Health Headlines - April 26

Trio of Researchers Shares $500,000 Medical Prize

The richest medical prize in the United States was awarded Friday to three immune system scientists whose work has led to new diabetes and arthritis therapies, theAssociated Press reported.

The $500,000 Albany Medical Center Prize is being shared by Dr. Ralph Steinman of Rockefeller University in New York City, Dr. Charles Dinarello of the University of Colorado, and Dr. Bruce Beutler of the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif.

The medical award established in 2000 is among the world's largest, second only to the $1.4 million Nobel Prize, the wire service said.

Here's a brief look at what each of the researchers was cited for:

• Steinman, in 1973, discovered the dendritic cell, a white blood cell that mobilizes other disease-fighting cells in the body to ward off infectious germs.
• Dinarello identified a molecule later labeled Interluekin-1, which produces inflammation and fever. His discovery led to treatments for immune disorders including diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis.
• Beutler isolated a protein called tumor necrosis factor (TNF), which plays a role in conditions such as inflammation, rheumatoid arthritis, and psoriasis.

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Team IDs Bacteria That Use Toxins to Cause Infections

More than three dozen bacterial pathogens that use toxins to manipulate human host cells and cause infections have been identified by scientists. The findings may lead to improved treatments for bacterial infections.

The German researchers found that the 39 bacterial pathogens produce toxins that bind relatively weakly to human proteins, but can influence several different proteins simultaneously, United Press International reported.

"A single bacterial toxin seems to function like a master key that can access different host cell proteins in parallel," explained Matthias Selbach of the Max Delbruck Center for Molecular Medicine. "Perhaps it is due to this strategy that bacteria are able to attack very different cells and, thus, to increase their survival chances in the host."

He said it may be possible to develop new drugs that target the signaling mechanisms in human cells that are disrupted by the bacterial toxins, UPI reported.

The research appears in the journal Cell Host & Microbe.

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Specialized Immune Cells Linked to Malaria: Study

A specialized type of immune cell that may help explain why malaria kills some people and not others has been identified by Australian researchers.

Their study of 33 malaria-infected adults in Indonesia found high levels of highly suppressive regulatory T-cells in the blood of those with severe malaria but not in those who weren't as sick, the Associated Press reported.

The findings were published in the journal PLoS Pathogens. The next step is to determine whether these immune cells actually cause more severe malaria or are caused by having a severe case of the disease.

"Our results indicate that severe malaria is accompanied by the induction of highly suppressive T-reg cells that can promote parasite growth," said lead researcher Magdalena Plebanski, of Monash University, the AP reported. Vaccine studies should carefully examine whether recipients develop this type of immune reaction, Plebanski suggested.

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Jay Leno 'Just Fine' After Checking Into Hospital: Report

"Tonight" show host Jay Leno is reported to being doing well after he checked himself into a hospital with an undisclosed illness, the Associated Press reported.

Leno's publicist, Dick Guttman, said the comedian left his office at NBC's studios about midday Thursday and checked himself into the hospital for observation. Guttman didn't reveal the hospital or what symptoms Leno experienced, but did say the illness was "mild."

The publicist also said Leno kept working after he went to the hospital, writing jokes and making phone calls, the AP reported.

"Jay Leno is doing just fine," NBC spokeswoman Tracy St. Pierre said in a statement. "He was kidding around with the hospital staff and running his monologue jokes by the doctors and the nurses. He's expected back to work on Monday."

Health Tips for April 26

Health Tip: Why a Hysterectomy May Be Needed

A hysterectomy is a surgical procedure to partially or completely remove a woman's uterus.

The U.S. National Library of Medicine says the surgery may be recommended for:

• Uterine tumors, such as those caused by uterine fibroids or endometrial cancer.
• Cervical or ovarian cancer.
• Endometriosis that is quite painful and doesn't improve with other treatments.
• Uncontrolled vaginal bleeding.
• A prolapsed uterus.
• Complications that occur during childbirth.

Health Tip: Using a Nicotine Patch

If you've opted for a nicotine patch to help you quit smoking, it's important to know how to use it correctly.

The American Academy of Family Physicians offers these suggestions on how to use the patch:

• Leave the package closed until you are ready to use the product. When ready, open the package, peel off the patch's backing, and don't touch the sticky side of the patch.
• Clean and dry an area of skin on your upper body on which to apply the patch. Don't put it on an area that is hairy, burned, sore or has a cut.
• Place the patch (sticky side down) on your skin, smooth it out flat, and hold it for 10 seconds. Always wash your hands immediately after handling the patch. Otherwise, nicotine from the patch could irritate your eyes or nose.
• Only wear the patch for the time noted on the package -- not longer.
• When you remove the patch, fold it over so that it sticks together, and dispose of it in a way that's safe from children or pets.
• Put the patch on a different area of skin each day. You can use the same area after waiting one week.

Health Headlines - April 25

Trio of Researchers Shares $500,000 Medical Prize

The richest medical prize in the United States was awarded Friday to three immune system scientists whose work has led to new diabetes and arthritis therapies, theAssociated Press reported.

The $500,000 Albany Medical Center Prize is being shared by Dr. Ralph Steinman of Rockefeller University in New York City, Dr. Charles Dinarello of the University of Colorado, and Dr. Bruce Beutler of the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif.

The medical award established in 2000 is among the world's largest, second only to the $1.4 million Nobel Prize, the wire service said.

Here's a brief look at what each of the researchers was cited for:

• Steinman, in 1973, discovered the dendritic cell, a white blood cell that mobilizes other disease-fighting cells in the body to ward off infectious germs.
• Dinarello identified a molecule later labeled Interluekin-1, which produces inflammation and fever. His discovery led to treatments for immune disorders including diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis.
• Beutler isolated a protein called tumor necrosis factor (TNF), which plays a role in conditions such as inflammation, rheumatoid arthritis, and psoriasis.

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Team IDs Bacteria That Use Toxins to Cause Infections

More than three dozen bacterial pathogens that use toxins to manipulate human host cells and cause infections have been identified by scientists. The findings may lead to improved treatments for bacterial infections.

The German researchers found that the 39 bacterial pathogens produce toxins that bind relatively weakly to human proteins, but can influence several different proteins simultaneously, United Press International reported.

"A single bacterial toxin seems to function like a master key that can access different host cell proteins in parallel," explained Matthias Selbach of the Max Delbruck Center for Molecular Medicine. "Perhaps it is due to this strategy that bacteria are able to attack very different cells and, thus, to increase their survival chances in the host."

He said it may be possible to develop new drugs that target the signaling mechanisms in human cells that are disrupted by the bacterial toxins, UPI reported.

The research appears in the journal Cell Host & Microbe.

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Specialized Immune Cells Linked to Malaria: Study

A specialized type of immune cell that may help explain why malaria kills some people and not others has been identified by Australian researchers.

Their study of 33 malaria-infected adults in Indonesia found high levels of highly suppressive regulatory T-cells in the blood of those with severe malaria but not in those who weren't as sick, the Associated Press reported.

The findings were published in the journal PLoS Pathogens. The next step is to determine whether these immune cells actually cause more severe malaria or are caused by having a severe case of the disease.

"Our results indicate that severe malaria is accompanied by the induction of highly suppressive T-reg cells that can promote parasite growth," said lead researcher Magdalena Plebanski, of Monash University, the AP reported. Vaccine studies should carefully examine whether recipients develop this type of immune reaction, Plebanski suggested.

