Lung Transplants May Not Help Most Cystic Fibrosis Children
WEDNESDAY, Nov. 21 (HealthDay News) -- Hardly any of the childrenwho receive lung transplants because of severe damage caused by cysticfibrosis benefit from the risky operation, a study concludes.
It is a controversial conclusion, made more controversial because thetransplant rules have been changed since the study was done, said Dr.Theodore G. Liou, associate professor of internal medicine at theUniversity of Utah, and lead author of a report in the Nov. 22 NewEngland Journal of Medicine.
CF is a hereditary disease in which the lungs and digestive tractbecome clogged with mucus. People with CF die at a relatively young age.Previous studies have shown some survival benefit for adult cysticfibrosis sufferers who received lung transplants as a last resort, Liousaid.
The new report is one of very few looking at such transplants inchildren, he said. "In 2005, we published one [study] showing nodifference in outcome between patients who were transplanted and those whowere not, although they were equally sick as far as we could tell," Liousaid. "That got us into a lot of trouble, because people didn't like theresults."
The new study looked at 514 children with cystic fibrosis who were onthe waiting list for lung transplants from 1992 to 2002. A total of 248 ofthe children did undergo the procedure during the study period.
The researchers found a significant estimated benefit for only five ofthose who had transplants, with "a significant risk of harm" associatedwith lung transplantation for 315 of the young patients, meaning thatother treatment would have benefited them more.
The process has changed since the study was conducted, partly in waysthat work against transplantation, Liou noted. Children selected for lungtransplants now are first put on an intensive course of treatment intendedto strengthen them for the surgery, he said, and "conventional treatmentshave gotten to be very good," he added.
The rules for actual performance of a transplant have also changed,said Dr. Julian L. Allen, chief of the division of pulmonary medicine atthe cystic fibrosis center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Heis also co-author of an accompanying editorial in the journal.
Until 2005, all children awaiting a lung transplant were placed on asingle list, receiving organs as they became available. Now, the decisionto transplant includes consideration of the patient's condition, withsicker children getting the operation sooner, Allen said.
"In some cases, children who were put on intensive therapy weredeferred, because they got better," he said. "There was something aboutthe children in that group who didn't get transplanted that made them getbetter."
The bottom line, Liou said, is that a decision that has always beencomplex has gotten even more so. "Maybe people will pay attention and tryto be more careful about selecting patients for lung transplants," hesaid.
"You need to be careful about who you refer," Allen said. "You need tosee if the results in this study hold true under the current rules. Also,the quality of life after a transplant has to be looked at. We need futurestudies that evaluate the quality of life."
One complicating factor with younger recipients of lung transplants isthe need to be sure that they adhere to the strict regimen needed toprevent rejection of the organ, Allen added. The better success rate witholder cystic fibrosis recipients is due partly to their better ability tofollow instructions, he said.
More information
There's more on cystic fibrosis at the Cystic FibrosisFoundation.
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Clinical Trials Update: Nov. 21, 2007
Clinical Trials Update: Nov. 21, 2007
(HealthDay News) -- Here are the latest clinical trials, courtesyof Thomson CenterWatch:
Sinus Infections
If you are at least 12 years old and are prone to sinusinfections, you may be eligible to participate in this study.
Theresearch site is in Spartanburg, S.C.
More information
Please see http://www.centerwatch.com/patient/studies/cat184.html.
-----
Hypertension (High BloodPressure - Pediatric)
If your child is aged 12 to 16 and has stage 1 or 2hypertension, he or she may qualify to participate in thisstudy.
The research site is in Los Angeles, Calif.
More information
Please see http://www.centerwatch.com/patient/studies/cat502.html.
-----
Breast Cancer
If you are at least 18 and have locally advanced ormetastatic breast cancer that has progressed during or following treatmentwith bevacizumab (Avastin), you may be eligible to participate in thisstudy.
The research site is in New York City.
More information
Please see http://www.centerwatch.com/patient/studies/cat29.html.
-----
Copyright 2007 Thomson CenterWatch. All rights reserved.
(HealthDay News) -- Here are the latest clinical trials, courtesyof Thomson CenterWatch:
Sinus Infections
If you are at least 12 years old and are prone to sinusinfections, you may be eligible to participate in this study.
Theresearch site is in Spartanburg, S.C.
More information
Please see http://www.centerwatch.com/patient/studies/cat184.html.
-----
Hypertension (High BloodPressure - Pediatric)
If your child is aged 12 to 16 and has stage 1 or 2hypertension, he or she may qualify to participate in thisstudy.
The research site is in Los Angeles, Calif.
More information
Please see http://www.centerwatch.com/patient/studies/cat502.html.
-----
Breast Cancer
If you are at least 18 and have locally advanced ormetastatic breast cancer that has progressed during or following treatmentwith bevacizumab (Avastin), you may be eligible to participate in thisstudy.
The research site is in New York City.
More information
Please see http://www.centerwatch.com/patient/studies/cat29.html.
-----
Copyright 2007 Thomson CenterWatch. All rights reserved.
Health Tip: Keep Kids on a Realistic Schedule
Health Tip: Keep Kids on a Realistic Schedule
(HealthDay News) - While after-school sports and otherextracurricular activities are a great way to stay healthy, a schedulethat's too packed can take its toll on your kids.
The Nemours Foundation says you should keep the following guidelines inmind when planning your child's extracurricular program:
Set limits -- such as on the number of sports played per season, or onthe number of days or evenings per week dedicated to theseactivities.Make sure your child knows how much time each activity will take. Besure to include not just the activity itself, but any practice and timerequired at home.Create a calendar of activities, and make sure it includes ample downtime -- as much as your child needs to be relaxed and happy.School must come first. If your child can't keep up with homework andother assignments, your child probably should cut back on extracurricularactivities.
(HealthDay News) - While after-school sports and otherextracurricular activities are a great way to stay healthy, a schedulethat's too packed can take its toll on your kids.
The Nemours Foundation says you should keep the following guidelines inmind when planning your child's extracurricular program:
Set limits -- such as on the number of sports played per season, or onthe number of days or evenings per week dedicated to theseactivities.Make sure your child knows how much time each activity will take. Besure to include not just the activity itself, but any practice and timerequired at home.Create a calendar of activities, and make sure it includes ample downtime -- as much as your child needs to be relaxed and happy.School must come first. If your child can't keep up with homework andother assignments, your child probably should cut back on extracurricularactivities.
WHO says poor hygiene costs hundreds of thousands of lives
WHO says poor hygiene costs hundreds of thousands of lives
Shigeru Omi, the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for the Western Pacific speaks during the inaugural World Toilet Association (WTA) in Seoul, 22 November 2007. Omi said that better sanitation and hygiene could save hundreds of thousands of children's lives a year at a cost equal to what Europe spends annually on ice cream.(AFP/Choi Won-Suk)SEOUL (AFP) - A senior UN health official said Thursday that better sanitation and hygiene could save hundreds of thousands of children's lives a year at a cost equal to what Europe spends annually on ice cream.
Shigeru Omi, World Health Organisation director for the Western Pacific, said 1.8 million worldwide die every year from diarrhoeal diseases mainly attributable to unsafe water supplies, inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene.
"The majority of these deaths occur in Asia, with 90 percent of them children under five years of age. In fact, diarrhoea is the second leading cause of childhood death in developing countries," he said.
He was speaking at the launch of the World Toilet Association, a South Korea-based non-governmental organisation aimed at helping the world's 2.6 billion people who live without toilets.
Two thirds of them live in Asia, with more than half in China and India alone, according to Omi.
Studies have shown that better sanitation can reduce diarrhoeal deaths by up to 32 percent and hygiene campaigns such as promoting hand-washing can reduce such deaths by up to 45 percent, he said.
"Just imagine the number of children whose lives could be saved through simple low-cost interventions in sanitation and hygiene," he said.
Many other illnesses are also related to unsafe water and poor sanitation and hygiene, such as intestinal worm infections.
Currently, about 133 million people worldwide suffer high-intensity worm infections which often lead to cognitive impairment, dysentery or anaemia, Omi said.
The UN has set a goal of helping at least half of the 2.6 billion people lacking proper toilets by 2015 at an estimated cost of 10 billion dollars worldwide per year.
The annual cost, Omi said, is less than one percent of world military spending in 2005. "It is one third of the estimated global spending on bottled water. Ten billion is about as much as Europeans spend on ice cream each year."
A recent report found that investment in water and sanitation in East Asia would return economic gains of some six dollars for every dollar invested, he said.
Providing everyone in East Asia with safe water and basic sanitation would also reduce health care costs by eight billion dollars per year, and would avert costs of 40 billion dollars in the form of time lost fetching water from afar.
The World Toilet Association was launched by South Korean campaigner Sim Jae-Duck, who takes the subject so seriously he has even built a 1.6 million dollar toilet-shaped house to promote his campaign.
Its inaugural meeting drew some 1,300 people from more than 60 countries including health officials and sanitation industry representatives.
A draft "Seoul Declaration" calls for international campaigns to provide proper sanitation, tackle water pollution and mount public education campaigns.
Ann M. Veneman, executive director of UNICEF, said in a video message that the impact of poor sanitation extends beyond health.
"Where schools do not provide proper toilets for children, particularly for girls, their educational prospects suffer."Clean, safe and dignified toilet and hand-washing facilities in schools help ensure that girls get the education they need and deserve," she said."When girls get an education, the whole community benefits."
Shigeru Omi, the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for the Western Pacific speaks during the inaugural World Toilet Association (WTA) in Seoul, 22 November 2007. Omi said that better sanitation and hygiene could save hundreds of thousands of children's lives a year at a cost equal to what Europe spends annually on ice cream.(AFP/Choi Won-Suk)SEOUL (AFP) - A senior UN health official said Thursday that better sanitation and hygiene could save hundreds of thousands of children's lives a year at a cost equal to what Europe spends annually on ice cream.
Shigeru Omi, World Health Organisation director for the Western Pacific, said 1.8 million worldwide die every year from diarrhoeal diseases mainly attributable to unsafe water supplies, inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene.
"The majority of these deaths occur in Asia, with 90 percent of them children under five years of age. In fact, diarrhoea is the second leading cause of childhood death in developing countries," he said.
He was speaking at the launch of the World Toilet Association, a South Korea-based non-governmental organisation aimed at helping the world's 2.6 billion people who live without toilets.
Two thirds of them live in Asia, with more than half in China and India alone, according to Omi.
Studies have shown that better sanitation can reduce diarrhoeal deaths by up to 32 percent and hygiene campaigns such as promoting hand-washing can reduce such deaths by up to 45 percent, he said.
"Just imagine the number of children whose lives could be saved through simple low-cost interventions in sanitation and hygiene," he said.
Many other illnesses are also related to unsafe water and poor sanitation and hygiene, such as intestinal worm infections.
Currently, about 133 million people worldwide suffer high-intensity worm infections which often lead to cognitive impairment, dysentery or anaemia, Omi said.
The UN has set a goal of helping at least half of the 2.6 billion people lacking proper toilets by 2015 at an estimated cost of 10 billion dollars worldwide per year.
The annual cost, Omi said, is less than one percent of world military spending in 2005. "It is one third of the estimated global spending on bottled water. Ten billion is about as much as Europeans spend on ice cream each year."
A recent report found that investment in water and sanitation in East Asia would return economic gains of some six dollars for every dollar invested, he said.
Providing everyone in East Asia with safe water and basic sanitation would also reduce health care costs by eight billion dollars per year, and would avert costs of 40 billion dollars in the form of time lost fetching water from afar.
The World Toilet Association was launched by South Korean campaigner Sim Jae-Duck, who takes the subject so seriously he has even built a 1.6 million dollar toilet-shaped house to promote his campaign.
Its inaugural meeting drew some 1,300 people from more than 60 countries including health officials and sanitation industry representatives.
A draft "Seoul Declaration" calls for international campaigns to provide proper sanitation, tackle water pollution and mount public education campaigns.
Ann M. Veneman, executive director of UNICEF, said in a video message that the impact of poor sanitation extends beyond health.
"Where schools do not provide proper toilets for children, particularly for girls, their educational prospects suffer."Clean, safe and dignified toilet and hand-washing facilities in schools help ensure that girls get the education they need and deserve," she said."When girls get an education, the whole community benefits."
Lack of toilets is fatal, global association says
Lack of toilets is fatal, global association says
A cubicle is seen at the Oxford Circus lavatories in London, May 20, 2005. Lack of proper toilet facilities and sanitation kills almost two million people a year, most of them children, the World Toilet Association said at its first meeting on Thursday. (Dylan Martinez/Reuters)SEOUL (Reuters) - Lack of proper toilet facilities andsanitation kills almost two million people a year, most of themchildren, the World Toilet Association said at its firstmeeting on Thursday.
"It is regrettable that the matter of defecation is notgiven as much attention as food or housing," Sim Jae-duck, theassociation's South Korean head, told the meeting at itsrecently opened lavatory-shaped headquarters south of Seoul.
