U.S. abortions at lowest rate since 1974
Fri, 18 Jan 2008 01:53:34 GMTBy DAVID CRARY, AP National Writer
NEW YORK - The number of abortions in the United States fell to 1.2 million in 2005, down 25 percent from the all-time high of 1.6 million in 1990 and dropping the abortion rate to its lowest level since 1974, according to report issued Thursday.
The Guttmacher Institute, which surveyed abortion providers nationwide, said there likely were several reasons for the decline, including more effective use of contraceptives, lower levels of unintended pregnancy and greater difficulty obtaining abortions in some parts of the country.
The institute's president, Sharon Camp, noted that despite the drop, more than one in five pregnancies ended in abortion in 2005.
"Our policymakers at the state and federal levels need to understand that behind virtually every abortion is an unintended pregnancy, so we must redouble our efforts towards prevention, through better access to contraception," Camp said.
The Guttmacher Institute supports abortion rights, yet both sides in the debate on the issue consider its abortion surveys the most comprehensive in the United States because they encompass California, the most populous state. California state agencies do not collect abortion data to contribute to federal surveys.
According to the Guttmacher data, the number of abortions declined by 8 percent between 2000 and 2005, from 1.31 million to 1.21 million — the lowest total since the 1.18 million abortions tallied in 1976.
The 2005 abortion rate of 19.4 per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44 was the lowest since 1974, when it was 19.3.
Abortion rates were highest in Washington, D.C., New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Florida, Maryland and California. Rates were lowest in largely rural states: Wyoming, Kentucky, Mississippi, South Dakota, Idaho and Utah.
However, the report noted that the rates reflected the state in which the abortion occurred, thus including nonresident women who crossed state lines to get an abortion.
By region, the Northeast had the highest abortion rate, followed by the West, the South and the Midwest.
One pronounced trend in recent years is an increase in early medication abortion — notably through use of the RU-486 abortion pill. These types of procedures accounted for 13 percent of all abortions in 2005, more than double the level in 2001.
The report said 57 percent of abortion providers now offer medication abortion services, compared with 33 percent in 2001.
"Currently, more than six in 10 abortions occur within the first eight weeks of pregnancy," said Rachel Jones, lead researcher for the survey. "Medication abortion, which provides women with an additional option early in pregnancy, clearly reinforces this very positive trend."
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On the Net:
http://www.guttmacher.org/
Task force seeks brain injury studies
Fri, 18 Jan 2008 01:32:12 GMTBy KIMBERLY HEFLING, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - As many as 20 percent of U.S. combat troops who fought in Iraq or Afghanistan leave with signs they may have had a concussion, and some do not realize they need treatment, Army officials said Thursday.
Concussion is a common term for mild traumatic brain injury, or TBI. While the Army has a handle on treating more severe brain injuries, it is "challenged to understand, diagnose and treat military personnel who suffer with mild TBI," said Brig. Gen. Donald Bradshaw, chairman of a task force on traumatic brain injury created by the Army surgeon general.
The task force, which completed its work in May, released its findings on Thursday.
It estimated that from 10 percent to 20 percent of soldiers and Marines from tactical units leaving Iraq and Afghanistan are affected by mild traumatic brain injury. The most common cause was blast from an explosion.
The symptoms can include headaches, dizziness, nausea, light sensitivity, sleep problems, memory problems, confusion and irritability. With treatment, more than 80 percent of patients recover completely, the task force said.
Less than half who suffered from a mild traumatic brain injury in combat have persistent symptoms associated with it, said Col. Robert Labutta, a neurosurgeon with the Army surgeon general's office.
In some cases, however, symptoms from the injury such as irritability affect a soldier's interaction with his or her family and fellow soldiers, said Col. Jonathan Jaffin, deputy commander of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command.
"By identifying them, giving them a diagnosis, so they don't think they're just going crazy ... we think that helps them deal with it," Jaffin said.
Thousands of troops have been treated for traumatic brain injury, and it is commonly called the signature wound of the war. Reports that troops were not properly treated or diagnosed for the injury led to some improvements in care.