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Jay Leno 'Just Fine' After Checking Into Hospital: Report

"Tonight" show host Jay Leno is reported to being doing well after he checked himself into a hospital with an undisclosed illness, the Associated Press reported.

Leno's publicist, Dick Guttman, said the comedian left his office at NBC's studios about midday Thursday and checked himself into the hospital for observation. Guttman didn't reveal the hospital or what symptoms Leno experienced, but did say the illness was "mild."

The publicist also said Leno kept working after he went to the hospital, writing jokes and making phone calls, the AP reported.

"Jay Leno is doing just fine," NBC spokeswoman Tracy St. Pierre said in a statement. "He was kidding around with the hospital staff and running his monologue jokes by the doctors and the nurses. He's expected back to work on Monday."

Health Tips for April 25

Health Tip: Kicking the Habit

Former smokers may tell you that quitting was one of the hardest things they've ever done. The physical and psychological withdrawal can be intense.

If you're thinking of quitting smoking, the U.S. Surgeon General offers these tips to help you handle the cravings:

• Drink lots of liquids, especially water.
• Avoid sugar and fatty foods, and don't skip meals.
• Exercise regularly and moderately.
• Get more sleep.
• Take deep breaths when cravings hit.
• Change your habits. For example, eat breakfast in a different place, or take a different route to work.
• Do something to reduce your stress. Take a hot bath, read a book, or exercise.

Health Tip: Smoking and Diabetes

Smoking is harmful for everyone, but it can be particularly dangerous for diabetics, who are already at risk of complications such as cardiovascular disease.

If you're a diabetic who has smoked, no matter how long, you can improve your health by quitting. The American Diabetes Association offers this list of potential dangers for diabetics who smoke:

• Smoking decreases oxygen in the tissues, which can lead to a heart attack or stroke.
• Smoking increases cholesterol and blood pressure, which raises your risk of heart attack.
• Smoking constricts and damages blood vessels, which can make foot ulcers worse.
• Smoking increases your risk of damage to the nerves and kidneys.
• Smoking increases your risk of colds and other respiratory illnesses.
• Smoking increases blood sugar levels.
• Smoking triples your risk of death from cardiovascular disease, compared to diabetics who don't smoke.

Health Headlines - April 24

FDA Grants Review Extension for New Diabetes Drug

A review of the proposed diabetes drug saxagliptin has been extended from April 30 until July 30 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The companies developing the drug, Bristol Myers Squibb and AstraZeneca, requested the extension.

Earlier this month, an FDA panel of outside medical experts determined that the drug doesn't carry an excess cardiovascular risk, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Saxagliptin is a type of drug called a DPP-4 inhibitor that's designed to increase levels of so-called incretin hormones in order to help lower blood glucose levels. The only DPP-4 drug currently on the market in the United States is Merck and Co.'s Januvia.

Late last year, the FDA said drug makers would have to conduct more stringent clinical trials for type 2 diabetes drugs in order to better assess the drugs' heart attack and stroke risks, the Journal reported.

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Smoking, Secondhand Smoke Increase Breast Cancer Risk: Experts

Smoking or exposure to secondhand smoke increase a young woman's risk of breast cancer, say Canadian experts who reviewed data presented at a two-day conference in Toronto last November. The review was published by the Ontario Tobacco Research Unit.

"Even moderate exposure to passive smoking such as living or working with a smoker early in life increases a woman's risk of breast cancer when she's in her 30s, 40s or 50s," said panelist Anthony Miller, a professor and associate director of research at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto, CBC News reported.

Panel Chair Neil Collishaw said an estimated 80 percent to 90 percent of women have been exposed to tobacco smoke in adolescence and adulthood, which means they face an increased risk of breast cancer.

There's a cause-and-effect relationship between active smoking and increased risk of breast cancer for women of all ages, the panel concluded. But they said there's not enough evidence to link secondhand smoke exposure and breast cancer in older, postmenopausal women, CBC News reported.

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Morning Sickness Linked to Smarter Babies: Study

Children born to mothers who have morning sickness may be smarter than those whose moms don't have nausea and vomiting during pregnancy, suggests a new study.

Researchers found that the children of mothers with morning sickness scored higher on tests designed to assess children's IQ and mental acuity, the Canadian Press reported.

But while this difference was statistically significant, it doesn't mean that children born to mothers who didn't have nausea during pregnancy are developmentally slow, said senior author Dr. Gideon Koren, director of the Motherisk Program at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. It's just that the other children scored higher on the tests.

The study appears in the Journal of Pediatrics.

Nausea has long been recognized as a sign of a healthy pregnancy, according to the CP. Pregnant women who have morning sickness are less likely to have a miscarriage and less likely to have babies with congenital cardiovascular problems.

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Missing Lab Samples Destroyed: U.S. Army

Three disease samples reported missing from a U.S. Army lab were likely destroyed, according to officials.

The samples of Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis were noted as missing last year during an inventory of samples left by a departing researcher, said Caree Vander Linden, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, Md., the Associated Press reported.

An investigation determined that the three samples were likely among those destroyed when a freezer malfunctioned, Vander Linden said Wednesday.

A thorough investigation found no evidence of criminal activity, said U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command spokesman Chris Grey, the AP reported.

Health Tips for April 24

Health Tip: Blood Tests During Pregnancy

If you're pregnant, your doctor may prescribe a series of tests to make sure there aren't any health problems that need to be addressed before you give birth.

The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology says blood work may ordered to check for the following things:

• Hepatitis B virus.
• Syphilis, HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.
• Rubella (German measles).
• Blood glucose levels (to test for gestational diabetes).
• Anemia.
• Your blood type, and that of the fetus.
• Cystic fibrosis carrier testing.

Health Tip: Learning About Ectopic Pregnancy

When the fertilized egg doesn't make it to the uterus and begins to grow elsewhere in the reproductive system -- in the fallopian tube, abdomen, ovary or cervix -- it's called an ectopic pregnancy.

This is a serious condition that requires a doctor's diagnosis and treatment.

The American Academy of Family Physicians offers this list of common risk factors for ectopic pregnancy:

• Having endometriosis.
• Having had a pelvic infection (such as pelvic inflammatory disease) or surgery around the pelvis.
• Being a smoker.
• Being older than 35.
• Infertility problems or treatment.
• Fallopian tube abnormalities or inflammation.
• Having had a previous ectopic pregnancy.

Exercise with caution? Fitness balls recalled

People searching for motivation to exercise may have another excuse to sit still: Inflatable fitness balls that might be key to toning your abs also could explode and send you crashing to the floor.

EB Brands on Thursday voluntarily recalled three million fitness balls made in China after reports that they can pop unexpectedly if overinflated -- despite the fact that the products specifically say they are burst-resistant. Bally Total Fitness, Everlast, Valeo and Body Fit Fitness Balls, all made by EB Brands, are involved in the recall.

Though the action is termed a recall, EB Brands won't actually be taking the balls back unless they have burst. Rather, the Consumer Product Safety Commission announced, "Consumers should contact EB Brands to receive a copy of the updated instructions on how to safely inflate the ball."

A total of 47 people have reported that the fitness balls burst since 2000, according to the CPSC. Some people have been injured as a result, including reports of a fracture and multiple bruises.