Sim, a lawmaker nicknamed "Mr. Toilet," said some 2.6billion people worldwide do not have access to proper toiletfacilities, with potentially fatal consequences.
About 1.8 million people die every year from diarrhealdiseases that are mainly blamed on inadequate sanitation andpoor hygiene, the World Health Organisation's regional directorfor the Western Pacific, Shigeru Omi, told the meeting.
The majority of these deaths occur in Asia and 90 percentof the fatalities are children under the age of five, he added.
"Just imagine the number of children whose lives could besaved through simple low-cost interventions in sanitation andhygiene," Omi told the meeting.
The United Nations has declared 2008 the "Year ofSanitation" and is calling for a renewed effort to improvesanitation and hygiene facilities, especially in developingcountries.
Several charities also marked World Toilet Day on Monday bylaunching international campaigns for more hygiene awarenessand investments in toilet facilities.
The Seoul meeting, which brought together public healthofficials from around the world and U.N. agencies, aims toraise funds for sanitation in developing countries.
"The funding needed is not overwhelmingly large, but thereturn is immense," said Vanessa Tobin of U.N. children'sagency UNICEF. "Political support is extremely important.Advocacy for this issue is a high priority."
According to the United Nations, spending $10 billion ayear could halve the proportion of people without basic toiletfacilities by 2015, and Tobin said this investment would net anestimated $84 billion in savings from improved public healthand better living conditions.
In some cultures, the solution requires very little water,as is the case in sub-Saharan Africa where ash on top of a pitis often all that is needed, she said.
"It is very important to remember most people who don'thave access are poor people living in rural areas," Tobinadded.
(Editing by Jon Herskovitz and Miral Fahmy)
A cubicle is seen at the Oxford Circus lavatories in London, May 20, 2005. Lack of proper toilet facilities and sanitation kills almost two million people a year, most of them children, the World Toilet Association said at its first meeting on Thursday. (Dylan Martinez/Reuters)SEOUL (Reuters) - Lack of proper toilet facilities andsanitation kills almost two million people a year, most of themchildren, the World Toilet Association said at its firstmeeting on Thursday.
"It is regrettable that the matter of defecation is notgiven as much attention as food or housing," Sim Jae-duck, theassociation's South Korean head, told the meeting at itsrecently opened lavatory-shaped headquarters south of Seoul.
Sim, a lawmaker nicknamed "Mr. Toilet," said some 2.6billion people worldwide do not have access to proper toiletfacilities, with potentially fatal consequences.
About 1.8 million people die every year from diarrhealdiseases that are mainly blamed on inadequate sanitation andpoor hygiene, the World Health Organisation's regional directorfor the Western Pacific, Shigeru Omi, told the meeting.
The majority of these deaths occur in Asia and 90 percentof the fatalities are children under the age of five, he added.
"Just imagine the number of children whose lives could besaved through simple low-cost interventions in sanitation andhygiene," Omi told the meeting.
The United Nations has declared 2008 the "Year ofSanitation" and is calling for a renewed effort to improvesanitation and hygiene facilities, especially in developingcountries.
Several charities also marked World Toilet Day on Monday bylaunching international campaigns for more hygiene awarenessand investments in toilet facilities.
The Seoul meeting, which brought together public healthofficials from around the world and U.N. agencies, aims toraise funds for sanitation in developing countries.
"The funding needed is not overwhelmingly large, but thereturn is immense," said Vanessa Tobin of U.N. children'sagency UNICEF. "Political support is extremely important.Advocacy for this issue is a high priority."
According to the United Nations, spending $10 billion ayear could halve the proportion of people without basic toiletfacilities by 2015, and Tobin said this investment would net anestimated $84 billion in savings from improved public healthand better living conditions.
In some cultures, the solution requires very little water,as is the case in sub-Saharan Africa where ash on top of a pitis often all that is needed, she said.
"It is very important to remember most people who don'thave access are poor people living in rural areas," Tobinadded.
(Editing by Jon Herskovitz and Miral Fahmy)
HIV drug resistance seen in central China: expert
HIV drug resistance seen in central China: expert
A worker tests blood samples at an AIDS laboratory in Hefei, east China's Anhui province, November 22, 2007. Significant numbers of people living with HIV in central China have developed full-blown AIDS despite receiving free anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs, a leading AIDS researcher said on Thursday. (Jianan Yu/Reuters)HONG KONG (Reuters) - Significant numbers of people livingwith HIV in central China have developed full-blown AIDSdespite receiving free anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs, a leadingAIDS researcher said on Thursday.
"Recent studies found that a significant portion ofpatients still developed AIDS after two years of treatment dueto the problem of drug resistance," said Chen Zhiwei, directorof the newly-opened AIDS Institute at the University of HongKong.
Before moving to Hong Kong, Chen was based in the UnitedStates where he collaborated with researchers in China toconduct surveillance on HIV drug resistance. Chen said thepatients were in central China, but he did not specify whichprovinces.
"In the past four years, we have been working on it andtrying to understand how the nation provides free HIV drugs tofarmers and villagers and what actually happened after thoseyears of treatment," Chen told a news conference.
Hundreds of thousands of farmers in the central Chineseprovince of Henan were infected in the 1990s through schemes inwhich people sold blood to unsanitary, often state-run healthclinics, making the province the centre of China's AIDSepidemic.
Antiretroviral drugs help keep the HIV virus in check andcan prevent the progression to full-blown AIDS. But regimenscan be complicated and sufferers can easily develop drugresistance if they miss doses. Those who develop resistance tofirst-line drugs will have to resort to stronger, moreexpensive treatments.
However, HIV drug resistance is a difficult problem inChina as there are few second-line drugs to choose from due tohigh costs. Chinese pharmaceuticals are also unable to producemany of them due to patent laws.
Activists say those who can afford it, procure drugs fromoverseas, while the rest simply wait to die.
Chen said the new AIDS Institute would work on possibleAIDS vaccines and try to understand and curb the development ofthe disease in Hong Kong and China.
The United Nations AIDS agency slashed its global estimatesthis week of how many people were infected from nearly 40million to 33 million, mainly due to revised figures fromIndia. But UN officials quickly warned that the world risks aresurgence of the AIDS epidemic if countries let their guarddown.
(Reporting by Tan Ee Lyn; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)
A worker tests blood samples at an AIDS laboratory in Hefei, east China's Anhui province, November 22, 2007. Significant numbers of people living with HIV in central China have developed full-blown AIDS despite receiving free anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs, a leading AIDS researcher said on Thursday. (Jianan Yu/Reuters)HONG KONG (Reuters) - Significant numbers of people livingwith HIV in central China have developed full-blown AIDSdespite receiving free anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs, a leadingAIDS researcher said on Thursday.
"Recent studies found that a significant portion ofpatients still developed AIDS after two years of treatment dueto the problem of drug resistance," said Chen Zhiwei, directorof the newly-opened AIDS Institute at the University of HongKong.
Before moving to Hong Kong, Chen was based in the UnitedStates where he collaborated with researchers in China toconduct surveillance on HIV drug resistance. Chen said thepatients were in central China, but he did not specify whichprovinces.
"In the past four years, we have been working on it andtrying to understand how the nation provides free HIV drugs tofarmers and villagers and what actually happened after thoseyears of treatment," Chen told a news conference.
Hundreds of thousands of farmers in the central Chineseprovince of Henan were infected in the 1990s through schemes inwhich people sold blood to unsanitary, often state-run healthclinics, making the province the centre of China's AIDSepidemic.
Antiretroviral drugs help keep the HIV virus in check andcan prevent the progression to full-blown AIDS. But regimenscan be complicated and sufferers can easily develop drugresistance if they miss doses. Those who develop resistance tofirst-line drugs will have to resort to stronger, moreexpensive treatments.
However, HIV drug resistance is a difficult problem inChina as there are few second-line drugs to choose from due tohigh costs. Chinese pharmaceuticals are also unable to producemany of them due to patent laws.
Activists say those who can afford it, procure drugs fromoverseas, while the rest simply wait to die.
Chen said the new AIDS Institute would work on possibleAIDS vaccines and try to understand and curb the development ofthe disease in Hong Kong and China.
The United Nations AIDS agency slashed its global estimatesthis week of how many people were infected from nearly 40million to 33 million, mainly due to revised figures fromIndia. But UN officials quickly warned that the world risks aresurgence of the AIDS epidemic if countries let their guarddown.
(Reporting by Tan Ee Lyn; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)
China cools protests over ant aphrodisiac scheme
China cools protests over ant aphrodisiac scheme
BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese officials have sought to headoff fresh confrontation after thousands of investors in thenortheast protested to demand help getting money back from aget-rich-quick scheme raising ants to make an aphrodisiactonic.
Several thousand irate investors from across Liaoning, arustbelt province striving to attract investment, demonstratedaround provincial government offices in the capital, Shenyang,in past days.
Provincial officials said they were working to defuse thecomplaints, avoiding the harsh words that wary authoritiesoften use against protests.
"The provincial government has paid great attention to thissituation, and will take appropriate measures within theframework of the law," Zhang Yunqiang, propaganda director ofthe Liaoning provincial government, told Reuters. "Thebesieging of the office has gradually eased."
But residents told Reuters officials had set up checkpointsand taken other steps to keep a close eye on potential trouble.
The investors -- many of them laid-off workers or farmers-- put their savings into Shenyang's Yilishen Group for ascheme in which they bred ants to provide ingredients for ahealth tonic promising an aphrodisiac boost.
For every 10,000 yuan (654 pounds) they paid the company as"deposit", investors were promised a dividend of 3,250 yuan.
But since October, the group twice delayed payment of thedividend, fuelling investor fears that it was on the brink ofbankruptcy or that the government might have frozen its funds.
A third delay on Tuesday stoked anger among investors, theofficial, Zhang, said.
He said the government would "urge the Yilishen Group andthe breeders to reasonably settle their dispute", but Yilishenwas a private company that had "full responsibility for its ownprofits and losses".
Phone calls to Yilishen went unanswered, and the companyhas made no public statement.
Chinese media have said the scheme collected more than 10billion yuan from hundreds of thousands of Liaoning residents.Some reports said the ants were a useless ruse for an illegalfund-raising scam.
While authorities have so far taken relatively mild stepsagainst the protests, they are also wary of another flare-up.
One disgruntled investor surnamed Cong told Reuters thatbreeders heading to Shenyang had been stopped. In the cityitself neighbourhood officials were checking on breeders.
In the small city of Jinzhou, anti-riot police wereguarding against protests, said a resident there.
(Reporting by Beijing newsroom, editing by Nick Macfie andRoger Crabb)
BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese officials have sought to headoff fresh confrontation after thousands of investors in thenortheast protested to demand help getting money back from aget-rich-quick scheme raising ants to make an aphrodisiactonic.
Several thousand irate investors from across Liaoning, arustbelt province striving to attract investment, demonstratedaround provincial government offices in the capital, Shenyang,in past days.
Provincial officials said they were working to defuse thecomplaints, avoiding the harsh words that wary authoritiesoften use against protests.
"The provincial government has paid great attention to thissituation, and will take appropriate measures within theframework of the law," Zhang Yunqiang, propaganda director ofthe Liaoning provincial government, told Reuters. "Thebesieging of the office has gradually eased."
But residents told Reuters officials had set up checkpointsand taken other steps to keep a close eye on potential trouble.
The investors -- many of them laid-off workers or farmers-- put their savings into Shenyang's Yilishen Group for ascheme in which they bred ants to provide ingredients for ahealth tonic promising an aphrodisiac boost.
For every 10,000 yuan (654 pounds) they paid the company as"deposit", investors were promised a dividend of 3,250 yuan.
But since October, the group twice delayed payment of thedividend, fuelling investor fears that it was on the brink ofbankruptcy or that the government might have frozen its funds.
A third delay on Tuesday stoked anger among investors, theofficial, Zhang, said.
He said the government would "urge the Yilishen Group andthe breeders to reasonably settle their dispute", but Yilishenwas a private company that had "full responsibility for its ownprofits and losses".
Phone calls to Yilishen went unanswered, and the companyhas made no public statement.
Chinese media have said the scheme collected more than 10billion yuan from hundreds of thousands of Liaoning residents.Some reports said the ants were a useless ruse for an illegalfund-raising scam.
While authorities have so far taken relatively mild stepsagainst the protests, they are also wary of another flare-up.
One disgruntled investor surnamed Cong told Reuters thatbreeders heading to Shenyang had been stopped. In the cityitself neighbourhood officials were checking on breeders.
In the small city of Jinzhou, anti-riot police wereguarding against protests, said a resident there.
(Reporting by Beijing newsroom, editing by Nick Macfie andRoger Crabb)
Transition from polyp to cancer age-dependent
Transition from polyp to cancer age-dependent
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Men and women with advancedcolorectal polyps have a similar risk of progressing tocolorectal cancer (CRC) and the risk increases with age in bothsexes, according to a study conducted in Germany.
Colorectal polyps (also called adenomas) are found in up to40 percent of adults over 50. Fewer than 5 percent of them turncancerous.
