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 Back to Medical News Today Archives
Medical News Today: 02-20-2006
The Center for Medical Consumers, Consumers Union and seven other groups on Wednesday called for congressional hearings on prescription drug safety issues in response to reports of 25 deaths related to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder medications between 1999 and 2003, Long Island Newsday reports... click link for more info.
A study published in the current issue of Family Process provides an in-depth look at fathering in families with young children and finds that the most involved fathers live outside traditional gendered roles. Responsive fathers shucked the old model of fatherhood in which the man is the breadwinner and more valued than his child-rearing wife... click link for more info.
Following the report by the French Authorities that a dead wild duck in Lyon, France may have died from the highly pathogenic H5N1 AI virus Defra has consulted with ornithological and meteorological experts and with key industry stakeholders. We have concluded that this is a new development which increases the likelihood that H5N1 may be found in the UK... click link for more info.
The Association of British Insurers later this year is expected to apply for permission from the United Kingdom to allow its member companies to ask women if they have been tested for the presence of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genetic mutations, which are believed to increase the chances of developing breast and ovarian cancers, London's Daily Telegraph reports (Fleming, Daily Telegraph, 2/14)... click link for more info.
In terms of a medical diagnosis, nothing is more devastating than hearing the "C" word - cancer. But now, ASU and Mayo Clinic are hoping that five different C's will become the best arsenal against the big C. The organizations have teamed up to introduce a new research entity called MAC5.MAC5 is short for the Mayo Clinic - ASU Center for Cancer-related Convergence, Cooperation and Collaboration... click link for more info.
When McDonalds serves its French Fries, everyone believes they contain just potatoes and cooking oil - even people who are vegan (eat no animal product at all) or allergic to wheat. We trust the company and believe everything they say. Because that is what they have been saying - that their fries are gluten-free... click link for more info.
A study led by a Johns Hopkins neurosurgeon has provided the first comprehensive map of a part of the adult human brain containing astrocytes, cells known to produce growth factors critical to the regeneration of damaged neural tissue and that potentially serve as brain stem cells. The mapping study -- using special microscopes and chemical analysis of 42 samples of brain tissue taken at autopsy from seven people, and 43 samples of tissue removed with permission from living patients as part of unrelated neurosurgical procedures -- also revealed evidence of the move of cells lining the ventricles, or ependymal cells, to the same area of the brain, a discovery expected to provide further insight into the critical relationship among ependymal cell, astrocytes and potential brain stem cells... click link for more info.
If a child often stops in the middle of a sentence and repeats individual sounds or syllables, this does not inevitably mean that the child is a stutterer. A lot of repetitions, pauses or fillers are thus not necessarily a reason for panicking. Professor Goetz Schade, who is the head of the Phoniatrics and Paedaudology Section of Bonn's University Clinic, warns parents against over-reacting... click link for more info.
In a joint meeting between the Parliamentary groups on asthma, obesity and children, Asthma UK, Cancer Research UK and the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy continued to call on the Government to improve physical activity levels in children and young people, particularly for those with long-term conditions such as asthma... click link for more info.
Two members of the House on Wednesday sent a letter to FDA and U.S. Customs and Border Protection "demand[ing] an explanation ... for increased government seizures" of prescription drugs ordered by U.S. residents from Canada, the Los Angeles Times reports (Girion/Alonso-Zaldivar, Los Angeles Times, 2/16)... click link for more info.
Boys are almost twice as likely as girls to burn themselves and children under three face particular risks, according to research published in the February issue of Journal of Clinical Nursing.A team from Malmo University in Sweden looked at 148 children up to the age of six who were taken to the University Hospital and 21 health centres... click link for more info.
Abbott Laboratories has been suspended from membership of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) for a minimum of six months in connection with serious breaches of the ABPI Code of Practice. The action has been taken with regard to a complaint about a number of activities held to be in breach of the code including Clause 2 which deals with actions likely to bring discredit on, or reduce confidence in, the pharmaceutical industry... click link for more info.
The tumblers of life continue to click as Cornell University researchers have fabricated a set of "nano-keys" on the molecular scale to interact with receptors on cell membranes and trigger larger-scale responses within cells -- such as the release of histamines in an allergic response.How cell membranes control cellular function has long been studied but with ambiguous results... click link for more info.
A team from the Faculty of Medicine at Université Laval and the research centre at CHUQ (Centre hospitalier universitaire de Québec) has discovered a natural defence mechanism that the body deploys to combat nerve cell degeneration observed in persons with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Investigators Alain R... click link for more info.