A woman in Seattle was sitting on a Bally Sports ball playing a board game when it exploded beneath her and she fractured her sacrum.

Another who barely topped 100 pounds in Winter Springs, Fla., was exercising with weights on her exercise ball when it popped, causing her to get medical attention for bruising on her cheek and jaw.

Pregnant women and preteens alike have injured themselves when the fitness balls unexpectedly burst.

"I can just imagine being in Pilates class and having the ball explode on you," said Nancy Cowles, who has a fitness ball at home.

What's more, the executive of advocacy group Kids in Danger said, "They're big bright colorful balls," meaning they're alluring outside of exercise class.

"If you've got one and you've got kids, your kids are definitely on them in addition to the more organized use of them," Cowles said.

Indeed, the announcement came as more people are getting creative about how to use the fitness balls. Restless cubicle dwellers have ditched their traditional chairs. Pregnant women rely on them during delivery. A class of fourth grade students in California bounce on the balls during class at their desks to keep their bodies active as well as their brains.

"They're better than chairs because you get to wiggle around," one student told ABC News earlier this month.

Balls Will Remain in Stores

Despite the recall announcement, the fitness balls will remain on store shelves. And there will be no changes in design or manufacturer. In fact, there won't even be changes to the safety recommendations, other than highlighting the safety and usage paragraphs in bolder type.

"The product out there on the market is fine," Brian Anderson, president of the fitness division of EB Brands, told ABCNews.com today. "The CPSC recommended that for future products we ship, inside the box we have more robust warnings and guidelines."

"For the most part, what CPSC recommended and what we did was make the instructions we already have bolder, larger and easier to read," he added.

For information on how much to inflate the balls, the company also established a hotline for consumers and posted information on its Web site.

"I'm a little disappointed not to see anything more on the part of the company," Cowles said. "With three million balls out there, no refund, no replacement of the product, I think the number of people who are going to comply might be low."

"The recall made it sound almost as if people were not following instructions," Cowles added. "But in fact, the instructions instructed overinflation."

Anderson said he could not comment on whether any lawsuits had been filed. Asked if "burst-resistant" marketing language would remain on the packaging, Anderson said, "We have not addressed that issue."

Bursting Exercise Balls: Tips for Staying Safe

If you use an exercise ball involved in the recall, read instructions and contact the company before further use. For more information, call EB Brands hotline at (800) 624-5671 or visit its Web site at www.ebbrands.com. People also can get more information from the CPSC recall hotline at (800) 638-2772.

"If the gyms have balls under our brand -- because there are many different balls that we don't produce -- if it's covered by the CPSC announcement, the recommendation is for them to call our company," Anderson said.

Measure your exercise ball to make sure it's not too big.

Small-sized exercise balls should be no more than 22 inches in diameter and 68 inches around the center of the ball.

Medium-sized fitness balls should be no more than 26 inches in diameter and 80 inches in circumference.

The largest exercise balls should be no more than 30 inches in diameter and 92 inches in circumference. The company will also provide consumers with a measuring tape to determine the safe inflation size for the product.

"The take-away message for consumers is that if they are using this inflatable fitness ball, they should just make sure that it is inflated to the proper size," Anderson said.

Keep it clean. Gonzago University exercise science professor Tina Geithner suggests making sure the ball has no debris or something sharp on it that might cause it to puncture.

"The best way to safely use stability balls or any other type of exercise equipment is to make sure you purchase a quality product, then inspect it before each use and make sure it is properly inflated and in good condition," Geithner said.

For customers whose exercise balls have burst: EB Brands is offering free replacements or refunds for customers whose fitness balls have exploded. The company will also hand out a letter and poster to stores carrying its products to make shoppers aware of proper inflation instructions.

"We take this seriously, especially when you look at the size of this recall," CPSC spokesman Scott Wolfson told ABCNews.com. "This is a very popular product."

Health Headlines - April 23

California Swine Flu Cases Investigated by CDC

Two California children were diagnosed with a unique type of swine flu, and the cases are being investigated by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A 10-year-old boy in San Diego County and a 9-year-old girl in neighboring Imperial County were diagnosed last week, and both have recovered, the Associated Press reported.

The CDC is determining the genetics of the virus in these two cases and trying to track down and test people who may have had contact with the children. However, the agency said there's no reason for the public to take special measures to protect themselves.

Both children, who had no contact with each other, became sick in late March, the AP reported. The boy's mother and brother, and the girl's brother and cousin, also had flu-like illnesses recently, but weren't tested for flu while they were sick.

More than a dozen cases of human swine flu virus infections have been reported in the United States since late 2005. Prior to that, about one case was reported to the CDC every one or two years.

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Avastin Has Little Impact in Colon Cancer Recurrence: Trial

A clinical trial of about 2,700 early-stage colon cancer patients found that the drug Avastin didn't reduce the risk of recurrent colon cancer by a significant amount, drug manufacturer Genentech announced Wednesday.

The patients in the study had surgery and then received six months of standard chemotherapy or six months of standard chemotherapy plus Avastin. The trial did not meet its endpoint, which means the drug didn't reduce the risk of cancer recurrence by the targeted amount, The New York Times reported.

No more details were made public. Study data was expected to be presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting, in Orlando, Fla., that begins in late May.

Avastin is approved for treatment of late-stage colon, breast and lung cancers. The new trial was designed to assess its effects on the course of colon cancer when used immediately after surgery to remove the tumor, The Times reported.

Current chemotherapy keeps about 70 percent of colon cancer patients disease-free three years after surgery. Achieving a significant improvement on that is viewed as a major challenge.

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FDA Device Division Problems Prompt Rare Meeting

A rare, broad-based internal meeting was scheduled for Wednesday to discuss problems within the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's office of device evaluation.

It's the first time in years that such a meeting -- which includes all scientists within the division -- has been called, The New York Times reported.

In signed letters to the White House, nine dissident scientists accused agency officials of acting illegally and said that some medical devices were approved for sale over the objections of scientific reviewers. A Congressional investigation has been launched to look into the scientists' charges.

A report release in January by the Government Accountability Office criticized the FDA's device division. Legislation expected to be proposed in Congress this week would ask the Institute of Medicine to investigate concerns about the device division, The Times reported.

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Cloned Human Embryos Implanted in Women's Wombs: Report

The birth of the first cloned human may be just a few year away, according to a controversial fertility doctor who says he cloned 14 human embryos and transferred 11 of them to into the wombs of four women.

While none of the women had a viable pregnancy as a result of the procedure, the test is a major step toward creating cloned humans, suggested Dr. Panayiotis Zavos.

"There is absolutely no doubt about it ... the cloned child is coming. There is absolutely no way it will not happen," he told Britain's Independent newspaper, Agence France Presse reported.

Other scientists have created cloned embryos in test tubes in order to harvest stem cells, but Zavos has broken what's viewed as a taboo by implanting cloned embryos in women's wombs. His work is condemned by many fertility experts, who question the safety and morality of his methods.

Zavos is a naturalized U.S. citizen, but it's believed he carried out the cloned embryo procedures somewhere in the Middle East in order to evade the U.S. ban on human cloning, AFP reported.

The procedures were recorded by a documentary maker and will be shown on the Discovery Channel in Britain Wednesday.

Reaction to the claim was swift, as the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) issued a statement calling attempts at human cloning unethical.

