INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1807','1','<p>The Food and Drug Administration recently approved the first nonprescription drug for weight loss. Alli (pronounced AL-eye) is slated to hit shelves this year, according to its maker, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). That move has been denounced by some who say it should not be made so readily available because of limited efficacy and safety concerns.</p><p>Before you even consider this drug, there are some facts you need to know and some questions to ponder:</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/2007/02/16/AR2007021602319_Technorati.html\') ;\ntechnorati.article = new item(\'Lowdown on OTC Weight-Loss Drug\',\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/16/AR2007021602319.html\',\'The Food and Drug Administration recently approved the first nonprescription drug for weight loss. Alli (pronounced AL-eye) is slated to hit shelves this year, according to its maker, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). That move has been denounced by some who say it should not be made so readily available because of limited efficacy and safety concerns....\',\'Sally Squires\') ;\n</script><script src=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/16/AR2007021602319_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/2007/02/16/AR2007021602319.html%3Freferrer=digg&title=Lowdown on OTC Weight-Loss Drug&bodytext=The Food and Drug Administration recently approved the first nonprescription drug for weight loss. Alli (pronounced AL-eye) is slated to hit shelves this year, according to its maker, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). That move has been denounced by some who say it should not be made so readily available because of limited efficacy and safety concerns....\" 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=Lowdown on OTC Weight-Loss Drug&labels=&annotation=The Food and Drug Administration recently approved the first nonprescription drug for weight loss. Alli (pronounced AL-eye) is slated to hit shelves this year, according to its maker, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). That move has been denounced by some who say it should not be made so readily available because of limited efficacy and safety concerns....&bkmk=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/16/AR2007021602319.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/2007/02/16/AR2007021602319.html%3Freferrer=delicious&title=%22Lowdown on OTC Weight-Loss Drug%22 By Sally Squires&notes=The Food and Drug Administration recently approved the first nonprescription drug for weight loss. Alli (pronounced AL-eye) is slated to hit shelves this year, according to its maker, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). That move has been denounced by some who say it should not be made so readily available because of limited efficacy and safety concerns....\" 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/2007/02/16/AR2007021602319.html%3Freferrer=yahoo&title=Lowdown on OTC Weight-Loss Drug&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/2007/02/16/AR2007021602319.html%3Freferrer=reddit&title=Lowdown on OTC Weight-Loss Drug\" 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/2007/02/16/AR2007021602319.html?referrer=facebook\')+\'&t=\'+encodeURIComponent(\'Lowdown on OTC Weight-Loss Drug\'),\'sharer\',\'toolbar=no,width=642,height=436\'));\">Facebook</a></div></div><br clear=\"all\"/></div></div></div>\n</td></tr></table>\n<p><i></i></p><p><i>Gosh, how much weight can I lose with this new drug?</i> First, the drug isn\'t new. It contains orlistat, a weight-loss medication that has been sold by prescription as Xenical for nine years worldwide and since 1999 in the United States. There have been about 100 studies of the drug involving some 30,000 people. The results suggest that users can shed as much as 50 percent more weight than they would by diet alone.</p><p><i></i></p><p><i>That sounds great. Where do I get this stuff?</i> Not so fast. First, you should talk with your doctor before considering taking any medication rather than simply changing your lifestyle, and discuss whether there are particular safety concerns you should be aware of.</p><p>You\'ll have to wait until summer for Alli to be available at pharmacies, anyway. Even then, most users shed only about 5 to 10 percent of their body weight -- less than many dieters dream. But it\'s still an amount linked to significant health benefits. Let\'s do the numbers: If you weigh 200 pounds, that works out to 10 to 20 pounds. One more thing: Alli is designed to be used only as part of a behavioral weight-loss program that GSK says is not for everyone.</p><p><i></i></p><p><i>What does that mean?</i> In short, you still have to do all the familiar things to lose weight: cut calories and exercise more. In fact, GSK says that if you\'re not prepared to &quot;be a committed consumer&quot; by taking these steps, then it\'s best not to take Alli.</p><p><i></i></p><p><i>Well, if that\'s the case, how does Alli help?</i> Unlike some other weight-loss drugs, Alli doesn\'t suppress appetite or work in the brain or central nervous system. Its target is the intestine, where it acts as a fat blocker by preventing up to 25 percent of fat eaten from being digested. So you absorb less fat when you eat, and that translates into fewer calories, which in turn can lead to weight loss.</p><p><i></i></p><p><i>How do you take it?</i> Alli comes in 60-milligram capsules. That\'s half the amount found in prescription Xenical. You take one capsule with each meal.</p><p><i></i></p><p><i>Is that it?</i> No. You\'re also urged to follow a low-fat, reduced-calorie program. GSK advises eating no more than 15 grams of fat per meal, less than the amount found in a mere three ounces of porterhouse steak. And far less than the 27 grams in either a single fast-food burger with cheese or two pieces of fried chicken. So don\'t expect to pig out and then take Alli to block the fat. It won\'t work.</p><p><i></i></p><p><i>Anything else?</i> Yes, GSK has designed a year-long online behavioral modification program to be used with Alli. It\'s free, but to access it, you\'ll need to put in a special code from the box of Alli that you buy.</p><p><i></i></p><p><i>Okay, so how much is this going to cost me? And what if I don\'t use a computer?</i> Steven Burton, vice president of GSK\'s Weight Control Division, said Alli will cost about $1 to $2 per day. If you\'re without a computer, there are seven pocket guides available for meal planning. They include help with making smart food choices and ideas for boosting physical activity. And about a month before Alli hits the market, the company plans to release a paperback book titled &quot;Are You Losing It?&quot; to be sold at pharmacies that carry the drug.</p><p>But the main parts of the behavioral program are online, so you may need to get more computer comfortable.</p><p><i></i></p><p><i>Hmm,</i> <i>are there any downsides to Alli, like those heart problems that I heard about with</i> <i>fen</i> <i>-phen?</i> All drugs carry some risks; Alli is no exception. But there have been no heart problems linked to it as with fen-phen because the drug acts only in the intestines.</p><p>To cover the nutritional bases, however, you\'ll need to take a multivitamin daily. GSK advises doing that because, in blocking fat absorption, Alli could also block absorption of vitamins A, D, E and K. They\'re the so-called fat-soluble vitamins that are important for vision, immunity, bones, blood clotting and more. So it is important to make sure you still get enough of those vitamins.</p><p>Even so, some critics call the move to make Xenical available as Alli without a prescription \"the height of recklessness.\" In April 2006, the consumer group Public Citizen petitioned the FDA to block the proposed switch, citing concerns about a link between the drug and development of precancerous colon lesions in rats, called aberrant crypt foci. Two studies suggest that Xenical can cause these precancerous growths.</p><p>\"We strongly urge people not to use this potentially dangerous drug,\" Public Citizen\'s director, Sidney M. Wolfe, said when the FDA announced its decision this month. \"And we predict that like the rapidly declining sales of the prescription version, the over-the-counter version will turn out to be a loser after enough people have a bad experience with it.\"</p><p>The company calls those concerns unfounded. \"The drug is safe and effective when used as directed,\" said GSK\'s Vidhu Bansal, director of medical affairs in the Consumer Healthcare Division. \"As the most extensively studied weight-loss medication on the market, the safety and efficacy of orlistat is very well established.\"</p></div></div><br clear=\"all\">\n');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1808','1','<p>Toni Cordell recalled feeling reassured when her gynecologist said her problem could be fixed with an \"easy repair\" involving surgery. She readily agreed, she said, barely glancing at the consent forms because reading was difficult for her. She said she didn\'t ask any questions because she didn\'t know what to say.</p><p>During a routine postoperative checkup several weeks later, Cordell vividly remembers, she was stunned when the nurse asked, \"How are you since your hysterectomy?\"</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\"><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/16/AR2007021602311.html\" target=\"\">Getting the Straight Scoop</a><br/>Consumers and others looking for medical information that is not steeped in technical jargon or written for the highly literate have several choices available.<br/>\n<div style=\"clear:both;\"></div></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/2007/02/16/AR2007021602260_Technorati.html\') ;\ntechnorati.article = new item(\'A Silent Epidemic\',\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/16/AR2007021602260.html\',\'Toni Cordell recalled feeling reassured when her gynecologist said her problem could be fixed with an \"easy repair\" involving surgery. She readily agreed, she said, barely glancing at the consent forms because reading was difficult for her. She said she didn\\\'t ask any questions because she didn\\\'t know what to say....\',\'Sandra G. Boodman\') ;\n</script><script src=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/16/AR2007021602260_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/2007/02/16/AR2007021602260.html%3Freferrer=digg&title=A Silent Epidemic&bodytext=Toni Cordell recalled feeling reassured when her gynecologist said her problem could be fixed with an \'easy repair\' involving surgery. She readily agreed, she said, barely glancing at the consent forms because reading was difficult for her. She said she didn\'t ask any questions because she didn\'t know what to say....\" 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=A Silent Epidemic&labels=&annotation=Toni Cordell recalled feeling reassured when her gynecologist said her problem could be fixed with an \'easy repair\' involving surgery. She readily agreed, she said, barely glancing at the consent forms because reading was difficult for her. She said she didn\'t ask any questions because she didn\'t know what to say....&bkmk=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/16/AR2007021602260.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/2007/02/16/AR2007021602260.html%3Freferrer=delicious&title=%22A Silent Epidemic%22 By Sandra G. Boodman&notes=Toni Cordell recalled feeling reassured when her gynecologist said her problem could be fixed with an \'easy repair\' involving surgery. She readily agreed, she said, barely glancing at the consent forms because reading was difficult for her. She said she didn\'t ask any questions because she didn\'t know what to say....\" 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/2007/02/16/AR2007021602260.html%3Freferrer=yahoo&title=A Silent Epidemic&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/2007/02/16/AR2007021602260.html%3Freferrer=reddit&title=A Silent Epidemic\" 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/2007/02/16/AR2007021602260.html?referrer=facebook\')+\'&t=\'+encodeURIComponent(\'A Silent Epidemic\'),\'sharer\',\'toolbar=no,width=642,height=436\'));\">Facebook</a></div></div><br clear=\"all\"/></div></div></div>\n</td></tr></table>\n<p>\"All I could think of was how could I have been so stupid?\" Cordell said of that day 30 years ago. \"I just wanted to scream. I really didn\'t know I was surrendering part of my body.\"</p><p>Similar events occur every day in every hospital around the country, medical experts say, a consequence of the pervasive and largely unrecognized problem known as low \"health literacy.\" Cordell, who lives in Charlotte and received remedial reading instruction as an adult, said she believes her case was typical: She graduated from high school reading at a fifth-grade level, a deficiency she long sought to hide. She attributes her poor reading skills to a combination of dyslexia and a childhood medical condition.</p><p>In a 2004 report, the Institute of Medicine defined health literacy as the ability to obtain and understand basic health information and services needed to make informed decisions. Low health literacy, the institute noted, affects an estimated 90 million Americans, who struggle to understand what a doctor has told them or to comply with treatment recommendations as essential as taking the proper dose of medication. A 1999 report by the American Medical Association found that consent forms and other medical forms are typically written at the graduate school level, although the average American adult reads at the eighth-grade level.</p><p>Earlier this month a Chicago-based organization known as the Joint Commission, which accredits the nation\'s hospitals and clinics, unveiled a list of 35 recommendations to address the problem, which is estimated to cost taxpayers $58 billion annually. Among the recommendations developed by a panel of experts: adoption of communication techniques proven to be effective with patients, simplification of jargon-laden consent forms, and development of patient-friendly navigation signs, which may include the use of pictures or icons that are also recognizable to non-English speakers.</p><p>Low health literacy \"is a silent epidemic that threatens the quality of health care,\" said Dennis O\'Leary, commission president. Too many physicians and administrators, he said, fail to grasp the dimensions of a problem that affects every aspect of medical care and is a major impediment to patient safety. In some cases, cultural and language differences are a barrier, but experts emphasize that the majority of those with low health literacy are native-born and white.</p><p>Interest in health literacy comes at a time when Americans are expected to assume ever-greater responsibility for their care and are discharged from hospitals sicker and quicker, experts agree. Many patients are expected to comply with sophisticated drug regimens, to adjust or calculate medication doses or to manage complicated equipment with little training and less supervision. A comprehensive national assessment of adult literacy conducted in 2003 by the U.S. Department of Education found that 43 percent of adults have basic or below-basic reading skills -- they read at roughly a fifth-grade level or lower -- and  5 percent are not literate in English, in some cases because it is not their first language.</p><p>The picture is even more dismal when it comes to numerical skills: Fifty-five percent of adults have basic or below-basic quantitative abilities; many are unable to solve simple arithmetic problems, including addition.</p><p>The statistics don\'t differ much from the literacy assessment conducted a decade earlier. That survey found that many Americans could not determine the difference between two prices using a calculator or were unable to write a brief letter explaining a credit card billing error. Studies of health literacy have found that a surprisingly large number of adults were perplexed by the meaning of the term \"orally,\" didn\'t know the difference between a teaspoon and tablespoon and were unable to calculate the proper dose of medicine. Low health literacy is more common among elderly or low-income patients and those with a chronic illness, researchers say.</p><p>A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 1995 found that more than 80 percent of patients treated at two of the nation\'s largest public hospitals could not understand instructions written at the fourth-grade level for the preparation of gastrointestinal X-rays known as an upper GI series. A 1999 study of more than 3,200 Medicare recipients found that one in three native-born patients could not answer a question about normal blood sugar readings even after being given a paper to read that listed the correct answer. And a study of 2,500 elderly patients published last year in the Journal of General Internal Medicine reported that patients with low health literacy were twice as likely to die during a five-year period as those with adequate skills, regardless of age, race or income.</p><p>Sometimes language is a factor. In Spanish, for example, the word \"once\" means 11, not \"once\" as is often written on prescription labels. Patients have been treated for accidental overdoses of blood pressure medication and other drugs as a result of such linguistic confusion, said Ronald M. Davis, president-elect of the American Medical Association, who chaired the Joint Commission panel.</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/2007/02/16/AR2007021602260_2.html\'+unescape(location.search)+\'\">2</a>\')</script><noscript><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/16/AR2007021602260_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/2007/02/16/AR2007021602260_2.html\'+unescape(location.search)+\'\">Next</a>\')</script><noscript><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/16/AR2007021602260_2.html\">Next</a></noscript> ></b></font></td></tr></table></div><br>\n');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1809','1','<p>Federal number crunchers said yesterday that the new Medicare drug benefit appears to be slowing the growth in national spending on prescription medicines because the drug plans are negotiating lower prices with drug companies.</p><p>But the analysts also forecasted that overall health-care spending would continue to rise and would account for nearly 20 percent of the economy -- or more than $4 trillion a year -- by 2016. In contrast, health-care spending was about $2.1 trillion in 2006, accounting for about 16 percent of the economy. In 1985, it was just over  10 percent.</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/2007/02/20/AR2007022001346_Technorati.html\') ;\ntechnorati.article = new item(\'Medicare Benefit Appears to Slow Spending Growth on Drugs\',\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/20/AR2007022001346.html\',\'Federal number crunchers said yesterday that the new Medicare drug benefit appears to be slowing the growth in national spending on prescription medicines because the drug plans are negotiating lower prices with drug companies.\',\'Christopher Lee\') ;\n</script><script src=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/20/AR2007022001346_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/2007/02/20/AR2007022001346.html%3Freferrer=digg&title=Medicare Benefit Appears to Slow Spending Growth on Drugs&bodytext=Federal number crunchers said yesterday that the new Medicare drug benefit appears to be slowing the growth in national spending on prescription medicines because the drug plans are negotiating lower prices with drug companies.\" 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=Medicare Benefit Appears to Slow Spending Growth on Drugs&labels=&annotation=Federal number crunchers said yesterday that the new Medicare drug benefit appears to be slowing the growth in national spending on prescription medicines because the drug plans are negotiating lower prices with drug companies.&bkmk=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/20/AR2007022001346.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/2007/02/20/AR2007022001346.html%3Freferrer=delicious&title=%22Medicare Benefit Appears to Slow Spending Growth on Drugs%22 By Christopher Lee&notes=Federal number crunchers said yesterday that the new Medicare drug benefit appears to be slowing the growth in national spending on prescription medicines because the drug plans are negotiating lower prices with drug companies.\" 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/2007/02/20/AR2007022001346.html%3Freferrer=yahoo&title=Medicare Benefit Appears to Slow Spending Growth on Drugs&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/2007/02/20/AR2007022001346.html%3Freferrer=reddit&title=Medicare Benefit Appears to Slow Spending Growth on Drugs\" 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/2007/02/20/AR2007022001346.html?referrer=facebook\')+\'&t=\'+encodeURIComponent(\'Medicare Benefit Appears to Slow Spending Growth on Drugs\'),\'sharer\',\'toolbar=no,width=642,height=436\'));\">Facebook</a></div></div><br clear=\"all\"/></div></div></div>\n</td></tr></table>\n<p>The findings provide new fuel for the debate about whether Medicare could get better drug prices if the government negotiated with pharmaceutical companies. Many Democrats in Congress say it would, and the House has already passed legislation requiring the government to use its negotiating muscle. President Bush maintains that the current system achieves the best prices, and he has threatened a veto.</p><p>The figures are being published today by actuaries and economists at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in the journal Health Affairs. The figures cited in the study for 2006 are forecasts as well because data  are not available yet, federal officials said.</p><p>Karen Davis, president of the Commonwealth Fund, a nonprofit research institution, said the projections show that the  United States still has a serious problem with rising costs despite a slowdown in health-care spending growth in recent years.</p><p>\"The cost problem isn\'t solved,\" Davis said. \"In the 1990s we thought managed care was the solution. In the 2000s we thought consumer-driven health care and higher deductibles for patients was the solution. Now, when you look at these numbers, you realize we\'ve got to get serious about transforming the health-care system.\"</p><p>Analysts said they expect to see that spending on prescription drugs rose more slowly in 2006 because of the Medicare Part D drug benefit that began last year. In the program, private insurers negotiate prices with drug companies as they compete to attract Medicare beneficiaries.</p><p>That has helped hold down prices even as more seniors are able to get drugs, John A. Poisal of the CMS said in a briefing. National spending on prescription drugs was expected to rise to $214 billion in 2006, from $201 billion in 2005. But that increase is 0.4 percentage points less than it would have been without the new drug benefit, he said.</p><p>Several national polls have shown that a majority of the public believes government negotiations would hold down drug costs even more. A survey of 1,000 adults released yesterday by AARP, for instance, found that 87 percent of respondents -- including majorities of Democrats, Republicans and independents -- supported allowing the government to use its bargaining power.</p></div></div><br clear=\"all\">\n');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1810','1','<p>After a significant decline in infant mortality in the District, the number of babies who died in the city jumped 19 percent in 2005, according to a report released by the District\'s chief medical examiner.</p><p>The number of deaths rose to 81, up from 68 in each of the previous two years. The increase is a reversal of a downward trend that started in 1999, when 115 deaths of children younger than 1 year old were reported.</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/2007/02/20/PH2007022001534.jpg\"/--><div style=\"float:left;position:relative;top:14px;\"><a href=\"javascript:void(popitup(\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/photo/postphotos/orb/metro/2007-02-21/index.html?imgId=PH2007022001536&imgUrl=/photo/2007/02/20/PH2007022001536.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_7733528\">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/metro/2007-02-21/index.html?imgId=PH2007022001536&imgUrl=/photo/2007/02/20/PH2007022001536.html\',650,850))\"><img src=\"http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2007/02/20/PH2007022001534.jpg\" border=\"0\"  alt=\"Frances Brown, with 1-year-old son Jermaine, has been attending a parenting class at THEARC. The class includes advice on how to avoid infant deaths.\"  height=\"150\" width=\"228\" align=\"top\"></a><div id=\"caption\">Frances Brown, with 1-year-old son Jermaine, has been attending a parenting class at THEARC. The class includes advice on how to avoid infant deaths.<span id=\"credit\"> (Photos By Kevin Clark  --  The Washington Post) </span></div></div>\n<div class=\"sidebarhack\"><b></b></div><div class=\"sidebar\"><h2>\nGraphic</h2><div class=\"sidebarcontent\">\n<a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/graphic/2007/02/21/GR2007022100128.html\" target=\"\">A Change in a Trend</a><br/>Infant mortality in the District increased 19 percent in 2005, disrupting a gradual, downward trend over the past several years. The number is the highest since 2000, when 94 were reported.<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#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/2007/02/20/AR2007022001533_Technorati.html\') ;\ntechnorati.article = new item(\'City\\\'s Infant Fatalities Spiked in 2005\',\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/20/AR2007022001533.html\',\'After a significant decline in infant mortality in the District, the number of babies who died in the city jumped 19 percent in 2005, according to a report released by the District\\\'s chief medical examiner.