Bird flu spreads further in Asia
Three Asian nations reported more outbreaks of bird flu in poultry on Thursday, a day after health experts unveiled a $1 billion global plan to halt the spread of the virus.
Kuwait Announces Bird Flu in Fowl
Kuwait has detected two cases of bird flu in fowl, a senior official said Thursday, but it was not clear if the virus strain was the deadly version that has devastated poultry in Asia and has triggered fears of a human pandemic.
UK nurses and pharmacists to prescribe drugs
Nurses and pharmacists in Britain are to be given greater powers to prescribe medicines, the Department of Health said on Thursday, prompting an angry response from leading doctors who described it as dangerous.
Nurses have been prescribing drugs for minor injuries for some time but under new rules they will be able to prescribe for more serious conditions too.
Both groups will undergo training before being allowed to prescribe drugs after health secretary Patricia Hewitt announced the change, to give doctors more time for complex care.
The powers will only be given to experienced nurses and pharmacists and will start in the first half of 2006.
"Extending prescribing responsibilities is an important part of our commitment to modernize the NHS," Hewitt said in a statement.
"By expanding traditional prescribing roles, patients can more easily access the medicines they need from an increased number of highly trained health professionals."
But the British Medical Association (BMA), which represents doctors, has attacked the decision.
"This is an irresponsible and dangerous move," said Paul Miller, chairman of the BMA's consultants committee.
"Patients will suffer. I would not have me or my family subject to other than the highest level of care and prescribing, which is that provided by a fully trained doctor."
But the move was welcomed by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society which said it would result in faster access to medicines and help take the pressure off overworked GPs.
Uncanny Canines Sense Oncoming Seizures
Four o'clock in the morning a little more than two weeks ago, Cheryl Huey of Monroe, La., felt herself being roused from sleep.
Chelsea, the new 2-year-old female golden retriever that Huey and her teenage son Taylor had just brought home the day before had run from his bedroom to hers and was now agitatedly pawing at her arm.
"I got up and went to Taylor's bedroom and said, 'Hey, looks like we got to take her outside, she needs to go to the bathroom,'" Huey recalled.
However, "About 10 minutes later we were out in the parking lot, and Taylor starts having a seizure," Huey said. Taylor, 16, has epilepsy and experiences a temporarily debilitating attack about once a month.
Because the onset of a seizure is unpredictable and injury is possible if her son falls or is otherwise hurt during an attack, Cheryl Huey decided to adopt Chelsea -- a dog specifically trained to alert epileptics to seizures before they occur -- to help protect Taylor and give him an independence he hadn't had before.
Witnessing Chelsea's ability to sense the onset of an attack even as Taylor lay sleeping was extraordinary, Huey said. "At the time, I just couldn't believe it," she said.
"Then, out in the parking lot after he had stopped the seizure, I told her 'Stay, Chelsea,' and she crawled across his body and lay on top of him as I ran inside to get help. When I came out again, she was still across his body -- part of her training is to just protect and stay with him."
Jennifer Arnold, founder and operator of nonprofit Canine Assistants, where Chelsea was born and trained, said seizure-alert dogs can also be taught to push a button to dial 911, tug open doors to run and get help, and even use their mouths to bring their human a cordless phone or any medication they might need.
"Seeing Chelsea's reaction that first time, the response she had, I now have confidence that in the event of a seizure she's going to be in charge," Huey said.
Taylor Huey's new companion is giving him new freedom and peace of mind, too. "She's going to make me more confident and independent, help me do more stuff by myself," he said.
That's not always easy for people with epilepsy, which is still a very poorly understood disorder.
"It's a chronic condition and [an attack] is literally an electric storm in the brain that can change behaviors," explained Dr. Blanca Vasquez, director of clinical research at New York University's Comprehensive Epilepsy Center. While seizures can vary greatly in their intensity and outward manifestations, many are preceded by sensations known as an aura, she said.
Even from far across a room, seizure-alert dogs seem to be able to pick up on extremely subtle physiological changes -- minute alterations in odor or movement -- that may begin anywhere from 45 to five or 10 minutes before an actual attack. "More research needs to be done," Arnold said. "We don't exactly know right now what the dogs are responding to."
But their ability to sense these changes for their owners can be invaluable, since early warning of a seizure's onset helps people with epilepsy find a safe environment or take precautionary measures.
The Labradors and retrievers trained by the experts at Alpharetta, Ga.-based Canine Assistants begin their 18 months of instruction at just 2 days of age, learning over 90 standard commands. More mysteriously, some protective measures seem to come to the dogs by instinct, Arnold said. For example, when sensing an oncoming seizure, "they tend to want their person to lie on the ground," she said.
As any person with epilepsy will tell you, that's about the most sensible action an individual can take before a seizure, since falling is the leading cause of serious injury during an attack.
"It's fascinating -- dogs who have never seen anyone have a seizure will tug at their person's sleeve, they want you on the ground," Arnold said. "How do they have that instinct that lying on the ground is safer? We have no idea."
Arnold's investment in Canine Assistants is a very personal one. Stricken with multiple sclerosis at 16, she was confined for a time to a wheelchair. Seeking to help his daughter, Arnold's father, now deceased, discovered that people were training dogs to help partially immobilized patients navigate the tasks of daily living.
Fortunately for Arnold, her MS has improved so she can walk again. But her experience, combined with a love of dogs, compelled her and her mother to start Canine Assistants in 1991. The company matches dogs with owners in need, charging no fees.
Right now, the seizure-alert arm of Canine Assistants is funded by pharmaceutical company UCB Pharma, Inc. Arnold's team also trains dogs to help individuals with other disorders such as Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease).
And the ability of these canines to sense other, hidden health dangers is emerging, too.
"There are already dogs that have been anecdotally reported to be able to pick up on dangerously low blood sugar, including one of our own seizure-alert dogs," Arnold said. "And a service dog a few years ago alerted his owner in the middle of the night that he was having a heart attack in his sleep -- and then did it again for a stranger in a mall."
For people with epilepsy, having a four-legged, early warning system that can be taken everywhere gives them a sense of security and independence many haven't had before.
Taylor Huey said he hasn't yet decided whether he'll start taking Chelsea to school, but he certainly feels comfortable bringing her to daily outings such as church or shopping.
And Chelsea's arrival means Cheryl Huey can finally let her teenager go off on his own without worry.
"Sunday we went to the mall, and he went with me," she said. "I went to get my nails done and, as usual, I said 'Come on, Taylor.' He looked at me and said, 'No, it's OK, I've got Chelsea.' And I thought, 'Yeah, you do.' "
Hair Bleach May Trigger Asthma
Hair stylists can develop occupational asthma and rhinitis (chronic runny nose) from exposure to chemicals called persulphate salts in hair bleaching agents, researchers say.
Scientists Uncover Protein's Weight-Loss Secrets
A study of protein-munching rats shows that a low-carb diet sparks a chain of biological events that ultimately curbs hunger.
Cannabis-based Drug Eases Arthritis Pain
The first-ever study focused on a cannabis-based medicine aimed at easing the pain of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) finds it may help suppress the disease.
MRI Deemed Vital to Diagnosing MS
Newly published expert guidelines in treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS) are putting a stronger focus on MRI in the diagnosis of the disease.
Reflux-Linked Esophagus Cancer On the Rise
The incidence of a deadly form of esophagus cancer associated with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is rising at an alarming rate, experts say.
Some kids outgrow nut allergies: study
Nine percent of children allergic to tree nuts such as almonds and pecans eventually outgrow their allergy, even those who have had severe reactions, researchers said on Wednesday.
Food Fact:
The world's No. 1 fruit?
Believe it or not, it's not the apple or banana. It's the mango! The intense orange flesh is not only meltingly sweet, soft, juicy and delicious, but reflects a high level of beta carotene, which our bodies convert to much-needed vitamin A. A whole mango provides about 130 calories along with all the vitamin C that most of us need daily. Don't go by color alone when choosing a ripe mango. The flesh should give a little to pressure, much like a ripe avocado. For smoothies, frozen treats and fruit salads, buy frozen mango pieces. The price is right and ripeness is guaranteed.
Fitness Tip of the day:
Get in-line.
Step into a pair of skates for a head-turning pair of legs and a killer derriere. In-line skating is a strength-training and cardio workout all in one. Studies find in-line skating to be more aerobic than cycling, easier on your joints than running, and a great way to shape and tone muscles. Get rolling and you can burn 570 - 900 calories an hour!
FAQ of the day:
Will eating blueberries improve my balance?
They seem to help rats keep their footing. When researchers at Tufts University in Boston fed rats antioxidant-rich extracts of blueberries, strawberries or spinach for eight months, the animals were protected from age-related declines in brain functions, including cognitive function. For some reason, those that received the blueberry extracts were also better able to keep their balance when walking over small rods.
Thursday, November 10, 2005
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
Health Headlines - November 9
Hair Bleach May Trigger Asthma
Hair stylists can develop occupational asthma and rhinitis (chronic runny nose) from exposure to chemicals called persulphate salts in hair bleaching agents, researchers say.
Vietnam to Produce Generic Bird-Flu Drug
Vietnam has reached an agreement with the Swiss manufacturer of the antiviral drug Tamiflu to allow the country to produce a generic version starting early next year in an effort to protect its population against bird flu, a Health Ministry official said Wednesday.
Birthing Classes
If you are having a child for the first time, it is easy to feel overwhelmed by questions, fears, and just not knowing what to expect. Many new parents find that birthing classes can really help calm their worries and answer many questions.
Infant Botulism
Infant botulism is an illness that can occur when a newborn ingests a specific type of bacteria that produce a toxin inside the body. The condition can be frightening because it can cause muscle weakness and breathing problems. But it is very rare: Fewer than 100 cases of infant botulism occur each year in the United States. Most of the babies who do get botulism recover fully.
Kids With Dyslexia
Dyslexia is a type of learning disability in which a child has difficulty learning to read and understand written language. Even kids with average or above-average intelligence, plenty of motivation, and ample opportunities to read can have dyslexia. Because kids with dyslexia have trouble making the basic connection between letters and their sounds, they often also have difficulty with spelling, writing, and speaking.
Report Finds Flaws in Mad Cow Test Program
Government investigators say testing is too slow at times to prevent cattle from eating feed that might be contaminated, just one flaw they cited in a program to help stop mad cow disease from spreading.
Syphilis rises in US but gonorrhea at new low - study
The number of U.S. syphilis cases rose for the fourth straight year in 2004, fueled by increases among men, while the gonorrhea disease rate reached a historic low, federal health researchers said on Tuesday.
Survey Looks at Ethics of Alzheimer's Trials
The majority of Americans approve of allowing patients with Alzheimer's disease to be enrolled in research studies -- even when they aren't able to provide their own consent, new research shows.
For Women, Laughter Is a Just Reward
The path to a good belly laugh may be strikingly different between women and men.
Pediatrician Counseling Boosts Gun Safety at Home
Pediatricians who provide brief counseling and training sessions on gun safety can greatly improve parents' gun-storage behaviors, a new study finds.
Aspirin May Help Prevent Throat Cancer
Aspirin and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) may help prevent esophageal cancer from developing in patients with Barrett's esophagus, researchers report.
Antibiotics Still Prescribed Too Often
Despite widespread concern about the growing problem of antibiotic resistance, too many people are still receiving prescriptions for antibiotics they don't need.
Health Tip: Air Bags Can Harm Children
Although air bags are extremely effective in saving adult lives, they often do not have the same effect for children.
If it's necessary for your child to ride in the front seat of a car with a passenger air bag, follow these tips to prevent injuries, courtesy of the Children's Hospital of Pennsylvania:
Secure the child in a restraint system that is correct for his size.
Move the front seat as far back from the dashboard as possible.
Do not allow the child to lean forward toward the dashboard.
Never allow a rear-facing infant to ride in front of a passenger air bag.
To ensure utmost safety, however, children should be seated in the back seat of the car, protected by safety seats.
Health Tip: Acne Isn't Just for Teens and Adults Anymore
Acne doesn't just appear on teenagers and adults.
It is also common on a baby's cheeks during the first few months of life, and is known as neonatal acne.
According to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, neonatal acne is caused by hormonal stimulation of glands in the cheeks, and appears between the ages of 2 and 4 weeks. It consists of red bumps or pimples.
Parents should keep the baby's cheeks clean and dry, and know that baby lotions or oils can make the condition worse. However, the acne is temporary and should disappear by the ages of 4 months to 6 months.
If the rash spreads, gets worse, or the baby experiences a fever, parents should see a pediatrician.
Hair stylists can develop occupational asthma and rhinitis (chronic runny nose) from exposure to chemicals called persulphate salts in hair bleaching agents, researchers say.
Vietnam to Produce Generic Bird-Flu Drug
Vietnam has reached an agreement with the Swiss manufacturer of the antiviral drug Tamiflu to allow the country to produce a generic version starting early next year in an effort to protect its population against bird flu, a Health Ministry official said Wednesday.
Birthing Classes
If you are having a child for the first time, it is easy to feel overwhelmed by questions, fears, and just not knowing what to expect. Many new parents find that birthing classes can really help calm their worries and answer many questions.
Infant Botulism
Infant botulism is an illness that can occur when a newborn ingests a specific type of bacteria that produce a toxin inside the body. The condition can be frightening because it can cause muscle weakness and breathing problems. But it is very rare: Fewer than 100 cases of infant botulism occur each year in the United States. Most of the babies who do get botulism recover fully.
Kids With Dyslexia
Dyslexia is a type of learning disability in which a child has difficulty learning to read and understand written language. Even kids with average or above-average intelligence, plenty of motivation, and ample opportunities to read can have dyslexia. Because kids with dyslexia have trouble making the basic connection between letters and their sounds, they often also have difficulty with spelling, writing, and speaking.
Report Finds Flaws in Mad Cow Test Program
Government investigators say testing is too slow at times to prevent cattle from eating feed that might be contaminated, just one flaw they cited in a program to help stop mad cow disease from spreading.
Syphilis rises in US but gonorrhea at new low - study
The number of U.S. syphilis cases rose for the fourth straight year in 2004, fueled by increases among men, while the gonorrhea disease rate reached a historic low, federal health researchers said on Tuesday.
Survey Looks at Ethics of Alzheimer's Trials
The majority of Americans approve of allowing patients with Alzheimer's disease to be enrolled in research studies -- even when they aren't able to provide their own consent, new research shows.
For Women, Laughter Is a Just Reward
The path to a good belly laugh may be strikingly different between women and men.
Pediatrician Counseling Boosts Gun Safety at Home
Pediatricians who provide brief counseling and training sessions on gun safety can greatly improve parents' gun-storage behaviors, a new study finds.
Aspirin May Help Prevent Throat Cancer
Aspirin and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) may help prevent esophageal cancer from developing in patients with Barrett's esophagus, researchers report.
Antibiotics Still Prescribed Too Often
Despite widespread concern about the growing problem of antibiotic resistance, too many people are still receiving prescriptions for antibiotics they don't need.
Health Tip: Air Bags Can Harm Children
Although air bags are extremely effective in saving adult lives, they often do not have the same effect for children.
If it's necessary for your child to ride in the front seat of a car with a passenger air bag, follow these tips to prevent injuries, courtesy of the Children's Hospital of Pennsylvania:
Secure the child in a restraint system that is correct for his size.
Move the front seat as far back from the dashboard as possible.
Do not allow the child to lean forward toward the dashboard.
Never allow a rear-facing infant to ride in front of a passenger air bag.
To ensure utmost safety, however, children should be seated in the back seat of the car, protected by safety seats.
Health Tip: Acne Isn't Just for Teens and Adults Anymore
Acne doesn't just appear on teenagers and adults.
It is also common on a baby's cheeks during the first few months of life, and is known as neonatal acne.
According to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, neonatal acne is caused by hormonal stimulation of glands in the cheeks, and appears between the ages of 2 and 4 weeks. It consists of red bumps or pimples.
Parents should keep the baby's cheeks clean and dry, and know that baby lotions or oils can make the condition worse. However, the acne is temporary and should disappear by the ages of 4 months to 6 months.
If the rash spreads, gets worse, or the baby experiences a fever, parents should see a pediatrician.
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
Health Headlines - November 8
U.S. Urges Rapid Response Plan for Potential Bird Flu Pandemic
The World Health Organization (WHO) should immediately convene a small expert panel to devise a rapid response to a potential avian flu pandemic, the United States proposed Tuesday.
The U.S. said this panel should also create a plan to improve worldwide influenza surveillance. Both tasks should be completed by January so they can be considered by the WHO's executive board, the Associated Press reported.
"We must go beyond generalized planning and well-intentioned expressions of cooperation. Now is the time to speak and act with specificity," Stewart Simonson, assistant secretary of the U.S. Health and Human Services Department, told experts meeting at WHO's Geneva, Switzerland, headquarters.
He said the U.S. believes the international community must take immediate action to increase bird flu surveillance, especially in Asia, Africa and Latin America, the AP reported.
In other news, Vietnam reported Tuesday that another person had been killed by bird flu. The man's death brings Vietnam's bird flu death toll to 42, the highest of any country.
Swiss drug maker Roche said it has stopped selling the antiretroviral drug Tamiflu in China and has turned supplies of the drug in that country over to the Chinese government. Roche said it believed the government could best handle rapid distribution of Tamiflu -- one of the few drugs believed to be effective against bird flu -- in the event of a pandemic, the AP reported.
In Japan, officials announced Tuesday that 170,00 more chickens will be killed in an area north of Tokyo where a bird flu virus from the H5 family was detected.
The World Bank said Monday that it has created a $500 million loan program to assist Southeast Asian nations trying to contain bird flu outbreaks. The loan program will be presented next week to the bank's board for approval, The New York Times reported.