Today, all troops brought to military treatment facilities from a war zone are screened for traumatic brain injury, Bradshaw said. But troops lacking more outward signs such as bleeding following a blast or other incident might not realize they experienced a concussion, Bradshaw said.
One of the challenges in treating a mild traumatic injury is that it can have some of the same symptoms as post-traumatic stress disorder, such as difficulty sleeping.
Labutta said more research and tracking is needed to determine if a mild traumatic brain injury can put someone at greater risk for Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease.
The task force praised work done at Fort Carson, Colo., where soldiers going back to war are screened for brain injury. Surveys there found that about 17 percent of the soldiers returning to war could have a traumatic brain injury.
The task force identified problems associated with the treatment of troops with traumatic brain injuries, such as inconsistent treatment and documentation at some facilities, but it said some of its recommendations have already been implemented.
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On the Net:
Army Medicine: http://www.armymedicine.army.mil
Defense and Brain Injury Center: http://www.dvbic.org/
FDA Cold medicines too risky for tots
Fri, 18 Jan 2008 00:35:12 GMTBy LAURAN NEERGAARD, AP Medical Writer
WASHINGTON - Parents may be left with only love and lots of liquid to give their sniffling babies and toddlers now that the government is declaring over-the-counter cough and cold medicines too risky for tots. The Food and Drug Administration was issuing that warning Thursday to parents of children under 2.
It's a move expected for months: Drug companies last October quit selling dozens of versions of nonprescription cold remedies targeted specifically to babies and toddlers. That month, the FDA's scientific advisers also voted that the drugs don't work in small children and shouldn't be used in preschoolers, either — anyone under age 6.
The FDA still hasn't decided if OTC decongestants, antihistamines and cough suppressants are appropriate for older children, officials told The Associated Press. Expect a decision on that by spring, the deadline necessary to notify manufacturers before they begin production for next fall's cold season.
For now, FDA's first official ruling focuses on youngsters under 2, warning that "serious and potentially life-threatening side effects can occur."
FDA is worried that parents haven't gotten that message despite all the publicity last fall. They may still have infant-targeted drugs at home, or they may buy drugs meant for older children to give to tots instead, said Dr. Charles Ganley, FDA's nonprescription drugs chief.
"We still have a concern," Ganley said. "It falls out of people's consciousness. We're still in the middle of cold season right now."
Ganley was particularly struck by recent surveys that suggest many parents don't believe OTC remedies could pose a problem, especially if they've given them to an older child without harm.
Thursday's move is a good first step, said Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, Baltimore's health commissioner. He petitioned the FDA last year to end use of nonprescription cold remedies by children under 6, a move backed by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
The reason: There's no evidence that these oral drugs actually ease cold symptoms in children so young — some studies suggest they do no good at all. And while serious side effects are fairly rare, they do occur. Indeed, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last year reported that more than 1,500 babies and toddlers wound up in emergency rooms over a two-year period because of the drugs.
"It's one thing if you're curing cancer, but we're talking about a self-limiting illness," said Sharfstein. "If there's really no evidence of benefit, you don't want to risk the rare problem. Then you're left with tragedy that you can't justify."
Specialists are back to recommending old-fashioned steps, such as plenty of fluids and rest, saline drops to loosen stuffy noses, and humidifiers while sleeping.
Why is this an issue now? Child versions of cold remedies came on the market decades ago, when scientists thought that what worked in adults would automatically work in children. Scientists today know that is not always the case.
In fact, FDA never formally allowed infant-targeted cold remedies in the first place; Ganley said they evolved through a legal loophole.
But the FDA is investigating an even bigger question: Are OTC cold remedies safe and effective for children under 12? The agency's advisers last fall called for no use just by the under-6 crowd, but did recommend more research to determine the medicines' effects in children overall.
The drug industry says these medicines are used 3.8 billion times a year in treating children's cough and cold symptoms and are safe for those over 2.
