Health and Medical News Headlines for May 28, 2010

Brushing teeth cuts 'heart risk'

People who fail to brush their teeth twice a day are putting themselves at risk of heart disease, say researchers.
Source: BBC News | Health | World Edition | 28 May 2010 | 3:47 am

Prescription heroin helps addicts off street drugs (Reuters)

Reuters - Prescribing heroin to addicts who can't kick their habit helps them stay off street drugs, British researchers said Friday.
Source: Yahoo! News: Health News | 28 May 2010 | 3:18 am

Testing times

Should people in Zambia be forced to have HIV tests?
Source: BBC News | Health | World Edition | 28 May 2010 | 1:58 am

Not too young

Teenager on how she nearly died from a blood clot
Source: BBC News | Health | World Edition | 28 May 2010 | 1:50 am

Oakland to license, tax indoor marijuana growers (AP)

AP - Local governments in California and other Western states have tried to clamp down on medical marijuana, but Oakland has taken a different approach.

Source: Yahoo! News: Health News | 28 May 2010 | 1:20 am

TABLE-Indian Oil Corp March qtr net falls 16 pct

(Versus the same period a year earlier, in billion rupees unless stated)
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsHealth | 28 May 2010 | 1:13 am

Violent video games touted as learning tool (AP)

AP - You're at the front lines shooting Nazis before they shoot you. Or you're a futuristic gladiator in a death match with robots.

Source: Yahoo! News: Health News | 28 May 2010 | 1:11 am

Nippon Seiro -6-month parent forecast

PARENT-ONLY EARNINGS ESTIMATES (in billions of yen unless specified)
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsHealth | 28 May 2010 | 1:00 am

UPDATE 1-Shell buys East Resources for $4.7 billion

* Closing subject to regulatory approvals (Adds detail)
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsHealth | 28 May 2010 | 12:54 am

TABLE-RXT 3-month results

May 28 (Reuters) - 3 months to March 31 2010: Reservoir Exploration Technology ASA Group (Millions of USD unless otherwise stated)
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsHealth | 28 May 2010 | 12:46 am

UPDATE 1-BP "top kill" continues, spill costs hit $930 mln

* Financial cost of spill response rises to $930 million (Adds details, background)
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsHealth | 28 May 2010 | 12:38 am

Opera says 2.6 mln browser downloads on iPhone

LONDON, May 28 (Reuters) - Opera Software said its Internet browser for Apple's iPhone was downloaded more than 2.6 million times last month after the Norwegian firm got access to iPhone as the first...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsHealth | 28 May 2010 | 12:32 am

UPDATE 1-AstraZeneca won't file Recentin for colon cancer

* Does not intend to submit for first-line colorectal cancer * Horizon II study shows no improvement in overall survival
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsHealth | 28 May 2010 | 12:29 am

Romania - Factors to Watch on May 28

BUCHAREST, May 28 (Reuters) - Here are news stories, press reports and events to watch which may affect Romanian financial markets on Friday.
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsHealth | 28 May 2010 | 12:27 am

PRESS DIGEST - Bulgaria - May 28

SOFIA, May 28 (Reuters) - These are some of the main stories in Bulgarian newspapers on Friday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsHealth | 28 May 2010 | 12:22 am

UPDATE 1-Pharming share offer to raise 8-12 mln euros

AMSTERDAM, May 28 (Reuters) - Dutch biotech company Pharming Group launched an equity offering of up to 12 million euros ($14.7 million), pricing the shares at a 70 percent discount as it seeks to sustain...
Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsHealth | 28 May 2010 | 12:18 am

Employers Urged to Act Now to Expand Health Plans

Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of health and human services, said that employers should not wait for the health care bill’s extension of coverage to workers’ adult children.

Source: NYT > Health | 27 May 2010 | 11:30 pm

Pharmaceutical Firm, ARTEC, Inc., Reports Moving On In The Development Of An Improved Tubercin™ And The Testing Of HIV/AIDS Human Patients In Af

ARTEC, Inc., (Pink Sheets: ATKJ), has improved Tubercin T-5 an immunostimulant. In the last two years, Artec asserts that Tubercin™ has improved significantly and tested in Africa, in the company's opinion, with positive results on human patients afflicted with HIV/AIDS. Under strict confidential conditions, the results received were most encouraging. Artec is engaged in full pursuit of obtaining FDA registration of Tubercin™ in Africa. With ample funding, the success of Artec is within reach...

Source: Health News from Medical News Today | 27 May 2010 | 11:00 pm

Mexico City Journal: Mexico City Puts Corpulent Cops on a Diet

To slim down a force in which three-quarters of the more than 70,000 officers are considered overweight, the powers that be have imposed a rather austere diet at official department eateries.