The loan money would be provided quickly to countries that ask for it, a World Bank spokesperson said. The program was announced in Geneva at the first major international coordination meeting on bird flu.
The European Union also announced Monday that it's donating $35 million to help Asian countries combat bird flu.
Happy Marriage Offers Flu Protection
Marital bliss may help protect you against flu, says a British study that also found that people who are recently divorced or bereaved may be more susceptible to flu.
University of Birmingham researchers studied the effect that stress can have on a person's immune response to a flu shot. That response is considered a good marker of the body's ability to fend off a flu virus. Higher levels of antibodies in the blood indicate that the body is better primed to combat infection, BBC News reported.
The study of 180 people over age 65 found that happily married people had much higher levels of antibodies in the blood than other people. People whose partners had died in the year prior to flu vaccination had lower antibody levels than people who hadn't suffered bereavement.
"We know that those aged over 65 are more at risk of the impact of flu. But this research shows that within that group, those that have been recently bereaved, or those that are single, divorced or widowed are more at risk than those who are in a happy marriage," lead researcher Dr. Anna Phillips said.
Nikon Recalls Camera Battery Packs
Nikon Inc. has issued a worldwide recall of about 710,000 rechargeable camera battery packs -- including about 200,000 in the United States -- that can shortcircuit, overheat and possibly melt, posing a burn hazard to consumers.
The lithium ion battery packs -- with model number EN-EL3 -- were included as power sources for Nikon's digital SLR D100, D70 and D50 cameras and were also sold separately for about $50. There have been four reports of problems with the batteries but no reports of injuries.
Consumers with an EN-EL3 battery pack should check Nikon's Web site to determine if their battery pack is included in the recall. If so, consumers should stop using the battery pack and contact Nikon for a free replacement.
For more information, contact Nikon at 1-800-645-6678 or go to Nikon's Web site (http://www.nikonusa.com).
Tryptophan Suppresses Overactive Immune System
A substance called tryptophan, found in turkeys and a number of other foods, can suppress an overactive immune system and may point the way to new treatments for autoimmune disorders, according to new research.
Stanford University scientists found that a breakdown product -- kynuerenines -- produced in the body by tryptophan drastically reduced inflammation and reversed paralysis in mice with form of multiple sclerosis (MS), The New York Times reported.
The research was published in the current issue of the journal Science.
"I have always been a skeptic regarding the interaction of diet and immunity. But now I'm getting smacked on the head by my own research," study leader Dr. Lawrence Steinman, chairman of Stanford's immunology program, told The Times.
The findings are "very interesting and quite encouraging," autoimmune disorder expert Dr. Marc Feldman, professor of medicine at Imperial College London, told The Times. He said the next step is to determine if this kind of treatment is safe for people.
U.S. Emergency Departments Can't Handle Disasters: Experts
Many U.S. trauma centers and emergency departments are already at their capability limits and wouldn't be able to deal with a flu pandemic, terrorist attack or other types of disasters.
That's the conclusion of health experts like Larry Gage, president of the National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems, who told the Associated Press,"Trauma centers are never more than a couple of minor incidents from being overwhelmed."
"Across the country, the level of crowding at emergency departments has reached levels that are unprecedented in America's history," Dr. Kathleen Clem, chief of emergency medicine at Duke University Medical Center, said.
Experts note that trauma and emergency services are money losers. It costs a lot of money to maintain a 24-hour staff of specialized health workers, and many patients who use the services don't have health insurance. That's why many hospitals no longer offer trauma and emergency care, which places more pressure on hospitals that still offer those services, experts say.
Emergency doctors are demanding more support from the federal government and are in favor of a bill that would increase Medicare payments to emergency doctors and hospitals by 10 percent, the AP reported.
However, that bill so far has only two sponsors.
Food Fact:
The perfect food?
Here are five good reasons it just might be lentils. 1) Lentils, a fine source of plant protein, don't take hours to cook, unlike other dried beans. 2) Lentils are rich in soluble fiber, which helps control blood cholesterol. 3) Lentils provide some calcium, iron and other trace minerals. 4) Lentils are one of the best sources for folic acid, a B vitamin critical for preventing neural tube defects. 5) Lentils may protect against some types of cancers and lower heart disease risk.
Fitness Tip of the day:
Boost "good" cholesterol.
Here's one of the best arguments for daily aerobic exercise. Medical trials suggest that a daily dose of walking, biking, jogging, or swimming helps reduce the risk of heart disease, especially if that increased activity helps you lose weight. Research shows such exercise is the best way to raise HDLs, the "good" cholesterol that helps carry harmful fats out of your system.
FAQ of the day:
Why are my hips and thighs so big?
The hormones that maintain a woman's fat reserves for pregnancy and lactation also help determine where fat is stored. Despite what you see in magazines, a so-called "pear" shape is perfectly normal for a healthy woman. In fact, the female distribution of body fat in the hips and thighs has been associated with lower risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, hypertension and breast cancer. Women who tend to have more of a male distribution of body fat, with fat stored around the waist, are at higher risk for these diseases.
The World Health Organization (WHO) should immediately convene a small expert panel to devise a rapid response to a potential avian flu pandemic, the United States proposed Tuesday.
The U.S. said this panel should also create a plan to improve worldwide influenza surveillance. Both tasks should be completed by January so they can be considered by the WHO's executive board, the Associated Press reported.
"We must go beyond generalized planning and well-intentioned expressions of cooperation. Now is the time to speak and act with specificity," Stewart Simonson, assistant secretary of the U.S. Health and Human Services Department, told experts meeting at WHO's Geneva, Switzerland, headquarters.
He said the U.S. believes the international community must take immediate action to increase bird flu surveillance, especially in Asia, Africa and Latin America, the AP reported.
In other news, Vietnam reported Tuesday that another person had been killed by bird flu. The man's death brings Vietnam's bird flu death toll to 42, the highest of any country.
Swiss drug maker Roche said it has stopped selling the antiretroviral drug Tamiflu in China and has turned supplies of the drug in that country over to the Chinese government. Roche said it believed the government could best handle rapid distribution of Tamiflu -- one of the few drugs believed to be effective against bird flu -- in the event of a pandemic, the AP reported.
In Japan, officials announced Tuesday that 170,00 more chickens will be killed in an area north of Tokyo where a bird flu virus from the H5 family was detected.
The World Bank said Monday that it has created a $500 million loan program to assist Southeast Asian nations trying to contain bird flu outbreaks. The loan program will be presented next week to the bank's board for approval, The New York Times reported.
The loan money would be provided quickly to countries that ask for it, a World Bank spokesperson said. The program was announced in Geneva at the first major international coordination meeting on bird flu.
The European Union also announced Monday that it's donating $35 million to help Asian countries combat bird flu.
Happy Marriage Offers Flu Protection
Marital bliss may help protect you against flu, says a British study that also found that people who are recently divorced or bereaved may be more susceptible to flu.
University of Birmingham researchers studied the effect that stress can have on a person's immune response to a flu shot. That response is considered a good marker of the body's ability to fend off a flu virus. Higher levels of antibodies in the blood indicate that the body is better primed to combat infection, BBC News reported.
The study of 180 people over age 65 found that happily married people had much higher levels of antibodies in the blood than other people. People whose partners had died in the year prior to flu vaccination had lower antibody levels than people who hadn't suffered bereavement.
"We know that those aged over 65 are more at risk of the impact of flu. But this research shows that within that group, those that have been recently bereaved, or those that are single, divorced or widowed are more at risk than those who are in a happy marriage," lead researcher Dr. Anna Phillips said.
Nikon Recalls Camera Battery Packs
Nikon Inc. has issued a worldwide recall of about 710,000 rechargeable camera battery packs -- including about 200,000 in the United States -- that can shortcircuit, overheat and possibly melt, posing a burn hazard to consumers.
The lithium ion battery packs -- with model number EN-EL3 -- were included as power sources for Nikon's digital SLR D100, D70 and D50 cameras and were also sold separately for about $50. There have been four reports of problems with the batteries but no reports of injuries.
Consumers with an EN-EL3 battery pack should check Nikon's Web site to determine if their battery pack is included in the recall. If so, consumers should stop using the battery pack and contact Nikon for a free replacement.
For more information, contact Nikon at 1-800-645-6678 or go to Nikon's Web site (http://www.nikonusa.com).
Tryptophan Suppresses Overactive Immune System
A substance called tryptophan, found in turkeys and a number of other foods, can suppress an overactive immune system and may point the way to new treatments for autoimmune disorders, according to new research.
Stanford University scientists found that a breakdown product -- kynuerenines -- produced in the body by tryptophan drastically reduced inflammation and reversed paralysis in mice with form of multiple sclerosis (MS), The New York Times reported.
The research was published in the current issue of the journal Science.
"I have always been a skeptic regarding the interaction of diet and immunity. But now I'm getting smacked on the head by my own research," study leader Dr. Lawrence Steinman, chairman of Stanford's immunology program, told The Times.
The findings are "very interesting and quite encouraging," autoimmune disorder expert Dr. Marc Feldman, professor of medicine at Imperial College London, told The Times. He said the next step is to determine if this kind of treatment is safe for people.
U.S. Emergency Departments Can't Handle Disasters: Experts
Many U.S. trauma centers and emergency departments are already at their capability limits and wouldn't be able to deal with a flu pandemic, terrorist attack or other types of disasters.
That's the conclusion of health experts like Larry Gage, president of the National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems, who told the Associated Press,"Trauma centers are never more than a couple of minor incidents from being overwhelmed."
"Across the country, the level of crowding at emergency departments has reached levels that are unprecedented in America's history," Dr. Kathleen Clem, chief of emergency medicine at Duke University Medical Center, said.
Experts note that trauma and emergency services are money losers. It costs a lot of money to maintain a 24-hour staff of specialized health workers, and many patients who use the services don't have health insurance. That's why many hospitals no longer offer trauma and emergency care, which places more pressure on hospitals that still offer those services, experts say.
Emergency doctors are demanding more support from the federal government and are in favor of a bill that would increase Medicare payments to emergency doctors and hospitals by 10 percent, the AP reported.
However, that bill so far has only two sponsors.
Food Fact:
The perfect food?
Here are five good reasons it just might be lentils. 1) Lentils, a fine source of plant protein, don't take hours to cook, unlike other dried beans. 2) Lentils are rich in soluble fiber, which helps control blood cholesterol. 3) Lentils provide some calcium, iron and other trace minerals. 4) Lentils are one of the best sources for folic acid, a B vitamin critical for preventing neural tube defects. 5) Lentils may protect against some types of cancers and lower heart disease risk.
Fitness Tip of the day:
Boost "good" cholesterol.
Here's one of the best arguments for daily aerobic exercise. Medical trials suggest that a daily dose of walking, biking, jogging, or swimming helps reduce the risk of heart disease, especially if that increased activity helps you lose weight. Research shows such exercise is the best way to raise HDLs, the "good" cholesterol that helps carry harmful fats out of your system.
FAQ of the day:
Why are my hips and thighs so big?
The hormones that maintain a woman's fat reserves for pregnancy and lactation also help determine where fat is stored. Despite what you see in magazines, a so-called "pear" shape is perfectly normal for a healthy woman. In fact, the female distribution of body fat in the hips and thighs has been associated with lower risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, hypertension and breast cancer. Women who tend to have more of a male distribution of body fat, with fat stored around the waist, are at higher risk for these diseases.
Monday, November 07, 2005
Health Headlines - November 7
Cancer Survivors Need Long-Term Follow-Up Care: Report
Customized, long-term follow-up care is needed for the 10 million cancer survivors in the United States, says an Institute of Medicine study released Monday.
The report said too few cancer survivors receive this kind of follow-up and called on oncologists to create a "survivorship plan" to guide the future health care of every cancer survivor, the Associated Press reported.
When a cancer patient's active treatment is completed, their special physical, psychological and social needs may be just starting, but these needs are largely ignored by doctors, researchers and patient advocacy groups, the report noted. That means that many cancer survivors are unaware of lingering health issues or have to deal with them on their own.
Potential lingering health problems caused by cancer treatments include: mobility or memory problems, nerve damage, infertility or sexual dysfunction, and impaired organ function, the AP reported.
Cancer survivors may also be distressed over changes in their appearance, face discrimination from employers, or have to contend with increased health insurance premiums.
WHO Official Warns of 'Incalculable Human Misery' in Flu Pandemic
If the world is unprepared for the next human flu pandemic, there will be "incalculable human misery," the director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO) said Monday in Geneva at the first major international coordination meeting on bird flu .
"We have been experiencing a relentless spread of avian flu," along domestic poultry and migratory birds, Lee Jong-wook said at the gathering of 600 health experts and planners. "It is only a matter of time before an avian flu virus -- most likely H5N1 -- acquires the ability to be transmitted from human to human, sparking the outbreak of human pandemic influenza."
"This is the time for every country to prepare their national action plan -- and act on it. If we are unprepared, the next pandemic will cause incalculable human misery -- both directly from the loss of human life and indirectly through its widespread impact on security," Lee added.
Mike Ryan, the WHO's outbreak response director, said about 60 percent of countries have pandemic preparedness plans but most of those are just a piece of paper. Ryan said those plans need to move off the paper and into exercise and rehearsal, the Associated Press reported.
The warnings came as the maker of the antiviral drug Tamiflu announced it will increase production to make 300 million treatments annually by 2007 in order to meet government orders.
Swiss manufacturer Roche Holding AG said the increase would mean a tenfold rise in production from 2004, when a decision was made to start boosting production of the drug scientists believe may help humans fight a mutated virus, the AP reported.
Meanwhile, Chinese authorities ordered all live poultry markets in Beijing to close and officials went door-to-door seizing chickens and ducks from private homes as part of a major increase in the country's efforts to combat avian flu.
About six million birds have been slaughtered around the area of China's most recent outbreak of bird flu, authorities said Monday.
Health experts are especially concerned about the possibility of a bird flu outbreak among humans in China, which has a huge poultry industry (5.2 billion birds) and is also located along major wild bird migration routes.
Parasitic Worms May Aid New Asthma Treatments
Tiny parasitic worms called helminths could help researchers develop new ways of treating disorders such as asthma and hay fever, says an Edinburgh University study in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.
Researchers found that helminths (such as roundworms and threadworms) can fool the human immune system so that it doesn't attack the worms. It's believe the worms release molecules that switch off the immune system response that would kill the parasites, BBC News reported.
The researchers said it may be possible to copy this helminth survival tactic in order to suppress allergic reactions and reduce the need for vaccinations or drugs.
Last year, U.S. scientists reported that helminths may help prevent the inflammatory bowel disorder Crohn's disease.
Pre-Diabetic Condition Affects About Two Million U.S. Youngsters
An estimated two million youngsters in the United States have an obesity and inactivity-related pre-diabetic condition called impaired fasting glucose (IFG) that puts them at risk for diabetes and heart disease, say federal government researchers.
IFG is characterized by abnormally high blood sugar levels after several hours without eating. A blood test is used to measure IFG.
Researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health analyzed data from 915 youngsters ages 12 to 19 and found that one in 14 had IFG. Among overweight adolescents, the rate was one in six, the Associated Press reported.
Youngsters with IFG were more likely than other children with normal fasting glucose levels to have higher levels of bad cholesterol and blood fats called triglycerides, the study found.
The findings were published Monday in the November issue of the journal Pediatrics.
The researchers said that lifestyle changes such as increased physical activity and healthier eating can help prevent pre-diabetes from progressing to diabetes in adults. They said the same is likely true for children, the AP reported.
Aspirin May Protect Against Skin Cancer
Aspirin may help reduce the risk of skin cancer, says an Australian study.
The 15-year study of more than 1,600 people in southern Queensland concluded that regular use of aspirin and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) protected against skin caner and sunspots.
People who took two pills a week for more than five years had a 63 percent reduced risk of squamous cell carcinoma skin cancer. That risk decreased by 90 percent among people who took at least eight pills a week for a year, Agence France-Presse reported.
The study appears in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.
"We found that people who regularly used aspirin and other NSAIDs had significantly lower risks of developing skin cancer than people who did not use them," researcher David Whiteman told AFP. "Moreover, we found that among people who had never had skin cancer, those who regularly used aspirin had significantly lower numbers of sunspots."
He said that aspirin and other NSAIDs inhibit an enzyme called cyclo-oxygenase (COX), which allows some kinds of skin cancer to develop.
"Aspirin blocks the COX enzyme and it just so happens that these enzymes are involved in inflammation ... and these enzymes are also used by cancer cells to stimulate blood cells," Whiteman told AFP.
Food Fact:
Herbal essence.
Herbs add discreet flavor to a dish, if you handle them just right... When buying fresh parsley, basil, thyme or chives, the stem ends should look freshly cut, not dried out or wilted. Don't wash herbs until you're ready to use them. Store sturdier herbs in an open plastic bag in the refrigerator. Delicate herbs such as cilantro and tarragon should be placed in a glass of water and stored on the counter for a couple of days. Except for parsley which is dreadful dried, you can substitute dried herbs for fresh, but remember that drying intensifies the flavor. In general use one-fourth to one-third of the amount of fresh herbs called for in the recipe.
Fitness Tip of the day:
Train your brain.
Exercise more than your muscles to stick to a fitness plan -- be a winner at the mental game. Preparing your mind along with your body is pivotal for accomplishing your goals. Try writing a personal mission statement and tape a copy to your refrigerator, the dashboard of your car, your computer -- anywhere you can see it during the day.
FAQ of the day:
What is a healthy level of body fat?
Healthy adult males' generally accepted range of body fat is from 15 - 22%; healthy women range from 20 - 25%. Elite athletes may lower their body fat through exercise, but they also tend to be genetically lean. Women who reduce their body fat by 1/3 or more through intense exercise and/or restricted eating may depress their estrogen production too far to sustain a normal menstrual cycle. Not only is this likely to cause infertility, it's known to cause bone loss and osteoporosis in young women.
