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 Back to Medical News Today Archives
Medical News Today: 02-27-2006
PITTSBURGH--Scientists at Carnegie Mellon University have discovered that our ears use the most efficient way to process the sounds we hear, from babbling brooks to wailing babies. These results represent a significant advance in our understanding of how sound is encoded for transmission to the brain, according to the authors, whose work is published with an accompanying "News and Views" editorial in the Feb... click link for more info.
Rhode Island Governor Donald Carcieri (R) earlier this month proposed to eliminate 3,000 undocumented immigrant children from RIte Care, the state's Medicaid program, the Providence Journal reports. According to the Journal, Carcieri said the elimination would save $4 million this fiscal year. "I want to take care of Rhode Islanders... click link for more info.
Researchers from the Monell Chemical Senses Center have succeeded in growing mature taste receptor cells outside the body and for the first time have been able to successfully keep the cells alive for a prolonged period of time. The establishment of a viable long-term model opens a range of new opportunities to increase scientists' understanding of the sense of taste and how it functions in nutrition, health and disease... click link for more info.
As Chinese authorities confirm two new human cases of H5N1 Bird Flu virus strain infections, Niger and Pakistan have confirmed their first outbreaks of infections among birds. In China, a girl, aged 9 and a farmer, aged 26, became infected with H5N1. The girl is from Zhejiang and the farmer from Annhui... click link for more info.
Journalists are invited to attend and cover the 2006 International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases (ICEID), to be held March 19-22, 2006, at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia. The meeting is being organized by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the American Society for Microbiology, the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists, the Association of Public Health Laboratories and the World Health Organization... click link for more info.
The South Dakota Senate on Wednesday voted 23-12 to approve a bill (HB 1215) that would ban all abortions in the state except to save the pregnant woman's life but would exempt women who undergo the procedure from punishment, the AP/Aberdeen American News (Brokaw, AP/Aberdeen American News, 2/22). While the bill would not punish a woman who underwent an abortion, it would make it a felony to perform one... click link for more info.
The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene plans to begin routine distribution of information packets about the symptoms and effects of gestational diabetes to pregnant women and new mothers, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced Tuesday, Brooklyn, N.Y., the New York Times reports. Inside the information packet, the health department includes a letter in English, Spanish, Chinese and Urdu from the city's health commissioner, Thomas Frieden, that gives warnings about gestational diabetes and behaviors that could help to prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes, such as losing weight and increasing physical activity... click link for more info.
Groups in the UK are protesting at authorities for allowing the imports of pet birds from the European Union without them having to be quarantined. Bird flu (avian flu) is rapidly spreading through the European Union, but has not reached the UK. According to the UK government, birds cannot be imported from a facility which had had bird flu infection within the previous 30 days... click link for more info.
According to the World Health Organization, there were 3,793 cases of acute watery diarrhoea in Southern Sudan between 28 January and 21 February. 77 of those patients died (2.03% fatality rate). According to confirmed stool sample tests carried out in Nairobi (Kenya) by the African Medical and Research Foundation, the patients were infected with Vibrio Cholera Inaba... click link for more info.
The Indonesian Ministry of Health confirmed that a 27-year-old woman died as a result of bird flu infection - she was infected with the virulent (powerful, deadly) H5N1 virus strain. The woman developed bird flu like symptoms on the 13th February and died on the 20th February. The woman's neighbourhood had reported many chickens dying of bird flu a few days before she started feeling ill... click link for more info.
University of Rochester Medical Center scientists have demonstrated a new technology that accurately and rapidly detects the meat-spoiling and sometimes dangerous E. coli bacteria.The unique technology uses a protein from the suspect bacteria as part of the sensing system that also includes a silicon chip and a digital camera... click link for more info.
U.S. prescription drugs sales increased 5.4% in 2005 -- driven by more use of biotechnology products and a decrease in medications purchased from abroad -- and should continue to increase annually by at least that rate until 2010, according to a report released Wednesday by IMS Health, Bloomberg/Philadelphia Inquirer reports... click link for more info.
Though some species of fish around the world's are likely to be contaminated with mercury, PCBs and other toxins, the benefits of eating seafood continue to outweigh the risks, a panel of scientists recently said at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science."The best science coming out over the last two years has overwhelmingly been in favor of the benefits of seafood consumption," said Michael T... click link for more info.
