INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('863','8','<table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\"><tr><td width=\"10\"></td><td width=\"98%\"><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"98%\" valign=\"top\"><tr><td><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><font size=\"+2\" color=\"551E1B\">N.H. first state to offer girls free cancer vaccine</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>Starting in January, program will provide girls 11 to 18 with HPV shots</b><br></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia3.msn.com/j/ap/7254c3fe-b7ad-42bf-88dd-0a5b0150ac51.vmedium.jpg\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\" alt=\"IMAGE: Cancer vaccine\"></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"><font size=\"-2\">Charles Rex Arbogast / AP</font><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><font size=\"-1\">New Hampshire announced plans on Nov. 29 to become the first state to offer the new cervical-cancer vaccine free to all girls. </font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br></td></tr></table><font size=\"-2\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Sources/sourceAP.gif\" height=\"20\" width=\"140\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"><p></p></font><p>CONCORD, N.H. - New Hampshire announced plans Wednesday to become the first state to offer the new cervical-cancer vaccine free to all girls. Beginning in January, the vaccine against the human papilloma virus, or HPV, will be provided to girls ages 11 through 18 as part of a state program that offers various immunizations to children at no cost.</p><p>The program is paid for by the federal government and insurance companies.</p><p>The Food and Drug Administration approved the vaccine in June for girls as young as 9. It prevents infection from some strains of HPV, a sexually transmitted virus that can cause cervical cancer and genital warts. Cervical cancer is the No. 2 cancer killer in women.</p><p>\"We cannot overstate the huge breakthrough in this vaccine,\" New Hampshire Public Health Director Mary Ann Cooney said.</p><p>State officials hope about 17,000 girls - a quarter of those eligible - will come forward for the vaccinations next year.</p><p>Officials want to vaccinate girls before they become sexually active, because the vaccine does not protect those who have already been exposed to HPV.</p><p>\"Some say giving the vaccination to 11-year-old girls is a license to promiscuity. I disagree,\" New Hampshire Health and Human Services Commissioner John Stephen said. He urged abstinence, noting that the vaccine will not protect girls from other sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV, or from getting pregnant.</p><p>A total of $4.8 million has been budgeted for the vaccine next year.</p><p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"460\"><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" border=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr height=\"20\"><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#666666\">&nbsp;Click for related content</b></font></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"5\" cellpadding=\"0\" bordercolor=\"#cccccc\" border=\"0\" style=\"border-top:solid 1px #cccccc;border-bottom:solid 1px #cccccc;background-color:#ffffff;\" bgcolor=\"#ffffff\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\" cellpadding=\"0\" class=\"headlineList2\"><tr></tr></table></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"8\"><tr><td style=\"padding:8px;\"><font class=\"bigRedLink\"><p><a href=\"/id/13206572/\">FDA approves first vaccine for cervical cancer</a></p></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"\" bordercolor=\"\" border=\"0\" style=\"background-color:#eeeeee;\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr><td style=\"\"><font class=\"textSmall\" color=\"#000000\"></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></p><div class=\"textBodyBlack\" style=\"clear:both;\"><i><em>?2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</em></i></div><br>');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('864','8','<table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\"><tr><td width=\"10\"></td><td width=\"98%\"><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"98%\" valign=\"top\"><tr><td><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><font size=\"+2\" color=\"551E1B\">New guidelines for sedating children</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>Doctors, dentists need training to act quickly in case of emergency</b><br></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"></td></tr></table><font size=\"-2\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Sources/sourceAP.gif\" height=\"20\" width=\"140\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"><p></p></font><p>CHICAGO - Doctors and dentists who sedate young patients need to monitor them closely for problems and have the tools and training to act quickly in case of emergency, according to updated guidelines issued Monday.</p><p>The guidelines are meant to prevent injuries and rare deaths such as that of 5-year-old Diamond Brownridge, a Chicago girl who never awoke from sedation after a Sept. 23 visit to a storefront dental clinic.</p><p>With more diagnostic and surgical procedures being performed outside hospitals, and with dentists seeing more young children with serious dental problems, the need for training is great, said Dr. Stephen Wilson, a pediatric dentist in Cincinnati who helped write the guidelines for the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry.</p><p>The guidelines, which appear in December\'s issue of the journal Pediatrics, have been under review for several years and were not written in response to the Chicago girl\'s death, the presidents of both groups said. The guidelines include assessing children for sedation risk factors, keeping size-appropriate resuscitation tools on hand and employing enough trained staff to monitor sedated patients.</p><p>Attorneys for the girl\'s parents welcomed the changes.</p><p>\"They\'re sending a message to dentists that if you don\'t know what you\'re doing, don\'t do it,\" Jeffrey Kroll, an attorney for the girl\'s parents. \"If you don\'t have the appropriate equipment, don\'t do it.\"</p><p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"460\"><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" border=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr height=\"20\"><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#666666\">&nbsp;Click for related content</b></font></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"5\" cellpadding=\"0\" bordercolor=\"#cccccc\" border=\"0\" style=\"border-top:solid 1px #cccccc;border-bottom:solid 1px #cccccc;background-color:#ffffff;\" bgcolor=\"#ffffff\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\" cellpadding=\"0\" class=\"headlineList2\"><tr></tr></table></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"8\"><tr><td style=\"padding:8px;\"><font class=\"bigRedLink\"><ul><li><a href=\"/id/16036328/\">Doctors blast inappropriate ads for children</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/15905527/\">Is 10 the new 15?</a></li></ul></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"\" bordercolor=\"\" border=\"0\" style=\"background-color:#eeeeee;\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr><td style=\"\"><font class=\"textSmall\" color=\"#000000\"></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></p><p>Young children often need deeper sedation than older children and adults because they haven\'t yet developed the self-control to keep from fighting back against medical staff during an uncomfortable procedure. But children are also particularly vulnerable to sedation\'s dangers.</p><p>The Cook County medical examiner\'s office determined Brownridge died from lack of oxygen caused by anesthesia. An anesthesia specialist testified at a state licensing hearing that the amount of Valium given was too much for someone weighing 35 pounds and that the girl\'s vital signs weren\'t adequately monitored.</p><p><b><strong>More extreme dental decay</strong></b><br>Sedation, when used correctly, is safe, said Dr. Phil Hunke, president of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry.</p><p>A study of children and sedation outside the operating room, published earlier this year in Pediatrics, found that during 16 months there were no deaths in more than 30,000 cases at 26 clinics. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation was needed in one case. There were other less serious cases of blocked breathing, vomiting and blood oxygen levels dropping for more than 30 seconds.</p><p>\"It\'s certainly extraordinarily dramatic and extraordinarily tragic when these events occur, but they\'re not common,\" said Dr. Jay Berkelhamer, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics.</p><p>Dentists are seeing more extreme dental decay in younger children, leading to the types of procedures that require sedation, Hunke said. Complicated dental work could be prevented, he said, if parents got their children to a dentist starting at age 1 and if parents didn\'t allow babies and toddlers to tote around a bottle or sippy cup full of juice or milk, which causes cavities.</p><div class=\"textBodyBlack\" style=\"clear:both;\"><i><em>?2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</em></i></div><br>');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('865','8','<table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\"><tr><td width=\"10\"></td><td width=\"98%\"><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"98%\" valign=\"top\"><tr><td><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><font size=\"+2\" color=\"551E1B\">Docs blast inappropriate ads for children</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>Commercials to blame for many ills from obesity to anorexia, group says</b><br></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\"><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" border=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#7788aa\"><tr height=\"20\"><td width=\"20\" bgcolor=\"#7788aa\"><img src=\"/images/icons/video.gif\" width=\"20\" height=\"14\"></td><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#7788aa\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#ffffff\">FREE VIDEO</b></font></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"5\" cellpadding=\"0\" bordercolor=\"#cccccc\" border=\"1\" style=\"border:solid 1px #cccccc;background-color:#eeeeee;background-image:url(\'/images/backgrounds/component_grey.gif\');\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\" cellpadding=\"0\" class=\"headlineList2\"><tr></tr></table></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#cccccc\" background=\"/images/backgrounds/component_dkgrey.gif\" width=\"100%\"><tr valign=\"top\"><td align=\"middle\"><a href=\"javascript:msnvDwd(\'00\',\'77f81c73-bf59-4283-b346-830f40cd8cf7\',\'us\',\'hotvideo_m_edpicks\',\'\',\'msnbc\',\'\',\'16038640\',\'Are commercials bad for kids?\')\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Video/061204/n_kidcommercialchick_061204.300w.jpg\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"></a></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td align=\"middle\"><div class=\"scalAd\"><input type=\"button\" class=\"mbox w77\" value=\"Launch\" title=\"Launch\" onmouseover=\"swapbtn(this, 1)\" onmouseout=\"swapbtn(this, 0)\" onclick=\"javascript:msnvDwd(\'00\',\'77f81c73-bf59-4283-b346-830f40cd8cf7\',\'us\',\'hotvideo_m_edpicks\',\'\',\'msnbc\',\'\',\'16038640\',\'Are commercials bad for kids?\')\"></div></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td style=\"padding:10px;\"><font color=\"#000000\"><font color=\"551E1B\">?/font><font class=\"textMedBlackBold\"><a href=\"javascript:msnvDwd(\'00\',\'77f81c73-bf59-4283-b346-830f40cd8cf7\',\'us\',\'hotvideo_m_edpicks\',\'\',\'msnbc\',\'\',\'16038640\',\'Are commercials bad for kids?\')\">Are commercials bad for kids?</a></font><br><font color=\"black\">Dec. 4: The American Academy of Pediatrics says the 40,000 ads young people see every year are putting their health and future at risk. NBC\'s Helen Chickering reports.</font><p class=\"credit\">NBC News Channel</p></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"><font size=\"-2\"></font><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br></td></tr></table><font size=\"-2\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Sources/sourceAP.gif\" height=\"20\" width=\"140\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"><p></p></font><p>CHICAGO - Inappropriate advertising contributes to many kids\' ills, from obesity to anorexia, to drinking booze and having sex too soon, and Congress should crack down on it, the American Academy of Pediatrics says.</p><p>The influential doctors\' group issued a new policy statement in response to what it calls a rising tide of advertising aimed at children. The policy appears in December\'s Pediatrics, scheduled for release Monday.</p><p>\"Young people view more than 40,000 ads per year on television alone and increasingly are being exposed to advertising on the Internet, in magazines, and in schools,\" the policy says.</p><p>Advertising examples cited in the statement include TV commercials for sugary breakfast cereals and high calorie snacks shown during children\'s programs and ads for Viagra and other erectile dysfunction drugs shown during televised sports games.</p><p>The statement also is critical of alcohol ads that feature cartoonish animal characters; fast-food ads on educational TV shown in schools; magazine ads with stick-thin models and toy and other product \"tie-ins\" between popular movie characters and fast-food restaurants.</p><p>These pervasive ads influence kids to demand poor food choices, and to think drinking is cool, sex is a recreational activity and anorexia is fashionable, the academy says.</p><p>Interactive digital TV, expected to arrive in a few years, will spread the problem, allowing kids to click on-screen links to Web-based promotions, the new policy says.</p><p>In response, the academy says doctors should ask Congress and federal agencies to:</p><ul><li class=\"textBodyBlack\">ban junk-food ads during shows geared toward young children;</li><li class=\"textBodyBlack\">limit commercial advertising to no more than 6 minutes per hour, a decrease of 50 percent;</li><li class=\"textBodyBlack\">restrict alcohol ads to showing only the product, not cartoon characters or attractive young women;</li><li class=\"textBodyBlack\">prohibit interactive advertising to children on digital TV.</li></ul><p>The academy also says TV ads for erectile dysfunction drugs should be shown only after 10 p.m.</p><p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"460\"><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" border=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr height=\"20\"><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#666666\">&nbsp;Click for related content</b></font></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"5\" cellpadding=\"0\" bordercolor=\"#cccccc\" border=\"0\" style=\"border-top:solid 1px #cccccc;border-bottom:solid 1px #cccccc;background-color:#ffffff;\" bgcolor=\"#ffffff\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\" cellpadding=\"0\" class=\"headlineList2\"><tr></tr></table></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"8\"><tr><td style=\"padding:8px;\"><font class=\"bigRedLink\"><ul><li><a href=\"http://boards.msn.com/MSNBCboards/thread.aspx?BoardID=762&amp;ThreadID=145091&amp;BoardsParam=HIPDelay%3d1\">Discuss: Are commercials to blame for children\'s problems?</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/15905527/\">Is 10 the new 15?</a></li></ul></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"\" bordercolor=\"\" border=\"0\" style=\"background-color:#eeeeee;\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr><td style=\"\"><font class=\"textSmall\" color=\"#000000\"></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></p><p>Jeff Becker, president of the Beer Institute, an industry group for breweries, said parents have more influence than advertising on teens\' decisions to drink. He also said brewers work to ensure that beer ads appear in adult-oriented media. For much of the sports programming where beer ads appear, most viewers are at least 21, Becker said.</p><p>\"The American Academy of Pediatrics is wrong to blame alcohol advertising for the actions of underage teens who willingly break the law to drink illegally,\" he said.</p><p><b><strong>Public health vs. capitalism</strong></b><br>Critics of advertising restrictions say it\'s a free-speech issue. But the academy notes that several Western countries, including Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Belgium and Greece, limit ads directed at children.</p><p>\"What kind of society exploits its children and teenagers for money? This is an example of where public health really has to trump capitalism,\" said Dr. Victor Strasburger, lead author of the policy statement and an adolescent medicine specialist at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.</p><p>Advertising aimed at children has come under increasing scrutiny in recent years, particularly because of data showing that growing numbers of U.S. children - now about 17 percent - are obese.</p><p>Spokespeople for Viacom, whose holdings include TV\'s Nickelodeon network and MTV, declined to offer immediate comment on the report. Viacom has urged its marketing partners to advertise healthier products, and is among media companies that have been involved in discussions with federal agencies and advocacy groups about advertisers marketing to children.</p><p>While hard scientific data linking advertising with children\'s health ills is lacking, Strasburger said there\'s compelling circumstantial evidence suggesting there\'s a connection.</p><p><b><strong>Rising obesity</strong></b><br>Last year, the Institute of Medicine agreed that evidence suggesting that TV ads contribute to childhood obesity is compelling and said industry should market healthy foods to kids.</p><p>And in September, the Federal Communications Commission said it will study potential links between TV ads and rising rates of obesity in U.S. children.</p><p>The food industry has started to respond.</p><p>Two weeks ago, McDonald\'s joined nine major food and drink companies in vowing to promote more healthy foods and exercise in their child-oriented advertising. And last year Kraft Foods said it would curb ads to young children for snack foods including Oreos and Kool-Aid.</p><p>Harvard psychologist Susan Linn, a co-founder of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, praised the academy\'s policy and said it doesn\'t overstate the effects of advertising on children.</p><p>\"I\'m hopeful that policymakers will listen,\" Linn said. Self-regulation in the food industry, without a nudge from government, won\'t work, she said.</p><div class=\"textBodyBlack\" style=\"clear:both;\"><i><em>?2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</em></i></div><br>');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('866','8','<table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\"><tr><td width=\"10\"></td><td width=\"98%\"><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"98%\" valign=\"top\"><tr><td><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><font size=\"+2\" color=\"551E1B\">Cough medicine drug a hallucinogen for teens</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>Abuse of ingredient in over-the-counter products is on rise, researchers say</b><br></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"></td></tr></table><font size=\"-2\"><a href=\"http://www.reuters.com/\"><a href=\"http://www.reuters.com/\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia3.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Sources/sourceReuters.gif\" height=\"20\" width=\"140\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"></a></a><p></p></font><p>CHICAGO - Young people are increasingly abusing a drug found in nonprescription cough medicines that can produce hallucinogenic effects, but at a risk to their well-being, researchers said Monday.</p><p>Calls for help to California\'s poison control system and around the United States rose by roughly 50 percent each year between 1999 and 2004 for reactions to the drug dextromethorphan, a cough suppressant. It\'s found in cough medicines by brands including Pertussin, Robitussin, Benylin, Sucrets, Trocal, Vicks 44, Delsym, Diabe-TUSS, Cough X and Creo-Terpin.</p><p>Most of the calls involved side effects suffered by youths aged 9 to 17 years that included rapid heartbeat, high blood pressure, agitation, loss of muscle control and psychotic reactions, according to the report published in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.</p><p>Web sites that offer instructions on how to abuse legal medications have proliferated and many cough medicines containing the drug are available on the shelves of retail outlets and kept in the home, the report said.</p><p>\"Preventive measures, such as placing detromethorphan-containing products behind pharmacy counters, may be an effective action to limit this increasing trend of abuse in adolescents,\" study author Jodi Bryner of the University of California, San Francisco, said.</p><p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"460\"><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" border=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr height=\"20\"><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#666666\">&nbsp;Click for related content</b></font></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"5\" cellpadding=\"0\" bordercolor=\"#cccccc\" border=\"0\" style=\"border-top:solid 1px #cccccc;border-bottom:solid 1px #cccccc;background-color:#ffffff;\" bgcolor=\"#ffffff\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\" cellpadding=\"0\" class=\"headlineList2\"><tr></tr></table></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"8\"><tr><td style=\"padding:8px;\"><font class=\"bigRedLink\"><ul><li><a href=\"/id/15146185/\">How to protect your kids from a Web of risky pills</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/12803776/\">Teens seek \'safer\' high, get hooked on prescription pills</a></li></ul></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"\" bordercolor=\"\" border=\"0\" style=\"background-color:#eeeeee;\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr><td style=\"\"><font class=\"textSmall\" color=\"#000000\"></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></p><div class=\"textBodyBlack\" style=\"clear:both;\"><i><em>Copyright 2006 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters.</em></i></div><br>');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('867','8','<table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\"><tr><td width=\"10\"></td><td width=\"98%\"><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"98%\" valign=\"top\"><tr><td><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><font size=\"+2\" color=\"551E1B\">Tiny, strong magnets in toys hazardous for tots</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>One child died and 19 needed surgery after swallowing magnets</b><br></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"></td></tr></table><font size=\"-2\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Sources/sourceAP.gif\" height=\"20\" width=\"140\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"><p></p></font><p>ATLANTA - At least one U.S. child has died and 19 others have needed surgery since 2003 after swallowing magnets used in toys, the government reported Thursday.</p><p>Most of those cases were believed to involve tiny but strong \"rare earth\" magnets that can link together in children\'s digestive tracts, squeezing and even perforating the intestines, the researchers said.</p><p>The magnets, made from neodymium iron boron or other compounds, have become common in the U.S. toy market in the past five years because they have become cheaper to produce, said Jonathan Midgett, the study\'s lead author and an engineering psychologist with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.</p><p>They are used in building sets, action figures and dolls.</p><p>\"Most people who have never had them in their hands are shocked at how strong these tiny things are,\" Midgett said.</p><p>Kenny Sweet, a 20-month-old boy from Redmond, Wash., died in two days after he began complaining of stomach aches and vomiting. An autopsy found nine small magnets stacked together. They had caused a twisting of the bowel and a blood infection.</p><p>The magnets had come off a building set belonging to Kenny\'s 10-year-old brother, according to his family\'s lawyers. Mega Brands Inc. recalled 3.8 million Magnetix building sets, added warning labels and agreed to pay $13.5 million to settle lawsuits.</p><p>Last month, Mattel Inc. recalled more than 4 million Polly Pocket play sets, dolls with small magnets in their hands, feet, clothing and other accessories.</p><p>Last month, the U.S. Public Interest Research Group for the first time included the magnets on its annual holiday warning about dangerous toys.</p><p>Midgett said federal and industry officials hope to have a warning label ready within six months for toys containing magnets.</p><div class=\"textBodyBlack\" style=\"clear:both;\"><i><em>?2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</em></i></div><br>');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('868','8','<table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\"><tr><td width=\"10\"></td><td width=\"98%\"><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"98%\" valign=\"top\"><tr><td><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><font size=\"+2\" color=\"551E1B\">Wildfires may be making children sick</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>California blazes linked to respiratory ailments in kids, study finds</b><br></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"><font size=\"-2\"></font><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br></td></tr></table><font size=\"-2\"><a href=\"http://www.reuters.com/\"><a href=\"http://www.reuters.com/\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia3.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Sources/sourceReuters.gif\" height=\"20\" width=\"140\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"></a></a><p></p></font><p>NEW YORK - The wildfires that swept through Southern California in 2003 may have caused wheezing and other respiratory problems in many children, even those without asthma, according to a new study.</p><p>Asthmatic children, being particularly susceptible to the effects of the smoky air, suffered the most symptoms, the study found.</p><p>But non-asthmatic children were also struck by attacks of wheezing, coughing, sore throats, eye irritation and colds during the October 2003 wildfires that burned more than 1,000 square miles in Southern California.</p><p>They essentially experienced what many asthmatic children do on a normal day, the study authors report in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.</p><p>\"The fire gave the non-asthmatics an idea of what it means to live with asthma,\" Dr. Nino Kunzli, the study\'s lead author, told Reuters Health.</p><p>The 2003 wildfires sent plumes of smoke into the air that hovered for days, raising levels of air-polluting particulate matter by 10 to 20 times. The smoke also contained carbon monoxide and numerous other toxic substances. Such poor air quality is particularly dangerous for people with asthma, whose symptoms can be exacerbated.</p><p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"460\"><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" border=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr height=\"20\"><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#666666\">&nbsp;Click for related content</b></font></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"5\" cellpadding=\"0\" bordercolor=\"#cccccc\" border=\"0\" style=\"border-top:solid 1px #cccccc;border-bottom:solid 1px #cccccc;background-color:#ffffff;\" bgcolor=\"#ffffff\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\" cellpadding=\"0\" class=\"headlineList2\"><tr></tr></table></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"8\"><tr><td style=\"padding:8px;\"><font class=\"bigRedLink\"><ul><li><a href=\"/id/15932684/\">New test helps identify severe asthma cases</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/13323810/\">Even mild asthma can prove deadly for children</a></li></ul></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"\" bordercolor=\"\" border=\"0\" style=\"background-color:#eeeeee;\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr><td style=\"\"><font class=\"textSmall\" color=\"#000000\"></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></p><p>To measure the impact of the wildfires on asthmatic and non-asthmatic children, Kunzli and his colleagues at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles surveyed 873 high school students and the parents of 5,551 children between 6 and 7 years old. All of the children lived in one of 16 communities affected by the fires.</p><p>The 706 children with asthma were two to three times more likely than non-asthmatic children to suffer wheezing, other respiratory symptoms, and eye symptoms. But children without the condition also had symptoms at a higher-than-normal rate on smoky days.</p><p><b><strong>Long-term risks unknown<br></strong></b>The study did find, however, that some protective measures health officials recommended at the time - such as avoiding outdoor activities and wearing a mask - seemed to lower the odds of respiratory problems. Children with asthma were more likely to follow this advice.</p><p>\"It is clear that reduction of exposure to wildfire smoke reduces the health problems,\" Kunzli said. If families can\'t evacuate their homes in such situations, he noted, measures like using masks and staying inside might at least reduce any respiratory effects.</p><p>It\'s not possible to tell from the current study whether this smoke exposure will have lasting effects on the children\'s health. However, he added, given that even smokers\' lung health improves once they quit, there may be no long-term damage from the wildfire smoke.</p><div class=\"textBodyBlack\" style=\"clear:both;\"><i><em>Copyright 2006 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters.</em></i></div><br>');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('869','8','<table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\"><tr><td width=\"10\"></td><td width=\"98%\"><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"98%\" valign=\"top\"><tr><td><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><font size=\"+2\" color=\"551E1B\">Doctors: Skip antibiotics for child ear infections</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>\'Watchful waiting\' OK for common illness to avoid drug resistance</b><br></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia4.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/061210/061210_ear_hmed_1130a.hmedium.jpg\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"><font size=\"-2\">Gene J. Puskar / AP</font><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><font size=\"-1\">Giancario Gemignani-Hernandez, 2, of Pittsburgh, has his ear examined by Dr. Alejandro Hoberman on Nov. 20 at Children\'s Hospital of Pittsburgh, in Pittsburgh. </font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br></td></tr></table><font size=\"-2\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Sources/sourceAP.gif\" height=\"20\" width=\"140\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"><p></p></font><p>PITTSBURGH - That familiar tug on his ear or restless night sleep is usually the sign that little Baedden Pollett has another ear infection. The 2?year-old has had more of them than his parents can count.</p><p>Sometimes, his doctor prescribes antibiotics. But in many cases, his parents have waited it out, using Tylenol, warm baths and some extra tender loving care to ease him through it. And he recovers on his own.</p><p>More than ever, many parents and doctors these days are taking a \"watchful waiting\" approach with children older than 2 who have ear infections, the most common childhood illness. Many are foregoing antibiotics because of worries about drug resistance and evidence that most ear infections will heal on their own.</p><p>\"My experience is that parents are often the driving motive behind not giving antibiotics. Parents are very, very concerned about the use of antibiotics,\" said Dr. Richard Rosenfeld, director of pediatric otolaryngology at Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn and a consultant who helped write national guidelines on antibiotic use for ear infections.</p><p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"460\"><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" border=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr height=\"20\"><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#666666\">&nbsp;Click for related content</b></font></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"5\" cellpadding=\"0\" bordercolor=\"#cccccc\" border=\"0\" style=\"border-top:solid 1px #cccccc;border-bottom:solid 1px #cccccc;background-color:#ffffff;\" bgcolor=\"#ffffff\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\" cellpadding=\"0\" class=\"headlineList2\"><tr></tr></table></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"8\"><tr><td style=\"padding:8px;\"><font class=\"bigRedLink\"><ul><li><a href=\"/id/16096422/\">Tiny magnets dangerous for?children</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/16038289/\">Boys face greater high blood pressure risk</a></li></ul></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"\" bordercolor=\"\" border=\"0\" style=\"background-color:#eeeeee;\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr><td style=\"\"><font class=\"textSmall\" color=\"#000000\"></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></p><p>Three out of four children will suffer from ear infections before the age of 3, according to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. Ear infections occur when viruses or bacteria get inside the ear, usually the result of a cold or other illness. Fluid and mucus can become trapped deep inside the ear.</p><p>Antibiotics only work against bacterial infections, though some of the many bacteria that can cause ear infections have grown resistant to certain antibiotics. Doctors have no way of knowing if a virus or a bacteria is causing each individual infection.</p><p>Many parents recognize their child\'s earache symptoms - fussing, crying, loss of sleep and appetite and a tugging at the ear. Ear infections can result in hearing loss, though doctors say that\'s usually temporary.</p><p>A visit to the doctor is advised if a child is sick for a few days and suddenly develops a fever, along with those other symptoms like ear-tugging and awaking at night.</p><p>\"Observing is different than not treating,\" Rosenfeld said.</p><p><b><strong>Watchful waiting OK</strong></b><br>In May 2004, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Family Physicians released the first national guidelines on appropriate diagnosis and treatment for ear infections. Among other things, those recommend that pain medication be prescribed for most children and antibiotics used only if the conditions persist or don\'t improve.</p><p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"1%\"><tr><td><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Art/HEALTH/061210/AP_EarInfections.gif\" align=\"Right\" height=\"327\" width=\"368\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"></td></tr></table>In an October study in the medical journal The Lancet, researchers found that antibiotics for ear infections are only beneficial to children under the age of 2 with both ears infected. Study leader Dr. Maroeska Rovers, of the University Medical Center Utrecht in the Netherlands, said that researchers found that in most other cases, watchful waiting is OK.</p><p>Rovers said that in countries like the Netherlands, watchful waiting has been an accepted practice since about 1990. Critics say the ear infections could develop into something more severe if untreated, but Rovers said studies have not backed that up.</p><p>Doctors are the front line in helping educate parents about the best course to take, Rovers said.</p><p>\"They should not send the parents away by doing nothing, but they should listen carefully to these parents and prescribe sufficient analgesics to treat the pain and the fever in the first few days,\" Rovers said. Then, parents should be encouraged to come back in two to three days if things have not gotten better, he said.</p><p>At the Children\'s Hospital of Pittsburgh, a team of researchers led by Dr. Alejandro Hoberman will lead a government-funded study of about 300 children to further test the watchful waiting vs. antibiotics strategies.</p><p>Hoberman, chief of general academic pediatrics at the Pittsburgh hospital, said evidence shows that most infections clear up on their own.</p><p>\"The key concern is how much longer will it take, and how much pain (and) crying, sleepless nights the child might have,\" Hoberman said.</p><p><b><strong>Drugs overprescribed<br></strong></b>Hoberman said a big part of this is helping doctors with techniques that more accurately diagnose the severity of the ear infections so the most appropriate course of action can be taken. Doctors can tell if an ear is infected by looking into the ear canal for redness or inflammation. But that observation isn\'t always accurate, and in many cases antibiotics are unnecessarily prescribed, he said.</p><p>\"I think parents are generally more receptive in 2006 and actually consider that antibiotics are not always needed,\" Hoberman said.</p><p>Baedden\'s mom, Denise Pollett, said she and her husband have used many techniques to ease their son\'s ear pain, including warm baths twice a day.</p><p>She\'s also moved him to a different daycare center, hoping he\'ll get sick less often. Though ear infections are not contagious, colds are and can lead to ear infections.</p><p>\"We weren\'t that quick to run to the doctor when we knew he was probably getting one,\" said Pollett, who lives in the Pittsburgh suburb of Mount Lebanon.</p><p>Pollett said more than anything, they wanted to relieve his pain.</p><p>\"I think sometimes that\'s even more important than the antibiotics,\" she said.</p><div class=\"textBodyBlack\" style=\"clear:both;\"><i><em>?2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</em></i></div><br>');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('870','8','<table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\"><tr><td width=\"10\"></td><td width=\"98%\"><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"98%\" valign=\"top\"><tr><td><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><font size=\"+2\" color=\"551E1B\">FDA OKs Celebrex as treatment for children</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>Drug can be used for juvenile rheumatoid arthritis patients age 2 and older</b><br></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"></td></tr></table><font size=\"-2\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Sources/sourceAP.gif\" height=\"20\" width=\"140\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"><p></p></font><p>WASHINGTON - Pfizer Inc. won federal approval Friday to market the painkiller Celebrex as a treatment for the tens of thousands of children with a devastating form of arthritis.</p><p>The expanded approval will allow the New York company to promote the drug for juvenile rheumatoid arthritis in patients 2 and older. The drug already is used off-label by some doctors as a treatment for the disease, which affects up to 60,000 U.S. children.</p><p>\"JRA is often a devastating disease,\" said Dr. Steven Galson, director of the Food and Drug Administration\'s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. \"While there are other medicines approved for the treatment of this disorder, for some children they may have limited effectiveness or cause intolerable side effects. Celebrex will be a needed additional treatment option for children.\"</p><p>The decision comes after FDA advisers recommended Nov. 29 the drug as an effective but not necessarily safe treatment for the autoimmune disease, but said that its benefits still outweigh any risks.</p><p>The FDA said it would require Pfizer to continue studying the safety of the drug in children, including its long-term effect on the kidneys, blood pressure and heart.</p><p>Celebrex is the only member of the class of drugs that included Vioxx and Bextra not to have been withdrawn from the market over concerns they elevate the risk of heart attacks and strokes in adults. An earlier FDA review questioned the cardiovascular risks of long-term use of the drug in children.</p><p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"460\"><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" border=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr height=\"20\"><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#666666\">&nbsp;Click for related content</b></font></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"5\" cellpadding=\"0\" bordercolor=\"#cccccc\" border=\"0\" style=\"border-top:solid 1px #cccccc;border-bottom:solid 1px #cccccc;background-color:#ffffff;\" bgcolor=\"#ffffff\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\" cellpadding=\"0\" class=\"headlineList2\"><tr></tr></table></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"8\"><tr><td style=\"padding:8px;\"><font class=\"bigRedLink\"><p><a href=\"/id/15958052/\">FDA panel split on safety of Celebrex for kids</a></p></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"\" bordercolor=\"\" border=\"0\" style=\"background-color:#eeeeee;\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr><td style=\"\"><font class=\"textSmall\" color=\"#000000\"></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></p><p>Pfizer presented the FDA with the results of a six-month study showing that Celebrex, also known as celecoxib, works just as well as naproxen in treating young patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Naproxen, sold as Aleve and in generic versions, has been the most common treatment for JRA.</p><p>Vioxx, until it was withdrawn in 2004, had been the only FDA-approved drug of its class for the disease.</p><p>The FDA originally approved Celebrex for use in adults with osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis in 1998. The drug is a COX-2 selective nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory, or NSAID.</p><p>The drug has not been studied in children younger than 2 nor in patients with a more serious type of the disease called systemic onset JRA, the FDA cautioned.</p><div class=\"textBodyBlack\" style=\"clear:both;\"><i>Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</i></div><br><table width=\"100%\" style=\"background-color:#ffffee\" cellPadding=\"2\" cellSpacing=\"0\"><tr><td width=\"50%\"><font size=\"1\"><img src=\"/images/msnbc/print02.gif\" width=\"25\" height=\"20\" align=\"absmiddle\"> <a href=\"javascript:printThis(\'16230430\')\" class=\"linkBlack\">Print this</a></font></td><td><font size=\"1\"><img src=\"/images/msnbc/email02.gif\" width=\"25\" height=\"20\" align=\"absmiddle\"> <a href=\"javascript:emThis(\'16230430\')\" class=\"linkBlack\">Email this</a></font></td></tr></table></td><td width=\"10\"></td></tr></table><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\"><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" border=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#7788aa\"><tr height=\"20\"><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#7788aa\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#ffffff\">&nbsp;MORE FROM KIDS &amp; 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INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('871','8','<table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\"><tr><td width=\"10\"></td><td width=\"98%\"><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"98%\" valign=\"top\"><tr><td><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><font size=\"+2\" color=\"551E1B\">Teens turn to cough syrup to get high, feds say</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>Prescription abuse rising; alcohol, illegal drug use down, government finds</b><br></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\"><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" border=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#7788aa\"><tr height=\"20\"><td width=\"20\" bgcolor=\"#7788aa\"><img src=\"/images/icons/video.gif\" width=\"20\" height=\"14\"></td><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#7788aa\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#ffffff\">NBC VIDEO</b></font></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"5\" cellpadding=\"0\" bordercolor=\"#cccccc\" border=\"1\" style=\"border:solid 1px #cccccc;background-color:#eeeeee;background-image:url(\'/images/backgrounds/component_grey.gif\');\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\" cellpadding=\"0\" class=\"headlineList2\"><tr></tr></table></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#cccccc\" background=\"/images/backgrounds/component_dkgrey.gif\" width=\"100%\"><tr valign=\"top\"><td align=\"middle\"><a href=\"javascript:msnvDwd(\'00\',\'31097af1-f836-4806-9522-def511a97f06\',\'us\',\'Source_Today Show Health\',\'\',\'msnbc\',\'\',\'16067400\',\'Abuse of cough syrups on the rise\')\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Video/061206/tdy_okwu_robotrippin_061206.300w.jpg\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"></a></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td align=\"middle\"><div class=\"scalAd\"><input type=\"button\" class=\"mbox w77\" value=\"Launch\" title=\"Launch\" onmouseover=\"swapbtn(this, 1)\" onmouseout=\"swapbtn(this, 0)\" onclick=\"javascript:msnvDwd(\'00\',\'31097af1-f836-4806-9522-def511a97f06\',\'us\',\'Source_Today Show Health\',\'\',\'msnbc\',\'\',\'16067400\',\'Abuse of cough syrups on the rise\')\"></div></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td style=\"padding:10px;\"><font color=\"#000000\"><font color=\"551E1B\">?/font><font class=\"textMedBlackBold\"><a href=\"javascript:msnvDwd(\'00\',\'31097af1-f836-4806-9522-def511a97f06\',\'us\',\'Source_Today Show Health\',\'\',\'msnbc\',\'\',\'16067400\',\'Abuse of cough syrups on the rise\')\">Abuse of cough syrups on the rise</a></font><br><font color=\"black\">NBC\'s Michael Okwu reports on the increased abuse of common medications by teens, and Dr. Harold Koplewicz describes the dangers associated with this trend. This report aired on Dec. 6.</font><p class=\"credit\">Today Show Health</p></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"><font size=\"-2\"></font><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br></td></tr></table><font size=\"-2\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Sources/sourceAP.gif\" height=\"20\" width=\"140\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"><p></p></font><p>WASHINGTON - Teens increasingly are getting high with legal drugs like painkillers and mood stimulants, and they\'re turning to cough syrup as well, says a government survey released Thursday.</p><p>The annual study by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, conducted by the University of Michigan, showed mixed results in the nation\'s longtime campaign against teen drug abuse.</p><p>It found that while fewer teens overall drank alcohol or used illegal drugs in the last year, a small but growing number were popping prescription painkillers like OxyContin and Vicodin and stimulants like Ritalin.</p><p>As many as one in every 14 high school seniors said they used cold medicine \"fairly recently\" to get high, the study found.</p><p>It was the first year that the government tracked the frequency of teens who reported getting high from over-the-counter medicine for coughs and colds.</p><p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"1%\"><tr><td><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Art/HEALTH/061221/AP_TEENS_DRUGS.gif\" align=\"Left\" height=\"383\" width=\"182\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"></td></tr></table>\"It\'s bad that kids are buying cough syrup and using it this way - it\'s not good for them,\" said John P. Walters, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.</p><p>The study found about one in 10 high school seniors have abused the painkiller Vicodin and Walters said kids may be pilfering the pills from their parents\' medicine cabinets.</p><p>\"That is one thing you can do - take the pills that are no longer being used and throw them away, get rid of them,\" he said in an interview.</p><p><b><strong>\'We\'re pushing back\'</strong></b><br>Walters credited public service advertising with a steady decrease in overall teen drug use over the past five years and said the agency would shift some of its 2007 advertising budget toward combatting prescription drug abuse.</p><p>He challenged the recommendations of an August government audit that said the anti-drug advertising campaign wasn\'t working and suggested Congress consider reducing its funding. The report by the Government Accountability Office found some children were actually more likely to use marijuana after seeing the ads.</p><p>\"We\'re pushing back,\" Walters told reporters Thursday as he outlined the study results. \"What this shows is we\'re pushing back successfully.\"</p><p>The rise in prescription drug abuse was a troubling conclusion in a study that Walters described as good news overall because of the drop in teen use of alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana and other illicit substances.</p><p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td><SCRIPT language=javascript src=http://www.msnbc.com/modules/getdata.asp?id=PrescAddict_031106&retfmt=js></SCRIPT><SCRIPT language=javascript src=http://www.msnbc.com/modules/poptext/poptext_codeV2.js></SCRIPT>\n<SCRIPT>if (window.PrescAddict_031106) { \n\nPrescAddict_031106.appWidth=298;\nPrescAddict_031106.appLayout=1;\nPrescAddict_031106.copyHeight=140;\n\ndisplayApp(PrescAddict_031106); }</SCRIPT></td></tr></table>An estimated 840,000 fewer teens reported using illegal drugs now compared to five years ago, he said.</p><p>The annual study, in its 32nd year, surveyed 50,000 students in the 8th, 10th and 12th grades at more than 400 schools nationwide. It found, that over the last year:</p><ul><li class=\"textBodyBlack\">Illegal drug use at all three grade levels dropped, if only slightly. An estimated 36.5 percent of high school seniors reported using illicit drugs at some point in the year.</li><li class=\"textBodyBlack\">Marijuana remained the single most abused drug among teens, although its use also dropped slightly within all three grades. Nearly 12 percent of 8th graders reported using it, compared to 25 percent of 10th graders and 31 percent of high school seniors.</li><li class=\"textBodyBlack\">One-third of 8th graders said they had consumed alcoholic beverages, compared to more than a half of 10th graders and two-thirds of seniors surveyed. That also was a small decrease among the three grade levels. But the number of 10th and 12th graders who reported getting drunk increased slightly.</li></ul><p>Comparatively, the number of teens who got high from medicines and households items instead of illegal drugs was small. They included:</p><ul><li class=\"textBodyBlack\">Nearly 10 percent of high school seniors admitted to using excessive dosages of Vicodin, a slight increase over the last year.</li><li class=\"textBodyBlack\">Nine percent of 8th graders sniffed glue, spray paints, cleaning fluids or other inhalants, down slightly.</li><li class=\"textBodyBlack\">3.6 percent of 10th graders got high off Ritalin, up two-tenths of 1 percent. Ritalin is used normally to combat effects of attention deficit disorder.</li></ul><p><b><strong>Cough syrup buzz</strong></b><br>That teens are turning to cough syrup to get high is particularly alarming, experts said, because the medicine is cheap and easy to get. Moreover, few people - teens and their parents alike - recognize the dangers of overdosing on the otherwise safe and legal drugs.</p><p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"460\"><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" border=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr height=\"20\"><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#666666\">&nbsp;Click for related content</b></font></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"5\" cellpadding=\"0\" bordercolor=\"#cccccc\" border=\"0\" style=\"border-top:solid 1px #cccccc;border-bottom:solid 1px #cccccc;background-color:#ffffff;\" bgcolor=\"#ffffff\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\" cellpadding=\"0\" class=\"headlineList2\"><tr></tr></table></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"8\"><tr><td style=\"padding:8px;\"><font class=\"bigRedLink\"><ul><li><a href=\"/id/15146185/\">Protect your kids from painkiller abuse</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/12803776/\">Teens seeking \'safer\' high with painkillers</a></li></ul></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"\" bordercolor=\"\" border=\"0\" style=\"background-color:#eeeeee;\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr><td style=\"\"><font class=\"textSmall\" color=\"#000000\"></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></p><p>\"There is this mistaken belief that intentionally abusing prescription and over-the-counter drugs is somehow safer than abusing street drugs,\" said Steve Pasierb, president and chief executive of the New York-based Partnership for Drug Free America. \"What parents don\'t realize is that this is about your kids taking six pills with a beer.\"</p><p>In its own surveys, the Partnership has seen an increase over three years in the number of kids who said they get a buzz from cold medicine that contains dextromethorphan - commonly known as \"Dex\" or \"skittles.\"</p><p>\"People may say this is a passing fad, but it represents a whole new tier of substance abuse,\" Pasierb said.</p><div class=\"textBodyBlack\" style=\"clear:both;\"><i><em>?2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</em></i></div><br>');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('872','8','<table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\"><tr><td width=\"10\"></td><td width=\"98%\"><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"98%\" valign=\"top\"><tr><td><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><font size=\"+2\" color=\"551E1B\">Homesickness really is an illness, doctors say</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>Particularly intense form can interfere with normal activities</b><br></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"></td></tr></table><font size=\"-2\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Sources/sourceAP.gif\" height=\"20\" width=\"140\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"><p></p></font><p>DETROIT - Janise Stone spent her first semester in college dreaming of home - literally.</p><p>Stone, 18, would get up in the morning and grudgingly attend classes at Paine College in Augusta, Ga. But the minute she returned to her dormitory, she curled up and thought of family in Indianapolis as she slept the day away.</p><p>\"I was so depressed,\" Stone said while at home for holidays. \"I just kept thinking that if I slept through it, I\'d eventually get back home.\"</p><p>She isn\'t alone.</p><p>Almost everyone experiences occasional homesickness, but many young people suffer from a particularly intense form that interferes with normal activities, according to a new study by the American Academy of Pediatrics.</p><p>The report in the January issue of the journal Pediatrics offers tips to physicians for recognizing risk factors among patients who are leaving home for the first time.</p><p>\"Leaving home is a universal developmental milestone,\" said Dr. Edward Walton, co-author of the report and an assistant professor of pediatrics and emergency medicine at the University of Michigan. \"Our goal is for them not to lose time and experience in the adjusting,\" he said.</p><p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"460\"><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" border=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr height=\"20\"><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#666666\">&nbsp;Click for related content</b></font></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"5\" cellpadding=\"0\" bordercolor=\"#cccccc\" border=\"0\" style=\"border-top:solid 1px #cccccc;border-bottom:solid 1px #cccccc;background-color:#ffffff;\" bgcolor=\"#ffffff\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\" cellpadding=\"0\" class=\"headlineList2\"><tr></tr></table></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"8\"><tr><td style=\"padding:8px;\"><font class=\"bigRedLink\"><ul><li><a href=\"http://boards.msn.com/MSNBCboards/thread.aspx?BoardID=762&amp;ThreadID=160701&amp;BoardsParam=HIPDelay%3d1\">Discuss:?ad serious homesickness? What did you do?</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/15909133/\">What it takes to lead a happier life</a></li></ul></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"\" bordercolor=\"\" border=\"0\" style=\"background-color:#eeeeee;\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr><td style=\"\"><font class=\"textSmall\" color=\"#000000\"></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></p><p>Walton co-wrote the study with Christopher Thurber, staff psychologist at Phillips Exeter Academy, a boarding school in New Hampshire.</p><p>About 95 percent of young people say they miss something about home the first time they are away, Thurber said. Most of them simply miss their Xbox or their mother\'s cooking.</p><p>But a smaller percentage - about 1 in 14 - suffer from what Thurber calls \"intense homesickness.\"</p><p>\"They\'re not eating or sleeping right, not playing with others,\" said Thurber. \"Or they have an intense preoccupation with home, they\'re not thinking about anything else.\"</p><p><b><strong>Practice time away from home</strong></b><br>Those behaviors and attitudes can \"seriously impair\" experiences while away at camp, boarding school, college or the hospital, he said.</p><p>Stone\'s first college experience could not be going worse. Not only is she having trouble sleeping at school, but the once straight-A student isn\'t eating right and is failing many of her honors classes.</p><p>According to Thurber and Walton\'s research, physicians could have predicted her reaction.</p><p>Stone had never spent a night away from home, not even at a relative\'s house. Thurber said that\'s the first red flag. Other warning signs include having low expectations for the new environment and little control over the situation.</p><p>The study outlines how to ease children into their first separation, including giving them practice time away from home; never offering to pick them up before the separation is scheduled to end; and involving them in every aspect of the decision.</p><p>Richard Gallagher, director of the Parenting Institute at New York University\'s Child Study Center, said the study provides a \"sound plan.\"</p><p>\"Parents and physicians want to have good guidelines for this sort of thing,\" said Gallagher, who was not part of the research. \"This could give them ideas about coping strategies.\"</p><p>Stone said she wishes more resources were available to her before she left for college. As it is, she shuddered at the thought returning to school.</p><p>\"Maybe if I would have been prepared I wouldn\'t be where I am now,\" she said. \"Homesickness just builds and builds. It wells up inside you.\"</p><div class=\"textBodyBlack\" style=\"clear:both;\"><i><em>?2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</em></i></div><br>');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('873','8','<table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\"><tr><td width=\"10\"></td><td width=\"98%\"><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"98%\" valign=\"top\"><tr><td><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><font size=\"+2\" color=\"551E1B\">Newborn recovering after rare heart surgery</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>6-pound girl in serious condition following removal of large tumor</b><br></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"></td></tr></table><font size=\"-2\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Sources/sourceAP.gif\" height=\"20\" width=\"140\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"><p></p></font><p>INDIANAPOLIS - A 6-pound infant is recovering from a rare surgery in which doctors removed a racquetball-size tumor from her heart the day after she was born.</p><p>Anne Therese Felts was in serious condition Wednesday, four days after undergoing the 2-hour surgery at Riley Hospital for Children, where doctors had been preparing for the operation since the tumor was discovered in October during a routine ultrasound.</p><p>Her parents, Paje and Chris Felts, said the past few weeks had been a \"gigantic episode\" in their lives.</p><p>\"I cried a lot,\" said Paje Felts, the little girl\'s mother. \"Of course, we were scared and upset.\"</p><p>She said she\'s been able to hold her daughter, who was born Thursday and is on a ventilator, only once.</p><p>Initial tests showed the tumor to be benign, and any microscopic tumor cells left behind generally won\'t grow, said John Brown, chief of cardiac surgery at the Indiana University School of Medicine.</p><p>\"Her future should be very positive,\" said Brown, who led the operating team.</p><div class=\"textBodyBlack\" style=\"clear:both;\"><i><em>?2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</em></i></div><br>');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('874','8','<table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\"><tr><td width=\"10\"></td><td width=\"98%\"><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"98%\" valign=\"top\"><tr><td><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><font size=\"+2\" color=\"551E1B\">Surgery to separate conjoined twins \'flawless\'</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>5-month-old North Dakota girls were born sharing one liver, doctors say</b><br></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia3.msn.com/j/ap/mnjm10501040106.hmedium.jpg\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\" alt=\"IMAGE: Stacy and Suzy Fitterer\"></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"><font size=\"-2\">Jim Mone / AP</font><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><font size=\"-1\">Stacy and Suzy Fitterer, of Bismarck, N.D., talk to the media during a news conference following the successful separation of their 5-month-old conjoined twins, Abygail and Madysen.</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br></td></tr></table><font size=\"-2\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Sources/sourceAP.gif\" height=\"20\" width=\"140\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"><p></p></font><p>ROCHESTER, Minn. - The head of the medical team that separated 5-month-old conjoined twins from North Dakota on Wednesday proclaimed the operation flawless.</p><p>Dr. Christopher Moir said Abygail and Madysen Fitterer - who were born joined at the chest -were both doing very well following about seven hours of surgery at the Mayo Clinic.</p><p>\"This is Day 99 of their hospital stay. It is also Day 1 of their beautiful, separate lives,\" Moir said at a news conference attended by the girls\' parents, Stacy and Suzy Fitterer, of Bismarck, N.D.</p><p>The girls rode into the operating room on the lap of their mother, who sat in a wheel chair, just before 7 a.m. Surgeons made the first incision around 9:50 a.m.</p><p>A video released by Mayo showed the surgical team applauding as the girls were placed on separate operating tables at 12:27 p.m. Doctors then went about the challenging work of reconstructing their chest walls. They finished with Madysen at 3:36 p.m. and with Abygail at 4:05 p.m., Moir said.</p><p>Moir also led the teams that separated conjoined twin girls from Fargo, N.D., in May and twin boys from Mankato in November.</p><p>The Fitterer twins have been at Mayo since doctors implanted tissue expanders in October to slowly stretch the girls\' skin enough to close their incisions from the separation surgery.</p><p>Doctors said the most difficult part of the procedure was separating and reconstructing the girls\' chest walls and closing their chests over their hearts. Moir said the girls shared one liver that, fortunately, had two drainage systems. He also was pleased to report that they didn\'t share any intestines, which doctors had initially feared.</p><p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"460\"><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" border=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr height=\"20\"><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#666666\">&nbsp;Click for related content</b></font></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"5\" cellpadding=\"0\" bordercolor=\"#cccccc\" border=\"0\" style=\"border-top:solid 1px #cccccc;border-bottom:solid 1px #cccccc;background-color:#ffffff;\" bgcolor=\"#ffffff\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\" cellpadding=\"0\" class=\"headlineList2\"><tr></tr></table></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"8\"><tr><td style=\"padding:8px;\"><font class=\"bigRedLink\"><ul><li><a href=\"/id/16453332/\">Newborn recovering after rare heart surgery</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/15142282/\">Clinic to separate 2 conjoined N.D. twins</a></li></ul></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"\" bordercolor=\"\" border=\"0\" style=\"background-color:#eeeeee;\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr><td style=\"\"><font class=\"textSmall\" color=\"#000000\"></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></p><p>The parents posted a tribute to Abygail, Madysen and their 2-year-old son, Nicholas, on Wednesday on the family\'s Web page.</p><p>\"Dear Nicky, Abby and Maddy: Thank you so much for the pure joy and pleasure you have given us,\" they wrote. \"You have taught us the importance of living, truly living each day and loving the \'big\' days and the \'little\' days.\"</p><p>This was Mayo\'s fifth separation of conjoined twins. Besides the two sets last year, Mayo did two other separations around 10 years ago.</p><p>According to Mayo experts, conjoined twins may develop in as many as one in 50,000 pregnancies, but they account for only one in about 250,000 live births.</p><div class=\"textBodyBlack\" style=\"clear:both;\"><i>Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</i></div><br><table width=\"100%\" style=\"background-color:#ffffee\" cellPadding=\"2\" cellSpacing=\"0\"><tr><td width=\"50%\"><font size=\"1\"><img src=\"/images/msnbc/print02.gif\" width=\"25\" height=\"20\" align=\"absmiddle\"> <a href=\"javascript:printThis(\'16459753\')\" class=\"linkBlack\">Print this</a></font></td><td><font size=\"1\"><img src=\"/images/msnbc/email02.gif\" width=\"25\" height=\"20\" align=\"absmiddle\"> <a href=\"javascript:emThis(\'16459753\')\" class=\"linkBlack\">Email this</a></font></td></tr></table></td><td width=\"10\"></td></tr></table><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\"><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" border=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#7788aa\"><tr height=\"20\"><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#7788aa\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#ffffff\">&nbsp;MORE FROM KIDS &amp; 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INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('875','8','<table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\"><tr><td width=\"10\"></td><td width=\"98%\"><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"98%\" valign=\"top\"><tr><td><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><font size=\"+2\" color=\"551E1B\">R.I. schools closed for meningitis scare</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>More than 20,000 students kept home after 2nd-grader\'s death </b><br></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"></td></tr></table><font size=\"-2\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Sources/sourceAP.gif\" height=\"20\" width=\"140\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"><p></p></font><p>COVENTRY, R.I. - Rhode Island officials canceled school Thursday and Friday for more than 20,000 students because of a suspected case of meningitis and the death of a second-grader from encephalitis.</p><p>Health experts are trying to determine whether the cases are connected.</p><p>\"Given the parents\' concerns and our concerns, we felt that out of abundance of caution we would keep schools closed for the next two days,\" said Dr. David Gifford, state public health director.</p><p>In addition, the Catholic Diocese of Providence closed eight schools in three communities, with a combined 2,600 students, as a precaution. No cases of meningitis or encephalitis have been reported among the students, said diocese spokesman Michael Guilfoyle.</p><p>The case of suspected meningitis was reported Wednesday in an unidentified student in Coventry. Also, two weeks ago, Dylan Gleavey, a Warwick elementary school student, died of encephalitis. A classmate of hers and a girl at a West Warwick school also contracted encephalitis but have since recovered.</p><p>Dylan\'s encephalitis was brought on by \"walking pneumonia,\" a common illness that in rare cases can lead to meningitis or encephalitis.</p><p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"460\"><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" border=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr height=\"20\"><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#666666\">&nbsp;Click for related content</b></font></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"5\" cellpadding=\"0\" bordercolor=\"#cccccc\" border=\"0\" style=\"border-top:solid 1px #cccccc;border-bottom:solid 1px #cccccc;background-color:#ffffff;\" bgcolor=\"#ffffff\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\" cellpadding=\"0\" class=\"headlineList2\"><tr></tr></table></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"8\"><tr><td style=\"padding:8px;\"><font class=\"bigRedLink\"><p><a href=\"/id/16486406/\">More than 80 in 3 states at risk of meningitis</a></p></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"\" bordercolor=\"\" border=\"0\" style=\"background-color:#eeeeee;\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr><td style=\"\"><font class=\"textSmall\" color=\"#000000\"></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></p><p>Meningitis is a dangerous inflammation of the membranes around the brain and spinal cord. Encephalitis is an inflammation of the brain.</p><p>More epidemiologists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention headed to the state to assist the half-dozen scientists already in Rhode Island.</p><p>Health investigators said they will spend the next few days talking to school nurses and looking for possible additional cases in hospitals.</p><p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\"><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" border=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#7788aa\"><tr height=\"20\"><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#7788aa\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#FFFFFF\">&nbsp;More meningitis news from MSN Health</b></font></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"5\" cellpadding=\"0\" bordercolor=\"#a4abc1\" border=\"0\" style=\"border-right:solid 1px #a4abc1;border-bottom:solid 1px #a4abc1;border-left:solid 1px #a4abc1;background-color:#f3f3f6;\" bgcolor=\"#f3f3f6\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\" cellpadding=\"0\" class=\"headlineList2\"><tr></tr></table></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\"><tr><td style=\"padding:10px;\"><font color=\"#000000\"><table><tr><td><p class=\"textMed\"><a href=\"http://health.msn.com/general/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100150407\" target=\"_blank\">Reality Check: Meningitis</a></p></td></tr></table></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></p><p>The school closings affected students in three communities south of Providence: 11,500 in Warwick; 6,000 in Coventry; and 4,000 in West Warwick. The three communities have had an unusually high incidence of pneumonia, Gifford said.</p><p>Doreen Simao of Coventry said she had been sending her 5-year-old son, Malakie, to kindergarten each day with a small bottle of hand sanitizer because of the illnesses.</p><p>Joanne Grace, the mother of a 5-year-old Coventry girl, said officials \"definitely did the right thing.\"</p><p>\"There\'s too much of a risk for someone to get something potentially fatal,\" Grace said.</p><div class=\"textBodyBlack\" style=\"clear:both;\"><i><em>?2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</em></i></div><br>');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('876','8','<table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\"><tr><td width=\"10\"></td><td width=\"98%\"><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"98%\" valign=\"top\"><tr><td><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><font size=\"+2\" color=\"551E1B\">Surgery to stunt girl\'s growth sparks debate</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>Parents say drastic treatment allows them to take better care of their child</b><br></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia4.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/070104/070104_stunted_hmed_1p.hsmall.jpg\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\" alt=\"Image: Ashley\"></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"><font size=\"-2\">Ashley\'s Blog</font><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><font size=\"-1\">A family photo on \"Ashley\'s blog\" shows the Seattle girl in 2003, a year before she completed hormone therapy intended to stunt her growth.</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br></td></tr></table><font size=\"-2\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Sources/sourceAP.gif\" height=\"20\" width=\"140\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"><p></p></font><p>In a case fraught with ethical questions, the parents of a severely mentally and physically disabled child have stunted her growth to keep their little \"pillow angel\" a manageable and more portable size.</p><p>The bedridden 9-year-old girl had her uterus and breast tissue removed at a Seattle hospital and received large doses of hormones to halt her growth. She is now 4-foot-5; her parents say she would otherwise probably reach a normal 5-foot-6.</p><p>Some ethicists question the parents\' claim that the drastic treatment will benefit their daughter and allow them to continue caring for her at home.</p><p>The case has captured attention nationwide and abroad. \"Offensive if not perverse,\" wrote one person on <a href=\"http://boards.msn.com/MSNBCboards/thread.aspx?BoardID=762&amp;ThreadID=115796&amp;BoardsParam=HIPDelay%3d1\">MSNBC.com\'s bulletin board</a>. \"This smacks of eugenics, but I understand the parents thought process,\" another wrote.</p><p>Right or wrong, the couple\'s decision highlights a dilemma thousands of parents face in struggling to care for severely disabled children as they grow up.</p><p>\"This particular treatment, even if it\'s OK in this situation, and I think it probably is, is not a widespread solution and ignores the large social issues about caring for people with disabilities,\" Dr. Joel Frader, a medical ethicist at Chicago\'s Children\'s Memorial Hospital, said Thursday. \"As a society, we do a pretty rotten job of helping caregivers provide what\'s necessary for these patients.\"</p><p>The case involves a girl identified only as <a href=\"http://ashleytreatment.spaces.live.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Ashley on a blog her parents created</a> after her doctors wrote about her treatment in October\'s Archives of Pediatrics &amp; Adolescent Medicine. The journal did not disclose the parents\' names or where they live; the couple do not identify themselves on their blog, either.</p><p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"460\"><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" border=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr height=\"20\"><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#666666\">&nbsp;Click for related content</b></font></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"5\" cellpadding=\"0\" bordercolor=\"#cccccc\" border=\"0\" style=\"border-top:solid 1px #cccccc;border-bottom:solid 1px #cccccc;background-color:#ffffff;\" bgcolor=\"#ffffff\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\" cellpadding=\"0\" class=\"headlineList2\"><tr></tr></table></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"8\"><tr><td style=\"padding:8px;\"><font class=\"bigRedLink\"><ul><li><a href=\"/id/16472931/\">Commentary: Is \'Peter Pan\' treatment right?</a></li><li><a href=\"http://boards.msn.com/MSNBCboards/thread.aspx?BoardID=762&amp;ThreadID=115796&amp;BoardsParam=HIPDelay%3d1\">Message Board: Join the ongoing discussion</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/16485230/\">Vote: Do you agree with the parent\'s decision?</a></li></ul></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"\" bordercolor=\"\" border=\"0\" style=\"background-color:#eeeeee;\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr><td style=\"\"><font class=\"textSmall\" color=\"#000000\"></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></p><p><b><strong>Left in an infant state<br></strong></b>Shortly after birth, Ashley had feeding problems and showed severe developmental delays. Her doctors diagnosed static encephalopathy, which means severe brain damage. They do not know what caused it.</p><p>Her condition has left her in an infant state, unable to sit up, roll over, hold a toy or walk or talk. Her parents say she will never get better. She is alert, startles easily, and smiles, but does not maintain eye contact, according to her parents, who call the brown-haired little girl their \"pillow angel.\"</p><p>She goes to school for disabled children, but her parents care for her at home and say they have been unable to find suitable outside help.</p><p>An <a href=\"/id/15517226/\">editorial in the medical journal</a> called \"the Ashley treatment\" ill-advised and questioned whether it will even work. But her parents says it has succeeded so far.</p><p>She had surgery in July 2004 and recently completed the hormone treatment. She weighs about 65 pounds, and is about 13 inches shorter and 50 pounds lighter than she would be as an adult, according to her parents\' blog.</p><p>\"Ashley\'s smaller and lighter size makes it more possible to include her in the typical family life and activities that provide her with needed comfort, closeness, security and love: meal time, car trips, touch, snuggles, etc.,\" her parents wrote.</p><p>University of Pennsylvania bioethicist and <a href=\"/id/3035344/\">MSNBC.com columnist Art Caplan</a> said the case is troubling and questioned how preventing normal growth could benefit the patient. Treatment that is not for a patient\'s direct benefit \"only seems wrong to me,\" Caplan said.</p><p>But Dr. Benjamin Wilfond, a pediatric bioethicist at Children\'s Hospital, said that while he \"was a little startled\" when he first learned of Ashley\'s case, he understood the parents\' decision. </p><p>\"In this case, being short is a benefit to the child,\" Wilfond told NBC affiliate KING-TV of Seattle. \"There are other parents that make decisions to make their children taller because that may be a benefit to the child. And so I think what all these cases have in common is an intention to help the child.\"</p><p><b><strong>Comfort and convenience cited<br></strong></b>Ashley\'s parents say keeping her small will help reduce risks for bedsores and other conditions that can afflict bedridden patients. Also, they say preventing her from going through puberty means she won\'t experience the discomfort of having periods or growing breasts that might develop breast cancer, which runs in the family.</p><p>\"Even though caring for Ashley involves hard and continual work, she is a blessing and not a burden,\" her parents\' blog says. Still, they wrote, \"Unless you are living the experience ... you have no clue what it is like to be the bedridden child or their caregivers.\"</p><p><em>Deborah Feldman of KING-TV contributed to this report.</em></p><div class=\"textBodyBlack\" style=\"clear:both;\"><i><em>?2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</em></i></div><br>');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('877','8','<table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\"><tr><td width=\"10\"></td><td width=\"98%\"><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"98%\" valign=\"top\"><tr><td><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><font size=\"+2\" color=\"551E1B\">Premature Canadian sextuplets face challenges</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>Country\'s first set of six babies was born 3 months early, in fair condition</b><br></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"></td></tr></table><font size=\"-2\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Sources/sourceAP.gif\" height=\"20\" width=\"140\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"><p></p></font><p>VANCOUVER, British Columbia - A woman has given birth to what is believed to be Canada\'s first set of sextuplets, and the infants were in listed in fair condition, hospital officials said.</p><p>The newborns - each weighing only 1 pound, 6 ounces to 1 pound, 12 ounces and not much bigger than an outstretched hand - were delivered over the weekend at B.C. Women\'s Hospital and Health Center.</p><p>Citing privacy concerns, hospital officials declined to identify the family or give other details about the births, saying only that they were delivered almost three months premature.</p><p>\"The babies are in fair condition, which means their vital signs are stable and within normal limits,\" said Dr. Liz Whynot, the hospital\'s president. She said the parents, who are Jehovah\'s Witnesses, are \"feeling overwhelmed\" and \"are focusing all their energy on their new family.\"</p><p>The first infant was born about 8:30 p.m. Saturday and the others were born early Sunday, she said.</p><p>Hospital officials, contacted by The Associated Press on Tuesday, declined to provide the sex of the infants or other details.</p><p>The babies are considered on the borderline of viability and have a roughly 80 percent chance of surviving to leave the hospital, said Dr. Brian Lupton, head of neonatal intensive care at the hospital.</p><p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"460\"><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" border=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr height=\"20\"><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#666666\">&nbsp;Click for related stories</b></font></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"5\" cellpadding=\"0\" bordercolor=\"#cccccc\" border=\"0\" style=\"border-top:solid 1px #cccccc;border-bottom:solid 1px #cccccc;background-color:#ffffff;\" bgcolor=\"#ffffff\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\" cellpadding=\"0\" class=\"headlineList2\"><tr></tr></table></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"8\"><tr><td style=\"padding:8px;\"><font class=\"bigRedLink\"><ul><li><a href=\"/id/16519567/\">Tween years can be risky for weight gain</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/16459753/\">Surgery to separate conjoined twins \'flawless\'</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/16455766/\">Birth imminent for embry saved post-Katrina</a></li></ul></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"\" bordercolor=\"\" border=\"0\" style=\"background-color:#eeeeee;\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr><td style=\"\"><font class=\"textSmall\" color=\"#000000\"></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></p><p>Such an early delivery means all the baby\'s organs are immature and their underdeveloped immune systems make them more vulnerable to infection. They also face potential neurological and development deficiencies, vision and hearing problems.</p><p>\"They\'re certainly in the best possible hands, that\'s the comfort. But they certainly have a long road ahead of them,\" said Dr. Timothy Rowe, an obstetrician who heads the division of reproductive endocrinology and infertility at the University of British Columbia. Rowe said naturally conceived sextuplets occur only once in several billion births.</p><p>Hospital officials declined to say whether the parents used fertility drugs.</p><p>The Dionne quintuplets were Canada\'s most famous multiple birth. The five identical sisters, born in a small Ontario town in 1934, were hailed as a medical miracle and, at the time, were the only known quintuplets to survive more than a few days.</p><p>Their case, however, quickly turned tragic as the Ontario provincial government, which deemed their parents unfit, put them in a specially built hospital where they became a moneymaking tourist attraction during the Depression. The three surviving quints eventually sued the provincial government and received a $2.8 million settlement.</p><div class=\"textBodyBlack\" style=\"clear:both;\"><i><em>?2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</em></i></div><br>');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('878','1','<!--startclickprintinclude--><script language=\"JavaScript\" type=\"text/javascript\">var clickExpire = \"01/26/2007\";</script> <script language=\"JavaScript\" type=\"text/javascript\">if ( location.hostname.toLowerCase().indexOf( \"edition.\" ) == -1 ) {document.write(\"<div id=\\\"cnnProgrammingNote\\\"><p><b>More on CNN TV:</b> Lance Armstrong joins Dr. Sanjay Gupta on the front lines of the fight against cancer. Watch &quot;Saving Your Life, Saturday and Sunday at 8 and 11p.m. ET. <\\/p><\\/div>\");}</script><div id=\"cnnSCFontButtons\" ><!--startclickprintexclude--><div id=\"cnnSCFontLabel\">Adjust font size:</div>\n<div id=\"cnnSCFontMinusBtn\" onclick=\"setActiveStyleSheet(\'default\'); return false;\"><img src=\"http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/1.5/story/misc/icon.minus.dim.gif\" border=\"0\" height=\"12\" width=\"18\" alt=\"Decrease font\" title=\"Decrease font\" class=\"cnnIncreaseFont\"><img src=\"http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/1.5/story/misc/icon.minus.gif\" border=\"0\" height=\"12\" width=\"18\" alt=\"Decrease font\" title=\"Decrease font\" class=\"cnnDecreaseFont\"></div>\n<div id=\"cnnSCFontPlusBtn\" onclick=\"setActiveStyleSheet(\'LargeFont\'); return false;\"><img src=\"http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/1.5/story/misc/icon.plus.gif\" border=\"0\" height=\"12\" width=\"18\" alt=\"Enlarge font\" title=\"Enlarge font\" class=\"cnnIncreaseFont\"><img src=\"http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/1.5/story/misc/icon.plus.dim.gif\" border=\"0\" height=\"12\" width=\"18\" alt=\"Enlarge font\" title=\"Enlarge font\" class=\"cnnDecreaseFont\"></div><!--endclickprintexclude--></div><p><b>NEW YORK</b> (Reuters) -- When women and men have lung cancer of the same stage and receive the same treatment, the women are more likely to survive, according to the findings published in the journal of Chest.</p><p>Lung cancer &quot;is the number one cause of cancer deaths in both men and women worldwide,&quot; Dr. Robert James Cerfolio and colleagues from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, write.</p><p>Several studies using data from national cancer registries have shown that men and women differ in lung cancer survival. The present study was different in that it determined survival in men and women in whom lung cancer was diagnosed, treated based on the same algorithm, and then followed for up to seven years.</p><p>The study focused on patients with non-small cell lung cancer, the most common type. Unlike the small cell variant, non-small cell lung cancer is often amenable to surgical removal and more responsive to chemotherapy.</p><p>The study included 1,085 patients -- 671 men and 414 women. There were no significant differences between the sexes in terms of race, other diseases, smoking history, lung function and the treatment received.</p><p>At five years, 60 percent of women were still alive compared with 50 percent of men. Moreover, women had consistently higher survival rates for all stages of disease.</p><p>As to why survival was better for women, it may relate to them being more responsive to chemotherapy, Cerforlio and colleagues report.</p><p>The researchers conclude that the findings might help improve the &quot;dismal&quot; overall five-year survival rate for patients with non-small lung cancer &quot;by helping to target new therapeutic options.&quot;</p><p class=\"cnnSCAttribution\">Copyright 2007 <a href=\"/interactive_legal.html#Reuters\">Reuters</a>. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.</p><br clear=\"all\"> <!--startclickprintexclude-->  ');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('879','1','<!--startclickprintinclude--><script language=\"JavaScript\" type=\"text/javascript\">var clickExpire = \"02/10/2007\";</script> <div id=\"cnnSCFontButtons\" class=\"cnn0pxTMargin\"><!--startclickprintexclude--><div id=\"cnnSCFontLabel\">Adjust font size:</div>\n<div id=\"cnnSCFontMinusBtn\" onclick=\"setActiveStyleSheet(\'default\'); return false;\"><img src=\"http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/1.5/story/misc/icon.minus.dim.gif\" border=\"0\" height=\"12\" width=\"18\" alt=\"Decrease font\" title=\"Decrease font\" class=\"cnnIncreaseFont\"><img src=\"http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/1.5/story/misc/icon.minus.gif\" border=\"0\" height=\"12\" width=\"18\" alt=\"Decrease font\" title=\"Decrease font\" class=\"cnnDecreaseFont\"></div>\n<div id=\"cnnSCFontPlusBtn\" onclick=\"setActiveStyleSheet(\'LargeFont\'); return false;\"><img src=\"http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/1.5/story/misc/icon.plus.gif\" border=\"0\" height=\"12\" width=\"18\" alt=\"Enlarge font\" title=\"Enlarge font\" class=\"cnnIncreaseFont\"><img src=\"http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/1.5/story/misc/icon.plus.dim.gif\" border=\"0\" height=\"12\" width=\"18\" alt=\"Enlarge font\" title=\"Enlarge font\" class=\"cnnDecreaseFont\"></div><!--endclickprintexclude--></div><p><b>ATLANTA, Georgia</b> (AP)  -- More than 1,500 toddlers and babies wound up in emergency rooms over a two-year period and three died because of bad reactions to cold or cough medicine, federal health officials reported Thursday.</p><p>The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned parents not to give common over-the-counter cold remedies to children under 2 years old without consulting a doctor.</p><p>The deaths of three infants 6 months or younger in 2005 led to an investigation that showed the children all had high levels of the nasal decongestant pseudoephedrine, up to 14 times the amount recommended for children ages 2 to 12. The study found 1,519 ER cases from 2004 and 2005 involving young children and cold medicine.</p><p>The CDC said it\'s not known how much cold or cough medicine can cause illness or death in children under 2 years old, but there are no approved dosing recommendations by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for that age group.</p><p>The American Academy of Pediatrics first advised parents in 1997 about the risks of complications and overdose potential with certain cough suppressants. Last year the American College of Chest Physicians advised doctors not to recommend cough suppressants and over-the-counter cough medications to young children because of the risks.</p><p>Dr. Michael Shannon, chief of emergency medicine at Children\'s Hospital Boston, said it\'s common, especially in the winter, to see emergency room cases of toddlers given cough or cold medicine.</p><p>&quot;Pediatricians have for years, particularly for the last five years, been for the most part trying to dissuade parents from giving young children common cold preparations,&quot; Shannon said.</p><p>Dr. Michael Marcus, director of pediatric pulmonology, allergy and immunology at Maimonides Infants and Children\'s Hospital in New York, said, &quot;The best thing (parents) can do is support with fluids and lots of kisses and time, because lots of infections are viral and will pass in a few days. The medications have a greater potential for harm than the infections you are trying to treat.&quot;</p><p class=\"cnnSCAttribution\">Copyright 2007 The <a href=\"/interactive_legal.html#AP\">Associated Press</a>. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.</p><!--startclickprintexclude-->  ');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('880','1','<!--startclickprintinclude--><script language=\"JavaScript\" type=\"text/javascript\">var clickExpire = \"02/11/2007\";</script> <div id=\"cnnSCFontButtons\" class=\"cnn0pxTMargin\"><!--startclickprintexclude--><div id=\"cnnSCFontLabel\">Adjust font size:</div>\n<div id=\"cnnSCFontMinusBtn\" onclick=\"setActiveStyleSheet(\'default\'); return false;\"><img src=\"http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/1.5/story/misc/icon.minus.dim.gif\" border=\"0\" height=\"12\" width=\"18\" alt=\"Decrease font\" title=\"Decrease font\" class=\"cnnIncreaseFont\"><img src=\"http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/1.5/story/misc/icon.minus.gif\" border=\"0\" height=\"12\" width=\"18\" alt=\"Decrease font\" title=\"Decrease font\" class=\"cnnDecreaseFont\"></div>\n<div id=\"cnnSCFontPlusBtn\" onclick=\"setActiveStyleSheet(\'LargeFont\'); return false;\"><img src=\"http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/1.5/story/misc/icon.plus.gif\" border=\"0\" height=\"12\" width=\"18\" alt=\"Enlarge font\" title=\"Enlarge font\" class=\"cnnIncreaseFont\"><img src=\"http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/1.5/story/misc/icon.plus.dim.gif\" border=\"0\" height=\"12\" width=\"18\" alt=\"Enlarge font\" title=\"Enlarge font\" class=\"cnnDecreaseFont\"></div><!--endclickprintexclude--></div><p><b>WASHINGTON</b> (AP)  -- Contaminated California-grown lettuce was the possible source of the E. coli outbreak that sickened more than 80 people late last year at Taco John\'s restaurants in two states, health officials said Friday.</p><p>State and federal investigators said they have matched the strain of the bacteria associated with the outbreak to two samples taken from dairy farms in California\'s Central Valley. The farms are located near lettuce fields, the Food and Drug Administration said.</p><p>Investigators continue to study whether bacteria-laden manure from the dairy farms could have contaminated the nearby lettuce-growing areas, the FDA said. The FDA said other sources of contamination were possible.</p><p>The outbreak sickened about 81 people who had eaten at Taco John\'s restaurants in Minnesota and Iowa in November and December. Among those sickened, 26 were hospitalized. There were no deaths.</p><p>The Taco John\'s outbreak occurred at roughly the same time as a separate and more widely publicized outbreak of food poisoning that sickened 70 patrons of Taco Bell restaurants in the Northeast. Though E. coli-contaminated iceberg lettuce was the likely culprit behind both outbreaks, the two are not thought to be linked.</p><p>Friday\'s announcement also marks the second time in recent months that investigators have suggested Californian cattle or dairy operations as the source of contamination of produce grown on close-by fields. Bacteria tracked by wild pigs from a cattle ranch in California\'s Salinas Valley onto nearby spinach fields likely sparked an E. coli outbreak last year that sickened more than 200 people and killed three.</p><p>Taco John\'s spokesman Brian Dixon said the Cheyenne, Wyoming, company had suspended purchases from the produce company that had supplied the three restaurants linked to the outbreak. The company also is in discussions with its other suppliers to do more testing of irrigation water and possibly to hold shipments of produce until samples can be tested for contamination, Dixon added.</p><p>The recent spate of food-poisoning cases includes two salmonella outbreaks linked to fresh tomatoes that made about 400 people sick in October and November.</p><p>The FDA said Friday it would step up its produce-safety efforts, including consideration of new regulations. The regulatory agency also plans to hold public meetings to discuss ways of improving the safety of fresh produce.</p><p>And in Congress, Democrats in both the Senate and House plan to hold food-safety hearings in the coming months.</p><p class=\"cnnSCAttribution\">Copyright 2007 The <a href=\"/interactive_legal.html#AP\">Associated Press</a>. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.</p><!--startclickprintexclude-->  ');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('881','1','<!--startclickprintinclude--><script language=\"JavaScript\" type=\"text/javascript\">var clickExpire = \"-1\";</script> <div id=\"cnnSCFontButtons\" class=\"cnn0pxTMargin\"><!--startclickprintexclude--><div id=\"cnnSCFontLabel\">Adjust font size:</div>\n<div id=\"cnnSCFontMinusBtn\" onclick=\"setActiveStyleSheet(\'default\'); return false;\"><img src=\"http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/1.5/story/misc/icon.minus.dim.gif\" border=\"0\" height=\"12\" width=\"18\" alt=\"Decrease font\" title=\"Decrease font\" class=\"cnnIncreaseFont\"><img src=\"http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/1.5/story/misc/icon.minus.gif\" border=\"0\" height=\"12\" width=\"18\" alt=\"Decrease font\" title=\"Decrease font\" class=\"cnnDecreaseFont\"></div>\n<div id=\"cnnSCFontPlusBtn\" onclick=\"setActiveStyleSheet(\'LargeFont\'); return false;\"><img src=\"http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/1.5/story/misc/icon.plus.gif\" border=\"0\" height=\"12\" width=\"18\" alt=\"Enlarge font\" title=\"Enlarge font\" class=\"cnnIncreaseFont\"><img src=\"http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/1.5/story/misc/icon.plus.dim.gif\" border=\"0\" height=\"12\" width=\"18\" alt=\"Enlarge font\" title=\"Enlarge font\" class=\"cnnDecreaseFont\"></div><!--endclickprintexclude--></div><p>There\'s plenty of fear about cancer, but a new American Cancer Society poll found more than a third of Americans surveyed -- 36 percent -- believe they have little or no control over reducing their risk for getting the disease.</p><p>&quot;There\'s nothing I can about it. I don\'t think I have any control,&quot; said Stephanie Smith of Raleigh, North Carolina.</p><p>But the American Cancer Society says the way we live has an enormous effect on our odds of getting cancer. The organization estimates more than a half of all cancer deaths are related to lifestyle. (<a href=\"/2007/HEALTH/01/12/armstrong.feedback/index.html\">Read viewers\' personal stories of cancer survival.</a>) </p><p>&quot;People really aren\'t aware that people have some control over their cancer risk,&quot; said Colleen Doyle, director of nutrition and physical activity at the American Cancer Society.</p><p>Smoking is at the top of the list of activities that increase the risk of cancer, and America\'s 45 million smokers are significantly raising their chances of getting a number of cancers.</p><p>An unhealthful diet and lack of exercise contribute to a third of the more than 500,000 cancer deaths every year in the United States, according to the American Cancer Society. (<a href=\"/2007/HEALTH/01/09/gupta.10tips/index.html\">Read Dr. Sanjay Gupta\'s Top 10 tips to cut your cancer risk.</a>)</p><p>Americans also need to do a better job of getting screened for cancer, especially for colon cancer, doctors agree. Catch cancer early and the chances of surviving the dreaded disease improves dramatically.</p><p>Although most women are aware of the need for mammograms and Pap tests to screen for breast and cervical cancers, far fewer know about the need for colonoscopies for colon cancer, said Dr. Jim Hotz, a Georgia doctor who is an expert on cancer and rural health care.</p><p>Two-thirds of Americans are unaware they need to begin colonoscopies at age 50, and earlier if they have a family history of colon cancer, Dr. Hotz said.</p><p>&quot;This is a test where there is a flat educational barrier,&quot; he said. Some 56,000 Americans die of colon cancer each year even though almost all of those deaths are preventable through colonoscopies, which can detect polyps before they become malignant.</p><p>Since 2001, Medicare has covered colonoscopies for people over age 65. Yet only 27 percent of Medicare recipients received the cancer screening in the past five years, according to statistics compiled by the Carolinas Center for Medical Excellence.</p><p>Sally Hammond of Dawson, Georgia, is thankful that she relented to pressure from her doctor and received a colonoscopy. The test detected a cancer dangerously close to spreading.</p><p>&quot;I would not be here today if it was not for that test,&quot; she said.</p><p>Hammond received treatment and is now one of the more than 10 million cancer survivors in this country, showing that with cancer, knowledge can be a lifesaver.</p><br clear=\"all\"> <!--startclickprintexclude-->  ');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('882','1','\n\n\n	 <p>ALMOST any popular playground offers both a curly slide, and a Hobbesian slide toward a state of child-chaos. Girls scrambling to escape hot lava bang into boys driving a bullet-train spaceship who have just run over a preschooler in Power Ranger tights. Parents lurk around the edges, or push a swing, hoping to make it to nap time before someone draws blood.</p> \n<div id=\"articleInline\">\n<div id=\"inlineBox\"><a href=\"#secondParagraph\" class=\"jumpLink\">Skip to next paragraph</a>\n  \n  \n<div id=\"inlineMultimedia\">\n<h4>Multimedia</h4>\n<div class=\"story first\">\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<a href=\"javascript:pop_me_up2(\'http://www.nytimes.com/packages/khtml/2007/01/14/weekinreview/20060114_PLAY_FEATURE.html\', \'680_550\', \'width=680,height=550,location=no,scrollbars=yes,toolbars=no,resizable=yes\')\">\n<IMG src=\"http://graphics.nytimes.com/images/2007/01/14/weekinreview/14carey.190.126.jpg\" height=\"126\" width=\"190\" alt=\"Playgrounds Grow Up\" border=\"0\"><span class=\"mediaType interactive\">Interactive Feature</span>\n</a>\n\n\n<h2>\n\n<a href=\"javascript:pop_me_up2(\'http://www.nytimes.com/packages/khtml/2007/01/14/weekinreview/20060114_PLAY_FEATURE.html\', \'680_550\', \'width=680,height=550,location=no,scrollbars=yes,toolbars=no,resizable=yes\')\" >Playgrounds Grow Up</a>\n\n</h2>\n<div class=\"clear\"></div>\n</div>\n</div>\n<div id=\"sidebarArticles\">\n<h4>Related</h4>\n<h2> <a href=\"http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/10/nyregion/10play.html\" target=\"_0\">New \r\nYork Tries to Think Outside the Sandbox</a> (January 10, 2007)</h2> \r\n</div>\n   \n<div class=\"image\">\n<div class=\"enlargeThis\"><a href=\"javascript:pop_me_up2(\'http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2007/01/14/weekinreview/14carey_CA0.ready.html\', \'14carey_CA0_ready\', \'width=720,height=600,scrollbars=yes,toolbars=no,resizable=yes\')\">Enlarge This Image</a></div>\n<a href=\"javascript:pop_me_up2(\'http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2007/01/14/weekinreview/14carey_CA0.ready.html\', \'14carey_CA0_ready\', \'width=720,height=600,scrollbars=yes,toolbars=no,resizable=yes\')\">\n<IMG src=\"http://graphics.nytimes.com/images/2007/01/14/weekinreview/14carey_CA0.190.jpg\" width=\"190\" height=\"240\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\">\n</a>\n<div class=\"credit\">Robert Walker/The New York Times</div>\n<p class=\"caption\">\n<strong>ON THEIR OWN </strong>Boys climb on a jungle gym at the Union Settlement on 10th Street in New York in 1955. \n</p>\n</div>\n   \n</div>\n</div><a name=\"secondParagraph\"></a>\n <p>All that may soon change, for many families, if an ambitious idea taking shape among New York City planners and a private designer takes hold.</p><p>City officials unveiled plans last week for a new kind of playground, outfitted with ponds, pulleys and bulky foam blocks intended to engage the imagination, and  ?lay workers?to help guide fantasy play. In an artist? rendering of a playground proposed for Lower Manhattan, the guides, dressed in matching bright yellow shirts and baseball caps, oversee the action with an air of calm authority.</p><p>The experiment, if it inspires other cities, would mark the first significant change in playground design in decades, since municipalities began replacing steel monkey bars and slides with the boxy, plastic equipment common in many urban areas today. </p><p>It already raises fundamental questions about childhood. </p><p>How much help do children need to do what should come naturally? And to what extent does expert guidance ?embodied by the so-called  play workers ?represent adults?expectations of children, rather than what the youngsters themselves want or need?</p><p>?y first impression is that this is more evidence that we don? trust kids to play by themselves,?said Peter Stearns, provost of George Mason University in Fairfax, Va.,  and author of ?nxious Parents: A History of Modern Childrearing in America.??nd I think it? fair to ask: Is this really for parents, to make them feel their kids are being properly guided while playing??/p><p>On the surface, a managed playground is a natural extension of a culture that increasingly parcels childhood into schedules. Many children in urban areas from Boston to Houston no longer run out the front door to find their friends; their parents make play dates instead. And youngsters who once might have played on a sandlot or a backyard ice rink now enter organized leagues by first grade. </p><p>Pickup games are still around, but they have migrated from the street to computers, where friends gather online at sites like Neopets and Club Penguin. </p><p>Cultural critics have warned of the dangers of replacing spontaneous play with organized activities since the 1930s, when the historian Johan Huizinga published his classic, ?omo Ludens,?about the importance of spontaneous and unstructured play to the health of societies. </p><p>Children chasing, creeping, diving into alleyways and bushes may look somehow suspect, even dangerous. But experts say the free-for-all has a point:  children develop independent judgment, and a sense of risk, privacy and invention all their own when they create play worlds that exclude parents and other adults. Forcing a children? game to have some goal, as many parents have the urge to do, in effect installs a hall monitor in the game room. </p><p>Psychologists who spend time with children, moreover, say that it is important for youngsters to navigate kids-only play situations to develop their social instincts, such as how to join a game that has already started. Designers of the proposed playground were aiming for a space that, in a sense, recaptures the imaginative, collaborative games children used to organize routinely in their neighborhoods, before play dates and the American Youth Soccer Organization. </p><p>? look at this design and see open space and interesting props, designed not just for motor play to get kids moving around, but for creative, thematic play,?said Marjorie Taylor, a professor of psychology at the <a href=\"http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/u/university_of_oregon/index.html?inline=nyt-org\" title=\"More articles about University of Oregon\">University of Oregon</a>.  ?hildren are going to pretend wherever you put them. But if adults offer some scaffolding, some support, that can be a good way to get it started.?/p><p>That scaffolding might also make the new playgrounds a hard sell, at least if history is any guide. </p><p>The American playground movement, which began in the early 1900s, also envisioned spaces that would draw children for games supervised by adult workers. Designers built monkey bars and slides mainly for preteens and teenagers, a slightly older group than the pre- to middle-school children the new playground is intended for, said Lisa Jacobson, a historian at the University of California at Santa Barbara and author of ?aising Consumers: Children and the American Mass Market in the Early 20th Century.?</p><p>But the purpose was similar, she said: to provide an attractive alternative to the movies and penny arcades (read: video games and the Internet), a place where children in crowded cities could build social skills and character. </p><p>?hen as now, the idea was that play is serious business, that it is the work of the child,?Professor Jacobson said.</p><p>The only thing missing was the swarm of kids. After playgrounds were built early in the 1900s, about 20 percent of children in Milwaukee lived within walking distance of playgrounds, according to her research, but less than 4 percent used them. Surveys found similarly low rates among children near playgrounds in Cleveland, she said. At that time in New York City, some 95 percent of children played almost exclusively on the streets. </p><p>As one 11-year-old boy, living in Worcester, Mass.,  in the early 1900s said of supervised playgrounds:  ?t gets on my nerves with so many men and women around telling you what to do.?He was quoted in ?ight Hours for What We Will,?a study of workers?leisure by Roy Rosenzweig, a professor of history and new media at George Mason University. </p><p>Grade-schoolers living in American cities 100 years later may not mind so much, and may take eagerly to the foam blocks and pulleys and play workers. But one thing that all psychologists who work with children agree on: The little humans will imagine and populate their own play worlds, regardless of what parents or play directors think is appropriate. </p><p>Dr. Taylor, who works with children who have imaginary friends, knows one youngster who has a ?ife?he calls Mrs. Duck, another who spends time with Elfie, an imaginary veterinarian with tie-dyed hair, and another who plays with Simone, an invisible alligator. ?hey usually invent far better worlds than we could have modeled for them,?Dr. Taylor said. </p><NYT_UPDATE_BOTTOM>\n</NYT_UPDATE_BOTTOM>\n');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('883','1','\n\n\n	 <p>Last month, scientists invented the <a href=\"http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/aids/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier\" title=\"Recent and archival health news about AIDS/HIV.\">AIDS</a> vaccine. Missed it? Perhaps that? because you were still seeking the vaccine fantasy: the magic bullet, the impenetrable shield that finally pitches this disease into the trash bin, the shot that will end not only the AIDS epidemic but our anxiety about the AIDS epidemic as well.</p> \n<div id=\"articleInline\">\n<div id=\"inlineBox\"><a href=\"#secondParagraph\" class=\"jumpLink\">Skip to next paragraph</a>\n  \n   \n<div class=\"image\">\n<div class=\"enlargeThis\"><a href=\"javascript:pop_me_up2(\'http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2007/01/10/magazine/14wwln.1.html\', \'14wwln_1\', \'width=720,height=600,scrollbars=yes,toolbars=no,resizable=yes\')\">Enlarge This Image</a></div>\n<a href=\"javascript:pop_me_up2(\'http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2007/01/10/magazine/14wwln.1.html\', \'14wwln_1\', \'width=720,height=600,scrollbars=yes,toolbars=no,resizable=yes\')\">\n<IMG src=\"http://graphics.nytimes.com/images/2007/01/10/magazine/14wwln.190.jpg\" width=\"190\" height=\"240\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\">\n</a>\n<div class=\"credit\">Tom Schierlitz</div>\n<p class=\"caption\">\n</p>\n</div>\n  \n   \n</div>\n</div><a name=\"secondParagraph\"></a>\n <p>The vaccine thunderbolt didn? strike ?and might never. Drearily, the real AIDS vaccine is likely to be imperfect: one more tool in our arsenal, to be used along with condoms and all our other tools. It will most likely avert millions of infections and save millions of lives. But it will not end the Age of AIDS.