\',\'Keith L. Alexander\') ;\n</script><script src=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/20/AR2007022001533_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/2007/02/20/AR2007022001533.html%3Freferrer=digg&title=City\'s Infant Fatalities Spiked in 2005&bodytext=After a significant decline in infant mortality in the District, the number of babies who died in the city jumped 19 percent in 2005, according to a report released by the District\'s chief medical examiner.\" 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=City\'s Infant Fatalities Spiked in 2005&labels=&annotation=After a significant decline in infant mortality in the District, the number of babies who died in the city jumped 19 percent in 2005, according to a report released by the District\'s chief medical examiner.&bkmk=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/20/AR2007022001533.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/2007/02/20/AR2007022001533.html%3Freferrer=delicious&title=%22City\'s Infant Fatalities Spiked in 2005: Prematurity Cited As Leading Cause In Babies\' Deaths%22 By Keith L. Alexander&notes=After a significant decline in infant mortality in the District, the number of babies who died in the city jumped 19 percent in 2005, according to a report released by the District\'s chief medical examiner.\" 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/2007/02/20/AR2007022001533.html%3Freferrer=yahoo&title=City\'s Infant Fatalities Spiked in 2005&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/2007/02/20/AR2007022001533.html%3Freferrer=reddit&title=City\'s Infant Fatalities Spiked in 2005\" 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/2007/02/20/AR2007022001533.html?referrer=facebook\')+\'&t=\'+encodeURIComponent(\'City\\\'s Infant Fatalities Spiked in 2005\'),\'sharer\',\'toolbar=no,width=642,height=436\'));\">Facebook</a></div></div><br clear=\"all\"/></div></div></div>\n</td></tr></table>\n<p>More than 70 percent of the deaths in 2005 were attributed to premature births and complications such as low birth weight, according to the report by the Child Fatality Review Committee.</p><p>\"Undetermined\" was the second leading category with 15 deaths, about twice as many as the year before, the report said. The study found that a little more half of those deaths were linked to \"inappropriate sleeping environments.\"</p><p>To improve infant care in the District, especially among low-income families, Parklands Community Center and the Children\'s Health Project health center are working in a venture in Southeast Washington that started in 2005.</p><p>Each week, Frances Brown sits in a circle with other new mothers attending a Parklands parenting class at THEARC, a community center that provides services for low-income residents east of the Anacostia River.</p><p>Instructors have shown Brown how to pick up a crying infant and put the baby to her chest to hear her heartbeat. She has learned the dangers of suffocation, such as placing blankets or stuffed animals in an infant\'s crib. Sharing a bed with siblings or an adult and putting infants on their stomachs to sleep also are associated with infant deaths.</p><p>The classes have helped the single mother of two cope with the demands of her year-old son, Jermaine.</p><p>\"I go down to the classes and unwind and say what I have to say,\" said Brown, 37, who enrolled in October at the encouragement of an instructor she knew. \"It\'s almost like a support group.\"</p><p>In some deaths, lack of prenatal care played a role. The 43-page report, which was released to city officials in December, found that 12 mothers did not receive prenatal care and 24 had problems with substance abuse.</p><p>Wards 7 and 8 had the highest number of infant deaths in 2005, the report said -- 13 and 25, respectively. Eight of 10 infants who died in the District were black.</p><p>\"What\'s happening in Ward 8 is uncalled for, and Ward 5 is getting worse,\" with 12 deaths, said Maria Gomez, president and chief executive of Mary\'s Center for Maternal and Child Care in Adams Morgan. Ward 5 had 10 infant deaths in 2004.</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/2007/02/20/AR2007022001533_2.html\'+unescape(location.search)+\'\">2</a>\')</script><noscript><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/20/AR2007022001533_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/2007/02/20/AR2007022001533_2.html\'+unescape(location.search)+\'\">Next</a>\')</script><noscript><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/20/AR2007022001533_2.html\">Next</a></noscript> ></b></font></td></tr></table></div><br>\n');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1811','1','<p>CHATTANOOGA,  Feb. 21 -- The last time President Bush visited this state, last September, it was to campaign with GOP Senate hopeful Bob Corker against the Democrats. Wednesday afternoon, Sen. Corker was in the audience and the state\'s Democratic governor was on the stage at the convention center here for a folksy discussion on how to improve the health-care system.</p><p>Bush hailed the governor, Phil Bredesen, for his &quot;innovative policies,&quot; as he talked up his new plan to increase coverage of the uninsured by tinkering with the tax code and giving states more flexibility to design low-cost benefit plans for those who lack coverage. Bredesen said it was the first time he had been invited to appear with Bush in such a setting.</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/2007/02/21/PH2007022102082.jpg\"/--><a href=\"javascript:void(popitup(\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/photo/postphotos/orb/asection/2007-02-22/index.html?imgId=PH2007022102084&imgUrl=/photo/2007/02/21/PH2007022102084.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/2007-02-22/index.html?imgId=PH2007022102084&imgUrl=/photo/2007/02/21/PH2007022102084.html\',650,850))\"><img src=\"http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2007/02/21/PH2007022102082.jpg\" border=\"0\"  alt=\"President Bush toured Erlanger Hospital in Chattanooga yesterday with physicians Tom Devlin, left, and Blaise Baxter before speaking on his health-care plan at the city convention center.\"  height=\"150\" width=\"228\" align=\"top\"></a><div id=\"caption\">President Bush toured Erlanger Hospital in Chattanooga yesterday with physicians Tom Devlin, left, and Blaise Baxter before speaking on his health-care plan at the city convention center.<span id=\"credit\"> (By Charles Dharapak  --  Associated Press) </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/2007/02/21/AR2007022101822_Technorati.html\') ;\ntechnorati.article = new item(\'In Tennessee, Bush Talks Up Tax Breaks for the Uninsured\',\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/21/AR2007022101822.html\',\'CHATTANOOGA,  Feb. 21 -- The last time President Bush visited this state, last September, it was to campaign with GOP Senate hopeful Bob Corker against the Democrats. Wednesday afternoon, Sen. Corker was in the audience and the state\\\'s Democratic governor was on the stage at the convention center...\',\'Michael Abramowitz\') ;\n</script><script src=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/21/AR2007022101822_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/2007/02/21/AR2007022101822.html%3Freferrer=digg&title=In Tennessee, Bush Talks Up Tax Breaks for the Uninsured&bodytext=CHATTANOOGA,  Feb. 21 -- The last time President Bush visited this state, last September, it was to campaign with GOP Senate hopeful Bob Corker against the Democrats. Wednesday afternoon, Sen. Corker was in the audience and the state\'s Democratic governor was on the stage at the convention center...\" 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=In Tennessee, Bush Talks Up Tax Breaks for the Uninsured&labels=&annotation=CHATTANOOGA,  Feb. 21 -- The last time President Bush visited this state, last September, it was to campaign with GOP Senate hopeful Bob Corker against the Democrats. Wednesday afternoon, Sen. Corker was in the audience and the state\'s Democratic governor was on the stage at the convention center...&bkmk=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/21/AR2007022101822.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/2007/02/21/AR2007022101822.html%3Freferrer=delicious&title=%22In Tennessee, Bush Talks Up Tax Breaks for the Uninsured: Democratic Response to Health Plan Mixed%22 By Michael Abramowitz&notes=CHATTANOOGA,  Feb. 21 -- The last time President Bush visited this state, last September, it was to campaign with GOP Senate hopeful Bob Corker against the Democrats. Wednesday afternoon, Sen. Corker was in the audience and the state\'s Democratic governor was on the stage at the convention center...\" 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/2007/02/21/AR2007022101822.html%3Freferrer=yahoo&title=In Tennessee, Bush Talks Up Tax Breaks for the Uninsured&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/2007/02/21/AR2007022101822.html%3Freferrer=reddit&title=In Tennessee, Bush Talks Up Tax Breaks for the Uninsured\" 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/2007/02/21/AR2007022101822.html?referrer=facebook\')+\'&t=\'+encodeURIComponent(\'In Tennessee, Bush Talks Up Tax Breaks for the Uninsured\'),\'sharer\',\'toolbar=no,width=642,height=436\'));\">Facebook</a></div></div><br clear=\"all\"/></div></div></div>\n</td></tr></table>\n<p>Democrats in Washington are showing little enthusiasm for the Bush health agenda, but the president is plugging away, insisting he sees hope for compromise before his term ends in less than two years. Indeed, the end seemed on his mind as he bantered with several hundred audience members, arguing for greater transparency in health-care pricing.</p><p>&quot;I don\'t know about you, but I don\'t remember ever asking how much something was going to cost when it came to health care. I do when it comes to a car -- or I used to,&quot; Bush said, quickly remembering that he is driven around in a limousine. &quot;I will soon!&quot; he added to laughter.</p><p>While the focus of his administration is the war in Iraq, Bush is pushing an ambitious health-care agenda, the key element of which is a tax plan to make it easier for individuals to purchase health insurance coverage in the private market. He is also proposing to restrain the growth of Medicare and Medicaid by cutting payments to health-care providers and charging higher premiums to wealthier individuals, a plan Democrats have described as dead on arrival.</p><p>Under his tax plan, every family would get a standard deduction of $15,000 and individuals would get a deduction of $7,500 if they buy health coverage, whether they obtain it through their employer or individually. Bush says this would help rectify a situation in which people who work for companies that do not offer health coverage do not get any tax break for buying insurance, as workers essentially get through employer-sponsored health plans. He argued that his plan would make insurance more affordable for middle-income workers.</p><p>&quot;Right now there\'s a limited market for the individual; it makes it hard to find a product that either suits your needs or you can afford,&quot; Bush told his Chattanooga audience. Bush was joined on stage by several uninsured workers and businesses managers who he claimed would find insurance cheaper under his plan.</p><p>Many health economists say they think Bush is overstating the impact of the tax code changes, but they say he might have a bigger bang if he were to give low-income people tax credits to buy insurance, an idea the White House considered and rejected. A study released this week by the Community Research Council of Chattanooga concluded that very few of the uninsured in Hamilton County, which includes Chattanooga and its suburbs, make enough money to benefit under the current Bush plan.</p><p>In an interview, Bredesen said he is glad that Bush is starting to tackle health care more seriously but voiced doubts about the tax elements. &quot;I get less excited about the tax deduction stuff because there are a lot of people . . . for whom that\'s not going to make a difference,&quot; he said.</p><p>Even as the president arrived in Tennessee, the local news was full of reports that a change in federal reimbursement policy could cost the state as much as $250 million annually for charity care, countering any relief under the president\'s new plan. &quot;It certainly would be a sore blow to us,&quot; Bredesen said.</p><p>The president\'s plan has also elicited mixed reaction on Capitol Hill. In the House, the idea has been declared a non-starter, and House leaders are moving in another direction, hoping to expand funding for the federal-state children\'s health program much more ambitiously than the president contemplates. The president\'s plan is for &quot;every individual on their own,&quot; said <a href=\"http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/members/e000287/\" target=\"\">Rep. Rahm Emanuel</a> (D-Ill.), the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus. &quot;He does nothing to control costs and he does nothing to expand the number of insured. Other than that, it is incredibly helpful.&quot;</p><p><a href=\"http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/members/b000243/\" target=\"\">Sen. Max Baucus</a> (D-Mont.), chairman of the Finance Committee, sounded more positive, describing the president\'s tax plan as &quot;an outside-the-box proposal&quot; that deserves to be part of the debate. &quot;Whether or not it\'s enacted into law, he\'s started a discussion,&quot; he said.</p></div></div><br clear=\"all\">\n');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1812','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\">Woman in iron lung celebrates 60th birthday</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>After contracting polio, Dianne Odell has spent most of her life in machine</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>JACKSON, Tenn. - A Jackson woman who contracted polio 57 years ago and continues to rely on an iron lung to breathe recently celebrated her 60th birthday, defying doctors\' expectations that she could live so long and so fully. Dianne Odell, who turned 60 last week, is among only 30 to 40 people in the U.S. who depend on the devices. </p><p>Like Odell, most of them were children when they contracted polio, a viral disease that deteriorated muscle function to the point that their bodies lacked the strength to inhale. </p><p>No one can say with certainty whether Odell holds the record for longevity in the machine, but she is, without doubt, near the top of the list. </p><p>\"It\'s just the way God wanted it,\" she said. </p><p>Odell does not remember being able to walk, but she has been told that once upon a time she did. </p><p>On a summer day in 1950, she told her mother she was not feeling well and went to her bedroom. </p><p>Geneva Odell suspected the worst about her daughter\'s condition from the beginning. </p><p>Poliomyelitis, a disease that attacks the central nervous system, had risen to epidemic levels in the U.S., 20,000 new cases a year in the late 1940s. There was talk of a cure, but each year thousands more were diagnosed. </p><p>\"Children were being paralyzed and dying all over. It was a scary time,\" recalled the mother, now 82 and using a wheelchair because of health issues of her own. </p><p>An iron lung, about 7 feet long and weighing several hundred pounds, became as familiar a fixture in the family\'s home as a coffee table or an upholstered chair. </p><p>In the early stages of her paralysis, Odell could breathe without assistance for short periods and did not have to spend all day in the machine. Sometimes friends would stop by and cart her about on trips through the neighborhood. </p><p>But in her early 20s, she became tethered to the machine 24 hours a day. It has been that way ever since. </p><p>There are other, and more modern, kinds of respirators in use, but because of the severity of her case, Odell is limited to the iron lung. </p><p>\"You get used to it. What you don\'t want to do is let it control you. I try to do anything I think I can do,\" Odell 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/17265246/\">Scuffling surgeons leave patient in the lurch</a> </li><li><a href=\"/id/17261818/\">Tiny preemie finally heads home</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/17171083/\">Recipes for regenerating limbs</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>She graduated from high school as a homebound student and attended Freed-Hardeman University in Henderson, Tenn., on a scholarship to study psychology. A cousin went along to record lectures, and classes were sometimes held in her room at a professor\'s home where she boarded. </p><p>However, migraine head aches and other health issues forced her to give up her dream of getting a college degree. Several years later, the college presented her with an honorary doctorate. </p><p>She wrote a children\'s book, the story of Blinky, a dim star in the sky that yearns to be a wishing star. She has also been a doting aunt to four nephews, children of her two younger sisters. </p><p>Her parents needed help caring for their daughter, and the community rallied to raise money. About $1,000 a week is required to continue the round-the-clock care she needs to live at home. </p><p>\"Medicare did not kick in. She just didn\'t qualify,\" said Frank McMeen, president of the West Tennessee Healthcare Foundation, which has pledged to provide for Odell\'s care for the rest of her life. </p><p>In 2001 a gala that attracted actors, singers, politicians and philanthropists raised more than $100,000. Last Saturday\'s birthday party was also an effort to fund her continued care. That event raised about $7,000. </p><p>\"She\'s an angel. People want to help her. It\'s the best of what America is all about,\" McMeen said. </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('1813','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\">Nerve grafts may restore erectile function</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>Procedure helped prostate cancer surgery patients obtain erections again</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 - In men who have become impotent following prostate cancer surgery, implantation of nerve grafts into the penis allows some men who were potent before surgery to recover erectile function, researchers report.</p><p>The findings come from a study that reviewed the records of 44 consecutive patients who underwent implantation of two grafts after treatment for prostate cancer at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.</p><p>The overall five-year recovery rate of erectile function, which was defined as erections satisfactory for intercourse with or without oral medication, was 34 percent and the rate of consistent penetration was 11 percent, report Dr. Fernando P. Secin and his associates in <em>The Journal of Urology</em>.</p><p>The researchers used the sural nerve (also called the small saphenous nerve), which supplies the skin on the back of the leg and is considered the \"gold standard.\" They also used the genitofemoral nerve, which passes through the lower back, based on the success reported in earlier studies and the fact that it is easy to remove and associated with few complications.</p><p>The researchers found no \"statistically significant difference in erectile function recovery or the achievement of clinically meaningful erections using sural nerve grafts compared to genitofemoral nerves.\"</p><p>Based on their experience, Secin and colleagues think bilateral cavernous nerve grafts might be beneficial in select patients. However, this still depends on the outcome of larger, optimally designed studies.</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/17053128/\">What you want to know about the Big Ohhhh</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/13154507/\">Low Blow: One man\'s battle with prostate 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><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('1814','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\">Brain\'s \'filing system\' may affect forgetfulness</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>Aging isn\'t necessarily to blame for memory lapses</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/j/msnbc/Components/Sources/Art/sourceLiveScience.gif,standard.jpg\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"><p></p></font><p>Age is not entirely to blame for forgetfulness. </p><p>The reason that some people are absentminded and others have minds like a steel trap might have more to do with how the brain files memories and makes room for new ones, new research suggests. </p><p>The overstuffed file system that collects daily to-do\'s while keeping track of childhood memories has remained an enigma, especially regarding the mechanism for such mega-bit storage amidst the deluge of incoming bytes. </p><p>Every minute, sensory data enters your brain in the form of electrical signals that jet from neuron to neuron via intersections called synapses. Scientists think memories form when this communication between brain cells increases. </p><p><b><strong>Keep it quiet</strong></b><br>In order to seal in a memory, chatter amongst bystander neurons needs to quiet down. Referred to as long-term depression (LTD), the process is akin to shushing cubicle mates so you can better hear a phone conversation. </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=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#7788aa\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#FFFFFF\">&nbsp;</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=\"0\"><tr><td><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia3.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Art/HEALTH/PROJECTS/041108_Memory/TZ152_MemoryMovement_041123.gif\" height=\"61\" width=\"152\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"></td></tr><tr><td style=\"padding:10px;\"><font color=\"#000000\"><table><tr><td><b>Exercise your brain with the exercises below.</b></td></tr><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=\"/id/6567837/\">Picture memory</a></font></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td><font color=\"551E1B\">?/font></td><td><font color=\"black\"><a href=\"/id/6568059/\">List learning memory</a></font></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td><font color=\"551E1B\">?/font></td><td><font color=\"black\"><a href=\"/id/6614051/\">Word memory</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>\"This is a normal process that helps with the sculpting of memory,\" said Thomas Foster of the McKnight Brain Institute of the University of Florida. \"After all, we do not remember everything in perfect detail and we would not want to.\"</p><p>Foster and his colleagues trained aged and young rats to find a hidden platform and climb out of a pool of water, a task the rats learned quickly. They noted which rats showed superior memory and which had sluggish recall.?</p><p>Then, the researchers anesthetized the rats and applied a weak electrical signal to their synapses to make them less sensitive and to depress cell-to-cell communication. Both old and young rats with the highest memory scores were more resistant to the electrical interference than the other rats. </p><p>The aged animals that showed impaired memories prior to analysis were much more susceptible to the electrical signals and had excessive long-term depression. In human terms, not only would your co-workers get quieter, the caller would too. </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/17188978/\">Infants form memories early, but also forget</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/17073220/\">Older people take a rosier view on life</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/17243349/\">Bad at math? Worrying makes matters worse</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 we see someone we know or perhaps even ourselves becoming more forgetful, we now know that this is not an inevitable process,\" Foster said. </p><p>In excess, the memory-boosting process can actually lead to forgetfulness as too many brain-cell links get weakened or quieted, as is seen during brain aging, the scientists suggest in their study report published this month\'s online edition of the journal Neurobiology of Learning and Memory. </p><p>Further studies of how memory works could help scientists find ways to postpone or alleviate age-related forgetfulness, Foster 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('1815','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\">Bad at math? Worrying makes you even worse</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>Anxiety robs your brain of space it needs to compute complex problems</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>SAN FRANCISCO - Worrying about how you\'ll perform on a math test may actually contribute to a lower test score, U.S. researchers said on Saturday.</p><p>Math anxiety - feelings of dread and fear and avoiding math - can sap the brain\'s limited amount of working capacity, a resource needed to compute difficult math problems, said Mark Ashcraft, a psychologist at the University of Nevada Las Vegas who studies the problem.</p><p>\"It turns out that math anxiety occupies a person\'s working memory,\" said Ashcraft, who spoke on a panel at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in San Francisco.</p><p>Ashcraft said while easy math tasks such as addition require only a small fraction of a person\'s working memory, harder computations require much more.</p><p>Worrying about math takes up a large chunk of a person\'s working memory stores as well, spelling disaster for the anxious student who is taking a high-stakes test.</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 border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia3.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/ColorBoxes/Styles/ColorBoxImages_GlobalOnlyPlease/interactive_icon.gif\" height=\"14\" width=\"24\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"></td><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#7788aa\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#FFFFFF\">Test yourself </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=\"0\"><tr><td><a href=\"/id/3296793/\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Art/HEALTH/031107/Quiz_TZ152.jpg\" height=\"110\" width=\"150\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"></a></td></tr><tr><td style=\"padding:10px;\"><font color=\"#000000\"><table><tr><td rowspan=\"2\" width=\"15\"><font color=\"551E1B\">?