• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Health Highlights: March 9, 2003

Posted on: Sunday, 9 March 2003, 06:00 CST

Health Highlights: March 9, 2003

Source: HealthScoutNews

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

Drug-Resistant Germs on the Rise

By July 2004, nearly two-thirds of the common strains of the bacteria that cause infections ranging from middle ear problems to meningitis may be resistant to both penicillin and erythromycin in some parts of the United States.

At least that's what Harvard University researchers believe.

In a study published in the March 10 issue of Nature Medicine, the scientists used a mathematical model to predict how certain antibiotic-resistant strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae would develop.

Overall, they found that 41 percent of S. pneumoniae would be resistant to penicillin and erythromycin if no changes occur in the way antibiotics are used in the eight sites studied across the United States. At a site in Tennesse, the resistance figure is already approaching 80 percent, the researchers say.

Much of the problem is due to inappropriate use of antibiotics for sicknesses that don't respond to the drugs, such as the common cold and other viral infections.

-----

Study Finds Value in Shock Therapy

Shock therapy for the treatment of severe depression is often viewed as a crude, inhumane therapy developed during an earlier, unenlightened time.

But a new study says the treatment, which involves sending an electric shock into a patient's brain to cause a seizure, can effectively treat depression and, in some cases, is more beneficial than antidepressants, Canada's National Post reports.

The downside is that electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) can diminish a patient's short-term memory, British researchers conclude in the latest issue of the journal the Lancet.

"Views on ECT vary, from researchers who consider that it is probably ineffective but certainly causes brain damage, through to those who think it is the most effective treatment available in psychiatry and completely safe," the researchers write in the journal.

"There is a reasonable evidence base for the use of ECT: it does not rest simply on anecdote, habit, and tradition... ECT remains an important treatment option for the management of severe depression," the researchers conclude.

-----

Fast Food + Boob Tube an Unhealthy Recipe

Experts have preached for decades that too much fast food is no good for anyone. And what kid hasn't heard from his parents to cut down on time spent glued to the TV.

Now, a new study shows that both pursuits can have serious health consequences, the Associated Press reports.

Researchers found that white people who eat fast food more than twice a week and also spend more than two hours a day watching the boob tube have three times the risk of obesity and abnormal glucose control -- a potential precursor to diabetes -- than people who eat fast food no more than once a week and watch no more than 90 minutes of TV a day.

Curiously, the study found that lots of fast food did not have the same effect on black people.

The study, led by researchers at Boston's Children's Hospital, was presented today at an American Heart Association meeting in Miami.

-----

Pro Baseball Players Urged to Avoid Ephedra

The union that represents Major League Baseball players is urging its members to avoid use of products that contain the stimulant ephedra because of potential health risks.

Baltimore Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler died Feb. 17 after suffering heatstroke during spring training. He had arrived at the Orioles' training camp 10 pounds overweight. A product containing ephedra was found in his locker after his death, and the Broward County, Fla., medical examiner linked Bechler's death to the stimulant.

The union, in its memo to the players, stopped short of calling for a ban of ephedra, The New York Times reports. Last week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a report saying ephedra users faced "potentially serious risks," the newspaper says.

Products containing ephedra that are sold in the United States must soon come with warning labels.

-----

Drugmaker Settles Anti-Competition Charges

The giant pharmaceutical firm Bristol-Meyers Squibb Co. has settled federal charges that it thwarted the sale of cheaper generic versions of cancer and other drugs, costing patients hundreds of millions of dollars, the Associated Press reports.

The company tried to block cheaper alternatives to its cancer drugs Taxol and Platinol and the antianxiety drug BuSpur, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission said Friday. The decade-long campaign protected almost $2 billion in yearly sales, according to the agency.

Bristol-Meyers Squibb agreed to drop its "anticompetitive acts." The FTC did not levy a fine against the company, according to the AP.

-----

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.

-----

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.

-----

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.

----

More news from the world's of science, space, and technology from RedNova

More News in this Category