</p><p>The vaccine that arrived last month was not actually a vaccine. It was, instead, a confirmation of what scientists had long suspected: circumcision helps protect men from AIDS infection. For years, AIDS researchers have observed that many African tribes that circumcise boys or young men had lower AIDS rates than those that don?, and that Africa? Muslim nations, where circumcision is near universal, had far fewer AIDS cases than predominantly Christian ones. The first research proof came in 2005, when a study in South Africa was stopped early in the face of evidence that the men who had been randomly assigned to be circumcised were getting 60 percent fewer H.I.V. infections than the men assigned to the control group. Last month, ethics boards halted two similar studies, in Uganda and Kenya, when they found similar results. In both, the circumcised men caught the AIDS virus half as often as the uncircumcised control group.</p><p>Circumcision would be given more weight if the world recognized that it is, in fact, the real-world equivalent of an AIDS vaccine. In some ways, it is closer to the fantasy than a real vaccine might be. Vaccine research began in the early 1980s but with little financing or urgency and went nowhere. In 1996, the effort was revived with the creation of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, and financing has soared in the last five years. But a vaccine has proved elusive. Most vaccines work by mimicking infection, which stimulates the body to make antibodies that kill the disease. But H.I.V. infection generally does not produce those kinds of antibodies. H.I.V. also mutates constantly and comes in many different varieties, factors that further complicate the search for a vaccine.</p><p>Many vaccines provide nearly 100 percent protection ?after my daughters finish their two doses of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, for example, they won? have to think about those diseases again. But that? not on the horizon for AIDS. ?ifty to 60 percent efficacy is what people would feel really good about,?says Frances Priddy, the director of efficacy trials with the AIDS vaccine initiative. The best candidates in the vaccine pipeline right now ?which won? be ready until 2013 at the earliest ?wouldn? keep you from getting H.I.V. They instead would seek to change your body? response to the virus so that if you did get infected, the disease would progress more slowly ?or not at all ?and you would be less infectious to others.</p><p>An efficacy rate of 50 to 60 percent is actually a lot better than it sounds, because of herd immunity. We get AIDS from one another. Every time a person is rendered less infectious, the chance of an uninfected person catching H.I.V. from each sexual contact drops, and in a virtuous circle, the whole community becomes progressively safer. A vaccine of 50 to 60 percent efficacy might come close to wiping out the epidemic in places with low AIDS rates. In high-prevalence areas, it could reduce the epidemic and save millions of lives. </p><p>In contrast to a vaccine, circumcision? origins are about as far from the laboratory as you can get; carvings depicting circumcisions have been found in ancient Egyptian temples. But the effects may be very similar to those of a vaccine. So far, we have proof only that circumcision protects the circumcised men. But there are strong indications that it also protects their sexual partners. A trial in Uganda is now testing whether H.I.V.-positive men are less likely to infect their wives if they are circumcised than if they are not. </p><p>Together, circumcision and an imperfect vaccine might be enough to stop AIDS. But they will need help from behavior change, microbicides, fighting malaria, treating genital herpes and other interventions we don? even know about yet. That is unsatisfying. The danger does exist that circumcised men will feel invulnerable and throw sexual caution to the winds, a risk that would also exist with an imperfect vaccine. But so far, there is not much evidence of a problem. In the Uganda and Kenya studies, the sexual behavior of the circumcised men was no more risky than that of the others. In the South Africa study, circumcised men did report 25 percent more sexual activity. But the circumcised group as a whole still had 60 percent fewer infections. Certainly one reason that risky behavior did not jump is that the men got counseling as part of the clinical trials. Counseling goes naturally with circumcision; counseling would be harder to include in a vaccine campaign, since one of a vaccine? great advantages is that it can be given assembly-line-style in seconds. </p><p>Circumcision is a surgical procedure, however, and in the hands of traditional ritual circumcisers, it has a high rate of infection and mishap. The solution is to train these circumcisers and give them decent tools, and at the same time encourage men to come to clinics. Since men in studies say that cost is the biggest reason they are not circumcised, the operation must be free. Countries will also have to equip these clinics and train counselors and medical circumcisers, who don? have to be doctors. </p><p>Research on an AIDS vaccine is more crucial than ever. But we must not let our hope for a thunderbolt prevent us from racing ahead with circumcision now. For the biggest difference between circumcision and a vaccine is this: only one of them exists. </p><NYT_AUTHOR_ID><p id=\"authorId\">Tina Rosenberg, a former editorial writer for The Times, is now a contributing writer for the magazine.</p></NYT_AUTHOR_ID><NYT_UPDATE_BOTTOM>\n</NYT_UPDATE_BOTTOM>\n');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('884','1','\n\n\n	 <p>A variant gene involved in <a href=\"http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/alzheimers/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier\" title=\"Recent and archival health news about Alzheimer\'s.\">Alzheimer&#8217;s</a> disease has been detected through study of Dominican families living in  Manhattan, scientists are reporting today.</p> \n<div id=\"articleInline\">\n<div id=\"inlineBox\"><a href=\"#secondParagraph\" class=\"jumpLink\">Skip to next paragraph</a>\n  \n    \n<div id=\"sidebarArticles\">\n<h4>Related</h4>\n<h2><a href=\"http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/alzheimers/index.html\">Complete Coverage: Alzheimer\'s Disease</a></h2>\r\n<h3 class=\"promo\">Web Link</h3>\r\n<h2><a href=\"http://www.nature.com/ng/journal/vaop/ncurrent/abs/ng1943.html\" target=\"new\">The Neuronal Sortilin-Related Receptor SORL1 Is Genetically Associated WAith Alzheimer Disease</a> (Nature Genetics) Abstract Only</h2>\n</div>\n  \n</div>\n</div><a name=\"secondParagraph\"></a>\n <p>The families have about three times the usual incidence of Alzheimer&#8217;s, a finding that led Dr. Richard Mayeux of <a href=\"http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/c/columbia_university/index.html?inline=nyt-org\" title=\"More articles about Columbia University.\">Columbia University</a> in 1994 to start looking for anything in their environment that could be touching off the disease.</p><p>Finding nothing, Dr. Mayeux decided to search for a genetic cause, a task that seemed worth trying because the <a href=\"http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/dominicanrepublic/index.html?inline=nyt-geo\" title=\"More news and information about Dominican Republic.\">Dominican Republic</a>, where the families came from, is a single, long-isolated population in which variant genes are easier to detect.</p><p>He enlisted three colleagues who were studying Alzheimer&#8217;s in other populations, in a strategy of looking for mutations in a set of seven genes. The genes are known to be involved in directing the traffic of proteins inside cells, and are plausible candidates for contributing to Alzheimer&#8217;s because the disease seems to result from an abnormal buildup of protein inside the nerve cell.</p><p>Having genetically screened some 6,000 people, the researchers found that in four of their populations people with Alzheimer&#8217;s had distinguishing genetic markers in just one of the seven genes, known as SORL1. Patients with the variant forms of the gene produce less of that gene&#8217;s protein than usual, leading to a different traffic pattern and allowing a particular protein in nerve cells, known as the amyloid precursor protein, to be converted into toxic form. </p><p>The finding is being reported today in the journal Nature Genetics by four teams led by Dr. Mayeux, Dr. Peter St. George-Hyslop of the University of Toronto, Dr. Lindsay Farrer of <a href=\"http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/b/boston_university/index.html?inline=nyt-org\" title=\"More articles about Boston University\">Boston University</a> and Dr. Steven Younkin of the <a href=\"http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/m/mayo_clinic/index.html?inline=nyt-org\" title=\"More articles about Mayo Clinic\">Mayo Clinic</a> Jacksonville.</p><p>The researchers have not yet isolated the specific mutation that affects the gene, but they believe it reduces production of the gene&#8217;s protein and does not harm the protein itself. That raises the possibility of developing a drug to stimulate extra production of the protein, which would be expected to have a protective effect.</p><p>Alzheimer&#8217;s can be prompted by any of several errant genes. A gene that can carry a very high risk for the disease, the apolipoprotein E gene, was discovered in 1993. Hundreds of reports since then have nominated other possible genes, but many of the claims have not been confirmed. </p><p>Two geneticists at <a href=\"http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/m/massachusetts_general_hospital/index.html?inline=nyt-org\" title=\"More articles about Massachusetts General Hospital\">Massachusetts General Hospital</a>, Lars Bertram and Rudolph Tanzi, have tried to bring order to this confused field by combining the data from many  studies. In an article in Nature Genetics earlier this month, they presented a group of 13 genes besides apolipoprotein E that have a statistically significant association with Alzheimer&#8217;s.</p><p>Dr. Tanzi said that he had run the numbers on SORL1 and that it would qualify at present for a place in his canon. &#8220;This is another gene worth paying attention to,&#8221; he said, &#8220;but we really have to wait for more replications.&#8221; </p><p>Dr. Mayeux said he regarded the SORL1 gene as more robustly associated with Alzheimer&#8217;s than all the other genes except apolipoprotein E, since it had been checked in four different populations and the variant had been shown to have a biological effect in Alzheimer&#8217;s patients. But Dr. Tanzi said that in terms of the burden of disease the gene causes, it would rank 13th on his list.</p><p>Researchers hope that the more Alzheimer-associated genes they find, the more possible targets will emerge both for drugs and for diagnostic tests that can tell who is at risk for the disease.</p><NYT_UPDATE_BOTTOM>\n</NYT_UPDATE_BOTTOM>\n');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('885','1','\n\n\n	 <p>RIO DE JANEIRO </p> \n<div id=\"articleInline\">\n<div id=\"inlineBox\"><a href=\"#secondParagraph\" class=\"jumpLink\">Skip to next paragraph</a>\n  \n   \n<div class=\"image\">\n<div class=\"enlargeThis\"><a href=\"javascript:pop_me_up2(\'http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2007/01/14/weekinreview/14roht_CA1.ready.html\', \'14roht_CA1_ready\', \'width=431,height=600,scrollbars=yes,toolbars=no,resizable=yes\')\">Enlarge This Image</a></div>\n<a href=\"javascript:pop_me_up2(\'http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2007/01/14/weekinreview/14roht_CA1.ready.html\', \'14roht_CA1_ready\', \'width=431,height=600,scrollbars=yes,toolbars=no,resizable=yes\')\">\n<IMG src=\"http://graphics.nytimes.com/images/2007/01/14/weekinreview/14roht_CA1.190.jpg\" width=\"190\" height=\"237\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\">\n</a>\n<div class=\"credit\">Illustration by The New York Times; photograph by Associated Press</div>\n<p class=\"caption\">\n<strong>A GLOBAL MAKEOVER </strong> Patr&#237;cia Reginato, one of the most beautiful women in Brazil, competed for the Miss World title in China in 2005. \n</p>\n</div>\n  \n<div id=\"sidebarArticles\">\n<h4>Related</h4>\n<h2> <a href=\"http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9905E1DF1630F933A05751C1A9609C8B63\" target=\"_0\"> \r\nBurst of High-Profile Anorexia Deaths Unsettles Brazil</a> (December 30, 2006)</h2>\n</div>\n<div id=\"inlineReadersOpinion\">\n<h4>Readers&#8217; Opinions</h4>\n<div class=\"story\">\n<h2>\n<a href=\"http://forums.nytimes.com/top/opinion/readersopinions/forums/international/centralandsouthamerica/index.html?page=recent\">Forum: Central and South America</a>\n</h2>\n<p class=\"summary\"></p>\n<h2>\n<a href=\"http://forums.nytimes.com/top/opinion/readersopinions/forums/health/mentalhealthandtreatment/index.html?page=recent\">Forum: Mental Health and Treatment</a>\n</h2>\n<p class=\"summary\"></p>\n</div>\n</div>\n  \n<div class=\"image\">\n<div class=\"enlargeThis\"><a href=\"javascript:pop_me_up2(\'http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2007/01/14/weekinreview/14roht_CA0.ready.html\', \'14roht_CA0_ready\', \'width=329,height=600,scrollbars=yes,toolbars=no,resizable=yes\')\">Enlarge This Image</a></div>\n<a href=\"javascript:pop_me_up2(\'http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2007/01/14/weekinreview/14roht_CA0.ready.html\', \'14roht_CA0_ready\', \'width=329,height=600,scrollbars=yes,toolbars=no,resizable=yes\')\">\n<IMG src=\"http://graphics.nytimes.com/images/2007/01/14/weekinreview/14roht_CA0.190.jpg\" width=\"190\" height=\"240\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\">\n</a>\n<div class=\"credit\">Eug?io S?io/Associated Press</div>\n<p class=\"caption\">\n<strong>LOST TO ANOREXIA</strong> Ana Carolina Reston as she was 18 months before her death in November. Five anorexia deaths in Brazil have followed hers. \n</p>\n</div>\n  \n</div>\n</div><a name=\"secondParagraph\"></a>\n <p>AS king of carnival, the corpulent Rei Momo is supposed to embody all the jollity, carnality and excess associated with that most Brazilian of bacchanals. So when the event? reigning monarch has gastric bypass surgery, sheds 150 pounds and starts an exercise program, you begin to wonder what? going on.</p><p> And when six young women die of <a href=\"http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/anorexianervosa/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier\" title=\"Recent and archival health news about anorexia nervosa.\">anorexia</a> in quick succession ?two in the last two weeks ?the wonder turns to bewilderment. Brazil may well be the most body-conscious society in the world, but that body has always been Brazil? confident own ?not a North American or European one.</p><p> For women here that has meant having a little more flesh, distributed differently to emphasize the bottom over the top, the contours of a guitar rather than an hourglass, and most certainly not a twig. Anorexia, though long associated with wealthier industrialized countries, was an affliction all but unheard-of here.</p><p> But that was before the incursions of the Barbie aesthetic, celebrity models, satellite television and medical makeovers made it clear just how far some imported notions of beauty, desirability and health have encroached on Brazilian ideals once considered inviolate.</p><p> By ??pgrading?to international standards of beauty,?said Mary del Priore, a historian and co-author of ?he History of Private Life in Brazil,?the country is abandoning its traditional belief that ?lumpness is a sign of beauty and thinness is to be dreaded.?The contradictory result, she added, is that ?oday it? the rich in Brazil who are thin and the poor who are fat.?/p><p> A generation ago, the ideal type here was Martha Rocha, a Miss Brazil from the mid-1950s. She finished second in the Miss Universe competition supposedly because her body was a bit too generous in the hips, buttocks and thighs, but since those characteristics were so highly valued here, as suggested by cartoons and the popularity of the semi-pornographic drawings of Carlos Z?iro that circulated, it was the rest of the world whose taste was questioned.</p><p> Even the famous ?irl from Ipanema,?immortalized in the bossa nova song written in 1962, illustrated the cultural differences that prevailed then: only in the English lyrics is she ?all and tan and young and lovely.?In the original Portuguese version, the emphasis is on ?he sweet swing?of her hips and backside as she walks, a sway described as ?ore than a poem, the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.?/p><p> Today, in sharp contrast, the epitome of beauty is Gisele B?dchen, the top model whose enormous international success has inspired the thousands of Brazilian girls who dream of emulating her to enroll in modeling schools and competitions. But very little about Ms. B?dchen? body ?tall and blond, rangy yet busty ?connects her to her homeland and its traditional self-image.</p><p> ?ers is a globalized beauty that has nothing to do with the Brazilian biotype,?said Joana de Vilhena Novaes, author of ?he Intolerable Weight of Ugliness: On Women and Their Bodies?and a psychologist here. ?he has very little in the way of hips, thighs or fanny. She? a Barbie,?one whose parents are of German descent.</p><p> Dr. Novaes and others have noted that during the 1960s and 70s, Brazilian girls played with a locally made doll named Susi, who, reflecting the national aesthetic, was darker and fleshier than her counterparts abroad. But in the 1970s, Barbie arrived, and by the mid-1980s, production of Susi dolls had ceased, though it has resumed in recent years in a sort of backlash.</p><p> Yet until recently no one here would ever have talked with admiration about having an hourglass figure like Barbie?, let alone the coat-hanger physiques of the international runways. Instead, the ideal was what is known as ?m corpo de viol?,?or ?uitar-shaped body? that is, like Susi?, thicker in the waist, hips and fanny.</p><p> One indication of how rapidly values are changing can be gleaned from a government study released in November, just after the first in the cluster of anorexia deaths, that of Ana Carolina Reston, a 21-year-old model. According to the survey, the percentage of the population taking appetite-suppressants more than doubled between 2001 and 2005, making Brazil the world champion in the consumption of <a href=\"http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/diet/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier\" title=\"Recent and archival health news about diet and nutrition.\">diet</a> pills.</p><p> ?he reasons are purely aesthetic, not medical, especially for women,?who account for at least 80 percent of the market, said Dr. Elisaldo de Ara?o Carlini, a professor at the Federal University of S? Paulo who is the author of the study. ?hey want to get thin no matter what, all because of images from north of the Equator. It is a cruel cultural imposition on the Brazilian woman.?/p><div id=\"pageLinks\"><ul id=\"pageNumbers\"><li> 1 </li><li> <a onClick=\"s_code_linktrack(\'Article-MultiPagePageNum2\');\" title=\"Page 2\" href=\"?pagewanted=2&_r=5\">2</a> </li></ul><a class=\"next\" onClick=\"s_code_linktrack(\'Article-MultiPage-Next\');\" \n             title=\"Next Page\"\n             href=\"?pagewanted=2&_r=5\">Next Page &#x00bb;</a></div><NYT_UPDATE_BOTTOM>\n</NYT_UPDATE_BOTTOM>\n');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('886','1','	<p>Scientists said on Sunday they have\npinpointed a new gene linked to <span class=\"keyword\"><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/DailyNews/manual/nm/hl_nm/alzheimers_gene_dc/21574090/*http://news.search.yahoo.com/search/news?fr=news-storylinks&amp;p=%22Alzheimer%27s%20disease%22&amp;c=&amp;n=20&amp;yn=c&amp;c=news&amp;cs=nw\">Alzheimer\'s disease</a></span>, the\nincurable brain disorder that is the top cause of dementia in\nthe elderly.<p/>\nAbnormalities in a gene called SORL1 increased the risk for\nthe disease, and this finding could help scientists develop new\ntreatments, the researchers reported in the journal Nature\nGenetics.<p/>\nThe researchers looked at DNA samples from 6,000 people\nfrom four ethnic groups: Caribbean-Hispanics, North Europeans,\nblack Americans and Israeli-Arabs. They found certain\nvariations of SORL1 more often in people with late-onset\nAlzheimer\'s disease than in healthy people.<p/>\nThe late-onset form, affecting people age 65 and up,\nrepresents about 90 percent of Alzheimer\'s cases. The rarer\nearly-onset form affects people from about age 30 to 65.<p/>\nOnly one other gene, called ApoE4, has been identified as a\nrisk factor for late-onset Alzheimer\'s. It was identified in\n1993.<p/>\nSeveral genes are linked with early Alzheimer\'s, and study\nof both types might lead to better understanding of how the\ndisease begins and how to tackle it.<p/>\nMany scientists think Alzheimer\'s begins with the buildup\nin the brain of a gooey material called amyloid that clumps\ntogether to form plaques. That material stems from a protein\ncalled amyloid precursor protein, or APP.<p/>\nSORL1 controls the distribution of APP inside nerve cells\nof the brain. When working normally, the gene prevents APP from\nbeing degraded into a toxic byproduct called amyloid beta\npeptide. When SORL1 is deficient, it allows more of the bad\namyloid beta peptide to accumulate, fostering amyloid plaques.<p/>\nAlzheimer\'s is a complex disease that gradually destroys a\nperson\'s memory and ability to learn, reason, make judgments,\ncommunicate and carry out daily activities. Scientists have\nstruggled to understand the biology of the disease and its\ngenetic and environmental causes.<p/>\n\'PIECE OF THE PUZZLE\'<p/>\n\"It\'s another clue to the way in which this disease comes\nabout, another piece of the puzzle,\" Dr. Peter St.\nGeorge-Hyslop, director of the Center for Research in\nNeurodegenerative Diseases at the University of Toronto and one\nof the key researchers, said in a telephone interview.<p/>\n\"Every time you get a piece of the puzzle and you can\nrelate it to something else in the puzzle, you\'re that much\ncloser to knowing what the picture on the puzzle is,\" he added.<p/>\nSt. George-Hyslop said it is premature to say what\npercentage of cases of late-onset Alzheimer\'s disease can be\nattributed to SORL1. ApoE4, which also may be involved in the\nproduction of amyloid plaques, has been linked to about 20\npercent of late-onset Alzheimer\'s cases.<p/>\n\"This appears to be the fifth Alzheimer\'s disease gene, and\nthere are likely to be other important genetic variants that\nneed to be identified before the entire picture is complete,\"\nDr. Richard Mayeux of Columbia University Medical Center in New\nYork, also involved in the research, said in a statement.<p/>\nThe disease first affects parts of the brain controlling\nmemory and thinking, but as it advances it kills cells\nelsewhere in the brain. Eventually, if the patient has no other\nserious illness, the loss of brain function will prove fatal.<p/>\nResearchers from Boston University and the Mayo Clinic\nCollege of Medicine in Jacksonville, Florida, also took part in\nthe five-year study.\n<p/>\n</p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('887','1','	<p>Shortly after hiking the Grand Canyon\nwith his wife in 1988, Michael Manson, the co-founder of\nPetSmart Inc., came down with what felt like the flu. So did\nbusiness partner Jim Dougherty. The illness changed their\nlives.<p/>\nIn both men, the flu-like symptoms triggered a more\ndebilitating condition known as chronic fatigue syndrome for\nwhich there is no known cure, and no known cause. Its symptoms\nrange from fatigue and vertigo to nausea, pain and cognitive\nconfusion.<p/>\nMany in the medical community don\'t believe chronic fatigue\nsyndrome is a real disease. There is no diagnostic test for it.\nPatients are often referred to psychiatrists on the assumption\nthat their symptoms are psychosomatic.<p/>\nBut for those who suffer its symptoms, including Manson and\nDougherty, a former marine who served twice in Vietnam, the\ncondition is all too devastatingly real.<p/>\n\"We\'ve been fighting this for 18 years, and we\'ve tried\nevery possible treatment, from wing of bat to eye of newt,\"\nsaid Manson, who has spent months at a time too weak to walk\nmore than a block or even get out of bed.<p/>\nNothing worked - until now.<p/>\nLast June, Manson went to see Dr. Jose Montoya, associate\nprofessor of medicine at Stanford University and a specialist\nin infectious diseases who believes the disorder may be caused\n-- at least in some cases, by one or more viruses.<p/>\nMontoya had presented anecdotal data earlier that year at a\nconference in Barcelona, Spain, which suggested an antiviral\ndrug called Valcyte, made by Swiss drugmaker Roche Holding AG,\ncould be helpful in treating certain CFS patients.<p/>\nMontoya now has data on 25 CFS patients, nearly all of whom\nhad high levels in their blood plasma of antibodies to the\nhuman herpes virus 6 (HHV-6) and the Epstein-Barr virus.<p/>\nThe data -- presented recently at a conference in Fort\nLauderdale, Florida -- were remarkably consistent. Nearly every\npatient responded to the drug, Montoya said, and most of the\nresponses were dramatic.<p/>\n\"Scientists have suspected viruses for years but have never\nbeen able to prove it,\" said Kristin Loomis, executive director\nof the HHV-6 Foundation, a non-profit group which funds\nresearch into HHV-6.<p/>\nLast year Manson began a six-month course of Valcyte, which\nis approved to treat transplant patients to prevent viral\ninfection. At first he felt worse. Then, after a few weeks, he\nbegan to improve. He started walking, every day a little more.<p/>\nNow, nearly seven months later, he is walking two or three\nmiles a day and working out with light weights. And he is\nworking on new business ideas.<p/>\n\"Not only is my physical ability returning but my cognitive\nability has come back too,\" Manson said.<p/>\nEven so, Montoya stresses that the study is extremely small\nand the results may not be replicated in bigger trials, the\nfirst of which he hopes to start within the next few months.<p/>\n\"In a field that has been so stigmatized, and so full of\nfalse hopes, I think the patients and the field deserve the\nbest kind of trial, keeping an open mind to the possibility\nthat it won\'t work,\" he said.<p/>\nRoche has agreed to put up $1.5 million to fund the next,\n30-patient study<p/>\n\"Whether we put serious money behind this will all depend\non the outcome of this next study,\" said Nigel Pluck, Roche\'s\nclinical science leader for Valcyte. \"This is a somewhat\ncontentious area for the medical profession in that CFS is not\na disease that you can test for. It\'s a diagnosis that you come\nto by excluding everything else.\"<p/>\nEven if results of further studies are positive they will\nprobably apply only to those patients with active HHV-6 and\nEpstein-Barr viruses, as indirectly measured by the number of\nantibodies produced to fight them, Montoya said.<p/>\nBut for those who appear to fit the profile, like Manson,\nthe benefits could be enormous.<p/>\n\"We are very excited and holding our breath,\" he said.\n<p/>\n</p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('888','1','	<p>Playing basketball isn\'t ladylike. That\'s what Jewell Chapman\'s high school principal told her in 1961 when he banned the girls basketball program.<p/>\n\"We were very frustrated,\" said Chapman, a forward for her high school team in Des Moines.<p/>\nNearly 50 years later, Chapman is back on the court. She\'s 62 and plays for the Hot Pink Grannies, joining about 10 other women on a team whose uniforms are black bloomers and hot pink socks. They play in the Iowa Granny Basketball League.<p/>\nIt\'s one of dozens of basketball leagues for women over 50 that have sprung up across the country. For some, it\'s an opportunity to exercise and socialize; for others, it\'s a once-denied chance to compete.<p/>\n\"You see more and more senior women\'s teams participating in state and national competitions and more recreational leagues,\" said Michael Rogers (<a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/DailyNews/politics/news/ap/ap_on_he_me/fitness_granny_basketball/21575935/*http://news.search.yahoo.com/search/news?fr=news-storylinks&amp;p=%22Michael%20Rogers%22&amp;c=&amp;n=20&amp;yn=c&amp;c=news&amp;cs=nw\">news</a>, <a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/capadv/bio/ap/ap_on_he_me/fitness_granny_basketball/21575935/SIG=118uoin38/*http://yahoo.capwiz.com/y/bio/?id=1590\">bio</a>, <a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/capadv/vote/ap/ap_on_he_me/fitness_granny_basketball/21575935/SIG=11hfq2312/*http://yahoo.capwiz.com/y/bio/keyvotes/?id=1590\">voting record</a>), an associate professor in sports studies at Wichita State University. \"In the future it will be commonplace to have leagues like this.\"<p/>\nAnnual surveys by the National Sporting Goods Association indicate the number of women 55 and older who play basketball at least 50 times a year has grown from 16,000 in 1995 to nearly 131,000 a decade later.<p/>\nThe women on the Hot Pink Grannies are good-natured but competitive come game time.<p/>\n\"I think I\'m tough,\" says Hot Pink Granny Colleen Pulliam, 69, flexing her biceps at opponents in a game against the Strutters, known for their brilliant yellow socks.<p/>\nSeconds later, she dives for the ball as it slips from a player\'s hand and tosses it over her head to the forward waiting under the basket.<p/>\nGranny Basketball Leagues and similar groups are scattered through much of the country, including California, Connecticut, Louisiana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C.<p/>\nIt\'s part of a larger movement toward organized sports by older Americans, said Dr. Wojtek Chodzko-Zajko, head of the kinesiology department at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.<p/>\n\"Gradually, as the boomers grow older we\'re going to have a cohort of people who have the expectation of remaining active,\" said Chodzko-Zajko, who studies aging and physical activity. \"And a majority of those people are going to want to do that in competitive sport.\"<p/>\nUnlike men, however, middle-aged women who want to play have had to create their own leagues catering to a range of players: from older women who haven\'t hit the court in decades to women who led their teams to tournaments in the post-Title IX era. That 1972 ruling forced public schools to offer equal athletic programs for males and females.<p/>\nAbout 500 women from 47 states competed in basketball at the 2005 National Senior Games in Pittsburgh. And in response to growing interest by women, the formerly all-male Masters Basketball-National Championship will for the first time offer a women\'s competition at its May event in Coral Springs, Fla.<p/>\nThe movement to basketball among older women is exciting but not surprising to Audrey Pastore, who established the Senior Women\'s Basketball Association of San Diego in 1998. Today, her league has about 100 members who play three-on-three games on 18 teams. Three of those teams won gold medals at the 2005 National Senior Games.<p/>\n\"It\'s going to get bigger and bigger,\" said Pastore, 66.<p/>\nThere are even basketball camps for women 50 and older.<p/>\nDeb Richards of Portland, Maine, launched her Not Too Late basketball camp last year and drew more than 50 women from 11 states. Richards, 52, plans another camp this August at Southern Maine Community College.<p/>\n\"They saw what their children had in experiencing sports and they didn\'t have that,\" Richards said.<p/>\nBut there are risks.<p/>\nBecause basketball is such a physically demanding sport, doctors say older players risk cardiovascular problems, and some may aggravate existing arthritis conditions.<p/>\nWomen also are more susceptible to painful knee ligament injuries, said Dr. Kathleen Weber, director of the women\'s sports medicine program at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.<p/>\n\"A lot of people decide to play a sport and they may not be in proper condition,\" Weber said. \"They need to do conditioning.\"<p/>\nMost leagues require doctor approval before joining.<p/>\nPlayers on the Iowa Granny Basketball League have various reasons for joining, but clearly having a good time is a priority. Each team sports eye-catching attire, and they flap their arms to 1920s swing music at halftime. Many of their games raise money for charities, and there are stunt games like playing against a team of teenage boys who each have one hand tied behind their backs.<p/>\n\"I\'m having fun and I love it. We have a nice bunch of girls here,\" said 78-year-old Phyllis Huxford of Des Moines. \"The main thing is it gets you out of the house.\"<p/>\n</p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('889','1','	<p>An experimental anti-obesity drug which\ncould one day be given as a chewing gum is among three projects\nto win funding under a new scheme from the Wellcome Trust.<p/>\nThe world\'s second-largest medical research charity,\nWellcome said on Monday it had awarded a research grant to\nImperial College London for the work under its 91 million\npounds ($176 million) Seeding Drug Discovery scheme -- the\nlargest fund of its kind outside the United States.<p/>\nOther projects eligible for first-round grants are a new\ndrug for fighting cancer being worked on at Bristol University\nand a medicine against the MRSA superbug from Oxford-based\nbiotech firm Prolysis.<p/>\nThe two university groups and biotech company will each get\nbetween 2.3 million and 3.5 million pounds to help them fund\nresearch to the point where big drugmakers or venture\ncapitalists have an incentive to step in.<p/>\nTed Bianco, Wellcome\'s director of technology transfer,\nsaid the goal was to bridge a funding gap between micro grants\navailable under government schemes and the larger, later-stage\ninvestments provided by capital markets.<p/>\nVenture capitalists, in particular, have become wary of\nfunding risky early stage research since the bursting of the\ntechnology bubble at the start of the decade.<p/>\n\"The core of this initiative is getting more players\ninvolved in the business of drug discovery,\" Bianco told\nreporters.<p/>\nWellcome\'s investment is charitable, but the organization\nwill share in any wealth created as a result of its funding, he\nadded.<p/>\nAPPETITE-SUPPRESSANT<p/>\nProfessor Steve Bloom of Imperial College said the cash\nwould allow his team to progress their idea for a new\nappetite-suppressant based on the natural gut hormone\npancreatic polypeptide (PP).<p/>\nBloom, who has been working on the project for some years,\nis convinced PP will not have the side effects found with other\nobesity drugs, including Sanofi-Aventis\'s Acomplia.<p/>\nBut he has so far failed to find a commercial backer\nbecause the medicine is a large protein and cannot be made into\na pill.<p/>\nHe believes an easy-to-use, insulin-pen-type injection\ncould be available in five to eight years, and in the long term\nthe drug could be put into a chewing gum and absorbed in the\nmouth. Alternatively, it might be sprayed up the nose.<p/>\nThe Bristol University work on cancer is based on a new way\nof switching off one of the key mechanisms that leads to the\ndevelopment and growth of tumor cells, while Prolysis is\nworking on a drug that blocks a protein needed for MRSA\nbacteria to divide.\n<p/>\n</p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('890','1','	<p>A team at the British institute that\ncloned Dolly the sheep have made a genetically engineered\nchicken that produces cancer drugs in its eggs.<p/>\nThe chickens produce the cancer drugs in their egg whites,\nthe team at the Roslin Biocentre in Edinburgh reported.<p/>\nThe drugs include a monoclonal antibody -- themselves\nlab-engineered immune system proteins -- and a human immune\nsystem protein used to treat cancer and other conditions, the\nresearchers report in the upcoming issue of the Proceedings of\nthe <span class=\"keyword\"><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/DailyNews/manual/nm/hl_nm/drugs_chickens_dc/21581545/*http://news.search.yahoo.com/search/news?fr=news-storylinks&amp;p=%22National%20Academy%20of%20Sciences%22&amp;c=&amp;n=20&amp;yn=c&amp;c=news&amp;cs=nw\">National Academy of Sciences</a></span>.<p/>\nThese drugs are not easy to make in the lab. \"Many human\ntherapeutic proteins, such as monoclonal antibodies, are\nproduced in industrial bioreactors, but setting up such systems\nis both time-consuming and expensive,\" the researchers wrote.<p/>\nScientists have been trying to find good ways to turn\nanimals into factories instead -- given that animals naturally\nmake such proteins anyway.<p/>\nCattle, sheep and goats all have been genetically\nengineered to produce human proteins in their milk, including\ninsulin and drugs to treat cystic fibrosis, but the Roslin team\nthought chickens, with their shorter life cycles and egg-laying\nprowess, also might be useful.<p/>\nHelen Sang and colleagues at Roslin made the genetically\nengineered or transgenic hens by inserting the genes for the\ndesired proteins into the hen\'s gene for ovalbumin, a protein\nthat makes up half of egg whites.<p/>\nThey wanted to ensure the hens made the proteins in their\negg whites and nowhere else.<p/>\nThe proteins they chose were miR24, a monoclonal antibody\nwith potential for treating melanoma, and human interferon\nb-1a, an immune system protein from a family of proteins that\nattacks tumors and viruses.<p/>\nThey used a virus to infect very early chicken embryos. The\nvirus inserted the genetic material into the DNA of chick\nembryos in newly laid eggs.<p/>\nThe researchers hatched these chicks and found the male\nchicks who had indeed incorporated the new DNA in their semen.<p/>\nThese cockerels were then bred with normal hens and they\nscreened the resulting chicks to see which ones still carried\nthe two new genes. The researchers have now bred several\nhundred chickens that can produce the desired proteins.<p/>\nThey worked with Viragen (Scotland) Ltd., a subsidiary of\nthe U.S. biotechnology company Viragen and Oxford Biomedica\nLtd.<p/>\nOther companies have created animals and plants that\nproduce human and animal proteins, as well as vaccines.\n<p/>\n</p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('891','1','	<p>A huge international study has identified a gene that apparently can raise the risk of developing the most common form of <span class=\"keyword\"><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/DailyNews/manual/ap/ap_on_he_me/alzheimers_gene/21585799/*http://news.search.yahoo.com/search/news?fr=news-storylinks&amp;p=%22Alzheimer%27s%20disease%22&amp;c=&amp;n=20&amp;yn=c&amp;c=news&amp;cs=nw\">Alzheimer\'s disease</a></span>, a discovery that may help scientists develop new treatments.<p/>\nScientists analyzed DNA from more than 6,000 people from a variety of ethnic groups and found evidence implicating certain versions of the gene, called SORL1.<p/>\nIt\'s too soon to tell how much those gene versions raise the risk of getting Alzheimer\'s, or what percentage of cases they account for, the researchers said. They said the effect on risk appears to be modest.<p/>\nStill, if the finding is confirmed by other scientists, it would be \"a very substantial step forward in our understanding of the genetics of Alzheimer\'s disease,\" said one expert not involved in the work, Jonathan Haines of Vanderbilt University.<p/>\nBy shedding light on the biology of the illness, the discovery could help lead scientists to find new treatments, he and other experts said.<p/>\nUp to 4.5 million Americans are estimated to have Alzheimer\'s, which gradually destroys memory and other mental abilities. No cure has been found.<p/>\nThe study, released Sunday on the Web site of the journal Nature Genetics, focused on Alzheimer\'s that appears after age 65, the most common type.<p/>\nOnly one gene, called APOE, has been firmly linked to raising susceptibility to the common form. A Harvard-based group lists about 20 other genes it considers promising candidates, based on research. Some authors of the new paper said they believe the evidence for SORL1 is unusually strong.<p/>\nExperts familiar with the new work said SORL1 probably is involved in Alzheimer\'s, but cautioned that it will be important for other scientists to confirm that. \"People will jump on it pretty fast,\" said Rudy Tanzi of Harvard Medical School.<p/>\nGerard Schellenberg of the University of Washington said the paper\'s evidence is \"pretty solid, so I\'m optimistic that it will be replicated.\"<p/>\nDr. Sam Gandy, a researcher who chairs the medical and scientific advisory council of the Alzheimer\'s Association, which helped finance the new study, said that he doubted SORL1 or any other gene plays as big a role in causing the disease as APOE does.<p/>\nThe new work was reported by Dr. Peter St. George-Hyslop of the University of Toronto, Lindsay Farrer of Boston University, Dr. Richard Mayeux of the Columbia University in New York, and others in the U.S., Germany, <span class=\"keyword\"><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/DailyNews/manual/ap/ap_on_he_me/alzheimers_gene/21585799/*http://news.search.yahoo.com/search/news?fr=news-storylinks&amp;p=%22Israel%22&amp;c=&amp;n=20&amp;yn=c&amp;c=news&amp;cs=nw\">Israel</a></span> and Japan.<p/>\nThe new paper implicates SORL1 in Alzheimer\'s in two ways. First, it shows that inheriting certain variants was associated with developing the disease in seven out of nine samples of people examined. The association appeared in African-American, Caribbean Hispanic, northern European and Israeli Arab groups.<p/>\nIn laboratory studies, researchers also found that when they suppressed the activity of SORL1, cells made greater amounts of amyloid beta, a substance thought to play a key role in causing Alzheimer\'s. Researchers believe the disease-promoting variants of SORL1 act by suppressing the gene\'s activity.<p/>\n___<p/>\nOn the Net:<p/>\nNature Genetics: <a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ap/ap_on_he_me/storytext/alzheimers_gene/21585799/SIG=10qsnn1t4/*http://www.nature.com/ng\">http://www.nature.com/ng</a><p/>\nAlzheimer\'s Association: <a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ap/ap_on_he_me/storytext/alzheimers_gene/21585799/SIG=10lp4u874/*http://www.alz.org/\">http://www.alz.org/</a><p/>\nFederal information: <a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ap/ap_on_he_me/storytext/alzheimers_gene/21585799/SIG=10sk2qfu1/*http://www.alzheimers.org/\">http://www.alzheimers.org/</a><p/>\n</p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('892','1','	<p><!--Spanish ID: 601017 --> <p>SUNDAY, Jan. 14 (HealthDay News) -- Scientists have discovered a major new gene and linked it to the development of late-onset Alzheimer\'s disease.</p> <p>The researchers found that faulty versions of the gene --known as SORL1 -- are more common among those with the disease than among healthy people of a similar age. The finding is significant, the researchers said, because the study included more than 6,000 people from a wide range of racial and ethnic groups -- white Europeans, blacks, Caribbean-Hispanics and Israeli-Arabs.</p> <p>Abnormal SORL1 genes seem to set in motion a neurological chain of events that promotes the production of amyloid plaque in the brain -- a development integral to the onset of Alzheimer\'s.</p> <p>People with these gene variants also appear to have fewer normal SORL1 genes overall, a dip that the researchers believe could also raise the risk for developing late-onset Alzheimer\'s.</p> <p>But, the researchers added that not all people with the faulty SORL1 gene will develop Alzheimer\'s.</p> <p>\"There are multiple genes and maybe some environmental factors [involved], and it may be that some people carry a risk gene but don\'t get the disease,\" explained study co-author Dr. Richard Mayeux, co-director of the Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer\'s Disease and the Aging Brain in New York City.</p> <p>\"So, until we map out all of (the) genes involved we\'re not going to understand exactly how to calculate risk for this disease,\" he said.</p> <p>The findings are published in the Jan. 14 online issue of <i>Nature Genetics</i>.</p> <p>Mayeux made his remarks during a news conference prior to the study\'s release. He was joined by his co-lead collaborators: Dr. Peter St. George-Hyslop, director of the University of Toronto\'s Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases; Lindsay Farrer, chief of Boston University\'s Genetics Program; and Dr. Steven Younkin, chairman of the department of pharmacology at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, in Jacksonville, Fla.</p> <p>The researchers pointed out that three other genetic variants have been previously tied to the development of early onset Alzheimer\'s, a relatively rare form of the illness that typically strikes between the ages of 30 and 60.</p> <p>However, only one other genetic variant has been previously linked to late-onset Alzheimer\'s, which typically strikes people over the age of 65 and accounts for 90 percent of all cases of the disease. This other variant -- known as ApoE4, and first isolated in 1993 -- is thought to account for about 20 percent of all late-onset Alzheimer\'s cases. ApoE4 is believed to elevate the risk of disease by between 30 percent and 40 percent, the researchers said.</p> <p>As for the SORL1 variant, the study authors said it probably accounts for fewer cases of Alzheimer\'s than the ApoE4 variant.</p> <p>The researchers based their SORL1 finding on a five-year genetic analysis of blood drawn from 6,000 people from around the globe. They included 500 black sibling pairs with one sibling who had Alzheimer\'s; 350 families in New York City, Toronto and the Dominican Republic -- totaling 1,800 people -- half of whom had the disease; and elderly residents of a northern Israeli-Arab community.</p> <p>The researchers divided the entire pool into two groups -- one to establish the presence of SORL1 and the other to establish the gene\'s role. Describing SORL1 as a \"big gene\" that may contain as many as 500 variants, the researchers focused on the activities of just 29 -- leaving lots of gene turf yet to till.</p> <p>None of the 29 variants so far appears to be directly related to an Alzheimer\'s chain of events.</p> <p>But, when tallying the overall presence of both normal SORL1 and SORL1 with abnormal variants, the researchers found that in each of the racial and ethnic groups, SORL1 with variants was more common among the Alzheimer\'s patients than among the healthy men and women. And normal SORL1 was less common among those with the disease.</p> <p>The researchers concluded that SORL1 clearly plays a role in the late-onset Alzheimer\'s.</p> <p>While enthusiastic about the finding, Mayeux said it doesn\'t represent a smoking gun. \"Alzheimer\'s disease is caused by a complex genetic puzzle, and the finding about SORL1 explains a section of the puzzle,\" he said. \"It is not the entire story.\"</p> <p>Mayeux and his colleagues stressed that much more work needs to be done.</p> <p>Dr. Sam Gandy is chairman of the Alzheimer\'s Association\'s Medical and Scientific Advisory Council, and director of the Farber Institute for Neurosciences at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. He agreed that the new finding is just one step down a long and complicated research road, but he said it could be an important step.</p> <p>\"It fits into what we believe is the main mechanism of Alzheimer\'s already,\" Gandy said. \"This reinforces the idea that we\'re on the right track with therapies already in the pipeline, while also suggesting a totally new strategy that could be used to target entirely new classes of drugs.\"</p> <p>An estimated 4.5 million people in the United States have either early or late-onset Alzheimer\'s disease, a number that\'s expected to double during the next 25 years as the population ages.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>To learn more about Alzheimer\'s visit the <a href=\"http://www.alz.org\" target=\"_new\">Alzheimer\'s Association</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('893','1','	<p><p>SUNDAY, Jan. 14 (HealthDay News) -- While people estimate that they make about 15 food and beverage decisions each day, they actually make more than 200 such choices, Cornell University researchers say.</p> <p>Their study, published in the January issue of <i>Environment and Behavior</i>, surveyed 139 Cornell staff and students to estimate how many decisions they make about food each day.</p> <p>On average, the participants estimated they made about 15 food decisions per day. But, when they answered specific questions about when, what, how much and where they ate, and who made decisions about meals, the participants actually made an average of 221 food-related decisions each day.</p> <p>\"So many food decisions are made on mindless autopilot,\" Brian Wansink, the John S. Dyson Professor of Marketing and of Applied Economics at Cornell, said in a prepared statement. Wansink said that the problem with making more food decisions than we are aware of is that each decision can be influenced by the environment.</p> <p>\"It\'s really easier than we think to let small things around us -- plate size, package size, people around us, distractions -- influence these 200-plus decisions, because we are not aware of them in the first place,\" Wansink said.</p> <p>Wansink added that, instead of trying to obsess over food decisions, people should change the environment so that it works for them. He offers the following tips to prevent overeating, from his recent book, <i>Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think</i>\" (Bantam Books):</p> <ul> <li> Use smaller bowls. </li> <li> Avoid eating directly from the package. </li> <li> Bank your calories(e.g., skip the appetizer if you want to indulge in dessert). </li> <li> Dine next to the slowest eater at the table. </li> <li> Eat the foods you love but in smaller portions. </li> <li> Pick two of the following: appetizer, drink or dessert. </li> <li> Fill half your plate with vegetables, and the other half with protein and starch. </li> <li> Keep tempting treats out of sight. </li> <li> Sit at least an arm\'s length away from the buffet table or snack bowl. </li> </ul> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The American Academy of Family Physicians has more about <a href=\"http://familydoctor.org/369.xml\" target=\"_new\">healthful eating</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('894','1','	<p><p>Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of <i>HealthDay:</i></p> <p><span class=\"subhead\"><b>Two Meningitis Cases Hit N.J. High School Hockey Players</b></span></p> <p>Another outbreak of the highly contagious disease meningitis in at least two members of a northern New Jersey high school hockey team prompted the cancellation of all sporting events at Ramapo High School over the weekend.</p> <p>This is the second meningitis-like outbreak in the Northeast United States in three weeks. Schools in three Rhode Island communities were closed in early January after one death and three illnesses were determined to be related and caused by inflammation of membranes in the brain.</p> <p>According to <i>The Record</i> of Hackensack, one high school hockey player is hospitalized in serious condition. At least one other earlier case of the student\'s teammate was diagnosed as meningitis, and health officials say the two cases are linked. A third case involving a student who was not a hockey team member was found not to be meningitis, although the symptoms were similar, the newspaper reported.</p> <p>Health officials are determining who should receive antibiotics and told <i>The Record</i> that they didn\'t believe mass doses would be necessary. The paper cited officials as saying they saw no need \"to dispense medication on a mass level to all students and staff.\"</p> <p>Meningitis is caused by inflammation to the membranes covering the brain. Symptoms can include high fever, headaches, vomiting and, most important, pain and stiffness in the neck.</p> <p>-----</p> <p><span class=\"subhead\"><b>Adding Sound to Actions Increases Our Understanding, Study Says </b></span></p> <p>Electrical impulses in the brain called mirror neurons may cause a link between an action and a sound associated with that action, new research has found.</p> <p>This cause-and-effect relationship can help scientists understand how a sound associated with an action increases a person\'s ability to better understand a particular task. The study is published in the Jan. 10 edition of <i>The Journal of Neuroscience.</i></p> <p>The study, conducted by scientists from the neurology department at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, added more support to the theory that a mirror neuron system exists in humans, according to a news release from the journal.</p> <p>The study subjects, all with no musical training, were taught to play a short piece on a keyboard. Subsequent brain activity was more intense in the \"human equivalent of the area in the brain where mirror neurons were found in monkeys... when subjects listened to music they knew how to play compared with equally familiar music they did not know how to play,\" the news release said.</p> <p>\"Mirror-neuron circuits appear to encode and reflect templates for specific actions,\" the authors conclude.</p> <p>-----</p> <p><span class=\"subhead\"><b>U.S. Government to Probe Surgical Procedure on Dog at Cleveland Clinic</b></span></p> <p>The U.S. Department of Agriculture says it will investigate an incident at the world-renowned Cleveland Clinic that involved a neurosurgeon inducing a brain aneurism -- a bulge in a blood vessel -- in a dog so a new medical device could be demonstrated to salespeople.</p> <p>The dog was killed after the procedure, according to the <i>Associated Press</i>.</p> <p>The wire service reports that clinic officials notified the USDA of the incident. The clinic\'s report said that while the inducement of the aneurism had been authorized, the use of the medical device had not, the <i>A.P.</i> said. The identity of the surgeon was not made public.</p> <p>Neither the USDA nor the Cleveland Clinic expressly forbids the use of animals for medical experiments, but the U.S. Animal Welfare Act sets guidelines for proper treatment, and that\'s what the USDA will look into in this case.</p> <p>\"We\'re just trying to determine what occurred here,\" the wire service quotes USDA spokesman Darby Holladay as saying.</p> <p>The Cleveland Clinic often ranks at the top in surveys of medical institutions that specialize in cardiac-related treatment, especially surgery.</p> <p>-----</p> <p><span class=\"subhead\"><b>Lettuce May Have Caused <i>E. Coli</i> Outbreak at Taco John\'s</b></span></p> <p>Contaminated lettuce from California may have caused the <i>E. coli</i> outbreak late last year that left about 80 people sick after they ate at two Taco John\'s restaurants in Minnesota and Iowa, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Friday.</p> <p>Of the 81 people who became ill, 26 were hospitalized. No one died in the outbreak.</p> <p>Government investigators said the strain of bacteria in the Taco John\'s outbreak matched that found in samples taken from dairy farms in California\'s Central Valley. The FDA said the dairy farms are located near lettuce fields, the <i>Associated Press</i> reported.</p> <p>Investigators are still trying to determine whether manure from the dairy farms could have contaminated the neighboring lettuce fields, said the FDA, which added that it\'s possible that other sources of contamination caused the Taco John\'s outbreak.</p> <p>This is the second time in recent months that California cattle or dairy farms have been investigated as sources of <i>E. coli</i> contamination in produce. In September, an outbreak that killed three and sickened nearly 200 people in 26 states and Canada was traced to contaminated spinach grown in California.</p> <p>-----</p> <p><span class=\"subhead\"><b>Genetic Code Used to Personalize Warfarin Doses</b></span></p> <p>Starting this month, about 1,000 U.S. patients with a heart condition called atrial fibrillation will take part in a project to match their warfarin dose to their specific genetic code.</p> <p>People with atrial fibrillation are at increased risk for deadly blood clots, and take warfarin to thin their blood and prevent clots. About two million Americans with atrial fibrillation take warfarin, the <i>Associated Press</i> reported.</p> <p>Determining the appropriate warfarin dose is crucial. Taking too much can cause dangerous bleeding, and taking too little can lead to a stroke. Currently, trial and error is used to determine the correct dose of warfarin. Each year, warfarin-dosing errors result in tens of thousands of hospitalizations and deaths.</p> <p>The DNA testing in this new project should help identify patients whose bodies break down warfarin slower or faster than normal. Their dosages can then be adjusted to prevent dangerous complications, the <i>AP</i> reported.</p> <p>The project is a collaboration between the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and Medco Health Solutions of Franklin Lakes, N.J.</p> <p>Using a person\'s genetic profile to determine the most appropriate medicine or dose is called targeted therapy or personalized medicine. In the United States, a number of studies looking at targeted therapy are under way or being planned, the <i>AP</i> reported.</p> <p>-----</p> <p><span class=\"subhead\"><b>Multilingualism Delays Dementia</b></span></p> <p>Fluency in more than one language is associated with a significant delay in the onset of symptoms of dementia, according to a Canadian study in the February issue of the journal <i>Neuropsychologia</i>.</p> <p>Researchers studied 184 people. Among those who spoke two or more languages, dementia began to appear at an average age of 76.1 in men and 75.1 in women, compared to 70.8 years in men and 71.9 years in women who spoke just one language, the <i>Globe and Mail</i> reported.</p> <p>The mental agility required to be fluent in multiple languages may help delay the onset of dementia, suggested principal investigator Ellen Bialystok, an associate scientist at the Rotman Research Institute of the Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care in Toronto.</p> <p>\"How you learn the language probably doesn\'t make much difference; how good your grammar is probably doesn\'t matter. What matters is that you have to manage two complete language systems at once,\" Bialystok told the <i>Globe and Mail</i>.</p> <p>-----</p></p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('895','1','<p>When Hollywood scriptwriters want to know when it\'s safest for a pregnant breast cancer patient to get chemotherapy or how to prevent cancer in intersex people, they know whom to call. Cue Michael Miller at Bethesda\'s National Cancer Institute (NCI).</p><p>Miller, a former TV game show producer, says he is responsible for helping writers \"find the resources that will result in not only a dramatically interesting story line but also one that serves the science and informs the public in an intelligent manner.\" Miller\'s not alone.</p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" align=\"right\" width=\"238\"><tr><td width=\"10\"></td><td width=\"228\">\n<div class=\"media_photo\"><!--link rel=\"image_src\" href=\"http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2007/01/08/PH2007010801262.jpg\"/--><a href=\"javascript:void(popitup(\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2007/01/08/PH2007010801264.html\',650,850))\"><img src=\"http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/photo/largerPhoto/images/enlarge_tab.gif\" width=\"103\" height=\"12\" border=\"0\" align=\"bottom\" alt=\"\"></a><br/><a href=\"javascript:void(popitup(\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2007/01/08/PH2007010801264.html\',650,850))\"><img src=\"http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2007/01/08/PH2007010801262.jpg\" border=\"0\"  alt=\"\"  height=\"190\" width=\"133\" align=\"top\"></a></div>\n<div class=\"sidebarhack\"><b></b></div><div class=\"sidebar\"><h2>related content</h2><div class=\"sidebarcontent\"><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/08/AR2007010801141.html\" target=\"\">TV Drama \'Saved My Life\'</a><br/>Who says TV medical dramas are empty entertainment? Not Angela Cooper.<br/>\n<div style=\"clear:both;\"></div></div></div>\n<div style=\"width:228px;\">\n<div class=\"sidebarhack\"><b></b></div>\n<div class=\"sidebar\">\n<h2>What Readers Are Saying</h2>\n<div class=\"sidebarcontent\" style=\"padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px;\">\n<div class=\"sidebarbox\" style=\"color: #333;\">\n <p style=\"margin-top: 0; padding-top: 0;\"> <span style=\"color: rgb(204, 0, 0);\"><strong>Your Comments On...</strong></span><br> <h1 style=\"color: rgb(0, 51, 153);\"><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/19/AR2006121901431.html\" target=\"_blank\">Short Mental Workouts May Slow Decline of Aging Minds, Study Finds</a></h1></p> <p style=\"margin-top: 0; padding-top: 0;\"> \"It would be interesting to know if factors such as stress, or sleep disorders etc. were taken into account. They can be quite memory inhibiting and are more likely to be present in the control group, as a lack of mental stimulation can increase self doubt, decrease confidence and cause a form of panic. Could this have put the control group behind, at the same time the motivated groups were leaping ahead and would this not effect the measurement of the outcome? \" </p> <div style=\"text-align:right;\">-- <b>By smilesturner01 ;</b></div> <p style=\"border-top: 1px dashed rgb(204, 204, 204); margin-top: 5px; padding-top: 7px; font-weight: bold;\"> <strong><font face=\"arial,helvetica\" SIZE=\"-1\">&#149; </font> <span style=\"font-family:arial;font-size:11px;color:#000000;\"><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/comments/display?contentID=AR2006121901431&start=1\"><b>View, Add More Comments</b></a></span><br> <font face=\"arial,helvetica\" SIZE=\"-1\">&#149; </font> <span style=\"font-family:arial;font-size:11px;color:#000000;\"><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/19/AR2006121901431.html\"><b>Read the Story</b></a></span><br></strong> </p> \n</div>\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"clearboth\"></div>\n</div>\n\n<script src=\"http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/technorati/Technorati.js\"></script><script>\nvar technorati = new Technorati() ;\ntechnorati.setProperty(\'url\',\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/08/AR2007010801139_Technorati.html\') ;\ntechnorati.article = new item(\'Getting Into the Act\',\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/08/AR2007010801139.html\',\'When Hollywood scriptwriters want to know when it\\\'s safest for a pregnant breast cancer patient to get chemotherapy or how to prevent cancer in intersex people, they know whom to call. Cue Michael Miller at Bethesda\\\'s National Cancer Institute (NCI).\',\'Christopher J. Gearon\') ;\n</script><script src=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/08/AR2007010801139_Technorati.js\"></script><script>document.write( technorati.getDisplaySidebar() );</script>\n<link href=\"http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/css/bookmarking.css\" rel=\"stylesheet\" media=\"all\"/><div class=\"sidebarhack\"><b></b></div><div class=\"sidebar\"><h2><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"right\" border=\"0\" width=\"222\"><tr><td class=\"sb-left\" align=\"left\">Save &amp; Share Article</td><td class=\"sb-right\" align=\"right\"><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/community/saveandshare.html\">What\'s This?</a></td></tr></table></h2><div class=\"sidebarcontent\"><div class=\"sidebarbox\"><div class=\"bookmark\"><div class=\"generic_bookmark digg_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://digg.com/submit?phase=2&url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/08/AR2007010801139.html%3Freferrer=digg&title=Getting Into the Act&bodytext=When Hollywood scriptwriters want to know when it\'s safest for a pregnant breast cancer patient to get chemotherapy or how to prevent cancer in intersex people, they know whom to call. Cue Michael Miller at Bethesda\'s National Cancer Institute (NCI).\" target=\"new\">Digg</a></div></div><div class=\"generic_bookmark google_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://www.google.com/bookmarks/mark?op=add&title=Getting Into the Act&labels=&annotation=When Hollywood scriptwriters want to know when it\'s safest for a pregnant breast cancer patient to get chemotherapy or how to prevent cancer in intersex people, they know whom to call. Cue Michael Miller at Bethesda\'s National Cancer Institute (NCI).&bkmk=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/08/AR2007010801139.html%3Freferrer=google\" target=\"new\">Google</a></div></div><br clear=\"all\"/><div class=\"generic_bookmark delicious_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://del.icio.us/post?v=4&partner=wpni&noui&jump=close&url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/08/AR2007010801139.html%3Freferrer=delicious&title=%22Getting Into the Act: When Federal Health Experts Troubleshoot TV Medical Dramas, They Expect a Payback%22 By Christopher J. Gearon&notes=When Hollywood scriptwriters want to know when it\'s safest for a pregnant breast cancer patient to get chemotherapy or how to prevent cancer in intersex people, they know whom to call. Cue Michael Miller at Bethesda\'s National Cancer Institute (NCI).\" target=\"new\">del.icio.us</a></div></div><div class=\"generic_bookmark yahoo_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://myweb2.search.yahoo.com/myresults/bookmarklet?u=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/08/AR2007010801139.html%3Freferrer=yahoo&title=Getting Into the Act&popup=true\" target=\"new\">Yahoo!</a></div></div><br clear=\"all\"/><div class=\"generic_bookmark reddit_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://reddit.com/submit?url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/08/AR2007010801139.html%3Freferrer=reddit&title=Getting Into the Act\" target=\"new\">Reddit</a></div></div><div class=\"generic_bookmark facebook_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0);\" onclick=\"void(window.open(\'http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=\'+encodeURIComponent(\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/08/AR2007010801139.html?referrer=facebook\')+\'&t=\'+encodeURIComponent(\'Getting Into the Act\'),\'sharer\',\'toolbar=no,width=642,height=436\'));\">Facebook</a></div></div><br clear=\"all\"/></div></div></div>\n</td></tr></table>\n<p>In some of the biggest, most buttoned-down corners of the federal health-care bureaucracy, medical experts regularly field calls from L.A. hipsters crafting story lines for \"Law &amp; Order,\" \"Grey\'s Anatomy,\" \"ER,\" \"House,\" \"Numb3rs\" and other TV dramas. The resources devoted to the effort vary, but offices taking the calls include the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), both in Rockville, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta.</p><p>It\'s a symbiotic relationship. The scriptwriters get the expertise they need to make their dramas plausible -- or almost so. \"We make sure the science is right,\" says AHRQ director Carolyn Clancy, who consults with TV writers on patient safety and other issues. Jean Passanante, head writer for \"As the World Turns,\" finds the access to such experts invaluable: \"It\'s hard to imagine doing any health-related story line without them.\"</p><p>In return, federal medical experts and health-policy wonks hope to inject public health messages into some of Hollywood\'s hottest shows. Take these themes of episodes of \"Law &amp; Order: SVU (Special Victim Unit)\": Violence can spread like an infectious disease. Don\'t let your kids test pesticides, no matter what assurances or perks pesticide-makers give you. Beware teen alcohol abuse and \"pharm parties\" involving prescription drug abuse.</p><p>\"The bottom line is, we are trying to change people\'s behaviors,\" says Vicki Beck, who runs the \"Hollywood, Health &amp; Society\" project at the University of Southern California.</p><p>Indications are that the collaboration is working and that TV -- beset though it may be by online competition -- is still a powerful shaper of health habits.</p><p>For example, viewers of Telemundo\'s \"Amarte Asi\" were more likely to exercise, eat more healthfully or take other action to prevent disease after the telenovela included diabetes in a 2005 story line, according to preliminary research by Leslie Rodriquez, a University of Georgia doctoral candidate in public health.</p><p>In separate studies, accepted for publication in the Journal of Health Communication, USC researchers Thomas Valente and Sheila Murphy found that  viewers of \"ER\" were more likely to eat better, walk more, seek out a health provider or talk to someone after seeing 2004 episodes on teen obesity and heart disease. And when the daytime drama \"The Bold and the Beautiful\" ran two episodes of \"Tony\'s HIV\" in 2001 and listed the CDC\'s toll-free phone number, the agency saw its largest spike in calls for HIV-AIDS information. In all three of these cases, federal agencies offered input on the scripts.</p><p>According to a CDC analysis of a 2000 survey of the country\'s 102 million regular prime-time viewers and 38 million daytime-drama viewers, more than half reported having learned about health or medical issues from TV shows. More than a third reported taking action afterward, including getting mammograms, using condoms, visiting the doctor and getting tested for sexually transmitted diseases.</p><p>But public service has its limits in Hollywood. In the eternal clash between plot and science, plot is more often the winner.</p><p>In the second season of Fox\'s \"24,\" the show\'s main character, Jack Bauer, seemingly dies while being tortured but is later revived by a shot of epinephrine. (Don\'t count on it.) A few years back, Clancy\'s agency got a call from writers of the now-defunct \"Sunset Beach\" who wanted to have a character put in a call for help -- from a pay phone in the wilderness -- after suffering a traumatic brain injury during a mountain climb.</p><p>\"We have zero control of what ends up on the screen,\" Beck says. \"We do what we can, and we recognize we\'re dealing with a highly creative medium. We try to provide accurate information and hope it gets in. There is a lot of interest on the part of writers and producers to get things right, but they want the drama, too.\"</p><P><FONT FACE=\"Arial,Helvetica\" COLOR=\"#000000\" SIZE=\"-1\"><B>Calling Hollywood</B><br/><!-- BREAK --></FONT><hr size=\"1\" align=\"left\" color=\"#cccccc\"></P><p>Health experts took the first steps toward the federal initiative now linking Hollywood and top health agencies in 1994, when the CDC sought the help of the entertainment industry in boosting HIV-AIDS awareness.</p><p>By the time \"ER\" hit the airwaves later the same year, Neal Baer, a pediatrician who worked as the executive producer of the series, was calling CDC experts for help on story lines touching on hepatitis C, toxic spills and other public health issues. In 2001 the agency sought proposals to develop a more formalized cooperative arrangement. USC\'s Norman Lear Center got the grant. From the USC campus in Los Angeles, Beck and her small staff now facilitate meetings and calls between TV writers and federal health experts.</p><p>The initiative operates on a $530,000 annual budget, funded largely by CDC, AHRQ, HRSA and NCI. That\'s a decent bargain, says Miller, considering that one 30-second commercial on \"Grey\'s Anatomy\" in the fall of 2005 cost $352,000.</p><p>An NCI analysis found that prime-time and daytime dramas with cancer content reached an estimated 150 million viewers between September 2005 and August 2006. Buying the 101 minutes in which cancer topics were featured would have cost about $33 million, Miller said.</p><p>Beck gives generally high marks to her program\'s value: \"The fact that we have three dramatic medical shows on network TV gives everybody an opportunity to learn about health,\" she said. \" \'ER\' is very conscientious. I think \'Grey\'s Anatomy\' tries hard to get it right. And I think \'House\' wants to be accurate,\" Beck said.</p><p>Beck cited one instance in which she said consultation on a script had a powerful impact:</p><p>\"ER\" co-executive producer Joe Sachs, an emergency medicine physician, picked up on a theme highlighted in a consultation he had with Harold Freeman, senior adviser to the director of the NCI. Freeman talked about a myth in African American communities about cancer. In April 2005, an \"ER\" episode focused on a middle-aged black woman seeking care for a fracture. The character, who had had a lump in her breast for several years, found her cancer had metastasized to the bone. She refused treatment, believing that if you cut into cancer, it would spread. Besides addressing this myth, the script also called for the woman to connect with a \"patient navigator,\" a cancer survivor who helped her sort through the medical system and illness.</p><p>\"That\'s a dramatic scene,\" Sachs said.</p><p>Two months later, President Bush signed the Patient Navigator Outreach and Chronic Disease Prevention Act, which helped expand the patient navigator concept that Freeman originated in 1990.</p><P><FONT FACE=\"Arial,Helvetica\" COLOR=\"#000000\" SIZE=\"-1\"><B>Getting It Right</B><br/><!-- BREAK --></FONT><hr size=\"1\" align=\"left\" color=\"#cccccc\"></P><p>Just how much medical accuracy you find in your favorite TV drama may depend on who you are. Sheila Murphy, a USC entertainment education researcher, runs a TV-monitoring project that assesses the accuracy of health information on top TV shows. She says that about 60 percent of the time, the top shows watched by whites and blacks over the past two seasons have portrayed health information accurately. But the measure drops to just 37 percent for the top shows that Hispanics watch.</p><p></p><p>Even when shows do get medical content right, producers\' priorities may not match those of health experts.</p><p>In the past two prime-time TV seasons, heart disease and cancer -- two of the leading killers of Americans -- were highlighted only 8 percent of the time, according to Murphy\'s assessment of 900 shows. Health themes involving homicide and rare diseases were more common.</p><p>\"We\'re definitely in the drama business, in the storytelling business,\" said Elizabeth Klaviter, director of medical research for \"Grey\'s Anatomy.\" Because writers have only 42 minutes and 30 seconds to tell a story in a one-hour time slot, she says, patient procedures go more quickly, medications work faster, recovery is swifter. On a show such as \"House,\" it\'s always the same team of doctors that seems to diagnose extremely rare cases, and they have all the latest lifesaving technology at their fingertips.</p><p>Occasionally, literary license bumps up against public health fears. So some squawked at a \"Boston Legal\" episode this season in which a character (played by Michael J. Fox) who goes to Brazil for a lung transplant is butchered so his organs can be sold on the black market in the United States and Canada.</p><p>\"That\'s a problem,\" said Bryan Stewart, spokesman for Los Angeles-based OneLegacy, the largest nonprofit federally designated organ procurement organization.</p><p>Stewart and others maintain that such story lines distort facts, hurt donor efforts and upset donor and recipient families. So when a writer of the CBS show \"Numb3rs\" called and said he was doing a show on black-market organ transplants in Los Angeles, Beck said, \"that raised a red flag for us. . . . The transplantation and donor process is not well understood.\"</p><p>Still, the crime show pursued the line. \"It took a little while to establish trust,\" said J. David Harden, the show\'s executive story editor. The writer asked questions about the process, the system and medical facts, and spoke at length with James Burdick, director of HRSA\'s division of transplantation, and others. In the end, the \"harvest\" episode highlighted the   difficulty of finding organs  for transplantation and won a \"Sentinel for Health\" award from the USC project. \"They did an excellent job,\" Beck said. ?</p><p><i>Christopher J. Gearon last wrote for the Health section about online tools designed to give consumers medical price and quality information.<a href=\'mailto:Comments: health@washpost.com\'>Comments: health@washpost.com</a>.</i></p><p><i></i></p></div></div><br clear=\"all\">\n');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('896','1','<p>Before taking control of the House last week, Democratic leaders briefly considered proposing a new government-run prescription drug program as a way to reduce seniors\' drug costs, according to Democratic aides and lawmakers involved in the deliberations.</p><p>But House Speaker <a href=\"http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/members/p000197/\" target=\"\">Nancy Pelosi</a> (D-Calif.) and her allies chose a far less ambitious plan -- to require the government to negotiate for lower Medicare drug prices -- that will come to a vote today. They stepped back largely out of concern that the pharmaceutical industry would stall a complex change, denying them a quick victory on a top consumer-oriented priority, aides say.</p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" align=\"right\" width=\"238\"><tr><td width=\"10\"></td><td width=\"228\">\n<link href=\"http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/css/sidebars.css\" rel=\"stylesheet\" media=\"all\" />\n<div style=\"width:228px;\">\n<div class=\"sidebarhack\"><b></b></div>\n<div class=\"sidebar\">\n<h2>U.S. Congress</h2>\n<div class=\"sidebarcontent\" style=\"padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px;\">\n<div class=\"sidebarbox\" style=\"color: #333;\">\n<a href=\"http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/\" title=\"Roll call votes, member of Congress bios, and analysis of important legislation.\"><img src=\"http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/graphics/congressVotes_206x90.gif\" border=\"0\"></a>\n<p style=\"margin-top: 0; padding-top: 0;\">\nBrowse every vote in the U.S. Congress since 1991.\n</p>\n<div style=\"padding-top:7px; font-weight:bold;\">\n\n                        &#149; <a href=\"http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/110/house/1/votes/23/\">Congress 110, House vote: Vote 23: H R 4</a>\n<br>\n                        &#149; <a href=\"http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/110/house/1/votes/22/\">Congress 110, House vote: Vote 22: H R 4</a>\n<br>\n                        &#149; <a href=\"http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/110/senate/1/votes/9/\">Congress 110, Senate vote: Vote 9: S 1</a>\n\n\n<p style=\"border-top:1px dotted #ccc; margin-top:7px; padding-top:5px;\">&raquo; <a href=\"http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/\" title=\"Roll call votes, member of Congress bios, and analysis of important legislation.\">EXPLORE THE DATABASE</a></p>\n</div>\n</div>\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"clearboth\"></div>\n</div>\n\n<script src=\"http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/technorati/Technorati.js\"></script><script>\nvar technorati = new Technorati() ;\ntechnorati.setProperty(\'url\',\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/11/AR2007011102081_Technorati.html\') ;\ntechnorati.article = new item(\'Drug Bill Demonstrates Lobby\\\'s Pull\',\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/11/AR2007011102081.html\',\'Before taking control of the House last week, Democratic leaders briefly considered proposing a new government-run prescription drug program as a way to reduce seniors\\\' drug costs, according to Democratic aides and lawmakers involved in the deliberations.\',\'R. Jeffrey Smith  and Jeffrey H. Birnbaum\') ;\n</script><script src=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/11/AR2007011102081_Technorati.js\"></script><script>document.write( technorati.getDisplaySidebar() );</script>\n<link href=\"http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/css/bookmarking.css\" rel=\"stylesheet\" media=\"all\"/><div class=\"sidebarhack\"><b></b></div><div class=\"sidebar\"><h2><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"right\" border=\"0\" width=\"222\"><tr><td class=\"sb-left\" align=\"left\">Save &amp; Share Article</td><td class=\"sb-right\" align=\"right\"><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/community/saveandshare.html\">What\'s This?</a></td></tr></table></h2><div class=\"sidebarcontent\"><div class=\"sidebarbox\"><div class=\"bookmark\"><div class=\"generic_bookmark digg_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://digg.com/submit?phase=2&url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/11/AR2007011102081.html%3Freferrer=digg&title=Drug Bill Demonstrates Lobby\'s Pull&bodytext=Before taking control of the House last week, Democratic leaders briefly considered proposing a new government-run prescription drug program as a way to reduce seniors\' drug costs, according to Democratic aides and lawmakers involved in the deliberations.\" target=\"new\">Digg</a></div></div><div class=\"generic_bookmark google_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://www.google.com/bookmarks/mark?op=add&title=Drug Bill Demonstrates Lobby\'s Pull&labels=&annotation=Before taking control of the House last week, Democratic leaders briefly considered proposing a new government-run prescription drug program as a way to reduce seniors\' drug costs, according to Democratic aides and lawmakers involved in the deliberations.&bkmk=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/11/AR2007011102081.html%3Freferrer=google\" target=\"new\">Google</a></div></div><br clear=\"all\"/><div class=\"generic_bookmark delicious_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://del.icio.us/post?v=4&partner=wpni&noui&jump=close&url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/11/AR2007011102081.html%3Freferrer=delicious&title=%22Drug Bill Demonstrates Lobby\'s Pull: Democrats Feared Industry Would Stall Bigger Changes%22 By R. Jeffrey Smith  and Jeffrey H. 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It also still has the backing of the White House: President Bush said yesterday that he will veto the Democratic proposal if it lands on his desk.</p><p>To strengthen their position, drug firms and their trade groups have been transforming their Washington operations by hiring top Democratic lobbyists to gain access to new committee chairmen, bolstering Democratic political donations and spending millions on public relations campaigns to overcome an image, indicated in recent surveys, that the industry puts profits ahead of patients.</p><p>Even longtime industry nemeses like Rep. Fortney &quot;Pete&quot; Stark (D-Calif.), chairman of a House health panel, are impressed. &quot;They\'re pretty potent,&quot; he said this week. &quot;They\'re not bush-leaguers when it comes to spending money and lobbying.&quot;</p><p>This month alone, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America spent more than $1 million on full-page newspaper ads touting the success of the existing Medicare drug system.</p><p>Drug companies spent more on lobbying than any other industry between 1998 and 2005 -- $900 million, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. They donated a total of $89.9 million in the same period to federal candidates and party committees, nearly three-quarters of it to Republicans.</p><p>&quot;You can hardly swing a cat by the tail in Washington without hitting a pharmaceutical lobbyist,&quot; said <a href=\"http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/members/g000386/\" target=\"\">Sen. Charles E. Grassley</a> (R-Iowa), a key sponsor of the 2003 legislation that created the current program.</p><p>The industry worked closely with the Republican Congress to shape the Medicare prescription drug program, which included a provision barring the government from negotiating with the pharmaceutical industry for lower prices. In the three-year run-up to passage, industry lobbyists poured more than $6 million into both Republican and Democratic campaign coffers, dispatched an army of more than 800 lobbyists to Capitol Hill and quietly funded seniors organizations and patient advocacy groups that opposed Democratic alternatives.</p><p>Democrats opposed the legislation, but now that they have a chance to rewrite the law, they are pressing for what party leaders concede is only a minor alteration. &quot;This is a first step,&quot; said <a href=\"http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/members/r000053/\" target=\"\">Rep. Charles B. Rangel</a> (D-N.Y.), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.</p><p>The House proposal would require the government to negotiate with the pharmaceutical industry for lower prices on behalf of the private insurers that run the drug benefit program. The impact on prices could be small, however, since the government does not buy drugs directly for Medicare and manufacturers could ignore federal pressure to lower prices without consequence.</p><p>The Bush administration has long opposed the idea of direct government negotiation with drug companies for Medicare, asserting that it would impede competition among the private drug plans. Mike Leavitt, the secretary of health and human services, has said he does not want to implement such a measure.</p></div></div><br clear=\"all\">\n<div align=\"right\"><table width=\"100%\" cellpadding=\"2\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td align=\"right\"><font face=\"arial,sans-serif\" color=\"#CC0000\" size=\"-1\"><b>CONTINUED</b></font>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <b><font face=\"arial,sans-serif\" size=\"3\" color=\"#CC0000\">1</font> &nbsp;&nbsp; <font face=\"arial,sans-serif\" size=\"3\"><script>document.write(\'<a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/11/AR2007011102081_2.html\'+unescape(location.search)+\'\">2</a>\')</script><noscript><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/11/AR2007011102081_2.html\">2</a></noscript></font></b> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<font face=\"arial, ms sans serif, sans-serif\" size=\"3\"><b><script>document.write(\'<a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/11/AR2007011102081_2.html\'+unescape(location.search)+\'\">Next</a>\')</script><noscript><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/11/AR2007011102081_2.html\">Next</a></noscript> ></b></font></td></tr></table></div><br>\n');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('897','1','<p>WASHINGTON -- The pioneering artificial heart developed by Dr. Robert Jarvik will go on display at the Smithsonian Institution next month.</p><p>\"As an item of historic interest, this is the only time the public has had a chance to look at it,\" Jarvik said of the heart implanted in dentist Barney Clark in 1982.</p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" align=\"right\" width=\"238\"><tr><td width=\"10\"></td><td width=\"228\">\n<div class=\"media_photo\"><!--link rel=\"image_src\" href=\"http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2007/01/12/PH2007011200637.jpg\"/--><a href=\"javascript:void(popitup(\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2007/01/12/PH2007011200639.html\',650,850))\"><img src=\"http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/photo/largerPhoto/images/enlarge_tab.gif\" width=\"103\" height=\"12\" border=\"0\" align=\"bottom\" alt=\"\"></a><br/><a href=\"javascript:void(popitup(\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2007/01/12/PH2007011200639.html\',650,850))\"><img src=\"http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2007/01/12/PH2007011200637.jpg\" border=\"0\"  alt=\"Dr. Robert Jarvik holds the \"Jarvik 2000\" during a news conference at the Caen hospital in Caen, France in this Dec. 9, 2005 file photo.  The pioneering artificial heart developed by Dr. Robert Jarvik will go on display at the Smithsonian Institution next month. In Europe, the Jarvik 2000 has been used as a permanent heart replacement.   (AP Photo/Vincent Michel, File)\"  height=\"190\" width=\"127\" align=\"top\"></a><div id=\"caption\">Dr. Robert Jarvik holds the \"Jarvik 2000\" during a news conference at the Caen hospital in Caen, France in this Dec. 9, 2005 file photo.  The pioneering artificial heart developed by Dr. Robert Jarvik will go on display at the Smithsonian Institution next month. In Europe, the Jarvik 2000 has been used as a permanent heart replacement.   (AP Photo/Vincent Michel, File)<span id=\"credit\"> (Vincent Michel - AP) </span></div></div>\n<title></title><div style=\"width:228px;\">\n<div class=\"sidebarhack\"><b></b></div>\n<div class=\"sidebar\">\n<h2>In Depth</h2>\n<div class=\"sidebarcontent\" style=\"padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px;\">\n<div class=\"sidebarbox\" style=\"color: #333;\">\n<a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/health/special/index.html\"><img src=\"http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/health/images/healthSpecialReports_206.gif\" border=\"0\" alt=\"Health: Special Reports\"></a>\n<p style=\"border-top: 1px dashed #CCC; padding-top: 7px;\">\n<a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/health/lpc/features/2007/index.html\"><img src=\"http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2006/12/29/PH2006122901164.jpg\" style=\"float: right; margin-left: 7px;\" width=\"80\" height=\"72\" border=\"0\" alt=\"Success Stories\"/></a>\n<a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/health/lpc/features/2007/index.html\">Success Stories</a><br />\nGain inspiration from Lean Plate Club readers who have lost weight ... and kept it off.\n<br clear=\"all\" />\n</p>\n<p style=\"border-top: 1px dashed #CCC; padding-top: 7px;\">\n<a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/linkset/2006/01/27/LI2006012700907.html\"><img src=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2006/05/30/PH2006053000889.jpg\" style=\"float: right; margin-left: 7px;\" width=\"80\" height=\"72\" border=\"0\" alt=\"AIDS/HIV\"/></a>\n<a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/linkset/2006/01/27/LI2006012700907.html\">AIDS/HIV</a><br />\nTwenty-five years after the first diagnosis of the first case of AIDS, the world is waking up to the epidemic.\n<br clear=\"all\" />\n</p>\n<p style=\"border-top: 1px dashed #CCC; padding-top: 7px; margin-top: 5px;\">\n<a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/linkset/2005/10/17/LI2005101700979.html\"><img src=\"http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2005/08/23/PH2005082300406.jpg\" style=\"float: right; margin-left: 7px;\" width=\"80\" height=\"72\" border=\"0\" alt=\"Bird Flu\" /></a>\n<a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/linkset/2005/10/17/LI2005101700979.html\">Focus on Bird Flu</a><br/>Track the latest developments in the spread of the deadly H5N1 influenza virus.\n<br clear=\"all\" />\n</p>\n<!--\n<p style=\"border-top: 1px dashed #CCC; padding-top: 7px; margin-top: 5px;\">\n<a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/linkset/2005/11/08/LI2005110800857.html\"><img src=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/graphic/2005/11/11/GR2005111101024.gif\" style=\"float: right; margin-left: 7px;\" width=\"80\" height=\"72\" border=\"0\" alt=\"Medicare\" /></a>\n<a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/linkset/2005/11/08/LI2005110800857.html\">Medicare Part D</a><br/>An in-depth look at Medicare and its new voluntary prescription drug benefit.\n<br clear=\"all\" />\n</p> -->\n<!--\n<p style=\"border-top: 1px dashed #CCC; padding-top: 7px; margin-top: 5px;\">\n<a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/swing\"><img src=\"http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2005/04/25/PH2005042500121.jpg\" style=\"float: right; margin-left: 7px;\" width=\"80\" height=\"72\" border=\"0\" alt=\"Medicare\" /></a>\n<a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/swing\">Regional Golf</a><br/>Find courses, get pointers and look at some of the area\'s most scenic courses.\n<br clear=\"all\" />\n</p> -->\n<!--\n<p style=\"border-top: 1px dashed #CCC; padding-top: 7px; margin-top: 5px;\">\n<a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/29/AR2006052900755.html\"><img src=\"http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2006/05/26/PH2006052601076.jpg\" style=\"float: right; margin-left: 7px;\" width=\"80\" height=\"72\" border=\"0\" /></a>\n<a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/29/AR2006052900755.html\">Guns and Children</a><br />\nWhat you think your kids know and what they really know may differ, according to a recent study.\n<br clear=\"all\" />\n</p>\n-->\n<!--\n<p style=\"border-top: 1px dashed #CCC; padding-top: 7px;\">\n<a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/flash/health/caloriecounter/caloriecounter.html\"><img src=\"http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/images/I10762-2002May13\" style=\"float: right; margin-left: 7px;\" width=\"80\" height=\"72\" border=\"0\" alt=\"fastfood\"/></a>\n<a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/flash/health/caloriecounter/caloriecounter.html\">Fast Food Calories</a><br />\nHow do your meals add up? Calculate calories and fat at fast-food restaurants\n<br clear=\"all\" />\n</p> -->\n<!--\n<p style=\"border-top: 1px dashed #CCC; padding-top: 7px;\">\n<a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/linkset/2005/03/24/LI2005032401363.html\"><img src=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/images/promobox/movingcrewthumb1.jpg\" style=\"float: right; margin-left: 7px;\" width=\"80\" height=\"72\" border=\"0\" alt=\"movingcrew\"/></a>\n<a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/linkset/2005/03/24/LI2005032401363.html\">Moving Crew</a><br />\nGet Moving! Live discussion with the Post\'s John Briley, Susan Morse, Craig Stoltz and Sally Squires\n<br clear=\"all\" />\n</p>\n-->\n<p style=\"border-top: 1px dashed #CCC; margin-top: 5px; padding-top: 7px; font-weight: bold;\">\n&raquo; <a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/health/special/index.html\">MORE SPECIAL REPORTS</a>\n</p>\n</div>\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"clearboth\"></div>\n</div>\n\n<script src=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-adv/jobs4/javascript/scripts.js\"></script>\n<link href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-adv/jobs4/css/jobsboxes.css\" rel=\"stylesheet\" type=\"text/css\">\n<!-- ====================================== -->\n<!-- ========= START JOB SEARCH =========== -->\n<!-- ====================================== -->\n<div class=\"jobsearch\">\n<div class=\"jobsbox228\">\n<div class=\"boxpad\">\n<div class=\"titleimg\"><img src=\"http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-adv/jobs4/images/title-job_search_228.gif\" alt=\"Job Search\" /></div>\n<div style=\"margin-bottom:10px;\">\n<img src=\"http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/graphic/2006/11/27/GR2006112700853.jpg\" style=\"height:72px;width:80px;float:left;margin-right:7px;\"/>\n<div class=\"job_search_header1\">Your Co-Workers Like McSteamy?</div>\n<p class=\"job_search_text\">We can help you find the right work environment with competitive benefits.</p>\n<div class=\"clearboth\"></div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"job_search_header3\">Nursing, Allied Health:&nbsp;<a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/jobs/DC-health-care-jobs.html?nav=apj\" class=\"font3\">Get a New Job</a></div>\n</div>\n</div>\n</div>\n<!-- ====================================== -->\n<!-- =========== END JOB SEARCH =========== -->\n<!-- ====================================== -->\n\n<script src=\"http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/technorati/Technorati.js\"></script><script>\nvar technorati = new Technorati() ;\ntechnorati.setProperty(\'url\',\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011200634_Technorati.html\') ;\ntechnorati.article = new item(\'Artificial Heart Donated to Smithsonian\',\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011200634.html\',\'WASHINGTON -- The pioneering artificial heart developed by Dr. Robert Jarvik will go on display at the Smithsonian Institution next month.\',\'RANDOLPH E. SCHMID\') ;\n</script><script src=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011200634_Technorati.js\"></script><script>document.write( technorati.getDisplaySidebar() );</script>\n<link href=\"http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/css/bookmarking.css\" rel=\"stylesheet\" media=\"all\"/><div class=\"sidebarhack\"><b></b></div><div class=\"sidebar\"><h2><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"right\" border=\"0\" width=\"222\"><tr><td class=\"sb-left\" align=\"left\">Save &amp; Share Article</td><td class=\"sb-right\" align=\"right\"><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/community/saveandshare.html\">What\'s This?</a></td></tr></table></h2><div class=\"sidebarcontent\"><div class=\"sidebarbox\"><div class=\"bookmark\"><div class=\"generic_bookmark digg_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://digg.com/submit?phase=2&url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011200634.html%3Freferrer=digg&title=Artificial Heart Donated to Smithsonian&bodytext=WASHINGTON -- The pioneering artificial heart developed by Dr. Robert Jarvik will go on display at the Smithsonian Institution next month.\" target=\"new\">Digg</a></div></div><div class=\"generic_bookmark google_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://www.google.com/bookmarks/mark?op=add&title=Artificial Heart Donated to Smithsonian&labels=&annotation=WASHINGTON -- The pioneering artificial heart developed by Dr. Robert Jarvik will go on display at the Smithsonian Institution next month.&bkmk=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011200634.html%3Freferrer=google\" target=\"new\">Google</a></div></div><br clear=\"all\"/><div class=\"generic_bookmark delicious_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://del.icio.us/post?v=4&partner=wpni&noui&jump=close&url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011200634.html%3Freferrer=delicious&title=%22Artificial Heart Donated to Smithsonian%22 By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID&notes=WASHINGTON -- The pioneering artificial heart developed by Dr. Robert Jarvik will go on display at the Smithsonian Institution next month.\" target=\"new\">del.icio.us</a></div></div><div class=\"generic_bookmark yahoo_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://myweb2.search.yahoo.com/myresults/bookmarklet?u=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011200634.html%3Freferrer=yahoo&title=Artificial Heart Donated to Smithsonian&popup=true\" target=\"new\">Yahoo!</a></div></div><br clear=\"all\"/><div class=\"generic_bookmark reddit_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://reddit.com/submit?url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011200634.html%3Freferrer=reddit&title=Artificial Heart Donated to Smithsonian\" target=\"new\">Reddit</a></div></div><div class=\"generic_bookmark facebook_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0);\" onclick=\"void(window.open(\'http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=\'+encodeURIComponent(\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011200634.html?referrer=facebook\')+\'&t=\'+encodeURIComponent(\'Artificial Heart Donated to Smithsonian\'),\'sharer\',\'toolbar=no,width=642,height=436\'));\">Facebook</a></div></div><br clear=\"all\"/></div></div></div>\n</td></tr></table>\n<p>\"Unfortunately, a lot of people who go see it will have been children at the time it was used,\" he commented in a telephone interview Thursday. \"A lot of years have gone by.\"</p><p>Jarvik donated one of his newer artificial hearts to the National Museum of American History and is lending the museum the heart that kept Clark alive for 112 days.</p><p>Although the history museum is closed for renovations, the hearts will be displayed during February at a special \"Treasures of American History\" exhibition at the National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian spokeswoman Melinda Machado said.</p><p>\"Dr. Jarvik\'s innovations have helped shape the history of medicine,\" museum director Brent D. Glass said in a statement. \"This donation is a wonderful addition to our collections representing American ingenuity and innovations.\"</p><p>Jarvik said Smithsonian historians had visited him in New York to film his collection of artificial hearts.</p><p>\"We laid them out in a sort of evolutionary tree, we had the table covered with different prototypes showing how one idea led to the next,\" he said. Some were dead ends and others led to better hearts.</p><p>He said the historians requested a donation and he agreed to give them a Jarvik 2000 FlowMaker and to lend the museum the earlier model that had been used in Clark.</p><p>\"That\'s never been publicly shown or exhibited,\" he said.</p><p>The American history museum has a collection of historical artificial organs and assist devices, including the Liotta-Cooley artificial heart, the first temporary artificial heart implanted in a human.</p><p>The Liotta-Cooley heart was developed by Domingo Liotta and implanted by surgeon Denton Cooley on April 4, 1969. The recipient, Haskell Karp, lived for 64 hours with the artificial heart until a human heart was available for transplant.</p><p>The Jarvik 7 was the first permanent artificial heart implanted in a human.</p><p>In the United States, his Jarvik 2000 model has been approved for trials to buy time for heart transplant patients. In Europe, it has been used as a permanent heart replacement. Peter Houghton of Birmingham, England, had such a pump surgically implanted in his heart more than 6 1/2 years ago and is the longest-living patient with such a device.</p><p>___</p><p>On the Net:</p><p>Smithsonian Institution: <a href=\"http://www.si.edu\" target=\"\">http:/<wbr/>/<wbr/>www.si.edu</a></p></div></div><br clear=\"all\">\n');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('898','1','<p>The District, Virginia and Maryland are at the forefront of a growing nationwide effort to encourage or even require adolescent girls to receive the new cervical cancer vaccine -- the first vaccine ever developed specifically to prevent cancer.</p><p>In the seven months since the federal government approved the vaccine for human papillomavirus, or HPV, the virus that causes cervical cancer, half a dozen states have introduced legislation that would mandate immunization of students by the middle school grades. Several others are making doses, which cost $360 for the full regimen of three injections over six months, available at no charge.</p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" align=\"right\" width=\"238\"><tr><td width=\"10\"></td><td width=\"228\">\n<div class=\"sidebarhack\"><b></b></div><div class=\"sidebar\"><div class=\"sidebarcontent\"><h3>The HPV Vaccine</h3>\n<p><i>The D.C. Council introduced a bill Monday that would require girls to be vaccinated before the start of sixth grade against a virus that can cause cervical cancer. Some background information</i>:</p><p></p><p>What is the vaccine?</p><p>The vaccine, known as Gardasil, is designed to protect against human papillomavirus (HPV), a sexually transmitted virus that can cause genital warts and cervical cancer. The protection is said to work against four of the more than 100 strains of HPV, but they cause 70 percent of all cervical cancers.</p><p>How common is cervical cancer?</p><p>The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2006, cervical cancer was diagnosed in 9,700 women, and 3,700 died of the disease. The national incidence rate is 8.8 per 100,000 females; the District\'s rate is 13.5 per 100,000. African American women have the highest death rate of any group.</p><p>How is the vaccine administered?</p><p>The vaccine is given in three injections over six months. The second and third doses should be given two and six months after the first dose.</p><p>How much does it cost?</p><p>The vaccine costs about $360, or $120 a dose. Not all private insurance plans pay for the vaccine, although it is provided without charge through public programs for low-income, uninsured and under-insured children.</p><p>Why now?</p><p>In June, the Food and Drug Administration approved Gardasil for women and girls ages 9 to 26, making it the first vaccine marketed specifically to prevent a cancer. Because the vaccine is most effective when administered before an individual becomes sexually active, experts recommend that girls start getting it at 11 or 12.</p><p></p><p><i>SOURCES: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, American Cancer Society, Balm in Gilead</i></p><p><i></i></p>\n</div></div>\n<!--<div style=\"width:228px;\">\n<div class=\"sidebarhack\"><b></b></div>\n<div class=\"sidebar\">\n<h2>What Readers Are Saying</h2>\n<div class=\"sidebarcontent\" style=\"padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px;\">\n<div class=\"sidebarbox\" style=\"color: #333;\">\n#include virtual=\"/wp-srv/metro/metro_comments.html\"\n</div>\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"clearboth\"></div>\n</div>\n-->\n\n<script src=\"http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/technorati/Technorati.js\"></script><script>\nvar technorati = new Technorati() ;\ntechnorati.setProperty(\'url\',\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/11/AR2007011101981_Technorati.html\') ;\ntechnorati.article = new item(\'Wave of Support for HPV Vaccination of Girls\',\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/11/AR2007011101981.html\',\'The District, Virginia and Maryland are at the forefront of a growing nationwide effort to encourage or even require adolescent girls to receive the new cervical cancer vaccine -- the first vaccine ever developed specifically to prevent cancer.\',\'Susan Levine  and Hamil R. Harris\') ;\n</script><script src=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/11/AR2007011101981_Technorati.js\"></script><script>document.write( technorati.getDisplaySidebar() );</script>\n<link href=\"http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/css/bookmarking.css\" rel=\"stylesheet\" media=\"all\"/><div class=\"sidebarhack\"><b></b></div><div class=\"sidebar\"><h2><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"right\" border=\"0\" width=\"222\"><tr><td class=\"sb-left\" align=\"left\">Save &amp; Share Article</td><td class=\"sb-right\" align=\"right\"><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/community/saveandshare.html\">What\'s This?</a></td></tr></table></h2><div class=\"sidebarcontent\"><div class=\"sidebarbox\"><div class=\"bookmark\"><div class=\"generic_bookmark digg_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://digg.com/submit?phase=2&url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/11/AR2007011101981.html%3Freferrer=digg&title=Wave of Support for HPV Vaccination of Girls&bodytext=The District, Virginia and Maryland are at the forefront of a growing nationwide effort to encourage or even require adolescent girls to receive the new cervical cancer vaccine -- the first vaccine ever developed specifically to prevent cancer.\" target=\"new\">Digg</a></div></div><div class=\"generic_bookmark google_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://www.google.com/bookmarks/mark?op=add&title=Wave of Support for HPV Vaccination of Girls&labels=&annotation=The District, Virginia and Maryland are at the forefront of a growing nationwide effort to encourage or even require adolescent girls to receive the new cervical cancer vaccine -- the first vaccine ever developed specifically to prevent cancer.&bkmk=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/11/AR2007011101981.html%3Freferrer=google\" target=\"new\">Google</a></div></div><br clear=\"all\"/><div class=\"generic_bookmark delicious_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://del.icio.us/post?v=4&partner=wpni&noui&jump=close&url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/11/AR2007011101981.html%3Freferrer=delicious&title=%22Wave of Support for HPV Vaccination of Girls: D.C., Md., Va. Proposals Part of National Effort to Prevent Cervical Cancer%22 By Susan Levine  and Hamil R. Harris&notes=The District, Virginia and Maryland are at the forefront of a growing nationwide effort to encourage or even require adolescent girls to receive the new cervical cancer vaccine -- the first vaccine ever developed specifically to prevent cancer.\" target=\"new\">del.icio.us</a></div></div><div class=\"generic_bookmark yahoo_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://myweb2.search.yahoo.com/myresults/bookmarklet?u=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/11/AR2007011101981.html%3Freferrer=yahoo&title=Wave of Support for HPV Vaccination of Girls&popup=true\" target=\"new\">Yahoo!</a></div></div><br clear=\"all\"/><div class=\"generic_bookmark reddit_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://reddit.com/submit?url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/11/AR2007011101981.html%3Freferrer=reddit&title=Wave of Support for HPV Vaccination of Girls\" target=\"new\">Reddit</a></div></div><div class=\"generic_bookmark facebook_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0);\" onclick=\"void(window.open(\'http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=\'+encodeURIComponent(\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/11/AR2007011101981.html?referrer=facebook\')+\'&t=\'+encodeURIComponent(\'Wave of Support for HPV Vaccination of Girls\'),\'sharer\',\'toolbar=no,width=642,height=436\'));\">Facebook</a></div></div><br clear=\"all\"/></div></div></div>\n</td></tr></table>\n<p>\"It\'s red hot, coming fast,\" said former Maryland senator Gloria G. Lawlah, immediate past chairwoman of a national group of female state lawmakers who have pushed legislatures to increase public awareness of and testing for cervical cancer.</p><p>This week, the District became the latest jurisdiction to propose adding the vaccine to the list of shots girls would have to get before enrolling in the sixth grade. Yesterday, Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) voiced his support, saying hearings to flesh out the program should satisfy parental concerns.</p><p>At least two similar bills were introduced last week in the Virginia General Assembly. And in Maryland, state Sen. Delores G. Kelley (D-Baltimore County) has prepared a bill that requires middle school vaccinations. Kelley said she expects strong support from teachers and female lawmakers.</p><p>\"This is an issue that is cross-generational,\" she said.</p><p>HPV vaccination is being promoted across the country, in such states as California, South Dakota and New Hampshire. In New Hampshire, officials called the vaccine a major scientific breakthrough when they began offering it without charge to females 11 to 18.</p><p>\"For goodness sake, how long in our lifetime have we prayed: If we can only have a vaccine against cancer?\" said Kentucky state Rep. Kathy Stein (D), sponsor of a mandatory immunization bill filed there last week.