EU launches campaign to tackle back pain
Mon, 04 Jun 2007 15:42:17 GMT
BRUSSELS, Belgium - The
European Commission launched a campaign Monday to fight backache and other bone and muscle pains which are the most common work-related heath problem in Europe costing billions of dollars in lost labor hours.
Up to a quarter of the workforce suffers with back pain, the
European Union's executive office said, and the situation risks worsening with the aging of the workforce.
"Given the demographic change, people will probably have to work longer and this makes it even more imperative that we tackle this problem now," EU Social Affairs Commissioner Vladmir Spidla said in a statement.
The EU said back pains and other "musculoskeletal disorders" cost the EU's 27 member nations up to 1.6 percent of gross domestic product every year.
"For the employee, they cause personal suffering and loss of income, for the employer, they reduce business efficiency, and for the government, they increase social security costs," the Commission said in a statement.
The campaign, dubbed "Lighten the Load," aims to reduce the incidence of back pain in the workplace by raising employers' awareness of what contributes to the disorders and by encouraging them to comply with existing health and safety laws.
They should ensure that workers don't have to carry excessively heavy loads, work long hours in unhealthy positions or cold environments, the Commission said.
The campaign is designed to culminate in a European Week for Safety and Health at Work in mid-October.
Study Liver cancer breakthrough found
Mon, 04 Jun 2007 17:48:34 GMT
By LINDSEY TANNER, AP Medical Writer
CHICAGO - For the first time, doctors said Monday they have found a pill that improves survival for people with liver cancer, a notoriously hard to treat disease diagnosed in more than half a million people globally each year.
The results in a multinational study of 602 patients with advanced liver cancer are impressive and likely will change the way patients are treated, say cancer specialists, including the study authors.
Patients got either two tablets daily of a drug called sorafenib or dummy pills in the study, which started in March 2005. Some patients are still alive, although on average, sorafenib patients survived 10.7 months versus almost 8 months for those on dummy pills.
That type of survival advantage "has never happened" with liver cancer "and is a major breakthrough in the management of the disease," said Dr. Josep Llovet, the lead author.
"That may not sound like a lot of time," but for liver cancer, "this is actually a quite impressive gain," said Dr. Nancy Davidson of Johns Hopkins' Bloomberg School of Public Health. "It is the first effective systemic treatment for liver cancer, which is such a huge problem internationally."
The results were released Monday at the American Society of Clinical Oncology's annual meeting.
"We now have moved forward" in treating advanced liver cancer "when it was not really possible before," Dr. William Blackstock of Wake Forest University School of Medicine said at a press briefing about the study.
Sorafenib attacks cancer with a targeted double-barreled approach. It zeros in on malignant cells themselves and cuts off the blood supply feeding the tumor. It is believed to work on tumors within the liver and those that have spread elsewhere.
In the study, tumors didn't shrink or disappear but in many cases they also didn't grow.
"You are not curing the disease but you are delaying the progression of the disease significantly and strikingly," said Llovet, of Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York and Hospital Clinic of Barcelona, Spain.
The study was halted early in February because of the good results, and patients on dummy pills were switched to sorafenib.
"This is a very good step forward in this disease," said Dr. Emily Chan of Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville, Tenn.
The drug, sold under the brand name Nexavar, is approved in the United States and dozens of other countries to treat advanced kidney cancer. It is marketed by Bayer Pharmaceuticals Corp. and Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc., which funded the liver cancer study. They hope to receive approval for liver cancer use from U.S. and foreign regulators.
Llovet has done consulting for the sponsors.
Liver cancer is diagnosed in about 19,000 Americans annually but is much more common elsewhere and is the fifth most common cancer globally. Risk factors include chronic liver infections and some forms of hepatitis. The disease is common in China and countries without widespread use of the hepatitis B vaccine, which is routinely given to U.S. infants.
Liver cancer doesn't respond well to conventional chemotherapy and is often diagnosed too late for surgery to be an option. Many patients die within a year of diagnosis.
Robert Throckmorton, a 73-year-old attorney in Orange County, Calif., said his doctor told him "You better get your affairs in order" after he was diagnosed with inoperable liver cancer last August.