"We have read the press reports on a documentary to air tonight purporting to show attempts to transfer clonal human embryos," the ASRM statement said. "Nine years ago, The Ethics Committee of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine issued a report calling attempts at human cloning unethical. This statement was reviewed in 2006. The statement concludes, 'As long as the safety of reproductive SCNT is uncertain, ethical issues have been insufficiently explored, and infertile couples have alternatives for conception, the use of reproductive SCNT by medical professionals does not meet standards of ethical acceptability.' Nothing we have seen since has caused us to change our views. Any attempt to create a cloned human embryo for gestation and birth is ethically, scientifically, and clinically unacceptable," the statement concluded.

Health Tips for April 23

Health Tip: Risk Factors for Shin Splints

Shin splints are characterized by pain and tenderness at or near the large lower leg bone called the tibia. They occur when the muscles, tendons or other nearby tissue become inflamed as a result of exercise or other strenuous activity.

The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons offers this list of major risk factors for shin splints:

• Having very firm arches or flat feet.
• Frequent running or jogging.
• Frequent dancing.
• Undergoing military training.
• Sudden changes in your exercise routine, such as exercising longer or with greater intensity.

Health Tip: Keeping Workouts Fun

Hitting the gym on a regular schedule is a big commitment with big payoffs. But after a while, the same old routine can become boring.

The American Council on Exercise offers these suggestions to keep a workout from getting stale:

• Make a small change to your normal workout. For example, run or walk outside instead of inside.
• Try a new sport or activity. Learn to play a new game or take a class that teaches you a whole new way to keep fit.
• Work out with friends.
• Keep challenging yourself with new heights and new goals, such as running longer or faster, or swimming more laps.
• Make sure you vary your workouts; try a lot of different exercises.
• Treat yourself to a music player, pedometer or a new type of workout equipment.
• Allow yourself a bit of time off. But always get back to exercising after a little rest.

Health Headlines - April 22

Pharmacy Chains to Translate Drug Data in NYS Stores: Report

Five major pharmacy chains with 700 stores in New York state have agreed to print drug instructions in five languages other than English and to expand this option to other states their outlets do business in, the Associated Press reported Tuesday.

Target, Wal-Mart, Costco, Duane Reade and A&P have agreed with New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to also provide oral assistance in more than 150 languages. The written drug instructions will be translated into Spanish, Chinese, Italian, Russian and French. Some other pharmacies have already agreed to Polish translations, but the big five have yet to sign on, the AP reported.

Cuomo had been investigating charges from immigrant groups that some pharmacies failed to advise non-English speaking customers in their own language about doses and side effects of their medications. Under law, New York pharmacists must personally provide information about prescription drugs to all patients, orally and in writing, and are prohibited from discriminating against non-English speakers, the AP said.

Cuomo reached similar agreements last year with Rite Aid and CVS pharmacies, the AP reported. More than one million New Yorkers do not speak English "well or at all," according to Census data cited by the wire service.

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States Filing Fewer Disciplinary Actions Against Doctors, Group Says

The rate of state medical boards' disciplinary actions against doctors declined 21.5 percent between 2004 and 2008, from 3.72 serious discipline actions per 1,000 physicians to 2.92 actions, says a study by U.S. consumer watchdog group Public Citizen.

"The overall national downward trend of serious disciplinary actions against physicians is troubling, because it indicates many states are not living up to their obligations to protect patients from bad doctors," said Sidney Wolfe, a physician and director of Public Citizen's health research group, the Associated Press reported.

The top states when it comes to doctor discipline are Alaska, Kentucky, Ohio, Arizona, Oklahoma, North Dakota, Louisiana, Iowa, Colorado and Maine. Minnesota is the worst state. Other bottom-ranked states include California, Florida, Maryland, South Carolina and Wisconsin, Public Citizen said.

License revocations, surrenders, suspensions and probations are among the actions that can be taken against doctors by state medical boards, the AP reported.

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Softball Windmill Pitch Linked to Shoulder Pain: Study

The high incidence of anterior shoulder pain in female softball pitchers appears to be the result of the "windmill" pitching motion, say U.S. researchers who studied seven players.

"The conventional belief has been that the underhand throwing motion of softball places little stress on the arm. But that is not the case," lead author Dr. Nikhil Verma, of the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, said in a Rush news release, United Press International reported.

The researchers found that muscle force used during the softball windmill pitch is much higher than the upper arm pitch used in baseball. The study also found that the biceps, not the elbow, take the majority of stress in the windmill pitch.

The study was published in The American Journal of Sports Medicine.

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Stephen Hawking Expected to Make Full Recovery: Family

The family of famous mathematician and physicist Stephen Hawking expects him to make a full recovery from a chest infection that forced him into the hospital, officials at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom said Tuesday.

Hawking, 67, was admitted to Addenbrooke's Hospital Monday and is being kept under observation.

"He is comfortable, and his family is looking forward to him making a full recovery," said a Cambridge University statement, the Associated Press reported. But there's no word on whether Hawking's condition had improved or whether the family was simply expressing its hopes for improvement.

The hospital declined to comment on Hawking's condition and referred all calls to the university, the AP reported.

Hawking, who's been suffering a chest infection for several weeks, was 21 when he was diagnosed with the incurable degenerative disorder amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. He's been almost entirely paralyzed for years and uses a finger-activated electronic voice synthesizer to communicate.

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Study Looks at College Students' Mental Health

Suicide is a major threat among U.S. college students who report high levels of binge drinking, suggests a new study that examined questionnaires filled out by more than 28,000 college students who received mental health services in fall 2008.

The study found that one percent of students who answered a question about binge drinking said they had gone binge drinking 10 or more times in the previous two weeks. Of those respondents, nearly half said they'd seriously considered suicide in the past, the Associated Press reported.

The researchers at Penn State University's Center for the Study of Collegiate Mental Health also found that 93 percent of respondents who answered a question about campus violence said they had little or no fear of losing control and acting violently.

Males accounted for the majority of the 7 percent who said they did have strong fears about violence. In addition, this group of students said they'd had previously harmed another person and often had a number of other symptoms, such as fear of suffering a panic attack or suicidal thoughts, the AP reported.

The pilot study was designed to identify current mental health trends among students so that colleges and universities can be better prepared to help students.

"Mental health affects every aspect of a college student's functioning. The earlier you intervene in mental health issues, the more likely you are to be successful in treating it," said Ben Locke, executive director of the center, the AP reported.

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U.S. Waters Hold Millions of Pounds of Drug Ingredients: Analysis

At least 271 million pounds of pharmaceutical ingredients have been legally released into U.S. lakes, rivers and streams, many of which are sources of drinking water, says the Associated Press.

These ingredients are used to make drugs and various other products. For example, nitroglycerin is used in explosives and in a heart drug, while lithium is used to treat bipolar disorder and to make ceramics.

The federal government and industry officials say the amount of such compounds released into waterways isn't known because they're not tracked, at least not as drug ingredients. But the AP analysis of 20 years of federal records identified 22 compounds that show up on two lists.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration monitors these ingredients as active pharmaceutical agents, while the Environmental Protection Agency classifies them as industrial chemicals.

The AP analysis didn't determine how much drug makers and other manufacturers each contribute to the 271 million pounds. The news agency also said limited federal monitoring means that figure is well below what's actually released into U.S. waterways.