</p><p>The attempts to require vaccination have been criticized by groups concerned that it might encourage promiscuity or infringe on parents\' authority over their daughters\' health care. Others oppose such efforts because of worries about vaccines in general.</p><p>But many organizations support the proposals, most of which would allow exemptions for religious, medical or philosophical reasons.</p><p>\"We are dealing with a public health crisis,\" Pernessa C. Seele, head of Balm in Gilead, said yesterday. The group addresses health issues affecting African Americans and is teaming up with African American medical professionals to combat cervical cancer.</p><p>Cervical cancer affects nearly 10,000 women in the United States every year, killing more than a third of them. Minority and low-income women are most affected; African Americans die at a rate more than double that of white women.</p></div></div><br clear=\"all\">\n<div align=\"right\"><table width=\"100%\" cellpadding=\"2\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td align=\"right\"><font face=\"arial,sans-serif\" color=\"#CC0000\" size=\"-1\"><b>CONTINUED</b></font>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <b><font face=\"arial,sans-serif\" size=\"3\" color=\"#CC0000\">1</font> &nbsp;&nbsp; <font face=\"arial,sans-serif\" size=\"3\"><script>document.write(\'<a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/11/AR2007011101981_2.html\'+unescape(location.search)+\'\">2</a>\')</script><noscript><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/11/AR2007011101981_2.html\">2</a></noscript></font></b> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<font face=\"arial, ms sans serif, sans-serif\" size=\"3\"><b><script>document.write(\'<a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/11/AR2007011101981_2.html\'+unescape(location.search)+\'\">Next</a>\')</script><noscript><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/11/AR2007011101981_2.html\">Next</a></noscript> ></b></font></td></tr></table></div><br>\n');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('899','1','<p>The House voted yesterday to require the government to negotiate lower prescription drug prices for Medicare beneficiaries. But the measure faces an uncertain future in the Senate, a veto threat from President Bush, and considerable doubts from experts about whether it would save elderly and disabled Americans much money.</p><p>The vote was 255 to 170, with 24 Republicans joining 231 Democrats in approving the legislation.</p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" align=\"right\" width=\"238\"><tr><td width=\"10\"></td><td width=\"228\">\n<div class=\"media_photo\"><!--link rel=\"image_src\" href=\"http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2007/01/12/PH2007011201969.jpg\"/--><a href=\"javascript:void(popitup(\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/photo/postphotos/orb/asection/2007-01-13/index.html?imgId=PH2007011201971&imgUrl=/photo/2007/01/12/PH2007011201971.html\',650,850))\"><img src=\"http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/photo/largerPhoto/images/enlarge_tab.gif\" width=\"103\" height=\"12\" border=\"0\" align=\"bottom\" alt=\"\"></a><br/><a href=\"javascript:void(popitup(\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/photo/postphotos/orb/asection/2007-01-13/index.html?imgId=PH2007011201971&imgUrl=/photo/2007/01/12/PH2007011201971.html\',650,850))\"><img src=\"http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2007/01/12/PH2007011201969.jpg\" border=\"0\"  alt=\"Freshman House Democrats talk about the measure at a Capitol Hill news conference. From left are Nick Lampson (Tex.), Christopher S. Murphy (Conn.), Steven L. Kagen (Wis.), Carol Shea-Porter (N.H.) and Charlie Wilson (Ohio).\"  height=\"154\" width=\"228\" align=\"top\"></a><div id=\"caption\">Freshman House Democrats talk about the measure at a Capitol Hill news conference. From left are Nick Lampson (Tex.), Christopher S. Murphy (Conn.), Steven L. Kagen (Wis.), Carol Shea-Porter (N.H.) and Charlie Wilson (Ohio).<span id=\"credit\"> (By Manuel Balce-ceneta  --  Associated Press) </span></div></div>\n<title></title>\n<!-- REMEMBER TO REMOVE THIS STYLESHEET LINK BEFORE PUBLISHING THE SIDEBAR. PAGES WHERE THE SIDEBAR WILL BE\nPUBLISHED SHOULD ALREADY HAVE THE LINK ON THEM -->\n<link href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/css/sidebars.css\" rel=\"stylesheet\" media=\"all\"/>\n<!-- BEGIN BULLETS -->\n<div class=\"sidebarhack\"><b></b></div>\n<div class=\"sidebar\">\n<h2>Votes Database</h2>\n<div class=\"sidebarcontent\">\n<div class=\"sidebarbox\">\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/110/house/1/votes/23/\">Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act</a></li>\n</ul>\n<div style=\"clear:both;line-height:0;\"></div>\n</div>\n</div>\n</div>\n<!-- END BULLETS -->\n\n<script src=\"http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/technorati/Technorati.js\"></script><script>\nvar technorati = new Technorati() ;\ntechnorati.setProperty(\'url\',\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201399_Technorati.html\') ;\ntechnorati.article = new item(\'House Passes Medicare Drug Bill\',\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201399.html\',\'The House voted yesterday to require the government to negotiate lower prescription drug prices for Medicare beneficiaries. But the measure faces an uncertain future in the Senate, a veto threat from President Bush, and considerable doubts from experts about whether it would save elderly and...\',\'Christopher Lee\') ;\n</script><script src=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201399_Technorati.js\"></script><script>document.write( technorati.getDisplaySidebar() );</script>\n<link href=\"http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/css/bookmarking.css\" rel=\"stylesheet\" media=\"all\"/><div class=\"sidebarhack\"><b></b></div><div class=\"sidebar\"><h2><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"right\" border=\"0\" width=\"222\"><tr><td class=\"sb-left\" align=\"left\">Save &amp; Share Article</td><td class=\"sb-right\" align=\"right\"><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/community/saveandshare.html\">What\'s This?</a></td></tr></table></h2><div class=\"sidebarcontent\"><div class=\"sidebarbox\"><div class=\"bookmark\"><div class=\"generic_bookmark digg_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://digg.com/submit?phase=2&url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201399.html%3Freferrer=digg&title=House Passes Medicare Drug Bill&bodytext=The House voted yesterday to require the government to negotiate lower prescription drug prices for Medicare beneficiaries. But the measure faces an uncertain future in the Senate, a veto threat from President Bush, and considerable doubts from experts about whether it would save elderly and...\" target=\"new\">Digg</a></div></div><div class=\"generic_bookmark google_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://www.google.com/bookmarks/mark?op=add&title=House Passes Medicare Drug Bill&labels=&annotation=The House voted yesterday to require the government to negotiate lower prescription drug prices for Medicare beneficiaries. But the measure faces an uncertain future in the Senate, a veto threat from President Bush, and considerable doubts from experts about whether it would save elderly and...&bkmk=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201399.html%3Freferrer=google\" target=\"new\">Google</a></div></div><br clear=\"all\"/><div class=\"generic_bookmark delicious_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://del.icio.us/post?v=4&partner=wpni&noui&jump=close&url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201399.html%3Freferrer=delicious&title=%22House Passes Medicare Drug Bill: Measure Would Require Government to Seek Lower Prices%22 By Christopher Lee&notes=The House voted yesterday to require the government to negotiate lower prescription drug prices for Medicare beneficiaries. But the measure faces an uncertain future in the Senate, a veto threat from President Bush, and considerable doubts from experts about whether it would save elderly and...\" target=\"new\">del.icio.us</a></div></div><div class=\"generic_bookmark yahoo_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://myweb2.search.yahoo.com/myresults/bookmarklet?u=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201399.html%3Freferrer=yahoo&title=House Passes Medicare Drug Bill&popup=true\" target=\"new\">Yahoo!</a></div></div><br clear=\"all\"/><div class=\"generic_bookmark reddit_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://reddit.com/submit?url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201399.html%3Freferrer=reddit&title=House Passes Medicare Drug Bill\" target=\"new\">Reddit</a></div></div><div class=\"generic_bookmark facebook_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0);\" onclick=\"void(window.open(\'http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=\'+encodeURIComponent(\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201399.html?referrer=facebook\')+\'&t=\'+encodeURIComponent(\'House Passes Medicare Drug Bill\'),\'sharer\',\'toolbar=no,width=642,height=436\'));\">Facebook</a></div></div><br clear=\"all\"/></div></div></div>\n</td></tr></table>\n<p>The bill overturns a provision of the 2003 law pushed through by a Republican-controlled Congress that left drug-price negotiations under the new Medicare drug benefit to the private insurers that offer government-subsidized drug plans for seniors in each state.</p><p>Backers of the current system, mainly Republicans, say it pits insurers against one another in a healthy competition to negotiate the lowest prices from drugmakers and offer seniors the most attractive monthly premiums, choice of drugs and access to pharmacies.</p><p>But critics, mainly Democrats, say the system is a boon to drug companies because it prohibits the government -- perhaps the one force powerful enough to take on the pharmaceutical industry -- from using its bargaining muscle on behalf of seniors.</p><p>&quot;This legislation is a common-sense effort to do right by the 43 million Americans enrolled in Medicare,&quot; said House Majority Leader <a href=\"http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/members/h000874/\" target=\"\">Steny H. Hoyer</a> (D-Md.). &quot;This bill is a very important first step in making prescription drugs more affordable.&quot;</p><p>The bill would require Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt to pursue negotiations with drug companies and report to Congress in six months.</p><p>Medicare &quot;pays more than the VA pays for the same prescription pharmaceuticals,&quot; said House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman <a href=\"http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/members/d000355/\" target=\"\">John D. Dingell</a> (D-Mich.), the lead sponsor of the bill, referring to the Department of Veterans Affairs.</p><p>&quot;The reason is no one is able to negotiate on behalf of the citizens,&quot; he added. &quot;You\'ve got a bunch of coldhearted prescription pharmaceutical people . . . who are fixing the prices that are paid by seniors citizens. . . . It\'s time that we correct this.&quot;</p><p>Leavitt and other Republicans countered that the year-old program is working, with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) reporting overall costs coming in billions of dollars lower than expected and average plan premiums being lower this year than in 2006. Moreover, polls conducted last fall by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation and other nonpartisan groups found that the overwhelming majority of seniors were satisfied with their drug plans.</p><p>&quot;Many of us believe that competition and using free-market principles in the long run produce better results, lower costs, higher quality and more satisfaction among seniors. And that\'s exactly what we\'ve seen with this plan,&quot; said House Minority Leader <a href=\"http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/members/b000589/\" target=\"\">John A. Boehner</a> (R-Ohio).</p><p>Republicans also pointed to separate analyses this week from the CMS and the Congressional Budget Office that concluded that the House bill would have little or no effect on spending.</p></div></div><br clear=\"all\">\n<div align=\"right\"><table width=\"100%\" cellpadding=\"2\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td align=\"right\"><font face=\"arial,sans-serif\" color=\"#CC0000\" size=\"-1\"><b>CONTINUED</b></font>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <b><font face=\"arial,sans-serif\" size=\"3\" color=\"#CC0000\">1</font> &nbsp;&nbsp; <font face=\"arial,sans-serif\" size=\"3\"><script>document.write(\'<a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201399_2.html\'+unescape(location.search)+\'\">2</a>\')</script><noscript><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201399_2.html\">2</a></noscript></font></b> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<font face=\"arial, ms sans serif, sans-serif\" size=\"3\"><b><script>document.write(\'<a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201399_2.html\'+unescape(location.search)+\'\">Next</a>\')</script><noscript><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201399_2.html\">Next</a></noscript> ></b></font></td></tr></table></div><br>\n');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('900','1','<p>Nearly 40 years after its founding, the Washington Free Clinic will see its final patients Friday and then close the doors forever on its once pioneering work. Yet the center\'s staff will carry on without pause, joining the Whitman-Walker Clinic as it expands its medical services in the District.</p><p>The times, they were a-changing in 1968 when the Washington Free Clinic became the first of its kind on the East Coast, an immediate leader in the nascent movement to offer low- or no-cost health care. From the basement of a Georgetown Lutheran church, a motley crew of volunteers initially treated street people, dope addicts, teenage runaways and other at-risk youths, plus draft resisters on their way to Canada.</p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" align=\"right\" width=\"238\"><tr><td width=\"10\"></td><td width=\"228\">\n<div class=\"media_photo\"><!--link rel=\"image_src\" href=\"http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2007/01/13/PH2007011301167.jpg\"/--><div style=\"float:left;position:relative;top:14px;\"><a href=\"javascript:void(popitup(\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/photo/postphotos/orb/asection/2007-01-14/index.html?imgId=PH2007011301169&imgUrl=/photo/2007/01/13/PH2007011301169.html\',650,850))\"><img src=\"http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/photo/largerPhoto/images/enlarge_tab.gif\" width=\"103\" height=\"12\" border=\"0\" align=\"bottom\" alt=\"\"></a></div><div style=\"float:left;\"><div style=\"padding-left:135px;\"><img src=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/photo/images/pictopia1.jpg\" width=\"15\" height=\"12\" border=\"0\"/><span style=\"position:relative;bottom:2px;font-family:Arial;font-size:10px;\"><a href=\"http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp?provider_id=25&ptp_photo_id=xt-mt-25-title_7362412\">Buy This Photo</a></span></div>\n</div><br clear=\"all\"/><a href=\"javascript:void(popitup(\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/photo/postphotos/orb/asection/2007-01-14/index.html?imgId=PH2007011301169&imgUrl=/photo/2007/01/13/PH2007011301169.html\',650,850))\"><img src=\"http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2007/01/13/PH2007011301167.jpg\" border=\"0\"  alt=\"Leslie Rodnan, a Washington Free Clinic doctor, with Milvia Najarro and her 4-month-old son Alex Godoy after a pediatric visit. Staff from the clinic, which is housed at St. Stephen and the Incarnation Episcopal Church and will close Friday, will move to the Whitman-Walker Clinic, which is only blocks away.\"  height=\"163\" width=\"228\" align=\"top\"></a><div id=\"caption\">Leslie Rodnan, a Washington Free Clinic doctor, with Milvia Najarro and her 4-month-old son Alex Godoy after a pediatric visit. Staff from the clinic, which is housed at St. Stephen and the Incarnation Episcopal Church and will close Friday, will move to the Whitman-Walker Clinic, which is only blocks away.<span id=\"credit\"> (By Sarah L. Voisin  --  The Washington Post) </span></div></div>\n<!--<div style=\"width:228px;\">\n<div class=\"sidebarhack\"><b></b></div>\n<div class=\"sidebar\">\n<h2>What Readers Are Saying</h2>\n<div class=\"sidebarcontent\" style=\"padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px;\">\n<div class=\"sidebarbox\" style=\"color: #333;\">\n#include virtual=\"/wp-srv/metro/metro_comments.html\"\n</div>\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"clearboth\"></div>\n</div>\n-->\n\n<script src=\"http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/technorati/Technorati.js\"></script><script>\nvar technorati = new Technorati() ;\ntechnorati.setProperty(\'url\',\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/13/AR2007011301164_Technorati.html\') ;\ntechnorati.article = new item(\'After 39 Years, End Of a Health Institution\',\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/13/AR2007011301164.html\',\'Nearly 40 years after its founding, the Washington Free Clinic will see its final patients Friday and then close the doors forever on its once pioneering work. Yet the center\\\'s staff will carry on without pause, joining the Whitman-Walker Clinic as it expands its medical services in the District.\',\'Susan Levine\') ;\n</script><script src=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/13/AR2007011301164_Technorati.js\"></script><script>document.write( technorati.getDisplaySidebar() );</script>\n<link href=\"http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/css/bookmarking.css\" rel=\"stylesheet\" media=\"all\"/><div class=\"sidebarhack\"><b></b></div><div class=\"sidebar\"><h2><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"right\" border=\"0\" width=\"222\"><tr><td class=\"sb-left\" align=\"left\">Save &amp; Share Article</td><td class=\"sb-right\" align=\"right\"><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/community/saveandshare.html\">What\'s This?</a></td></tr></table></h2><div class=\"sidebarcontent\"><div class=\"sidebarbox\"><div class=\"bookmark\"><div class=\"generic_bookmark digg_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://digg.com/submit?phase=2&url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/13/AR2007011301164.html%3Freferrer=digg&title=After 39 Years, End Of a Health Institution&bodytext=Nearly 40 years after its founding, the Washington Free Clinic will see its final patients Friday and then close the doors forever on its once pioneering work. Yet the center\'s staff will carry on without pause, joining the Whitman-Walker Clinic as it expands its medical services in the District.\" target=\"new\">Digg</a></div></div><div class=\"generic_bookmark google_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://www.google.com/bookmarks/mark?op=add&title=After 39 Years, End Of a Health Institution&labels=&annotation=Nearly 40 years after its founding, the Washington Free Clinic will see its final patients Friday and then close the doors forever on its once pioneering work. Yet the center\'s staff will carry on without pause, joining the Whitman-Walker Clinic as it expands its medical services in the District.&bkmk=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/13/AR2007011301164.html%3Freferrer=google\" target=\"new\">Google</a></div></div><br clear=\"all\"/><div class=\"generic_bookmark delicious_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://del.icio.us/post?v=4&partner=wpni&noui&jump=close&url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/13/AR2007011301164.html%3Freferrer=delicious&title=%22After 39 Years, End Of a Health Institution: Washington Free Clinic Bids City Farewell%22 By Susan Levine&notes=Nearly 40 years after its founding, the Washington Free Clinic will see its final patients Friday and then close the doors forever on its once pioneering work. Yet the center\'s staff will carry on without pause, joining the Whitman-Walker Clinic as it expands its medical services in the District.\" target=\"new\">del.icio.us</a></div></div><div class=\"generic_bookmark yahoo_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://myweb2.search.yahoo.com/myresults/bookmarklet?u=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/13/AR2007011301164.html%3Freferrer=yahoo&title=After 39 Years, End Of a Health Institution&popup=true\" target=\"new\">Yahoo!</a></div></div><br clear=\"all\"/><div class=\"generic_bookmark reddit_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://reddit.com/submit?url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/13/AR2007011301164.html%3Freferrer=reddit&title=After 39 Years, End Of a Health Institution\" target=\"new\">Reddit</a></div></div><div class=\"generic_bookmark facebook_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0);\" onclick=\"void(window.open(\'http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=\'+encodeURIComponent(\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/13/AR2007011301164.html?referrer=facebook\')+\'&t=\'+encodeURIComponent(\'After 39 Years, End Of a Health Institution\'),\'sharer\',\'toolbar=no,width=642,height=436\'));\">Facebook</a></div></div><br clear=\"all\"/></div></div></div>\n</td></tr></table>\n<p>Changing times now are responsible for its passing. Financial struggles and what board Chair Gardiner Lapham calls \"today\'s administratively burdensome health-care environment\" repeatedly threatened the clinic\'s viability in recent years. In mid-2005, it nearly shut down after a sudden, major loss of federal HIV-AIDS funding. The crisis ebbed when donors stepped up, but it initiated a board-led soul-searching that culminated last week.</p><p>\"We realized we couldn\'t go it alone,\" said Lapham, who conceded bittersweet feelings as the news was announced. The unique \"collaboration\" between the two clinics will provide more security for the smaller operation\'s paid staff members as well as continued medical services for its 1,800 patients who transfer to Whitman-Walker.</p><p>In 2007, these men and women tend to be the working poor or recent immigrants from Central America or Africa, who frequently lack insurance and have few places to turn. A contingent of 50 volunteer doctors and nurses have helped keep them healthy.</p><p>\"It\'s really painful, but it\'s the right thing for the community,\" Lapham said.</p><p>Whitman-Walker, the largest provider of HIV-AIDS services in the region, benefits. For different reasons it, too, suffered a fiscal emergency in 2005 that forced its leaders to reconsider its long-term future. \"We had to bring some stability to the clinic,\" said Donald Blanchon, chief executive since spring. One key decision was to offer comprehensive primary care to Whitman-Walker\'s largely gay or HIV-positive clientele as well as to the city\'s medically underserved neighborhoods. But the organization needed a major investment in staff and infrastructure to accomplish that.</p><p>\"The market doesn\'t allow for any survival for staying in place,\" Sharon Baskerville said Friday. As executive director of the D.C. Primary Care Association, she helped prompt discussions between the two parties. \"It took courage on both sides to take on that challenge.\"</p><p>D.C. Council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1), who once led Whitman-Walker, applauded the outcome as \"a historic step in the evolution of Whitman-Walker Clinic and health care in our city.\"</p><p>Evolution was in fact how Whitman-Walker began. It was launched by the Washington Free Clinic as the Gay Men\'s VD Clinic. Five years later, in 1978, it became a separate entity and was renamed Whitman-Walker. Today Whitman-Walker has 7,000 patients, facilities in the District and Northern Virginia and a $22 million budget -- 22 times that of the Washington Free Clinic.</p><p>\"It does come full circle,\" Lapham said. \"They\'re now taking care of us.\"</p><p>Every day this week will bring hugs and goodbyes at the Washington Free Clinic, which for a quarter-century has seen patients in the worn-but-homey balcony alcove of St. Stephen and the Incarnation Episcopal Church in Mount Pleasant. After the last pediatric appointment Friday, the final obstetrician visit and HIV test, staff members will begin moving several blocks over to Whitman-Walker\'s 14th Street NW center.</p><p>By Jan. 29, they\'ll be treating Whitman-Walker clients, and, they hope, welcoming nearly all the familiar faces from their former home.</p></div></div><br clear=\"all\">\n');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('901','1','<p>When some District residents feel frightening chest pains, struggle to breathe or face other medical emergencies, they don\'t call 911. They dial the 301 area code for a direct line to the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Rescue Squad in Montgomery County.</p><p>Unlike city ambulances, the Bethesda-Chevy Chase service is free. It also delivers patients to their hospital of choice. And the volunteer squad provides a ready alternative for those alarmed by stories of D.C. paramedics providing poor care or arriving late.</p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" align=\"right\" width=\"238\"><tr><td width=\"10\"></td><td width=\"228\">\n<div class=\"media_photo\"><!--link rel=\"image_src\" href=\"http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2007/01/13/PH2007011301217.jpg\"/--><div style=\"float:left;position:relative;top:14px;\"><a href=\"javascript:void(popitup(\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/photo/postphotos/orb/asection/2007-01-14/index.html?imgId=PH2007011301219&imgUrl=/photo/2007/01/13/PH2007011301219.html\',650,850))\"><img src=\"http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/photo/largerPhoto/images/enlarge_tab.gif\" width=\"103\" height=\"12\" border=\"0\" align=\"bottom\" alt=\"\"></a></div><div style=\"float:left;\"><div style=\"padding-left:135px;\"><img src=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/photo/images/pictopia1.jpg\" width=\"15\" height=\"12\" border=\"0\"/><span style=\"position:relative;bottom:2px;font-family:Arial;font-size:10px;\"><a href=\"http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp?provider_id=25&ptp_photo_id=xt-mt-25-title_7363228\">Buy This Photo</a></span></div>\n</div><br clear=\"all\"/><a href=\"javascript:void(popitup(\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/photo/postphotos/orb/asection/2007-01-14/index.html?imgId=PH2007011301219&imgUrl=/photo/2007/01/13/PH2007011301219.html\',650,850))\"><img src=\"http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2007/01/13/PH2007011301217.jpg\" border=\"0\"  alt=\"Chris Norris with the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Rescue Squad, second from right, and D.C. rescue personnel transport a D.C. resident who is having chest pains.\"  height=\"159\" width=\"228\" align=\"top\"></a><div id=\"caption\">Chris Norris with the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Rescue Squad, second from right, and D.C. rescue personnel transport a D.C. resident who is having chest pains.<span id=\"credit\"> (Photos By Gerald Martineau  --  The Washington Post) </span></div></div>\n<script src=\"http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/technorati/Technorati.js\"></script><script>\nvar technorati = new Technorati() ;\ntechnorati.setProperty(\'url\',\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/13/AR2007011301216_Technorati.html\') ;\ntechnorati.article = new item(\'Bethesda Rescue Squad\\\'s D.C. Service Draws Criticism\',\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/13/AR2007011301216.html\',\'When some District residents feel frightening chest pains, struggle to breathe or face other medical emergencies, they don\\\'t call 911. They dial the 301 area code for a direct line to the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Rescue Squad in Montgomery County.\',\'Katherine Shaver\') ;\n</script><script src=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/13/AR2007011301216_Technorati.js\"></script><script>document.write( technorati.getDisplaySidebar() );</script>\n<link href=\"http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/css/bookmarking.css\" rel=\"stylesheet\" media=\"all\"/><div class=\"sidebarhack\"><b></b></div><div class=\"sidebar\"><h2><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"right\" border=\"0\" width=\"222\"><tr><td class=\"sb-left\" align=\"left\">Save &amp; Share Article</td><td class=\"sb-right\" align=\"right\"><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/community/saveandshare.html\">What\'s This?</a></td></tr></table></h2><div class=\"sidebarcontent\"><div class=\"sidebarbox\"><div class=\"bookmark\"><div class=\"generic_bookmark digg_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://digg.com/submit?phase=2&url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/13/AR2007011301216.html%3Freferrer=digg&title=Bethesda Rescue Squad\'s D.C. Service Draws Criticism&bodytext=When some District residents feel frightening chest pains, struggle to breathe or face other medical emergencies, they don\'t call 911. They dial the 301 area code for a direct line to the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Rescue Squad in Montgomery County.\" target=\"new\">Digg</a></div></div><div class=\"generic_bookmark google_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://www.google.com/bookmarks/mark?op=add&title=Bethesda Rescue Squad\'s D.C. Service Draws Criticism&labels=&annotation=When some District residents feel frightening chest pains, struggle to breathe or face other medical emergencies, they don\'t call 911. They dial the 301 area code for a direct line to the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Rescue Squad in Montgomery County.&bkmk=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/13/AR2007011301216.html%3Freferrer=google\" target=\"new\">Google</a></div></div><br clear=\"all\"/><div class=\"generic_bookmark delicious_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://del.icio.us/post?v=4&partner=wpni&noui&jump=close&url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/13/AR2007011301216.html%3Freferrer=delicious&title=%22Bethesda Rescue Squad\'s D.C. Service Draws Criticism%22 By Katherine Shaver&notes=When some District residents feel frightening chest pains, struggle to breathe or face other medical emergencies, they don\'t call 911. They dial the 301 area code for a direct line to the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Rescue Squad in Montgomery County.\" target=\"new\">del.icio.us</a></div></div><div class=\"generic_bookmark yahoo_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://myweb2.search.yahoo.com/myresults/bookmarklet?u=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/13/AR2007011301216.html%3Freferrer=yahoo&title=Bethesda Rescue Squad\'s D.C. Service Draws Criticism&popup=true\" target=\"new\">Yahoo!</a></div></div><br clear=\"all\"/><div class=\"generic_bookmark reddit_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://reddit.com/submit?url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/13/AR2007011301216.html%3Freferrer=reddit&title=Bethesda Rescue Squad\'s D.C. Service Draws Criticism\" target=\"new\">Reddit</a></div></div><div class=\"generic_bookmark facebook_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0);\" onclick=\"void(window.open(\'http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=\'+encodeURIComponent(\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/13/AR2007011301216.html?referrer=facebook\')+\'&t=\'+encodeURIComponent(\'Bethesda Rescue Squad\\\'s D.C. Service Draws Criticism\'),\'sharer\',\'toolbar=no,width=642,height=436\'));\">Facebook</a></div></div><br clear=\"all\"/></div></div></div>\n</td></tr></table>\n<p>For 70 years, the ambulances have served a wedge of the city from the Potomac River to areas west of Rock Creek Park in Ward 3, leading some critics to view the service as an outdated, unfair perk for the District\'s wealthiest majority-white neighborhoods. Moreover, some say, it undermines efforts to repair the city\'s emergency services, which residents elsewhere have no choice but to depend upon.</p><p>\"How does the most affluent ward in the District get a sweetheart deal with Montgomery County while the rest of the wards get cut out?\" asked Leo Alexander, 42, a real estate investor who lives east of the park outside the squad\'s service area and is pushing to end the practice.</p><p>In Montgomery, some residents are asking a different question: Why are rescuers, supported at least in part with county tax dollars, devoting their time and resources to another jurisdiction, especially while parts of Montgomery face shortages of emergency services?</p><p>Bethesda-Chevy Chase Rescue is mostly staffed with volunteers and funded by private donations, but the squad receives training, some equipment and retirement benefits from the county.</p><p>\"If Montgomery County really has all these extra resources, they should be distributed in Montgomery County, not in the District of Columbia,\" said Susan Payne, a citizen activist who lives in Gaithersburg. Residents in Northwest Washington \"have basically hired a private ambulance service and billed it to the taxpayers of Montgomery County.\"</p><p>Reliance on the Bethesda-Chevy Chase squad is so common in Upper Northwest that many residents keep a blue-and-white sticker with the station\'s phone number on their home phones.</p><p>Gail Lynch, a resident of the District\'s Chevy Chase neighborhood, learned about the service from the previous owner when she bought her house a few blocks from a D.C. fire station. \"It\'s gospel to always call B-CC,\" she said.</p><p>\"The fact now is, we have to rely on them,\" said Anne Renshaw, a former advisory neighborhood commissioner for Ward 3. Case in point, she said: \"B-CC was not called in on the Rosenbaum case.\"</p><p>In that high-profile case, retired New York Times reporter David E. Rosenbaum died last January after a mugging on his usually quiet Northwest street. An investigation by the D.C. inspector general later found \"alarming levels of complacency and indifference\" among the D.C. emergency medical service workers who treated him, among other problems.</p><p>Providing mutual aid across city and county lines during major incidents is common, especially in densely populated areas with several jurisdictions. If a major wreck or large fire occurs in one area, firefighters and rescue workers from another often assist on the call or help cover stations left unmanned.</p></div></div><br clear=\"all\">\n<div align=\"right\"><table width=\"100%\" cellpadding=\"2\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td align=\"right\"><font face=\"arial,sans-serif\" color=\"#CC0000\" size=\"-1\"><b>CONTINUED</b></font>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <b><font face=\"arial,sans-serif\" size=\"3\" color=\"#CC0000\">1</font> &nbsp;&nbsp; <font face=\"arial,sans-serif\" size=\"3\"><script>document.write(\'<a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/13/AR2007011301216_2.html\'+unescape(location.search)+\'\">2</a>\')</script><noscript><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/13/AR2007011301216_2.html\">2</a></noscript></font></b> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<font face=\"arial, ms sans serif, sans-serif\" size=\"3\"><b><script>document.write(\'<a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/13/AR2007011301216_2.html\'+unescape(location.search)+\'\">Next</a>\')</script><noscript><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/13/AR2007011301216_2.html\">Next</a></noscript> ></b></font></td></tr></table></div><br>\n');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('902','1','<p>HONG KONG, Jan. 13 -- Something was strange about the little brown bird found dead from bird flu in one of Hong Kong\'s busiest shopping districts.</p><p>The scaly-breasted munia usually lives in rural areas of the territory. So how did it and five others come to be in a bustling urban district -- raising the threat of exposing residents and tourists to the virus?</p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" align=\"right\" width=\"238\"><tr><td width=\"10\"></td><td width=\"228\">\n<script src=\"http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/technorati/Technorati.js\"></script><script>\nvar technorati = new Technorati() ;\ntechnorati.setProperty(\'url\',\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/13/AR2007011301190_Technorati.html\') ;\ntechnorati.article = new item(\'Bird Flu Claims Lives, Ways of Life in Asia\',\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/13/AR2007011301190.html\',\'HONG KONG, Jan. 13 -- Something was strange about the little brown bird found dead from bird flu in one of Hong Kong\\\'s busiest shopping districts.\',\'Dikky Sinn\') ;\n</script><script src=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/13/AR2007011301190_Technorati.js\"></script><script>document.write( technorati.getDisplaySidebar() );</script>\n<link href=\"http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/css/bookmarking.css\" rel=\"stylesheet\" media=\"all\"/><div class=\"sidebarhack\"><b></b></div><div class=\"sidebar\"><h2><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"right\" border=\"0\" width=\"222\"><tr><td class=\"sb-left\" align=\"left\">Save &amp; Share Article</td><td class=\"sb-right\" align=\"right\"><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/community/saveandshare.html\">What\'s This?</a></td></tr></table></h2><div class=\"sidebarcontent\"><div class=\"sidebarbox\"><div class=\"bookmark\"><div class=\"generic_bookmark digg_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://digg.com/submit?phase=2&url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/13/AR2007011301190.html%3Freferrer=digg&title=Bird Flu Claims Lives, Ways of Life in Asia&bodytext=HONG KONG, Jan. 13 -- Something was strange about the little brown bird found dead from bird flu in one of Hong Kong\'s busiest shopping districts.\" target=\"new\">Digg</a></div></div><div class=\"generic_bookmark google_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://www.google.com/bookmarks/mark?op=add&title=Bird Flu Claims Lives, Ways of Life in Asia&labels=&annotation=HONG KONG, Jan. 13 -- Something was strange about the little brown bird found dead from bird flu in one of Hong Kong\'s busiest shopping districts.&bkmk=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/13/AR2007011301190.html%3Freferrer=google\" target=\"new\">Google</a></div></div><br clear=\"all\"/><div class=\"generic_bookmark delicious_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://del.icio.us/post?v=4&partner=wpni&noui&jump=close&url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/13/AR2007011301190.html%3Freferrer=delicious&title=%22Bird Flu Claims Lives, Ways of Life in Asia: Hong Kong Discourages Buddhist Ritual%22 By Dikky Sinn&notes=HONG KONG, Jan. 13 -- Something was strange about the little brown bird found dead from bird flu in one of Hong Kong\'s busiest shopping districts.\" target=\"new\">del.icio.us</a></div></div><div class=\"generic_bookmark yahoo_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://myweb2.search.yahoo.com/myresults/bookmarklet?u=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/13/AR2007011301190.html%3Freferrer=yahoo&title=Bird Flu Claims Lives, Ways of Life in Asia&popup=true\" target=\"new\">Yahoo!</a></div></div><br clear=\"all\"/><div class=\"generic_bookmark reddit_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://reddit.com/submit?url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/13/AR2007011301190.html%3Freferrer=reddit&title=Bird Flu Claims Lives, Ways of Life in Asia\" target=\"new\">Reddit</a></div></div><div class=\"generic_bookmark facebook_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0);\" onclick=\"void(window.open(\'http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=\'+encodeURIComponent(\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/13/AR2007011301190.html?referrer=facebook\')+\'&t=\'+encodeURIComponent(\'Bird Flu Claims Lives, Ways of Life in Asia\'),\'sharer\',\'toolbar=no,width=642,height=436\'));\">Facebook</a></div></div><br clear=\"all\"/></div></div></div>\n</td></tr></table>\n<p>Experts think the six munia may have been used in a Buddhist ritual that frees hundreds of birds to improve karma. So, with worries rising in Asia about a new outbreak of bird flu, officials are urging that the religious practice be stopped to protect public health.</p><p>Bird flu first appeared here in 1997, when it jumped to humans and killed six people. That prompted the government to slaughter the territory\'s entire poultry population of 1.5 million birds, and the disease has since largely spared this city of 6.9 million people.</p><p>But authorities remain on alert, particularly with new outbreaks in other parts of Asia.</p><p>In <a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/world/countries/japan.html?nav=el\" target=\"\">Japan</a>, agricultural officials announced Saturday that the H5 strain of bird flu had been identified in thousands of chickens that died at a poultry farm in the south.</p><p>Further tests were underway to determine if it was the H5N1 strain, which has killed 159 people worldwide since 2003, according to the World Health Organization.</p><p>Indonesia said two more people there have died from bird flu, raising the toll this week to four in the latest cases to strike the country worst hit by the virus. Sixty-one Indonesians have died since H5N1 first appeared there in commercial poultry stocks and backyard chickens in 2004.</p><p>Indonesian authorities said all four dead were believed to have caught the virus directly from chickens and were not known to have had contact with one another. Bird flu remains hard for humans to catch, but international experts are keeping close watch for signs that it has mutated into a form that could spread easily between humans and potentially set off a worldwide pandemic.</p><p>When Hong Kong officials discovered that a scaly-breasted munia found dead on New Year\'s Eve had tested positive for the H5 virus, they held a televised news conference to alert the public. A few days later, they said further tests showed the bird had the H5N1 strain.</p><p>The scaly-breasted munia is native to Hong Kong but is usually found in tussocks in rural areas, said Lew Young, a manager at the Chinese territory\'s Mai Po bird sanctuary.</p><p>&quot;Six scaly-breasted munia being found dead at the same spot at one time easily leads one to suspect whether they were being released,&quot; he said.</p><p>The birds are commonly used in the Buddhist ceremonies, Young added. &quot;They are usually transported to Hong Kong from the mainland in boxes. If one of the birds is sick, the rest are likely to be sick as well, since they are crammed in one box,&quot; he said.</p><p>One Buddhist group said many of its followers had stopped releasing birds since the avian flu outbreak was reported in Hong Kong.</p><p>&quot;Some of the followers do not feel comfortable getting in touch with birds since bird flu cases were reported. They were worried the birds might be infected,&quot; said Winnie Lam, a spokeswoman for the Hong Kong Buddhist Cultural Association.</p><p>Lam said the group used to free more than 1,000 birds at one time, but now releases hundreds of fish into the sea each month. &quot;We believe releasing life can build up one\'s benevolence, and life belongs to the nature,&quot; she said.</p><p>The Hong Kong government has called on the public not to free birds, but it declines to comment on whether it has considered a formal ban on releases.</p><p></p></div></div><br clear=\"all\">\n');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('903','1','<p>What exasperated or overworked parent hasn\'t declared to a child at least once: \"You\'ll be the death of me!\"</p><p>Now we know -- with unprecedented precision -- just how true that can be.</p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" align=\"right\" width=\"238\"><tr><td width=\"10\"></td><td width=\"228\">\n<div class=\"sidebarhack\"><b></b></div><div class=\"sidebar\"><h2>Tuesday, 11 a.m. ET</h2><div class=\"sidebarcontent\"><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2007/01/11/DI2007011100774.html\" target=\"\">Science: Family Longevity</a><br/>Washington Post science writer discusses a new study that examines the relationship between longevity of life and parenthood.<br/>\n<div style=\"clear:both;\"></div></div></div>\n<script src=\"http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/technorati/Technorati.js\"></script><script>\nvar technorati = new Technorati() ;\ntechnorati.setProperty(\'url\',\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/14/AR2007011400480_Technorati.html\') ;\ntechnorati.article = new item(\'Children, Parents Drive Each Other to Early Graves\',\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/14/AR2007011400480.html\',\'What exasperated or overworked parent hasn\\\'t declared to a child at least once: \"You\\\'ll be the death of me!\"\',\'David Brown\') ;\n</script><script src=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/14/AR2007011400480_Technorati.js\"></script><script>document.write( technorati.getDisplaySidebar() );</script>\n<link href=\"http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/css/bookmarking.css\" rel=\"stylesheet\" media=\"all\"/><div class=\"sidebarhack\"><b></b></div><div class=\"sidebar\"><h2><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"right\" border=\"0\" width=\"222\"><tr><td class=\"sb-left\" align=\"left\">Save &amp; Share Article</td><td class=\"sb-right\" align=\"right\"><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/community/saveandshare.html\">What\'s This?</a></td></tr></table></h2><div class=\"sidebarcontent\"><div class=\"sidebarbox\"><div class=\"bookmark\"><div class=\"generic_bookmark digg_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://digg.com/submit?phase=2&url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/14/AR2007011400480.html%3Freferrer=digg&title=Children, Parents Drive Each Other to Early Graves&bodytext=What exasperated or overworked parent hasn\'t declared to a child at least once: \'You\'ll be the death of me!\'\" target=\"new\">Digg</a></div></div><div class=\"generic_bookmark google_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://www.google.com/bookmarks/mark?op=add&title=Children, Parents Drive Each Other to Early Graves&labels=&annotation=What exasperated or overworked parent hasn\'t declared to a child at least once: \'You\'ll be the death of me!\'&bkmk=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/14/AR2007011400480.html%3Freferrer=google\" target=\"new\">Google</a></div></div><br clear=\"all\"/><div class=\"generic_bookmark delicious_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://del.icio.us/post?v=4&partner=wpni&noui&jump=close&url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/14/AR2007011400480.html%3Freferrer=delicious&title=%22Children, Parents Drive Each Other to Early Graves%22 By David Brown&notes=What exasperated or overworked parent hasn\'t declared to a child at least once: \'You\'ll be the death of me!\'\" target=\"new\">del.icio.us</a></div></div><div class=\"generic_bookmark yahoo_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://myweb2.search.yahoo.com/myresults/bookmarklet?u=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/14/AR2007011400480.html%3Freferrer=yahoo&title=Children, Parents Drive Each Other to Early Graves&popup=true\" target=\"new\">Yahoo!</a></div></div><br clear=\"all\"/><div class=\"generic_bookmark reddit_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://reddit.com/submit?url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/14/AR2007011400480.html%3Freferrer=reddit&title=Children, Parents Drive Each Other to Early Graves\" target=\"new\">Reddit</a></div></div><div class=\"generic_bookmark facebook_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0);\" onclick=\"void(window.open(\'http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=\'+encodeURIComponent(\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/14/AR2007011400480.html?referrer=facebook\')+\'&t=\'+encodeURIComponent(\'Children, Parents Drive Each Other to Early Graves\'),\'sharer\',\'toolbar=no,width=642,height=436\'));\">Facebook</a></div></div><br clear=\"all\"/></div></div></div>\n</td></tr></table>\n<p>A pair of researchers, drawing on the experience of nearly 22,000 couples in the 19th century -- has measured the \"fitness cost\" of human reproduction. This is the price that parents pay in their own health and longevity for the privilege of having their genes live on in future generations. The findings, published last month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, manage to be both predictable and surprising.</p><p>Not surprisingly, women paid a bigger price than men. Older mothers were four times as likely to die in the year after having a child than their mates. Having lots of children was especially risky. A mother of 12 had five times the risk of dying prematurely as a mother of three. Even after their child-bearing years came to an end, women who had had many children died earlier than women who had had few.</p><p>The price of parenthood wasn\'t trivial for men, either. Despite the obvious fact that men avoided the hazards of childbirth, fathering more children meant more risk of dying before their time, too.</p><p>And it wasn\'t only parents who paid the \"fitness cost\" of reproduction.</p><p>The later-born children in very large families had less chance than their older brothers and sisters of surviving into adulthood and having children themselves. Losing a mother raised every child\'s risk of dying young.</p><p>The findings begin to provide for human beings what\'s been learned about fruit flies, guppies and mice -- namely, a measure of the trade-offs between unchecked procreation and individual survival in evolution\'s calculus.</p><p>As raw material, the researchers, Dustin J. Penn of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna and Ken R. Smith of the University of Utah, used a database of genealogical information kept by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City. They examined the reproductive history and survival of 21,684 couples married between 1860 and 1895. Each person was married only once, and polygamists were excluded. (Polygamy was outlawed when Utah became a state in 1896).</p><p>Altogether, the couples bore nearly 175,000 children -- slightly more than eight each. The women\'s average age at the birth of the last child was 39 years. About 1,400 of them died within a year of delivering their last baby, and 2,400 within five years. For men, the corresponding numbers were about 600 and 1,700. About 18 percent of the children died by age 18.</p><p>The data sample is the largest used to estimate the cost of human procreation. It covers a wide spectrum of society -- most men in previous studies were aristocrats -- and a period largely before modern hygiene and medicine greatly reduced maternal and childhood mortality.</p><p>\"These are basically pioneers, and the mortality is probably more like what it was before the Industrial Revolution,\" said Penn, who heads the Konrad Lorenz Institute for Ethology but had previously been at Utah.</p></div></div><br clear=\"all\">\n<div align=\"right\"><table width=\"100%\" cellpadding=\"2\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td align=\"right\"><font face=\"arial,sans-serif\" color=\"#CC0000\" size=\"-1\"><b>CONTINUED</b></font>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <b><font face=\"arial,sans-serif\" size=\"3\" color=\"#CC0000\">1</font> &nbsp;&nbsp; <font face=\"arial,sans-serif\" size=\"3\"><script>document.write(\'<a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/14/AR2007011400480_2.html\'+unescape(location.search)+\'\">2</a>\')</script><noscript><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/14/AR2007011400480_2.html\">2</a></noscript></font></b> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<font face=\"arial, ms sans serif, sans-serif\" size=\"3\"><b><script>document.write(\'<a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/14/AR2007011400480_2.html\'+unescape(location.search)+\'\">Next</a>\')</script><noscript><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/14/AR2007011400480_2.html\">Next</a></noscript> ></b></font></td></tr></table></div><br>\n');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('904','1','<p>First came kidney, liver and heart transplants. Then a few doctors started transplanting hands. French surgeons even did a face.</p><p>Now, doctors are planning the first womb transplant in the United States.</p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" align=\"right\" width=\"238\"><tr><td width=\"10\"></td><td width=\"228\">\n<div class=\"media_photo\"><!--link rel=\"image_src\" href=\"http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2007/01/14/PH2007011401196.jpg\"/--><a href=\"javascript:void(popitup(\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/photo/postphotos/orb/asection/2007-01-15/index.html?imgId=PH2007011401198&imgUrl=/photo/2007/01/14/PH2007011401198.html\',650,850))\"><img src=\"http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/photo/largerPhoto/images/enlarge_tab.gif\" width=\"103\" height=\"12\" border=\"0\" align=\"bottom\" alt=\"\"></a><br/><a href=\"javascript:void(popitup(\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/photo/postphotos/orb/asection/2007-01-15/index.html?imgId=PH2007011401198&imgUrl=/photo/2007/01/14/PH2007011401198.html\',650,850))\"><img src=\"http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2007/01/14/PH2007011401196.jpg\" border=\"0\"  alt=\"Giuseppe Del Priore, center, and colleagues transplant a monkey uterus.\"  height=\"190\" width=\"162\" align=\"top\"></a><div id=\"caption\">Giuseppe Del Priore, center, and colleagues transplant a monkey uterus.<span id=\"credit\"> (By Jeanetta Stega  --  New York Downtown Hospital) </span></div></div>\n<script src=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-adv/jobs4/javascript/scripts.js\"></script>\n<link href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-adv/jobs4/css/jobsboxes.css\" rel=\"stylesheet\" type=\"text/css\">\n<!-- ====================================== -->\n<!-- ========= START JOB SEARCH =========== -->\n<!-- ====================================== -->\n<div class=\"jobsearch\">\n<div class=\"jobsbox228\">\n<div class=\"boxpad\">\n<div class=\"titleimg\"><img src=\"http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-adv/jobs4/images/title-job_search_228.gif\" alt=\"Job Search\" /></div>\n<div style=\"margin-bottom:10px;\">\n<img src=\"http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/graphic/2006/11/27/GR2006112700853.jpg\" style=\"height:72px;width:80px;float:left;margin-right:7px;\"/>\n<div class=\"job_search_header1\">Your Co-Workers Like McSteamy?</div>\n<p class=\"job_search_text\">We can help you find the right work environment with competitive benefits.</p>\n<div class=\"clearboth\"></div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"job_search_header3\">Nursing, Allied Health:&nbsp;<a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/jobs/DC-health-care-jobs.html?nav=apj\" class=\"font3\">Get a New Job</a></div>\n</div>\n</div>\n</div>\n<!-- ====================================== -->\n<!-- =========== END JOB SEARCH =========== -->\n<!-- ====================================== -->\n\n<script src=\"http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/technorati/Technorati.js\"></script><script>\nvar technorati = new Technorati() ;\ntechnorati.setProperty(\'url\',\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/14/AR2007011401091_Technorati.html\') ;\ntechnorati.article = new item(\'First U.S. Uterus Transplant Planned\',\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/14/AR2007011401091.html\',\'First came kidney, liver and heart transplants. Then a few doctors started transplanting hands. French surgeons even did a face.\',\'Rob Stein\') ;\n</script><script src=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/14/AR2007011401091_Technorati.js\"></script><script>document.write( technorati.getDisplaySidebar() );</script>\n<link href=\"http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/css/bookmarking.css\" rel=\"stylesheet\" media=\"all\"/><div class=\"sidebarhack\"><b></b></div><div class=\"sidebar\"><h2><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"right\" border=\"0\" width=\"222\"><tr><td class=\"sb-left\" align=\"left\">Save &amp; Share Article</td><td class=\"sb-right\" align=\"right\"><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/community/saveandshare.html\">What\'s This?</a></td></tr></table></h2><div class=\"sidebarcontent\"><div class=\"sidebarbox\"><div class=\"bookmark\"><div class=\"generic_bookmark digg_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://digg.com/submit?phase=2&url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/14/AR2007011401091.html%3Freferrer=digg&title=First U.S. Uterus Transplant Planned&bodytext=First came kidney, liver and heart transplants. Then a few doctors started transplanting hands. French surgeons even did a face.\" target=\"new\">Digg</a></div></div><div class=\"generic_bookmark google_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://www.google.com/bookmarks/mark?op=add&title=First U.S. Uterus Transplant Planned&labels=&annotation=First came kidney, liver and heart transplants. Then a few doctors started transplanting hands. French surgeons even did a face.&bkmk=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/14/AR2007011401091.html%3Freferrer=google\" target=\"new\">Google</a></div></div><br clear=\"all\"/><div class=\"generic_bookmark delicious_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://del.icio.us/post?v=4&partner=wpni&noui&jump=close&url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/14/AR2007011401091.html%3Freferrer=delicious&title=%22First U.S. Uterus Transplant Planned: Some Experts Say Risk Isn\'t Justified%22 By Rob Stein&notes=First came kidney, liver and heart transplants. Then a few doctors started transplanting hands. French surgeons even did a face.\" target=\"new\">del.icio.us</a></div></div><div class=\"generic_bookmark yahoo_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://myweb2.search.yahoo.com/myresults/bookmarklet?u=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/14/AR2007011401091.html%3Freferrer=yahoo&title=First U.S. Uterus Transplant Planned&popup=true\" target=\"new\">Yahoo!</a></div></div><br clear=\"all\"/><div class=\"generic_bookmark reddit_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://reddit.com/submit?url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/14/AR2007011401091.html%3Freferrer=reddit&title=First U.S. Uterus Transplant Planned\" target=\"new\">Reddit</a></div></div><div class=\"generic_bookmark facebook_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0);\" onclick=\"void(window.open(\'http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=\'+encodeURIComponent(\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/14/AR2007011401091.html?referrer=facebook\')+\'&t=\'+encodeURIComponent(\'First U.S. Uterus Transplant Planned\'),\'sharer\',\'toolbar=no,width=642,height=436\'));\">Facebook</a></div></div><br clear=\"all\"/></div></div></div>\n</td></tr></table>\n<p>A team based in Manhattan has begun screening women left barren by cancer, injuries or other problems who want a chance to bear their own children.</p><p>\"The desire to have a child is a tremendous driving force for many women,\" said Giuseppe Del Priore of the New York Downtown Hospital, who is leading the team. \"We think we could help many women fulfill this very basic desire.\"</p><p>But the planned operation, which Del Priore and his colleagues could attempt later this year, is stirring objections among some transplant experts, fertility specialists and medical ethicists. They question whether the procedure has been tested sufficiently on animals and whether the benefit of being able to carry a pregnancy outweighs the risks for the woman and fetus.</p><p>\"This raises a set of very difficult medical and ethical questions,\" said Thomas H. Murray, who heads the Hastings Center, a bioethics think tank in Garrison, N.Y. \"I think it\'s very questionable. This would be very hard to justify.\"</p><p>The operation marks a confluence of two medical specialties <i>--</i> transplant surgery and reproductive medicine -- that frequently spark controversy.</p><p>\"It is the convergence of two fields that are already embedded in large ethical disputes,\" said Lori B. Andrews, a bioethicist at the Chicago-Kent College of Law. \"This represents the worst of both worlds.\"</p><p>Several experts said the plans highlight the unique status that childbearing holds in the United States and elsewhere, and the lengths to which some women will go to experience it, even with the availability of such options as adoption and surrogacy.</p><p>\"I\'m not convinced that science and medicine and society as a whole should be putting so much emphasis on having this particular nine-month experience,\" said Adrienne Asch, who studies family life at Yeshiva University. \"Why is that the sine qua non of being a parent? The real work of parenting is in the time after a child is born and is in someone\'s home.\"</p><p>But Del Priore and others defend the effort, saying the procedure will be attempted only after careful vetting by independent experts.</p><p>They note that thousands of women cannot bear children because they were born with a malfunctioning uterus or their wombs were damaged by cancer, accidents, pregnancy complications or other problems. Women who want the operation are being screened exhaustively to make sure they fully understand the risks and have seriously considered alternatives.</p></div></div><br clear=\"all\">\n<div align=\"right\"><table width=\"100%\" cellpadding=\"2\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td align=\"right\"><font face=\"arial,sans-serif\" color=\"#CC0000\" size=\"-1\"><b>CONTINUED</b></font>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <b><font face=\"arial,sans-serif\" size=\"3\" color=\"#CC0000\">1</font> &nbsp;&nbsp; <font face=\"arial,sans-serif\" size=\"3\"><script>document.write(\'<a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/14/AR2007011401091_2.html\'+unescape(location.search)+\'\">2</a>\')</script><noscript><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/14/AR2007011401091_2.html\">2</a></noscript></font> &nbsp;&nbsp; <font face=\"arial,sans-serif\" size=\"3\"><script>document.write(\'<a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/14/AR2007011401091_3.html\'+unescape(location.search)+\'\">3</a>\')</script><noscript><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/14/AR2007011401091_3.html\">3</a></noscript></font></b> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<font face=\"arial, ms sans serif, sans-serif\" size=\"3\"><b><script>document.write(\'<a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/14/AR2007011401091_2.html\'+unescape(location.search)+\'\">Next</a>\')</script><noscript><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/14/AR2007011401091_2.html\">Next</a></noscript> ></b></font></td></tr></table></div><br>\n');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('905','1','<table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\"><tr><td width=\"10\"></td><td width=\"98%\"><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"98%\" valign=\"top\"><tr><td><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><font size=\"+2\" color=\"551E1B\">Going to college may be bad for your brain</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>Higher education tied to memory problems later, surprising study finds</b><br></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"></td></tr></table><font size=\"-2\"><div class=\"textMedBlackBold\" style=\"padding-top:10px;\">By By Jeanna Bryner</div><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Sources/Art/sourceLiveScience.gif,standard.jpg\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"><p></p></font><p>Going to college is a no-brainer for those who can afford it, but higher education actually tends to speed up mental decline when it comes to fumbling for words later in life. </p><p>Participants in a new study, all more than 70 years old, were tested up to four times between 1993 and 2000 on their ability to recall 10 common words read aloud to them. Those with more education were found to have a steeper decline over the years in their ability to remember the list, according to a new study detailed in the current issue of the journal Research on Aging.</p><p>The meaning of the results is less then clear, however.</p><p><b><strong>Fewer memory tricks</strong></b><br>The mechanism for this is tricky. Individuals with more education tend to have a higher starting point in their word memory, and so may initially remember more total words than their less educated peers, said study director Eileen Crimmins of the University of Southern California.</p><p>\"The more education you have, the more words you\'ll know to begin with,\" Crimmins told LiveScience.</p><p>But the more you know, the more you have to lose. The rate from test-year to test-year at which the more educated participants lost their word-recall ability was proportionately faster, with both groups finishing with nearly identical word-recall capabilities at the study\'s end. </p><p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"460\"><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" border=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr height=\"20\"><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#666666\">&nbsp;CLICK FOR RELATED CONTENT</b></font></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"5\" cellpadding=\"0\" bordercolor=\"#cccccc\" border=\"0\" style=\"border-top:solid 1px #cccccc;border-bottom:solid 1px #cccccc;background-color:#ffffff;\" bgcolor=\"#ffffff\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\" cellpadding=\"0\" class=\"headlineList2\"><tr></tr></table></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"8\"><tr><td style=\"padding:8px;\"><font class=\"bigRedLink\"><ul><li>\n<a href=\"/id/16284851/\">\'Use-it-or-lose-it\' brain theory put to test</a> \n</li><li><a href=\"/id/15387151/\">Virus may affect memory loss years later</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/14154920/\">Lifestyle factors key predictors for dementia</a></li></ul></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"\" bordercolor=\"\" border=\"0\" style=\"background-color:#eeeeee;\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr><td style=\"\"><font class=\"textSmall\" color=\"#000000\"></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></p><p>The explanation for the faster decline of more educated individuals could possibly be that they were unable to use memory tricks they once relied on to help them remember things, Crimmins said. For a while, these strategies can help them compensate, she said, but as they get older, their brains become overwhelmed and they can no longer use those strategies.</p><p>Crimmins points out that because the study didn\'t follow people across their entire lifespans, there could be other unseen factors. For example, those with less education may start their cognitive decline earlier.</p><p><b><strong>Other factors</strong></b><br>The relationship between higher education and memory loss is contrary to suspected relationships between higher education and the development of dementia. </p><p>\"Even though we find in this research that those with higher education do better on mental-status tests that look for dementia-like symptoms, education does not protect better against more normal, age-related declines, like those seen on memory tests,\" said Dawn Alley of the University of Pennsylvania, a co-author of the study</p><p>The possibly protective nature against conditions like dementia could be due to a correlation between higher education and generally higher living standards, like access to better health care and better eating habits, Crimmins said.</p><p>\"The things that make a healthy body make a healthy mind,\" she said.</p><div class=\"textBodyBlack\" style=\"clear:both;\"><i><em>?2007 LiveScience.com. All rights reserved. </em></i></div><br>');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('906','1','<table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\"><tr><td width=\"10\"></td><td width=\"98%\"><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"98%\" valign=\"top\"><tr><td><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><font size=\"+2\" color=\"551E1B\">E. coli outbreak tied to California lettuce</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>81 sickened at Taco John\'s in Minnesota, Iowa; dairy farms scrutinized</b><br></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"></td></tr></table><font size=\"-2\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Sources/sourceAP.gif\" height=\"20\" width=\"140\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"><p></p></font><p>WASHINGTON - Contaminated California-grown lettuce was the possible source of the E. coli outbreak that sickened 81 people late last year at Taco John\'s restaurants in two states, health officials said Friday.</p><p>State and federal investigators said they have matched the strain of the bacteria associated with the outbreak to two samples taken from dairy farms in California\'s Central Valley. The farms are near lettuce fields, the Food and Drug Administration said.</p><p>Investigators continue to study whether bacteria-laden manure from the dairy farms could have contaminated the nearby lettuce-growing areas, the FDA said. The FDA said other sources of contamination were possible.</p><p>The outbreak sickened 81 people who had eaten at Taco John\'s restaurants in Minnesota and Iowa in November and December. Among those sickened, 26 were hospitalized. There were no deaths.</p><p>The Taco John\'s outbreak occurred at roughly the same time as a separate and more widely publicized outbreak of food poisoning that sickened 70 patrons of Taco Bell restaurants in the Northeast. Though E. coli-contaminated iceberg lettuce was the likely culprit behind both outbreaks, the two are not thought to be linked.</p><p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"460\"><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" border=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr height=\"20\"><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#666666\">&nbsp;OTHER TOP STORIES</b></font></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"5\" cellpadding=\"0\" bordercolor=\"#cccccc\" border=\"0\" style=\"border-top:solid 1px #cccccc;border-bottom:solid 1px #cccccc;background-color:#ffffff;\" bgcolor=\"#ffffff\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\" cellpadding=\"0\" class=\"headlineList2\"><tr></tr></table></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"8\"><tr><td style=\"padding:8px;\"><font class=\"bigRedLink\"><ul><li><a href=\"/id/16472344/\">Why dieters are doomed on Tuesdays</a> </li><li><a href=\"/id/16583647/\">Food pyramid to be erected in stores at last</a></li></ul></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"\" bordercolor=\"\" border=\"0\" style=\"background-color:#eeeeee;\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr><td style=\"\"><font class=\"textSmall\" color=\"#000000\"></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></p><p>Friday\'s announcement also marks the second time in recent months that investigators have suggested Californian cattle or dairy operations as the source of contamination of produce grown on close-by fields. Bacteria tracked by wild pigs from a cattle ranch in California\'s Salinas Valley onto nearby spinach fields likely sparked an E. coli outbreak last year that sickened more than 200 people and killed three.</p><p>Taco John\'s spokesman Brian Dixon said the Cheyenne, Wyo., company had suspended purchases from the produce company that had supplied the three restaurants linked to the outbreak. The company also is in discussions with its other suppliers to do more testing of irrigation water and possibly to hold shipments of produce until samples can be tested for contamination, Dixon added.</p><p>The recent spate of food-poisoning cases includes two salmonella outbreaks blamed on fresh tomatoes that made about 400 people sick in October and November.</p><p>The FDA said Friday it would step up its produce-safety efforts, including consideration of new regulations. The regulatory agency also plans to hold public meetings to discuss ways of improving the safety of fresh produce.</p><p>And in Congress, Democrats in both the Senate and House plan to hold food-safety hearings in the coming months.</p><div class=\"textBodyBlack\" style=\"clear:both;\"><i><em>?2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</em></i></div><br>');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('907','1','<table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\"><tr><td width=\"10\"></td><td width=\"98%\"><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"98%\" valign=\"top\"><tr><td><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><font size=\"+2\" color=\"551E1B\">Aneurysm induced in dog sparks USDA inquiry</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>Cleveland Clinic says sales-demo procedure unauthorized; animal destroyed</b><br></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"></td></tr></table><font size=\"-2\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Sources/sourceAP.gif\" height=\"20\" width=\"140\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"><p></p></font><p>CLEVELAND - The U.S. Department of Agriculture will send an inspector to a hospital where a neurosurgeon demonstrating a medical device to salespeople deliberately induced a brain aneurysm in a dog, which was later destroyed.</p><p>The Cleveland Clinic, known for its heart center and for treating high-profile patients such as royalty, said that it had not authorized the procedure. The hospital reported itself to the USDA, which regulates animal testing.</p><p>A neurosurgeon caused the brain aneurysm in the anesthetized animal Wednesday at the clinic\'s Lerner Research Institute in Cleveland to demonstrate a medical device to a group of 20 to 25 salespeople. The large, mixed-breed dog was destroyed afterward because of the damage caused by the aneurysm, the clinic said.</p><p>Darby Holladay, spokesman for the USDA, would not comment on whether the clinic may have violated the Animal Welfare Act or what penalties it could face.</p><p>\"We\'re just trying to determine what occurred here,\" he said.</p><p>The Animal Welfare Act sets minimum standards of care for dogs and other warmblooded animals but does not prohibit their use in medical device demonstrations, the USDA said.</p><p>An aneurysm is an abnormal bulge in a blood vessel, which can burst and cause severe damage or death. The medical device that was demonstrated fills a brain aneurysm with a coil to stop bleeding.</p><p>In a letter to the USDA, the clinic said the hospital\'s Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee had approved the aneurysm being induced in the dog but not the use of the device on the animal. The clinic said the committee also did not approve use of the dog in the sales demonstration. The Associated Press obtained the letter through the Freedom of Information Act.</p><p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"460\"><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" border=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr height=\"20\"><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#666666\">&nbsp;Click for related content</b></font></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"5\" cellpadding=\"0\" bordercolor=\"#cccccc\" border=\"0\" style=\"border-top:solid 1px #cccccc;border-bottom:solid 1px #cccccc;background-color:#ffffff;\" bgcolor=\"#ffffff\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\" cellpadding=\"0\" class=\"headlineList2\"><tr></tr></table></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"8\"><tr><td style=\"padding:8px;\"><font class=\"bigRedLink\"><p><a href=\"http://boards.msn.com/MSNBCboards/thread.aspx?BoardID=775&amp;ThreadID=168238\">Discuss: Is animal testing an acceptable?acrifice?</a></p></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"\" bordercolor=\"\" border=\"0\" style=\"background-color:#eeeeee;\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr><td style=\"\"><font class=\"textSmall\" color=\"#000000\"></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></p><p>The hospital would not identify the surgeon or whether he has been suspended, but said neither he nor the clinic had any financial interest in the device.</p><p>The clinic allows testing on dogs for medical education and research and used 340 canines for research in 2005, according to USDA documents.</p><div class=\"textBodyBlack\" style=\"clear:both;\"><i><em>?2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</em></i></div><br>');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('908','1','<table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\"><tr><td width=\"10\"></td><td width=\"98%\"><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"98%\" valign=\"top\"><tr><td><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><font size=\"+2\" color=\"551E1B\">Infections in mom tied to leukemia risk in child</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>Flu, pneumonia, sexually transmitted diseases increase hazard, study says</b><br></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"></td></tr></table><font size=\"-2\"><a href=\"http://www.reuters.com/\"><a href=\"http://www.reuters.com/\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia3.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Sources/sourceReuters.gif\" height=\"20\" width=\"140\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"></a></a><p></p></font><p>NEW YORK - A mother who contracts influenza, pneumonia or a sexually transmitted disease around the time of pregnancy appears to be at increased risk of having a child that will develop leukemia, new research shows.</p><p>These observations \"suggest that maternal infection might contribute to the develop of childhood leukemia, which has been postulated to have an infectious origin,\" Marilyn L. Kwan, from the Division of Research at Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, Calif. told Reuters Health.</p><p>As reported in the American Journal of Epidemiology, Kwan and her colleagues studied 365 children diagnosed with childhood leukemia and 460 similar children without cancer. Data on maternal illnesses and drug use from before pregnancy through breastfeeding were obtained by interview with the mother.</p><p>The investigators found that a maternal history of influenza or pneumonia that occurred between three months before conception through the end of breastfeeding raised the risk of leukemia in the child as much as 89 percent.</p><p>A maternal history of sexually transmitted disease, such as herpes or chlamydia, had an even stronger effect on the risk of childhood leukemia, increasing the odds by more than sixfold.</p><p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"460\"><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" border=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr height=\"20\"><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#666666\">&nbsp;CLICK FOR RELATED CONTENT</b></font></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"5\" cellpadding=\"0\" bordercolor=\"#cccccc\" border=\"0\" style=\"border-top:solid 1px #cccccc;border-bottom:solid 1px #cccccc;background-color:#ffffff;\" bgcolor=\"#ffffff\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\" cellpadding=\"0\" class=\"headlineList2\"><tr></tr></table></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"8\"><tr><td style=\"padding:8px;\"><font class=\"bigRedLink\"><p><a href=\"/id/16419323/\">Down syndrome test urged for all pregnancies</a></p></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"\" bordercolor=\"\" border=\"0\" style=\"background-color:#eeeeee;\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr><td style=\"\"><font class=\"textSmall\" color=\"#000000\"></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></p><p>By contrast, women who used iron supplements around the time of pregnancy had a decreased of having a child with leukemia.</p><p>\"Overall, these results emphasize the importance of maintaining good health while pregnant, which has always been an overarching policy promoted by (doctors) in order to have a smooth pregnancy and healthy baby,\" Kwan concluded.</p><div class=\"textBodyBlack\" style=\"clear:both;\"><i><em>Copyright 2007 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters.</em></i></div><br>');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('909','1','<table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\"><tr><td width=\"10\"></td><td width=\"98%\"><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"98%\" valign=\"top\"><tr><td><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><font size=\"+2\" color=\"551E1B\">DNA-tailored medicine moves into mainstream</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>Customized anti-clot treatments put to test in patients at risk for stroke</b><br></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia4.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/070110/070110_genetic_hmed_11a.hmedium.jpg\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\" alt=\"DNA device\"></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"><font size=\"-2\">Christina Paolucci / AP file</font><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><font size=\"-1\">The quality of a sample of DNA is verified using DNA LabChips like this one at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br></td></tr></table><font size=\"-2\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Sources/sourceAP.gif\" height=\"20\" width=\"140\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"><p></p></font><p>TRENTON, N.J. - Personalized medicine, the tailored treatments that a few patients now get based on their own DNA, is finally headed for the greater public: the many heart patients at risk of deadly blood clots.</p><p>At least 2 million Americans with an abnormal, clot-triggering heart rhythm take the pill warfarin, also sold as Coumadin.</p><p>Getting too little can lead to a stroke, and too much can cause life-threatening bleeding. To find the right dose for each patient, doctors use trial and error - and the errors lead to tens of thousands of hospitalizations and deaths every year.</p><p>Starting this month, about 1,000 patients who have a condition known as atrial fibrillation will take part in a project that will match their Coumadin dose to their specific genetic needs.</p><p>This genetic fingerprinting should single out the many people whose bodies break down warfarin faster or slower than normal, and their doctors can immediately adjust their dosage to prevent dangerous complications.</p><p><b><strong>Researchers aim to counter warfarin\'s problems<br></strong></b>\"Twenty to 30 percent of people are either very fast or very slow\" to metabolize many drugs but don\'t know it, said Dr. Robert Epstein, chief medical officer at prescription benefit manager Medco Health Solutions of Franklin Lakes, N.J. Medco is collaborating in the effort with the Mayo Clinic, based in Rochester, Minn.</p><p>Meanwhile, the federal government and researchers at Harvard University and elsewhere have begun or are planning similar studies.</p><p>Epstein and other experts say the warfarin projects comprise the first broad use of personalized medicine, or targeted therapy, in which a person\'s genetic makeup is used to pick the best medicine or dose. This approach essentially adjusts for differences in body chemistry that explain why one pain reliever or allergy pill works great for you but not for your mom.</p><p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"460\"><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" border=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr height=\"20\"><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#666666\">&nbsp;CLICK FOR RELATED CONTENT</b></font></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"5\" cellpadding=\"0\" bordercolor=\"#cccccc\" border=\"0\" style=\"border-top:solid 1px #cccccc;border-bottom:solid 1px #cccccc;background-color:#ffffff;\" bgcolor=\"#ffffff\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\" cellpadding=\"0\" class=\"headlineList2\"><tr></tr></table></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"8\"><tr><td style=\"padding:8px;\"><font class=\"bigRedLink\"><ul><li><a href=\"/id/16542018/\">Test may pinpoint heart attack, stroke risk</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/16517953/\">Gene variant linked to stroke hazard</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/3296859/\">Quiz: Are you at risk for stroke?</a></li></ul></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"\" bordercolor=\"\" border=\"0\" style=\"background-color:#eeeeee;\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr><td style=\"\"><font class=\"textSmall\" color=\"#000000\"></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></p><p>\"It\'s a big deal,\" said Edward Abrahams of the Personalized Medicine Coalition, which includes industry, government and patient advocacy groups as well as insurers and research centers. \"Warfarin is a very widely used drug, it\'s been around for 50 years, and it has all these adverse events associated with it.\"</p><p>If the warfarin studies are successful, patients will start demanding personalized medicine, he predicted. Insurers will too if the Medco study proves it saves money and protects patients.</p><p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"120\"><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" border=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#7788aa\"><tr height=\"20\"><td width=\"20\" bgcolor=\"#7788aa\"><img src=\"/images/icons/interactive.gif\" width=\"20\" height=\"14\"></td><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#7788aa\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#ffffff\">INTERACTIVE</b></font></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"5\" cellpadding=\"0\" bordercolor=\"#cccccc\" border=\"1\" style=\"border:solid 1px #cccccc;background-color:#eeeeee;background-image:url(\'/images/backgrounds/component_grey.gif\');\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\" cellpadding=\"0\" class=\"headlineList2\"><tr></tr></table></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#cccccc\" background=\"/images/backgrounds/component_dkgrey.gif\" width=\"100%\"><tr valign=\"top\"><td align=\"middle\"><a href=\"&#xA;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10803202&#xA;&#xA;\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia2.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Art/HEALTH/040112/TZ152_HeartAttacks.vsmall.jpg\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\" alt=\"Heart attack\"></a></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td align=\"middle\"><div class=\"scalAd\"><input type=\"button\" class=\"mbox w77\" value=\"Launch\" title=\"Launch\" onmouseover=\"swapbtn(this, 1)\" onmouseout=\"swapbtn(this, 0)\" onclick=\"javascript:window.location.replace(\'http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10803202\');\"></div></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td style=\"padding:10px;\"><font color=\"#000000\"><font color=\"551E1B\">?/font><font class=\"textMedBlackBold\"><a href=\"&#xA;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10803202&#xA;&#xA;\">Anatomy of a heart attack</a></font><br></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr></table></td></tr></table>That\'s fairly likely, given Medco data showing that if patients have their warfarin dose changed more than once - meaning doctors didn\'t get it right the first two tries - their risk of being hospitalized for complications jumps from 20 percent to 31 percent.</p><p>Epstein said he\'s hit \"a home run\" with his pitch to get employers and insurance companies sponsoring the prescription plans to join the study.</p><p>\"Everyone we\'ve talked to unanimously was in,\" said Epstein, who expects the reduction in medical costs will be triple the test price of a few hundred dollars per patient.</p><p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td><SCRIPT language=javascript src=http://www.msnbc.com/d/ip/atrialfibrillation_wb3/data.js></SCRIPT><SCRIPT language=javascript src=http://www.msnbc.com/modules/poptext/poptext_codeV2.js></SCRIPT>\n<SCRIPT>\n\nif (window.displayApp) {\n\ndisplayApp(atrialfibrillation_wb3); }\n\n</SCRIPT></td></tr></table></p><p><font size=\"2\"><span CM=\"PageNavBot\"><b><a CE=\"2\" href=\"/id/16543370/page/2/\">CONTINUED: Potential to block 17,000 strokes yearly, study says</a></b><hr width=\"100%\" noshade=\"true\" size=\"1\" color=\"#808080\">1 | <b><a CE=\"2\" href=\"/id/16543370/page/2/\">2</a></b>\n			| <b><a CE=\"2\" href=\"/id/16543370/page/2/\">Next &gt;</a></b></span></font></p><br><table width=\"100%\" style=\"background-color:#ffffee\" cellPadding=\"2\" cellSpacing=\"0\"><tr><td width=\"50%\"><font size=\"1\"><img src=\"/images/msnbc/print02.gif\" width=\"25\" height=\"20\" align=\"absmiddle\"> <a href=\"javascript:printThis(\'16543370\')\" class=\"linkBlack\">Print this</a></font></td><td><font size=\"1\"><img src=\"/images/msnbc/email02.gif\" width=\"25\" height=\"20\" align=\"absmiddle\"> <a href=\"javascript:emThis(\'16543370\')\" class=\"linkBlack\">Email this</a></font></td></tr></table></td><td width=\"10\"></td></tr></table><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\"><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" border=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#7788aa\"><tr height=\"20\"><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#7788aa\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#ffffff\">&nbsp;MORE FROM MORE HEALTH NEWS</b></font></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"5\" cellpadding=\"0\" bordercolor=\"#cccccc\" border=\"1\" style=\"border:solid 1px #cccccc;background-color:#eeeeee;\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\" cellpadding=\"0\" class=\"headlineList2\"><tr></tr></table></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\"><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" bgcolor=\"#ffffff\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" border=\"0\"><tr valign=\"bottom\"><td style=\"padding:10px;\" width=\"15%\"><a onmouseover=\"swapImage(\'next_links\',\'/images/buttons/next/buttonNextOver.gif\')\" onmouseout=\"swapImage(\'next_links\',\'/images/buttons/next/buttonNext.gif\')\" onmousedown=\"swapImage(\'next_links\',\'/images/buttons/next/buttonNextDown.gif\')\" href=\"/id/3034581/\"><img src=\"/images/buttons/next/buttonNext.gif\" border=\"0\" width=\"53\" height=\"19\" id=\"next_links\"></a></td><td class=\"textMedBlackBold\" style=\"padding:10px;\" width=\"85%\">More Health News Section Front</td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td style=\"padding:0px;\"><font color=\"#000000\"><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\"><tr valign=\"top\"><td width=\"20\"></td><td><font class=\"bulletRedSmall\">. </font><font class=\"headlineList2\"><a class=\"linkBlack\" href=\"/id/16640159/\">Form of amnesia also blocks thinking ahead</a></font></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td width=\"20\"></td><td><font class=\"bulletRedSmall\">. </font><font class=\"headlineList2\"><a class=\"linkBlack\" href=\"/id/16635440/\">Antiviral may ease chronic fatigue</a></font></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td width=\"20\"></td><td><font class=\"bulletRedSmall\">. </font><font class=\"headlineList2\"><a class=\"linkBlack\" href=\"/id/16599217/\">FDA investigates Texas \'embryo bank\'</a></font></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td width=\"20\"></td><td><font class=\"bulletRedSmall\">. </font><font class=\"headlineList2\"><a class=\"linkBlack\" href=\"/id/16599053/\">Spas soothe pain in the \'tech neck\'</a></font></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td width=\"20\"></td><td><font class=\"bulletRedSmall\">. </font><font class=\"headlineList2\"><a class=\"linkBlack\" href=\"/id/16562840/\">Drugmakers better at listing key study info</a></font></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td width=\"20\"></td><td><font class=\"bulletRedSmall\">. </font><font class=\"headlineList2\"><a class=\"linkBlack\" href=\"/id/16562844/\">Coffee helps douse workout pain</a></font></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td width=\"20\"></td><td><font class=\"bulletRedSmall\">. </font><font class=\"headlineList2\"><a class=\"linkBlack\" href=\"/id/16565297/\">Own a pooch? 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INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('910','1','<table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\"><tr><td width=\"10\"></td><td width=\"98%\"><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"98%\" valign=\"top\"><tr><td><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><font size=\"+2\" color=\"551E1B\">Being bilingual can delay onset of dementia</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>Study: Keeping parts of brain active can stave off Alzheimer\'s up to 4 years</b><br></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"></td></tr></table><font size=\"-2\"><a href=\"http://www.reuters.com/\"><a href=\"http://www.reuters.com/\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia3.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Sources/sourceReuters.gif\" height=\"20\" width=\"140\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"></a></a><p></p></font><p>OTTAWA, Canada - People who are fully bilingual and speak both languages every day for most of their lives can delay the onset of dementia by up to four years compared with those who only know one language, Canadian scientists said Friday.</p><p>Researchers said the extra effort involved in using more than one language appeared to boost blood supply to the brain and ensure nerve connections remained healthy - two factors thought to help fight off dementia.</p><p>\"We are pretty dazzled by the results,\" Professor Ellen Bialystok of Toronto\'s York University said in a statement.</p><p>\"In the process of using ... two languages, you are engaging parts of your brain, parts of your mind that are active and need that kind of constant exercise and activity, and with that experience (it) stays more robust,\" she later told CTV television.</p><p>The leading cause of dementia among the elderly is Alzheimer\'s disease, which gradually destroys a person\'s memory. There is no known cure.</p><p>Bialystok\'s team focused on 184 elderly patients with signs of dementia who attended a Toronto memory clinic between 2002 and 2005. Of the group, 91 spoke only one language while 93 were bilingual.</p><p>\"The researchers determined that the mean age of onset of dementia symptoms in the monolingual group was 71.4 years, while the bilingual group was 75.5 years,\" the statement said.</p><p>\"This difference remained even after considering the possible effect of cultural differences, immigration, formal education, employment and even gender as (influences) in the results,\" it added.</p><p><b><strong>Delays but does not prevent dementia</strong></b><br>Bialystok stressed that bilingualism helped delay the start of dementia rather than preventing it altogether.</p><p>Psychologist Fergus Craik, another member of the team, said the data showed that being fully bilingual had \"a huge protective effect\" against the onset of dementia but he added that the study was still a preliminary finding. The team plans more research into the beneficial side-effects of bilingualism.</p><p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"460\"><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" border=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr height=\"20\"><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#666666\">&nbsp;Click for related content</b></font></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"5\" cellpadding=\"0\" bordercolor=\"#cccccc\" border=\"0\" style=\"border-top:solid 1px #cccccc;border-bottom:solid 1px #cccccc;background-color:#ffffff;\" bgcolor=\"#ffffff\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\" cellpadding=\"0\" class=\"headlineList2\"><tr></tr></table></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"8\"><tr><td style=\"padding:8px;\"><font class=\"bigRedLink\"><ul><li><a href=\"/id/16284851/\">\'Use-it or lose-it\' brain theory put to test</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/16330362/\">Seniors join family for virual dinners</a></li></ul></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"\" bordercolor=\"\" border=\"0\" style=\"background-color:#eeeeee;\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr><td style=\"\"><font class=\"textSmall\" color=\"#000000\"></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></p><p>The Alzheimer Society of Canada described the report as exciting and said it confirmed recent studies that showed that keeping the brain active was a good way to delay the impact of dementia.</p><p>\"Anything that staves off the time when the risk factor (for dementia) overcomes the defenses is wonderful news,\" scientific director Jack Diamond told Reuters.</p><p>The society estimates that in 2000 -- the latest year for which data is available -- Canada spent C$5.5 billion ($4.7 billion) taking care of people with Alzheimer\'s disease.</p><div class=\"textBodyBlack\" style=\"clear:both;\"><i><em>Copyright 2007 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters.</em></i></div><br>');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('911','1','<table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\"><tr><td width=\"10\"></td><td width=\"98%\"><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"98%\" valign=\"top\"><tr><td><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><font size=\"+2\" color=\"551E1B\">Spas soothe pain in the \'tech neck\'</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>\'BlackBerry thumb,\' other workplace maladies prompt new therapies</b><br></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia3.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/070112/070112_blackBerry_hmed_5p.hmedium.jpg\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\" alt=\"BlackBerries\"></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"><font size=\"-2\">Richard Drew / AP file</font><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><font size=\"-1\">Candidates for \'BlackBerry thumb\'? Spas have begun catering to a host of maladies related to workplace gadgets such as laptops (\'tech neck\') and cell phones (skin irritation).</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br></td></tr></table><font size=\"-2\"><a href=\"http://www.reuters.com/\"><a href=\"http://www.reuters.com/\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia3.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Sources/sourceReuters.gif\" height=\"20\" width=\"140\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"></a></a><p></p></font><p>NEW YORK - When massage therapist Grace Macnow first heard the term \"BlackBerry thumb,\" she didn\'t know what it meant. Now, treating it is a new and booming part of her spa business.</p><p>Therapies to treat workplace woes such as a sore thumb from tapping on a hand-held computer, the aches of \"tech neck\" from typing on a laptop or even skin irritation from chatting on a cell phone are the latest rage to hit high-end spas, where the weary can seek relief at the end of an arduous workday.</p><p>\"It\'s huge,\" said Cindy Barshop, the founder of Completely Bare salons in New York, who has introduced Purity Plus facials to help clean clogged pores and breakouts tied to cell phone use.</p><p>\"I\'m pretty shocked,\" she said about the popularity of the new service. \"Everybody\'s calling me about it. I think a lot of people have that problem.\"</p><p>The Purity Plus facial at Completely Bare, complete with herbal mask, steam treatment and massage, costs $185 and takes roughly an hour.</p><p>Joe Silverman, 31, was one of the first clients to sign up for the new tech neck massage at the Dorit Baxter New York Day Spa in midtown Manhattan.</p><p>\"I\'ve been feeling such pain with keyboards and BlackBerry typing and always being on the go,\" said Silverman, who owns technology company New York Computer Help. \"We don\'t take care of ourselves, whether it\'s our posture or just pressure.</p><p>\"You go home and you go to sleep, and you start to turn over or you are trying to move, you definitely feel it,\" he added. \"It definitely takes a toll.\"</p><p>Macnow, at her spa Graceful Services, started offering specialized massages for BlackBerry thumb and tech neck?last month after getting requests from clients.</p><p>They\'ve proved to be among her most sought-after services.</p><p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"460\"><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" border=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr height=\"20\"><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#666666\">&nbsp;OTHER TOP STORIES</b></font></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"5\" cellpadding=\"0\" bordercolor=\"#cccccc\" border=\"0\" style=\"border-top:solid 1px #cccccc;border-bottom:solid 1px #cccccc;background-color:#ffffff;\" bgcolor=\"#ffffff\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\" cellpadding=\"0\" class=\"headlineList2\"><tr></tr></table></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"8\"><tr><td style=\"padding:8px;\"><font class=\"bigRedLink\"><ul><li><a href=\"http://boards.msn.com/MSNBCboards/thread.aspx?BoardID=476&amp;ThreadID=168623&amp;BoardsParam=HIPDelay%3d1\">Message Board: Do gadgets give you aches and pains?</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/16472344/\">Why dieters are doomed on Tuesdays</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/16596078/\">Going to college may be bad for your brain</a></li></ul></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"\" bordercolor=\"\" border=\"0\" style=\"background-color:#eeeeee;\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr><td style=\"\"><font class=\"textSmall\" color=\"#000000\"></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></p><p>\"When they first called me, I didn\'t know what BlackBerry thumb was,\" she said. \"Now I know.\"</p><p>Her massages feature deep muscle pressure intended to relax the shoulders, neck and arms.</p><p>Named after Ontario-based Research In Motion Ltd\'s popular personal digital assistant, the stress-related injury BlackBerry thumb was recently recognized by the American Physical Therapy Association as an official workplace malady.</p><p>Aida Bicaj, who offers cell phone facials at $225 a session in a townhouse on Manhattan\'s Upper East Side, says she has found a wealth of clients among stressed-out professionals and office employees who are overworked in competitive jobs.</p><p>\"With that, you have a lack of sleep and you have stress,\" she said. \"It\'s identified in your face right away.\"</p><div class=\"textBodyBlack\" style=\"clear:both;\"><i><em>Copyright 2007 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters.</em></i></div><br>');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('912','1','<table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\"><tr><td width=\"10\"></td><td width=\"98%\"><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"98%\" valign=\"top\"><tr><td><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><font size=\"+2\" color=\"551E1B\">FDA investigates \'embryo bank\' in Texas home</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>Center sells made-to-order embryos, raising fears of designer babies</b><br></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"></td></tr></table><font size=\"-2\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Sources/sourceAP.gif\" height=\"20\" width=\"140\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"><p></p></font><p>SAN ANTONIO  - Federal officials are investigating a business that produces batches of ready-made embryos and lets prospective parents select one based on the donors\' looks, ethnicity, education and other factors.</p><p>A consumer safety officer from the Food and Drug Administration was at Jennalee Ryan\'s house Friday during an Associated Press interview with the woman who runs the Abraham Center of Life. The officer would not comment.</p><p>An FDA spokeswoman in Dallas confirmed that the agency is investigating but would not elaborate. It was unclear what laws or regulations were the focus of the investigation.</p><p>Ryan\'s service involves a New York physician who uses donated eggs and sperm to create embryos that can be bought for $5,000 a pair. Ryan said she allows customers to choose embryos after reviewing the donors\' characteristics, including their ethnic and educational background and, in some cases, their photos.</p><p>\"Who wants an ugly, stupid kid?\" she said.</p><p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"460\"><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" border=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr height=\"20\"><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#666666\">&nbsp;Click for related content</b></font></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"5\" cellpadding=\"0\" bordercolor=\"#cccccc\" border=\"0\" style=\"border-top:solid 1px #cccccc;border-bottom:solid 1px #cccccc;background-color:#ffffff;\" bgcolor=\"#ffffff\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\" cellpadding=\"0\" class=\"headlineList2\"><tr></tr></table></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"8\"><tr><td style=\"padding:8px;\"><font class=\"bigRedLink\"><ul><li><a href=\"/id/16543370/\">Personalized medicine heads to the masses</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/16582361/\">Activists raise outcry over stunting disabled girl</a></li><li><a href=\"http://boards.msn.com/MSNBCboards/thread.aspx?ThreadID=163579\">Message Board: Join the discussion</a></li></ul></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"\" bordercolor=\"\" border=\"0\" style=\"background-color:#eeeeee;\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr><td style=\"\"><font class=\"textSmall\" color=\"#000000\"></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></p><p>At Ryan\'s business, sperm donors must have doctorates; egg donors must be young, intelligent and attractive. The sperm comes from a sperm bank. Only one or two women so far have contributed eggs to Ryan\'s project.</p><p><b><strong>Business run out of private home<br></strong></b>Ryan, who runs the business out of her home in a well-to-do section San Antonio, said she sells already-made embryos, meaning clients cannot customize their choices by eye or hair color. Parents-to-be must choose from what Ryan has put together.</p><p>\"Anybody off the street can walk into a clinic and do exactly what I\'m doing. They can hire an egg donor, they can hire a sperm donor, and they can create embryos,\" she said. \"The problem is because I took the egg and the sperm and put them together. Now all of a sudden it\'s Pandora\'s box.\"</p><p>Ryan said she started the center last summer but does not hope to profit from it and said she hasn\'t so far.</p><p>\"People say, \'Well, is this ethical to do what you do? Is it moral to do what you do?\"\' Ryan said. \"Is it ethical or moral not to do it when I have the means and ability to do it? Knowing that I can, should I continue listening to women lament that can\'t have children?\"</p><div class=\"textBodyBlack\" style=\"clear:both;\"><i><em>?2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</em></i></div><br>');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('913','1','<table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\"><tr><td width=\"10\"></td><td width=\"98%\"><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"98%\" valign=\"top\"><tr><td><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><font size=\"+2\" color=\"551E1B\">Gene identified that may raise Alzheimer\'s risk</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>Discovery could be key in developing new treatments, study finds</b><br></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"></td></tr></table><font size=\"-2\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Sources/sourceAP.gif\" height=\"20\" width=\"140\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"><p></p></font><p>NEW YORK - A huge international study has identified a gene that apparently can raise the risk of developing the most common form of Alzheimer\'s disease, a discovery that may help scientists develop new treatments.</p><p>Scientists analyzed DNA from more than 6,000 people from a variety of ethnic groups and found evidence implicating certain versions of the gene, called SORL1.</p><p>It\'s too soon to tell how much those gene versions raise the risk of getting Alzheimer\'s, or what percentage of cases they account for, the researchers said. They said the effect on risk appears to be modest.</p><p>Still, if the finding is confirmed by other scientists, it would be \"a very substantial step forward in our understanding of the genetics of Alzheimer\'s disease,\" said one expert not involved in the work, Jonathan Haines of Vanderbilt University.</p><p>By shedding light on the biology of the illness, the discovery could help lead scientists to find new treatments, he and other experts said.</p><p>Up to 4.5 million Americans are estimated to have Alzheimer\'s, which gradually destroys memory and other mental abilities. No cure has been found.</p><p>The study, released Sunday on the Web site of the journal Nature Genetics, focused on Alzheimer\'s that appears after age 65, the most common type.</p><p>Only one gene, called APOE, has been firmly linked to raising susceptibility to the common form. A Harvard-based group lists about 20 other genes it considers promising candidates, based on research. Some authors of the new paper said they believe the evidence for SORL1 is unusually strong.</p><p>Experts familiar with the new work said SORL1 probably is involved in Alzheimer\'s, but cautioned that it will be important for other scientists to confirm that. \"People will jump on it pretty fast,\" said Rudy Tanzi of Harvard Medical School.</p><p>Gerard Schellenberg of the University of Washington said the paper\'s evidence is \"pretty solid, so I\'m optimistic that it will be replicated.\"</p><p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"460\"><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" border=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr height=\"20\"><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#666666\">&nbsp;Click for related content</b></font></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"5\" cellpadding=\"0\" bordercolor=\"#cccccc\" border=\"0\" style=\"border-top:solid 1px #cccccc;border-bottom:solid 1px #cccccc;background-color:#ffffff;\" bgcolor=\"#ffffff\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\" cellpadding=\"0\" class=\"headlineList2\"><tr></tr></table></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"8\"><tr><td style=\"padding:8px;\"><font class=\"bigRedLink\"><ul><li><a href=\"/id/15199651/\">Mediterranean diet helps against Alzheimer\'s</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/16312961/\">New chemical gives insight into Alzheimer\'s</a></li></ul></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"\" bordercolor=\"\" border=\"0\" style=\"background-color:#eeeeee;\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr><td style=\"\"><font class=\"textSmall\" color=\"#000000\"></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></p><p>Dr. Sam Gandy, a researcher who chairs the medical and scientific advisory council of the Alzheimer\'s Association, which helped finance the new study, said that he doubted SORL1 or any other gene plays as big a role in causing the disease as APOE does.