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 Weekly Health News + Safety Alerts
Shildt Financial Services hopes that you find the following news items to be helpful and informative.
We specialize in NO FEE Employee Benefits Insurance: Health/Medical, Dental, Vision, Short Term Disability, Long Term Disability, Life, Legal, 401(k)/Pension and Long Term Care.
Please Select Your Choice Of News items from our
WEEKLY HEALTH NEWS IN REVIEW for each week dating back to November, 2008 that is located below the SAFETY ALERTS Links.
 SAFETY ALERTS: go to CPSC, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, to help keep your family and yourself safe by checking product recalls and safety news.
Or go to FDA, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, for recalls, market withdrawals and safety alerts.
 WEEKLY HEALTH NEWS
IN REVIEW:
Health News Back To November 2008
Health Highlights (Jan. 29, 2010 to Feb. 5, 2010)
Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay:
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High Levels of Cadmium Found in Adult Jewelry
Worries about the heavy metal cadmium in jewelry have grown after tests on adult necklaces and bracelets revealed high levels of the toxic material.
The high levels of cadmium -- as much as 75 percent by weight -- were found in jewelry purchased by a California environmental group at three retailers -- Saks Fifth Avenue, Aeropostale and Catherines, the Associated Press reported.
Based on the findings, the Center for Environmental Health said it would seek a ban on cadmium in all jewelry. One of the pieces tested by the group was made in China, another in India, and the origin of the other piece was unknown, the news service said.
Last month, an AP investigation reported that some Chinese-made children's jewelry contained levels of cadmium of up to 91 percent of their total content. |
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Fashion Industry Pressures Teen Girls to Be Skinny: Survey
The fashion industry is at least partly to blame for American girls' fixation on being thin, according to 89 percent of respondents who took part in a survey released by the Girl Scouts of the USA.
The poll of more than 1,000 girls ages 13 to 17 also found that 88 percent said the media puts a lot of pressure on them to be skinny, United Press International reported.
Among the other findings:
- Other strong influences on how teen girls feel about their bodies included peers (82 percent), friends (81 percent) and parents (65 percent).
- Nearly one-third of respondents said they have starved themselves or refused to eat in an effort to shed pounds, 42 percent said they know someone their age who has induced vomiting after eating, and 37 percent said they know someone their age who's been diagnosed with an eating disorder.
- 81 percent of the teen girls said they would like to see natural photos of models instead of digitally altered and enhanced images.
Despite their criticism of the fashion industry, about 75 percent of the girls said fashion is "really important" to them, UPI reported. |
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New Drugs May Help Treat Intellectual Disabilities
Scientists are trying to develop treatments for a genetic condition that causes learning disabilities and cognitive impairment and is the most common cause of autism yet identified by researchers.
Fragile X syndrome, which affects almost 100,000 Americans, is the most common inherited form of intellectual impairment, the Associated Press reported. In people with Fragile X syndrome, the synapses, or connections between brain cells, are too immature to work properly.
Researchers are focusing on drugs designed to block an overactive receptor that plays an important role in these poorly functioning synapses. Strengthening the synapses could improve learning and behavior in people with Fragile X syndrome.
"We are moving into a new age of reversing intellectual disabilities," Dr. Randi Hagerman, who directs the MIND Institute at the University of California, Davis, told the AP. |
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Scientists Identify Farsightedness Gene
A gene linked with farsightedness has been identified by Australian scientists, who said the finding may lead to drug treatments that would replace glasses.
The researchers analyzed the DNA of 551 adults and identified variations of the hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) gene associated with farsightedness. People with this vision problem can see objects clearly at a distance but have difficulty with close-up tasks such as reading, Agence France Presse reported.
Farsightedness, also known as longsightedness, is likely caused by a combination of environmental and genetic factors. HGF is the first gene to be linked to the condition, which is treated with glasses, contact lenses and laser surgery.
"We hope this important gene discovery will help us develop new drug treatments and I expect it will have a profound impact on improving global eye health," said lead researcher Professor Paul Baird, of the Centre for Eye Research Australia in Melbourne, AFP reported. |
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Anesthesia Brain Patterns Resemble Deep Sleep
People under anesthesia have brain patterns similar to those that occur in the deepest sleep, says a U.S. study.
Researchers monitored the brains of patients receiving the anesthetic midazolam -- used in "conscious sedation" -- and detected patterns that occur when the brain is in deep, non-rapid eye movement sleep, United Press International reported.
"Based on a theory about how consciousness is generated, we expect to see a response that is both integrated and differentiated when the brain is conscious,'' study co-author Giulio Tononi, of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said in a news release.
"When there is a loss of consciousness, either due to sleep or anesthesia, the response is radically different. We see a stereotyped burst of activity that remains localized and fades quickly," Tononi said, UPI reported.
