Health The SRA

U.S. Medical demolish myths about insulin

2009-09-02T23:30:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The people who are newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes are reluctant to start using insulin because they fear gaining weight or experience other problems, so doctors often avoid starting hormone therapy immediately .

But a new study suggests that such fears are without foundation.

The insulin should not be considered a last resort treatment, "he wrote in the journal Diabetes Care Team Ildiko Lingvay Medical Center, University of Texas at Dallas.

In the experience of the authors, the insulin can be used safely and effectively as first choice in people with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes and high rates of satisfaction and adherence.

"This study removes the myths of insulin in type 2 diabetes," said Lingvay told Reuters Health.

Over 20 million Americans have type 2 diabetes. Obesity and physical inactivity increase the risk of developing it.

The standard initial treatment for type 2 diabetes includes a single agent, usually metformin, which helps regulate blood sugar levels, followed by the addition of other drugs to reduce blood sugar as needed.

The researchers studied the effectiveness of insulin therapy as initial treatment in patients who are newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes.

The authors compared the level of adherence, satisfaction, effectiveness, safety and quality of life of 58 patients who were randomly assigned a standardized therapy with three drugs or insulin plus metformin.

After three years, patients using insulin plus metformin had less drops in blood sugar levels (hypoglycemia), gained less weight and expressed greater satisfaction with insulin.

In fact, all insulin-treated patients said they wanted to continue the same treatment after the study.

"Insulin is the most effective agent (to reduce blood sugar) in our therapeutic armamentarium. With the new devices available, inject insulin is not more complicated than taking a pill," said Lingvay in a university statement.

The study, Lingvay told Reuters Health, suggests that insulin is "a safe, effective, well tolerated and accepted for the long-term treatment of type 2 diabetes, even from the first day of diagnosis."

Pfizer will pay 2,300 million dollars in settlement

2009-09-02T23:28:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. agreed Wednesday to pay 2,300 million dollars to settle for civil and criminal charges because of the way some drugs marketed.

The world's biggest drugmaker was hit with significant fines after it was found that drugs had been illegally promoted among patients and physicians, with conditions that were not approved by health authorities.

Pfizer had been convicted in 2004 of another criminal charge because of their sales tactics, so their marketing practices had been under the federal microscope ever since.

Pfizer, which is acquiring rival Wyeth, had warned in January by 2,300 million dollars for the resolution of charges involving Bextra and other drugs, but at that time provided no details.

The agreement was disclosed by the Justice Department and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

"The size and seriousness of this resolution, including the huge criminal fine of $ 1,300 million, reflecting the seriousness and scope of the crimes of Pfizer," said Mike Loucks, Acting District Attorney in Massachusetts.

The agreement announced Wednesday by Pfizer includes a criminal fine of $ 1,300 million related to methods of sales of Bextra, an arthritis drug that was withdrawn in 2005 because of safety concerns.

The deal also includes civil payment of $ 1,000 million related to sales of drugs to alternative uses authorized by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA for its acronym in English), and payments to health professionals.

"We regret certain actions of the past, but we are proud of what we did to strengthen our internal controls," said Amy Schulman, Pfizer's lawyer.

The deal would be the largest ever for accusations of improperly marketed prescription drugs, up from U.S. $ 1,420 million it agreed to pay Eli Lilly and Co. earlier this year by sales of its Zyprexa schizophrenia drug to no purpose authorized.

Pfizer said it would pay $ 503 million to settle practices involving Bextra $ 301 million associated with its schizophrenia treatment Geodon, $ 98 million for the antibiotic Zyvox, and about 50 million dollars over the painkiller Lyrica.

The company said most of the alleged improper actions took place before 2005. CEO Jeffrey Kindler had been Pfizer's chief legal officer since 2002 and took command of the company in 2006.

One in 10 heavy drinkers leads in U.S.: study

2009-09-02T23:21:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - More than 10 percent of U.S. adults who have drinking habits compulsive admits driving after drinking, according to a government study.

Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC for its acronym in English) found that among more than 14,000 Americans who reported binge drinking, 12 per cent had driven within two hours after his latest binge.

In more than half the cases, the driver had been drinking alcohol at a bar, club or restaurant.

Driving drunk or after taking a lot of alcohol is a major public health problem in the U.S., given that the country produced 1,500 million episodes of compulsive use of alcohol a year. Compulsive use is defined as taking five or more drinks on one occasion.

What was unclear was how often alcoholic people were placed behind the wheel, told Reuters Health Dr. Timothy Naimi, alcohol program epidemiologist at the CDC.

After describing the results of his team as "disappointing" Naimi said he also "light up a warning about the shared responsibility of individuals, government and retail outlets that sell alcohol at the time that people avoid alcoholic lead.

"Of course, individual responsibility is important (...) but that's what everyone is talking about," said Naimi.

The expert said that there are laws in almost all U.S. states prohibit establishments that sell alcohol to a person who is drunk. "But these are some of the laws openly flouted and ignored more we have," he added.

Most shops licensed to sell alcohol are monitored infrequently, according to Naimi, and the penalties for most serve alcoholic beverages to persons would be weak.

Because the frequency of traffic incidents caused by drunkenness at these facilities, efforts to prevent vehicles driving by alcoholic persons "should focus on improving responsible beverage service," concluded the experts at the CDC.

"Governments and institutions have to create environments that help people make good decisions," Naimi ended.

New York will provide free vaccines against H1N1 students

2009-09-02T00:36:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK (Reuters) - All New York elementary students can get vaccinated for free against seasonal flu and H1N1 pandemic strain this fall and winter, according to a plan announced Tuesday by Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
The vaccines are part of the New York strategy to combat the pandemic of H1N1 influenza that hit hard in the city during the spring, by infecting about 800,000 people or nearly 10 percent of its population.