</p><p>The new work was reported by Dr. Peter St. George-Hyslop of the University of Toronto, Lindsay Farrer of Boston University, Dr. Richard Mayeux of the Columbia University in New York, and others in the U.S., Germany, Israel and Japan.</p><p>The new paper implicates SORL1 in Alzheimer\'s in two ways. First, it shows that inheriting certain variants was associated with developing the disease in seven out of nine samples of people examined. The association appeared in African-American, Caribbean Hispanic, northern European and Israeli Arab groups.</p><p>In laboratory studies, researchers also found that when they suppressed the activity of SORL1, cells made greater amounts of amyloid beta, a substance thought to play a key role in causing Alzheimer\'s. Researchers believe the disease-promoting variants of SORL1 act by suppressing the gene\'s activity.</p><div class=\"textBodyBlack\" style=\"clear:both;\"><i>Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</i></div><br><table width=\"100%\" style=\"background-color:#ffffee\" cellPadding=\"2\" cellSpacing=\"0\"><tr><td width=\"50%\"><font size=\"1\"><img src=\"/images/msnbc/print02.gif\" width=\"25\" height=\"20\" align=\"absmiddle\"> <a href=\"javascript:printThis(\'16625749\')\" class=\"linkBlack\">Print this</a></font></td><td><font size=\"1\"><img src=\"/images/msnbc/email02.gif\" width=\"25\" height=\"20\" align=\"absmiddle\"> <a href=\"javascript:emThis(\'16625749\')\" class=\"linkBlack\">Email this</a></font></td></tr></table></td><td width=\"10\"></td></tr></table><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\"><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" border=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#7788aa\"><tr height=\"20\"><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#7788aa\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#ffffff\">&nbsp;MORE FROM ALZHEIMER\'S 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INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('914','1','<table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\"><tr><td width=\"10\"></td><td width=\"98%\"><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"98%\" valign=\"top\"><tr><td><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><font size=\"+2\" color=\"551E1B\">Choices about aging parents revive sibling strife</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>Old rivalries can resurface when adult children must make tough decisions</b><br></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia2.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/070109/070109_adultSquabbles_hmed_9a.hmedium.jpg\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\" alt=\"IMAGE: Richard Aylward (L) with mother, Pat\"></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"><font size=\"-2\">Brian Kersey / AP file</font><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><font size=\"-1\">Richard Aylward walks with mother, Pat, through the assisted living facility she lives,?n Burr Ridge, Ill. The decisions that Richard and his two sisters made as they sorted out their mother\'s possessions before moving her into the facility resulted in tensions between the siblings.</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br></td></tr></table><font size=\"-2\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Sources/sourceAP.gif\" height=\"20\" width=\"140\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"><p></p></font><p>CHICAGO  - The tension rose as Richard Aylward and his two sisters sorted their mother\'s possessions into four piles: to keep, to donate, to throw out and to move with her into an assisted living facility.</p><p>He was annoyed that his sisters wanted to reminisce about every photo and book. He wanted to hurry up and finish the job.</p><p>\"Because I was the one who had to do the moving, cleaning, selling, closing, etc., I knew I had to play the heavy,\" he said.</p><p>Eventually, his oldest sister - fed up with her brother\'s pressuring - walked out.</p><p>Big sisters, little brothers, black sheep, Dad\'s favorite - all the old roles, battles and rivalries resurface when a parent\'s health is failing and decisions must be made.</p><p>With about 20 million Americans providing care for a parent or in-law, such family dramas - often with financial questions lurking unsaid - are playing out across the country, said Bonnie Lawrence, spokeswoman for the Family Caregiver Alliance.</p><p>Eighty percent of long-term care is provided by families, not institutions, Lawrence said. Even families that don\'t provide care, though, are choosing a nursing home or making medical decisions about a dying parent.</p><p>But getting stuck in an old squabble can sabotage wise decisions, said researchers who study family dynamics.</p><p>To help, some states offer free consulting to families making decisions about elders, and a new school of professional mediation has sprung up to help baby boomers stop fighting with their siblings and refocus on what\'s best for their parents.</p><p>Such services still are rare, though, leaving most families to cope on their own.</p><p><b><strong>Family patterns re-emerge<br></strong></b>Old family dynamics come back like a boomerang during anxiety-producing conversations about aging or ailing parents, said Brian Carpenter of Washington University in St. Louis. He has studied sibling issues.</p><p>\"One person takes charge, the other is more submissive; one sibling is the joker, smoothing over disagreements with humor, while another sibling is the serious one, all efficiency and business,\" Carpenter said.</p><p>Sometimes the roles help, because the family originally may have developed them to take advantage of individual strengths, he said.</p><p>\"In other cases, however, when those roles have never been really helpful, they get in the way of making parent-care decisions, just as they probably got in the way of lots of family decisions throughout life,\" Carpenter said.</p><p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"460\"><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" border=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr height=\"20\"><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#666666\">&nbsp;Click for related content</b></font></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"5\" cellpadding=\"0\" bordercolor=\"#cccccc\" border=\"0\" style=\"border-top:solid 1px #cccccc;border-bottom:solid 1px #cccccc;background-color:#ffffff;\" bgcolor=\"#ffffff\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\" cellpadding=\"0\" class=\"headlineList2\"><tr></tr></table></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"8\"><tr><td style=\"padding:8px;\"><font class=\"bigRedLink\"><ul><li><a href=\"http://boards.msn.com/MSNBCboards/thread.aspx?ThreadID=167586\">Discuss: Has making decisions about your parents\' care?rought your siblings closer?r torn them apart?</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/16395239/\">Medicare drug enrollment extended to Feb. 15</a></li></ul></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"\" bordercolor=\"\" border=\"0\" style=\"background-color:#eeeeee;\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr><td style=\"\"><font class=\"textSmall\" color=\"#000000\"></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></p><p>Sisters tend to criticize their brothers for not doing enough, while brothers don\'t take enough credit for what they do, said Sarah Matthews, a professor of sociology at Cleveland State University who has conducted research on siblings with aging parents.</p><p>Her interviews with 149 pairs of siblings found women and men have different expectations. Sisters saw their siblings as a team. They expected cooperation. They wanted communication about what each sibling was doing for the aging parent. Sisters also believed they knew more about what needed to be done.</p><p>Brothers, on the other hand, acted independently and expected to negotiate directly with their parent without keeping their sisters informed.</p><p>\"That tended to annoy the sisters,\" Matthews said, and the brothers didn\'t understand their sisters\' irritation. When asked generally what they were doing for their parents, the men said, \"Not much.\" But then they gave specific examples that revealed they did a lot more than their sisters knew, Matthews said.</p><p>The eldest son holds sway in families from some cultural backgrounds, said Dr. Gail Gazelle of Palliative Care Associates in Brookline, Mass.</p><p>\"No matter how bad the parent\'s relationship has been with that son and how derelict he has been in his caregiving duties, he will be deferred to in decision-making in those families, much to the chagrin of the daughters who\'ve been giving care for years,\" Gazelle said.</p><p>She advises siblings to stay focused on what their parents would want, and to remember that their relationships with siblings will endure long after their parents\' deaths.</p><p>\"That is what is going to live on, and that relationship is very important,\" she said.</p><p><font size=\"2\"><span CM=\"PageNavBot\"><b><a CE=\"2\" href=\"/id/16542396/page/2/\">CONTINUED: Defined roles, \'happy ending\'</a></b><hr width=\"100%\" noshade=\"true\" size=\"1\" color=\"#808080\">1 | <b><a CE=\"2\" href=\"/id/16542396/page/2/\">2</a></b>\n			| <b><a CE=\"2\" href=\"/id/16542396/page/2/\">Next &gt;</a></b></span></font></p><br><table width=\"100%\" style=\"background-color:#ffffee\" cellPadding=\"2\" cellSpacing=\"0\"><tr><td width=\"50%\"><font size=\"1\"><img src=\"/images/msnbc/print02.gif\" width=\"25\" height=\"20\" align=\"absmiddle\"> <a href=\"javascript:printThis(\'16542396\')\" class=\"linkBlack\">Print this</a></font></td><td><font size=\"1\"><img src=\"/images/msnbc/email02.gif\" width=\"25\" height=\"20\" align=\"absmiddle\"> <a href=\"javascript:emThis(\'16542396\')\" class=\"linkBlack\">Email this</a></font></td></tr></table></td><td width=\"10\"></td></tr></table><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\"><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" 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INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('915','1','	<p><p>SATURDAY, June 10 (HealthDay News) -- If you are already at high risk for getting type 2 diabetes, antidepressant drugs can boost that risk, according to new research reported Saturday.</p> <p>The report was based on a re-analysis of part of the Diabetes Prevention Program, a large-scale study in which researchers reported in 2002 that those at high risk for getting type 2 diabetes who lost excess weight and exercised were able to prevent the onset of diabetes much of the time.</p> <p>In the new study, to be presented at the annual meeting of the American Diabetes Association (ADA) in Washington, D.C., researchers looked at the effect of antidepressant drugs on a person\'s proclivity for getting diabetes. They evaluated the effect on those in the three groups studied in the Diabetes Prevention Program: the lifestyle intervention group, the placebo group and the group given the diabetes drug metformin (Glucophage).</p> <p>Those in the placebo and lifestyle groups who were on antidepressants had a two-to-three times greater risk of getting type 2 diabetes than those from the metformin group taking antidepressants, said Richard Rubin, the lead author and the president-elect of health care and education for the ADA. </p> <p>&quot;No one has ever looked at whether antidepressant use could increase the risk of adult onset diabetes,&quot; said Rubin, who is also associate professor of medicine and pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore.</p> <p> For years the debate on whether depression causes diabetes, or vice versa, has been unresolved. But Rubin said this was the first large study to examine the effect of antidepressants on people at high risk of type 2 diabetes.</p> <p>&quot;We looked at 3,187 participants [in the Diabetes Prevention Program trial] who completed the depression screener,&quot; he said. &quot;At the beginning, 5.7 percent were on antidepressants. During the study, about 13.5 percent were taking antidepressants [at least] some of the time.&quot;</p> <p> Some experts think the use of certain types of antidepressants known as SSRIS (such as Prozac and Paxil) could cut the risk of getting diabetes, Rubin said, because some people lose weight on those. But, he added, many experts are finding that the weight loss only occurs soon after the drugs are started, then tapers off or ends.</p> <p>But taking any kind of antidepressant boosted the risk of getting diabetes, he found. &quot;It didn\'t matter what antidepressant you were taking (tricyclic antidepressant or SSRI), the risk of getting diabetes was still there in the placebo or lifestyle arm,&quot; he said.</p> <p>Why this effect occurs and why metformin seems to protect against it is not known, Rubin added.</p> <p> In the analysis, he ruled out whether those who developed diabetes did so because of weight gain alone, less physical activity or increased insulin resistance, all of which boost the risk of getting type 2 diabetes. </p> <p>The findings could have enormous public health implications, Rubin said. &quot;Forty million people in the United States are pre-diabetic,&quot; he said, referring to a condition in which blood glucose levels are rising, putting the person at risk of developing type 2 diabetes. According to the U.S. government\'s National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse, almost 21 million Americans already have type 2 diabetes. </p> <p>The finding does not prove cause and effect, Rubin said, but it does indicate an association between taking antidepressants and increasing the risk of getting diabetes among those already at high risk.</p> <p>But, Rubin cautions, &quot;this definitely does not mean that people should stop taking their antidepressant medication. If you think you are at high risk for developing diabetes, talk to your doctor. Be sure you monitor your blood glucose very carefully.&quot;</p> <p>The study is interesting, but &quot;more research is needed,&quot; said Cathy Nonas, a registered dietitian and director of the diabetes and obesity programs at North General Hospital in New York City. </p> <p>For years, Nonas noted, the &quot;chicken-or-the-egg&quot; debate has continued, with researchers trying to analyze which came first -- depression leading to diabetes or vice versa. Like Rubin, she emphasized that depression is a condition that can\'t be ignored. &quot;You have to treat the depression. If you don\'t, people can become nonfunctional,&quot; she said.</p> <p>For example, Nonas added, if one of her patients is on an antidepressant, she always asks about weight gain. &quot;If they have gained weight recently, I call their psychiatrist to see if the person can be switched [to another antidepressant that may not cause as much weight gain].&quot;</p> <p>The issue is far from resolved. In another study presented at the meeting, researchers reported that while diagnosed depression has been associated with developing diabetes, those in their study who had glucose intolerance did not have any more depressive symptoms than did others with more normal glucose levels. In yet another study, researchers reported that depression interfered with a person\'s ability to manage their diabetes.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The American Diabetes Association has a good article about <a href=\"http://www.diabetes.org/uedocuments/15-Depression.pdf\" target=\"_new\">depression\'s effect on those with diabetes.</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('916','1','<p>Flexible spending accounts (FSAs) -- salary set-asides that let workers pay for certain medical expenses with pretax dollars -- never have been very popular. Although about a third of employers offer the benefit, which can save employees 10 to 35 cents on every dollar contributed, most workers don\'t sign up. Many don\'t like the feeling that FSAs force you to pay twice -- first through a payroll deduction and then when you incur the expense. Another sore point: having to submit receipts showing that the purchase was qualified, then hoping the expense is approved and finally waiting for a reimbursement check.</p><p>Now FSA debit cards are making the process easier -- and <i>almost</i> paperless -- by pulling funds directly from an FSA participant\'s account. The idea is catching on. Celent, a Boston financial services consulting firm, says card use has grown steadily since 2005. At Georgetown University, chief benefits officer Charles DeSantis credits a nearly 20 percent jump in FSA participation among the university\'s 3,800 employees to the introduction of a debit card this year.</p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" align=\"right\" width=\"238\"><tr><td width=\"10\"></td><td width=\"228\">\n<script src=\"http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/technorati/Technorati.js\"></script><script>\nvar technorati = new Technorati() ;\ntechnorati.setProperty(\'url\',\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201913_Technorati.html\') ;\ntechnorati.article = new item(\'An Easier FSA\',\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201913.html\',\'Flexible spending accounts (FSAs) -- salary set-asides that let workers pay for certain medical expenses with pretax dollars -- never have been very popular. Although about a third of employers offer the benefit, which can save employees 10 to 35 cents on every dollar contributed, most workers don\\\'t...\',\'\') ;\n</script><script src=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201913_Technorati.js\"></script><script>document.write( technorati.getDisplaySidebar() );</script>\n<link href=\"http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/css/bookmarking.css\" rel=\"stylesheet\" media=\"all\"/><div class=\"sidebarhack\"><b></b></div><div class=\"sidebar\"><h2><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"right\" border=\"0\" width=\"222\"><tr><td class=\"sb-left\" align=\"left\">Save &amp; Share Article</td><td class=\"sb-right\" align=\"right\"><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/community/saveandshare.html\">What\'s This?</a></td></tr></table></h2><div class=\"sidebarcontent\"><div class=\"sidebarbox\"><div class=\"bookmark\"><div class=\"generic_bookmark digg_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://digg.com/submit?phase=2&url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201913.html%3Freferrer=digg&title=An Easier FSA&bodytext=Flexible spending accounts (FSAs) -- salary set-asides that let workers pay for certain medical expenses with pretax dollars -- never have been very popular. Although about a third of employers offer the benefit, which can save employees 10 to 35 cents on every dollar contributed, most workers don\'t...\" target=\"new\">Digg</a></div></div><div class=\"generic_bookmark google_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://www.google.com/bookmarks/mark?op=add&title=An Easier FSA&labels=&annotation=Flexible spending accounts (FSAs) -- salary set-asides that let workers pay for certain medical expenses with pretax dollars -- never have been very popular. Although about a third of employers offer the benefit, which can save employees 10 to 35 cents on every dollar contributed, most workers don\'t...&bkmk=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201913.html%3Freferrer=google\" target=\"new\">Google</a></div></div><br clear=\"all\"/><div class=\"generic_bookmark delicious_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://del.icio.us/post?v=4&partner=wpni&noui&jump=close&url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201913.html%3Freferrer=delicious&title=%22An Easier FSA%22&notes=Flexible spending accounts (FSAs) -- salary set-asides that let workers pay for certain medical expenses with pretax dollars -- never have been very popular. Although about a third of employers offer the benefit, which can save employees 10 to 35 cents on every dollar contributed, most workers don\'t...\" target=\"new\">del.icio.us</a></div></div><div class=\"generic_bookmark yahoo_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://myweb2.search.yahoo.com/myresults/bookmarklet?u=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201913.html%3Freferrer=yahoo&title=An Easier FSA&popup=true\" target=\"new\">Yahoo!</a></div></div><br clear=\"all\"/><div class=\"generic_bookmark reddit_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://reddit.com/submit?url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201913.html%3Freferrer=reddit&title=An Easier FSA\" target=\"new\">Reddit</a></div></div><div class=\"generic_bookmark facebook_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0);\" onclick=\"void(window.open(\'http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=\'+encodeURIComponent(\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201913.html?referrer=facebook\')+\'&t=\'+encodeURIComponent(\'An Easier FSA\'),\'sharer\',\'toolbar=no,width=642,height=436\'));\">Facebook</a></div></div><br clear=\"all\"/></div></div></div>\n</td></tr></table>\n<p>\"This is something that helps give employees immediate access to their dollars,\" he said.</p><p><i>Instant approval</i> The Internal Revenue Service is requiring all stores that accept FSA debit cards to limit use of the card to FSA-approved purchases such as prescription drugs, cough syrup and allergy medicine. The system, so far in place at only a few chains including Walgreens and Wal-Mart, will reduce the need for employees to submit receipts, says Heffy Provost, a vice president at ADP, a large payroll processor that sponsors an FSA debit card.</p><p>Some card vendors say there\'s no need to wait. The \"Benny\" card, marketed by Evolution Benefits and used by companies including WebMD, can automatically verify prescription purchases when the card is swiped, so there\'s no need to submit receipts, says Evolution\'s president, Robert Patricelli. Benny cards also can be programmed to tap more than one type of account -- an FSA and a health savings account (used to pay most medical expenses in a high-deductible insurance plan), for instance.</p><p><i>The catch</i> Don\'t throw out those receipts just yet. Even if your employer or benefits administrator doesn\'t ask to see them, the IRS might. And keep track of your account balance. FSA funds are &quot;use or lose&quot; deductions; about a quarter of employees end the year with money in their account, according to benefits administrator Ceridian. Speaking of balances, now may be a good time to refill prescriptions or get new eyeglasses. In accordance with a 2005 IRS ruling, some employers are giving workers until mid-March to spend last year\'s FSA contributions.</p><p></p><p><b>-- Rita Zeidner</b></p></div></div><br clear=\"all\">\n');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('917','1','<p><i>Something in the air</i> Our freakishly warm winter has been stirring more than vague fears of global warming. The record temperatures and ample rainfall that produced cherry blossoms on New Year\'s Day -- three months or more ahead of schedule -- also seem to have been causing a blooming of pollen and mold, and, with them, an onslaught of allergy symptoms.</p><p>\"We have been quite busy, and we are seeing more people for allergy-type symptoms than we usually do this time of year,\" said allergist Dan Brody, who has offices in Bethesda and Northwest Washington. \"Usually January and February are times we can take off and nobody will miss us.\" Several local allergists agreed that their offices have been unusually crowded with patients complaining of allergy symptoms and that they have seen an uptick in nonallergic rhinitis -- nasal inflammation that causes red, stuffy noses and is often brought on by sudden changes in temperature.</p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" align=\"right\" width=\"238\"><tr><td width=\"10\"></td><td width=\"228\">\n<script src=\"http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/technorati/Technorati.js\"></script><script>\nvar technorati = new Technorati() ;\ntechnorati.setProperty(\'url\',\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201910_Technorati.html\') ;\ntechnorati.article = new item(\'Strange Season\',\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201910.html\',\'Something in the air Our freakishly warm winter has been stirring more than vague fears of global warming. The record temperatures and ample rainfall that produced cherry blossoms on New Year\\\'s Day -- three months or more ahead of schedule -- also seem to have been causing a blooming of pollen and...\',\'\') ;\n</script><script src=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201910_Technorati.js\"></script><script>document.write( technorati.getDisplaySidebar() );</script>\n<link href=\"http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/css/bookmarking.css\" rel=\"stylesheet\" media=\"all\"/><div class=\"sidebarhack\"><b></b></div><div class=\"sidebar\"><h2><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"right\" border=\"0\" width=\"222\"><tr><td class=\"sb-left\" align=\"left\">Save &amp; Share Article</td><td class=\"sb-right\" align=\"right\"><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/community/saveandshare.html\">What\'s This?</a></td></tr></table></h2><div class=\"sidebarcontent\"><div class=\"sidebarbox\"><div class=\"bookmark\"><div class=\"generic_bookmark digg_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://digg.com/submit?phase=2&url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201910.html%3Freferrer=digg&title=Strange Season&bodytext=Something in the air Our freakishly warm winter has been stirring more than vague fears of global warming. The record temperatures and ample rainfall that produced cherry blossoms on New Year\'s Day -- three months or more ahead of schedule -- also seem to have been causing a blooming of pollen and...\" target=\"new\">Digg</a></div></div><div class=\"generic_bookmark google_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://www.google.com/bookmarks/mark?op=add&title=Strange Season&labels=&annotation=Something in the air Our freakishly warm winter has been stirring more than vague fears of global warming. The record temperatures and ample rainfall that produced cherry blossoms on New Year\'s Day -- three months or more ahead of schedule -- also seem to have been causing a blooming of pollen and...&bkmk=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201910.html%3Freferrer=google\" target=\"new\">Google</a></div></div><br clear=\"all\"/><div class=\"generic_bookmark delicious_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://del.icio.us/post?v=4&partner=wpni&noui&jump=close&url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201910.html%3Freferrer=delicious&title=%22Strange Season%22&notes=Something in the air Our freakishly warm winter has been stirring more than vague fears of global warming. The record temperatures and ample rainfall that produced cherry blossoms on New Year\'s Day -- three months or more ahead of schedule -- also seem to have been causing a blooming of pollen and...\" target=\"new\">del.icio.us</a></div></div><div class=\"generic_bookmark yahoo_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://myweb2.search.yahoo.com/myresults/bookmarklet?u=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201910.html%3Freferrer=yahoo&title=Strange Season&popup=true\" target=\"new\">Yahoo!</a></div></div><br clear=\"all\"/><div class=\"generic_bookmark reddit_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://reddit.com/submit?url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201910.html%3Freferrer=reddit&title=Strange Season\" target=\"new\">Reddit</a></div></div><div class=\"generic_bookmark facebook_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0);\" onclick=\"void(window.open(\'http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=\'+encodeURIComponent(\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201910.html?referrer=facebook\')+\'&t=\'+encodeURIComponent(\'Strange Season\'),\'sharer\',\'toolbar=no,width=642,height=436\'));\">Facebook</a></div></div><br clear=\"all\"/></div></div></div>\n</td></tr></table>\n<p><i>It\'s raining, s\'poring</i> The pollen counters concur. Susan Kosisky, assistant chief of Walter Reed\'s Allergen Extract Laboratory, which counts pollen particles and mold spores for the area, said she found alder, maple and cedar pollen in the air on Jan. 4 -- uncommon for this time of year. Robert Hamilton, professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, said that although mold is always present, a wet fall or winter will allow it to grow more vigorously, as appears to have happened this year. Mold generally goes away once it snows, but that\'s no help so far this season. Hamilton declined to guess whether people with spring allergies could look forward to six or seven months of symptoms instead of the usual three. &quot;What impact this environment has on this coming allergy season is very tough to predict,&quot; he said.</p><p><i>Zyrtec time?</i> Many allergists routinely advise patients to get a jump on their spring allergies by starting medications in mid-February or early March. Should they start even earlier this year? Only if they have symptoms, according to several experts. If symptoms persist after a few days, make an appointment to see your doctor: His or her vacation can wait till next year.</p><p></p><p><b>-- Elizabeth Agnvall</b></p></div></div><br clear=\"all\">\n');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('918','1','<p>It\'s two weeks into 2007, and chances are you\'ve already broken your new year\'s resolutions. We know how it goes.</p><p>Now that Redskins football is over, we recall with regret the number of pigs-in-a-blanket that we ate in a futile but spirited effort to cheer on the team. So we make the same promise to ourselves that we do every year: to start working out.</p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" align=\"right\" width=\"238\"><tr><td width=\"10\"></td><td width=\"228\">\n<script src=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-adv/jobs4/javascript/scripts.js\"></script>\n<link href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-adv/jobs4/css/jobsboxes.css\" rel=\"stylesheet\" type=\"text/css\">\n<!-- ====================================== -->\n<!-- ========= START JOB SEARCH =========== -->\n<!-- ====================================== -->\n<div class=\"jobsearch\">\n<div class=\"jobsbox228\">\n<div class=\"boxpad\">\n<div class=\"titleimg\"><img src=\"http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-adv/jobs4/images/title-job_search_228.gif\" alt=\"Job Search\" /></div>\n<div style=\"margin-bottom:10px;\">\n<img src=\"http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/graphic/2006/11/27/GR2006112700853.jpg\" style=\"height:72px;width:80px;float:left;margin-right:7px;\"/>\n<div class=\"job_search_header1\">Your Co-Workers Like McSteamy?</div>\n<p class=\"job_search_text\">We can help you find the right work environment with competitive benefits.</p>\n<div class=\"clearboth\"></div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"job_search_header3\">Nursing, Allied Health:&nbsp;<a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/jobs/DC-health-care-jobs.html?nav=apj\" class=\"font3\">Get a New Job</a></div>\n</div>\n</div>\n</div>\n<!-- ====================================== -->\n<!-- =========== END JOB SEARCH =========== -->\n<!-- ====================================== -->\n\n<script src=\"http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/technorati/Technorati.js\"></script><script>\nvar technorati = new Technorati() ;\ntechnorati.setProperty(\'url\',\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201853_Technorati.html\') ;\ntechnorati.article = new item(\'Fitness Epiphanies  --  and Things That Hold Us Back\',\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201853.html\',\'It\\\'s two weeks into 2007, and chances are you\\\'ve already broken your new year\\\'s resolutions. We know how it goes.\',\'Ylan Q. Mui\') ;\n</script><script src=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201853_Technorati.js\"></script><script>document.write( technorati.getDisplaySidebar() );</script>\n<link href=\"http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/css/bookmarking.css\" rel=\"stylesheet\" media=\"all\"/><div class=\"sidebarhack\"><b></b></div><div class=\"sidebar\"><h2><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"right\" border=\"0\" width=\"222\"><tr><td class=\"sb-left\" align=\"left\">Save &amp; Share Article</td><td class=\"sb-right\" align=\"right\"><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/community/saveandshare.html\">What\'s This?</a></td></tr></table></h2><div class=\"sidebarcontent\"><div class=\"sidebarbox\"><div class=\"bookmark\"><div class=\"generic_bookmark digg_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://digg.com/submit?phase=2&url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201853.html%3Freferrer=digg&title=Fitness Epiphanies  --  and Things That Hold Us Back&bodytext=It\'s two weeks into 2007, and chances are you\'ve already broken your new year\'s resolutions. We know how it goes.\" target=\"new\">Digg</a></div></div><div class=\"generic_bookmark google_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://www.google.com/bookmarks/mark?op=add&title=Fitness Epiphanies  --  and Things That Hold Us Back&labels=&annotation=It\'s two weeks into 2007, and chances are you\'ve already broken your new year\'s resolutions. We know how it goes.&bkmk=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201853.html%3Freferrer=google\" target=\"new\">Google</a></div></div><br clear=\"all\"/><div class=\"generic_bookmark delicious_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://del.icio.us/post?v=4&partner=wpni&noui&jump=close&url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201853.html%3Freferrer=delicious&title=%22Fitness Epiphanies  --  and Things That Hold Us Back%22 By Ylan Q. Mui&notes=It\'s two weeks into 2007, and chances are you\'ve already broken your new year\'s resolutions. We know how it goes.\" target=\"new\">del.icio.us</a></div></div><div class=\"generic_bookmark yahoo_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://myweb2.search.yahoo.com/myresults/bookmarklet?u=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201853.html%3Freferrer=yahoo&title=Fitness Epiphanies  --  and Things That Hold Us Back&popup=true\" target=\"new\">Yahoo!</a></div></div><br clear=\"all\"/><div class=\"generic_bookmark reddit_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://reddit.com/submit?url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201853.html%3Freferrer=reddit&title=Fitness Epiphanies  --  and Things That Hold Us Back\" target=\"new\">Reddit</a></div></div><div class=\"generic_bookmark facebook_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0);\" onclick=\"void(window.open(\'http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=\'+encodeURIComponent(\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201853.html?referrer=facebook\')+\'&t=\'+encodeURIComponent(\'Fitness Epiphanies  --  and Things That Hold Us Back\'),\'sharer\',\'toolbar=no,width=642,height=436\'));\">Facebook</a></div></div><br clear=\"all\"/></div></div></div>\n</td></tr></table>\n<p>Right. Just as soon as Joe Gibbs leads us to the playoffs.</p><p>The problem is that a new year\'s resolution -- essentially a glorified to-do list -- frequently isn\'t enough to inspire dramatic life change. Lasting change has to come from a deeper place.</p><p>Ed Ingebretsen, director of training for Results, The Gym, believes motivation stems from two emotions: fear and desire. We are afraid life will get worse if we do nothing, although some research suggests that\'s not enough to get many of us moving. We fervently hope we can reverse that course.</p><p>There are some lucky people who seem as though they\'re born with such drive. Like, say, Yankees player Derek Jeter or boxer Laila Ali. But for many of us, inspiration is more elusive. It comes in a flash, like an epiphany -- a moment when we have run out of excuses and are forced to make a decision.</p><p>\"You have to get to a certain point in your head, and then it\'s for real,\" said 36-year-old Jennifer Brandel of Arlington, who has long struggled with her weight. \"You\'ll actually do it.\"</p><p>For Brandel, that point came about a month ago, when she realized that she had only one pair of pants left that fit.</p><p>\"It\'s so disturbing when I walk by a store window or any reflective surface, and I think, \'Who is that chubby girl? Oh, my God, it\'s me,\' \" Brandel said.</p><p>She signed up with a personal trainer. Already, she has noticed a change in her posture and mental state.</p><p>\"You have your worst moment, and that\'s it,\" she said. \"You\'re done with the wavering.\"</p><p>Ingebretsen said he can spot many clients seeking that moment of inspiration when they walk through the health club\'s doors for their first consultation. Some get it; some don\'t. But those who do see results, such as one guy who walked in unable to do a push-up and six months later had lost 75 pounds, Ingebretsen said.</p><p>\"That moment of desire, unencumbered by other things, may not happen again soon,\" he said.</p><p>A co-worker of mine has started taking prenatal yoga classes even though her baby bump is only now becoming visible. She had been a little suspicious of the classes before -- would it be too touchy-feely? -- but then she had her epiphany. A friend had exercised heavily all through her pregnancy, including intensive Brazilian butt-lifting classes. When she finally went into labor, her doctor watched her push in amazement.</p><p>&quot;What have you been <i>doing?</i>&quot; he marveled. My co-worker was sold. She signed up for her first prenatal yoga session shortly after that.</p><p>My epiphany came in 1999, in Paris, where I was partying as hard as only a college sophomore unleashed in the City of Light with her girlfriends could: We piled on the booze, cheese, street crepes oozing butter and Nutella. We teetered on ridiculously high heels. We partied so hard once that two of us almost missed  the bus back to our guest house.</p><p>She -- a former gymnast and a formidable swimmer -- sprinted to the stop, arriving just before the bus began to pull away. I huffed and puffed behind her, my lungs unused to powering anything more strenuous than a brisk walk from a parked car to the mall.</p><p>That\'s when it hit me: I needed to get in shape. I was 19.</p><p>My self-assessment shouldn\'t have come as a surprise. Growing up, I was always picked last for kickball, and my high school math team didn\'t require any physical exertion. Sure, I had occasionally pumped soup cans to the TV show \"Body Electric\" and even bought a Jane Fonda workout video. But I rarely broke a sweat -- and it never bothered me until that moment when I realized the bus, not to mention my life, was passing me by.</p><p>So I decided to start working out. It began with a weekly aerobics class at my college gym, where at first I thought I would pass out mid-grapevine from the shock. Eventually, I added ballet and hip-hop dance classes and jogs around the park.</p><p>Seven years later and 15 pounds lighter, it has snowballed into an AIDS marathon and twice-weekly sessions with a personal trainer. Finally, I can cross \"start exercising\" from my new year\'s resolutions.</p><p>Now, if only I could stop eating Popeye\'s.  ?</p><p><i>Tell us what inspired you to change your life and get in shape. Entries should be 200 words or less. Send them to<a href=\'mailto:move@washpost.com\'>move@washpost.com</a>. No fitness chat this week. We\'ll be back online  Jan. 23.</i></p><p><i></i></p></div></div><br clear=\"all\">\n');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('919','1','<p>If you\'re among the 52 percent of Americans who take multivitamins or minerals, you may be surprised to learn how little experts know about their benefits -- or their potential harm.</p><p>In a series of papers in this month\'s American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, an expert panel convened by the National Institutes of Health notes that there\'s not enough evidence to recommend for or against these common dietary supplements.</p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" align=\"right\" width=\"238\"><tr><td width=\"10\"></td><td width=\"228\">\n<link href=\"http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/css/sidebars.css\" rel=\"stylesheet\" media=\"all\" />\n<link href=\"http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/css/graphics.css\" rel=\"stylesheet\" media=\"all\"/>\n<div style=\"width:228px;\">\n<div class=\"sidebarhack\"><b></b></div>\n<div class=\"sidebar\">\n<h2>Recommended Daily Intakes<sup>&#8224;</sup></h2>\n<div class=\"sidebarcontent\">\n<div class=\"sidebarbox\">\n<p>Build a healthy diet by making smart choices within each of the following food groups:</p>\n<p><b>FRUIT</b><br />\n&#8226; Women: 1.5-2 cups<br />\n&#8226; Men:  2 cups</p>\n<p><b>VEGETABLES</b><br />\n&#8226; Women: 2-2.5 cups	(Aim weekly for 3 cups dark green vegetables; 2 cups orange vegetables; 3 cups starchy vegetables.)<br />\n&#8226; Men: 2.5-3 cups (Aim weekly for 3 cups dark green vegetables; 2 cups orange vegetables; 6 cups starchy vegetables.)</p>\n<p><b>GRAINS</b><br />\n&#8226; Women: 5-6 ounces (3 ounces whole grains)<br />\n&#8226; Men: 6-8 ounces (3-4 ounces whole grains)</p>\n<p><b>DAIRY</b><br />\n&#8226; Women/Men: 3 cups</p>\n<p><b>MEAT/BEANS</b><br />\n&#8226; Women: 5-5.5 ounces<br />\n&#8226; Men: 5.5-6.5 ounces</p>\n<p><b>OILS</b><br />\n&#8226; Women: 5-6 teaspoons<br />\n&#8226; Men: 6-7 teaspoons</p>\n<p><sup>&#8224;</sup> Based on 2,000 calories per day for adults who get 30 minutes of activity daily. Amounts vary slightly according to age.</p>\n<p class=\"creditGraphic\">SOURCES: 2005 U.S. Dietary Guidelines and <a href=\"http://mypiramid.gov\">Mypyramid.gov</a></p>\n</div>\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"clearboth\"></div>\n</div>\n\n<div class=\"sidebarhack\"><b></b></div><div class=\"sidebar\"><h2>Tuesday, Jan. 16, 1 p.m. ET</h2><div class=\"sidebarcontent\"><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2007/01/10/DI2007011001222.html\" target=\"\">Lean Plate Club</a><br/>Post health and nutrition writer Sally Squires talks about how to eat healthier.<br/>\n<div style=\"clear:both;\"></div></div></div>\n<script src=\"http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/technorati/Technorati.js\"></script><script>\nvar technorati = new Technorati() ;\ntechnorati.setProperty(\'url\',\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201846_Technorati.html\') ;\ntechnorati.article = new item(\'The Evidence Is Thin on Multivitamins\',\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201846.html\',\'If you\\\'re among the 52 percent of Americans who take multivitamins or minerals, you may be surprised to learn how little experts know about their benefits -- or their potential harm.\',\'Sally Squires\') ;\n</script><script src=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201846_Technorati.js\"></script><script>document.write( technorati.getDisplaySidebar() );</script>\n<link href=\"http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/css/bookmarking.css\" rel=\"stylesheet\" media=\"all\"/><div class=\"sidebarhack\"><b></b></div><div class=\"sidebar\"><h2><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"right\" border=\"0\" width=\"222\"><tr><td class=\"sb-left\" align=\"left\">Save &amp; Share Article</td><td class=\"sb-right\" align=\"right\"><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/community/saveandshare.html\">What\'s This?</a></td></tr></table></h2><div class=\"sidebarcontent\"><div class=\"sidebarbox\"><div class=\"bookmark\"><div class=\"generic_bookmark digg_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://digg.com/submit?phase=2&url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201846.html%3Freferrer=digg&title=The Evidence Is Thin on Multivitamins&bodytext=If you\'re among the 52 percent of Americans who take multivitamins or minerals, you may be surprised to learn how little experts know about their benefits -- or their potential harm.\" target=\"new\">Digg</a></div></div><div class=\"generic_bookmark google_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://www.google.com/bookmarks/mark?op=add&title=The Evidence Is Thin on Multivitamins&labels=&annotation=If you\'re among the 52 percent of Americans who take multivitamins or minerals, you may be surprised to learn how little experts know about their benefits -- or their potential harm.&bkmk=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201846.html%3Freferrer=google\" target=\"new\">Google</a></div></div><br clear=\"all\"/><div class=\"generic_bookmark delicious_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://del.icio.us/post?v=4&partner=wpni&noui&jump=close&url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201846.html%3Freferrer=delicious&title=%22The Evidence Is Thin on Multivitamins%22 By Sally Squires&notes=If you\'re among the 52 percent of Americans who take multivitamins or minerals, you may be surprised to learn how little experts know about their benefits -- or their potential harm.\" target=\"new\">del.icio.us</a></div></div><div class=\"generic_bookmark yahoo_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://myweb2.search.yahoo.com/myresults/bookmarklet?u=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201846.html%3Freferrer=yahoo&title=The Evidence Is Thin on Multivitamins&popup=true\" target=\"new\">Yahoo!</a></div></div><br clear=\"all\"/><div class=\"generic_bookmark reddit_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://reddit.com/submit?url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201846.html%3Freferrer=reddit&title=The Evidence Is Thin on Multivitamins\" target=\"new\">Reddit</a></div></div><div class=\"generic_bookmark facebook_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0);\" onclick=\"void(window.open(\'http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=\'+encodeURIComponent(\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201846.html?referrer=facebook\')+\'&t=\'+encodeURIComponent(\'The Evidence Is Thin on Multivitamins\'),\'sharer\',\'toolbar=no,width=642,height=436\'));\">Facebook</a></div></div><br clear=\"all\"/></div></div></div>\n</td></tr></table>\n<p>Yet U.S. consumers -- hoping to prevent heart disease, cancer, bone loss and many other conditions -- spend $23 billion a year on multivitamins and minerals, according to the Nutrition Business Journal.</p><p>\"If you\'re taking a multivitamin, there\'s no reason to stop,\" notes Paul Coates, director of the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements. \"But if you\'re not taking a multivitamin, there\'s also no reason to start taking one, either.\"</p><p>That\'s not official public health policy. But, as Coates says, \"it does represent the recommendation of the panel looking at the best information available.\"</p><p>And it\'s just one measure of the many complexities of scientific debate concerning multivitamins and minerals. \"Most people assume that the ingredients in multivitamin supplements are safe,\" the panel concluded in its report. \"There is evidence, however, that certain ingredients in multivitamin supplements can produce adverse effects.\"</p><p>Vitamin A is one concern. It helps preserve vision and boost immunity, but high doses can be toxic and have been linked to an increased risk of osteoporosis, the debilitating bone disorder. And many dietary supplements provide at least 100 percent of the recommended dietary allowance -- 900 micrograms for men, 700  for women -- and run the risk of pushing consumers over the 3,000-microgram tolerable limit set by the National Academy of Sciences.</p><p>Other studies have found problems with beta carotene, the substance that gives carrots and pumpkins their orange coloring. In the body, beta carotene is converted to vitamin A. There\'s evidence that eating a diet rich in fruit and vegetables packed with beta carotene can help protect against lung cancer. But when scientists gave beta carotene dietary supplements to smokers, their risk of lung cancer increased -- exactly the opposite of what had been expected.</p><p>\"This is the real challenge,\" Coates says. \"We look for the benefits of nutrients. Then later we start to think about the possible risks of overexposure. There may be susceptible populations. Do we know who the susceptible populations are? Probably not.\"</p><p>Folate, or folic acid, presents a new dilemma. This B vitamin provides heart benefits for adults. In women, it helps protect the children they bear from spina bifida and other neural tube defects that once affected about 4,000 pregnancies annually in the United States.</p><p>To help reduce the occurrence of these defects, the Food and Drug Administration in 1998 began requiring folate fortification of all enriched flour as well as macaroni, noodles, pasta, corn grits, bread, rolls and buns. As expected, rates of neural tube defects have declined significantly.</p><p>But there\'s a downside: Too much folate can mask a type of anemia in the elderly.</p></div></div><br clear=\"all\">\n<div align=\"right\"><table width=\"100%\" cellpadding=\"2\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td align=\"right\"><font face=\"arial,sans-serif\" color=\"#CC0000\" size=\"-1\"><b>CONTINUED</b></font>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <b><font face=\"arial,sans-serif\" size=\"3\" color=\"#CC0000\">1</font> &nbsp;&nbsp; <font face=\"arial,sans-serif\" size=\"3\"><script>document.write(\'<a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201846_2.html\'+unescape(location.search)+\'\">2</a>\')</script><noscript><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201846_2.html\">2</a></noscript></font></b> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<font face=\"arial, ms sans serif, sans-serif\" size=\"3\"><b><script>document.write(\'<a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201846_2.html\'+unescape(location.search)+\'\">Next</a>\')</script><noscript><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201846_2.html\">Next</a></noscript> ></b></font></td></tr></table></div><br>\n');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('920','1','<p>It may soon be a little easier to scale the U.S. food pyramid: Grocery manufacturers and food producers last week launched a national campaign to help consumers follow the government\'s healthy-diet advice.</p><p>Called \"Take a Peak,\" the program highlights food and beverages that meet the latest federal guidelines for healthy eating and activity. Some 2,000 grocery stores in 17 states are slated to roll out the program this year.</p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" align=\"right\" width=\"238\"><tr><td width=\"10\"></td><td width=\"228\">\n<div style=\"width:228px;\">\n<div class=\"sidebarhack\"><b></b></div>\n<div class=\"sidebar\">\n<h2>What Readers Are Saying</h2>\n<div class=\"sidebarcontent\" style=\"padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px;\">\n<div class=\"sidebarbox\" style=\"color: #333;\">\n <p style=\"margin-top: 0; padding-top: 0;\"> <span style=\"color: rgb(204, 0, 0);\"><strong>Your Comments On...</strong></span><br> <h1 style=\"color: rgb(0, 51, 153);\"><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/19/AR2006121901431.html\" target=\"_blank\">Short Mental Workouts May Slow Decline of Aging Minds, Study Finds</a></h1></p> <p style=\"margin-top: 0; padding-top: 0;\"> \"It would be interesting to know if factors such as stress, or sleep disorders etc. were taken into account. They can be quite memory inhibiting and are more likely to be present in the control group, as a lack of mental stimulation can increase self doubt, decrease confidence and cause a form of panic. Could this have put the control group behind, at the same time the motivated groups were leaping ahead and would this not effect the measurement of the outcome? \" </p> <div style=\"text-align:right;\">-- <b>By smilesturner01 ;</b></div> <p style=\"border-top: 1px dashed rgb(204, 204, 204); margin-top: 5px; padding-top: 7px; font-weight: bold;\"> <strong><font face=\"arial,helvetica\" SIZE=\"-1\">&#149; </font> <span style=\"font-family:arial;font-size:11px;color:#000000;\"><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/comments/display?contentID=AR2006121901431&start=1\"><b>View, Add More Comments</b></a></span><br> <font face=\"arial,helvetica\" SIZE=\"-1\">&#149; </font> <span style=\"font-family:arial;font-size:11px;color:#000000;\"><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/19/AR2006121901431.html\"><b>Read the Story</b></a></span><br></strong> </p> \n</div>\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"clearboth\"></div>\n</div>\n\n<script src=\"http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/technorati/Technorati.js\"></script><script>\nvar technorati = new Technorati() ;\ntechnorati.setProperty(\'url\',\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201921_Technorati.html\') ;\ntechnorati.article = new item(\'Secrets of the Food Pyramid, Revealed\',\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201921.html\',\'It may soon be a little easier to scale the U.S. food pyramid: Grocery manufacturers and food producers last week launched a national campaign to help consumers follow the government\\\'s healthy-diet advice.\',\'Sally Squires\') ;\n</script><script src=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201921_Technorati.js\"></script><script>document.write( technorati.getDisplaySidebar() );</script>\n<link href=\"http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/css/bookmarking.css\" rel=\"stylesheet\" media=\"all\"/><div class=\"sidebarhack\"><b></b></div><div class=\"sidebar\"><h2><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"right\" border=\"0\" width=\"222\"><tr><td class=\"sb-left\" align=\"left\">Save &amp; Share Article</td><td class=\"sb-right\" align=\"right\"><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/community/saveandshare.html\">What\'s This?</a></td></tr></table></h2><div class=\"sidebarcontent\"><div class=\"sidebarbox\"><div class=\"bookmark\"><div class=\"generic_bookmark digg_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://digg.com/submit?phase=2&url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201921.html%3Freferrer=digg&title=Secrets of the Food Pyramid, Revealed&bodytext=It may soon be a little easier to scale the U.S. food pyramid: Grocery manufacturers and food producers last week launched a national campaign to help consumers follow the government\'s healthy-diet advice.\" target=\"new\">Digg</a></div></div><div class=\"generic_bookmark google_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://www.google.com/bookmarks/mark?op=add&title=Secrets of the Food Pyramid, Revealed&labels=&annotation=It may soon be a little easier to scale the U.S. food pyramid: Grocery manufacturers and food producers last week launched a national campaign to help consumers follow the government\'s healthy-diet advice.&bkmk=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201921.html%3Freferrer=google\" target=\"new\">Google</a></div></div><br clear=\"all\"/><div class=\"generic_bookmark delicious_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://del.icio.us/post?v=4&partner=wpni&noui&jump=close&url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201921.html%3Freferrer=delicious&title=%22Secrets of the Food Pyramid, Revealed%22 By Sally Squires&notes=It may soon be a little easier to scale the U.S. food pyramid: Grocery manufacturers and food producers last week launched a national campaign to help consumers follow the government\'s healthy-diet advice.\" target=\"new\">del.icio.us</a></div></div><div class=\"generic_bookmark yahoo_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://myweb2.search.yahoo.com/myresults/bookmarklet?u=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201921.html%3Freferrer=yahoo&title=Secrets of the Food Pyramid, Revealed&popup=true\" target=\"new\">Yahoo!</a></div></div><br clear=\"all\"/><div class=\"generic_bookmark reddit_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://reddit.com/submit?url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201921.html%3Freferrer=reddit&title=Secrets of the Food Pyramid, Revealed\" target=\"new\">Reddit</a></div></div><div class=\"generic_bookmark facebook_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0);\" onclick=\"void(window.open(\'http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=\'+encodeURIComponent(\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201921.html?referrer=facebook\')+\'&t=\'+encodeURIComponent(\'Secrets of the Food Pyramid, Revealed\'),\'sharer\',\'toolbar=no,width=642,height=436\'));\">Facebook</a></div></div><br clear=\"all\"/></div></div></div>\n</td></tr></table>\n<p>None are in the Washington region. But some supermarkets here have started rating their products\' nutritional content for consumers.</p><p>Harris Teeter, for example, has introduced \"yourwellness,\" a program that  rates its  brands on 21 measures, from calcium and fat to sodium.</p><p>In the Take a Peak program, consumers will find aisle banners, kiosks and other displays in stores that will help point them to fare that is consistent with the dietary guidelines. For example, signs will remind them of how many servings of whole grains to eat daily (three) and then show them what foods equal a single serving.</p><p>This effort comes in response to a widely perceived problem with the 2005 food pyramid. The guidelines on which the pyramid is based were praised by nutrition and consumer groups. But the redesigned pyramid -- known as MyPyramid ( <a href=\"http://www.mypyramid.gov\" target=\"\">http:/<wbr/>/<wbr/>www.mypyramid.gov</a>) -- was criticized for having little accessibility other than on the Web. The new displays will help put the government\'s message in front of shoppers as they roll their carts down grocery aisles.</p><p>Congress mandates an update of the guidelines every five years but provides little, if any, funding to publicize those revisions. So the Department of Agriculture, which shares responsibility for the guidelines with the Department of Health and Human Services, has been seeking public-private partnerships to help promote the nutritional and physical activity messages in MyPyramid.</p><p>\"I am very pleased to see the food industry taking up the challenge to help consumers make healthier choices,\" said Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns, who helped unveil the program, which is sponsored by the Grocery Manufacturers Association/Food Products Association, the Food Marketing Institute and MatchPoint  Marketing.</p><p>\"We\'ve had a tremendous response to MyPyramid,\" Johanns said. \"And I\'m confident that as awareness increases, so will the health of Americans.\"</p><p>To see what effect  the program could have, the sponsors of Take a Peak commissioned four weeks\' worth of sample menus aimed at helping women, ages 31 to 50, gradually adjust their diets to meet the MyPyramid standards. Women who follow the menus can learn how to eat according to the MyPyramid goals in about a month, said Betsy Hornick, a registered dietitian who planned the menus for the program.</p><p>While  Take a Peak is drawing praise, it also has raised some concerns. \"It raises the question of inconsistent standards,\" said Michael Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest. The consumer advocacy group has petitioned the Food and Drug Administration to establish consistent standards for healthy food.</p><p>\"What\'s a consumer to do if one product has the Take a Peak logo and right next to it is a product that gets the American Heart Association logo for being a healthy food?\" Jacobson asked. ?</p><p><i>Comments:<a href=\'mailto:leanplateclub@washpost.com\'>leanplateclub@washpost.com</a>.</i></p><p><i></i></p></div></div><br clear=\"all\">\n');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('921','1','<p>Iswore  I would never do it. Never set foot inside a sweat lodge, never chant, never drum and never, ever spend hours streaming perspiration in a small, dark space with a group of friends and strangers. But I\'m a middle-aged single mother who apparently is still susceptible to peer pressure.</p><p>All of my friends were going, and I didn\'t want to be left out of the gabfest later. It wasn\'t the sweat-lodge experience I wanted so much as being able to marvel and laugh with my friends afterward about a shared adventure.</p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" align=\"right\" width=\"238\"><tr><td width=\"10\"></td><td width=\"228\">\n<div class=\"media_photo\"><!--link rel=\"image_src\" href=\"http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2007/01/14/PH2007011400870.jpg\"/--><a href=\"javascript:void(popitup(\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/photo/postphotos/orb/style/2007-01-15/index.html?imgId=PH2007011400872&imgUrl=/photo/2007/01/14/PH2007011400872.html\',650,850))\"><img src=\"http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/photo/largerPhoto/images/enlarge_tab.gif\" width=\"103\" height=\"12\" border=\"0\" align=\"bottom\" alt=\"\"></a><br/><a href=\"javascript:void(popitup(\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/photo/postphotos/orb/style/2007-01-15/index.html?imgId=PH2007011400872&imgUrl=/photo/2007/01/14/PH2007011400872.html\',650,850))\"><img src=\"http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2007/01/14/PH2007011400870.jpg\" border=\"0\"  alt=\"Sally Perry leads Native American-based rituals at Healing Heart Lodges in Rockville, Va., where the author sought relief for her busy life.\"  height=\"129\" width=\"228\" align=\"top\"></a><div id=\"caption\">Sally Perry leads Native American-based rituals at Healing Heart Lodges in Rockville, Va., where the author sought relief for her busy life.<span id=\"credit\"> (By Bob Keeton) </span></div></div>\n<div class=\"sidebar\" style=\"border:1px solid #000; padding:9px 6px 6px 6px;\">\n<div class=\"sidebarbox\">\n<div style=\"text-align:center; padding-bottom:10px;\"><img src=\"http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/artsandliving/print/style/alsoinstyle/gr/title_header-in_style.gif\" width=\"212\" height=\"22\" alt=\"Also In Style\" /></div>\n<ul>\n<?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"UTF-8\"?>\n<li><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/15/AR2007011500299.html?nav=rss_print/style\"> When Glitz Meets Glamour </a></li><li><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/15/AR2007011501092.html?nav=rss_print/style\"> Why They Fight   --  From Within </a></li><li><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/15/AR2007011501055.html?nav=rss_print/style\"> Shadow Delegation Toils in Obscurity for D.C.\'s Day in the Sun </a></li><li><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/15/AR2007011501216.html?nav=rss_print/style\"> How to Bury a Secret: Turn It Into Paperwork </a></li><li><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/15/AR2007011501209.html?nav=rss_print/style\"> \'Seven Ages of Mime\': A Gentle Nod to the Greats </a></li>\n\n<li><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/print/style/index.html\" style=\"font-weight:normal;\">Style Section</a></li>\n</ul>\n<div class=\"clearboth\"></div>\n</div>\n</div>\n\n<script src=\"http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/technorati/Technorati.js\"></script><script>\nvar technorati = new Technorati() ;\ntechnorati.setProperty(\'url\',\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/14/AR2007011400757_Technorati.html\') ;\ntechnorati.article = new item(\'Life Is Hectic and Stressful. Some People Sweat It Out.\',\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/14/AR2007011400757.html\',\'Iswore  I would never do it. Never set foot inside a sweat lodge, never chant, never drum and never, ever spend hours streaming perspiration in a small, dark space with a group of friends and strangers. But I\\\'m a middle-aged single mother who apparently is still susceptible to peer pressure.\',\'Martha Randolph Carr\') ;\n</script><script src=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/14/AR2007011400757_Technorati.js\"></script><script>document.write( technorati.getDisplaySidebar() );</script>\n<link href=\"http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/css/bookmarking.css\" rel=\"stylesheet\" media=\"all\"/><div class=\"sidebarhack\"><b></b></div><div class=\"sidebar\"><h2><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"right\" border=\"0\" width=\"222\"><tr><td class=\"sb-left\" align=\"left\">Save &amp; Share Article</td><td class=\"sb-right\" align=\"right\"><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/community/saveandshare.html\">What\'s This?</a></td></tr></table></h2><div class=\"sidebarcontent\"><div class=\"sidebarbox\"><div class=\"bookmark\"><div class=\"generic_bookmark digg_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://digg.com/submit?phase=2&url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/14/AR2007011400757.html%3Freferrer=digg&title=Life Is Hectic and Stressful. Some People Sweat It Out.&bodytext=Iswore  I would never do it. Never set foot inside a sweat lodge, never chant, never drum and never, ever spend hours streaming perspiration in a small, dark space with a group of friends and strangers. But I\'m a middle-aged single mother who apparently is still susceptible to peer pressure.\" target=\"new\">Digg</a></div></div><div class=\"generic_bookmark google_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://www.google.com/bookmarks/mark?op=add&title=Life Is Hectic and Stressful. Some People Sweat It Out.&labels=&annotation=Iswore  I would never do it. Never set foot inside a sweat lodge, never chant, never drum and never, ever spend hours streaming perspiration in a small, dark space with a group of friends and strangers. But I\'m a middle-aged single mother who apparently is still susceptible to peer pressure.&bkmk=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/14/AR2007011400757.html%3Freferrer=google\" target=\"new\">Google</a></div></div><br clear=\"all\"/><div class=\"generic_bookmark delicious_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://del.icio.us/post?v=4&partner=wpni&noui&jump=close&url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/14/AR2007011400757.html%3Freferrer=delicious&title=%22Life Is Hectic and Stressful. Some People Sweat It Out.%22 By Martha Randolph Carr&notes=Iswore  I would never do it. Never set foot inside a sweat lodge, never chant, never drum and never, ever spend hours streaming perspiration in a small, dark space with a group of friends and strangers. But I\'m a middle-aged single mother who apparently is still susceptible to peer pressure.\" target=\"new\">del.icio.us</a></div></div><div class=\"generic_bookmark yahoo_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://myweb2.search.yahoo.com/myresults/bookmarklet?u=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/14/AR2007011400757.html%3Freferrer=yahoo&title=Life Is Hectic and Stressful. Some People Sweat It Out.&popup=true\" target=\"new\">Yahoo!</a></div></div><br clear=\"all\"/><div class=\"generic_bookmark reddit_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://reddit.com/submit?url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/14/AR2007011400757.html%3Freferrer=reddit&title=Life Is Hectic and Stressful. Some People Sweat It Out.\" target=\"new\">Reddit</a></div></div><div class=\"generic_bookmark facebook_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0);\" onclick=\"void(window.open(\'http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=\'+encodeURIComponent(\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/14/AR2007011400757.html?referrer=facebook\')+\'&t=\'+encodeURIComponent(\'Life Is Hectic and Stressful. Some People Sweat It Out.\'),\'sharer\',\'toolbar=no,width=642,height=436\'));\">Facebook</a></div></div><br clear=\"all\"/></div></div></div>\n</td></tr></table>\n<p>This ridiculous thread of thought ended up pushing me into finding out more about myself, and letting go, in a very unlikely place.</p><p>We took off in a caravan of eight people for the small Virginia town of Rockville -- just off the Oilville exit of Interstate 64, halfway between Richmond and Charlottesville -- and the home of Sally Perry, who calls herself a spiritual healer. Sally, whose grandmother was Cherokee, holds regular Healing Heart Lodges. (The next one is Jan. 27.) She doesn\'t call them sweat lodges, reserving that term for the ritual as performed by Native Americans who have been officially recognized by their individual tribes. However, the Healing Heart Lodges are a close cousin.</p><p>Sweat lodges are gaining in popularity as overworked people look for ways to heal or unwind. The goal of a good sweat experience is to calm the inner mind, express gratitude for what we already have and state as clearly as we can what we want to accomplish or change about ourselves, from the inside out. Sounds simple, but a lot of us are more focused on what we don\'t have yet and the things we need to do immediately. We come up blank when confronted with the possibility of what we might truly desire.</p><p>I was ripe for this adventure. At some point in the past few years all the layers of responsibilities, PINs and passwords  and to-do lists became too much and I felt smothered by my own life. I\'m not sure exactly when it happened because I was too busy striving toward some goal in the distance to take time to and contemplate where I was headed.</p><p>We arrived on Sally\'s doorstep in the early afternoon and were greeted by an assistant, Greg, who attempted to clear our jangled energy with the ritual called smudging, passing smoke from burning sage over us, front and back, with a feather. Burning sage is believed by Native Americans to dispel any negative feelings, past or present, and is used before any rite.</p><p>I was already nervous because I was so far out of my element. Each of the women was dressed, as requested, in a skirt or dress, which represents a circle as a symbol of the feminine spirit and Mother Earth. I had run by Target and picked up a black, flouncy skirt with a layer of gauze that was completely out of character for my normal, reserved, WASPish self. The three men wore swim trunks.</p><p>The night started with rhythmic drumming inside Sally\'s house. The 13 men and women beat on drums from Sally\'s collection, repeating a loud chant. Next, we tied small bits of tobacco into colored cloth -- five each of red, yellow, black and white -- each color signifying a different compass direction and a different aspect of ourselves, forming prayer tithes to be burned in a bundle after the sweat. The East represents the mental body, the South the emotional, the West the physical and the North the spiritual body that completes the prayers.</p><p>So far, I was keeping up fairly well, even though I forgot from time to time which direction we were praying toward and tried to take sidelong glances at my neighbor. Arms were moving all around me as people raised their small tithes to the East or the West, mumbling pleas for healing or gratitude for a blessing.</p><p>It was time for the main event. We marched single-file in relative quiet down to the small lodge, shaped in a circle to resemble a turtle shell. To enter we had to crawl on our hands and knees into near-darkness. When we had formed a circle around the perimeter, fire-tenders, specially trained by Sally on the correct timing and words of the rite, carried in roasted lava stones, one at a time. Sally, the water pourer or leader, chanted, burned sage and other herbs and poured water over the hot stones in the central fire pit. Once all of the stones were placed, the lodge entrance was covered, putting us in complete darkness and allowing the heat from the steam to build.</p><p>Directly behind Sally, smack in the middle in the deepest part of the lodge, I huddled, inhaling steam and smoke, working too hard to breathe, trying not to panic. I have trouble occasionally in crowded elevators -- and they have light and music to distract me. Determined to make it through this experience, I told myself it would all be okay and drew deeper breaths.</p><p>As I did, I felt lighter and happier than I had in a long time. I had stopped wondering about how well I was doing or what was expected or what might come next. I was just being in that moment, not something I easily achieve. Such moments usually creep up on me unexpectedly.</p><p>The temperature rose till sweat was pouring freely off every inch of me and my breathing actually eased from the steam. As we went around the darkened lodge, offering up small prayers to the East to heal some mental aspect, or to the South to work on an emotional block, I felt a change come over me. It was as if I had let go, just a little, a need to control everything around me, all the time. Sally would say the spiritual guides who come to help during a lodge had worked their magic.</p><p>A couple of hours later, we emerged sweaty and sooty, with loopy grins. Some of us took a quick shower back at the house, and then we ate a potluck supper, talking easily even with those who had been strangers. Back in the thick, black air of the lodge, as each voice took a turn making requests of the unseen guides and Sally poured water over the glowing stones, we had stopped clinging to who we thought we had to be and got a little closer to being who we really are.</p><p>Days later, friends were calling to talk about the changes that had begun in their lives. Old situations came up, and they found themselves giving new answers, making different choices -- the definition of change, something I had found so difficult to do. I was always more worried about risking loss and too willing to hold on to  stale ways.</p><p>Now, when I\'m overwhelmed by life, I remember the lodge and breathe in, choosing to be happy in that moment. Not sweating the details.</p></div></div><br clear=\"all\">\n');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('922','1','<!--startclickprintinclude--><script language=\"JavaScript\" type=\"text/javascript\">var clickExpire = \"-1\";</script> <div id=\"cnnSCFontButtons\" class=\"cnn0pxTMargin\"><!--startclickprintexclude--><div id=\"cnnSCFontLabel\">Adjust font size:</div>\n<div id=\"cnnSCFontMinusBtn\" onclick=\"setActiveStyleSheet(\'default\'); return false;\"><img src=\"http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/1.5/story/misc/icon.minus.dim.gif\" border=\"0\" height=\"12\" width=\"18\" alt=\"Decrease font\" title=\"Decrease font\" class=\"cnnIncreaseFont\"><img src=\"http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/1.5/story/misc/icon.minus.gif\" border=\"0\" height=\"12\" width=\"18\" alt=\"Decrease font\" title=\"Decrease font\" class=\"cnnDecreaseFont\"></div>\n<div id=\"cnnSCFontPlusBtn\" onclick=\"setActiveStyleSheet(\'LargeFont\'); return false;\"><img src=\"http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/1.5/story/misc/icon.plus.gif\" border=\"0\" height=\"12\" width=\"18\" alt=\"Enlarge font\" title=\"Enlarge font\" class=\"cnnIncreaseFont\"><img src=\"http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/1.5/story/misc/icon.plus.dim.gif\" border=\"0\" height=\"12\" width=\"18\" alt=\"Enlarge font\" title=\"Enlarge font\" class=\"cnnDecreaseFont\"></div><!--endclickprintexclude--></div><p>(CNN) -- When French patient Isabelle Dinoire received a partial face transplant, she became the first person in the world to undergo such a groundbreaking procedure.</p><p>&quot;It may be someone else\'s face, but when I look in the mirror, I see me,&quot; she said after the procedure.</p><p>Dinoire is just one of millions of people benefiting from the remarkable breakthroughs that modern medicine provides. The case of facial transplants came with serious medical and ethical issues.</p><p>Some doctors have also expressed concern about the transfer of identity. In other words, will the patient look too much like the dead donor?</p><p>But people who are disfigured and wounded have been given better prognoses due to medical breakthroughs.</p><p>The Iraq war provides an example where better medical techniques have saved thousands of lives. More than 20,000 U.S. troops have been wounded there and the survival rate is significantly higher than previous wars, thanks to the medical attention wounded troops receive in the first hour after they are hit.</p><p>&quot;If you look at the overall death rate ... the case fatality rate is cut in half from Vietnam to now. And again I think that\'s due to better training, tactical combat casualty training,&quot; said Col. John Holcomb, who was a senior surgeon at the 10th Combat Support Hospital, the busiest trauma center in Iraq.</p><p>And when the wounded return to the United States their recovery is helped by a new program started by Lt. Col. Timothy Maxwell, who almost died on the battlefield in 2004.</p><p>Since he has returned to Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, he has helped create the &quot;Wounded Warriors Barracks&quot; at the Marine base. It is a first-of-a-kind facility that lets wounded Marines and soldiers live together in the same home as they recover. Previously, Marines were returned to their units, where the healthy troops couldn\'t quite relate to their injured comrades.</p><p>&quot;I guess I look at it sort of like maybe this happened to me on purpose,&quot; he told CNN last year. &quot;Maybe I got wounded so I would do this for a living.&quot;</p><a name=\"1\"></a><a name=\"rv1\"></a><h3>Hope for better replacement organs</h3><p>Medical advances also are paving the way on an array of other fronts.</p><p>What if instead of waiting for an organ, doctors could grow a bladder using your own cells, making it less likely your body would reject an organ? Doctors at Wake Forest\'s Institute for Regenerative Medicine in North Carolina are working on such a project.</p><p>Dr. Anthony Atala and his research team say they have had success taking cells from a patient and getting them to divide and multiply. The research team can create bladders, blood vessels and cartilage.</p><p>For children who are not growing properly, there also is new hope. The Food and Drug Administration has cleared the way for human growth hormone to be used in children with short stature that doctors cannot explain.</p><p>The FDA approved the therapy only for children who are more than 2.25 standard deviations below the mean height for age and sex. For example, for 10-year-old boys and girls to qualify for treatment, they would have to be shorter than 4 feet 1 inch.</p><p>According to a recent New England Journal of Medicine study, the average cost per inch is $50,000 a year. But because the treatment is so new, the long-term effects are not known.</p><p>Scientists and researchers also have hailed a new era of neurotechnology. Just last year, scientists implanted a chip into the brain of a quadriplegic man enabling him to use a computer and operate a robotic arm.</p><p>Lead researcher John Donoghue of Brown University called the breakthrough the &quot;dawn of the age of neurotechnology.&quot;</p><p>&quot;We have devices that can put signals into the brain that help treat disorders and restore function but we don\'t have devices for getting signals back out of the brain,&quot; said Donoghue.</p><p>&quot;That\'s where we have really provided something new and that\'s really opening up a new vista for the field.&quot;</p><!--startclickprintexclude-->  ');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('923','1','<!--startclickprintinclude--><script language=\"JavaScript\" type=\"text/javascript\">var clickExpire = \"02/13/2007\";</script> <div id=\"cnnSCHighlightsBox\"><!----><h4><span>Story Highlights</span></h4><b>&#8226; NEW:</b> Scientists find Alzheimer\'s gene, significantly advancing research<br> <b>&#8226; NEW:</b> DNA from more than 6,000 of varying ethnicities analyzed<br> &#8226; Experts cautioned that findings must be repeated to have meaning<br> &#8226; 4.5 million Americans believed to have the memory wasting disease </div><div id=\"cnnSCFontButtons\" ><!--startclickprintexclude--><div id=\"cnnSCFontLabel\">Adjust font size:</div>\n<div id=\"cnnSCFontMinusBtn\" onclick=\"setActiveStyleSheet(\'default\'); return false;\"><img src=\"http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/1.5/story/misc/icon.minus.dim.gif\" border=\"0\" height=\"12\" width=\"18\" alt=\"Decrease font\" title=\"Decrease font\" class=\"cnnIncreaseFont\"><img src=\"http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/1.5/story/misc/icon.minus.gif\" border=\"0\" height=\"12\" width=\"18\" alt=\"Decrease font\" title=\"Decrease font\" class=\"cnnDecreaseFont\"></div>\n<div id=\"cnnSCFontPlusBtn\" onclick=\"setActiveStyleSheet(\'LargeFont\'); return false;\"><img src=\"http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/1.5/story/misc/icon.plus.gif\" border=\"0\" height=\"12\" width=\"18\" alt=\"Enlarge font\" title=\"Enlarge font\" class=\"cnnIncreaseFont\"><img src=\"http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/1.5/story/misc/icon.plus.dim.gif\" border=\"0\" height=\"12\" width=\"18\" alt=\"Enlarge font\" title=\"Enlarge font\" class=\"cnnDecreaseFont\"></div><!--endclickprintexclude--></div><p><b>NEW YORK</b> (AP)  -- A huge international study has identified a gene that apparently can raise the risk of developing the most common form of Alzheimer\'s disease, a discovery that may help scientists develop new treatments.</p><p>Scientists analyzed DNA from more than 6,000 people from a variety of ethnic groups and found evidence implicating certain versions of the gene, called SORL1.</p><p>It\'s too soon to tell how much those gene versions raise the risk of getting Alzheimer\'s, or what percentage of cases they account for, the researchers said. </p><p>They said the effect on risk appears to be modest.</p><p>Still, if the finding is confirmed by other scientists, it would be &quot;a very substantial step forward in our understanding of the genetics of Alzheimer\'s disease,&quot; said one expert not involved in the work, Jonathan Haines of Vanderbilt University.</p><p>By shedding light on the biology of the illness, the discovery could help lead scientists to find new treatments, he and other experts said.</p><p>Up to 4.5 million Americans are estimated to have Alzheimer\'s, which gradually destroys memory and other mental abilities. No cure has been found.</p><p>The study, released Sunday on the Web site of the journal Nature Genetics, focused on Alzheimer\'s that appears after age 65, the most common type.</p><p>Only one gene, called APOE, has been firmly linked to raising susceptibility to the common form. A Harvard-based group lists about 20 other genes it considers promising candidates, based on research. </p><p>Some authors of the new paper said they believe the evidence for SORL1 is unusually strong.</p><p>Experts familiar with the new work said SORL1 probably is involved in Alzheimer\'s, but cautioned that it will be important for other scientists to confirm that. </p><p>&quot;People will jump on it pretty fast,&quot; said Rudy Tanzi of Harvard Medical School.</p><p>Gerard Schellenberg of the University of Washington said the paper\'s evidence is &quot;pretty solid, so I\'m optimistic that it will be replicated.&quot;</p><p>Dr. Sam Gandy, a researcher who chairs the medical and scientific advisory council of the Alzheimer\'s Association, which helped finance the new study, said that he doubted SORL1 or any other gene plays as big a role in causing the disease as APOE does.</p><p>The new work was reported by Dr. Peter St. George-Hyslop of the University of Toronto, Lindsay Farrer of Boston University, Dr. Richard Mayeux of the Columbia University in New York, and others in the U.S., Germany, Israel and Japan.</p><p>The new paper implicates SORL1 in Alzheimer\'s in two ways. </p><p>First, it shows that inheriting certain variants was associated with developing the disease in seven out of nine samples of people examined. The association appeared in African-American, Caribbean Hispanic, northern European and Israeli Arab groups.</p><p>In laboratory studies, researchers also found that when they suppressed the activity of SORL1, cells made greater amounts of amyloid beta, a substance thought to play a key role in causing Alzheimer\'s. </p><p>Researchers believe the disease-promoting variants of SORL1 act by suppressing the gene\'s activity.</p><p class=\"cnnSCAttribution\">Copyright 2007 The <a href=\"/interactive_legal.html#AP\">Associated Press</a>. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.</p><!--startclickprintexclude-->  ');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('924','1','<!--startclickprintinclude--><script language=\"JavaScript\" type=\"text/javascript\">var clickExpire = \"01/29/2007\";</script> <div id=\"cnnSCFontButtons\" class=\"cnn0pxTMargin\"><!--startclickprintexclude--><div id=\"cnnSCFontLabel\">Adjust font size:</div>\n<div id=\"cnnSCFontMinusBtn\" onclick=\"setActiveStyleSheet(\'default\'); return false;\"><img src=\"http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/1.5/story/misc/icon.minus.dim.gif\" border=\"0\" height=\"12\" width=\"18\" alt=\"Decrease font\" title=\"Decrease font\" class=\"cnnIncreaseFont\"><img src=\"http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/1.5/story/misc/icon.minus.gif\" border=\"0\" height=\"12\" width=\"18\" alt=\"Decrease font\" title=\"Decrease font\" class=\"cnnDecreaseFont\"></div>\n<div id=\"cnnSCFontPlusBtn\" onclick=\"setActiveStyleSheet(\'LargeFont\'); return false;\"><img src=\"http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/1.5/story/misc/icon.plus.gif\" border=\"0\" height=\"12\" width=\"18\" alt=\"Enlarge font\" title=\"Enlarge font\" class=\"cnnIncreaseFont\"><img src=\"http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/1.5/story/misc/icon.plus.dim.gif\" border=\"0\" height=\"12\" width=\"18\" alt=\"Enlarge font\" title=\"Enlarge font\" class=\"cnnDecreaseFont\"></div><!--endclickprintexclude--></div><p><b>BALTIMORE, Maryland</b> (Reuters)  -- A bird flu pandemic remains a threat that the U.S. health care system must take seriously despite less frequent media coverage and the absence so far of human cases in the United States, experts warned.</p><p>John Bartlett, an infectious disease expert at John Hopkins University, said the decentralized U.S. health system will make it more difficult to get ready for a possible human pandemic of H5N1 avian virus -- or anything else.</p><p>He disagreed with the suggestion that the bird flu threat has been overstated by the media.</p><p>&quot;The number of cases in 2006 was more than it was in 2005, which is more than it was in 2004 ... so it continues to go up in people,&quot; he said in an interview.</p><p>&quot;And it continues to be just as lethal as it was in the beginning,&quot; Bartlett said at a conference aimed at helping U.S. hospital administrators prepare for a pandemic.</p><p>The virus mainly affects birds but the deaths of two Indonesian women last week brought the worldwide death toll among people from the virus to 159, out of a total of 256 infected since 2003.</p><p>&quot;It\'s there to stay in birds, which means it is just waiting for the opportunity to make the mutation,&quot; Bartlett said.</p><p>The H5N1 virus is steadily changing and could at any time acquire the changes it needs to be easily transmitted from human to human. It would then spark a pandemic that could kill millions within months.</p><p>Bird flu as an issue in the United States suffered from &quot;press fatigue&quot; in the absence of new things to say about the health threat, he said.</p><a name=\"1\"></a><a name=\"rv1\"></a><h3>Drug scarcity, ethical concerns</h3><p>Bartlett was echoed by David Nabarro, bird flu coordinator for the United Nations, who said fewer headlines were a result of increased familiarity with the disease rather than a diminished threat.</p><p>&quot;It is incredibly infectious virus and it has not gone away. It is very much there, lurking at all times ready to strike,&quot; Nabarro told Reuters.</p><p>At last week\'s conference at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, Bartlett and other experts debated how U.S. hospitals would struggle with expected shortfalls of medicine, hospital beds, respirators and health-care workers.</p><p>&quot;What we learn about flu ... (can) prepare you for natural disasters, bio-terrorism or another pandemic,&quot; Bartlett said.</p><p>Thomas Inglesby of the Center for Biosecurity at the University of Pittsburgh told the panel &quot;the time line has already begun to slip a little bit&quot; on the U.S. goal for 2011 of having enough vaccine for the entire population within six months of the identification of a pandemic influenza virus.</p><p>Hospitals &quot;have to plan that there\'ll be no vaccine,&quot; he said, urging administrators to start &quot;speaking collectively about the need for a much more ambitious and aggressive vaccine strategy.&quot;</p><p>With no federal guidance on who will receive pandemic vaccine once it is developed and manufactured, Inglesby said, state and local health authorities will have trouble making and enforcing decisions.</p><p>Bartlett and Inglesby said the absence of clear guidelines on an avian flu pandemic would pose ethical challenges when it came to choosing who would receive scarce treatments.</p><p class=\"cnnSCAttribution\">Copyright 2007 <a href=\"/interactive_legal.html#Reuters\">Reuters</a>. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.</p><!--startclickprintexclude-->  ');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('925','1','<p>People spend billions annually on their pets -- feeding, grooming, even clothing their animals. They play with them, sleep with them, approve surgery for them and mourn for them, much as they would for people.</p><p>But does owning a pet make people healthier? Popular assumptions notwithstanding, science is still out on that question.</p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" align=\"right\" width=\"238\"><tr><td width=\"10\"></td><td width=\"228\">\n<div style=\"width:228px;\">\n<div class=\"sidebarhack\"><b></b></div>\n<div class=\"sidebar\">\n<h2>What Readers Are Saying</h2>\n<div class=\"sidebarcontent\" style=\"padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px;\">\n<div class=\"sidebarbox\" style=\"color: #333;\">\n <p style=\"margin-top: 0; padding-top: 0;\"> <span style=\"color: rgb(204, 0, 0);\"><strong>Your Comments On...</strong></span><br> <h1 style=\"color: rgb(0, 51, 153);\"><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/19/AR2006121901431.html\" target=\"_blank\">Short Mental Workouts May Slow Decline of Aging Minds, Study Finds</a></h1></p> <p style=\"margin-top: 0; padding-top: 0;\"> \"It would be interesting to know if factors such as stress, or sleep disorders etc. were taken into account. They can be quite memory inhibiting and are more likely to be present in the control group, as a lack of mental stimulation can increase self doubt, decrease confidence and cause a form of panic. Could this have put the control group behind, at the same time the motivated groups were leaping ahead and would this not effect the measurement of the outcome? \" </p> <div style=\"text-align:right;\">-- <b>By smilesturner01 ;</b></div> <p style=\"border-top: 1px dashed rgb(204, 204, 204); margin-top: 5px; padding-top: 7px; font-weight: bold;\"> <strong><font face=\"arial,helvetica\" SIZE=\"-1\">&#149; </font> <span style=\"font-family:arial;font-size:11px;color:#000000;\"><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/comments/display?contentID=AR2006121901431&start=1\"><b>View, Add More Comments</b></a></span><br> <font face=\"arial,helvetica\" SIZE=\"-1\">&#149; </font> <span style=\"font-family:arial;font-size:11px;color:#000000;\"><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/19/AR2006121901431.html\"><b>Read the Story</b></a></span><br></strong> </p> \n</div>\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"clearboth\"></div>\n</div>\n\n<script src=\"http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/technorati/Technorati.js\"></script><script>\nvar technorati = new Technorati() ;\ntechnorati.setProperty(\'url\',\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201848_Technorati.html\') ;\ntechnorati.article = new item(\'Fuzzy Science\',\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201848.html\',\'People spend billions annually on their pets -- feeding, grooming, even clothing their animals. They play with them, sleep with them, approve surgery for them and mourn for them, much as they would for people.\',\'January W. Payne\') ;\n</script><script src=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201848_Technorati.js\"></script><script>document.write( technorati.getDisplaySidebar() );</script>\n<link href=\"http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/css/bookmarking.css\" rel=\"stylesheet\" media=\"all\"/><div class=\"sidebarhack\"><b></b></div><div class=\"sidebar\"><h2><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"right\" border=\"0\" width=\"222\"><tr><td class=\"sb-left\" align=\"left\">Save &amp; Share Article</td><td class=\"sb-right\" align=\"right\"><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/community/saveandshare.html\">What\'s This?</a></td></tr></table></h2><div class=\"sidebarcontent\"><div class=\"sidebarbox\"><div class=\"bookmark\"><div class=\"generic_bookmark digg_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://digg.com/submit?phase=2&url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201848.html%3Freferrer=digg&title=Fuzzy Science&bodytext=People spend billions annually on their pets -- feeding, grooming, even clothing their animals. They play with them, sleep with them, approve surgery for them and mourn for them, much as they would for people.\" target=\"new\">Digg</a></div></div><div class=\"generic_bookmark google_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://www.google.com/bookmarks/mark?op=add&title=Fuzzy Science&labels=&annotation=People spend billions annually on their pets -- feeding, grooming, even clothing their animals. They play with them, sleep with them, approve surgery for them and mourn for them, much as they would for people.&bkmk=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201848.html%3Freferrer=google\" target=\"new\">Google</a></div></div><br clear=\"all\"/><div class=\"generic_bookmark delicious_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://del.icio.us/post?v=4&partner=wpni&noui&jump=close&url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201848.html%3Freferrer=delicious&title=%22Fuzzy Science%22 By January W. Payne&notes=People spend billions annually on their pets -- feeding, grooming, even clothing their animals. They play with them, sleep with them, approve surgery for them and mourn for them, much as they would for people.\" target=\"new\">del.icio.us</a></div></div><div class=\"generic_bookmark yahoo_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://myweb2.search.yahoo.com/myresults/bookmarklet?u=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201848.html%3Freferrer=yahoo&title=Fuzzy Science&popup=true\" target=\"new\">Yahoo!</a></div></div><br clear=\"all\"/><div class=\"generic_bookmark reddit_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://reddit.com/submit?url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201848.html%3Freferrer=reddit&title=Fuzzy Science\" target=\"new\">Reddit</a></div></div><div class=\"generic_bookmark facebook_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0);\" onclick=\"void(window.open(\'http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=\'+encodeURIComponent(\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201848.html?referrer=facebook\')+\'&t=\'+encodeURIComponent(\'Fuzzy Science\'),\'sharer\',\'toolbar=no,width=642,height=436\'));\">Facebook</a></div></div><br clear=\"all\"/></div></div></div>\n</td></tr></table>\n<p>A new study out of Finland suggests the answer may be no. Pet owners, the study finds, smoke cigarettes more but drink alcohol <i>less</i> than those without pets. They also have a higher body mass index (BMI), a ratio of weight relative to height. Pet owners spend slightly less time playing organized sports than non-owners but take part more often in such activities as hunting, fishing and boating. Pet owners are also less likely to report having good health than non-owners.</p><p>The findings point in a different direction from many previous studies, which have suggested that pet owners enjoy such health advantages as lower cholesterol, triglyceride  and blood pressure than non-owners, even after accounting for such variables as exercise. Previous studies also have shown that owning pets may relieve feelings of loneliness and encourage pet owners to exercise more, spend more time outdoors and socialize more, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.</p><p>But this area of research is filled with inconsistencies, with one study\'s findings often contradicting another\'s.</p><p>And because many of the studies are of poor quality and not much funding goes to finding new answers, said James Serpell, director of the  Center for the Interaction of Animals and Society at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, \"much of this is speculation\"-- meaning more research needs to be done to find definitive answers. What seems most promising, he said, is the idea that pets offer social support -- something that can affect how people deal with stress, which is known to impact health.</p><p>\"At some level it seems obvious to me [that pets are] providing exactly the same types of support as\" other social networks, including family and friends, Serpell said. Still, \"while we like our friends and our family, they\'re likely a source of conflict, but most animals are not. Most animals give but don\'t take much.\"</p><p>Gold-standard evidence of pets\' benefits to human physical and mental well-being may be scant, but examples of their use for health purposes are not. For decades, household animals have been used to assist patients with medical conditions such as blindness or seizures, as well as to relieve depression and social isolation. But when the National Institutes of Health last thoroughly explored the health benefits of pet ownership 20 years ago, its experts hedged.</p><p>\"Persuasive evidence was presented to conclude that pets are likely to be medically beneficial to some people\'s health,\" they wrote in a consensus statement. \"However, much is to be learned about many of these relationships before broad generalizations of medical benefit can be made.\" No comparable group of experts has since been convened to reexamine the question.</p><p>The health differences found between pet owners and non-owners in the Finnish study, published in December in the online medical journal PLoS ONE, were small and may not apply to Americans, the authors say. What\'s more, the study found a \"difference only in the proportions of people reporting \'good perceived health\' and not in the proportion reporting \'bad health,\' \" said lead study author Leena Koivusilta, a researcher at the University of Turku, in an e-mail interview.</p><p>\"We wanted to report the slight differences\" between the pet owners and non-owners who both reported good perceived health \"but, at the same time, to make sure that no \'larger than life\' interpretations could be made,\" Koivusilta said.</p><p>Her analysis was based on a survey of more than 21,000 Finnish people who responded to a questionnaire as part of a 15-year health and social support study. Eighty percent of those who had pets reported good perceived health, compared with 82 percent of those without pets. Twenty-eight percent of pet owners smoked regularly, compared with 23 percent of non-owners; 33 percent of pet owners smoked occasionally, compared with 32 percent of non-owners; and 39 percent didn\'t smoke, compared with 45 percent of non-owners.</p><p>But overall, pet owners in the study also were less educated than non-owners, suggesting that any health benefits observed might be due to socioeconomic status rather than pet ownership, the researchers said.</p><p>\"The grand message of the study could be that pets provide us all with a vast potential for health promotion as has been shown previously,\" Koivusilta said. \"Walking your dog makes you feel better, for your sake and for your hairy friend\'s sake, and perhaps also helps you to lose some weight.\"</p><p>Some research has suggested that pets offer social support that acts as a stress reliever, which affects health. One such study, published in 2001 in the journal Hypertension, found that pet owners had lower blood pressure readings when undergoing mental stress than people who did not own pets.</p><p>A 1995 American Journal of Cardiology study reported that dog ownership by men was associated with decreased risk of death within one year of a heart attack, compared with those who didn\'t own dogs. A 1999 Journal of the American Geriatric Society study found that men and women who owned a pet scored better on a scale that measures the ability to complete daily tasks -- such as bathing and dressing themselves, preparing food and walking several blocks -- than peers who didn\'t own a pet.</p><p>In 2005 BMJ (formerly the British Medical Journal) published a review examining studies that helped popularize the idea that pet ownership positively affects human health. The review found that while some studies reported pet-owning benefits such as better physical and psychological well-being in the elderly and reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, many later studies failed to confirm these findings.</p><p>Given this inconsistency, the BMJ review suggested that researchers focus less on whether owning a pet offers measurable health benefits and instead on how pets affect individual quality of life and how humans are affected by a pet\'s death.</p><p>Future research also should tackle more specific questions, gleaned from what\'s already known. \"If pets are another form of social support, [then] we should start to ask more directed kinds of questions about the kinds of people who would be more likely to benefit from having a pet -- maybe the kinds of people who don\'t have a strong social support network,\" Serpell said.</p><p><i>Comments:<a href=\'mailto:paynej@washpost.com\'>paynej@washpost.com</a>.</i></p><p><i></i></p></div></div><br clear=\"all\">\n');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('926','1','<!--startclickprintinclude--><script language=\"JavaScript\" type=\"text/javascript\">var clickExpire = \"02/14/2007\";</script> <div id=\"cnnSCFontButtons\" class=\"cnn0pxTMargin\"><!--startclickprintexclude--><div id=\"cnnSCFontLabel\">Adjust font size:</div>\n<div id=\"cnnSCFontMinusBtn\" onclick=\"setActiveStyleSheet(\'default\'); return false;\"><img src=\"http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/1.5/story/misc/icon.minus.dim.gif\" border=\"0\" height=\"12\" width=\"18\" alt=\"Decrease font\" title=\"Decrease font\" class=\"cnnIncreaseFont\"><img src=\"http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/1.5/story/misc/icon.minus.gif\" border=\"0\" height=\"12\" width=\"18\" alt=\"Decrease font\" title=\"Decrease font\" class=\"cnnDecreaseFont\"></div>\n<div id=\"cnnSCFontPlusBtn\" onclick=\"setActiveStyleSheet(\'LargeFont\'); return false;\"><img src=\"http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/1.5/story/misc/icon.plus.gif\" border=\"0\" height=\"12\" width=\"18\" alt=\"Enlarge font\" title=\"Enlarge font\" class=\"cnnIncreaseFont\"><img src=\"http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/1.5/story/misc/icon.plus.dim.gif\" border=\"0\" height=\"12\" width=\"18\" alt=\"Enlarge font\" title=\"Enlarge font\" class=\"cnnDecreaseFont\"></div><!--endclickprintexclude--></div><p><b>LONDON, England</b> (AP)  -- Louise Brown, who was the world\'s first &quot;test-tube&quot; baby, has given birth to her first child.</p><p>Cameron John Mullinder was born December 21 in the western English city of Bristol, reports said.</p><p>&quot;He\'s tiny, just under 6 pounds, but he\'s perfect,&quot; the Mail on Sunday newspaper quoted her as saying. The baby was naturally conceived.</p><p>The 28-year-old married Wesley Mullinder, 37, three years ago.</p><p>Her sister, Natalie, who also was conceived through in-vitro fertilization, in 1999 became the first &quot;test-tube&quot; baby to give birth.</p><p>Louise Brown\'s birth on July 25, 1978, following conception by a ground-breaking IVF procedure, was a first success for Dr. Robert Edwards and the late Dr. Patrick Steptoe.</p><p>At an event marking her 25th birthday three years ago, she said she hoped to have children, without needing IVF. &quot;When I was younger I used to want three or four, but now I don\'t know,&quot; she said.</p><p>Despite the excitement over her birth, she said her life had been unremarkable.</p><p>&quot;I just get on with my life,&quot; she said. &quot;Just normal -- I just plod along.&quot;</p><p>Likewise, the birth of a child conceived by IVF long ago ceased to be newsworthy.</p><p>Britain recorded the birth of 10,242 such children in the year ending March 31, 2004, the latest data available from the Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority.</p><p>The probability of an infertile couple taking home a baby after a cycle of IVF today is 1 in 5, about the same that healthy couples have of conceiving naturally.</p><p class=\"cnnSCAttribution\">Copyright 2007 The <a href=\"/interactive_legal.html#AP\">Associated Press</a>. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.</p><!--startclickprintexclude-->  ');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('927','1','<p>Some of the newest players in health care are rubbing doctors the wrong way.</p><p>You may know them: those small clinics at your neighborhood Wal-Mart, Target or CVS that promise quick attention for routine visits -- sore throats, minor aches and pains, flu shots -- with no appointments needed. The clinics, which go by such names as MinuteClinic, RediClinic, QuickClinic, Medpoint Express, Curaquick and MediMin, offer convenience and low price -- scarce commodities in today\'s medical marketplace. But while consumers are taking to the concept, physician resistance is building.</p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" align=\"right\" width=\"238\"><tr><td width=\"10\"></td><td width=\"228\">\n<div class=\"media_photo\"><!--link rel=\"image_src\" href=\"http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2007/01/12/PH2007011201859.jpg\"/--><div style=\"float:left;position:relative;top:14px;\"><a href=\"javascript:void(popitup(\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2007/01/12/PH2007011201861.html\',650,850))\"><img src=\"http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/photo/largerPhoto/images/enlarge_tab.gif\" width=\"103\" height=\"12\" border=\"0\" align=\"bottom\" alt=\"\"></a></div><div style=\"float:left;\"><div style=\"padding-left:135px;\"><img src=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/photo/images/pictopia1.jpg\" width=\"15\" height=\"12\" border=\"0\"/><span style=\"position:relative;bottom:2px;font-family:Arial;font-size:10px;\"><a href=\"http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp?provider_id=25&ptp_photo_id=xt-mt-25-title_7353350\">Buy This Photo</a></span></div>\n</div><br clear=\"all\"/><a href=\"javascript:void(popitup(\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2007/01/12/PH2007011201861.html\',650,850))\"><img src=\"http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2007/01/12/PH2007011201859.jpg\" border=\"0\"  alt=\"At the MinuteClinic inside a CVS pharmacy in Potomac, Rachel Herman, 6, checks in with nurse practitioner Anne Pohnert. Rachel\'s sore throat is typical of problems seen at retail-based clinics, which are gaining in popularity.\"  height=\"152\" width=\"228\" align=\"top\"></a><div id=\"caption\">At the MinuteClinic inside a CVS pharmacy in Potomac, Rachel Herman, 6, checks in with nurse practitioner Anne Pohnert. Rachel\'s sore throat is typical of problems seen at retail-based clinics, which are gaining in popularity.<span id=\"credit\"> (By Preston Keres  --  The Washington Post) </span></div></div>\n<div class=\"sidebarhack\"><b></b></div><div class=\"sidebar\"><h2>Related Stories</h2><div class=\"sidebarcontent\"><div class=\"sidebarbox\">\n<p> </p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201858.html\" >Is \'Quick\' Enough?</a>\n<li><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201911.html\" >Is a Retail-Based Clinic for You?</a>\n<li><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201909.html\" >Where the Clinics Are</a>\n</ul>\n<div class=\"clearboth\"></div></div></div></div>\n\n<div style=\"clear:both;\"></div>\n<script src=\"http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/technorati/Technorati.js\"></script><script>\nvar technorati = new Technorati() ;\ntechnorati.setProperty(\'url\',\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201858_Technorati.html\') ;\ntechnorati.article = new item(\'Is \\\'Quick\\\' Enough?\',\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201858.html\',\'Some of the newest players in health care are rubbing doctors the wrong way.\',\'Ranit Mishori\') ;\n</script><script src=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201858_Technorati.js\"></script><script>document.write( technorati.getDisplaySidebar() );</script>\n<link href=\"http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/css/bookmarking.css\" rel=\"stylesheet\" media=\"all\"/><div class=\"sidebarhack\"><b></b></div><div class=\"sidebar\"><h2><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"right\" border=\"0\" width=\"222\"><tr><td class=\"sb-left\" align=\"left\">Save &amp; Share Article</td><td class=\"sb-right\" align=\"right\"><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/community/saveandshare.html\">What\'s This?</a></td></tr></table></h2><div class=\"sidebarcontent\"><div class=\"sidebarbox\"><div class=\"bookmark\"><div class=\"generic_bookmark digg_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://digg.com/submit?phase=2&url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201858.html%3Freferrer=digg&title=Is \'Quick\' Enough?&bodytext=Some of the newest players in health care are rubbing doctors the wrong way.\" target=\"new\">Digg</a></div></div><div class=\"generic_bookmark google_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://www.google.com/bookmarks/mark?op=add&title=Is \'Quick\' Enough?&labels=&annotation=Some of the newest players in health care are rubbing doctors the wrong way.&bkmk=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201858.html%3Freferrer=google\" target=\"new\">Google</a></div></div><br clear=\"all\"/><div class=\"generic_bookmark delicious_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://del.icio.us/post?v=4&partner=wpni&noui&jump=close&url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201858.html%3Freferrer=delicious&title=%22Is \'Quick\' Enough?: Store Clinics Tap a Public Need, but Many Doctors  Call the Care Inferior%22 By Ranit Mishori&notes=Some of the newest players in health care are rubbing doctors the wrong way.\" target=\"new\">del.icio.us</a></div></div><div class=\"generic_bookmark yahoo_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://myweb2.search.yahoo.com/myresults/bookmarklet?u=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201858.html%3Freferrer=yahoo&title=Is \'Quick\' Enough?&popup=true\" target=\"new\">Yahoo!