Medicine In The News (June 13, 2011)

Big Pharma Follows Gates' Lead By Slashing Rota Vaccine Prices [Link]
Medical News Today
Last month in Geneva, Bill Gates laid out his vision for the impact that broadening access to vaccines can have on the world. Now, only a few weeks after his inspirational speech, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has promised to cut a whopping 95% off its ...

Childhood Pets Might Lower Risk of Future Allergies [Link]
ABC News
New findings show that children's chances of developing allergies aren't any greater if there are pets in the home. (Getty Images) Childhood pets don't necessarily lead to allergies later in life, ...

Potiga Approved for Adult Epileptic Seizures [Link]
U.S. News & World Report
MONDAY, June 13 (HealthDay News) -- Potiga (ezogabine) tablets have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration to treat partial epileptic seizures in adults, the agency said Monday.

Seniors face Medicare cost barrier for cancer meds [Link]
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) - Facing a life-and-death struggle with kidney cancer, Rita Moore took her prescription for a new kind of chemotherapy pill to her local drugstore.

Could prenatal DNA testing open Pandora's box? [Link]
The Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) - Imagine being pregnant and taking a simple blood test that lays bare the DNA of your fetus. And suppose that DNA could reveal not only medical conditions like Down syndrome, but also things like eye color and height.

Breastfeeding linked to lower risk of SIDS [Link]
Reuters
A mother breastfeeds her child in a room at the William Soler Pediatric Cardiology Center in Havana October 21, 2008. By Genevra Pittman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Babies who are breastfed - especially those only fed breast milk, and not formula as ...

Child Care Can Help Kids With Depressed Moms [Link]
U.S. News & World Report
MONDAY, June 13 (HealthDay News) -- Young children whose moms suffer from depression are at heightened risk for behavioral troubles, but a new study shows that day care may help ease the risk.

Formaldehyde, Styrene Added To Cancer Warning List [Link]
Chemical & Engineering News
Despite intense pressure from the chemical industry, formaldehyde and styrene have been added to a government warning list of known and potentially carcinogenic compounds.

Girl survives rabies sans shot [Link]
msnbc.com
8-year-old from Calif. believed to be only the third person in the US to have recovered without antiviral shot The Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif.

Report Says Many Employers May Drop Health Coverage [Link]
Wall Street Journal
A report by McKinsey & Co. has found that 30% of employers are likely to stop offering workers health insurance after the bulk of the Obama administration's health overhaul takes effect in 2014.

Apples top list for pesticide contamination [Link]
CBS News
That shiny little apple you're eating has a dirty little surprise. At least, that's what a food safety watchdog claims in its annual examination of government produce tests.

Vertex Pharma licenses potential hepatitis C drugs [Link]
Boston Globe
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.— Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. has licensed two potential hepatitis C drugs from Alios BioPharma Inc. Vertex said Monday that it plans to start human testing of the two drugs later this year.

USC Gets a $150 Million Donation From Keck Foundation for Medical Research [Link]
Bloomberg
The University of Southern California received a $150 million pledge for medical research from the WM Keck Foundation, the third gift of more than $100 million to the school since March.

Canadian researchers question autism screening [Link]
CNN
(CNN) -- A report from Canadian researchers published Monday says there is not enough sound evidence to support routine screening of children for autism, but several autism experts are questioning the paper's conclusions.

Editorial: Abuse of the elderly happens far too often [Link]
Prescott Daily Courier
Abuse of the elderly moves through our society with the stealth of a cat burglar. The unscrupulous prey on old people and bilk huge sums of money from them.


Britain pledges over £800m for vaccines for children in poorer nations [Link]
The Guardian
David Cameron announces the UK's donation, which he said would save the lives of 1.4 million children, at the Gavi conference in London.

Political failure has scuppered NHS reform [Link]
Telegraph.co.uk
David Cameron told Tory MPs yesterday that changes to the proposed NHS reforms were not about party politics. That is a difficult argument to sustain.

UK mother agrees to donate her womb to daughter [Link]
The Guardian
A UK mother has agreed to donate her womb to her daughter, raising the prospect of the daughter conceiving and carrying a child in the same womb she herself was born from.

34% Of British People With Diabetes Keep It A Secret, Which Raises The Risk Of Complications [Link]
Medical News Today
952000 people with diabetes in the UK, 34% of the nation's total, keep their condition a secret. They could be seriously risking their physical and emotional health by doing so, according to a survey carried out by Diabetes UK, a leading health charity ...

Vaccine funding: British volunteers helping make a difference [Link]
Telegraph.co.uk
David Cameron's £814 million vaccine funding boost comes as dozens of British volunteers help deliver life saving vaccinations to children in the world's poorest countries.