To come up with age- and sex-specific estimates oftransition rates from advanced polyps to CRC, Dr. HermannBrenner from the German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg andcolleagues used combined data from 840,149 screeningcolonoscopies and from national population-based cancerregistries.
They report in the journal Gut that annual transition ratesincrease from 2.6 percent in women aged 55 to 59 years to 5.6percent in women aged 80 and older. For men in these agegroups, transition rates increase from 2.6 percent to 5.1percent.
In their analyses, estimates of 10-year cumulative riskincreased from 25.4 percent at age 55 years to 42.9 percent atage 80 years in women, with corresponding increases from 25.2percent to 39.7 percent in men.
"Our finding that advanced adenoma transition rates arestrongly age-dependent could have important clinicalimplications, possibly including a higher age at firstscreening or differential endoscopy intervals according toage," Brenner and colleagues write.
"However, additional risk factors, such as family historyof CRC, also have to be taken into account," they note.
SOURCE: Gut, November 2007.
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Men and women with advancedcolorectal polyps have a similar risk of progressing tocolorectal cancer (CRC) and the risk increases with age in bothsexes, according to a study conducted in Germany.
Colorectal polyps (also called adenomas) are found in up to40 percent of adults over 50. Fewer than 5 percent of them turncancerous.
To come up with age- and sex-specific estimates oftransition rates from advanced polyps to CRC, Dr. HermannBrenner from the German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg andcolleagues used combined data from 840,149 screeningcolonoscopies and from national population-based cancerregistries.
They report in the journal Gut that annual transition ratesincrease from 2.6 percent in women aged 55 to 59 years to 5.6percent in women aged 80 and older. For men in these agegroups, transition rates increase from 2.6 percent to 5.1percent.
In their analyses, estimates of 10-year cumulative riskincreased from 25.4 percent at age 55 years to 42.9 percent atage 80 years in women, with corresponding increases from 25.2percent to 39.7 percent in men.
"Our finding that advanced adenoma transition rates arestrongly age-dependent could have important clinicalimplications, possibly including a higher age at firstscreening or differential endoscopy intervals according toage," Brenner and colleagues write.
"However, additional risk factors, such as family historyof CRC, also have to be taken into account," they note.
SOURCE: Gut, November 2007.
Lung transplant rarely prolongs life in CF
Lung transplant rarely prolongs life in CF
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Lung transplantation inchildren with cystic fibrosis (CF) is not likely to prolonglife and may do more harm than good, according to a look backat essentially the entire U.S. pediatric experience with lungtransplantation for cystic fibrosis for the period 1992 through2002.
According to a report in November 22 issue of The NewEngland Journal of Medicine, a total of 248 of the 514 childrenwith cystic fibrosis who were on the waiting list during the10-year-period underwent lung transplantation.
"Children undergoing lung transplant did much worse thanexpected," Dr. Theodore G. Liou of the University of Utah, SaltLake City, told Reuters Health.
"We fully expected, at the start of the study, that wewould find a group that did well and others that did not do sowell. Unfortunately, we found that the group that most likelydid well with transplant was very small, while the group thatmost likely did poorly (worse than if not transplanted) wasquite large," Liou said.
Specifically, analyses showed that only five children had asignificant estimated benefit associated with lungtransplantation. The majority of children -- 315 to be exact --were at significant risk for harm from lung transplant, whilefor 194 children, the procedure was not clearly harmful orbeneficial.
"Our paper essentially points out how difficult it is tofind the patients most likely to die soon and thus most likelyto have a survival increase by transplantation," Liou said.
"One possible reason why there doesn't seem to be muchsurvival benefit would be that conventional therapy for cysticfibrosis has gotten so good that children with cystic fibrosisare simply no longer dying," Liou suggested. "Therefore, alifesaving operation is not only unneeded but not possible.Improvements in cystic fibrosis care have been steady andremarkably effective."
"We are not trying to eliminate the procedure or take awaythe last bit of hope for desperately ill children with CF,"Liou emphasized. "We are trying very hard to look critically atthis therapy and identify how we could make it better."
Liou also noted that the data used for the study are notsufficient to make a statement about quality of life forchildren who have a lung transplant and how it compares toquality of life without one.
"We think that some sort of study to collect the rightinformation to allow simultaneous assessment of the effects onsurvival and quality of life in the same patient is needed,"Liou said.
SOURCE: The New England Journal of Medicine, November 22,2007.
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Lung transplantation inchildren with cystic fibrosis (CF) is not likely to prolonglife and may do more harm than good, according to a look backat essentially the entire U.S. pediatric experience with lungtransplantation for cystic fibrosis for the period 1992 through2002.
According to a report in November 22 issue of The NewEngland Journal of Medicine, a total of 248 of the 514 childrenwith cystic fibrosis who were on the waiting list during the10-year-period underwent lung transplantation.
"Children undergoing lung transplant did much worse thanexpected," Dr. Theodore G. Liou of the University of Utah, SaltLake City, told Reuters Health.
"We fully expected, at the start of the study, that wewould find a group that did well and others that did not do sowell. Unfortunately, we found that the group that most likelydid well with transplant was very small, while the group thatmost likely did poorly (worse than if not transplanted) wasquite large," Liou said.
Specifically, analyses showed that only five children had asignificant estimated benefit associated with lungtransplantation. The majority of children -- 315 to be exact --were at significant risk for harm from lung transplant, whilefor 194 children, the procedure was not clearly harmful orbeneficial.
"Our paper essentially points out how difficult it is tofind the patients most likely to die soon and thus most likelyto have a survival increase by transplantation," Liou said.
"One possible reason why there doesn't seem to be muchsurvival benefit would be that conventional therapy for cysticfibrosis has gotten so good that children with cystic fibrosisare simply no longer dying," Liou suggested. "Therefore, alifesaving operation is not only unneeded but not possible.Improvements in cystic fibrosis care have been steady andremarkably effective."
"We are not trying to eliminate the procedure or take awaythe last bit of hope for desperately ill children with CF,"Liou emphasized. "We are trying very hard to look critically atthis therapy and identify how we could make it better."
Liou also noted that the data used for the study are notsufficient to make a statement about quality of life forchildren who have a lung transplant and how it compares toquality of life without one.
"We think that some sort of study to collect the rightinformation to allow simultaneous assessment of the effects onsurvival and quality of life in the same patient is needed,"Liou said.
SOURCE: The New England Journal of Medicine, November 22,2007.
Singapore OKs concert by US gay couple
Singapore OKs concert by US gay couple
In a rare move, Singapore has given approval for an American gay couple to perform next month as part of a concert to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS. The Los Angeles-based Christian gay couple Jason and deMarco, pictured in 2006, were barred in 2005 from performing in the city-state. But the Media Development Authority (MDA) said it had approved a concert this time because organisers had given assurances that they aimed to highlight the HIV/AIDS issue.(AFP/Getty Images/File/David Livingston)SINGAPORE (AFP) - In a rare move, Singapore has given approval for an American gay couple to perform next month as part of a concert to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS.
The Los Angeles-based Christian gay couple Jason and deMarco were barred in 2005 from performing in the city-state.
But the Media Development Authority (MDA) said it had approved a concert this time because organisers had given assurances that they aimed to highlight the HIV/AIDS issue.
"In 2005, a similar concert featuring the pop duo was disallowed because the concert was open to general members of the public," the MDA's deputy director for arts and licensing, Amy Tsang, said in a statement Thursday.
She said concert organisers have "given the assurance to MDA that the concert is targeted at the high risk groups.
"The organiser has also assured MDA that the aim of the concert is AIDS education and HIV prevention," she said.
The duo is to perform on December 13, the Today newspaper reported.
Vivian Balakrishnan, Singapore's second minister for information, communications and the arts, has said the city-state was liberalising but retained a very strong conservative core.
As part of major revisions to the Penal Code approved by parliament last month, Singapore legalised oral and anal sex between heterosexual couples but retained a law which criminalises intercourse between gay men.
In a rare move, Singapore has given approval for an American gay couple to perform next month as part of a concert to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS. The Los Angeles-based Christian gay couple Jason and deMarco, pictured in 2006, were barred in 2005 from performing in the city-state. But the Media Development Authority (MDA) said it had approved a concert this time because organisers had given assurances that they aimed to highlight the HIV/AIDS issue.(AFP/Getty Images/File/David Livingston)SINGAPORE (AFP) - In a rare move, Singapore has given approval for an American gay couple to perform next month as part of a concert to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS.
The Los Angeles-based Christian gay couple Jason and deMarco were barred in 2005 from performing in the city-state.
But the Media Development Authority (MDA) said it had approved a concert this time because organisers had given assurances that they aimed to highlight the HIV/AIDS issue.
"In 2005, a similar concert featuring the pop duo was disallowed because the concert was open to general members of the public," the MDA's deputy director for arts and licensing, Amy Tsang, said in a statement Thursday.
She said concert organisers have "given the assurance to MDA that the concert is targeted at the high risk groups.
"The organiser has also assured MDA that the aim of the concert is AIDS education and HIV prevention," she said.
The duo is to perform on December 13, the Today newspaper reported.
Vivian Balakrishnan, Singapore's second minister for information, communications and the arts, has said the city-state was liberalising but retained a very strong conservative core.
As part of major revisions to the Penal Code approved by parliament last month, Singapore legalised oral and anal sex between heterosexual couples but retained a law which criminalises intercourse between gay men.
Active parents raise active kids: study
Active parents raise active kids: study
A child works out on an exercise ball. Active parents can, by their example, encourage their children to be physically active, but the effect is less than widely thought, according to a study of more than 5,000 10- and 11-year-olds published Friday.(AFP/File/Tim Sloan)PARIS (AFP) - Active parents can, by their example, encourage their children to be physically active, but the effect is less than widely thought, according to a study of more than 5,000 10- and 11-year-olds published Friday.
Its findings touch on strategies for reducing diseases such as obesity, cardiovascular conditions and diabetes that are growing at epidemic proportions due mainly to a couch-potato lifestyle.
A team of British and US researchers led by Calum Mattocks of the University of Bristol monitored 4,451 children for at least 10 hours a day over three days, tracking the intensity and frequency of their exercise with accelerometers attached to their ankles.
The children were also asked to record any time they swam or rode bicycles because the devices do not monitor these activities accurately.
The researchers then compared the results against statements provided by the parents on their level of physical activity in several categories.
These included maternal walking or swimming during pregnancy, parental exercise when the child was 21 months old, maternal smoking during pregnancy, and parental smoking at an early age.
Surprisingly, children of smoking parents tended to be slightly more active physically than kids whose parents were non-smokers.
"Few of the early life factors were associated with later physical activity in 10- to 11-year-olds, and for those that were, the association was modest," says the study, published in the British journal The Lancet.
But even the scarcity of links is important, the researchers said.
It can help health officials provide guidelines to parents which emphasise the factors -- however few -- that are known to work, they said.
A child works out on an exercise ball. Active parents can, by their example, encourage their children to be physically active, but the effect is less than widely thought, according to a study of more than 5,000 10- and 11-year-olds published Friday.(AFP/File/Tim Sloan)PARIS (AFP) - Active parents can, by their example, encourage their children to be physically active, but the effect is less than widely thought, according to a study of more than 5,000 10- and 11-year-olds published Friday.
Its findings touch on strategies for reducing diseases such as obesity, cardiovascular conditions and diabetes that are growing at epidemic proportions due mainly to a couch-potato lifestyle.
A team of British and US researchers led by Calum Mattocks of the University of Bristol monitored 4,451 children for at least 10 hours a day over three days, tracking the intensity and frequency of their exercise with accelerometers attached to their ankles.
The children were also asked to record any time they swam or rode bicycles because the devices do not monitor these activities accurately.
The researchers then compared the results against statements provided by the parents on their level of physical activity in several categories.
These included maternal walking or swimming during pregnancy, parental exercise when the child was 21 months old, maternal smoking during pregnancy, and parental smoking at an early age.
Surprisingly, children of smoking parents tended to be slightly more active physically than kids whose parents were non-smokers.
"Few of the early life factors were associated with later physical activity in 10- to 11-year-olds, and for those that were, the association was modest," says the study, published in the British journal The Lancet.
But even the scarcity of links is important, the researchers said.
It can help health officials provide guidelines to parents which emphasise the factors -- however few -- that are known to work, they said.
Glaxo rotavirus vaccine highly effective: study
Glaxo rotavirus vaccine highly effective: study
A staff member of a GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) laboratory works in Singapore March 21, 2007. GlaxoSmithKline Plc's Rotarix vaccine given along with other routine infant shots is highly effective at protecting against rotavirus, the most common cause of severe diarrhoea in young children, researchers said on Friday. (Nicky Loh/Reuters)LONDON (Reuters) - GlaxoSmithKline Plc's Rotarix vaccinegiven along with other routine infant shots is highly effectiveat protecting against rotavirus, the most common cause ofsevere diarrhoea in young children, researchers said on Friday.
New data from a large European trial, published in theLancet journal, showed the oral vaccine worked against the fivemost commonly circulating rotavirus types -- G1, G2, G3, G4 andG9 -- responsible for 98 percent of rotavirus gastroenteritis.