The increasing obesity epidemic among women in Australia is putting a strain on some larger obstetric hospital staffs and forcing some smaller, suburban hospitals to refuse to admit pregnant women weighing more than about 265 pounds, the West Australian reports. Officials at King Edward Memorial Hospital in Western Australia said the hospital might be forced to create a specialized antenatal clinic for obese women, many of whom are in their early 20s... click link for more info.
Standard clot-busting medication combined with low-energy ultrasound appears to reopen clogged arteries in stroke patients better than medication alone, a pilot study led by University of Cincinnati researchers shows.The findings, says the University of Cincinnati's Joseph Broderick, MD, co-principal investigator of the study, are encouraging and support a much broader phase-3 trial planned to begin soon... click link for more info.
Roche announced that safety data from AVANT, a trial to study different combination treatments for post-surgical adjuvant colon cancer, will be further reviewed. The review has been recommended by the AVANT independent Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) and is supported by Roche. The DSMB's recommendation is based on two reasons: a safety concern observed in one of the three study arms and the fast recruitment in the AVANT trial (more than 200 patients per month) which could prevent adequate and timely intervention... click link for more info.
Understanding the connection between influx of immune cells into the lung and acute lung injury is essential, since lung damage tends to occur secondary to increased lung inflammation. In a study appearing online on February 16 in advance of print publication in the March issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Klaus Ley and colleagues from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville demonstrate that expression of an immune molecule called CXCR2 on blood vessel wall cells (as opposed to immune cells themselves) mediates the influx of white blood cells, called neutrophils, into the lung during acute bacterial infection... click link for more info.
Although many believed that Maine's Dirigo Health -- a state-subsidized program for uninsured state residents -- would "reduce cost-shifting and health system costs and ultimately cover all 130,000 uninsured Mainers within five years, ... [i]t hasn't worked out that way, Tarren Bragdon, director of health reform initiatives at the Maine Heritage Policy Center, and Adam Brackemyre, assistant director of legislative affairs for the Council for Affordable Health Insurance, write in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece... click link for more info.
A Soviet technology developed during the Cold War to keep short-range military communications secure may someday provide relief from hard-to-treat conditions such as nerve pain, intense itching, and nausea caused by chemotherapy. And, with the support of a $4 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, Temple University School of Medicine scientists are the only group in the United States now investigating this alternative therapy... click link for more info.
After careful consideration of the recommendation from both the independent study Data & Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) and Steering Committee, Organon has decided to close the LIFT study. The study, which was started in 2001, was designed to investigate the effect of tibolone on new vertebral fractures in elderly osteoporotic patients... click link for more info.
Inactivating a protein called mammalian Rad9 could make cancer cells easier to kill with ionizing radiation, according to research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.The researchers found that Rad9, previously considered a "watchman" that checks for DNA damage, is actually a "repairman" that fixes dangerous breaks in the DNA double helix... click link for more info.
Florida state Sen. Skip Campbell (D) on Tuesday proposed a bill modeled on Maryland's law that requires large employers to spend a certain amount of payroll on health care, the Miami Herald reports. Under the Florida proposal, which is backed by the state chapter of the AFL-CIO, businesses with more than 10,000 employees would be required to spend at least 9% of payroll on health benefits or pay the difference to a Fair Share Health Care Fund (Dorschner, Miami Herald, 2/15)... click link for more info.
Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) on Tuesday introduced a bill (S 2281) that would establish tax incentives to help U.S. residents save funds for long-term care insurance, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. The legislation would establish tax-free, "long-term care accounts" similar to health savings accounts for individuals who might have problems with access to long-term care insurance because of pre-existing medical conditions or cost issues... click link for more info.
Merck & Co., Inc. announced that the New Drug Application (NDA) for JANUVIA?* (sitagliptin phosphate) has been accepted for standard review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Merck expects FDA action on the NDA by mid-October. The Company also is moving forward as planned with filings in countries outside the United States... click link for more info.
Can the high doses of chemotherapy and radiation that young cancer patients receive cause inherited health problems for their children? Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center member, John Boice, Sc.D., and an international team of colleagues have just been awarded a $4 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to try to find out... click link for more info.
The following highlights recent news of state actions on women's health issues. Abortion Regulations South Dakota: The state House on Tuesday voted 59-11 to approve a state Senate bill (SB 185) that would require abortion clinics to obtain specific licenses and undergo state inspections, the AP/Aberdeen American News reports (Brokaw, AP/Aberdeen American News, 2/14)... click link for more info.