The study appears in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. |
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Anti-HIV Drugs Carry Risk of Liver Problems: FDA
The anti-HIV drugs Videx and Videx EC can trigger a rare but serious liver complication that can cause severe bleeding or death, says the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The agency said there have been 42 reports of patients suffering this type of complication, and four patients taking the drugs have died from liver failure or hemorrhaging, Dow Jones Newswires reported.
The drugs' labels have been revised to warn patients about the potential threat of the drug, which slows the growth of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. For certain patients with HIV, the benefits of the drugs outweigh the risks, according to the FDA.
"The decision to use this drug, however, must be made on an individual basis between the treating physician and the patient," the FDA said in an advisory to health care professionals, Dow Jones reported.
Videx, marketed by Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., is also sold under the generic name didanosine. |
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Vitamin D Protects Against Crohn's Disease
Vitamin D may protect against Crohn's disease, according to Canadian researchers.
They found that vitamin D acts on two genes -- defensin 2 and NOD2 -- that have been linked to Crohn's disease, an autoimmune disorder that affects the intestines, United Press International reported.
"Our data suggests, for the first time, that vitamin D deficiency can contribute to Crohn's disease," study leader Dr. John White, of McGill University in Montreal, said in a news release.
He suggested that siblings of patients with Crohn's disease who haven't yet developed the condition should make sure they consume adequate amounts of vitamin D, UPI reported.
"It's something that's easy to do, because they can simply go to a pharmacy and buy vitamin D supplements," White said.
The study appears in the Journal of Biological Chemistry. |
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Healthy Older Adults Require Less Sleep
Healthy older adults require less sleep and are less likely to feel tired during the day than younger adults, according to a new study.
British researchers looked at 110 healthy adults with no sleep disorders or complaints and found that adults ages 66 to 83 slept about 20 minutes less per night than middle-aged adults ages 40 to 55, who slept 23 minutes less than young adults ages 20 to 30, Agence France Presse reported.
The older adults also woke up more often during the night and spent more time awake after initial sleep onset, the study found.
Even though older adults spent less time asleep and slept less deeply, they were less likely to need a nap during the day than younger adults, said the University of Surrey researchers, AFP reported.
The study appears in the journal Sleep. |
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Cell Phone Bans May Not Reduce Crashes
Bans on the use of cell phones and other hand-held devices while driving haven't reduced road crashes in California, Connecticut, New York or Washington, D.C., according to a new study by the Highway Loss Data Institute.
Researchers compared insurance claims in those areas and in regions that don't have cell phone bans, CNN reported. The study found no changes in collision rates before and after cell phone restrictions took effect.
"The laws aren't reducing crashes, even though we know that such laws have reduced hand-held phone use, and several studies have established that phoning while driving increases crash risk," said institute president Adrian Lund.
"So the new findings don't match what we already know about the risk of phoning and texting while driving," he added, CNN reported. |
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Children's Pendants Recalled Because of Cadmium
High levels of the toxic heavy metal cadmium have prompted a recall of "The Princess and The Frog" movie-themed children's pendants, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced Friday.
Cadmium is known to cause cancer and recent research suggests it can harm brain development in children.
The voluntary recall by FAF Inc. of Greenville, R.I., includes 55,000 pendants sold exclusively at Wal-Mart stores. It's the first time a consumer product has been recalled in the United States because of cadmium, the Associated Press reported.
Several weeks ago, the AP published results of an investigation that found high levels of cadmium in "The Princess and The Frog" pendants and other Chinese-made children's metal jewelry. |
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Ground Pepper Could Be Culprit in Salmonella Outbreak
A strain of salmonella that's sickened hundreds of people in the United States in the last seven months has been found in closed containers of imported ground black pepper used by a meat company in Rhode Island.
Last month, Daniele Inc. recalled more than 1 million pounds of salami after at least 203 people in 42 states and the District of Columbia became ill. Many of those who got sick said they'd eaten the salami, the Associated Press reported.
However, about half of those who got sick didn't eat any salami, said state health department spokeswoman Annemarie Beardsworth.
"That maybe tells you that we're not done looking for a source of the outbreak yet," she told the AP.
Two suppliers provided the pepper to Daniele and federal investigators are tracing the origin of the pepper in order to determine if it's been distributed elsewhere in the U.S. |
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Program Offers Free Health Text Messages To New Moms
A free program that texts pregnancy and baby health tips to the cell phones of expectant and new mothers is expected to be announced Thursday by U.S. health officials.
Under the text4baby campaign, mothers-to-be who text "BABY" to 511411 will receive weekly text messages that are timed to the mother's due date or their baby's birth date, the Associated Press reported. The text messages will continue until the baby is one year old.
The messages used in the program have been checked by government and nonprofit health experts and offer advice about a number of topics, including birth defect prevention, nutrition and immunization.
This is the first free health education campaign in the U.S. to use mobile phones. Organizers say texting is an effective way to conduct this type of program because 90 percent of people in the U.S. have cell phones, the AP reported. |
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