</a></div></div><br clear=\"all\"/><div class=\"generic_bookmark reddit_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"http://reddit.com/submit?url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201858.html%3Freferrer=reddit&title=Is \'Quick\' Enough?\" target=\"new\">Reddit</a></div></div><div class=\"generic_bookmark facebook_bookmark\"><div class=\"pad_bookmark\"><a href=\"javascript:void(0);\" onclick=\"void(window.open(\'http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=\'+encodeURIComponent(\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201858.html?referrer=facebook\')+\'&t=\'+encodeURIComponent(\'Is \\\'Quick\\\' Enough?\'),\'sharer\',\'toolbar=no,width=642,height=436\'));\">Facebook</a></div></div><br clear=\"all\"/></div></div></div>\n</td></tr></table>\n<p>\"The quickest, most convenient medical care is not always the best,\" says Caroline Van Vleck, a Washington pediatrician. Particularly, she and a growing chorus of primary care physicians contend, when it comes to children.</p><p>But even as many doctors sound the alarm, others are scrambling to adapt. Increasingly, the discussion among physicians like me is focusing on how to compete with the new clinics -- even if that means stealing a trick or two.</p><p>Not that many are convinced this trend is good for patients. Within the past six months, the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics have both decried it.</p><p>\"Convenience is not enough,\" the AMA lamented in a recent editorial. Comparing the mini-clinic phenomenon to kudzu -- the tree-strangling vine rampant in the South -- the AMA complained these new services are spreading too far, too fast. In a policy statement issued this fall, the AAP \"opposes retail-based clinics as an appropriate source of medical care for infants, children, and adolescents and strongly discourages their use.\"</p><p>As traditional medicine sees it, when a young patient gets hurry-up treatment for a single symptom at a retail-based clinic (RBC), also known as a convenient care clinic (CCC), the process leads to \"fragmentation of care.\"</p><p>Physicians such as Robert Corwin, who recently served as a director of the AAP, worry about a child\'s receiving medical care at different places by different providers -- most retail clinics are staffed by nurse practitioners and physician assistants, not doctors -- who may not communicate with one another.</p><p>Children, he argues, need a \"medical home\" -- a place offering comprehensive, family-centered, coordinated, continuous care, in which a doctor knows the patient over time.</p><p>\"Parents may say, \'It\'s just a sore throat,\' \" explains Corwin, a practicing pediatrician in Rochester, N.Y. But those sore throat visits, he says, are a pediatrician\'s \"vehicle to continue developing the relationship with the family.\"</p><p>Van Vleck agrees: \"When I see a kid for a sore throat, I get to go through their chart. If they have a little bit of scoliosis I might check their spine. I will check their immunization record. We go over the record, and we try to go over what\'s going on besides the sore throat, or besides the ear infection.\"</p><p>Bottom line, Corwin says: \"These [clinics] are not appropriate for children.\"</p></div></div><br clear=\"all\">\n<div align=\"right\"><table width=\"100%\" cellpadding=\"2\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td align=\"right\"><font face=\"arial,sans-serif\" color=\"#CC0000\" size=\"-1\"><b>CONTINUED</b></font>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <b><font face=\"arial,sans-serif\" size=\"3\" color=\"#CC0000\">1</font> &nbsp;&nbsp; <font face=\"arial,sans-serif\" size=\"3\"><script>document.write(\'<a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201858_2.html\'+unescape(location.search)+\'\">2</a>\')</script><noscript><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201858_2.html\">2</a></noscript></font> &nbsp;&nbsp; <font face=\"arial,sans-serif\" size=\"3\"><script>document.write(\'<a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201858_3.html\'+unescape(location.search)+\'\">3</a>\')</script><noscript><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201858_3.html\">3</a></noscript></font> &nbsp;&nbsp; <font face=\"arial,sans-serif\" size=\"3\"><script>document.write(\'<a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201858_4.html\'+unescape(location.search)+\'\">4</a>\')</script><noscript><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201858_4.html\">4</a></noscript></font></b> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<font face=\"arial, ms sans serif, sans-serif\" size=\"3\"><b><script>document.write(\'<a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201858_2.html\'+unescape(location.search)+\'\">Next</a>\')</script><noscript><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201858_2.html\">Next</a></noscript> ></b></font></td></tr></table></div><br>\n');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('928','1','<!--startclickprintinclude--><script language=\"JavaScript\" type=\"text/javascript\">var clickExpire = \"02/14/2007\";</script> <div id=\"cnnSCFontButtons\" class=\"cnn0pxTMargin\"><!--startclickprintexclude--><div id=\"cnnSCFontLabel\">Adjust font size:</div>\n<div id=\"cnnSCFontMinusBtn\" onclick=\"setActiveStyleSheet(\'default\'); return false;\"><img src=\"http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/1.5/story/misc/icon.minus.dim.gif\" border=\"0\" height=\"12\" width=\"18\" alt=\"Decrease font\" title=\"Decrease font\" class=\"cnnIncreaseFont\"><img src=\"http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/1.5/story/misc/icon.minus.gif\" border=\"0\" height=\"12\" width=\"18\" alt=\"Decrease font\" title=\"Decrease font\" class=\"cnnDecreaseFont\"></div>\n<div id=\"cnnSCFontPlusBtn\" onclick=\"setActiveStyleSheet(\'LargeFont\'); return false;\"><img src=\"http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/1.5/story/misc/icon.plus.gif\" border=\"0\" height=\"12\" width=\"18\" alt=\"Enlarge font\" title=\"Enlarge font\" class=\"cnnIncreaseFont\"><img src=\"http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/1.5/story/misc/icon.plus.dim.gif\" border=\"0\" height=\"12\" width=\"18\" alt=\"Enlarge font\" title=\"Enlarge font\" class=\"cnnDecreaseFont\"></div><!--endclickprintexclude--></div><p><b>ALBANY, New York</b> (AP)  -- Jennifer Unruh can run a mile in two songs.</p><p>&quot;I\'ve got it figured out,&quot; said Unruh, who moves to the beat of Van Halen and The Fray on her iPod. &quot;Usually, every song lasts about four minutes. I run a mile in a little over eight. So if I can get through two songs, I know I\'m a mile though my run.&quot;</p><p>Gyms are jammed with people like Unruh -- the guy on the treadmill watching ESPN, the aerobic class bouncing to &quot;Hollaback Girl,&quot; the spinner reading Self magazine. Words, images and especially songs can provide inspiration for exercisers, as well as a distraction from tedium and discomfort.</p><p>Unruh, director of wellness support at the YMCA of Metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia, uses her songs-per-mile mind games as a way to keep engaged.</p><p>But are those distractions good or bad for exercisers? Researchers say it cuts both ways. Yes, a dose of video or audio can inspire better workouts. But distractions can also hurt performance. In a way, music can add some static to the mind-body connection.</p><p>Since the dawn of the Walkman, headphones have been as important as sneakers to many exercisers. Jacqueline Wojtusik, an Albany-area fashion designer who wears headphones for her regular workouts, listens to disco, \'80s dance, electronic -- anything as long as it has a fast beat.</p><p>&quot;If it has a higher beat per minute,&quot; she said, &quot;then I tend to stay with that beat.&quot;</p><a name=\"1\"></a><a name=\"rv1\"></a><h3>Keeping to the beat</h3><p>In a 2005 study, British researchers put 18 undergraduates on stationary bicycles to pedal either to silence or to &quot;popular electronic dance music&quot; on headphones. Participants worked about 13 percent harder to the up-tempo music compared to silence. One of the researchers, Sam Carr, suggested in an e-mail interview that music competes with an exercisers\' awareness of how hard they are breathing, or how much their legs ache.</p><p>Psychologists sometimes use the phrase &quot;dissociation effect&quot; to describe distractions like music and TV, and they have found it can have other benefits.</p><p>Dr. James Annesi, a health psychologist who works at the same Atlanta YMCA as Unruh, found that novice exercisers given a choice of TV or music were more apt to stick with an exercise program than those told to focus only on their exertions or people limited to one type of media. If the gyms look like media centers, that is fine by Annesi, as long as it encourages people to exercise.</p><p>&quot;The more dissociation the better, the more we can distance the people from their discomfort,&quot; he said.</p><p>Still, athletes digging deep for peak performance would do well to ditch the headphones and focus on their bodies. Studies have shown that the more distracted the athlete, the slower the times, said Ohio University psychology professor Benjamin Ogles.</p><p>&quot;If you want to maintain a high level of intensity, you pretty much have to focus on your body,&quot; he said.</p><p>This is related to the belief that noisy gadgets interfere with the intensely focused mental state many athletes refer to as &quot;flow.&quot; For instance, visitors to the Kripalu Center for Yoga &amp; Health, in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, are encouraged to leave the headphones behind. Jennifer Young, director of healthy living programs, said she wants to keep visitors\' mind-body connections strong.</p><p>Hikers at Kripalu are coached to &quot;scan&quot; their bodies by concentrating sequentially on their ankles, hips, shoulders and so on. Even during weightlifting -- an activity linked more to Metallica then meditation -- people are asked to visualize what their muscles are doing, or to focus on their breathing.</p><p>&quot;Don\'t turn out and turn off,&quot; Young said, &quot;because then there\'s that underlying signal, \'Oh, working out is something I don\'t want to do. I\'m escaping it by doing this.&quot;\'</p><p>Even Anna Fyodorova, a triathlete from New York City who calls the iPod one of the &quot;greatest creations made&quot; for training, sees its limits. When other runners wore their ear buds during a recent 60 kilometer race, she decided against it.</p><p>&quot;When you\'re racing, you have to concentrate,&quot; she said, &quot;you have to be totally in the moment.&quot;</p><p class=\"cnnSCAttribution\">Copyright 2007 The <a href=\"/interactive_legal.html#AP\">Associated Press</a>. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.</p><!--startclickprintexclude-->  ');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('929','1','<!--startclickprintinclude--><script language=\"JavaScript\" type=\"text/javascript\">var clickExpire = \"02/14/2007\";</script> <div id=\"cnnSCFontButtons\" class=\"cnn0pxTMargin\"><!--startclickprintexclude--><div id=\"cnnSCFontLabel\">Adjust font size:</div>\n<div id=\"cnnSCFontMinusBtn\" onclick=\"setActiveStyleSheet(\'default\'); return false;\"><img src=\"http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/1.5/story/misc/icon.minus.dim.gif\" border=\"0\" height=\"12\" width=\"18\" alt=\"Decrease font\" title=\"Decrease font\" class=\"cnnIncreaseFont\"><img src=\"http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/1.5/story/misc/icon.minus.gif\" border=\"0\" height=\"12\" width=\"18\" alt=\"Decrease font\" title=\"Decrease font\" class=\"cnnDecreaseFont\"></div>\n<div id=\"cnnSCFontPlusBtn\" onclick=\"setActiveStyleSheet(\'LargeFont\'); return false;\"><img src=\"http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/1.5/story/misc/icon.plus.gif\" border=\"0\" height=\"12\" width=\"18\" alt=\"Enlarge font\" title=\"Enlarge font\" class=\"cnnIncreaseFont\"><img src=\"http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/1.5/story/misc/icon.plus.dim.gif\" border=\"0\" height=\"12\" width=\"18\" alt=\"Enlarge font\" title=\"Enlarge font\" class=\"cnnDecreaseFont\"></div><!--endclickprintexclude--></div><p><b>SEATTLE, Washington</b> (AP)  -- When he first started frying up all-natural doughnuts a dozen years ago, Mark Isreal had a tough time getting consumers to bite. After all, who counts calories before grabbing a jelly-filled with their morning cup of coffee?</p><p>&quot;It doesn\'t matter how delicious it is. Some people are so narrow-minded,&quot; said Isreal, owner of the Doughnut Plant in New York.</p><p>These days, Isreal supplies everyone from upscale grocery stores to coffee shops around the city. He also has a licensing deal for nine Doughnut Plant stores in Tokyo, where he sells to the coffeehouse chain Starbucks.</p><p>And doughnut lovers across the country will soon join him in reaching for a less unhealthy treat -- even if they are not trying -- as regulators and retailers pressure food companies to drop artery-clogging trans fats.</p><p>Rather than worrying the shift will gobble up their market niche, some natural doughnut makers say they are happy to see the food industry abandoning ingredients that gave the industrialized doughnut a bad rap.</p><p>&quot;It\'s nice to have been ahead of the curve,&quot; said Ryan Kellner, owner of the all-organic Mighty-O Donuts in Seattle. &quot;But I think it\'s great for society in general that we\'re moving towards an alternative.&quot;</p><a name=\"1\"></a><a name=\"rv1\"></a><h3>Nutritional rebirth</h3><p>&quot;Doughnuts have kind of gone through a renaissance,&quot; Isreal said.</p><p>Artificial trans fats, also listed on food labels as partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, are under attack from health advocates. Evidence suggests they boost &quot;bad&quot; cholesterol and lower &quot;good&quot; cholesterol, increasing the risk of heart disease and stroke.</p><p>Health regulators have taken notice. Last month, New York became the first city in the U.S. to ban all restaurants from using artificial trans fats by mid-2008; similar measures are being considered from Little Rock, Arkansas, to Los Angeles, California.</p><p>In Franklin County, Ohio, officials even suspended an annual contract to supply the county jail with doughnuts, citing concerns about trans fats.</p><p>Some food sellers stopped using trans fats voluntarily after the Food and Drug Administration required food labels to show trans-fat content. That includes coffeehouse giant Starbucks Corp., which recently announced it was halfway through a plan to purge trans fats from its U.S. food menu.</p><p>Seattle\'s Top Pot Doughnuts, one of Starbucks\' largest doughnut suppliers, switched to a trans-fat-free recipe in November.</p><p>&quot;We\'d been looking for the last couple of years at moving to a trans-fat-free product,&quot; Top Pot spokeswoman Amy Gundlach said. &quot;When Starbucks came to us and told us about their change, that put a little more urgency on our research.&quot;</p><p>Others are still experimenting with changes to their carefully guarded recipes.</p><p>Mainstream doughnut makers, whose products can have around 5 grams of trans fat apiece, are generally mum about their progress toward meeting New York\'s citywide trans fat ban.</p><p>Dunkin\' Donuts, a branch of privately held Dunkin\' Brands Inc., says it has tested 22 alternative oils since starting its own push against trans fats in 2004.</p><p>Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc. says it &quot;will continue to work aggressively with outside supply partners to develop a zero trans-fat doughnut.&quot;</p><p>Food industry analyst Phil Lempert, editor of SupermarketGuru.com, says food companies will most likely fast-track efforts to remove trans fats as the New York deadline moves closer and similar laws crop up elsewhere.</p><p>The big question for food makers, he said, is how consumers will react.</p><p>&quot;I think you\'re going to see the heavy doughnut user, if you will, walk away from the Krispy Kreme with no trans fats and say, \'Hmm, tastes different,&quot;\' Lempert said. &quot;It\'s not that it tastes better or worse. It just tastes different.&quot;</p><p>Consumers should not assume, however, that a trans-fat-free doughnut is necessarily healthy, said Marion Nestle, a nutrition professor at New York University.</p><p>&quot;My feeling is that the whole trans fat issue is a calorie distraction,&quot; Nestle said. &quot;You think that because it\'s trans-fat-free, it doesn\'t have any calories. And whatever the substitute is going to be, it\'s going to have just as many calories.&quot;</p><p>Becky Anderson, a Mighty-O regular in Seattle, said her loyalty owes in part to the store\'s natural recipe -- a better fit with her vegetarian diet. But she concedes that they are still doughnuts.</p><p>&quot;I\'m not saying this is good for you,&quot; Anderson said as she watched a stream of sizzling blobs of dough bob across a pool of organic palm fruit oil. &quot;But it\'s definitely not as bad.&quot;</p><p class=\"cnnSCAttribution\">Copyright 2007 The <a href=\"/interactive_legal.html#AP\">Associated Press</a>. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.</p><!--startclickprintexclude-->  ');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('930','1','<!--startclickprintinclude--><script language=\"JavaScript\" type=\"text/javascript\">var clickExpire = \"02/15/2007\";</script> <div id=\"cnnSCHighlightsBox\"><!----><h4><span>Story Highlights</span></h4>&#8226; Noah Markham born Tuesday by Caesarean section<br> &#8226; Parents had stored embryos at hospital damaged by Katrina<br> &#8226; Embryos would have been destroyed if they had thawed<br> &#8226; Doctors say Noah\'s in great shape, weighs 8 pounds 6 1/2 ounces<br>  </div><div id=\"cnnSCFontButtons\" ><!--startclickprintexclude--><div id=\"cnnSCFontLabel\">Adjust font size:</div>\n<div id=\"cnnSCFontMinusBtn\" onclick=\"setActiveStyleSheet(\'default\'); return false;\"><img src=\"http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/1.5/story/misc/icon.minus.dim.gif\" border=\"0\" height=\"12\" width=\"18\" alt=\"Decrease font\" title=\"Decrease font\" class=\"cnnIncreaseFont\"><img src=\"http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/1.5/story/misc/icon.minus.gif\" border=\"0\" height=\"12\" width=\"18\" alt=\"Decrease font\" title=\"Decrease font\" class=\"cnnDecreaseFont\"></div>\n<div id=\"cnnSCFontPlusBtn\" onclick=\"setActiveStyleSheet(\'LargeFont\'); return false;\"><img src=\"http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/1.5/story/misc/icon.plus.gif\" border=\"0\" height=\"12\" width=\"18\" alt=\"Enlarge font\" title=\"Enlarge font\" class=\"cnnIncreaseFont\"><img src=\"http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/1.5/story/misc/icon.plus.dim.gif\" border=\"0\" height=\"12\" width=\"18\" alt=\"Enlarge font\" title=\"Enlarge font\" class=\"cnnDecreaseFont\"></div><!--endclickprintexclude--></div><p><b>COVINGTON, Louisiana</b> (AP)  -- Sixteen months after being rescued as a frozen embryo from a hospital flooded by Hurricane Katrina, Noah Benton Markham entered the world Tuesday morning and was greeted by his cheering family.</p><p>The 8 pound, 61/2-ounce boy was born by Caesarean section at 7:23 a.m. CT (6:23 a.m. ET) at St. Tammany Hospital. He was in good shape, doctors said.</p><p>Before the procedure Rebekah and Glen Markham had decided that if their baby was a boy, he would be named after the biblical builder of the Ark. A girl would have been Hannah Mae -- Hannah means &quot;God has favored us.&quot; (<a href=\"javascript:cnnVideo(\'play\',\'/video/health/2007/01/16/rosegen.nola.embryo.rescue.cnn\',\'2007/01/30\');\">Watch how the embryos were rescued.</a> <a href=\"javascript:cnnVideo(\'play\',\'/video/health/2007/01/16/rosegen.nola.embryo.rescue.cnn\',\'2007/01/30\');\"><img src=\"http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/1.5/main/icon_video.gif\" alt=\"Video\" width=\"19\" height=\"12\" vspace=\"1\" hspace=\"0\" border=\"0\" class=\"cnnVideoIcon\"></a> )</p><p>Relatives gathered around as Glen Markham, grinning proudly, carried the tiny blanket-wrapped bundle topped by a pink-and-blue cap out of the operating room. For a few seconds he tried to make them guess whether the baby was a boy or a girl. Then he said &quot;It\'s a boy!&quot; to an eruption of cheers and applause.</p><p>Rebekah Markham\'s mother, Lezette Crosby, telephoned  another relative: &quot;It\'s Noah! It\'s Noah! It\'s a boy!&quot;</p><p>&quot;All babies are miracles. But we have some special miracles,&quot; said Wanda Stogner, a cousin of Rebekah Markham.</p><p>One of the people who made Noah\'s birth possible joined the family shortly after Noah was born and was hugged by both grandmothers.</p><p>&quot;I\'m the guy who rescued the embryos,&quot; said Roman Pyrzak, lab director for The Fertility Institute of New Orleans.</p><p>When Katrina struck, the future Noah was one of 1,400 embryos frozen in canisters of liquid nitrogen at a hospital in eastern New Orleans.</p><p>Rebekah Markham, 32, had evacuated before the hurricane with their toddler, Glen Witter &quot;Witt&quot; Markham Jr. Her husband, a New Orleans police officer, stayed to work.</p><a name=\"1\"></a><a name=\"rv1\"></a><h3>Running from the storm</h3><p>Mother and son actually evacuated twice. The first time was to relatives\' about a half-hour from their home among 40-foot-tall pine trees in Covington.</p><p>But when the storm toppled trees and cut electricity across south Louisiana, that first refuge became a poor place to care for a toddler who had turned 1 only 10 days before Katrina, so they went to Rebekah Markham\'s sister\'s home in central Louisiana.</p><p>A cell phone text message -- &quot;R U OK?&quot; -- the day after the storm told her that her husband had survived.</p><p>He was stationed across the Mississippi River from flooded parts of the city. But it had its own dangers. One member of his squad was shot in the head on August 29 after confronting looters at a gas station.</p><p>Markham, 42, never got his wife\'s answer to his text query because his phone\'s battery was dead. &quot;It was about two weeks before I found out that they were OK,&quot; he said.</p><p>In the meantime, Pyrzak and Dr. Belinda &quot;Sissy&quot; Sartor of the Fertility Institute had led seven Illinois Conservation Police officers and three Louisiana State Police officers to the facility in flat-bottomed boats brought from Illinois.</p><p>Witt is also an in-vitro baby. His embryo was created at the same time as Noah\'s, but it was implanted immediately, while five others were frozen in case of miscarriage.</p><p>The Markhams aren\'t sure they\'ll have a third child.</p><p>&quot;I thought three would be the ideal number,&quot; Rebekah Markham has said. But her medical problems have required bed rest for the first three months of each pregnancy. &quot;And I was even more sick with this one than with Witt.&quot;</p><p>They also needed a lot of family help to take care of Witt, a boy who never seems to stop running. So any decision probably will be postponed until both children are in school.</p><p class=\"cnnSCAttribution\">Copyright 2007 The <a href=\"/interactive_legal.html#AP\">Associated Press</a>. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.</p><!--startclickprintexclude-->  ');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('931','1','<!--startclickprintinclude--><script language=\"JavaScript\" type=\"text/javascript\">var clickExpire = \"01/30/2007\";</script> <div id=\"cnnSCFontButtons\" class=\"cnn0pxTMargin\"><!--startclickprintexclude--><div id=\"cnnSCFontLabel\">Adjust font size:</div>\n<div id=\"cnnSCFontMinusBtn\" onclick=\"setActiveStyleSheet(\'default\'); return false;\"><img src=\"http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/1.5/story/misc/icon.minus.dim.gif\" border=\"0\" height=\"12\" width=\"18\" alt=\"Decrease font\" title=\"Decrease font\" class=\"cnnIncreaseFont\"><img src=\"http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/1.5/story/misc/icon.minus.gif\" border=\"0\" height=\"12\" width=\"18\" alt=\"Decrease font\" title=\"Decrease font\" class=\"cnnDecreaseFont\"></div>\n<div id=\"cnnSCFontPlusBtn\" onclick=\"setActiveStyleSheet(\'LargeFont\'); return false;\"><img src=\"http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/1.5/story/misc/icon.plus.gif\" border=\"0\" height=\"12\" width=\"18\" alt=\"Enlarge font\" title=\"Enlarge font\" class=\"cnnIncreaseFont\"><img src=\"http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/1.5/story/misc/icon.plus.dim.gif\" border=\"0\" height=\"12\" width=\"18\" alt=\"Enlarge font\" title=\"Enlarge font\" class=\"cnnDecreaseFont\"></div><!--endclickprintexclude--></div><p><b>NEW YORK</b> (Reuters) -- When it comes to apple juice, &quot;cloudier&quot; may mean healthier.</p><p>In a head-to-head comparison of apple juices, Polish researchers found that pulpy, non-clarified juice carried a greater antioxidant punch than clear juice. Antioxidants are compounds that neutralize free radicals, molecules that can damage body cells and contribute to disease.</p><p>Unlike cloudy apple juice, the much more common clear variety undergoes additional processing to remove any apple solids. Manufacturers typically think the public will favor the more attractive, clear juice over its cloudy cousin, and retailers prefer the clear variety for its longer shelf life.</p><p>But the new findings suggest that health-conscious consumers should reach for the cloudy variety, according to Dr. Jan Oszmianski, the study\'s lead author.</p><p>&quot;Cloudy apple juices contain much more antioxidant than clear,&quot; Oszmianski, a researcher at the Agricultural University of Wroclaw, Poland, told Reuters.</p><p>In fact, Oszmianski\'s team found, cloudy juice packed up to four times the level of polyphenols, a group of antioxidant plant compounds. And in experiments, cloudy juice was the more effective free radical &quot;scavenger,&quot; the researchers report in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture.</p><p>The findings are based on four juices that the study authors prepared themselves, using two varieties of apple -- Champion and Idared. Cloudy juice from Champion apples turned out to be the most antioxidant-rich, but clarification of either juice cut their antioxidant levels significantly.</p><p>The process, Oszmianski explained, involves using an enzyme that oxidizes the juice\'s antioxidants, particularly compounds called procyanidins.</p><p>But while cloudy apple juice may be a healthier choice than clear, it\'s still best to get your apples in the form nature made them.</p><p>&quot;It is better to eat whole apples with skins than drink the juice to get the most antioxidants,&quot; Oszmianski said.</p><p class=\"cnnSCAttribution\">Copyright 2007 <a href=\"/interactive_legal.html#Reuters\">Reuters</a>. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.</p><!--startclickprintexclude-->  ');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('932','1','<!--startclickprintinclude--><script language=\"JavaScript\" type=\"text/javascript\">var clickExpire = \"02/14/2007\";</script> <div id=\"cnnSCFontButtons\" class=\"cnn0pxTMargin\"><!--startclickprintexclude--><div id=\"cnnSCFontLabel\">Adjust font size:</div>\n<div id=\"cnnSCFontMinusBtn\" onclick=\"setActiveStyleSheet(\'default\'); return false;\"><img src=\"http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/1.5/story/misc/icon.minus.dim.gif\" border=\"0\" height=\"12\" width=\"18\" alt=\"Decrease font\" title=\"Decrease font\" class=\"cnnIncreaseFont\"><img src=\"http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/1.5/story/misc/icon.minus.gif\" border=\"0\" height=\"12\" width=\"18\" alt=\"Decrease font\" title=\"Decrease font\" class=\"cnnDecreaseFont\"></div>\n<div id=\"cnnSCFontPlusBtn\" onclick=\"setActiveStyleSheet(\'LargeFont\'); return false;\"><img src=\"http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/1.5/story/misc/icon.plus.gif\" border=\"0\" height=\"12\" width=\"18\" alt=\"Enlarge font\" title=\"Enlarge font\" class=\"cnnIncreaseFont\"><img src=\"http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/.element/img/1.5/story/misc/icon.plus.dim.gif\" border=\"0\" height=\"12\" width=\"18\" alt=\"Enlarge font\" title=\"Enlarge font\" class=\"cnnDecreaseFont\"></div><!--endclickprintexclude--></div><p><b>MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin</b> (AP)  -- A New York hospital is taking steps to offer the first uterus transplant in the United States, a radical experiment that might allow women whose wombs were removed or are defective to bear children.</p><p>The wombs would come from dead donors, just as most other organs for transplants do, and would be removed after the recipient gives birth so she would not need anti-rejection drugs her whole life.</p><p>The hospital\'s ethics board has conditionally approved the plans, although the hospital\'s president warned women not to get false hopes because a transplant is not expected &quot;any time in the near future.&quot;</p><p>However, several experts cautioned that much more research needs to be done before the procedure is actually attempted on a woman.</p><p>The New York doctors just did a six-month trial run, showing that wombs could be obtained from organ donors, and now are screening potential recipients.</p><p>&quot;I believe it\'s technically possible to do,&quot; said lead physician Dr. Giuseppe Del Priore.</p><p>However, even some scientists involved think they should produce more healthy offspring in animals before trying the procedure on women.</p><p>Others note that about a thousand women already have become pregnant after kidney, heart and other transplants, with generally good results. They view uterus transplants as a way to help women whose only option now for a biological child is through a surrogate mother.</p><p>&quot;If this is a passionate desire for a woman who\'s had surgical removal of a uterus, I would think this would be something she\'d really want to pursue,&quot; although the risks would have to be carefully weighed, said Julia Rowland, director of the National Cancer Institute\'s Office of Cancer Survivorship.</p><p>The transplant project is being led by Del Priore, a cancer specialist, and Dr. Jeanetta Stega, a gynecologic surgeon, at the New York Downtown Hospital, part of the New York-Presbyterian Health Care system.</p><a name=\"1\"></a><a name=\"rv2\"></a><h3>Transplants for quality of life</h3><p>Organ transplants usually are performed to save lives, but increasingly they are being done to improve quality of life. Hand transplants and the recent partial face transplant of a woman in France are examples.</p><p>Besides surgical complications that can prove fatal, the main risk in such operations is the need for lifelong immune-suppressing drugs to prevent organ rejection.</p><p>However, if a uterus had to be removed, it would be serious but probably not life-threatening like the loss of a liver or heart, proponents say.</p><p>A uterus transplant has only been attempted once -- in Saudi Arabia in 2000. That womb came from a live donor and had to be removed three months later because of a blood clot. Stega thinks that transplanting more blood vessels and using better anti-clotting drugs would lessen this risk.</p><p>Doctors in London and Hungary want to offer such transplants and several are working with Del Priore and Stega. Potential candidates include women born without a uterus, those with abnormal tissue growth called endometriosis, and women who lost a womb to non-cancerous tumors called fibroids.</p><p>Del Priore is interested in fertility preservation for cancer survivors.</p><p>&quot;Patients ask, \'Can anything else be done?&quot;\' he said.</p><p>Margaret Cieprisz was one. The Manhattan woman was diagnosed with ovarian cancer at age 38, a few months after she was married.</p><p>&quot;The fact that I wasn\'t going to be able to have children, it was an unbearable thought to have to accept,&quot; she said.</p><p>She delayed a hysterectomy to create embryos that later were implanted in her sister, who became a surrogate mom for her 2 1/2-year-old daughter, Natalie. If a uterus transplant were possible, &quot;I would have wanted to consider it,&quot; she said. &quot;I\'m so happy that I have a child, but I kind of missed out on something.&quot;</p><p>To be transplant candidates, women must have frozen embryos so there is no fertility issue complicating the chances of success, Del Priore said.</p><p>Anti-rejection drugs generally are not dangerous to a fetus although certain ones should be avoided, said Dr. Vincent Armenti, kidney transplant chief at Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia. He keeps a registry of pregnancies in transplant recipients throughout North America.</p><p>As of mid-2005, 990 transplant recipients had had 1,547 pregnancies with results not much worse than for the general population. Of the 772 pregnancies in kidney recipients, 590 births resulted (the rest miscarried or chose abortion). About half of the babies were born prematurely -- most only slightly -- and much of this was due to the mothers\' high blood pressure, not the transplant.</p><p>But some experts are wary.</p><a name=\"2\"></a><a name=\"rv1\"></a><h3>More research urged</h3><p>&quot;I think we have to learn quite a few things&quot; before proceeding, said Stefan Schlatt, a researcher at the University of Pittsburgh, where a failed uterus transplant recently was done in a Rhesus monkey. Scientists are preparing to try again. Others have been done in mice, rats, rabbits and pigs, with offspring only in rodents.</p><p>&quot;The whole thing is complicated. I think it\'s not really ready for prime time,&quot; said Dr. James Grifo, an infertility expert at New York University, who gave Del Priore a grant for rat research years ago.</p><p>The president of Del Priore\'s hospital, Dr. Bruce Logan, called the research &quot;exciting and promising,&quot; but warned: &quot;Every step in this long research process must be handled in a measured, prudent manner. Our first concern is always the safety of our patients.&quot;</p><p>The ethics board has approved the plans with the understanding it will reconsider once a patient is chosen.</p><p>&quot;We want them to approve the actual patient, not just the process,&quot; Stega said.</p><p>The cost is unknown but could top $500,000, including two weeks of hospitalization, Del Priore said. He expects the cost to be shared by the hospital, charities that support infertility research, the patient, and insurers who cover the embryo creation part.</p><p class=\"cnnSCAttribution\">Copyright 2007 The <a href=\"/interactive_legal.html#AP\">Associated Press</a>. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.</p><!--startclickprintexclude-->  ');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('933','1','\n\n\n	 <p>A 252-year-old botany text may seem an unlikely place to prospect for potential new medical treatments, but a team of scholars have done just that, and the effort may lead to the development of an important new <a href=\"http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/antibiotics/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier\" title=\"Recent and archival health news about antibiotics.\">antibiotic</a>. </p> \n<div id=\"articleInline\">\n<div id=\"inlineBox\"><a href=\"#secondParagraph\" class=\"jumpLink\">Skip to next paragraph</a>\n  \n  \n<div id=\"sidebarArticles\">\n<h4>Related</h4>\n<h3 class=\"promo\">Web Link</h3>\r\n<h2><a href=\"http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/333/7582/1314\" target=\"new\">Searching Historical Herbal Texts for Potential New Drugs</a> (BMJ)</h2>\n</div>\n   \n<div class=\"image\">\n<div class=\"enlargeThis\"><a href=\"javascript:pop_me_up2(\'http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2007/01/15/health/16herb.2.ready.html\', \'16herb_2_ready\', \'width=570,height=600,scrollbars=yes,toolbars=no,resizable=yes\')\">Enlarge This Image</a></div>\n<a href=\"javascript:pop_me_up2(\'http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2007/01/15/health/16herb.2.ready.html\', \'16herb_2_ready\', \'width=570,height=600,scrollbars=yes,toolbars=no,resizable=yes\')\">\n<IMG src=\"http://graphics.nytimes.com/images/2007/01/15/health/16herb2.190.jpg\" width=\"190\" height=\"240\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\">\n</a>\n<div class=\"credit\">Eric J. Buenz/Mayo Clinic</div>\n<p class=\"caption\">\n<b>OLD MEDICINE</b> In Samoa, atun tree leaves were prepared for analysis.  \n</p>\n</div>\n  \n<div class=\"image\">\n<IMG src=\"http://graphics.nytimes.com/images/2007/01/15/health/16herb.3.190.jpg\" width=\"190\" height=\"303\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\">\n<div class=\"credit\">Wangensteen Historical Library, University of Minnesota</div>\n<p class=\"caption\">\n</p>\n</div>\n   \n</div>\n</div><a name=\"secondParagraph\"></a>\n <p>The researchers are a diverse group: a physician, a neuroscientist, three botanists, a graduate student in molecular biology and an expert in Germanic languages.</p><p>The book they studied, ?he Ambonese Herbal,?was written by Georg Eberhard Rumpf, now known by the Latinized name Rumphius, an employee of the Dutch East India Company who spent most of his life documenting the properties and uses of the plants of Ambon, an island in Indonesia. The book was published in seven volumes from 1741 to 1755, nearly a half-century after Rumphius?death. </p><p>In some ways, it is a wonder that the work survived at all. In 1670, at the age of 42, Rumphius went blind. In 1687, his still unpublished manuscript and all of his illustrations were destroyed in a fire that swept through the European quarter of Ambon. Undaunted, he dictated a new version and commissioned artists to draw new illustrations. </p><p>Fortunately, the second time around he kept a copy of the manuscript. The original was lost when the ship carrying it back to the Netherlands was sunk by a French naval squadron. Still unfazed, Rumphius continued his work, finishing the last volume shortly before his death in 1702.</p><p>Eric J. Buenz, an ethnobotanist at the <a href=\"http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/m/mayo_clinic/index.html?inline=nyt-org\" title=\"More articles about Mayo Clinic\">Mayo Clinic</a> College of Medicine, led the team that wrote a <a href=\"http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/333/7582/1314\" target=\"new\" title=\"Read the Paper\">paper</a> about the text, published in the Dec. 23 issue of the British medical journal BMJ. First, Dr. Buenz had Eric M. Beekman, an emeritus professor of Germanic languages at the <a href=\"http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/u/university_of_massachusetts/index.html?inline=nyt-org\" title=\"More articles about University of Massachusetts\">University of Massachusetts</a>, translate the text into English from the original Dutch and Latin. </p><p>Then the researchers used a computer program to seek out possible medicinal compounds by picking out plant names, plant parts and their synonyms and varied spellings and connecting them with symptoms or disorders. They found a promising combination in Rumphius?description of the curative properties of Atuna racemosa, the atun tree.</p><p>The seeds of the tree, Rumphius wrote, ?ill halt all kinds of diarrhea, but very suddenly, forcefully and powerfully, so that one should use them with care in dysentery cases, because that illness or affliction should not be halted too quickly: and some considered this medicament a great secret, and relied on it completely.?</p><p>To Dr. Buenz, this sounded very much like the action of a drug on the bacterial flora of the intestines.</p><p>So the researchers organized an expedition to Samoa, where Dr. Buenz had done previous work with traditional healers and where the atun tree also grows. There was some initial difficulty in collecting specimens, because the tree, whose wood is highly resistant to rotting, is widely used on the island as building material.</p><p> ?e had to go pretty far back in the bush to find a grove of trees that was still growing,?Dr. Buenz said.<span class=\"bold\"> </span></p><p>Specimens finally in hand, the scientists began the laboratory work. They preserved the leaves and kernels in ethanol, and then prepared alcohol extracts of them. They added various concentrations of the potion to samples of four common bacteria: Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli. The extracts showed antibacterial effect specific to S. aureus and E. coli. The extract made from the kernels was even more effective than that made from the leaves. </p><p>Could a new antibiotic be developed from the plant? Dr. Buenz is hopeful, noting that preliminary data have shown that the extract is effective against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or M.R.S.A., a common and sometimes fatal hospital infection resistant to many antibiotics.</p><p>  M.R.S.A. infections acquired outside the hospital usually cause pimples, boils or other skin lesions.</p><p>Dr. Brent A. Bauer, an associate professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic and a co-author of the paper, said the work showed that ?e were able to validate what many people already believe, which is that some of this indigenous knowledge that has come down from generation to generation is actually valid.?/p><p>Dr. Bauer added, ?t? humbling.?/p><NYT_UPDATE_BOTTOM>\n</NYT_UPDATE_BOTTOM>\n');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('934','1','\n\n\n	 <p><span class=\"bold\"> </span>From the time I met her, she had a phlegmy cough, the kind that can linger for months after a bad cold. Her limbs rattled and her body quaked when she coughed, as if she were trying to expel an unwelcome intruder. Her doctors diagnosed <a href=\"http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/asthma/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier\" title=\"Recent and archival health news about asthma.\">asthma</a>, chronic but treatable. Though she was married to a doctor and had many physician friends, no one thought to question things further. It didn? help that she never complained. </p>      <p>She was one of my closest friends: good through and through, the kind of person you would guess was the teacher? pet, the teenager who always made it home before curfew. It made sense that she would be a model patient, following every doctor? directive to a T. </p><p>But it took two years, and tests and more tests, to pin down the reason for the cough: cystic fibrosis, the genetic disease that causes the body to produce a thick mucus that obstructs the lungs and digestive system. Eighty percent of the 30,000 Americans with cystic fibrosis get their diagnoses by age 3, but very rarely the disease waits until adulthood to strike.  </p><p>She tried her best to keep life as normal as possible ?remembering even to reapply her lipstick in her van? rear-view mirror before picking the kids up for carpool. It was hard to believe that someone so reliable, so there for everyone else, was so sick. </p><p>Things got worse, slowly. Over the next few years the coughing increased, but  she kept the beat to life? rhythm. She volunteered for school events, showed up for life? celebrations, was always there with kind words and a smile. </p><p>She wasn? always up to driving the 45 minutes it took to see her pulmonary specialist in Ann Arbor, Mich., a man whose eyes told me what she failed to see. She had lost a few pounds, and her test results weren? good. If she didn? put on some weight, the doctor told her, she would need to be hospitalized. As soon as she got home, she asked me to pour her a nutritional supplement. Ever the compliant patient, she finished every drop of the odious sludge. </p><p>That summer my husband and I vacationed in the Canadian Rockies. When we left for our trip, she was already walking with an oxygen tank, administering IV <a href=\"http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/antibiotics/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier\" title=\"Recent and archival health news about antibiotics.\">antibiotics</a> at home. </p><p>I called often, and learned from her sister-in-law that she was in the hospital again. I was traveling in Alberta, from Lake Louise to Banff, swallowing deep gulps of pristine air while my close friend was nearly choking back home. I cried, and asked her sister-in-law if I needed to return home. No, she said. But the image of my beautiful friend, lying in the hospital believing that she would be all right, kept intruding: even the brilliant white glaciers looked gray. </p><p>One of her great strengths, her positive view of life, clouded her ability to see what was happening. No one discussed ?hat if,?but during our summer travels, I came to terms with the possibility of the most terrible outcome. I hoped I was wrong. I told no one but my husband, who understood my devastation each time I  saw my friend,  who by this time could barely catch her breath between words. </p><p>The last time I saw her, she was in the hospital, moored to a ventilator, waiting to be airlifted to California for a live-donor lung transplant. The walls of her room were decorated with cards and drawings by her young children, and she wrote out what she could no longer say. </p><p>I was afraid that she would sense the effort behind my smile. As I left, she gave me two thumbs up, and I kissed her blanketed leg and told her, ? love you.?</p><p>In California, her left lung was replaced by her husband? left upper lobe; her right lung by her brother? right lower lobe. Her recovering husband was beside her when she died soon after, from a virulent fungal infection. That was six years ago. </p><p>At that time, cadaver lungs were in short supply and <a href=\"http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/transplants/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier\" title=\"Recent and archival health news about transplants.\">organ transplants</a> were given to those who had waited the longest. In May 2005, the rules changed and the sickest patients received priority.</p><p>Had these changes been carried out earlier, chances are that this wife, mother, sister, daughter and friend would have gotten a transplant much sooner ?and perhaps survived, as she always believed she would. She died too soon, at 44, but I know she would have celebrated the progress that has saved other lives. </p><NYT_UPDATE_BOTTOM>\n</NYT_UPDATE_BOTTOM>\n');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('935','1','\n\n\n	 <p>In October 1993, during a Senate hearing on a bill to regulate herbs, <a href=\"http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/vitamins/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier\" title=\"Recent and archival health news about vitamins.\">vitamins</a> and other <a href=\"http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/dietarysupplementsandherbalremedies/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier\" title=\"Recent and archival health news about dietary supplements and herbal remedies.\">dietary supplements</a> on the presumption that they were safe, Senator <a href=\"http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/h/orrin_g_hatch/index.html?inline=nyt-per\" title=\"More articles about Orrin G. Hatch.\">Orrin G. Hatch</a>, Republican of Utah, spoke up in their defense. Herbal remedies ?ave been on the market for centuries,?he  said, adding: ?n fact, most of these have been on the market for 4,000 years, and the real issue is risk. And there is not much risk in any of these products.?/p>      <p>That benign view was written into the bill when it was passed by both houses the following year. While the law, the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994, forbade manufacturers to claim that their products ?reat, cure or prevent?any disease, it allowed them to make vaguer claims based on a standard that did not require them to do any testing. And it stated that ?ietary supplements are safe within a broad range of intake, and safety problems with the supplements are relatively rare.?/p><p>But hiding in plain sight, then as now, a national database was steadily accumulating strong evidence that some supplements carry risks of injury and death, and that children may be particularly vulnerable.  </p><p>Since 1983, the American Association of Poison Control Centers has kept statistics on reports of poisonings for every type of substance, including dietary supplements. That first year, there were 14,006 reports related to the use of vitamins, minerals, essential oils  ?which are not classified as a dietary supplement but are widely sold in supplement stores for a variety of uses ?and homeopathic remedies. Herbs were not categorized that year, because they were rarely used then. </p><p>By 2005, the number had grown ninefold: 125,595 incidents were reported related to vitamins, minerals, essential oils, herbs and other supplements. In all, over the 23-year span, the association ?a national organization of state and local poison centers ?has received more than 1.6 million reports of adverse reactions to such products, including 251,799 that were serious enough to require hospitalization. From 1983 to 2004 there were 230 reported deaths from supplements, with the yearly numbers rising from 4 in 1994, the year the supplement bill passed, to a record 27 in 2005. </p><p>The number of deaths may be far higher. In April 2004, the <a href=\"http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/f/food_and_drug_administration/index.html?inline=nyt-org\" title=\"More articles about the U.S. Food And Drug Administration.\">Food and Drug Administration</a> said it had received 260 reports of deaths associated with herbs and other nonvitamin, nonmineral supplements since 1989. But an unpublished study prepared in 2000 for the agency by Dr. Alexander M. Walker, then the chairman of epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health, concluded: ? best estimate is that less than 1 percent of serious adverse events caused by dietary supplements is reported to the F.D.A. The true proportion may well be smaller by an order of magnitude or more.?/p><p>The supplements linked to the most reactions in 2005, according to the poison control centers, were ordinary vitamins, accounting for nearly half of all the reports received that year, 62,446, including 1 death. Minerals were linked to about half as many total reports, 32,098, but that number included 13 deaths. Herbs and other specialty products accounted for still fewer total reports, 23,769, but 13 deaths. Essential oils were linked to 7,282 reports and no deaths. </p><p>Among herbs and other specialty products, melatonin and homeopathic products ?prepared from minuscule amounts of substances as diverse as salt and snake venom ? had the most reports of reactions in 2005. The poison centers received 2,001 reports of reactions to melatonin, marketed as a sleep aid, including 535 hospitalizations and 4 deaths. Homeopathic products, often marketed as being safe because the doses are very low, were linked to 7,049 reactions, including 564 hospitalizations and 2 deaths. </p><p>But most other types of herbs and specialty supplements also appear in the annual report. In 2005, the poison centers received 203 reports of adverse reactions to St. John? wort, including 79 hospitalizations and 1 death. Glucosamine, with or without chondroitin, was linked to 813 adverse reactions, including 108 hospitalizations and 1 death. Echinacea was linked to 483 adverse reactions, including 55 hospitalizations, 1 of them considered life-threatening. Saw palmetto was not listed on the report. </p><div id=\"pageLinks\"><ul id=\"pageNumbers\"><li> 1 </li><li> <a onClick=\"s_code_linktrack(\'Article-MultiPagePageNum2\');\" title=\"Page 2\" href=\"?pagewanted=2&_r=5\">2</a> </li></ul><a class=\"next\" onClick=\"s_code_linktrack(\'Article-MultiPage-Next\');\" \n             title=\"Next Page\"\n             href=\"?pagewanted=2&_r=5\">Next Page &#x00bb;</a></div><NYT_AUTHOR_ID><p id=\"authorId\">Dan Hurley is the author of the new book ?atural Causes: Death, Lies and Politics in America? Vitamin and Herbal Supplement Industry?(Broadway Books), from which this essay is adapted.</p></NYT_AUTHOR_ID><NYT_UPDATE_BOTTOM>\n</NYT_UPDATE_BOTTOM>\n');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('936','1','\n\n\n	 <p>The big news in the war on cervical <a href=\"http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/cancer/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier\" title=\"Recent and archival health news about cancer.\">cancer</a> is the new vaccine recently approved to prevent the disease. But another major change that will affect millions of women is also under way, though more slowly and quietly. </p> \n<div id=\"articleInline\">\n<div id=\"inlineBox\"><a href=\"#secondParagraph\" class=\"jumpLink\">Skip to next paragraph</a>\n  \n   \n<div class=\"image\">\n<IMG src=\"http://graphics.nytimes.com/images/2007/01/16/science/pap1.190.jpg\" width=\"190\" height=\"240\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\">\n<div class=\"credit\">Justin Steele for The New York Times</div>\n<p class=\"caption\">\n<strong>SHIFTS</strong> &#147;We can potentially change the entire cervical screening paradigm,&#148; said Dr. Thomas Wright. \n</p>\n</div>\n  \n<div id=\"inlineMultimedia\">\n<h4>Multimedia</h4>\n<div class=\"story first\">\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<a href=\"javascript:pop_me_up2(\'http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2007/01/15/health/20070116_PAP_GRAPHIC.html\', \'579_531\', \'width=579,height=531,location=no,scrollbars=yes,toolbars=no,resizable=yes\')\">\n<IMG src=\"http://graphics.nytimes.com/images/2007/01/15/health/cacner190.jpg\" height=\"126\" width=\"190\" alt=\"Preventing Cervical Cancer\" border=\"0\"><span class=\"mediaType graphic\">Graphic</span>\n</a>\n\n\n<h2>\n\n<a href=\"javascript:pop_me_up2(\'http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2007/01/15/health/20070116_PAP_GRAPHIC.html\', \'579_531\', \'width=579,height=531,location=no,scrollbars=yes,toolbars=no,resizable=yes\')\" >Preventing Cervical Cancer</a>\n\n</h2>\n<div class=\"clear\"></div>\n</div>\n</div>\n  \n<div class=\"image\">\n<IMG src=\"http://graphics.nytimes.com/images/2007/01/15/health/pap2.190.jpg\" width=\"190\" height=\"240\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\">\n<div class=\"credit\">Jim Wilson/The New York Times</div>\n<p class=\"caption\">\nA robot at a Kaiser Permanente laboratory in Berkeley, Calif., manages specimens for genetic HPV tests. \n</p>\n</div>\n  \n</div>\n</div><a name=\"secondParagraph\"></a>\n <p>The Pap smear, an annual ritual for many women and the mainstay of cervical cancer prevention for more than half a century, may start to fade in importance. </p><p>It will not disappear for many more years, if ever. But a newer genetic test that detects <a href=\"http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/humanpapillomavirushpv/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier\" title=\"Recent and archival health news about human papilloma virus (HPV).\">human papillomavirus</a>, or HPV, which causes cervical cancer, is starting to play a bigger role in screening. And other genetic tests are being developed. At the least, some experts say, women will no longer need Pap smears as often. </p><p>?e can potentially change the entire cervical screening paradigm,?said Dr. Thomas C. Wright, a professor of pathology at <a href=\"http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/c/columbia_university/index.html?inline=nyt-org\" title=\"More articles about Columbia University.\">Columbia University Medical Center</a>  who is also a consultant for Roche, which is developing a genetic HPV test. </p><p>The new vaccine could also deal a longer-term blow to Pap testing, which works by detecting abnormal cells from the cervix that could be on their way to becoming cancerous. It is not that women would no longer need screening because they had been vaccinated. The vaccine, approved only for girls and women 9 to 26 years old, does not protect against all strains of HPV that cause cancer. </p><p>If a precancerous lesion is present, the Pap test will detect it only 50 percent to 80 percent of the time. Pap testing is effective only because it is done often; a lesion can take 10 years to turn into a cancer, so a yearly test will probably find it in time. </p><p>As more women get the HPV vaccine, however, the number of lesions will decline, making the Pap test more costly per cancer case detected. And with fewer problems to detect, said Dr. Eduardo L. Franco, a professor of epidemiology and oncology at McGill University, the technicians who read Pap smears may lower their guard ?and their accuracy. </p><p>Pap testing ?s going to break down in a world in which <a href=\"http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/vaccinationandimmunization/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier\" title=\"Recent and archival health news about vaccination and immunization.\">vaccination</a> decreases the prevalence of lesions,?said Dr. Franco, who said he had done some minor consulting for genetic test developers. Referring to the accuracy of Pap testing, he added, ?t? already bad enough, and it? going to get worse.?</p><p>But Pap testing has its strong defenders, who question the value of the genetic test for HPV. Some gynecologists say having women come for annual Pap testing brings them in for other needed examinations. And there is a huge industry built up to provide the screening. </p><p>?he perception is that the annual Pap smear drives volume,?said Dr. Walter Kinney, a gynecological oncologist at Kaiser Permanente, the health maintenance organization. ? don? see anyone raising their hand volunteering to give that up.?</p><p>At Kaiser, where doctors?pay does not depend on customer volume, the genetic HPV test is offered with Pap testing to every woman 30 and older. If both tests are negative, a woman does not come back for further screening for three years. The savings from less frequent screening more than pay for the extra cost of the HPV test, Dr. Kinney said. </p><p>Kaiser? testing laboratory in Berkeley, Calif., processes 300,000 to 500,000 cervical specimens a year. A robotic arm rapidly retrieves particular specimens from cold storage for testing and disposes of others when they are no longer needed. </p><p>The most recent guidelines from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, issued in 2003, suggested that some women over 30 do not need annual Pap tests, but many doctors and patients have resisted that idea. </p><p>?ometimes you advocate that strategy, but the woman comes back the next year almost demanding the Pap smear,?said Dr. Juan Felix, a professor of pathology and of obstetrics and gynecology at the <a href=\"http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/u/university_of_southern_california/index.html?inline=nyt-org\" title=\"More articles about University of Southern California\">University of Southern California</a>. ?omen have been sort of mentally trained to come to get their annual test.?</p><p>Pap testing is named for Dr. George N. Papanicolaou, who developed the test at Cornell Medical School. It started to become widely used in the 1950s. </p><p>Cells are scraped from the surface of the cervix, spread on a microscope slide and examined for abnormalities that could indicate a precancerous lesion. If found and confirmed by further examination, the lesions can be removed by any of several techniques. </p><p>Pap testing has cut cervical cancer rates by 75 percent or more in nations with thorough screening. In the United States, there are now  about 10,000 cases of cervical cancer each year and 4,000 deaths. More than half the cases are in women who do not undergo screening. </p><p>?t is one of the greatest public health interventions in terms of sheer success and lives saved,?said Philip E. Castle, an expert on cervical cancer screening at the <a href=\"http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/n/national_cancer_institute/index.html?inline=nyt-org\" title=\"More articles about National Cancer Institute\">National Cancer Institute</a>. </p><p>But while successful, Dr. Castle said, Pap screening is ?ot very efficient,?costing billions of dollars a year. And it does miss cancer cases. A study of women with cervical cancer, conducted among members of seven health plans and published in The Journal of the National Cancer Institute in 2005, found that 32 percent had had one or more normal Pap tests in the three years before the diagnosis. </p><p>B. K. Cockrell, 57, a homemaker in Troup, Tex., was one woman who got cancer despite a series of normal Pap tests. In 2005, her gynecologist, Dr. A. Jay Staub of Dallas, also began giving the HPV genetic test, which gave a positive reading. Further examination showed that Ms. Cockrell had cancer, which was caught early enough to be removed by a hysterectomy without the need for <a href=\"http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/chemotherapy/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier\" title=\"Recent and archival health news about chemotherapy.\">chemotherapy</a> or <a href=\"http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/radiation/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier\" title=\"Recent and archival health news about radiation.\">radiation</a>. </p><p>? believe I would be extremely ill today?if not for the HPV test, she said. </p><p>A newer form of Pap testing called liquid cytology, which spreads the cells more evenly on a slide, is said by some cytologists to be more sensitive, though some published studies contradict that. </p><div id=\"pageLinks\"><ul id=\"pageNumbers\"><li> 1 </li><li> <a onClick=\"s_code_linktrack(\'Article-MultiPagePageNum2\');\" title=\"Page 2\" href=\"?pagewanted=2&_r=5\">2</a> </li></ul><a class=\"next\" onClick=\"s_code_linktrack(\'Article-MultiPage-Next\');\" \n             title=\"Next Page\"\n             href=\"?pagewanted=2&_r=5\">Next Page &#x00bb;</a></div><NYT_UPDATE_BOTTOM>\n</NYT_UPDATE_BOTTOM>\n');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('937','1','\n\n\n	 <p><span class=\"bold\">THE FACTS</span>  It may be among the most unpleasant aspects of <a href=\"http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/pregnancy/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier\" title=\"Recent and archival health news about pregnancy.\">pregnancy</a>, but can <a href=\"http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/morningsickness/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier\" title=\"Recent and archival health news about morning sickness.\">morning sickness</a> also indicate a lower risk of miscarriage?</p> \n<div id=\"articleInline\">\n<div id=\"inlineBox\"><a href=\"#secondParagraph\" class=\"jumpLink\">Skip to next paragraph</a>\n  \n   \n<div class=\"image\">\n<IMG src=\"http://graphics.nytimes.com/images/2007/01/15/health/16real.190.jpg\" width=\"190\" height=\"167\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\">\n<div class=\"credit\">Leif Parsons</div>\n<p class=\"caption\">\n</p>\n</div>\n  \n<div id=\"inlineReadersOpinion\">\n<h4>Readers&#8217; Opinions</h4>\n<div class=\"story\">\n<h2>\n<a href=\"http://forums.nytimes.com/top/opinion/readersopinions/forums/health/parenting/index.html?page=recent\">Forum: Parenting</a>\n</h2>\n<p class=\"summary\"></p>\n</div>\n</div>\n   \n</div>\n</div><a name=\"secondParagraph\"></a>\n <p>A widespread belief holds that morning sickness can be a sort of blessing in disguise, or at least a favorable sign. Many dismiss this notion as folklore, but studies suggest that the truth is not so clear-cut.</p><p>Studies have shown a lower rate of miscarriage among women with nausea and vomiting of any severity during pregnancy. The most recent, published in The International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology in 2006, found that of 7,000 women studied,  those who had nausea in the first three months were far less likely to miscarry. That appeared to support a study by the <a href=\"http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/n/national_institutes_of_health/index.html?inline=nyt-org\" title=\"More articles about National Institutes of Health, U.S.\">National Institutes of Health</a> that  found that women who had morning sickness in the first four months of pregnancy were 30 percent less likely to miscarry.</p><p>The reasons are unclear. Increased nausea and vomiting are associated with higher levels of a hormone produced by healthy placental tissue, and one theory suggests that the sickness may help women avoid foods that could harm a developing fetus.</p><p>But many women have normal pregnancies with no morning sickness, and many miscarry without getting sick. And many studies have failed to find any relationship between morning sickness and other adverse outcomes, like stillbirth and birth defects.</p><p> <span class=\"bold\">THE BOTTOM LINE</span> Morning sickness is associated with a lower rate of miscarriage, though it is not necessarily a sign of a healthy pregnancy.</p><p>ANAHAD O?ONNOR</p><p>scitimes@<a href=\"http://nytimes.com\" target=\"_\">nytimes.com</a></p><NYT_TAGLINE>\n<p><i><a href=\"mailto:scitimes@nytimes.com\">scitimes@nytimes.com</a></i></p>\n</NYT_TAGLINE><NYT_UPDATE_BOTTOM>\n</NYT_UPDATE_BOTTOM>\n');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('938','1','\n\n\n	 <p>The problem is undeniable: American children, and especially American teenagers, are fatter than ever. The prevalence of teenage <a href=\"http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/obesity/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier\" title=\"Recent and archival health news about obesity.\">obesity</a> has tripled in the last 30 years, according to Dianne Neumark-Sztainer, the author of ??, Like, So Fat.?Fifteen percent of teenage girls and boys are overweight, and another 15 percent to 20 percent are at risk of joining them.</p> \n<div id=\"articleInline\">\n<div id=\"inlineBox\"><a href=\"#secondParagraph\" class=\"jumpLink\">Skip to next paragraph</a>\n  \n  \n<div id=\"sidebarArticles\">\n<h4>Related</h4>\n<h2>\n\n\n<a href=\"http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/16/health/16bbox.html\" >Are You Ready to Lose?</a>\n\n(January 16, 2007)\n</h2>\n<h2>\n\n\n<a href=\"http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/16/health/16brodyside.html\" >Behind the Success Stories: Adults Who Help but Don? Nag</a>\n\n(January 16, 2007)\n</h2>\n</div>\n<div id=\"inlineReadersOpinion\">\n<h4>Readers&#8217; Opinions</h4>\n<div class=\"story\">\n<h2>\n<a href=\"http://forums.nytimes.com/top/opinion/readersopinions/forums/health/fitnessandnutrition/index.html?page=recent\">Forum: Fitness and Nutrition</a>\n</h2>\n<p class=\"summary\"></p>\n</div>\n</div>\n    \n</div>\n</div><a name=\"secondParagraph\"></a>\n <p>Furthermore, wrote Dr. Neumark-Sztainer, who studies teenage eating behaviors at the <a href=\"http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/u/university_of_minnesota/index.html?inline=nyt-org\" title=\"More articles about University of Minnesota\">University of Minnesota</a> School of Public Health,  <a href=\"http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/diet/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier\" title=\"Recent and archival health news about diet and nutrition.\">dieting</a> has been found to lead to weight gain among teenagers, and more than half of teenage girls and nearly a third of teenage boys use unhealthy weight-control behaviors, like skipping meals, <a href=\"http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/smoking/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier\" title=\"Recent and archival health news about smoking.\">smoking</a> cigarettes, vomiting or taking laxatives. </p><p>Enter Anne M. Fletcher, author of the newly published ?eight Loss Confidential,?a study of how 104 overweight preteens and teenagers ?41 boys and 63 girls ?lost significant amounts of weight and maintained their losses for two years or longer. The average loss  was 58 pounds, with 26 of the participants having lost 75 pounds or more and 14 having lost 100 pounds or more. The losses become even more meaningful when you realize that many of the youngsters  grew taller as they were losing weight.</p><p>When they were questioned by Ms. Fletcher, a registered dietitian from Mankato, Minn., these ?ig losers?had successfully managed their new weight for just over three years on average, with 22 for at least four years and 14 for at least five. So this is not the story of a quick-fix solution to a lifelong problem. </p><p>Many of these youngsters had tried fad diets and  weight-loss gimmicks, only to regain what they lost and then some. They succeeded only after coming to terms with their self-destructive eating habits and sedentary ways, and making permanent changes in how they deal with food  and how they move their bodies. </p><p>This survey by Ms. Fletcher, who also  wrote ?hin for Life,?a study of 100 adults who had lost 30 or more pounds and maintained their losses for three or more years, shatters several myths about teenage weight loss, among them that children of overweight parents cannot lose weight.  </p><p>The adolescents  in her book, from across the United States and  Canada, lost weight against heavy odds. At least 60 came from overweight families, with 23 having two overweight parents. More than half had been overweight since age 10 or before. Seventy  percent said they had lost and regained weight multiple times. Few followed restrictive diets (occasional desserts and fast-food forays were allowed). And nearly all lost weight without developing an <a href=\"http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/eatingdisorders/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier\" title=\"Recent and archival health news about eating disorders.\">eating disorder</a> or adopting some other unhealthy habit like smoking or obsessive exercise.</p><p><span class=\"bold\">Why They Changed</span></p><p>A look at the reasons the teenagers gave for gaining weight helps in understanding the steps they took to reverse the process. At least three-fourths of the youngsters listed ?oo much snacking,??ortion sizes too large?and ?ot enough exercise?as their main reasons for weight gain. Other reasons checked by at least one-quarter of the participants were ?te too many sweets and desserts,??motional causes like eating when lonely, bored or sad,??pent too much time in front of the TV, computer, and/or video games,??te too much fast food,??t runs in my family?and ?oo many fattening foods served at home.?/p><p>Ms. Fletcher does not necessarily blame parents for their children? weight problems. After all, one of the study participants was her son Wes, who said that part of the problem was that his parents  did everything ?ight.?But clearly many families needed to make  changes in the foods they bought, how they cooked, how food was served and where they ate. </p><p>Most important, though, was a change in how the youngsters felt about their weight and about the role that food and exercise (or lack thereof) played in their lives. </p><p>Ms. Fletcher was surprised that health was cited as often as appearance in  deciding once and for all to lose weight. </p><p> ?y main concern was to become healthier,?said Taylor S., who once weighed 250 pounds and lost 100 pounds over two years. ? didn? want to die in my 40s because of my eating habits.?</p><p>Angel W., who had high <a href=\"http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/bloodpressure/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier\" title=\"Recent and archival health news about blood pressure.\">blood pressure</a> when she weighed 240 pounds, brought it down to normal without drugs by losing 65 pounds.</p><p>Of course, appearance mattered a lot to these teenagers, many of whom wanted to be more attractive to the opposite sex and be able to wear fashionable clothes. Improving self-esteem and being free from teasing and ridicule were other common motivations for weight loss. And about a quarter of the participants said  their weight was holding them back from doing what they wanted, including participating in sports.</p><p>Ms. Fletcher warns that to succeed at lasting weight loss, teenagers ?like adults ?have to be truly ready to come to grips with their weight problem. She quotes Sari M.: ?nless you want to do something about your weight for good reasons, you probably won? stick with it. If you?e happy with the way you look ?or you?e not unhappy enough with it to do something about it ?then let it be. You?l only feel worse about yourself afterward if you don? succeed.?/p><p>Over and over, the teenagers told Ms. Fletcher that the motivation  had to come from within. Nagging by parents or nasty comments from coaches  only prompted many of the youngsters to eat more.</p><p><span class=\"bold\">How They Did It</span></p><p>The study participants took one of two routes to weight control: 49 slimmed down on their own, and 52 succeeded with the help of a health care professional (usually a dietitian) or a program (such as a summer camp for overweight teens, Weight Watchers or TOPS). Two in this group who had serious weight-related health problems underwent bariatric surgery to correct their obesity. Three others started losing on their own, then joined a program to reach their goals. </p><p>Leading the pack of slimming strategies was exercise or becoming more active, listed by 86 of the participants as their main route to a healthier weight. The most popular activities were running, walking and lifting weights. Next was cutting back on high-fat foods, listed by 48; going on a diet, 47; cutting out certain foods, 42; counting calories, 29; eating all foods, but  less of them, 26; skipping meals, 14; using a liquid supplement or energy bar as a meal replacement, 11; using weight-loss drugs, 5; fasting, 3; and smoking cigarettes, 1. None used  measures like vomiting or laxatives.</p><p>All the successful losers restructured their eating habits. They learned to eat when they were hungry and to stop eating when satisfied. Dishing up smaller portions, eating filling foods that were low in calories and eating fewer foods high in fat were popular strategies.</p><p>Many avoided a sense of deprivation by allowing themselves a treat now and then. When out with friends, they tried to choose foods that were healthier and less caloric. Although relatively few counted calories, many started reading nutrition labels and became more aware of the caloric and nutrient value of the foods they regularly ate.  </p><p>Keeping off the weight they lost was sometimes harder than losing it. Strategies included exercising regularly; weighing themselves weekly and cutting back if they gained; learning more about nutrition; and paying closer attention to biological  ? as opposed to psychological  ? hunger.</p><p><span class=\"bold\"> </span></p><NYT_UPDATE_BOTTOM>\n</NYT_UPDATE_BOTTOM>\n');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('939','1','<table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\"><tr><td width=\"10\"></td><td width=\"98%\"><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"98%\" valign=\"top\"><tr><td><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><font size=\"+2\" color=\"551E1B\">Parenting strains readers\' friendships</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>Both mothers and child-free women chafe at changing dynamics</b><br></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"></td></tr></table><font size=\"-2\"><div class=\"textMedBlack\">MSNBC</div><p></p></font><p>When we asked how kids affected women\'s friendships, as either parents or child-free friends of them, you jumped in with laments ranging from resigned (\"we can never go back to where we were\") to graphic (\"babies ooze yuck out of every orifice\").</p><p>Both sides expressed anger and frustration. \"Babysitting your children is the best birth control method ever,\" one child-free woman writes. A mom declares, \"There is simply no longer room in my life for people who do not understand what I am dealing with.\"</p><p>Sometimes the anecdotes reflected a happy balance between new responsibilities and old kinships (\"my friendship has gotten stronger through my pregnancy\"). Even the men chimed in, proving that dads both single and married face similar challenges in maintaining friendships.</p><p>Here are a few of your responses:</p><p><em>Shortly after I became pregnant with my first child my very good friend who had recently had a later-term miscarriage told me that she could no longer be my friend. Being newly pregnant and hormonal I blew up at her, and we are no longer friends. I heard through someone else that she found out she was pregnant again shortly after that, but the damage has been done, and we can never go back to where we were.</em> <br><b><strong>- TH, Austin, Texas</strong></b></p><p><em>Don\'t be party to the \"mommy/daddy mafia.\" Please stop telling the rest of us, with or without children, how \"talented, smart, pretty, handsome . . .\" your child is unless we ask. . . And, no, I don\'t want to hold the baby. I enjoy children and news about children like I enjoy alcoholic beverages, in moderation. And please don\'t tell me how selfish my spouse and I are for not having children; babysitting your children is the best birth control method ever. <br></em><b><strong>- Anonymous</strong></b></p><p><em>When I became a stay-at-home mom, I felt that I was the one ditched by my childless friends - not the other way around. People who throw around names like \"mommy mafia\" hardly strike me as caring people that might sympathize with the demands of being a new mom (or a parent in general). Being a parent is wonderful, but sometimes people who don\'t experience it will never fully understand just how hard it can be.</em> <br><em><b><strong>- Anonymous</strong></b></em></p><p><em>I am 39, and my husband of 10 years and I made the choice to remain child-free. I have felt hurt and disappointment from some of my friends who once they had a child seemed to stop ever putting themselves first. I know a child is a big deal and admire that they care, but when one friend (who has an 18-month-old) still refuses to ever get a sitter or keep him out past 7 p.m., the rigidity of that is something I can\'t deal with. Another friend wants to only talk about how advanced, smart and wonderful her child is. I wonder if she\'d like to hear all that about my dogs? <br></em><b><strong>- Michelle Kissel, Tustin, Calif.</strong></b></p><p><em>My friendship has gotten stronger through my pregnancy. My friend couldn\'t get pregnant, so I always let her babysit my daughter whenever I needed a sitter, and she felt really involved!</em> <br><b><strong>- Kaylyn, Blakely, Ga.</strong></b></p><p><em>I lost one friend because she could not have kids and just couldn\'t stand to see me have three while she couldn\'t get pregnant. However, most of my other childless friends are still close to me. That is because I make the effort to plan things with them and keep our child talk to a minimum. It\'s fine to catch up your friends with what\'s going on with your children, but if that\'s the bulk of your conversation, they\'re going to tune you out.</em> <br><b><strong>- JMc</strong></b></p><p><em>Don\'t forget us grannies get the cold shoulder, too. I don\'t wear a sign that says, \"I\'m a granny and you\'e not, so stuff it!\" But there is lots of jealousy. It is very uncomfortable.</em> <br><b><strong>- Charlotte, Cathedral City, Calif.</strong></b></p><p><em>I have two boys and my biggest obstacle is that they are now older, 6 years old and 8 years old, and many of my friends are still having babies. It seems my husband and I are left out because most of our friends are having three or more children. When all the girls get together, it seems that all we talk about is babies. I love my children dearly, but I am totally past the baby phase and would like to have some adult conversation. </em><br><b><strong>- Jennifer, Springfield, Ill.</strong></b></p><p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"460\"><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" border=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr height=\"20\"><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#666666\">&nbsp;Click for related content</b></font></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"5\" cellpadding=\"0\" bordercolor=\"#cccccc\" border=\"0\" style=\"border-top:solid 1px #cccccc;border-bottom:solid 1px #cccccc;background-color:#ffffff;\" bgcolor=\"#ffffff\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\" cellpadding=\"0\" class=\"headlineList2\"><tr></tr></table></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"8\"><tr><td style=\"padding:8px;\"><font class=\"bigRedLink\"><ul><li><a href=\"/id/16491375/\">Baby makes 3: How kids rattle friendships</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/16549192/\">Vote: Has parenthood impacted your friendships?</a></li><li><a href=\"http://boards.msn.com/MSNBCboards/thread.aspx?ThreadID=165847\">Discuss: How do you balance friends and family?</a>?/li></ul></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"\" bordercolor=\"\" border=\"0\" style=\"background-color:#eeeeee;\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr><td style=\"\"><font class=\"textSmall\" color=\"#000000\"></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></p><p><em>Don\'t forget about stay-at-home dads or single dads as I am. We experience very much the same thing only we have to learn to make the gender stretch in making new friendships since there are fewer of us. I find myself meeting moms on the sidewalk and discovering this bond were we immediately start discussing the latest rash or potty victories. My guy friends don\'t have many of these kid talking points and I have long since lost any capability to keep up with sports scores, books and the latest high-tech. I find I\'ve essentially lost most of my close friends, but those who have stayed in touch and actually volunteered to help out have become a significant part of my life, and my kiddo a significant part of theirs. We all win.</em> <br><b><strong>- J. Gregory Barton, Washington, D.C.</strong></b></p><p><em>What made me quit calling my friend once she had her babies was the sheer nastiness of watching someone deal with a third party\'s personal needs. Did you know that babies ooze yuck out of every orifice on their bodies? Pooh from the bottom, throw-up from the top, mucus, snot, you name it, they excreted it. You also have the smells and the noises that babies make during the excretion. EEEWWWW! Then there\'s the issues of public nursing, changing the little poop machines on a park bench, the sheer amount of paraphernalia needed for each kid, and dealing with grubby little hands on other peoples bags or parcels.</em> <br><b><strong>- Mary, Atlanta</strong></b></p><p><em>(Childless women) seem to be in a much more self-centered phase of life where they have all the time in the world to spend on whatever they choose, and they tend to expect you to keep them at the top of your priority list or just shift a child around like they do with their nail salon appointments, in order to accommodate them. But motherhood doesn\'t work that way. It is almost impossible to explain this to a childless woman. . . . Yes, I\'ve lost friends, but it was meant to be. There is simply no longer room in my life for people who do not understand what I am dealing with.</em> <br><b><strong>- Teresa Woo, Watchung, N.J.</strong></b></p><p><em>My husband and I have decided to not have children, but ALL of our friends do. I have been given books on the wonders of parenting, been prayed for, and given names of therapists by friends that think I should have kids and something is wrong with me for not wanting them. I love children and am comfortable with my decision, but many of my friends are not. This has put a strain on our relationships. They are suddenly not able to talk about anything other than their children, and now they have new friends (other mommies) that take up their free time. </em><br><b><strong>- Kim Campolattaro, South Carolina</strong></b></p><div class=\"textBodyBlack\" style=\"clear:both;\"><i><em>?2007 MSNBC Interactive</em></i></div><br>');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('940','1','<table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\"><tr><td width=\"10\"></td><td width=\"98%\"><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"98%\" valign=\"top\"><tr><td><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><font size=\"+2\" color=\"551E1B\">Antiviral may ease chronic fatigue symptoms</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>Small study suggests drug might treat difficult-to-diagnose condition</b><br></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"></td></tr></table><font size=\"-2\"><a href=\"http://www.reuters.com/\"><a href=\"http://www.reuters.com/\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia3.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Sources/sourceReuters.gif\" height=\"20\" width=\"140\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"></a></a><p></p></font><p>BOSTON - Shortly after hiking the Grand Canyon with his wife in 1988, Michael Manson, the co-founder of PetSmart Inc., came down with what felt like the flu. So did business partner Jim Dougherty. The illness changed their lives.</p><p>In both men, the flu-like symptoms triggered a more debilitating condition known as chronic fatigue syndrome for which there is no known cure, and no known cause. Its symptoms range from fatigue and vertigo to nausea, pain and cognitive confusion.</p><p>Many in the medical community don\'t believe chronic fatigue syndrome is a real disease. There is no diagnostic test for it. Patients are often referred to psychiatrists on the assumption that their symptoms are psychosomatic.</p><p>But for those who suffer its symptoms, including Manson and Dougherty, a former marine who served twice in Vietnam, the condition is all too devastatingly real.</p><p>\"We\'ve been fighting this for 18 years, and we\'ve tried every possible treatment, from wing of bat to eye of newt,\" said Manson, who has spent months at a time too weak to walk more than a block or even get out of bed.</p><p>Nothing worked - until now.</p><p>Last June, Manson went to see Dr. Jose Montoya, associate professor of medicine at Stanford University and a specialist in infectious diseases who believes the disorder may be caused - at least in some cases, by one or more viruses.</p><p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"460\"><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" border=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr height=\"20\"><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#666666\">&nbsp;Click for related content</b></font></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"5\" cellpadding=\"0\" bordercolor=\"#cccccc\" border=\"0\" style=\"border-top:solid 1px #cccccc;border-bottom:solid 1px #cccccc;background-color:#ffffff;\" bgcolor=\"#ffffff\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\" cellpadding=\"0\" class=\"headlineList2\"><tr></tr></table></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"8\"><tr><td style=\"padding:8px;\"><font class=\"bigRedLink\"><ul><li><a href=\"/id/16545178/\">Snoring wrecks sleep, relationships</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/16599053/\">Spas soothe pain in the \'tech neck\'</a></li></ul></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"\" bordercolor=\"\" border=\"0\" style=\"background-color:#eeeeee;\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr><td style=\"\"><font class=\"textSmall\" color=\"#000000\"></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></p><p>Montoya had presented anecdotal data earlier that year at a conference in Barcelona, Spain, which suggested an antiviral drug called Valcyte, made by Swiss drugmaker Roche Holding AG , could be helpful in treating certain CFS patients.</p><p>Montoya now has data on 25 CFS patients, nearly all of whom had high levels in their blood plasma of antibodies to the human herpes virus 6 (HHV-6) and the Epstein-Barr virus.</p><p>The data - presented recently at a conference in Fort Lauderdale, Florida - were remarkably consistent. Nearly every patient responded to the drug, Montoya said, and most of the responses were dramatic.</p><p>\"Scientists have suspected viruses for years but have never been able to prove it,\" said Kristin Loomis, executive director of the HHV-6 Foundation, a non-profit group which funds research into HHV-6.</p><p>Last year Manson began a six-month course of Valcyte, which is approved to treat transplant patients to prevent viral infection. At first he felt worse. Then, after a few weeks, he began to improve. He started walking, every day a little more.</p><p>Now, nearly seven months later, he is walking two or three miles a day and working out with light weights. And he is working on new business ideas.</p><p>\"Not only is my physical ability returning but my cognitive ability has come back too,\" Manson said.</p><p>Even so, Montoya stresses that the study is extremely small and the results may not be replicated in bigger trials, the first of which he hopes to start within the next few months.</p><p>\"In a field that has been so stigmatized, and so full of false hopes, I think the patients and the field deserve the best kind of trial, keeping an open mind to the possibility that it won\'t work,\" he said.</p><p>Roche has agreed to put up $1.5 million to fund the next, 30-patient study</p><p>\"Whether we put serious money behind this will all depend on the outcome of this next study,\" said Nigel Pluck, Roche\'s clinical science leader for Valcyte. \"This is a somewhat contentious area for the medical profession in that CFS is not a disease that you can test for. It\'s a diagnosis that you come to by excluding everything else.\"</p><p>Even if results of further studies are positive they will probably apply only to those patients with active HHV-6 and Epstein-Barr viruses, as indirectly measured by the number of antibodies produced to fight them, Montoya said.</p><p>But for those who appear to fit the profile, like Manson, the benefits could be enormous.</p><p>\"We are very excited and holding our breath,\" he said.</p><div class=\"textBodyBlack\" style=\"clear:both;\"><i><em>Copyright 2007 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters.</em></i></div><br>');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('941','1','<table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\"><tr><td width=\"10\"></td><td width=\"98%\"><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"98%\" valign=\"top\"><tr><td><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><font size=\"+2\" color=\"551E1B\">Bird flu spreading again in Asia</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>4 deaths reported in Indonesia; virus active in Vietnam and Thailand</b><br></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia4.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/070115/070115_birdflu_vlrg_7a.vlarge.jpg\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\" alt=\"Officials and residents cull poultry in a residential area in Jakarta\"></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"><font size=\"-2\">Reuters</font><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><font size=\"-1\">Officials and residents cull poultry in a residential area in Jakarta on January 15. A recent spurt of infections of the H5N1 virus has alarmed officials.</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br></td></tr></table><font size=\"-2\"><a href=\"http://www.reuters.com/\"><a href=\"http://www.reuters.com/\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia3.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Sources/sourceReuters.gif\" height=\"20\" width=\"140\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"></a></a><p></p></font><p>JAKARTA - An Indonesian hospital was on Monday overwhelmed with patients suffering bird flu symptoms as the disease spread further in Vietnam and Thailand reported its first case in poultry in six months.</p><p>But farm ministry officials in Japan said there was no evidence of the disease spreading there following confirmation at the weekend of a bird flu outbreak at a poultry farm in the southwest in which 3,800 chickens died.</p><p>A recent spurt of infections of the H5N1 bird flu virus, which re-emerged in Asia in late 2003, has alarmed health officials.</p><p>Four Indonesians have already died this year after a six-week lull in cases, taking the number of human deaths from bird flu in the country to 61, the highest in the world.</p><p>At Jakarta\'s Persahabatan hospital, where doctors were treating 9 people with bird flu symptoms, including a 5-year-old girl in intensive care, its isolation wards were overwhelmed.</p><p>\"If we get more patients, we will send them to Sulianti Saroso,\" Muchtar Ichsan, the head of the bird flu ward, told Reuters, referring the country\'s main bird flu treatment center in North Jakarta.</p><p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"460\"><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" border=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr height=\"20\"><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#666666\">&nbsp;Click for related content</b></font></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"5\" cellpadding=\"0\" bordercolor=\"#cccccc\" border=\"0\" style=\"border-top:solid 1px #cccccc;border-bottom:solid 1px #cccccc;background-color:#ffffff;\" bgcolor=\"#ffffff\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\" cellpadding=\"0\" class=\"headlineList2\"><tr></tr></table></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"8\"><tr><td style=\"padding:8px;\"><font class=\"bigRedLink\"><p><a href=\"/id/12375868/\">Interactive:?rack bird flu\'s spread?ince 2003</a></p></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"\" bordercolor=\"\" border=\"0\" style=\"background-color:#eeeeee;\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr><td style=\"\"><font class=\"textSmall\" color=\"#000000\"></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></p><p>The patients included the son and husband of a woman who died of bird flu last week. The 18-year-old son has been confirmed to have the disease, signaling a cluster case, although tests so far on the husband show he does not have the virus.</p><p><b><strong>U.S. threat<br></strong></b>An infectious disease expert at John Hopkins University said a bird flu pandemic remains a threat that the U.S. health care system must take seriously despite less frequent media coverage and the absence so far of human cases in the United States.</p><p>John Bartlett of John Hopkins University said the decentralized U.S. health system will make it more difficult to get ready for a possible human pandemic of H5N1 avian virus - or anything else.</p><p>He denied the threat from bird flu has been overstated by the media.</p><p>\"The number of cases in 2006 was more than it was in 2005, which is more than it was in 2004 ... so it continues to go up in people,\" he said in an interview.</p><p>The H5N1 virus is steadily changing and could at any time acquire the changes it needs to be easily transmitted from human to human. It would then spark a pandemic that could kill millions within months.</p><p>Bird flu as an issue in the United States suffered from \"press fatigue\" in the absence of new things to say about the health threat, he said.</p><p>Adding to regional worries in Asia, a senior Thai agriculture official said on Monday that 1,900 ducks had been culled in the northern province of Phitsanulok after some of the birds had tested positive for H5N1.</p><p>The case is Thailand\'s first in birds since last July. The last human death - the country\'s 17th - occurred in August.</p><p>Experts fear the H5N1 virus could mutate into a form that could spread easily between people, but there has been no evidence of human-to-human transmission of the virus so far in the latest cases.</p><p><b><strong>Emergency levels</strong></b><br>The World Health Organization (WHO) says the spike in cases in the northern hemisphere winter follows a similar pattern to that seen over the past three years and was to be expected.</p><p>But it was encouraging that outbreaks were being quickly reported and dealt with, a senior WHO official said.</p><p>\"It is not surprising that we are seeing an increase (in cases) ... but we are seeing much more effective responses than we were a few years ago,\" Keiji Fukuda, WHO\'s coordinator for the global influenza program, told journalists.</p><p>In Vietnam, where bird flu has killed 42 of the 93 people infected since 2003, the virus appeared to be spreading fast among fowl in the country\'s southern Mekong Delta, threatening to engulf the major rice-growing region.</p><p>The Animal Health Department said in a report seen on Monday that tests showed H5N1 had killed ducks in the province of Soc Trang, just a day after bird flu was found in the neighboring province of Tra Vinh.</p><p>The Agriculture Ministry has ordered an additional poultry vaccination campaign in the Mekong Delta area and requested reinforcement of animal health teams to contain the spread.</p><p>Agriculture officials have warned the country\'s 84 million people that the virus could spread to all 64 cities and provinces nationwide via migrating birds.</p><p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\"><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" border=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#7788aa\"><tr height=\"20\"><td width=\"20\" bgcolor=\"#7788aa\"><img src=\"/images/icons/interactive.gif\" width=\"20\" height=\"14\"></td><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#7788aa\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#ffffff\">INTERACTIVE</b></font></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"5\" cellpadding=\"0\" bordercolor=\"#cccccc\" border=\"1\" style=\"border:solid 1px #cccccc;background-color:#eeeeee;background-image:url(\'/images/backgrounds/component_grey.gif\');\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\" cellpadding=\"0\" class=\"headlineList2\"><tr></tr></table></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\"><tr valign=\"top\"><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#cccccc\" background=\"/images/backgrounds/component_dkgrey.gif\" width=\"100%\"><tr valign=\"top\"><td align=\"middle\"><a href=\"/id/9959820/\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia4.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Interactives/_prod/bird_flu_quiz/birdFlu_QA_tease.vsmall.jpg\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\" alt=\"A chicken is prepared to be immunized by\"></a></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td align=\"middle\"><div class=\"scalAd\"><input type=\"button\" class=\"mbox w77\" value=\"Launch\" title=\"Launch\" onmouseover=\"swapbtn(this, 1)\" onmouseout=\"swapbtn(this, 0)\" onclick=\"javascript:window.location.replace(\'/id/9959820/\');\"></div></td></tr></table></td><td style=\"padding:10px;\"><font color=\"#000000\"><font color=\"551E1B\">?/font><font class=\"textMedBlackBold\"><a href=\"/id/9959820/\">Facts not fears</a></font><br><font color=\"black\">Questions and answers about avian influenza</font></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr></table></td></tr></table>Indonesia planned to prohibit people from keeping backyard fowl in three high-risk provinces.</p><p>\"We are taking the step because the current condition has reached emergency health levels,\" Aburizal Bakrie, coordinating minister for welfare, told a news conference.</p><p>Millions of chickens live in close proximity to humans in Indonesia and bans on backyard fowl could be difficult to enforce. Health education campaigns are patchy and power has been increasingly devolved to the provinces.</p><p>Past campaigns to cull poultry have met with stiff resistance because little or no compensation has been paid.</p><p>WHO says H5N1 has infected 265 people and killed 159 of them in 10 countries since 2003 and has urged vigilance as the disease continues to circulate among birds.</p><p>China and Egypt have reported new human cases in recent weeks and Nigeria last week culled around 20,000 chickens in the latest outbreak among poultry.</p><div class=\"textBodyBlack\" style=\"clear:both;\"><i><em>Copyright 2007 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters.</em></i></div><br>');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('942','1','<table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\"><tr><td width=\"10\"></td><td width=\"98%\"><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"98%\" valign=\"top\"><tr><td><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><font size=\"+2\" color=\"551E1B\">Wisc. to test newborns for \'bubble boy disease\'</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>Early treatment could save infants born without working immune system</b><br></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/070115/07115_bubbleBoyDisease_vmed_3p.vmedium.jpg\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\" alt=\"IMAGE: DAVID VETTER\"></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"><font size=\"-2\">AP file</font><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><font size=\"-1\">David Vetter poses inside of his bubble in his Houston home in this Dec. 17, 1976 file photo. Vetter was born with a genetic disorder leaving him no natural immunities against disease. He died at age 12.</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br></td></tr></table><font size=\"-2\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Sources/sourceAP.gif\" height=\"20\" width=\"140\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"><p></p></font><p>WASHINGTON - Doctors were stumped. Tests for meningitis, cancer, a list of other diseases all were negative - yet just days after a sudden high fever sent 8-week-old Anthony James Mingione to the hospital, he died.</p><p>An autopsy uncovered the lethal secret: Anthony was born without a working immune system. A rare genetic disorder known as the \"bubble boy disease\" rendered him vulnerable to the most minor of germs.</p><p>Now Wisconsin is about to begin the nation\'s first experiment at testing newborns for this killer, officially named SCID, in hopes of giving babies like Anthony a chance at lifesaving treatment - even as scientists ask how many infant deaths attributed to infections really might be due to the immune destroyer.</p><p>\"These people look like the Gerber baby until they get sick,\" says Dr. Rebecca Buckley, a SCID specialist at Duke University and longtime advocate for newborn screening.</p><p>\"I am more concerned than ever that a lot of these babies never make it to the pediatrician, much less an immunologist.\"</p><p>Between 40 and 100 U.S. babies are estimated to be diagnosed each year with SCID, or \"severe combined immunodeficiency disease.\" The best-known victim was David Vetter, Houston\'s famous \"bubble boy\" who lived in a germ-proof enclosure until his death at age 12 in 1984.</p><p><b><strong>Undiagnosed cases<br></strong></b>But no one knows how often SCID is missed. In a few dozen more cases? Another 100?</p><p>\"We think there\'s a lot more out there and that the infants just die,\" says Dr. Jack Routes, a pediatrician at Children\'s Hospital of Wisconsin. He is heading the newborn-screening experiment, with funding from a parents\' advocacy group, the Jeffrey Modell Foundation, that may help answer that question.</p><p>Catching the disease before a baby gets sick means a far better chance that treatment is successful, explains Dr. Jennifer Puck of the University of California, San Francisco.</p><p>Puck developed the first screening test that promises early diagnosis. This winter, Wisconsin\'s state laboratory begins the first phase of its pilot project, practicing with Puck\'s test on anonymous newborn blood samples. If no problems crop up, later this year Routes and colleagues will begin a study that attempts to screen all Wisconsin newborns for SCID - to see how accurate it really is, and track what happens to those diagnosed.</p><p>\"I know this will change the course of SCID,\" says Anthony\'s mother, Tara Mingione of Long Island, N.Y., who has pushed for screening since his death two years ago. \"Anthony had absolutely no chance to live unless he was tested at birth.\"</p><p>Today, all U.S. newborns are tested for a variety of rare but devastating genetic diseases - using a single spot of blood from the baby\'s heel a day after birth - to catch the few thousand who need fast treatment to avoid serious problems.</p><p>Not yet on that list: SCID and other \"primary immunodeficiency\" diseases, meaning children are born with faulty immune-system genes. There are different SCID subtypes, but the end result is that babies can\'t produce important disease-fighting cells called T cells.</p><p>Without treatment, they usually die before their first birthday. Bone marrow transplants can provide them with stem cells that take root and begin producing T cells after all, curing some children and greatly extending the lives of others.</p><p><b><strong>Age at diagnosis is key<br></strong></b>But Duke\'s Buckley calls age key: She reports 95 percent survival in SCID babies transplanted before they\'re 3 months old - almost always those born to women who know SCID has struck a relative, and thus seek at-birth testing. After that age, survival plummets because the babies are so sick going into surgery.</p><p>Moreover, total costs for transplanting a baby shortly after birth are about $100,000, Buckley says, compared with bills that can reach $1 million after they get sick.</p><p>When doctors suspect a baby has SCID, they can check a vial of his or her blood to see if T cells are present. But routine screening - checking those dried blood spots - requires a whole different approach.</p><p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"460\"><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" border=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr height=\"20\"><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#666666\">&nbsp;Click for related content</b></font></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"5\" cellpadding=\"0\" bordercolor=\"#cccccc\" border=\"0\" style=\"border-top:solid 1px #cccccc;border-bottom:solid 1px #cccccc;background-color:#ffffff;\" bgcolor=\"#ffffff\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\" cellpadding=\"0\" class=\"headlineList2\"><tr></tr></table></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"8\"><tr><td style=\"padding:8px;\"><font class=\"bigRedLink\"><p><a href=\"/id/16581772/\">Cough, cold remedies might be lethal to infants</a></p></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"\" bordercolor=\"\" border=\"0\" style=\"background-color:#eeeeee;\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr><td style=\"\"><font class=\"textSmall\" color=\"#000000\"></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></p><p>Puck had to create a kind of DNA test to detect bits of genetic material that signal T cells\' maturation, and thus should be visible only in healthy babies.</p><p>It\'s not perfect, cautions Robert Vogt, a research chemist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But it seems accurate enough to study in thousands of babies, scientists concluded at a November meeting sponsored by CDC and Modell Foundation. Vogt says California, New York and Missouri are among a handful of other states considering pilot screening projects.</p><p>Also, CDC is funding California health officials to use the new test to check stored blood samples from nearly 2,000 babies who died before 18 months of age - probing whether SCID gets missed.</p><p>Mingione is convinced it does, because she almost turned down the autopsy that finally diagnosed Anthony. To avoid chancing another tragedy, last spring she adopted a healthy baby boy.</p><div class=\"textBodyBlack\" style=\"clear:both;\"><i><em>?2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</em></i></div><br>');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('943','1','<table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\"><tr><td width=\"10\"></td><td width=\"98%\"><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"98%\" valign=\"top\"><tr><td><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><font size=\"+2\" color=\"551E1B\">World\'s 1st \'test tube\' baby gives birth</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>28-year-old Louise Brown, conceived through in-vitro fertilization, has boy</b><br></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/070115/070115_louise_brown_vsml_6a.vsmall.jpg\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\" alt=\"Louise Brown\"></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"><font size=\"-2\">Andrew Parsons / AP file</font><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><font size=\"-1\">Louise Brown, whose birth as the world\'s first test-tube baby in 1978 was a worldwide sensation, has quietly given birth to her first child, conceived the old-fashioned way.</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br></td></tr></table><font size=\"-2\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Sources/sourceAP.gif\" height=\"20\" width=\"140\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"><p></p></font><p>LONDON - Louise Brown, who was the world\'s first \"test-tube\" baby, has given birth to her first child.</p><p>Cameron John Mullinder was born Dec. 21 in the western English city of Bristol, reports said.</p><p>\"He\'s tiny, just under 6 pounds, but he\'s perfect,\" the Mail on Sunday newspaper quoted her as saying. The baby was naturally conceived.</p><p>The 28-year-old married Wesley Mullinder, 37, three years ago.</p><p>Her sister, Natalie, who also was conceived through in-vitro fertilization, in 1999 became the first \"test-tube\" baby to give birth.</p><div class=\"textBodyBlack\" style=\"clear:both;\"><i><em>?2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</em></i></div><br>');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('944','1','<table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\"><tr><td width=\"10\"></td><td width=\"98%\"><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"98%\" valign=\"top\"><tr><td><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><font size=\"+2\" color=\"551E1B\">Study questions \'gateway\' theory of drug abuse</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>Neighborhood plays bigger role in slide into hard drugs</b><br></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"></td></tr></table><font size=\"-2\"><a href=\"http://www.reuters.com/\"><a href=\"http://www.reuters.com/\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia3.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Sources/sourceReuters.gif\" height=\"20\" width=\"140\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"></a></a><p></p></font><p>A new study suggests that a tendency toward delinquency or living in a neighborhood where drugs are readily available are just as important in determining whether a young person will abuse marijuana as whether or not he tries cigarettes or alcohol first.</p><p>The findings call into question the \"gateway\" hypothesis - that is, that youths at risk of drug abuse progress from using alcohol and cigarettes to illegal \"soft\" drugs like marijuana to \"hard\" drugs like cocaine and heroin, Dr. Ralph E. Tarter of the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy and colleagues write in the American Journal of Psychiatry.</p><p>Instead, Tarter and his team say their findings support the common liability model, which proposes that factors such as behavioral deviancy and \"genetic risk\" can predispose a person to abusing any type of drug, illegal or otherwise.</p><p>Based on this model, they note, the best way to protect kids from becoming drug abusers is to cope with conduct problems early, before the vulnerable adolescent years.</p><p>Tarter and associates followed 224 boys from about age 10 to 12 until they reached the age of 22. Ninety-nine of the boys only smoked cigarettes or drank alcohol, 97 used these \"legal drugs\" before trying marijuana, and 28 tried pot before taking up drinking and smoking.