Health Tips for April 22

Health Tip: Suggestions to Help Improve Memory

If you are frequently forgetting appointments, names and items from your "to do list", it's time to give your memory a boost.

The U.S. National Library of Medicine offers these suggestions to help strengthen your memory:

• Make associations between words or names. As the NLM puts it, "If Alex introduces you to Patty, you might remember them as A and P."
• Relax if you forget something, and try again to think of it or let it come to you.
• Read, do crossword puzzles and play games to keep your brain active.
• Limit how much alcohol you drink.
• When you want to remember something, repeat it out loud.
• Associate names with faces.
• Ask your doctor if any medications you take could be impairing your memory.

Health Tip: Exercise Your Brain

Workouts for your mind are as important as they are for your body, especially as you get older.

Here are suggestions on how to keep your mind sharp, courtesy of the Cleveland Clinic:

• Challenge yourself with activities. Try a crossword puzzle, take a class, or build something.
• Create to-do lists to help you remember appointments and activities.
• When learning something new, make sure you are not distracted. Give it your full attention, and use all of your senses to become familiar with it.
• Break an activity into multiple steps, and stretch it out over several days. For example, take a few days to learn how to program a new electronic device.
• Go over in your head what it is you want to remember, and be habitual in your tasks. Put things in the same place, for example.
• Get plenty of social interaction, sleep and regular physical exercise.
• Reduce stress whenever possible.

Health Headlines - April 21

Stephen Hawking in Hospital

Internationally-renowned mathematician Stephen Hawking, 67, was rushed to hospital Monday, said Cambridge University's head of communications Gregory Hayman.

Hawking had been suffering from a chest infection for several weeks. He was taken to Addenbrooke Hospital in Cambridge and was initially said to be seriously ill, the Associated Press reported.

Later on Monday afternoon, Hayman said Hawking was "now comfortable but will be kept in hospital overnight."

Hawking, who gained renown for his work on black holes, was 21 when he was diagnosed with the incurable degenerative disorder amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

Only 5 percent of people diagnosed with ALS survive for 10 years or longer, said Brian Dickie, director of research at the Motor Neurone Disease Association, the APreported.

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U.S. Waters Hold Millions of Pounds of Drug Ingredients: Analysis

At least 271 million pounds of pharmaceutical ingredients have been legally released into U.S. lakes, rivers and streams, many of which are sources of drinking water, says the Associated Press.

These ingredients are used to make drugs and various other products. For example, nitroglycerin is used in explosives and in a heart drug, while lithium is used to treat bipolar disorder and to make ceramics.

The federal government and industry officials say the amount of such compounds released into waterways isn't known because they're not tracked, at least not as drug ingredients. But the AP analysis of 20 years of federal records identified 22 compounds that show up on two lists.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration monitors these ingredients as active pharmaceutical agents, while the Environmental Protection Agency classifies them as industrial chemicals.

The AP analysis didn't determine how much drug makers and other manufacturers each contribute to the 271 million pounds. The news agency also said limited federal monitoring means that figure is well below what's actually released into U.S. waterways.

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Vegan Women Have Healthy Bones: Study

There's no difference in bone density between vegan and non-vegetarian women, according to Australian and Vietnamese researchers who compared the bone health of 105 postmenopausal vegan Buddhist nuns and 105 women who weren't vegetarians.

"In this work, we showed that although the vegans studied do indeed have lower protein and calcium intakes, their bone density is virtually identical to that of people who eat a wide variety of foods, including animal protein," said Professor Tuan Nguyen of the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney, United Press International reported.

"For the 5 percent of people in Western countries who choose to be vegetarians, this is very good news," Nguyen added. "Even vegans, who eat only plant-based foods, appear to have bones as healthy as everyone else. Bone health in vegetarians, particularly vegans, has been a concern for some time, because as a group, they tend to have a lower protein and calcium intake than the population at large."

The study was published in the online edition of the journal Osteoporosis International.

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Cheap Vaccine Will Help Control Cholera: Institute

The world's first cheap cholera vaccine has been approved in India, a move that opens that way for global use, says the International Vaccine Institute (IVI).

The new vaccine, costs about $1 per dose, compared to the existing internationally licensed oral vaccine that can cost up to $18 a dose, Agence France Pressereported.

The new vaccine was tested in India, and initial results showed it provided significant protection against cholera, which claims an estimated 120,000 lives a year.

"The use of safe and effective cholera vaccines in cholera-endemic areas could lead to a significant and rapid decline in cholera incidence and, ultimately, to its control worldwide," said John Clemens, director-general of the IVI, AFP reported.

Health Tips for April 21

Health Tip: Foods To Avoid if You Have IBS

People with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) may have symptoms including abdominal bloating and cramping, constipation or frequent diarrhea. While the cause of IBS often is unknown, some people seem to have a sensitivity to certain foods.

The National Women's Health Information Center lists these foods or ingredients that can cause IBS symptoms in some people:

• Caffeine (found in sodas, coffee and tea).
• Carbonated beverages.
• The artificial sweetener sorbitol (often found in chewing gum).
• Beans and vegetables that cause excessive gas.
• Alcoholic drinks.
• Chocolate.
• Dairy products such as milk, ice cream and cheese.

Health Tip: Controlling Gas

Gas can cause abdominal discomfort, belching, flatulence, and other symptoms.

Here's a list of gas-causing foods and activities, courtesy of the National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse:

• Eating too many carbohydrate-rich foods, high in starches, sugar and fiber. These include beans, dairy products, soft drinks and fruit drinks.
• Drinking very quickly.
• Activities that cause your stomach to fill with air, including chewing gum, smoking, and wearing dentures that are too loose.

Health Headlines - April 20

Greenhouse Gases a Human Health Threat: EPA

Carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases pose a threat to public health and welfare, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has concluded in what's considered a first step to regulating industrial, power plant and vehicle pollutants that cause climate change.

The EPA's so-called "endangerment" finding, which marks the first formal action by the U.S. government toward restricting greenhouse gas emissions, won't become final until after a public review, Bloomberg news reported.

The EPA was forced to examine the issue after a Supreme Court ruling two years ago. The nation's top court concluded that greenhouse gases are pollutants under the Clean Air Act and must be regulated if they're found to pose a threat to human health. The Bush administration declined to act on the ruling and left the issue to be dealt with by the Obama White House, Bloomberg reported.

Reaction on both sides of the EPA's decision was sharp.

David Bookbinder, chief climate counsel for the environmental group The Sierra Club, told Bloomberg the EPA decision could spur regulation of General Motors Corp. and other car makers, as well as utilities and chemical and steel makers. "There is no longer a question of if, or even when, the U.S. will act on global warming: We are doing so now," Bookbinder said in a statement.

But Sen. James Inhofe, a Republican from Oklahoma, called the EPA's ruling "the beginning of a regulatory barrage that will destroy jobs, raise energy prices for consumers, and undermine America's global competitiveness," Bloomberg reported.

U.S. power plants account for about 40 percent of the nation's carbon-dioxide emissions, while vehicles make up about 30 percent, according to government figures reported by Bloomberg. The U.S. produces about 20 percent of the world's man-made carbon-dioxide emissions, according to Energy Department figures cited by the news service.

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Suicide Claims One Million Lives a Year: Study

Each year, about one million people commit suicide, which accounts for 1.5 percent of all deaths worldwide, according to researchers who also found that suicide rates vary greatly between countries and regions of the world.