Source: NYT > Health | 27 May 2010 | 10:41 pm

States Enlist Ultrasound to Raise Bar for Abortions

Anti-abortion groups argue that pre-abortion sonograms can help persuade women to preserve pregnancies.

Source: NYT > Health | 27 May 2010 | 10:16 pm

Food Fight! Battling The Effects Of Unhealthy Diets-with Food!

It affects one in three adults, yet most don't even realize it. Doctors are stymied about how to treat it. Billions of dollars are spent on it-unnecessarily. "It" is metabolic syndrome - the simultaneous occurrence of any three or more of the following five conditions: high blood pressure, high blood sugar, abdominal obesity, low HDL ("good") cholesterol, or high triglycerides-that results from years of poor lifestyle choices, including unhealthy diets and lack of exercise...

Source: Health News from Medical News Today | 27 May 2010 | 10:00 pm

Chlamydia Treated Sooner When Docs Use E-Records (HealthDay)

HealthDay - THURSDAY, May 27 (HealthDay News) -- Switching to electronic medical records can significantly boost how quickly patients with the sexually transmitted disease chlamydia are treated, a new study shows.
Source: Yahoo! News: Health News | 27 May 2010 | 9:49 pm

Genes' Link to Certain Cancers Questioned (HealthDay)

HealthDay - THURSDAY, May 27 (HealthDay News) -- Small sample sizes may undercut the reliability of recent genome studies that seemingly uncovered genetic underpinnings for cancer risk, a Greek-American analysis cautions.
Source: Yahoo! News: Health News | 27 May 2010 | 9:48 pm

Exercise Boosts Health of Cancer Patients (HealthDay)

HealthDay - THURSDAY, May 27 (HealthDay News) - Exercise during and after treatment improves quality of life and eases fatigue for patients battling either breast or prostate cancer, a new study finds.
Source: Yahoo! News: Health News | 27 May 2010 | 9:48 pm

F.D.A. Considers Further Penalties in Drug Recall

A Johnson & Johnson unit that recalled millions of children’s Tylenol bottles may face criminal penalties.

Source: NYT > Health | 27 May 2010 | 9:30 pm

Medicare Pay Cut Appears Destined to Hit on June 1

CMS has already instructed its carriers to hold June claims for the first 10 business days of the month in hopes that lawmakers will postpone the reduction retroactively when they reconvene after the Memorial Day recess.
Medscape Medical News
Source: Medscape Medical News Headlines | 27 May 2010 | 9:13 pm

St. Jude Medical Announces Initiation Of A Study To Evaluate The Economic Impact Of FFR In Europe And Canada

St. Jude Medical, Inc. (NYSE:STJ), a global medical device company, announced today at EuroPCR it will evaluate the incremental cost-effectiveness of Fractional Flow Reserve (FFR)-guided treatment for patients with multivessel coronary artery disease in the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium and Canada. The analysis will also determine FFR's potential health and budget impact for each of the seven countries. FFR measurements indicate the severity of blood flow blockages in the coronary arteries...

Source: Health News from Medical News Today | 27 May 2010 | 9:00 pm

Discovery Could Help Block Yucky Taste of Medicine

Researchers have discovered a chemical that specifically blocks people's ability to detect the bitter aftertaste that comes with artificial sweeteners such as saccharin.
Source: Livescience.com - Health | 27 May 2010 | 8:34 pm

Mental Illness Tied to Immune Defect

Bone marrow transplants cure mutant mice who pull out their hair compulsively.
Source: Livescience.com - Health | 27 May 2010 | 8:31 pm

Brush Your Teeth or Get Heart Disease

People who have poor oral hygiene have an increased risk of heart disease compared to those who brush their teeth twice a day.
Source: Livescience.com - Health | 27 May 2010 | 8:27 pm

Health group: Donor cuts hurting Africa AIDS fight (AP)

AP - Doctors are being forced to turn away people with HIV/AIDS — meaning they will fall ill and almost certainly die — in eight African countries as donors cut funding amid the global economic meltdown, an aid group said Thursday.
Source: Yahoo! News: Health News | 27 May 2010 | 8:27 pm

Tanning Beds Firmly Linked to Skin Cancer

New research definitively links the use of indoor tanning devices to increased risk of melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer.
Source: Livescience.com - Health | 27 May 2010 | 8:24 pm

Ultrasound Can Help Tissue Heal After Surgery

New research suggests ultrasound can help tissue grafts to survive and thrive following surgery.
Source: Livescience.com - Health | 27 May 2010 | 8:20 pm

Selecting High Risk Patients For Heart Screening More Cost-effective Than Government Screening Programme

Using routine data from electronic patient records to select individuals at high risk of developing heart disease, rather than screening all adults aged between 40 and 74 years of age, is just as effective at saving lives but will be cheaper to run, according to research published on bmj.com today. Despite a significant decrease in heart disease in the last twenty years, heart problems remain the leading cause of ill health and death in the UK. Heart disease also costs the UK economy around Â£30 billion every year...