/font></td><td><b><a href=\"/id/3296793/\">Are you caught in a cycle of stress</a>?</b></td></tr><tr><td></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>Stress about how one does on tests like college entrance exams can make even good math students choke. \"All of a sudden they start looking for the short cuts,\" said University of Chicago researcher Sian Beilock.</p><p>Although test preparation classes can help students overcome this anxiety, they are limited to students whose families can afford them.</p><p>Ultimately, she said, \"It may not be wise to rely completely on scores to predict who will succeed.\"</p><p>While the causes of math anxiety are unknown, Ashcraft said people who manage to overcome math anxiety have completely normal math proficiency.</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/17055244/\">Video games give mental health boost</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/17188978/\">Infants form memories early, but also forget</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 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('1816','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\">Earliest surviving preemie to remain in hospital</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>Doctors decide not to release infant girl who was born at 22 weeks</b><br></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia4.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/070220/070220_preemie_vlrg_6a.vlarge.jpg\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\" alt=\"WORLD\'S YOUNGEST \'MIRACLE BABY\' BEATS THE ODDS\"></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"><font size=\"-2\">Baptist Children\'s Hospital via </font><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><font size=\"-1\">Sonja Taylor is overjoyed to be taking baby Amillia home after four months in the NICU at Baptist Children\'s Hospital.</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>MIAMI - A girl born after just under 22 weeks in the womb - among the shortest gestation periods known for a live birth - will remain in a hospital a few extra days as a precaution, officials said Tuesday.</p><p>Amillia Sonja Taylor, born Oct. 24 after just under 22 weeks in the womb, had been expected to be sent home from Baptist Children\'s Hospital on Tuesday.</p><p>However, routine tests indicated she was vulnerable to infection, said Dr. Paul Fassbach, who has cared for the baby since shortly after she was born.</p><p>\"She has been fine,\" Fassbach said, but doctors are being extra cautious \"now that she\'s going into the world.\"</p><p>Doctors say Amillia is among the few babies known to have survived after a gestation of fewer than 22 weeks. She was just 9?inches long and weighed less than 10 ounces when she was delivered by Caesarean section. Full-term births come after 37 to 40 weeks.</p><p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"1%\"><tr><td><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/070220/070220_preemie_bcol_6a.standard.jpg\" align=\"Right\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"></td></tr><tr><td><div class=\"credit\" style=\"text-align:right;margin-bottom:5px;\">Baptist Hospital via AP file</div><div class=\"credit\">\"We weren\'t too optimistic,\" Dr. William Smalling said about Amillia Sonja Taylor, seen here in October. \"But she proved us all wrong.\" </div><hr noshade=\"true\" size=\"1\" color=\"#C0C0C0\"></td></tr></table>Amillia, the first child for Eddie and Sonja Taylor of Homestead, now weighs 4?pounds and is just over 15?inches long.</p><p>She has suffered respiratory and digestive problems, as well as a mild brain hemorrhage, but doctors believe the health concerns will not have major long-term effects.</p><p>Amillia was conceived in vitro and has been in an incubator since birth. She will continue to receive a small amount of supplemental oxygen even after she goes home.</p><p>She was delivered because her mother was suffering from complications. Fassbach said that if doctors had known Amillia\'s real gestational age, they might not have intervened. He said he thought she was at least 23 weeks, and doctors were shocked when the Taylors\' fertility specialist pinpointed the exact date of fertilization.</p><p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"1%\"><tr><td><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia4.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/070220/070220_preemie_hmed_12p.standard.jpg\" align=\"Left\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"></td></tr><tr><td><div class=\"credit\" style=\"text-align:right;margin-bottom:5px;\">NBC News</div><div class=\"credit\">Amillia Taylor was 9?inches long and weighed less than 10 ounces when she was delivered by Caesarean.</div><hr noshade=\"true\" size=\"1\" color=\"#C0C0C0\"></td></tr></table>Fassbach cautioned against rushing to redefine the medical standards for fetus viability.</p><p>\"We just don\'t know which 21- to 22-weekers are going to do well and which are not going to do well,\" he said. \"I don\'t think we should change what we do, but it shows us we need to do more research and find out where our edge of viability is going to go.\"</p><p>Preterm births occur in about 12 percent of all pregnancies in the U.S., according to the National Institute of 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=\"http://boards.msn.com/MSNBCboards/thread.aspx?BoardID=762&amp;ThreadID=206830&amp;BoardsParam=HIPDelay%3d1\">Discuss:?hare your thoughts about?xtreme preemies?/a></li><li><a href=\"/id/17010970/\">Risky pregnancies on the rise</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('1817','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\">Boost your brain power with exercise</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>Increasing evidence suggests another reason to get moving</b><br></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/070216/070216_smartfit_hmed_2p.hmedium.jpg\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\" alt=\"Woman Swimming\"></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"><font size=\"-2\">Superstock / Ingram Publishing</font><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><font size=\"-1\">What\'s good for our hearts and waistlines also appears to be?ood for our minds.</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br></td></tr></table><font size=\"-2\"><div class=\"textMedBlackBold\" style=\"padding-top:10px;\">Jacqueline Stenson</div><div class=\"textMedBlack\">Contributing editor</div><div class=\"textMedBlack\">MSNBC</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://msnbcmedia2.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Bylines/mugs/MSNBC%20Interactive/msnbc_stenson_jackie.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>Jacqueline Stenson</b></font></td></tr><tr><td><font class=\"credit\">Contributing editor</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/10913169/\">Profile</a></font></td></tr><tr><td><font color=\"551E1B\">?/font><font color=\"black\"><script language=\"javascript\">document.write(\'<a href=\"mailto:\'+\'JacquelineStenson\'+\'@\'+\'FEEDBACK.MSNBC.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>Can exercise make you smarter? Why does it take so long after starting an exercise program to see results? Are there pitfalls to partner workouts? Smart Fitness answers your queries.</p><p>Have an exercise question? To e-mail us, <a href=\"http://msnbc-editor/Editor/9917810\">click here</a>. We\'ll post select answers in future columns.</p><p><b><strong>Q: What is the relationship between physical and mental fitness? Does exercise enhance our brain power? </strong></b></p><p><b><strong>A: </strong></b>Mounting scientific evidence on the effects of exercise suggests that what\'s good for our hearts and waistlines also is good for our minds.</p><p>\"Exercise in many ways optimizes your brain to learn,\" says Dr. John Ratey, a clinical associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School in Boston who\'s at work on a book about exercise and the brain.</p><p>Exercise improves circulation throughout the body, including the brain, Ratey explains. Exercise also boosts metabolism, decreases stress and improves mood and attention, all of which help the brain perform better, he says.</p><p>\"The brain cells actually become more resilient and more pliable and are more ready to link up,\" he says. It\'s this linking up that allows us to retain new information.</p><p>Much of the research on the specific effects of exercise on neurons has been done in the lab. But studies in people also are backing physical activity as a way to keep the brain healthy and our minds sharp.</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 border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia3.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/ColorBoxes/Styles/ColorBoxImages_GlobalOnlyPlease/interactive_icon.gif\" height=\"14\" width=\"24\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"></td><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#7788aa\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#FFFFFF\">MENTAL AEROBICS</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\">See how your memory shapes up with these mind-challenging exercises that gauge how well you remember the following:</p><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=\"/id/6567837/\">Pictures</a></font></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td><font color=\"551E1B\">?/font></td><td><font color=\"black\"><a href=\"/id/6568059/\">Lists</a></font></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td><font color=\"551E1B\">?/font></td><td><font color=\"black\"><a href=\"/id/6567125/\">Words</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>For instance, a <a href=\"/id/10877612/\">study published last year</a> in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that older people who exercised at least three times a week were about a third less likely to develop Alzheimer\'s disease or other forms of dementia than people who exercised less. Even walking helped. </p><p>It\'s well known that exercise helps prevent high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and stroke, all of which can contribute to dementia.</p><p><a href=\"/id/8160459/\">Research also has found</a> that workers who exercise during the workday feel more productive and seem to handle job stress better than their sedentary colleagues.</p><p>Yet while studies suggest that exercise enhances cognitive skills such as reasoning and concentration, it\'s not clear that a lunchtime trip to the gym will make you immediately and dramatically smarter, says Dr. Gary Small, director of the UCLA Center on Aging and author of \"The Longevity Bible: 8 Essential Strategies for Keeping Your Mind Sharp and Your Body Young.\" </p><p>It\'s also not known how much physical activity confers the optimal brain benefits, but researchers do know that even brisk walking a few times a week helps.</p><p>\"You do not have to become a triathlete,\" says Small.</p><p><b><strong>Q: Why is it that when you start an exercise program, it could take up to three months to start seeing weight-loss results?</strong></b></p><p><b><strong>A: </strong></b>It\'s not that exercise isn\'t helping you to lose any weight in those first weeks. But you shouldn\'t expect to see dramatic results immediately.</p><p>Experts say a healthy weight loss is no more than a pound or two a week - and that\'s ambitious for many of us. To lose a pound of fat, you need to create a deficit of 3,500 calories through exercise and/or diet, which isn\'t always easy.</p><p>So if you\'ve lost only a few pounds since starting your exercise program, you may not notice any difference in how your clothes fit. If you\'ve been weight-training intensely, it\'s also possible that you\'ve gained a pound or two of muscle. \n</p><p>With time, and more weight loss, you\'ll see the difference.</p><p><b><strong>Q: I exercise regularly with my partner, Bruno, and I was just curious if it helps working out together or maybe if we should separate since we are crazy about each other?</strong></b></p><p><b><strong>A:</strong></b> Partner workouts generally are touted as a good thing. Having a workout buddy helps with motivation and adherence to an exercise program, and it can boost the fun factor, too.</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/17175931/\">Vote: Does?orking out?ake your brain work better?</a></li><li><a href=\"http://fitlist.msnbc.msn.com/\">The Fit List: Weekly workout tips</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/3035466/\">More Smart Fitness columns</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 it sounds like you\'re more focused on the fun - or the flirting - than the actual fitness.</p><p>If you\'re having trouble keeping your mind - and certainly your hands - off Bruno while you work out, try going solo to the gym.</p><p><em>Smart Fitness appears every other Tuesday.</em></p><p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td><SCRIPT language=\"javascript\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/msnbc/components/interactives/tools/mailbag.js\"></SCRIPT><SCRIPT language=\"javascript\"> oMailbag = new Array(); oMailbag.appWidth = 460; oMailbag.BoxStyle = 3053755; oMailbag.appHeader = \"E-mail Smart Fitness\"; oMailbag.appDeck = \"Have an exercise question? Send it in. Selected questions will be answered in future columns.</b><br><br><i>Submissions may be edited for clarity.</i>\"; oMailbag.sSubject = \"Smart Fitness\"; oMailbag.aRetLink = new Array(\"http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3035466/\",\"More Smart Fitness stories\"); oMailbag.sMailTo = \"SmartFitness@msnbc.com\"; oMailbag.bTown = 1;  oMailbag.bReqEmail = 1;  oMailbag.navsectionID = 3034510; if (window.MailbagWB3) { MailbagWB3(oMailbag); } </SCRIPT></td></tr></table></p><div class=\"textBodyBlack\" style=\"clear:both;\"><i><em>?2007 MSNBC Interactive</em></i></div><br>');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1818','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\">Health care costs will continue their brisk climb</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>Report: U.S. expected to spend $1 out of $5 on medicine by next decade</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 - Health care is expected to account for $1 of every $5 spent in the United States in another decade.</p><p>That means a rise in out-of-pocket expenses, such as the copays for medicine, from about $850 this year to about $1,400 in 2016, a 5.3 percent annual increase.</p><p>The cost of health insurance is projected to rise even more quickly during that same time - 6.4 percent annually.</p><p>Over the coming decade, spending on health care will continue to outpace the overall economy. By the year 2016, it will total nearly $4 trillion, economists at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said in a report being released Wednesday.</p><p>Today, the number is closer to $1 out of every $6, or $2 trillion.</p><p>Consumers are spending more on the latest treatments, despite their rising costs. For example, federal officials cite a significant increase in the use of imaging to detect blockages or other diseases.</p><p>Income will also play a significant role in the greater health spending. Historically, when income rises 1 percent, health expenditures go up about 1.5 percent, officials said.</p><p><b><strong>\'Desire to purchase good health\'<br></strong></b>\"What that indicates is a desire to purchase good health,\" said John Poisal, deputy director of the government\'s National Health Statistics Group.<table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"1%\"><tr><td><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia3.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Art/HEALTH/070220/AP_HealthSpending.gif\" align=\"Right\" height=\"345\" width=\"179\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"></td></tr></table></p><p>Dr. Mark McClellan, an analyst who used to oversee the Medicare and Medicaid programs, said greater spending on health care has its benefits. People are not having heart attacks because they\'re taking medicine that lowers their blood pressure and cholesterol. They\'re surviving cancer because of more frequent exams and new treatments.</p><p>\"Greater health care spending is having a tremendous impact on the length and quality of people\'s lives,\" he said.</p><p>But the United States could be doing much better, he said.</p><p>\"We know that much of the spending is going to treatments that are unnecessary or lead to medical errors, so we\'re not getting nearly as much value as we should,\" McClellan said.</p><p>Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt said the rising costs are creating anxiety for everyone and as well as a political will to change that trend.</p><p><b><strong>U.S. tops for health spending<br></strong></b>\"America\'s per capita health spending is the highest in the world,\" he said. \"There is simply no place on the economic leader board for a nation that spends a fifth of its domestic product on health care.\"</p><p>The administration is pushing government agencies, insurers and health care providers to make information available that would help consumers become good shoppers. For example, Medicare lists the percentage of pneumonia patients at various hospitals who received a timely antibiotic, an indicator of the quality of care.</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/17231469/\">New tips to protect women\'s hearts</a> </li><li><a href=\"/id/17239746/\">Patients don\'t mind casual dress doctors</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/17170134/\">Southern states tops for heart disease</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 only force strong enough to change the course of health care is a marketplace where consumers have the information and the incentive to choose quality and keep costs low,\" Leavitt said.</p><p>The economists said their study doesn\'t determine how much the rising costs will affect the average American family. There are too many factors involved, particularly when the federal government accounts for about half of overall health spending through programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and the Department of Veterans Affairs.</p><p>The economists also predict that government programs will gradually replace employers when it comes to providing health insurance for millions of Americans.</p><p>\"We are moving incrementally away from traditional sources of insurance, such as employer-based coverage, to a system comprising more federal and state government-provided health care,\" said the economists, whose report will be published in the journal Health Affairs.</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('1819','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\">Drugmaker stops lobbying efforts for STD shots</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>Merck criticized by parents and doctors for pushing cervical cancer vaccine</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>TRENTON, N.J. - Merck &amp; Co., bowing to pressure from parents and medical groups, is immediately suspending its lobbying campaign to persuade state legislatures to mandate that adolescent girls get the company\'s new vaccine against cervical cancer as a requirement for school attendance.</p><p>The drug maker, which announced the change Tuesday, had been criticized for quietly funding the campaign, via a third party, to require 11- and 12-year-old girls get the three-dose vaccine in order to attend school.</p><p>Some had objected because the vaccine protects against a sexually transmitted disease, human papillomavirus (HPV), which causes cervical cancer. Vaccines mandated for school attendance usually are for diseases easily spread through casual contact, such as measles and mumps.</p><p>\"Our goal is about cervical cancer prevention and we want to reach as many females as possible with Gardasil,\" Dr. Richard M. Haupt, Merck\'s medical director for vaccines, told The Associated Press.</p><p>\"We\'re concerned that our role in supporting school requirements is a distraction from that goal, and as such have suspended our lobbying efforts,\" Haupt said, adding the company will continue providing information about the vaccine if requested by government officials.</p><p>Merck launched Gardasil, the first vaccine to prevent cervical cancer, in June. It protects against the two virus strains that cause 70 percent of cervical cancer and two strains that cause most genital warts.</p><p>Sales totaled $235 million through the end of 2006, according to Merck.</p><p><b><strong>Timing of Merck\'s push questioned</strong></b><br>Last month, the AP reported that Merck was channeling money for its state-mandate campaign through Women in Government, an advocacy group made up of female state legislators across the country.</p><p>Conservative groups opposed the campaign, saying it would encourage premarital sex, and parents\' rights groups said it interfered with their control over their children.</p><p>Even two of the prominent medical groups that supported broad use of the vaccine, the American Academy of Pediatricians and the American Academy of Family Practitioners, questioned Merck\'s timing, Haupt said Tuesday.</p><p>\"They, along with some other folks in the public health community, believe there needs to be more time,\" he said, to ensure government funding for the vaccine for uninsured girls is in place and that families and government officials have enough information about it.</p><p>Legislatures in roughly 20 states have introduced measures that would mandate girls have the vaccine to attend school, but none has passed so far. However, Texas Gov. Rick Perry on Feb. 2 issued an executive order requiring Texas girls entering the sixth grade as of 2008 get the vaccinations, triggering protests from lawmakers in that state.</p><p>Perry defended his order Tuesday, a day after lawmakers in Austin held a lengthy hearing on the issue but failed to act on a bill to override the order.</p><p><b><strong>Gardasil will have bigger effect in poor countries</strong></b><br>Dr. Anne Francis, who chairs an American Academy of Pediatrics committee that advocates for better insurer reimbursement on vaccines, called Merck\'s change of heart \"a good move for the public.\"</p><p>\"I believe that their timing was a little bit premature,\" she said, \"so soon after (Gardasil\'s) release, before we have a picture of whether there are going to be any untoward side effects.\"</p><p>Given that the country has been \"burned\" by some drugs whose serious side effects emerged only after they were in wide use, including Merck\'s withdrawn painkiller Vioxx, Francis said, it would be better to wait awhile before mandating Gardasil usage.</p><p>She said she also was concerned about requiring a vaccine for a disease that is not communicable and so does not have a big public health impact. While doctors expect Gardasil to have a huge effect in poor countries where women do not get Pap smears, in this country those tests limit the incidence of cervical cancer to about 9,710 new cases and 3,700 deaths each 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\"><ul><li><a href=\"/id/16975112/\">Required STD shots worry some parents</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/17192101/\">NYC mayor rejects Catholic condom-nation</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 National Vaccine Information Center has been publicizing reports of side effects - mostly dizziness and fainting - in several dozen people getting Gardasil, which is approved for use in females ages 9 to 26. The center, a group of parents worried that vaccines harm some children, questions whether the vaccine was tested in enough young girls.</p><p>Officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, however, say that reports of side effects through the end of January don\'t raise any red flags.</p><p>The vaccine also is controversial because of its price - $360 for the three doses required over a six-month stretch. Because of that cost and what pediatricians and gynecologists say is inadequate reimbursement by insurers, many are choosing not to stock the vaccine or requiring surcharges to administer it, increasing the cost for many families and making the vaccine hard to come by.</p><p>Merck shares were down in after-hours trading on the New York Stock Exchange, falling 35 cents to $44.15 after rising 22 cents in regular trading to close at $44.50.</p><p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td><SCRIPT language=javascript src=\"http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/msnbc/components/interactives/_prod/Health_HPV/data.js\"></SCRIPT><SCRIPT language=javascript src=http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/msnbc/components/interactives/tools/interactive.js></SCRIPT><SCRIPT>if (window.Health_HPV) { displayApp(Health_HPV); }</SCRIPT></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('1820','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\">Gambia\'s president claims he has cure for AIDS</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>\'Miracle\' concoction of green paste, bitter drink and bananas raises alarm</b><br></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/070220/070220_gambia_hmed_1p.hmedium.jpg\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\" alt=\"Image: Lamin Ceesay\"></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"><font size=\"-2\">Cabdace Feit / AP</font><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><font size=\"-1\">Lamin Ceesay awaits his herbal HIV treatment by Gambia\'s President Yahya Jammeh, at Serrekunda Hospital in Banjul, Gambia.</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>BANJUL, Gambia - From the pockets of his billowing white robe, Gambia\'s president pulls out a plastic container, closes his eyes in prayer and rubs a green herbal paste onto the rib cage of the patient - a concoction he claims is a cure for AIDS.</p><p>He then orders the thin man to swallow a bitter yellow drink, followed by two bananas.</p><p>\"Whatever you do, there are bound to be skeptics, but I can tell you my method is foolproof,\" President Yahya Jammeh told an Associated Press reporter, surrounded by bodyguards in his presidential compound. \"Mine is not an argument, mine is a proof. It\'s a declaration. I can cure AIDS and I will.