Customized, long-term follow-up care is needed for the 10 million cancer survivors in the United States, says an Institute of Medicine study released Monday.
The report said too few cancer survivors receive this kind of follow-up and called on oncologists to create a "survivorship plan" to guide the future health care of every cancer survivor, the Associated Press reported.
When a cancer patient's active treatment is completed, their special physical, psychological and social needs may be just starting, but these needs are largely ignored by doctors, researchers and patient advocacy groups, the report noted. That means that many cancer survivors are unaware of lingering health issues or have to deal with them on their own.
Potential lingering health problems caused by cancer treatments include: mobility or memory problems, nerve damage, infertility or sexual dysfunction, and impaired organ function, the AP reported.
Cancer survivors may also be distressed over changes in their appearance, face discrimination from employers, or have to contend with increased health insurance premiums.
WHO Official Warns of 'Incalculable Human Misery' in Flu Pandemic
If the world is unprepared for the next human flu pandemic, there will be "incalculable human misery," the director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO) said Monday in Geneva at the first major international coordination meeting on bird flu .
"We have been experiencing a relentless spread of avian flu," along domestic poultry and migratory birds, Lee Jong-wook said at the gathering of 600 health experts and planners. "It is only a matter of time before an avian flu virus -- most likely H5N1 -- acquires the ability to be transmitted from human to human, sparking the outbreak of human pandemic influenza."
"This is the time for every country to prepare their national action plan -- and act on it. If we are unprepared, the next pandemic will cause incalculable human misery -- both directly from the loss of human life and indirectly through its widespread impact on security," Lee added.
Mike Ryan, the WHO's outbreak response director, said about 60 percent of countries have pandemic preparedness plans but most of those are just a piece of paper. Ryan said those plans need to move off the paper and into exercise and rehearsal, the Associated Press reported.
The warnings came as the maker of the antiviral drug Tamiflu announced it will increase production to make 300 million treatments annually by 2007 in order to meet government orders.
Swiss manufacturer Roche Holding AG said the increase would mean a tenfold rise in production from 2004, when a decision was made to start boosting production of the drug scientists believe may help humans fight a mutated virus, the AP reported.
Meanwhile, Chinese authorities ordered all live poultry markets in Beijing to close and officials went door-to-door seizing chickens and ducks from private homes as part of a major increase in the country's efforts to combat avian flu.
About six million birds have been slaughtered around the area of China's most recent outbreak of bird flu, authorities said Monday.
Health experts are especially concerned about the possibility of a bird flu outbreak among humans in China, which has a huge poultry industry (5.2 billion birds) and is also located along major wild bird migration routes.
Parasitic Worms May Aid New Asthma Treatments
Tiny parasitic worms called helminths could help researchers develop new ways of treating disorders such as asthma and hay fever, says an Edinburgh University study in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.
Researchers found that helminths (such as roundworms and threadworms) can fool the human immune system so that it doesn't attack the worms. It's believe the worms release molecules that switch off the immune system response that would kill the parasites, BBC News reported.
The researchers said it may be possible to copy this helminth survival tactic in order to suppress allergic reactions and reduce the need for vaccinations or drugs.
Last year, U.S. scientists reported that helminths may help prevent the inflammatory bowel disorder Crohn's disease.
Pre-Diabetic Condition Affects About Two Million U.S. Youngsters
An estimated two million youngsters in the United States have an obesity and inactivity-related pre-diabetic condition called impaired fasting glucose (IFG) that puts them at risk for diabetes and heart disease, say federal government researchers.
IFG is characterized by abnormally high blood sugar levels after several hours without eating. A blood test is used to measure IFG.
Researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health analyzed data from 915 youngsters ages 12 to 19 and found that one in 14 had IFG. Among overweight adolescents, the rate was one in six, the Associated Press reported.
Youngsters with IFG were more likely than other children with normal fasting glucose levels to have higher levels of bad cholesterol and blood fats called triglycerides, the study found.
The findings were published Monday in the November issue of the journal Pediatrics.
The researchers said that lifestyle changes such as increased physical activity and healthier eating can help prevent pre-diabetes from progressing to diabetes in adults. They said the same is likely true for children, the AP reported.
Aspirin May Protect Against Skin Cancer
Aspirin may help reduce the risk of skin cancer, says an Australian study.
The 15-year study of more than 1,600 people in southern Queensland concluded that regular use of aspirin and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) protected against skin caner and sunspots.
People who took two pills a week for more than five years had a 63 percent reduced risk of squamous cell carcinoma skin cancer. That risk decreased by 90 percent among people who took at least eight pills a week for a year, Agence France-Presse reported.
The study appears in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.
"We found that people who regularly used aspirin and other NSAIDs had significantly lower risks of developing skin cancer than people who did not use them," researcher David Whiteman told AFP. "Moreover, we found that among people who had never had skin cancer, those who regularly used aspirin had significantly lower numbers of sunspots."
He said that aspirin and other NSAIDs inhibit an enzyme called cyclo-oxygenase (COX), which allows some kinds of skin cancer to develop.
"Aspirin blocks the COX enzyme and it just so happens that these enzymes are involved in inflammation ... and these enzymes are also used by cancer cells to stimulate blood cells," Whiteman told AFP.
Food Fact:
Herbal essence.
Herbs add discreet flavor to a dish, if you handle them just right... When buying fresh parsley, basil, thyme or chives, the stem ends should look freshly cut, not dried out or wilted. Don't wash herbs until you're ready to use them. Store sturdier herbs in an open plastic bag in the refrigerator. Delicate herbs such as cilantro and tarragon should be placed in a glass of water and stored on the counter for a couple of days. Except for parsley which is dreadful dried, you can substitute dried herbs for fresh, but remember that drying intensifies the flavor. In general use one-fourth to one-third of the amount of fresh herbs called for in the recipe.
Fitness Tip of the day:
Train your brain.
Exercise more than your muscles to stick to a fitness plan -- be a winner at the mental game. Preparing your mind along with your body is pivotal for accomplishing your goals. Try writing a personal mission statement and tape a copy to your refrigerator, the dashboard of your car, your computer -- anywhere you can see it during the day.
FAQ of the day:
What is a healthy level of body fat?
Healthy adult males' generally accepted range of body fat is from 15 - 22%; healthy women range from 20 - 25%. Elite athletes may lower their body fat through exercise, but they also tend to be genetically lean. Women who reduce their body fat by 1/3 or more through intense exercise and/or restricted eating may depress their estrogen production too far to sustain a normal menstrual cycle. Not only is this likely to cause infertility, it's known to cause bone loss and osteoporosis in young women.
Sunday, November 06, 2005
Health Headlines - November 6
Did Orwell's TB Frame '1984'?
Well-known British author George Orwell was hardly Mr. Sunshine, given the grim worlds he created in his books, especially the foreboding novel "1984." So why all the gloom?
In a new study, an infectious-disease specialist suggests that a bad case of tuberculosis may be partially responsible, along with the drastic treatments Orwell underwent toward the end of his life.
Orwell was "always a gloomy, pessimistic sort," said study co-author Dr. John J. Ross of Caritas Saint Elizabeth's Medical Center in Boston. But by the time Orwell wrote his masterpiece in the late 1940s, he was very sick and even more out of sorts, Ross added.
" '1984' would have certainly been a very different book, and maybe a less powerful book, had he not been so desperately ill at the time," Ross contended.
Ross has already made a name for himself in the field of diagnosing historical figures. Earlier this year, he wrote a controversial study suggesting that evidence in the life and writings of William Shakespeare showed the playwright probably suffered from syphilis.
In the new study, published in the Dec. 1 issue of the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, Ross looks at Orwell, who lived from 1903 to 1950. Orwell published his political allegory "Animal Farm" in 1945, four years before "1984," his depiction of a totalitarian government that turns language into a weapon against its own people. Today, the book is perhaps best known for its invention of the concepts of "doublethink" and "Big Brother."
Orwell -- whose real name was Eric Arthur Blair -- always had respiratory problems, and appears to have developed tuberculosis while living in Burma and in the cities that provided the subject matter for his book about underground life called "Down and Out in Paris and London."
In the 19th and early 20th century, tuberculosis -- also known as consumption -- often struck artists and authors who lived in crowded, germ-filled slums. In many cases, infected people slowly wasted away, giving the victims a romantic cast, as seen in the film "Moulin Rouge."
Antibiotics weren't available until near mid-20th century, so treatments involved bed rest or the dangerous "collapse therapy," in which doctors actually collapsed the lungs of patients to stop oxygen from feeding tuberculosis infections, Ross said.
Orwell underwent just such a treatment in the late 1940s. Around the same time, "his writing acquired a great deal of urgency," Ross said.
Why? It was partly because he had returned from the Spanish Civil War and was appalled by the "lies, deceit and murder he'd seen," Ross said. But he also thinks Orwell's illness instilled "a sense of his own mortality," even if he tried to deny how sick he was.
Overall, Ross said, Orwell's illness may have played a major role in his writing because it forced him to lie in bed. "You probably spend more time in your head than other people, more time to be creative and think," Ross said. "It makes you rely on your own resources, and it gives you time away from the world to formulate your creativity."
Peter Stansky, a British history professor at Stanford University who has studied Orwell, said the author appears to have ignored his bad health.
"I think he was pretty much a wreck, but he just went on," Stansky said. "There was a Puritanism and asceticism about him and also the English tendency to regard taking too much care of yourself as too self-indulgent."
But did Orwell's illness turn him into one of history's most powerful and influential writers? "I don't think his bad health drove his vision," Stansky said. "But it might have been a small factor."
Orwell died in 1950, before antibiotics began to make tuberculosis a much more treatable -- if often still deadly -- disease.
China responds to bird flu under shadow of SARS
In the blaze of speeches, meetings and regulations about bird flu that China's leaders have fired off in recent days, SARS has never been mentioned.
But memories of that epidemic two years ago are shadowing China's increasingly urgent response to the latest health threat, say Chinese experts and journalists.
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, which started in southern China in early 2003, killed 349 Chinese after officials hid or underplayed the flu-like illness, and China faced international censure after SARS spread to Hong Kong, then Asia and North America, killing hundreds more.
China dismissed two senior officials and blamed them for the cover-up.
On Friday, China announced that it was mobilizing a national "command headquarters" under the country's top emergency official, Hua Jianmin, to bring together six government and party departments and coordinate the fight against bird flu.
With rising global fears about the H5N1 avian flu virus, even parts of China's state-dominated press have recently said habitual government secrecy and cumbersome bureaucracy could again undercut efforts to contain an epidemic.
Scientists fear H5N1 could mutate into a form communicable between people, triggering a pandemic that could kill millions and overwhelm health systems.
"At present, the information about avian influenza cases released to the public here is clearly too tardy and inadequate," the outspoken business weekly, Caijing, said in an editorial that cited parallels with SARS.
While several Chinese experts interviewed also called for more official candor, they also said Chinese officials appeared to be reporting outbreaks of bird flu faster than they did during the SARS epidemic.
And central leaders have stepped in to ensure that disparate government agencies, especially the agriculture and health ministries, pull together.
"SARS is the model nobody wants to repeat. The public health system and official incentives have changed and I wouldn't expect the same problems," said Mao Shoulong, a government policy expert at the People's University of China who has studied official reactions to both SARS and the bird flu.
China's leaders have good reason to improve transparency. Bird flu has already killed more than 60 people in Asia and China on Friday reported its fourth outbreak in birds in a month. But so far, the country has not had any cases of humans being infected with H5N1, officials have said.
If China does succumb to bird flu, it will not be for lack of official plans. On Tuesday, China's Ministry of Agriculture issued an "emergency response" for any bird flu epidemic among birds and livestock in coming months, joining dozens of similar documents from central and local bureaucracies.
The agriculture ministry's plan demands that local officials report suspected cases of infection to the ministry within four hours.
"Those responsible for hiding, overlooking or delaying reports will be harshly punished according to the law," Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao told a high-level meeting about bird flu on Tuesday.
"NO INCENTIVE TO HIDE"
Mao, the policy expert, said these demands from national leaders mean central government agencies will cooperate more and local officials will be much less likely to hide cases of bird flu than they were SARS.
"Officials have no incentive to hide bird flu outbreaks," he said. "Their political career won't be damaged if they report, but they would be ended if they hid information." Farmers are also given compensation for culled poultry, he noted.
Pressure on local officials to report all possible cases may even lead to "systemic overload," as junior officials report even unlikely cases out of fear of punishment, said Lan Xue, a public policy researcher at Tsinghua University in Beijing who has advised China's leaders about dealing with emergencies.
Since SARS struck, China has also invested in a new nationwide network of emergency offices and plans. These preparations include one master plan, 25 plans for specific emergencies such as disease outbreaks, floods and earthquakes, and 80 plans for government departments, Xue said.
The government has established a national office to coordinate response to emergencies, and it has also drafted a law to encode the responsibilities and powers of officials in emergencies and pumped over 5 billion yuan into local disease surveillance offices, Xue said.
"Once the government realizes something is wrong, it can really go all the way. But now the challenge is implementation," he said.
But rapid response to a large outbreak among birds or possible human infection could be made more difficult by official reluctance to share information about specific outbreaks with citizens, said Chinese experts.
"Risk communication is not an easy task -- there's always the problem of over-reaction -- but the best way to deal with this is to get the general public educated," Xue said.
And in a country as large as China, even the $248 million that Prime Minister Wen promised to fight bird flu may be stretched if the virus spreads.
Each Chinese province has received tens of thousands of yuan to monitor migratory birds, which are thought to carry the virus, said Chu Guozhong, a Beijing-based ornithologist who is advising Chinese wildlife authorities on the disease.
"Local officials are now paying attention, but that's not much money to build up monitoring, and in some places it hasn't arrived yet."
China Turns to WHO for Bird Flu Help
China said Sunday it had asked the World Health Organization to help it determine whether the death of a 12-year-old girl last month was caused by bird flu. If it is confirmed, it would be China's first known human death from the lethal and virulent H5N1 strain of bird flu, which has killed at least 62 people across Southeast Asia.
There have been four outbreaks of the bird flu among poultry in China in the past three weeks.
Three people living in central China's Hunan province came down with pneumonia from unknown causes last month following an outbreak of the H5N1 strain among local poultry, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.
The girl, He Yin, died three days after developing a high fever on Oct. 13. She had had "close contact with sick birds," Xinhua said. Her 9-year-old brother was also hospitalized with similar symptoms but recovered.
The third victim was a 36-year-old middle school teacher who reportedly cut raw chicken while he had a minor injury on his hand and later fell ill, Xinhua said. He was identified only by his surname, Song.
All three lived in or near Wantang, a village where the government says 545 chickens and ducks died of bird flu last month.
Chinese officials initially said the girl and her brother had tested negative for the bird flu virus.
However on Sunday, Xinhua reported that experts "cannot rule out the possibility of human transmission of H5N1 bird flu. The specific cause needs further laboratory tests."
Roy Wadia, a spokesman for the WHO in Beijing, confirmed that China had asked the organization for help last week.
"This is a reiteration of how much of a public health threat bird flu really is," said Wadia. "Sometimes it takes a human case or a suspected human case to raise the alarm, to remind us that no country, whether China or anywhere else, can afford to be complacent."
Xinhua said China has asked the WHO for help in testing the blood and throat swabs from the three victims.
Since late 2003, the H5N1 strain of bird flu has ravaged poultry stocks and jumped from birds to humans. Most of the human deaths have been linked to close contact with infected birds. But experts fear the virus could mutate into a form easily passed among humans and possibly spark a worldwide pandemic.
China, which was heavily criticized during the 2003 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome for initially covering up the illness, has pledged it will be more open about reporting on bird flu.
Wadia said he did not think China had delayed its announcement of the suspected cases but that instead it was trying to be thorough before going public.
"I think the information they have shared with us has been shared as soon as they can corroborate it," he said.
Also Sunday, 1,700 officials and 100 police finished culling about 370,000 birds in northern China's Liaoning province after bird flu killed 8,940 chickens there.
The outbreak in Liaoning's Badaohao village, east of Beijing, was China's fourth reported outbreak in three weeks.
State television news on Sunday showed dozens of officials in white face masks and blue protective suits spraying disinfectant on empty poultry cages and the wheels of vehicles.
Xinhua said late Saturday that Badaohai lies along a route used by migratory birds heading from East Asia to Australia, contributing to fears that wild birds could spread the disease.
More than 20 magpies and other migratory birds had been spotted in the area, it said.
Chinese authorities have said they are concerned wild birds might spread the virus, particularly following an outbreak last spring that killed more than 6,000 migratory geese and gulls at northwestern China's Qinghai Lake.
The State Forestry Bureau said last month it was activating a reporting network to detect outbreaks among wild birds.
New regulations went into effect in Beijing on Sunday that allow detention for up to 15 days and fines of up to 200 yuan ($25) for anyone who fails to immunize their birds, the Beijing Morning Post reported.
The rules, announced jointly by the Beijing Agricultural Bureau and the Beijing Public Security Bureau, are aimed at ensuring a 100 percent bird vaccination rate in the capital, the newspaper said.
Experts Offer Free Memory Screenings Nov. 15
Experts will offer free in-person memory screenings at more than 700 sites across the United States on Nov. 15 -- National Memory Screening Day -- as part of National Alzheimer's Disease Awareness Month.
The free service is sponsored by the Alzheimer's Foundation of America and is held each year to promote early detection and treatment of Alzheimer's disease and related illnesses, and to provide information about successful aging.
The non-invasive, confidential memory screenings will be administered by social workers, doctors and other health care professionals. Each screening takes about 10 minutes and consists of tasks designed to assess memory and other intellectual functions.