Tenofovir, when administered as a gel, is safe for intravaginal use as a microbicide to prevent HIV transmission, according to a study published in the Feb. 28 on-line edition of the journal AIDS, Reuters Health reports (Reuters Health, 2/22). Microbicides include a range of products -- such as gels, films, sponges and other products -- that could help prevent the sexual transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 1/26)... click link for more info.
Cells within the bone marrow (progenitor cells) that express a protein called CD34 have been shown to leave the marrow and travel to sites of tissue injury to mediate repair. Once the cells arrive at the site of injury it has been demonstrated that they can turn into a variety of different cell types, including blood vessel cells, muscle cells, nerve cells, and blood cells, which enhances wound healing... click link for more info.
The Massachusetts Public Health Council on Tuesday unanimously voted to delay a ban on programs that allow hospitals to provide new mothers with complimentary diaper bags containing samples of formula after Gov. Mitt Romney (R) asked the council to overturn the ban, the Boston Globe reports (Smith, Boston Globe, 2/22)... click link for more info.
UK scientists have found evidence that suggests Crohn's disease is caused by a weak immune response. The researchers, who report their findings in an Article in this week's issue of The Lancet, also suggest that sildenafil (Viagra) might help in the treatment of the disease.Crohn's disease is a chronic inflammatory disorder that causes ulcerations in the small and large intestines... click link for more info.
The New York Times on Thursday examined recent criticism that FDA "is falling behind in its review of generic drug applications" and profiled the approval this week of a generic version of the allergy nasal spray Flonase. According to the Times, FDA currently has a backlog of more than 850 applications for generic medications, compared with 320 in 2001... click link for more info.
A new prescription option is now available to the more than 50 million Americans who suffer from moderate to moderately severe chronic pain. Ortho-McNeil, Inc., and Biovail Corporation (NYSE, TSE: BVF) today announced that once-daily ULTRAM® ER (tramadol HCl) extended-release tablets are now available by prescription in the United States... click link for more info.
About 50 members of the Thai Network of People Living With HIV/AIDS on Tuesday met with Commerce Permanent Secretary Karun Kittisataporn to discuss the group's opposition to GlaxoSmithKline's patent application for its antiretroviral drug Combid, the Bangkok Post reports (Phusadee, Bangkok Post, 2/22)... click link for more info.
Intermittent antimalarial treatment could be highly effective for the prevention of malaria in children under five years living in areas of seasonal transmission, according to the results of a randomised trial in this week's issue of The Lancet.In certain regions of Africa malaria transmission is highly seasonal... click link for more info.
GlaxoSmithKline's experimental human papillomavirus vaccine, Cervarix, which has been shown to be 100% effective in preventing HPV strains 16 and 18, is 100% effective for more than four years, according to findings presented Tuesday at a meeting of CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices in Atlanta, Reuters reports (Reuters, 2/21)... click link for more info.
The Johnson & Johnson Campaign for Nursing's Future has launched Virtual Nurse Manager, a new instructional CD-ROM that offers nurse managers training in real management situations, including everything from conflict resolution and customer satisfaction to staff management. The training program - developed with and featuring real nurse managers - is being distributed to health care facilities nationwide... click link for more info.
American Medical Association Executive Vice President Michael Maves on Tuesday sent a memo to the heads of state medical associations and physician specialty societies addressing an agreement reached by AMA officials with lawmakers to develop a set of quality measures for physician care, CQ HealthBeat reports... click link for more info.
Rare variants of two genes that regulate blood clotting may each increase a person's risk of coronary disease by about 15%, according to a meta-analysis in this week's issue of The Lancet.Scientists already know that variants of certain clotting genes increase the risk of blood clots forming in veins (such as deep vein thrombosis of the legs)... click link for more info.
IRIN News on Tuesday examined the spread of HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis in Cameroonian prisons, which is a serious concern, according to IRIN News. The HIV-prevalence rate at New Bell prison in the city of Douala increased from 11.5% in 2004 to 12.1% in 2005, IRIN News reports. However, the actual prevalence rate could be higher because stigma associated with the disease and activities that spread it might discourage prisoners from getting tested, according to a 2003-2004 study conducted by the Germany-based development group GTZ... click link for more info.