The Centers for Disease Control and Disease Prevention (CDC for its acronym in English) urged local health departments and state to prepare plans to vaccinate up to the second wave of disease that is expected at a time that autumn and winter approaching in the northern hemisphere.

Are being conducted safety tests on the vaccine against H1N1 pandemic strain and is expected to be available on dosage for the second half of October, according to the CDC. These tests determine whether one or two doses required to take the necessary immunity against the virus.

Five companies are developing the vaccine for the U.S. market: AstraZeneca's MedImmune unit, CSL Ltd, GlaxoSmithKline Plc, Novartis AG and Sanofi-Aventis SA.

According to the latest figures from the World Health Organization (WHO), H1N1 influenza pandemic killed at least 2185 people worldwide since it began spreading rapidly among human beings in April.

Since this is a new virus, more people are susceptible to disease and WHO predicts that in coming months could become infected 2,000 million people.

Unlike seasonal flu that strikes mostly the elderly, popularly known as swine influenza disproportionately affects young people.

U.S. researchers reported on Tuesday that the new virus appears to be dominant against seasonal flu, which makes it less prone to mix with other strains of influenza circulating and becoming a "super" as feared by some scientists.

Habitual drinkers do more exercise: study

2009-09-02T00:34:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Drinking and exercise go hand in hand.

Researchers found that people who regularly enjoy a beer or a glass of wine got more exercise than the nondrinkers. And those who pass one or two drinks per day would be the most active.

Using data from an official survey on the health of U.S. adults, the authors found that, overall, the amount of time people spent the year tended to grow with the amount of alcohol consumed monthly.

In contrast to abstainers, consumers in excess (at least 46 drinks in the past month for women and 76 or more for men) took 20 minutes more per week.

Meanwhile, moderate drinkers, including women who consumed 15-45 drinks per month and men who consumed 30-75 drinks, did 10 minutes of exercise per week.

The moderate and excessive drinkers were also more likely to say they did vigorous exercise, like jogging, light drinkers or nondrinkers, American Journal of Health Promotion.

Unlike non-drinkers, adults in both groups were 14 percent more likely to say they were doing intense exercise a week.

The results do not mean that drinking is key to initiate active lifestyles.

"I would tell him that nondrinkers start drinking or light drinkers who consume alcohol in excess to increase exercise," he told Reuters Health the study's lead author, Dr. Michael T. French, University of Miami.

But, he added, the fact that people who drink different amounts are generally more active than non-drinkers is a result "that is worth further exploration.

A likely cause of that relationship, French said, is that some drinkers using the exercise to offset the calories from alcohol. You may drink "responsibly" is an indicator of healthy lifestyle.

In this case, excessive drinking for some people would be part of a lifestyle in search of sensations, "the team said.

Some heavy drinkers could, for example, be one of those people who tend to do adventure activities outdoors, including skiing or climbing mountains. Others would team sports, which usually include a visit to the bar after the game.

French noted that excessive alcohol consumption and abuse, which includes all harmful habit for work, relationships or health of a person, have "serious psychological and physical consequences."

Furthermore, moderate alcohol consumption is associated with potential health benefits, such as reduced cardiac risk.

While some of that could be attributed to the lifestyle of moderate drinkers, who, according to the study, including more exercise, the literature also attributed to alcohol some direct benefits such as increased HDL cholesterol or "good."

For these potential benefits and reduce the likelihood of injury, experts recommend that women drink no more than one drink per day and men no more than two.

CORRECTED-It is unlikely that H1N1 strain will mutate into "super"

2009-09-02T00:29:00.000-07:00

(Corrects to clarify that the mixture with other strains could create a "super" and not a superbug and was conveyed by mistake)

By Julie Steenhuysen

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The new H1N1 virus seems to dominate the seasonal flu, which makes it less prone to mix with other strains circulating and become a "super" as some feared, U.S. researchers said Tuesday.

The H1N1 strain, the so-called swine flu, also expands faster and cause more severe disease in animal studies, said the team, but no signs of mixing with either seasonal virus circulation to form a new one, called recombinant.

"The results suggest that the 2009 H1N1 influenza strains exceed a seasonal flu virus and would also more contagious, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health States USA.

The research, conducted with ferrets by a team from the University of Maryland, highlights the need to vaccinate against the new influenza pandemic, Fauci said in a statement.

When the computer has infected the animals with the current H1N1 virus over the seasonal H1N1 or H3N2, both the sick, but only the pandemic will spread to other ferrets, suggesting that it is dominant.

"The H1N1 pandemic virus has a clear biological advantage on the two major strains of seasonal influenza and all characteristics of a virus fully adapted to humans," he said in a statement Daniel Perez, University of Maryland.

"I'm not surprised to find that the pandemic virus is more infectious, simply because it is new, so guests have not been able to generate immunity. Meanwhile, other strains against the resistance imposed by the immunity of the guests" said Perez.

The researchers also found that the pandemic strain generated deep infections of the respiratory tract of ferrets, including the lungs, while seasonal influenza remained concentrated in the nasal passages.

This confirmed the observations in humans.

"The results of this study are preliminary, but the marked increased transmission of the pandemic virus is clearly flashing warning light," he added.

Hardly anyone IMMUNIZATIONS

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that one third of the global population suffering from end popularly known as swine flu.

Seasonal flu infects about 5 to 20 percent of a given population per year, but 90 percent of severe cases and deaths occur among the elderly.

In contrast, H1N1 pandemic flu seriously affects mainly young people, people with underlying illnesses and pregnant women.

The seasonally kills 250,000 to 500,000 people worldwide.

Since almost nobody has immunity against the new pandemic virus, experts believe that the disease will infect more people than usual, almost a third of the population.

