentage of sexually active women who were not trying to get pregnant and did not use contraceptives increased from 7 percent to 11 percent, The New York Times reported.
The increase was even greater among women living below the poverty line -- from 8 percent to 14 percent. Among women who earned more than twice the poverty rate, there was an increase from 7 percent to 10 percent.
The number of black women not using contraception increased from 10 percent to 15 percent; among Hispanic women, from 9 percent to 12 percent; and among white women, from 7 percent to 9 percent, the Times reported.
This decline in contraceptive use seems to have slowed the reduction in the U.S. national abortion rate that began in the early 1980s, the report said.
Poor Response to Iowa Mumps Immunization Clinics
Free mumps immunization clinics for young adults in Iowa attracted a low turnout, as the number of confirmed, probable and suspected cases of the disease in the state reached 1,552 as of Wednesday.
The outbreak began earlier this year and mumps have been reported in 74 counties in Iowa, the Associated Press reported.
In an effort to halt the spread of the disease, state health officials last week distributed 25,000 doses of the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine for free to immunization clinics in 35 counties with colleges and universities, to target people ages18 to 22.
The goal is to immunize young adults who may not have received the recommended two doses of MMR. However, there was a poor response to the clinics.
"You have a population that may, very honestly, not be taking this mumps situation very seriously," Kevin Teale, spokesman for the Iowa Department of Health, told the AP. "We need to do our best to convince them how serious this is and get them out to get the shots."
The state plans an expanded series of clinics this week, for people ages 18 to 25 in all 99 counties.
Waterproofing Boot Sprays Linked to Illnesses
Since early last year, nearly 200 people and dozens of pets in the Midwest have been sickened by waterproofing boot sprays, according to a report in this week's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
There were no human deaths, but three housecats died after they were exposed to the aerosol products, the Associated Press reported. Coughing and breathing problems were reported among people exposed to the sprays, and 80 went to hospitals. One man was put on a ventilator and hospitalized for 19 days.
Two Canadian-made products -- Jobsite Heavy Duty Bootmate and Rocky Boot Weather and Stain Protector -- have been linked to most of the cases, the AP reported.
"We're absolutely sure it's the products that caused these illnesses," said article lead author Susan Smolinske, of the regional poison-control center at Children's Hospital of Michigan in Detroit.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is investigating the matter and health officials are conducting tests on the boot sprays to determine what chemical is responsible for the health problems, the AP reported.
The sprays were pulled from U.S. stores in January but people may still have them in their homes, Smolinske noted.
Expert Calls H5N1 Bird-Flu Virus 'Worst' He's Seen
Speaking at a bird-flu conference in Singapore, a U.S. infectious-disease expert said the H5N1 avian-flu virus is the worst flu virus he's ever encountered, and added that a pandemic may prove difficult to control because of deficiencies in knowledge and planning.
"I've worked with flu all my life, and this is the worst influenza virus that I have ever seen," Robert G. Webster, a virologist at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn. told the Associated Press.
When the H5N1 virus infects poultry, it moves into the brain and destroys the respiratory tract -- making the virus a vicious killer, he said.
"If that happens in humans, God help us," Webster said.
Since 2003, there have been about 206 reported human cases of bird flu. Most of those were caused by direct contact with infected birds. But experts worry that the H5N1 virus may mutate into a form that's easily transmitted between humans.
It would take at least 10 more mutations before the H5N1 virus could reach that point, but there's no way to know when, or if, it will happen, Webster told the AP.
He called for more influenza vaccine to be stockpiled and criticized current efforts to build those stockpiles as "miserable."
In related news, the U.S. government announced Thursday that it has awarded $1 billion to five companies to develop and produce cell culture based-influenza vaccines within the country.
Cell culture-based vaccines would provide a quicker way of producing vaccines than the current egg-based technique, which would not be able to meet U.S. demand in the event of a pandemic. Cell culture-based vaccine manufacturing is used in many other modern vaccines.
Tamiflu Prevents Death in Mammals With Bird Flu
The antiviral drug Tamiflu prevented mammals infected with the dangerous H5N1 bird flu virus from dying, says a U.S. study presented this week at a conference in Singapore.
The findings may offer clues about the drug's optimum dosage and the duration of treatment needed to protect humans in the event of a pandemic, the Associated Press reported.
Researcher Elena Govorkova of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., told the conference that ferrets were given Tamifu after being infected with the H5N1 virus circulating in Vietnam. All of the animals survived.
Ferrets that were infected with H5N1 but did not receive Tamiflu died.
An abstract of the study said the results show the benefits of early treatment with the drug, and are in line with the limited research that's been published about the use of Tamiflu to fight bird flu in humans, the AP reported.
