Britain seeks opinion on stem cell study

Thu, 11 Jan 2007 14:23:50 GMT
By MARIA CHENG, AP Medical Writer
LONDON - Britain said Thursday it will conduct a public consultation on the issue of whether scientists should be allowed to create human stem cells from animal eggs.
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority said in a statement that only after the consultation process was complete in the autumn would it make a decision on whether to approve the experiments.

"The law in this area is far from explicit, and this area of research would be a significant step change in UK science," Angela McNab, HFEA's Chief Executive said in a statement. "It would be wrong to make an immediate judgment on these complex and controversial matters before we have built up a proper body of evidence," said McNab.

Leading stem cell experts warned last week that banning such research would jeopardize the search for cures to degenerative diseases like Alzheimer's and Motor Neurone diseases.

Prime Minister Tony Blair has weighed in to the debate, saying the government was not necessarily "dead set" against such research. He admitted there were "difficult" issues involved, but wanted to see stem cell research progress, if there were potential health benefits.

Last month, in a report published by the Department of Health, the government proposed outlawing the creation of hybrid embryos combining human and animal genetic material.

Several stem cell experts submitted applications for a license to create human stem cells using animal eggs. The process involves injecting an empty cow or rabbit egg with human DNA. That would produce an egg with human genetic material inside, with minute traces of animal genetic material.

After a burst of electricity, the egg would be tricked into dividing regularly, becoming a very early embryo from which stem cells could be extracted. In the resulting egg, there would be 13 animal genes versus 30,000 human genes.

Scientists insist it would be a human embryo made in the shell of an animal egg. They believe using animal eggs would solve the problem caused by the shortage of human eggs. The resulting embryos would only be developed for a maximum of 14 days.

"Although we are naturally disappointed that the HFEA has not recommended that our research applications go to the licensing committee, we are happy with their decision to consult both public and scientific opinion," said Dr. Stephen Minger, director of the Stem Cell Biology laboratory at King's College, London.

Opponents of the proposed experiments also welcomed the decision. "We all want cures for diseases, but there are ethical principles to be respected," said Dr. Andrew Ferguson, an ethics specialist at the Christian Medical Fellowship.

Japan farm may have bird flu outbreak

Thu, 11 Jan 2007 14:19:42 GMT

TOKYO - Japan's Agriculture Ministry has received reports of a suspected outbreak of bird flu at a poultry farm in western Japan, a news report said late Thursday.
The outbreak is suspected at a poultry farm in the western Miyazaki prefecture , Kyodo News agency reported, citing ministry sources.

Miyazaki prefecture authorities are investigating, Kyodo said.

Risk of death high for new excons

Thu, 11 Jan 2007 00:43:06 GMT
By LINDA A. JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer
Prison life may be dangerous, but getting out can be deadly, too. Newly released inmates were almost 13 times more likely than the general public to die during their first two weeks of freedom, a study in Washington state found.
Drug overdoses were the top killer, with ex-convicts 129 times more likely to die that way within two weeks of their release than the general population. That cause of death was followed by heart disease, homicide and suicide, according to the study, the first major look at the issue.

Over an average of two years, the study found the ex-inmates were 3 1/2 times more likely than other state residents and nearly four times more likely than current inmates to die.

"The differences are more striking for women then they are for men," said lead researcher Dr. Ingrid Binswanger, a public health researcher and assistant professor at University of Colorado at Denver.

While 87 percent of ex-prisoners in the study were men, the risk of death for the women was 5 1/2 times higher than for other women in the state.

Experts said the rest of the country likely has a similar, or even worse, situation than Washington state, although the specific drugs causing overdoses might vary by region.

Binswanger, who did her research with colleagues while at the University of Washington, noted studies in Europe and Australia found similarly high death rates, particularly right after release from prison.

The new findings show the need for more programs to help ex-inmates with a history of addiction and poor health cope with the stress of finding housing, a job, health care and other necessities and stay clean, said Christy Visher of the Justice Policy Center at the Urban Institute.

