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Shildt Financial Services hopes that you find the following news items to be helpful and informative.
IN REVIEW: Health News Back To March, 2010
Health Highlights (June 15, 2012 to June 22, 2012) Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay: Traffic Noise Increases Heart Attack Risk People who live near roads with high levels of traffic noise are at increased risk for a heart attack, according to a new study. Researchers followed more than 50,000 people in Denmark, ages 50 to 64, for 10 years and found that for every 10 decibel rise in traffic noise near a person's home, there was a 12 percent increased risk of a first heart attack, ABC News reported. The study was published Wednesday in the journal PLoS One. Previous research has found some association between traffic noise and heart health but study lead author Dr. Mette Sorensen said she was surprised to find such a direct link between traffic noise levels and heart attack risk, ABC News reported. "Previously, there seemed to be no effect up to around 60 decibels," she said. "But I see increases at around 40 decibels up to the highest level, around 82 decibels. It doesn't seem to be a level where there are no effects." ----- Group Challenges Merck's Marketing of Children's Allergy Medicine Drug maker Merck is using animated characters from the movie "Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted" to improperly market over-the-counter allergy medicine to children, public health advocates charge in a complaint filed Wednesday with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. The Public Health Advocacy Institute and 10 other groups say the marketing strategy for Children's Claritin is dangerous and deceptive. They point to the inclusion of Madagascar movie stickers in some boxes of the allergy medicine, activity books that parents can download for their children, and Merck's enlistment of a group of mothers who blog to hold Claritin-themed Madagascar viewing parties for their children and friends, The New York Times reported. The complainants also noted that the same animated characters are used to promote other children's products such as candy and gummy snacks. This could lead children to confuse the grape-flavored Claritin tablets and syrup for candy, they warn. Merck is reviewing the issue, spokeswoman Kelley Dougherty told The Times. But she added: "We advertised in appropriate venues to reach those parents of children who may benefit from the use of Claritin, and not to the children themselves." The FTC will review the complaint, an official said. ----- Fat-Free Salad Dressings Reduce Nutrient Intake Putting a fat-free dressing on your salad may actually reduce the amount of nutrients your body absorbs from the vegetables and fruits in your salad, a new study suggests. Purdue University researchers found that some fat in dressings is essential to absorb compounds such as lycopene and beta-carotene, which have been linked with a reduced risk of illnesses such as heart disease and cancer, the Los Angeles Times reported. The study was published online Wednesday in the journal Molecular Nutrition & Food Research. "If you want to utilize more from your fruits and vegetables, you have to pair them correctly with fat-based dressings," lead author Mario Ferruzzi, an associate professor of food science, said in a news release, The Times reported. "If you have a salad with a fat-free dressing, there is a reduction in calories, but you lose some of the benefits of the vegetables." ----- New Dengue Fever Test Approved by FDA A new test for dengue fever that was developed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The test can identify all four types of dengue virus types and will help diagnose dengue within the first seven days after symptoms of the illness appear, when is when most people are likely to see a doctor, the CDC said. This is the first FDA-approved test that detects evidence of the virus itself and the test can be performed using equipment and supplies that many public health laboratories already use to diagnose influenza. Test kits will be available for distribution in early July. Dengue viruses are transmitted by mosquitoes. Thousands of U.S. citizens in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands develop dengue every year, and dengue is a leading cause of fever in American travelers returning from Asia, the Caribbean and Latin America. Severe dengue infections can lead to hemorrhage, shock and death. There are no vaccines to prevent dengue or medicines specifically approved to treat the disease, but early medical care can greatly reduce the risk of death, the CDC said. ----- No Proof of 9/11 World Trade Center Dust/Cancer Link: Experts A number of experts say there's no actual evidence to support the recent decision to add 50 kinds of cancer to a multibillion dollar financial assistance program for people with health problems believed to be caused by exposure to toxic dust from the collapse of the World Trade Center's twin towers. The decision to include the large number of cancers -- including breast, skin, lung and thyroid -- could mean that hundreds more people will receive payouts from the health fund, the Associated Press reported. However, some scientists say there is a lack of proof that exposure to the toxic dust plume caused even one type of cancer. "To imagine that there is strong evidence about any cancer resulting from 9/11 is naive in the extreme," Donald Berry, a biostatistics professor at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, told the AP. There are concerns that payments to cancer patients could divert money from people with illnesses -- such as asthma and laryngitis -- that are more definitively connected to the toxic dust. ----- No Single Food Product Responsible for Rising Obesity Rates: Coca-Cola CEO Rising obesity rates in the United States cannot be blamed on any single ingredient, product or category of food, according to Coca-Cola Company CEO Muhtar Kent. "This is an important, complicated societal issue that we all have to work together to provide a solution," Kent said in a Wall Street Journal interview published Monday, Agence France-Presse reported. "That's why we are working with government, business and civil society to have active lifestyle programs in every country we operate by 2015," he said. Kent's remarks were made as New York City considers a proposal to restrict the sale of sugar-sweetened beverages such as soft drinks to 16-ounce servings, AFP reported. The law would apply to restaurants and public entertainment venues such as stadiums. The ban is needed to help deal with the obesity epidemic in the U.S., according to Mayor Michael Bloomberg. ----- Lobbying Scuttles Proposed Painkiller Restrictions Lobbying by pharmacist and