Study Antidepressants may help kids
Wed, 18 Apr 2007 03:15:53 GMT
By CARLA K. JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer
CHICAGO - Authors of a new comprehensive analysis of antidepressants for children and teenagers say the benefits of treatment trump the small risk of increasing some patients' chances of having suicidal thoughts and behaviors.
The risk they found is lower than the one the
http://jama.ama-assn.org
Study Ethanol may cause more smog deaths
Wed, 18 Apr 2007 11:12:25 GMT
By SETH BORENSTEIN, AP Science Writer
WASHINGTON - Switching from gasoline to ethanol — touted as a green alternative at the pump — may create dirtier air, causing slightly more smog-related deaths, a new study says.
Nearly 200 more people would die yearly from respiratory problems if all vehicles in the United States ran on a mostly ethanol fuel blend by 2020, the research concludes. Of course, the study author acknowledges that such a quick and monumental shift to plant-based fuels is next to impossible.
Each year, about 4,700 people, according to the study's author, die from respiratory problems from ozone, the unseen component of smog along with small particles. Ethanol would raise ozone levels, particularly in certain regions of the country, including the Northeast and Los Angeles.
"It's not green in terms of air pollution," said study author Mark Jacobson, a Stanford University civil and environmental engineering professor. "If you want to use ethanol, fine, but don't do it based on health grounds. It's no better than gasoline, apparently slightly worse."
His study, based on a computer model, is published in Wednesday's online edition of the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Science and Technology and adds to the messy debate over ethanol.
Farmers, politicians, industry leaders and environmentalists have clashed over just how much ethanol can be produced, how much land it would take to grow the crops to make it, and how much it would cost. They also disagree on the benefits of ethanol in cutting back fuel consumption and in fighting pollution, especially global warming gases.
In January,
http://www.ethanolrfa.org/
Devices seized amid sterility concerns
Tue, 17 Apr 2007 23:42:03 GMT
WASHINGTON - U.S. marshals and FDA investigators on Tuesday began seizing heart valves and other implantable medical devices made from cow and pig tissue by a New Jersey company because of concerns about their sterility.
The seizure from Shelhigh Inc. was expected to net an estimated 1 million parts and finished products, said
http://www.fda.gov/
WHO Access to HIV treatment improves
Tue, 17 Apr 2007 23:41:53 GMT
By FRANK JORDANS, Associated Press Writer
GENEVA - Lower prices for
HIV drugs have significantly improved access to treatment for people in poor countries, but figures are still far off target for the
United Nations' long-term goal of universal coverage by 2010, the
World Health Organization said Tuesday.
By the end of 2006 some 2 million people in low and middle-income countries were receiving the anti-retroviral drugs that help treat the symptoms of HIV, according to WHO's annual progress report.
This represents an increase of 54 percent on the 1.3 million people treated the year before, meaning about 28 percent of those in need now receive the drugs.
"The encouraging progress that was made ... has been sustained," Dr. Charlie Gilks, the head of WHO's HIV treatment department, told reporters in Geneva.
One of the main reasons for the success is the significant drop in the cost of drugs, he said.
Price competition from manufacturers of generic drugs has forced pharmaceutical companies to lower the cost of treatment. Negotiations between governments, drug makers and non-governmental organizations to offer cheaper treatment to poor countries have also paid off, he said.
Another reason for the increase in access is greater political commitment by governments, and better funding for treatment through programs such as the U.S. President's Emergency Plan and the intergovernmental Global Fund, Gilks added.
"We have every reason to believe that this success will continue," he said, but warned that greater effort was needed if the U.N. is to reach its target of universal access in three years' time.
While Latin America leads the way with treatment available for 72 percent of those who need it, sub-Saharan Africa has also made significant progress and now provides the drugs to 28 percent availability, up from only two percent in 2003.
The lowest access rate in poor countries is in the North Africa and Middle East region, where about six percent of people who need HIV drugs receive them, the report says.
Gilks said greater access to treatment for children, and better prevention of mother-to-child transmission, need to be tackled as well. At present, only 15 percent of children in need have access to drugs, partly because of difficulties diagnosing HIV in infants.