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 Back to Medical News Today Archives
Medical News Today: 04-03-2006
Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have been awarded a five-year, $3.2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to create the Penn Center for Musculoskeletal Disorders, one of five such Centers nationally. The Center aims to enhance and advance the research productivity of investigators in the broad topic of musculoskeletal tissue injury and repair... click link for more info.
New York gubernatorial candidate William Weld (R) on Tuesday said he favored reducing Medicaid spending in order to eliminate the state income tax for people with annual incomes less than $75,000, the AP/New York Post reports. Weld, a former governor of Massachusetts, said the state could save $5 billion annually to pay for the tax cuts if the cost of state's Medicaid program was reduced to twice the average cost of Medicaid programs nationwide... click link for more info.
The number of overweight schoolchildren in the UK is almost two million, of which about 700,000 are obese, according to a study carried out by the International Obesity Taskforce. Over 25% of girls and 20% of boys are overweight. The number of UK schoolchildren who have high blood pressure and cholesterol levels has reached 160,000... click link for more info.
A major concern regarding the use of stimulant medications to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in adolescents and young adults has been the risk that they will be misused or diverted to those for whom they have not been prescribed. A new study from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers has found that, while the great majority of young people with ADHD use their medications appropriately, a small percentage are likely to abuse or to sell prescribed stimulants... click link for more info.
"Associations Among Race/Ethnicity, ApoC-III Genotypes and Lipids in HIV-1-Infected Individuals on Antiretroviral Therapy," PLoS Medicine: Andrea Foulkes of the University of Massachusetts-Amherst's School of Public Health and Health Sciences and colleagues examined whether ethnicity is a critical predictor of plasma lipids and lipid abnormalities associated with antiretroviral therapy... click link for more info.
Authorities in Egypt have confirmed that a fourth human is infected with bird flu (H5N1). So far, two of them have died. A 30-year-old woman from the Qaliubiya governorate near Cairo has died. She developed bird flu like symptoms on March 12, was hospitalised on March 16 and died on March 27. The woman had been slaughtering chickens at home... click link for more info.
Over 250,000 American children under the age of 6 are too heavy for car-safety seats designed for their age-group. Makers of car-safety seats are having to make sturdier models to ensure levels of safety for these seriously obese and overweight children are maintained. As the American obesity epidemic gains pace and spreads through all age groups, the number of children under 6 who are obese is growing at an alarming rate... click link for more info.
Using probes originally designed to detect and image topographical features on surfaces, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have demonstrated the ability to initiate and spatially localize chemical reactions on the submicron scale. They have been able to reliably manipulate chemistry on a very, very small scale in contrast to normal beaker-type reactions carried out in bulk... click link for more info.
The following highlights recent news of state actions on women's health issues. Abortion Regulations Alabama: The state Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday approved by voice vote a bill that would allow anyone who injures or kills an "unborn child" to be charged with assault or homicide, the Birmingham News reports (White, Birmingham News, 3/29)... click link for more info.
Researchers have found that nicotine stops chemotherapy drugs, such as gemcitabine, cisplatin and taxol, from destroying lung cancer cells. This finding was reported at the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research. The scientists added that patients who are on chemotherapy for lung cancer who gave up smoking, but are taking smoking cessation products which contain nicotine, may be seriously undermining their treatment... click link for more info.
Three-dimensional ultrasound probes built by researchers at Duke's Pratt School of Engineering have imaged the beating hearts of dogs. The engineers said their demonstration showed that the probes could give surgeons a better view during human endoscopic surgeries in which operations are performed through tiny "keyhole" incisions... click link for more info.
The Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday announced that it plans to subpoena 190 drug companies in an investigation of possible anti-competitive practices in the pharmaceutical industry, the AP/Los Angeles Times reports. The subpoenas, which require approval from the Office of Management and Budget, would be part of a probe into whether pharmaceutical companies are suppressing competition by releasing authorized generic versions of their own brand-name drugs to coincide with the introduction of products from generic drug makers... click link for more info.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has issued the first suite of Standard Reference Materials (SRMs) in a planned series of reference materials for botanical dietary supplements.The dietary supplement industry has exploded in the past decade to about 29,000 products, with about 1,000 new products introduced each year, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)... click link for more info.
While the world "takes AIDS seriously" in the sense that "rich countries provide money, drug companies have lowered their prices and accepted generic competition and poor countries ... are scrambling to provide free treatment to all who need it," the same is not yet true for people with malaria, tuberculosis or many other diseases prevalent in developing countries, columnist Tina Rosenberg writes in a New York Times opinion piece... click link for more info.