But then the doctor offered sorafenib off-label, and Throckmorton readily agreed. He did not take part in the study.
After nine months on the drug, Throckmorton said his cancer shows no sign of progression and he has no significant side effects. He said he walks three miles six days a week to stay active and feels fine.
Instead of thinking about wills and funerals, Throckmorton is looking forward to get-togethers with his eight children and 18 grandchildren, and even a possible church trip to Uruguay with his wife.
"I have good energy," Throckmorton said. "We are optimistic."
___
American Society of Clinical Oncology: http://www.asco.org
http://www.cancer.org
EU launches campaign to tackle back pain
Mon, 04 Jun 2007 15:42:17 GMT
BRUSSELS, Belgium - The
European Commission launched a campaign Monday to fight backache and other bone and muscle pains which are the most common work-related heath problem in Europe costing billions of dollars in lost labor hours.
Up to a quarter of the workforce suffers with back pain, the
European Union's executive office said, and the situation risks worsening with the aging of the workforce.
"Given the demographic change, people will probably have to work longer and this makes it even more imperative that we tackle this problem now," EU Social Affairs Commissioner Vladmir Spidla said in a statement.
The EU said back pains and other "musculoskeletal disorders" cost the EU's 27 member nations up to 1.6 percent of gross domestic product every year.
"For the employee, they cause personal suffering and loss of income, for the employer, they reduce business efficiency, and for the government, they increase social security costs," the Commission said in a statement.
The campaign, dubbed "Lighten the Load," aims to reduce the incidence of back pain in the workplace by raising employers' awareness of what contributes to the disorders and by encouraging them to comply with existing health and safety laws.
They should ensure that workers don't have to carry excessively heavy loads, work long hours in unhealthy positions or cold environments, the Commission said.
The campaign is designed to culminate in a European Week for Safety and Health at Work in mid-October.
China rejects U.S. warning on toothpaste
Mon, 04 Jun 2007 01:55:03 GMT
By ANITA CHANG, Associated Press Writer
BEIJING - China called a U.S. warning to consumers to avoid Chinese toothpaste because it may contain a poisonous chemical "unscientific, irresponsible and contradictory."
The U.S.
Food and Drug Administration increased its scrutiny of toothpaste made in China because of reports that the products may contain diethylene glycol, a thickening agent used in antifreeze and also as a low-cost — but frequently deadly — substitute for glycerin, a sweetener commonly used in drugs.
In a statement posted on its Web site late Saturday, China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said low levels of the chemical have been deemed safe for consumption.
The FDA was not aware of any poisoning but found toothpaste with the chemical in a shipment at the U.S. border and at two bargain retail stores, a Dollar Plus in Miami and a Todo A Peso in Puerto Rico.
China's main food safety regulator said in its statement that the ingredients of toothpaste exported to the U.S. is offered to the FDA, showing the amount of diethylene glycol. Also, the toothpaste's labeling has already been registered with the FDA, allowing it to be sold in the U.S, the statement said.
The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said experts from the Health Ministry had deemed diethylene glycol a "low-level" poison that does not accumulate in the body and found no evidence the substance caused cancer or deformities.
It also said
European Union standards allow for a certain amount of the chemical and cited a 2000 Chinese study that found toothpaste containing less than 15.6 percent diethylene glycol was not harmful. The Chinese toothpaste the FDA is concerned about contains between 3 percent to 4 percent of the drug, according to the FDA.
"Therefore the warning issued by the FDA ... is unscientific, irresponsible and contradictory," the agency said.
The agency "requests the U.S. clarify the facts in a scientific manner as soon as possible and properly handle the issue."
The FDA alert Friday said the agency found diethylene glycol, or DEG, in three products manufactured by Goldcredit International Trading in China: Cooldent Fluoride, Cooldent Spearmint and Cooldent ICE.
The agency also found the chemical in one product manufactured by Suzhou City Jinmao Daily Chemical Co. Analysis of that product, Shir Fresh Mint Fluoride Paste, found it contained about 1 percent DEG.
Phones at both companies rang unanswered Sunday.