The researchers found that after one dose of the vaccine,24 out of 2,572 infants given the vaccine had rotavirusgastroenteritis episodes of any severity compared to 94 out of1,302 given placebo, giving a vaccine efficacy of 87.1 percent.
Vaccine efficacy after two doses over two rotavirus seasonsremained high at 78.9 percent and was 90.4 percent againstsevere rotavirus gastroenteritis, Timo Vesikari of Finland'sUniversity of Tampere and colleagues reported.
"Our study findings show that, if integrated into routineinfant immunization schedules, vaccination with RIX4414(Rotarix) could result in significant reduction not only ofrotavirus disease burden but also of severe pediatricgastroenteritis during the first two years of life," they said.
Rotavirus kills an estimated 611,000 children worldwideevery year, the vast majority of them in Africa and Asia, andthe arrival of a new generation of oral vaccines against thedisease has been welcomed by healthcare workers.
But some experts caution against assuming that vaccineslike Glaxo's Rotarix and Merck & Co Inc's rival product RotaTeqwill work equally well in all countries.
In a commentary in the Lancet, Australian pediatric expertsKeith Grimwood and Julie Bines said virus diversity in Africaand Asia meant no global vaccination recommendations could bemade until vaccine trials were completed in these regions.
(Reporting by Ben Hirschler; Editing by David Cowell)
A staff member of a GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) laboratory works in Singapore March 21, 2007. GlaxoSmithKline Plc's Rotarix vaccine given along with other routine infant shots is highly effective at protecting against rotavirus, the most common cause of severe diarrhoea in young children, researchers said on Friday. (Nicky Loh/Reuters)LONDON (Reuters) - GlaxoSmithKline Plc's Rotarix vaccinegiven along with other routine infant shots is highly effectiveat protecting against rotavirus, the most common cause ofsevere diarrhoea in young children, researchers said on Friday.
New data from a large European trial, published in theLancet journal, showed the oral vaccine worked against the fivemost commonly circulating rotavirus types -- G1, G2, G3, G4 andG9 -- responsible for 98 percent of rotavirus gastroenteritis.
The researchers found that after one dose of the vaccine,24 out of 2,572 infants given the vaccine had rotavirusgastroenteritis episodes of any severity compared to 94 out of1,302 given placebo, giving a vaccine efficacy of 87.1 percent.
Vaccine efficacy after two doses over two rotavirus seasonsremained high at 78.9 percent and was 90.4 percent againstsevere rotavirus gastroenteritis, Timo Vesikari of Finland'sUniversity of Tampere and colleagues reported.
"Our study findings show that, if integrated into routineinfant immunization schedules, vaccination with RIX4414(Rotarix) could result in significant reduction not only ofrotavirus disease burden but also of severe pediatricgastroenteritis during the first two years of life," they said.
Rotavirus kills an estimated 611,000 children worldwideevery year, the vast majority of them in Africa and Asia, andthe arrival of a new generation of oral vaccines against thedisease has been welcomed by healthcare workers.
But some experts caution against assuming that vaccineslike Glaxo's Rotarix and Merck & Co Inc's rival product RotaTeqwill work equally well in all countries.
In a commentary in the Lancet, Australian pediatric expertsKeith Grimwood and Julie Bines said virus diversity in Africaand Asia meant no global vaccination recommendations could bemade until vaccine trials were completed in these regions.
(Reporting by Ben Hirschler; Editing by David Cowell)
Health Tip: Make the Holidays More Meaningful
Health Tip: Make the Holidays More Meaningful
(HealthDay News) - Children can easily be caught up in thesuperficial aspects of the holidays, including all of the big meals, andgifts coming from so many friends and relatives.
The Nemours Foundation offers these suggestions for making the holidaysmore meaningful for you and your children:
Create traditions in the family that your children can look forwardto. Talk about why it's important to have traditions, and which ones aretheir favorites.Encourage children to volunteer, and to make donations and gifts forthose who are less fortunate.As a family, make homemade gifts to give to friends and familymembers. Help your children understand that a gift doesn't need to besomething that's bought from a store.Don't let yourself get stressed during the holidays. Let your childrensee that it's a time to enjoy spending together as a family.
(HealthDay News) - Children can easily be caught up in thesuperficial aspects of the holidays, including all of the big meals, andgifts coming from so many friends and relatives.
The Nemours Foundation offers these suggestions for making the holidaysmore meaningful for you and your children:
Create traditions in the family that your children can look forwardto. Talk about why it's important to have traditions, and which ones aretheir favorites.Encourage children to volunteer, and to make donations and gifts forthose who are less fortunate.As a family, make homemade gifts to give to friends and familymembers. Help your children understand that a gift doesn't need to besomething that's bought from a store.Don't let yourself get stressed during the holidays. Let your childrensee that it's a time to enjoy spending together as a family.
Friday, December 28, 2007
Beijing hotels told to stock all rooms with condoms
Beijing hotels told to stock all rooms with condoms
BEIJING (Reuters) - Beijing, preparing to host the 2008Olympics, has ordered hotels to provide condoms in all bedroomsin a bid to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS after cases ofinfection soared 54 percent in the first 10 months of thisyear.
Announcing the move, the official Xinhua news agency madeno direct reference to the Games, saying only that all theChinese capital's 700 hotels must comply by the end of 2008.
With many thousands of visitors due to crowd into the cityfor the Olympics, which run from August 8 to August 24, everyhotel is likely to be sold out.
While hotel managers must provide condoms for their guests,Xinhua said, they are not required to make a loss. The cityhealth bureau said it was up to them how much to charge.
The State Council (Cabinet) urged local governments lastyear to provide access to condoms in all public places..
Beijing health authorities said this week that the city hadregistered 973 new HIV/AIDS cases between January and October.Needle sharing and unprotected sex were the main sources oftransmission.
State media reported a total of 18,543 new cases ofHIV/AIDS across the country in the first half of this year,close to the total for the whole of 2006
(Reporting by Beijing newsroom, editing by Nick Macfie andRoger Crabb)
BEIJING (Reuters) - Beijing, preparing to host the 2008Olympics, has ordered hotels to provide condoms in all bedroomsin a bid to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS after cases ofinfection soared 54 percent in the first 10 months of thisyear.
Announcing the move, the official Xinhua news agency madeno direct reference to the Games, saying only that all theChinese capital's 700 hotels must comply by the end of 2008.
With many thousands of visitors due to crowd into the cityfor the Olympics, which run from August 8 to August 24, everyhotel is likely to be sold out.
While hotel managers must provide condoms for their guests,Xinhua said, they are not required to make a loss. The cityhealth bureau said it was up to them how much to charge.
The State Council (Cabinet) urged local governments lastyear to provide access to condoms in all public places..
Beijing health authorities said this week that the city hadregistered 973 new HIV/AIDS cases between January and October.Needle sharing and unprotected sex were the main sources oftransmission.
State media reported a total of 18,543 new cases ofHIV/AIDS across the country in the first half of this year,close to the total for the whole of 2006
(Reporting by Beijing newsroom, editing by Nick Macfie andRoger Crabb)
Unnecessary appendectomy risky in pregnant women
Unnecessary appendectomy risky in pregnant women
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Unnecessary surgery to remove anormal appendix during pregnancy increases the risk thatmom-to-be will lose her baby or that she will deliver early,research indicates.
"Since there is a risk of fetal loss and early delivery inpregnant women undergoing negative appendectomy, it appearsthat improved diagnostic accuracy is needed prior to takingpregnant women to the operating room for appendectomy," Dr.Marcia L. McGory, told Reuters Health.
"Neither ultrasound nor MRI have a harmful effect on thefetus and should probably be utilized more frequently inpregnant women to try to obtain a definitive diagnosis prior togoing to the operating room," she added.
McGory from the David Geffen School of Medicine at theUniversity of California Los Angeles and colleagues looked atthe outcomes of nearly 95,000 women who had their appendixremoved. More than 3,000 of the women were pregnant at the timeof surgery.
The researchers found that far more pregnant thannon-pregnant women had unnecessary appendectomies (23 percentversus 18 percent).
Among pregnant women, fetal loss rates were twice as highwith removal of a normal appendix (4 percent) than with simpleappendicitis (2 percent) and were increased further withcomplicated appendicitis (6 percent).
Early delivery rates were also higher after unnecessaryappendectomy (10 percent) and complicated appendicitis (11percent) than after simple appendicitis (4 percent), theresearchers note.
"There is definitely a need for further studies evaluatingpregnant women undergoing appendectomy," McGory said. The "moreliberal use" of pre-surgery imaging in pregnant women may helpconfirm the diagnosis prior to operation and reduce the numberof unnecessary operations performed, McGory suggested.
SOURCE: Journal of the American College of Surgeons,October 2007.
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Unnecessary surgery to remove anormal appendix during pregnancy increases the risk thatmom-to-be will lose her baby or that she will deliver early,research indicates.
"Since there is a risk of fetal loss and early delivery inpregnant women undergoing negative appendectomy, it appearsthat improved diagnostic accuracy is needed prior to takingpregnant women to the operating room for appendectomy," Dr.Marcia L. McGory, told Reuters Health.
"Neither ultrasound nor MRI have a harmful effect on thefetus and should probably be utilized more frequently inpregnant women to try to obtain a definitive diagnosis prior togoing to the operating room," she added.
McGory from the David Geffen School of Medicine at theUniversity of California Los Angeles and colleagues looked atthe outcomes of nearly 95,000 women who had their appendixremoved. More than 3,000 of the women were pregnant at the timeof surgery.
The researchers found that far more pregnant thannon-pregnant women had unnecessary appendectomies (23 percentversus 18 percent).
Among pregnant women, fetal loss rates were twice as highwith removal of a normal appendix (4 percent) than with simpleappendicitis (2 percent) and were increased further withcomplicated appendicitis (6 percent).
Early delivery rates were also higher after unnecessaryappendectomy (10 percent) and complicated appendicitis (11percent) than after simple appendicitis (4 percent), theresearchers note.
"There is definitely a need for further studies evaluatingpregnant women undergoing appendectomy," McGory said. The "moreliberal use" of pre-surgery imaging in pregnant women may helpconfirm the diagnosis prior to operation and reduce the numberof unnecessary operations performed, McGory suggested.
SOURCE: Journal of the American College of Surgeons,October 2007.
Cyclical vomiting transient in most kids: study
Cyclical vomiting transient in most kids: study
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Parents of cyclical vomitersrest assured: Results of a study suggest that cyclical vomitingin children resolves in most cases, often soon after a formaldiagnosis has been made, although other somatic symptoms --that is, physical symptoms believed to be caused bypsychological stress -- may persist.
Cyclical vomiting syndrome describes periods of intensevomiting lasting hours to days with symptom-free intervalsspanning weeks to months, the authors explain, but little isknown about the outcome of cyclical vomiting in children.
Dr. Marion Rowland and colleagues from UCD School ofMedicine and Medical Science, Dublin, Ireland investigated thecurrent status of 41 children diagnosed with cyclical vomitingsyndrome between 1993 and 2003.
At the time of diagnosis, 41 percent of children hadmonthly vomiting episodes, 37 percent had at least one episodeevery 3 months, and 22 percent had intervals between episodesexceeding 3 months.
More than 70 percent of the children could identify atrigger factor, more often a non-noxious exciting event (44percent) than a noxious trigger (22 percent) for theirepisodes, Rowland and colleagues report. Specific foodstuffstriggered cyclical vomiting in only two children (5 percent).
By an average of about 4.5 years after diagnosis, 61percent of children had been free of vomiting episodes for atleast a year, while only 39 percent continued to vomit.
Among the children in whom cyclical vomiting had ceased,resolution had occurred within weeks of diagnosis in 16 (39percent overall).
Resolution of cyclical vomiting did not correlate withduration or severity of the condition or with any othervariable analyzed, the investigators say.
Even after resolution of cyclical vomiting, most childrencontinued to experience a variety of somatic symptoms,including headache (40 percent) and stomachache (36 percent).
In the 39 percent of children with persistent cyclicalvomiting syndrome, the caregiver felt that the symptoms wereeasier to deal with after a diagnosis had been made andinformation about the syndrome had been provided, theresearchers note.
SOURCE: Archives of Disease in Childhood, November 2007.
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Parents of cyclical vomitersrest assured: Results of a study suggest that cyclical vomitingin children resolves in most cases, often soon after a formaldiagnosis has been made, although other somatic symptoms --that is, physical symptoms believed to be caused bypsychological stress -- may persist.
Cyclical vomiting syndrome describes periods of intensevomiting lasting hours to days with symptom-free intervalsspanning weeks to months, the authors explain, but little isknown about the outcome of cyclical vomiting in children.
Dr. Marion Rowland and colleagues from UCD School ofMedicine and Medical Science, Dublin, Ireland investigated thecurrent status of 41 children diagnosed with cyclical vomitingsyndrome between 1993 and 2003.
At the time of diagnosis, 41 percent of children hadmonthly vomiting episodes, 37 percent had at least one episodeevery 3 months, and 22 percent had intervals between episodesexceeding 3 months.