Other experts said the results don't surprise them, because inmates have far more physical and mental health problems than other citizens, often get inadequate treatment behind bars and get little help making the huge transition to society after a highly structured life.

"People need much more than a job and a place to put their heads," said Nancy Wolff, who heads Rutgers University's Center for Mental Health and Criminal Justice Research and is developing a curriculum for prisons to train inmates before release.

Dr. Scott Allen, co-director of the Center for Prisoner Health and Human Rights at Brown University and a former prison medical director, said that without help, released offenders likely "will reassociate with the group of people they got in trouble with in the first place."

"We see this every day," said Allen, whose study in Rhode Island in the 1990s found one in 10 ex-inmates died within seven years, mostly because of substance abuse.

Binswanger's study was reported in Thursday's http://www.nejm.org
Center for Prisoner Health and Human Rights: http://www.prisonerhealth.org
National Commission on Correctional Health Care: http://www.ncchc.org

Los Angeles to study trans fat ban

Thu, 11 Jan 2007 00:14:49 GMT

LOS ANGELES - The government war on trans fat, started when New York City banned it from restaurant food, has reached Los Angeles. Los Angeles County supervisors voted Tuesday to study the feasibility of banning artificial trans fats from restaurants there, and the City Council in December had asked for similar report on at least restricting it.
"I'm very concerned about the whole trans-fat issue," Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke said after Tuesday's vote for the study. "Every time I buy something, I look to see if it has trans fat."

Public health officials will be asked to review the issue with the restaurant industry and community health organizations, and to study whether the county can regulate trans fats at restaurants countywide or just in unincorporated areas.

Jot Condie, president of the 22,000-member California Restaurant Association, said he's open to suggestions but believes banning something widely used in homes "has more cons than pros."

"What's next? Butter, cheese or anything that has saturated fat, which accounts for 15 percent of the average American diet, and also is not healthy, but that also needs to be taken in moderation," Condie asked.

Since January 2006, the http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/2003/503_fats.html

Obesity operations jump in United States

Wed, 10 Jan 2007 22:29:16 GMT

WASHINGTON - More than 120,000 obese Americans had some kind of surgery to help them lose weight in 2004, with the biggest increase among middle-aged people, according to a study released on Wednesday.
In 1998, 772 people aged 55 to 64 had gastric bypass, stapling or some similar procedure known as bariatric surgery to help weight loss. But that number ballooned to 15,086 in 2004, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

"Among the reasons for the extremely dramatic increases is that the mortality outcomes from obesity surgery have improved greatly," the agency said in a statement.

"The national death rate for patients hospitalized for bariatric surgery declined 78 percent, from 0.9 percent in 1998 to 0.2 percent in 2004."

Agency director Dr. Carolyn Clancy said the report shows "more Americans are turning to obesity surgery and that an increasing number of younger people are undergoing these procedures."

More than 103,000 of the 2004 operations were on patients aged 18 to 54, the study found, and 349 were performed on youngsters aged 12 to 17.

"As the rate of obesity continues to climb, the health care system needs to be prepared for continued escalation in the rate of this surgery and its potential complications," she said.

The average hospital cost for an obesity surgery patient stay, excluding physician fees, was $10,395 in 2004 as compared with $10,970 in 1998, adjusted for inflation, according to the report, published online at http://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/reports/statbriefs/sb23.pdf.

Gonorrhea linked to risk of male bladder cancer

Wed, 10 Jan 2007 03:56:20 GMT

LONDON - Gonorrhea, a common sexually transmitted infection, can double the risk of bladder cancer in men, researchers said on Tuesday.
Earlier studies had already suggested a link and scientists from the Harvard School of Public Health in Massachusetts who monitored the health of 51,529 American men found 286 cases of bladder cancer in men who had had the infection.

"We observed a two-fold increase in bladder cancer risk among men with a history of gonorrhea," said Dr. Dominique Michaud, the lead author of the research reported in the British Journal of Cancer.

The link was stronger for invasive and advanced bladder cancer, which is more serious and difficult to treat, and among smokers.

