Health Top Stories
Many swine flu deaths linked with second infection
Many people who have died of swine flu infections in the United States have also had bacterial infections, health officials reported on Wednesday. A study of 77 patients who died of the new pandemic H1N1 virus showed 29 percent of them had so-called bacterial co-infections, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. About half of these had Streptococcus pneumoniae, which can be prevented with a vaccine, the CDC said. More »
Moms-to-be who smoke risk psychotic kids: study
Mothers who smoke during pregnancy put their children at greater risk of developing psychotic symptoms as teenagers, British scientists said on Thursday. Researchers from four British universities studied 6,356 12-year-olds and interviewed them for psychotic-like symptoms such as hallucinations or delusions. Around 19 percent had mothers who smoked during pregnancy. Just over 11 percent, or 734 of the total group, had suspected or definite symptoms of psychosis. More »
Protect Children First with H1N1 Flu Vaccine, Says National Pediatric Disease Expert
The optimal way to control swine flu, the new H1N1 virus that emerged as a global threat in 2009, is to vaccinate children with the planned H1N1 flu shot, says the co-director of the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases. ?Children are the highest-risk group for spreading the virus among themselves, and as a consequence, spreading it around their community,? says UAB?s David Kimberlin, M.D., one of four U.S. physicians serving on the federal Safety Monitoring Committee reviewing clinical trials of H1N1 vaccines. The committee is a part of the Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. ?Like a bull?s-eye, the middle of the target is what you vaccinate so you don?t see infections in the concentric rings around the center,? Kimberlin says. ?The center of the protection bull?s-eye should be children.? More »
Most would refuse emergency use H1N1 vaccine or additive
A majority of Americans would not take an H1N1 flu vaccine or drug additive authorized for emergency use by the Food and Drug Administration, according to a University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health and University of Georgia study. The study, available online today in Biosecurity and Bioterrorism: Biodefense Strategy, Practice, and Science, found that fewer than 10 percent of those surveyed said they would be willing to take such a vaccine or drug and nearly 30 percent remained undecided. The passage of the Project Bioshield Act in 2004 created the emergency use authorization (EUA) giving the FDA the ability to use experimental or ?off label? drugs in the event of an actual or potential emergency. To date, four vaccines against H1N1 virus have been approved under the same process used by the FDA for the seasonal flu vaccine. Also, several drug additives, or adjuvants ? sometimes added to vaccines to strengthen the immune response and stretch the quantity of available vaccines in the event of a pandemic ? have been ordered and stockpiled by the federal government in case they may be needed. But adding them to H1N1 vaccines would trigger an EUA, which is one of the reasons the federal government has chosen not to use them. ?Although the U.S government has held off on including an adjuvant in H1N1 vaccines for now, American officials may need to reconsider this decision as the pandemic unfolds,? said study author Sandra Quinn, Ph.D., associate dean for Student Affairs and Education and associate professor at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. ?There also remains a significant shortage of the vaccines in many countries around the world. Given this, our finding that few people would accept a new but not yet fully approved H1N1 vaccine or drug is very worrisome,? she said. More »
Scientists find obesity alone does not cause arthritis in animals
The link between obesity and osteoarthritis may be more than just the wear and tear on the skeleton caused by added weight. A Duke University study has found that the absence of the appetite hormone leptin can determine whether obese mice experience arthritis, no matter how heavy they are. ?We were completely surprised to find that mice that became extremely obese had no arthritis if their bodies didn?t have leptin,? said Farshid Guilak, Ph.D., director of orthopaedic research in the Duke Department of Surgery. ?Although there was some earlier evidence that leptin might be involved in the arthritis disease process, we didn?t think that there would be no arthritis at all.? More »
One in Eight Strokes Is Preceded by ?Warning Stroke?
One out of every eight strokes is preceded by a ?warning stroke,? which is a transient ischemic attack (TIA) or mild stroke, according to research published in the September 29, 2009, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. ?These results illustrate the need for better risk assessment tools for preventing strokes before they occur,? said study author Daniel G. Hackam, MD, PhD, of the University of Western Ontario in London, ON. ?Other studies have shown that up to 80 percent of strokes after TIA can be prevented when risk factors are managed intensively.? For the study, researchers identified all people at Ontario hospitals with a diagnosis of stroke over four years. Of the 16,400 patients, 2,032, or 12.4 percent, had a TIA prior to the stroke. During a TIA, stroke symptoms last for less than 24 hours and then resolve. More »
Canada outranks U.S. in healthcare report card
Canada outperforms the United States in health outcomes but is well behind global leaders like Japan in overall health of its population, a Canadian report released on Monday showed. The annual report card by the Conference Board of Canada ranked Canada 10th out of 16 developed countries, with a ?B? grade. The United States was the worst performer, placing 16th and earning a ?D? grade. ?Canada has been at the center of much of the debate on U.S. health care reform. Since Canada ranks ahead of the United States on all but one indicator of health status ... it is clear that we are getting better results,? Gabriela Prada, director of health policy at the Conference Board, said in a statement. More »
Early use of antivirals key in H1N1 flu: WHO
Early use of antivirals is effective in treating H1N1 flu and health authorities must be vigilant for signs of drug resistance, the World Health Organisation said on Friday. Drug-resistant pandemic flu viruses have appeared infrequently so far and there is no evidence they are spreading, but further cases are likely, the WHO said on its website. Growing international experience showed the importance of the early use of oseltamivir, manufactured as Tamiflu by Roche Holding and Gilead Sciences, or zanamivir, an inhaled medicine produced as Relenza by GlaxoSmithKline in swine flu cases,? the WHO said. More »
How to solve 9 sleep problems
Most of us have experienced those maddening midnight moments when, no matter how tired we are, we either can't fall asleep, can't stay asleep or our sleep is of such poor quality it feels as if we were awake. Here's some expert advice for solving nine sleep problems. More »
Alcohol may protect brain in accident
Alcohol, a drug that is a major cause of accidents, may actually protect the brain from a life-threatening injury when an accident does occur, according to a study published this week in Archives of Surgery. More »