Sexual orientation seen linked to bulimia risk
Sexual orientation may predict future bulimic symptoms, according to new research that hints that non-heterosexual adolescents are at increased risk of bulimia.
The findings also imply that “although popular explanations, such as thin ideal, body dissatisfaction, and poor self-concept, are associated with both sexual orientation and bulimic symptoms, they do not act as mediators,” the author of the study writes in the International Journal of Eating Disorders.
Several studies have found people with gay, lesbian, or bisexual sexual orientation to be at heightened risk of numerous psychiatric disorders and symptoms, including suicide attempts, drug use, anxiety, and depression,
German insurers review Plavix after negative study
German health insurers, under pressure to cut costs amid reforms, are considering whether to restrict prescription guidelines for Sanofi-Aventis’s blood thinner Plavix in a move that could harm the drug’s sales.
A spokeswoman for the Joint Committee (B-GA), the self-regulating body of German health insurers, said on Tuesday it was reviewing a report it had commissioned from an independent research institute which questions the benefits of Plavix for certain patients.
The German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Healthcare (IQWiG) said clopidogrel, marketed by Sanofi-Aventis and Bristol-Myers Squibb as Plavix or Iscover, offered no benefits over aspirin when used alone as a preventative treatment for conditions resulting from arterial diseases.
More tests confirm low-risk bird flu in Michigan
A second round of tests on swans in Michigan confirmed the birds have a low-pathogenic strain of H5N1 and not the deadly avian influenza virus that has killed more than 141 people in Asia, Europe and Africa, the U.S. Agriculture Department said on Monday.
Routine tests conducted in a Michigan gaming area earlier this month found two of about 20 swans had what was believed to be a low-pathogenic strain of H5N1.
“Genetic testing confirms that these swans were not carrying the highly pathogenic strain of H5N1 avian influenza that is circulating overseas,” USDA said in a statement.
Sleep apnea in middle age raises heart disease risk
Obstructive sleep apnea in middle-aged adults may increase the risk of coronary artery disease by up to five-fold, research in Sweden suggests. However, successful treatment of the sleep apnea significantly cuts that risk.
Although evidence supports ties between sleep apnea—that is, brief but frequent episodes during the night when breathing becomes blocked—and coronary artery disease, a causal relationship has not been established, Dr. Yuksel Peker and his colleagues at Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Goteborg note. The concomitant presence of other illnesses further complicates the ability to delineate cause and effect.
For their study, Peker’s team identified 308 middle-age individuals (ages 30 to 69 years) who had been evaluated for obstructive sleep apnea in 1991 and were free of any heart disease at baseline. Nearly one-third (n=105) patients had documented obstructive sleep apnea.
Obesity might lead to more aggressive ovarian cancer
Obesity might cause an increase in deaths related to ovarian cancer, according to a study published in the Aug. 28 edition of the journal Cancer, the New York Times reports.
Andrew Li, assistant ob-gyn professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of California-Los Angeles, and colleagues reviewed the medical records—which included information about the women’s age, height, weight and chronic conditions—of 216 women who underwent surgery for epithelial ovarian cancer at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles to determine whether excess fat had a direct effect on tumor growth (Bakalar, New York Times, 8/29). Thirty-five of the women were considered obese, which was defined as having a body mass index of 30 and greater, and half of the women had an ideal BMI (BBC News, 8/28). Women with BMIs of between 18.5 and 25.0 were defined as having an ideal BMI, according to the study (Pavelka et al., Cancer, 8/28).
Finger workout may help scleroderma sufferers
Finger-stretching exercises can improve range of motion in the joints of individuals who suffer from scleroderma (also known as systemic sclerosis)—a chronic disease that causes skin thickening and tightening and the formation of scar tissue.
“Our results indicate that rehabilitation by stretching of the fingers may be effective for improving and maintaining hand function,” the study team concludes in the Journal of Rheumatology.
Dr. Minoru Hasegawa, of Kanazawa University Graduate School of Medical Science, Ishikawa, Japan, and colleagues assessed the efficacy of self-administered stretching of each finger in 32 patients with diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis and 13 with limited cutaneous systemic sclerosis.
13,000 plus wild birds in Alaska tested, no bird flu found
Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns and Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne has announced that their departments and the State of Alaska have tested more than 13,000 wild migratory birds for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 in Alaska.
No HPAI H5N1-a virus that has killed wild birds, commercial poultry and more than 140 people in Asia, Europe and Africa-has been detected in any of the Alaska samples.
“Guided by the national wild bird surveillance and early detection plan, our collaborative efforts have comprehensively sampled and tested high-priority species throughout Alaska,” said Secretary Kempthorne, who this week is visiting a sampling camp near Barrow, Alaska.
Mental illness up among Katrina survivors: study
Hurricane Katrina doubled the rate of serious mental illness in areas ravaged by the storm but the urge to commit suicide fell, partly because survivors bonded with each other, a Harvard-led study said on Monday.
Billed as the biggest mental health study yet after Katrina killed about 1,500 people along the Gulf Coast, the survey showed that 15 percent of 1,043 survivors were diagnosed with a serious mental illness five to eight months after the storm.
That figure suggests about 200,000 people from Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi face serious mental illness because of Katrina, with about a third suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome and the remainder depression, said Ronald Kessler, the study’s lead researcher.
