Health Highlights: Feb. 10, 2003
Health Highlights: Feb. 10, 2003
source: HealthScoutNews
Record Levels of U.S. Children Getting Buckled Up
The number of American children being safely restrained in vehicles rose to a record level in 2002, but too many of them still ride in the front seat.
About 99 percent of babies under age 1 are now restrained, an increase of 4 percentage points from 2000, according to a survey by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The survey says that 94 percent of American toddlers are now restrained, a gain of 3 percentage points from two years ago.
While that’s good news, the survey also reveals that an estimated 15 percent of babies under age 1 ride in the front seat; 10 percent of toddlers ages 1 to 3 ride in the front, and 29 percent of youngsters ages 4 to 7 ride in the front seat of vehicles.
Children riding in the front seat are at a greater risk of serious injury or death during a crash, the agency says.
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Many Doctors at N.Y. Hospitals Lack Experience: Study
If you’re a patient in a New York state hospital, you might want to check your doctor’s resume.
A new study from the patient advocacy group the Center for Medical Consumers says that many doctors at hospitals in the state don’t have much experience with the procedures they perform.
The study looked at 44 of the most common procedures, including many kinds of surgery, done in New York state hospitals in 2001, The New York Times reports.
It found that nearly half of the colonoscopies were done by doctors who did the procedure just one time. The study also found that nearly one-quarter of the surgeons who did mastectomies in 2001 performed just one.
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Florida Begins Smallpox Vaccinations for Public Health Workers
Voluntary smallpox vaccinations began today for state and county public health workers in Florida, the latest in a serious of vaccination campaigns across the nation designed to counter potential bioterror attacks.
For security reasons, state officials refused to reveal where or how many workers were getting vaccinations, the Associated Press reports.
Currently, 18 states have started voluntary smallpox vaccination programs, but they’re not attracting many people.
As of last Friday, the federal government estimated that about 800 people across the nation had volunteered to receive the vaccine. The goal of the voluntary program is to vaccinate 500,000 health care workers nationwide.
The lack of response may be due to concerns about the safety of the vaccine. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that about 1,000 out of every 1 million people receiving the vaccine will have serious reactions, up to 52 will have life-threatening reactions, and one to two people in one million may die.
People also have questions about what compensation they’ll receive if they do suffer complications and whether smallpox is a credible threat.
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Human Stem Cell Genes Replaced for First Time
University of Wisconsin researchers have successfully spliced genes from human embryonic stem cells and replaced them with other genes, they report in the journal Nature.
The research could help pave the way for so-called “therapeutic cloning,” in which scientists modify cloned stems cells to regenerate parts of the human body or cure certain diseases, reports the Washington Post. Similar techniques have been performed in mice for many years. But critics worry that applying such techniques to humans could lead to abuse, including the creation of “designer babies,” the newspaper says.
In one experiment, researcher James A. Thompson and his colleagues knocked out the human gene that causes a fatal disease called Lesch-Nyhan syndrome. But skeptics told the newspaper that just because the gene was replaced doesn’t necessarily represent a cure.
President Bush and some conservative members of Congress have said they oppose human cloning in any form for any purpose.
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Cycling May Cut Breast Cancer Risk
Some women may be able to pedal their way to a lower risk of breast cancer, German researchers say.
Just three hours of moderate bicycling a week may reduce a women’s risk of getting the disease by 34 percent, say scientists at the German Cancer Research Centre in Heidelberg. And the risk appears to decrease more the more pedal power a woman exerts, they say.
The researchers studied 400 pre-menopausal women under 45 who had already been diagnosed with breast cancer, comparing them with 880 healthy volunteers.
Backers and opponents of the study alike cautioned that more research is needed, reports BBC News Online. Critics say the researchers relied too heavily on participants’ recall of how much cycling they did, versus having the scientists observe and control the amount and intensity of the exercise themselves.
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Teacher Gives Former Student His Kidney
An ex-high school softball coach has hit a home run for one of his former students — donating a kidney to the ailing woman, now in her mid-30s.
Ron Mercier, 68, ran into the family of Amy McCloud late last year, discovering that the Ann Arbor, Mich., woman was spending 12 hours a week on dialysis while anxiously awaiting a kidney transplant. McCloud’s family members and friends either were incompatible or couldn’t donate their organs due to a history of illness, reports the Associated Press.
McCloud, now 35, was 15 when diagnosed with diabetes. Mercier, also her senior class advisor, remembered her as a bright, bubbly student who was always willing to give him a hand in the classroom.
Following last week’s surgery, McCloud says she’s still stunned by her former teacher’s generosity. “It’s overwhelming. How can you ever thank [him] enough?” she tells the AP.
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