The most commonly used screening method is the Mini-Mental State Examination, which has been documented to be an effective screening tool for dementia.
These screenings are meant to detect a potential problem, not to diagnose any specific illness. People who have abnormal screening scores will be urged to undergo an extensive medical evaluation.
"Early detection enables persons to benefit most from available medications that can help slow the progress of symptoms, and psychological and social interventions that can ease the journey for families. And it enables individuals to exercise self-determination related to future care, and legal and financial issues," AFA board member Dr. Richard Powers, chief of the Bureau of Geriatric Psychiatry at the Alabama Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation, said in a prepared statement.
Existing drugs for Alzheimer's disease do not treat the underlying cause of the brain-robbing illness, which is still largely unknown. However, they can temporarily slow the progression of symptoms.
Workouts Can Lighten Heavy Hearts
The millions of Americans stricken each year by debilitating depression may want to consider running away from their problem -- or walking, swimming or dancing it away.
"What the studies are showing is that exercise, at least when performed in a group setting, seems to be at least as effective as standard antidepressant medications in reducing symptoms in patients with major depression," said researcher James Blumenthal, a professor of medical psychology at Duke University in Durham, N.C.
According to Blumenthal, other studies are beginning to suggest that solitary exercise, such as workouts at the gym or a daily jog, can be just as effective as group activities in beating the blues, and that "duration of exercise didn't seem to matter -- what seemed to matter most was whether people were exercising or not."
Blumenthal was lead author on a much-publicized study released five years ago that found that just 10 months of regular, moderate exercise outperformed a leading antidepressant (Zoloft) in easing symptoms in young adults diagnosed with moderate to severe depression.
And another study released earlier this year, by researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, found that 30-minute aerobic workouts done three to five times a week cut depressive symptoms by 50 percent in young adults.
Theories abound as to how revving up the body helps uncloud the mind.
Robert E. Thayer is a professor of psychology at California State University, Long Beach, and the author of Calm Energy: How People Regulate Mood with Food and Exercise. He said that while workouts probably affect key brain chemicals like serotonin and dopamine, physical activity may also trigger positive changes in other areas, too.
"Depression is a condition characterized by low energy and moderate tension, something I call 'tense tiredness,'" he said. But exercise has a clear "mood effect" that seems to ease that anxious but lethargic state, he said.
According to Thayer, moderate exercise -- a brisk 10-minute walk, for example -- results in a boosting of energy, although it may not be quite enough to relieve stress.
"More intense exercise -- the amount you'd engage in with a 45-minute aerobic workout -- does give a primary mood effect of reducing tension. It might also leave you with a little less energy because you'd be tired, of course," he said. "However, there's also some indication from the research that there's a 'rebound' effect an hour or so later, in terms of [increased] energy."
Blumenthal pointed to the more lasting psychological boost regular workouts can bring. "People who exercise might also have better self-esteem; it may help them feel better about themselves, having that great sense of accomplishment," he said.
Still, the experts acknowledged that truly depressed individuals often find it tough to jump into an exercise routine.
"Why do people not do the thing that's perhaps the most important thing for them to do?" said Thayer. "It's because a drop in energy is such a central component of depression -- you just don't have the energy to do the exercise."
He said the key to breaking that cycle is to start small.
"Thinking about going to the gym and doing all the stuff that's involved with that can be overwhelming for a depressed person," Thayer pointed out. "But if you think 'Hey, maybe I'll just walk down the street 30 yards or so, at a leisurely pace,' that's a start. And it turns out that your body becomes activated then -- you have more of an incentive to walk farther, to do more."
Loved ones can play a key role, too, urging a depressed friend or family member to join in with them as they work out. "Social support, peer pressure, family support -- all of that can be helpful, certainly in getting people to maintain exercise," Blumenthal said.
No one is saying that exercise is always a substitute for drug therapy, especially for the severely depressed. "But we also know that these drugs aren't effective for everyone -- about a third of people aren't going to get better with medication," Blumenthal said.
For those patients, exercise may prove a viable, worry-free alternative -- with one great fringe benefit.
"In addition to its mental health benefits, there are some clear cardiovascular benefits to exercise which we don't see with antidepressant drugs, of course," Blumenthal noted. So, he said, what keeps the mind fit strengthens the body, too. "You're killing two birds with one stone."
Food Fact:
Ginger, no ail.
Want a neat trick for making health-giving ginger easier to grate? Freeze it first. You'll be glad you did: Spicy, lively, fresh ginger has a way of waking up all the other flavors around it. Look for large, firm, buff-colored knobs when buying fresh ginger. Traditionally used in Asian cooking, it's making its way into all sorts of savory dishes and delivering loads of healthful antioxidant compounds. Ginger may also decrease your heart attack risk. A few studies have found that both fresh and dried ginger inhibits blood levels of thromboxane B-2, a compound that promotes dangerous blood clots. It also has a longstanding folk reputation as a remedy for nausea. Clinical studies have found it useful in treating motion sickness, as well as post-surgical nausea.
Fitness Tip of the day:
Change the pace.
A few simple steps can make your walking routine a better cardio workout. The trick is to break from your usual pace with bursts of fast walking. For example, walk fast for one minute, then resume your usual speed for the next three minutes. Over time, shorten the slow intervals to two minutes and then one minute.
FAQ of the day:
Can I be fit and fat?
While obesity is strongly associated with increased health risks, recent population studies suggest much of that risk may stem from poor fitness. Increased physical activity makes a difference when combined with a calorie-controlled diet. As your fitness improves, you'll boost your health and feel better, even with only modest weight loss.
Well-known British author George Orwell was hardly Mr. Sunshine, given the grim worlds he created in his books, especially the foreboding novel "1984." So why all the gloom?
In a new study, an infectious-disease specialist suggests that a bad case of tuberculosis may be partially responsible, along with the drastic treatments Orwell underwent toward the end of his life.
Orwell was "always a gloomy, pessimistic sort," said study co-author Dr. John J. Ross of Caritas Saint Elizabeth's Medical Center in Boston. But by the time Orwell wrote his masterpiece in the late 1940s, he was very sick and even more out of sorts, Ross added.
" '1984' would have certainly been a very different book, and maybe a less powerful book, had he not been so desperately ill at the time," Ross contended.
Ross has already made a name for himself in the field of diagnosing historical figures. Earlier this year, he wrote a controversial study suggesting that evidence in the life and writings of William Shakespeare showed the playwright probably suffered from syphilis.
In the new study, published in the Dec. 1 issue of the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, Ross looks at Orwell, who lived from 1903 to 1950. Orwell published his political allegory "Animal Farm" in 1945, four years before "1984," his depiction of a totalitarian government that turns language into a weapon against its own people. Today, the book is perhaps best known for its invention of the concepts of "doublethink" and "Big Brother."
Orwell -- whose real name was Eric Arthur Blair -- always had respiratory problems, and appears to have developed tuberculosis while living in Burma and in the cities that provided the subject matter for his book about underground life called "Down and Out in Paris and London."
In the 19th and early 20th century, tuberculosis -- also known as consumption -- often struck artists and authors who lived in crowded, germ-filled slums. In many cases, infected people slowly wasted away, giving the victims a romantic cast, as seen in the film "Moulin Rouge."
Antibiotics weren't available until near mid-20th century, so treatments involved bed rest or the dangerous "collapse therapy," in which doctors actually collapsed the lungs of patients to stop oxygen from feeding tuberculosis infections, Ross said.
Orwell underwent just such a treatment in the late 1940s. Around the same time, "his writing acquired a great deal of urgency," Ross said.
Why? It was partly because he had returned from the Spanish Civil War and was appalled by the "lies, deceit and murder he'd seen," Ross said. But he also thinks Orwell's illness instilled "a sense of his own mortality," even if he tried to deny how sick he was.
Overall, Ross said, Orwell's illness may have played a major role in his writing because it forced him to lie in bed. "You probably spend more time in your head than other people, more time to be creative and think," Ross said. "It makes you rely on your own resources, and it gives you time away from the world to formulate your creativity."
Peter Stansky, a British history professor at Stanford University who has studied Orwell, said the author appears to have ignored his bad health.
"I think he was pretty much a wreck, but he just went on," Stansky said. "There was a Puritanism and asceticism about him and also the English tendency to regard taking too much care of yourself as too self-indulgent."
But did Orwell's illness turn him into one of history's most powerful and influential writers? "I don't think his bad health drove his vision," Stansky said. "But it might have been a small factor."
Orwell died in 1950, before antibiotics began to make tuberculosis a much more treatable -- if often still deadly -- disease.
China responds to bird flu under shadow of SARS
In the blaze of speeches, meetings and regulations about bird flu that China's leaders have fired off in recent days, SARS has never been mentioned.
But memories of that epidemic two years ago are shadowing China's increasingly urgent response to the latest health threat, say Chinese experts and journalists.
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, which started in southern China in early 2003, killed 349 Chinese after officials hid or underplayed the flu-like illness, and China faced international censure after SARS spread to Hong Kong, then Asia and North America, killing hundreds more.
China dismissed two senior officials and blamed them for the cover-up.
On Friday, China announced that it was mobilizing a national "command headquarters" under the country's top emergency official, Hua Jianmin, to bring together six government and party departments and coordinate the fight against bird flu.
With rising global fears about the H5N1 avian flu virus, even parts of China's state-dominated press have recently said habitual government secrecy and cumbersome bureaucracy could again undercut efforts to contain an epidemic.
Scientists fear H5N1 could mutate into a form communicable between people, triggering a pandemic that could kill millions and overwhelm health systems.
"At present, the information about avian influenza cases released to the public here is clearly too tardy and inadequate," the outspoken business weekly, Caijing, said in an editorial that cited parallels with SARS.
While several Chinese experts interviewed also called for more official candor, they also said Chinese officials appeared to be reporting outbreaks of bird flu faster than they did during the SARS epidemic.
And central leaders have stepped in to ensure that disparate government agencies, especially the agriculture and health ministries, pull together.
"SARS is the model nobody wants to repeat. The public health system and official incentives have changed and I wouldn't expect the same problems," said Mao Shoulong, a government policy expert at the People's University of China who has studied official reactions to both SARS and the bird flu.
China's leaders have good reason to improve transparency. Bird flu has already killed more than 60 people in Asia and China on Friday reported its fourth outbreak in birds in a month. But so far, the country has not had any cases of humans being infected with H5N1, officials have said.
If China does succumb to bird flu, it will not be for lack of official plans. On Tuesday, China's Ministry of Agriculture issued an "emergency response" for any bird flu epidemic among birds and livestock in coming months, joining dozens of similar documents from central and local bureaucracies.
The agriculture ministry's plan demands that local officials report suspected cases of infection to the ministry within four hours.
"Those responsible for hiding, overlooking or delaying reports will be harshly punished according to the law," Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao told a high-level meeting about bird flu on Tuesday.
"NO INCENTIVE TO HIDE"
Mao, the policy expert, said these demands from national leaders mean central government agencies will cooperate more and local officials will be much less likely to hide cases of bird flu than they were SARS.
"Officials have no incentive to hide bird flu outbreaks," he said. "Their political career won't be damaged if they report, but they would be ended if they hid information." Farmers are also given compensation for culled poultry, he noted.
Pressure on local officials to report all possible cases may even lead to "systemic overload," as junior officials report even unlikely cases out of fear of punishment, said Lan Xue, a public policy researcher at Tsinghua University in Beijing who has advised China's leaders about dealing with emergencies.
Since SARS struck, China has also invested in a new nationwide network of emergency offices and plans. These preparations include one master plan, 25 plans for specific emergencies such as disease outbreaks, floods and earthquakes, and 80 plans for government departments, Xue said.
The government has established a national office to coordinate response to emergencies, and it has also drafted a law to encode the responsibilities and powers of officials in emergencies and pumped over 5 billion yuan into local disease surveillance offices, Xue said.
"Once the government realizes something is wrong, it can really go all the way. But now the challenge is implementation," he said.
But rapid response to a large outbreak among birds or possible human infection could be made more difficult by official reluctance to share information about specific outbreaks with citizens, said Chinese experts.
"Risk communication is not an easy task -- there's always the problem of over-reaction -- but the best way to deal with this is to get the general public educated," Xue said.
And in a country as large as China, even the $248 million that Prime Minister Wen promised to fight bird flu may be stretched if the virus spreads.
Each Chinese province has received tens of thousands of yuan to monitor migratory birds, which are thought to carry the virus, said Chu Guozhong, a Beijing-based ornithologist who is advising Chinese wildlife authorities on the disease.
"Local officials are now paying attention, but that's not much money to build up monitoring, and in some places it hasn't arrived yet."
China Turns to WHO for Bird Flu Help
China said Sunday it had asked the World Health Organization to help it determine whether the death of a 12-year-old girl last month was caused by bird flu. If it is confirmed, it would be China's first known human death from the lethal and virulent H5N1 strain of bird flu, which has killed at least 62 people across Southeast Asia.
There have been four outbreaks of the bird flu among poultry in China in the past three weeks.
Three people living in central China's Hunan province came down with pneumonia from unknown causes last month following an outbreak of the H5N1 strain among local poultry, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.
The girl, He Yin, died three days after developing a high fever on Oct. 13. She had had "close contact with sick birds," Xinhua said. Her 9-year-old brother was also hospitalized with similar symptoms but recovered.
The third victim was a 36-year-old middle school teacher who reportedly cut raw chicken while he had a minor injury on his hand and later fell ill, Xinhua said. He was identified only by his surname, Song.
All three lived in or near Wantang, a village where the government says 545 chickens and ducks died of bird flu last month.
Chinese officials initially said the girl and her brother had tested negative for the bird flu virus.
However on Sunday, Xinhua reported that experts "cannot rule out the possibility of human transmission of H5N1 bird flu. The specific cause needs further laboratory tests."
Roy Wadia, a spokesman for the WHO in Beijing, confirmed that China had asked the organization for help last week.
"This is a reiteration of how much of a public health threat bird flu really is," said Wadia. "Sometimes it takes a human case or a suspected human case to raise the alarm, to remind us that no country, whether China or anywhere else, can afford to be complacent."
Xinhua said China has asked the WHO for help in testing the blood and throat swabs from the three victims.
Since late 2003, the H5N1 strain of bird flu has ravaged poultry stocks and jumped from birds to humans. Most of the human deaths have been linked to close contact with infected birds. But experts fear the virus could mutate into a form easily passed among humans and possibly spark a worldwide pandemic.
China, which was heavily criticized during the 2003 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome for initially covering up the illness, has pledged it will be more open about reporting on bird flu.
Wadia said he did not think China had delayed its announcement of the suspected cases but that instead it was trying to be thorough before going public.
"I think the information they have shared with us has been shared as soon as they can corroborate it," he said.
Also Sunday, 1,700 officials and 100 police finished culling about 370,000 birds in northern China's Liaoning province after bird flu killed 8,940 chickens there.
The outbreak in Liaoning's Badaohao village, east of Beijing, was China's fourth reported outbreak in three weeks.
State television news on Sunday showed dozens of officials in white face masks and blue protective suits spraying disinfectant on empty poultry cages and the wheels of vehicles.
Xinhua said late Saturday that Badaohai lies along a route used by migratory birds heading from East Asia to Australia, contributing to fears that wild birds could spread the disease.
More than 20 magpies and other migratory birds had been spotted in the area, it said.
Chinese authorities have said they are concerned wild birds might spread the virus, particularly following an outbreak last spring that killed more than 6,000 migratory geese and gulls at northwestern China's Qinghai Lake.
The State Forestry Bureau said last month it was activating a reporting network to detect outbreaks among wild birds.
New regulations went into effect in Beijing on Sunday that allow detention for up to 15 days and fines of up to 200 yuan ($25) for anyone who fails to immunize their birds, the Beijing Morning Post reported.
The rules, announced jointly by the Beijing Agricultural Bureau and the Beijing Public Security Bureau, are aimed at ensuring a 100 percent bird vaccination rate in the capital, the newspaper said.
Experts Offer Free Memory Screenings Nov. 15
Experts will offer free in-person memory screenings at more than 700 sites across the United States on Nov. 15 -- National Memory Screening Day -- as part of National Alzheimer's Disease Awareness Month.
The free service is sponsored by the Alzheimer's Foundation of America and is held each year to promote early detection and treatment of Alzheimer's disease and related illnesses, and to provide information about successful aging.
The non-invasive, confidential memory screenings will be administered by social workers, doctors and other health care professionals. Each screening takes about 10 minutes and consists of tasks designed to assess memory and other intellectual functions.
The most commonly used screening method is the Mini-Mental State Examination, which has been documented to be an effective screening tool for dementia.
These screenings are meant to detect a potential problem, not to diagnose any specific illness. People who have abnormal screening scores will be urged to undergo an extensive medical evaluation.
"Early detection enables persons to benefit most from available medications that can help slow the progress of symptoms, and psychological and social interventions that can ease the journey for families. And it enables individuals to exercise self-determination related to future care, and legal and financial issues," AFA board member Dr. Richard Powers, chief of the Bureau of Geriatric Psychiatry at the Alabama Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation, said in a prepared statement.
Existing drugs for Alzheimer's disease do not treat the underlying cause of the brain-robbing illness, which is still largely unknown. However, they can temporarily slow the progression of symptoms.
Workouts Can Lighten Heavy Hearts
The millions of Americans stricken each year by debilitating depression may want to consider running away from their problem -- or walking, swimming or dancing it away.
"What the studies are showing is that exercise, at least when performed in a group setting, seems to be at least as effective as standard antidepressant medications in reducing symptoms in patients with major depression," said researcher James Blumenthal, a professor of medical psychology at Duke University in Durham, N.C.