</p><p>The boys who had followed the traditional \"gateway\" path were no more likely to develop alcohol or marijuana abuse problems than those who went in the reverse direction, the researchers found.</p><p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"460\"><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" border=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr height=\"20\"><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#666666\">&nbsp;Click for related content</b></font></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"5\" cellpadding=\"0\" bordercolor=\"#cccccc\" border=\"0\" style=\"border-top:solid 1px #cccccc;border-bottom:solid 1px #cccccc;background-color:#ffffff;\" bgcolor=\"#ffffff\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\" cellpadding=\"0\" class=\"headlineList2\"><tr></tr></table></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"8\"><tr><td style=\"padding:8px;\"><font class=\"bigRedLink\"><ul><li><a href=\"/id/16640055/\">Chickens engineered to make cancer drugs</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/16637583/\">Hospital plans to offer first uterus transplant</a></li></ul></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"\" bordercolor=\"\" border=\"0\" style=\"background-color:#eeeeee;\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr><td style=\"\"><font class=\"textSmall\" color=\"#000000\"></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></p><p>Living in a poor-quality neighborhood was the single factor that predisposed youths to marijuana use. For youths who did conform to the gateway path, delinquency was more important than previous legal drug use in determining whether they would wind up using marijuana.</p><p>Based on this and other research, Tarter and his colleagues write, \"in effect, the greater the deviancy, the more likely an individual is to use an illegal drug. These findings underscore the need to prevent conduct problems in early childhood to diminish the risk of later illicit drug use.\"</p><div class=\"textBodyBlack\" style=\"clear:both;\"><i><em>Copyright 2007 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters.</em></i></div><br>');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('945','1','	<p><p>(HealthDay News) -- Here are the latest clinical trials, courtesy of <b>Thomson CenterWatch</b>:</p> <p><span class=\"subhead\"><b> Cervical Dysplasia or Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) </b></span></p><p> Have you recently had an abnormal pap test or been told that you have cervical HPV (human papillomavirus)? If so, you may qualify for an investigational study to evaluate the eradication of HPV infection after using an investigational gel applied intravaginally. Women 18-45 who are willing to be on an acceptable method of birth control, have a screening pap test of low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSIL) or atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASC-US), and are high-risk HPV positive may qualify. The study will last approximately 27 months and involve up to 16 clinic visits.</p><p>The research sites are located throughout the United States and Canada. </p><p><b>More information</b></p><p>Please see <a href=\" http://www.centerwatch.com/patient/studies/cat395.html\" target=\"_new\">http://www.centerwatch.com/patient/studies/cat395.html</a> or <a href=\" http://www.centerwatch.com/patient/studies/cat421.html\" target=\"_new\">http://www.centerwatch.com/patient/studies/cat421.html</a>.< /p> <p>-----</p> <p><span class=\"subhead\"><b> Alzheimer\'s Disease </b></span></p><p> This study will test the effectiveness of the study medication as an add-on therapy to current Alzheimer\'s medication. Volunteers 50-90 who have a probable diagnosis of Alzheimer\'s disease and have been receiving at least six months of ongoing treatment for Alzheimer\'s may be included. Patients must have a caregiver who is willing to attend all visits, oversee patient compliance, and report on patient status. Participants may not be diagnosed with vascular dementia, or have a history of any other CNS disorder (stroke, hemorrhage, epilepsy, Parkinson\'s, etc.). Other criteria apply.</p><p>The research site is in Little Rock, Ark. </p><p><b>More information</b></p><p>Please see <a href=\"http://www.centerwatch.com/patient/studies/cat11.html\" target=\"_new\">http://www.centerwatch.com/patient/studies/cat11.html</a>.</ p> <p>-----</p> <p><span class=\"subhead\"><b> Cancer Pain </b></span></p><p> This study will evaluate an experimental drug for breakthrough pain. Candidates at least 18 may be included who have cancer-related pain, are not pregnant or breastfeeding, and do not have a cardiopulmonary disease that would increase risk of shortness of breath.</p><p>The research site is in New York, NY. </p><p><b>More information</b></p><p>Please see <a href=\"http://www.centerwatch.com/patient/studies/cat303.html\" target=\"_new\">http://www.centerwatch.com/patient/studies/cat303.html</a>.< /p> <p>-----</p> <p>Copyright 2007 <a href=\"http://www.centerwatch.com/patient/trials.html\" target=\"_new\">Thomson CenterWatch</a>. All rights reserved.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('946','1','<table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\"><tr><td width=\"10\"></td><td width=\"98%\"><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"98%\" valign=\"top\"><tr><td><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><font size=\"+2\" color=\"551E1B\">Form of amnesia also blocks thinking ahead</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>Some brain damage victims can\'t recall past or imagine future</b><br></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"></td></tr></table><font size=\"-2\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Sources/sourceAP.gif\" height=\"20\" width=\"140\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"><p></p></font><p>WASHINGTON - \"The future is now,\" football coach George Allen once proclaimed. He didn\'t know it, but that seems to be quite literally true for people with amnesia.</p><p>It turns out that a common cause of amnesia also prevents its victims from imagining the future, forcing them to live only in the present, researchers report in Tuesday\'s issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.</p><p>Researchers at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, University College London, studied people with damage to the hippocampus, part of the brain that is crucial in learning and memory.</p><p>While damage to the hippocampus has long been known to cause amnesia, the team led by Dr. Eleanor Maguire wondered if there were other affects.</p><p>So they asked the patients to imagine and describe plausible situations in such locations as the beach, a bar or in the forest. They also asked them to imagine a future meeting with a friend or a Christmas party.</p><p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"460\"><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" border=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr height=\"20\"><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#666666\">&nbsp;Click for more health news</b></font></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"5\" cellpadding=\"0\" bordercolor=\"#cccccc\" border=\"0\" style=\"border-top:solid 1px #cccccc;border-bottom:solid 1px #cccccc;background-color:#ffffff;\" bgcolor=\"#ffffff\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\" cellpadding=\"0\" class=\"headlineList2\"><tr></tr></table></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"8\"><tr><td style=\"padding:8px;\"><font class=\"bigRedLink\"><ul><li><a href=\"/id/16637583/\">Hospital plans to offer first uterus transplant</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/16640055/\">Chicken eggs made to fight cancer</a></li></ul></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"\" bordercolor=\"\" border=\"0\" style=\"background-color:#eeeeee;\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr><td style=\"\"><font class=\"textSmall\" color=\"#000000\"></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></p><p>\"We found that the role played by the hippocampus in processing memory was far broader than merely reliving past experiences,\" Maguire said in a statement. \"It also seems to support the ability to imagine any kind of experience including possible future events. In that sense, people with damage to the hippocampus are forced to live in the present.\"</p><p>\"Furthermore, the patients reported that they were unable to visualize the whole experience in their mind\'s eye, seeing instead just a collection of separate images,\" she said.</p><p>The findings may indicate that the hippocampus provides the context or setting to visualize images both past and present, the researchers suggested.</p><div class=\"textBodyBlack\" style=\"clear:both;\"><i>Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. 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INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('947','1','<table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\"><tr><td width=\"10\"></td><td width=\"98%\"><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"98%\" valign=\"top\"><tr><td><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><font size=\"+2\" color=\"551E1B\">Chickens engineered to make cancer drugs</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>Institute that cloned Dolly has produced tumor-fighting eggs</b><br></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"></td></tr></table><font size=\"-2\"><a href=\"http://www.reuters.com/\"><a href=\"http://www.reuters.com/\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia3.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Sources/sourceReuters.gif\" height=\"20\" width=\"140\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"></a></a><p></p></font><p>A team at the institute that cloned Dolly the sheep have made a genetically engineered chicken that produces cancer drugs in its eggs.</p><p>The chickens produce the cancer drugs in their egg whites, the team at the Roslin Biocentre in Edinburgh reported.</p><p>The drugs include a monoclonal antibody - themselves lab-engineered immune system proteins - and a human immune system protein used to treat cancer and other conditions, the researchers report in the upcoming issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.</p><p>These drugs are not easy to make in the lab. \"Many human therapeutic proteins, such as monoclonal antibodies, are produced in industrial bioreactors, but setting up such systems is both time-consuming and expensive,\" the researchers wrote.</p><p>Scientists have been trying to find good ways to turn animals into factories instead - given that animals naturally make such proteins anyway.</p><p>Cattle, sheep and goats all have been genetically engineered to produce human proteins in their milk, including insulin and drugs to treat cystic fibrosis, but the Roslin team thought chickens, with their shorter life cycles and egg-laying prowess, also might be useful.</p><p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"460\"><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" border=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr height=\"20\"><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#666666\">&nbsp;Click for related content</b></font></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"5\" cellpadding=\"0\" bordercolor=\"#cccccc\" border=\"0\" style=\"border-top:solid 1px #cccccc;border-bottom:solid 1px #cccccc;background-color:#ffffff;\" bgcolor=\"#ffffff\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\" cellpadding=\"0\" class=\"headlineList2\"><tr></tr></table></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"8\"><tr><td style=\"padding:8px;\"><font class=\"bigRedLink\"><ul><li><a href=\"/id/16637583/\">Hospital plans to offer first womb transplant</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/16625749/\">Gene identified that may raise Alzheimer\'s risk</a></li></ul></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"\" bordercolor=\"\" border=\"0\" style=\"background-color:#eeeeee;\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr><td style=\"\"><font class=\"textSmall\" color=\"#000000\"></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></p><p>Helen Sang and colleagues at Roslin made the genetically engineered or transgenic hens by inserting the genes for the desired proteins into the hen\'s gene for ovalbumin, a protein that makes up half of egg whites.</p><p>They wanted to ensure the hens made the proteins in their egg whites and nowhere else.</p><p><b><strong>Possible melanoma treatment<br></strong></b>The proteins they chose were miR24, a monoclonal antibody with potential for treating melanoma, and human interferon b-1a, an immune system protein from a family of proteins that attacks tumors and viruses.</p><p>They used a virus to infect very early chicken embryos. The virus inserted the genetic material into the DNA of chick embryos in newly laid eggs.</p><p>The researchers hatched these chicks and found the male chicks who had indeed incorporated the new DNA in their semen.</p><p>These cockerels were then bred with normal hens and they screened the resulting chicks to see which ones still carried the two new genes. The researchers have now bred several hundred chickens that can produce the desired proteins.</p><p>They worked with Viragen (Scotland) Ltd., a subsidiary of the U.S. biotechnology company Viragen and Oxford Biomedica Ltd.</p><p>Other companies have created animals and plants that produce human and animal proteins, as well as vaccines.</p><div class=\"textBodyBlack\" style=\"clear:both;\"><i><em>Copyright 2007 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters.</em></i></div><br>');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('948','1','	<p><p>Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of <i>HealthDay:</i></p> <p><span class=\"subhead\"><b>Atlanta Worst U.S. City for People with Asthma</b></span></p> <p>Atlanta has the dubious honor of being the U.S. asthma capital for 2007, according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, which just released its annual rankings of the 100 most challenging places to live for people with the respiratory illness.</p> <p>Atlanta took the top spot due to its higher-than-average crude death rate (CDR) for asthma, high year-round pollen levels, bad air pollution, and lack of total smoking bans in restaurants, bars or workplaces.</p> <p>Other factors were the city\'s high rate of poverty and the large percentage of residents without health insurance. Both of these issues are barriers to good asthma care, the foundation said.</p> <p>Here are the 10 U.S. cities considered to be the worst places for people with asthma: Atlanta; Philadelphia; Raleigh, N.C.; Knoxville, Tenn.; Harrisburg, Pa.; Grand Rapids, Mich.; Milwaukee, Wis.; Greensboro, N.C.; Scranton, Pa.; Little Rock, Ark.</p> <p>-----</p> <p><span class=\"subhead\"><b>Cleveland Clinic Sued Over Towel Left in Patient After Surgery</b></span></p> <p>The Cleveland Clinic in Ohio is being sued by the family of a woman who had a towel left inside her body when she had lung surgery in 1995.</p> <p>The 27-by-18 inch green cotton towel was only discovered more than a year after Bonnie Valle died in 2002, the <i>Cleveland Plain Dealer</i> reported. She donated her body to science and the towel was found in August 2003 by a first-year anatomy student at Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine.</p> <p>The legal action launched by Valle\'s family against the Cleveland Clinic seeks more than $2 million in damages. A jury trial to decide the case was scheduled to start Tuesday, the <i>Plain Dealer</i> reported.</p> <p>Lawyers for the clinic will argue that the towel did not kill Valle. In fact, they plan to have a doctor testify that the towel actually assisted Valle\'s breathing and may have helped her live longer than expected.</p> <p>However, the plaintiffs\' legal team have medical experts that will tell the court that Valle could have lived at least five more years if the towel had not been left inside her body during the surgery, the <i>Plain Dealer</i> reported.</p> <p>-----</p> <p><span class=\"subhead\"><b>Molecule Shows Promise Against Cancer</b></span></p> <p>A molecule called dichloroacetate (DCA) shows great promise as a treatment for many different kinds of cancer, according to a Canadian study published Tuesday in the journal <i>Cancer Cell</i>.</p> <p>DCA has been used for decades to treat metabolic diseases in children. The University of Alberta study found that DCA can shrink lung, breast, and brain tumors in both animal and human tissue tests, the <i>Toronto Star</i> reported.</p> <p>The molecule did not seem to have any harmful effect on normal cells.</p> <p>The researchers said DCA appears to reverse changes that occur in cancer cells that make them harder to kill. By reversing these changes, DCA makes cancer cells more vulnerable to normal cell death programming, the <i>Star</i> reported.</p> <p>DCA is a manufactured molecule that\'s widely available and is not patented by any pharmaceutical company. The study authors said that means that the molecule could offer extremely inexpensive cancer therapy, costing as little as a few cents a day.</p> <p>-----</p> <p><span class=\"subhead\"><b>Castro in \'Grave\' Condition: Newspaper Report</b></span></p> <p> Cuban leader Fidel Castro is in \"grave\" condition, according to a Spanish newspaper report Tuesday.</p> <p>The <i>Associated Press</i> reported that <i>El Pais</i> newspaper said Castro, 80, has had at least three failed operations and complications from an intestinal infection and that he faces \"a very grave prognosis.\"</p> <p>The Cuban government has released little information about Fidel Castro since he had emergency intestinal surgery in July and temporarily ceded power to his brother Raul.</p> <p>Some U.S. doctors believed he was suffering from diverticular disease, which can cause bleeding in the lower intestine, especially in people over 60. In severe cases, emergency surgery may be required. The Spanish newspaper reported that its sources said Castro had suffered a bout of the disease.</p> <p>\"In the summer, the Cuban leader bled abundantly in the intestine,\'\' <i>El Pais</i> reported. \"His condition, moreover, was aggravated because the infection spread and caused peritonitis, the inflammation of the membrane that covers the digestive organs.\'\'</p> <p>In December, the newspaper added, Castro had an abdominal wound that was leaking more than a pint of fluids a day, causing \'\'\'a severe loss of nutrients.\'\' The Cuban leader was being fed intravenously, the report said. </p> <p>The report could not be immediately confirmed, according to the <i>AP</i>. A Cuban diplomat in Madrid said the report was a lie.</p> <p>-----</p> <p><span class=\"subhead\"><b>Canadian Pharmacists Seek Ban on Export of Drugs to U.S. </b></span></p> <p>Canadian pharmacists want their government to forbid the export of prescription drugs to the United States, the <i>Globe and Mail</i> reported.</p> <p>The demand is a response to a U.S. Congress bill that would make it legal for American pharmacies and wholesalers to import approved prescription drugs from Canada and certain other countries, where the drugs cost less than they do in the United States. The bill would also allow individual Americans to buy drugs for their own use from Canadian pharmacies.</p> <p>In a letter to Canada\'s health minister, four organizations representing pharmacists and drug distributors said the U.S. bill could have a catastrophic impact on Canadian drug supplies, the <i>Globe and Mail</i> reported.</p> <p>\"This American legislative proposal poses an imminent and serious threat to the security and integrity of Canada\'s drug supply, and hence a serious and genuine threat to the health and well-being of Canadians,\" the letter said.</p> <p>The letter called for \"an immediate ban on the export, both bulk and retail, of prescription drugs from Canada.\"</p> <p>-----</p> <p><span class=\"subhead\"><b>Japan Confirms H5N1 Bird Flu Outbreak</b></span></p> <p>The dangerous H5N1 bird flu virus has been confirmed as the cause of an outbreak on a poultry farm in southern Japan, according to the country\'s agriculture ministry.</p> <p>About 3,900 chickens died on a farm in the Miyazaki prefecture (state) over the weekend. More than 8,000 birds were then slaughtered in an attempt to control the outbreak and all the dead birds were incinerated, <i>Agence France Presse</i> reported.</p> <p>\"The examination conducted at the National Institute of Animal Health confirmed that the bird flu virus detected in Miyazaki prefecture was the H5N1 strain,\" said a statement from the agriculture ministry.</p> <p>Eleven other poultry farms within a 10-kilometer radius of the affected farm have been banned from shipping any chickens or eggs, <i>AFP</i> reported. Hong Kong has banned all poultry imports from Japan.</p> <p>No human infections have been reported in this latest outbreak in Japan.</p> <p>Since it first appeared in 2003, the H5N1 virus has killed more about 160 people worldwide. Most of those human infections have been the result of direct contact with infected birds. However, experts fear that the virus may mutate into a form that\'s easily transmitted between humans.</p> <p>-----</p></p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('949','1','<table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\"><tr><td width=\"10\"></td><td width=\"98%\"><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"98%\" valign=\"top\"><tr><td><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><font size=\"+2\" color=\"551E1B\">Hospital plans to offer first uterus transplant</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>Controversial surgery might allow women without a womb to have children</b><br></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/070115/070115_uterus_transplant_hmed11a.hmedium.jpg\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\" alt=\"Jeanetta Stega, Guiseppe Del Priore\"></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"><font size=\"-2\">Gary He / AP</font><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><font size=\"-1\">Drs. Jeanetta Stega and Guiseppe Del Priore, both?f New York Downtown Hospital in New York, are leading a project to offer the nation\'s first uterine transplants to women who lack a womb because of cancer treatments or other problems. </font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br></td></tr></table><font size=\"-2\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Sources/sourceAP.gif\" height=\"20\" width=\"140\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"><p></p></font><p>A New York hospital is taking steps to offer the nation\'s first uterus transplant, a radical experiment that might allow women whose wombs were removed or are defective to bear children.</p><p>The wombs would come from dead donors, just as most other organs do, and would be removed after the recipient gives birth so she would not need anti-rejection drugs her whole life.</p><p>The hospital\'s ethics board has conditionally approved the plans, although the hospital\'s president warned women not to get false hopes because a transplant is not expected \"any time in the near future.\"</p><p>Several experts cautioned that much more research must be done, and one declared this bold concept \"not really ready for prime time.\"</p><p>The New York doctors just did a six-month trial run, showing that wombs could be obtained from organ donors, and now are screening potential recipients.</p><p>\"I believe it\'s technically possible to do,\" said lead physician Dr. Giuseppe Del Priore.</p><p>However, even some scientists involved think they should produce more healthy offspring in animals before trying women.</p><p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"460\"><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" border=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr height=\"20\"><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#666666\">&nbsp;Click for related content</b></font></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"5\" cellpadding=\"0\" bordercolor=\"#cccccc\" border=\"0\" style=\"border-top:solid 1px #cccccc;border-bottom:solid 1px #cccccc;background-color:#ffffff;\" bgcolor=\"#ffffff\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\" cellpadding=\"0\" class=\"headlineList2\"><tr></tr></table></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"8\"><tr><td style=\"padding:8px;\"><font class=\"bigRedLink\"><ul><li><a href=\"http://boards.msn.com/MSNBCboards/thread.aspx?BoardID=761&amp;ThreadID=170289&amp;BoardsParam=HIPDelay%3d1\">Discuss: Technically possible, but should we?</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/16532785/\">Womb transplants could become reality</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/16455766/\">Birth imminent for embryo saved post-Katrina</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/16299656/\">Designer babies with made-to-order defects?</a></li></ul></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"\" bordercolor=\"\" border=\"0\" style=\"background-color:#eeeeee;\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr><td style=\"\"><font class=\"textSmall\" color=\"#000000\"></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></p><p>Others note that about a thousand women already have become pregnant after kidney, heart and other transplants, with generally good results. They view uterus transplants as a way to help women whose only option now for a biological child is through a surrogate mom.</p><p>\"If this is a passionate desire for a woman who\'s had surgical removal of a uterus, I would think this would be something she\'d really want to pursue,\" although the risks would have to be carefully weighed, said Julia Rowland, director of the National Cancer Institute\'s Office of Cancer Survivorship.</p><p>The transplant project is being led by Del Priore, a cancer specialist, and Dr. Jeanetta Stega, a gynecologic surgeon, at the New York Downtown Hospital, part of the New York-Presbyterian Health Care system.</p><p><b><strong>Preserving cancer patients\' fertility</strong></b><br>Organ transplants usually are performed to save lives, but increasingly they are being done to improve quality of life. Hand transplants and the recent partial face transplant in France are examples.</p><p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"1%\"><tr><td><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia3.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Art/HEALTH/070115/AP_UTERUS.gif\" align=\"Right\" height=\"253\" width=\"332\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"></td></tr></table>Besides surgical complications that can prove fatal, the main risk in such operations is the need for lifelong immune-suppressing drugs to prevent organ rejection.</p><p>However, if a uterus had to be removed, it would be serious but probably not life-threatening like loss of a liver or heart, proponents say.</p><p>A uterus transplant has only been attempted once - in Saudi Arabia in 2000. That womb came from a live donor and had to be removed three months later because of a blood clot. Stega thinks that transplanting more blood vessels and using better anti-clotting drugs would lessen this risk.</p><p>Doctors in London and Hungary want to offer such transplants and several are working with Del Priore and Stega. Potential candidates include women born without a uterus, those with abnormal tissue growth called endometriosis, and women who lost a womb to non-cancerous tumors called fibroids.</p><p>Del Priore is interested in fertility preservation for cancer survivors.</p><p>\"Patients ask, \'Can anything else be done?\"\' he said.</p><p>Margaret Cieprisz was one. The Manhattan woman was diagnosed with ovarian cancer at age 38, a few months after she was married.</p><p>\"The fact that I wasn\'t going to be able to have children, it was an unbearable thought to have to accept,\" she said.</p><p>She delayed a hysterectomy to create embryos that later were implanted in her sister, a surrogate mom for her 2?year-old daughter, Natalie. If a uterus transplant were possible, \"I would have wanted to consider it,\" she said. \"I\'m so happy that I have a child, but I kind of missed out on something.\"</p><p>To be transplant candidates, women must have frozen embryos so there is no fertility issue complicating the chances of success, Del Priore said.</p><p><b><strong>How the process might work</strong></b><br>People donating a loved one\'s organs would be asked to donate the uterus, too. In the six-month experiment with the New York Organ Donor Network, nine out of 150 families agreed and eight wombs were successfully removed.</p><p>A uterus stays viable for about 12 hours, so the recipient would need to be ready for surgery once the retrieval begins.</p><p>The transplant would be through a vertical cut about 6 inches long, from the belly button to the pubic bone. The woman would need to be stable on anti-rejection drugs for at least three months before pregnancy would be attempted.</p><p>Then, previously frozen embryos would be transferred to the new womb in the usual manner through the vagina. (Doctors do not want the woman to have vaginal sex soon after the transplant because of an added risk of infection.)</p><p>The baby would be delivered by Caesarean section to avoid other risks involving the transplanted uterus. After the birth - or two years after the transplant if no pregnancy is achieved - the uterus would be removed to minimize the risks of anti-rejection drugs to the woman.</p><p>The drugs generally are not dangerous to a fetus although certain ones should be avoided, said Dr. Vincent Armenti, kidney transplant chief at Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia. He keeps a registry of pregnancies in transplant recipients throughout North America.</p><p><font size=\"2\"><span CM=\"PageNavBot\"><b><a CE=\"2\" href=\"/id/16637583/page/2/\">CONTINUED: \'The whole thing is complicated\'</a></b><hr width=\"100%\" noshade=\"true\" size=\"1\" color=\"#808080\">1 | <b><a CE=\"2\" href=\"/id/16637583/page/2/\">2</a></b>\n			| <b><a CE=\"2\" href=\"/id/16637583/page/2/\">Next &gt;</a></b></span></font></p><br><table width=\"100%\" style=\"background-color:#ffffee\" cellPadding=\"2\" cellSpacing=\"0\"><tr><td width=\"50%\"><font size=\"1\"><img src=\"/images/msnbc/print02.gif\" width=\"25\" height=\"20\" align=\"absmiddle\"> <a href=\"javascript:printThis(\'16637583\')\" class=\"linkBlack\">Print this</a></font></td><td><font size=\"1\"><img src=\"/images/msnbc/email02.gif\" width=\"25\" height=\"20\" align=\"absmiddle\"> <a href=\"javascript:emThis(\'16637583\')\" class=\"linkBlack\">Email this</a></font></td></tr></table></td><td 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INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('950','1','	<p><!--Spanish ID: 601053 --> <p>TUESDAY, Jan. 16 (HealthDay News) -- States are making gains in the war against cervical cancer, although significant racial and economic disparities remain, a nationwide survey found.</p> <p>And this year, for the first time, one state -- Minnesota -- received a score of \"excellent,\" as calculated by the authors of <i>Partnering for Progress 2007: the \'State\' of Cervical Cancer Prevention in America</i>.</p> <p>The report, released Tuesday, is the third annual state-by-state comparison commissioned by Women in Government, a nonprofit organization representing women state legislators.</p> <p>\"I\'m pleased that the majority of states, including the District of Columbia, saw a decrease in cervical cancer incidence and mortality and we also have a number of states that put cervical cancer prevention legislation into place last year,\" said Susan Crosby, president of Women in Government.</p> <p>\"Unfortunately, we still have a long way to go,\" Crosby added. \"There is a disproportionately high rate of cervical cancer incidence and mortality for black and Hispanic women.\"</p> <p>Cervical cancer is the second leading cancer killer of women in the world. In the United States, about 9,700 women were diagnosed with the disease in 2006 and 3,700 women died from it.</p> <p>Almost all cases of cervical cancer are caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV). While most women will have the virus at some point in their lives, the vast majority will not go on to develop cervical cancer. In most cases, the virus clears up on its own. There are some forms of the virus, however, that persist and eventually turn into cancer, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.</p> <p>Up-to-date screening methods can detect which women may be progressing toward cancer. The Pap test is the traditional screening test to identify early signs of cancer and pre-cancer. Since the Pap smear was introduced half a century ago, cervical cancer mortality rates in the United States have plummeted by 75 percent.</p> <p>There\'s a new test for HPV itself that\'s more effective than the Pap smear; it\'s approved for women 30 and older when used in conjunction with the traditional test. The two tests together boost accuracy to about 100 percent.</p> <p>About half of cervical cancer cases arise in women who have never been screened, while 10 percent of the cases show up in women who have not been screened in the previous five years.</p> <p>The approval of an HPV vaccine, called Gardasil, in June 2006 marked a milestone in prevention efforts. The vaccine, approved for girls and women aged 9 to 26, is 100 percent effective against the types of HPV that account for more than two-thirds of all cervical cancers. A second vaccine will likely be vetted for U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval in 2007.</p> <p>\"It\'s a sign of great progress,\" said Dr. Jay Brooks, chairman of hematology/oncology at Ochsner Health System in Baton Rouge, La. \"Now hopefully as we understand the biology of cervical cancer and its relationship to HPV, we can prevent cervical cancer not only by screening but we can inoculate a whole generation of women.\"</p> <p>It\'s too early to tell what effect the vaccine is having on women\'s health. But it\'s not too early to see how states are doing when it comes to screening and placing legislative priority on the issue of cervical health.</p> <p>Here are the report\'s key findings: </p> <ul> <li>After Minnesota, the top-performing states were Illinois (score of 78 percent) Alabama, Connecticut, Maine, North Carolina and Rhode Island, (72 percent each).</li> <li>Among these high-performing states, at least 87 percent of age-appropriate women were screened for cervical cancer in the past three years; at least 82 percent of women had health insurance; and state Medicaid programs covered HPV testing for women aged 30 and older.</li> <li>Idaho received the lowest score (33 percent), followed by South Dakota and Utah (39 percent each), and the District of Columbia, Iowa, Mississippi and Tennessee (44 percent each).</li> <li>Sixty-seven percent of states (33 states plus the District of Columbia) experienced a decrease in cervical cancer incidence, while 51 percent (25 states plus D.C.) experienced a drop in mortality.</li> <li>In 2006, state legislatures around the country introduced more than 25 policy measures addressing cervical-cancer prevention.</li> <li>Forty-nine percent of states experienced an increase in their rate of uninsured women and disparities remain between the states. Less than 10 percent of Minnesota women were uninsured, compared with 30 percent of Texas women. Nineteen percent of low-income women in Maine were uninsured, vs. more than 50 percent in Texas.</li> <li>In the majority of states, incidence and mortality rates of cervical cancer for black and Hispanic women were higher than for white women, although screening rates were as high, if not higher, for black women than for white women. Screening for Hispanic women in some states and for Asian-Pacific Islander women and American Indian/Alaska Native women around the country continued to lag. The incidence of cervical cancer for black women in Kansas was nearly triple that of white women, while the incidence rate for Hispanic women in Massachusetts was almost two-and-a-half times that of white women. The mortality rate for black women was nearly twice the rate or higher than for white women in half of all states.</li> </ul> <p>\"We continue to lag behind in making sure that Hispanic, Asian-Pacific Islander and Native-American women throughout the country, as well as African-American women, get the prevention and education and access to all the new technologies that white women seem to have available to them,\" Crosby said. \"In today\'s age, it is totally inexcusable that we still have disproportionate rates of cervical cancer when we\'ve got new technology as far as testing. We can no longer accept substandard prevention and treatment of underserved women in our country.\" </p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>Read more about the report at <a href=\"http://www.womeningovernment.org/home\" target=\"_new\">Women in Government</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('951','1','<table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\"><tr><td width=\"10\"></td><td width=\"98%\"><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"98%\" valign=\"top\"><tr><td><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><font size=\"+2\" color=\"551E1B\">Significance of Alzheimer\'s gene far from clear</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>Widely-reported study finds link to late-onset disease. What does it mean?</b><br></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"></td></tr></table><font size=\"-2\"><div class=\"textMedBlackBold\" style=\"padding-top:10px;\">Robert Bazell</div><div class=\"textMedBlack\">Chief science and health correspondent</div><div class=\"textMedBlack\">NBC News</div><p></p></font><p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"102\"><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" border=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#7788aa\"><tr height=\"20\"><td width=\"20\" bgcolor=\"#7788aa\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia4.msn.com/i/msnbc/Test-Dev/donna/msnbc10/Launch%20images/byline_nbcnews.gif\" height=\"20\" width=\"100\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"></td><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#7788aa\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#000000\"></b></font></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"5\" cellpadding=\"0\" bordercolor=\"#666666\" border=\"0\" style=\"border-top:solid 1px #666666;border-bottom:solid 1px #666666;background-color:#ffffff;\" bgcolor=\"#ffffff\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\" cellpadding=\"0\" class=\"headlineList2\"><tr></tr></table></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\"><tr><td><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Bylines/mugs/NBC%20News/nbc_bazell_%20robert.thumb.jpg\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"></td></tr><tr><td style=\"padding:4px;\"><font color=\"#000000\"><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td><font color=\"black\"><b>Robert Bazell</b></font></td></tr><tr><td><font class=\"credit\">Chief science and health correspondent</font></td></tr><tr><td><hr size=\"1\" width=\"85%\" color=\"#cccccc\" noshade=\"1\" align=\"center\"></td></tr><tr><td><font color=\"551E1B\">?/font><font color=\"black\"><a href=\"/id/3687100/\">Profile</a></font></td></tr><tr><td><font color=\"551E1B\">?/font><font color=\"black\"><script language=\"javascript\">document.write(\'<a href=\"mailto:\'+\'Health\'+\'@\'+\'MSNBC.com?Subject=Second Opinion\">\')</script>E-mail<script language=\"javascript\">document.write(\'</a>\');</script></font></td></tr></table></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"\" bordercolor=\"\" border=\"0\" style=\"background-color:#eeeeee;\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr><td style=\"\"><font class=\"textSmall\" color=\"#000000\"></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr></table>Alzheimer\'s disease is not about to be cured, treated or detected more easily than it was last week. But you might guess otherwise from the publicity?showered on a <a href=\"/id/16625749/\">newly discovered gene </a>this week.</p><p>To be sure, the identification of the gene called SORL1 represents an important piece of basic research. But its significance for those afflicted with this horrible condition or their loved ones is far from clear.</p><p>It brings me to a question I have struggled with for my entire career reporting on science and medicine. When does a piece of research become newsworthy?</p><p>Every week thousands of reports of scientific and medical research appear in academic journals. But only a few make it into the news. Why? </p><p>First there is a hierarchy of journals. Most medical \"news\" comes from a handful of the hundreds of journals that publish all that research. The New England Journal of Medicine, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), Science, and a cluster of journals stemming from the British publication Nature get most of the attention. The recent Alzheimer\'s paper appeared in the journal Nature Genetics.</p><p>These journals expend huge amounts of time and money to obtain publicity for a selected few of their articles every week. They send out press releases to news outlets, major and minor.?This includes access to the articles several days in advance of publication under an \"embargo\" wherein reporters agree not to report the information before a time specified by the journal.</p><p>For the SORL1 story the embargo time was January 14, 1 p.m. Eastern Standard time in the U.S. </p><p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"460\"><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" border=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr height=\"20\"><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#666666\">&nbsp;Click for related content</b></font></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"5\" cellpadding=\"0\" bordercolor=\"#cccccc\" border=\"0\" style=\"border-top:solid 1px #cccccc;border-bottom:solid 1px #cccccc;background-color:#ffffff;\" bgcolor=\"#ffffff\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\" cellpadding=\"0\" class=\"headlineList2\"><tr></tr></table></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"8\"><tr><td style=\"padding:8px;\"><font class=\"bigRedLink\"><ul><li><a href=\"/id/16312961/\">New chemical gives?lues to Alzheimer\'s</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/16160428/\">Spinal fluid may be key to Alzheimer\'s</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/15199651/\">Mediterranean diet may fight Alzheimer\'s</a></li></ul></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"\" bordercolor=\"\" border=\"0\" style=\"background-color:#eeeeee;\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr><td style=\"\"><font class=\"textSmall\" color=\"#000000\"></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></p><p>When everyone has the same story at once, it seems important. For the journals, the process encourages coverage. That, in turn, elevates those journals to a more exalted status from scientists who want to see their research on TV or in the newspapers.</p><p>Then there are the universities, hospitals, government agencies and charitable organizations all fighting for coverage. The SORL1 research project involved three major research centers.?Each wants its name in the news because it is competing for business, government grants, charitable donations or all of the above. As a result, each sends out press releases heralding the discovery and facilitates interviews with the scientists involved.</p><p>With a disease like Alzheimer\'s, everyone wants to demonstrate progress to encourage continued funding.</p><p><b><strong>Why not so significant? <br></strong></b>The process in the brain leading to the disintegration called Alzheimer\'s is extraordinarily complex. Several press releases said that SORL1 was only the second gene to be associated with the most common form of Alzheimer\'s - late-onset - that strikes people aged 70 and older.</p><p>However, other scientists have identified as many as 12 other genes that may be implicated.?Sometimes these results get confirmed. Other times they do not. </p><p>Alzheimer\'s can run in families. It\'s especially true when the disease strikes people in their 40s or 50s. The majority of cases that strike late in life are not genetic in the usual sense, although scientists are finding that when these genes mutate, they increase a person\'s risk for getting the disease. </p><p>The purpose of identifying a gene that plays a role in the disease is to find out how that gene does its damage and develop drugs to stop or slow the process.?</p><p>Even if the results about SORL 1 are confirmed, drug development would follow an unpredictable path that would take years. Several other gene discoveries have led to drugs that are much farther along in testing. A recent article in Business Week highlighted some of the <a href=\"http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_02/b4016060.htm?chan=top%2Bnews_top%2Bnews%2Bindex_top%2Bstory\" target=\"_blank\">more promising treatments</a>.</p><p>Alzheimer\'s already afflicts 4.5 million Americans. Because of the aging population, if nothing is done, it will destroy twice as many minds in 25 years. There is an enormous societal will to stop the disease.</p><p>But heralding one piece of basic research does not show that the problem is being solved - no matter how many people want it to be so.</p><div class=\"textBodyBlack\" style=\"clear:both;\"><i><em>?2007 MSNBC Interactive</em></i></div><br>');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('952','1','	<p><!--Spanish ID: 601052 --> <p>TUESDAY, Jan. 16 (HealthDay News) -- Broccoli and tomato -- two vegetables known to help fight cancer -- are more effective against prostate cancer if they\'re eaten together as part of a daily diet than if they\'re eaten alone, a new study with rats suggests.</p> <p>University of Illinois researchers fed a diet containing 10 percent broccoli powder and 10 percent tomato powder to a group of rats that had been implanted with prostate cancer cells. Other groups of rats received either tomato powder or broccoli powder alone; a supplemental dose of lycopene (the red pigment in tomatoes believed to be an anti-cancer agent); or finasteride, a drug prescribed for men with enlarged prostates. Another group of rats was castrated.</p> <p>After 22 weeks, the researchers found that the combined tomato/broccoli diet was the most effective at prostate tumor reduction. Of the other treatments, castration was the only one that came close to being as effective.</p> <p>\"When tomatoes and broccoli are eaten together, we see an additive effect. We think it\'s because different bioactive compounds in each food work on different anti-cancer pathways,\" study co-author John Erdman, a professor of food science and human nutrition, said in a prepared statement.</p> <p>\"Older men with slow-growing prostate cancer who have chosen watchful waiting over chemotherapy and radiation should seriously consider altering their diets to included more tomatoes and broccoli,\" added study co-author and doctoral candidate Kirstie Canene-Adams.</p> <p>\"To get these effects, men should consume daily 1.4 cups of raw broccoli and 2.5 cups of fresh tomato, or 1 cup of tomato sauce, or 1/2 cup of tomato paste. I think it\'s very doable for a man to eat a cup and a half of broccoli per day or to put broccoli on a pizza with 1/2 cup of tomato paste,\" Canene-Adams said.</p> <p>The study was published in the Jan. 15 issue of the journal <i>Cancer Research</i>.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more about <a href=\"http://www.cancer.gov/cancerinfo/pdq/prevention/overview\" target=\"_new\">cancer prevention</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('953','1','<table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\"><tr><td width=\"10\"></td><td width=\"98%\"><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"98%\" valign=\"top\"><tr><td><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><font size=\"+2\" color=\"551E1B\">How to shed pounds with your pooch</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>People who exercise with their pet tend to keep weight off, study shows</b><br></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Art/HEALTH/PROJECTS/PetConcerns/HLG_DogExercise.hlarge.jpg\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"><font size=\"-2\">Duane Hoffmann / MSNBC</font><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br></td></tr></table><font size=\"-2\"><div class=\"textMedBlackBold\" style=\"padding-top:10px;\">Kim Campbell Thornton</div><div class=\"textMedBlack\">MSNBC contributor</div><p></p></font><p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"102\"><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" border=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#7788aa\"><tr height=\"20\"><td width=\"20\" bgcolor=\"#7788aa\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia2.msn.com/i/msnbc/Test-Dev/donna/msnbc10/Launch%20images/byline_msnbc.gif\" height=\"20\" width=\"100\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"></td><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#7788aa\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#000000\"></b></font></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"5\" cellpadding=\"0\" bordercolor=\"#666666\" border=\"0\" style=\"border-top:solid 1px #666666;border-bottom:solid 1px #666666;background-color:#ffffff;\" bgcolor=\"#ffffff\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\" cellpadding=\"0\" class=\"headlineList2\"><tr></tr></table></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\"><tr><td><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia3.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Bylines/mugs/Health/thornton_kim_cambell2.thumb.jpg\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"></td></tr><tr><td style=\"padding:4px;\"><font color=\"#000000\"><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td><font color=\"black\"><b>Kim Campbell Thornton</b></font></td></tr><tr><td><hr size=\"1\" width=\"85%\" color=\"#cccccc\" noshade=\"1\" align=\"center\"></td></tr><tr><td><font color=\"551E1B\">?/font><font color=\"black\"><script language=\"javascript\">document.write(\'<a href=\"mailto:\'+\'Kim.Thornton\'+\'@\'+\'gmail.com\">\')</script>E-mail<script language=\"javascript\">document.write(\'</a>\');</script></font></td></tr></table></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"\" bordercolor=\"\" border=\"0\" style=\"background-color:#eeeeee;\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr><td style=\"\"><font class=\"textSmall\" color=\"#000000\"></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></p><p>What\'s one sure-fire way to tell that it\'s time to lose weight? </p><p>Patti Lawson, author of \"The Dog Diet: A Memoir,\" offers this no-nonsense tip: \"If your dog is able to bite the extra fat on the back of your arms, it\'s time to tone them up!\" </p><p>At least six new books propose ways to use your pooch to shed your paunch.\n</p><p>That\'s right, the answer to a svelter you might just be staring you in the face, tongue out and tail wagging. Take your dog for a walk. Every day. Twice a day if you can manage it. \n</p><p>But what makes walking the dog better exercise than, say, jogging or spinning or pole dancing?</p><p>In the book \"Fitness Unleashed!,\" inspired by a study done at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago that showed people and dogs who exercised together lost weight and kept it off, veterinarian Marty Becker and Dr. Robert Kushner explain why exercising with a dog works.</p><p>\"It builds on the wonderful, powerful bond between people and pets, and it brings up positive associations in both two-legged and four-legged participants,\" they write. </p><p>Basically, people stick to the routine because they love their dogs and they see that their dogs are visibly happier and healthier. Whether you want to admit it or not, you probably need it too. A recent Finnish study found that pet owners tended to be heavier and less active than those without animals. It\'s not that having a pet makes us fat, but that those of us who own one are more likely to be middle-aged, sedentary home owners. </p><p>In other words, if you have a pet, you might be exactly the person who could benefit most from a little exercise. </p><p>Think of your pet as a built-in fitness partner. When you exercise with Buster, he\'s always there, ready when you are. He\'s not going to tell you that he can\'t make it because his Thursday meeting is running late, and he\'s not going to say \"Let\'s skip it tonight; I worked too hard today.\" Best of all, you don\'t need to wear Lycra or use any special equipment other than a leash and good walking shoes. </p><p><b><strong>How to get going<br></strong></b>What if, like me, you have a dog that would rather sniff than set a snappy pace, or one that\'s really too old to go for much of a walk? No excuses. There are ways around both those issues.</p><p>Let the first five minutes be a warmup. This is when Buster can meander and sniff and check his pee-mail. Then distract him and give a command - \"Let\'s go\" - that indicates it\'s time to get a move on.</p><p>\"Pretty soon, they understand \'OK, I get a little time for myself first, but then I\'ve got to hup 2 on the rest of this walk,\' \" says Becker.</p><p>The other way to motivate your dog to pick up the pace is to provide rewards throughout the walk on an unpredictable basis. In other words, every walk should be a canine visit to Las Vegas.</p><p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"460\"><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" border=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr height=\"20\"><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#666666\">&nbsp;Click for related content</b></font></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"5\" cellpadding=\"0\" bordercolor=\"#cccccc\" border=\"0\" style=\"border-top:solid 1px #cccccc;border-bottom:solid 1px #cccccc;background-color:#ffffff;\" bgcolor=\"#ffffff\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\" cellpadding=\"0\" class=\"headlineList2\"><tr></tr></table></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"8\"><tr><td style=\"padding:8px;\"><font class=\"bigRedLink\"><ul><li><a href=\"/id/16486821/\">Obesity drug approved for dogs</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/16594856/\">Food-filching fat cat reunited with owner</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/15625226/\">Achoo! Are any pets <em>really</em> allergy free?</a></li></ul></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"\" bordercolor=\"\" border=\"0\" style=\"background-color:#eeeeee;\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr><td style=\"\"><font class=\"textSmall\" color=\"#000000\"></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></p><p>For the ball fanatic, work in a game of fetch along the way if there\'s a safe place to do so. If your dog\'s a digger, find a place where he can excavate for a while (don\'t let it be the neighbor\'s yard). For your scenthound\'s pleasure, try a new route. Entice Buster with a treat at a certain point in the walk. Make it a different treat every time - kibble one day, cheese the next, chicken jerky the day after that. He should never know when to expect play time or treat time during the walk.</p><p>When you do this, Becker says, dogs have a heightened sense of anticipation, so they spend less time sniffing, more time walking at a brisk pace.</p><p><b><strong>Exercising with old dogs<br></strong></b>What about the dog that\'s old or infirm and can\'t walk very far? Get a jogging stroller, Kushner advises. That works, or you can pull your dog in a child\'s wagon. Toy dogs can ride in a dog stroller or even a child\'s doll buggy.</p><p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\"><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" border=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#7788aa\"><tr height=\"20\"><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#7788aa\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#FFFFFF\">&nbsp;Tips to help your pet trim down</b></font></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"5\" cellpadding=\"0\" bordercolor=\"#a4abc1\" border=\"0\" style=\"border-right:solid 1px #a4abc1;border-bottom:solid 1px #a4abc1;border-left:solid 1px #a4abc1;background-color:#f3f3f6;\" bgcolor=\"#f3f3f6\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\" cellpadding=\"0\" class=\"headlineList2\"><tr></tr></table></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\"><tr><td style=\"padding:10px;\"><font color=\"#000000\"><table><tr><td><p class=\"textMed\">The plethora of pet diet and exercise books offer excellent tips on keeping Fluffy and Fido sleek and healthy. Here are some of the best:</p><table cellspacing=\"3\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\" ID=\"Table1\"><tr><td><font color=\"black\">-</font></td><td><font color=\"black\">If you have trouble resisting your dog\'s begging, switch to healthy treats that are low in calories and high in nutritional value: air-popped popcorn, apple slices, broccoli and carrots.<br><em>\"Real Food for Dogs\" by Arden Moore</em></font></td></tr><tr><td><font color=\"black\">-</font></td><td><font color=\"black\">Accustom your pet to eating only at mealtimes. Ending free-feeding will help an overweight pet slim down more naturally and prevent your pet from getting bored with its food.<br><em>\"The Whole Pet Diet\" by Andi Brown</em></font></td></tr><tr><td><font color=\"black\">-</font></td><td><font color=\"black\">Even 30 seconds of playing will rev up your cat\'s metabolism. Shoot for short but frequent exercise breaks a couple of times a day until they become a habit.<br><em>\"My Fat Cat\" by Martha Garvey</em></font></td></tr><tr><td><font color=\"black\">-</font></td><td><font color=\"black\">Walks don\'t have to be outdoors. You can exercise with your dog in small doses, even when you\'re inside. The next time you get a phone call, pick up your cordless phone and signal your dog to follow you as you walk from room to room.<br><em>\"My Fat Dog\" by Martha Garvey</em></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr></table></td></tr></table>But for the average healthy dog and owner, the best advice is just to get out there and walk. </p><p>\"If you\'re a couch potato and rarely get out there, either walking with your dog or walking at all, start off with bite-size pieces: 5-, 10-, or 15-minute walks accumulated over the day so you end up with 30 or more minutes a day,\" says Kushner. \"If you are reasonably active already, increase your intensity: walk faster or farther.\" </p><p>Condition your dog as well, and be sensible about his physical capabilities. Dexter the Dachshund isn\'t going to travel as far or as fast as Louie the Lab. Build up distance and speed gradually. </p><p>\"We wouldn\'t run the New York Marathon the first time we thought about it,\" Becker says. \"You need to condition their pads to asphalt, and their heart and lungs need to get in shape. My rule of thumb is two blocks per 10 pounds of body weight per day, starting out. A 20-pound dog could go four blocks per day. You can do it one time or split it into two walks. You\'d increase that 5 to 10 percent per week.\"</p><p>If Buster is overweight or has health issues, check with your veterinarian before starting a walking program.</p><p>Besides being good for both of you, a walk is a special time to bond.</p><p>\"You don\'t grow to love your treadmill, you don\'t cuddle up to your elliptical trainer or baby talk your free weights, and the stairstep machine is never going to look at you with adoring eyes,\" Becker says, \"but when your training partner is a dog, you\'re destined to meet him at a richer, deeper level.\"</p><p><em>Kim Campbell Thornton is an award-winning author who has written many articles and more than a dozen books about dogs and cats. She belongs to the Dog Writers Association of America and is past president of the Cat Writers Association. She shares her home in California with two Cavalier King Charles Spaniels and one African ringneck parakeet.</em></p><div class=\"textBodyBlack\" style=\"clear:both;\"><i><em>?2007 MSNBC Interactive</em></i></div><br>');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('954','1','	<p><p>(HealthDay News) -- Homesickness is common among people -- particularly children -- who spend a significant amount of time away from home.</p> <p>In severe cases, homesickness can trigger intense anxiety, which could cause a child to stop sleeping or eating.</p> <p>The American Camp Association offers these suggestions to help prevent homesickness:</p> <ul> <li>If possible, take the child to the destination in advance so it will seem more familiar upon scheduled arrival.</li> <li>See if a good friend or relative can attend the same place as your child.</li> <li>Talk about what she can expect on her trip, and the fun aspects to look forward to. But also acknowledge any nervousness she may feel. Reassure her that it\'s normal to miss home and to be nervous about new experiences.</li> <li>Pack something comforting from home, like a favorite toy, stuffed animal, or picture.</li> <li>Write and send a letter to your child before she leaves so that it is waiting for her when she arrives.</li> </ul> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('955','1','	<p><p>(HealthDay News) -- If you or a loved one has a terminal illness, you may be considering hospice care.</p> <p>According to Healthguide.org, the following typical hospice services represent a compassionate approach to end-of-life care:</p> <ul> <li>Nursing care and physician services, including medication and symptom management.</li> <li>Social worker services to help the family deal with the situation and act as an advocate for the patient.</li> <li>Spiritual counseling.</li> <li>Home health aide and homemaker services.</li> <li>Physical, occupational and speech therapy.</li> <li>Bereavement support.</li> </ul> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('956','1','	<p>Offering a glint of hope for treating a notorious killer, researchers found that a common chemotherapy drug can help pancreatic cancer patients who have undergone surgery stave off a return of the disease longer.<p/>\nIn the German study, the group receiving Gemzar, or gemcitabine, lived on average of 13.4 months without their cancer coming back. A comparison group that did not receive the drug lived without disease for 6.9 months.<p/>\nThe 6 1/2-month gain may look modest. And scientists said they have seen no difference so far in the overall survival rates between the two groups. But pancreatic cancer is such a rapid and efficient killer that the findings were still highly encouraging.<p/>\nPancreatic cancer has one of the worst chances of recovery of all types of cancer. Most patients are not diagnosed until the cancer has spread, and fewer than one in 10 patients are alive five years after diagnosis.<p/>\nOnly 20 percent of newly diagnosed patients are good candidates for surgery, the best hope for a cure. And even then, the disease returns in the vast majority of cases.<p/>\nThe new findings, when considered along with preliminary results from a large U.S. trial reported last year, suggest that chemotherapy after pancreatic cancer surgery should at least include gemcitabine.<p/>\nThe study appears in Wednesday\'s <span class=\"keyword\"><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/DailyNews/manual/ap/ap_on_he_me/pancreatic_cancer/21598165/*http://news.search.yahoo.com/search/news?fr=news-storylinks&amp;p=%22Journal%20of%20the%20American%20Medical%20Association%22&amp;c=&amp;n=20&amp;yn=c&amp;c=news&amp;cs=nw\">Journal of the American Medical Association</a></span>.<p/>\n\"This study says to me that gemcitabine can keep the disease at bay for a period of time after surgery,\" said Dr. Sunil Hingorani of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. But it also \"underscores the essential incurability of the disease,\" he said. \"If you wait long enough, the beast comes back.\"<p/>\nThe findings apply only to those patients who can have surgery ? just 6,000 to 6,500 patients a year in the United States. Those are the patients whose cancer was diagnosed before it spread beyond the pancreas.<p/>\nGemcitabine already is used to fight breast, lung and ovarian cancer. It is also used to treat inoperable pancreatic cancer. It costs about $2,800 a month and has relatively mild side effects such as fatigue and hair thinning.<p/>\nDoctors disagree about the best treatment following surgery for pancreatic cancer. Some watch for the disease to recur before starting other therapies. Others recommend chemotherapy right away, or a combination of chemotherapy and radiation.<p/>\n\"Unfortunately, the majority of patients after surgery have their cancer come back,\" said Dr. Daniel Laheru of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, who was not involved in the study but specializes in pancreatic cancer. \"That\'s why this study is important.\"<p/>\nUnlike other cancers, pancreatic cancer appears to spread almost as soon as it appears, possibly because the pancreas is not as self-contained as other organs. Pancreatic cancer cells are also usually tougher to kill in a petri dish than other types of cancer cells.<p/>\nThe German researchers followed 354 patients after surgery for an average of 4 1/2 years. Some patients were chosen at random to get gemcitabine for about six months starting soon after surgery.<p/>\nThe researchers found that 74 percent of patients receiving gemcitabine saw their cancer come back, versus 92 percent of patients not getting the drug.<p/>\nThe patients were treated at 88 cancer centers in Germany and Austria.<p/>\nStudy co-author Dr. Hanno Riess of Charite School of Medicine in Berlin said the findings are changing practice in Europe, where most doctors previously had not used radiation or chemotherapy after pancreas surgery.<p/>\nWorldwide, there are an estimated 232,000 new cases of pancreatic cancer annually. In the United States, it is the fourth leading cause of cancer death, claiming 32,300 lives last year.<p/>\nThe pancreas, located between the stomach and the spine, secretes enzymes that help digest food and hormones that maintain blood sugar levels.<p/>\nSmoking and a family history of pancreatic cancer raise the risk of the disease. Eating more fruits and vegetables may reduce the risk.<p/>\nSome of the study\'s authors reported financial ties to drug makers including Gemzar\'s manufacturer, Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Co. A grant from Lilly Deutschland supported the study, but the company had no say in its design or data interpretation, the researchers reported.<p/>\n___<p/>\nOn the Net:<p/>\nJAMA: <a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ap/ap_on_he_me/storytext/pancreatic_cancer/21598165/SIG=10q7utqk7/*http://jama.ama-assn.org\">http://jama.ama-assn.org</a><p/>\n</p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('957','1','	<p>Heart patients who had drug-coated stents inserted to prop open blocked coronary arteries should stay on anti-clotting drugs for at least a year, several doctor groups said in an advisory issued Tuesday.<p/>\nThe advisory recommends that doctors tell their patients to take an anti-clotting drug like Plavix and aspirin for a year to reduce the risk of clotting, which could lead to a heart attack or death. The long-term safety of Plavix in stent patients has not been established.<p/>\nDrug-coated stents are often chosen over bare metal stents because they slowly release medication that reduces the chance of arteries reclogging, which can mean follow-up surgery. However, the newer stents mean a small but significant increased risk of clotting.<p/>\nThe new advisory cited research showing blood clots in up to 29 percent of patients who stopped anti-clotting drugs early after receiving a drug-coated stent. The doctors also cited a study of 500 patients who received the drug-coated stents after a heart attack in which the death rate over the next 11 months was 7.5 percent for those who stopped taking anti-clotting medication compared to 0.7 percent for those who continued the regimen.<p/>\nThe recent information on drug-coated stents and the recommended drug regimen of up to a year means more dialogue between patients and doctors, said Dr. Cindy Grines, chair of the advisory writing committee.<p/>\n\"I think what\'s happened with the drug-eluting stents is the patients are scared too much,\" said Grines of the William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Mich.<p/>\nThe recent publicity about drug-coated stents is on patients\' minds, said Dr. John Warner (<a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/DailyNews/politics/news/ap/ap_on_he_me/heart_stents/21598166/*http://news.search.yahoo.com/search/news?fr=news-storylinks&amp;p=%22John%20Warner%22&amp;c=&amp;n=20&amp;yn=c&amp;c=news&amp;cs=nw\">news</a>, <a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/capadv/bio/ap/ap_on_he_me/heart_stents/21598166/SIG=117oti2cq/*http://yahoo.capwiz.com/y/bio/?id=595\">bio</a>, <a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/capadv/vote/ap/ap_on_he_me/heart_stents/21598166/SIG=11g27u7s1/*http://yahoo.capwiz.com/y/bio/keyvotes/?id=595\">voting record</a>), medical director of the heart, lung and vascular center at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.<p/>\n\"Patients are very informed about this and most are asking the question before we even begin the conversation with them, which is good,\" he said.<p/>\nThe new information means that before stent surgery, doctors must discuss with the patient whether there\'s any reason they might not be able to keep up the drug regimen for at least a year, said Warner. If the cost of the drug ? Plavix is $4 a day ? or an upcoming surgery would require stopping the drug, he said it might be best to use a bare metal stent.<p/>\nThe new advisory ? issued by the <span class=\"keyword\"><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/DailyNews/manual/ap/ap_on_he_me/heart_stents/21598166/*http://news.search.yahoo.com/search/news?fr=news-storylinks&amp;p=%22American%20Heart%20Association%22&amp;c=&amp;n=20&amp;yn=c&amp;c=news&amp;cs=nw\">American Heart Association</a></span>, American College of Cardiology, Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions, American College of Surgeons and the American Dental Association ? recommends patients postpone elective surgery for a year.<p/>\n\"Before, we would put a stent in and (then) talk about aspirin and Plavix. Now we talk about it before,\" said Warner, who was not on the advisory committee.<p/>\n</p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('958','1','	<p>Starbucks Corp. on\nTuesday said it is aiming to make the milk and other dairy\nproducts it serves in its U.S. coffee houses free of a\ncontroversial artificial growth hormone used in dairies to\nincrease milk production.<p/>\nA conversion would initially be aimed at all 5,500 U.S.\ncompany-owned stores, but Seattle-based Starbucks is also\nexploring such a move with more than 3,000 licensed locations,\na company spokesman said.<p/>\nThe move comes after Starbucks was targeted in a campaign\nby consumer groups critical of the use of an artificial hormone\nknown as rBGH, which is given as a supplement to dairy cows to\nincrease milk production.<p/>\n\"We are actively engaged with all our dairy suppliers to\nexplore converting our core dairy products to be rBGH-free in\nour U.S. company-owned stores,\" Starbucks spokesman Brandon\nBorrman told Reuters. \"It is something we\'re aiming for.\"<p/>\nBorrman said the company this month had already boosted the\npercentage of its supply that is free of the hormone to 37\npercent from 27 percent at the end of 2006.<p/>\n\"This is something that our customers have requested,\"\nBorrman said. \"It is just making sure our suppliers can supply\nthe amount of milk we need.\"<p/>\nBorrman said so far the company has been able to provide\nthe artificial hormone-free dairy products in Northern\nCalifornia, New England, New Mexico, Montana, Oregon,\nWashington, Idaho and Alaska.<p/>\nThe dairy products involved include fluid milk,\nhalf-and-half, whipping cream and eggnog.<p/>\nBorrman said there is no similar move for overseas\nlocations because the supplement is not allowed in \"most other\nnations.\"<p/>\nCritics say that rBGH given to dairy cows increases the\nlevel of another growth hormone in both cows and humans known\nas IGF-1, and that elevated levels of IGF-1 has been associated\nwith increased cancer rates. Critics also say growth hormone\nsupplements are harmful to the dairy cows.<p/>\nProponents of the hormone supplement say there are no\nhealth concerns for humans or the cows, and milk products from\ncows given the supplement are no different from milk from cows\nthat don\'t receive the supplement.<p/>\nPatty Lovera, assistant director for Food and Water Watch,\nwho pushed Starbucks to make a change, said it was\n\"encouraging\" to hear of the company\'s efforts.<p/>\n\"We want to see them actually get it done,\" Lovera said.<p/>\nEarlier this month, Starbucks said it was making sure all\nof its pastries and other foods sold at half of its U.S.\noutlets would be free of artery-clogging trans fats.\n<p/>\n</p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('959','1','	<p><p>TUESDAY, Aug. 29 (HealthDay News) -- A record-setting 46.6 million Americans were without heath insurance in 2005, up from 45.3 million in 2004, according to a new U.S. Census Bureau report.</p> <p>&quot;That\'s an increase of people without health insurance coverage from 15.6 percent in 2004 to 15.9 percent in 2005,&quot; David S. Johnson, chief of the bureau\'s Housing and Household Economic Statistics Division, said during a teleconference Tuesday.</p> <p>Part of the increase is explained by more employers not offering health insurance, Johnson said. The percentage of Americans with employer-sponsored insurance dropped slightly from 59.8 percent in 2004 to 59.5 percent in 2005. &quot;The number of people with privately purchased plans also decreased,&quot; he said.</p> <p>&quot;The increase in the uninsured rate can be attributed to these two declines,&quot; Johnson said.</p> <p>As for government programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, the number of people covered increased from 79.4 million in 2004 to 80.2 million in 2005. However, &quot;the percentage of people covered by government health insurance remained unchanged at 27.3 percent,&quot; Johnson said.</p> <p>From 2004 to 2005, the number of children not covered by health insurance rose from 10. 8 percent to 11.2 percent, Johnson said. Moreover, 19 percent of children in poverty had no health insurance, making poor children most likely to be uninsured, Johnson said.</p> <p>For non-Hispanic whites and blacks, the uninsured rate remained statistically unchanged from 2004 to 2005 -- 11.3 percent and 19.9 percent, respectively. However, the number of uninsured Hispanics increased from 13.5 million in 2004 to 14.1 million in 2005.</p> <p>Johnson said the record high in the number of uninsured Americans followed a 12-year period, from 1987 to 1998, when the uninsured rate either increased slowly or was not statistically different from one year to the next. The rate peaked in 1998 at 16.3 percent, then fell for two years to 14.2 percent in 2000. Then it increased until hitting 15.9 percent last year, he said.</p> <p>Ed Howard, executive vice president of the Alliance for Health Reform, said the new numbers don\'t auger well for health care in the country.</p> <p>Referring to the increase in the number of uninsured, Howard said, &quot;Well, it ain\'t going in the right direction, that\'s for sure. It appears that most of the increase is due to a decline in employer-based coverage, which is a trend we have been tracking over the last few years,&quot; he added.</p> <p>Howard also noted that this rise in uninsured happened during a period of economic growth. &quot;What this shows us is that a rising tide swamps some boats,&quot; he said.</p> <p>According to Howard, what\'s needed to fix the problem is the realization by all Americans, including government, business and private citizens, that everyone is entitled to affordable heath insurance coverage. &quot;Over the long term, this means some combination of private and public steps that are going to move us in the direction of broader coverage,&quot; he said. &quot;And probably some combination of public and private steps will hold down costs.&quot;</p> <p>Howard added: &quot;It costs incredible amounts in lost productivity and quality of life and competitiveness overseas. It makes economic sense for everyone to be covered. It would cost about $65 billion to cover everyone, and we lose about $130 billion a year because we don\'t have coverage for everyone.&quot;</p> <p>Commonwealth Fund President Karen Davis said in a statement that the new report points &quot;to the need for a national solution to ensure that all Americans have affordable and comprehensive health insurance coverage and access to needed health care. A healthy, productive labor force is an important investment in the economic strength of our nation.</p> <p>&quot;In the absence of immediate federal action, some states and localities have stepped up with innovative solutions. Maine, Massachusetts and Vermont have enacted laws to move toward universal coverage. Other states have enacted coverage expansions, such as New Jersey\'s law to raise the age limit of dependents eligible for coverage under their parents\' plans. These measures can serve as models for other states, or even the nation, as we seek solutions to the crisis of millions of uninsured,&quot; she added.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The <a href=\"http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&amp;b=173900\" target=\"_new\">Center for American Progress</a> can tell you more about uninsured Americans.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('960','1','	<p><p>WEDNESDAY, Aug. 30 (HealthDay News) -- Looking at the U.S. health care system in business terms, a new analysis finds that the country has been getting its money\'s worth.</p> <p>Innovations in health care account for more than half of the recent rise in U.S. life expectancy, researchers report. Spending on health care has also been cost-effective in terms of years of productive life saved, they note.</p> <p>But whether this good return on investment will continue is uncertain, the experts added.</p> <p>&quot;Over the last 40 years, we have been getting good return on our money,&quot; said Dr. Allison B. Rosen, assistant professor of internal medicine and health management policy at the University of Michigan, who co-authored the study with a colleague, Dr. Sandeep Vijan, as well as an economist.</p> <p>Their analysis, published in this week\'s <i>New England Journal of Medicine,</i> is based on the per-person value gained by one extra year of life -- a yardstick routinely used by insurance companies and medical decision-makers. That figure that ranges from $50,000 to $200,000.</p> <p>But adding up the numbers, the team calculated that the seven-year increase in life expectancy for newborns from 1960 to 2000 -- from about 69.9 to 76.9 years -- has cost each person just $19,900 per year, the researchers concluded.</p> <p>That\'s good news, &quot;But there are signs of trouble for the future,&quot; warned David M. Cutler, a professor of applied economics at Harvard University and the economist on the team. &quot;The rate of return has been decreasing over time. It was highest in the \'70s and has declined since then. If that trend continued, it would not be good,&quot; Cutler added.</p> <p>Adjusting for factors -- such as a decline in smoking and reductions in deaths from auto accidents -- the researchers concluded that about half of the increase in U.S. life expectancy can be credited to improvements in health care. They also estimated that 70 percent of the gain was due to fewer deaths from cardiovascular diseases. A drop in infant mortality accounted for another 19 percent of the surge in life expectancy.</p> <p>However, gains have been small when it comes to people who manage to make it to age 65. According to the report, lifespan for Americans 65 and older has increased by just 3.5 years -- at a per-person cost of $84,700 for each added year.</p> <p>And it\'s unclear whether these cost-effective gains will continue. &quot;There are storm clouds on the horizon,&quot; Cutler said. &quot;Whether they stay away is a question.&quot;</p> <p>One way to head off those clouds is to &quot;reorient payments, not just pay for what is being done but pay for doing a better job,&quot; Cutler said. Many professional medical societies have published practice guidelines, &quot;but three-quarters of patients are not properly managed according to those guidelines,&quot; he said.</p> <p>Experiments have started in several parts of the country to measure the quality of care provided by doctors, Cutler said. Estimates of the cost of ineffective care run as high as 20 percent to 30 percent of medical funding, he said, but &quot;we hope we can get doctors to do the effective stuff without the ineffective stuff.&quot;</p> <p>The study is &quot;a first step toward moving to a deeper level of understanding of the value of medical spending,&quot; Rosen added.</p> <p>For example, extending the life expectancy of older people is just one aspect of the value of medical care, she said. Reducing disability for older people is also important, &quot;but we are not a nation that has measured quality of life and disability over time,&quot; the Michigan expert said.</p> <p>In addition, &quot;trends over time suggest that increases in medical spending are outpacing improvements in life expectancy,&quot; Rosen noted. &quot;We need to focus on what areas we are getting the best value from, on diseases that have a higher impact on morbidity and mortality.&quot;</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>There\'s more on U.S. medical care spending at the <a href=\"http://www.nchc.org/facts/cost.shtml\" target=\"_new\">National Coalition on Health Care</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('961','1','	<p><p>THURSDAY, Sept. 7 (HealthDay News) -- If proposed cuts in Medicare payments to physicians take effect early next year as planned, many U.S. doctors would be forced to limit the number of older Americans they can see as patients, the American Medical Association said Thursday.</p> <p>However, Congress seems likely to postpone the cuts for at least one more year. Eighty senators have signed a letter to the Senate leadership, asking that the cuts to doctors be delayed.</p> <p>At issue is the soaring cost of Medicare, the federal health insurance program for people 65 and older, as well as some other, younger Americans with certain disabilities. It\'s estimated that Medicare will cost taxpayers $420 billion in 2006, up from $335 billion in 2005. And that figure is projected to soar to $792 billion in 2015, according to a recent study published in <i>Health Affairs</i>.</p> <p>In seeking ways to limit the explosive spending growth, Congress is considering a variety of measures, including limiting reimbursement payments to doctors.</p> <p>&quot;On Jan. 1, the federal government will begin nine years of cuts totaling nearly 40 percent of the payments made to physicians who care for Medicare patients,&quot; AMA board member Dr. William Hazel Jr. said during a teleconference Thursday afternoon.</p> <p>The hope is that Congress will come up with a reimbursement formula acceptable to doctors, without overwhelming taxpayers, Hazel said. But a new formula will take time to develop. So, the AMA would like to see any reimbursement cuts postponed for up to two years to provide the needed time to create a new payment plan, he said.</p> <p>The AMA worries that the proposed cuts in reimbursements to doctors would prevent patients from seeing doctors in a timely way, because the cuts would force many doctors to stop seeing or delay seeing Medicare patients, Hazel said.</p> <p>&quot;This concern is matched by many in Congress, the Federal Advisory Committee on Medicare and now the vast majority of Americans,&quot; Hazel said. According to a new AMA survey, 86 percent of people are worried that cuts to doctors would hurt their ability to get care. This was true for 86 percent of patients already receiving Medicare, and 96 percent of Baby Boomers, he said.</p> <p>What\'s more, the majority of people aren\'t aware of the pending reimbursement reductions to doctors. &quot;Seven out of 10 Americans are unaware that the government plans to make these cuts,&quot; Hazel said.</p> <p>Among doctors questioned in a previous AMA survey, half said they would stop taking on new Medicare patients or reduce the number of Medicare patients they see if next year\'s cuts take place, Hazel said. &quot;Over the life of the cuts, 67 percent said they would be forced to decrease or stop taking on new Medicare patients,&quot; he said.</p> <p>Hazel said he hopes Congress will act in the next three weeks, before recessing, to postpone the cuts -- as it has done for the last several years.</p> <p>One expert thinks the cuts will be delayed, if not in the next few weeks, then when Congress returns after the mid-term elections in November.</p> <p>&quot;Congress realizes this is an important issue, and they want to address it,&quot; said Mary R. Grealy, chairwoman of Medicare Today and president of the Healthcare Leadership Council, an industry lobbing group.</p> <p>&quot;They will probably do a one-year fix,&quot; Grealy said. &quot;Every year, it gets done. We are pretty certain it will get done again this year. The question is when. It could be done in the next couple of weeks, but if it\'s not, it will be done during the lame-duck session.&quot;</p> <p>Meanwhile on Thursday, two new national surveys conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that substantial majorities of pharmacists (86 percent) and physicians (71 percent) believed that the new prescription drug law was helping people on Medicare save money on medications, although both professional groups said the law was too complicated. </p> <p>Eight in 10 pharmacists (81 percent) said that they had had customers who had problems getting their prescriptions and one in five (19 percent) reported such problems had affected most of their customers in Medicare drug plans. In addition, the surveys found, two in three pharmacists (67 percent) said they had had customers leave the pharmacy without a medication because the prescribed drug was not on their Medicare drug plans formulary. </p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The <a href=\"http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/6583.html\" target=\"_new\">American Medical Association</a> lists Medicare physician payment reform among its legislative priorities.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('962','1','	<p><!--Spanish ID:534860--> <p>FRIDAY, Sept. 8 (HealthDay News) -- For U.S. Hispanic children, a lack of health insurance often decides whether they see a doctor or go without regular check-ups, a new study finds.</p> <p>Researchers at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee published their findings in the September issue of <i>Pediatrics</i>.</p> <p>In 2005, about 22 percent (3 million) of Hispanic children younger than 18 had no health insurance compared with 7.4 percent of white children, 14.5 percent of black children, and 12.4 percent of Asian/Pacific Islander children in the United States, the study authors noted.</p> <p>For this study, the researchers interviewed 900 Hispanic families in the greater Boston area. They found that having parents who aren\'t U.S. citizens, having two working parents, low family income, and older age are all factors associated with being an uninsured child.</p> <p>Hispanic ethnicity was not a factor in itself, but the higher prevalence of the other risk factors does account for the fact that Hispanic children are more likely than other children to be uninsured, the researchers said.</p> <p>Expense, lack of health insurance, difficulty making appointments, and cultural barriers are the reasons why uninsured Hispanic children are much more likely to go without regular doctor or medical care than insured Hispanic children.</p> <p>&quot;These findings indicate specific high-risk populations that might benefit most from targeted Medicaid and SCHIP (State Children\'s Health Insurance Program) outreach and enrollment efforts,&quot; study author Dr. Glenn Flores, a pediatrician at the college and the Children\'s Hospital of Wisconsin, said in a prepared statement.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has more about <a href=\"http://www.insurekidsnow.gov/questions.htm\" target=\"_new\">children\'s health insurance</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('963','1','	<p><p>MONDAY, Sept. 11 (HealthDay News) -- While Americans are living longer than ever before, the length of your life just might depend on where you reside and what racial group you belong to, researchers say.</p> <p>Life expectancy in the United States varies widely from place to place and between races, said a team from Harvard University, Boston. In 2001, for example, the average Asian American woman could expect to live 21 years longer that the average black male living in a high-risk area.</p> <p>&quot;There are very large inequalities in mortality and health in American people,&quot; said lead researcher Majid Ezzati, an associate professor of international health at Harvard School of Public Health. &quot;These inequalities can be mapped and described using a small number of sociodemographic and geographical indicators,&quot; he said.</p> <p>Based on this type of data, the researchers came up with &quot;Eight Americas:&quot; life-expectancy categories based on a person\'s race, local surroundings and other community characteristics.</p> <p>The report was published in the September issue of the open-access journal <i>PLoS Medicine</i>.</p> <p>Using data from the U.S. Bureau of the Census and the National Center for Health Statistics, Ezzati\'s team calculated death rates for 1982 to 2001. They combined this data into a small number of groups -- their Eight Americas -- containing millions or tens of millions of people.</p> <p>For each group, Ezzati\'s team estimated life expectancy, the risk of death from specific diseases at different ages, the proportion of people who had health insurance, and the access to health care services. They also created maps of life expectancies for U.S. counties.</p> <p>Ezzati\'s Eight Americas are: Asians, northland low-income rural whites, Middle-Americans, low-income whites in Appalachia and the Mississippi Valley, western Native Americans, black Middle-Americans, southern low-income rural blacks, and high-risk urban blacks.</p> <p>The team found big differences in life expectancy between the eight groups.</p> <p>For example, for men and women, the life expectancy gap between the best-off and the worst-off groups was 15.4 years for males -- Asians vs. high-risk urban blacks -- and 12.8 years for females -- Asians vs. low-income rural blacks in the South. These differences are as large as those found between Japan, the nation with the highest life expectancy in the world, and many low-income developing countries, the team pointed out.</p> <p>Heart disease, diabetes and injuries were mainly responsible for the differences, Ezzati noted. Most of these conditions are preventable with specific interventions, he added. The gaps between best-off and worst-off were similar in 2001 to what they were in 1987.</p> <p>&quot;Something needs to happen about the inequalities in health care,&quot; Ezzati said. &quot;Given the types of diseases that are the cause of these inequalities, disease prevention should have a major role. Instead of thinking about how many lives are going to be saved by lowering blood pressure and cholesterol, etc., we should think about <i>whose</i> lives we are saving,&quot; he said.</p> <p>One expert found the findings disturbing.</p> <p>&quot;How sobering it is to learn that we live in as many as eight different worlds -- and all within the United States,&quot; said Dr. David L. Katz, an associate professor of public health and director of the Prevention Research Center at Yale University School of Medicine.</p> <p>The United States is the world leader in biomedical advances, high-tech care, and health care expenditure, Katz said, but &quot;we are also the world leader in health disparities. Within the borders of just this one country, the health experiences of diverse populations are truly worlds apart.&quot;</p> <p>According to Katz, a concerted effort is required to focus attention on these disparities, and to mobilize targeted efforts to eliminate them.</p> <p>&quot;Culturally tailored interventions that take messages of disease prevention and health promotion to the places they are most urgently needed should be a national public health priority,&quot; he said. &quot;A system that allocates both health care and health as inequitably as ours cannot be considered anything but a failure.&quot;</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>For more on disparities in health care, head to the <a href=\"http://www.cdc.gov/omh/AboutUs/disparities.htm\" target=\"_new\">U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('964','1','	<p><p>TUESDAY, Sept. 12 (HealthDay News) -- The fear that the new Medicare drug plan would limit access to medicines hasn\'t come true, as least as far as cancer treatment is concerned, a new report finds. </p> <p>In fact, the researchers discovered that Part D expanded access to cancer therapies and required only low co-payments.</p> <p>Each year, 700,000 Medicare beneficiaries are diagnosed with some type of cancer. In 2004, Medicare spent $7.3 billion on cancer treatments, including chemotherapy drugs. Before the Part D drug plan was launched this year, Medicare did not reimburse for some outpatient therapies, including many oral and self-injectable drugs, the researchers noted.</p> <p>For the study, published in the September/October issue of <i>Health Affairs</i>, researchers looked at the almost 3,000 drug plans involved in Part D and found that the most commonly prescribed cancer drugs were available, and that when a brand-name drug was not covered, its generic equivalent was.</p> <p>&quot;On average, 75 percent of the cancer drugs were covered by drug plans, and generic drugs were covered more frequently than brand name drugs,&quot; said lead researcher Jennifer Bowman, a director at Avalere Health, LLC, the consulting firm that conducted the study. &quot;Ninety-eight to 99 percent of generic drugs were covered, while only 70 to 71 percent of brand name drugs were covered.&quot;</p> <p>The reason that the plans are so inclusive is that Medicare mandated that all plans had to cover all drugs in certain classes, including cancer drugs, Bowman said. &quot;We think that this policy was important,&quot; she added.</p> <p>In addition, co-payments were low, Bowman said. Co-payments for the 20 cancer drugs most frequently found on plans\' formularies ranged from $5 to $40. Moreover, fewer than 5 percent of the plans had quantity limits on the drug supply a patient could get at one time. No plans required patients to fail on one drug before they could be given another.</p> <p>However, about 10 percent of cancer drugs, particularly brand-name drugs, require prior authorization from a physician before the pharmacist can fill the prescription. This could limit patients\' access to these treatments, Bowman cautioned.</p> <p>The study does not deal with access to cancer drugs when patients fall into the so-called &quot;doughnut hole&quot; -- the gap in Part D coverage that occurs after patients\' drug consumption passes $2,250 in one year. After that threshold, patients have to pay full cost for their drugs, plus their drug plan premium, until total annual drug costs reach $5,100. This &quot;gap&quot; can cost Medicare beneficiaries $3,600 in out-of-pocket drug expenses. </p> <p>&quot;We don\'t know whether during this period patients stop taking a drug, or switch to another drug or stop therapy all together,&quot; Bowman said.</p> <p>One expert thinks the study shows that Medicare Part D is working.</p> <p>&quot;This holds great news for Medicare beneficiaries and good news about the Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit,&quot; said Mary R. Grealy, chair of Medicare Today, and president of the Healthcare Leadership Council, an industry lobbing group. &quot;It demonstrates how important a benefit this is for all Medicare beneficiaries who did not have coverage for their prescriptions, but particularly for those with cancer.&quot;</p> <p>Before Plan D kicked in, Medicare only covered physician-administered medications, which required an office visit and, of course, did not cover other self-administered medications, Grealy noted.</p> <p>&quot;The study underscores the importance of the program design. Plan formularies must include all drugs in certain therapeutic classes such as anti-neoplastics [cancer],&quot; she said.</p> <p>Grealy believes that Part D is an example of a successful partnership between government and private insurance. &quot;The study underscores the value of having private health plans participate and compete in the Medicare program to provide the best value to Medicare beneficiaries through good coverage and efficient cost,&quot; Grealy said. &quot;It is a win-win for the Medicare program and Medicare beneficiaries.&quot;</p> <p>However, another expert believes the study doesn\'t reflect the problems patients encounter navigating through the complexities of Part D.</p> <p>&quot;For example, prior authorization is a great bar to people without either great sophistication or an experienced advocate,&quot; said Robert M. Hayes, president of the Medicare Rights Center. &quot;It\'s virtually impossible for most people on Medicare to overcome the utilization barriers the plans put in the way.&quot; </p> <p>In a related study published in the same journal, researchers at the nonprofit RAND Corporation found that ratcheting up patient co-pay fees for expensive, specialty drugs won\'t save employers and health insurance plans money.</p> <p>This strategy has worked in the past with less essential prescription medications, the researchers said. However, the new study of over 1 million patients found that they simply find ways to pay more for drugs that are crucial to treating serious illnesses such as cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis and kidney disease.</p> <p>&quot;What happens with these expensive specialty drugs is that people will use them regardless of cost, because there just aren\'t any other options,&quot; co-researcher Dana Goldman, chair and director of health economics at RAND, said in a prepared statement. &quot;Given the high cost of these specialty drugs, insurers would be better off finding [other] ways to manage use,&quot; he said.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>There\'s more about drug plans at <a href=\"http://www.medicare.gov/\" target=\"_new\">Medicare</a>.</p></p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('965','1','	<p><p>THURSDAY, Sept. 14 (HealthDay News) -- Almost nine out of every 10 Americans who seek private health insurance never buy a plan, and one in five who apply are turned down or charged more because of preexisting conditions, a new report finds.</p> <p>In addition, two out of five who did buy private plans with high deductibles later discovered that some of their medical costs were not covered by their plan, according to data released Thursday by the non-profit group The Commonwealth Fund.</p> <p>The report comes at a time when the number of uninsured Americans is at an all-time high. A record-setting 46.6 million Americans, or 15.9 percent, were without heath insurance in 2005, up from 45.3 million, or 15.6 percent, in 2004, according to new U.S. Census Bureau figures.</p> <p>&quot;We wanted to look at what people\'s experience was in the private health insurance market,&quot; said the report\'s lead author, Commonwealth Fund assistant vice president Sara Collins. &quot;You really don\'t have much choice out of the employer-based system.&quot; </p> <p>When people lose their health-care coverage, many turn to individual private insurance. But too many find private plans either unobtainable or unaffordable, Collins reported.</p> <p> &quot;Very few people who try to buy coverage in the individual market actually end up purchasing it,&quot; she said.</p> <p>&quot;In addition, people with private plans give their plans lower ratings than do people with employer-based plans,&quot; she added.</p> <p>Moreover, people with high-deductible health plans, whether private or employer-based, are more likely to delay needed health care or to forego buying prescription drugs, Collins said. In addition, they often incur high medical debts, sometimes using credit cards to pay for their health care. This is particularly the case among low-income families, who are especially at risk, the report found.</p> <p>&quot;People with private plans spent a lot more of their income on health care,&quot; Collins said. In fact, 40 percent of those with deductibles over $1,000 had medical bills for services not covered by their insurance, compared with 19 percent of those with deductibles under $500.</p> <p>Collin\'s team found that 89 percent of working-age adults who investigated coverage in the individual market during the past three years never bought a plan. Of these, 58 percent say it was difficult or impossible to find affordable coverage.</p> <p>Twenty-one percent of those who did apply for a private plan said they were turned down, charged a higher price because of a pre-existing medical condition, or had a health problem that excluded them from coverage, the researchers found.</p> <p>Collins said she believed that private insurance can still be a good option for people seeking health insurance.</p> <p> &quot;What we really need to do is to open new forms of group coverage for people that lose their employer-based coverage,&quot; she said. &quot;This could include opening up the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program or expanding Medicaid or Medicare.&quot;</p> <p>Without these changes, Collins said, she expects that health insurance costs will continue to rise.</p> <p> &quot;What we have to worry about is the effect this will have on people\'s ability to get health care they need,&quot; she said.</p> <p>One expert blamed government regulation for the high cost of private insurance.</p> <p>&quot;If we are going to solve the problem of access to health care and health insurance, we must find a way to get costs under control,&quot; said Grace-Marie Turner, president of the Galen Institute, a consulting group that advocates a free-market approach to the health care industry.</p> <p>Lifting government rules and regulations that drive up the cost of coverage would help millions more people to afford coverage, she said.</p> <p>&quot;Opening the health sector to true competition would provide consumers with more options for more affordable coverage,&quot; Turner said. &quot;The answer is not more government intrusion but a competitive marketplace that will empower consumers to force insurers and health care providers to offer more choices and greater value.&quot; </p> <p>One industry representative had harsh words for the new report.</p> <p>&quot;They are making this up. These are invented statistics that have no credibility,&quot; said Greg Scandlen, the founder of Consumers for Health Care Choices, a health care industry lobbying group. </p> <p>&quot;In most cases, individual coverage is affordable,&quot; he added. &quot;It ain\'t cheap, but it is affordable.&quot;</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>There\'s more on health insurance at <a href=\"http://www.familiesusa.org/issues/private-insurance/enzi/\" target=\"_new\">Families USA</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('966','1','	<p><p>TUESDAY, Sept. 19 (HealthDay News) -- The prices of the brand-name prescription drugs most used by older Americans continue to increase faster than the rate of inflation, a new report finds.</p> <p>But, the prices of the 75 generic drugs commonly used by older Americans remain unchanged, according to the AARP\'s quarterly <i>Rx Watchdog Report</i>, released Tuesday.</p> <p>In the survey of almost 200 brand-name prescription drugs, AARP found that prices rose 6.3 percent during the 12 months ending with the second quarter of June 2006. This increase exceeded the rate of inflation, which was 3.8 percent over the same period, the group said.</p> <p>The biggest year-to-date increases were Adventis\' Ambien, a sleep aid, 5 milligram (13.3 percent); Boehringer Ingelheim\'s Combivent, a bronchodilator aerosol (12 percent); Pfizer\'s Atrovent Inhaler (12 percent); Adventis\' Ambien 10 mg. (9.9 percent); and GlaxoSmithKline\'s Wellbutrin, an antidepressant, 150 mg. (9.4 percent), according to the report.</p> <p>Aventis had the biggest average six-month price increases, up 7.7 percent. The lowest price increases were for the drug companies Monarch and Takeda (0.0 percent) and Lilly (2.5 percent).</p> <p>The rate of price increases is the same as it has been in recent years, said report author Susan Raetzman, associate director of the AARP Public Policy Institute. &quot;When you look at how that translates to the cost of the drug to people, it\'s an increase of over $70 a year for a drug that\'s taken on a regular basis,&quot; she said. &quot;And that\'s quite a bit higher than it has been in the past.&quot;</p> <p>The typical increase in drug costs for older Americans equals $300 a year, according to the report.</p> <p>Drug companies keep raising prices because they can, Raetzman said. &quot;There really aren\'t market forces at work,&quot; she said. &quot;They don\'t have competitors.&quot;</p> <p>Efforts by <i>HealthDay</i> to reach the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, a trade group, for comment were unsuccessful.</p> <p>Raetzman noted that not only were drug prices increasing for consumers who aren\'t in prescription drug plans, prices are likely to go up for those in Medicare Part D plans as cost increases get passed along to members. Although these plans purchase drugs at below-retail cost, there is no legal requirement that they pass the savings on to their members, Raetzman said.</p> <p>To help ease rising drug costs, AARP is supporting a bill in Congress to allow Americans to import drugs from Canada and other western nations.</p> <p>&quot;We\'ve never been this close to getting meaningful relief from rising prescription drug costs,&quot; David Sloane, AARP\'s senior managing director of government relations, said in a prepared statement. &quot;For the first time, a bill that would allow safe and legal importation of medications has widespread bipartisan support.&quot;</p> <p>Sharon Treat is executive director of the National Legislative Association on Prescription Drug Prices, a nonpartisan, nonprofit group founded by state legislators to make prescription drugs more affordable and accessible to Americans. She said the price increases aren\'t justifiable, economically or socially.</p> <p>&quot;I think it\'s outrageous,&quot; Treat said. &quot;The drugs that they sell the most of are the ones that have the biggest increases, which implies it has nothing to do with normal economic theory. People are being ripped off, our government is being ripped off, and people\'s health is being affected as a result.&quot;</p> <p>In addition, Treat said, it\'s clear that the Medicare Part D prescription drug plan for seniors that took effect Jan. 1 did nothing to reduce prices. &quot;In fact, prices have now zoomed up more than they had before Part D was passed,&quot; she said.</p> <p>Treat noted that under Part D, the federal government cannot negotiate drug costs. &quot;The government has ceded over to the private sector all the negotiation and has divided up the pool of enrollees, which reduces purchasing power. The end result is that there is no strong push to reduce prices.&quot;</p> <p>Calls by <i>HealthDay</i> to Medicare for comment were not returned.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>Visit <a href=\"http://www.aarp.org/research/health/drugs/aresearch-import-869-2004-06--IB69.html\" target=\"_new\">AARP</a> to view the full report.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('967','1','	<p><p>THURSDAY, Sept. 21 (HealthDay News) -- With the oldest baby boomers turning 60 this year, millions of Americans may soon reach the sobering conclusion that they haven\'t set aside enough money to cover their health-care costs in retirement. </p> <p>Increasingly, companies are eliminating retiree health benefits or cutting back coverage. Even if you are one of the fortunate few to have an employer-sponsored health plan, you may encounter significant cost-sharing. And if you plan to retire before you become eligible for Medicare, you may have to pay the entire premium on your own. </p> <p>&quot;Just like you\'re not going to get the gold watch, you\'re not going to get the benefits that your father and grandfather got&quot; when they retired, said Tracey A. Baker, vice president of Cooper, Jones &amp; McLeland Ltd., a financial planning firm in Fairfax, Va. </p> <p>Baker, a member of the Financial Planning Association (FPA), said health-care costs are often retirees\' second largest expense after the mortgage. Yet most Americans aren\'t as knowledgeable as they need to be about what their insurance covers and what Medicare does and does not cover. </p> <p>In fact, a 2005 survey co-sponsored by FPA and Aetna Inc. found that people vastly underestimate what their health-care expenses will be in retirement. Fifty-two percent of those surveyed said they expected to spend less than $300 a month, yet retirees in the survey actually spent more than double that amount. </p> <p>So how does one begin the planning process? </p> <p>&quot;Well, I think the first step is simply to acknowledge the fact that health needs need to be included as part of retirement planning,&quot; said Barbara Stucki, a project manager with the National Council on the Aging in Washington, D.C. &quot;It is not just an income issue.&quot; </p> <p>Many Americans are living longer, healthier lives than their grandparents did, and diseases that once meant certain death, including heart attack and stroke, are more likely to leave people with some sort of impairment. So having the resources, say, to make home modifications can greatly improve one\'s quality of life. </p> <p>&quot;For example,&quot; Stucki said, &quot;if a person lives in a two-story house, they may need to put a bathroom on the first floor.&quot; </p> <p>People also should plan for the routine health costs they\'ll encounter every month, including premiums for supplemental insurance, often called &quot;medigap.&quot; The most popular plans cost an average of $155 a month, according to Anne Werner Richardson, a consultant on health and aging issues in Washington, D.C. </p> <p>If you enroll in Medicare Part B, as most Medicare beneficiaries do, your monthly premium ($88.50 in 2006) will be deducted from your Social Security check. Plus, there\'s a $124 annual deductible. &quot;So that totals $1,186 a year just for Part B,&quot; Richardson noted. </p> <p>Prescription drugs are another routine expense. If you enroll in Medicare Part D, you may have to pay a monthly premium, an annual deductible and some portion of the cost of your drugs. Your actual cost will depend on the drugs you take and the coverage you have. </p> <p>To offset catastrophic expenses, such as an extended nursing home stay, Baker strongly advises clients to buy long-term care insurance. A 2005 survey by the MetLife Mature Market Institute showed that a private room in a nursing home costs $203 a day, on average. That\'s $74,095 for just one year. </p> <p>&quot;Long-term care\'s much like your homeowners\' insurance,&quot; she said. &quot;It\'s just an insurance you hope you will never need, but it would be devastating if you didn\'t have&quot; it.