A rapid method for detecting and identifying very small numbers of diverse bacteria, from anthrax to E. coli, has been developed by scientists from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Described in the March issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,* the work could lead to the development of handheld devices for accelerated identification of biological weapons and antibiotic-resistant or virulent strains of bacteria--situations where speed is essential... click link for more info.
Montana Attorney General Mike McGrath (D) in a legal opinion released on Tuesday said that health insurance companies that offer prescription drug coverage are required to cover prescription contraceptives and "related medical services" in their policies under the state's sexual discrimination laws, the AP/Billings Gazette reports... click link for more info.
University of Cincinnati (UC) surgeons have developed a new, minimally invasive method for repairing a common and deadly form of aortic injury--an advance that could help reduce the number of deaths caused by auto accidents and major falls.The potentially life-saving technique is reported by Joseph Giglia, MD, interim director of UC's division of vascular surgery, and his team in the March edition of Annals of Vascular Surgery... click link for more info.
Cancer researchers and advocacy groups have begun a "last-minute lobbying push" in Congress to prevent the passage of a proposed $40 million spending reduction for cancer research, "the deepest cut in federal research funding in a generation," the Baltimore Sun reports (Rockoff, Baltimore Sun, 3/30)... click link for more info.
Drs. Anuradha Mehta, Christopher Trotta and Stuart Peltz (PTC Therapeutics) have uncovered a novel mechanism whereby the translation efficiency of oncogenes is increased in cancer cells.The human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (Her-2) is an established oncogene whose overexpression drives metastasis in about 25% of breast cancer patients... click link for more info.
India in two months plans to launch the "Red Ribbon Express," a seven-coach train that will travel across the country for one year and visit over 40,000 villages in an effort to spread HIV awareness and knowledge, newKerala.com reports. "With around 5.1 million HIV-positive people in India, ... continuous awareness is the only way to combat AIDS," S... click link for more info.
Premature babies with breathing problems who were given continuous negative-extrathoracic-pressure (CNEP) ventilation in a UK trial do not have poorer long-term outcomes when compared with those who received standard treatment, concludes a study in this week's issue of The Lancet.CNEP is a treatment where pressure is applied to a child's chest to assist breathing... click link for more info.
Oglala Sioux Tribe President Cecelia Fire Thunder recently said she hopes to establish a clinic that provides abortion services on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation -- which covers millions of acres within the state's borders south of Rapid City -- in the event that a South Dakota law (HB 1215) that bans abortion except to save a woman's life goes into effect, the Sioux Falls Argus Leader reports (Ramos, Sioux Falls Argus Leader, 3/28)... click link for more info.
Infections may trigger deep vein thrombosis (DVT), according to an article in The Lancet.Scientists know that infections increase the risk of arterial cardiovascular events such as strokes and heart attacks, but the effect of infections on DVT is not established.To investigate, Liam Smeeth and colleagues reviewed over 3 million general practice records in the UK... click link for more info.
The elimination of special caps on mental health coverage might not lead to increased spending, according to a study published on Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine, "lending new ammunition to a longstanding push" for mental heath parity legislation, the Wall Street Journal reports. For the study, researchers led by Howard Goldman, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, examined the results of the elimination of caps on mental health coverage by health plans in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program in 2001; the plans at the same time added some managed care restrictions on mental health coverage (Fuhrmans, Wall Street Journal, 3/30)... click link for more info.
The National Health Service, medical schools, and national bodies need to revitalise the discipline of clinical pharmacology in the UK for the interest of the nation, state the authors of a correspondence letter in this week's issue of The Lancet.Clinical pharmacologists bring detailed expertise on drug action, dose-response, adverse effects and their use in medical practice... click link for more info.
IRIN/AllAfrica.com on Wednesday examined the effect of drought conditions on HIV-positive people living in Kenya's Makueni district. The region -- which "traditionally depend[s] on agriculture and livestock" and has a HIV-prevalence of about 6% -- has seen "crop after crop fail, while their animals die as pasture and water dry up," IRIN/AllAfrica... click link for more info.
Eighty-three per cent of college girls surveyed diet to lose weight, regardless of their current body weight. A study published today in the open access journal Nutrition Journal (http://www.nutritionj.com/) also reveals that college girls practice unhealthy behaviours, such as smoking or skipping breakfast, to lose weight... click link for more info.