According to Blumenthal, other studies are beginning to suggest that solitary exercise, such as workouts at the gym or a daily jog, can be just as effective as group activities in beating the blues, and that "duration of exercise didn't seem to matter -- what seemed to matter most was whether people were exercising or not."
Blumenthal was lead author on a much-publicized study released five years ago that found that just 10 months of regular, moderate exercise outperformed a leading antidepressant (Zoloft) in easing symptoms in young adults diagnosed with moderate to severe depression.
And another study released earlier this year, by researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, found that 30-minute aerobic workouts done three to five times a week cut depressive symptoms by 50 percent in young adults.
Theories abound as to how revving up the body helps uncloud the mind.
Robert E. Thayer is a professor of psychology at California State University, Long Beach, and the author of Calm Energy: How People Regulate Mood with Food and Exercise. He said that while workouts probably affect key brain chemicals like serotonin and dopamine, physical activity may also trigger positive changes in other areas, too.
"Depression is a condition characterized by low energy and moderate tension, something I call 'tense tiredness,'" he said. But exercise has a clear "mood effect" that seems to ease that anxious but lethargic state, he said.
According to Thayer, moderate exercise -- a brisk 10-minute walk, for example -- results in a boosting of energy, although it may not be quite enough to relieve stress.
"More intense exercise -- the amount you'd engage in with a 45-minute aerobic workout -- does give a primary mood effect of reducing tension. It might also leave you with a little less energy because you'd be tired, of course," he said. "However, there's also some indication from the research that there's a 'rebound' effect an hour or so later, in terms of [increased] energy."
Blumenthal pointed to the more lasting psychological boost regular workouts can bring. "People who exercise might also have better self-esteem; it may help them feel better about themselves, having that great sense of accomplishment," he said.
Still, the experts acknowledged that truly depressed individuals often find it tough to jump into an exercise routine.
"Why do people not do the thing that's perhaps the most important thing for them to do?" said Thayer. "It's because a drop in energy is such a central component of depression -- you just don't have the energy to do the exercise."
He said the key to breaking that cycle is to start small.
"Thinking about going to the gym and doing all the stuff that's involved with that can be overwhelming for a depressed person," Thayer pointed out. "But if you think 'Hey, maybe I'll just walk down the street 30 yards or so, at a leisurely pace,' that's a start. And it turns out that your body becomes activated then -- you have more of an incentive to walk farther, to do more."
Loved ones can play a key role, too, urging a depressed friend or family member to join in with them as they work out. "Social support, peer pressure, family support -- all of that can be helpful, certainly in getting people to maintain exercise," Blumenthal said.
No one is saying that exercise is always a substitute for drug therapy, especially for the severely depressed. "But we also know that these drugs aren't effective for everyone -- about a third of people aren't going to get better with medication," Blumenthal said.
For those patients, exercise may prove a viable, worry-free alternative -- with one great fringe benefit.
"In addition to its mental health benefits, there are some clear cardiovascular benefits to exercise which we don't see with antidepressant drugs, of course," Blumenthal noted. So, he said, what keeps the mind fit strengthens the body, too. "You're killing two birds with one stone."
Food Fact:
Ginger, no ail.
Want a neat trick for making health-giving ginger easier to grate? Freeze it first. You'll be glad you did: Spicy, lively, fresh ginger has a way of waking up all the other flavors around it. Look for large, firm, buff-colored knobs when buying fresh ginger. Traditionally used in Asian cooking, it's making its way into all sorts of savory dishes and delivering loads of healthful antioxidant compounds. Ginger may also decrease your heart attack risk. A few studies have found that both fresh and dried ginger inhibits blood levels of thromboxane B-2, a compound that promotes dangerous blood clots. It also has a longstanding folk reputation as a remedy for nausea. Clinical studies have found it useful in treating motion sickness, as well as post-surgical nausea.
Fitness Tip of the day:
Change the pace.
A few simple steps can make your walking routine a better cardio workout. The trick is to break from your usual pace with bursts of fast walking. For example, walk fast for one minute, then resume your usual speed for the next three minutes. Over time, shorten the slow intervals to two minutes and then one minute.
FAQ of the day:
Can I be fit and fat?
While obesity is strongly associated with increased health risks, recent population studies suggest much of that risk may stem from poor fitness. Increased physical activity makes a difference when combined with a calorie-controlled diet. As your fitness improves, you'll boost your health and feel better, even with only modest weight loss.
Saturday, November 05, 2005
Health Headlines - November 5
Bird Flu Kills Young Woman in Indonesia
A 19-year-old woman died of bird flu in Indonesia and an 8-year-old boy from her family was hospitalized with the virus, officials said Saturday.
With concerns about a possible human bird flu pandemic rising around the globe, the World Bank said it was finalizing plans to provide up to $500 million to help poor countries fight the disease.
New cases of the virus in birds were reported in China and Vietnam this week.
The woman, from the town of Tangerang on the outskirts of the Indonesia capital Jakarta, was believed to have contracted the virus from infected dead chickens in her neighborhood, said Hariadi Wibisono, a Ministry of Health official. Her death brings the number of people killed by the disease in Indonesia to five, he said.
Wibisono said a Hong Kong laboratory confirmed both victims had bird flu, but it was not immediately clear how the young boy contracted the disease.
Since late 2003, the virulent and lethal H5N1 strain of bird flu has ravaged poultry stocks and jumped from birds to humans, killing at least 62 people in Southeast Asia. Most of the human deaths have been linked to close contact with infected birds. But experts fear the virus could mutate into a form easily passed among humans and possibly spark a worldwide pandemic.
The latest outbreak in China — the fourth in three weeks — killed 8,940 chickens on Oct. 26 in Liaoning province's Badaohao village east of Beijing, the government said Friday.
The outbreak prompted authorities to destroy 369,900 other birds in the area, and came despite efforts to tighten controls on China's 5.2 billion chickens, ducks and other poultry.
Hong Kong immediately banned poultry imports from Liaoning, reflecting growing concern that China is becoming a potential bird flu flashpoint.
No human cases have been reported in China, but authorities warn it is inevitable if the government cannot stop repeated outbreaks in poultry.
In Vietnam — where most of the human deaths have occurred — more than 3,000 poultry died or were culled this week in three villages in Bac Giang province about 35 miles northeast of Hanoi, provincial vice chairman Nguyen Dang Khoa said Friday.
Transporting poultry to or from the three villages was banned, and the towns and those around them have been disinfected and remaining poultry vaccinated, he said.
In one of the villages, Van Trung, about a dozen local officials on Friday went from house to house, beating to death any poultry they found.
"We expect more outbreaks, not just in Bac Giang, but also in other provinces," said Hoang Van Nam, deputy director of the Animal Health Department. "Cooler weather now makes it easier for the virus to spread."
The World Bank is considering a package between $300 million and $500 million which could be used by low-income countries to "supplement government resources, to strengthen the veterinary systems and to put in place culling and vaccine programs for animals," Jim Adams, the World Bank's vice president for operations policy and country services, said Friday.
On Saturday, WHO said farmers in developing countries should be compensated for poultry culled during a bird flu outbreak to encourage them to report unusual chicken deaths.
In the United States, Hawaii became the first state this week to begin voluntary screening of passengers at airports to detect signs of bird flu or other viruses.
Insect Sting Allergy May Be Undertreated
Frontline health workers aren't following guidelines on management of severe allergic reactions (anaphylaxis), new research suggests.
The guidelines, published by the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology and the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, state that patients with a history of anaphylaxis to an insect sting should: be educated on ways they can avoid insect stings; carry injectable epinephrine for emergency self-treatment; undergo specific IgE testing for stinging insect sensitivity; and be considered for immunotherapy.
In one study, Dr. Thomas L. Johnson II of San Antonio, Texas, and his colleagues analyzed the charts of patients treated at emergency rooms and primary care clinics in order to review health providers' documented recommendations for fire ant and flying insect hypersensitivity reactions.
Of 120 fire ant and flying insect encounters suggestive of a systemic reaction, 59 were from flying insects, and 46 were from fire ants. The remainder of the systemic reactions included five scorpion stings and 10 unidentified insects.
The review found that 55 percent of the patients who suffered a systemic reaction received a prescription for injectable epinephrine, 12 percent were given information on how to avoid insect stings, and 39 percent were referred to an allergist.
Of the 28 patients who were referred to an allergist, and who kept their appointments are were tested, 89 percent had positive skin testing and were recommended for immunotherapy.
The study authors wrote that, "it is apparent that many patients who have experienced a systemic reaction following an insect sting and have sought medical care are not afforded an opportunity for potentially life-saving therapy."
The findings were presented Saturday at the annual meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology in Anaheim, Calif.
Two other U.S. studies presented at the meeting also found that many health providers failed to follow the guidelines on management of severe allergic reactions caused by insect stings.
Bill Gates Fights to End Malaria
The world's richest man, Bill Gates, believes it is possible to completely wipe out malaria that kills thousands every day but gets comparatively little attention because it mostly affects poor countries.
"The fact that all these kids are dying, over 2,000 a day. That's terrible. If it was happening in rich countries, we'd act," said the software billionaire -— who has acted by pledging $258.3 million recently for the development of new drugs, a vaccine and better protection against mosquitos.
"Biology has improved, so the chance of having new medicines and vaccines are stronger today than ever," Gates said in an interview for ABC's "This Week" to be aired Sunday.
"And yet because the people who need these medicines can't afford them, we haven't put the resources of the world behind us," said the top philanthropist who has provided about $6 billion over the last five years for various causes and projects.
The largest chunk, $107.6 million, of the new funds to battle malaria will go to develop an experimental malaria vaccine and will cover the completion of testing in Africa and the licensing process, should the vaccine prove viable. A study in Mozambique has found the vaccine cut the risk of severe malaria among young children by 58 percent.
A group working to accelerate the development of affordable drugs, the Medicines for Malaria Venture, will get $100 million. The rest will go to developing better pesticides and bed nets against the disease-spreading mosquitos.
In the United States, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation focuses on education and scholarships. But globally "We learned about these health issues, we realized that that's where you can make a huge change," he said.
"With our foundation, with others ... we're getting the brightest scientists to come and work on these problems," Gates added.
But can the stubborn, age-old infection be fully eradicated?
"Absolutely. It's not going to happen overnight, and we should take the tools we have today and get those applied, because we can save half the lives just that way," Gates told George Stephanopoulos, a former White House aide and now an ABC anchor.
"With breakthroughs that will come over the next two decades, yes, we can make malaria in the whole world like it is in the United States today, something that we just don't have to worry about," said Gates.
So will he be remembered more for the work on global health than for Microsoft, Stephanopoulos asked?
"I don't care whether I'm remembered ... empowering people with the Internet and PCs is my lifetime's work. That's my job."
Food Fact:
Smashing!
To get the most from garlic, you may have to rough it up a little. When you cook garlic, cut it, smash it and then let it sit for about 10 minutes. This allows plenty of time for the formation of garlic's mother compound, allicin, the sulfur compound that gives garlic its unique potential benefits, including an ability to inhibit blood clots. Raw and cooked garlic may reduce elevated blood cholesterol and blood pressure. In population studies, people who eat more alliums (garlic family members) have lower rates of stomach and other cancers; indeed, just one clove of garlic a day can lower the risk. Raw garlic and onion kill bacteria and fungi, making them natural antibiotics. When buying garlic, choose firm heavy heads and store in an open container in a cool, dry place.
Fitness Tip of the day:
Chill out.
One essential step in your workout helps avoid light-headedness and muscle spasms. It's the cool-down period, which is even more important than a preworkout warmup. After vigorous activity, a cooldown gives your heart rate a chance to normalize, and protects you from negative effects.
FAQ of the day:
How can I get heart-healthy omega-3s without fish?
First, make sure you include plant sources of omega-3s every day. It's also important to limit the amount of highly polyunsaturated oils in your diet, because they compete with omega-3s. Olive oil is a safe choice. Plant-based sources of omega-3s such as English walnuts, soy foods, flax seeds and leafy green vegetables.
A 19-year-old woman died of bird flu in Indonesia and an 8-year-old boy from her family was hospitalized with the virus, officials said Saturday.
With concerns about a possible human bird flu pandemic rising around the globe, the World Bank said it was finalizing plans to provide up to $500 million to help poor countries fight the disease.
New cases of the virus in birds were reported in China and Vietnam this week.
The woman, from the town of Tangerang on the outskirts of the Indonesia capital Jakarta, was believed to have contracted the virus from infected dead chickens in her neighborhood, said Hariadi Wibisono, a Ministry of Health official. Her death brings the number of people killed by the disease in Indonesia to five, he said.
Wibisono said a Hong Kong laboratory confirmed both victims had bird flu, but it was not immediately clear how the young boy contracted the disease.
Since late 2003, the virulent and lethal H5N1 strain of bird flu has ravaged poultry stocks and jumped from birds to humans, killing at least 62 people in Southeast Asia. Most of the human deaths have been linked to close contact with infected birds. But experts fear the virus could mutate into a form easily passed among humans and possibly spark a worldwide pandemic.
The latest outbreak in China — the fourth in three weeks — killed 8,940 chickens on Oct. 26 in Liaoning province's Badaohao village east of Beijing, the government said Friday.
The outbreak prompted authorities to destroy 369,900 other birds in the area, and came despite efforts to tighten controls on China's 5.2 billion chickens, ducks and other poultry.
Hong Kong immediately banned poultry imports from Liaoning, reflecting growing concern that China is becoming a potential bird flu flashpoint.
No human cases have been reported in China, but authorities warn it is inevitable if the government cannot stop repeated outbreaks in poultry.
In Vietnam — where most of the human deaths have occurred — more than 3,000 poultry died or were culled this week in three villages in Bac Giang province about 35 miles northeast of Hanoi, provincial vice chairman Nguyen Dang Khoa said Friday.
Transporting poultry to or from the three villages was banned, and the towns and those around them have been disinfected and remaining poultry vaccinated, he said.
In one of the villages, Van Trung, about a dozen local officials on Friday went from house to house, beating to death any poultry they found.
"We expect more outbreaks, not just in Bac Giang, but also in other provinces," said Hoang Van Nam, deputy director of the Animal Health Department. "Cooler weather now makes it easier for the virus to spread."
The World Bank is considering a package between $300 million and $500 million which could be used by low-income countries to "supplement government resources, to strengthen the veterinary systems and to put in place culling and vaccine programs for animals," Jim Adams, the World Bank's vice president for operations policy and country services, said Friday.
On Saturday, WHO said farmers in developing countries should be compensated for poultry culled during a bird flu outbreak to encourage them to report unusual chicken deaths.
In the United States, Hawaii became the first state this week to begin voluntary screening of passengers at airports to detect signs of bird flu or other viruses.
Insect Sting Allergy May Be Undertreated
Frontline health workers aren't following guidelines on management of severe allergic reactions (anaphylaxis), new research suggests.
The guidelines, published by the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology and the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, state that patients with a history of anaphylaxis to an insect sting should: be educated on ways they can avoid insect stings; carry injectable epinephrine for emergency self-treatment; undergo specific IgE testing for stinging insect sensitivity; and be considered for immunotherapy.
In one study, Dr. Thomas L. Johnson II of San Antonio, Texas, and his colleagues analyzed the charts of patients treated at emergency rooms and primary care clinics in order to review health providers' documented recommendations for fire ant and flying insect hypersensitivity reactions.
Of 120 fire ant and flying insect encounters suggestive of a systemic reaction, 59 were from flying insects, and 46 were from fire ants. The remainder of the systemic reactions included five scorpion stings and 10 unidentified insects.
The review found that 55 percent of the patients who suffered a systemic reaction received a prescription for injectable epinephrine, 12 percent were given information on how to avoid insect stings, and 39 percent were referred to an allergist.
Of the 28 patients who were referred to an allergist, and who kept their appointments are were tested, 89 percent had positive skin testing and were recommended for immunotherapy.
The study authors wrote that, "it is apparent that many patients who have experienced a systemic reaction following an insect sting and have sought medical care are not afforded an opportunity for potentially life-saving therapy."
The findings were presented Saturday at the annual meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology in Anaheim, Calif.
Two other U.S. studies presented at the meeting also found that many health providers failed to follow the guidelines on management of severe allergic reactions caused by insect stings.
Bill Gates Fights to End Malaria
The world's richest man, Bill Gates, believes it is possible to completely wipe out malaria that kills thousands every day but gets comparatively little attention because it mostly affects poor countries.
"The fact that all these kids are dying, over 2,000 a day. That's terrible. If it was happening in rich countries, we'd act," said the software billionaire -— who has acted by pledging $258.3 million recently for the development of new drugs, a vaccine and better protection against mosquitos.
"Biology has improved, so the chance of having new medicines and vaccines are stronger today than ever," Gates said in an interview for ABC's "This Week" to be aired Sunday.
"And yet because the people who need these medicines can't afford them, we haven't put the resources of the world behind us," said the top philanthropist who has provided about $6 billion over the last five years for various causes and projects.
The largest chunk, $107.6 million, of the new funds to battle malaria will go to develop an experimental malaria vaccine and will cover the completion of testing in Africa and the licensing process, should the vaccine prove viable. A study in Mozambique has found the vaccine cut the risk of severe malaria among young children by 58 percent.
A group working to accelerate the development of affordable drugs, the Medicines for Malaria Venture, will get $100 million. The rest will go to developing better pesticides and bed nets against the disease-spreading mosquitos.
In the United States, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation focuses on education and scholarships. But globally "We learned about these health issues, we realized that that's where you can make a huge change," he said.
"With our foundation, with others ... we're getting the brightest scientists to come and work on these problems," Gates added.
But can the stubborn, age-old infection be fully eradicated?
"Absolutely. It's not going to happen overnight, and we should take the tools we have today and get those applied, because we can save half the lives just that way," Gates told George Stephanopoulos, a former White House aide and now an ABC anchor.