'Benefit risk' to cancer patients [Link]
BBC News
Macmillan Cancer Support is attacking plans in the Welfare Reform Bill to remove the Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) after a year.

A better kind of prostate test [Link]
Telegraph.co.uk
It's the most common cancer in men, a quarter of a million of whom live with the disease in Britain alone. So the news this week that the use of MRI scans to detect prostate cancer could save many of them from unnecessary rectal ...

Barcodes urged for NHS trusts to make procurement savings [Link]
Purcon
Barcodes could help tackle the variation in how much NHS hospitals spend on the procurement of products, the Department of Health (DH) has said.

Health board could cut operations [Link]
BBC News
Quality of care will be maintained in NHS despite the financial pressures, the health secretary has insisted. Her comments came after as NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde is to consider cutting back on some surgical operations to save money.

Wayne Rooney kicks off hair transplant trend [Link]
Manchester Evening News
As one of the country's leading hair transplant surgeons, Manchester-based Dr Bessam Farjo was delighted with Wayne Rooney's very public announcement that he'd taken steps to tackle his premature baldness last week.

Tags: Medicine In The News
Posted by Medicalchemy
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Medicine In The News (June 12, 2011)

Bariatric Surgery Does Not Extend Life Expectancy Among Older Obese Males [Link]
Medical News Today
Severely obese older men who undergo bariatric surgery do not have a lower risk of death, researchers from Durham VA Medical Center, NC reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

Salmonella Outbreak Linked To Ducklings Or Chicks, Ohio Investigates [Link]
Medical News Today
Eight cases of salmonellosis have triggered an investigation by Ohio state officials who have linked them to ducklings and/or chicks sourced from an Ohio hatchery and bought at various agricultural outlets across the state.

Lengthy ED Diversion Proves Costly for AMI Patients [Link]
MedPage Today
Explain that diverting an ambulance by at least 12 hours from the nearest emergency department (ED) increased the risk of death in acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients by more than 20%.

The McKinsey Health Insurance Study: Democrats Strike Back [Link]
Forbes (blog)
I've written a fair amount about the McKinsey study indicating that 30 percent of employers intend to “definitely or probably” stop offering health insurance to their workers after 2014.

Ovarian Cancer Screenings Raise Risk Of Health Problems And Do Not Reduce ... [Link]
Medical News Today
Transvaginal ultrasound and the CA-125 blood test do not prevent females from dying of ovarian cancer - in fact the invasive medical procedures may be linked to health problems, researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham wrote in the ...

Bill Gates and Baidu to Build Their First Project Against Smokers [Link]
Financial Feed
Bill Gates hopes to see more rich people sign up with the Giving Pledge project as well as other charities. Chairman Bill Gates of Microsoft Corp and Robin Li, CEO of China's giant search engine Baidu, will join forces to form an alliance for public ...

Temple med school to open Pittsburgh campus [Link]
Philadelphia Inquirer
Temple University's School of Medicine announced Friday that it is expanding once again - in Pittsburgh. It is collaborating with West Penn Allegheny Health System to establish a four-year medical campus.

Rudd, Gates back vaccines to save children [Link]
Reuters
LONDON (Reuters) - Australia will pledge A$200 million ($210 million) at an international donor conference on Monday to support a global vaccines alliance seeking to save the lives of 4 million children ...

The Dukan Diet: French weight loss method examined [Link]
Montreal Gazette
The Dukan Diet has been generating more and more buzz, most probably because its been purported to be the plan followed by Kate Middleton's sister, Pippa (pictured here crossing the finish line during the ...

Rise in obesity sees resurgence in heart attacks [Link]
The Independent
It sits behind the ribs pumping 100000 times a day to carry nourishment to the furthest extremities of the body. But the heart is vulnerable to the excesses of a Western lifestyle.

Research: Low surgical volume hospitals show greater risks [Link]
Private Healthcare UK
Recent research has found that hospitals with low surgical volumes can be riskier for certain procedures. Picking carefully where you want to undergo treatment can be important then, since the report found that patients who had primary total hip ...

Tags: Medicine In The News
Posted by Medicalchemy
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Medicine In The News (June 11, 2011)

Why the Federal Government Finally Acted on Chemical Safety [Link]
TIME
Our chemical safety system is an outdated mess - and for years, the failure of the government to act on formaldehyde was proof positive of that fact.

Brigham Performs Face Transplant On Charla Nash [Link]
Bostonist
Charla Nash, the Connecticut woman mauled by a chimpanzee in February of 2009, received the fourth face transplant performed at Brigham and Women's Hospital in May.