Source: Health News from Medical News Today | 27 May 2010 | 8:00 pm

'Success' of heroin on prescription

Injectable "medical" grade heroin should be offered under supervision to the most hardened addicts, say UK researchers.
Source: BBC News | Health | World Edition | 27 May 2010 | 7:38 pm

Can the snail give an insight into drug addiction?

In an unusual behavioural experiment, scientists use pond snails to study the effects of methamphetamine on the brain.
Source: BBC News | Health | World Edition | 27 May 2010 | 7:35 pm

Is Patient Coding Making Hospitals Appear Better Than They Are?

In this week's BMJ, Nigel Hawkes, freelance journalist and Director of Straight Statistics, a campaign for the better use of statistical data, investigates how the way that patients are allocated diagnostic codes by a hospital can have a big effect on a hospital's performance. It follows two articles published by the BMJ last week arguing that using death rates to judge hospital performance is a bad idea...

Source: Health News from Medical News Today | 27 May 2010 | 7:00 pm

Abbott Announces European Launch Of TREK™ Catheter System, Representing An Advancement In Balloon Technology

Abbott (NYSE: ABT) announced the European approval and launch of its TREK™ Coronary Dilatation Catheter for the treatment of coronary artery disease. The TREK system represents a new approach to balloon catheter design, and provides physicians with a high-performing option for treating challenging lesions and difficult-to-reach blockages. Abbott received CE Mark for the TREK system earlier this year...

Source: Health News from Medical News Today | 27 May 2010 | 6:00 pm

New Finding Adds Weight to Ketogenic Diet for Childhood Seizures

In the largest analysis to date, investigators show the ketogenic diet is effective in about two-thirds of children with persistent seizures.
Medscape Medical News
Source: Medscape Medical News Headlines | 27 May 2010 | 5:41 pm

Glaxo adjuvanted H1N1 shot scores top in children (Reuters)

Reuters - The first head-to-head study comparing swine flu vaccines in Britain found that children given a shot containing a booster, or adjuvant, had a stronger immune response than those receiving one without it.
Source: Yahoo! News: Health News | 27 May 2010 | 5:10 pm

The New England Journal Of Medicine Publishes Results Of Landmark CREST Study, Showing Similar Positive Outcomes For Abbott's Carotid Stent System

Data from the CREST (Carotid Revascularization Endarterectomy vs. Stenting Trial) study were published today in The New England Journal of Medicine. In this trial, stenting and surgery had similar initial safety and longer-term outcomes for symptomatic and asymptomatic men and women. Adverse event rates of death, stroke and heart attack were also similar for both therapies...

Source: Health News from Medical News Today | 27 May 2010 | 5:00 pm

NY man's kidney transplant gave him woman's cancer (AP)

AP - The scenario was unique, as far as doctors could tell: A man had gotten a transplanted kidney from a woman who had uterine cancer and didn't know it.
Source: Yahoo! News: Health News | 27 May 2010 | 4:01 pm

NHS Confederation Response To Queen's Speech

NHS Confederation chief executive Steve Barnett welcomed the announcement of the Queen's speech while re-emphasising the importance of sorting out social care funding. Responding today to the new coalition government's first Queen's Speech, the chief executive of the NHS Confederation, Steve Barnett, said: "The NHS has been aware for sometime of the scale of the challenges it faces in the years to come, and the Queen's Speech confirms that the health sector will have to learn, adapt and change if it is to continue improving standards of care for patients...

Source: Health News from Medical News Today | 27 May 2010 | 4:00 pm

Do Stress or Diet Cause Herpes Outbreaks?

Do diet or stress increase the likelihood of a genital herpes outbreak? Dr. Peter Leone responds.

Source: NYT > Health | 27 May 2010 | 3:23 pm

Detoxifying the Home

A New York “building biology” consultant can evaluate apartments for environmental hazards, checking everything from scented candles to shower heads.

Source: NYT > Health | 27 May 2010 | 3:02 pm

NICE Recommends Gefitinib For Non Small Cell Lung Cancer

In draft guidance, published today (27 May 2010) NICE recommends gefitinib (Iressa) as an option for the first-line treatment of people with locally advanced or metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer if they test positive for the epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase (EGFR-TK) mutation. In its previous draft guidance NICE asked AstraZeneca, the manufacturer of gefitinib to provide more data on the effectiveness and cost effectiveness of its product as a treatment for these types of lung cancer. AstraZeneca provided this data along with a revised patient access scheme...