The world average is 15 suicides per 100,000 people, but some countries are well above that level. For example, Lithuania's suicide rate is almost 40 per 100,000 people, according to the study by Keith Hawton of Oxford University and Kees van Heeringen of University Hospital in Gent, Belgium, Agence France Presse reported.

Other countries with suicide rates of 20 per 100,000 or higher include Finland, Latvia, Hungary, China, Japan and Kazakhstan. Suicide causes 3.6 percent of all deaths in China, which accounts for 30 percent of suicides worldwide. That's far above China's proportion of the global population.

The United States, Canada and Australia are just below the global average of 15 suicides per 100,000, while rates in Greece, Mexico, Brazil, Iran and Egypt are below five per 100,000, AFP reported.

The study was published in the medical journal The Lancet.

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Surgical Gel May Mimic Signs of Early Breast Cancer: Study

A gel sometimes used to stop bleeding during surgery can be mistaken for signs of early breast cancer on mammograms, say U.S. researchers.

Their study looked at seven women whose follow-up mammograms revealed suspicious white specks within one to six months after they'd had surgery for breast cancer, United Press International reported.

The specks looked liked microcalcifications that sometimes indicate early breast cancer, said Dr. Kathleen Ward, a radiologist at Loyola University Health System, and colleagues. But the specks were actually caused by FloSeal, a gel sometimes used to stop bleeding when sutures or staples aren't sufficient or are impractical.

The findings suggest that FloSeal should not be used during breast surgery, said study co-author Dr. Richard Cooper, UPI reported.

The study was published in the American Journal of Roentgenology.

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People Who Smile in Photos Less Likely to Divorce: Study

Looking at your loved one's old photos may help you determine your risk of ending up divorced, suggest researchers who that found people who smile in pictures are more likely to stay married.

Matthew Hertenstein, a psychologist at DePauw University in Indiana, and colleagues evaluated the smiles in the school yearbook photos of 225 women and 124 men, ages 21 to 81, who were asked to provide details about their personal life, United Press International reported.

The researchers also examined youthful photos of people age 65 and older, who were asked if they'd ever been in a committed relationship or divorced.

The results showed that 11 percent of those with the biggest smiles in their photos were divorced, compared with 31 percent of people who frowned in photographs, UPI reported.

The study, published in the journal Motivation and Emotion, demonstrates that extremely small behavior clues can reveal how people will fare in marriage, Hertenstein said.

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Drug Prices Increase Well Above Inflation Rate: AARP

Prices for the most widely used brand-name drugs in the United States rose an average of 8.7 percent in 2008, well above the general inflation rate of 3.8 percent, according to the AARP's annual report released this week.

The drugs that had the biggest increases included: the acid reflux drug Prevacid (30 percent), the depression drug Wellbutrin (21 percent), and the sleep drug Lunesta (20 percent), the Associated Press reported. The AARP looked at the prices of the 219 most popular brand-name drugs.

"Just about everybody in today's economy is feeling some economic pressures, and it does not help that the drugs you take to keep healthy are much more expensive than last year," John Rother, public policy director of the senior citizens' lobby group, told the AP. "I think this makes the case for health reform."

However, the AARP also found that prices of generic drugs fell an average of 10.6 percent in 2008, and that increasing numbers of seniors are switching to generic drugs.

The AARP report is "one-sided" and focuses too much on certain brand-name medicines, said the drug lobby group Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the AP reported.

Health Tips for April 20

Health Tip: Breathe Fresh Air at Home

If the air inside your home is dirty, you and your housemates can have symptoms including headache, dizziness, asthma and allergy symptoms, and fatigue.

The National Women's Health Information Center offers these suggestions to keep the air in your home clean:

• When using chemicals such as paint or paint thinner, open the windows and keep the area well-ventilated.
• Use a humidifier or dehumidifier to keep humidity levels between 30 percent and 50 percent.
• If you use a humidifier, clean it and replace the water daily to prevent the growth of mold and mildew in the appliance.
• Use an exhaust fan in the kitchen and bathroom, and vent clothes dryers outside.
• If rugs or carpets get wet, quickly have them cleaned to prevent the growth of mold and bacteria.
• Clean your home regularly, being careful to remove dust and any other allergens.

Health Tip: Safe Use of a Generator

If your electricity goes out and you use a generator to power your home, you must read the manufacturer's instructions and take certain precautions. Engines release carbon monoxide, which can be deadly if the devices are used improperly.

The U.S. National Safety Council offers these suggestions when using a portable generator:

• Always keep the generator outside. Never put one inside your home, garage or any enclosed area.
• Even outside, keep your generator away from your home's windows and vents.
• Use a battery-operated carbon monoxide detector at the spot in your home nearest the generator.
• To prevent fire, let your generator cool for at least two minutes before you add gasoline. Make sure the gasoline is fresh.
• Never run your generator next to anything that could explode or catch fire.
• Don't plug a generator directly into one of your home's A/C outlets. Instead, have a licensed electrician install a power transfer switch.
• Follow the manufacturer's instructions and maintenance guide to make sure your generator runs properly.

Health Headlines - April 19

Greenhouse Gases a Human Health Threat: EPA

Carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases pose a threat to public health and welfare, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has concluded in what's considered a first step to regulating industrial, power plant and vehicle pollutants that cause climate change.

The EPA's so-called "endangerment" finding, which marks the first formal action by the U.S. government toward restricting greenhouse gas emissions, won't become final until after a public review, Bloomberg news reported.

The EPA was forced to examine the issue after a Supreme Court ruling two years ago. The nation's top court concluded that greenhouse gases are pollutants under the Clean Air Act and must be regulated if they're found to pose a threat to human health. The Bush administration declined to act on the ruling and left the issue to be dealt with by the Obama White House, Bloomberg reported.

Reaction on both sides of the EPA's decision was sharp.

David Bookbinder, chief climate counsel for the environmental group The Sierra Club, told Bloomberg the EPA decision could spur regulation of General Motors Corp. and other car makers, as well as utilities and chemical and steel makers. "There is no longer a question of if, or even when, the U.S. will act on global warming: We are doing so now," Bookbinder said in a statement.

But Sen. James Inhofe, a Republican from Oklahoma, called the EPA's ruling "the beginning of a regulatory barrage that will destroy jobs, raise energy prices for consumers, and undermine America's global competitiveness," Bloomberg reported.

U.S. power plants account for about 40 percent of the nation's carbon-dioxide emissions, while vehicles make up about 30 percent, according to government figures reported by Bloomberg. The U.S. produces about 20 percent of the world's man-made carbon-dioxide emissions, according to Energy Department figures cited by the news service.

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Suicide Claims One Million Lives a Year: Study

Each year, about one million people commit suicide, which accounts for 1.5 percent of all deaths worldwide, according to researchers who also found that suicide rates vary greatly between countries and regions of the world.

The world average is 15 suicides per 100,000 people, but some countries are well above that level. For example, Lithuania's suicide rate is almost 40 per 100,000 people, according to the study by Keith Hawton of Oxford University and Kees van Heeringen of University Hospital in Gent, Belgium, Agence France Presse reported.