Health groups acknowledge that while low doses of cold medicine don't usually endanger an individual child, the bigger risk is unintentional overdose. For example, the same ingredients are in multiple products, so using more than one for different symptoms can quickly add up. Also, children's medicines are supposed to be measured with the dropper or measuring cap that comes with each product, not an inaccurate kitchen teaspoon.
An internal FDA working group has a February deadline to recommend to agency leaders any action for 2- to 11-year-olds, Ganley said. The goal is a spring announcement.
Meanwhile, the FDA's advice for children over 2:
_If you try these drugs, carefully follow label directions.
_Avoid giving a child more than one product. If you do, make sure they don't contain some of the same or similar ingredients.
_Understand that these drugs only treat symptoms. Colds are viruses, and the drugs will not make them go away any faster.
Officials find listeria strain at dairy
Fri, 18 Jan 2008 00:35:58 GMTBy MARK PRATT, Associated Press Writer
BOSTON - Investigators probing the source of a listeria outbreak said Thursday the strain that killed three people was found at a dairy processing plant in central Massachusetts. But officials have not yet determined exactly where the milk was contaminated.
"We know that there's a problem in that plant and we have connected the patients to the products to the plant, now it would be nice to know exactly how that happened, but that is part of the ongoing investigation," said Dr. Alfred DeMaria, state director of communicable disease control.
Three elderly men have died since June after drinking bacteria-contaminated milk from the Whittier Farms plant in Shrewsbury, about 35 miles west of Boston. The same strain of listeria sickened a pregnant woman, who then miscarried. A second woman also was sickened after drinking milk from the plant.
No new cases have been identified and health officials say the public health risk is low.
The deadly strain was found in seven bottles and on the floor near the homogenizer at the Shrewsbury plant. Different listeria strains were found inside four other bottles of milk and at three different areas inside the plant — in a drain, in a bottle washer and in an empty unwashed bottle. More than 100 samples were taken.
It remains unclear how the milk was contaminated, but one theory is that processing equipment may have unintentionally been contaminated during cleaning, state officials said.
The processing plant, which distributes milk under various brand names to homes and stores across central Massachusetts and also operates a 500-acre farm in the town of Sutton, has been closed since December. It will remain closed during the investigation and until the bacteria is eradicated, officials said.
A call to Whittier Farms on Thursday was not immediately returned.
Listeriosis is a kind of food poisoning that can be dangerous to the elderly, newborns, pregnant women and people with chronic medical conditions. Symptoms include fever, headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea.
Pedometers help people lose weight U.S. study
Thu, 17 Jan 2008 13:13:20 GMTWASHINGTON - Walking can help people lose weight, especially if they use a pedometer to make sure they are going far enough, U.S. researchers reported on Tuesday.
People who added 20 to 40 minutes of walking a day lost a small but steady amount of weight, the team at the University of Michigan found.
"The increase in physical activity can be expected to result in health benefits that are independent of weight loss," said Dr. Caroline Richardson, who led the study.
"Increasing physical activity reduces the risk of cardiovascular problems, lowers blood pressure and helps dieters maintain lean muscle tissue when they are dieting."
Writing in the Annals of Family Medicine, Richardson and colleagues said they reviewed nine studies involving 307 men and women. They took part in studies of pedometer use that ranged from four weeks to a year.
The volunteers in all the studies but one lost some weight -- about 0.1 pound a week on average, Richardson's team found. She found that the weight loss was "remarkably consistent" across all of the studies.
Over a year this added up to five pounds . Changing eating habits could help even more, Richardson said.
People were able to add between 2,000 steps per day to more than 4,000 steps per day. For the average person, 2,000 steps equals about a mile.
China studies quotsexologyquot panel39s business methods
Thu, 17 Jan 2008 09:28:04 GMTBEIJING - Beijing's crackdown on corruption has reached the supposedly non-profit-making China Sexology Association whose business activities have come under investigation, state media said on Thursday.
Founded in 1994 as an academic society studying sexual health products, the association is not allowed to profit from business activities.
"But evidence shows it has taken part in a series of business activities, and has even compiled business contracts where the association can reap as much as 60 to 80 percent of profits from the exercises," the Legal Evening News said.