"With breakthroughs that will come over the next two decades, yes, we can make malaria in the whole world like it is in the United States today, something that we just don't have to worry about," said Gates.
So will he be remembered more for the work on global health than for Microsoft, Stephanopoulos asked?
"I don't care whether I'm remembered ... empowering people with the Internet and PCs is my lifetime's work. That's my job."
Food Fact:
Smashing!
To get the most from garlic, you may have to rough it up a little. When you cook garlic, cut it, smash it and then let it sit for about 10 minutes. This allows plenty of time for the formation of garlic's mother compound, allicin, the sulfur compound that gives garlic its unique potential benefits, including an ability to inhibit blood clots. Raw and cooked garlic may reduce elevated blood cholesterol and blood pressure. In population studies, people who eat more alliums (garlic family members) have lower rates of stomach and other cancers; indeed, just one clove of garlic a day can lower the risk. Raw garlic and onion kill bacteria and fungi, making them natural antibiotics. When buying garlic, choose firm heavy heads and store in an open container in a cool, dry place.
Fitness Tip of the day:
Chill out.
One essential step in your workout helps avoid light-headedness and muscle spasms. It's the cool-down period, which is even more important than a preworkout warmup. After vigorous activity, a cooldown gives your heart rate a chance to normalize, and protects you from negative effects.
FAQ of the day:
How can I get heart-healthy omega-3s without fish?
First, make sure you include plant sources of omega-3s every day. It's also important to limit the amount of highly polyunsaturated oils in your diet, because they compete with omega-3s. Olive oil is a safe choice. Plant-based sources of omega-3s such as English walnuts, soy foods, flax seeds and leafy green vegetables.
Friday, November 04, 2005
Health Headlines - November 4
Mild Flu Season Eased Impact of Vaccine Shortage Last Winter
A mild flu season last winter helped offset the flu vaccine shortage in the United States, said a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released Thursday.
That unexpected shortage occurred when Chiron Corp. was unable to provide any flu vaccine for the United States due to possible vaccine contamination at a production plant outside Liverpool, England. As a result, the number of available flu vaccine doses available nationwide -- expected to be about 100 million -- was cut in half.
In an attempt to boost vaccine supplies, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention took a number measures, including the purchase of a flu vaccine not licensed for the U.S. market. However, by the time those vaccine supplies were secured in December and January, there was little demand for them, the GAO report said, according to the Associated Press.
One of the lessons learned from last year is that foreign-bought vaccines should be shipped to the United States no later than the beginning of October, the report said.
An estimated 17.5 million people in the United States decided not to get a flu shot last year to ensure there was enough vaccine for people at greatest need for a shot. The report said some health experts believe the people who deferred their flu shots should have been told to check later in the winter for a flu shot, the AP reported.
China Faces Another Bird Flu Outbreak
Chinese authorities ordered the destruction of 370,000 more birds in its fourth bird flu outbreak in three weeks, despite a nationwide effort to contain the virus. The latest outbreak occurred in a northeastern village, the Associated Press reported.
In Japan, signs of bird flu were detected at a northern plant and authorities planned to kill 180,000 chickens after it was found that some of the chickens tested positive for antibodies to the H5 family of avian flu.
The H5 family of bird flu includes the deadly H5N1 strain, the only one that has spread to humans. The H5N1 strain has not been detected in Japan, but the less virulent H5N2 strain was found in the country last year, the AP reported.
On Friday, the head of Thailand's state drug production company said the country could begin distributing its own generic version of the drug Tamiflu as early as February. Tamiflu is considered to be one of the most effective anti-viral drugs to treat avian flu.
Tamiflu is not patented in Thailand, so the country can manufacture a generic version without having to compensate Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche, which created Tamiflu.
In the United States, meanwhile, the federal government says it will install a new quarantine station at Logan International Airport in Boston. The quarantine area, patterned after one at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, will be used to evaluate travelers who pose a potential health risk, the AP reported.
The Logan station is part of a federal government program to triple the number of quarantine stations around the United States.
Patient Information Found on Internet
Personal information about an estimated 2,800 Ohio State University (OSU) Medical Center patients appeared on the Internet, hospital officials revealed Thursday.
Names, addresses, phone numbers, Social Security numbers and the reason why the patients were making appointments at the medical center were included in the information that appeared on the Internet, The Columbus Dispatch reported.
Patient medical records were not exposed to public scrutiny.
Hospital officials were alerted about the problem three weeks ago and immediately pulled the information from the Web. They have no idea how long the patient information was on the Internet.
The error involved medical center patients who made or changed appointments on April 19, 2004. The hospital has offered to pay for all affected patients to enroll in a 12-month credit protection service, the Dispatch reported.
L.A. Hospital Closes Liver Transplant Program
St. Vincent Medical Center in Los Angeles will close its liver transplant program in response to revelations that program doctors committed a serious breach of national standards by misappropriating a liver.
"It's the right thing to do for this organization," Gus Valdespino, president and chief executive of St. Vincent, told the Los Angeles Times.
He suspended the hospital's liver transplant program in late September after learning about the inappropriate transplant, which occurred in 2003. Doctors bypassed patients in more dire need of a new liver and performed a liver transplant on a Saudi national who ranked 52nd on the regional liver transplant waiting list.
Documents were then falsified to cover up the inappropriate transplant. A patient who was at the top of the regional list for a liver transplant -- but did not receive one -- later died.
Ongoing investigations and the challenges of rebuilding the program were among the reasons cited by Valdespino for permanently closing down the liver transplant program at St. Vincent, the Times reported.
Clinton Launches Breast Cancer Fund
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton is establishing a breast cancer fund in honor of his mother, who died of the disease in 1994.
The Virginia Clinton Kelley Fund, which will be part of the National Breast Cancer Coalition Fund, will educate and train breast cancer survivors to influence research and increase access to care, the Associated Press reported.
"She had a very upbeat attitude and never thought of herself as dying from the disease but living with it. She was totally at ease with her own mortality and yet ferocious in fighting against the disease," Clinton told the AP.
"Basically, we're going to train people to do what she did by second nature. We're doing better with breast cancer but we've still got a long way to go," Clinton said.
This is the latest in a series of health-related issues, such as fighting AIDS in African and other developing countries and combating child obesity, supported by the former president.
Clinton said his own health problems -- he had quadruple heart bypass surgery last year -- are a source of motivation.
"The fact that I survived made me feel an even deeper sense of obligation to spend whatever time I've got left on Earth doing what I can for other people to make sure they have a chance to live a full and rich life," Clinton told the AP.
Health Tip: If You Dislocate Your Shoulder
The shoulder has a wide range of motion, making it easier to disconnect the joints and cause a dislocated shoulder, the Mayo Clinic says.
If this happens to you, get medical attention as soon as possible. To reset the bones in proper alignment and help ease pain, your doctor may try gently maneuvering the shoulder in a process called reduction.
If the shoulder won't go back into place, surgery may be necessary. The doctor may also put your shoulder in a sling to prevent re-injury.
Avoid strenuous activity for as long as your doctor advises. When treated properly, the shoulder should heal normally. However, it may be more susceptible to dislocation again.
Health Tip: Stretch Your Back
It's important for back health that you keep the spine and surrounding muscles and tendons loose. Tightness in the spine can hinder normal movement and cause back pain, according to the Baystate Health System of New England.
Poor flexibility also can lead to muscle weakness, stiffness, poor posture and a higher risk of injury to muscles or tendons.
Flexibility can be improved, regardless of age. Stretches should be done until the point of mild discomfort, without bouncing or pulling too hard. It is recommended that major joints be stretched at least three times a week.
Talk to your doctor before you begin, and ask if he or she can recommend some basic stretches.
A mild flu season last winter helped offset the flu vaccine shortage in the United States, said a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released Thursday.
That unexpected shortage occurred when Chiron Corp. was unable to provide any flu vaccine for the United States due to possible vaccine contamination at a production plant outside Liverpool, England. As a result, the number of available flu vaccine doses available nationwide -- expected to be about 100 million -- was cut in half.
In an attempt to boost vaccine supplies, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention took a number measures, including the purchase of a flu vaccine not licensed for the U.S. market. However, by the time those vaccine supplies were secured in December and January, there was little demand for them, the GAO report said, according to the Associated Press.
One of the lessons learned from last year is that foreign-bought vaccines should be shipped to the United States no later than the beginning of October, the report said.
An estimated 17.5 million people in the United States decided not to get a flu shot last year to ensure there was enough vaccine for people at greatest need for a shot. The report said some health experts believe the people who deferred their flu shots should have been told to check later in the winter for a flu shot, the AP reported.
China Faces Another Bird Flu Outbreak
Chinese authorities ordered the destruction of 370,000 more birds in its fourth bird flu outbreak in three weeks, despite a nationwide effort to contain the virus. The latest outbreak occurred in a northeastern village, the Associated Press reported.
In Japan, signs of bird flu were detected at a northern plant and authorities planned to kill 180,000 chickens after it was found that some of the chickens tested positive for antibodies to the H5 family of avian flu.
The H5 family of bird flu includes the deadly H5N1 strain, the only one that has spread to humans. The H5N1 strain has not been detected in Japan, but the less virulent H5N2 strain was found in the country last year, the AP reported.
On Friday, the head of Thailand's state drug production company said the country could begin distributing its own generic version of the drug Tamiflu as early as February. Tamiflu is considered to be one of the most effective anti-viral drugs to treat avian flu.
Tamiflu is not patented in Thailand, so the country can manufacture a generic version without having to compensate Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche, which created Tamiflu.
In the United States, meanwhile, the federal government says it will install a new quarantine station at Logan International Airport in Boston. The quarantine area, patterned after one at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, will be used to evaluate travelers who pose a potential health risk, the AP reported.
The Logan station is part of a federal government program to triple the number of quarantine stations around the United States.
Patient Information Found on Internet
Personal information about an estimated 2,800 Ohio State University (OSU) Medical Center patients appeared on the Internet, hospital officials revealed Thursday.
Names, addresses, phone numbers, Social Security numbers and the reason why the patients were making appointments at the medical center were included in the information that appeared on the Internet, The Columbus Dispatch reported.
Patient medical records were not exposed to public scrutiny.
Hospital officials were alerted about the problem three weeks ago and immediately pulled the information from the Web. They have no idea how long the patient information was on the Internet.
The error involved medical center patients who made or changed appointments on April 19, 2004. The hospital has offered to pay for all affected patients to enroll in a 12-month credit protection service, the Dispatch reported.
L.A. Hospital Closes Liver Transplant Program
St. Vincent Medical Center in Los Angeles will close its liver transplant program in response to revelations that program doctors committed a serious breach of national standards by misappropriating a liver.
"It's the right thing to do for this organization," Gus Valdespino, president and chief executive of St. Vincent, told the Los Angeles Times.
He suspended the hospital's liver transplant program in late September after learning about the inappropriate transplant, which occurred in 2003. Doctors bypassed patients in more dire need of a new liver and performed a liver transplant on a Saudi national who ranked 52nd on the regional liver transplant waiting list.
Documents were then falsified to cover up the inappropriate transplant. A patient who was at the top of the regional list for a liver transplant -- but did not receive one -- later died.
Ongoing investigations and the challenges of rebuilding the program were among the reasons cited by Valdespino for permanently closing down the liver transplant program at St. Vincent, the Times reported.
Clinton Launches Breast Cancer Fund
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton is establishing a breast cancer fund in honor of his mother, who died of the disease in 1994.
The Virginia Clinton Kelley Fund, which will be part of the National Breast Cancer Coalition Fund, will educate and train breast cancer survivors to influence research and increase access to care, the Associated Press reported.
"She had a very upbeat attitude and never thought of herself as dying from the disease but living with it. She was totally at ease with her own mortality and yet ferocious in fighting against the disease," Clinton told the AP.
"Basically, we're going to train people to do what she did by second nature. We're doing better with breast cancer but we've still got a long way to go," Clinton said.
This is the latest in a series of health-related issues, such as fighting AIDS in African and other developing countries and combating child obesity, supported by the former president.
Clinton said his own health problems -- he had quadruple heart bypass surgery last year -- are a source of motivation.
"The fact that I survived made me feel an even deeper sense of obligation to spend whatever time I've got left on Earth doing what I can for other people to make sure they have a chance to live a full and rich life," Clinton told the AP.
Health Tip: If You Dislocate Your Shoulder
The shoulder has a wide range of motion, making it easier to disconnect the joints and cause a dislocated shoulder, the Mayo Clinic says.
If this happens to you, get medical attention as soon as possible. To reset the bones in proper alignment and help ease pain, your doctor may try gently maneuvering the shoulder in a process called reduction.
If the shoulder won't go back into place, surgery may be necessary. The doctor may also put your shoulder in a sling to prevent re-injury.
Avoid strenuous activity for as long as your doctor advises. When treated properly, the shoulder should heal normally. However, it may be more susceptible to dislocation again.
Health Tip: Stretch Your Back
It's important for back health that you keep the spine and surrounding muscles and tendons loose. Tightness in the spine can hinder normal movement and cause back pain, according to the Baystate Health System of New England.
Poor flexibility also can lead to muscle weakness, stiffness, poor posture and a higher risk of injury to muscles or tendons.
Flexibility can be improved, regardless of age. Stretches should be done until the point of mild discomfort, without bouncing or pulling too hard. It is recommended that major joints be stretched at least three times a week.
Talk to your doctor before you begin, and ask if he or she can recommend some basic stretches.
Thursday, November 03, 2005
Health Headlines - November 3
New Drug Delays Intestinal Cancer
A new drug appears to dramatically delay the progression of a rare type of intestinal cancer in those who've run out of other options because their tumors have outsmarted even the latest high-tech drug.
The drug, Sutent, or sunitinib malate appears to shrink tumors by simultaneously starving them of blood, blocking signals that tell them to grow and spread, and causing cancer cells to die, according to research findings presented Friday at the European Cancer Conference in Paris.
The drug, made by Pfizer which also funded the new research, belongs to a new class of cancer drugs that target multiple tumor activities at once. Doctors are hopeful it will usher in a new era of combinations of finely targeted drugs that can greatly improve the prognosis of cancer patients, much like triple-combination therapy revolutionized HIV treatment, the Associated Press reports.
Sutent was tested against a type of cancer called gastrointestinal stromal tumor, or GIST, a cancer that had a dire prognosis until the drug Gleevec, or imatinib, came along about five years ago. Gleevec, however, stops working for most patients within two years as the tumor develops resistance to it. In the study, two-thirds of 312 patients on four continents, all of whom had developed resistance to Gleevec, got the new drug, while one-third received a fake treatment. Sutent delayed the time to progression of the tumor from 6.4 weeks to 27.3 weeks, the study found. It is too early to tell whether the treatment is saving lives.
The study's leader, Dr. George Demetri, associate professor of medicine at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, said the findings will help scientists think more creatively about more complicated cancers.
Older Americans Reluctant to Use Sleep Meds: Survey
Nearly half (46 percent) of older Americans get less than seven hours of sleep a night and 25 percent believe they have a sleep problem, says a Gallup survey released Thursday by the International Longevity Center-USA.
Nearly 40 percent of those with sleep problems cited worry as a cause of their inability to get a good night's sleep. That issue was especially common for those who were primary caregivers for a parent or other family member.
The telephone survey of 1,003 adults 50 years and older also found that many of them have concerns about taking prescription sleep medications. Those concerns include addiction (68 percent), long-term side effects (77 percent), and next-day grogginess. Only nine percent said they felt prescription sleep aids were "very safe."
Most of the respondents (80 percent) recognize the importance of sleep to their health, but many who experience sleep problems aren't receiving treatment. The survey found that 53 percent of the older adults who talked with their health providers about a sleep problem aren't receiving treatment.
Men were more likely than women (38 percent vs. 27 percent) to say they get a good night's sleep seven nights a week. The 46 percent of respondents who rated their health as "excellent" were most likely to say they get a good night's sleep every night of the week, the survey found.
Johnson & Johnson Rethinking Guidant Purchase
Johnson & Johnson is threatening to pull out of its $25.4 billion deal to buy trouble-plagued Guidant Corporation, the second largest maker of heart devices in the United States.
The deal was announced last December, but since then Guidant has been hammered by safety issues and product recalls. For example, in May Guidant was forced to recall a defibrillator model that had an electrical problem that could be fatal to patients, The New York Times reported.
On Wednesday, Johnson & Johnson released a statement that said the company believes the recalls and federal investigations dogging Guidant have materially affected its short-term results and long-term outlook. Because of those concerns, Johnson & Johnson wants to pay less for Guidant than the previously negotiated $76 per share.
In response, Guidant said any impact from the recalls would be short term and that Johnson & Johnson was legally bound to complete the deal by Friday, under the terms of the deal announced last year.
More Estrogen Makes Women More Attractive to Men
High levels of estrogen make women appear more feminine and attractive to men, according to a U.K. study in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society.
The study also said that make-up can easily obscure these subtle facial clues about women's estrogen levels. The findings suggest that the way a man perceives the attractiveness of a woman's face is directly linked to physical indicators of fertility and good reproductive health, The Times of London reported.
Desirable facial attributes include a feminine jawline, bright, clear eyes and a less-pallid complexion, the study found.
Researchers photographed 56 women, average age 20, and showed their photos to 15 female and male volunteers. The study participants rated the faces of women with higher estrogen levels as the most attractive and as being in better overall health, The Times reported.
3 Indonesian Children Hospitalized With Bird Flu Symptoms
Three Indonesian children related to a woman who may have died of avian flu are being treated in a hospital for symptoms of the illness, Agence France Presse reported.
The girl and two boys, suffering from coughs and high fevers, were admitted to the hospital on Tuesday and are being tested for the potentially deadly HFN1 bird flu strain. The children are aged 5 months, 10 months and 8 years.