Other countries with suicide rates of 20 per 100,000 or higher include Finland, Latvia, Hungary, China, Japan and Kazakhstan. Suicide causes 3.6 percent of all deaths in China, which accounts for 30 percent of suicides worldwide. That's far above China's proportion of the global population.

The United States, Canada and Australia are just below the global average of 15 suicides per 100,000, while rates in Greece, Mexico, Brazil, Iran and Egypt are below five per 100,000, AFP reported.

The study was published in the medical journal The Lancet.

-----

Surgical Gel May Mimic Signs of Early Breast Cancer: Study

A gel sometimes used to stop bleeding during surgery can be mistaken for signs of early breast cancer on mammograms, say U.S. researchers.

Their study looked at seven women whose follow-up mammograms revealed suspicious white specks within one to six months after they'd had surgery for breast cancer, United Press International reported.

The specks looked liked microcalcifications that sometimes indicate early breast cancer, said Dr. Kathleen Ward, a radiologist at Loyola University Health System, and colleagues. But the specks were actually caused by FloSeal, a gel sometimes used to stop bleeding when sutures or staples aren't sufficient or are impractical.

The findings suggest that FloSeal should not be used during breast surgery, said study co-author Dr. Richard Cooper, UPI reported.

The study was published in the American Journal of Roentgenology.

-----

People Who Smile in Photos Less Likely to Divorce: Study

Looking at your loved one's old photos may help you determine your risk of ending up divorced, suggest researchers who that found people who smile in pictures are more likely to stay married.

Matthew Hertenstein, a psychologist at DePauw University in Indiana, and colleagues evaluated the smiles in the school yearbook photos of 225 women and 124 men, ages 21 to 81, who were asked to provide details about their personal life, United Press International reported.

The researchers also examined youthful photos of people age 65 and older, who were asked if they'd ever been in a committed relationship or divorced.

The results showed that 11 percent of those with the biggest smiles in their photos were divorced, compared with 31 percent of people who frowned in photographs, UPI reported.

The study, published in the journal Motivation and Emotion, demonstrates that extremely small behavior clues can reveal how people will fare in marriage, Hertenstein said.

-----

Drug Prices Increase Well Above Inflation Rate: AARP

Prices for the most widely used brand-name drugs in the United States rose an average of 8.7 percent in 2008, well above the general inflation rate of 3.8 percent, according to the AARP's annual report released this week.

The drugs that had the biggest increases included: the acid reflux drug Prevacid (30 percent), the depression drug Wellbutrin (21 percent), and the sleep drug Lunesta (20 percent), the Associated Press reported. The AARP looked at the prices of the 219 most popular brand-name drugs.

"Just about everybody in today's economy is feeling some economic pressures, and it does not help that the drugs you take to keep healthy are much more expensive than last year," John Rother, public policy director of the senior citizens' lobby group, told the AP. "I think this makes the case for health reform."

However, the AARP also found that prices of generic drugs fell an average of 10.6 percent in 2008, and that increasing numbers of seniors are switching to generic drugs.

The AARP report is "one-sided" and focuses too much on certain brand-name medicines, said the drug lobby group Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the AP reported.

Health Tips for April 19

Health Tip: Living With Latex Allergy

Latex is found in a number of common objects -- ranging from dishwashing gloves to rubber toys. The sanitary gloves that doctors and nurses use also are frequently made of latex.

If you've got a latex allergy, the American Academy of Family Physicians offers these suggestions to prevent a reaction:

• Figure out which items at home and work are made from latex, and find non-latex items as replacements.
• Be careful around powdered latex gloves and similar products. Even breathing in the powder can be harmful.
• In a medical situation -- whether you're a worker or patient -- make sure that you or others than you come in contact with wear non-latex gloves.
• Carry a medical alert bracelet, necklace, or key chain that notes your allergy.
• Ask your doctor if you should carry an emergency epinephrine injection with you.

Health Tip: Getting Answers About Allergy Shots

If you have allergies and are tired of battling their symptoms, you should ask your doctor about allergy shots.

The American Academy of Family Physicians offers this information about allergy shots:

• Allergy shots are often effective against pollen allergies, eye allergies, allergies to bee stings and allergic reactions to some medications.
• Pregnant women should not start taking allergy shots, but might be able to keep taking them if the shots began before pregnancy.
• People with bad asthma or heart problems usually shouldn't get allergy shots.
• Children under age 5 usually shouldn't get allergy shots.
• Initially, allergy shots are given once or twice a week. Eventually, the frequency will drop to about once a month.
• It may take at least six months to get relief from symptoms after you begin allergy shots.

Health Headlines - April 18

Greenhouse Gases a Human Health Threat: EPA

Carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases pose a threat to public health and welfare, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has concluded in what's considered a first step to regulating industrial, power plant and vehicle pollutants that cause climate change.

The EPA's so-called "endangerment" finding, which marks the first formal action by the U.S. government toward restricting greenhouse gas emissions, won't become final until after a public review, Bloomberg news reported.

The EPA was forced to examine the issue after a Supreme Court ruling two years ago. The nation's top court concluded that greenhouse gases are pollutants under the Clean Air Act and must be regulated if they're found to pose a threat to human health. The Bush administration declined to act on the ruling and left the issue to be dealt with by the Obama White House, Bloomberg reported.

Reaction on both sides of the EPA's decision was sharp.

David Bookbinder, chief climate counsel for the environmental group The Sierra Club, told Bloomberg the EPA decision could spur regulation of General Motors Corp. and other car makers, as well as utilities and chemical and steel makers. "There is no longer a question of if, or even when, the U.S. will act on global warming: We are doing so now," Bookbinder said in a statement.

But Sen. James Inhofe, a Republican from Oklahoma, called the EPA's ruling "the beginning of a regulatory barrage that will destroy jobs, raise energy prices for consumers, and undermine America's global competitiveness," Bloomberg reported.

U.S. power plants account for about 40 percent of the nation's carbon-dioxide emissions, while vehicles make up about 30 percent, according to government figures reported by Bloomberg. The U.S. produces about 20 percent of the world's man-made carbon-dioxide emissions, according to Energy Department figures cited by the news service.

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Suicide Claims One Million Lives a Year: Study

Each year, about one million people commit suicide, which accounts for 1.5 percent of all deaths worldwide, according to researchers who also found that suicide rates vary greatly between countries and regions of the world.

The world average is 15 suicides per 100,000 people, but some countries are well above that level. For example, Lithuania's suicide rate is almost 40 per 100,000 people, according to the study by Keith Hawton of Oxford University and Kees van Heeringen of University Hospital in Gent, Belgium, Agence France Presse reported.

Other countries with suicide rates of 20 per 100,000 or higher include Finland, Latvia, Hungary, China, Japan and Kazakhstan. Suicide causes 3.6 percent of all deaths in China, which accounts for 30 percent of suicides worldwide. That's far above China's proportion of the global population.

The United States, Canada and Australia are just below the global average of 15 suicides per 100,000, while rates in Greece, Mexico, Brazil, Iran and Egypt are below five per 100,000, AFP reported.

The study was published in the medical journal The Lancet.

-----

Surgical Gel May Mimic Signs of Early Breast Cancer: Study

A gel sometimes used to stop bleeding during surgery can be mistaken for signs of early breast cancer on mammograms, say U.S. researchers.

Their study looked at seven women whose follow-up mammograms revealed suspicious white specks within one to six months after they'd had surgery for breast cancer, United Press International reported.