Five companies are developing the pandemic influenza vaccine for the U.S. market: AstraZeneca's MedImmune unit, CSL Ltd, GlaxoSmithKline Plc, Novartis AG and Sanofi-Aventis SA.

The tests will determine whether they needed one or two doses to be protected.

Asians and Westerners see emotions differently

2009-09-01T01:42:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The eyes and mouth would not the real window to the soul, at least in Asia, suggests a new study published in the journal Current Biology.

The team of Dr. Rachael E. Jack, of the University of Glasgow, Scotland, did some work with small cameras to track eye movements of 13 European university students and 13 Japanese and Chinese students as they watched faces representing seven different emotions.

The researchers found that while Europeans looked both eyes and mouth, Asian focused almost exclusively on the eyes.

The team conducted the study to better understand why Asians would cost more than their Western recognize facial expressions "negative" as it revealed several studies.

Conventional wisdom, they said, indicates that facial expressions are a universal language, in which a frightened face and a happy mean the same to everyone regardless of cultural origin.

The team gathered 12 Chinese and one Japanese students to participate in the study. They had just come to college to study, for a week that were in the country and none had been before in a Western country.

The images used by the team included the eastern and western sides expressing "happiness", "surprise", "fear", "disgust", "anger", "sadness" and "neutral emotion.

The eye-tracking revealed that Asians spend the most time looking into the eyes, while Westerners divided their attention between the eyes and mouth.

Asian participants made more errors than Westerners in the categorization of emotions expressed, especially by confusing fear, surprise, anger and discomfort.

Jack told Reuters Health that's probably because the eyes of a person angry or annoyed look pretty similar, as happens to a person caught or scared.

The team is investigating how these emotions look at the Eastern and Western.

"The results can be represented very well by the smilies that are used to represent emotions in cyberspace," said Jack. For example, he added, a Westerner would use:) to represent a happy face, whereas an Eastern write ^. ^

For the heart, it is best to eat less carbohydrates: study

2009-09-01T01:35:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Reducing the amount of calories, and by reducing fat or carbohydrate, helps you lose weight, but a new study suggests that fewer carbohydrates approach would be more effective in reducing cardiac risk factors.

The results of the study of 200 overweight adults, who were followed for one year, provide evidence that low-carbohydrate diets were more effective in reducing certain risk factors for heart disease, such as high levels of blood fats ( triglycerides) and increased waist size.

Still, the authors contend that the real key to success is to choose a reduced-calorie diet with which one can live in the long term.

The study, published in the journal Cardiovascular Diabetology, said a weight-loss program that is offered "telemedicine", ie, with patients receiving the advice of a nutritionist over the phone and weekly weight sending via mobile phone messaging.

All were said to reduce at least 500 calories in the diet. Half reduced carbs: less than 40 percent of the calories came from carbohydrates, 35 percent fat and 25 percent protein.

The other half of the group reduced fat intake: less than 55 percent of daily calories coming from carbohydrates, less than 30 percent fat and 15 percent protein.

The team, led by Sabine Frisch, Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, discussed the progress of patients at six and 12 months of starting the program.

The authors found that both groups lost weight: at 12 months, about 5.9 pounds with the diet low in carbohydrates and about 4.3 pounds with low-fat diet.

With regard to cardiac risk factors, the group that decreased carbohydrate consumption in one year achieved a greater reduction in average blood pressure and waist size.

Moreover, six months improved triglycerides and HDL cholesterol, although these benefits disappeared a year.

But while the carbohydrate-restricted diet outperformed the low-fat diet, participants in both groups began to regain some of the pounds they had lost. After six months, the average increase was about 1.8 kg for both groups.

That, he wrote the team, stresses the importance of long-term dietary changes.

"Adherence to a weight loss program a success factor would be even more important than the composition of the diet to prevent and treat obesity," they added.

Small bites, chew longer reduces caloric intake

2009-09-01T00:53:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Many weight loss programs suggest that smaller bites and chew savor a little more help to eat less and now a group of scientists was able to confirm this.

Keep food in the mouth longer caters more to the senses and satisfy the senses when we tend to eat less, summed up the team Cees de Graaf, Wageningen University, Netherlands.

Previous studies have shown that eating smaller bites made meals slower, but not necessarily altered food.

The new research, published in American Journal of Clinical Nutrition shows that eating small bites and savor them longer "significantly reduced food intake.

The authors met eight men and 14 women from around 21 years old who liked the chocolate custard. I did consume quantities of custard covered by silicone tubing.

The team found that those who ate snacks tended to eat less. The same thing happened to keep food in the mouth longer. The average consumption of 42 grams custard decreased when food was still in the mouth for 9 seconds when savored for less time.

The idea that exposing the senses to the food for longer, to leave her in the mouth longer, faster satiety and, therefore, eat smaller portions will seem viable, the researchers said.

The team suggests further studies in a real environment and with other foods.

Muchos adolescentes comparten sus fármacos de venta bajo receta

2009-08-31T01:01:00.000-07:00

NUEVA YORK (Reuters Health) - Una nueva encuesta revela que muchos adolescentes compartirían con sus amigos los fármacos de venta bajo receta, lo que los pondría en riesgo de sufrir efectos adversos o de que alguna enfermedad pase inadvertida.

En el sondeo, realizado a 592 personas de entre 12 y 17 años de todo Estados Unidos, el 20 por ciento admitió que le había prestado un fármaco de venta bajo receta a un amigo, mientras que un porcentaje similar dijo que le había pedido prestado un fármaco a un amigo.

Los medicamentos más utilizados fueron los antialérgicos y los analgésicos narcóticos, como Oxycontin y Darvocet, seguidos de los antibióticos, los remedios para el acné, como Accutane, y los fármacos para regular el estado anímico, como los antidepresivos y los ansiolíticos.