So far, bird flu has killed at least four people in Indonesia and three others have been infected but survived. The virus has killed more than 60 people in Asia since 2003.
In Africa, veterinary experts meeting in Rwanda warned that a bird flu outbreak could devastate the continent because many countries lack proper monitoring or facilities to deal with such an emergency, AFP reported.
Meanwhile, Swiss drug maker Roche is committed to boosting production of its anti-viral drug Tamiflu, the European Commission said Thursday.
EU Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou said that Roche Chief Executive Franz Humer promised that Roche would not allow patents to stand in the way of making Tamiflu licensing arrangements with other companies, the Associated Press reported.
Tamiflu is currently considered the most effective medical defense against a potential outbreak of bird flu in humans. Roche has been under international pressure to loosen its control on production of Tamiflu, which is in short supply as businesses and nations stockpile the drug.
Roche says it's in discussions with other companies and governments about increasing Tamiflu production, the AP reported.
In related news, Swiss drug maker Novartis said it would consider constructing an influenza vaccine production plant in the United States. The news comes amid worries that a proposed Novartis deal to take over Chiron, the only major U.S. producer of flu vaccine, would leave the U.S. dependent on foreign companies for flu vaccine supplies, The New York Times reported.
Food Fact:
Fennel club.
Seeds of this parsley kin can be a life saver if you have stomach pain. Fennel has long been part of folk remedies for indigestion, colic, bloating and heartburn, and modern research has shown that fennel seeds are rich in anethole, a compound that relaxes the smooth muscles of the stomach and acts as an anti-spasmodic. When shopping for fennel bulbs, avoid any that have droopy tops, are brownish or look dry. At home, store them in a plastic bag in the refrigerator, and sprinkle lemon juice on sliced fennel to prevent browning. Fennel has an affinity for fish. It's particularly good with grilled mackerel and sardines.
Fitness Tip of the day:
Bring the kids!
Your children will pick up your attitudes about exercise -- make it a positive one! If you see exercise as a chore, your children will, too. Think of activities that you can do with your kids. Get them off to a good start -- and off the fast food -- with fun activities that make the whole family more active.
FAQ of the day:
What are the fattiest foods?
The worst offenders are stick margarine, solid vegetable shortening and commercially baked products, including donuts, cookies, cakes, pies and pastries. Foods that seem a little more wholesome, such as toaster waffles and wheat crackers, can also contain significant amounts of trans fats. A general rule of thumb: The higher the total fat in a product, and the higher hydrogenated oils appear in the ingredient list, the more trans fat it contains.
A new drug appears to dramatically delay the progression of a rare type of intestinal cancer in those who've run out of other options because their tumors have outsmarted even the latest high-tech drug.
The drug, Sutent, or sunitinib malate appears to shrink tumors by simultaneously starving them of blood, blocking signals that tell them to grow and spread, and causing cancer cells to die, according to research findings presented Friday at the European Cancer Conference in Paris.
The drug, made by Pfizer which also funded the new research, belongs to a new class of cancer drugs that target multiple tumor activities at once. Doctors are hopeful it will usher in a new era of combinations of finely targeted drugs that can greatly improve the prognosis of cancer patients, much like triple-combination therapy revolutionized HIV treatment, the Associated Press reports.
Sutent was tested against a type of cancer called gastrointestinal stromal tumor, or GIST, a cancer that had a dire prognosis until the drug Gleevec, or imatinib, came along about five years ago. Gleevec, however, stops working for most patients within two years as the tumor develops resistance to it. In the study, two-thirds of 312 patients on four continents, all of whom had developed resistance to Gleevec, got the new drug, while one-third received a fake treatment. Sutent delayed the time to progression of the tumor from 6.4 weeks to 27.3 weeks, the study found. It is too early to tell whether the treatment is saving lives.
The study's leader, Dr. George Demetri, associate professor of medicine at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, said the findings will help scientists think more creatively about more complicated cancers.
Older Americans Reluctant to Use Sleep Meds: Survey
Nearly half (46 percent) of older Americans get less than seven hours of sleep a night and 25 percent believe they have a sleep problem, says a Gallup survey released Thursday by the International Longevity Center-USA.
Nearly 40 percent of those with sleep problems cited worry as a cause of their inability to get a good night's sleep. That issue was especially common for those who were primary caregivers for a parent or other family member.
The telephone survey of 1,003 adults 50 years and older also found that many of them have concerns about taking prescription sleep medications. Those concerns include addiction (68 percent), long-term side effects (77 percent), and next-day grogginess. Only nine percent said they felt prescription sleep aids were "very safe."
Most of the respondents (80 percent) recognize the importance of sleep to their health, but many who experience sleep problems aren't receiving treatment. The survey found that 53 percent of the older adults who talked with their health providers about a sleep problem aren't receiving treatment.
Men were more likely than women (38 percent vs. 27 percent) to say they get a good night's sleep seven nights a week. The 46 percent of respondents who rated their health as "excellent" were most likely to say they get a good night's sleep every night of the week, the survey found.
Johnson & Johnson Rethinking Guidant Purchase
Johnson & Johnson is threatening to pull out of its $25.4 billion deal to buy trouble-plagued Guidant Corporation, the second largest maker of heart devices in the United States.
The deal was announced last December, but since then Guidant has been hammered by safety issues and product recalls. For example, in May Guidant was forced to recall a defibrillator model that had an electrical problem that could be fatal to patients, The New York Times reported.
On Wednesday, Johnson & Johnson released a statement that said the company believes the recalls and federal investigations dogging Guidant have materially affected its short-term results and long-term outlook. Because of those concerns, Johnson & Johnson wants to pay less for Guidant than the previously negotiated $76 per share.
In response, Guidant said any impact from the recalls would be short term and that Johnson & Johnson was legally bound to complete the deal by Friday, under the terms of the deal announced last year.
More Estrogen Makes Women More Attractive to Men
High levels of estrogen make women appear more feminine and attractive to men, according to a U.K. study in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society.
The study also said that make-up can easily obscure these subtle facial clues about women's estrogen levels. The findings suggest that the way a man perceives the attractiveness of a woman's face is directly linked to physical indicators of fertility and good reproductive health, The Times of London reported.
Desirable facial attributes include a feminine jawline, bright, clear eyes and a less-pallid complexion, the study found.
Researchers photographed 56 women, average age 20, and showed their photos to 15 female and male volunteers. The study participants rated the faces of women with higher estrogen levels as the most attractive and as being in better overall health, The Times reported.
3 Indonesian Children Hospitalized With Bird Flu Symptoms
Three Indonesian children related to a woman who may have died of avian flu are being treated in a hospital for symptoms of the illness, Agence France Presse reported.
The girl and two boys, suffering from coughs and high fevers, were admitted to the hospital on Tuesday and are being tested for the potentially deadly HFN1 bird flu strain. The children are aged 5 months, 10 months and 8 years.
So far, bird flu has killed at least four people in Indonesia and three others have been infected but survived. The virus has killed more than 60 people in Asia since 2003.
In Africa, veterinary experts meeting in Rwanda warned that a bird flu outbreak could devastate the continent because many countries lack proper monitoring or facilities to deal with such an emergency, AFP reported.
Meanwhile, Swiss drug maker Roche is committed to boosting production of its anti-viral drug Tamiflu, the European Commission said Thursday.
EU Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou said that Roche Chief Executive Franz Humer promised that Roche would not allow patents to stand in the way of making Tamiflu licensing arrangements with other companies, the Associated Press reported.
Tamiflu is currently considered the most effective medical defense against a potential outbreak of bird flu in humans. Roche has been under international pressure to loosen its control on production of Tamiflu, which is in short supply as businesses and nations stockpile the drug.
Roche says it's in discussions with other companies and governments about increasing Tamiflu production, the AP reported.
In related news, Swiss drug maker Novartis said it would consider constructing an influenza vaccine production plant in the United States. The news comes amid worries that a proposed Novartis deal to take over Chiron, the only major U.S. producer of flu vaccine, would leave the U.S. dependent on foreign companies for flu vaccine supplies, The New York Times reported.
Food Fact:
Fennel club.
Seeds of this parsley kin can be a life saver if you have stomach pain. Fennel has long been part of folk remedies for indigestion, colic, bloating and heartburn, and modern research has shown that fennel seeds are rich in anethole, a compound that relaxes the smooth muscles of the stomach and acts as an anti-spasmodic. When shopping for fennel bulbs, avoid any that have droopy tops, are brownish or look dry. At home, store them in a plastic bag in the refrigerator, and sprinkle lemon juice on sliced fennel to prevent browning. Fennel has an affinity for fish. It's particularly good with grilled mackerel and sardines.
Fitness Tip of the day:
Bring the kids!
Your children will pick up your attitudes about exercise -- make it a positive one! If you see exercise as a chore, your children will, too. Think of activities that you can do with your kids. Get them off to a good start -- and off the fast food -- with fun activities that make the whole family more active.
FAQ of the day:
What are the fattiest foods?
The worst offenders are stick margarine, solid vegetable shortening and commercially baked products, including donuts, cookies, cakes, pies and pastries. Foods that seem a little more wholesome, such as toaster waffles and wheat crackers, can also contain significant amounts of trans fats. A general rule of thumb: The higher the total fat in a product, and the higher hydrogenated oils appear in the ingredient list, the more trans fat it contains.
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Health Headlines - November 2
Poultry Import Bans Could Affect Flu Reporting: U.S. Official
Countries should be cautious in banning poultry imports because excessive measures may make some nations reluctant to report avian flu outbreaks, says a U.S. agriculture official who held talks with Chinese officials about coordinating anti-bird flu strategies.
"If countries overreact and are overly punitive in their reaction when this disease is reported, that reduces the incentive for other countries to report," Charles Lambert, a U.S. deputy undersecretary of agriculture, said at a news conference.
He said that Chinese agriculture and quarantine officials agreed to increase information exchanges and technical cooperation with the U.S., the Associated Press reported.
Both China and Vietnam have banned poultry imports from countries with bird flu outbreaks. American producers sell $500 million worth of poultry a year to China, Lambert said.
In other news, Vietnam banned raw blood pudding and poultry-raising in major cities and China' largest drug maker is negotiating with Swiss drug maker Roche for permission to produce Roche's anti-flu drug Tamiflu, the AP reported.
New Vitamin D Pill Improves Prostate Cancer Survival
Taking an experimental, high-dose vitamin D pill in combination with chemotherapy can help extend the lives of men with advanced prostate cancer, says a study presented Wednesday at the annual meeting of the European Cancer Conference in Paris.
The study of 250 patients found that those who took the DN-101 pill with chemotherapy lived about eight months longer than men who took a placebo with chemotherapy.
"When DN-101 is added to chemotherapy, it provides a significant improvement in survival for advanced prostate cancer patients. DN-101 extends lives and it may also protect against side effects of chemotherapy, providing a one-two punch in cancer therapy," Dr. Thomasz Beer, national leader of the clinical trial and director of the Prostate Cancer Program at the Oregon Health & Sciences University (OHSU) Cancer Institute, said in a prepared statement.
"This is both surprising and pleasing. A cancer treatment that improves survival and decreases toxicity is exceedingly rare," Beer added.
DN-101 was designed specifically as a cancer therapy. It's a form of calcitriol, a naturally occurring hormone and the biologically active form of vitamin D.
Both Beer and OHSU have significant financial interest in Novacea, the maker of DN-101.
Health Insurer to Cover Depression Management
Major insurer Aetna is expected to announce Wednesday that it will begin paying for a depression management program in dozens of medical offices in the United States, The New York Times reported.
Depression is one of the most common and costly health problems in the country, and Aetna's move is seen as a response to employers who point to depression as a major cause of worker absenteeism and low productivity.
The Aetna plan will pay additional fees to primary care doctors when they screen patients for depression and provide follow-up consultations for patients who are prescribed anti-depressants or are referred to psychologists or psychiatrists, the Times reported.
The company reasons that the added costs of identifying and treating depression can help prevent even greater financial costs, including higher medical expenses that often occur when diabetes, heart disease and other chronic health problems are compounded by depression.
About 33 million Americans are treated for depression each year and at least one in six Americans suffer depression at some point in their lives. It's estimated that depression causes a total economic loss of more than $83 billion a year in the United States, the newspaper reported.
Generic Drug Could Stretch Tamiflu Supply
A generic drug called probenecid could help "double" the supply of the influenza drug Tamiflu, which is in high demand due to fears about a potential global outbreak of avian flu, says a report released Tuesday by the journal Nature.
Administering probenecid alongside Tamiflu prevents Tamiflu from being excreted in urine, meaning that half-doses of Tamiflu would provide sufficient protection, according to an emergency medical specialist who reviewed safety data on Tamiflu.
Probenecid appears to double the number of hours that Tamiflu's active ingredient remains in the blood and doubles its maximum blood concentration.
Probenecid prevents many drugs, including antibiotics, from being removed from the blood by the kidneys. It was used during the Second World War to stretch penicillin supplies and is still widely used alongside antibiotics in hospital emergency rooms and in treating patients with syphilis and gonorrhea.
Because probenecid is already widely used, there are few safety considerations, some doctors told Nature. However, others noted that even with the use of probenecid, a major increase in flu drug production is still required to cope with an influenza pandemic.
Diabetic Black Men Have Less Heart Disease, Researchers Say
Black men with diabetes have dramatically lower amounts of coronary artery disease than diabetic white men, a surprise outcome announced by investigators at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center Tuesday.
Dr. Barry Freedman and colleagues report in the December issue of Diabetologia that African-American men had significantly lower levels of calcified atherosclerotic plaque in the coronary arteries and the carotid arteries in the neck that supply blood to the brain.
"This striking result was observed despite black subjects having higher levels of conventional risk factors for heart disease," said Freedman in a prepared statement. "These risk factors would normally be expected to promote coronary artery disease in the black participants."
The results came from the Diabetes Heart Study, made up of North Carolina families in which at least two siblings have type 2 or non-insulin-dependent diabetes. The Wake Forest investigators recruited 1,000 white participants from 369 families and 180 blacks from 74 families for the research.
Freedman pointed out that the study was the first to compare blacks and whites who had type 2 diabetes for differences in atherosclerosis. The amount of plaque was measured using high-speed computed tomography (CT) scans.
"Hardening of the arteries appears to be a different disease in blacks and whites. We have demonstrated this in diabetic subjects; other groups have shown it in people with hypertension," said Freedman. "We should be studying what causes these biologic differences. Perhaps inherited or genetic influences may contribute to these differences."
Food Fact:
Soy to the world.
Think soy is boring? Edamame just might change your mind. Baby green soybeans are unlike tofu or soy milk in taste, look and feel, but are just as packed with protein and protective soy isoflavones. Edamame are sold frozen in the pod or shucked. Cook for 7 or 8 minutes in boiling water until tender. Serve plain as a snack or add to stir-fries, bean salads or vegetables mixes. A 1/4-cup serving contains about 110 calories and 9 grams of protein.
Fitness Tip of the day:
Speak up.
Chatting on the phone? It's the perfect time to get active! Stand up, switch the phone to speaker, and pace during long conversations and conference calls. While your hands are free, try a little lifting with a dumbbell set.
FAQ of the day:
Can I take a pill to get the benefits of soy food?
In order to get the benefits of soy, a supplement alone won't do. You'll need to eat soy food, for both soy protein and soy isoflavones, to get the full range of health benefits. Pills will just give you the isoflavones. Only soy foods like tofu, tempeh, soy milk and soy protein powder provide both.
Countries should be cautious in banning poultry imports because excessive measures may make some nations reluctant to report avian flu outbreaks, says a U.S. agriculture official who held talks with Chinese officials about coordinating anti-bird flu strategies.
"If countries overreact and are overly punitive in their reaction when this disease is reported, that reduces the incentive for other countries to report," Charles Lambert, a U.S. deputy undersecretary of agriculture, said at a news conference.
He said that Chinese agriculture and quarantine officials agreed to increase information exchanges and technical cooperation with the U.S., the Associated Press reported.
Both China and Vietnam have banned poultry imports from countries with bird flu outbreaks. American producers sell $500 million worth of poultry a year to China, Lambert said.
In other news, Vietnam banned raw blood pudding and poultry-raising in major cities and China' largest drug maker is negotiating with Swiss drug maker Roche for permission to produce Roche's anti-flu drug Tamiflu, the AP reported.
New Vitamin D Pill Improves Prostate Cancer Survival
Taking an experimental, high-dose vitamin D pill in combination with chemotherapy can help extend the lives of men with advanced prostate cancer, says a study presented Wednesday at the annual meeting of the European Cancer Conference in Paris.
The study of 250 patients found that those who took the DN-101 pill with chemotherapy lived about eight months longer than men who took a placebo with chemotherapy.
"When DN-101 is added to chemotherapy, it provides a significant improvement in survival for advanced prostate cancer patients. DN-101 extends lives and it may also protect against side effects of chemotherapy, providing a one-two punch in cancer therapy," Dr. Thomasz Beer, national leader of the clinical trial and director of the Prostate Cancer Program at the Oregon Health & Sciences University (OHSU) Cancer Institute, said in a prepared statement.
"This is both surprising and pleasing. A cancer treatment that improves survival and decreases toxicity is exceedingly rare," Beer added.
DN-101 was designed specifically as a cancer therapy. It's a form of calcitriol, a naturally occurring hormone and the biologically active form of vitamin D.
Both Beer and OHSU have significant financial interest in Novacea, the maker of DN-101.
Health Insurer to Cover Depression Management
Major insurer Aetna is expected to announce Wednesday that it will begin paying for a depression management program in dozens of medical offices in the United States, The New York Times reported.