Many of Brazil's juvenile detention centres are decaying, filthy, and dangerously overcrowded, state the authors of an essay in this week's issue of The Lancet.The essay forms one of seven that focus on children's rights and the Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC). It is more than 16 years since the UN advanced the cause of children by launching the CRC... click link for more info.
NPR's "Morning Edition" on Wednesday examined the Pennsylvania U.S. Senate race between incumbent Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) and Democratic candidate Robert Casey. Santorum has "been outspoken, some say to a fault," in expressing his views on "hot-button cultural" issues, including abortion rights and the use of contraception, and Casey thinks Roe v... click link for more info.
A second course of methotrexate, the most commonly used drug to treat rheumatoid arthritis, is effective in nearly half of studied patients for whom a previous treatment with the drug was ineffective. These are the results of a study published today in Arthritis Research & Therapy, which also shows that a second treatment with methotrexate is particularly effective in patients who were given low dose methotrexate in their first treatment... click link for more info.
The New York Times on Thursday examined how WebMD Health, "one of the most-visited medical information sites on the Internet," hopes to "tap into the growing corporate trend of having employees pay more ... of their own health costs" by "helping people enrolled in employer health plans compile personal health information online... click link for more info.
Children with symptoms of anxiety and depression may have an increased tendency to use ecstasy in adolescence or young adulthood, finds a study published online by the BMJ today.The use of ecstasy is associated with emotional health problems, such as depression, psychotic symptoms, and anxiety disorders... click link for more info.
BBC News on Tuesday examined how infants born to HIV-positive women in Russia are being abandoned. About 20 infants daily are born to HIV-positive women in the country, which has one of the fastest-growing HIV/AIDS epidemics in the world, and about two of every 20 of these is abandoned by their mothers to be cared for by the state, according to BBC News... click link for more info.
Pfizer Inc said today that EraxisTM (anidulafungin) has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat candidemia, a potentially life-threatening bloodstream infection. Candidemia is the most deadly of the common hospital-acquired bloodstream infections, with a mortality rate of approximately 40 percent... click link for more info.
Resuscitation policies in care homes and community hospitals should be reviewed, argue experts in this week's BMJ.Current guidelines require all NHS facilities to provide cardiopulmonary resuscitation unless an overt decision has been made to the contrary. Yet resuscitation is unsuccessful in most people in care homes and community hospitals... click link for more info.
USA Today on Thursday examined criticism of the Women's Health Initiative study that found that estrogen in hormone replacement therapy increases a woman's risk for heart disease and stroke. Critics said one of the problems with the WHI study is that the average age of participants was about 63, by which time, estrogen in HRT might not be as effective in preventing the plaque buildup that can cause heart attacks and strokes... click link for more info.
Breastfeeding has a special benefit for premature infants. Premature babies are those who are delivered before 37 weeks of gestation. The mother's milk, under such circumstances, helps in supplying important nutrients to the premature infant. These nutrients help the premature infant to not only survive but also develop a strong immunity against possible infections... click link for more info.
New psychological treatments - behavioural medicine - could significantly reduce the need for drug treatments for some conditions, cutting health system costs says an editorial in this week's BMJ.Behavioural medicine - using treatments borrowed from psychology such as cognitive behavioural therapy - has the potential to reduce pain, argue the authors... click link for more info.
A total of more than five million Medicare beneficiaries have voluntarily signed up for the prescription drug benefit, including about 1.5 million beneficiaries who voluntarily enrolled in the last 30 days, the Bush administration said on Wednesday, the Palm Beach Post reports (Lipman, Palm Beach Post, 2/23)... click link for more info.
Novartis and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today the formation of a new collaboration to develop therapeutics for pandemic flu based on RNA interference (RNAi). Novartis and Alnylam will advance RNAi therapeutics for pandemic flu to initial clinical testing and, if successful, regulatory approval... click link for more info.
Researchers in this week's BMJ express concern over the largely hidden extent of institutional care for children in Europe.Institutional care for young children is common throughout the WHO European region of 52 countries. Although institutional care for children in need is generally seen as most prevalent in eastern Europe, an estimated 43,842 (14... click link for more info.
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