A three-judge panel of the Missouri Court of Appeals on Tuesday in a 2-1 ruling said that the language of a ballot proposal -- which would amend the state constitution to ensure that stem cell research permitted under federal law is protected in the state -- is accurate, the Kansas City Star reports... click link for more info.
The UK's contingency plans for pandemic flu don't go far enough, argues a director of public health in this week's BMJ.Plans for pandemic flu in the United Kingdom are said to be among the best in the developed world, but important lessons from the past have been missed, writes Hilary Pickles. These include the need to prepare for high death rates, being open with the public, and understanding population behaviour... click link for more info.
Differences in state laws that seek to increase public disclosure of rates of hospital-acquired infections might confuse consumers and unnecessarily increase administrative costs for hospitals, Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) said on Wednesday at a House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations hearing on the issue, CQ HealthBeat reports (CQ HealthBeat, 3/29)... click link for more info.
The UK government's climb down on reform of mental health legislation is not a victory - the real battle is about to begin, warns a senior doctor in this week's BMJ.The UK government's announcement that it has abandoned its eight year attempt to achieve a new Mental Health Act for England and Wales is an apparent victory for patients, professionals, and liberal democracy, writes Professor Nigel Eastman of St George's Hospital, London... click link for more info.
The HIV prevalence among young people ages 15 to 24 in southern India has declined by about 35%, primarily because of prevention campaigns aimed at commercial sex workers and their clients, according to a study published Thursday in the online edition of the Lancet, the AP/Globe and Mail reports (George, AP/Globe and Mail, 3/30)... click link for more info.
The NHS financial crisis will delay the government's bowel cancer screening programme, which is due to begin this week, warns a senior doctor in this week's BMJ.The government has said that, from April 2006, it will provide £37.5m to screen men and women aged 60-69 every two years. But this deadline cannot be met, argues Professor Wendy Atkin, because it will take around six months to commission the screening centres, and no funding has yet been provided... click link for more info.
German pharmaceutical company Schering on Tuesday said it plans to proceed with the U.S. launch of its new low-dose oral contraceptive YAZ despite a lawsuit filed by U.K. pharmaceutical company Warner Chilcott against the company, theAP/Houston Chronicle reports (AP/Houston Chronicle, 3/28). FDA approved YAZ, a low-dose version of Schering's FDA-approved contraceptive pill Yasmin, earlier this month... click link for more info.
In this week's BMJ, Editor Fiona Godlee calls for independence for the NHS.These are bad times for the NHS, she writes. The words "crisis" and "meltdown" are flying around and few people say these are exaggerations. Record spending has delivered record deficits and uncertain value for money. For the first time in anyone's memory, sizeable numbers of NHS staff are losing their jobs... click link for more info.
The House Budget Committee on Wednesday voted 22-17 along party lines to approve a $2.8 trillion fiscal year 2007 budget resolution that does not call for mandatory spending reductions to Medicare or Medicaid, CQ Today reports. President Bush in his budget proposal last month outlined $65 billion in spending reductions from Medicare and other mandatory programs over five years... click link for more info.
The Open Access journal PLoS Pathogens has published an article detailing research that identifies a new retrovirus in the tissue of human prostate tumors.The research was first announced at an American Society of Clinical Oncology Meeting, but only now is the full, peer-reviewed report available... click link for more info.
More than 240 HIV-positive inmates at Westville Prison in Durban, South Africa, on Wednesday ended a hunger strike to advocate for access to treatment, Agence France-Presse reports (Agence France-Presse, 3/29). The prisoners began the hunger strike on Monday, AFP/Independent Online reports. According to Xolani Ncemu, chair of the prison's HIV/AIDS support group, he and 241 other inmates launched the strike after months of negotiations with officials to resolve issues that have prevented some inmates from accessing treatment such as requiring identification documents... click link for more info.
Results from two clinical trials, to be published in the April 2006 edition of the American Journal of Gastroenterology, indicate that esomeprazole magnesium can reduce the incidence of gastric (stomach) ulcers in patients at risk of developing gastric ulcers and who regularly take either non-selective nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) or COX-2-selective NSAIDs... click link for more info.
The FDA has warned that the U.S. drug supply is a potential target for terrorism. With a high demand on cheap prescription drugs, the industry is increasingly vulnerable to counterfeits. U.S. Senate Committee hearings provided evidence that terrorists use profits from counterfeit drugs to finance their operations... click link for more info.
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