The association was suspected of setting up an "expert committee" to comment on health products without approval from the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Beijing-based newspaper said.
"At a sex culture festival held in Guangzhou last month, the association sold copper plates that bore its name to dealers of sex health products," Xinhua news agency said. "The plates were worth 400 yuan to 600 yuan each."
The association denied wrongdoing. "We welcome authorities to come and investigate," chairman Xu Tianmin was quoted by the Legal Evening News as saying.
"It will get rid of misunderstanding and prove that we are not guilty."
The association was set up to "help promote sexual and reproductive health, to popularize the knowledge of marriage and the family so as to contribute to the building of China's spiritual culture".
Corruption was virtually wiped out in the years after the Communists swept to power in 1949 but has made a comeback alongside market-oriented reforms introduced in the late 1970s.
FDA warns against cold drugs for kids under 2
Fri, 18 Jan 2008 00:06:42 GMTBy Lisa Richwine
WASHINGTON - Children under 2 years old should not be given over-the-counter cough and cold medicines because they are too dangerous for that age group, U.S. health authorities advised on Thursday.
Deaths, convulsions and rapid heart rates have been reported in rare cases in children younger than 2, the Food and Drug Administration said.
"We strongly recommend that over-the-counter cough and cold products should not be used in infants and young children under 2 years of age because serious and potentially life-threatening side effects can occur," Dr. Charles Ganley, head of the FDA office that reviews nonprescription drugs, told reporters.
Ganley said the medicines "have not been shown to be safe or effective in children under 2" and noted they treat only symptoms and will not cure a cold.
The agency has not yet decided if the widely sold medicines made by companies such as Wyeth and Johnson & Johnson are appropriate for children of other ages. Officials are evaluating data on use in kids ages 2 to 11 and hope to rule by spring, Ganley said.
The cough and cold remedies have been sold for decades, but the FDA generally has not required companies to prove they work for children. Instead, data were extrapolated from adults.
"Children metabolize and react to medications differently than adults, often in unanticipated ways," the American Academy of Pediatrics said in a statement.
"Studies have shown cough and cold products are ineffective in treating symptoms of children under six years old and may pose serious risks," the group added in endorsing the FDA's move.
The FDA never endorsed giving the medicines to kids under 2 and cautioned last year against doing so without specific instructions from a doctor.
Makers say the products are safe and effective when used as directed for children age 2 and older. In October 2007, major manufacturers voluntarily pulled 14 cough and cold products for children up to age 2.
That same month, a panel of FDA advisers recommended that nonprescription cough and cold medicines not be given to children under age 6. A group of pediatricians and public health officials had petitioned the FDA to restrict sales to children younger than 6 years old.
The controversy gained widespread publicity last year, but surveys in December showed many parents still felt the medicines were appropriate for children under 2, Ganley said.
Currently, the agency advises that parents carefully follow dosing directions on all over-the-counter medications. To get a precise dose, parents should only use measuring spoons or cups made specifically for medicines, officials said.
They also urged checking product labels to make sure they are not giving more than one product with the same ingredient.
Many of the problems reported in children were attributed to overdoses or accidental ingestion.
Diana Zuckerman, president of the National Research Center for Women & Families, said the consumer group was disappointed the FDA did not extend the warning to children under 6.
"The FDA decision ignores the clear scientific evidence, taking the side of industry against patients," Zuckerman said in a statement.
The Consumer Healthcare Products Association , which represents over-the-counter drugmakers, said on Thursday it supported the FDA action.
The ruling "reaffirms the correct course of action taken by the leading makers of these medicines last fall," CHPA President Linda Suydam said in a statement.
(Reporting by Lisa Richwine, editing by Leslie Gevirtz; Editing by Andre Grenon)
Latest Study Says Statins Don39t Slow Alzheimer39s
Fri, 18 Jan 2008 00:03:01 GMTBy Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter
THURSDAY, Jan. 17 -- Despite some reports that statins might slow or prevent Alzheimer's disease, a new study finds no evidence for the theory.