More than 70 percent of the children could identify atrigger factor, more often a non-noxious exciting event (44percent) than a noxious trigger (22 percent) for theirepisodes, Rowland and colleagues report. Specific foodstuffstriggered cyclical vomiting in only two children (5 percent).
By an average of about 4.5 years after diagnosis, 61percent of children had been free of vomiting episodes for atleast a year, while only 39 percent continued to vomit.
Among the children in whom cyclical vomiting had ceased,resolution had occurred within weeks of diagnosis in 16 (39percent overall).
Resolution of cyclical vomiting did not correlate withduration or severity of the condition or with any othervariable analyzed, the investigators say.
Even after resolution of cyclical vomiting, most childrencontinued to experience a variety of somatic symptoms,including headache (40 percent) and stomachache (36 percent).
In the 39 percent of children with persistent cyclicalvomiting syndrome, the caregiver felt that the symptoms wereeasier to deal with after a diagnosis had been made andinformation about the syndrome had been provided, theresearchers note.
SOURCE: Archives of Disease in Childhood, November 2007.
Post-exposure HIV drugs won't boost risky behavior
Post-exposure HIV drugs won't boost risky behavior
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Giving antiretroviral drugs topeople after they may have been exposed to HIV is an effectiveway to prevent them from contracting the virus, a new studyshows.
What's more, people who know this option is available tothem don't appear to be more likely to engage in riskybehavior, Dr. Steve Shoptaw of the UCLA Department of FamilyMedicine in Los Angeles, who was involved in the research, toldReuters Health. "This is a viable way of helping people stay(HIV)-negative," he said.
So-called post-exposure prophylaxis, or PEP, has long beenavailable to people who risk HIV infection on the job, forexample a health care worker accidentally jabbed by acontaminated syringe. In 2005, the Centers for Disease Controland Prevention expanded its PEP guidelines to cover peopleexposed to HIV outside the workplace, for example through riskysex, condom breakage or drug use. But PEP still isn't widelyused in such cases, Shoptaw and his team note, because it isn'tcovered by health insurance and is only very rarely offered aspart of community health programs.
To investigate the feasibility of a community organized andfunded non-occupational PEP program, the researchers conducteda demonstration project in which people were offered a 28-daycourse of anti-HIV drugs within 72 hours of potential exposureto HIV.
One hundred people, 95 of them men, participated. Theyreceived the drug treatment, HIV testing, and counseling for upto 26 weeks after enrolling in the study. Fifty-eightparticipants reported having unprotected anal sex, while 18percent reported condom breakage.
Among the 84 people given the full course of medication, 75percent actually took all the drugs. No one became HIV-positiveduring the course of the study.
Some health authorities have been reluctant to offer PEPafter risky sex or drug use for fear that people wouldn'tchange their behavior if they knew "there's a parachutesomewhere they can take to stay negative," Shoptaw noted.However, he and his colleagues found people reduced their riskbehavior after using PEP, rather than increasing it.
He and his colleagues call for making non-occupational PEPprograms more widely available to people at high risk ofbecoming infected with HIV. For now, Shoptaw noted, PEP isavailable only to people who can access it and pay for it outof pocket -- drugs and counseling together cost about $2,200.
Right now, "this is more of a social justice issue,"Shoptaw said. "People who have means have access to this,people who don't, don't."
SOURCE: AIDS Care, published online October 24, 2007.
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Giving antiretroviral drugs topeople after they may have been exposed to HIV is an effectiveway to prevent them from contracting the virus, a new studyshows.
What's more, people who know this option is available tothem don't appear to be more likely to engage in riskybehavior, Dr. Steve Shoptaw of the UCLA Department of FamilyMedicine in Los Angeles, who was involved in the research, toldReuters Health. "This is a viable way of helping people stay(HIV)-negative," he said.
So-called post-exposure prophylaxis, or PEP, has long beenavailable to people who risk HIV infection on the job, forexample a health care worker accidentally jabbed by acontaminated syringe. In 2005, the Centers for Disease Controland Prevention expanded its PEP guidelines to cover peopleexposed to HIV outside the workplace, for example through riskysex, condom breakage or drug use. But PEP still isn't widelyused in such cases, Shoptaw and his team note, because it isn'tcovered by health insurance and is only very rarely offered aspart of community health programs.
To investigate the feasibility of a community organized andfunded non-occupational PEP program, the researchers conducteda demonstration project in which people were offered a 28-daycourse of anti-HIV drugs within 72 hours of potential exposureto HIV.
One hundred people, 95 of them men, participated. Theyreceived the drug treatment, HIV testing, and counseling for upto 26 weeks after enrolling in the study. Fifty-eightparticipants reported having unprotected anal sex, while 18percent reported condom breakage.
Among the 84 people given the full course of medication, 75percent actually took all the drugs. No one became HIV-positiveduring the course of the study.
Some health authorities have been reluctant to offer PEPafter risky sex or drug use for fear that people wouldn'tchange their behavior if they knew "there's a parachutesomewhere they can take to stay negative," Shoptaw noted.However, he and his colleagues found people reduced their riskbehavior after using PEP, rather than increasing it.
He and his colleagues call for making non-occupational PEPprograms more widely available to people at high risk ofbecoming infected with HIV. For now, Shoptaw noted, PEP isavailable only to people who can access it and pay for it outof pocket -- drugs and counseling together cost about $2,200.
Right now, "this is more of a social justice issue,"Shoptaw said. "People who have means have access to this,people who don't, don't."
SOURCE: AIDS Care, published online October 24, 2007.
Former Soviet Union sees most new HIV infections: report
Former Soviet Union sees most new HIV infections: report
LONDON (Reuters) - Former Soviet states had the largestnumber of new HIV infections last year in the European region,mainly due to shared drug needles, an EU report said on Friday.
Former Soviet states reported 59,866 new cases of HIV,which causes AIDS, or 210.8 infections per million people, theEuropean Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said.
That was more than all the new cases in Western and CentralEurope combined. The report defined Eastern Europe as the 15countries of the former Soviet Union.
"Although this rate is lower than the epidemic peakobserved in 2001, the number of reported new HIV ... diagnoseshas increased in recent years," the EU agency said.
"Over a quarter of the new HIV diagnoses were among youngpeople aged 15-24 years and 41 percent of the cases werereported amongst females."
Earlier this week, the United Nations slashed its estimatesof how many people globally are infected with the AIDS virusfrom nearly 40 million to 33 million, mainly due to revisedfigures for India.
The agency also said the evidence showed the epidemic iscreeping back in countries that have become less vigilant,mainly industrialized nations where many people with AIDS haveaccess to drugs that can extend their lives.
In the EU study, Western Europe reported 25,241 new HIVcases, a rate of 82.5 infections per million, while CentralEuropean countries had 1,805 HIV cases, or 9.4 infections permillion. Heterosexual contact was the main driver oftransmission in those areas.
The agency also estimated about 30 percent of people livingwith HIV in Europe are unaware they are infected, which meansthey likely engage in risky behavior that can spread the virus.
"It is anticipated that higher testing rates across Europewill link more HIV infected people to prevention and treatmentservices," the study said.
(Reporting by Michael Kahn, editing by Michael Winfrey)
LONDON (Reuters) - Former Soviet states had the largestnumber of new HIV infections last year in the European region,mainly due to shared drug needles, an EU report said on Friday.
Former Soviet states reported 59,866 new cases of HIV,which causes AIDS, or 210.8 infections per million people, theEuropean Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said.
That was more than all the new cases in Western and CentralEurope combined. The report defined Eastern Europe as the 15countries of the former Soviet Union.
"Although this rate is lower than the epidemic peakobserved in 2001, the number of reported new HIV ... diagnoseshas increased in recent years," the EU agency said.
"Over a quarter of the new HIV diagnoses were among youngpeople aged 15-24 years and 41 percent of the cases werereported amongst females."
Earlier this week, the United Nations slashed its estimatesof how many people globally are infected with the AIDS virusfrom nearly 40 million to 33 million, mainly due to revisedfigures for India.
The agency also said the evidence showed the epidemic iscreeping back in countries that have become less vigilant,mainly industrialized nations where many people with AIDS haveaccess to drugs that can extend their lives.
In the EU study, Western Europe reported 25,241 new HIVcases, a rate of 82.5 infections per million, while CentralEuropean countries had 1,805 HIV cases, or 9.4 infections permillion. Heterosexual contact was the main driver oftransmission in those areas.
The agency also estimated about 30 percent of people livingwith HIV in Europe are unaware they are infected, which meansthey likely engage in risky behavior that can spread the virus.
"It is anticipated that higher testing rates across Europewill link more HIV infected people to prevention and treatmentservices," the study said.
(Reporting by Michael Kahn, editing by Michael Winfrey)
130,000 Swazi children orphaned and vulnerable: report
130,000 Swazi children orphaned and vulnerable: report
An Aids-infected mother and her baby in Swaziland. A study reveals that nearly a third of Swaziland's children are considered orphaned and vulnerable as AIDS takes its toll on the country.(AFP/File/Alexander Joe)MBABANE (AFP) - Nearly a third of Swaziland's children are considered orphaned and vulnerable as AIDS takes its toll on the country, a study commissioned by the state's emergency response council said Friday.
"There are currently 130,000 OVCs (orphaned and vulnerable children) in the country, which represents 31.1 percent of all children countrywide," the study said.
"However, it is projected that the OVC figure could rise to 200,000 by the year 2010."
It added: "HIV and AIDS is permanently altering the structure of Swazi society. It is expected that by 2025 there will be a thinning of the older age groups and the very young."
Life expectancy in the country dropped from 60 years in 1997 to the world's lowest of 31.3 in 2004, while the mortality rate has sharply increased across the entire population over the past 15 years, the report added.
According to UNICEF's website, HIV prevalence among 20 to 30-year-olds is nearing 50 percent, higher than the national adult average.
In Swaziland, close to 40 percent of adults are living with HIV and AIDS, the highest infection rate anywhere in the world, UNICEF said.
An Aids-infected mother and her baby in Swaziland. A study reveals that nearly a third of Swaziland's children are considered orphaned and vulnerable as AIDS takes its toll on the country.(AFP/File/Alexander Joe)MBABANE (AFP) - Nearly a third of Swaziland's children are considered orphaned and vulnerable as AIDS takes its toll on the country, a study commissioned by the state's emergency response council said Friday.
"There are currently 130,000 OVCs (orphaned and vulnerable children) in the country, which represents 31.1 percent of all children countrywide," the study said.
"However, it is projected that the OVC figure could rise to 200,000 by the year 2010."
It added: "HIV and AIDS is permanently altering the structure of Swazi society. It is expected that by 2025 there will be a thinning of the older age groups and the very young."
Life expectancy in the country dropped from 60 years in 1997 to the world's lowest of 31.3 in 2004, while the mortality rate has sharply increased across the entire population over the past 15 years, the report added.
According to UNICEF's website, HIV prevalence among 20 to 30-year-olds is nearing 50 percent, higher than the national adult average.
In Swaziland, close to 40 percent of adults are living with HIV and AIDS, the highest infection rate anywhere in the world, UNICEF said.
Thai generic drugs scheme a 'beacon' for poor: activists
Thai generic drugs scheme a 'beacon' for poor: activists
Pharmacist preparing a prescription. The Thai government's drive to suspend patents to produce low-cost medicines is a "beacon" for other developing nations seeking to provide treatments to the poor.(AFP/File/Robert Sullivan)BANGKOK (AFP) - The Thai government's drive to suspend patents to produce low-cost medicines is a "beacon" for other developing nations seeking to provide treatments to the poor, activists said Friday.
Thailand has locked horns with pharmaceutical companies over so-called compulsory licenses, which temporarily suspend patent protections and allow production of cheaper generic drugs.
Activists at a three-day meeting in Bangkok hailed the government's efforts, saying the kingdom was leading the way in providing medical care to those who cannot afford expensive drugs.
"We are all looking to Thailand as a beacon that has shown us the way forward for a sustainable way to make medicines available and affordable," said Robert Weissman, a director of Washington-based Essential Action.
Pharmaceutical companies have derided Thailand's campaign as an infringement on their intellectual property rights, warning that lost profits would make it harder to finance research for medical innovations.
The companies have also complained that Thailand should have first consulted them before issuing the compulsory licenses, under the rules of World Trade Organisation.
Brook Baker, a professor of law at Northeastern University in Boston, insisted Thailand faced no such legal requirement.
"Under international law, it's completely lawful for Thailand to do what it has done," Baker told a press conference.
Other developing countries, notably Brazil, have also begun following Thailand's path in issuing compulsory licenses.
"The experience in Thailand was very inspiring for Brazil," said Carlos Passareli, spokesman for the country's Ministry of Public Health.
"If Thailand had not taken the lead in this process for compulsory licensing, it would be very difficult for countries like Brazil," he told reporters here.
Thailand has so far suspended patents for the blockbuster heart drug Plavix and the AIDS medicines Kaletra and Efavirenz, and has already begun importing cheaper versions from India, a major source of generic drugs.