drugstore groups appears to have derailed efforts to impose stricter controls on prescription painkillers that are widely abused, according to members of Congress. The restrictions would apply to products like hydrocodone that are used to treat moderate to severe pain. The Senate approved the restrictions last month as part of a bill reauthorizing user fees for the Food and Drug Administration, but the House version of the bill does not include the provisions, The New York Times reported. The proposed controls are supported by senators and law enforcement officials, but pharmacists and drugstore organizations say they will make it more difficult for patients to get the drugs and will increase overhead costs for pharmacies. "We don't want to put anybody out of business," Senator Joe Manchin III, a West Virginia Democrat who led the push for the new restrictions, told The Times. "But perhaps the chain pharmacies and druggists need to change their business model a bit. These are legal drugs needed by some people. But they can also be addictive. They are so readily accessible, so easy to obtain, that they are ravaging society and ending many young lives," Manchin said. ----- PIP Breast Implants Not Toxic Faulty breast implants made by the French company PIP do not pose any long-term health threats, according to a report released Monday by British health authorities. The PIP implants -- which used industrial-grade silicone gel intended for use in mattresses -- are twice as likely to rupture as other brands but the silicone gel is not toxic and does not increase the risk of breast cancer, according to the National Health Service's (NHS) Medical Directors group, Agence France-Presse reported. More than 400,000 women worldwide are believed to have received PIP implants and many countries have urged women to have them removed. PIP was shut down in 2010. Some women with ruptured PIP implants have experienced symptoms such as swollen lymph glands, but the British officials said the results of tests of PIP implants conducted in Britain, France and Australia show that the implants are not toxic, AFP reported. ----- North American Obesity Weighs Down World Only six percent of the world's population lives in North America, but that continent accounts for more than one-third of global obesity, a new study says. The researchers calculated that the total weight of the world's population is 287 million metric tons. Of that amount, 15 million metric tons are due to people being overweight and 3.5 million metric tons are due to obesity, BBC News reported. The average global body weight in 2005 was 62 kilograms (137 lbs.) but there were huge regional differences. The average in North America was 80.7 kg. (178 lbs.), compared with 57.7 kg. (127 lbs.) in Asia, said the researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in the U.K. They also found that while Asia has 61 percent of the world's population, it only accounts for 13 percent of the total weight of global obesity, BBC News reported. The study was published in the journal BMC Public Health. ----- Plague Confirmed in Oregon Man An Oregon man has a blood-borne version of the plague after being bitten by a stray cat, health officials have confirmed. The unidentified man, who is in his 50s, remained in critical condition Friday at a Bend hospital. More than a dozen people who came into contact with the man have been notified and are receiving preventive antibiotics, the Associated Press reported. The cat died and its body has been sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for testing. The state public health veterinarian has collected blood samples from two dogs and another cat that lives with the man's family. In addition, blood samples have been taken from neighbors' pets and from animals in the local shelter in order to assess whether there may be a plague problem in the area, the AP reported. ----- Plastics Chemical Linked to Obesity in Kids: Phthalates may alter fat metabolism, influence weight By Barbara Bronson Gray, HealthDay Reporter SATURDAY, June 23 (HealthDay News) -- It's hard to imagine a pacifier or a rubber ducky making your child fat. But new research suggests that chemicals called phthalates, which are found in the plastics that pacifiers and toys are typically made of, may be linked to higher rates of obesity in children. The chemical, called di-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP), is suspected of being able to alter biological functions involved in fat metabolism. In the study, children with the highest DEHP levels had nearly five times the chance of being obese compared with those who had the lowest DEHP levels. How could a chemical used to soften plastics trigger fat development in a child? "It may trigger the master regulator of fat creation and lipid metabolism," explained study co-author Dr. Mi-Jung Park, a pediatric endocrinologist and professor at Inje University College of Medicine, in Seoul, South Korea. DEHP may do two different things that increase fat development, Park said. It may reduce the effect of androgen -- a male sex hormone -- which lowers body-mass index (BMI). It may also disrupt thyroid function, which plays a role in weight gain. Interfering with androgen or thyroid hormones can affect appetite or a person's rate of metabolizing food, she explained. Other studies have linked phthalates to breast growth in boys, reproductive problems in men and low birth weight. The researchers measured blood levels of DEHP in 204 children ranging from 6 to 13 years old; 105 were considered obese and 99 were of normal weight. Children with a higher BMI, a measurement of body fat, had higher DEHP levels. The increased risk of obesity with elevated DEHP levels was not related to the amount of physical activity they got or their daily calorie intake. The study, scheduled for presentation Saturday at the Endocrine Society's annual meeting in Houston, did not demonstrate a causal relationship between blood levels of DEHP and obesity. Park said parents should understand that phthalates are virtually everywhere -- in food, water, plastic bags and packaging wraps, cosmetics, lotions, shampoo and toys. Pregnant women, premature infants and young children may be particularly sensitive to the chemical, she said. "Putting hot water or hot food into a plastic container may be dangerous," she added. Johanna Congleton, senior scientist and toxicologist at the Environmental Working Group in Washington, D.C., recommends avoiding exposure to phthalates. "It's a good precautionary measure, and consumer product manufacturers should phase out the use of such compounds," she said. Research presented at medical meetings should be viewed as preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed medical journal. |
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