The specks looked liked microcalcifications that sometimes indicate early breast cancer, said Dr. Kathleen Ward, a radiologist at Loyola University Health System, and colleagues. But the specks were actually caused by FloSeal, a gel sometimes used to stop bleeding when sutures or staples aren't sufficient or are impractical.

The findings suggest that FloSeal should not be used during breast surgery, said study co-author Dr. Richard Cooper, UPI reported.

The study was published in the American Journal of Roentgenology.

-----

People Who Smile in Photos Less Likely to Divorce: Study

Looking at your loved one's old photos may help you determine your risk of ending up divorced, suggest researchers who that found people who smile in pictures are more likely to stay married.

Matthew Hertenstein, a psychologist at DePauw University in Indiana, and colleagues evaluated the smiles in the school yearbook photos of 225 women and 124 men, ages 21 to 81, who were asked to provide details about their personal life, United Press International reported.

The researchers also examined youthful photos of people age 65 and older, who were asked if they'd ever been in a committed relationship or divorced.

The results showed that 11 percent of those with the biggest smiles in their photos were divorced, compared with 31 percent of people who frowned in photographs, UPI reported.

The study, published in the journal Motivation and Emotion, demonstrates that extremely small behavior clues can reveal how people will fare in marriage, Hertenstein said.

-----

Drug Prices Increase Well Above Inflation Rate: AARP

Prices for the most widely used brand-name drugs in the United States rose an average of 8.7 percent in 2008, well above the general inflation rate of 3.8 percent, according to the AARP's annual report released this week.

The drugs that had the biggest increases included: the acid reflux drug Prevacid (30 percent), the depression drug Wellbutrin (21 percent), and the sleep drug Lunesta (20 percent), the Associated Press reported. The AARP looked at the prices of the 219 most popular brand-name drugs.

"Just about everybody in today's economy is feeling some economic pressures, and it does not help that the drugs you take to keep healthy are much more expensive than last year," John Rother, public policy director of the senior citizens' lobby group, told the AP. "I think this makes the case for health reform."

However, the AARP also found that prices of generic drugs fell an average of 10.6 percent in 2008, and that increasing numbers of seniors are switching to generic drugs.

The AARP report is "one-sided" and focuses too much on certain brand-name medicines, said the drug lobby group Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the AP reported.

Health Tips for April 18

Health Tip: Symptoms of Celiac Disease in Adults

Celiac disease makes your body intolerant to a protein called gluten, which is found in foods including wheat, rye and barley products. It can also be found in some vitamins, lip balms and medications.

According to the National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse, these symptoms may be warning signs of celiac disease in adults:

• Digestive problems including chronic diarrhea, abdominal bloating and pain. Digestive symptoms, however, are less likely to affect adults than children.
• Feeling tired, anxious or depressed.
• Arthritis or osteoporosis.
• Unexplained anemia.
• Feelings of numbness or tingling in the feet or hands.
• Seizures.
• Irregular menstrual periods, multiple miscarriages or infertility.
• Canker sores.
• An itchy skin rash.

Health Tip: Eating Out With Food Allergies

If you are allergic to one or more foods, dining out does include possible risks. But food allergies don't mean you have to stay home to stay safe.

The University of Virginia Health System offers these suggestions to help reduce the risk of an allergic reaction while eating out:

• Review the ingredient list of menu items where you are eating. Try to obtain the menu ahead of time.
• Tell your server about your food allergy, and ask for information on how particular dishes are prepared. If your server isn't sure, speak to the manager or the chef.
• Don't eat from buffets or order family-style dishes, as these foods may be contaminated by other foods or utensils.
• Stay away from fried foods. The same oil may be used to fry several different dishes.

Health Headlines - April 17

People Who Smile in Photos Less Likely to Divorce: Study

Looking at your loved one's old photos may help you determine your risk of ending up divorced, suggest researchers who that found people who smile in pictures are more likely to stay married.

Matthew Hertenstein, a psychologist at DePauw University in Indiana, and colleagues evaluated the smiles in the school yearbook photos of 225 women and 124 men, ages 21 to 81, who were asked to provide details about their personal life, United Press International reported.

The researchers also examined youthful photos of people age 65 and older, who were asked if they'd ever been in a committed relationship or divorced.

The results showed that 11 percent of those with the biggest smiles in their photos were divorced, compared with 31 percent of people who frowned in photographs, UPI reported.

The study, published in the journal Motivation and Emotion, demonstrates that extremely small behavior clues can reveal how people will fare in marriage, Hertenstein said.

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Drug Prices Increase Well Above Inflation Rate: AARP

Prices for the most widely used brand-name drugs in the United States rose an average of 8.7 percent in 2008, well above the general inflation rate of 3.8 percent, according to the AARP's annual report released Wednesday.

The drugs that had the biggest increases included: the acid reflux drug Prevacid (30 percent), the depression drug Wellbutrin (21 percent), and the sleep drug Lunesta (20 percent), the Associated Press reported. The AARP looked at the prices of the 219 most popular brand-name drugs.

"Just about everybody in today's economy is feeling some economic pressures, and it does not help that the drugs you take to keep healthy are much more expensive than last year," John Rother, public policy director of the senior citizens' lobby group, told the AP. "I think this makes the case for health reform."

However, the AARP also found that prices of generic drugs fell an average of 10.6 percent in 2008, and that increasing numbers of seniors are switching to generic drugs.

The AARP report is "one-sided" and focuses too much on certain brand-name medicines, said the drug lobby group Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the AP reported.

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Brain Injuries Overdiagnosed in U.S. Troops: Army Psychiatrist

Mild brain injuries in U.S. troops are being overdiagnosed, because the Department of Veterans Affairs is using soft criteria instead of hard medical evidence, according to an Army psychiatrist and two other officials, the Associated Press reported.

In an article published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. Charles Hoge and his two colleagues said many cases of mild brain injury should be called "concussions" rather than "brain injuries."

They said a brain injury suggests an ongoing, incompletely healed problem rather than a temporary injury that's in the past. The article authors called on the VA to change the way it diagnoses and treats such injuries, the AP reported.

While improving diagnosis of brain injuries is a good idea, some veterans groups dispute the suggestion that the military has been overdiagnosing brain injuries in troops.

"It stretches credulity to believe that all the people who have suffered traumatic brain injuries in Iraq and Afghanistan are getting the treatment they need. That's a laughable notion." Jason Forrester, director of policy at Veterans for America, told the AP.

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C-Sections Increase in U.S: Analysis

Nearly one-third of the 4.3 million U.S. childbirths in 2006 were c-sections, compared with one-fifth in 1997, the federal government reports.

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's latest News and Numbers also said that the percentage of American women having a repeat cesarean section increased 25 percent between 1997 and 2006, from 65 percent to 90 percent.

Among the other findings:

• C-sections cost more than vaginal deliveries -- $4,500 vs. $2,600 in deliveries without complications, and $6,100 vs. $3,500 in deliveries with complications.
• While c-sections account for 31 percent of all deliveries, they account for 45 percent of all costs associated with delivery.
• Among women with private insurance, c-sections account for 34 percent of deliveries, compared with 25 percent of deliveries by women without insurance.

The News and Numbers article is based on an analysis of data in the Hospitalizations Related to Childbirth, 2006 report, which uses statistics from the 2006 Nationwide Inpatient Sample.