The health ministry says it may also suspend patents of four cancer-fighting drugs.
Pharmacist preparing a prescription. The Thai government's drive to suspend patents to produce low-cost medicines is a "beacon" for other developing nations seeking to provide treatments to the poor.(AFP/File/Robert Sullivan)BANGKOK (AFP) - The Thai government's drive to suspend patents to produce low-cost medicines is a "beacon" for other developing nations seeking to provide treatments to the poor, activists said Friday.
Thailand has locked horns with pharmaceutical companies over so-called compulsory licenses, which temporarily suspend patent protections and allow production of cheaper generic drugs.
Activists at a three-day meeting in Bangkok hailed the government's efforts, saying the kingdom was leading the way in providing medical care to those who cannot afford expensive drugs.
"We are all looking to Thailand as a beacon that has shown us the way forward for a sustainable way to make medicines available and affordable," said Robert Weissman, a director of Washington-based Essential Action.
Pharmaceutical companies have derided Thailand's campaign as an infringement on their intellectual property rights, warning that lost profits would make it harder to finance research for medical innovations.
The companies have also complained that Thailand should have first consulted them before issuing the compulsory licenses, under the rules of World Trade Organisation.
Brook Baker, a professor of law at Northeastern University in Boston, insisted Thailand faced no such legal requirement.
"Under international law, it's completely lawful for Thailand to do what it has done," Baker told a press conference.
Other developing countries, notably Brazil, have also begun following Thailand's path in issuing compulsory licenses.
"The experience in Thailand was very inspiring for Brazil," said Carlos Passareli, spokesman for the country's Ministry of Public Health.
"If Thailand had not taken the lead in this process for compulsory licensing, it would be very difficult for countries like Brazil," he told reporters here.
Thailand has so far suspended patents for the blockbuster heart drug Plavix and the AIDS medicines Kaletra and Efavirenz, and has already begun importing cheaper versions from India, a major source of generic drugs.
The health ministry says it may also suspend patents of four cancer-fighting drugs.
Saline Irrigation Eases Chronic Nasal Symptoms
Saline Irrigation Eases Chronic Nasal Symptoms
FRIDAY, Nov. 23 (HealthDay News) -- Saline irrigation is a safe,inexpensive and effective method for treating chronic nasal and sinussymptoms, according to a new study.
Researchers at the University of Michigan Health System also concludedthat saline irrigation -- the flushing of nasal passages with a salt watermixture -- is more effective than commonly used saline sprays at providingshort-term relief of chronic nasal symptoms.
The study included 121 adults with chronic nasal and sinus symptoms.Sixty were treated for eight weeks with saline irrigation, and 61 weretreated with saline spray.
The patients in the saline irrigation group showed greater improvementat two, four and eight weeks.
After completion of the study, 61 percent of patients in the spraygroup reported having symptoms "often or always," compared with 40 percentof patients in the irrigation group.
"The irrigation group achieved a clinically significant improvement inquality of life in terms of severity of their symptoms, whereas the spraygroup did not. Strikingly, (the irrigation group) also experienced 50percent lower odds of frequent nasal symptoms compared with the spraygroup," lead author Dr. Melissa A. Pynnonen, clinical assistant professorin the department of otolaryngology, said in a prepared statement.
The study, published in the current issue of the journal Archives ofOtolaryngology -- Head & Neck Surgery, received funding fromNeilMed Pharmaceuticals, which makes a saline sinus rinse.
Tens of millions of Americans suffer from chronic nasal and sinusconditions. Treatments include antibiotics, antihistamines andanti-inflammatory drugs. The findings of this study suggest that doctorsshould recommend saline irrigation more often for patients with chronicsinus and nasal conditions, Pynnonen and her colleagues said.
More information
The University of Michigan Health System has more about sinusproblems.
FRIDAY, Nov. 23 (HealthDay News) -- Saline irrigation is a safe,inexpensive and effective method for treating chronic nasal and sinussymptoms, according to a new study.
Researchers at the University of Michigan Health System also concludedthat saline irrigation -- the flushing of nasal passages with a salt watermixture -- is more effective than commonly used saline sprays at providingshort-term relief of chronic nasal symptoms.
The study included 121 adults with chronic nasal and sinus symptoms.Sixty were treated for eight weeks with saline irrigation, and 61 weretreated with saline spray.
The patients in the saline irrigation group showed greater improvementat two, four and eight weeks.
After completion of the study, 61 percent of patients in the spraygroup reported having symptoms "often or always," compared with 40 percentof patients in the irrigation group.
"The irrigation group achieved a clinically significant improvement inquality of life in terms of severity of their symptoms, whereas the spraygroup did not. Strikingly, (the irrigation group) also experienced 50percent lower odds of frequent nasal symptoms compared with the spraygroup," lead author Dr. Melissa A. Pynnonen, clinical assistant professorin the department of otolaryngology, said in a prepared statement.
The study, published in the current issue of the journal Archives ofOtolaryngology -- Head & Neck Surgery, received funding fromNeilMed Pharmaceuticals, which makes a saline sinus rinse.
Tens of millions of Americans suffer from chronic nasal and sinusconditions. Treatments include antibiotics, antihistamines andanti-inflammatory drugs. The findings of this study suggest that doctorsshould recommend saline irrigation more often for patients with chronicsinus and nasal conditions, Pynnonen and her colleagues said.
More information
The University of Michigan Health System has more about sinusproblems.
Fetal Exposure to Arsenic Affects Genes
Fetal Exposure to Arsenic Affects Genes
FRIDAY, Nov. 23 (HealthDay News) -- Children of women exposed toarsenic-contaminated water during pregnancy have gene expression changesthat may result in cancer and other diseases later in life, aMassachusetts Institute of Technology study suggests.
The researchers, who said their work is the first documentation ofwidespread genetic changes caused by prenatal exposure to an environmentalcontaminant, analyzed umbilical cord blood from the children of 32 mothersin an area of Thailand with heavy mining-related arsenic contamination.Similar levels of arsenic are found in many other parts of the world,including the U.S. Southwest.
Children who were exposed to arsenic in the womb had about 450 genesthat were either significantly more active (in most cases) or less activethan the same genes in unexposed children.
Most of the gene expression changes detected in the exposed childrenare associated with inflammation, which can lead to increased cancer risk.It's not clear how long these gene expression changes may last, and theresearchers plan to continue testing the children.
The researchers also found that a subset of 11 of these genes could beused as a highly reliable test for determining whether a child had beenexposed to arsenic while in the womb.
The study was published in the Nov. 23 issue of the journal PLoSGenetics.
More information
The U.S. Agency for Toxic Substance and Disease Registry has more aboutarsenic.
FRIDAY, Nov. 23 (HealthDay News) -- Children of women exposed toarsenic-contaminated water during pregnancy have gene expression changesthat may result in cancer and other diseases later in life, aMassachusetts Institute of Technology study suggests.
The researchers, who said their work is the first documentation ofwidespread genetic changes caused by prenatal exposure to an environmentalcontaminant, analyzed umbilical cord blood from the children of 32 mothersin an area of Thailand with heavy mining-related arsenic contamination.Similar levels of arsenic are found in many other parts of the world,including the U.S. Southwest.
Children who were exposed to arsenic in the womb had about 450 genesthat were either significantly more active (in most cases) or less activethan the same genes in unexposed children.
Most of the gene expression changes detected in the exposed childrenare associated with inflammation, which can lead to increased cancer risk.It's not clear how long these gene expression changes may last, and theresearchers plan to continue testing the children.
The researchers also found that a subset of 11 of these genes could beused as a highly reliable test for determining whether a child had beenexposed to arsenic while in the womb.
The study was published in the Nov. 23 issue of the journal PLoSGenetics.
More information
The U.S. Agency for Toxic Substance and Disease Registry has more aboutarsenic.
Health Tip: Emotional Reasons for Erectile Dysfunction
Health Tip: Emotional Reasons for Erectile Dysfunction
(HealthDay News) - While male impotence can be caused by physicalfactors -- including high blood pressure, diabetes and injury -- othertriggers can be emotional.
The American Academy of Family Physicians offers this list of possibleemotional causes for erectile dysfunction:
Feeling depressed.Feelings of anxiety or nervousness.Stress from work, family or financial problems.Unresolved issues between you and your sexual partner.Feelings of self-consciousness.Fear of your partner's reaction or rejection.
(HealthDay News) - While male impotence can be caused by physicalfactors -- including high blood pressure, diabetes and injury -- othertriggers can be emotional.
The American Academy of Family Physicians offers this list of possibleemotional causes for erectile dysfunction:
Feeling depressed.Feelings of anxiety or nervousness.Stress from work, family or financial problems.Unresolved issues between you and your sexual partner.Feelings of self-consciousness.Fear of your partner's reaction or rejection.
Sleep Problems Plague the Older Set
Sleep Problems Plague the Older Set
FRIDAY, Nov. 23 (HealthDay News) -- Older Americans often havedifficulty getting a good night's rest. It's a huge quality-of-lifeproblem, experts say, because contrary to popular belief, seniors requireabout the same amount of sleep as younger adults.
"Sleep problems and sleep disorders are not an inherent part of aging,"said Dr. Harrison G. Bloom, a senior associate at the InternationalLongevity Center-USA and associate clinical professor of geriatrics andmedicine at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. "It'spretty much of a myth that older people need less sleep than youngerpeople."
Yet, in a study published recently in The American Journal ofMedicine, researchers found that more than half of older Americanshave problems getting the shuteye they need.
Older people tend to have "sleep fragmentation," meaning they wake upmore often during the night, said study author Dr. Julie Gammack, anassistant professor of medicine in the Division of Geriatric Medicine atSt. Louis University.
They also seem to get less "REM" sleep, the type of sleep during whichrapid eye movement occurs, Bloom added.
It's unclear what role these naturally occurring changes in sleeppatterns have on a person's quality of life, Bloom said. "What isimportant, though, is that older people often have actual sleep disordersand problems with sleep," he said.
And, experts say, there is usually more than one cause.
"Sleep disturbance in older adults is typically associated with acuteand chronic illnesses, including specific sleep disorders like sleep apneaand restless leg syndrome that appear with greater frequency in olderpopulations," said Michael V. Vitiello, a professor of psychiatry andbehavioral sciences and associate director of the University ofWashington's Northwest Geriatric Education Center.
As people age, they typically develop more diseases and suffer fromaches and pains. "These things can disrupt sleep, so what they mayperceive as a sleep disorder may actually relate to the effects of some oftheir other medical problems," Gammack noted.
Taking multiple medications, as many older people do, can also lead tofatigue and "hypersomnia," or being tired all the time, Bloom added.
Another big problem, he noted, is depression and anxiety. "Those arevery commonly associated with sleep problems."
Despite the prevalence of sleep difficulties in older adults, manypatients aren't getting the help they need.
"The average physician receives very little training about sleepdisorders and typically does not routinely screen patients for them," saidVitiello, who serves on the board of directors of the National SleepFoundation. This may be due to a lack of time or training or the beliefthat there is little that can be done to improve sleep, he explained.
As a result, problems like insomnia, restless leg syndrome, sleep apneaand circadian rhythm disorders are underdiagnosed and undertreated, Bloomsaid.
To rectify the problem, a national coalition of aging, geriatricmedicine and sleep organizations is currently developing guidelines topromote prevention, diagnosis and treatment of sleep problems in olderadults. The National Coalition for Sleep Disorders in Older People expectsto publish its recommendations by mid-2008.
"The reason we're concerned with these [problems], besides a majorissue on quality of life and being tired the next day and not functioningproperly, is that these sleep disorders are associated with hypertension,diabetes, pulmonary disease, heart disease, depression and anxiety," saidBloom, chairman of coalition's expert task force.
A cause-and-effect relationship has yet to be established between sleepdisorders and these chronic health problems, but Bloom suspects they atleast contribute to each other. And he believes a causal relationship maybe found in years to come.
"This is very, very much a tip-of-the-iceberg problem," he said.
More information
For tips on better sleep, visit the National SleepFoundation.
FRIDAY, Nov. 23 (HealthDay News) -- Older Americans often havedifficulty getting a good night's rest. It's a huge quality-of-lifeproblem, experts say, because contrary to popular belief, seniors requireabout the same amount of sleep as younger adults.
"Sleep problems and sleep disorders are not an inherent part of aging,"said Dr. Harrison G. Bloom, a senior associate at the InternationalLongevity Center-USA and associate clinical professor of geriatrics andmedicine at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. "It'spretty much of a myth that older people need less sleep than youngerpeople."
Yet, in a study published recently in The American Journal ofMedicine, researchers found that more than half of older Americanshave problems getting the shuteye they need.
Older people tend to have "sleep fragmentation," meaning they wake upmore often during the night, said study author Dr. Julie Gammack, anassistant professor of medicine in the Division of Geriatric Medicine atSt. Louis University.
They also seem to get less "REM" sleep, the type of sleep during whichrapid eye movement occurs, Bloom added.
It's unclear what role these naturally occurring changes in sleeppatterns have on a person's quality of life, Bloom said. "What isimportant, though, is that older people often have actual sleep disordersand problems with sleep," he said.
