UK plans mass vaccination against pandemic flu
Britain plans to buy enough vaccine to protect the entire population in case a deadly bird flu virus develops into a pandemic strain capable of killing millions of people, the government said on Wednesday.
Chief Medical Officer Liam Donaldson said vaccine manufacturers are being invited to tender contracts to supply 120 million doses, enough for two shots per person, once the pandemic strain is known.
Many young children don’t get enough sleep
A survey being released on Wednesday shows what millions of groggy parents already know: Many babies and toddlers do not get enough sleep.
Twenty-six percent of parents of children up to four years old said in a recent survey that their child gets less than enough sleep. The survey was commissioned by Pampers and conducted with the nonprofit National Sleep Foundation (NSF).
Cardiologist says Vioxx plaintiff had risk factors
A postal worker who blames Merck & Co Inc.’s Vioxx painkiller for his heart attack was under work-related stress just prior to the 2001 attack, a cardiologist testifying for the drug company said on Tuesday.
Dr. Theodore Tyberg told jurors in the second Vioxx product liability trial that stress and pre-existing factors such as age, weight and a sedentary lifestyle—not Vioxx—likely led to Frederick “Mike” Humeston’s non-fatal heart attack.
Heart drug therapy complex, costly for elderly
Because elderly patients with heart failure are faced with ever more complex and expensive medication regimens, more effort should go into optimizing their treatment, according to a new report.
“Physicians should be aware of the drug regimens they are expecting their patients to take,” Dr. Frederick A. Masoudi from Denver Health Medical Center, Colorado told Reuters Health. “They should consider the number of drugs they prescribe, the complexity of these regimens, and what their patients must pay to obtain them.”
Rapid surgery not needed for prostate cancer
After a positive biopsy result for prostate cancer, surgical removal of the prostate (radical prostatectomy) does not need to be performed immediately, at least as far as the risk of recurrence is concerned, according to a report in the urology journal BJU International.
“Most surgeons prefer to wait a minimum of 2 months after the biopsy before surgery to allow the post-biopsy inflammation to resolve,” Dr. James A. Eastham from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York told Reuters Health. “Such a wait does not influence outcomes and is not concerning.”
Worried about bird flu? Wash your hands
Little can be done to prevent an outbreak of bird flu if it comes in the next year or so before vaccine production can get started, health experts caution, but they say common sense measures can help individuals protect themselves.
Number one is hand-washing, they say—a surprisingly effective way to prevent all sorts of diseases, including ordinary influenza and the H5N1 virus that everyone now fears may jump into humans and cause a catastrophic pandemic.
Gastric Bypass: Let the Morbidly Obese Beware
Gastric bypass surgery is on the rise, and so too are the rates of hospitalizations and early postoperative deaths related to complications.
So reported researchers in three studies published in the Oct. 19 issue of Journal of the American Medical Association.
Study finds Australia veterans in poorer health
Australia’s surviving Korean War veterans are in poorer health than the rest of the community and are more likely to suffer depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, a new study has found.
The study for Australia’s Department of Veterans Affairs, released on Tuesday, found that 50 years after the conflict, Korean War veterans also had lower life satisfaction and a poorer quality of life compared with other Australian men of the same age.
Stimulating play helps growth-stunted kids
Mental and social stimulation through play early in life appears to have lasting benefits in poorly nourished children with growth retardation.
According to a study in The Lancet this week, mental stimulation at 9 to 24 months of age among a group of growth-stunted Jamaican children led to improved cognitive function and better academic performance in high school.
Obesity linked to higher Alzheimer’s disease risk
Obese middle-aged adults may face an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia later in life, new research suggests.
Exactly why obesity is linked to dementia is not completely clear, but the higher rates of high blood pressure, high cholesterol and other conditions that are common among obese adults seem to offer a partial explanation.
Twins More Likely to Have Premature Ovarian Failure
Twins have a higher risk of premature ovarian failure than women in general, researchers reported here today.
What’s more, it’s relatively common for one twin to have ovarian failure years before her sister, said Roger Gosden, Ph.D., of Weill Cornell Medical College in New York.
Laparoscopic Surgery Staves Off Severe GERD Symptoms Over Long Haul
Laparoscopic anti-reflux surgery has proved to be a highly effective and long-lasting treatment for severe gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).
At least five years after undergoing one of three types of laparoscopic fundoplication, 93% of the 1,340 severe GERD patients said they were highly satisfied with the operation, French investigators wrote in the October issue of Archives of Surgery.
Beta-Blockers Called Poor Choice for Hypertension
Beta-blockers are no better at preventing heart attacks in patients with hypertension than other agents, and are less effective at preventing strokes, investigators here reported.
A meta-analysis of 13 randomized controlled trials involving nearly 106,000 patients, published online today in The Lancet by Swedish investigators, found that the relative risk of stroke was 16% higher for beta-blockers compared with other drugs.