Depression is one of the most common and costly health problems in the country, and Aetna's move is seen as a response to employers who point to depression as a major cause of worker absenteeism and low productivity.
The Aetna plan will pay additional fees to primary care doctors when they screen patients for depression and provide follow-up consultations for patients who are prescribed anti-depressants or are referred to psychologists or psychiatrists, the Times reported.
The company reasons that the added costs of identifying and treating depression can help prevent even greater financial costs, including higher medical expenses that often occur when diabetes, heart disease and other chronic health problems are compounded by depression.
About 33 million Americans are treated for depression each year and at least one in six Americans suffer depression at some point in their lives. It's estimated that depression causes a total economic loss of more than $83 billion a year in the United States, the newspaper reported.
Generic Drug Could Stretch Tamiflu Supply
A generic drug called probenecid could help "double" the supply of the influenza drug Tamiflu, which is in high demand due to fears about a potential global outbreak of avian flu, says a report released Tuesday by the journal Nature.
Administering probenecid alongside Tamiflu prevents Tamiflu from being excreted in urine, meaning that half-doses of Tamiflu would provide sufficient protection, according to an emergency medical specialist who reviewed safety data on Tamiflu.
Probenecid appears to double the number of hours that Tamiflu's active ingredient remains in the blood and doubles its maximum blood concentration.
Probenecid prevents many drugs, including antibiotics, from being removed from the blood by the kidneys. It was used during the Second World War to stretch penicillin supplies and is still widely used alongside antibiotics in hospital emergency rooms and in treating patients with syphilis and gonorrhea.
Because probenecid is already widely used, there are few safety considerations, some doctors told Nature. However, others noted that even with the use of probenecid, a major increase in flu drug production is still required to cope with an influenza pandemic.
Diabetic Black Men Have Less Heart Disease, Researchers Say
Black men with diabetes have dramatically lower amounts of coronary artery disease than diabetic white men, a surprise outcome announced by investigators at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center Tuesday.
Dr. Barry Freedman and colleagues report in the December issue of Diabetologia that African-American men had significantly lower levels of calcified atherosclerotic plaque in the coronary arteries and the carotid arteries in the neck that supply blood to the brain.
"This striking result was observed despite black subjects having higher levels of conventional risk factors for heart disease," said Freedman in a prepared statement. "These risk factors would normally be expected to promote coronary artery disease in the black participants."
The results came from the Diabetes Heart Study, made up of North Carolina families in which at least two siblings have type 2 or non-insulin-dependent diabetes. The Wake Forest investigators recruited 1,000 white participants from 369 families and 180 blacks from 74 families for the research.
Freedman pointed out that the study was the first to compare blacks and whites who had type 2 diabetes for differences in atherosclerosis. The amount of plaque was measured using high-speed computed tomography (CT) scans.
"Hardening of the arteries appears to be a different disease in blacks and whites. We have demonstrated this in diabetic subjects; other groups have shown it in people with hypertension," said Freedman. "We should be studying what causes these biologic differences. Perhaps inherited or genetic influences may contribute to these differences."
Food Fact:
Soy to the world.
Think soy is boring? Edamame just might change your mind. Baby green soybeans are unlike tofu or soy milk in taste, look and feel, but are just as packed with protein and protective soy isoflavones. Edamame are sold frozen in the pod or shucked. Cook for 7 or 8 minutes in boiling water until tender. Serve plain as a snack or add to stir-fries, bean salads or vegetables mixes. A 1/4-cup serving contains about 110 calories and 9 grams of protein.
Fitness Tip of the day:
Speak up.
Chatting on the phone? It's the perfect time to get active! Stand up, switch the phone to speaker, and pace during long conversations and conference calls. While your hands are free, try a little lifting with a dumbbell set.
FAQ of the day:
Can I take a pill to get the benefits of soy food?
In order to get the benefits of soy, a supplement alone won't do. You'll need to eat soy food, for both soy protein and soy isoflavones, to get the full range of health benefits. Pills will just give you the isoflavones. Only soy foods like tofu, tempeh, soy milk and soy protein powder provide both.
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
Health Headlines - November 1
Generic Drug Could Stretch Tamiflu Supply
A generic drug called probenecid could help "double" the supply of the influenza drug Tamiflu, which is in high demand due to fears about a potential global outbreak of avian flu, says a report released Tuesday by the journal Nature.
Administering probenecid alongside Tamiflu prevents Tamiflu from being excreted in urine, meaning that half-doses of Tamiflu would provide sufficient protection, according to an emergency medical specialist who reviewed safety data on Tamiflu.
Probenecid appears to double the number of hours that Tamiflu's active ingredient remains in the blood and doubles its maximum blood concentration.
Probenecid prevents many drugs, including antibiotics, from being removed from the blood by the kidneys. It was used during the Second World War to stretch penicillin supplies and is still widely used alongside antibiotics in hospital emergency rooms and in treating patients with syphilis and gonorrhea.
Because probenecid is already widely used, there are few safety considerations, some doctors told Nature. However, others noted that even with the use of probenecid, a major increase in flu drug production is still required to cope with an influenza pandemic.
Diabetic Black Men Have Less Heart Disease, Researchers Say
Black men with diabetes have dramatically lower amounts of coronary artery disease than diabetic white men, a surprise outcome announced by investigators at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center Tuesday.
Dr. Barry Freedman and colleagues report in the December issue of Diabetologia that African-American men had significantly lower levels of calcified atherosclerotic plaque in the coronary arteries and the carotid arteries in the neck that supply blood to the brain.
"This striking result was observed despite black subjects having higher levels of conventional risk factors for heart disease," said Freedman in a prepared statement. "These risk factors would normally be expected to promote coronary artery disease in the black participants."
The results came from the Diabetes Heart Study, made up of North Carolina families in which at least two siblings have type 2 or non-insulin-dependent diabetes. The Wake Forest investigators recruited 1,000 white participants from 369 families and 180 blacks from 74 families for the research.
Freedman pointed out that the study was the first to compare blacks and whites who had type 2 diabetes for differences in atherosclerosis. The amount of plaque was measured using high-speed computed tomography (CT) scans.
"Hardening of the arteries appears to be a different disease in blacks and whites. We have demonstrated this in diabetic subjects; other groups have shown it in people with hypertension," said Freedman. "We should be studying what causes these biologic differences. Perhaps inherited or genetic influences may contribute to these differences."
2nd Vioxx Trial Goes to Jury in New Jersey
A state court jury in New Jersey began deliberating a closely watched Vioxx product liability case Tuesday, capping a seven-week trial in which drug manufacturer Merck & Co. was accused of knowingly misrepresenting the safety risks of the arthritis drug, the Associated Press reported.
The six-woman, three-man jury started the day by hearing the closing argument of a lawyer for an Idaho postal worker who blamed Vioxx for his heart attack. Lawyer Chris Seeger called Merck a "monster" and told jurors their verdict would send a message about what is acceptable when marketing drugs, the AP reported.
The jurors got the case after Superior Court Judge Carol E. Higbee finished instructing them on the laws at issue in the case of Frederick "Mike" Humeston. The 60-year-old Boise, Idaho, resident took the drug for about two months before suffering a non-fatal heart attack in September 2001.
Humeston's is one of about 7,000 lawsuits brought against Merck, the Whitehouse Station, N.J.,-based company that removed the prescription painkiller, which once had annual sales of $2.5 billion, from the market a year ago after a study showed it doubled the risk of heart attack and stroke after 18 months' use.
In August, a Texas jury hearing the nation's first Vioxx case found in favor of a widow who blamed the drug for the death of her husband from an abnormal heartbeat. The jury awarded the woman $253 million, although the award was reduced to about $26 million because Texas law caps punitive damages at about that number in malpractice cases.
Chlamydia Bacteria Linked to Eye Cancer
Infection with a form of chlamydia bacteria called Chlamydia psittaci may play a role in the development of a type of lymphoma called ocular adnexal lymphoma (OAL), which affects tissue around the eye, says a South Korean study.
The finding raises hopes that antibiotics may one day offer an alternative to radiation or chemotherapy for OAL patients, the Associated Press reported.
Chlamydia psittaci can be contracted from infected birds, such as parrots. Cats also carry the bacteria and may be a source of infection in humans. The bacteria also causes a lung infection called psittacosis.
In the study, researchers compared chlamydia infection in 33 people with OAL and 21 people with a similar non-cancerous condition called non-neoplastic ocular adnexal disease, the AP reported.
Chlamydia psittaci was present in 78 percent of the OAL patients, compared with 23 percent of the patients in the comparison group, according to the findings presented Monday at the European Cancer Conference in Paris.
A previous Italian study found Chlamydia psittaci in 80 percent of OAL patients and in none of a comparison group of healthy people.
TB Blood Test Better Than Skin Test: Study
A new blood test called ELISPOT is more effective at detecting latent tuberculosis (TB) than the traditional tuberculin skin test, says a University of Texas Health Center study in the November issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
The study included 413 people who had contact with TB patients. All the study participants were given both the skin test and the blood test. The blood test returned positive results for 39 percent of the participants, compared with 50 percent for the skin test.
The researchers contend that the blood test offers more accurate results because it reduces the risk of error in test administration and interpretation. They also noted that certain types of vaccinations can trigger incorrect results from the skin test.
"Unfortunately, the standard method of diagnosing latent TB infection is the tuberculin skin test, which has many shortcomings," researcher Dr. Peter F. Barnes of the Center for Pulmonary and Infectious Disease Control at the University of Texas Health Center, said in a statement.
"Two visits are required and skilled personnel are essential for proper placement and interpretation of the test. In addition, because purified protein derivative of tuberculin contains many antigens that are shared with other mycobacteria, the skin test does not reliably distinguish latent TB infection from prior immunization with bacilli Calmette-Guerin, or BCG vaccination, or from infection with environmental bacteria," Barnes said.
Food Fact:
Slice of heaven?
Is pizza healthy any way you slice it? No, but you can make it so... To make healthy pizza, you've got to attack the fat. Instead of full-fat mozzarella, sausage and pepperoni, increase the variety and quantity of vegetables and use a small amount of flavorful cheese, such as feta or Parmesan. Given the amount of pizza Americans eat, any choice to cut calories helps; collectively, we eat about 100 acres of pizza each day, which works out to 46 slices of pizza for every man, woman and child over the course of a year.
Fitness Tip of the day:
Make it a "cardio commute."
We've got an easy tip for giving yourself an energy boost in the morning. Walk or ride your bike to the train station or bus stop. Or, try hopping off the bus a few blocks from your normal stop and walk the rest of the way. You'll arrive awake, alert and ready for work.
FAQ of the day:
Can soy save me from prostate cancer?
Soy's isoflavones exhibit several cancer-protective effects, but one relates directly to reducing prostate cancer risk. Isoflavones inhibit an enzyme that converts testosterone into an active form (dehydrosterone) associated with prostate cancer risk. Dehydrotestosterone, made primarily in the prostate, regulates the prostate cell's growth. Soy isoflavones have little effect on testosterone itself.
A generic drug called probenecid could help "double" the supply of the influenza drug Tamiflu, which is in high demand due to fears about a potential global outbreak of avian flu, says a report released Tuesday by the journal Nature.
Administering probenecid alongside Tamiflu prevents Tamiflu from being excreted in urine, meaning that half-doses of Tamiflu would provide sufficient protection, according to an emergency medical specialist who reviewed safety data on Tamiflu.
Probenecid appears to double the number of hours that Tamiflu's active ingredient remains in the blood and doubles its maximum blood concentration.
Probenecid prevents many drugs, including antibiotics, from being removed from the blood by the kidneys. It was used during the Second World War to stretch penicillin supplies and is still widely used alongside antibiotics in hospital emergency rooms and in treating patients with syphilis and gonorrhea.
Because probenecid is already widely used, there are few safety considerations, some doctors told Nature. However, others noted that even with the use of probenecid, a major increase in flu drug production is still required to cope with an influenza pandemic.
Diabetic Black Men Have Less Heart Disease, Researchers Say
Black men with diabetes have dramatically lower amounts of coronary artery disease than diabetic white men, a surprise outcome announced by investigators at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center Tuesday.
Dr. Barry Freedman and colleagues report in the December issue of Diabetologia that African-American men had significantly lower levels of calcified atherosclerotic plaque in the coronary arteries and the carotid arteries in the neck that supply blood to the brain.
"This striking result was observed despite black subjects having higher levels of conventional risk factors for heart disease," said Freedman in a prepared statement. "These risk factors would normally be expected to promote coronary artery disease in the black participants."
The results came from the Diabetes Heart Study, made up of North Carolina families in which at least two siblings have type 2 or non-insulin-dependent diabetes. The Wake Forest investigators recruited 1,000 white participants from 369 families and 180 blacks from 74 families for the research.
Freedman pointed out that the study was the first to compare blacks and whites who had type 2 diabetes for differences in atherosclerosis. The amount of plaque was measured using high-speed computed tomography (CT) scans.
"Hardening of the arteries appears to be a different disease in blacks and whites. We have demonstrated this in diabetic subjects; other groups have shown it in people with hypertension," said Freedman. "We should be studying what causes these biologic differences. Perhaps inherited or genetic influences may contribute to these differences."
2nd Vioxx Trial Goes to Jury in New Jersey
A state court jury in New Jersey began deliberating a closely watched Vioxx product liability case Tuesday, capping a seven-week trial in which drug manufacturer Merck & Co. was accused of knowingly misrepresenting the safety risks of the arthritis drug, the Associated Press reported.
The six-woman, three-man jury started the day by hearing the closing argument of a lawyer for an Idaho postal worker who blamed Vioxx for his heart attack. Lawyer Chris Seeger called Merck a "monster" and told jurors their verdict would send a message about what is acceptable when marketing drugs, the AP reported.
The jurors got the case after Superior Court Judge Carol E. Higbee finished instructing them on the laws at issue in the case of Frederick "Mike" Humeston. The 60-year-old Boise, Idaho, resident took the drug for about two months before suffering a non-fatal heart attack in September 2001.
Humeston's is one of about 7,000 lawsuits brought against Merck, the Whitehouse Station, N.J.,-based company that removed the prescription painkiller, which once had annual sales of $2.5 billion, from the market a year ago after a study showed it doubled the risk of heart attack and stroke after 18 months' use.
In August, a Texas jury hearing the nation's first Vioxx case found in favor of a widow who blamed the drug for the death of her husband from an abnormal heartbeat. The jury awarded the woman $253 million, although the award was reduced to about $26 million because Texas law caps punitive damages at about that number in malpractice cases.
Chlamydia Bacteria Linked to Eye Cancer
Infection with a form of chlamydia bacteria called Chlamydia psittaci may play a role in the development of a type of lymphoma called ocular adnexal lymphoma (OAL), which affects tissue around the eye, says a South Korean study.
The finding raises hopes that antibiotics may one day offer an alternative to radiation or chemotherapy for OAL patients, the Associated Press reported.
Chlamydia psittaci can be contracted from infected birds, such as parrots. Cats also carry the bacteria and may be a source of infection in humans. The bacteria also causes a lung infection called psittacosis.
In the study, researchers compared chlamydia infection in 33 people with OAL and 21 people with a similar non-cancerous condition called non-neoplastic ocular adnexal disease, the AP reported.
Chlamydia psittaci was present in 78 percent of the OAL patients, compared with 23 percent of the patients in the comparison group, according to the findings presented Monday at the European Cancer Conference in Paris.
A previous Italian study found Chlamydia psittaci in 80 percent of OAL patients and in none of a comparison group of healthy people.
TB Blood Test Better Than Skin Test: Study
A new blood test called ELISPOT is more effective at detecting latent tuberculosis (TB) than the traditional tuberculin skin test, says a University of Texas Health Center study in the November issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
The study included 413 people who had contact with TB patients. All the study participants were given both the skin test and the blood test. The blood test returned positive results for 39 percent of the participants, compared with 50 percent for the skin test.
The researchers contend that the blood test offers more accurate results because it reduces the risk of error in test administration and interpretation. They also noted that certain types of vaccinations can trigger incorrect results from the skin test.
"Unfortunately, the standard method of diagnosing latent TB infection is the tuberculin skin test, which has many shortcomings," researcher Dr. Peter F. Barnes of the Center for Pulmonary and Infectious Disease Control at the University of Texas Health Center, said in a statement.
"Two visits are required and skilled personnel are essential for proper placement and interpretation of the test. In addition, because purified protein derivative of tuberculin contains many antigens that are shared with other mycobacteria, the skin test does not reliably distinguish latent TB infection from prior immunization with bacilli Calmette-Guerin, or BCG vaccination, or from infection with environmental bacteria," Barnes said.
Food Fact:
Slice of heaven?
Is pizza healthy any way you slice it? No, but you can make it so... To make healthy pizza, you've got to attack the fat. Instead of full-fat mozzarella, sausage and pepperoni, increase the variety and quantity of vegetables and use a small amount of flavorful cheese, such as feta or Parmesan. Given the amount of pizza Americans eat, any choice to cut calories helps; collectively, we eat about 100 acres of pizza each day, which works out to 46 slices of pizza for every man, woman and child over the course of a year.
Fitness Tip of the day:
Make it a "cardio commute."
We've got an easy tip for giving yourself an energy boost in the morning. Walk or ride your bike to the train station or bus stop. Or, try hopping off the bus a few blocks from your normal stop and walk the rest of the way. You'll arrive awake, alert and ready for work.
FAQ of the day:
Can soy save me from prostate cancer?
Soy's isoflavones exhibit several cancer-protective effects, but one relates directly to reducing prostate cancer risk. Isoflavones inhibit an enzyme that converts testosterone into an active form (dehydrosterone) associated with prostate cancer risk. Dehydrotestosterone, made primarily in the prostate, regulates the prostate cell's growth. Soy isoflavones have little effect on testosterone itself.
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