And, experts say, there is usually more than one cause.
"Sleep disturbance in older adults is typically associated with acuteand chronic illnesses, including specific sleep disorders like sleep apneaand restless leg syndrome that appear with greater frequency in olderpopulations," said Michael V. Vitiello, a professor of psychiatry andbehavioral sciences and associate director of the University ofWashington's Northwest Geriatric Education Center.
As people age, they typically develop more diseases and suffer fromaches and pains. "These things can disrupt sleep, so what they mayperceive as a sleep disorder may actually relate to the effects of some oftheir other medical problems," Gammack noted.
Taking multiple medications, as many older people do, can also lead tofatigue and "hypersomnia," or being tired all the time, Bloom added.
Another big problem, he noted, is depression and anxiety. "Those arevery commonly associated with sleep problems."
Despite the prevalence of sleep difficulties in older adults, manypatients aren't getting the help they need.
"The average physician receives very little training about sleepdisorders and typically does not routinely screen patients for them," saidVitiello, who serves on the board of directors of the National SleepFoundation. This may be due to a lack of time or training or the beliefthat there is little that can be done to improve sleep, he explained.
As a result, problems like insomnia, restless leg syndrome, sleep apneaand circadian rhythm disorders are underdiagnosed and undertreated, Bloomsaid.
To rectify the problem, a national coalition of aging, geriatricmedicine and sleep organizations is currently developing guidelines topromote prevention, diagnosis and treatment of sleep problems in olderadults. The National Coalition for Sleep Disorders in Older People expectsto publish its recommendations by mid-2008.
"The reason we're concerned with these [problems], besides a majorissue on quality of life and being tired the next day and not functioningproperly, is that these sleep disorders are associated with hypertension,diabetes, pulmonary disease, heart disease, depression and anxiety," saidBloom, chairman of coalition's expert task force.
A cause-and-effect relationship has yet to be established between sleepdisorders and these chronic health problems, but Bloom suspects they atleast contribute to each other. And he believes a causal relationship maybe found in years to come.
"This is very, very much a tip-of-the-iceberg problem," he said.
More information
For tips on better sleep, visit the National SleepFoundation.
Beijing hotels told to stock condoms to combat AIDS: report
Beijing hotels told to stock condoms to combat AIDS: report
A model wears a hat and dress decorated with condoms to promote their use in Beijing. Hotels in Beijing have been ordered to stock condoms in every room in response to a spike in new HIV infections in the Chinese capital.(AFP/File/Peter Parks)BEIJING (AFP) - Hotels in China's capital have been ordered to stock condoms in every room in response to a spike in new HIV infections in Beijing, state media reported.
Beijing registered 973 new HIV/AIDS cases in the first 10 months of this year, up 54 percent on the year before, the official Xinhua news agency said.
All hotels will be required to provide condoms by the end of 2008 in an attempt to curb further increases, Xinhua said, without providing details.
Hotels will be allowed to charge for the contraceptives, the Beijing Municipal Health Bureau said.
The bureau has been pushing hotels to provide condoms in every room in recent years, but so far only 133 hotels have complied out of a total of 700 throughout Beijing, according to local government statistics.
At the end of October, Beijing had registered 4,663 HIV/AIDS cases since 1985, of which 171 were foreigners, 964 locals and 3,524 from other parts of China, Xinhua said Friday.
Nationwide there were 650,000 HIV/AIDS patients, according to an estimate put forward jointly by the government and United Nations health agencies in January 2006.
A model wears a hat and dress decorated with condoms to promote their use in Beijing. Hotels in Beijing have been ordered to stock condoms in every room in response to a spike in new HIV infections in the Chinese capital.(AFP/File/Peter Parks)BEIJING (AFP) - Hotels in China's capital have been ordered to stock condoms in every room in response to a spike in new HIV infections in Beijing, state media reported.
Beijing registered 973 new HIV/AIDS cases in the first 10 months of this year, up 54 percent on the year before, the official Xinhua news agency said.
All hotels will be required to provide condoms by the end of 2008 in an attempt to curb further increases, Xinhua said, without providing details.
Hotels will be allowed to charge for the contraceptives, the Beijing Municipal Health Bureau said.
The bureau has been pushing hotels to provide condoms in every room in recent years, but so far only 133 hotels have complied out of a total of 700 throughout Beijing, according to local government statistics.
At the end of October, Beijing had registered 4,663 HIV/AIDS cases since 1985, of which 171 were foreigners, 964 locals and 3,524 from other parts of China, Xinhua said Friday.
Nationwide there were 650,000 HIV/AIDS patients, according to an estimate put forward jointly by the government and United Nations health agencies in January 2006.
Tooth Decay Is Kids' Stuff
Tooth Decay Is Kids' Stuff
SUNDAY, Nov. 25 (HealthDay News) -- The dental health ofAmericans is improving as people take better care of their teeth. But thatencouraging trend doesn't extend to some of the country's most vulnerableindividuals -- children.
Studies have found that baby tooth decay is on the rise. One federalreport found that decay in baby teeth among 2- to 5-year-olds increasedfrom 24 percent to 28 percent from 1988 to 2004.
This decay can have unwanted lasting effects on a child's overallheath, ranging from impairment of permanent teeth to systemic illnesscaused by infection from bacteria in the mouth.
Jean Connor, a dental hygienist in Cambridge, Mass., and president ofthe American Dental Hygienists Association, said parents need to teachtheir children that a clean mouth is just as desirable as clean ears orhands or feet.
"It's just another part of the body that must be kept clean," Connorsaid. "If you have a dirty mouth, you're carrying bacteria and infectionsaround."
Baby teeth are often thought of as disposable or temporary. But if leftto decay, those teeth can fill the mouth with bacteria that could harm thepermanent teeth as they come in. And if baby teeth are pulled early due todecay, the permanent teeth behind them can come in crooked.
Oral cleanliness can come from a variety of techniques. Parents shouldteach their kids how to brush and floss and also how to keep their mouthclean by watching what they eat.
This care can start even before a child is born, said Diann Bomkamp, adental hygienist in St. Louis, and president-elect of the American DentalHygienists Association (ADHA).
Expecting mothers can give their unborn children an advantage by takingspecial care of their dental health during pregnancy, Bomkampsaid.
"If the pregnant woman does not have good dental care, she could havemore of the decay-producing bacteria in her mouth, and it's very likelyshe could pass these bugs on to her child," Bomkamp said.
Once the child is born, parents should start keeping the mouth cleaneven before the first baby tooth has erupted.
The ADHA recommends thoroughly cleaning an infant's gums after eachfeeding with a water-soaked infant washcloth or gauze pad to stimulate thegum tissue and remove food.
"Even before they have teeth, you can clean out their mouths and getthe kids used to the idea of it," Connor said.
When the baby's teeth begin to erupt, parents should brush them gentlywith a small, soft-bristled toothbrush using a pea-sized amount offluoridated toothpaste.
At age 2 or 3, a parent can begin to teach their child proper brushingtechniques. However, the child will need help with brushing and flossingup through age 7 or 8. By then, they will have developed the dexterity todo it alone.
Parents also should be cautious about inadvertently sharing their ownmouth's bacteria with their child, through even the most seeminglyinnocuous behavior.
"Decay bugs can be transmitted through sharing food and drink, throughsharing a toothbrush or sharing utensils," Bomkamp said. "Even blowing onfood, your saliva can be transmitted to the child."
Watching what children eat also can help protect them from developingcavities or large amounts of decay bacteria in their mouths. This includesmaking sure that kids are fed regular meals throughout the day, especiallybreakfast, to keep them from feeling the need to snack on unhealthyfoods.
One recent study found that the odds of decay in baby teeth weregreater in the children with poor eating habits. Children who don't eatbreakfast every day had higher levels of tooth decay, the study found, asdid those who don't eat five servings of fruits and vegetables a day.
"If they're eating several snacks a day, they probably aren't eatingfoods that are good for them," Bomkamp said.
Also, don't let a young child go to bed with a bottle, Bomkamp said,and avoid allowing them to run around with sippy cups filled with sugaryjuices.
Another potential problem is the increased use of bottled water, shesaid. Tap water in almost all U.S. cities contains fluoride, which helpsprevent tooth decay. "Most bottled water doesn't have the fluoride levelswe'd like to see," Bomkamp said.
Dental hygienists also urge parents to get their kids in to see adentist as early as possible, within six months of the eruption of theirfirst baby tooth or by their first birthday.
"Parents often don't think to take their child to the dentist untilit's too late to prevent problems," Connor said.
More information
To learn more, visit the AmericanDental Hygienists Association.
SUNDAY, Nov. 25 (HealthDay News) -- The dental health ofAmericans is improving as people take better care of their teeth. But thatencouraging trend doesn't extend to some of the country's most vulnerableindividuals -- children.
Studies have found that baby tooth decay is on the rise. One federalreport found that decay in baby teeth among 2- to 5-year-olds increasedfrom 24 percent to 28 percent from 1988 to 2004.
This decay can have unwanted lasting effects on a child's overallheath, ranging from impairment of permanent teeth to systemic illnesscaused by infection from bacteria in the mouth.
Jean Connor, a dental hygienist in Cambridge, Mass., and president ofthe American Dental Hygienists Association, said parents need to teachtheir children that a clean mouth is just as desirable as clean ears orhands or feet.
"It's just another part of the body that must be kept clean," Connorsaid. "If you have a dirty mouth, you're carrying bacteria and infectionsaround."
Baby teeth are often thought of as disposable or temporary. But if leftto decay, those teeth can fill the mouth with bacteria that could harm thepermanent teeth as they come in. And if baby teeth are pulled early due todecay, the permanent teeth behind them can come in crooked.
Oral cleanliness can come from a variety of techniques. Parents shouldteach their kids how to brush and floss and also how to keep their mouthclean by watching what they eat.
This care can start even before a child is born, said Diann Bomkamp, adental hygienist in St. Louis, and president-elect of the American DentalHygienists Association (ADHA).
Expecting mothers can give their unborn children an advantage by takingspecial care of their dental health during pregnancy, Bomkampsaid.
"If the pregnant woman does not have good dental care, she could havemore of the decay-producing bacteria in her mouth, and it's very likelyshe could pass these bugs on to her child," Bomkamp said.
Once the child is born, parents should start keeping the mouth cleaneven before the first baby tooth has erupted.
The ADHA recommends thoroughly cleaning an infant's gums after eachfeeding with a water-soaked infant washcloth or gauze pad to stimulate thegum tissue and remove food.
"Even before they have teeth, you can clean out their mouths and getthe kids used to the idea of it," Connor said.
When the baby's teeth begin to erupt, parents should brush them gentlywith a small, soft-bristled toothbrush using a pea-sized amount offluoridated toothpaste.
At age 2 or 3, a parent can begin to teach their child proper brushingtechniques. However, the child will need help with brushing and flossingup through age 7 or 8. By then, they will have developed the dexterity todo it alone.
Parents also should be cautious about inadvertently sharing their ownmouth's bacteria with their child, through even the most seeminglyinnocuous behavior.
"Decay bugs can be transmitted through sharing food and drink, throughsharing a toothbrush or sharing utensils," Bomkamp said. "Even blowing onfood, your saliva can be transmitted to the child."
Watching what children eat also can help protect them from developingcavities or large amounts of decay bacteria in their mouths. This includesmaking sure that kids are fed regular meals throughout the day, especiallybreakfast, to keep them from feeling the need to snack on unhealthyfoods.
One recent study found that the odds of decay in baby teeth weregreater in the children with poor eating habits. Children who don't eatbreakfast every day had higher levels of tooth decay, the study found, asdid those who don't eat five servings of fruits and vegetables a day.
"If they're eating several snacks a day, they probably aren't eatingfoods that are good for them," Bomkamp said.
Also, don't let a young child go to bed with a bottle, Bomkamp said,and avoid allowing them to run around with sippy cups filled with sugaryjuices.
Another potential problem is the increased use of bottled water, shesaid. Tap water in almost all U.S. cities contains fluoride, which helpsprevent tooth decay. "Most bottled water doesn't have the fluoride levelswe'd like to see," Bomkamp said.
Dental hygienists also urge parents to get their kids in to see adentist as early as possible, within six months of the eruption of theirfirst baby tooth or by their first birthday.
"Parents often don't think to take their child to the dentist untilit's too late to prevent problems," Connor said.
More information
To learn more, visit the AmericanDental Hygienists Association.
Glaxo confident as FDA probes asthma drugs in kids
Glaxo confident as FDA probes asthma drugs in kids
LONDON (Reuters) - The safety of GlaxoSmithKline Plc'stop-selling asthma drugs Serevent and Advair is back in thespotlight this week as a U.S. regulatory panel meets toconsider their safety in children.
Europe's biggest drugmaker said on Monday it remainedconfident the benefits of its products outweighed any risks.
Concerns about rare and potentially fatal side effects wereraised in briefing documents posted by Food and DrugAdministration staff ahead of a November 27-29 meeting of theagency's Pediatric Advisory Committee.
