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Health Highlights: March 7, 2003

Posted on: Friday, 7 March 2003, 06:00 CST

Health Highlights: March 7, 2003

Source: HealthScoutNews

Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of The HealthScout News Service:

FDA Proposes Dietary Supplement Standards

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday proposed the first manufacturing standards for dietary supplements.

The standards are meant to reduce fraud and contamination in order to ensure that consumers get what they pay for when buying dietary supplements, the Associated Press reports.

Currently, there are no regulations that guarantee dietary supplements are effective or safe. Only a minority of makers of dietary supplements follow voluntary quality standards.

The proposed FDA standards would force manufacturers to ensure the ingredients and dosages on their products' labels match what's inside the bottles. The proposed rules will be open for public comment for 3 months. The FDA expects to issue final regulations next year, the AP reports.

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Austrian Doctors Perform World's First Double-Arm Transplant

Doctors in Austria have performed the world's first double-arm transplant.

A 41-year-old man received a pair of forearms and hands in a 14-hour operation on Feb. 19. The man lost his forearms and hands in a work accident more than two years ago, BBC News Online reports.

The operation at Innsbruck University Clinic required four surgical teams and 25 experts. The operation had been planned for months, while the medical team waited for a donor.

The transplant recipient said that he is feeling well and that the new hands feel as if they are his own.

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Getting to the Bear Bones

Scientists want to get bruins to bare their secrets about how they prevent bone loss when they hibernate. The answers could provide clues to counter osteoporosis in humans.

Humans who are inactive because of disease or injury often experience a decrease or halt in bone regeneration. But that doesn't happen to bears when they hibernate for many months during the winter.

Researchers are trying to learn why bears don't experience bone thinning by studying blood samples taken from hibernating black bears in Virginia, CBC News Online reports.

They suspect a hormone or other chemical may protect the bears' bones. They plan more studies to test their theory about hormones.

Their research appears in the March issue of the journal Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research.

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Traumatized Veterans Suffer Physical Woes

Vietnam veterans who have suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are also three times more likely to have physical problems such as thyroid conditions, arthritis, and psoriasis, researchers at the New York Academy of Medicine say.

The study of more than 4,000 Vietnam vets suggests that severe mental stress can affect the body enough to lead to these and other "autoimmune" diseases, where an overactive immune system begins to turn on the body itself.

Lead researcher Joseph Boscarino says PTSD can also contribute significantly to coronary artery disease, the Associated Press reports.

"The lesson here is that when someone has been exposed to extreme trauma, they're in the spotlight for a couple of days," he tells the AP. "But we don't brace ourselves for the long haul at all."

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FDA Urged to Pull Anti-Depressant

The anti-depressant Serzone should be withdrawn from the U.S. market because it can cause liver failure and death, the Public Citizen's Health Research Group says.

Saying there are other drugs that are just as effective, the consumer advocacy organization has filed a petition with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, citing 28 cases of liver failure and 18 deaths worldwide since Serzone was introduced in the United States in 1994. Those numbers were provided by the drug's manufacturer, Bristol-Meyers Squibb.

Citing a lag in numbers that are reported to the FDA, Public Citizen speculates the death and injury toll may be even higher, according to United Press International.

Since December 2001, all packages of Serzone produced for the United States have included a "black box" warning that cites the possibility of "life-threatening (liver) failure." While this type of warning is the most serious issued by the FDA, Public Citizen spokesman Dr. Sidney Wolfe disputes its merit. He says two other drugs that included the "black box" warning have since been withdrawn from the market, UPI reports.

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Bacteria Invade Florida Beaches During Spring Break

At the peak of spring break, a widespread bacterial outbreak has forced health warnings to be posted at five south Florida beaches, the Sun-Sentinel newspaper reports.

State health experts have detected high levels of enterococci bacteria in waters off Fort Lauderdale, Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, Pompano Beach, and the town of Gulf Stream. Another bacterial strain, fecal coliform, has been detected near beaches in Hollywood and Hallandale, but no warnings have been posted until additional test results are received.

The beaches could be closed by the individual cities if the levels get worse, the newspaper says. The bacteria found could cause gastrointestinal diseases, including salmonella, cholera, and shigellosis.

Health officials haven't pinpointed a cause, but speculate that a passing ship may have illegally dumped sewage into the water, or that heavy surf may have drawn sand laden with bird and animal droppings into the ocean, the newspaper reports.

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