The cosmetic treatment Botox may have a new use as an adjuvant to cancer therapy, providing an open door for chemotherapy and radiation treatments, according to a study published in the Feb. 15 issue of Clinical Cancer Research.The study in mice, led by Bernard Gallez, Ph.D., professor of pharmacy at the Université de Louvain in Brussels, Belgium, found that by injecting Botulinum neurotoxin type A into two types of mouse tumors, the tumors' cellular vasculature opened, allowing for more effective destruction of previously resistant cancer cells... click link for more info.
A long-term study of more than 200 patients found that Cymbalta (duloxetine HCl) is as safe and well- tolerated as current routine care that uses one or more medications for the management of pain caused by diabetic nerve damage. Study findings also show that Cymbalta did not adversely affect the progression of diabetes or many of the complications associated with the illness, such as damage to the nerves, kidneys and eyes... click link for more info.
Researchers have found that mammography coupled with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is extremely sensitive in the detection of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). DCIS, or early stage breast carcinoma, is a pre-invasive malignancy and MRI may help identify this type of disease, which may not be visible on a mammogram... click link for more info.
HIV-1-positive women in developing countries can reduce the risk of motor developmental delays in their infants by taking multivitamin supplements containing vitamins B, C and E during pregnancy, according to a study published in the February issue of the journal Pediatrics, Reuters Health reports... click link for more info.
Gliomas are the most common primary brain tumors, and also one of the most complicated cancers to treat. Currently, treatment options such as surgery, radiation and chemotherapy are only marginally beneficial and present significant risks for patients, including loss of physical and cognitive abilities... click link for more info.
Eisai Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Tokyo, President and CEO Haruo Naito) and Eisai Inc. (Headquarters: Teaneck, NJ, Chairman and CEO Hajime Shimizu) announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted a supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for ARICEPT® (donepezil HCl tablets) for treatment of severe Alzheimer's Disease... click link for more info.
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have created - in a rodent model - a completely new way to engineer nerve structures, or constructs, in culture. This proof-of-principle research has implications for eventually becoming a new method to repair spinal cord injury in humans... click link for more info.
Sens. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) on Wednesday introduced a bill that would facilitate earlier market entry of generic medications, CongressDaily reports. In addition, the bill would expand the number of antibiotics eligible for generic versions and increase restrictions on patent infringement challenges that pharmaceutical companies can file to delay market entry of generic medications... click link for more info.
Using both brain function (PET) and anatomical structure (MR) imaging studies, Italian researchers--within the context of an Italian-British collaboration--discovered that degenerative and dysfunctional events occur in individuals many years before the onset of Huntington's disease--particularly in the brain's white matter--an area not previously considered primarily involved with the disease... click link for more info.
Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) today announced an agreement for technology transfer and voluntary license with generic manufacturers Aspen PharmaCare and Emcure Pharmaceuticals for atazanavir, the company's once-daily protease inhibitor for HIV/AIDS that was initially approved in the U.S. in June 2003 for use in combination therapy with other anti-HIV medicines... click link for more info.
Estrogen-progestin menopausal hormone therapy is associated with a more than two-fold higher relative risk of developing lobular cancer or tubular cancer than of developing ductal cancer. The results of a large European study published today in the journal Breast Cancer Research show for the first time that estrogen-progestin therapy is associated with a higher relative risk of developing tubular cancer than ductal cancer, when taken for more than five years... click link for more info.
Acupressure (applying pressure with the thumbs or fingertips to the same points on the body stimulated in acupuncture) seems to be more effective in reducing low back pain than physical therapy, finds a study published online by the BMJ today.Low back pain is a common health problem worldwide. In previous studies, acupressure has been shown to be effective in alleviating various types of pain, but little is known about its effect on low back pain... click link for more info.
The Oregonian on Sunday examined the Cascadia Placenta Registry, which, unbeknownst to many patients, collected placentas from as many as 700 women from hospitals in Oregon, California and Washington between 1996 and 2003. Cascadia -- which was started in 1995 and financed by Northwest Physicians Mutual Insurance Company, Oregon's largest malpractice insurance provider -- received and analyzed placentas from several hospital districts on the West Coast, including Providence Health System, Legacy Health System, Adventist Health, PeaceHealth, Kaiser Permanente Northwest and Good Shepherd Health Care System... click link for more info.
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