Companies that make brands previously found with DEG will have to prove the toothpaste is free of the chemical before it's allowed into the U.S., the FDA said. Meanwhile, all other brands of Chinese-made toothpaste will be stopped for testing, something the FDA has been doing since May 23.
A slew of Chinese exports have recently been banned or turned away by U.S. inspectors including, wheat gluten tainted with the chemical melamine that has been blamed for dog and cat deaths in North America, monkfish that turned out to be toxic pufferfish, drug-laced frozen eel, and juice made with unsafe color additives.
DEG was blamed for the deaths of 51 people in Panama after they took tainted cold medicine. China has admitted it was the source of the deadly chemical but insists it was originally labeled as for industrial use only.
Officials in Panama and several other Latin American countries have removed tens of thousands of tubes of Chinese-made toothpaste from stores amid concerns that they contain DEG.
Study Liver cancer breakthrough found
Mon, 04 Jun 2007 17:48:34 GMT
By LINDSEY TANNER, AP Medical Writer
CHICAGO - For the first time, doctors said Monday they have found a pill that improves survival for people with liver cancer, a notoriously hard to treat disease diagnosed in more than half a million people globally each year.
The results in a multinational study of 602 patients with advanced liver cancer are impressive and likely will change the way patients are treated, say cancer specialists, including the study authors.
Patients got either two tablets daily of a drug called sorafenib or dummy pills in the study, which started in March 2005. Some patients are still alive, although on average, sorafenib patients survived 10.7 months versus almost 8 months for those on dummy pills.
That type of survival advantage "has never happened" with liver cancer "and is a major breakthrough in the management of the disease," said Dr. Josep Llovet, the lead author.
"That may not sound like a lot of time," but for liver cancer, "this is actually a quite impressive gain," said Dr. Nancy Davidson of Johns Hopkins' Bloomberg School of Public Health. "It is the first effective systemic treatment for liver cancer, which is such a huge problem internationally."
The results were released Monday at the American Society of Clinical Oncology's annual meeting.
"We now have moved forward" in treating advanced liver cancer "when it was not really possible before," Dr. William Blackstock of Wake Forest University School of Medicine said at a press briefing about the study.
Sorafenib attacks cancer with a targeted double-barreled approach. It zeros in on malignant cells themselves and cuts off the blood supply feeding the tumor. It is believed to work on tumors within the liver and those that have spread elsewhere.
In the study, tumors didn't shrink or disappear but in many cases they also didn't grow.
"You are not curing the disease but you are delaying the progression of the disease significantly and strikingly," said Llovet, of Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York and Hospital Clinic of Barcelona, Spain.
The study was halted early in February because of the good results, and patients on dummy pills were switched to sorafenib.
"This is a very good step forward in this disease," said Dr. Emily Chan of Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville, Tenn.
The drug, sold under the brand name Nexavar, is approved in the United States and dozens of other countries to treat advanced kidney cancer. It is marketed by Bayer Pharmaceuticals Corp. and Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc., which funded the liver cancer study. They hope to receive approval for liver cancer use from U.S. and foreign regulators.
Llovet has done consulting for the sponsors.
Liver cancer is diagnosed in about 19,000 Americans annually but is much more common elsewhere and is the fifth most common cancer globally. Risk factors include chronic liver infections and some forms of hepatitis. The disease is common in China and countries without widespread use of the hepatitis B vaccine, which is routinely given to U.S. infants.
Liver cancer doesn't respond well to conventional chemotherapy and is often diagnosed too late for surgery to be an option. Many patients die within a year of diagnosis.
Robert Throckmorton, a 73-year-old attorney in Orange County, Calif., said his doctor told him "You better get your affairs in order" after he was diagnosed with inoperable liver cancer last August.
But then the doctor offered sorafenib off-label, and Throckmorton readily agreed. He did not take part in the study.
After nine months on the drug, Throckmorton said his cancer shows no sign of progression and he has no significant side effects. He said he walks three miles six days a week to stay active and feels fine.
Instead of thinking about wills and funerals, Throckmorton is looking forward to get-togethers with his eight children and 18 grandchildren, and even a possible church trip to Uruguay with his wife.
"I have good energy," Throckmorton said. "We are optimistic."