\"</p><p>In a continent suffering from the world\'s worst AIDS epidemic, Jammeh\'s claims of a miracle cure are alarming public health workers already struggling against faith-healers dispensing herbal remedies from inside thatched huts.</p><p>The biggest concern is that the Gambian leader requires patients to cease their anti-retroviral drugs, a move that risks weakening their immune systems and making them even more prone to infection, said Dr. Antonio Filipe Jr., head of the World Health Organization in neighboring Senegal.</p><p><b><strong>WHO: \'There is no cure for AIDS\'<br></strong></b><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 border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia3.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/ColorBoxes/Styles/ColorBoxImages_GlobalOnlyPlease/interactive_icon.gif\" height=\"14\" width=\"24\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"></td><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#7788aa\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#FFFFFF\">Test yourself </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=\"0\"><tr><td><a href=\"/id/3295955/\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Art/HEALTH/031107/Quiz_TZ152.jpg\" height=\"110\" width=\"150\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"></a></td></tr><tr><td style=\"padding:10px;\"><font color=\"#000000\"><table><tr><td rowspan=\"2\" width=\"15\"><font color=\"551E1B\">?/font></td><td><b><a href=\"/id/3295955/\">How much do you know about AIDS?</a></b></td></tr><tr><td></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>Since January, when he announced his cure to a gathering of foreign diplomats, Jammeh has thrown the bureaucratic machinery of this small West African country behind the claim. The last six news releases on Gambia\'s official Web site are dedicated to the president\'s treatment, available to Gambians free of charge. Regular radio and TV addresses publicize it and the Health Ministry has issued a declaration of support.</p><p>Although the HIV rate is relatively low in Gambia compared to other African nations - 1.3 percent of the country\'s 1.6 million people are infected - the president\'s claim has left international health organizations in a bind.</p><p>WHO\'s Filipe was diplomatic about Jammeh\'s claims, saying his organization respects the president\'s point of view. But, he added: \"As the World Health Organization, we would like to state quite clearly the following - No. 1: so far there is no cure for AIDS.\"</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=207444\">Discuss: How should WHO address this \"cure\"?</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/17156844/\">Weakness in AIDS virus boosts hope for vaccine</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/17119640/\">Pot eases pain for HIV patients, study says</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/17171083/\">Regeneration recipe: Pinch of pig, cell of lizard</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>Jammeh, a 41-year-old former army colonel who wrested gained control in a 1994 coup, says his treatment is entirely voluntary and argues that his medications cannot be mixed with other drugs because \"I don\'t want any complications.\"</p><p>The claim of a cure has prompted comparisons to the South African minister of health who won international ridicule last year for suggesting that a diet of garlic, beet root and lemon juice is more effective than anti-retroviral drugs. South African President Thabo Mbeki has been accused of not addressing the epidemic: His government did not provide AIDS drugs until a lawsuit by AIDS activists forced it to in 2002.</p><p><font size=\"2\"><span CM=\"PageNavBot\"><b><a CE=\"2\" href=\"/id/17244005/page/2/\">CONTINUED: \'The president took the pain out of my body.\'</a></b><hr width=\"100%\" noshade=\"true\" size=\"1\" color=\"#808080\">1 | <b><a CE=\"2\" href=\"/id/17244005/page/2/\">2</a></b>\n			| <b><a CE=\"2\" href=\"/id/17244005/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(\'17244005\')\" 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(\'17244005\')\" 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 AIDS</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/17156844/\"><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%\">Weakness in HIV boosts hope for vaccine</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/17260767/\">Herpes treatment may slow HIV</a></font></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td width=\"20\"></td><td><font class=\"bulletRedSmall\">. </font><font class=\"headlineList2\"><a class=\"linkBlack\" href=\"/id/17261559/\">3 given organs from HIV-positive donor</a></font></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\" bgcolor=\"#dddddd\"><td width=\"20\"><img src=\"/images/arrowCurrentStory.gif\" border=\"0\" width=\"16\" height=\"16\"></td><td><font class=\"bulletRedSmall\">. </font><font class=\"headlineList2\">Gambia\'s president says he can cure AIDS</font></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td width=\"20\"></td><td><font class=\"bulletRedSmall\">. </font><font class=\"headlineList2\"><a class=\"linkBlack\" href=\"/id/17156844/\">Weakness in HIV boosts hope for vaccine</a></font></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td width=\"20\"></td><td><font class=\"bulletRedSmall\">. </font><font class=\"headlineList2\"><a class=\"linkBlack\" href=\"/id/17119640/\">Study: Pot eases pain for HIV patients</a></font></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td width=\"20\"></td><td><font class=\"bulletRedSmall\">. </font><font class=\"headlineList2\"><a class=\"linkBlack\" href=\"/id/16993720/\">Scientists explore new avenue in AIDS war</a></font></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td width=\"20\"></td><td><font class=\"bulletRedSmall\">. </font><font class=\"headlineList2\"><a class=\"linkBlack\" href=\"/id/16905306/\">AIDS prevention gel studies halted</a></font></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td width=\"20\"></td><td><font class=\"bulletRedSmall\">. </font><font class=\"headlineList2\"><a class=\"linkBlack\" href=\"/id/16754328/\">AIDS group to sue Pfizer over Viagra ads</a></font></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td width=\"20\"></td><td><font class=\"bulletRedSmall\">. </font><font class=\"headlineList2\"><a class=\"linkBlack\" href=\"/id/16560327/\">Black men focus of U.S. HIV drug trial</a></font></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td width=\"20\"></td><td><font class=\"bulletRedSmall\">. </font><font class=\"headlineList2\"><a class=\"linkBlack\" href=\"/id/16565224/\">AIDS drug delay helps protect mothers</a></font></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td width=\"20\"></td><td><font class=\"bulletRedSmall\">. </font><font class=\"headlineList2\"><a class=\"linkBlack\" href=\"/id/3034456/\">AIDS Section Front</a></font></td></tr></table><font class=\"textSmall\">?/font></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr></table><br><table width=\"98%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"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 border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia2.msn.com/j/msnbc/Test-Dev/donna/msnbc10/Launch%20images/top_msnbc.gif,standard.jpg\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"></td><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#7788aa\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#26386b\"></b></font></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"5\" cellpadding=\"0\" bordercolor=\"#cccccc\" border=\"0\" style=\"background-color:#FFF;\" bgcolor=\"#FFF\"><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=\"5\"><tr><td style=\"padding:5px;\"><font color=\"#000000\"><table><tr><td valign=\"top\"><font color=\"551E1B\">?/font></td><td><a href=\"/id/17254507/\"><font color=\"33527A\">Chlorine gas new insurgent tactic?</font></a></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"><font color=\"551E1B\">?/font></td><td><a href=\"/id/17268277/\"><font color=\"33527A\">Cisco, Apple settle iPhone dispute</font></a></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"><font color=\"551E1B\">?/font></td><td><a href=\"/id/17260728/\"><font color=\"33527A\">Clinton, Obama trade barbs</font></a></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"><font color=\"551E1B\">?/font></td><td><a href=\"/id/17268926/\"><font color=\"33527A\">WP: Britain\'s timing awkward for 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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=\"http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8356446 \"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia2.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Interactives/Health/AIDS/zFlashAssets/World_AIDS_TZ152.gif,vsmall.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:window.location.replace(\'http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8356446\');\"></div></td></tr></table></td><td style=\"padding:10px;\"><font color=\"#000000\"><font color=\"551E1B\">?/font><font class=\"textMedBlackBold\"><a href=\"http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8356446 \">The AIDS epidemic</a></font><br><font color=\"black\">Cases and deaths around the globe</font></font></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr><tr><td></td></tr></table><script src=\"/js/std.js\"></script><div style=\"padding-bottom:20;\"><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" 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INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1821','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\">Smoking changes brain same way as drugs</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>Similar to effects seen in animals given cocaine or heroin, researchers find</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>WASHINGTON - Smoking causes long-lasting changes in the brain similar to changes seen in animals when they are given cocaine, heroin and other addictive drugs, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday.</p><p>A study of the brain tissue of smokers and nonsmokers who had died showed that smokers had the changes, even if they had quit years before, the team at the National Institute on Drug Abuse reported.</p><p>\"The data show that there are long-lasting chemical changes in the brains of humans,\" said Michael Kuhar of Emory University in Atlanta, who was not involved in the study.</p><p>\"The chemical changes alone suggest a physiological basis for nicotine addiction.\"</p><p>A team led by Bruce Hope of NIDA, one of the National Institutes of Health, analyzed levels of two enzymes found inside brain cells known as neurons.</p><p>These enzymes help the neurons use chemical signals such as those made by the message-carrying compound dopamine.</p><p>Smokers and former smokers had high levels of these enzymes, the researchers reported in the Journal of Neuroscience.</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/16811101/\">Brain damage can curb urge to smoke</a> </li><li><a href=\"/id/16788049/\">New drug can help smokers quit</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/16725035/\">U.S. reaches anti-smoking milestone</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>Hope said other studies had seen the same thing in animals given cocaine and heroin - and it was clear that the drugs were causing the effects.</p><p>\"This strongly suggests that the similar changes observed in smokers and former smokers contributed to their addiction,\" he added in a statement.</p><p>Experts on smoking have long said that nicotine is at least as addictive as heroin.</p><p>The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 20.9 percent of all adults smoke in the United States, which adds up to 45 million people. And 23 percent of high school students smoke.</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('1822','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\">Prepackaged mushrooms recalled for E. coli</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>Tests show possible contamination in BJ\'s Wholesale Club brand</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>NATICK, Mass. - BJ\'s Wholesale Club announced a voluntary recall of its prepackaged, private-label brand mushrooms on Wednesday after testing turned up possible trace amounts of E. coli bacteria.</p><p>BJ\'s, based in Natick, Mass., recalled all its \"Wellsley Farms\" mushrooms purchased between Feb. 11 and Feb. 19. BJ\'s said in a press release it had received no reports of illnesses related to the mushrooms, but decided to recall them as a precaution.</p><p>The possible E. coli was found during a routine produce inspection. Tests to confirm the initial results are ongoing, BJ\'s said.</p><p>The products being recalled are: Wellsley Farms fresh Sliced Mushrooms, 20 ounces, SKU 016377; Wellsley Farms fresh White Mushrooms, 24 ounces, SKU 016375; Wellsley Farms fresh Portabella Caps, 16 ounces, SKU 016573; Wellsley Farms fresh Baby Bella Caps, 10 ounces, SKU 016572; Wellsley Farms fresh White Mushrooms, 10 ounces, SKU 016376.</p><p>BJ\'s offered a full refund for the produce.</p><p>The company runs 172 clubs and 96 gas stations in 16 states.</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/17155561/\">Salmonella outbreak still a sticky mystery</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/17216383/\">Federal food inspections to be more stringent</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('1823','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\">3 given organs from HIV-positive donor</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>Kidney, liver transplants due to \'tragic human error,\' Italian hospital says</b><br></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia2.msn.com/j/ap/flo10202201532.hmedium.jpg\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\" alt=\"Image:?auro Marabini and Franco Filipponi\"></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"><font size=\"-2\">Lorenzo Galassi / AP</font><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><font size=\"-1\">Carreggi hospital medical director Mauro Marabini, left, and director of transplants organization Franco Filipponi, answer questions?fter the liver and the kidneys of an HIV positive woman were transplanted to three patients </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>ROME - Three patients at hospitals in Tuscany were mistakenly given organs from an HIV-positive donor, raising serious concerns about transplant procedures in Italy.</p><p>A 41-year-old woman\'s kidneys and liver were taken after she died of a brain hemorrhage at Florence\'s Careggi hospital and were implanted due \"to a tragic human error,\" the hospital said in a statement Monday. The director of the regional transplants agency said the patients\' chances of infection are high.</p><p>The HIV test on the organs had come back positive, but \"unfortunately the expert who did the report wrote down \'negative\' for all the tests, including this one,\" said Careggi director Mauro Marabini.</p><p>The three patients have been told of the mistake and will undergo tests to determine if they have been infected with the virus that causes AIDS. The three were receiving anti-retroviral drugs.</p><p>\"They asked immediately if the transplanted organ was working, and it was working perfectly,\" Marabini said. \"They reacted quite calmly.\"</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 border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia3.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/ColorBoxes/Styles/ColorBoxImages_GlobalOnlyPlease/interactive_icon.gif\" height=\"14\" width=\"24\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"></td><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#7788aa\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#FFFFFF\">Test yourself </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=\"0\"><tr><td><a href=\"/id/3295955/\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Art/HEALTH/031107/Quiz_TZ152.jpg\" height=\"110\" width=\"150\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"></a></td></tr><tr><td style=\"padding:10px;\"><font color=\"#000000\"><table><tr><td rowspan=\"2\" width=\"15\"><font color=\"551E1B\">?/font></td><td><b><a href=\"/id/3295955/\">How much do you know about AIDS?</a></b></td></tr><tr><td></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>Franco Filipponi, director of the regional transplant agency, told the news agency ANSA that the likelihood of infection is high. \"Even if the implanted organs do not carry blood the virus can still be present in some cells and can therefore be transmitted,\" he said.</p><p>Prosecutors in Florence opened an investigation, ANSA reported.</p><p>Health Minister Livia Turco pledged to improve safety measures once the inquiry was completed, but stressed that the transplant system has saved many lives. \"I cannot hide my preoccupation for an excessive alarm that could reduce trust in this system and slow the growth of donations, leading to further damage for other patients,\" Turco 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/17244005/\">Gambia\'s president claims he has cure for AIDS</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/17186974/\">Artificial retina holds promise for blind</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/17171083/\">Regeneration recipe: Pinch of pig, cell of lizard</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>Italy\'s public health system is not new to scandal. Last month, authorities ordered nationwide inspections after a magazine report on Rome\'s largest hospital showed images of corridors soiled with dog feces and garbage, unguarded radioactive material, abandoned medical records and workers smoking next to patients.</p><p>Police found that about 17 percent of hospitals, mostly in southern and central Italy, had problems serious enough to recommend possible judicial investigations against 111 people.</p><p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td><SCRIPT language=javascript src=http://www.msnbc.com/modules/getdata.asp?id=OrganDonation_Bcol_022003&retfmt=js></SCRIPT><SCRIPT language=javascript src=http://www.msnbc.com/modules/poptext/poptext_codeV2.js></SCRIPT><SCRIPT>if (window.OrganDonation_Bcol_022003) { displayApp(OrganDonation_Bcol_022003); }</SCRIPT></td></tr></table></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('1824','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\">As pets live longer, doggie dementia on the rise</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>Senility trend in people also occurring in animals, veterinarians report</b><br></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia2.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Art/HEALTH/PROJECTS/PetConcerns/VLG_Dog_Dementia3.vlarge.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>Penny, a Shih Tzu-poodle mix, was increasingly forgetful, often coming into a room and then being unable to find her way out. She slept during the day, wandered at night and showed little interest in eating. A visit to her veterinarian, Robin Downing of Windsor, Colo., found no obvious reason such as an ulcer or cancer for Penny\'s behavior.</p><p>After ruling out health problems that could cause similar signs, Downing suspected that Penny had cognitive dysfunction syndrome (CDS) - what in humans is called senility or Alzheimer\'s disease. She recommended a diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids and other antioxidants and prescribed a drug called selegiline, or Anipryl, which affects attentiveness and the sleep-wake cycle. </p><p>\"We saw a difference within 30 days,\" Downing says. \"That medication altered her concentrations of brain chemicals and altered her behavior for the better.\"</p><p>As dogs and cats live longer - thanks to improved nutrition, better veterinary care and home environments - they\'re developing problems of old age that previously were rarely seen in pets simply because they never made it to extreme old age, which is upwards of 20 years for cats and small dogs, and about 12 or 13 years for medium and large dogs.</p><p>\"The older they get, the more signs they get,\" says Melissa J. Bain, a veterinarian at the University of California School of Veterinary Medicine in Davis.</p><p>Recent research has shown that nearly a third of 11- and 12-year-old dogs and two-thirds of 15- and 16-year-old dogs have significant cognitive impairment. In cats, as many as 80 percent of those over the age of 16 show signs of senility.</p><p>Penny will be 19 in June, so she\'s at the far end of the age spectrum for dogs. But physically she\'s still in reasonably good condition. What\'s important for Penny and dogs and cats like her is that diet and medication, as well as control of underlying conditions that contribute to CDS, can often help slow the progress of CDS and improve quality of life.</p><p><b><strong>Signs of senility<br></strong></b>The acronym DISH spells out the behaviors often seen in dogs and cats with CDS:<br></p><ul><li class=\"textBodyBlack\"><b><strong>Disorientation</strong></b>, such as walking aimlessly, staring at walls, getting \"stuck\" in corners or losing balance and falling, is common. </li><li class=\"textBodyBlack\"><b><strong>Interactions</strong></b> with people change. The dog or cat that once greeted you at the door and loved being petted now ignores you or even hides under the bed. </li><li class=\"textBodyBlack\"><b><strong>Sleep</strong></b> habits reverse. Pets that once snored through the night now prowl and yowl - keeping everyone else from getting any shut-eye - then sleep during normal waking hours.</li><li class=\"textBodyBlack\"><b><strong>House-training</strong></b> goes by the wayside. They seem to forget where the litter box is or how to use the pet door to go outside.</li></ul><p>While some of these behaviors can be chalked up to cognitive misfires, others have simpler causes that are treatable with medication or simple environmental changes.</p><p>For instance, loss of house-training may be due less to senility than to aching joints. </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;Coping tips for senile pets</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\"><strong>Here are some steps you can take to help your aging dog or cat:</strong></p><table cellspacing=\"3\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\" ID=\"Table1\"><tr><td><font color=\"black\">-</font></td><td><font color=\"black\">Maintain a routine so your pet eats or goes for walks at the same times every day.<br></font></td></tr><tr><td><font color=\"black\">-</font></td><td><font color=\"black\">Give medication time to work, at least a couple of months.<br></font></td></tr><tr><td><font color=\"black\">-</font></td><td><font color=\"black\">Consider feeding a diet containing high levels of antioxidants.<br></font></td></tr><tr><td><font color=\"black\">-</font></td><td><font color=\"black\">Keep your pet\'s brain sharp with play and training. In one study, dogs with CDS that received both an antioxidant-fortified diet and obedience training progressed much more slowly than dogs that received neither.<br></font></td></tr><tr><td><font color=\"black\">-</font></td><td><font color=\"black\">Add more litter boxes, especially if you live in a two-story home. Steps, a ramp or a cut-out your cat can walk through can make it easier for the animal to get in and out of the box.<br></font></td></tr><tr><td><font color=\"black\">-</font></td><td><font color=\"black\">Ask your veterinarian about pain relief for pets with arthritis.<br></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>\"By the time they\'re 11 years old, 90 percent of cats have some degree of osteoarthritis,\" says Danielle Gunn-Moore, a veterinarian at Scotland\'s University of Edinburgh, who led a study published in December in the <em>Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery</em> indicating that cats show the same type of mental deterioration as people with Alzheimer\'s disease - a study inspired by her experience with her own cat, Cardhu, who developed CDS.</p><p>\"When they lose their litter-box training, it\'s not that there\'s anything wrong with their intention,\" Gunn-Moore says. \"It\'s that they can\'t get into the box or they can\'t crouch their bottom down properly because of arthritis in the hips and knees.\"</p><p>The same holds true for dogs. A dog with arthritic hips won\'t have much incentive to use a pet door that bangs its rear end as it goes out or comes in. Underlying urinary tract infections also can contribute to loss of house-training. Pets with kidney disease or diabetes often have urine that looks sterile under a microscope but may actually be seething with bacteria.</p><p>\"Unless [vets are] taking a ... sample and culturing it, they are missing a lot of urinary tract infections,\" Gunn-Moore says. \"I\'ve had two in the last month with undiagnosed urinary tract infections. Something as simple as the right antibiotics makes such a difference.\"</p><p><b><strong>Get their pressure checked<br></strong></b>High blood pressure is another issue facing older pets. You thought only Grandma Kate got hypertension? Think again. High blood pressure is common in aging pets, especially if they have ailments such as kidney disease or Cushing\'s disease, a condition caused by the production of too much adrenal hormone. </p><p>How is that linked to senility? Just as in people, hypertension takes a toll on blood vessels in the brain. Many cases of senility in humans are related to chronic high blood pressure, Gunn-Moore says. The good news for animals is that medication can help lower it to safer levels.</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/17168222/\">Mama cat adopts Rottweiler puppy</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/16486821/\">Obesity drug approved for dogs</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/4626752/\">Read more?reature Comforts columns</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 best thing you can do for your older pet is to be alert to changes in behavior. Downing believes that\'s why Penny responded so well to medication, becoming more interested in going for walks and interacting more with her owners.