Kids’ pneumonia jabs cut infant disease too
Since the introduction of the pneumococcal vaccine in 2000 and its recommendation for all children 2 to 23 months old, rates of pneumonia among young infants have declined, new research suggests.
Previous reports have linked use of the vaccine with a drop in pneumococcal disease among children younger than 2 years of age. However, it was unclear if childhood immunization reduced disease rates among infants who were too young to receive the vaccine themselves—namely, those who were just a few months old.
Heavy periods often plague women with migraine
Excessive menstrual bleeding, a problem called menorrhagia, is more common in women who suffer migraine headaches than in women who do not get migraines, research suggests.
Women with migraine also seem to have a higher frequency of endometriosis—an often-painful condition in which tissue that normally lines the uterus is found elsewhere in the abdomen.
Review examines the management of radiotherapy induced rectourethal fistula
Rectourethral fistulas (RUF) are a challenging problem observed by urological and colorectal surgeons.
The etiology of RUF includes previous surgery, trauma, inflammatory processes, congenital defects and radiation to the pelvis. An increase in the number of men presenting with RUF has occurred secondary to the increase in the number of men undergoing brachytherapy or a combination of brachytherapy and external beam radiotherapy for the treatment of prostate cancer. Several approaches to the management of these fistulas have been described but series are small and no consensus regarding management has been achieved.
A recent review by Ken Angermeier and colleagues from the Cleveland Clinic discusses their experience with the management of 22 patients with radiation induced rectourethral fistulas. The review is published in the April 2006 issue of the Journal of Urology.
Moderate drinking may boost cognition in women
In a multi-ethnic sample of older adults living in upper Manhattan, women who reported a moderate alcohol intake achieved higher cognition scores than those who said they did not drink, New York-based researchers report in the journal Stroke.
“We found,” lead researcher Dr. Clinton B. Wright told Reuters Health, “that women who reported drinking between one drink weekly and two daily, had better performance on a global cognitive measure given at the same time as those that reported being never drinkers.”
Wright and colleagues at Columbia University conducted the study in more than 2200 men and women, ranging in age from 62 to 76. Slightly more than half were black, about a quarter were Hispanic and a similar proportion was white.
Study assesses formularies across Medicare drug plans
Medicare’s new private stand-alone drug plans vary significantly - in terms of covered drugs, out-of-pocket costs for specific medications, and restrictions placed on the use of certain drugs - according to a new analysis released today by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
“The drug law was designed to encourage competition among plans, and in that respect, it’s working. But because there are big differences from plan to plan, choice matters,” Kaiser Family Foundation President Drew E. Altman said. “What’s not yet clear is how well people with Medicare can sort through all these differences to make informed decisions.”
Fiber from whole grains may lower diabetes risk
The type of fiber found in whole grains and many vegetables—called insoluble fiber—may help prevent diabetes by improving the body’s use of the blood-sugar-regulating hormone insulin, a small study suggests. The findings, published in Diabetes Care, add to evidence linking cereal fiber to a lower diabetes risk.
Since a decline in insulin sensitivity precedes type 2 diabetes, people may help lower their diabetes risk by getting more insoluble fiber, Dr. Martin Weickert, a researcher at the German Institute of Human Nutrition in Nuthetal who led the study told Reuters Health.
Engineers could aid bird flu vaccine effort
Avian flu experts appealed on Monday to engineers—a group largely left out of flu preparedness efforts—to come up with potential breakthroughs for speeding vaccine production in case of a deadly pandemic.
The hope is that engineers could use their expertise in areas such as assembly lines and production techniques to help vaccine developers jump hurdles.
The matter has gained urgency as the H5N1 flu strain moves quickly among birds in Asia, Europe and Africa. Experts worry it could change to a form that spreads easily among people and kills millions.