Thursday, May 04, 2006
Health Headlines - May 4
Tamiflu Prevents Death in Mammals With Bird Flu
The antiviral drug Tamiflu prevented mammals infected with the dangerous H5N1 bird flu virus from dying, says a U.S. study presented this week at a conference in Singapore.
The findings may offer clues about the drug's optimum dosage and the duration of treatment needed to protect humans in the event of a pandemic, the Associated Press reported.
Researcher Elena Govorkova of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., told the conference that ferrets were given Tamifu after being infected with the H5N1 virus circulating in Vietnam. All of the animals survived.
Ferrets that were infected with H5N1 but did not receive Tamiflu died.
An abstract of the study said the results show the benefits of early treatment with the drug, and are in line with the limited research that's been published about the use of Tamiflu to fight bird flu in humans, the AP reported.
Medicare Operators Often Give Wrong Info on Drug Benefit: Report
Medicare telephone operators routinely failed to provide callers with accurate and complete information about the new prescription drug benefit, say U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) investigators who posed as senior-citizen callers.
The investigators made 500 calls to the 1-800-Medicare line from Jan. 17 to Feb. 7 and asked five questions -- each question 100 times. About a third of the calls yielded incorrect responses or no response due to disconnected calls, the Associated Press reported.
The GAO found that 75 percent of calls were answered within five minutes. However, for more than 10 percent of calls, Medicare operators took more than 15 minutes to answer.
"In one case, we were placed on hold for 54 minutes before being disconnected," the GAO investigators noted.
The findings prompted Democratic critics of the Medicare drug benefit to again request an extension of the program's May 15 enrollment deadline, the AP reported.
Drug Cos. Use False Information in Marketing Campaigns: Study
Drug companies routinely exaggerate claims about their products, promote unproven uses, and play down drugs' risks in their marketing to customers and doctors, says a report by the U.S. national consumer advocacy organization Public Interest Research Group.
False and misleading information is used in television and print ads and in literature given to doctors by drugs sales representatives, said the report, which added that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is often ineffective at stopping such deception, the Associated Press reported.
About 62 percent of the misleading or deceptive information documented in the report was targeted at doctors. In more than one-third of those instances, doctors received information that misrepresented or minimized a drug's risk, the report said.
The report also said that drug companies used clinical trials as marketing tools by misreporting results or by suppressing unfavorable results, the AP reported.
The FDA did not return phone calls or e-mails seeking comment on the report, the AP said.
Ken Johnson, a spokesman for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, said the report "grossly misleads the public about the safety of America's drug system and the goals, practices and results of prescription pharmaceutical marketing and advertising."
French Face Transplant Patient Able to Smile
The French woman who had the world's first face transplant in November is "already smiling," a member of her surgical team said Tuesday when he showed video clips of the patient to plastic surgeons attending a conference.
The video of 38-year-old Isabelle Dinoire was taken three weeks ago. It shows her speaking French and, at one point, chuckling and faintly smiling, the Associated Press reported.
"You see the smile is quite natural," said Dr. Benoit Lengele, the Belgian plastic surgeon who showed the video. "It's not perfectly symmetrical but it's improving a lot since the results we saw three months ago."
Dinoire lost much of her fact last May when she was mauled by her pet dog. The transplant gave her a new nose, mouth and chin.
In the video, she said she has feeling in the transplanted area and is exercising her face to regain motor function. She can't fully close her lips and her smile is concentrated on the left side, the AP reported.
FDA Approves Drug for Rare Bone-Marrow Diseases
Approval to use an injectable drug called Dacogen to treat a rare group of bone-marrow diseases was announced Wednesday by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The drug, also known as decitabine, will offer another treatment option for patients with myelodysplastic syndromes, which are marked by insufficient production of mature blood cells by bone marrow, the Associated Press reported.
It's believed that Dacogen promotes normal development of blood cells. Three clinical trials of the drug found complete or partial responses to Dacogen in about 20 percent of patients who received it.
Low white blood cell counts, low platelets in blood, anemia, fatigue, nausea, fever, constipation, high blood sugar, and cough are among the most common side effects caused by Dacogen.
Each year, about 7,000 to 12,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndromes, which are most common in the elderly, the AP reported. Weakness, fatigue, bleeding, fever, easy bruising, and infections are among the symptoms.
Diabetes Increases Risk of Early Death: Report
People aged 35 to 54 with type 2 diabetes are three times more likely to die early than people in the same age group who don't have the disease, says a British study of 264,000 patients.
The findings appear in the journal Diabetic Medicine.
"We did expect that people with type 2 diabetes would have a higher risk of dying earlier rather than later," researcher Henrietta Mulnier of Surrey University told BBC News.
These findings could affect decisions about how to deal with the disease and provide appropriate health care, she said.
"With people being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes younger and younger, the figures are going to get worse," Mulnier said. "We really do need to focus on early detection and treatment."