</p><p>\"I think I had a chance to intervene with her earlier than I would have in a typical pet because her owners were so tuned in to her and the subtleties of her behavior,\" she says. \"They picked up early that something wasn\'t quite right.\"</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('1825','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\">Teeniest preemie finally heads home</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>Baby is healthy, but will still need supplemental oxygen at home</b><br></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia4.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/070220/070220_preemie_vlrg_6a.vlarge.jpg\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\" alt=\"Image: Sonja Taylor and Amillia\"></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"><font size=\"-2\">Baptist Children\'s Hospital via </font><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><font size=\"-1\">Sonja Taylor is overjoyed to be taking baby Amillia home after four months in the NICU at Baptist Children\'s Hospital in Miami, Fla. </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>MIAMI - One of the world\'s smallest preemies finally got to head home.</p><p>Amillia Sonja Taylor has known only an incubator for a bed at Baptist Children\'s Hospital since she was delivered in October after less than 22 weeks in the womb. But her parents got to take her home on Wednesday.</p><p>\"The baby is healthy and thriving and left Baptist Children\'s Hospital today after four months in our neonatal intensive care unit,\" hospital spokeswoman Liz Latta said.</p><p>Amillia, who was just 9?inches at birth and weighed less than 10 ounces, will still require oxygen at home and a developmental specialist will follow up with her and her parents to track her neurological development.</p><p>The infant now weighs about 4?pounds and is just over 15?inches long.</p><p>Amillia\'s parents, Eddie and Sonja Taylor of Homestead declined to speak with reporters Wednesday.</p><p>Doctors had hoped to release Amillia from the hospital Tuesday but kept her an extra day to monitor a low white blood cell count that could have indicated a vulnerability to infection.</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/17231833/\">Parents urged to donate newborn\'s cord blood</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/17010970/\">Risky pregnancies are risking, and succeeding</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>Full-term births come after 37 to 40 weeks, and few babies born before 22 weeks survive.</p><p>Amillia suffered respiratory and digestive problems, as well as a mild brain hemorrhage, but doctors believe those problems will not have major long-term effects.</p><p>Amillia was conceived in vitro and was delivered by Caesarean section after an infection caused her mother to go into premature labor, doctors said.</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(\'17261818\')\" 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(\'17261818\')\" 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('1826','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\">No extra warning labels needed for STD shots</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>Side effects are mostly minor for cervical cancer vaccine, health experts say</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>More than 500 cases of mostly minor side effects have been reported in girls and women who got the new cervical cancer vaccine, but government health officials say no additional warning labels are needed.</p><p>Many of the reports involved fainting, but teens tend to faint from vaccinations anyway, health experts said, and the number of cases doesn\'t exceed what was expected.</p><p>\"There is absolutely no reason to think that there is anything in this vaccine, as opposed to another vaccine, that\'s going to make people more likely to faint,\" said Dr. John Iskander, of the immunization safety office with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.</p><p>At issue is Gardasil, a three-dose vaccine by Merck &amp; Co. approved by the government last June for females ages 9 to 26. The vaccine protects against strains of the human papillomavirus, or HPV, which causes cervical, vulvar and vaginal cancers and genital warts.</p><p><b><strong>Data about side effects will be presented</strong></b><br>CDC officials on Thursday plan to present data at a scientific meeting in Atlanta about side effects in girls and young women who got the shot. Health officials estimate that hundreds of thousands have received at least one Gardasil shot in the time period being studied, but they don\'t have an exact count. So it was hard to assess the significance of 500-plus side effect reports.</p><p>According to an advance report shared with The Associated Press, there have been 542 adverse health complaints. Injection site soreness was reported by nearly 20 percent, fainting or dizziness was reported by 11 percent, and fever or nausea was reported in 9 percent.</p><p>None of the girls or women who fainted had a serious injury from falling unconscious, and there were no deaths. However, health officials recommend a 15-minute waiting period after the shot before leaving the doctor\'s office, in case of fainting or other problems.</p><p>Health officials have been cautiously watching for reports of Guillain-Barre syndrome, a paralyzing side effect that has been associated with a few other vaccines. In the reporting period, there were three such cases.</p><p>\"Based on these numbers, it\'s not worrisome to us that there\'s any sort of association between the vaccine\" and Guillain-Barre, Iskander said.</p><p><b><strong>Advocacy group released Gardasil warning</strong></b><br>On Wednesday, a Virginia-based advocacy group, the National Vaccine Information Center, which focuses on the risks of immunizations, put out a press release warning of Gardasil side effects. The group said health officials did not do enough research into whether the vaccine leads to harmful problems when combined with other shots.</p><p>But Iskander said there\'s no evidence Gardasil is harmful in combination with other vaccines.</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/17260714/\">Drugmakers to add warnings to ADHD pills</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/17134702/\">Warning on diarrhea vaccine for infants</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 advocacy group also questioned a movement by some state legislatures to order the vaccine be given to all girls.</p><p>\"We just don\'t know enough to be mandating Gardasil for anyone, much less vulnerable 11- to 12-year-old girls entering puberty,\" said Barbara Loe Fisher, the organization\'s president, in a prepared statement.</p><p>On Tuesday, Merck announced it was <a href=\"/id/17246920/\">dropping its lobbying campaign</a> to persuade states to make the cancer vaccine required for adolescent girls attending public school.</p><p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td><SCRIPT language=javascript src=\"http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/msnbc/components/interactives/_prod/Health_HPV/data.js\"></SCRIPT><SCRIPT language=javascript src=http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/msnbc/components/interactives/tools/interactive.js></SCRIPT><SCRIPT>if (window.Health_HPV) { displayApp(Health_HPV); }</SCRIPT></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('1827','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\">Britain to use donor eggs for stem cell research</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>Women will be compensated up to $500 for costs related to donation</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>LONDON - The British government on Wednesday approved plans to allow women to donate eggs for stem cell and cloning research, and said they will also be entitled to compensation for costs incurred.</p><p>Women undergoing fertility treatment will receive a discount if they donate eggs, authorities said, while others will receive up to 250 pounds (about $500 U.S.) for each fertilization cycle to cover costs such as travel or lost work time.</p><p>The eggs would be used to create cloned embryos, with the hope of extracting stem cells. Because stem cells have the potential to become any cell in the body, scientists believe studying them could lead to cures for numerous diseases, including Parkinson\'s, Alzheimer\'s or motor neurone diseases.</p><p>Some British stem cell experts are concerned that the change in policy - which brings the country in line with several other European nations - will encourage women to donate eggs solely for financial motives.</p><p>\"It\'s exploitative because there will be women attracted even by the thought of getting 250 pounds from this,\" said Dr. Stephen Minger, director of the Stem Cell Laboratory at King\'s College. London. \"I\'m very uncomfortable with the idea of selling tissue and body parts.\"</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/16740643/\">\'Egg rebate\' cracks open an ethics mess</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/16657090/\">Should women be paid for donating eggs?</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/17192969/\">California awards $45 million in stem cell grants</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>Other experts accused authorities of downplaying the health risks to potential egg donors.</p><p>But the Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority - which advised the government - stressed that payment would strictly cover expenses only.</p><p>\"No one would be handing out money for donated eggs,\" said Gemma Wilkie, an HFEA spokeswoman. \"We are only talking about recompense for costs incurred.\"</p><p><b><strong>Should donors get more money?</strong></b><br>Britain has long permitted a practice known as egg-sharing, in which women get cheaper in-vitro fertilisation treatments for donating eggs to other women hoping to get pregnant - but donated eggs could never before be used for research.</p><p>Some experts argued that women should be entitled to more than 250 pounds.</p><p>\"Eggs are already a highly prized commodity,\" said Anna Smajdor, a medical ethics researcher at London\'s Imperial College. \"250 pounds fails on all counts: It is enough to entice women from poorer countries while failing to represent the market value of eggs.\"</p><p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td><SCRIPT Language=\"JavaScript\" SRC=\"http://www.msnbc.com/modules/poptext/poptext_codeV2.js\"></SCRIPT>\n\n<SCRIPT Language=\"JavaScript\" SRC=\"http://www.msnbc.com/d/ip/stemcell_science_wb3/data.js\"></SCRIPT>\n\n<SCRIPT Language=\"JavaScript\">\n\nif (window.stemcell_science_wb3) { \n\n            //CUSTOM SETTINGS\n\ndisplayApp(stemcell_science_wb3); \n\n}\n\n</SCRIPT></td></tr></table></p><div class=\"textBodyBlack\" style=\"clear:both;\"><i>Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. 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INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1828','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\">Group sues feds over medical marijuana claim</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>Government accused of denying \'sick and dying\' from obtaining medicine</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>OAKLAND, Calif. - Armed with a new study showing the drug can ease pain in some HIV patients, medical-marijuana advocates sued the federal government Wednesday over its claim that pot has no accepted medical uses.</p><p>The lawsuit, filed in federal court by Americans for Safe Access, accuses the government of arbitrarily preventing \"sick and dying persons from seeking to obtain medicine that could provide them needed and often lifesaving relief.\"</p><p>The Food and Drug Administration\'s position on medical marijuana \"is incorrect, dishonest and a flagrant violation of laws requiring the government to base policy on sound science,\" Joe Elford, said chief counsel for Americans for Safe Access.</p><p>Christina Pearson, a spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Services, said the agency does not comment on pending litigation.</p><p>California is one of 11 states that have made marijuana legal for people with a doctor\'s recommendation. But because the U.S. government does not recognize pot\'s medical benefits, federal authorities can still arrest patients.</p><p>Last week, researchers from the University of California at San Francisco reported in the journal Neurology that a test involving 50 HIV patients showed that those who smoked pot experienced much less pain than those given placebos.</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/17119640/\">Pot eases pain for HIV patients, study says</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/17244005/\">Gambia\'s president claims he can cure AIDS</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>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(\'17263716\')\" 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(\'17263716\')\" 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/17249223/\"><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%\">60th birthday for woman in iron lung</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/17265246/\">Scuffling surgeons leave patient in the lurch</a></font></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\" bgcolor=\"#dddddd\"><td width=\"20\"><img src=\"/images/arrowCurrentStory.gif\" border=\"0\" width=\"16\" height=\"16\"></td><td><font class=\"bulletRedSmall\">. </font><font class=\"headlineList2\">Group sues feds over medical pot</font></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td width=\"20\"></td><td><font class=\"bulletRedSmall\">. </font><font class=\"headlineList2\"><a class=\"linkBlack\" href=\"/id/17249223/\">60th birthday for woman in iron lung</a></font></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td width=\"20\"></td><td><font class=\"bulletRedSmall\">. </font><font class=\"headlineList2\"><a class=\"linkBlack\" href=\"/id/17171083/\">Recipes for regenerating limbs</a></font></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td width=\"20\"></td><td><font class=\"bulletRedSmall\">. </font><font class=\"headlineList2\"><a class=\"linkBlack\" href=\"/id/17216383/\">Federal food checks to be more stringent</a></font></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td width=\"20\"></td><td><font class=\"bulletRedSmall\">. </font><font class=\"headlineList2\"><a class=\"linkBlack\" href=\"/id/17134990/\">The pain and politics of 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/17187413/\">FDA warns about online drug mix-up</a></font></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td width=\"20\"></td><td><font class=\"bulletRedSmall\">. </font><font class=\"headlineList2\"><a class=\"linkBlack\" href=\"/id/17186974/\">Artificial retina holds promise for blind</a></font></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td width=\"20\"></td><td><font class=\"bulletRedSmall\">. </font><font class=\"headlineList2\"><a class=\"linkBlack\" href=\"/id/17171399/\">Chemo? 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INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1829','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\">Drugmakers to add warnings to ADHD pills</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>FDA wants new guides to alert patients to heart and mental risks</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 - Drugs prescribed to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder will include guides to alert patients and parents of the risks of mental and heart problems, including sudden death.</p><p>The Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday that it directed the manufacturers of Ritalin, Adderall, Strattera and all other ADHD drugs to develop the guides. In May 2006, the agency told manufacturers to revise the labels of the drugs to reflect concerns about the cardiovascular and psychiatric problems.</p><p>Draft versions of the guides posted on the FDA Web site include discussion of reports of increased blood pressure and heart rate in ADHD patients, as well as cases of sudden death in some who have heart problems and heart defects. In adult patients, the reported problems also include stroke and heart attack.</p><p>The alerts also cover psychiatric problems, such as hearing voices, unfounded suspicions and manic behavior, of which there is a slightly increased risk in patients who take the drugs, the FDA said. The guides also tell patients and their parents of precautions they can take to guard against the risks.</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 border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia3.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/ColorBoxes/Styles/ColorBoxImages_GlobalOnlyPlease/interactive_icon.gif\" height=\"14\" width=\"24\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"></td><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"#7788aa\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"#FFFFFF\">Test yourself </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=\"0\"><tr><td><a href=\"/id/3296793/\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Art/HEALTH/031107/Quiz_TZ152.jpg\" height=\"110\" width=\"150\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"></a></td></tr><tr><td style=\"padding:10px;\"><font color=\"#000000\"><table><tr><td rowspan=\"2\" width=\"15\"><font color=\"551E1B\">?/font></td><td><b><a href=\"/id/5897774/\">Are you an adult with ADHD?</a></b></td></tr><tr><td></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>Wednesday\'s announcement came roughly a year after two panels of FDA advisers recommended that the drugs include such patient medication guides. The announcement covers 15 drugs, including extended-release, patch and chewable versions of some of them.</p><p>Ritalin is manufactured by Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. and in generic form by other companies; Adderall is made by Shire Pharmaceuticals Inc.; Strattera by Eli Lilly &amp; Co.</p><p>ADHD affects an estimated 3 percent to seven percent of school-age children and four percent of adults, the FDA 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/17187413/\">FDA warns about online drug mix-up</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/17170134/\">Southern states tops for heart disease</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/17243349/\">Bad at math? Worrying makes you even worse</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('1830','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\">Herpes drug found to slow HIV advance</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>Women who took Valtrex for three months had lower levels of AIDS virus</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 - Treating genital herpes can also help keep the AIDS virus under control in women with both infections, and might reduce the spread of HIV, too, the first major study to test this strategy suggests.</p><p>Many people with HIV are also infected with the herpes type 2 virus, and scientists have long known that herpes sores on the genitals can make it easier to become infected with the AIDS virus and could increase the risk of transmitting HIV to others.</p><p>In the latest study, conducted in Africa and published in Thursday\'s New England Journal of Medicine, women who took the herpes drug valacyclovir had less HIV in their blood and in their genital secretions.</p><p>The study did not look at whether the drug, sold as Valtrex by GlaxoSmithKline PLC, actually reduces transmission of the AIDS virus. However, scientists generally have found that the more virus someone has, the greater the risk of transmission.</p><p>Doctors have been looking for novel ways to treat and prevent HIV infection, particularly in poor countries where few can afford modern AIDS drugs and the stigma keeps many from taking them. Researchers recently found that circumcision lowers the risk of spreading HIV, and they hope the same will prove true of treating herpes.</p><p><b><strong>\'Potential avenues\'<br></strong></b>\"It does open some potential avenues to slowing down the HIV epidemic,\" said Dr. Lawrence Corey, a leading herpes researcher at the University of Washington who had no role in the study but has received research grants from Glaxo.</p><p>There are 40,000 new HIV infections in the U.S. each year and 4.3 million new cases worldwide. Previous studies have shown that herpes infections can triple a person\'s chance of acquiring HIV and can make HIV-positive individuals more infectious.</p><p>In the study, 140 women from the West African nation of Burkina Faso who were infected with the both the herpes and AIDS viruses received either valacyclovir or dummy pills for three months. Participants were not taking other AIDS medications.<table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" border=\"0\" bgcolor=\"\"><tr height=\"20\"><td width=\"20\" bgcolor=\"\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/ColorBoxes/Styles/ColorBoxImages_GlobalOnlyPlease/photo_icon.gif\" height=\"14\" width=\"27\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"></td><td width=\"98%\" bgcolor=\"\"><font size=\"-1\"><b color=\"FFFFFF\">AIDS multimedia</b></font></td></tr></table><table width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10 10 10 2\" bordercolor=\"#a4abc1\" border=\"0\" style=\"border-right:solid 1px #a4abc1;border-bottom:solid 1px #a4abc1;border-left:solid 1px #a4abc1;background-color:#f3f3f6;\"><tr><td><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\"><tr valign=\"top\"><td><a href=\"javascript:SSOpen(\'13092077\',\'0\');\"><a href=\"javascript:SSOpen(\'13092077\',\'0\');\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia2.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Slideshows/_production/ss_060601_aids/ss_060601_aids_tease.thumb.jpg\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"></a></a><br><font class=\"credit\" style=\"text-align:right;\">AP</font></td><td width=\"10\">&nbsp;</td><td style=\"padding:10 10 10 2px;\"><font color=\"000000\"><font color=\"551E1B\">?/font><font color=\"black\"><b><a href=\"javascript:SSOpen(\'13092077\',\'0\');\">The Face of AIDS</a></b><br>Click to view images of the disease\'s global impact, from South Africa\'s orphans to Cambodia\'s stigmatized survivors.</font></font><br>&nbsp;</td></tr></table><table cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\"><tr valign=\"top\"><td><a href=\"javascript:OCW(\'/id/8814830/\',\'int770x540\',\'width=770,height=540\');\"><a href=\"javascript:OCW(\'/id/8814830/\',\'int770x540\',\'width=770,height=540\');\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/050722/050722_africaAIDS_tease.thumb.jpg\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"></a></a></td><td width=\"10\">&nbsp;</td><td style=\"padding:10 10 10 2px;\"><font color=\"000000\"><font color=\"551E1B\">?/font><font color=\"black\"><b><a href=\"javascript:OCW(\'/id/8814830/\',\'int770x540\',\'width=770,height=540\');\">AIDS: Lost generation</a></b><br>Orphans are left to care for themselves, and grandparents become parents again, as a generation of mothers and fathers are lost to AIDS.</font></font><br>&nbsp;</td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></p><p>Doctors took vaginal swabs and drew blood samples twice a week to measure HIV levels.</p><p>Those who took the drug ended up with less HIV in the bloodstream, with their count dropping from an average 20,000 virus copies per milliliter of blood to 8,000 copies. The placebo group saw their HIV levels spike, from an average of 50,000 virus copies per milliliter of blood to 63,000.</p><p>The treatment group was also less likely to have HIV in their genital tract - 13 percent had detectable virus levels during each visit, compared with 27 percent in the placebo group.</p><p>The study involved researchers from France, England and Burkina Faso and was funded by the French national AIDS research agency, ANRS.</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/17261559/\">3 given organs from HIV-positive donor</a> </li><li><a href=\"/id/17156844/\">Weakness in AIDS virus boosts hope for vaccine</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/17244005/\">Gambian president claims he can cure AIDS</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>One of the study\'s authors, Dr. Philippe Mayaud of the London School of Hygiene &amp; Tropical Medicine, called for more research on herpes control methods, including the development of a herpes vaccine. Mayaud has received research support from Glaxo.</p><p><b><strong>Gates study under way<br></strong></b>A larger study funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is under way that aims to be the definitive word on whether treating herpes patients with acyclovir, the first herpes drug, can slow down HIV transmission.</p><p>Some AIDS specialists said it is unlikely herpes drugs will be the first line of defense against AIDS. However, they said such treatment could be useful in preventing HIV transmission in Third World countries without access to modern AIDS drugs.</p><p>\"If, heaven forbid, we didn\'t have treatments for HIV, this would be something we would use. Fortunately, we have much better therapies to treat HIV,\" said Dr. Michael Saag, director of the AIDS Center at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He has consulted for Glaxo.</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('1831','1','	<p><p>THURSDAY, Jan. 4 (HealthDay News) -- What if your mind\'s eye could take you to a place so peaceful that the experience eased your pain or sped your recovery from surgery? It\'s not such a far-fetched concept.</p> <p>\"Guided imagery,\" a type of mind-body therapy that uses visualized images to communicate to the housekeeping systems of the body, is making its way into traditional medical settings. </p> <p>\"People are just now taking a very serious look at it,\" said David E. Bresler, co-founder of the Academy for Guided Imagery, in Malibu, Calif., and author of the book <i>Free Yourself From Pain</i>. \"There are a handful of hospitals around the country and around the world that are starting to implement these programs,\" he said.