Fund vaccines for poorest children, pleads charity [Link]
BBC News
Save the Children is urging David Cameron and other world leaders to help fund the £2.3 billion cost of immunising the world's poorest children over the next four years.

Baby Chicks, Ducks Source Of Major Salmonella Outbreak [Link]SmartAboutHealth
Washington (SmartAboutHealth) - A new report has found that baby chicks and ducklings from a hatchery are the source of a very dangerous salmonella outbreak that spanned 15 states.

Quitting smoking makes you fat, and now scientists know why [Link]
CBS News
(CBS) As often happens in science, it was an accidental discovery. It solves the mystery of why a lot of people who smoke look so skinny and, more importantly, why many people who quit the habit gain weight.

Talk Back: Statin with diet-and-exercise changes? Who does that? [Link]
Baltimore Sun
Muscle injury, rhabdomyolysis, kidney failure ... Amid all the dire talk in the FDA's recommendation to limit the use of high doses of simvastatin, most commonly known as Zocor, one sentence in ...

Growing Older With HIV [Link]
New York Times
In his June 5 Op-Ed article, “The Death Sentence That Defined My Life,” Mark Trautwein shows us how not dying of AIDS “on schedule” has helped him learn “not to live life on one either.

Bath Salts Banned in New Jersey and Kansas; Other States Likely to Follow Suit [Link]
ThirdAge
Hallucinogenic “bath salts,” designer drugs not officially illegal in most places in the US, face impending bans in a number of states, according to the Baltimore Sun and other sources.

Baidu CEO and Bill Gates Take On Smoking [Link]
Wall Street Journal
BEIJING—In the latest sign of philanthropy's spread among China's wealthy, Baidu Inc.'s Robin Li joined Bill Gates Saturday to announce a campaign to combat smoking in China.

Takeda's Actos Drug Suspended in France on Cancer Risk Study [Link]
Bloomberg
Takeda Pharmaceutical Co.'s best- selling drug, Actos for diabetes, will be pulled from the French market after a study showed it carried a slightly increased risk of bladder cancer, the country's ...

MyPlate: USDA's New Assault On Obesity [Link]
Patch.com
While we just can't keep ourselves from Supersizing, Jumbo-upping, Hungry Man dining, Whole Hog roasting, and King Size crunching, here comes the USDA with a new tool for our safety.

Blaming Sprouts Again [Link]
New York Times (blog)
European officials have finally identified bean sprouts as the likely culprit in a deadly outbreak of E. coli poisoning, the latest in a series of outbreaks traced back to tainted sprouts.

Table of horrors on show in advice to beat food poisoning [Link]
The Star
EXPERTS are trying to take action to cut back on food poisoning cases in Doncaster after more than 600 cases were recorded last year.

First vaccine against deadly meningitis B will be available 'within months' [Link]
Daily Mail
The first vaccine against meningitis B - the strain of the disease against which there is no protection - could become available here within months.

One portion of fish and chips a week could increase your risk of heart attack ... [Link]
Daily Mail
By Daily Mail Reporter Eating fish and chips just once a week could increase your risk of heart failure by almost 50 per cent, a study has found.

Tags: Medicine In The News
Posted by Medicalchemy
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Medicine In The News (June 10, 2011)

Sprouts appear to be E. coli culprit -- why that's not surprising [Link]
Los Angeles Times
Sprouts are the likely culprit behind the deadly E. coli outbreak, German officials have concluded, and in hindsight, it might seem little surprise: Raw sprouts can be hospitable hosts for ...

Woman Receives Full Face Transplant After Being Mauled By A Chimpanzee [Link]
Medical News Today
Charla Nash, 57, whose face was mauled by a furious 200-pound pet chimpanzee in February 2009, has undergone a full face transplant at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Dr.

US Warns Styrene and Formaldehyde May Cause Cancer [Link]
New York Times
WASHINGTON - The government added styrene and seven other chemicals to its list of possible human carcinogens in a report delayed for years because of fierce lobbying from manufacturers.

UN Vows to Double Number of Patients Receiving AIDS Drug Therapy by 2015 [Link]
Bloomberg
World leaders meeting in New York this week to mark the 30th anniversary of the first reported case of AIDS have agreed to double by 2015 the number of people receiving life-saving drug therapy, ...

FDA links Zocor to muscle damage, especially in women [Link]
ConsumerReports.org
Most people should not take the 80 milligram dose of simvastatin (Zocor, Vytorin, and generic), the US Food and Drug Administration said this week after it found a clear link between that dose and muscle pain as well as rare but potentially deadly ...

Salmonella sickens kids handling baby chicks, ducklings [Link]
Atlanta Journal Constitution
By AP Georgia is among 15 states reporting cases of salmonella illnesses due to handling of baby chicks and ducklings, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.