Es más, el estudio demostró que tres cuartos de los participantes que habían pedido prestado un medicamento dijeron que lo habían hecho en lugar de consultar a un médico.

Algunos hasta se habían trasladado hasta el consultorio, pero, en el 40 por ciento de los casos, no pudieron mencionar el fármaco utilizado.

Los resultados, publicados en Journal of Adolescent Health, apuntan también a los riesgos potenciales de seguridad que enfrentan los adolescentes cuando comparten las recetas médicas.

Menos de la mitad dijo que el medicamento que le habían prestado incluía instrucciones escritas de cómo usarlo de manera segura. Y más de un tercio de los adolescentes que había pedido recetas prestadas señaló haber tenido una reacción alérgica u otro efecto adverso.

Pero los adolescentes no son los únicos que practican el intercambio de recetas.

Estudios previos habían sugerido que casi el 40 por ciento de los adultos en Estados Unidos había prestado o pedido prestado un medicamento a algún familiar o amigo.

"Sin embargo, antes de nuestro estudio, nadie había preguntado con qué frecuencia ellos compartían los fármacos, cuáles compartían y con qué resultados", explicó el autor principal del estudio, doctor Richard Goldsworthy, de Academic Edge Inc., en Indiana.

Los resultados, concluyó el equipo de Goldsworthy, sugieren que los médicos tienen que hablar con los pacientes adolescentes sobre los riesgos de usar las recetas de terceros.

Dada la alta tasa de intercambio de fármacos recetados entre los adultos, muchos padres también deberían poner en práctica esa recomendación, señalaron los autores.

Además, son necesarios esfuerzos más amplios, como campañas de salud pública o advertencias en los envoltorios de los fármacos sobre el intercambio de medicamentos.

Prostate cancer is diagnosed earlier; ethnic gap narrows

2009-08-31T00:59:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Prostate cancer is being diagnosed at older ages and at an earlier stage than years ago and ethnic divide in the detection phase decreased significantly, published a computer in Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

"Traditionally, prostate cancer in African-Americans are diagnosed later than whites, and that group is more likely to die from the disease, told Reuters Health the study co-author Dr. Grace L. Lu-Yao of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, New Brunswick.

The Lu-Yao team analyzed data from the period 2004-2005 a program called Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program, which includes most of 82,500 patients with prostate cancer. The authors compared this cohort with patients diagnosed in 1988-1989 and 1996-1997.

The average age at time of diagnosis decreased from 72 years in 1988-1989 to 67 in 2004-2005 and the rate of advanced disease declined from 53 to eight per 100,000 persons among whites and from 91 to 13 per 100,000 between African Americans.

According to data from 2004-2005, the vast majority of men had been diagnosed when the disease had not spread yet, Lu-Yao said.

Lu-Yao attributed to the routine analysis of prostate specific antigen (PSA) early diagnosis.

While some medical associations recommend that test, U.S. Preventive Services Task Force concluded that the available evidence is insufficient to assess the balance between benefits and harms of control of prostate cancer diagnosis in men younger than 75, "adding that those over 75 years should not be doing checks routine.

Doubts about the routine control arise from the fact that many prostate cancers are slow growing and would not be fatal, while the treatment may have significant adverse effects on patients.

The new study is the first national survey that documents that the ethnic gap in cancer stage at diagnosis, tumor decreased significantly between 1988 and 2005, "said Lu-Yao.

It remains to be seen whether the reduction of ethnic difference in the appearance of advanced prostate cancer will lead to less gap in mortality from the disease, "Lu-Yao finished.

Many health workers would not apply an H1N1 vaccine

2009-08-31T00:53:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Although the trials did not create "red flags" about the safety of potential vaccines against pandemic influenza, surveys and focus groups show that health workers and members of the population would not apply the vaccine.
In the BMJ, to Dr. Paul K. S. Chan of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, wrote that "in almost all countries with an emergency plan (for a pandemic), health workers are the group with a focus on mass vaccination.

In May, when the World Health Organization (WHO) raised the alert level to phase 5, which meant that the pandemic was imminent, the authors distributed questionnaires to 810 public hospital workers, mainly doctors and nurses in Hong Kong.

Then, the level rose to Phase 6 pandemic.

Less than half (48 percent) of the 389 practitioners who returned the questionnaire said it would accept pre-pandemic vaccine against the H1N1 virus.

The most common reason was the potential adverse effects, followed by questions about the effectiveness of the vaccine and the certainty that "was not yet the right time to get vaccinated.

"That is especially surprising in a city where the SARS outbreak had such an impact," the team.

Those who had applied the seasonal flu vaccine were more likely to accept immunization receive the new, currently under development and evaluation and implementation of which would be available from October.

In a related editorial, Drs Rachel Jordan of the University of Birmingham, and Andrew Hayward, of University College London, said that to increase the use of the vaccine, "as indicated would be the use of cell phone systems .

This would allow monitoring and feedback and to know why health workers refuse to receive the vaccine.

Meanwhile, in an article published in the online edition of Emerging Health Threats Journal, very few participants from 85 focus groups studied in British Columbia said they would accept immunization in the event of a pandemic. Very few people reported that they or their children would be vaccinated.

Many participants were concerned about the risk of infection versus the risks of using newly developed vaccine, the doctors wrote Natalie Henrich, University of British Columbia, and Bev J. Holmes, Simon Fraser University in Vancouver.

"Participants questioned whether the new vaccines (due to) the concern to hurry to enter the market unsafe products for the health crisis," said the authors.

Focus groups were conducted before the current H1N1 pandemic in 2006 and 2007.

However, many people believed they could protect themselves through their behavior, such as washing hands frequently, avoid crowded places and contact with sick people, and eat well to keep in good repair the immune system.