</p> <p>In one study, researchers at Harvard Medical School found that more than 30 percent of U.S. adults have used some form of mind-body medicine, a category that includes imagery, according to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.</p> <p>Bresler, a traditionally trained Ph.D. neuroscientist, first became intrigued with alternative methods of pain relief in the early 1970s, as founder and director of the University of California, Los Angeles, Pain Control Unit. Patients often used vivid images to describe their pain. It felt like an ice pick to one person, fire ants to another. One particular patient, a psychiatrist with a painful rectal carcinoma, suffered low back pain that he said \"felt like a dog chewing on my spine.\"</p> <p>Bresler knew that when patients used their imagination to go to a peaceful place, it helped them to relax, so he guided the agitated psychiatrist through a relaxation exercise. When the man\'s pain flared up, Bresler instructed him to speak to the dog. Would it let go of his spine? Then, an astonishing thing happened -- when the dog let go to talk, the man\'s pain subsided.</p> <p>Today, guided imagery has numerous applications. Sports psychologists use it to enhance athletes\' physical performance. Cancer centers often use it to relieve patients\' pain and nausea.</p> <p>In a 2004 study in the journal <i> Pain</i>, researchers at Cincinnati Children\'s Hospital Medical Center found that children who used guided-imagery tapes before and after routine surgery had significantly less pain and anxiety than a control group. More recently, researchers examined how children used these tapes, which suggested that they \"go\" to a park, at least in their mind. Many, though, put their own spin on the proposed image, allowing them to escape to places like a swimming pool, a lake or an amusement park.</p> <p>Bresler said imagery is the language of the autonomic nervous system, the part of the nervous system that regulates many involuntary body functions, such as heart rate, blood pressure and digestion. \"So, when you\'re working with images, it\'s really a set of instructions to the system,\" he said.</p> <p>Victoria Menzies, an imagery researcher and professor at Florida International University\'s School of Nursing, in Miami, said the first step for a patient in any guided-imagery session is to develop a rapport with the guide who is asking you to close your eyes and relax. Once the patient is in a relaxed state, the guide will either offer an image or ask the person to come up with their own, someplace where he or she would feel calm and safe or joyful -- the mountains, the seacoast, a favorite room in their home, whatever.</p> <p>Engaging the senses is the next step, she explained. The guide might ask where you are and what you see, hear, smell, feel and even taste.</p> <p>Menzies led a 10-week guided imagery intervention for a small group of patients with fibromyalgia, a condition involving chronic pain and fatigue. In the study, published in January 2006 in the <i>Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine</i>, one group of patients received usual care and used a set of guided-imagery audiotapes. The other group received only usual care. Compared with the controls, the patients who participated in guided imagery were better able to perform activities of daily living and had a greater sense of being able to manage their pain and other symptoms, the study showed.</p> <p>What\'s more, Menzies found, \"The pain did not change, but the ability to cope with the pain was improved.\"</p> <p>Bresler considers it shocking that medical colleagues would reach their hands into someone\'s body and remove organs before allowing a patient to go through an imaging exercise.</p> <p>\"It only takes a few moments to do these things and to really check on the wisdom from inside, because there is tremendous wisdom that\'s being generated if only we\'d listen to it,\" he said.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>To learn more, visit the <a href=\"http://cancer.ucsd.edu/Outreach/PublicEducation/CAMs/guidedimagery.a sp\" target=\"_new\">University of California, San Diego</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1832','1','	<p><p>MONDAY, Jan. 15 (HealthDay News) -- Human growth hormone is being sold in increasing amounts as a cure-all for the ravages of aging, but new research shows no evidence for these claims -- and even possible dangers from the treatments.</p> <p>So concludes a study from Stanford University researchers reported in the Jan. 16 <i>Annals of Internal Medicine</i>.</p> <p>Growth hormone is widely promoted on the Internet and its use as an anti-aging drug has been touted in media ranging from NBC\'s <i>Today</i> show to <i>Business Week</i>.</p> <p>However, Dr. Marc Blackman, clinical director of the U.S. National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, who was not involved in the new study, said: \"I\'m concerned this is a substantial and growing problem. In an aging society, wanting to age healthfully and well has included the use of this very powerful hormone, the effectiveness and safety of which are still under investigation and have not been proved for this purpose.\"</p> <p>The negative side effects of growth hormone include joint swelling and pain, carpal tunnel syndrome and a trend toward an increased risk of diabetes or pre-diabetes, according to the study.</p> <p>\"Human growth hormone is not the fountain of youth,\" said the study\'s lead researcher, Dr. Hau Liu, a research fellow in the division of endocrinology at Stanford\'s Center for Primary Care and Outcomes Research.</p> <p>Liu noted that as many as 30,000 people in the United States are taking growth hormone to try to stop the aging process. \"They are spending anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars a month,\" he said. \"They are spending this amount of money and getting only a slight, if any, benefit, but increasing the risk of serious side effects.\"</p> <p>The researchers looked at 31 studies that included just 220 patients. \"There is very little scientific evidence evaluating growth hormone for aging,\" Liu said. \"This limited evidence suggests that there is very modest benefit and a potential for side effects.\"</p> <p>Growth hormone caused small changes in body composition, such as a small gain in muscle mass and a small decrease in fat -- about 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds), Liu said. This is no more than you would get from moderate exercise, he noted.</p> <p>However, there was a potential for some serious side effects, including, in men, the risk for abnormal breast development, Liu said. These side effects are reversible when one stops taking the hormone, he said.</p> <p>Liu noted that growth hormone is not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use as an anti-aging medication.</p> <p>\"If you want to increase your probability of living a long, healthy life, [then] eat right, get some exercise, get enough sleep. Those things probably increase your probability of living a long, fruitful life,\" Liu said.</p> <p>One expert believes that growth hormone has no place as an anti-aging remedy and may come with dangers.</p> <p>\"The hucksters touting growth hormone as a magic bullet against aging claim that thousands of studies have been conducted on the hormone. Liu demonstrates definitively that this is not true -- only a handful of studies have ever been conducted using growth hormone in adults,\" said S. Jay Olshansky, a professor of public health and senior research scientist at the Center on Aging at the University of Illinois, Chicago.</p> <p>Olshansky also accused people who dispense growth hormone of acting irresponsibly.</p> <p>\"If those running anti-aging or so-called longevity clinics continue to openly and brazenly administer growth hormone to their patients as an anti-aging intervention, they will not only be openly violating the law, they may very well be jeopardizing the health of their patients,\" he said. \"This thorough analysis suggests that the time has arrived for the FDA and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency to crack down on this illegal and potentially harmful activity.\"</p> <p>As men and women age, there is a progressive slow decline in the release of growth hormone, Blackman said. By the time people reach their late 60s or 70s, the reduction in the production of growth hormone is as much as 50 percent to 75 percent less than when they were in their 20s, he explained.</p> <p>He noted that there are older people with a deficiency in growth hormone who can be successfully treated by replacing growth hormone. However, taking growth hormone to retard aging is not a proven therapy.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>Find out more about healthy aging at the U.S. <a href=\"http://nihseniorhealth.gov/\" target=\"_new\">National Institutes of Health</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1833','1','	<p><p>TUESDAY, Jan. 23 (HealthDay News) -- Forget those movie images of Svengali-like hypnotists waving pocket watches.</p> <p>Today\'s hypnotherapy is practiced by qualified physicians and has long been recognized by leading medical organizations -- including the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association and the U.S. National Institutes of Health -- as an adjunct therapy useful in easing a range of ailments.</p> <p>\"It\'s a tool we use in our clinical work -- regardless of whether you\'re a dentist or psychologist or physician,\" said Marc Oster, a clinical psychologist and hypnotherapist based in Arlington Heights, Ill.</p> <p>Dr. David Spiegel, an expert on hypnotherapy and a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University in California, agreed.</p> <p>\"Hypnotherapy is just a form of highly focused attention, and there are therapeutic strategies that you employ using that highly focused attention,\" he explained.</p> <p>For that reason, both experts stressed that patients who want to try hypnosis as a treatment tool should consult a practitioner licensed in some other form of medicine -- an M.D., a psychologist or a dentist, for example.</p> <p>Their reasoning: \"If you don\'t have clinical training, how can you work with clinical problems?\" Oster said. While hypnosis can help people stop smoking, for example, a mere hypnotist may not be able to spot and treat underlying problems.</p> <p>\"Maybe the person is using smoking to help manage their anxiety,\" Oster said. \"So then you\'re not treating the problem, just a symptom.\" In the case of psychiatric woes, especially, poorly guided hypnotherapy may even worsen the situation, experts say.</p> <p>What is hypnotherapy? According to Oster, patients are usually \"talked\" into a state of highly focused, suggestible attentiveness where they are able to clear away mental \"clutter\" and focus on whatever problem it is that concerns them. In most cases, practitioners teach patients self-hypnosis techniques they can use at home.</p> <p>Patients do <i>not</i> relinquish self-control, Oster said.</p> <p>\"Actually, from a clinical perspective, that\'s the opposite of what we do with people,\" he explained. \"People come to see us to develop <i>greater</i> willpower and have more self-control, more confidence in themselves. You don\'t help that by taking it away.\"</p> <p>Using electroencephalogram [EEG] and other methods, science is beginning to determine what happens to the hypnotized brain. \"We\'re getting to the point where we can see that the hypnotic brain looks different from the resting or sleeping brain,\" Oster said. Hypnotized individuals are usually physically at ease, with lowered blood pressure and heart rates, while feeling fully awake and mentally attentive.</p> <p>Studies have shown hypnosis can be a useful adjunct therapy against many ills, including:</p><ul> <li><b>Gastrointestinal problems.</b> \"For irritable bowel syndrome, especially, hypnosis has been demonstrated to be about 80 percent effective in reducing or eliminating symptoms. Medicine cannot do that,\" Oster said.</li> <li><b>Pain.</b> \"It\'s been clearly helpful there for hundreds of years,\" Spiegel said. In many cases, patients with chronic pain use self-hypnosis techniques to \"turn down\" pain, like lowering the volume on a radio. Spiegel said patients can also use the technique to help get through invasive or painful medical procedures, such as dentistry or even cardiac catheterization.</li> <li><b>Smoking and other addictions</b>. \"Half of people will typically stop smoking after a single [hypnosis] session, and half of those won\'t have a cigarette for two years,\" Spiegel said. In the world of smoking-cessation, a 25 percent long-term success rate is considered impressive, he said.</li> <li><b>Weight loss.</b> \"There\'s some pretty good research that says hypnosis is helpful,\" Oster said. \"It seems to help people stay focused on their goals.\"</li></ul> <p>Finding an effective, qualified hypnotherapist is easy if one consults one of two recognized associations: the practice-oriented American Society of Clinical Hypnosis, and a more research-oriented group, the Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis. Both groups mandate that hypnotherapists also be licensed in some form of clinical training.</p> <p>Oster said consumers should be wary of claims that seem exaggerated or too good to be true. \"If someone says their success rate with smoking is 90 to 95 percent, for example, I\'d stay away,\" he said.</p> <p>Both experts stressed that hypnotherapy is really directed by the patient, anyway, not the practitioner.</p> <p>\"It\'s a collaborative relationship between two people,\" Oster said, \"you and I. It\'s something I do <i>with</i> you, not <i>to</i> you.\" A good hypnotherapist simply teaches techniques that allows a patient to fulfill his or her goals, he said.</p> <p>\"Patients look at it as, \'I\'m doing this -- I\'m learning to help myself,\' \" he said.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>For more on hypnotherapy, visit the <a href=\"http://asch.net/genpubinfo.htm \" target=\"_new\">American Society of Clinical Hypnosis</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1834','1','	<p><p>FRIDAY, Jan. 26 (HealthDay News) -- Regular acupressure treatment helps reduce agitated behavior in dementia patients, according to a small study by Taiwanese researchers.</p> <p>Acupressure involves the application of pressure to certain points of the body.</p> <p>This study of 20 dementia patients found that 15-minute acupressure sessions given twice a day, five days a week, led to noticeable improvements, including reduced wandering and less verbal and physical aggression.</p> <p>During the sessions, each of five key pressure points was pressed for two minutes using three to five kilograms of pressure. The sessions lasted for four weeks. After the end of that treatment period, patient agitation levels started to increase again. That suggests that dementia patients require acupressure therapy on an ongoing basis, the researchers said.</p> <p>The study is published in the February issue of the <i>Journal of Clinical Nursing</i>.</p> <p>The findings have \"important implications for the future care of dementia patients,\" study co-author Professor Li-Chan Lin, of the Institute of Clinical Nursing at National Yang-Ming University, said in a prepared statement. According to Lin, the study shows that acupressure \"provides an effective option that, following training, can be carried out at home or in long-term care facilities.\"</p> <p>\"Agitated behavior in people with dementia is a major concern for caregivers. It can endanger patients and others, make it necessary for them to be moved from familiar surroundings and demoralize and psychologically distress caregivers,\" Lin noted.</p> <p>\"It is very important that we find interventions that enable us to provide more effective care for (dementia patients), both in their own home and in long-term care facilities,\" Lin said.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The American Academy of Family Physicians has more about <a href=\"http://familydoctor.org/662.xml\" target=\"_new\">dementia</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1835','1','	<p><p>TUESDAY, Jan. 30 (HealthDay News) -- A Chinese herb called danshen could one day be the foundation of a new treatment for high blood pressure, scientists say.</p> <p>In a new study, researchers report that an active ingredient in the herb reduces hypertension in hamsters and appears to work by widening blood vessels.</p> <p>\"Traditionally, we knew this was working for high blood pressure, but we didn\'t know what the mechanism was,\" said study author David D. Kim, an assistant professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Physiology at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.</p> <p>The roots of danshen, a kind of sage, are used as medicine in Chinese culture. The herb is used to treat heart problems and high blood pressure, also known as hypertension, a condition that affects an estimated 50 million Americans, according to background information for the study.</p> <p>Kim, a licensed acupuncturist, said he prescribes the herb to his own patients with high blood pressure. \"It works very well, especially with a person who has hypertension with atherosclerosis and angina.\"</p> <p>In the study, Kim and his colleagues gave the active ingredient of danshen -- tanshinone IIA -- to hamsters with high blood pressure. The researchers found that the ingredient significantly reduced blood pressure in the hamsters and also widened blood vessels. The ingredient appears to work by boosting the body\'s production of nitric oxide. </p> <p>The research could lay the groundwork for future investigations of danshen\'s potential as a hypertension drug. There are plenty of drugs on the market currently, Kim said, but each has significant side effects.</p> <p>The researchers reported their findings in an upcoming issue of the <i>American Journal of Physiology -- Heart and Circulatory Physiology</i>.</p> <p>Much work into danshen\'s therapeutic role remains to be done, however, said Lixing Lao, an associate professor of family and community medicine at the University of Maryland and co-president of the Society for Acupuncture Research.</p> <p>\"More research on drug toxicity and adverse effects will be needed to evaluate the safety of this remedy,\" said Lao, who suggested it should be used with caution by people who are on blood thinners.</p> <p>As for the next step, Kim said he\'s interested in understanding how long the effects of danshen last after people stop taking it.</p> <p>\"People ask about the difference between Oriental and Western medicine: In Western medicine, [a treatment] works fast but doesn\'t last long. In Oriental medicine, it works slowly, but it lasts,\" he said.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>Learn more about danshen from <a href=\"http://www.drugdigest.org/DD/DVH/HerbsTake/0,3927,553134%7CDanshen,0 0.html\" target=\"_new\">drugdigest.org</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1836','1','	<p><p>THURSDAY, Feb. 1 (HealthDay News) -- An innovative method of nerve regrowth now allows a patient with a prosthetic arm to feel its movements, researchers reported late Thursday.</p> <p>The technique can make learning to use a new arm easier, and combined with other breakthroughs in prosthetic limbs, it could help arm amputees, particularly injured soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, improve the quality of their lives.</p> <p>\"One of the biggest challenges with artificial limbs is, how do you tell a prosthesis what to do,\" said lead researcher Dr. Todd Kuiken, the director of the Neural Engineering Center for Artificial Limbs at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. \"This paper describes one of our patients and shows really remarkable improvement in function. Our patients are seeing hundreds of percent of improvement.\" </p> <p>The patient in the report, a 24-year-old woman who lost her arm in a motorcycle accident, is \"delighted\" with the new technique, which is called targeted muscle reinnervation, Kuiken said.</p> <p> \"She said, \'Doc, my last arm wasn\'t worth wearing; this one is.\' Her previous arm was just too hard to use, and she quit wearing it very often,\" he added.</p> <p>This new system works because sensation from the amputated limb remains in the nerves that used to go to the arm. Kuiken and colleagues took those nerves and transferred them to muscle and skin in the patient\'s chest.</p> <p>\"So now, when our patient thinks \'close hand,\' the signal goes from the brain through the spinal cord out through the hand nerve, but now a little piece of muscle on the chest contracts,\" Kuiken said.</p> <p>\"Every time a muscle contracts, there is a little electrical signal that we can pick up,\" he added. \"In the same way, we have been able to get the hand-sensation nerves to grow into chest skin, so that when you touch that skin, the patient feels their hand being touched.\"</p> <p>Right now, patients have to look at their prosthesis to see when they have touched something and how hard they are squeezing it, Kuiken said.</p> <p>Using the new method, which includes sensors in the prosthetic hand, the patient can feel how hard she is touching something or squeezing it or even how hot it is, Kuiken said. The sensors send information to the chest skin, and the patient feels the pressure and temperature in the hand.</p> <p>Many amputees are reluctant to wear their prosthesis because of its weight and difficulty of use, Kuiken said. He hopes that newer, lighter limbs, coupled with his technique, will make it easier to learn how to use artificial limbs.</p> <p>\"Even more important might be the psychological impact,\" Kuiken added. \"The fact that you touch something with your prosthetic hand, and you feel your hand, may be a profound improvement in the emotional adjustment and acceptance of a prosthesis being a real thing as part of your body image.\" </p> <p>This project, which is reported in the Feb. 3 issue of <i>The Lancet</i>, was funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health.</p> <p> \"We hope to be doing the procedure in our servicemen and women this year,\" Kuiken said. In addition, his team is expanding its research to see how they can adapt the technique to legs.</p> <p>One expert thinks that the new technique is a major accomplishment in making better prosthetic limbs.</p> <p>\"This is an important step in more intuitive control systems for prosthetic limbs,\" said Dr. Leigh R Hochberg, a neuroscience investigator at Brown University and the author of an accompanying editorial in the journal.</p> <p>This technique will cut the training time and increase the control, Hochberg added. \"Using this, or other techniques, much more natural control of prosthetic limbs might be possible,\" he said.</p> <p>The technique, combined with newer limbs, may be an advance in prosthetic limbs in general, he added. \"As engineers continue to create better, lighter prosthetic limbs, there will be better ways to control that limb,\" Hochberg said.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs can tell you more about <a href=\"http://www1.va.gov/opa/fact/pros-sensory.asp\" target=\"_new\">artificial limbs</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1837','1','	<p><p>FRIDAY, Feb. 2 (HealthDay News) -- Conflicting attitudes may limit the participation of some groups of women in clinical trials, suggests a Wake Forest University School of Medicine study. </p> <p>Researchers discussed clinical trials with 72 women (52 black women from different income levels and 20 low-income white women) and found that the women expressed uncertainties about trusting study investigators and fears about the trial itself, along with hopes that the research would help medical progress.</p> <p>\"The results of our study demonstrate the willingness of at least some African-American and low socioeconomic status white women to participate in research if it will benefit them or their families, advance scientific knowledge and help others in the future,\" the study authors wrote.</p> <p>\"But they must trust the researchers to be ethical and upfront with them about what is required, fully disclose what will happen to the health information they provide, and put their best interests first.\"</p> <p>The researchers found that the women\'s fears were based on \"not wanting to be a guinea pig or doing something that no one has done before.\"</p> <p>The study is published in the February issue of the <i>Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved</i>.</p> <p>In order to alleviate the kinds of fears and concerns about clinical trials expressed by the women, the researchers suggested that academic medical centers boost their involvement with minority or low socioeconomic communities in order to make those people partners in research designed to help address their health problems and concerns.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The U.S. National Institutes of Health has more about <a href=\"http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct/gui/c/a2r/screen/PrintURL?file=whatis.h tml&JServSessionIdcs_current=jug5rydgna\" target=\"_new\">clinical trials</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1838','1','	<p><p>FRIDAY, Feb. 9 (HealthDay News) -- A new form of supplemental therapy that teaches patients pain coping strategies for a common jaw disorder can also lower their costs for treatment, a new study finds. </p> <p> Temporomandibular disorder (TMD), which affects more than 10 percent of Americans, is the second most common pain-causing muscular and skeletal condition, behind low-back pain, according to background information in the article. TMD is caused by wear on the cartilage lining the jaw joint, resulting in pain from chewing, talking or clenching of the teeth. </p> <p>This study by researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas included 81 women and 20 men, ages 18 to 70, who were divided into two groups. One group received six weeks of early biopsychosocial intervention, while the other group received standard dental care.</p> <p>The patients in the intervention group were taught about the mind-body relationship, the body\'s reaction to stress, and relaxation in everyday settings. They were also taught about biofeedback.