Better funding for vaccines could save more children worldwide, but US parents ... [Link]
Los Angeles Times
Apparently, the logic behind the parental admonition to “eat your dinner because children in Africa are starving” doesn't apply to vaccines as well.

Why Smokers Gain Weight When Quitting [Link]
WebMD
If you guessed "Nicotine, of course," you'd be right. But now researchers have zeroed in on the exact brain cells that nicotine triggers to cut appetite and body fat.

Micromet drug helps 75 pct of leukaemia patients [Link]
Reuters
LONDON, June 10 (Reuters) - An experimental drug from Micromet (MITI.O) reduced levels of cancer cells to undetectable levels in nine out of 12 patients with a severe form of leukaemia, interim data from a clinical study showed on ...

Controversial McKinsey Health Care Study Creates Major Dissent At Firm [Link]
TPMDC
The political damage to President Obama's health care law may already be done. But there's a curious backstory to the report this week from a major consulting firm study that found "ObamaCare" would lead to fairly dramatic unintended consequences.

Cicada ice cream: Yum! And possibly good for you too [Link]
Los Angeles Times
Earlier this week, the internet was abuzz with reports that health officials in Columbia, Mo., had stepped in to prevent local ice cream parlor Sparky's from serving (apparently quite tasty) ice cream made with cicadas, the noisy bugs that swarm vast ...

One billion people disabled, first global report finds [Link]
The Guardian
A disabled child and his classmate in Dakar, Senegal. Across the globe, disabled children are less likely to attend school. Photograph: Seyllou/AFP/Getty Images The proportion of disabled people is rising and now represents 1 billion people - 15% of ...

U.S. Child Born in 2010 May Cost $226920 to Raise, USDA Says [Link]
Bloomberg
A middle-income family may spend $226920 to raise a child born in 2010 to the age of 18, the US Department of Agriculture said today in a report.

Actos Banned in France After Drug Linked to Bladder Cancer [Link]
InjuryBoard.com
Actos has been pulled from the shelves in France and Germany after the popular diabetes drug was linked to bladder cancer. The French agency told doctors to stop prescribing the medicine to patients.

H1N1 Starting to Show Resistance to Drugs [Link]
Fox News
A novel variant of swine flu has emerged in Asia with a genetic adaptation giving some resistance to Roche's Tamiflu and GlaxoSmithKline's Relenza, the two mainstay drugs used to tackle the disease.

FDA says Siemens' medical scanner is first to simultaneously deliver PET and ... [Link]
Washington Post
By AP, WASHINGTON - The Food and Drug Administration says it has cleared the first medical imaging device to simultaneously perform two powerful scans used to diagnose a wide variety of diseases and ailments.

High heels could cause UK 'arthritis crisis' [Link]
Telegraph.co.uk
Women wearing high heels could cause crisis levels of arthritis in the UK, experts have warned. By Emily Gosden A quarter of women wear high heels every day or frequently, a poll by The Society of Chiropodists and Podiatrists found, increasing their ...

Fruit juice 'has too much sugar for it to be a five-a-day' [Link]
Telegraph.co.uk
Fruit juice should not be counted as one of your five-a-day because it contains too much sugar - but dried fruit should, two new studies suggest.

Older people receive worse NHS cancer care [Link]
Telegraph.co.uk
Older people with cancer are more likely to die in England than in other leading countries because of "age bias" in the NHS, according to a new report.

Brits are 75 per cent less likely to have a heart attack than just 20 years ... [Link]
Scottish Daily Record
Brits are three quarters less likely to have a heart attack now than they were 20 years ago, research claims. Greater awareness of how to control cholesterol levels and blood pressure - which can lead to heart attacks - as well as a decline in smoking ...

Cervical cancer risk 'affected by number of sexual partners' [Link]
International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics
The movement of a molecule called Met stimulates the growth and spread of breast cancer, new research shows. Scientists from Queen Mary, University of London, in the UK, revealed that Met boosts the growth of cancerous tumours because it moves to the ...

Now more than 5800 patients are waiting more than 36 weeks [Link]
WalesOnline
THE number of patients breaching the maximum 36-week waiting time target in Wales has risen to more than 5800. It is understood the majority of these patients are waiting for orthopaedic treatment.

Experts predict meningitis B vaccine [Link]
NHS Choices
News stories have extensively covered the possibility of a vaccine that could offer “new hope in the war on meningitis”. The Daily Mail said that the “first vaccine against deadly meningitis B will be available within months”, and The Independent said ...

Tags: Medicine In The News
Posted by Medicalchemy
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