There were nine cases of adverse events in children under16 using Serevent, or salmeterol, in the year followinggranting of pediatric market exclusivity in March 2006,including five deaths, papers posted on the FDA Web site show(http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/ac/07/briefing/2007-4325b_03_05_Salmeterol%20Adverse%20Event%20Review.pdf).
Serevent, a long-acting beta agonist used to easebreathing, is also included in Advair, Glaxo's biggest productwith worldwide sales of 3.3 billion pounds ($6.8 billion) in2006. U.S. sales accounted for 1.9 billion pounds last year.
The British-based company said it had provided clinicalinformation to the FDA, which it believed backed the safety ofboth products.
"GSK has submitted a thorough safety review ofsalmeterol-containing products in pediatrics. The overallassessment of the data confirms the favorable safety andefficacy profile of Serevent and Advair when used according tothe product labels," a spokeswoman said.
"GSK believes the product labels reflect the availablesafety information for children four years of age and older."
It is not the first time that rare adverse events have beenreported with Advair and Serevent and industry analysts saidthe latest regulatory scrutiny would probably not have anyimmediate impact.
"While the FDA's attention is unwelcome, any formaladditional recommendations against use in children that wouldsignificantly affect prescribing behavior would seem some wayoff," analysts at Deutsche Bank said in a note.
The FDA already issued a warning in November 2005 thatdrugs containing long-acting beta agonists, such as Advair andSerevent, can sometimes paradoxically trigger severe asthmaattacks and death.
(Reporting by Ben Hirschler; Editing by Jason Neely)
LONDON (Reuters) - The safety of GlaxoSmithKline Plc'stop-selling asthma drugs Serevent and Advair is back in thespotlight this week as a U.S. regulatory panel meets toconsider their safety in children.
Europe's biggest drugmaker said on Monday it remainedconfident the benefits of its products outweighed any risks.
Concerns about rare and potentially fatal side effects wereraised in briefing documents posted by Food and DrugAdministration staff ahead of a November 27-29 meeting of theagency's Pediatric Advisory Committee.
There were nine cases of adverse events in children under16 using Serevent, or salmeterol, in the year followinggranting of pediatric market exclusivity in March 2006,including five deaths, papers posted on the FDA Web site show(http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/ac/07/briefing/2007-4325b_03_05_Salmeterol%20Adverse%20Event%20Review.pdf).
Serevent, a long-acting beta agonist used to easebreathing, is also included in Advair, Glaxo's biggest productwith worldwide sales of 3.3 billion pounds ($6.8 billion) in2006. U.S. sales accounted for 1.9 billion pounds last year.
The British-based company said it had provided clinicalinformation to the FDA, which it believed backed the safety ofboth products.
"GSK has submitted a thorough safety review ofsalmeterol-containing products in pediatrics. The overallassessment of the data confirms the favorable safety andefficacy profile of Serevent and Advair when used according tothe product labels," a spokeswoman said.
"GSK believes the product labels reflect the availablesafety information for children four years of age and older."
It is not the first time that rare adverse events have beenreported with Advair and Serevent and industry analysts saidthe latest regulatory scrutiny would probably not have anyimmediate impact.
"While the FDA's attention is unwelcome, any formaladditional recommendations against use in children that wouldsignificantly affect prescribing behavior would seem some wayoff," analysts at Deutsche Bank said in a note.
The FDA already issued a warning in November 2005 thatdrugs containing long-acting beta agonists, such as Advair andSerevent, can sometimes paradoxically trigger severe asthmaattacks and death.
(Reporting by Ben Hirschler; Editing by Jason Neely)
Russia has almost one million HIV-positive people
Russia has almost one million HIV-positive people
An AIDS activist protesting in Moscow in 2006. The head of an international AIDS lobby group said between 900,000 and one million people in Russia have the HIV virus.(AFP/File/Denis Sinyakov)MOSCOW (AFP) - Between 900,000 and one million people in Russia have the HIV virus, the head of an international AIDS lobby group said Monday.
Michel Kazatchkine, executive director of the Global Fund for to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, a private-public group which has injected substantial funds into research, said the UNAIDS agency has completed substantial work "in order to obtain objective figures."
The Interfax and Ria Novosti news agencies quoted him as saying: "According to their estimates, between 900,000 and one million people in Russia are HIV-positive."
The Global Fund was created with public and private funds in 2002 with former UN secretary general Kofi Annan taking a leading role.
Last week, top Russian health official Gennadi Onishchenko accused UNAIDS, the UN agency charged with coordinating the fight against AIDS, of publishing "incorrect" figures regarding the number of HIV-positive people in Russia.
UNAIDS said in a report published November 21 that Russia currently represents 66 percent of the number of new HIV cases in the former Soviet Union.
According to official figures released by the Russian AIDS agency in October, 403,100 HIV-positive people were counted in Russia since the virus appeared in the country, of which 19,924 people died. Russian experts say the true number of HIV-positive is close to 1.3 million.
An AIDS activist protesting in Moscow in 2006. The head of an international AIDS lobby group said between 900,000 and one million people in Russia have the HIV virus.(AFP/File/Denis Sinyakov)MOSCOW (AFP) - Between 900,000 and one million people in Russia have the HIV virus, the head of an international AIDS lobby group said Monday.
Michel Kazatchkine, executive director of the Global Fund for to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, a private-public group which has injected substantial funds into research, said the UNAIDS agency has completed substantial work "in order to obtain objective figures."
The Interfax and Ria Novosti news agencies quoted him as saying: "According to their estimates, between 900,000 and one million people in Russia are HIV-positive."
The Global Fund was created with public and private funds in 2002 with former UN secretary general Kofi Annan taking a leading role.
Last week, top Russian health official Gennadi Onishchenko accused UNAIDS, the UN agency charged with coordinating the fight against AIDS, of publishing "incorrect" figures regarding the number of HIV-positive people in Russia.
UNAIDS said in a report published November 21 that Russia currently represents 66 percent of the number of new HIV cases in the former Soviet Union.
According to official figures released by the Russian AIDS agency in October, 403,100 HIV-positive people were counted in Russia since the virus appeared in the country, of which 19,924 people died. Russian experts say the true number of HIV-positive is close to 1.3 million.
Tips for building strong bones in kids
Tips for building strong bones in kids
WASHINGTON - Building strong bones takes a combination of calcium, vitamin D and exercise starting in childhood. Here are guidelines on how much youngsters need:
_Young children should consume about 800 milligrams of calcium a day. But between ages 9 and 18, when bone growth speeds up, that requirement almost doubles to 1,300 mg. That's about three cups of fat-free or low-fat milk plus additional calcium-rich foods, such as broccoli, cheese, yogurt, or calcium-fortified orange juice.
_Children and adolescents need at least 200 international units of vitamin D. Milk and orange juice often is fortified with the vitamin; a few other foods contain it. Sunlight is a major source. About 10 to 15 minutes of sun exposure weekly is enough for many children, although skin pigmentation alters sun absorption so black children need more. The goal is to get just enough sun for vitamin D production while avoiding too much of its skin-damaging rays. Babies who are breast-fed only and older children at risk for vitamin D deficiency should receive supplements.
_Children of all ages need about an hour of physical activity most days, and 10 to 15 minutes at a time can add up. Weight-bearing exercises strengthen bone, anything from team sports like soccer to simply jumping rope or running around. The goal is for the arms or legs to bear all the body's weight.
_The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that all children be screened for calcium-deficit diets and too little exercise, to identify those whose lifestyles put them at risk for osteoporosis later in life.
WASHINGTON - Building strong bones takes a combination of calcium, vitamin D and exercise starting in childhood. Here are guidelines on how much youngsters need:
_Young children should consume about 800 milligrams of calcium a day. But between ages 9 and 18, when bone growth speeds up, that requirement almost doubles to 1,300 mg. That's about three cups of fat-free or low-fat milk plus additional calcium-rich foods, such as broccoli, cheese, yogurt, or calcium-fortified orange juice.
_Children and adolescents need at least 200 international units of vitamin D. Milk and orange juice often is fortified with the vitamin; a few other foods contain it. Sunlight is a major source. About 10 to 15 minutes of sun exposure weekly is enough for many children, although skin pigmentation alters sun absorption so black children need more. The goal is to get just enough sun for vitamin D production while avoiding too much of its skin-damaging rays. Babies who are breast-fed only and older children at risk for vitamin D deficiency should receive supplements.
_Children of all ages need about an hour of physical activity most days, and 10 to 15 minutes at a time can add up. Weight-bearing exercises strengthen bone, anything from team sports like soccer to simply jumping rope or running around. The goal is for the arms or legs to bear all the body's weight.
_The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that all children be screened for calcium-deficit diets and too little exercise, to identify those whose lifestyles put them at risk for osteoporosis later in life.
Routine HIV testing may benefit teenagers
Routine HIV testing may benefit teenagers
An Indian health official stores blood samples from sex-workers and their clients in a HIV-positive test laboratory in Sonagachi, the red-light district of the eastern Indian city of Kolkata, November 30, 2005. (Jayanta Shaw/Reuters)NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Early, routine HIV testingmight help stem the spread of the infection among teenagers,according to researchers.
In a study of more than 1,200 sexually active 15- to21-year-olds, the researchers found that key HIV risk factors-- like having unprotected sex or having a high-risk partner --had no bearing on whether the study participants sought HIVtesting over the next three months.
Instead, the single most important factor was whether theyhad ever been tested before. Those who had were about threetimes more likely to seek testing during the study period, theresearchers report in the Journal of Adolescent Health.
"These findings were a bit surprising, since we thoughtteens would be more likely to get an HIV test if they engagedin risky behaviors, such as substance use during sex, orattended an HIV prevention workshop," Dr. Larry K. Brown, thesenior researcher on the study, said in a statement.
Since a history of HIV testing was so important, theimplication is that early, universal testing might encouragemore teenagers to get tested as they grow older, according toBrown and his colleagues at the Brown University Medical Schoolin Providence, Rhode Island.
Widespread testing of younger adolescents could have a"dramatic effect" on HIV infection rates, the researcherswrite, given that one-quarter of Americans with HIV are unawareof it -- and could be passing it on to others.
The study included 1,222 teenagers and young adults fromthree U.S. cities who were considered to be at high risk of HIVbecause they admitted to having unprotected sex. They wererandomly assigned to either attend a 3-hour HIV-preventionworkshop or go on a wait-list; the researchers then trackedtheir rates of HIV testing over the next three months.
They found that the prevention workshop seemed to make nodifference in the odds of participants getting tested for HIV;one-quarter in each group said they gotten a test during thethree-month study period.
Instead, the teenagers' history of HIV testing emerged asthe primary factor.
The findings suggest that getting kids into the habit ofHIV testing early on may affect their behavior down the road,according to Brown's team. They suggest that routine testingcould be offered not only in doctors' offices, but innon-traditional settings like schools and community centers aswell.
SOURCE: Journal of Adolescent Health, December 2007
An Indian health official stores blood samples from sex-workers and their clients in a HIV-positive test laboratory in Sonagachi, the red-light district of the eastern Indian city of Kolkata, November 30, 2005. (Jayanta Shaw/Reuters)NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Early, routine HIV testingmight help stem the spread of the infection among teenagers,according to researchers.
In a study of more than 1,200 sexually active 15- to21-year-olds, the researchers found that key HIV risk factors-- like having unprotected sex or having a high-risk partner --had no bearing on whether the study participants sought HIVtesting over the next three months.
Instead, the single most important factor was whether theyhad ever been tested before. Those who had were about threetimes more likely to seek testing during the study period, theresearchers report in the Journal of Adolescent Health.
"These findings were a bit surprising, since we thoughtteens would be more likely to get an HIV test if they engagedin risky behaviors, such as substance use during sex, orattended an HIV prevention workshop," Dr. Larry K. Brown, thesenior researcher on the study, said in a statement.
Since a history of HIV testing was so important, theimplication is that early, universal testing might encouragemore teenagers to get tested as they grow older, according toBrown and his colleagues at the Brown University Medical Schoolin Providence, Rhode Island.
Widespread testing of younger adolescents could have a"dramatic effect" on HIV infection rates, the researcherswrite, given that one-quarter of Americans with HIV are unawareof it -- and could be passing it on to others.
The study included 1,222 teenagers and young adults fromthree U.S. cities who were considered to be at high risk of HIVbecause they admitted to having unprotected sex. They wererandomly assigned to either attend a 3-hour HIV-preventionworkshop or go on a wait-list; the researchers then trackedtheir rates of HIV testing over the next three months.
They found that the prevention workshop seemed to make nodifference in the odds of participants getting tested for HIV;one-quarter in each group said they gotten a test during thethree-month study period.
Instead, the teenagers' history of HIV testing emerged asthe primary factor.
The findings suggest that getting kids into the habit ofHIV testing early on may affect their behavior down the road,according to Brown's team. They suggest that routine testingcould be offered not only in doctors' offices, but innon-traditional settings like schools and community centers aswell.
SOURCE: Journal of Adolescent Health, December 2007
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