Limit food to children could combat obesity

2009-08-29T09:06:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Are you trying to control the weight of your child by imposing certain limits with food? That approach apparently ancient and common sense can be counterproductive, especially in children with impulse control problems, a new study.
The research was published in The Journal of Pediatrics.

While girls who participated in the study and could not control their impulses were most likely to be overweight than those more self-control, they also perceived that their parents were strongly restrictive feeding had a greater risk, the team found Stephanie L . Anzman and Leann L. Birch.

The experts working at the Center for Childhood Obesity Research at Pennsylvania State University, USA.

The results secured Anzman and Birch, support the idea that helping children learn how to regulate their own food, rather than imposing strict regulations, they would maintain a healthy weight.

And for children who need guidance, Anzman said in a press release issued by the magazine that parents should offer their children healthy options and just avoid the junk food at home.

"The attempts of parents to help children with self-control problems by imposing limits access to your favorite foods can also make food banned from becoming even more attractive and, therefore, increase the problem," says Anzman.

Good parenting takes into account the "behavioral style" of the child, Anzman and Birch said in the statement, and previous studies have shown that boys with problems regulating their behaviors do worse when their parents are stricter.

To understand the role of parenting style in guiding children so they can live in "environment prone to obesity" prevailing today without gaining weight, the authors studied 197 non-Hispanic white girls aged 5 to 15 years.

The team interviewed the girls and their families every two years.

When small they were 7 years, the authors consulted with mothers about their daughters' ability to control themselves.

They asked, for example, if the girl was bound to do something when asked if he could avoid it or smile or laugh in inappropriate situations. None of the 13 questions was to food.

The children answered a questionnaire on parental attitudes toward food, which included questions like "If you want a treat," Mom let's eat? ".

One in five girls were overweight at age 15. The lower level was the self of a girl at age 7, the greater your body mass index (BMI) at 7 and the rest of the ages at which participants were checked.

Small with less self at 7 were the most weighed at age 15. The findings held even after the authors took into account BMI at age 5.

And the relationship between low self-control and a high BMI was stronger in girls whose parents tighter limits lunchtime.

"The results indicate that the combination of a high level of restriction with low inhibitory control expelled the group most at risk, showing that some people would be more likely to have weight problems than others, yet they share the same kind of upbringing "Anzman and said Birch.

It is possible, they added, that a restrictive upbringing did not enhance the risk of obesity in children with a better self-control of impulses, while boys are more troubles to achieve can stay away from obesity if their parents can guide them without being restrictive.

Many teens share their prescription drugs

2009-08-29T09:05:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A new survey reveals that many adolescents share with their friends the prescription drugs, which would put them at risk for adverse effects or disease that go unnoticed.
In the poll conducted for 592 people between 12 and 17 years across the United States, 20 percent admitted that he had given a drug prescription to a friend, while a similar percentage said that he had borrowed a drug to a friend.

The most used drugs were the anti-allergic and narcotic analgesics such as Oxycontin and Darvocet, followed by antibiotics, remedies for acne, like Accutane, and drugs to regulate mood, such as antidepressants and anxiolytics.

Moreover, the study showed that three quarters of the participants who had borrowed a drug said they had done instead of consulting a doctor.

Some had even been taken to the office, but in 40 per cent of cases, they could not mention the drug used.

The findings, published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, also point to potential safety risks that teens face when sharing prescriptions.

Less than half said that the medicine the doctor had given written instructions included how to use it safely. And over a third of teens who had requested recipes said he had borrowed an allergic reaction or other side effects.

But teens are not alone engage in exchange of recipes.

Previous studies have suggested that nearly 40 percent of U.S. adults had loaned or borrowed a medication to a family member or friend.

"However, before our study, no one had asked how often they shared the drugs, which they shared and with what results," said lead study author, Dr. Richard Goldsworthy, Academic Edge, Inc. in Indiana.

The results, Goldsworthy and colleagues conclude, suggest that doctors need to talk with teenage patients about the risks of using the recipes of others.

Given the high rate of exchange of prescription drugs among adults, many parents also should implement this recommendation, the authors said.

In addition, broader efforts are needed, such as public health campaigns and warnings on the packaging of drugs on the exchange of drugs.

SOURCE: Journal of Adolescent Health, online August 3, 2009

Many health workers would not apply an H1N1 vaccine

2009-08-29T09:00:00.000-07:00

Veteran's adults does not predispose to suicide

2009-08-28T06:21:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - New research conducted among middle-aged Americans and older followed for more than 20 years, found that suicide risk is no higher or lower in veterans.

Previous studies have provided conflicting evidence on the risk of suicide in veterans, as opposed to non-veterans, according to Dr. Matthew Miller, School of Public Health at Harvard, Boston.

The study, published in American Journal of Epidemiology, compared the suicide rates of a group of 337,637 veterans and 161,719 non-veteran, 57 years on average. All were men.

Between 1982 and 2004, 1248 veterans committed suicide (0.4 percent of all veterans in the study). In the group of non-veterans, also committed suicide by 0.4 percent (614 men).

Comparing suicide rates by age, the researchers found no significant difference between veterans and non veterans.

Nor did the difference in rates of suicide among veterans and non veterans to perform analysis taking into account ethnicity, religion, place of residence, cessation, body mass, physical activity and consumption of alcohol and drugs.

There was no difference after considering the status and close personal relationships, education, adverse experiences in the five years prior and social activity.

Miller's team used data collected in the Cancer Prevention Study II trial in which participants were informed whether they were veterans and other demographic characteristics.

At baseline in 1982, veterans included persons between 27 and 47 years (Vietnam), 48 and 55 (Korea), 56 and 79 (WWII) and 80 or more (before the Second World War).