Source: Health News from Medical News Today | 27 May 2010 | 3:00 pm

Storm over J&J's child drug recall only grows (Reuters)

Reuters - Johnson & Johnson
Source: Yahoo! News: Health News | 27 May 2010 | 2:56 pm

Refining Radial: TALENT Trial Supports Left Radial Approach; Femoral vs Radial Comparable in Separate Study

While US operators dither over whether, how, and when to learn transradial access procedures, interventionalists in other parts of the world are charging ahead with fine-tuning studies, including a new analysis comparing left and right radial access PCI.
Heartwire
Source: Medscape Medical News Headlines | 27 May 2010 | 2:54 pm

ROCKET-AF With Rivaroxaban Enrolls High-Risk Patients

Patients with atrial fibrillation enrolled in the ROCKET-AF trial--looking at whether the novel anticoagulant rivaroxaban is better than warfarin for preventing stroke--are at higher risk of stroke than those who have participated in other recent trials of novel agents for this indication.
Heartwire
Source: Medscape Medical News Headlines | 27 May 2010 | 2:54 pm

Cerebral Embolisms Common But Equal for Transapical And Transfemoral Transcatheter Valve Procedures

Rates of cerebral embolisms associated with TAVI procedures reached 70% for both types of procedure but apparently had no neurological or cognitive correlates.
Heartwire
Source: Medscape Medical News Headlines | 27 May 2010 | 2:54 pm

Some Sexual Lubricants Linked to Increased Risk for Chlamydia, Gonorrhea

Some sexual lubricants can damage vaginal and rectal tissue, and anal use has been associated with an increased incidence of chlamydia and gonorrhea.
Medscape Medical News
Source: Medscape Medical News Headlines | 27 May 2010 | 2:44 pm

Everyday plastic, toxic fears

In fear of toxic waste, chemical exposure, companies and hospitals are halting use of polyvinyl chloride, found in everything from electric cords to medical tubing.

Source: CNN.com - Health | 27 May 2010 | 2:35 pm

Speech Pitch More Variable in Autistic Children Than Typical Children

Autistic children show greater variability in the pitch of their speech compared with typical children, which may give some insight into the mechanisms of the speech deficits in autism.
Medscape Medical News
Source: Medscape Medical News Headlines | 27 May 2010 | 2:23 pm

Skin color affects ability to empathize with pain

Humans are hardwired to feel another person's pain. But they may feel less innate empathy if the other person's skin color doesn't match their own, a new study suggests.

Source: CNN.com - Health | 27 May 2010 | 2:14 pm

Anxiety adds to Gulf workers' health concerns

Stress combined with heat and exposure to chemicals could be among the factors that sent seven Gulf fishermen who were helping with oil cleanup to the hospital Wednesday, experts say.

Source: CNN.com - Health | 27 May 2010 | 2:13 pm

Pediatricians reject all female genital cutting

The American Academy of Pediatrics has rescinded a controversial policy statement raising the idea that doctors in some communities should be able to substitute demands for female genital cutting with a harmless clitoral "pricking" procedure.

Source: CNN.com - Health | 27 May 2010 | 2:11 pm

BioElectronics Corporation Expands Distribution Of Electromagnetic Pain Relief Patches To Russia

BioElectronics Corporation (PINKSHEETS: BIEL), developers of innovative electromagnetic pain-relieving medical devices, announced today that it has expanded distribution of its clinically-proven ActiPatch, Recovery Rx and Allay dermal patch systems to Russia through an agreement with The Netherlands' OMEC B.V. The agreement gives OMEC exclusive distribution rights for the Russian Federation, Belarus and Kazakhstan. To support the new product distribution, OMEC has launched a new entity, Med Inn, specifically for distributing the BioElectronics system...

Source: Health News from Medical News Today | 27 May 2010 | 2:00 pm

High-Intensity Ultrasound Ablation Possible Treatment for Bone Tumors

A Chinese study found that ultrasonography-guided high-intensity focused ultrasound ablation of bone tumors was both feasible and effective, and could be part of a limb-sparing regimen.
Medscape Medical News
Source: Medscape Medical News Headlines | 27 May 2010 | 1:58 pm

Many Psychotropic Medications May Be Bad for Bones

New research shows many psychotropic medications, including SSRIs and antipsychotics, may increase the risk for osteoporosis in a patient population already at high risk for bone mineral density loss.
Medscape Medical News
Source: Medscape Medical News Headlines | 27 May 2010 | 1:57 pm

Report Identifies Ways to Increase Diversity in US Medical Schools

A recent report based on case studies of 2 California universities has identified several key areas that have been helpful in increasing diversity in US medical schools.
Medscape Medical News
Source: Medscape Medical News Headlines | 27 May 2010 | 1:44 pm

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