</p> <p>If you think Medicaid will pick up the tab for nursing home care if you get in a financial bind, think again. The rules for qualifying for that federal-state program just got a lot tougher. As of February 2006, anyone who has more than $500,000 in home equity, for example, no longer can qualify for Medicaid. That means people who are house-rich but cash-poor who might have qualified for assistance in the past are no longer eligible, Stucki cautioned. </p> <p>&quot;People do need to think very carefully about how to manage their money and what kind of quality of life and choices that they want,&quot; she said.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The U.S. Social Security Administration has online tools to help you <a href=\"http://www.ssa.gov/r&m1.htm/\" target=\"_new\"> plan your retirement</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('968','1','	<p><p>FRIDAY, Sept. 22 (HealthDay News) -- Wal-Mart\'s announcement that it will begin selling almost 300 generic prescription drugs for as little as $4 for a 30-day supply will undoubtedly benefit many Americans, health industry experts say.</p> <p>But other experts contend that the program, scheduled to start Friday in Tampa, Fla., and then roll out across the country sometime next year, probably won\'t prove to be a revolutionary step in the push to contain soaring health-care costs for consumers in the United States. </p> <p>In fact, some critics are labeling the program little more than a public relations stunt by the nation\'s largest retailer. Others point out that the new plan omits some key drugs.</p> <p>Wal-Mart\'s move &quot;underscores the need for cost-effective medications to help Americans struggling with spiraling prescription drug prices,&quot; Gail Shearer, health policy director for Consumers Union, publisher of <i>Consumer Reports</i>, said Thursday in a prepared statement.</p> <p>&quot;There is a critical need in this country for low-cost, effective prescription drugs because millions of people are going without needed medications simply because they can\'t afford them,&quot; she added. &quot;Generic drugs are a vital piece in the puzzle to bring down health care costs. They are just as effective and safe than most high-priced, heavily advertised drugs.&quot;</p> <p>&quot;This decision by Wal-Mart hopefully will encourage more competition in the drug marketplace that will lead to lower drug prices overall,&quot; Shearer said. </p> <p>Wal-Mart\'s announcement Thursday -- that it would lower the costs of generics that usually run between $10 and $30 for a one-month supply -- seemed to have exactly that effect in the marketplace.</p> <p> On Friday, Target, the nation\'s No. 2 discount retailer, said it would match Wal-Mart\'s lower prices for generic prescription drugs in the Tampa area immediately.</p> <p> It was not clear, however, if Target would expand the program beyond Tampa, although the company said it has a &quot;long-standing practice to be price competitive with Wal-Mart.&quot;</p> <p>Still, some find the Wal-Mart move wanting.</p> <p>The program actually includes only about 124 separate medicines in various dosages, and omits widely popular drugs, <i>The New York Times</i> reported Friday.</p> <p>And while people without health insurance will certainly save some money, those with health insurance may save only a dollar, which could make a trip to a Wal-Mart store not worth the time.</p> <p>&quot;It is not as significant as it first seems, in our opinion,&quot; Joseph Agnese, an analyst at Standard &amp; Poors, told the <i>Times</i>.</p> <p>Most of the drugs on Wal-Mart\'s list are older generics that are relatively inexpensive already, Stephen Schondelmeyer, professor of pharmaceutical economics at the University of Minnesota, told the <i>Chicago Tribune</i>.</p> <p> And the covered drugs also don\'t include the generic equivalents of such widely used drugs as the cholesterol-lowering treatment Zocor and the antidepressant Zoloft. Both drugs\' patents expire this year, the newspaper said.</p> <p>&quot;This isn\'t addressing what is the source of people\'s frustrations with drug prices,&quot; Schondelmeyer told the <i>Tribune</i>. &quot;This is a very limited set of drugs. It\'s a lot of hype and will create a lot of traffic going into Wal-Mart stores. But I think people are going to be disappointed when they go into the stores and find out their drug isn\'t there.&quot;</p> <p>Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA, a health-care watchdog group, called Wal-Mart\'s announcement part of the company\'s public-relations campaign to bolster its image. The company has been a target of criticism for the health benefits it offers employees, with some contending the benefits cost too much.</p> <p>&quot;I think what Wal-Mart is doing is a limited good thing,&quot; Pollack said. &quot;Clearly, this limited, positive initiative is as much a part of Wal-Mart\'s public-relations efforts to blunt the deserved criticism of its poor health coverage for its workers as it is a substantive improvement.&quot;</p> <p>Responding to criticisms of the program, Wal-Mart spokesman Kevin Thornton said Friday that the company would continue to add drugs to the list of cheaper medications, based on customer feedback and deals the company can make with drug manufacturers.</p> <p>&quot;Overnight we have added a medication, making the total 292 medications,&quot; Thornton said. The added drug is lovastatin, which is used to lower cholesterol.</p> <p>As to whether the Wal-Mart plan was a public-relations move, Thornton said, &quot;That is so absolutely incorrect. This is a win-win situation for customers. It stands to give significant savings for customers. This is about real solutions for health care for working families in America. This is an example of Wal-Mart doing what it does best, which is taking the cost out of the system and passing savings on to our customers.&quot;</p> <p>Patricia Wilson of Associates &amp; Wilson, a Rosemont, Pa., health-care consulting firm, said Wal-Mart apparently plans to finance the drug program by taking some of the profits from traditional middlemen to lower the prices it is charging for the generic drugs. </p> <p> &quot;There is a huge profit margin in the generics&quot; for the middlemen like pharmacy-benefit managers, the distributors and the pharmacies themselves, Wilson told the <i>Times</i>.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>For more details on the Wal-Mart program, including a list of drugs covered, <a href=\"http://www.walmartfacts.com/articles/4464.aspx\" target=\"_new\">click here</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('969','1','	<p><!--Spanish ID:533566--> <p>THURSDAY, June 29 (HealthDay News) -- Maneuvering through traffic while talking on the phone increases the likelihood of an accident five-fold and is actually more dangerous than driving drunk, U.S. researchers report.</p> <p>That finding held true whether the driver was holding a cell phone or using a hands-free device, the researchers noted.</p> <p>&quot;As a society, we have agreed on not tolerating the risk associated with drunk driving,&quot; said researcher Frank Drews, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Utah. &quot;This study shows us that somebody who is conversing on a cell phone is exposing him or herself and others to a similar risk -- cell phones actually are a higher risk,&quot; he said.</p> <p>His team\'s report appears in the summer issue of the journal <i>Human Factors</i>.</p> <p>In the study, 40 people followed a pace car along a prescribed course, using a driving simulator. Some people drove while talking on a cell phone, others navigated while drunk (meaning their blood-alcohol limit matched the legal limit of 0.08 percent), and others drove with no such distractions or impairments.</p> <p>&quot;We found an increased accident rate when people were conversing on the cell phone,&quot; Drews said. Drivers on cell phones were 5.36 times more likely to get in an accident than non-distracted drivers, the researchers found.</p> <p>The phone users fared even worse than the inebriated, the Utah team found. There were three accidents among those talking on cell phones -- all of them involving a rear-ending of the pace car. In contrast, there were no accidents recorded among participants who were drunk, or the sober, cell-phone-free group.</p> <p>The bottom line: Cell-phone use was linked to &quot;a significant increase in the accident rate,&quot; Drews said.</p> <p>He said there was a difference between the behaviors of drunk drivers and those who were talking on the phone. Drunk drivers tended to be aggressive, while those talking on the phone were more sluggish, Drews said.</p> <p>In addition, the researchers found talking on the cell phone reduce reaction time by 9 percent in terms of braking and 19 percent in terms of picking up speed after braking. &quot;This is significant, because it has an impact on traffic as a system,&quot; Drews said. &quot;If we have drivers who are taking a lot of time in accelerating once having slowed down, the overall flow of traffic is dramatically reduced,&quot; he said.</p> <p>In response to safety concerns, some states have outlawed the use of hand-held cell phones while driving. But that type of legislation may not be effective, because the Utah researchers found no difference in driver performance whether the driver was holding the phone or talking on a hands-free model.</p> <p>&quot;We have seen again and again that there is no difference between hands-free and hand-held devices,&quot; Drews said. &quot;The problem is the conversation,&quot; he added.</p> <p>According to Drews, drivers talking on the phone are paying attention to the conversation -- not their driving. &quot;Drivers are not perceiving the driving environment,&quot; he said. &quot;We found 50 percent of the visual information wasn\'t processed at all -- this could be a red light. This increases the risk of getting into an accident dramatically,&quot; he said.</p> <p>The reason that there aren\'t more accidents linked to cell phone use is probably due to the reactions of other -- more alert -- drivers, Drews said. &quot;Currently, our system seems to be able to handle 8 percent of cell-phone drivers, because other drivers <i>are</i> paying attention,&quot; he said. &quot;They are compensating for the errors these drivers are causing,&quot; he speculated.</p> <p>This is a growing public health problem, Drews said. As more people are talking and driving, the accident rate will go up, he said.</p> <p>One expert agreed that driving and cell phone use can be a deadly mix.</p> <p>&quot;We don\'t believe talking on a cell phone while driving is safe,&quot; said Rae Tyson, a spokesman for the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). &quot;It is a level of distraction that can affect your driving performance,&quot; he said.</p> <p>NHTSA has just completed a study that showed that 75 percent of all traffic accidents were preceded by some type of driver distraction, Tyson said. </p> <p>Tyson pointed out that talking on the phone is very different than talking to the person in the passenger seat. &quot;If you are engaged in a conversation with a passenger, the passenger has some situational awareness, whereas a person on the phone has no idea what you are dealing with on the road,&quot; he said.</p> <p>&quot;Our recommendation is that you should not talk on the phone while driving, whether it\'s a hand-held or hand-free device,&quot; Tyson said. &quot;We realize that a lot of people believe that they can multi-task, and in a lot of situations they probably can, but it\'s that moment when you need your full attention, and it\'s not there because you are busy talking, that you increase the likelihood that you are going to be involved in a crash,&quot; he said.</p> <p>Tyson also sees this as a growing public health issue. &quot;Every time we do a survey, there are more people using cell phones while driving,&quot; he said. &quot;And the popularity of hand-held devices like Palm Pilots or Blackberries, and people using them in the car, is another problem,&quot; he added.</p> <p>An industry spokesman said cell phones don\'t cause accidents, people do.</p> <p>&quot;If cell phones were truly the culprit some studies make them out to be, it\'s only logical that we\'d see a huge spike in the number of accidents [since their introduction],&quot; said John Walls, a vice president at the industry group, the Cellular Telecommunications &amp; Internet Association-The Wireless Association. &quot;To the contrary, we\'ve experienced a decline in accidents, and an even more impressive decline in the accident rate per million miles driven,&quot; he said.</p> <p>&quot;We believe educating drivers on how to best handle all of the possible distractions when you\'re behind the wheel is the most effective means to make better drivers, and that legislation focusing on a specific behavior falls short of that well-intended goal and creates a false sense of security,&quot; Walls said.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>For more on cell phones and driving, head to the <a href=\"http://www.nsc.org/library/shelf/inincell.htm\" target=\"_new\">National Safety Council</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('970','1','	<p><!--Spanish ID:533673--> <p>THURSDAY, July 6 (HealthDay News) -- Depression can help prompt sexually active teens to engage in risky sexual behavior such as not using condoms or contraceptives, a new survey shows.</p> <p>The study raises concerns about the sexual habits of millions of American adolescents, as an estimated 15 percent to 20 percent of teenagers in the United States are believed to experience major depression at some point in their pre-college years, according to the study\'s authors.</p> <p>Depressed, sexually active teens &quot;have a greater likelihood of engaging in behaviors that increase their risk of HIV, other sexually transmitted infections, and unintended pregnancy,&quot; concluded study lead author Jocelyn Lehrer, a senior research associate with the Bixby Center for Reproductive Health Research and Policy at the University of California, San Francisco.</p> <p>Her team published its findings in the July issue of <i>Pediatrics</i>.</p> <p>The UCSF group gathered data from in-person interviews conducted with middle- or high-school students across the United States during 1995 and 1996. The 1995 interview was focused on depression, while the follow-up interview a year later tracked each student\'s sexual behaviors over the preceding year.</p> <p>All of those interviewed said they had experienced sexual intercourse prior to the first interview, and none were married by the time the follow-up interview took place.</p> <p>In all, 1,921 boys and 2,231 girls were included in the current analysis, most of whom were non-Hispanic whites.</p> <p>According to the researchers, more than 9 percent of the boys and nearly 16 percent of the girls displayed symptoms reflecting a &quot;high&quot; level of depression during their initial interview.</p> <p>Lehrer and her colleagues also found that the more depressed the teens were at the start of the year, the more likely they were to engage in risky sexual behaviors later on. This observation held true for both boys and girls.</p> <p>Boys who rated higher on a clinical scale of depression were more likely to say they had not used a condom or birth control the last time they had sex. As well, the more depressed the boy, the more likely he was to have consumed alcohol or drugs the last time he had sex.</p> <p>Girls with higher depression scores were also more likely to say that they had not used a condom or birth control the last time they had sex. These girls were also more likely to indicate that they had had three or more sexual partners in the past year.</p> <p>In absolute terms, &quot;highly&quot; depressed boys and girls were over 70 percent and 50 percent more likely to have engaged in at least one risky sexual behavior over the prior year, respectively, when compared with the least-depressed boys and girls.</p> <p>Lehrer cited many factors that could account for the observed association.</p> <p>&quot;Youth who are both emotionally distressed and socially isolated may be more likely to seek or be successfully pressured into sexual activity, in the name of some kind of shared intimacy, or to maintain relationships that they value,&quot; she said.</p> <p>&quot;Youth who are depressed may also be less confident in their ability to engage in self-protective behaviors, such as refusing pressure to have sex, discussing condom use with their partner, using condoms, and refusing substance use,&quot; Lehrer said.</p> <p>Depression can also lead a teen to want to harm him or herself by taking sexual risks, she added.</p> <p>Lehrer urged parents and health-care providers to be on the lookout for teen depression, to provide young people with emotional support when needed, and to counsel them against engaging in risky sexual behaviors.</p> <p>Professor Freya Sonenstein, director of the Center for Adolescent Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, said the authors focused solely on sexually active teens -- thereby side-stepping the notion that teen sex of any kind might be considered risky by some.</p> <p>But the &quot;big story&quot; here is not so much adolescent sexual risk-taking, she said, as it is the high prevalence of mental health woes among American teens.</p> <p>&quot;There is still a fair amount of stigma around mental health services,&quot; Sonenstein said, &quot;and what this study points out is that mental health is part of the complex of risky behaviors and characteristics that kids have. And so, if kids are depressed, they are less likely to protect themselves sexually.&quot;</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>For more on teens and depression, check out the <a href=\"http://www.helpguide.org/mental/depression_teen.htm\" target=\"_new\">Helpguide: Mental Health Issues</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('971','1','	<p><!--Spanish ID:534739--> <p>FRIDAY, Sept. 1 (HealthDay News) -- Two different drug regimens for difficult-to-treat major depression -- one a combination of two newer drugs and the other a single, older drug -- were comparable in putting people with depression in remission.</p> <p>But the combination treatment showed a greater reduction in depressive symptoms, although not full recovery.</p> <p>&quot;The positive message is that one should not give up,&quot; said Dr. Richard M. Steinbook, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. &quot;People who have failed three different forms of treatment still have hope.&quot; </p> <p>While the findings do give guidance on how to treat people with stubborn depression, it also should give impetus to the search for new drugs, the researchers said.</p> <p>&quot;These were the hard cases, so getting even 10 percent of them well was pretty good,&quot; said study author Dr. Patrick J. McGrath, co-director of the Depression Evaluation Service at New York State Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University Medical Center in New York City. &quot;The bad news is that those rates are pretty low, so we do need better treatments.&quot;</p> <p>The study is the latest in the STAR*D (Sequenced Treatment Alternatives to Relieve Depression) trial, the largest effectiveness study ever done on depression. It examines the benefits of antidepressants in &quot;real-world&quot; settings. The trial was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health.</p> <p>Researchers designed the overall trial to look at major depression that had not responded to multiple treatments and to look at remission, meaning full recovery, as opposed to &quot;response,&quot; which is partial relief of symptoms.</p> <p>People who did not experience remission in Levels 1, 2 and 3 of STAR*D were eligible to participate in Level 4, the subject of the latest paper.</p> <p>Of the 4,041 participants who initially enrolled in STAR*D, 109 entered Level 4. This appears to be the first study to look at patients who had not benefited in three prior medication trials. </p> <p>Participants were randomly selected to receive either tranylcypromine (Parnate) alone or venlafaxine (Effexor) plus mirtazapine (Remeron). Parnate is an older monoamine oxidase inhibitor while Effexor and Remeron are newer medications. </p> <p>&quot;The idea is to try to get at the underlying problem by as many possible mechanisms as you can,&quot; McGrath said, of the drug combination chosen. &quot;It\'s similar to the way you might treat cancer with a multi-drug regimen.&quot;</p> <p>Parnate is used infrequently these days but has been effective in people who have not responded to other therapies. </p> <p>People in the Parnate arm of the trial had remission rates of 6.9 percent and those in the combination arm, 13.8 percent, considered to be roughly comparable results. &quot;That looks like the combination was twice as effective but, in fact, those differences were not statistically significant,&quot; McGrath said. </p> <p>But participants in the combination arm did have a statistically significant reduction in depression symptoms, as opposed to full remission -- 25 percent versus 6 percent. </p> <p>&quot;The degree of improvement of symptoms gives a little edge to the combination over the single agent,&quot; McGrath said. He warned, however, that this could have been a chance finding. </p> <p>Another cautionary note: Parnate was given at the highest recommended dose, but this was still below the dose at which it is often effective. The drug might show better results at higher doses and when administered by experts. Not all the doctors in this trial were familiar and comfortable with the drug, which can have severe side effects if administered incorrectly.</p> <p>The comparison was not an entirely fair one, Steinbook said. Monoamine oxidase inhibitors require a huge amount of preparation to go on, and patients are supposed to wear a bracelet or carry a wallet card warning of possible interactions.</p> <p>Also, Steinbook said, data such as this loses the nuances of the type of patient who might respond better to this type of drug. </p> <p>All in all, the glass could be half full or half empty, McGrath said. On the one hand, some people who had not responded to three other vigorous treatments had some or full relief from one of these regimens. On the other hand, the rates were still pretty low. </p> <p>&quot;Before this study started, experts would have predicted that by giving antidepressants systematically, almost everybody will get better. That turned out not to be true,&quot; McGrath said. &quot;Is it worthwhile to develop newer and better treatments? I think the answer is yes, and that hadn\'t been so clear.&quot;</p> <p>Funding for new drugs has been lacking, McGrath explained, and these findings might give a jump start to the field. </p> <p>The study findings were published in the September issue of the <i>American Journal of Psychiatry</i>.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>For more on depression, visit the <a href=\"http://www.nimh.nih.gov/healthinformation/depressionmenu.cfm\" target=\"_new\">National Institute of Mental Health</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('972','1','	<p><!--Spanish ID:534738--> <p>FRIDAY, Sept. 1 (HealthDay News) -- Bipolar disorder costs U.S. businesses twice as much in lost productivity than major depression, a new study finds.</p> <p>Each U.S. worker with bipolar disorder averaged 65.5 lost workdays a year, compared to 27.2 annual lost work days for those with major depression, concludes a study in the September issue of the <i>American Journal of Psychiatry</i>.</p> <p>Overall, major depression is six times more common than bipolar disorder, but bipolar disorder costs U.S. businesses nearly half as much as major depression, at more than $14 billion a year, the study said.</p> <p>The findings are based on a year of data collected from nearly 3,400 workers who took part in a national survey. Workers were asked how many days in the previous year they had experienced a mood-disorder episode. Lost productivity was calculated by combining work days lost due to absence or poor functioning on the job and salary data.</p> <p>About one percent of U.S. workers experience bipolar disorder in a year, compared to 6.4 percent who battle major depression. However, the researchers estimated that bipolar disorder accounts for 96.2 million lost workdays a year and $14.1 billion in lost salary/lost production, compared to 225 million lost workdays and $36.6 billon in lost salary/lost production for major depression.</p> <p>The study was funded by the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).</p> <p>Another NIMH-funded study in the same issue of the <i>American Journal of Psychiatry</i> found that depression can impair many aspects of job performance, and these effects linger even after depression symptoms have improved.</p> <p>Researchers assessed the job performance and productivity of 286 workers with depression and dysthymia, 93 with rheumatoid arthritis, and 193 healthy workers for 18 months.</p> <p>Dysthymia is a form of depression marked by consistently low moods that aren\'t as extreme as in other kinds of depression.</p> <p>Job performance among the depressed workers did improve as their symptoms eased, but even &quot;clinically improved&quot; depressed workers did worse than healthy workers on mental, interpersonal, time management, output and physical tasks, the study found.</p> <p>Compared to healthy workers, those with rheumatoid arthritis did worse only on physical tasks.</p> <p>Health professionals need to pay more attention to recovery of work function in people with depression, the study authors said. They also suggested that workplace support programs are needed to help depressed workers better manage their job demands.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The American Academy of Family Physicians has more about <a href=\"http://familydoctor.org/625.xml\" target=\"_new\">bipolar disorder</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('973','1','	<p><p>(HealthDay News) -- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a psychological condition in which a person may re-live an extremely painful or traumatic experience. People of any age may have flashbacks, painful memories, or nightmares about the event that frightened them.</p> <p>These episodes may occur months or years after the event, the U.S. National Mental Health Association says. Other symptoms of PTSD may include depression, anxiety, difficulty sleeping, lack of emotion, irritability, and anger.</p> <p>Triggers for PTSD may include abuse, rape, military combat, natural or manmade disasters and accidents.</p> <p>Many people with PTSD have episodes when they have been reminded of or exposed to a person or object from the traumatic event. Episodes may be more likely to occur around the event\'s anniversary.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('974','1','	<p><p>TUESDAY, Sept. 5 (HealthDay News) -- Almost 70 percent of rescue personnel and workers who responded to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City suffered from lung problems during and after the recovery efforts.</p> <p>Some of those problems persisted for at least two-and-a-half years after the attacks, according to a new report, the largest study to date on the health effects of the disaster. </p> <p>&quot;It wasn\'t surprising to me to see these effects from a toxic exposure that goes on for that length of time, even for several days or weeks, with deposition of metals in the lung and no way for the lungs to clear it,&quot; said Dr. Len Horovitz, a pulmonary specialist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. </p> <p>World Trade Center dust, according to Horovitz, was now known to contain heavy metals such as nickel, titanium and cadmium. &quot;These are some of the heavy metals found in cigarette smoke which we know is toxic to the lungs,&quot; Horovitz said. The dust also contained large and small particles, the smallest able to reach the deepest recesses of the lungs. </p> <p>About 40,000 rescue and recovery workers -- including firefighters, police officers and construction and public-sector workers -- were exposed to caustic dust and toxic pollutants following the attacks, according to the study. The findings were based on medical examinations of 9,442 of these responders that were done between July 2002 and April 2004. </p> <p>Sixty-nine percent of those examined reported new or worsened respiratory symptoms while working at the World Trade Center site. Symptoms were still present at the time of examination in 59 percent of participants. </p> <p>Sixty-one percent of those who had not had any respiratory symptoms before 9/11 developed symptoms while working at the site. </p> <p>Pulmonary-function tests revealed that World Trade Center responders had twice the rate of abnormalities as those experienced in the general population. These abnormalities persisted for months and sometimes years, the report found.</p> <p>Severe respiratory conditions such as pneumonia were much more common in the six months following 9/11 than in the six months prior. </p> <p>Those who arrived first at the smoldering site had the heaviest exposure and, consequently, more respiratory problems. </p> <p>The report, released Tuesday by Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City, is scheduled to be published Thursday in <i>Environmental Health Perspectives</i>.</p> <p>It seems likely that some problems will continue or worsen. &quot;It\'s not clear whether we\'re going to see a rise in malignancies but one would suspect that that certainly is possible,&quot; Horovitz said. </p> <p>The report underscores the need to keep monitoring and treating World Trade Center responders, the study authors stated. </p> <p>Mount Sinai has been the center of 9/11-related research. Of responders treated at the hospital in the past year, 84 percent have had upper-respiratory illness; 47 percent have had lower-respiratory disorders such as asthma and &quot;World Trade Center cough;&quot; 37 percent have had psychological disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder; and 31 percent have had musculoskeletal problems. </p> <p>According to the <i>Associated Press</i>, the report was released as public concern over the fate of Ground Zero workers has increased. One class-action lawsuit against New York City and its contractors involves 8,000 workers and civilians who blame 9/11 for cancer, sinusitis and other problems. </p> <p>New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is expected to announce programs to support those who worked at the site after 9/11. </p> <p>On Aug. 31, the New York City Health Department released updated clinical guidelines for New York City health-care providers on how to treat adults exposed to the disaster. The guidelines also include screening approaches to improve detection of health problems. </p> <p> <b>More information</b></p> <p>The <a href=\"http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/wtc/wtc-resource.pdf\" target=\"_new\">New York City Department of Health</a> has more information on the aftermath of the World Trade Center attacks.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('975','1','	<p><p>FRIDAY, Sept. 8 (HealthDay News) -- U.S. medical students typically face harassment, insults and intimidation by attending physicians and resident doctors, a new study finds.</p> <p>In some cases, the pressure on students becomes so bad it spurs depression and even suicide.</p> <p>&quot;Most medical students in the United States are graduating from medical school having had experiences that they report as being either belittling or harassing,&quot; said lead author Dr. Erica Frank, an associate professor and vice chairwoman of the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta.</p> <p>In fact, 42 percent of seniors said they had been harassed by other students, residents, preclinical professors, clinical professors or attending physicians, or patients. Eighty-four percent said they had been belittled, and 40 percent said they had been harassed and belittled.</p> <p>The report appears in the Sept. 6 online edition of the <i>British Medical Journal</i>.</p> <p>This treatment can have serious consequences for students\' mental health, Frank said. &quot;Rates of depression and suicide are higher,&quot; she said. &quot;They are also less likely glad that they trained to be a physician if they were belittled or harassed.&quot;</p> <p>In the study, Frank and colleagues collected data on nearly 2,900 medical students from 16 U.S. medical schools. The students responded to questionnaires sent to them during their training. Questionnaires were sent three times: during freshman orientation, when the students started seeing patients in hospitals, and during their senior year.</p> <p>Students were asked if they had been harassed or belittled by other students, residents, preclinical professors, clinical professors or attending physicians, or by patients.</p> <p>Upon entering clinical rotations in hospitals, 8 percent of the students said they had been harassed by residents, 8 percent by clinical professors or attending physicians, and 10 percent by patients. These numbers grew during senior year to 27 percent, 21 percent and 25 percent respectively, the researchers found.</p> <p>On starting clinical rotations, 28 percent of students said they had been belittled by residents, 32 percent by clinical professors or attending physicians, and 22 percent by patients. During the senior year, these numbers increased to 71 percent, 63 percent, and 43 percent, respectively.</p> <p>However, only 13 percent of the students said any of these experiences were severe, the researchers report.</p> <p>&quot;Physicians don\'t understand the consequences of their comments,&quot; Frank said. &quot;Professors and residents say things that make students feel not worthy,&quot; she said. &quot;It is the reigning culture and [always] has been.&quot;</p> <p>For some students, these types of pressures prompted alcohol abuse and binge drinking, depression and even suicide attempts. Some students felt faculty did not care about them, and others said they regretted training to become a doctor.</p> <p>Frank said she doesn\'t hold out hope for change anytime soon.</p> <p>&quot;This kind of culture change is not going to happen with any particular rapidity,&quot; she said. &quot;We give a lot of lip-service to teaching professionalism [and] to reducing the prevalence of disruptive physicians, but unless we train physicians not to do this, it still falls into the action-speaks-louder-than-words category.&quot;</p> <p>One expert wasn\'t surprised by the study results.</p> <p>&quot;The findings of this study only add to the body of information that we already have in hand,&quot; said Jan D. Carline, a professor of medical education and biomedical informatics at the University of Washington in Seattle. &quot;We know that many medical students experience harassment and belittlement during their training,&quot; he said.</p> <p>It is also not surprising that the percentage of students who report these types of behaviors rises as they proceed through medical school, Carline said.</p> <p>He added, however, that there\'s no proof medical school atmosphere, in and of itself, triggers breakdowns in students\' mental health. &quot;This study does not prove causality in this relationship,&quot; Carline cautioned.</p> <p>&quot;The most important conclusion that the authors draw is the call for faculty to interact with students in an \'ethically appropriate and sensitive way,\' &quot; the Seattle expert said. &quot;This issue is a difficulty one to face, but important for all medical schools to deal with.&quot;</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>There\'s more on the medical school experience at the <a href=\"http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/2371.html\" target=\"_new\">American Medical Association</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('976','1','	<p><p>TUESDAY, Sept. 12 (HealthDay News) -- The antidepressant drug Prozac (fluoxetine) can disrupt the reproductive cycle of freshwater mussels and increase their risk of extinction, says a U.S. study presented Monday at the national meeting of the American Chemical Society, in San Francisco. </p> <p>As with other drugs, remnants of Prozac are flushed from the body and travel in wastewater that reaches streams and rivers.</p> <p>This study found that the drug causes female mussels to release their larvae before they\'re able to survive on their own.</p> <p>&quot;The results from this study were quite alarming. When larvae are released too early, they are not viable, which only contributes to the problems faced by struggling populations of native freshwater mussels,&quot; co-investigator Rebecca Heltsley of the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology, Hollings Marine Laboratory in Charleston, N.C., said in a prepared statement.</p> <p>About 70 percent of the nearly 300 species of native North American freshwater mussels are extinct, endangered or in decline due to pollution, loss or alteration of habitat, increased sediment in rivers, and competition from invasive foreign species.</p> <p>&quot;The presence of Prozac and similar drugs in U.S. rivers and streams has likely compounded the problem. It\'s a big concern because freshwater mussels are such an imperiled group,&quot; Heltsley said.</p> <p>&quot;Protecting freshwater mussels and other aquatic life that are susceptible to the unintended consequences of exposure to pharmaceuticals in our rivers and streams will take a concentrated effort,&quot; she said. &quot;These efforts could include the development of more efficient wastewater treatment facilities that can filter out these products before they reach our waterways.&quot;</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>For more on antidepressants such as Prozac, head to the <a href=\"http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/medicate.cfm\" target=\"_new\"> U.S. National Institute of Mental Health </a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('977','2','<table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\"><tr><td width=\"10\"></td><td width=\"98%\"><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"98%\" valign=\"top\"><tr><td><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><font size=\"+2\" color=\"551E1B\">A cup of confusion: Is coffee healthy or not?</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>New studies suggest java helps protect against major diseases</b><br></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"></td></tr></table><font size=\"-2\"><div class=\"textMedBlackBold\" style=\"padding-top:10px;\">Karen Collins, R.D.</div><div class=\"textMedBlack\">Special to MSNBC.com</div><p></p></font><p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"102\"><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" border=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#7788aa\"><tr height=\"20\"><td width=\"20\" bgcolor=\"#7788aa\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia2.msn.com/i/msnbc/Test-Dev/donna/msnbc10/Launch%20images/byline_msnbc.gif\" height=\"20\" width=\"100\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"></td><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#7788aa\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#000000\"></b></font></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"5\" cellpadding=\"0\" bordercolor=\"#666666\" border=\"0\" style=\"border-top:solid 1px #666666;border-bottom:solid 1px #666666;background-color:#ffffff;\" bgcolor=\"#ffffff\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\" cellpadding=\"0\" class=\"headlineList2\"><tr></tr></table></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\"><tr><td><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Bylines/mugs/MSNBC%20Interactive/msnbc_collins_karen.thumb.jpg\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"></td></tr><tr><td style=\"padding:4px;\"><font color=\"#000000\"><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td><font color=\"black\"><b>Karen Collins, R.D.</b></font></td></tr></table></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"\" bordercolor=\"\" border=\"0\" style=\"background-color:#eeeeee;\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr><td style=\"\"><font class=\"textSmall\" color=\"#000000\"></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></p><p>Considering all the past concern about possible health risks from drinking coffee, newer reports of coffee\'s possible protective effects may leave many people confused. </p><p>Overall, recent studies suggest that coffee (regular and decaffeinated) may offer a variety of health benefits against diseases such as cancer and diabetes. However, coffee may not deserve a place in the same category with other healthful foods like vegetables, fruits and whole grains.</p><p>Laboratory studies suggest that the anti-inflammatory, antioxidant compounds in coffee could help reduce risk of cancer. Coffee also has a tendency to speed the passage of waste through the digestive tract. Potentially, this may lessen the time that cancer-causing compounds spend in contact with the intestinal tract, which could reduce the risk of colon cancer. Population studies, however, tend to split between coffee intake having no effect on or reducing risk of breast and colon cancer.</p><p><b><strong>Diabetes prevention<br></strong></b>The case for coffee\'s ability to protect against diabetes is strengthened by several recent studies. In the Iowa Women\'s Health Study, more than 28,000 women were followed for 11 years. The women who drank four or more cups of coffee daily were about 20 percent less likely to develop diabetes. That became a 30 to 40 percent drop among those who drank decaf coffee. </p><p>A study in Finland linked consumption of three to six cups of coffee per day with a 25 percent lower risk of diabetes. In both studies, benefits were seen after adjusting for other diabetes risks, such as weight, diet, and activity level. Several studies now link moderate coffee consumption with lower risk of Type 2 diabetes. Researchers are working to understand the potential advantage of decaf versus regular coffee and how weight control is involved.</p><p>Potential increased risk of high blood pressure and heart disease has been one of the long-standing concerns about coffee. Recent studies confirm that caffeine can raise blood pressure, but this effect is observed with soft drinks, not coffee. Laboratory studies suggest that perhaps coffee\'s healthful compounds can counterbalance the blood-pressure raising effects of caffeine.</p><p>In the Iowa Women\'s Health Study noted above, four to five cups of coffee a day were linked with a 19 percent lower risk of heart-related death. Other studies have found no effect of coffee consumption on heart disease risk. But people should follow their doctor\'s advice.</p><p><b><strong>Before you drink a whole pot ...<br></strong></b>Coffee does warrant some cautions, however. Both regular and decaf coffee relax the muscle that keeps stomach acids from rising into the throat, so those with heartburn or reflux disease (GERD) are encouraged to avoid or strictly limit coffee. People with trouble sleeping should limit or avoid caffeinated coffee.</p><p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"460\"><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" border=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr height=\"20\"><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#666666\">&nbsp;Click for related content</b></font></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"5\" cellpadding=\"0\" bordercolor=\"#cccccc\" border=\"0\" style=\"border-top:solid 1px #cccccc;border-bottom:solid 1px #cccccc;background-color:#ffffff;\" bgcolor=\"#ffffff\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\" cellpadding=\"0\" class=\"headlineList2\"><tr></tr></table></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"8\"><tr><td style=\"padding:8px;\"><font class=\"bigRedLink\"><ul><li><a href=\"http://boards.msn.com/MSNBCboards/thread.aspx?ThreadID=133706\">Discuss: Do you think coffee helps or hinders your health? What would you risk for your daily latte?</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/13561314/\">Coffee? even decaf? cuts risk of diabetes</a></li></ul></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"\" bordercolor=\"\" border=\"0\" style=\"background-color:#eeeeee;\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr><td style=\"\"><font class=\"textSmall\" color=\"#000000\"></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></p><p>Studies now suggest it is unnecessary for pregnant women to completely avoid caffeinated coffee. Until the impact of caffeine is more clearly understood, however, many experts suggest that pregnant women limit their daily caffeine from coffee, soft drinks and other sources to about 300 mg, the equivalent of three cups of regular coffee.</p><p>It\'s exciting that something as simple as drinking coffee might help lower our risk of cancer, diabetes and heart disease. However, while brewed coffee (not instant) is a concentrated source of antioxidants, it can\'t be a substitute for berries, legumes, nuts, and other fruits and vegetables that provide antioxidants along with a wide range of vitamins, protective compounds and dietary fiber.</p><p><em>Nutrition Notes is provided by the </em><a href=\"http://www.aicr.org/\"><em>American Institute for Cancer Research</em></a><em> in Washington, D.C</em>.</p><div class=\"textBodyBlack\" style=\"clear:both;\"><i><em>?2007 MSNBC Interactive</em></i></div><br>');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('978','2','<table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\"><tr><td width=\"10\"></td><td width=\"98%\"><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"98%\" valign=\"top\"><tr><td><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><font size=\"+2\" color=\"551E1B\">Boys at greater risk of high blood pressure</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>Health problem in adolescence sets the stage for later complications</b><br></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"></td></tr></table><font size=\"-2\"><a href=\"http://www.reuters.com/\"><a href=\"http://www.reuters.com/\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia3.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Sources/sourceReuters.gif\" height=\"20\" width=\"140\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"></a></a><p></p></font><p>DALLAS - Adolescent boys are far more likely to suffer high blood pressure than girls in the same age group, setting the stage for other health problems such as hypertension as they get older, researchers reported on Monday.</p><p>\"The reason remains a mystery but it could be hormonal. We think it may have something to do with the onset of puberty in boys,\" said Dr. Kaberi Dasgupta, lead author of the study and a physician at McGill University Health Center in Montreal.</p><p>Men are usually more prone to hypertension - chronically elevated blood pressure that can lead to heart disease - than women. But this is the first study to highlight gender differences in blood pressure among adolescents.</p><p>Researchers hope it could lead to more effective measures to prevent hypertension among young adult males.</p><p>The five-year study looked at 614 boys and 653 girls in Montreal secondary schools.</p><p>Over the course of the study it found that the risk of systolic blood pressure (SBP) - the larger of the two numbers that comprise a blood pressure reading - increased annually by 19 percent for boys but remained stable for girls.</p><p>It also pointed to a lack of exercise and a sedentary lifestyle as increasing the risk of higher SBP for both boys and girls.</p><p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"460\"><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" border=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr height=\"20\"><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#666666\">&nbsp;Click for related content</b></font></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"5\" cellpadding=\"0\" bordercolor=\"#cccccc\" border=\"0\" style=\"border-top:solid 1px #cccccc;border-bottom:solid 1px #cccccc;background-color:#ffffff;\" bgcolor=\"#ffffff\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\" cellpadding=\"0\" class=\"headlineList2\"><tr></tr></table></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"8\"><tr><td style=\"padding:8px;\"><font class=\"bigRedLink\"><ul><li><a href=\"/id/15936354/\">Christmas letters: Spreading cheer or showing off?</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/16036328/\">Pediatricians blast inappropriate ads</a></li></ul></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"\" bordercolor=\"\" border=\"0\" style=\"background-color:#eeeeee;\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr><td style=\"\"><font class=\"textSmall\" color=\"#000000\"></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></p><p>\"Even after adjusting for differences in body weight, the more frequently a child engaged in active behavior, the lower the likelihood of developing higher systolic blood pressure levels,\" Dasgupta said. </p><p>\"The more hours that the kids spent in sedentary behaviors - sitting at a computer, playing video games, being on the Internet, watching television - the more risk of having higher systolic blood pressure,\" she added.</p><p>The results of the study are published this week in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.</p><p>The researchers are members of GENESIS, a Canadian group that explores gender differences in cardiovascular disease.</p><div class=\"textBodyBlack\" style=\"clear:both;\"><i><em>Copyright 2007 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters.</em></i></div><br>');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('979','2','<table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\"><tr><td width=\"10\"></td><td width=\"98%\"><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"98%\" valign=\"top\"><tr><td><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><font size=\"+2\" color=\"551E1B\">Bottoms up can lead to bottom spread</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>Don\'t let holiday cheer make you forget calorie content of cocktails </b><br></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia2.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/061208/061208_pina_colada_vmed.vmedium.jpg\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\" alt=\"Image: Pina Colada\"></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"><font size=\"-2\">Doug Wilson / ?Doug Wilson/CORBIS</font><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><font size=\"-1\">Got a taste for pina coladas? Beware: At 644 calories, they\'re more fattening than a Big Mac.</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br></td></tr></table><font size=\"-2\"><div class=\"textMedBlackBold\" style=\"padding-top:10px;\">By By Forbes.com staff</div><a href=\"http://www.forbes.com/home/index.html?partner=msnbc\"><a href=\"http://www.forbes.com/home/index.html?partner=msnbc\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia3.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Sources/Local/sourceForbes.gif\" height=\"20\" width=\"140\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"></a></a><p></p></font><p>After a night of drinking cocktails, most people will not only wake up the next morning with a screaming hangover, they\'ll wake up fatter too.</p><p>That\'s because the average serving of one ounce of 80-proof alcohol contains about 90 calories. And that\'s before mixers are added. While many people who spend hours on treadmills or yoga mats may smugly eschew dessert or ban butter from their diets, often they will happily consume a cocktail - or three - without giving it a second thought. But they do so at considerable peril to their waistlines. A Pina Colada, for example, has more calories than a Big Mac.</p><p>That could spoil happy hour on your next trip to Mexico.</p><p>Of all the evils of alcohol, weight gain is probably the least discussed. To be sure, there are many far worse results of alcohol abuse, but many people are still ignorant of the danger booze poses to their pant size.</p><p>We don\'t mean that the occasional cocktail will instantly result in a Brobdingnagian beer belly, but you shouldn\'t be fooled just because these drinks taste light and fruity. Not only do spirits, such as vodka, gin, rum and whiskey, contain a higher percentage of calories than beer and wine, but if you add fruit juice, syrups and sodas to the mix - for example, orange juice has 56 calories per serving and Coca-Cola has 105 calories per eight fluid ounces - the calorie count keeps growing. And don\'t think that drinking fewer cocktails with a bigger kick will solve that problem: The higher the proof, the greater the calories.<table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\"><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" border=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#7788aa\"><tr height=\"20\"><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#7788aa\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#FFFFFF\">&nbsp;From fattening drinks to healthy gifts</b></font></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"5\" cellpadding=\"0\" bordercolor=\"#a4abc1\" border=\"0\" style=\"border-right:solid 1px #a4abc1;border-bottom:solid 1px #a4abc1;border-left:solid 1px #a4abc1;background-color:#f3f3f6;\" bgcolor=\"#f3f3f6\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\" cellpadding=\"0\" class=\"headlineList2\"><tr></tr></table></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\"><tr><td style=\"padding:10px;\"><font color=\"#000000\"><table><tr><td><p class=\"textMed\"><a href=\"http://www.forbes.com/forbeslife/2006/12/06/fattening-drinks-cocktails-forbeslife-cx_1207cocktails_slide_2.html?partner=msnbc\" target=\"_blank\">Slideshow: 10 most fattening cocktails</a></p><p class=\"textMed\"><strong><u>More from Forbes<br></u></strong><a href=\"http://www.forbes.com/home/2006/12/05/health_gift_guide-forbeslife-cx_avd_1206healthgiftguide_slide.html?partner=msnbc\" target=\"_blank\">10 healthy gifts</a><br><a href=\"http://www.forbestraveler.com/2006/09/27/06091819_slide.html?partner=msnbc\" target=\"_blank\">World\'s most pricey cocktails</a><br><a href=\"http://www.forbestraveler.com/2006/12/06120403_slide.html?partner=msnbc\" target=\"_blank\">10 can\'t miss parties in 2007</a><br><a href=\"http://www.forbes.com/2005/11/22/cx_sy_1123featslide.html?partner=msnbc\" target=\"_blank\">10 reasons to drink during the holidays</a></p></td></tr></table></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></p><p>While most alcohol doesn\'t contain actual fat, its calories tend to be stored in the abdomen. \"It\'s hard for the body to process and eliminate many alcohols at one time, and sugar makes us fat,\" says Michael George, a fitness expert and author of Body Express Makeover.</p><p>For people who exercise regularly and are in reasonably good physical shape, drinking a few Screwdrivers on Saturday night won\'t be a big deal. But for anyone trying to shed a few pounds, any decent nutritionist would argue that alcohol and weight loss mix like whiskey and grapefruit juice.</p><p><b><strong>Vodka most popular spirit<br></strong></b>Nevertheless, many people see cocktails as a glamorous and tasty alternative to beer and the typically mediocre wine sold in most bars. Over the past decade, consumption of spirits -particularly premium spirits - has been on the rise. In the U.S. alone, vodka is the best-selling spirit, with sales rising 7.1 percent to $3.6 billion in 2005, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States. A distant second are cordials, which are up 10 percent to $2.34 billion.</p><p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"460\"><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" border=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr height=\"20\"><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#666666\">&nbsp;Click for related content</b></font></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"5\" cellpadding=\"0\" bordercolor=\"#cccccc\" border=\"0\" style=\"border-top:solid 1px #cccccc;border-bottom:solid 1px #cccccc;background-color:#ffffff;\" bgcolor=\"#ffffff\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\" cellpadding=\"0\" class=\"headlineList2\"><tr></tr></table></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"8\"><tr><td style=\"padding:8px;\"><font class=\"bigRedLink\"><ul><li><a href=\"/id/16099487/\">Survey: Pick your poison</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/16097562/\">Teen girls should scale back their weigh-ins</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/16093645/\">Risk takers follow in parents\' footsteps</a></li></ul></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"\" bordercolor=\"\" border=\"0\" style=\"background-color:#eeeeee;\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr><td style=\"\"><font class=\"textSmall\" color=\"#000000\"></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></p><p>But don\'t feel you have to be condemned to a life of white wine spritzers (a five ounce glass contains 100 calories). Roughly knowing how many calories are in what you\'re drinking will make you not only a smarter drinker, but a healthier and thinner one, too. Depending on the ingredients, that cocktail shouldn\'t necessarily give your personal trainer the vapors.</p><p>For example, in some New York City night clubs one of the most popular cocktails is the watermelon martini - a fruity, pink mixture of vodka, simple syrup and pureed watermelon -that has only 125 calories. That\'s not too bad for the calorie conscious--except for the sugar content. The real issues come with cocktails and drinks, like Long Island iced tea, that contain several types of liquors and additives. </p><p><b><strong>Low-cal cocktail options<br></strong></b>\"I usually recommend vodka with a splash of juice to my clients. What\'s even better is vodka on the rocks or with soda water,\" says Ashley Borden, a celebrity fitness and lifestyle consultant in Los Angeles, \"I also tell them to have a glass of water to sip, too.\" </p><p>Eugene Remm, director of promotions for Be Our Guest Restaurants and James Hotels, says any type of liquor on the rocks is a great alternative to the cocktail, and he\'s recently noticed more people drinking this way. \"Those who were once margarita drinkers ... are drinking Corazon Blanco, and instead of adding the sweet and fattening syrups, they\'re just putting it on the rocks.\"</p><p>It may be hard to remember this information as you become increasingly squiffy. If all else fails, you could always ask the bartender or waitress to help you make a selection. Another resolution would be to indulge in cocktails made from fresh-squeezed juices, like those served at New York City\'s Double Seven lounge.</p><p>Most cocktails contain refined sugar, but drinks like the Gold Rush are bourbon, honey and a splash of lemon juice. The drinks taste stronger without so many additives, but tickle your taste buds just the same. It\'s part of a drink list created by Sasha Petraske, owner of the fashionable cocktail-lounge Milk and Honey in Manhattan\'s Chinatown, and with each sip you\'ll find yourself forgetting about things like calories, which, after all, is the point of a cocktail in the first place.</p><div class=\"textBodyBlack\" style=\"clear:both;\"><i><em>?2007 Forbes.com</em></i></div><br>');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('980','2','<table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\"><tr><td width=\"10\"></td><td width=\"98%\"><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"98%\" valign=\"top\"><tr><td><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><font size=\"+2\" color=\"551E1B\">Hot broccoli: Thief swipes $50,000 worth</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>Trailer disappears in Chicago suburb, but produce no black-market darling</b><br></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"></td></tr></table><font size=\"-2\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Sources/sourceAP.gif\" height=\"20\" width=\"140\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"><p></p></font><p>VILLA PARK, Ill. - Someone got way more than the recommended daily serving of vegetables when a refrigerated trailer loaded with $50,000 worth of broccoli was stolen.</p><p>The 48-foot trailer disappeared from its rented parking space in the Chicago suburb of Villa Park sometime between Sunday and Tuesday morning, police said.</p><p>Detective Ed Zorich said the thief was probably after the trailer, not the vegetables.</p><p>\"What is someone going to do with that amount of produce?\" Zorich said. \"On the black market, I can\'t imagine that\'s something that\'s worth money to anybody.\"</p><p>Police entered the trailer into a stolen-vehicle database, but had no immediate leads.</p><p>\"We have homicides happening in town,\" Zorich said. \"We\'re not really looking for a truck of broccoli right now.\"</p><p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"460\"><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" border=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr height=\"20\"><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#666666\">&nbsp;Other nutrition stories</b></font></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"5\" cellpadding=\"0\" bordercolor=\"#cccccc\" border=\"0\" style=\"border-top:solid 1px #cccccc;border-bottom:solid 1px #cccccc;background-color:#ffffff;\" bgcolor=\"#ffffff\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\" cellpadding=\"0\" class=\"headlineList2\"><tr></tr></table></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"8\"><tr><td style=\"padding:8px;\"><font class=\"bigRedLink\"><ul><li><a href=\"/id/16370964/\" target=\"_blank\">Universal Studios bans trans fats at its parks</a>?/li><li><a href=\"/id/16314576/\" target=\"_blank\">What it takes to work off that holiday cookie</a></li></ul></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"\" bordercolor=\"\" border=\"0\" style=\"background-color:#eeeeee;\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr><td style=\"\"><font class=\"textSmall\" color=\"#000000\"></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></p><div class=\"textBodyBlack\" style=\"clear:both;\"><i><em>?2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</em></i></div><br>');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('981','2','<table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\"><tr><td width=\"10\"></td><td width=\"98%\"><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"98%\" valign=\"top\"><tr><td><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><font size=\"+2\" color=\"551E1B\">More than 1 in 3 low-income preschoolers obese</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>Hispanic youngsters are at the highest risk, study finds</b><br></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"></td></tr></table><font size=\"-2\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Sources/sourceAP.gif\" height=\"20\" width=\"140\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"><p></p></font><p>WASHINGTON - Far too many kids are fat by preschool, and Hispanic youngsters are most at risk, says new research that\'s among the first to focus on children growing up in poverty.</p><p>The study couldn\'t explain the disparity: White, black and Hispanic youngsters alike watched a lot of TV, and researchers spotted no other huge differences among the families.</p><p>But one important predictor of a pudgy preschooler was whether the child was still using a bottle at the stunning age of 3, concluded the study being published online Thursday by the American Journal of Public Health.</p><p>\"These children are already disadvantaged because their families are poor, and by age 3 they are on track for a lifetime of health problems related to obesity,\" said lead researcher Rachel Kimbro of the University of Wisconsin at Madison.</p><p>Some 17 percent of U.S. youngsters are obese, and millions more are overweight. Obesity can lead to diabetes, high blood pressure and cholesterol, sleep problems and other disorders - and the problem starts early. Overweight preschoolers have a five times higher risk of being fat at age 12 than do lean preschoolers, scientists reported last fall.</p><p>Kimbro focused on the poor, culling data on more than 2,000 3-year-olds from a study that tracks from birth children born to low-income families in 20 large U.S. cities.</p><p>Thirty-two percent of the white and black tots were either overweight or obese, vs. 44 percent of the Hispanics.</p><p>Why were the Hispanics at higher risk? Kimbro checked a long list of factors, from children\'s TV habits to whether mothers had easy access to grocery stores. Nothing could fully explain the difference. \"We were surprised,\" she said.</p><p>Children were particularly at risk if their mothers were obese. So were those who still took a bottle to bed at age 3, as did 14 percent of the Hispanic youngsters, 6 percent of the whites and 4 percent of the blacks.</p><p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"460\"><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" border=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr height=\"20\"><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#666666\">&nbsp;Other nutrition stories</b></font></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"5\" cellpadding=\"0\" bordercolor=\"#cccccc\" border=\"0\" style=\"border-top:solid 1px #cccccc;border-bottom:solid 1px #cccccc;background-color:#ffffff;\" bgcolor=\"#ffffff\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\" cellpadding=\"0\" class=\"headlineList2\"><tr></tr></table></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"8\"><tr><td style=\"padding:8px;\"><font class=\"bigRedLink\"><ul><li><a href=\"http://boards.msn.com/MSNBCboards/thread.aspx?ThreadID=158597\">Discuss: Parents, what are your tips on instilling healthy eating habits?</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/16370964/\" target=\"_blank\">Universal Studios bans trans fats at its parks</a>?/li><li><a href=\"/id/16314576/\" target=\"_blank\">What it takes to work off that holiday cookie</a></li></ul></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"\" bordercolor=\"\" border=\"0\" style=\"background-color:#eeeeee;\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr><td style=\"\"><font class=\"textSmall\" color=\"#000000\"></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></p><p>That finding supports other research that \"one of the most common causes of overweight in children is overfeeding,\" said Dr. Philip Nader, a pediatrician and professor emeritus at the University of California at San Diego.</p><p>Pediatricians say even babies should never take a bottle to bed, and that children should start drinking from a cup at about age 1.</p><p>Kimbo now wonders what cultural differences - such as whether Hispanic mothers think chubby children are healthier - might also play a role, something the current study couldn\'t address.</p><div class=\"textBodyBlack\" style=\"clear:both;\"><i><em>?2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</em></i></div><br>');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('982','2','<table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\"><tr><td width=\"10\"></td><td width=\"98%\"><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"98%\" valign=\"top\"><tr><td><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><font size=\"+2\" color=\"551E1B\">9 healthy foods that may surprise you</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>Chocolate, potatoes, peanut butter and coffee can be good for you</b><br></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"></td></tr></table><font size=\"-2\"><div class=\"textMedBlackBold\" style=\"padding-top:10px;\">By By Allison Van Dusen</div><a href=\"http://www.forbes.com/home/index.html?partner=msnbc\"><a href=\"http://www.forbes.com/home/index.html?partner=msnbc\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia3.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Sources/Local/sourceForbes.gif\" height=\"20\" width=\"140\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"></a></a><p></p></font><p>What you didn\'t know might help you. </p><p>Eating healthy may be virtuous, but it just doesn\'t seem like that much fun. </p><p>The feast-filled holidays were a great excuse for blowing off your strict diet and indulging. Why else bother with a healthy New Year\'s resolution? Most of us prefer the taste of french fries and peanut brittle over that of oat bran. A glass of burgundy sounds more tantalizing than a cup of wheat grass juice. And while a nice piece of fruit is no punishment, chocolate is exceedingly more tempting.</p><p>The good news: Not all of those seemingly unhealthy choices actually are. </p><p>Cheese fries may never be a part of your recommended diet, but Russet potatoes alone are nothing to fear. In fact, they\'re full of disease-fighting antioxidants. Eating the whole box of chocolates still isn\'t a good idea. A square a day, however, may help prevent cancer and stave off weight gain.</p><p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"460\"><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" border=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr height=\"20\"><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#666666\">&nbsp;Click for related content</b></font></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"5\" cellpadding=\"0\" bordercolor=\"#cccccc\" border=\"0\" style=\"border-top:solid 1px #cccccc;border-bottom:solid 1px #cccccc;background-color:#ffffff;\" bgcolor=\"#ffffff\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\" cellpadding=\"0\" class=\"headlineList2\"><tr></tr></table></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"8\"><tr><td style=\"padding:8px;\"><font class=\"bigRedLink\"><p><a href=\"http://www.forbes.com/technology/2006/11/07/healthy-food-news-forbeslife-health-cx_avd_1108surprise_slide_2.html\" target=\"_blank\">Slideshow: 9 surprisingly healthy foods</a></p></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"\" bordercolor=\"\" border=\"0\" style=\"background-color:#eeeeee;\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr><td style=\"\"><font class=\"textSmall\" color=\"#000000\"></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></p><p>If you\'re confused, we\'re not surprised. There\'s never been more information available on how to eat right. Books, food labels, Web sites - fast food restaurants even provide nutritional information for their meals. But it\'s hard to draw any simple conclusions from it all. Are carbs good or bad? How many calories are too many? What causes cancer now? </p><p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\"><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" border=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#7788aa\"><tr height=\"20\"><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#7788aa\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#FFFFFF\">&nbsp;More health news from Forbes</b></font></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"5\" cellpadding=\"0\" bordercolor=\"#a4abc1\" border=\"0\" style=\"border-right:solid 1px #a4abc1;border-bottom:solid 1px #a4abc1;border-left:solid 1px #a4abc1;background-color:#f3f3f6;\" bgcolor=\"#f3f3f6\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\" cellpadding=\"0\" class=\"headlineList2\"><tr></tr></table></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\"><tr><td style=\"padding:10px;\"><font color=\"#000000\"><table><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"3\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\" ID=\"Table1\"><tr valign=\"top\"><td><font color=\"551E1B\">?/font></td><td><font color=\"black\"><a href=\"http://www.forbes.com/2006/12/05/leadership-health-sex-lead-innovation-cx_tw_1205sex_slide2_2.html?partner=msnbc\" target=\"_blank\">A diet for better sex</a></font></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td><font color=\"551E1B\">?/font></td><td><font color=\"black\"><a href=\"http://www.forbes.com/2006/06/29/cx_sy_0630featslide.html?partner=msnbc\" target=\"_blank\">Hottest fitness trends</a></font></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td><font color=\"551E1B\">?/font></td><td><font color=\"black\"><a href=\"http://www.forbes.com/2006/12/05/leadership-health-sex-lead-innovation-cx_tw_1205aphrodisiacs_slide_2.html?partner=msnbc\" target=\"_blank\">10 aphrodisiacs that really work</a></font></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td><font color=\"551E1B\">?/font></td><td><font color=\"black\"><a href=\"http://www.forbes.com/2006/10/24/life_health_cx_ad_1025featslide.html?partner=msnbc\" target=\"_blank\">How to ease up on your body</a></font></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td><font color=\"551E1B\">?/font></td><td><font color=\"black\"><a href=\"http://www.forbes.com/2005/08/30/cx_sy_0831featslide.html?partner=msnbc\" target=\"_blank\">The worst things you can do to your body</a></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></p><p>No wonder dietitians say people tend to see healthy choices as too much trouble.</p><p>\"We are in such a hurry, we\'re so busy multitasking that eating is no longer a solo event,\" says David Grotto of the Chicago-based American Dietetic Association. \"It\'s an inconvenience. We have hunger, and we need to squash it. We need to wolf down some food. You\'re lucky if you remember what you ate the day before.\"</p><p>A recent ACNielsen study of how habits of eating and drinking outside the home develop offers a glimpse into the predicament. About 82 percent of consumers acknowledged that individuals are the most responsible for weight gain in the U.S. population. Only 6 percent place the biggest blame on fast food joints and 2 percent on food companies. Of those surveyed, 18 percent said the main factor leading to weight gain is that modern life is too easy for people to make an effort to be healthy. </p><p>Elisa Zied, author of \"So What Can I Eat?!\" and a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association, says people are frustrated by the conflicting research studies and news reports about what can harm or benefit them. Typically, they just want practical advice on what to eat. </p><p>They\'re also unknowingly making bad choices. Most people know that soda and candy contain a lot of sugar. But they don\'t always realize that low-fat flavored yogurt, salad dressing and Chinese food (think chicken with broccoli) can too. Because of the new obsession with lowering our intake of trans fats, which food labels must now list, some people are consuming more saturated fats, she says.</p><p>Deepak Varma, senior vice president of customized research for ACNielsen, says consumers fall into \"autopilot\" mode, not really thinking about what they\'re buying or eating until they have a moment of truth in the form of a medical checkup or want to get in shape. </p><p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"460\"><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" border=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr height=\"20\"><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#666666\">&nbsp;Related stories</b></font></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"5\" cellpadding=\"0\" bordercolor=\"#cccccc\" border=\"0\" style=\"border-top:solid 1px #cccccc;border-bottom:solid 1px #cccccc;background-color:#ffffff;\" bgcolor=\"#ffffff\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\" cellpadding=\"0\" class=\"headlineList2\"><tr></tr></table></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"8\"><tr><td style=\"padding:8px;\"><font class=\"bigRedLink\"><ul><li><a href=\"/id/16370964/\" target=\"_blank\">Universal Studios bans trans fats at its parks</a>?/li><li><a href=\"/id/16314576/\" target=\"_blank\">What it takes to work off that holiday cookie</a></li></ul></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"\" bordercolor=\"\" border=\"0\" style=\"background-color:#eeeeee;\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr><td style=\"\"><font class=\"textSmall\" color=\"#000000\"></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr></table>People also get in the habit of having larger portions because they want to get good value for their money, he says.</p><p>Unfortunately, there is no cure-all when it comes to waking up and taking control of your health. Grotto, who is writing a book about making friends with food, suggests viewing meals as both sources of sustenance and enjoyable experiences.</p><p>To make that process a little easier, we asked dietitians to recommend a number of foods with surprising health benefits. Chocolate and bruschetta, anyone?</p><p>Once you incorporate these tips into your eating habits, try tackling more challenging ones. Jennifer Nelson, director of clinical dietetics at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., says another way we can start to change is by asking restaurants for more healthy options and smaller portion sizes. Define value by the quality of your food, not its \"supersize.\"</p><p>\"Small indiscretions can create bigger health issues,\" Nelson says. \"The good news is that small attempts, the more we chip away at it - we can get big results too.\"</p><div class=\"textBodyBlack\" style=\"clear:both;\"><i><em>?2007 Forbes.com</em></i></div><br>');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('983','2','<table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\"><tr><td width=\"10\"></td><td width=\"98%\"><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"98%\" valign=\"top\"><tr><td><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><font size=\"+2\" color=\"551E1B\">Senior women turn to basketball for fitness, fun</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>Dozens of leagues for females 50 and older have sprung up around U.S.</b><br></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"></td></tr></table><font size=\"-2\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Sources/sourceAP.gif\" height=\"20\" width=\"140\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"><p></p></font><p>DES MOINES, Iowa - Playing basketball isn\'t ladylike.</p><p>That\'s what Jewell Chapman\'s high school principal told her in 1961 when he banned the girls basketball program.</p><p>\"We were very frustrated,\" said Chapman, a forward for her high school team in Des Moines.</p><p>Nearly 50 years later, Chapman is back on the court. She\'s 62 and plays for the Hot Pink Grannies, joining about 10 other women on a team whose uniforms are black bloomers and hot pink socks. They play in the Iowa Granny Basketball League.</p><p>It\'s one of dozens of basketball leagues for women over 50 that have sprung up across the country. For some, it\'s an opportunity to exercise and socialize; for others, it\'s a once-denied chance to compete.</p><p>\"You see more and more senior women\'s teams participating in state and national competitions and more recreational leagues,\" said Michael Rogers, an associate professor in sports studies at Wichita State University. \"In the future it will be commonplace to have leagues like this.\"</p><p>Annual surveys by the National Sporting Goods Association indicate the number of women 55 and older who play basketball at least 50 times a year has grown from 16,000 in 1995 to nearly 131,000 a decade later.</p><p>The women on the Hot Pink Grannies are good-natured but competitive come game time.</p><p>\"I think I\'m tough,\" says Hot Pink Granny Colleen Pulliam, 69, flexing her biceps at opponents in a game against the Strutters, known for their brilliant yellow socks.</p><p>Seconds later, she dives for the ball as it slips from a player\'s hand and tosses it over her head to the forward waiting under the basket.</p><p>Granny Basketball Leagues and similar groups are scattered through much of the country, including California, Connecticut, Louisiana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C.</p><p>It\'s part of a larger movement toward organized sports by older Americans, said Dr. Wojtek Chodzko-Zajko, head of the kinesiology department at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.</p><p>\"Gradually, as the boomers grow older we\'re going to have a cohort of people who have the expectation of remaining active,\" said Chodzko-Zajko, who studies aging and physical activity. \"And a majority of those people are going to want to do that in competitive sport.\"</p><p><b><strong>A league of their own<br></strong></b>Unlike men, however, middle-aged women who want to play have had to create their own leagues catering to a range of players: from older women who haven\'t hit the court in decades to women who led their teams to tournaments in the post-Title IX era. That 1972 ruling forced public schools to offer equal athletic programs for males and females.</p><p>About 500 women from 47 states competed in basketball at the 2005 National Senior Games in Pittsburgh. And in response to growing interest by women, the formerly all-male Masters Basketball-National Championship will for the first time offer a women\'s competition at its May event in Coral Springs, Fla.</p><p>The movement to basketball among older women is exciting but not surprising to Audrey Pastore, who established the Senior Women\'s Basketball Association of San Diego in 1998. Today, her league has about 100 members who play three-on-three games on 18 teams. Three of those teams won gold medals at the 2005 National Senior Games.</p><p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"460\"><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" border=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr height=\"20\"><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#666666\">&nbsp;Click for related story</b></font></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"5\" cellpadding=\"0\" bordercolor=\"#cccccc\" border=\"0\" style=\"border-top:solid 1px #cccccc;border-bottom:solid 1px #cccccc;background-color:#ffffff;\" bgcolor=\"#ffffff\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\" cellpadding=\"0\" class=\"headlineList2\"><tr></tr></table></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"8\"><tr><td style=\"padding:8px;\"><font class=\"bigRedLink\"><ul><li><a href=\"/id/16542396/\">Choices about aging parents revive sibling strife</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/16330362/\">Virtual dinners join elderly with families</a></li></ul></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"\" bordercolor=\"\" border=\"0\" style=\"background-color:#eeeeee;\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr><td style=\"\"><font class=\"textSmall\" color=\"#000000\"></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></p><p>\"It\'s going to get bigger and bigger,\" said Pastore, 66.</p><p>There are even basketball camps for women 50 and older.</p><p>Deb Richards of Portland, Maine, launched her Not Too Late basketball camp last year and drew more than 50 women from 11 states. Richards, 52, plans another camp this August at Southern Maine Community College.</p><p>\"They saw what their children had in experiencing sports and they didn\'t have that,\" Richards said.</p><p><b><strong>Injury risks to older players<br></strong></b>But there are risks.</p><p>Because basketball is such a physically demanding sport, doctors say older players risk cardiovascular problems, and some may aggravate existing arthritis conditions.</p><p>Women also are more susceptible to painful knee ligament injuries, said Dr. Kathleen Weber, director of the women\'s sports medicine program at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.</p><p>\"A lot of people decide to play a sport and they may not be in proper condition,\" Weber said. \"They need to do conditioning.\"<table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"1%\"><tr><td><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Art/HEALTH/070114/ap_GRANNYBASKETBALL.gif\" align=\"Right\" height=\"226\" width=\"369\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"></td></tr></table></p><p>Most leagues require doctor approval before joining.</p><p>Players on the Iowa Granny Basketball League have various reasons for joining, but clearly having a good time is a priority. Each team sports eye-catching attire, and they flap their arms to 1920s swing music at halftime. Many of their games raise money for charities, and there are stunt games like playing against a team of teenage boys who each have one hand tied behind their backs.</p><p>\"I\'m having fun and I love it. We have a nice bunch of girls here,\" said 78-year-old Phyllis Huxford of Des Moines. \"The main thing is it gets you out of the house.\"</p><div class=\"textBodyBlack\" style=\"clear:both;\"><i>Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</i></div><br><table width=\"100%\" style=\"background-color:#ffffee\" cellPadding=\"2\" cellSpacing=\"0\"><tr><td width=\"50%\"><font size=\"1\"><img src=\"/images/msnbc/print02.gif\" width=\"25\" height=\"20\" align=\"absmiddle\"> <a href=\"javascript:printThis(\'16625762\')\" class=\"linkBlack\">Print this</a></font></td><td><font size=\"1\"><img src=\"/images/msnbc/email02.gif\" width=\"25\" height=\"20\" align=\"absmiddle\"> <a href=\"javascript:emThis(\'16625762\')\" class=\"linkBlack\">Email this</a></font></td></tr></table></td><td width=\"10\"></td></tr></table><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\"><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" border=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#7788aa\"><tr height=\"20\"><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#7788aa\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#ffffff\">&nbsp;MORE FROM AGING</b></font></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td><table 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INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('984','2','	<p><p>SUNDAY, Sept. 17 (HealthDay News) -- Taking four short walks a day to lower your blood pressure may be more effective than one long walk, a new study finds.</p> <p>Reporting in the September issue of the <i>Journal of Hypertension</i>, Indiana University researchers compared the effects of four 10-minute walks to one 40-minute walk in reducing blood pressure in 20 people with prehypertension.</p> <p>Prehypertension, in which blood pressure ranges from 120-139 mm Hg over 80-89 mm Hg, is an elevated blood pressure level that will usually progress to high blood pressure. High blood pressure is associated with heart attack, heart failure, kidney failure, stroke and blindness.</p> <p>The researchers found that while the short walks and long walk decreased the participants\' blood pressure by the same amount, the effect lasted for 11 hours after the short walks, compared to seven hours after the long walk.</p> <p>&quot;We had no idea the short bouts would be better,&quot; Janet Wallace, professor in the Department of Kinesiology at the Indiana University School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, said in a prepared statement. &quot;Most studies found in the literature report the long, continuous session as more effective for many variables.&quot;</p> <p>But these findings may motivate people who cannot seem to fit long bouts of activity in their schedule.</p> <p>&quot;The biggest problem for most people is that they don\'t have time,&quot; Wallace said. &quot;You might think, \'I don\'t have the time to go to the gym or work out for 40 minutes, but I might have the time to do 10 minutes here, 10 minutes here and another 10 minutes here.\' Four 10-minute walks would be ideal.&quot;</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The U.S. National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute has more about <a href=\" http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/Hbp/HBP_WhatIs.html\" target=\"_new\">high blood pressure</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('985','2','	<p><p>MONDAY, Sept. 18 (HealthDay News) -- Mice gorging on high-calorie, high-fat diets for two weeks stayed slender, thanks to an &quot;anti-obesity&quot; protein injected into their brains, Italian researchers report.</p> <p>Eating all you want and never getting fat does seem like a dream come true. And experts cautioned that it might stay a dream -- at least for humans -- for the foreseeable future.</p> <p>&quot;Whether this translates to humans and whether it translates to humans without tremendous side effects is another story,&quot; said Cathy Nonas, director of the obesity and diabetes programs at North General Hospital in New York City, and a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association.</p> <p>The study was published in this week\'s issue of the <i>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</i>.</p> <p>According to Nonas, a &quot;wonder drug&quot; that wards off obesity while allowing people to eat all they want has long been the goal of pharmaceutical companies worldwide. So far, most research efforts have focused on agents that &quot;rev up&quot; metabolism to burn off excess calories.</p> <p>&quot;People have been working on the idea of looking at molecules, peptides, to see whether they could increase energy expenditure without major side effects,&quot; Nonas said.</p> <p>This latest research, led by Alessandro Bartolomucci of the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, in Rome, focused on a protein byproduct of the <i>Vgf</i> gene, which has long been linked to metabolism.</p> <p>Bartolomucci\'s group first identified this protein, a peptide called TLQP-21, in the brains of rats. &quot;It was an unproved assumption that VGF-derived peptides could regulate metabolism,&quot; the Italian team noted.</p> <p>Exploring further, the researchers isolated TLQP-21 and injected it into the brains of lab mice every day for 14 days. At the same time, the mice were given high-fat diets that would normally trigger weight gain.</p> <p>In this case, however, that didn\'t happen.</p> <p>According to the researchers, the mice stayed slim because the peptide boosted their metabolic rate.</p> <p>&quot;When TLQP-21 is chronically injected into the cerebral ventricles, it increases [the mice\'s] energy expenditure and rectal temperature,&quot; Bartolomucci explained. Both of these changes signified a sped-up metabolism.</p> <p>The peptide also affected key factors in metabolism and calorie-burning, he said. These included a rise in blood levels of the hormone epinephrine, as well as changes in locomotor and thyroid function.</p> <p>Furthermore, in treated mice placed on a standard diet, &quot;adipose [fat] tissue slightly decreased,&quot; Bartolomucci said. At the same time, the number of cellular receptors linked to fat-burning and energy expenditure rose.</p> <p>All of this could explain why mice fed the high-fat diet kept their skinny physiques when they were given TLQP-21, Bartolomucci said.</p> <p>The Italian researcher believes TLQP-21 has potential as an anti-obesity agent for use in humans. But he stressed that, &quot;we are in an early stage of research. Indeed, this is the first study where the peptide is identified and the first study where its role in metabolic function has been tested.&quot;</p> <p>Nonas agreed that it is a very big leap to assume that safety and efficacy in mice will translate to humans. First of all is the problem of drug-delivery.</p> <p>&quot;You can only do brain injections to a rat and a mouse,&quot; she pointed out. &quot;You\'d have to go a long way before you could take that and turn it into something that would work in a pill form or be injected into fat tissue.&quot;</p> <p>The potential side effects of revving up the metabolism are also daunting. &quot;You can have cardiac side effects, things like irregular heartbeat,&quot; Nonas said. &quot;Then, there are headaches, heat and temperature-control things.&quot;</p> <p>And even if people could eat high-fat diets without gaining weight, that doesn\'t mean they\'d stay healthy. &quot;We know plenty of people who are lean all their lives and still have clogged arteries from eating unhealthy foods,&quot; Nonas pointed out.</p> <p>Any anti-obesity pill would only offer people a boost in fighting weight gain -- it would probably never be the total solution, she said.</p> <p>In the meantime, people do have a proven, effective way of fighting or reducing obesity -- sensible diets and regular exercise.</p> <p>&quot;I\'m not saying that that isn\'t really hard to do,&quot; Nonas said. &quot;It will never be easy. But there will never be any magic bullet.&quot;</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>There\'s more on healthy dieting at the <a href=\"http://www.eatright.org/cps/rde/xchg/ada/hs.xsl/nutrition.html\" target=\"_new\">American Dietetic Association</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('986','2','	<p><!--Spanish ID:535012--> <p>MONDAY, Sept. 18 (HealthDay News) -- Global experts on child health are meeting in New York City on Monday to discuss an ongoing tragedy: the fact that 10.5 million children under the age of five die each year.</p> <p>Most of these deaths could be prevented, experts say.</p> <p> Coinciding with this meeting, the U.K. medical journal <i>The Lancet</i> is publishing a special online issue dedicated to research on child survival.</p> <p>In one study, researchers found that the world\'s major aid donors gave an estimated $1.36 billion to the 60 countries that account for the most child deaths in the world. That sounds like a large sum, but translates to just $3.10 per child, the researchers said.</p> <p>In order to meet the goal of reducing child mortality by two-thirds by 2015, an estimated additional $7 billion per year is needed. The authors concluded that the new funds should go toward interventions known to improve child survival, such as interventions addressing diarrhea and pneumonia.</p> <p>Another study presented the latest findings from the Child Survival Countdown, a worldwide effort to monitor the use of 19 interventions that can improve child survival in the 60 most vulnerable countries.</p> <p>Researchers reported that only seven of the 60 priority countries are now expected to reach the 2015 goal. According to the authors, it is important to support interventions aimed at preventing malaria and immunizing children against diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus.</p> <p>In another study, researchers assessed the effect of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations (GAVI) on diptheria, pertussis, and tetanus vaccine coverage. The researchers concluded that GAVI should redistribute its resources to countries with the lowest vaccine coverage.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>UNICEF has more about <a href=\"http://www.unicef.org/\" target=\"_new\">child mortality</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('987','2','	<p><p>TUESDAY, Sept. 19 (HealthDay News) -- The heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids abundant in fatty fish like salmon and sardines may help protect your kidneys against cancer, new research suggests.</p> <p>A large, 15-year Swedish study of women looked at fatty and lean fish consumption and the risk of kidney cancer. The finding: Those who ate high amounts of fatty fish -- more than one serving a week -- had 44 percent less risk for developing renal cell carcinoma (the most common form of kidney cancer) than those who did not consume any fish.</p> <p>&quot;That\'s substantial,&quot; said Eugenia Calle, director of analytic epidemiology for the American Cancer Society. &quot;There is very little published on this topic -- it may be the only study to look at fatty fish and kidney cancer.&quot;</p> <p>The findings were published in the Sept. 20 issue of the <i>Journal of the American Medical Association</i>.</p> <p>Previous studies on fish consumption and cancer risk produced inconsistent results, Calle said, and they were limited in that they looked at all types of fish consumption. There has been some experimental data with animals and cells that suggest fatty fish, with their abundance of omega-3 fatty acids and Vitamin D, may protect against cancer, she added.</p> <p> The Swedish study, led by Alicja Wolk of the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, &quot;is probably the first study to look at fatty fish consumption. There\'s a lot of hypotheses but not a lot of studies yet,&quot; Calle said.</p> <p>The study investigated the association between fatty-fish and lean-fish consumption and the incidence of kidney cancer in 61,433 women. Fatty fish included salmon, herring, sardines, and mackerel; lean fish included cod, tuna and fresh water fish; and seafood included shrimp, lobster and crayfish. The participants answered a food frequency questionnaire when they entered the study in 1987 and in September 1997.</p> <p>During an average 15-year follow-up from 1987 to 2004, 150 kidney-cancer cases were diagnosed. The researchers found a lower incidence of kidney cancer in women who ate fatty fish once a week or more, but found no association with lean fish or other seafood consumption.</p> <p>&quot;In this large population-based cohort with data on long-term diet, we found that women who consumed one or more servings of fatty fish per week had a statistically significant 44 percent decreased risk of RCC (renal cell carcinoma) compared with women who did not consume any fish. Women who reported consistent long-term consumption of fatty fish at baseline and 10 years later had a statistically significant 74 percent lower risk,&quot; the authors wrote in a prepared statement.</p> <p>&quot;Our results support the hypothesis that frequent consumption of fatty fish may lower the risk of renal cell cancer possibly due to increased intake of fish oil rich in eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaeneoic acid as well as vitamin D. Our results, however, require confirmation because this is the first epidemiological study addressing this issue.&quot;</p> <p>The Swedish researchers noted there are &quot;large differences between fatty fish and lean fish in the content of omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin D. Marine omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids are 20 to 30 times higher in fatty cold-water fish than in lean fish. Fatty fish has three to five times higher content of vitamin D than lean fish, and lower serum vitamin D levels have been associated with development and progression of renal cell carcinoma.&quot;</p> <p>The Swedish findings conflict with a major review published earlier this year that found omega-3 fatty acids derived from fish or fish-oil supplements did not prevent cancer.</p> <p>A review of more than 38 studies found no evidence that diets rich in fish fight any kind of malignancy. These conflicting data showed omega-3 fatty acids &quot;definitely have health benefits, but they are not a panacea. Preventing cancer is not one of the things omega-3 fatty acids do,&quot; said lead researcher Dr. Catherine MacLean, a natural scientist at Rand Health and a rheumatologist at the Greater Los Angeles VA Healthcare System. The study was published Jan. 25 in the <i>Journal of the American Medical Association</i>.</p> <p>Kidney cancer isn\'t that common in the United States, Calle said, ranking No. 7 for men and not making the top 10 cancers for women. &quot;This is not a common cancer, so the public health impact is not as great as it would be, say, for breast, lung, prostate,&quot; she said. But, in terms of general interest, &quot;if [fatty fish] were associated with a decreased risk of additional cancers, that would be a very important message.&quot;</p> <p>&quot;You can\'t go wrong eating fish,&quot; Calle said, adding that the American Cancer Society does not have specific recommendations on the type of fish to eat. &quot;As more data become available, our dietary recommendations are reviewed and updated.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>For more on the health benefits of omega-3 fatty acids, visit the <a href=\"http://www.umm.edu/altmed/ConsSupplements/Omega3FattyAcidscs.html\" target=\"_new\">University of Maryland</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('988','2','	<p><p>FRIDAY, Sept. 22 (HealthDay News) -- Female college athletes who restrict their calorie intake may be putting themselves at risk for stress fractures, new research finds.</p> <p>In a study published in the September issue for the <i>American Journal of Sports Medicine</i>, researchers from Saint Louis University investigated possible causes of exercise-related leg pain, including stress fractures, in 76 female college athletes playing soccer, field hockey, cross-country running or volleyball.</p> <p>The athletes who developed stress fractures were more likely to have &quot;disordered eating,&quot; which included insufficient calorie intake due to eating disorders and other nutritional deficiencies.</p> <p>&quot;When people expend more calories than they consume, they release fewer hormones, which slows down menstrual cycles. This decreases estrogen in the body, which is responsible for bone development,&quot; Mark Reinking, chairman of the department of physical therapy at Saint Louis University\'s Doisy College of Health Sciences, said in a prepared statement.</p> <p>Risk fractures for exercise-related leg pain overall were a prior history of leg pain, disordered eating, and excessive pronation (rolling inward) of the foot.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons has more about <a href=\"http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/fact/thr_report.cfm?Thread_ID=46&amp;topcategory=General%20Information\" target=\"_new\">stress fractures</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('989','2','	<p><p>SATURDAY, Sept. 23 (HealthDay News) -- Doctors who rely on young athletes\' reports of concussion symptoms may be sending the athletes back to play too soon, according to a new study.</p> <p>Reporting in the October online issue of the <i>American Journal of Sports Medicine</i>, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center researchers evaluated 22 high school athletes who had concussions.</p> <p>The athletes had undergone neurocognitive testing before their season began and again after having the concussion. Neurocognitive testing involves tests that measure memory, motor skills, processing speed, reaction time and concussion symptom levels.</p> <p>Just 64 percent of the athletes reported a significant increase in symptoms compared to pre-season reporting, but the neurocognitive testing revealed that 83 percent of them had poorer test results compared to pre-season testing. The use of both symptom reporting and neurocognitive testing was significantly more accurate than symptom reporting alone, the study found.</p> <p>The danger in relying on symptom reports alone is that the athletes may be released to return to play too soon, before their brains have healed, making them vulnerable to further injury.</p> <p>&quot;Generally, an athlete who sustains an initial concussion can fully recover, as long as the brain has had time to heal before sustaining another hit,&quot; Micky Collins, study co-author and assistant director of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center\'s Sports Medicine Concussion program, said in a prepared statement.</p> <p>&quot;The tricky part is that concussion signs and symptoms are not always straightforward, and the effects and severity of the injury can be difficult to determine,&quot; Collins said.&quot;</p> <p>Neurocognitive testing is becoming widely used by high schools, colleges and universities, sports teams, and sports medicine clinics. Athletes can take a pre-season test, which can later be compared to a post-concussion test, if necessary.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The American Academy of Family Physicians has more about <a href=\"http://familydoctor.org/458.xml\" target=\"_new\">concussions in sports</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('990','2','	<p><p>SUNDAY, Sept. 24 (HealthDay News) -- Cutting calories may halt or even reverse the symptoms of Alzheimer\'s, according to a new animal study.</p> <p>For the study, expected to be published in the November issue of the <i>Journal of Alzheimer\'s Disease</i>, a team of researchers from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City maintained a group of squirrel monkeys on either calorie-restrictive or normal diets throughout their lifespans.</p> <p>Compared to those on a normal diet, the monkeys that were fed the reduced-calorie diet were less likely to have Alzheimer\'s disease-type changes in their brain. </p> <p>The reduced-calorie diet was also associated with increased longevity of a protein known as SIRT1, which influences a variety of functions, including age-related diseases.</p> <p>&quot;The new breakthrough brings great anticipation for further human study of caloric restriction, for Alzheimer\'s disease investigators and for those physicians who treat millions of people suffering with this disease,&quot; study author Giulio Maria Pasinetti, a professor of psychiatry and neuroscience and director of the Neuroinflammation Research Center at the school, said in a prepared statement.</p> <p>&quot;The findings offer a glimmer of hope that there may someday be a way to prevent and stop this devastating disease in its tracks,&quot; Pasinetti said.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The National Institute on Aging has more about <a href=\" http://www.nia.nih.gov/Alzheimers/Publications/adfact.htm\" target=\"_new\">Alzheimer\'s disease</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('991','2','	<p><!--Spanish ID:535131--> <p>MONDAY, Sept. 25 (HealthDay News) -- New research suggests that diabetes -- not obesity -- puts people at risk of developing critical illness and dying early.</p> <p>In a study published in the Sept. 24 issue of <i>Critical Care</i>, researchers from the University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital in Lexington and Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta analyzed data from 15,408 people between the ages of 44 and 66.</p> <p>The data included the participants\' body-mass index, presence of diabetes, and history of critical illness and death within three years.</p> <p>The researchers found that in the absence of diabetes, obese people do not have a greater risk of suffering from acute organ failure or dying from acute organ failure than people who are not obese.</p> <p>On the other hand, people with diabetes -- regardless of their BMI -- are three times more likely to become critically ill from acute organ failure and three times more likely to die from any cause than people without diabetes.</p> <p>The relationship between obesity, diabetes and critical illness is complex, and obesity by itself may not predict poor health outcomes, the study authors concluded.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases has more about <a href=\"http://www.diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/&quot; target=\">diabetes</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('992','2','<table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\"><tr><td width=\"10\"></td><td width=\"98%\"><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"98%\" valign=\"top\"><tr><td><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><font size=\"+2\" color=\"551E1B\">\'Cloudy\' apple juice packs more antioxidants</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>Study: Clear variety, which has longer shelf life, undergoes more processing</b><br></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"></td></tr></table><font size=\"-2\"><a href=\"http://www.reuters.com/\"><a href=\"http://www.reuters.com/\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia3.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Sources/sourceReuters.gif\" height=\"20\" width=\"140\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"></a></a><p></p></font><p>NEW YORK - When it comes to apple juice, \"cloudier\" may mean healthier, according to a study published Monday.</p><p>In a head-to-head comparison of apple juices, Polish researchers found that pulpy, non-clarified juice carried a greater antioxidant punch than clear juice. Antioxidants are compounds that neutralize free radicals, molecules that can damage body cells and contribute to disease.</p><p>Unlike cloudy apple juice, the much more common clear variety undergoes additional processing to remove any apple solids. Manufacturers typically think the public will favor the more attractive, clear juice over its cloudy cousin, and retailers prefer the clear variety for its longer shelf life.</p><p>But the new findings suggest that health-conscious consumers should reach for the cloudy variety, according to Dr. Jan Oszmianski, the study\'s lead author.</p><p>\"Cloudy apple juices contain much more antioxidant than clear,\" Oszmianski, a researcher at the Agricultural University of Wroclaw, told Reuters Health.</p><p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"460\"><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" border=\"0\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr height=\"20\"><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#666666\">&nbsp;Click for related content</b></font></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"5\" cellpadding=\"0\" bordercolor=\"#cccccc\" border=\"0\" style=\"border-top:solid 1px #cccccc;border-bottom:solid 1px #cccccc;background-color:#ffffff;\" bgcolor=\"#ffffff\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\" cellpadding=\"0\" class=\"headlineList2\"><tr></tr></table></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"8\"><tr><td style=\"padding:8px;\"><font class=\"bigRedLink\"><ul><li><a href=\"/id/16540633/\">Tea\'s good for you, but pass on the milk</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/16528571/\">Are some beverage studies biased?</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/16382518/\">Foods that are surprisingly good for you</a></li></ul></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"\" bordercolor=\"\" border=\"0\" style=\"background-color:#eeeeee;\" bgcolor=\"#eeeeee\"><tr><td style=\"\"><font class=\"textSmall\" color=\"#000000\"></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></p><p>In fact, Oszmianski\'s team found, cloudy juice packed up to four times the level of polyphenols, a group of antioxidant plant compounds. And in experiments, cloudy juice was the more effective free radical \"scavenger,\" the researchers report in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture.</p><p>The findings are based on four juices that the study authors prepared themselves, using two varieties of apple - Champion and Idared. Cloudy juice from Champion apples turned out to be the most antioxidant-rich, but clarification of either juice cut their antioxidant levels significantly.</p><p>The process, Oszmianski explained, involves using an enzyme that oxidizes the juice\'s antioxidants, particularly compounds called procyanidins.</p><p>But while cloudy apple juice may be a healthier choice than clear, it\'s still best to get your apples in the form nature made them.</p><p>\"It is better to eat whole apples with skins than drink the juice to get the most antioxidants,\" Oszmianski said.</p><div class=\"textBodyBlack\" style=\"clear:both;\"><i><em>Copyright 2007 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters.</em></i></div><br>');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('993','4','	<p><p>WEDNESDAY, Sept. 20 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday that it has updated the label on the Ortho Evra birth-control patch, warning that some women who use the product face a higher risk of blood clots.</p> <p>The label revision came after the final results of a study, commissioned by the drug\'s maker, Johnson and Johnson, found that users face twice the risk of clots in the legs and lungs than women taking traditional birth-control pills.</p> <p>But a second study, also commissioned by Johnson and Johnson, found no difference in risk between the patch and the pill.</p> <p>&quot;Even though the results of the two studies are conflicting, the results of the second epidemiology study support FDA\'s concerns regarding the potential for Ortho Evra use to increase the risk of blood clots in some women,&quot; the FDA said in a statement on its Web site.</p> <p>&quot;Blood clots occurring in the legs or lungs are serious and rare events that are a potential risk for all hormonal contraceptive therapies,&quot; Dr. Daniel Shames, the acting deputy director of FDA\'s Office of Drug Evaluation in the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, told a press conference.</p> <p>Risk factors for blood clots associated with contraceptives include smoking, obesity, inactivity, surgery and high doses, Shames said.</p> <p>The FDA has also asked Johnson and Johnson for a longer follow-up of women using the patch to look for cases of blood clots, heart attack and stroke.</p> <p>Right now, the FDA believes the patch is safe for most women. &quot;Ortho Evra risk profile is acceptable for a highly effective contraceptive,&quot; Shames said.</p> <p>However, the FDA said it remains concerned about the potential risk of blood clots in some women.</p> <p>The label change contains some information previously reported by Johnson and Johnson in a Feb. 16, 2006, press release. That information was based, in part, on an interim report from one of the two studies. The label change announced Wednesday is based on the latest results from the two studies, the FDA said.</p> <p>The label change includes a warning that women using the weekly patch -- the only birth-control patch approved by the FDA -- receive substantially more estrogen than women taking a daily birth-control pill. The pills typically contain 35 micrograms of estrogen.</p> <p>Higher levels of estrogen may put some women at increased risk of blood clots. The FDA is urging women to talk to their doctors to see if the patch is appropriate for them.</p> <p>&quot;When the patch came out, I enthusiastically used [it] in women who don\'t like to take pills,&quot; said Dr. Steven R. Goldstein, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at New York University School of Medicine. &quot;But I thought that there was too much estrogen in it, because four of the women lasted one or two months and complained of symptoms, which are usually attributed to excess estrogen.&quot; </p> <p>&quot;My advice is that for a patient who had been on the patch for any period of time and is doing well, I don\'t see a need to take her off,&quot; Goldstein added. &quot;With most of the estrogen-related blood clots, the risk is greatest in the first six months of use.&quot; </p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>For more on the Ortho Evra patch label change, visit the <a href=\"http://www.fda.gov/cder/drug/infopage/orthoevra/qa20060920.htm\" target=\"_new\">FDA</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('994','4','	<p><p>FRIDAY, Sept. 22 (HealthDay News) -- Standard MRI is more accurate than another method, multidetector computed tomography (MDCT), in determining if and how far breast cancer has spread into breast ducts, Japanese researchers report.</p> <p>They recommend that MRI should be used to assess patients before they have breast-conserving surgery (lumpectomy).</p> <p>Researchers used MRI and MDCT on 69 patients with invasive breast cancer. In 44 of the cases, malignancy had an intraductal component.</p> <p>MRI correctly identified 33 of the 44 cases, while MDCT correctly identified 27.</p> <p>&quot;MRI revealed the presence of the intraductal component with significantly higher sensitivity (75 percent) compared to MDCT (61 percent),&quot; Dr. Akiko Shimauchi, of Tohoku University, said in a prepared statement.</p> <p>&quot;The lesions that were missed by both examinations were the ductal extension type, i.e. the tumor included a dominant mass with an outward extension of cancer cells, with a relatively small ductal component,&quot; she said.</p> <p>MRI was better able to detect the smaller ductal components than MDCT, the study found.</p> <p>&quot;Patients have a lower survival rate if their surgical margins are positive for tumor cells. A positive surgical margin is usually the result of inadequate resection of the cancer\'s intraductal component,&quot; Shimauchi said. &quot;Accurate preoperative diagnosis of the intraductal component allows the surgeon to achieve a cancer-free surgical margin.&quot;</p> <p>The study was published in the August issue of the <i>American Journal of Roentgenology</i>.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more about <a href=\"http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/breast-cancer-surgery-choices\" target=\"_new\">breast cancer surgery</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('995','4','	<p><p>SUNDAY, Sept. 24 (HealthDay News) -- An abnormal mammogram can cause understandable worry. But what\'s the best next step a woman should take?</p> <p>New research has found that a breast biopsy is the preferred follow-up procedure, even though several other test options exist and may be offered by physicians.</p> <p>A recent report by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) compared the effectiveness of biopsy, long considered the &quot;gold standard,&quot; with four other tests. The other four tests were magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI; ultrasonography; positron emission tomography (PET) scanning; and scintimammography.</p> <p>The report, titled <i>Effectiveness of Noninvasive Diagnostic Tests for Breast Abnormalities</i>, &quot;focuses on a very specific question,&quot; said AHRQ Director Dr. Carolyn M. Clancy. &quot;The question we were addressing was, are any of the other noninvasive tests sufficiently accurate to diagnosis cancer or to rule it out?&quot;</p> <p>A biopsy is accurate but invasive, requiring the taking of a sample of breast tissue and analyzing it for signs of cancer in a laboratory. So, researchers have been searching for noninvasive tests that would be as accurate.</p> <p>The four tests assessed in the report, all suggested as substitutes for biopsies, weren\'t as accurate as a biopsy overall. They missed between 4 percent and 9 percent of breast malignancies in women at average risk, the report found, and probably would miss more cases than that among women at higher risk of the disease.</p> <p>How accurate is accurate enough? &quot;Some experts say a test would have to miss fewer than 2 percent to be considered sufficiently accurate,&quot; Clancy said.</p> <p>It\'s hard to pinpoint the exact accuracy of biopsies, but a study published last year in the <i>Annals of Surgery</i> found that the &quot;false-negative&quot; rate for one type of biopsy, called a &quot;core biopsy,&quot; was 6 percent, according to Fran Visco, the first president and spokeswoman for the National Breast Cancer Coalition in Washington, D.C.</p> <p>In the AHRQ report, the researchers found that the use of MRI missed 38 cancers for every 1,000 women; ultrasound missed 50 tumors for every 1,000 women; and PET scans missed 76 per 1,000 women. Scintimammography, a nuclear medicine test method that uses a small amount of dye and a scanner to detect cancer, missed 93 tumors for every 1,000 women.</p> <p>The report on the four noninvasive tests is valuable, Visco said. &quot;My interest in the 2006 AHRQ report focuses on the fact that we move these technologies into clinical practice when we don\'t have the data that show they are effective. That adds to health-care costs and also doesn\'t serve women well.&quot; </p> <p>Having access to solid data that proves a test is accurate will help women and the health-care system, she said.</p> <p>Clancy added: &quot;Findings in this study provide good information for women to have additional conversations with their doctors.&quot; If a doctor suggests one of the alternate tests after an abnormal mammogram, she said, &quot;It would be reasonable to ask for a biopsy in lieu of these tests.&quot;</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>To learn more about breast biopsies, visit the <a href=\"http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003920.htm\" target=\"_new\">National Library of Medicine</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('996','4','	<p><p>MONDAY, Sept. 25 (HealthDay News) -- Despite similar treatments, black women with uterine cancer have higher death rates and shorter survival times than white women, new U.S. research shows.</p> <p>Black women lived an average of 10.6 months compared to 12.2 months for white women with stage III, IV, or recurrent endometrial cancer, which is cancer of the uterine lining.</p> <p>&quot;African-American women with advanced endometrial cancer have worse outcomes than Caucasians even when they receive equal treatment,&quot; said Dr. G. Larry Maxwell, director of the Gynecologic Disease Center at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.</p> <p>The study findings are published in the November issue of the journal <i>Cancer</i>.</p> <p>Maxwell and his co-investigators performed a retrospective analysis of 1,151 patients -- 169 were black, 982 were white -- enrolled in one of four randomized treatment trials for advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer.</p> <p>The analysis showed that black women had a 26 percent greater risk of death, compared to white women -- even if the stages of disease and treatments were similar. Blacks appeared to have lower tumor response to each of the chemotherapy regimens used in the trials, according to the study.</p> <p>The study researchers looked at chemotherapy, surgery and postoperative radiation treatments. &quot;Treatment in the general population may be a factor leading to differences in outcomes, but our findings suggested other factors need to be explored,&quot; Maxwell said. Those factors could include socioeconomic and cultural influences, he said. </p> <p>The study is important because it &quot;examines whether racial differences play a role in responses to chemotherapy and, most importantly, looks at survival in patients at high risk for recurrent endometrial cancer,&quot; said Dr. Robert Morgan, section head of medical gynecologic oncology at City of Hope cancer center, in Duarte, Calif.</p> <p>The study authors looked at patients in clinical trials who received the same treatment. &quot;This is the ideal setting to see differences in outcome with equal treatment. African-Americans have much worse survival even when we controlled for many prognostic variables that ultimately can affect survival,&quot; Maxwell said.</p> <p>Morgan said the study findings &quot;suggest that the difference in survival is biologic and that is consistent with what\'s reported with multiple other cancers.&quot;</p> <p>There may be specific genes that mutate at different rates in tumors in blacks compared to whites, suggesting that biology -- not socioeconomic or cultural factors -- may explain the difference, Maxwell speculated. &quot;Our group is looking at broader analyses of the entire genome,&quot; he said.</p> <p>Morgan said the study findings suggest genetic causes for the differences between the races. &quot;Although the authors hypothesize socioeconomic or cultural differences, in these well-controlled trials in which the populations are the same, I would be more inclined to believe there are biological differences,&quot; he added.</p> <p>He said other studies have found differences in survival rates between races for other cancers, including breast, prostate and &quot;a number of other&quot; malignancies.</p> <p>&quot;This study looked at uterine cancer and shows more evidence for potential biologic differences between the races. We need to look for a scientific viewpoint focusing on genomic differences between racial groups,&quot; Morgan said.</p> <p>Maxwell\'s group plans to do just that. It will be designing a prospective trial to determine whether genetic differences explain the disparity in survival.</p> <p>In the end, however, another crucial message is clear, Morgan stressed. &quot;The answer to patients is that early detection of endometrial cancer is almost always curative. Women of all races should know that if they have postmenopausal bleeding, they should see a gynecologist immediately. There is no normal postmenopausal bleeding,&quot; he said.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>To learn more about uterine cancer, visit the U.S. <a href=\"http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/uterinecancer.html\" target=\"_new\">National Library of Medicine</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('997','5','	<p><p>THURSDAY, Aug. 24 (HealthDay) -- Does being a dad change a man\'s brain? The answer isn\'t clear in humans, but a study with tiny monkeys called marmosets suggests fatherhood may alter gray matter.</p> <p>Researchers say the structure of the brain is different in marmoset dads vs. non-dads. They also found that the brains of fathers were more receptive to a hormone linked to learning. </p> <p>The Princeton University study is &quot;very exciting&quot; because it\'s apparently the first to link paternal parenting to physical and chemical changes in the brain of any primate, said Jon E. Levine, a professor of neurobiology and physiology at Northwestern University who\'s familiar with this research.</p> <p>Marmosets live high in trees in the jungles of South and Central America. They\'re small, with adults sometimes reaching just 6 inches long.</p> <p>&quot;Marmoset fathers, unlike many other male mammals, are very involved in offspring care,&quot; noted study lead author Yevgenia Kozorovitskiy, a graduate student in neuroscience at Princeton. </p> <p>In fact, research suggests that marmoset fathers carry their young 70 percent of the time during the first month of life. &quot;In addition, the complexity of their brains makes them a good model for examining the processes that might occur in humans,&quot; Kozorovitskiy said. </p> <p>In the new study, the researchers examined the brains of marmoset fathers and non-fathers. Their findings appear in the September issue of the journal <i>Nature Neuroscience</i>.</p> <p>When compared to non-fathers, the prefrontal cortexes of marmoset fathers had a higher density of &quot;spines&quot; that formed on dendrites, the microscopic branches of neurons. Dendrites allow neurons to communicate with each other. </p> <p>In humans, the prefrontal cortex is considered a center for emotion and higher thinking, including learning about the consequences of actions.</p> <p>The researchers also found that the brains of marmoset fathers had more receptors for a hormone known as vasopressin, a neuropeptide. That means their brains could process more of this chemical than the brains of non-dads.</p> <p>Vasopressin is strongly connected to parental behavior, the researchers added. In humans, the hormone -- produced in the pituitary gland -- is crucial for learning and memory. </p> <p>In essence, then, &quot;the experience of being a father dramatically alters brain regions important for cognition,&quot; Kozorovitskiy said.</p> <p>According to Levine, it\'s not yet clear how these changes came about in the marmoset brains. &quot;Do these changes mediate some aspect of paternal behavior, or are they secondary to physical or hormonal changes that may occur as a consequence of the behavior?&quot; he asked. &quot;Cause and effect still need to be explored.&quot;</p> <p>And, of course, researchers would like to know if there are similar effects in human fathers. For now, though, &quot;these are primates that exhibit paternal behavior, which is about as close to human relevance that you are going to get with an experimental animal,&quot; Levine said. </p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>For fatherhood facts, see the <a href=\"http://www.fatherhood.org/\" target=\"_new\">National Fatherhood Initiative</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('998','5','	<p><p>(HealthDay News) -- Steroids are an effective medication when properly prescribed by a physician to treat conditions like anemia or hormonal imbalances. But according to the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), steroids should never prescribed by a doctor to aid in building muscle tone.</p> <p>Body builders or athletes may try using steroids illegally to help build muscle and improve performance. They may either inject the steroids or take them orally, and many will take more than one type of steroid at a time. Since steroids are hormones, they can throw the body\'s hormonal balance out of whack, causing men to develop breasts and women to grow facial hair.</p> <p>Steroids can cause dangerous complications such as liver tumor growth and damage to the heart. People using steroids may also become very angry and violent, and may develop acne and hair loss.</p> <p>Teens who abuse steroids before the typical adolescent growth spurt may inhibit future growth and never reach full adult height, the NIDA warns.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('999','5','	<p><p>WEDNESDAY, Sept. 6 (HealthDay News) -- Fewer Americans are dying from cancer, even while the rate of diagnosis remains about the same.</p> <p>&quot;The death rate continues to drop,&quot; confirmed Ahmedin Jemal, program director of cancer occurrence at the American Cancer Society. &quot;We\'re making progress because of a reduction in tobacco consumption, improved treatment, and improved detection.&quot;</p> <p>And overall, Latino immigrants have lower rates of cancer than whites or blacks, although some of this good news is offset by other factors.</p> <p>&quot;Latinos in the U.S. have lower cancer incidence and death rates,&quot; Jemal said. &quot;But they have a higher rate of cancers related to infection like stomach, liver and cervical cancers. They are also more likely to be diagnosed at advanced stages of the disease for some of the more common cancers, such as breast and lung.&quot;</p> <p>Jemal is co-author of this year\'s <i>Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, 1975-2003, Featuring Cancer among U.S. Hispanic/Latino Populations</i>, which is being published in the Oct. 15 issue of <i>Cancer</i>.</p> <p>The report, which appears annually, is a joint effort from the American Cancer Society, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. National Cancer Institute, and the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries.</p> <p>This year\'s report includes the first comprehensive compilation of cancer information for U.S. Latinos.</p> <p>Data on new cancer diagnoses came from state and regional population-based cancer registries, and data on cancer deaths came from the CDC\'s National Vital Statistics System.</p> <p>The drop in death rates persisted through 2003, continuing a trend first reported in 1998. This has been the first sustained decline in cancer death rates in the United States since the 1930s. Men experienced greater declines (1.6 percent per year from 1993 through 2003) than women (0.8 percent per year from 1992 through 2003).</p> <p>Among the report\'s other findings.</p><ul> <li>Mortality rates dropped for 11 of the 15 most common cancers in men and for 10 of the 15 most common cancers in women.</li> <li>Overall cancer incidence rates were stable for men from 1995 through 2003, while rates for women increased from 1979 through 2003. Overall, however, the rates were stable from 1992 through 2003.</li> <li>The incidence rate for female breast cancer stabilized from 2001 through 2003, ending a period of increases that had begun in the 1980s. Female lung cancer incidence rates experienced a small rise from 1991 through 2003, a slower rate of increase than in the past.</li> <li>For women, incidence rates decreased for colon and rectum, uterus, ovarian, stomach, cervical and oral cancers. </li> <li>Among men, incidence rates have decreased for colon and rectum, stomach, lung and oral cancers. They increased for prostate and for myeloma, leukemia, and cancers of the liver, kidney and esophagus.</li> <li>From 1999 to 2003, Latinos had lower incidence rates than non-Hispanic whites for most cancers. For lung, colon and rectum, prostate, female breast and cervical cancer, however, they were more likely to be diagnosed at a more advanced stage. &quot;What is most disturbing, and continues to be disturbing, is the high rate of cervical cancer,&quot; said Jane L. Delgado, president and CEO of the National Alliance for Hispanic Health in Washington, D.C. &quot;There\'s no reason in a day when we have Pap tests why women should be getting this.&quot;</li> <li>Latinos were also more likely to have cancers rising from infection, including cervical, stomach and liver cancers.</li></ul> <p>The data on Latinos may seem counterintuitive.</p> <p>It\'s not clear why the overall rates are lower for Latinos, Delgado said. &quot;We can\'t look at things as simply as we have in the past. As we move to more personalized medicine, we have to look at each person\'s strengths and areas where they need improvement.&quot; </p> <p>Until that day comes, however, the challenge is in addressing the needs of different groups. </p> <p>&quot;Twenty percent of the U.S. population still smokes and over two-thirds of U.S. adults are overweight, so we still have to make sure there is prevention and early detection,&quot; Jemal said. &quot;Colorectal cancer is a very good example. If you catch colorectal cancer, survival is 90 percent but only 50 percent of men and women who are 50 and older get screened. We still have a long way to go.&quot; </p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>Find the report at the <a href=\"http://www.cancer.org/docroot/home/index.asp\" target=\"_new\">American Cancer Society</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1000','5','	<p><!--Spanish ID:534859--> <p>FRIDAY, Sept. 8 (HealthDay News) -- A new antidepressant drug designed specifically to treat premature ejaculation proved safe and effective in two large trials, researchers report.</p> <p>However, it\'s not likely that dapoxetine, a short-acting selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), will win U.S. approval anytime soon because it can produce side effects, one expert said.</p> <p>SSRIs, which are used to treat depression and other psychiatric disorders, are now also used &quot;off-label&quot; as a treatment for premature ejaculation. They work because one of their side effects is to delay ejaculation. But, continued SSRI use can have some negative side effects, such as psychiatric problems, skin reactions, weight gain, and loss of libido, experts said.</p> <p>&quot;This is the first drug specifically developed for premature ejaculation,&quot; said lead researcher Dr. Jon L. Pryor, a professor and chairman of urologic surgery at the University of Minnesota. &quot;It worked both in lengthening ejaculation time and in patients\' feeling control over ejaculation and both subjects\' and partners\' feelings of satisfaction with intercourse,&quot; he said.</p> <p>The findings are published in the Sept. 9 issue of <i>The Lancet</i>.</p> <p>Premature ejaculation is the most common male sexual problem, even more common than erectile dysfunction, affecting 21 percent to 33 percent of American men.</p> <p>In the study, Pryor and his colleagues looked at the combined results of two trials that tested dapoxetine. The trials included 2,614 men who had moderate to severe premature ejaculation.</p> <p>The men were randomly assigned to receive a placebo or different doses of dapoxetine. They were told to take the drug one to three hours before having sex. At the start of the study, the men ejaculated, on average, in less than a minute after penetration.</p> <p>However, after 12 weeks, men taking dapoxetine increased their time to ejaculation to 2.78 minutes for those receiving a 30-milligram dose, and to 3.32 minutes for those receiving a 60-milligram dose, the researchers found. For men taking a placebo, the time to ejaculation averaged 1.75 minutes.</p> <p>Pryor thinks this study will get people talking more about the problem of premature ejaculation. &quot;I hope this paper brings premature ejaculation out of the closet,&quot; he said. &quot;I hope it allows for mature discussion about it, and that people realize that there is hope.&quot;</p> <p>One expert familiar with dapoxetine thinks the drug has promise but will not be available in the United States.</p> <p>&quot;The problem is that dapoxetine was presented to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration last year, and they rejected it out-of-hand as a treatment for premature ejaculation,&quot; said Dr. James Barada, director of the Center for Sexual Health in Albany, N.Y.</p> <p>The drug can produce side effects such as nausea, headache, upset stomach and weakness. It is being released in Europe, Barada said.</p> <p>&quot;Premature ejaculation is a real clinical condition that causes distress for the man, his partner and especially the relationship,&quot; he added. &quot;Because we have no approved therapy, we are at somewhat of a loss to treat it. For many years, we have been using off-label therapies -- SSRIs -- because of the side effect they have of delaying ejaculation.&quot;</p> <p>Doctors can still use SSRIs, Viagra, and psychotherapy to treat the problem, Barada said. &quot;We need to get better research to understand the mechanisms of premature ejaculation and hopefully design a medicine that has good efficacy and safety that is not an SSRI,&quot; he said.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The U.S. National Library of Medicine can tell you more about <a href=\"http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001524.htm\" target=\"_new\">premature ejaculation</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1001','6','	<p><!--Spanish ID:532995--> <p>TUESDAY, May 30 (HealthDay News) -- Lower family income can reduce quality of life for kids with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, a new study of Medicaid recipients shows.</p> <p>Children who live in low-income families suffer more disability and have a lower health-related quality of life than those in middle- or high-income families, according to study in the June issue of the journal <i>Arthritis Care &amp; Research</i>.</p> <p>Researchers at Cincinnati Children\'s Hospital Medical Center evaluated 295 children with juvenile RA. The children were divided into two groups: Those covered by Medicaid or similar coverage under state programs for low-income families of children with chronic diseases (considered to be an indicator of low socioeconomic status), and those with private health insurance (considered to be an indicator of middle-to-high socioeconomic status).</p> <p>The children in the Medicaid group tended to have more joints affected by arthritis and also had somewhat higher disease activity, more pain, and a lower level of well-being than children with private health insurance.</p> <p>Children covered by Medicaid also had greater disability and fewer of them had normal physical function, compared to children with private insurance.</p> <p>&quot;Similar to results found in studies of other pediatric diseases, the results of this study support the theory that Medicaid status is associated with more disability and lower health-related quality of life, even in the absence of apparent differences in health care resource utilization,&quot; the study authors wrote.</p> <p>It\'s not clear why insurance status is associated with poorer quality of life but factors such as poverty and non-adherence to prescribed treatments may play a role, the researchers suggested. They urged further studies.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The Arthritis Foundation has more about <a href=\"http://www.arthritis.org/conditions/DiseaseCenter/jra.asp\" target=\"_new\">juvenile rheumatoid arthritis</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1002','6','	<p><!--Spanish ID:533149--> <p>WEDNESDAY, June 7 (HealthDay News) -- Americans spent 33.9 percent more in 2005 on anti-inflammatories -- the biggest percentage increase in any specialty drug category, a new U.S. report finds.</p> <p>Drugs used to treat autoimmune diseases -- such as rheumatoid arthritis -- include the injectable brands Enbrel, Humira, Kineret and Remicade. These drugs have an average cost of $1,417 per prescription and comprise more than 19 percent of the yearly total that most patients are allowed to spend on a specialty drug in a drug benefit plan.</p> <p>The biggest reason for this dramatic increase in spending for these drugs? According to the 2006 Express Scripts Specialty Drug Trend Report, treatments for inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis are beginning earlier in a patient\'s life and lasting longer. Additional uses for medications -- such as Enbrel being used to treat psoriasis -- are also causing more patients to use these drugs.</p> <p>Costs seem to be somewhat controlled with a reported increase in specialty pharmacy usage -- up 77 percent in 2005. Home prescription deliveries decreased by 30 percent, while local pharmacy pickups decreased by 2 percent.</p> <p>&quot;Enhanced patient-care models and management programs offered by specialty pharmacies encourage therapy adherence, helping to improve outcomes while reducing overall treatment costs,&quot; Dr. Steve Miller, chief medical officer of Express Script\'s CuraScript, said in a prepared statement.</p> <p>Other statistics noted in the report:</p> <ul> <li>After anti-inflammatories, the class of drugs used to treat multiple sclerosis experienced the next largest increase, at 11.7 percent per prescription.</li> <li>Inflation pushed anti-cancer drugs to an average of almost $1,600 per prescription, and drugs for treating anemia saw a 6 percent increase in spending.</li> <li>Technology advancements in tests and screenings drove the use of growth hormone replacement drugs to increase by 10 percent.</li> <li>Anticoagulant usage increased 21.4 percent -- but future generic alternatives to some expensive brands in this category could help curtail these costs.</li> <li>Reduced utilization caused a decrease in spending for infertility drugs by 3.9 percent, and specialty antiviral drugs saw a decrease of 6.7 percent.</li> </ul> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has more on <a href=\"http://origin.www.fda.gov/fdac/features/2005/505_save.html&quot;target =\">saving money on prescription drugs</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1003','6','	<p><!--Spanish ID:533325--> <p>FRIDAY, June 16 (HealthDay News) -- The world faces an epidemic of hip fractures over the next few decades as more and more people\'s bones weaken from osteoporosis as they age.</p> <p>So conclude researchers who estimate that at least 6.3 million people worldwide will suffer a hip fracture in the year 2050 -- more than triple the 1.7 million cases recorded in 1990.</p> <p>The new projections assume that the current fracture incidence rate remains stable -- something that\'s not likely to happen, the researchers said.</p> <p>Already, &quot;fracture rates seem to be rising in many parts of the world,&quot; wrote researchers Drs. Philip Sambrook of Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney, Australia, and Cyrus Cooper of the University of Southampton in England. &quot;On the assumption that age-adjusted rates will rise by only 1 percent per year, the number of hip fractures worldwide could be as high as 8.2 million by 2050.&quot;</p> <p>They report their findings in the June 17 issue of <i>The Lancet.</i></p> <p>The trend toward more fractures could be turned around, however, if doctors and the public take advantage of what\'s known about osteoporosis prevention.</p> <p>One key preventive strategy: &quot;We should be looking at the younger population to maximize calcium,&quot; said Dr. Joseph Fetto, associate professor of orthopedics at the New York University Hospital for Joint Diseases.</p> <p>Osteoporosis is a degenerative weakening of bones, with bone strength largely determined by the body\'s store of calcium. According to Fetto, the research has shown that calcium content peaks relatively early in life -- in the 20s -- declining slowly but steadily as the decades go on.</p> <p>&quot;The maximum amount of calcium early in life is determined by intake in the diet,&quot; he said. Therefore, the predicted epidemic of hip fractures could be prevented if today\'s younger people get adequate amounts of calcium, magnesium, zinc and vitamin D in their diets, by supplements if necessary, Fetto said.</p> <p>It would not be an expensive proposition, he said. &quot;The World Health Organization has shown that it would cost about 30 cents a day to prevent osteoporosis,&quot; Fetto said.</p> <p>In contrast, the cost of dealing with osteoporotic fractures is calculated in the billions of dollars, not pennies per day, the new study found. In 1997, the estimated worldwide costs of hip fractures topped $131.5 billion, the researchers estimated. &quot;More recently, the combined annual costs of all osteoporotic fractures have been estimated to be $20 billion in the U.S.A. and about $30 billion in the European Union,&quot; they wrote.</p> <p>Hospitalization accounts for some of those costs. Hip-replacement operations after fracture are costly. Between 250,000 and 300,000 hip-replacement surgeries are done each year in the United States, Fetto estimated, and about 1.5 million hip fractures are treated in this country annually.</p> <p>Used properly, other available treatments could also help reduce those numbers, said Dr. Joseph M. Lane, professor of orthopedic surgery at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City.</p> <p> Drugs such as Fosamax can help prevent bone loss, he said. &quot;If people took those drugs, we could cut the anticipated rate by 50 percent, purely by following the medical recommendations,&quot; he said.</p> <p> Money is one reason Americans don\'t take the necessary medications, Lane said. &quot;In Canada, where medicine is free, the anticipated number of hip fractures has dropped,&quot; he said.</p> <p>Doctors have learned another lesson about reducing the risk of major hip fractures, Lane said: Swift treatment of minor fractures can effectively cut the risk for a major break.</p> <p>Right now, he said, medical groups such as the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons are developing programs to ensure that small fractures are treated quickly. &quot;The academy feels that a small fracture is a call to arms,&quot; Lane said.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>Find out more on osteoporosis at the <a href=\"http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/fact/thr_report.cfm?Thread_ID=410&topcategory=Osteoporosis\" target=\"_new\">American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1004','6','	<p><p> (HealthDay News) -- Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic disease that primarily affects the joints. </p> <p>Pain may start in any joint, but occurs most often in the fingers, hands and wrists, the Arthritis Foundation says. Other symptoms may include stiffness, flu-like aches, fever, and muscle pain.</p> <p>In RA, pain often is symmetrical, meaning that if it hurts on the left hand, the same joint will hurt on the right one.</p> <p>Drugs called NSAIDs are frequently prescribed to reduce joint inflammation. Other medicines may be prescribed specifically for pain.</p> <p>The foundation recommends seeing a doctor as soon as symptoms flare, to miminize joint deterioriation and pain.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1005','6','	<p><p>(HealthDay News) -- Angina occurs when the heart does not receive enough blood. Angina may feel like pain or discomfort in the chest, including pressure, tightness, indigestion or heartburn.</p> <p>Pain from angina may also be felt in the neck, shoulders, jaw, back and arms. Since angina often is a symptom of coronary artery disease or heart attack, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute recommends that you see your doctor any time you have angina.</p> <p>There are three types of angina: stable, unstable and variant. Stable angina is most common, occurs regularly during physical exertion in a consistent and recognizable pattern, and typically goes away after a few minutes.</p> <p>Unstable angina can occur without physical exertion, and does not typically occur in any pattern. Unstable angina usually requires emergency medical treatment, as it is often an indicator of a present or future heart attack. Variant angina, a rare condition, may involve severe pain that often occurs during the night, but can be treated by medication.</p> <p>Chest pain may not always mean angina or heart attack -- it could be a symptom of lung infection, heartburn, blood clot, or even anxiety. Any time you have significant chest pain, you should contact your doctor as soon as possible to determine the cause.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1006','6','	<p><p>(HealthDay News) -- If you have a sprain, you may be wondering if you should heat it or ice it to help it heal and reduce pain and swelling.</p> <p>The University of Puget Sound says both are effective, and can be used independently or alternated.</p> <p>Heat will relax the muscles and increase blood flow. Heat can be applied to the injury as long and as often as is comfortable, but should be used at least two to three times per day.</p> <p>Moist heat is more effective than dry heat, so a hot bath or shower, or warm moist towel should prove effective.</p> <p>Ice will reduce pain and swelling by numbing the area. You should ice the injury at least twice a day, for about 15 minutes at a time.</p> <p>You can either buy pre-made ice packs, or put ice cubes in a plastic bag. Be sure to place a towel over the sprain before applying the ice pack.</p></p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1007','6','	<p><p> (HealthDay News) -- If you\'ve fractured a toe, it will usually turn black or blue, swell, and may bleed beneath the nail. A broken toe typically is very painful, is often difficult to walk on, and is usually just taped until the break heals.</p> <p>The University of Michigan Health System offers these suggestions on how to deal with a broken toe:</p> <ul> <li>For the first two or three days after the injury, apply an ice pack for 20 to 30 minutes, every three or four hours. After the first few days, you should ice the injury once a day until swelling and pain subside.</li> <li>Prop your foot up on a chair, pillow or other object -- try to keep it above the level of your heart.</li> <li>Take an over-the-counter or prescription pain medication or anti-inflammatory as directed by your doctor.</li> <li>Wear comfortable, firm-soled shoes that will support but not pinch your broken toe, and use crutches if you still have difficulty walking. Your toe should be healed in four-to-six weeks, at which time you should be able to resume normal physical activity.</li> </ul> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1008','6','	<p><p>TUESDAY, Sept. 12 (HealthDay News) -- Two studies suggest that the banned prescription painkiller Vioxx was more dangerous for users than its two cox-2 inhibitor rivals, Bextra, also withdrawn, and the still-available Celebrex.</p> <p>Heart risks linked to Vioxx -- which was pulled from drug store shelves in 2004 -- began to emerge almost immediately, researchers say, and escalated along with the dose taken.</p> <p>&quot;Not all cox-2 inhibitors have the same adverse effects,&quot; said the co-author of one study, Eric Ding, a graduate student in the department of epidemiology and nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health.</p> <p>The <i>Journal of the American Medical Association</i> published the studies and an accompanying editorial early in its Sept. 12 online edition because of the findings\' public-health implications. The articles will appear in the journal\'s Oct. 4 print edition.</p> <p>Cox-2 inhibitors are part of a class of analgesics called non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), which also include widely used medications such as aspirin, ibuprofen and naproxen (Aleve). Cox-2 inhibitors were originally developed because they are safer on the stomach than other NSAIDs.</p> <p>However, Celebrex is the only cox-2 inhibitor left on the market. Vioxx and Bextra were withdrawn in 2004 and 2005, respectively, following reports of heightened cardiovascular risks associated with their use.</p> <p>As mandated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Celebrex now carries a special &quot;black box&quot; warning that advises consumers of the potential heart dangers.</p> <p>More data on the safety of cox-2 inhibitors continues to emerge.</p> <p>In one of the two new studies, Ding and his colleagues at Harvard tracked the drugs\' effects on kidney function. The team reviewed the results of 114 randomized trials involving more than 116,000 people.</p> <p>They found that Vioxx increased risks for adverse kidney events and irregular heart rhythms. These problems were not apparent with Bextra and Celebrex, however, suggesting there is no &quot;class effect&quot; linking all cox-2 inhibiting drugs to kidney trouble and arrhythmias.</p> <p>Based on the data, Ding\'s group said these effects may be unique to Vioxx.</p> <p>More could have been done to ferret out Vioxx\'s harmful side effects before any real damage was done, Ding said.</p> <p>&quot;The risks of these drugs should have been made known to the public much earlier,&quot; he said. In addition, &quot;tracking drug safety may be improved by adopting an active and continuous cumulative surveillance system.&quot;</p> <p>In the second study, Australian researchers reviewed 17 studies comparing the use of painkillers for 86,000 people with a history of cardiovascular events to more than 500,000 healthy &quot;control&quot; participants. Six other studies included over 75,500 users of cox-2 inhibitors, more than 375,000 users of other NSAIDs, and nearly 600,000 people who used neither.</p> <p>Researchers at the University of Newcastle found that heart-attack risk rose as the dose of Vioxx increased. This risk was most pronounced in the first month after users started taking the drug.</p> <p>In addition, the team found that one non-cox-2 NSAID, diclofenac, also increased the risk of a heart attack and, &quot;it appears to be harmful at commonly used doses. We believe there are grounds for reviewing its regulatory status.&quot;</p> <p>One expert said he wasn\'t surprised by the findings.</p> <p>&quot;It is clear that Vioxx increases the risk of heart attack. And that increase in risk begins with the first tablet a patient takes,&quot; said Dr. David J. Graham, the associate director for science in the Office of Drug Safety at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and author of the accompanying journal editorial.</p> <p>Graham first came to prominence in the Vioxx debacle as an insider &quot;whistleblower&quot; when he delivered testimony to a special Senate hearing on the matter late in 2004.</p> <p>Merck &amp; Co., the maker of Vioxx, claimed that the drug did not increase the risk for heart attack but actually protected people from heart attack, Graham said. &quot;That\'s not true,&quot; he said.</p> <p>These drugs were designed to prevent bleeding in the intestines, which is always a danger with NSAIDs. &quot;But for every serious intestinal bleed that they prevented with the drug, they caused a heart attack,&quot; Graham said.</p> <p>Until recently, Merck had contended that Vioxx-linked heart risks only arose in users after they had taken the drug for 18 months or more. But research revealed that cardiovascular risks kicked in at four to six months of use.</p> <p>An estimated 16,000 Vioxx-related lawsuits have been filed against Merck in state and federal courts. The third federal trial began Monday in New Orleans. <p>Graham noted that the public can reach for safe, cheap and equally effective alternatives to cox-2 drugs to relieve pain.</p> <p>There\'s a lot of blame to go around -- starting with Merck, Graham said. He also cast some blame on the FDA. &quot;In this case, they knew before the drug came on the market that Vioxx increased the risk of heart attack,&quot; he said.</p> <p>In response to Graham\'s editorial, the FDA released a statement Tuesday that read, in part: &quot;Dr. Graham\'s views expressed in the accompanying editorial are his own, and do not reflect the official positions of the FDA. Dr. Graham provides his personal views on the issue of what NSAID he would recommend to patients in need of long-term use of an analgesic, however, the FDA does not believe the available data rise to the level required to support an official FDA regulatory decision regarding comparative safety and efficacy of the available COX2-selective and non-selective NSAIDs.&quot;</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>There\'s more on cox-2 inhibitors at the <a href=\"http://www.fda.gov/Cder/drug/infopage/COX2/default.htm\" target=\"_new\"> U.S. Food and Drug Administration</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1009','6','	<p><p>(HealthDay News) -- Bursitis occurs when the bursa, or fluid-filled sac between bones in the joints, becomes irritated or inflamed.</p> <p>The bursa in the hip joint is rather large and can easily become irritated, causing hip pain. The pain may be sharp or a dull ache, and may worsen after lying on the hip or sitting for long periods.</p> <p>Here are some common causes of hip bursitis, courtesy of the National Library of Medicine:</p> <ul> <li>Repeated stress on the area, from running, biking, climbing stairs or standing for a long time.</li> <li>A hip injury, including falling on it, bumping or bruising it, or lying on it for a long period.</li> <li>Scoliosis and other diseases of the spine.</li> <li>Legs of unequal length.</li> <li>Rheumatoid arthritis.</li> <li>Hip surgery.</li> <li>Bone spurs or calcium deposits in the hip.</li> </ul> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1010','6','	<p><p>MONDAY, Aug. 21 (HealthDay News) -- Widely used cholesterol-lowering statin drugs may also help the heart recover after a heart attack, Chinese researchers report.</p> <p>In experiments with pigs, the researchers found that pretreatment with the statin Zocor (simvastatin) was effective in increasing blood flow to the heart after an induced heart attack.</p> <p>In addition, they found that this beneficial effect worked through potassium in the heart cells, the so-called KATP channel.</p> <p>&quot;Improving blood flow to the heart is really important to preserve function of the heart after a heart attack,&quot; explained David J. Lefer, from the Division of Cardiology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York City, and author of an accompanying journal commentary. &quot;This paper gives more evidence that statins are good drugs, not just to lower cholesterol, but that during a heart attack they can be beneficial,&quot; he said.</p> <p>The report was published in the Aug. 21 online edition of the <i>British Journal of Pharmacology</i>.</p> <p>In an interview, lead researcher Dr. Yuejin Yang, from the Fuwai Heart Hospital, Beijing, said the main goal after a heart attack is to restore blood flow to damaged heart muscle.</p> <p>However, studies have shown that despite complete restoration of epicardial (&quot;around the heart&quot;) blood vessel flow, the flow of blood through heart tissue often remains incomplete, a condition known as the &quot;no-reflow&quot; phenomenon. No-reflow has been associated with poor prognosis, Yang said.</p> <p>&quot;Our study showed that the pretreatment with simvastatin decreased the area of no-reflow, reduced [heart attack] size and improved cardiac function,&quot; Yang said.</p> <p>Yang\'s team believes these beneficial effects of statins are due, at least in part, to their ability to reduce no-reflow. &quot;Patients taking statins to lower cholesterol may also attenuate myocardial no-reflow and, consequently, improve outcome when suffering a heart attack,&quot; Yang said.</p> <p>For his part, Lefer said these types of heart-healthy effects may help explain the ability of statins -- which also include drugs such as Lipitor and Pravachol -- to protect against heart attack. &quot;We think it\'s a combination of cholesterol-lowering and non-cholesterol-lowering effects,&quot; he said.</p> <p>Another expert agreed.</p> <p>&quot;This study provides additional insights into the mechanisms for the remarkable cardiovascular protective effects of statin medications,&quot; said Dr. Gregg C. Fonarow, director of the Ahmanson-UCLA Cardiomyopathy Center and co-director of the UCLA Preventative Cardiology Program.</p> <p>According to Fonarow, previous studies have shown that statin use in the first 24 hours after a heart attack minimizes injury to the heart and boosts patient survival. &quot;As such, starting statin therapy as early in the course of acute coronary events as possible is highly recommended as part of routine clinical practice,&quot; Fonarow said.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>For more on statin medications, head to the <a href=\"http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/chd/meds.htm\" target=\"_new\">U.S. National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1011','6','	<p><p>MONDAY, Aug. 21 (HealthDay News) -- People under 60 may be at risk for a serious leg ailment called premature peripheral vascular disease (PVD) if they show certain risk factors, researchers say.</p> <p>Those risk factors include a history of coronary artery disease and elevated levels of a clotting protein called fibrinogen in the blood.</p> <p>PVD, which involves reduced blood flow to the arteries outside of the heart and brain (generally in the legs and feet), can have serious consequences, including limb loss and death. About 1.44 million people in the United States are affected by PVD.</p> <p>Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, analyzed data from nearly 2,500 people younger than 60 and a similar number of people over 60. About 2 percent of the younger people had PVD, compared with 12 percent of the older group.</p> <p>The study also found that coronary artery disease and elevated serum fibrinogen levels (measured using blood tests) were strong predictors of PVD in the younger people. Doctors need to be aware of these two important risk factors for PVD in people under age 60, the study authors said.</p> <p>Among those over age 60, chronic renal failure was strongly associated with PVD, the study found.</p> <p>Other predictors of PVD, regardless of age, are male gender, smoking and hypertension.</p> <p>The findings were published in the August issue of the <i>Journal of Vascular Surgery</i>.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The American Heart Association has more about <a href=\"http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4692\" target=\"_new\">peripheral vascular disease</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1012','6','	<p><p>(HealthDay News) -- Blood pressure and cholesterol levels are excellent indicators of heart disease risk. If your levels are in or nearing the dangerous range, you\'ll need to take action to protect your heart and your health.</p> <p>But what are those levels? Here\'s a list of recommendations, courtesy of the American Heart Association:</p> <ul> <li>Normal blood pressure, taken at rest, should be 120/80 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) or lower. High blood pressure is considered 140/90 mm Hg or higher, and prehypertension is any reading between normal and high blood pressure.</li> <li>People with blood pressure in the prehypertensive range (between 120 and 139 systolic pressure and 80 and 90 diastolic pressure) should make lifestyle changes to prevent heart disease.</li> <li>Total cholesterol should be below 200 mg/dL. High cholesterol is any reading of 240 mg/dL or higher, and moderate risk is anything in between normal and high cholesterol.</li> <li>LDL is &quot;bad&quot; cholesterol. That reading should be below 100 mg/dL, and anything higher than 160 mg/dL is considered a high risk for heart disease.</li> <li>HDL is &quot;good&quot; cholesterol. That reading should be between 40-50 mg/dL for men and 50-60 mg/dL for women. Anything less than 40 mg/dL is considered a high risk for heart disease.</li> </ul> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1013','6','	<p><!--Spanish ID:534553--> <p>WEDNESDAY, Aug. 23 (HealthDay News) -- Mexican-Americans who\'ve suffered a stroke are 57 percent more likely than non-Hispanic whites to suffer a second stroke, researchers report.</p> <p>The finding adds to the results of a 1998 study that found that Puerto-Rican American stroke patients face three times the risk of a second stroke as white stroke patients do.</p> <p>&quot;We found that Mexican-Americans have a higher stroke recurrence risk, but we still don\'t exactly know why that is,&quot; said study author Lynda D. Lisabeth, an assistant professor in the department of epidemiology at the University of Michigan School of Public Health in Ann Arbor.</p> <p>Lisabeth and her colleagues noted that, compared with a single stroke, recurrent strokes were associated with poorer patient outcomes and an increased risk of death.</p> <p>Reporting in the September issue of the <i>Annals of Neurology</i>, the authors remarked that 700,000 Americans experience a stroke each year, and for 200,000 of them it\'s a recurrent event.</p> <p>Prior estimates had put the average risk for experiencing a second stroke within 30 days of a first incident at between two percent and four percent. That risk rose to between seven percent and 13 percent over the course of a year.</p> <p>In their four-year study, Lisabeth and her team identified all cases of ischemic stroke occurring among adults over the age of 45 in an urban county of more than 310,000 people located in southeast Texas. Mexican-Americans made up more than half the county\'s population.</p> <p>Ischemic strokes, which comprise about 90 percent of strokes, are caused by a blockage in an artery.</p> <p>Of a total of 1,345 stroke cases tallied, 118 patients went on to suffer a second ischemic stroke. Mexican-Americans accounted for 76 of those recurrences, and had a 57 percent higher risk for stroke recurrence compared to non-Hispanic whites, adjusting for other risk factors.</p> <p>Having a second stroke nearly tripled the risk of death, compared to patients who experienced just one stroke, the researchers found. This added risk did not differ by ethnicity, however.</p> <p>In fact, Mexican-American stroke patients appeared to have somewhat better survival rate than non-Hispanic whites, regardless of how many strokes they suffered.</p> <p>&quot;There are interesting differences, and we need to better understand them,&quot; said Lisabeth. &quot;So, now we\'re exploring some of the social determinants of health to see if they have an influence -- things like religion, and beliefs about fatalism, depression, spirituality.&quot;</p> <p>Other potential factors include &quot;the patient\'s underlying disease pathology, the medications used, and compliance with prescriptions for conditions like high blood pressure and high cholesterol, as well as genetic factors,&quot; Lisabeth said. &quot;All of these can perhaps play a role. But at this point, it\'s all speculation.&quot;</p> <p>But another expert offered up a different reason.</p> <p>&quot;Secondary strokes are almost always related to the persistence of high blood pressure and the persistence of diabetes, and half of the Mexican-Americans in the study had diabetes, while only 22 percent of the non-Hispanics had diabetes,&quot; noted Dr. Norman M. Kaplan, a clinical professor in the division of hypertension at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.</p> <p>&quot;This fact clearly puts the Mexican-American patients at a much higher degree of risk for any vascular trouble,&quot; he said.</p> <p>Other factors may play a role, Kaplan said.</p> <p>&quot;These results are not unexpected, because I work in a largely Hispanic area, and I know that Mexican-Americans do not get the medical care that other population groups do,&quot; Kaplan added. &quot;In part, it may be cultural: A lot of people in Mexico believe in healers, and there\'s a lot of folk medicine which doesn\'t work as far as controlling blood pressure. But an even bigger part of it is certainly poverty, because if you look at any poor population, they\'re going to get less medical attention. So, we have to look at a wide range of things.&quot;</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>For more on stroke risk, visit the <a href=\"http://www.strokeassociation.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=1200037\" target=\"_new\">American Stroke Association</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1014','6','	<p><!--Spanish ID:534628--> <p>MONDAY, Aug. 28 (HealthDay News) -- A new publication that tells people how to make lifestyle changes to reduce high cholesterol levels and lower their risk for heart disease has been issued by the U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. </p> <p> <i>Your Guide to Lowering Your Cholesterol With TLC</i> (Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes) comes just in time for National Cholesterol Education Month in September.</p> <p>The 80-page guide offers a detailed program of diet, physical activity, and weight management designed to help people reduce their cholesterol levels.</p> <p>&quot;Lifestyle is crucial for lowering cholesterol but it\'s not enough to tell people it\'s important -- you have to help them do it. This guide offers a set of tools to help people get started and to embrace a heart-healthier way of living,&quot; Dr. James Cleeman, coordinator of the National Cholesterol Education Program, said in a prepared statement.</p> <p>The booklet explains that you need to reduce your intake of saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol to lower LDL (bad) cholesterol. To help you do that, the guide offers advice on choosing and preparing low-fat meals, selecting healthy snacks, and reading nutrition labels.</p> <p>It also emphasizes the importance of soluble fiber and plant stanols and sterols, substances derived from plants that help block cholesterol absorption.</p> <p>Along with contributing to weight gain, inactivity raises LDL cholesterol and lowers HDL (good) cholesterol. The guide offers a step-by-step program to help people get active.</p> <p>&quot;TLC is more than a diet. It\'s really a change in your way of living to help you stay heart healthy,&quot; Cleeman said.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>Here\'s where you can find the <a href=\"http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/chol/chol_tlc.htm\" target=\"_new\">Your Guide to Lowering Your Cholesterol with TLC </a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1015','6','	<p><!--Spanish ID:534651--> <p>TUESDAY, Aug. 29 (HealthDay News) -- Canadian researchers are reporting what they say is a better way to identify teens whose cholesterol levels put them at high risk for heart disease as adults.</p> <p>The current guidelines, established in 1992 in the United States, have limited ability to single out younger people who will be at high risk in the future, said the research team led by Ian Janssen, a professor of kinesiology and epidemiology at Queen\'s University in Kingston, Ontario.</p> <p>&quot;The essential difference with our method is that it takes into account the age and gender of a teen when determining who is at risk,&quot; Janssen said.</p> <p>The report was expected to be published in the Aug. 29 issue of <i>Circulation</i>.</p> <p>Janssen and his colleagues used data from the U.S. National Health and Nutritional Examination Surveys conducted between 1988 and 2002. Information on more than 6,000 participants aged 12 to 20 was used to develop age- and gender-specific growth curves for total cholesterol, LDL (&quot;bad&quot;) cholesterol, HDL (&quot;good&quot;) cholesterol and triglyceride fat levels. These curves are similar to the curves used to monitor and estimate height and weight patterns in children and teens.</p> <p>The cholesterol curves were then linked to adult cholesterol and fat levels that predict cardiovascular risk. The result is a reading that can predict a teen\'s future risk of heart disease, Janssen said.</p> <p>The major advantage of the new guidelines is that they take into account the fluctuations in cholesterol and fat levels that occur with age, Janssen said. &quot;We know that your cholesterol levels change significantly from age 2 to 20, changes that go with maturation,&quot; he said.</p> <p>The current guidelines published by the U.S. National Cholesterol Education Program don\'t take those age-related changes into account, Janssen said. They simply say that any teen in the top 5 percent of readings is at risk, an entirely arbitrary level, he said.</p> <p>&quot;Why not choose the 90th percentile instead of the 95th?&quot; he asked. &quot;There is no real risk attached to either of these percentiles.&quot;</p> <p>Gender must also be taken into account because the curves for the two sexes differ, the Canadian researchers said. For example, male levels of LDL cholesterol decrease early in the teen years, then start rising at about 15 years of age, while female levels increase steadily from 12 to 20.</p> <p>The current federal guidelines, endorsed by the American Heart Association, recommend cholesterol screening tests for adolescents whose parents have abnormal cholesterol levels or if there is a family history of cardiovascular disease before age 50.</p> <p>&quot;Hopefully, physicians already are testing those teenagers,&quot; Janssen said. &quot;Hopefully, this method provides a better way to identify those at high risk.&quot;</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>For more on cholesterol testing, visit the <a href=\"http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003492.htm\" target=\"_new\">National Library of Medicine</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1016','6','	<p><!--Spanish ID:534726--> <p>THURSDAY, Aug. 31 (HealthDay News) -- So, you\'ve just polished off a meal high in fat, and now you\'re feeling guilty? Wait an hour or two, then get a little exercise, and you can reverse the potential damage to your arteries, a new study suggests.</p> <p>And you don\'t even have to head to the gym for that exercise. &quot;We\'re talking about a walk, we\'re not talking about changing your clothes and sweating,&quot; said Janet P. Wallace, a professor of kinesiology at Indiana University, and lead investigator for the study.</p> <p>The study, coincidentally, follows another study published earlier this month in the <i>Journal of the American College of Cardiology</i> in which researchers found that eating just one piece of carrot cake high in saturated fat and drinking a milkshake can reduce the body\'s ability to protect itself against heart disease.</p> <p>The fat in the cake and shake, it seems, reduces the ability of the body\'s &quot;good&quot; cholesterol -- the high-density lipoprotein, or HDL -- to do its job --protecting the inner lining of the arteries from inflammatory substances that promote vessel-clogging plaque.</p> <p>According to Wallace, after a fatty meal, arteries lose their ability to expand in response to an increase in blood flow. The effect peaks four to six hours after eating -- usually just in time for your next meal. So, four hours after a fatty meal, your arteries look like those of a person with heart disease, she said.</p> <p>&quot;That post-meal period is a hot topic among all the researchers in heart disease, diabetes and obesity,&quot; Wallace said. &quot;That period sets up the environment for the artery to be unhealthy. And when the artery is unhealthy, that is when it leads to heart disease, insulin resistance and other problems.&quot; </p> <p>To see if exercise could make a difference, Wallace and her colleagues studied eight healthy 25-year-olds, looking at three scenarios. Each of the participants -- five men and three women -- completed all three scenarios. They ate a low-fat breakfast. They ate a high-fat breakfast. And they ate a high-fat breakfast followed two hours later by a 45-minute walk on a treadmill at a moderate pace. The high-fat meal contained about 48 grams of fat and the low-fat one actually had no fat; each consisted of about 940 calories.</p> <p>The researchers used a blood pressure cuff to measure blood flow in the brachial artery, located in the arm, before and after each scenario. &quot;The brachial artery represents what is going on in the arteries of the heart,&quot; Wallace said.</p> <p>After the high-fat meal alone, the brachial artery dilation dropped from 6 percent to 4 percent, Wallace said. &quot;The ideal range is about 6 to 10,&quot; she said. &quot;A range of 3 to 5 is not good.&quot;</p> <p>After the low-fat meal, dilation went from 6 percent to 6.5 percent, a slight improvement.</p> <p>But, &quot;after the high-fat meal and exercise, it went from 6 percent (before the meal) to 8 and a half percent,&quot; she said.</p> <p>&quot;Exercise does great things, and this obviously shows exercise is very effective in counteracting that high-fat meal,&quot; Wallace added.</p> <p>The study results were published in the September issue of the <i>European Journal of Applied Physiology</i>.</p> <p>Next, Wallace hopes to study the effect of exercise <i>before</i> a high-fat meal. &quot;I think we will find it works as well.&quot; She emphasized that her research isn\'t meant to encourage people to indulge in high-fat fare. But she\'s realistic: &quot;There are people who are going to eat high-fat meals,&quot; she said.</p> <p>If you\'re a fatty-food fan, Wallace suggests some exercise -- after getting your doctor\'s OK.</p> <p>But Jeannie Moloo, a Sacramento, Calif., registered dietitian and a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association, offered a caveat about the study: &quot;We need to keep in mind the results apply only to the population investigated and that was young, healthy and physically active adults. The small number of subjects, only eight, makes it difficult to tell if there are differences in responses between men and women.&quot;</p> <p>And Moloo, like Wallace, cautioned that the research isn\'t an excuse to indulge in fatty foods.</p> <p><b> More information</b></p> <p>To learn more about a healthy diet, visit the <a href=\"http://www.eatright.org\" target=\"_new\">American Dietetic Association</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1017','6','	<p><!--Spanish ID:534885--> <p>MONDAY, Sept. 11 (HealthDay News) -- That tasty miso soup you had for lunch may be more than delicious -- it could help you burn away excess fat.</p> <p>That\'s the conclusion of preliminary research presented Monday at the American Chemical Society\'s annual meeting, in San Francisco.</p> <p>Researchers led by Kazuo Miyashita, a chemistry professor at the Hokkaido University Graduate School of Fisheries Sciences in Japan, investigated the effects of brown seaweed, <i>Undaria pinnatifida</i> -- a type of kelp called wakame that is widely consumed in Japan.</p> <p>They found that fucoxanthin, the brown pigment in the seaweed, promoted a 5 percent to 10 percent weight loss in mice and rats by shrinking abdominal fat. The compound appeared to stimulate a protein that causes fat oxidation and conversion of energy to heat. This protein is found in white adipose tissue -- belly fat -- and that means fucoxanthin might be particularly effective at shrinking oversized guts, the researchers hypothesized.</p> <p>Fucoxanthin also stimulated the animals\' livers to produce DHA, a beneficial omega-3 fatty acid that reduces low-density lipoprotein (LDL), the bad cholesterol that contributes to atherosclerosis.</p> <p>&quot;The exciting finding is that fucoxanthin may increase metabolism and weight control,&quot; said Connie Diekman, director of University Nutrition at Washington University in St. Louis. &quot;But the downside is that this is an animal study, and we can\'t automatically translate from animals to humans.&quot;</p> <p>Fucoxanthin belongs in the phytochemical food category, and these foods have a lot of benefits, Diekman added. But she cautioned that, &quot;we need to look at these studies for their interest but [also] recognize that the bottom line is, there is no magic when it comes to weight control.&quot;</p> <p>Lona Sandon, an assistant professor of clinical nutrition at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, agreed. &quot;Fucoxanthin potentially could help control weight, and help produce more heart-healthy DHA. But these are very preliminary studies done at the molecular level on rats, not on humans,&quot; she said. &quot;So, although it looks promising, we\'ve got a long way to go before we know that eating seaweed will keep our waistlines thin.&quot;</p> <p>Consumers should understand that clinicians and researchers have a &quot;whole lot to learn about weight control in humans and this is one study in a long investigation,&quot; Diekman cautioned. &quot;Don\'t give up on what we know will work -- correct food choices, right portions and regular physical activity. It\'s hard, but magic isn\'t going to help you be healthier. A healthier lifestyle is the key.&quot;</p> <p>Still, the Japanese researchers hope that further study could eventually lead to a pill containing fucoxanthin that might be consumed daily or as needed. That pill will be a long time in the making, however. Even though human studies are planned, it will likely be at least five years before a fucoxanthin-based anti-obesity pill would be available to consumers. Until then, people should continue to eat a well-balanced diet and get plenty of exercise, Miyashita said in a prepared statement.</p> <p>Seaweed isn\'t the only food promising medicinal powers. According to research presented at the same meeting by scientists at Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine in Japan, mandarin oranges may reduce the risk of liver cancer in patients with chronic viral hepatitis. After one year, no liver cancer was detected in 30 patients who drank one cup daily of a beverage containing mandarin orange juice. On the other hand, 8.9 percent of 45 patients who didn\'t drink the beverage developed liver cancer.</p> <p>In other research presented at the meeting, a team at the National Institute of Fruit Tree Science in Japan surveyed 1,073 Japanese people who consumed large amounts of mandarin oranges. They report that chemical markers in the subjects\' blood were associated with a lower risk for liver disease, atherosclerosis, and insulin resistance, which can lead to diabetes.</p> <p>And there\'s more good food news -- wheat, corn, and rice flour can be modified into an enhanced product that makes the flour\'s antioxidants more available to the body, according to University of Maryland researchers.</p> <p>Those same researchers also say they\'ve developed a new type of flour from fruit seeds -- normally waste products from the processing of juice and fruit products. In laboratory studies, the fruit-seed flour appears to have the ability to fight inflammation, cancer and food-borne bacteria, the scientists said.</p> <p>Finally, researchers at Nihon University in Japan reported that they\'ve made the calcium in soybeans more easily absorbed, by removing an absorption-hindering chemical called phytate. They also modified two amino acids in soybeans so that they form a whiter, smoother product and retain the original taste.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>To learn more about weight control, visit the <a href=\"http://www.niddk.nih.gov/health/nutrit/nutrit.htm\" target=\"_new\">National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1018','6','	<p><!--Spanish ID:535017--> <p>MONDAY, Sept. 18 (HealthDay News) -- Many U.S. heart attack patients are not taking their medications as prescribed, according to new research.</p> <p>In a study published in the September issue of the <i>American Heart Journal</i>, researchers from Duke University followed more than 17,000 heart attack patients for a year after their discharge from the hospital.</p> <p>The researchers used prescription drug claims to estimate the patients\' usage of beta blocker drugs, which can reduce the risk of future heart attacks.</p> <p>Surprisingly, only 45 percent of the patients who were prescribed beta blocker drugs and who had some prescription drug insurance coverage were regularly taking them during the first year after leaving the hospital.</p> <p>&quot;In the population of patients we studied with health insurance and prescription drug coverage, we found adherence to beta blockers during the first year following a heart attack to be quite poor, indicating that factors other than the cost of the medicine are important to long-term adherence,&quot; study leader Judith Kramer, an associate professor at the Duke University Medical Center, said in a prepared statement.</p> <p>Kramer emphasized that patients should realize that beta blockers must be taken for the rest of their lives to get the benefits.</p> <p>&quot;Strategies to maintain adherence must focus not only on community physicians to maintain prescribing, but also on patients and their families,&quot; she said.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The American Heart Association has more about <a href=\"http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=1200005\" target=\"_new\">heart attack</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1019','6','	<p><p>FRIDAY, Aug. 11 (HealthDay News) -- Regulatory T cells, which &quot;police&quot; the immune system, are produced in the thymus and not from other circulating T cells, researchers report.</p> <p>The study also provides new information about how mistakes made by regulatory T cells may contribute to autoimmune disease.</p> <p>The findings suggest that it may one day be possible to control the early education of regulatory T cells in children in order to prevent autoimmune diseases, according to a team from the Medical College of Georgia. </p> <p>It may also be possible to introduce new regulatory T cells into people with autoimmune disease, they said.</p> <p>The thymus, a small organ located in the upper/front portion of the chest, is involved in the production and maturation of T cells during fetal development and childhood. Regulatory T cells direct the immune systems\' roaming T cells.</p> <p>Before regulatory T cells leave the thymus, they learn to distinguish between normal body tissue and invaders such as bacteria and viruses.</p> <p>However, in some cases, regulatory T cells fail to learn how to recognize all the different kinds of normal body tissue, the Georgia group explained. This, along with environmental and other factors, can result in autoimmune diseases, where the body attacks its own tissues, the researchers said.</p> <p>Lupus, arthritis, and type 1 diabetes are types of autoimmune diseases.</p> <p>The MCG team found that, in mice, the regulatory T cell learning process in the thymus peaks in the first six weeks of life. That\'s about equivalent to the first 15 years of life in a human.</p> <p>The early lessons, correct or not, learned by the regulatory T cells seem to last a lifetime. The few cells that develop later in life will likely behave like the earlier cell.</p> <p>The study was published in the August issue of the journal <i>Immunity</i>.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has more about the <a href=\"http://www.niaid.nih.gov/final/immun/immun.htm\" target=\"_new\">immune system</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1020','6','	<p><!--Spanish ID:534383--> <p>MONDAY, Aug. 14 (HealthDay News) -- In March, a well-publicized test in England of an experimental drug designed to fight autoimmune diseases left all six healthy male participants with multiple organ failure.</p> <p>That catastrophe has prompted medical experts to call for reviews and reforms of the drug-approval process. Their concerns are published in the Sept. 7 issue of the <i>New England Journal of Medicine</i>.</p> <p>The phase 1 trial, which was designed to test the safety of the new drug, took place in Great Britain. The drug is called TGN1412, and it\'s a new so-called superagonist monoclonal antibody that directly stimulates immune system T-cells.</p> <p>T-cells dampen the function of other parts of the immune system in a healthy individual by preventing the body from attacking itself. When this safeguard fails, it can lead to autoimmune diseases that the drug\'s maker -- TeGenero AG, a German biotech company -- was trying to thwart. Those diseases include rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis and certain types of leukemia, according to published reports.</p> <p>Within 90 minutes of receiving a single intravenous dose of the drug, all six volunteers experienced headache, muscle aches, nausea, diarrhea, skin rash and low blood pressure caused by a rapid induction of inflammatory-producing substances called cytokines.</p> <p>After 12 to 16 hours, all six men were critically ill, with toxic liquid in the lungs, lung injury, kidney failure and blood disorders. After 24 hours, there was severe depletion of both red and white blood cells.</p> <p>All six patients were transferred to an intensive care unit where they received intensive cardiopulmonary treatment, including dialysis; high-dose Medrol, a corticosteroid used to reduce inflammation; and an anti-interleukin-2 receptor antibody.</p> <p>Two of the patients developed cardiovascular shock and acute respiratory distress syndrome, which required eight to 16 days of organ support. Fortunately, all six men survived, although one has early signs of lymphatic cancer, according to news reports.</p> <p>The most seriously injured volunteer was 21-year-old Ryan Wilson, who had to have parts of his fingers and toes amputated because he developed gangrene.</p> <p>The volunteers were paid about $3,500 each for taking part in the trial. Four of the men have received compensation payments of about $25,000 from TeGenero, which filed for bankruptcy in July. The other volunteers are waiting for the results of medical tests before making specific compensation claims.</p> <p>Lead report author Dr. Ganesh Suntharalingam is director of intensive care at Northwick Park and St. Marks Hospital, in London, and one of the doctors who treated the patients. He said, &quot;There may be a category of drugs that are high risk for causing an unprecedented immunological reaction. These drugs need to be identified in advance and then do the phase 1 studies in a different way.&quot;</p> <p>Suntharalingam was not involved in the trial itself.</p> <p>Patients were given the drug at 10-minute intervals, Suntharalingam said. Perhaps there needs to be more time between doses, he said. In addition, these patients were lucky that the trial took place at a fully equipped medical center, he added. &quot;They were able to get to intensive care very quickly when they needed to.&quot;</p> <p>Suntharalingam said he and his colleagues wanted to get the information out to push a discussion of how to identify potentially dangerous drugs and &quot;stop this from happening in the future.&quot;</p> <p>TeGenero filed for bankruptcy July 4, because it was not able to attract investors after the incident. The trial was conducted by Parexel International Corp., of Waltham, Mass.</p> <p>One expert thinks the design and application of the trial was flawed.</p> <p>&quot;They dosed these people one after another without a sufficient period of time to see the effect,&quot; said Adil E. Shamoo, of the Department of Biochemistry &amp; Molecular Biology at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, and co-founder of the watchdog group Citizens for Responsible Care and Research.</p> <p>Phase 1 trials are the most ethically challenging experiments, Shamoo said. &quot;Doing these experiments in healthy subjects is done for money. So, you are taking a high risk for money, and that is ethically problematic,&quot; he said. &quot;That\'s why there has to be extra protection for human subjects -- human subjects are not animals.&quot;</p> <p>Shamoo believes there needs to be more animal experiments before experimental drugs are tried on patients. &quot;Especially now that we know these immunologically challenging studies have a high risk,&quot; he said.</p> <p>The fact that TeGenero declared bankruptcy may leave the six men in a position where they\'ll have to cover their own medical costs, Shamoo said. &quot;We have called for no-fault insurance to protect subjects in trials,&quot; he said. &quot;This way, the subjects don\'t get left holding an empty bag.&quot;</p> <p>The <i>New England Journal of Medicine</i> said it released its package on the controversial trial early to allow the information in it to become available during the current comment period established by the British government and its Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency. Until a group of leading international experts formed to consider the issues involved releases its report, further applications involving first-in-humans trials of any monoclonal antibody or other novel molecules targeting the immune system will not be authorized in the U.K., according to news reports.</p> <p>But another expert doesn\'t want the results of this trial to cloud the use of this type of new drug, which she said could benefit many people.</p> <p>&quot;This antibody was very unusual in the way it worked,&quot; said Dr. Arlene Sharpe, of Brigham &amp; Women\'s Hospital, in Boston, and the author of an accompanying perspective piece in the journal.</p> <p>In studies in mice, the drug was able to prevent disease or make certain autoimmune diseases better with no adverse side effects, Sharpe said. However, the tests in primates were never published, but showed no serious side effects.</p> <p>&quot;In people, instead of doing this, it seems this antibody activated cytokines that produced immune responses,&quot; Sharpe said. &quot;It seems that such large amounts of cytokines were produced that this is what damaged patients.&quot;</p> <p>Sharpe noted there are several drugs in use that act on the same pathways in the body. &quot;There is a lot of promise with these drugs if one can understand the pathways, and how to use them well,&quot; she said.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The U.S. Food and Drug Administration can tell you more about <a href=\" http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/2003/503_trial.html\" target=\"_new\">clinical trials</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1021','6','	<p><p>WEDNESDAY, Aug. 16 (HealthDay News) -- British researchers have identified a feature of the avian flu virus that could be a target for new drugs.</p> <p>&quot;This points the way to the development, in the future, of other types of drugs,&quot; said Dr. Pascal James Imperato, distinguished service professor and chairman of the department of preventive medicine and community health at State University of New York Downstate Medical Center in New York City. &quot;The results of the research do not nullify the effectiveness of current drugs, but simply show that there may be a possibility of developing new ones in the future.&quot;</p> <p>Imperato was not involved in the research, which was published online Aug. 16 in <i>Nature</i>.</p> <p>Any new drug development is not going to happen right away, however.</p> <p>&quot;Given the long time period that it takes in research and development of such drugs, and then FDA approval, I don\'t see that occurring probably for several years,&quot; Imperato added. &quot;There\'s no immediate benefit.&quot;</p> <p>On the other hand, once drugs are developed, they could be applied to other viruses as well.</p> <p>Health officials across the globe have worried that the bird flu virus that has infected 238 people and killed 139 worldwide might mutate, possibly in tandem with a more common flu virus, unleashing a new type of flu virus that could prove even more deadly because people\'s immune systems would not be able to fend off the disease.</p> <p>Different nations have been stockpiling the drugs oseltamivir (Tamiflu) and zanamivir (Relenza) should the current H5N1 bird flu mutate and become able to infect humans.</p> <p>Both drugs inhibit the enzyme neuraminidase (the &quot;N&quot; in &quot;H5N1&quot;), found on the surface of the avian flu virus, but they only block the N2 and N9 versions.</p> <p>&quot;Those drugs were designed using the structure from one group of neuraminidases and, it turns out, genetically, there\'s another group,&quot; said John Skehel, senior author of the study and director of the National Institute of Medical Research in London. &quot;The first group contains five neuraminidases, and the second group contains four.&quot; </p> <p>&quot;What we\'ve done is determine the structure of three of those four, which hadn\'t been done before and, it turns out, they show some structural differences from the group that was used to develop Tamiflu and Relenza,&quot; he continued. &quot;The major difference is the presence of a cavity next to the active site of the enzyme. In this group, the cavity is a constant feature.&quot; </p> <p>This suggests that it may be possible to design or identify other compounds that would block neuraminidase activity. </p> <p>&quot;Relenza and Tamiflu work, so the idea is that this difference in structure might be used to develop new drugs which would block the neuraminidase just in this group,&quot; Skehel explained. &quot;It may also well be that they block activity in both groups.&quot;</p> <p>And it may block activity in viruses as well.</p> <p>Skehel\'s group is currently working with pharmaceutical interests to find or develop new drugs. It\'s possible that new drugs might work in tandem with Tamiflu and Relenza to overcome resistance to those agents. &quot;It would be a combination therapy like you have in HIV,&quot; Skehel explained.</p> <p>Few would deny the need for new weapons against avian flu, but a human pandemic may not loom quite as large as it once appeared.</p> <p>When government researchers recently tried to combine the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu with a common strain of flu that infects humans, they were unable to produce a strain that could be transmitted easily. This indicates that the road to easily transmissible bird flu is more complicated than once thought. </p> <p>Also, <i>Bloomberg News</i> recently reported that two Michigan swans infected with bird flu don\'t have the lethal form spreading elsewhere.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>Visit the U.S. <a href=\"http://www.cdc.gov/flu/avian/\" target=\"_new\">Centers for Disease Control and Prevention</a> for more on bird flu.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1022','6','	<p><!--Spanish ID:534486--> <p>FRIDAY, Aug. 18 (HealthDay News) -- Millions of U.S. children are not getting the scheduled immunizations they need to ward off disease, experts warn.</p> <p>&quot;Despite the success of increasing the numbers of children being vaccinated, what is very troublesome is that 2.1 million children are not getting timely vaccinations,&quot; said Amy Pisani.</p> <p>Pisani is executive director of <i>Every Child By Two: The Carter/Bumpers Campaign for Early Immunization of Every Child By Two</i>, which held a press conference on the issue Thursday.</p> <p>The problem is particularly acute in the inner city, Pisani said. &quot;Rates among African-American children are actually 13 percentage points lower than white and Hispanic children,&quot; she said. &quot;This is due to insufficient funding from Congress,&quot; Pisani contended.</p> <p>When children miss their immunization schedule, most can\'t catch up and are vulnerable to vaccine-preventable diseases, such as whooping cough, hepatitis, or meningitis and influenza.</p> <p>One press conference participant described the advent of vaccines as one of the biggest health achievements of the 20th century.</p> <p>Vaccinations have been very successful and resulted in the elimination of many childhood diseases, said Dr. Richard Judelsohn, a pediatrician at Buffalo Pediatric Associates and an advisor to the Erie County Department of Health, New York. &quot;We want to make every effort never to let us slide back into a situation where we might begin to start to see [these] diseases again, diseases which have been eradicated,&quot; he said.</p> <p>The schedule on which vaccines are given to children is carefully worked out, and takes into account expert opinions as to the best time to immunize against particular illnesses, Judelsohn explained. The schedule -- devised by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention\'s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices -- can be confusing, he admitted.</p> <p>&quot;It is a challenge for pediatric providers to navigate the schedule and all the associated tests that go with that,&quot; Judelsohn said. &quot;And the parents feel this way, too,&quot; he added.</p> <p>In the first two years of life, a child could get up to 24 injections, Judelsohn said. These include vaccines that prevent hepatitis A, hepatitis B, polio, influenza type B, measles, mumps, rubella, pneumonia, meningitis, diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough. Often this complicated schedule results in delayed vaccinations, he said.</p> <p>But delayed doses mean many kids aren\'t getting complete immunization during the recommended time period, Judelsohn said. &quot;Delayed doses may result in under-protection, leaving the infant or child vulnerable to infection with a vaccine-preventable disease and its complications, or even death,&quot; he said.</p> <p>Judelsohn believes that phone and e-mail reminders and recall systems can go a long way in making sure that vaccinations aren\'t missed. &quot;Another thing that can be done is reducing the number of shots by using combination vaccines,&quot; he said.</p> <p>Another conference participant, Dr. Gary Marshall, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Louisville School of Medicine, agreed that combination vaccines can go a long way toward insuring that children get the vaccinations they need when they need them.</p> <p>&quot;Fewer injections means less pain for the child, less anxiety for the mother, less anxiety for the nurse, and fewer doctor visits,&quot; Marshall said.</p> <p>Moreover, combining vaccines may also have a medical benefit in reducing disease, according to some studies, Marshall said. &quot;Hopefully, we will develop more data to support the idea that these combos have benefits beyond decreased pain and anxiety, and we may actually see benefits in terms of public health.&quot;</p> <p>Another expert assured parents that vaccines are both safe and effective.</p> <p>&quot;If you look at the consequence of the diseases vs. the side-effects of the vaccine, the risk of the disease and its outcome is much greater,&quot; said Dr. Joseph Bocchini, a member of the Committee on Infectious Diseases of the American Academy of Pediatrics and chief of pediatric infectious disease at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, Shreveport.</p> <p>&quot;Vaccinations are one of the most important measures that parents can take to protect their children,&quot; he added.</p> <p>Various groups have raised concerns that vaccines might be associated with other medical problems, Bocchini said. But these associations are almost always coincidental, he said.</p> <p>&quot;One of the difficulties with vaccines is that you give vaccines at a certain age to a large population of children, and it may be the same age when certain illnesses are likely to begin to appear,&quot; he said.</p> <p>Bocchini noted that in some cases, a vaccine is given shortly before an illness develops, and a parent makes the association between the vaccine and the development of that illness. &quot;In fact, they are occurring at the same time, but are not related,&quot; he said.</p> <p>There has been ongoing controversy, for example, over a purported association between autism and the widely used measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine. &quot;Autism begins to manifest itself in the second year of life,&quot; Bocchini pointed out. &quot;Early in the second year of life is when we give the MMR vaccine. So, it wouldn\'t be unusual for a child to get the vaccine and then begin to show the signs of autism, and yet the two are not connected,&quot; he said.</p> <p>Another vaccine expert cautioned that parents do need to get the facts on vaccines before they get their children inoculated.</p> <p>&quot;When parents are making a vaccination decision, they need to be really informed about the risks and complications of the disease and the vaccine,&quot; said Barbara Loe Fisher, the co-founder and president of the National Vaccine Information Center.</p> <p>&quot;You need to be clear about the contraindications to vaccines, know how to identify a vaccine reaction and make sure that doctors are cautious about proceeding with vaccinations after worsening health after a vaccination,&quot; Fisher said. &quot;Parents should understand that vaccines do carry risks,&quot; she warned.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>For more on childhood immunization, head to the <a href=\"http://www.cispimmunize.org\" target=\"_new\">American Academy of Pediatrics</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1023','6','	<p><p>SUNDAY, Aug. 28 (HealthDay News) -- The science of vaccination tends to be a slow and methodical one, with doctors meticulously testing, researching and plotting the eradication of dangerous diseases.</p> <p>But the past few years have yielded remarkable advances in the field of immunology, work that will improve health and safety by leaps and bounds, experts say.</p> <p>These improvements should be welcome news to parents as children return to school. And doctors also reiterate to parents the importance of having their children immunized to prevent and ultimately eradicate some of mankind\'s most deadly infectious diseases.</p> <p> Unfortunately, millions of U.S. children are not getting the scheduled immunizations they need to ward off disease, experts warn. </p> <p> &quot;Despite the success of increasing the numbers of children being vaccinated, what is very troublesome is that 2.1 million children are not getting timely vaccinations,&quot; said Amy Pisani, executive director of &quot;Every Child By Two: The Carter/Bumpers Campaign for Early Immunization of Every Child By Two,&quot; which held a press conference on the issue earlier this month. </p> <p> The problem is particularly acute in the inner city, Pisani said. &quot;Rates among African-American children are actually 13 percentage points lower than white and Hispanic children,&quot; she said.</p> <p> And, when children miss their immunization schedule, most can\'t catch up and are vulnerable to vaccine-preventable diseases, such as whooping cough, hepatitis, or meningitis and influenza. </p> <p>Four new vaccines will be available and recommended for use by the end of the year, said Dr. Paul Offit, chief of infectious diseases at Children\'s Hospital of Philadelphia.</p> <p>The vaccines target a wide range of diseases -- meningitis, rotavirus, human papilloma virus and shingles. Together, they could save thousands of lives, both young and not-so-young, each year, Offit said.</p> <p>&quot;This is a banner year,&quot; Offit said. &quot;I don\'t think we\'re going to see another new vaccine for 10 years. I just think this has been an amazing year.&quot;</p> <p>Other advances include tweaks to the immunization schedule for the diphtheria/tetanus/pertussis vaccine and flu vaccine, changes designed to tackle the continued spread of whooping cough and influenza, said Dr. Louis Z. Cooper, professor of pediatrics at Columbia University\'s College of Physicians and Surgeons, and a past president of the American Academy of Pediatrics.</p> <p>&quot;The vaccines are so remarkably safe and so remarkably effective that I, as a parent and a grandparent and a pediatrician, strongly urge parents to get all of them, and get them on time,&quot; Cooper said.</p> <p>The new meningitis vaccine -- endorsed last year by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -- in particular has the potential to prevent hundreds of gruesome deaths and thousands of life-altering illnesses, Offit said.</p> <p>&quot;This is a vaccine that will prevent a bacteria that creates both bloodstream infections and meningitis in about 3,000 people a year, most of them children, and 300 deaths a year,&quot; Offit said.</p> <p>Meningococcal disease is caused by Neisseria meningitidis, a common bacterium that invades the body to infect the lining of the brain or the bloodstream. Even when the disease isn\'t fatal, it can cause lifetime brain damage, hearing loss, loss of limbs, or kidney failure, Offit said.</p> <p>The CDC recommends that all students entering middle school and high school and all college freshmen living in dormitories receive the new meningococcal vaccine.</p> <p>Other new vaccines treat or prevent:</p> <ul> <li>Rotavirus, a germ that causes severe diarrhea in children, usually with fever and vomiting. &quot;It\'s a very common cause of doctor visits and hospital visits in young children,&quot; Offit said. &quot;About one of every 50 children in this country will be hospitalized due to dehydration related to rotavirus,&quot; he said.</li> <li>Human papilloma virus, a leading cause of cervical cancer and genital warts. &quot;There are more than 10,000 new cases of cervical cancer each year,&quot; Offit said. &quot;This will prevent about 70 percent of the strains that cause cervical cancer,&quot; he added.</li> <li>Shingles, an outbreak of rash or blisters on the skin that is caused by the same virus that causes chicken pox. &quot;It\'s for people over 60 years of age, and it will reduce their chances of getting shingles by at least 50 percent,&quot; Offit said.</li> </ul> <p>Doctors also are improving the immunization schedules of already-developed vaccines, in response to surges in certain diseases.</p> <p>For example, a booster dose of an improved tetanus-diphtheria-pertussis vaccine now is recommended for teens and adults every 10 years. This is to better prevent pertussis, or whooping cough, which has been on the rise since the 1980s and can be fatal to children.</p> <p>&quot;We\'ve recognized that we\'re seeing a gradual increase of whooping cough in this country, and realized this reflects the gradual waning of vaccinations given years before,&quot; Cooper said.</p> <p>Referring to the new vaccine schedule, Offit said, &quot;If we really do follow up on this recommendation, we\'ll go a long way toward eradicating whooping cough from this country.&quot;</p> <p>Another vaccination schedule advance involves expansion of the age range for children receiving influenza immunization, Cooper said.</p> <p>Until recently, flu vaccination had been recommended for children between 6 months old and 2 years old. Now, doctors are recommending that children as old as 5 years of age get vaccinated for the flu, along with their parents and caretakers, Cooper said.</p> <p>&quot;This is in recognition that not only do young kids get influenza, but that they are important in its spread,&quot; he said.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>To learn more, visit the U.S. <a href=\"http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/childhoodimmunization.html\" target=\"_new\">National Library of Medicine</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1024','6','	<p><!--Spanish ID:534729--> <p>THURSDAY, Aug. 31 (HealthDay News) -- Cold season will soon be here and that means it\'s time to remind people that antibiotics aren\'t effective against colds and inappropriate use of antibiotics may be harmful, says a doctor at Washington University in St. Louis. </p> <p>&quot;People need to remember that antibiotics are used for bacterial infections. A common cold is a virus. Antibiotics simply won\'t work on viral infections,&quot; Dr. David C. Mellinger, associate director and chief physician at the university\'s Student Health Service, said in a prepared statement.</p> <p>In addition, the overuse of antibiotics can lead to the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.</p> <p>&quot;We all have bacteria in our bodies. If they are constantly exposed to antibiotics, the normal bacteria can become resistant. Those bacteria can then end up actually causing more infections,&quot; Mellinger said.</p> <p>He cited penicillin as an example.</p> <p>&quot;Penicillin, one of the first antibiotics created, killed many of the bacteria that existed during the last century. But over time, bacteria have built up resistance to penicillin. Now, it is really only prescribed for streptococcus, the organism that causes strep throat, and a few other select infections,&quot; Mellinger said.</p> <p>People with colds shouldn\'t ask their doctor for antibiotics. Instead, they should drink plenty of fluids, rest, and perhaps try an over-the-counter cold remedy, he suggested.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The American Academy of Family Physicians has more about <a href=\"http://familydoctor.org/680.xml\" target=\"_new\">antibiotics</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1025','6','	<p><p>WEDNESDAY, Sept. 6 (HealthDay News) -- A vaccine being developed in China to protect humans against the H5N1 bird flu virus is safe and effective at low doses, researchers there report.</p> <p>A previous study found that 30 micrograms of the vaccine (which contains part of the H5N1 virus) given in two doses with an &quot;adjuvant&quot; (an additive that can increase effectiveness) produced a good immune response in humans.</p> <p>However, this 30-microgram dose -- that has to be given in two doses -- means manufacturers would only be able to provide enough vaccine for 225 million people. A lower-dose vaccine may make it possible to vaccinate more people, the researchers reported Wednesday in the online edition of the journal <i>The Lancet</i>.</p> <p>The vaccine tested in this new study contains a modified form of the whole H5N1 virus plus the adjuvant aluminum hydroxide. Vaccines created with whole viruses trigger a stronger immune response than vaccines made out of a part of the virus. However, whole-virus vaccines can cause more side effects.</p> <p>This latest study included 120 people, ages 18 to 60, who received either two doses of a placebo or of the whole-virus vaccine at either 1.25, 2.5, 5, or 10 micrograms. After 56 days, all the different doses prompted the production of antibodies against the H5N1 virus. However, the best response was seen in people who received the 10-microgram dose of vaccine.</p> <p>Pain, swelling, and fever were the most common side effects reported by study participants who received the vaccine.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The World Health Organization has more about <a href=\"http://www.who.int/csr/disease/avian_influenza/avian_faqs/en/\" target=\"_new\">bird flu</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1026','6','	<p><p>(HealthDay News) -- Laryngitis, an inflammation of the larynx, makes a person\'s voice hoarse. It\'s typically caused by a viral infection, and can be exacerbated by smoking.</p> <p>Smokers should quit while waiting for laryngitis to improve, the National Library of Medicine (NLM) says.</p> <p>Because it\'s typically caused by a virus, common laryngitis often doesn\'t require treatment with antibiotics. Call your doctor if the condition is accompanied by difficulty breathing or swallowing.</p> <p>Laryngitis typically will clear up on its own, but you can use a humidifier to ease throat irritation and hoarseness.</p> <p>Resting your vocal cords can help restore your voice more quickly, the NLM says.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1027','6','	<p><p>FRIDAY, March 10 (HealthDay News) -- Seniors who think hearing loss is just a part of growing old, along with other age-related stereotypes, may end up boosting their odds for poor hearing in their &quot;golden years.&quot;</p> <p>That\'s the finding of a new study that suggests that a person\'s negative stereotypes about the elderly can have real consequences for personal health as he or she ages.</p> <p>The Yale University study included 546 people, aged 70 and older, who were interviewed about their attitudes toward the elderly. The participants had their hearing assessed at the start of the study, and again three years later.</p> <p>As reported in the March issue of the <i>Journals of Gerontology</i>, people who had more negative stereotypes about the elderly -- that old age meant senility or being feeble, for example -- also performed worse on the hearing assessment conducted at the end of the three-year study.</p> <p>Study first author Becca R. Levy said negative stereotypes about the elderly could lead older adults to be more accepting of hearing loss and, therefore, less likely to seek medical attention for the problem.</p> <p>&quot;This is the first study to demonstrate that older individuals\' age stereotypes can predict their sensory perception,&quot; Levy, an associate professor in the department of epidemiology and public health, said in a prepared statement.</p> <p>&quot;Although a wide array of biological factors have been identified that contribute to hearing decline, our team felt it was important to understand whether social psychological factors, such as the age stereotypes that individuals take in from their culture, may also influence hearing,&quot; she said.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The U.S. National Institutes of Health has more about <a href=\"http://nihseniorhealth.gov/hearingloss/toc.html\" target=\"_new\">hearing loss</a>.</p></p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1028','6','	<p><p>(HealthDay News) -- A cochlear implant is a device for severely-to-profoundly deaf people who do not benefit from traditional hearing aids.</p> <p>It\'s designed to produce hearing sensations by electrically stimulating nerves inside the inner ear.</p> <p>But the device doesn\'t work for everyone. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration\'s Center for Devices and Radiological Health, factors that can determine the success of a cochlear implant include:</p> <ul> <li>How long the person has been deaf (those with a shorter-term problem tend to do better than those who have been without hearing a long time).</li> <li>How old the person is when the device is implanted (younger patients tend to do better).</li> <li>The health and structure of the person\'s inner ear.</li> </ul> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1029','6','	<p><p>WEDNESDAY, April 26 (HealthDay News) -- Aspirin can help prevent hearing loss caused by common antibiotics called aminoglycosides, a new report finds.</p> <p>Aminoglycosides are inexpensive antibiotics that have been used for the past 60 years to treat acute infections, cystic fibrosis, tuberculosis and other conditions. However, their use has also been linked to irreversible hearing loss.</p> <p>As reported by a U.S.-Chinese team in the April 27 issue of the <i>New England Journal of Medicine</i>, the study included 195 Chinese patients who received 80 milligrams to 160 milligrams of gentamicin (a type of aminoglycoside) intravenously, twice daily, for five to seven days. Of those 195 patients, 89 received aspirin along with the antibiotic and 106 were given a placebo along with the antibiotic.</p> <p>The rate of hearing loss among patients who received aspirin was 3 percent, compared with 13 percent among the patients who received the placebo. That translates to a 75 percent lower rate of hearing loss among patients who received aspirin.</p> <p>&quot;We would like to see the word get around to the medical community around the world that you can take some precautions to minimize the risk to your patients. Aspirin is available everywhere, and it\'s cheap,&quot; study senior author Jochen Schacht, a professor of biological chemistry in otolaryngology, University of Michigan (U-M) Medical School, said in a prepared statement.</p> <p>This study builds on previous U-M research in animals.</p> <p>&quot;Previously, we found that such a treatment works well in mice, but I am very excited that this worked so well in humans. Translating animal studies into clinical practice is not an easy thing to do. We were fortunate that our extrapolation from mice to men and women worked in the first trial,&quot; said Schacht, who is director of the U-M Health System\'s Kresge Hearing Research Institute.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The U.S. National Library of Medicine has more about <a href=\"http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/uspdi/202027.html\" target=\"_new\">aminoglycosides</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1030','6','	<p><p>(HealthDay News) -- Ear infections are common in young children, and are often easily treated with antibiotics or may even clear up on their own.</p> <p>But if your child has had multiple ear infections in a short period of time that never seem to clear, he may need ear tubes to help drain fluid from his ears and prevent infection, the Nemours Foundation says.</p> <p>Children who attend group child-care centers, are around people who smoke, and who take bottles to bed are more prone to ear infections. Most often, they occur between ages 6 months and 2 years.</p> <p>Symptoms of an ear infection can include fever, fussiness or irritability, and fluid leaking from the ears. If your child\'s ear infections are causing trouble hearing or slowing speech development, your doctor may recommend ear tube surgery.</p> <p>Tympanostomy, the medical name for the procedure, involves placing a small tube in the child\'s ear -- usually in both ears -- to help ventilate the area and prevent future infections. The tubes, which also equalize pressure in the middle ear, are typically removed within 6-18 months after surgery.</p></p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1031','6','	<p><p>TUESDAY, May 16 (HealthDay News) -- U.S. researchers say genes on chromosome 3 that are associated with a type of progressive hereditary hearing loss in younger adults may also be linked to hearing loss in older men.</p> <p>The study of 50 pairs of elderly male fraternal twins with hearing loss found evidence of genes linked to age-related hearing loss on chromosome 3q, near a gene locus (location) called DFNA18.</p> <p>According to researchers at Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis, this same locus is believed to contain a gene that causes a condition found in young adults called early-onset autosomal dominant hearing loss.</p> <p>More research is needed in order to determine exactly which gene contributes to age-related hearing loss and whether the same gene may also be responsible for early-onset hearing loss. It\'s possible that genes in or near the DFNA18 locus &quot;might be responsible for a substantial percentage of hearing loss with aging in the general population,&quot; the study authors wrote.</p> <p>Age-associated hearing loss affects about 25 percent to 30 percent of people age 65 and older. A previous study suggested that age-related hearing loss is at least 40 percent heritable. Few studies have examined specific genetic factors that may be associated with age-related hearing loss.</p> <p>The findings appear in the May issue of the <i>Archives of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery</i>.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The U.S. National Library of Medicine has more about <a href=\"http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003044.htm\" target=\"_new\">hearing loss</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