Therefore, the results "do not speak of suicide risk in veterans recently separated from military service," Miller told Reuters Health.

The team noted a slight increased risk of suicide with firearms and a significantly lower suicide by other methods in middle-aged veterans and older than non-veterans.

Therefore, the authors suggest that policies aimed at preventing suicide veterans should focus specifically on factors that increase the risk of suicide and not the fact itself of being a veteran of war.

The harmful lead paint is still sold worldwide

2009-08-28T06:17:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - While the U.S. is significantly reducing lead levels allowed in paint, are still marketed worldwide these products with dangerously high quantities of metal for use in the home, exposing millions of children small to suffer permanent brain damage, a study suggests.

The research was published in the journal Environmental Research.

The sale of paint with more than 600 parts of lead per million (ppm) was banned in the U.S. in 1978. This month, the country fell to 90 ppm lead levels allowed in the new paints.

While China, Singapore and South Africa have recently set limits for lead levels allowed in paint for the home (and India set a voluntary standard), there is strong evidence that in these and other countries are still marketed high-paintings lead and used to paint houses, schools, toys and even playgrounds.

The team of Dr. C. Scott Clark of the University of Cincinnati, examined 373 samples of different paints used at home, with at least 10 samples for each country.

The percentage of samples with lead levels of at least 600 ppm or more ranged from 32.8 percent in China and 36.6 percent in Singapore to almost 90 percent in Thailand and 96 percent in Nigeria.

At the same time, children worldwide are at risk of lead poisoning due to various operations, such as battery recycling and smelting plant operations, or other sources, who use these paintings.

Historically, lead was used to avoid breaking the paint with temperature changes, said Clark told Reuters Health. But for a time, he said, there are safe alternative additives.

In many of the 12 countries studied were low-level paintings lead to a cost similar to products with high levels of metal. "Clearly the situation could be another," said Clark.

In May, a United Nations panel met to form a global partnership to prevent the use of lead in paint. "We hope to, at least, encouraging countries to change their laws and that the public understands that should worry about that," Clark said.

The researcher explained that although the ban is approved, children remain at risk of poisoning from old paint dust and deteriorate.

Anyway, the author added that the treatment of lead paint poisoning, unlike many others, is a public health problem relatively inexpensive.

Parents are important in adolescent smoking risk

2009-08-28T06:14:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Friends have a huge influence on the passage of teens experimenting with cigarette addiction, but so do parents.

A study followed 270 adolescents who had become occasional smokers before high school, found that 58 percent had developed addiction in twelfth grade.

But the possibility that this occurred depended on the friends and parents, said the study published in the journal Pediatrics.

If friends and parents were smokers, adolescents were more likely to smoke daily.

On the other hand, were less likely to smoke daily if their parents had a "positive family management," ie outputs controlling their children, when they imposed punishments did not meet reasonable family rules and rewarding good behavior.

Adolescents who had parents that they imposed limits and were smokers had a 31 percent chance of becoming addicted to cigarettes. These possibilities grew to 71 percent among adolescents with parents who smoke and more lax about their children's behavior.

"We found that parents have an important role in preventing the transition from experimentation to daily use of cigarettes on the children," she told Reuters Health the lead author, Dr. Min Jung Kim, research associate at the University of Washington, Seattle .

There are several paths to follow to change that situation, "Kim said.

First, if the parents smoke, they should quit. In addition, they should implement "effective supervision of their children's behavior, including proper reward and punishment."

That, said Kim, includes know the friends of the children and setting standards of conduct, including on smoking.

"Parents should establish clear guidelines to ensure their families on tobacco use and discuss it with their children at school age," said Kim.

Previous studies had agreed to find that cigarette addiction in friends is the best predictor of adolescent addiction. Other studies have asserted that parents almost no effect once the children become teenagers.

The new results suggest the opposite. According to Kim, the parents would have an important role when it comes to countering peer pressure.

In Chicago, the H1N1 flu affects children: CDC report

2009-08-28T05:46:00.000-07:00

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The H1N1 infected 14 times more children than adults over 60 years in Chicago, said Thursday the Department of Health officials from the U.S. city, in what is one of the first detailed picture of new pandemic virus.

Though no child died in Chicago following the popularly known as swine flu, officials indicated that several analysis suggest that prevention efforts should focus on this age group.

In many respects, the new H1N1 influenza virus appeared in Chicago as seasonal flu, causing fever, cough and sore throat in most people, said Dr. Susan Gerber, chief medical officer of the Department of Public Health in Chicago.

"What was different than the younger age groups appeared to spread more frequently than older people," said Gerber, who reported cases of H1N1 flu in the city in the weekly report on illness and death of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

"Our average age of cases reported to the Health Department of Chicago was 12 years. That is obviously a young age," Gerber said in a telephone interview.

The count provides an overview of how one of the largest U.S. cities deal with the new pandemic flu virus, which is still expanding in the world and experts expect it to cause more disease begins in the northern hemisphere as cool temperatures.

For its part, the top California health official predicted on Thursday that one in four Californians could be affected by swine influenza in the autumn.

"While none of us can predict the course of the new outbreak of H1N1 influenza has the potential to sicken millions of people in our state in the coming months and even one in four Californians would be affected," said Mark Horton, director the California Department of Health.

NUMBER ONE PRIORITY

The swine flu has infected more than 1 million people in the U.S. and is currently the number one priority of the CDC. Other research shows that older children and young adults are far more likely to become infected with the virus.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that one third of world population infected eventually end, or about 2,000 million people.

Seasonal flu annually affects between 5 and 20 percent of a given population, but 90 percent of severe cases and deaths occur in the elderly.

The new pandemic strain is different.