___
American Society of Clinical Oncology: http://www.asco.org
http://www.cancer.org
China rejects U.S. warning on toothpaste
Mon, 04 Jun 2007 01:55:03 GMT
By ANITA CHANG, Associated Press Writer
BEIJING - China called a U.S. warning to consumers to avoid Chinese toothpaste because it may contain a poisonous chemical "unscientific, irresponsible and contradictory."
The U.S.
Food and Drug Administration increased its scrutiny of toothpaste made in China because of reports that the products may contain diethylene glycol, a thickening agent used in antifreeze and also as a low-cost — but frequently deadly — substitute for glycerin, a sweetener commonly used in drugs.
In a statement posted on its Web site late Saturday, China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said low levels of the chemical have been deemed safe for consumption.
The FDA was not aware of any poisoning but found toothpaste with the chemical in a shipment at the U.S. border and at two bargain retail stores, a Dollar Plus in Miami and a Todo A Peso in Puerto Rico.
China's main food safety regulator said in its statement that the ingredients of toothpaste exported to the U.S. is offered to the FDA, showing the amount of diethylene glycol. Also, the toothpaste's labeling has already been registered with the FDA, allowing it to be sold in the U.S, the statement said.
The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said experts from the Health Ministry had deemed diethylene glycol a "low-level" poison that does not accumulate in the body and found no evidence the substance caused cancer or deformities.
It also said
European Union standards allow for a certain amount of the chemical and cited a 2000 Chinese study that found toothpaste containing less than 15.6 percent diethylene glycol was not harmful. The Chinese toothpaste the FDA is concerned about contains between 3 percent to 4 percent of the drug, according to the FDA.
"Therefore the warning issued by the FDA ... is unscientific, irresponsible and contradictory," the agency said.
The agency "requests the U.S. clarify the facts in a scientific manner as soon as possible and properly handle the issue."
The FDA alert Friday said the agency found diethylene glycol, or DEG, in three products manufactured by Goldcredit International Trading in China: Cooldent Fluoride, Cooldent Spearmint and Cooldent ICE.
The agency also found the chemical in one product manufactured by Suzhou City Jinmao Daily Chemical Co. Analysis of that product, Shir Fresh Mint Fluoride Paste, found it contained about 1 percent DEG.
Phones at both companies rang unanswered Sunday.
Companies that make brands previously found with DEG will have to prove the toothpaste is free of the chemical before it's allowed into the U.S., the FDA said. Meanwhile, all other brands of Chinese-made toothpaste will be stopped for testing, something the FDA has been doing since May 23.
A slew of Chinese exports have recently been banned or turned away by U.S. inspectors including, wheat gluten tainted with the chemical melamine that has been blamed for dog and cat deaths in North America, monkfish that turned out to be toxic pufferfish, drug-laced frozen eel, and juice made with unsafe color additives.
DEG was blamed for the deaths of 51 people in Panama after they took tainted cold medicine. China has admitted it was the source of the deadly chemical but insists it was originally labeled as for industrial use only.
Officials in Panama and several other Latin American countries have removed tens of thousands of tubes of Chinese-made toothpaste from stores amid concerns that they contain DEG.
TB quarantines common at local level
Mon, 04 Jun 2007 01:50:58 GMT
By COLLEEN SLEVIN, Associated Press Writer
DENVER - While the federal government rarely imposes quarantines — issuing its first in more than four decades last week — cities and states routinely isolate TB patients to prevent them from infecting others.
The federal quarantine order was issued for Andrew Speaker, who has extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis, or XDR-TB, because he had ignored earlier request not to travel, taking a trans-Atlantic flight from Europe to Canada in what he has said was an attempt to return to the U.S. for treatment.
Since the Atlanta lawyer has been isolated in a special room at the National Jewish Medical and Research Center, federal health officials lifted their quarantine order Saturday night, but it was replaced with a Denver health agency's restriction.
Now, local health officials must ensure that Speaker takes his medicine and does not endanger the public.
Such cases are best handled at the local level, where doctors alert public health officials about a new case and they all work together with the patient to treat the infection, said Dr. Randall Reves, the medical director at the Denver Metro Tuberculosis Control Program.