</p> <p>A year later, the patients who received the intervention reported reduced levels of pain and had improved coping abilities and better moods and emotions. Patients who received standard dental care made many more visits to a doctor for treatment of pain, the study found. They also reported more general anxiety and other disorders.</p> <p>The findings were published online Monday in the <i>Journal of the American Dental Association</i> and are expected to appear in another study to be published in the March issue of the journal.</p> <p>Standard care for TMD -- such as medication, physical therapy and surgery -- can be expensive, noted co-author Dr. Anna Stowell, assistant professor of psychiatry and anesthesiology and pain management at UT Southwestern.</p> <p>\"The early intervention can reduce TMD-related pain levels, stave off chronic pain and save people money on costly treatments,\" Stowell said in a prepared statement.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The American Academy of Otolaryngology -- Head and Neck Surgery explains <a href=\"http://www.entnet.org/healthinfo/topics/tmj.cfm\" target=\"_new\">temporomandibular joint dysfunction</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1839','1','	<p><p>FRIDAY, Feb. 9 (HealthDay News) -- Patients in phase 1 cancer trials may be skewing the results if they are also taking vitamins, herbal preparations, minerals and other dietary supplements, researchers report.</p> <p>More than one-third of patients in these trials report taking these alternative medications, according to a report in the Feb. 10 issue of the <i>Journal of Clinical Oncology</i>.</p> <p>Phase 1 trials are designed to test the safety of an experimental drug and to determine if there are any harmful side effects. Since the biological activity of herbals and other natural supplements aren\'t always known, taking them could mask the effect of the drug under study, explained lead author Dr. Christopher Daugherty, an associate professor of medicine at the University of Chicago.</p> <p>\"If anything bad happens to a patient in a phase 1 trial, we attribute it to the experimental drug,\" Daugherty said. \"But much of biologically active complementary and alternative medicines are agents that have not been well studied, and we don\'t know what their effects are in the body by themselves, let alone when they\'re combined with experimental drugs,\" he said.</p> <p>\"If we don\'t know what the effects of a alternative drug are, or if we don\'t know the patient is taking it, we can falsely assume that the experimental drug is unsafe or even safe,\" Daugherty said.</p> <p>In the study, Daugherty\'s team interviewed 212 patients with advanced cancer enrolled in phase 1 clinical trials. Patients were interviewed about their use of biologically-based alternative medications.</p> <p>The team found that 34 percent of patients were taking these supplements, similar to their usage in the general U.S. population. Among the patients, 41 said they were taking vitamins and minerals, such as vitamins A, C, D, E, and B12, selenium, magnesium, zinc, and copper. In addition, 40 patients said they took herbal preparations, including cat\'s claw, laetrile, St. John\'s wort, milk thistle, ginseng, and echinacea.</p> <p>Although patients in phase 1 trials are not supposed to be taking other drugs, Daugherty believes that there are several reasons why the natural concoctions are often overlooked.</p> <p>Sometimes, patients are reluctant to tell the doctor they are taking alternative medicines, either because they don\'t think it\'s important, or they don\'t want to be told to stop taking them, Daugherty said.</p> <p>\"Patients need to tell their doctor what medications they are taking, such as mega-doses of vitamins. These, by themselves, may do no harm, but if you combine it with other drugs that are metabolized in the liver, who knows what might happen,\" he said.</p> <p>For example, St. John\'s wort can be toxic to the liver if it is taken along with certain chemotherapy drugs, Daugherty said. \"On the other hand, some alternative medications may be protective against side effects. So, we may falsely assume that the experiment\'s drug is safe,\" he said.</p> <p>Doctors too are often lax in asking their patients about alternative medicines. There may be several reasons for this, Daugherty said. On the one hand, doctors might not think to ask, and, on the other hand, they might not think the drug could cause a problem.</p> <p>And, since it\'s often difficult to get cancer patients to take part in phase 1 trials, some researchers may be reluctant to turn any potential patient away. \"In addition, most doctors don\'t know very much about alternative medicine,\" Daugherty said.</p> <p>One expert believes that both patients and doctors need to be concerned about any medications participants are taking before they start a clinical trial.</p> <p>\"If people aren\'t being asked about alternative medications in this day and age -- that\'s a bad thing,\" said Dr. Tieraona Low Dog, the director of education at the program in integrative medicine at the University of Arizona.</p> <p>Patients do need to be asked about alternative medications, because they can alter results, Low Dog said.</p> <p>\"If you are going to participate in a clinical trial, you have to be completely candid with the physicians and the researchers about what you have been using, and that\'s not just vitamins, minerals and herbs, that\'s also over-the-counter medications. Many of these things can affect the trial medication and your outcome,\" Low Dog said.</p> <p>In addition, since alternative medicines are so common today, doctors need to specifically quiz their patients about them, Low Dog said. \"If you don\'t ask, they won\'t tell.\"</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>For more information on alternative medicine, visit the <a href=\"http://nccam.nih.gov/\" target=\"_new\">U.S. National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1840','1','	<p><!--Spanish ID: 601690 --> <p>MONDAY, Feb. 5 (HealthDay News) -- Cigarette pack warning labels with prominent text and graphic pictures of smoking damage are most effective at changing smokers\' behavior, says a study that looked at warning labels in four countries. </p> <p>The study found that health warnings on cigarette packages in the United States, which were last updated in 1984, are the least effective, consisting of only small text warnings on the side of packages.</p> <p>In Canada, a large portion of the cigarette package is covered by a graphic photograph of health damage caused by smoking. That meets the standard recommended by the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.</p> <p>For this study, researchers analyzed data from surveys taken during 2002-2005 of about 15,000 adult smokers in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States.</p> <p>The smokers were asked about their awareness of the health warnings on cigarette packages, whether the warnings changed their understanding about the risks of smoking, their intention or motivation to quit, and any behavioral changes they\'d noticed in themselves.</p> <p>\"This study suggests that more prominent health warnings are associated with greater levels of awareness and perceived effectiveness among smokers,\" wrote researcher David Hammond.</p> <p>The study is published in the March issue of the <i>American Journal of Preventive Medicine</i>.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention outlines the <a href=\"http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/sgr/sgr_2004/sgranimation/welcome.html\" target=\"_new\">health dangers of smoking</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1841','1','	<p><!--Spanish ID: 601776 --> <p>THURSDAY, Feb. 8 (HealthDay News) -- More than half of people who experience what appear to be symptoms of stroke do not seek medical treatment, new research shows.</p> <p>The trend is a disturbing one, because rapid treatment can mean the difference between life and death, and between a minor and a major disability. </p> <p>\"People don\'t need to be afraid to go get these symptoms looked at,\" said study author Virginia J. Howard, an epidemiologist with the University of Alabama-Birmingham. \"They may be nothing, but prevention is so much better than treating the stroke. This is <i>not</i> like the boy who cried wolf.\" </p> <p>Howard presented her findings Wednesday at the American Stroke Association\'s annual meeting in San Francisco.</p> <p>According to the association, about 700,000 people in the United States suffer a stroke each year, and about 150,000 people die of stroke, making it the third leading cause of death in the United States. Between 15 percent and 30 percent of stroke survivors will suffer permanent disability.</p> <p>Racial and regional disparities in stroke prevalence and death are well-known. In particular, black Americans have higher death rates from stroke, and blacks and other people living in the southeastern United States are more likely to suffer a stroke.</p> <p>This presentation is part of a larger study trying to tease out the mysteries of the so-called U.S. Stroke Belt: the Carolinas, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas and Louisiana, which have higher-than-average stroke death rates. </p> <p>\"We\'re looking at reasons for the differences in stroke mortality between different people and different parts of the country,\" Howard explained. </p> <p>Researchers have already recruited more than 20,000 participants and are working toward 30,000. Participants include black and white adults aged 45 years and older. </p> <p>For this part of the study, researchers asked participants if they had experienced any stroke symptoms (such as sudden weakness, numbness, sudden loss of vision) and, if so, whether they had sought medical care. </p> <p>Researchers also asked if a health-care professional had told participants that they had suffered a stroke or a transient ischemic attack (TIA) -- also called a \"mini\" or \"warning\" stroke. </p> <p>Slightly more than half (51.4 percent) of those who reported symptoms but no physician diagnosis of a stroke did not seek medical care, the researchers said. </p> <p>Participants were 23 percent more likely to seek medical care if they had prior heart disease and 22 percent more likely if they had either high blood pressure or diabetes. </p> <p>Income also played a role in the decision to seek help. People with yearly incomes between $20,000 and $34,999 were the least likely to seek care -- in fact, they called for help 8 percent less frequently than people with incomes below $20,000 per year, the researchers found.</p> <p>Rates of care-seeking began to rise once more as incomes climbed past $35,000 a year. For example, compared to people with incomes under $20,000, those with an income of $35,000 to $74,999 were 27 percent more likely to seek care, and those with incomes above $75,000 were 55 percent more likely to seek care. </p> <p>Participants with health insurance were only marginally more likely to seek care, so insurance wasn\'t the prime issue here. \"That\'s not explaining why people don\'t go,\" Howard said. </p> <p>She said that, in the case of stroke, knowledge really is power.</p> <p>\"People don\'t think you can prevent a stroke, but you can,\" Howard said. \"You just have to be aware of the risk factors and pay attention to those before you have a stroke.\" Risk factors include smoking, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, family history, prior stroke, and advancing age, according to the American Heart Association.</p> <p>Experts also urge Americans to get to know the warning signs of a stroke, which include:</p> <ul> <li>sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body;</li> <li>sudden confusion, including trouble speaking or understanding;</li> <li>sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes;</li> <li>sudden trouble walking, dizziness, or loss of balance or coordination;</li> <li>sudden, severe headache with no known cause.</li> </ul> <p>\"This is really, really important,\" said Dr. Donald DiPette, chairman and professor of internal medicine at Texas A&amp;M Health Science Center College of Medicine and Scott &amp; White Hospital. \"That\'s hundreds of thousands of people that we can educate. This is the first step before we can do something about it. You have to recognize the symptoms, you have to be seen, and the earlier we see you, the more likely we can do something about it. If it\'s a false alarm, that\'s great. But you\'ve got to be seen,\" DiPette said. </p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>Find out more about stroke at 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('1842','1','	<p><p>THURSDAY, Feb. 8 (HealthDay News) -- While scientists have believed for years that excessive antibiotic use leads to microbes gaining resistance to those drugs, a new study offers up much-needed proof.</p> <p>\"A lot of studies have shown an association between antibiotic use and resistance,\" said Dr. Herman Goossens, lead author of the report in the Feb. 10 issue of <i>The Lancet.</i> \"But all those studies are based on indirect evidence. There have been no randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind studies. Ours is the first study to show directly that antibiotic use leads to resistance,\" he said.</p> <p>The study was performed at University Hospital Antwerp in Belgium, where Goossens is professor of medical microbiology.</p> <p>The study showed that \"antibiotics will have a tremendous effect on normal flora [microbes] which will exist for at least six months,\" Goossens said. It also showed that different antibiotics in the same famil y can have strikingly different effects on these bugs.</p> <p>In the study, healthy volunteers were given either azithromycin or clarithromycin, members of the macrolide family of antibiotics, while a third group received a placebo.</p> <p>The researchers periodically tested samples of the <i>Streptococcus</i> family of bacteria, obtained from individuals in each group, to see if they had developed any resistance to the macrolide drugs.</p> <p>As expected, resistance levels rose in the two groups given the antibiotics -- by 50 percent after eight days in the clarithromycin group, and by more than 53 percent after four days in the azithromycin group. There was no increase in antibiotic resistance among people who took the placebo.</p> <p>And while azithromycin caused a slightly greater increase in bacterial resistance over the short term, clarithromycin seemed to favor the survival of bacteria carrying a gene called <i>erm(B)</i>, which appears to confer high-level resistance to macrolide antibiotics.</p> <p>Both drugs also affected the levels of naturally occurring, harmless bacteria in the mouth, an effect that was still evident after 180 days.</p> <p>\"Other studies have shown that resistance genes can spread among bacteria,\" Goossens noted. \"They can spread to pathogens causing such problems as ear infections and sore throats. Then these become very difficult to treat.\"</p> <p>According to the researchers, the study\'s take-home message is one experts have preached for years: \"Physicians should take into account the striking ecological effects of antibiotics when prescribing such drugs to their patients.\"</p> <p>However, differences in resistance patterns between the two closely related antibiotics also invites further study, they added.</p> <p>The report fills in an important gap in knowledge, said Dr. Stephanie Dancer, a consultant microbiologist at Southern General Hospital in Glasgow, Scotland. She wrote an accompanying editorial in the journal.</p> <p>\"Microbiologists knew this anyway, but it\'s so nice to see direct evidence,\" Dancer said. \"It\'s what we have needed.\"</p> <p>\"I do feel very, very strongly, as my colleagues do, that we are running out of [effective] antibiotics,\" Dancer said. \"This study is so nice, because it gives concrete evidence underpinning everything we have suspected.\"</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>There\'s more on the threat of antibiotic resistance at the <a href=\" http://www.tufts.edu/med/apua\" target=\"_new\"> Alliance for the Prudent Use of Antibiotics </a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1843','1','	<p><p>THURSDAY, Feb. 8 (HealthDay News) -- Beauty shops may be an ideal place to educate minority women about stroke, suggests a study slated for presentation this week in San Francisco at the American Stroke Association\'s International Stroke Conference. </p> <p>In the study, researchers gave lessons on stroke prevention and warning signs to beauticians in black-run beauty shops in Cincinnati and Atlanta. The beauticians then discussed stroke-related issues with their clients, who also received a packet that included heart-healthy cookbooks, wallet cards listing stroke warning signs, and other stroke-related materials.</p> <p>The beauty shop clients were also given stroke knowledge surveys at the start of the study and again five weeks and five months later. Nearly 400 women completed the baseline survey, and 318 women completed the five-month survey.</p> <p>At the start of the study, 40.7 percent of the women surveyed knew three stroke warning signs, compared to 50.6 percent after five months. The study also found an 8 percent increase (to a total of 93 percent) in the women who knew to call 911 immediately in the event of a stroke, and a 7 percent increase (to a total of 92 percent) in the women who recognized stroke when they were given a clinical scenario.</p> <p>However, there was no improvement in the women\'s knowledge of stroke risk factors, even though they were taught to the beauticians and included in the educational materials given to the clients. Finding ways to improve that requires further study, the researchers said. </p> <p>Overall, the findings demonstrate that these kinds of community-based programs are an effective method of educating minority groups about stroke risk, said study lead author Dr. Dawn Kleindorfer, a stroke neurologist and associate professor at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine in Ohio.</p> <p>\"We know that this program works. We had two women have a stroke during the study in the beauty salon, and the beauticians called 911 and got them to the hospital within 45 minutes. The beauticians said they would not have known what to do before our project,\" Kleindorfer said in a prepared statement.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The U.S. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke has more about <a href=\"http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/stroke/knowstroke.htm\" target=\"_new\">stroke</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1844','1','	<p><p>FRIDAY, Feb. 9 (HealthDay News) -- Scientists have pinpointed two molecules that show promise against potential bioweapon toxins and could help fill a gap in the United States\' bioterrorism defenses. </p> <p>These molecules appear to be effective against neurotoxins produced by <i>Clostridium botulinum</i>, which is one of the six highest-risk bioterrorism agents, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.</p> <p>The research, by scientists at the Scripps Research Institute in California and the University of Wisconsin, was published this week in the online edition of the journal <i>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</i>.</p> <p>Currently, treatments to counter this threat are expensive and have limited applicability. These newly-identified molecules could help expand protection against botulinum neurotoxins, the researchers say.</p> <p>\"Our study is an important milestone in the fight against biological terrorism,\" study leader Kim Janda, a Scripps Research scientist, said in a prepared statement.</p> <p>\"These small molecules are the first to show efficacy against this neurotoxin in animal models. Equally important, both have surprisingly simple structures, so their biological activity can be readily optimized. With their different modes of action, they could easily be developed as part of a potent \'cocktail\' therapy,\" Janda said.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more about <a href=\"http://www.bt.cdc.gov/bioterrorism/overview.asp\" target=\"_new\">bioterrorism</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1845','1','	<p><p>TUESDAY, Feb. 13 (HealthDay News) -- Breathing secondhand smoke appears to increase levels of two warning signs for heart disease, fibrinogen and homocysteine, British researchers report.</p> <p>\"The size of these effects were between about one-third and one-half that seen in relation to active smoking, which seems disproportionately large, but fits with previous studies that have shown similar effects in relation to disease risk,\" said lead researcher Andrea Venn, an associate professor at the University of Nottingham\'s Division of Epidemiology and Public Health.</p> <p>The findings are published in the Feb. 13 edition of <i>Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association</i>.</p> <p>For the study, Venn and co-author Dr. John Britton collected data on 7,599 adults who participated in the third National Health And Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III, 1988-94). None of these people had ever smoked.</p> <p>Study participants had their blood levels of cotinine, an indicator of nicotine, measured. They also had their levels of fibrinogen, homocysteine and C-reactive protein measured, all markers of potential heart disease.</p> <p>The researchers found that 18 percent of the participants had no detectable levels of cotinine. The rest had either low or high levels. Eighteen percent of those with low levels of cotinine and 56 percent of those with high levels said they lived with a smoker or were exposed to tobacco smoke at work.</p> <p>The researchers also found that the low- and high-cotinine groups had significantly higher levels of fibrinogen and homocysteine, compared with those who had no detectable levels of cotinine. The increased fibrinogen and homocysteine levels were equivalent to about 30 percent to 45 percent of levels seen in active smokers.</p> <p>\"Furthermore, our study showed that these effects were not restricted to people exposed to high levels of secondhand smoke but were also evident in our low-exposure group, the majority of whom reported not living with a smoker and not being exposed at work,\" Venn said.</p> <p>The findings suggest that secondhand smoke has a significant effect on susceptibility to cardiovascular disease, even at relatively low levels of exposure, Venn said. \"Secondhand smoke is likely to be an important avoidable cause of cardiovascular disease in the population, and it is therefore important that measures are implemented to minimize the public\'s exposure to secondhand smoke,\" she said.</p> <p>One heart expert thinks this study provides further evidence of the dangers of secondhand smoke.</p> <p>\"Contrary to what the tobacco companies will tell you, there is overwhelming evidence that even secondhand smoke is harmful,\" said Dr. Byron Lee, an associate professor of cardiology at the University of California, San Francisco.</p> <p>Some research suggests that secondhand smoke inhaled by nonsmokers causes more harm than would be expected, Lee said. \"This article helps us understand the mechanism behind this apparent effect, by showing us that passive smoke exposure can increase biomarkers of cardiovascular disease to levels seen in everyday smokers,\" he said.</p> <p>In other research involving secondhand smoke, the Flight Attendant Medical Research Institute has awarded an $8.7 million grant to New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center and other hospitals to look at the lingering effects of secondhand smoke among nonsmoking fight attendants and other service industry workers.</p> <p>Until bans on in-flight smoking took effect in 1988, flight attendants were regularly exposed to secondhand smoke. Now, 5,000 of these men and women and others are being recruited for a series of clinical studies on the health effects of secondhand smoke on nonsmokers.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>To learn more about secondhand smoke, visit the <a href=\"http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4521\" target=\"_new\">American Heart Association</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1846','1','	<p><p>THURSDAY, Feb. 15 (HealthDay News) -- Consumers should not eat certain jars of Peter Pan peanut butter or Great Value peanut butter because they may be contaminated with <i>Salmonella</i> Tennessee, a bacterium that causes food-borne illness, U.S. officials said.</p> <p>The U.S. Food and Drug Administration warning is based on data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. According to the CDC, there have been 288 cases of food-borne illness in 39 states tied to eating Peter Pan peanut butter. <i>Salmonella</i> is carried by animals, but somehow was transferred during the manufacturing process to the peanuts.</p> <p>People can identify the affected jars of Peter Pan or Great Value peanut butter by looking for a product code -- located on the lid -- that starts with the number 2111. Both brands are made in a single plant in Georgia by the ConAgra company. Great Value peanut butter made by other manufacturers is not affected, according to the FDA.</p> <p>The FDA is recommending that all affected jars of Peter Pan or Great Value peanut butter purchased since May 2006 be discarded.</p> <p>The outbreak appears to have started in August 2006. As a result of testing and recent case control studies, the CDC was finally able to identify Peter Pan peanut butter as the likely cause of illness.</p> <p>ConAgra announced Thursday that it was recalling all varieties of Peter Pan Peanut Butter and Great Value Peanut Butter beginning with product code 2111.</p> <p>\"Although none of our extensive product tests have indicated the presence of <i>salmonella</i>, we are taking this precautionary measure because consumer health and safety is our top priority,\" Chris Kircher, a ConAgra spokesman, said in a prepared statement. \"We are working closely with the FDA to better understand its concerns, and we will take whatever additional measures are needed to ensure the safety, quality and wholesomeness of our products.