Researchers from the Chicago Health Department analyzed 1557 confirmed cases of H1N1 infection between April and July and found that the virus disproportionately targets young people, which confirms the trends observed in other parts of the country.

Among the confirmed cases, the "attack rate", ie of infection was higher among children aged 5 to 14 years, followed by children aged 4. Hispanics, blacks and Asians had higher rates than whites.

"We also found that hospitalizations were predominantly in younger age groups, and that the average age was 16 years," said Gerber.

BUSQUE EN LAS NOTICIAS DE SALUD

2009-08-27T04:35:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People who send a text message while listening to an iPod and read the newspaper probably think their ability to "multitasking" is good. But a study found that they are wrong.

A team from Stanford University in the United States, found that college students who were in the habit of using several media at the same time did not yield well on tests of memory, attention, and ironically "task switching.

"They are very bad at multitasking," he told Reuters Health one of the authors of the study, Dr. Clifford Nass.

The findings, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, surprised researchers and suggest that the variety of available devices that facilitate do several tasks at once, and supposedly so easy, it would be a good thing.

According to Nass, the team assumed that people who perform "multitasking excess" would have some innate ability that allowed them to do several things at once. The hypothesis was that perhaps they could filter out irrelevant distractions surroundings.

But a simple cognitive test, which should focus attention on the characteristics of a set of red triangles while ignoring a few blue triangles, commonly found those who did many tasks at once could not beat people with no interest in this technology "multitasking".

The same happened when they conducted a test to measure the brain capacity to organize and delete information and when they did a test of task switching. The "multitasking" was slower by having to spend attention from one task to another.

The study included 262 college students who answered questionnaires on the use of electronic devices: how often they use the internet, watching TV, reading, listening to music, send emails and text messages, and how often did some of these tasks simultaneously.

Then, those who perform "multitasking" in slight excess or so were taken several cognitive tests.

While the results suggest that multitasking too much "would not be good at what they do, the reasons are unknown.

One might be exposure to too many technological distractions exaggerated, or that people are "born bad at multitasking" would, ironically, more likely to go there.

It is possible, the team said, that "multitasking" in excess tend to be oriented "exploratory" simply like to gather much information, even if it means sacrificing performance on the task of greater importance.

But whether the excessive use of multitasking or not cause the observed differences in the study, said Nass, its effects are the same: "They should stop using."

"Society is constantly developing tools to facilitate the completion of several tasks at once. The question is whether this is something good," concluded the researcher.

Inhalable vaccine against measles, closer

2009-08-26T03:49:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The first inhalable powder vaccine against measles will soon be ready for evaluation in humans, researchers announced at a meeting of the American Chemical Society in Washington.

Dr. Robert Sievers, University of Colorado at Boulder, who led the development of immunization, stressed that the goal is to create a viable vaccine to remote areas of developing countries, where there are no drinking water, refrigeration or sterilized or disposable needles and where measles is still endemic.

This disease kills over 900,000 children ach year in the poorest regions of the world, according to figures from the World Health Organization (WHO).

The research team expects to begin testing the vaccine in India next year, Sievers told Reuters Health.

Basically, to create the vaccine is a weakened form of the mixture with carbon dioxide virus "supercritical"-part liquid and part gas-producing microscopic bubbles and drops then dried to produce the inhalable powder.

This powder can be stored for at least a year to between 2 and 8 degrees Celsius, according to the researchers. In addition, the test also exceeds the WHO seven days at 37 degrees, which remains strong even under such circumstances.

The research team also developed low-cost inhalers for powder, "with developments in practice equivalent to those of an active inhaler approved by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration of USA).

The powder is sealed in individual bags to minimize contamination.

"With a deep breath (one sack), a child could be immunized efficiently," the team said in a statement.

The inhalable vaccine development was funded by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

One of the challenges, Sievers said, is that the cost does not exceed 26 cents per dose, which is the price of currently available injectable vaccines.

That goal was accomplished primarily because the current cost of immunization is around 17 cents and the application device would cost about 10 cents, Sievers said.

Although the concept of using dust inhalation to administer the vaccine against measles came in response to public health challenges imposed by the poor and remote regions, Sievers also believes that this approach is wonderfully applicable to a flu shot. "

"It's so promising (...) Now we start working on this" for other indications, he added.

Heart experts warn U.S. in sugar consumption

2009-08-26T03:40:00.000-07:00

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Americans need to dramatically cut their sugar intake, said Monday the American Heart Association, in a recommendation that will probably annoy the food and beverage companies.

The association said that women should not consume more than 100 daily calories from processed sugar added, or five teaspoons (25 grams), while men should remain at 150 calories or nine teaspoons (37.5 grams) .

This limit is much lower at 22 teaspoons (90 grams) or 355 calories of added sugar consumed daily by an average American, according to a government survey made in 2004.

The researchers pointed particularly to the soft drink market, estimated at 115,000 million dollars, Johnson said as the number one source of added sugar in the American diet.

"For the first time we made specific recommendations on the amount of sugar that can be consumed in a heart-healthy diet," said the phone Rachel Johnson of the University of Vermont and senior author of the article published in the journal Circulation.

Johnson said that labels on packaged food Americans did not distinguish between natural sugars and added, but said that anything labeled as "syrup" on the ingredient list is probably added sugar.

Too much sugar not only makes Americans more obese, but is also guilty of diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and heart attacks, according to the report.

The dietary guidelines of the Department of Agriculture United States recommends taking less food and beverages with added sugar, but does not specify limits on calories.

The Sugar Association, a group of U.S. sugar industries, said through a statement he was "very disappointed" by the report, which follows a direct correlation between sugar intake and heart health.

American Beverages Association for his part said that sugar-sweetened drinks do not pose a particular risk to health.