The antiviral drug Tamiflu prevented mammals infected with the dangerous H5N1 bird flu virus from dying, says a U.S. study presented this week at a conference in Singapore.
The findings may offer clues about the drug's optimum dosage and the duration of treatment needed to protect humans in the event of a pandemic, the Associated Press reported.
Researcher Elena Govorkova of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., told the conference that ferrets were given Tamifu after being infected with the H5N1 virus circulating in Vietnam. All of the animals survived.
Ferrets that were infected with H5N1 but did not receive Tamiflu died.
An abstract of the study said the results show the benefits of early treatment with the drug, and are in line with the limited research that's been published about the use of Tamiflu to fight bird flu in humans, the AP reported.
Medicare Operators Often Give Wrong Info on Drug Benefit: Report
Medicare telephone operators routinely failed to provide callers with accurate and complete information about the new prescription drug benefit, say U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) investigators who posed as senior-citizen callers.
The investigators made 500 calls to the 1-800-Medicare line from Jan. 17 to Feb. 7 and asked five questions -- each question 100 times. About a third of the calls yielded incorrect responses or no response due to disconnected calls, the Associated Press reported.
The GAO found that 75 percent of calls were answered within five minutes. However, for more than 10 percent of calls, Medicare operators took more than 15 minutes to answer.
"In one case, we were placed on hold for 54 minutes before being disconnected," the GAO investigators noted.
The findings prompted Democratic critics of the Medicare drug benefit to again request an extension of the program's May 15 enrollment deadline, the AP reported.
Drug Cos. Use False Information in Marketing Campaigns: Study
Drug companies routinely exaggerate claims about their products, promote unproven uses, and play down drugs' risks in their marketing to customers and doctors, says a report by the U.S. national consumer advocacy organization Public Interest Research Group.
False and misleading information is used in television and print ads and in literature given to doctors by drugs sales representatives, said the report, which added that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is often ineffective at stopping such deception, the Associated Press reported.
About 62 percent of the misleading or deceptive information documented in the report was targeted at doctors. In more than one-third of those instances, doctors received information that misrepresented or minimized a drug's risk, the report said.
The report also said that drug companies used clinical trials as marketing tools by misreporting results or by suppressing unfavorable results, the AP reported.
The FDA did not return phone calls or e-mails seeking comment on the report, the AP said.
Ken Johnson, a spokesman for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, said the report "grossly misleads the public about the safety of America's drug system and the goals, practices and results of prescription pharmaceutical marketing and advertising."
French Face Transplant Patient Able to Smile
The French woman who had the world's first face transplant in November is "already smiling," a member of her surgical team said Tuesday when he showed video clips of the patient to plastic surgeons attending a conference.
The video of 38-year-old Isabelle Dinoire was taken three weeks ago. It shows her speaking French and, at one point, chuckling and faintly smiling, the Associated Press reported.
"You see the smile is quite natural," said Dr. Benoit Lengele, the Belgian plastic surgeon who showed the video. "It's not perfectly symmetrical but it's improving a lot since the results we saw three months ago."
Dinoire lost much of her fact last May when she was mauled by her pet dog. The transplant gave her a new nose, mouth and chin.
In the video, she said she has feeling in the transplanted area and is exercising her face to regain motor function. She can't fully close her lips and her smile is concentrated on the left side, the AP reported.
FDA Approves Drug for Rare Bone-Marrow Diseases
Approval to use an injectable drug called Dacogen to treat a rare group of bone-marrow diseases was announced Wednesday by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The drug, also known as decitabine, will offer another treatment option for patients with myelodysplastic syndromes, which are marked by insufficient production of mature blood cells by bone marrow, the Associated Press reported.
It's believed that Dacogen promotes normal development of blood cells. Three clinical trials of the drug found complete or partial responses to Dacogen in about 20 percent of patients who received it.
Low white blood cell counts, low platelets in blood, anemia, fatigue, nausea, fever, constipation, high blood sugar, and cough are among the most common side effects caused by Dacogen.
Each year, about 7,000 to 12,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndromes, which are most common in the elderly, the AP reported. Weakness, fatigue, bleeding, fever, easy bruising, and infections are among the symptoms.
Diabetes Increases Risk of Early Death: Report
People aged 35 to 54 with type 2 diabetes are three times more likely to die early than people in the same age group who don't have the disease, says a British study of 264,000 patients.
The findings appear in the journal Diabetic Medicine.
"We did expect that people with type 2 diabetes would have a higher risk of dying earlier rather than later," researcher Henrietta Mulnier of Surrey University told BBC News.
These findings could affect decisions about how to deal with the disease and provide appropriate health care, she said.
"With people being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes younger and younger, the figures are going to get worse," Mulnier said. "We really do need to focus on early detection and treatment."
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