While some animal studies have suggested this possibility, whether the same benefit translates to humans hasn't been clear, the researchers said.
"We didn't find a relation between statin use and the risk of Alzheimer's disease or a decline in thinking ability," said lead researcher Dr. Zoe Arvanitakis, an associate professor of neurology at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.
In addition, brain autopsies found no effect of statins on the two main causes of dementia, Alzheimer's and stroke, Arvanitakis said.
In the study, Arvanitakis' team collected data on 929 Catholic clergy who took part in the Religious Orders Study, which looks at aging and Alzheimer's disease. At the start of the study, all the participants were around 75 years old and had no signs of dementia. All had a brain autopsy after death, and each had yearly cognitive exams for up to 12 years.
The findings were published in the Jan. 16 online edition of Neurology.
When the study started, 119 people were taking statins. Over the 12 years of the study, 191 people developed Alzheimer's. Of these, only 16 had been taking statins.
Moreover, brain autopsies on more than 250 people who died during the study failed to find any evidence that taking statins had an effect on pathology of Alzheimer's disease or strokes, the scientists found.
"This study adds to the growing evidence that statins don't lower the risk of Alzheimer's disease," Arvanitakis said.
However, one expert thinks this study is not conclusive, and clinical trials that are under way should provide a definitive answer on the issue. "We will see the results of these trials fairly soon," said William Thies, vice president of medical and scientific affairs for the Alzheimer's Association.
"This finding fits in with a great deal of other work that has been done on statins," said Thies. "Most of these studies show a benefit, but this is not the first one to show there isn't a benefit."
Statins are excellent drugs for lowering cholesterol, Thies said. "But there is no recommendation that you take statins for Alzheimer's disease," he added.
Larry Sparks, director of the Roberts Laboratory for Neurodegenerative Disease Research at the Sun Health Research Institute in Arizona and one of the first to link statins with Alzheimer's prevention, doesn't think the study was large enough to give a definitive result.
In his own work, Sparks has found a benefit from statins in treating patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease. However, he thinks the type of statin makes a difference.
"Research suggests that statins that don't get into the brain may prevent or slow the progression of Alzheimer's," Sparks said. "This is a continuing story."
More information
For more on Alzheimer's disease, visit the Alzheimer's Association.
Virus may cause rare but deadly skin cancer
Fri, 18 Jan 2008 00:21:38 GMTBy Ben Hirschler
LONDON - A previously unknown virus may be to blame for a rare but deadly form of skin cancer, opening the prospect of new ways to treat and prevent the condition, scientists said on Thursday.
Merkel cell carcinoma mainly affects older people and those whose immune system has been compromised by AIDS or organ transplant drugs, raising suspicions it could have an infectious cause.
Now researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute believe they have found the culprit, after identifying viral DNA sequences present in 80 percent of Merkel cell tumors.
The foreign DNA belongs to a virus, dubbed Merkel cell polyomavirus , which integrates into the tumor's own genome in a way suggesting it is a trigger for cancerous growth.
If the new virus is proved to be the cause it should give new leads for treating a particularly aggressive cancer. Experts suspect the virus is deadly because it produces a cancer-causing protein or knocks out a gene that suppresses tumor growth.
"Information that we gain could possibly lead to a blood test or vaccine that improves disease management and aids in prevention," said Dr Patrick Moore, who with colleagues published the findings in the journal Science.
Merkel cell carcinoma develops from specialized nerve cells that respond to touch or pressure. Its incidence has tripled over the past 20 years and there are now about 1,500 cases a year in the United States.
About 50 percent of patients with advanced disease live nine months or less.
Merkel cell carcinoma is not the first cancer linked to a virus, and will likely not be the last.
The best known cancer-causing virus is HPV, or human papillomavirus, which can lead to cervical cancer and is the target of two new anti-cancer vaccines, Gardasil and Cervarix, from Merck & Co Inc and GlaxoSmithKline Plc.
Kaposi's sarcoma, the most common malignancy in AIDS patients and the most common cancer in Africa, is also caused by a virus.