High blood pressure linked to memory problems early

2009-08-26T03:34:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A new study links hypertension with memory problems in people over 45 years.
The investigation revealed that those with high diastolic blood pressure, which is the lowest number of double reading were more likely to suffer deterioration "cognitive" or thought, or memory problems than people who had a normal number in that indicator.

The findings held even after researchers adjusted for other factors that could affect cognitive ability, such as age, condition smoking, exercise level, education, diabetes or cholesterol.

For every 10 point increase in reading, the probability of a person to have problems with thinking was 7 percent higher.

These findings, published in the Aug. 25 edition of the journal Neurology, come from an analysis of data from 19,836 people who participated in a long-term study.

A total of 1,505 subjects, or 7.6 percent of the group, had cognitive problems, and 9844, or 49.6 percent, taking medication for high blood pressure. Hypertension is defined as a reading equal to or greater than 140/90 or consumption of drugs to control it.

After adjusting the data according to a number of factors, high diastolic blood pressure was directly related to an increased risk of cognitive problems, which were recorded through standardized tests, according to Dr. Georgios Tsivgoulis, University of Alabama .

"It may prevent or treat high blood pressure can prevent the potential cognitive impairment, which may be a precursor of dementia," he said in a statement Tsivgoulis.

The investigation showed that high diastolic blood pressure can weaken the small arteries of the brain, causing damage to that organ.

In a statement, Dr. Walter J. Koroshetz, deputy director of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, said: "This latest information suggests that high blood pressure would be a risk factor for cognitive impairment.

"But more studies are needed to understand the cause-effect relationship," said Koroshetz.

Asia faces a shortage of flu vaccine to combat H1N1: WHO

2009-08-26T03:32:00.000-07:00

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Asia will face a shortage of new vaccines against H1N1 pandemic influenza strain when the next wave of infections strike in winter season this year, said Tuesday a spokesman for the World Health Organization (WHO).

Australia and China will begin producing the immunizations in September, but those doses would be used locally and the rest of the region would not benefit.

"Nobody is ready (...) there will be a massive shortage of vaccines compared to their needs and demand," said WHO spokesman Peter Cordingley, who lives in Manila.

Although the virus causes mild symptoms in many people, experts have warned of severe complications and deaths that have occurred in pregnant women, infants, people with underlying health problems such as obesity and diabetes and, most puzzling, in healthy young adults .

The H1N1 strain is largely treatable with the antiviral oseltamivir but vaccines are recommended as a method of preventing mass in the population.

"We will see at least in Australia and China the start of production of vaccines. Of course, that makes no difference to the rest of Asia because I think it is predictable that Australia and China used their shots at the domestic level," Cordingley told Reuters .

"Nobody will do very well. It will take time before production even come close to addressing the problems of Australia," he said.

In Japan, the flu season has already started while its pharmaceutical companies have not yet begun to produce the new vaccine.

Cordingley said the lack of immunization in developing countries has generated particular concern.

"They have resources, have populations at high risk for its overcrowded conditions (...), without health services, or access to medical and many pregnant women are very concerned about this," said agency spokesman United Nations.

Inadequate preparation

Some governments in Asia have signed purchase contracts with major vaccine manufacturers, but it is still unknown when they will arrive on these doses.

Japan wants to provide enough vaccine to treat H1N1 influenza to 53 million people, almost half of its population. However, it is expected that local producers can make that would cover only amounts to between 13 and 17 million people.

"The reality is that unless we have enough, we must bring them from somewhere else," said chief cabinet secretary of Japan, Takeo Kawamura.

Indonesia, which has a population of 226 million people, has not signed any contract with foreign vaccine manufacturers, said Tjandra Yoga Aditama, head of disease control at the Ministry of Health.

The State Bio Farma is one of 23 laboratories in the world authorized by the United Nations to produce the new vaccine. But he said is still learning to make immunization against seasonal influenza before they can advance to the generation of vaccines for H5N1 and H1N1 strains.

Meanwhile, China plans to have vaccines to cover only 5 percent of its population by year's end, according to state media. Initial tests showed that the immunization would be "safe and reliable."

Singapore, which has a contract with Australia's CSL Ltd for the new vaccine is currently negotiating with other major laboratories to diversify its supplies.

For its part, Hong Kong has asked manufacturers to cover dose of 2.5 million people, or one third of its population, but this failed. Soon open a new round of negotiations.

XPERT U.S. heart warn in sugar consumption

2009-08-26T03:26:00.000-07:00

Papillomavirus, guilty of half of penile cancers

2009-08-26T03:20:00.000-07:00

LONDON (Reuters) - A sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer is also responsible for half of the tumors in the penis, Spanish researchers reported on Tuesday.
This finding suggests that currently available vaccines against human papillomavirus (HPV), which serve to prevent cervical tumors, would also be effective in fighting cancer of the penis, doctors said the Catalan Institute of Oncology in Barcelona.

The vaccine Gardasil, Merck & Co., and Cervarix, from GlaxoSmithKline, have been used for some years to immunize girls against HPV infection, which can lead to cervical cancer or cervical cancer.

Tumors in the penis are much less frequent, representing less than 1 percent of cancers in male adults in Europe and North America, but its incidence can reach 10 percent in some areas of Africa and Asia. Globally, more than 26,000 new cases per year.

Dr. Silvia de Sanjose and colleagues reviewed cases of penile cancer reported in clinical studies conducted between 1986 and 2008 and found that 46.9 percent of tumors were associated with HPV.

Almost all of these cases linked to the virus were linked to strains 16 and 18, the two most common types that commonly cause cervical cancer and targeting both Gardasil and Cervarix, wrote in the Journal of Clinical Pathology.

In November, Merck announced results of a clinical trial showing that Gardasil is effective in preventing injuries caused by the virus in men.