"Public health is really delivered at the local level," Reves said.
Most of the time, patients comply. Sometimes, a court-order is required.
An unidentified man with TB has been under court-ordered quarantine for the last two months in New Mexico. Texas has placed at least 17 tuberculosis patients into an involuntary quarantine facility this year, and California detained four TB patients last year.
In Phoenix, Robert Daniels was diagnosed with XDR-TB and has been confined to a hospital jail unit for the last 10 months after defying doctors' instructions to wear a mask in public. Health authorities obtained a court order to lock him up.
Last week, the
American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit seeking better conditions and treatment for Daniels.
Daniels said he's heard about Speaker and wishes him well, but he wants better treatment for himself. "He's being treated like a normal person, like a human being. ... I'm being treated worse than a dog," Daniels said.
TB bacteria can become airborne when an infected person coughs. If inhaled, the bacteria can settle in the lungs but remain dormant for years. The
World Health Organization estimates that 2 billion people — about one-third of the world's population — has latent TB.
Doctors hope to learn how Speaker, 31, became infected with tuberculosis. He was initially diagnosed with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, which can withstand mainline antibiotics. While in Europe last month for his wedding and honeymoon, he learned he had XDR-TB and flew to Canada despite warnings from federal health officials not to board another long flight.
TB quarantines common at local level
Mon, 04 Jun 2007 01:50:58 GMT
By COLLEEN SLEVIN, Associated Press Writer
DENVER - While the federal government rarely imposes quarantines — issuing its first in more than four decades last week — cities and states routinely isolate TB patients to prevent them from infecting others.
The federal quarantine order was issued for Andrew Speaker, who has extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis, or XDR-TB, because he had ignored earlier request not to travel, taking a trans-Atlantic flight from Europe to Canada in what he has said was an attempt to return to the U.S. for treatment.
Since the Atlanta lawyer has been isolated in a special room at the National Jewish Medical and Research Center, federal health officials lifted their quarantine order Saturday night, but it was replaced with a Denver health agency's restriction.
Now, local health officials must ensure that Speaker takes his medicine and does not endanger the public.
Such cases are best handled at the local level, where doctors alert public health officials about a new case and they all work together with the patient to treat the infection, said Dr. Randall Reves, the medical director at the Denver Metro Tuberculosis Control Program.
"Public health is really delivered at the local level," Reves said.
Most of the time, patients comply. Sometimes, a court-order is required.
An unidentified man with TB has been under court-ordered quarantine for the last two months in New Mexico. Texas has placed at least 17 tuberculosis patients into an involuntary quarantine facility this year, and California detained four TB patients last year.
In Phoenix, Robert Daniels was diagnosed with XDR-TB and has been confined to a hospital jail unit for the last 10 months after defying doctors' instructions to wear a mask in public. Health authorities obtained a court order to lock him up.
Last week, the
American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit seeking better conditions and treatment for Daniels.
Daniels said he's heard about Speaker and wishes him well, but he wants better treatment for himself. "He's being treated like a normal person, like a human being. ... I'm being treated worse than a dog," Daniels said.
TB bacteria can become airborne when an infected person coughs. If inhaled, the bacteria can settle in the lungs but remain dormant for years. The
World Health Organization estimates that 2 billion people — about one-third of the world's population — has latent TB.
Doctors hope to learn how Speaker, 31, became infected with tuberculosis. He was initially diagnosed with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, which can withstand mainline antibiotics. While in Europe last month for his wedding and honeymoon, he learned he had XDR-TB and flew to Canada despite warnings from federal health officials not to board another long flight.
Entertaining TV programs make you eat study finds
Sun, 03 Jun 2007 15:47:50 GMT
By Jennifer Kwan
TORONTO - People eat more when they are glued to
the television, and the more entertaining the program, the more
they eat, according to research presented on Saturday.
It seems that distracted brains do not notice what the
mouth is doing, said Dr. Alan Hirsch, neurological director of
the Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in
Chicago.
Hirsch explored the impact of smell, taste and eating
behaviors while watching TV by measuring potato chip
consumption.