Bladder cancer is the ninth most common cancer worldwide. Smoking is a leading cause of the disease and accounts for 65 percent of cases in men and 30 percent in women, according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, France.

"Gonorrhea is an infection that often recurs, causing local inflammation and symptoms such as incomplete emptying of the bladder. The inflammation itself or the associated symptoms could be contributing to the development of bladder cancer," Michaud said.

Professor John Toy, of the charity Cancer Research UK, said the findings strengthen the suspected linked between gonorrhea and bladder cancer in men.

"The next step is to confirm whether the increased risk could be caused directly by the gonorrhea infection or its symptoms," he said in a statement.

Levofloxacin works well for ear infections in kids

Thu, 11 Jan 2007 00:59:59 GMT

NEW YORK - The broad-spectrum antibiotic levofloxacin is highly effective against the bacteria that typically cause ear infections in children, according to researchers.
In the Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, Dr. Adriano Arguedas of Instituto de Atencion Pediatrica, San Jose, Costa Rica and colleagues, note that levofloxacin, sold under the trade name Levaquin, has an excellent record for treating bacterial infections in the throat and lungs.

To determine its effectiveness and safety for ear infections, the researchers studied 205 children who had, or were at high risk for, persistent or repeat infections. They ranged in age from 6 months to 4 years.

Fluid samples from the middle ear were taken before and after treatment with levofloxacin, which was given for 10 days.

Bacteria identified in the fluid before treatment included Streptococcus pneumoniae, Streptococcus pyogenes, Haemophilus influenzae and Moraxella catarrhalis. All of these organisms were susceptible to levofloxacin.

Bacteria were eradicated from the middle ear fluid of 88 percent of children during treatment, including 31 of 37 of those infected with S. pneumoniae and all 54 who had H. influenzae infection. The overall treatment success rate was 94 percent.

Only 6 percent of children experienced a side effect that caused a change in treatment. The most common was vomiting, which affected 4 percent of the participants.

The researchers call for larger comparative trials, but, in light of these findings conclude that levofloxacin is safe and effective in treatment of ear infections in children.

SOURCE: Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, December 2006.

Prostate cancer cost varies widely by treatment

Thu, 11 Jan 2007 03:19:23 GMT
By Will Boggs, MD
NEW YORK - The total cost burden of prostate cancer varies significantly by treatment type, according to a new report.
"I would like this information to be used by clinicians to emphasize that, especially, the initial costs of a prostate cancer treatment are not reflective of the full cost over time of the treatment and, therefore, should not be used to determine the best choice of treatment for a patient or in decisions of treatment insurance coverage," Dr. Leslie S. Wilson from University of California, San Francisco, told Reuters Health.

Wilson and colleagues compared patterns of healthcare utilization and direct costs of prostate cancer-related treatments over a 5.5-year period in 4553 newly diagnosed patients, stratified by age, risk group, and ethnic group

In the first 6 months after diagnosis, direct prostate-related costs per patient were high and highly variable ($2586 for watchful waiting to $24,204 for external-beam radiation therapy), the researchers report.

After the first 6 months, prostate-related costs were only $3044, ranging from $2418 for radical prostatectomy to $6019 for androgen deprivation therapy.

Cumulative costs for the entire period were highest for androgen deprivation therapy and external-beam radiation therapy and lowest for watchful waiting and brachytherapy , the researchers note.

The most costly treatments were generally reserved for the highest risk groups, the report indicates, whereas the least costly treatments were primarily used by the lowest risk groups.

"Our data demonstrate that prostate-related costs per person are substantial and sustained over time, and that short-term treatment cost comparisons most commonly found in the literature do not truly reflect the cost of treatment choices over the long term," the investigators conclude.

SOURCE: Cancer, December online

"It appears that current treatment is following clinical treatment guidelines from our data," Dr. Wilson added. "Our paper also reminds us that it is important to examine the downstream costs of each of the different treatments."

SOURCE: Cancer, January 1, 2007.

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