Forty-five volunteers ate as many chips as they wanted
during five-minute intervals over three-week periods while they
watched monologues by late-night talk show hosts David
Letterman and Jay Leno.
They also were given chips to eat when the television was
off.
Hirsch found people ate an average of 44 percent more chips
while watching Letterman and 42 percent more while viewing
Leno, than when they did not watch TV.
&;If you can concentrate on how the food tastes you'll eat
less because you'll feel full faster,&; Hirsch said in an
interview at the Endocrine Society's annual meeting in Toronto.
&;So if that's the case, let's look at the opposite. What if
you're distracted? If you're distracted, in theory, then you'd
eat more.&;
Through his research at the foundation, Hirsch has helped
people overcome the loss of sense and taste sensation, which
typically results in weight gain because the brain does not
know when it should stop eating.
The ventromedial nucleus in the hypothalamus, where the
so-called satiety center is located, tells the body whether it
is hungry or full. If it is inhibited or tricked, the result
can be changes in eating patterns, he said.
&;People who cook spaghetti all day don't fell like eating
spaghetti at the end of the day,&; said Hirsch. &;By being
exposed to a smell all day long it's tricking the
hypothalamus.&;
At each session, volunteers were asked to concentrate on
the sensory characteristics of the food such as taste and
smell. Researchers say these sensory clues, in addition to
internal body changes, signal satiety.
But when distracted, a person does not pay attention to
either the body's sensations of feeling full, or to the sensory
characteristics of the food.
Many studies have linked obesity to watching television and
that link is likely due to inactivity, Hirsch said. But perhaps
entertaining shows are also contributing.
&;If you want to lose weight, turn off the television or
watch something boring,&; he said.
Reuters
Elderly women fare better with lung cancer study
Sun, 03 Jun 2007 15:17:46 GMT
By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor
WASHINGTON - Older women with lung cancer live
longer than men the same age, U.S. researchers reported on
Saturday, and said their finding suggests that estrogen might
affect chemotherapy.
The study found that women aged over 60 who have advanced
lung cancer lived a median of 11 months, compared to just eight
months for men.
&;I get amazed with my older woman patients. They tend to do
better. They tend to have less side effects than my
45-year-olds,&; said Dr. Kathy Albain of the Cardinal Bernardin
Cancer Center at Loyola University in Maywood, Illinois.
A study of more than 1,300 patients showed that women over
the age of 60 had a 14 percent reduced risk of death from
advanced non-small cell lung cancer compared to men over two
years, Albain told a meeting of the American Society of
Clinical Oncology in Chicago.
At one year, 35 percent of the men were still alive
compared to 46 percent of women. After two years, 13 percent of
men were alive compared to 19 percent of the women.
&;It appears very possible from supporting data that we have
that higher estrogen levels interact with chemotherapy drugs,&;
Albain said in a telephone interview.
That, combined with evidence from other studies, suggests
estrogen may play a role, Albain said. It may be a case of the
less estrogen the better, compared to what a patient's body
once produced.
Other studies have shown that men with higher estrogen
levels fare worse when treated for cancer, Albain said.
Although estrogen is known as the &;female&; hormone, men's
bodies produce estrogen too, although in smaller amounts.
It must have something to do with an individual's normal
levels of estrogen, Albain said. &;We are going the study the
biology of this,&; she said.
A woman's estrogen levels drop after menopause, which
occurs at an average age of 51. It will be important to study
the effects of hormone replacement therapy on lung cancer
treatment, Albain said.
Right now, the study is good news for older women diagnosed
with lung cancer, however, Albain said.
&;The tendency is to take an older woman and say, 'There,
there, you have lung cancer and there is nothing we can do',&;
she said. &;There still tends to be nihilism out there.&;
But in fact, chemotherapy can make lung cancer patients
live longer and more comfortable lives, even if they cannot be
cured, Albain said.
&;If estrogen levels interact with the efficacy of certain
chemotherapy drugs or some other, as-yet-undefined factor, we
can utilize this knowledge to design new therapies,&; Albain
added.
Last year, lung cancer was diagnosed in more than 174,000
Americans and killed more than 160,000. It kills 1.3 million
people globally every year.