\"</p> <p>As part of its investigation, the FDA has sent investigators to ConAgra\'s processing plant in Sylvester, Ga., to review records, collect product samples and conduct tests for <i>Salmonella</i> Tennessee.</p> <p>Symptoms of <i>salmonella</i> include fever, diarrhea and abdominal cramps. <i>Salmonella</i> can cause life-threatening infections in people in poor health or who have weakened immune systems.</p> <p>Any such illnesses should be reported to state or local health authorities, the FDA said.</p> <p>This outbreak follows major food-borne illness scares in 2006 involving spinach, tomatoes and iceberg lettuce. One expert said he\'s not surprised that these outbreaks are continuing to plague U.S. consumers.</p> <p>\"This is not an unusual event,\" said Dr. Philip Tierno, the director of clinical microbiology and immunology at New York University Medical Center and author of the <i>The Secret Life of Germs</i> and <i>Protect Yourself Against Bioterrorism</i>. \"<i>Salmonella</i> is a very prevalent organism,\" he said.</p> <p>According to Tierno, these contamination problems arise because the FDA does not regulate the safety of produce -- and he doubts that the food industry can monitor itself. \"I think the government is moving toward making a change,\" he said. \"Outside monitoring is the way to go.\"</p> <p>Tierno said food poisoning strikes an estimated 80 million people in the United States each year. \"Nine (thousand) to 10,000 people die annually from food poisoning,\" he said. \"That to me is absurd in America.\"</p> <p>In related news, it was announced Tuesday that ConAgra is also recalling more than 400,000 pounds of pasta and meatball meals that may have been underprocessed. The recall involves 36.6-ounce cartons of Banquet brand Homestyle Bakes Pasta &amp; Meatballs in Marinara Sauce produced between Oct. 19, 2006 and Jan. 25. There have been no reports of illnesses linked to the product, the U.S. Department of Agriculture\'s Food Safety and Inspection Service said.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>For more information on <i>salmonella</i>, visit the <a href=\"http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/salmonellosis_g.htm\" target=\"_new\">U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1847','1','	<p><p>THURSDAY, Feb. 15 (HealthDay News) -- U.S. health officials are warning consumers to discard certain jars of Peter Pan peanut butter or Great Value peanut butter because they may be contaminated with <i>Salmonella</i> Tennessee, a bacterium that causes food-borne illness.</p> <p>The U.S. Food and Drug Administration warning is based on data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which reported 288 cases of food-borne illness in 39 states tied to both brands of peanut butter. </p> <p>The affected jars have a product code -- located on the lid -- that starts with the number 2111. Both products were made by the ConAgra Inc. food company in a single plant in Sylvester, Ga., according to the FDA. </p> <p>The FDA is recommending that all affected jars of Peter Pan or Great Value peanut butter purchased since May 2006 be discarded.</p> <p>The outbreak appears to have started in August 2006, according to the FDA. But the CDC only recently was finally able to identify Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butter as the likely cause of the illnesses as a result of testing and recent case control studies .</p> <p>How the <i>salmonella</i> got into peanut butter is still under investigation, Dr. Mike Lynch, a CDC epidemiologist, told the <i>Associated Press</i>.</p> <p> New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Tennessee and Missouri have reported the most number of cases. About 20 percent of those sickened were hospitalized, and there were no deaths, Lynch said. </p> <p>ConAgra, based in Nebraska, announced Thursday that it was recalling all varieties of Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butter with the product code 2111.</p> <p>\"Although none of our extensive product tests have indicated the presence of <i>salmonella</i>, we are taking this precautionary measure because consumer health and safety is our top priority,\" Chris Kircher, a ConAgra spokesman, said in a prepared statement. \"We are working closely with the FDA to better understand its concerns, and we will take whatever additional measures are needed to ensure the safety, quality and wholesomeness of our products.\"</p> <p>ConAgra officials haven\'t said how much peanut butter is covered in the recall. The Peter Pan brand is sold in 10 varieties, according to the company\'s Web site. The Great Value brand, which is also made by other companies, is a Wal-Mart brand. </p> <p>As part of its investigation, the FDA has sent investigators to ConAgra\'s processing plant in Sylvester to review records, collect product samples and conduct tests for <i>Salmonella</i> Tennessee.</p> <p>Meanwhile, supermarket chains across the country scrambled to pull the products off their shelves.</p> <p> Stop & Shop and Shaw\'s, two of New England\'s largest grocery chains, ordered their stores to remove all the Peter Pan peanut butter, the <i>Boston Globe</i> reported.</p> <p>In Texas, H-E-B, which operates 300 stores in the state as well as northern Mexico, removed the entire Peter Pan line from its shelves early this morning, Leslie Lockett, a spokeswoman for the company in Austin, told the <i>AP</i>.</p> <p>And in U.S. military commissaries around the world, workers were ordered to remove all Peter Pan peanut butter jars, according to <i>Stars and Stripes</i>. Officials from the Defense Commissary Agency, which provides groceries for the military, sent out the order on Thursday morning, the newspaper reported.</p> <p>Symptoms of <i>salmonella</i> include fever, diarrhea and abdominal cramps. <i>Salmonella</i> can cause life-threatening infections in people in poor health or who have weakened immune systems.</p> <p>Any such illnesses should be reported to state or local health authorities, the FDA said.</p> <p>This outbreak follows major food-borne illness scares in 2006 involving spinach, tomatoes and iceberg lettuce.</p> <p> One expert said he was not surprised that such outbreaks continue to plague U.S. consumers.</p> <p>\"This is not an unusual event,\" said Dr. Philip Tierno, the director of clinical microbiology and immunology at New York University Medical Center and author of the <i>The Secret Life of Germs</i> and <i>Protect Yourself Against Bioterrorism</i>.</p> <p> \"<i>Salmonella</i> is a very prevalent organism,\" he added.</p> <p> Tierno said these contamination problems arise because the FDA does not regulate the safety of produce -- and he doubts that the food industry can monitor itself. </p> <p>\"I think the government is moving toward making a change,\" he said. \"Outside monitoring is the way to go.\"</p> <p>Tierno said food poisoning strikes an estimated 80 million people in the United States each year. \"Nine (thousand) to 10,000 people die annually from food poisoning,\" he said. \"That to me is absurd in America.\"</p> <p>In related news, it was announced Tuesday that ConAgra is also recalling more than 400,000 pounds of pasta and meatball meals that may have been underprocessed. The recall involves 36.6-ounce cartons of Banquet brand Homestyle Bakes Pasta &amp; Meatballs in Marinara Sauce produced between Oct. 19, 2006 and Jan. 25. There have been no reports of illnesses linked to the product, the U.S. Department of Agriculture\'s Food Safety and Inspection Service said.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>For more information on <i>salmonella</i>, visit the <a href=\"http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/salmonellosis_g.htm\" target=\"_new\">U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1848','1','	<p><!--Spanish ID: 600873 --> <p>WEDNESDAY, Jan. 10 (HealthDay News) -- A workplace intervention program can significantly reduce signs of stress on the heart, say researchers.</p> <p>Work-related stress is one of several factors that may increase the risk of heart attack.</p> <p>In a study published this week in <i>Hypertension</i>, researchers tested the effects of a stress-reduction intervention program in workers who faced layoffs -- a significant stress-inducer.</p> <p>The participants included 91 office workers at a DuPont subsidiary in Italy that was downsizing its workforce by 10 percent and a control group of 79 healthy volunteers who worked outside of the company and reported no work-related stress.</p> <p>At the start of the study, the participants were assessed by a clinical psychologist and completed a self-administered questionnaire to assess their overall stress, fatigue and bodily stress-related symptoms. They also underwent a single lead electrocardiogram (ECG), which evaluates the autonomic nervous system (ANS), a system that adjusts and modifies bodily functions in response to stress.</p> <p>The stressed workers had significantly higher stress and fatigue than the controls, and reported more stress-related symptoms such as difficult sleep, pounding of the heart, and gastrointestinal problems. In addition, the stressed workers\' ECGs indicated that their heart rhythm was showing signs of stress.</p> <p>\"This is typical of the stressed individual -- they are facing psychological pressure, but they don\'t want to hear about psychologists because they are feeling real, clinical symptoms,\" study senior author Massimo Pagani, a professor of medicine at the University of Milan in Italy, said in a prepared statement.</p> <p>After the baseline assessment, the DuPont workers were invited to sign up for a weekly, one-hour stress management session that focused on relaxation and stress-related coping skills or a passive program that offered articles and monthly e-mails on stress reduction techniques. Twenty-six employees signed up for the stress-management sessions, and 25 signed up for the passive program.</p> <p>Before the programs began, the autonomic measures (ECG and arterial pressure) were similar in both intervention groups, but, after a year, the stress-management program induced a significant, small reduction in arterial pressure and clear changes in ECG-derived stress indicators.</p> <p>\"Our study provides a potential model for the assessment of work-related stress at an individual level, and suggests that stress management programs can be implemented at the worksite,\" Pagani said.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The American Academy of Family Physicians has more about <a href=\"http://familydoctor.org/167.xml\" target=\"_new\">stress management</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1849','1','	<p><!--Spanish ID: 600985 --> <p>FRIDAY, Jan. 12 (HealthDay News) - Low-income minorities with blood flow problems are at higher risk of peripheral artery disease (PAD) and amputations, a new study reports.</p> <p>People with PAD have fatty build-ups in the arteries, which can harden the arteries. This can cause disruptions in the circulation of oxygen and nutrients to the tissues of the body. When circulation is restricted, symptoms such as cramped or tired arms and legs can occur.</p> <p>Initial symptoms of PAD may include difficulty walking, and when more severe, PAD can cause painful foot ulcers, infections and even gangrene, which could require amputation. People with PAD may also be at a higher risk of death from heart attack or stroke.</p> <p>People often go to the emergency room for care when PAD advances. Unfortunately, by the time a person with PAD goes to the emergency room, amputation may be the only option.</p> <p>In a new study published in the January issue of the <i>Journal for Vascular Surgery</i>, researchers reviewed cases of 240,740 minority patients with an annual income of less than $25,000 who had lower extremity ischemia, where blood flow and oxygen was not getting to the legs. Two-thirds of the patients had to have vascular grafts, and the other third had major amputation.</p> <p>\"We found that patients from low-income areas, Medicaid and Medicare patients, and non-teaching hospitals had more amputation rates. Patients with Medicaid also presented more commonly with gangrene,\" Mohammad Hamed Eslami, assistant professor of surgery at UMass Medical School in Worcester, Mass., said in a prepared statement.</p> <p>Eslami emphasized the importance of educating people -- especially the poor -- about the signs and symptoms of PAD and offering screenings to the underserved to help decrease amputations.</p> <p>According to the Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS), people who are older than 40 years; who have high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, obesity or atherosclerosis; who smoke; and who have a family history of vascular disease are at risk for developing PAD.</p> <p>If you experience symptoms of PAD in your legs, see a vascular surgeon.</p> <p>According to the SVS, walking, being physically active, eating a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol, and taking recommended medications to improve walking distance can help prevent PAD.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The American Heart Association has more about <a href=\"http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3020256\" target=\"_new\">peripheral artery disease</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1850','1','	<p><p>TUESDAY, Jan. 16 (HealthDay News) -- More American families -- both with health insurance and without -- are sinking in a sea of medical debt, and are turning to their credit cards as a last-ditch lifeline to pay their bills, a new report finds.</p> <p>\"The health-care net is made of plastic,\" said Mark Rukavina, co-author of the report and executive director of The Access Project, in Boston. \"People are using high-interest credit cards to pay for their health care.\" </p> <p>The report, <i>Borrowing to Stay Healthy: How Credit Card Debt Is Related to Medical Expenses</i>, was prepared by The Access Project and Demos, two non-profit organizations, and released Tuesday. </p> <p>Health-care costs have been rising for decades, and have risen dramatically in recent years. And the cost of health insurance continues to outstrip wages and inflation. As a result, employers are looking for ways to reduce their insurance costs, and individuals and families are being forced to take on more of the burden. </p> <p>Both people with and without health insurance are struggling to pay their medical bills. According to one survey, one-quarter of Americans have problems paying medical bills and two-thirds of these people have health insurance. </p> <p>\"The problem of medical debt is widespread,\" Rukavina said. \"Nearly 60 million adults in the U.S. are at risk of incurring medical bills they will not be able to afford. Many people are just an illness away from becoming medical debtors, and medical debt can have a detrimental effect on health-care access.\" </p> <p>\"I woke up every morning and the first thing I thought was, \'I have cancer,\' and the second thing was, \'How am I going to pay for this?\' \" said Peggie Sherry, 50, a cancer survivor and founder of the Faces of Courage Foundation, a nonprofit cancer-patient support group based in Tampa, Fla.</p> <p>Sherry had six surgeries in two years for breast cancer and was only able to pay off $40,000 worth of medical bills on her credit cards when her parents died and left her money. </p> <p>To assess how U.S. households are dealing with medical debt, The Access Project and Demos commissioned a national survey of 1,150 low- and middle-income households. To be included in the survey, which was conducted in 2005, households had to have credit-card debt of three months or longer at the time of the survey. </p> <p>People who had medical expenses as part of their credit-card balances had much higher credit-card debt than those who did not. In fact, 29 percent of households reported that medical expenses contributed to their credit-card balances. Within that group, 69 percent reported a major medical expense in the past three years. </p> <p>\"Medical costs were key factors in higher credit-card balances among households,\" said Tamara Draut, director of the Economic Opportunity Program at Demos. </p> <p>Among the report\'s other findings: </p> <ul> <li>Households with medical debt had higher levels of credit-card debt than households without medical debt -- on average, 46 percent higher or $11,623, compared to $7,964.</li> <li>The distribution of debt was higher among medically indebted households: 44 percent had credit-card debt in excess of $10,000, while only 26 percent of non-medically indebted households had credit-card debt above $10,000. </li> <li>Among those with medical debts, young adults aged 18 to 34 had the highest level of average credit-card debt of any age group -- $13,303 compared to $7,450 for non-medically indebted young adults.</li> <li>Households that were medically indebted were more likely to be called by bill collectors than non-medically indebted households, 62 percent vs. 38 percent.</li> <li>Credit-card debt was high for both insured and uninsured medically indebted households -- $10,973 and $14,512, respectively. \"This indicates that even those who do have health insurance aren\'t always protected,\" said Cindy Zeldin, a report co-author and federal affairs coordinator with Demos\' Economic Opportunity Program.</li> </ul> <p>The report outlined several areas for reform, including differentiating medical debt from consumer debt and limiting the entry of medical providers into financial services. </p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>View the full report at <a href=\"http://www.accessproject.org/adobe/borrowing_to_stay_healthy.pdf\" target=\"_new\">The Access Project</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1851','1','	<p><!--Spanish ID: 601337 --> <p>THURSDAY, Jan. 25 (HealthDay News) -- If you want to live longer, just win a Nobel Prize. </p> <p>Attaining that lofty award can add nearly two years to your life span, according to a study by researchers at the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom.</p> <p>The researchers conducted the study to explore whether social status alone can affect the well-being and life span of people. Previous research has found that social status does have a positive effect on the longevity of monkeys.</p> <p>However, it has been a challenge to separate the effects of status alone, because it\'s often intertwined with other factors such as wealth. The researchers decided that Nobel Prize winners were an ideal group for this kind of study because their social status occurs suddenly when they win the award.</p> <p>For this study, the researchers compared 524 male Nobel Prize winners (135) and nominees (389) in physics and chemistry between 1901 and 1950. The average life span of the winners was 77.2 years, compared with 75.8 years for the nominees.</p> <p>When the researchers compared winners and nominees from the same countries, they found that the longevity gap increased by an average of about two-thirds of a year.</p> <p>\"Status seems to work a kind of health-giving magic. Once we do the statistical corrections, walking across that platform in Stockholm apparently adds about two years to a scientist\'s life span. How status does this, we just don\'t know,\" study co-author Andrew Oswald, a professor of economics at the University of Warwick, said in a prepared statement.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The American Academy of Family Physicians offers advice about <a href=\"http://familydoctor.org/786.xml\" target=\"_new\">healthy living</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1852','1','	<p><!--Spanish ID: 601455 --> <p>TUESDAY, Jan. 30 (HealthDay News) -- Women with a history of intimate partner violence have much higher health care costs and use health services more often than women with no history of abuse, a new study shows. </p> <p>Even years after the abuse has stopped, these women still use the health system much more and incur higher costs, according to Group Health, a Seattle-based health plan, and researchers at the University of Washington. </p> <p> The study is published in the February issue of the <i>American Journal of Preventive Medicine</i>.</p> <p>Researchers analyzed data and survey results from 3,333 women, ages 18 to 64. Of those women, 1,546 reported having experienced intimate partner violence (IPV) in their lifetime. For this study, IPV was defined as both physical abuse (slapping, hitting, kicking, or forced sex) and nonphysical abuse (threats, controlling behavior, chronic disparaging remarks).</p> <p>The study found that:</p><ul> <li>Women with a history of IPV had 19 percent higher annual ($439 a year) total health care costs than women with no history of IPV.</li> <li>Compared to other women, those who reported IPV had 17 percent more primary care visits, 14 percent more specialist visits, and 27 percent more prescription refills. Women who reported current or past IPV were also more likely to use services in the areas of mental health, substance abuse, hospital outpatient care, emergency department care, and acute inpatient care.</li> <li>Health care use was still 20 percent higher five years after women\'s abuse stopped, compared to women with no history of IPV.</li> <li>Excess costs to the health plan due to IPV are approximately $19.3 million per year for every 100,000 women enrollees ages 18 to 64. That estimate is based on previous research that estimated a 44 percent rate of IPV among the women.</li></ul> <p>\"These results show the enormous cost of intimate partner violence and can justify investing in intervention programs to reduce its health effects and prevent its recurrence. It would also justify the costs of long-term programs to prevent this problem from happening in the first place,\" study lead author Dr. Frederick P. Rivara, an affiliate investigator at the Group Health Center for Health Studies and a researcher at the Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center in Seattle, said in a prepared statement.</p> <p>Rivara is also a professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The American College of Emergency Physicians has more about <a href=\"http://www.acep.org/webportal/PatientsConsumers/HealthSubjectsByTopi c/Violence/domviolence.htm\" target=\"_new\">domestic violence</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1853','1','	<p><p>THURSDAY, Feb. 1 (HealthDay News) -- Race, gender and health insurance status strongly influence how U.S. hospital emergency departments evaluate patients with chest pain, says a new study.</p> <p>Researchers at the Medical College of Wisconsin and Johns Hopkins University analyzed data on 7,068 patients, 30 years or older, who had chest pain and went to an emergency department from 1995 to 2000.</p> <p>Overall, black males were 25 percent to 30 percent less likely than non-black men to receive any diagnostic or monitoring tests, such as electrocardiography, chest radiography, oxygen saturation monitoring and cardiac monitoring.</p> <p>Over the six-year study period, there was a decrease in the use of all forms of diagnostic testing and monitoring (with the exception of oxygen saturation monitoring) among black men. From 1995 to 2000, the use of electrocardiography decreased more than 16 percent among black men, while the use of cardiac monitoring declined 26 percent.</p> <p>The study also found that black women were about 5 percent less likely to have electrocardiography than non-black males, and 17 percent less likely to have cardiac monitoring, 14 percent less likely to have oxygen saturation monitoring, and 6 percent less likely to have chest radiography. Non-black women were also less likely than non-black men to have these tests.</p> <p>Insurance was another important factor. Compared to patients with commercial insurance, those with other types of insurance were 13 percent less likely to have electrocardiography, 21 percent less likely to have cardiac monitoring, 23 percent less likely to have oxygen saturation monitoring, and more than 13 percent less likely to have chest radiography.</p> <p>The study is published in the February issue of <i>Academic Emergency Medicine</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/003079.htm\" target=\"_new\">chest pain</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1854','1','	<p><p>MONDAY, Feb. 5 (HealthDay News) -- President Bush\'s proposed $2.9 trillion federal budget, unveiled Monday, calls for health care spending cuts, including a major five-year reduction in Medicare expenditures to slow the program\'s annual growth rate from 6.5 percent to 5.6 percent.</p> <p>The proposed total cuts of $78 billion for Medicare and Medicaid -- the federal health insurance programs for the elderly and lower-income Americans, respectively -- are part of Bush\'s plan to eliminate the federal deficit by 2012. However, Medicare spending would increase nearly $454 billion in 2008, an increase of $28 billion over this year, before the proposed reductions take effect.</p> <p>The total 2008 budget for federal health care, administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, would be nearly $700 billion for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1, an increase of more than $28 billion over 2007. Medicare makes up 55.4 percent of the HHS budget, while Medicaid accounts for 29 percent.</p> <p>\"The budget we are releasing today builds on our past successes and continues to invest in the future,\" HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt said in a prepared statement. \"It sets out an aggressive, yet responsible, budget that funds our priorities and helps sustain our long-term commitment to seniors and low-income Americans. We are serving our citizens with compassion while maintaining sensible stewardship of their tax dollars.\"</p> <p>Under the proposed budget, however, more Medicare beneficiaries would have to pay higher premiums for coverage of prescription drugs and doctor services, <i>The New York Times</i> reported Monday.</p> <p>Currently, married couples who earn more than $160,000 and single people who earn more than $80,000 have to pay higher Medicare premiums for doctors\' services. In his budget proposal, Bush wants a similar surcharge for the new prescription drug benefit, which took effect last year.</p> <p>Bush is also proposing to \"eliminate annual indexing of income thresholds,\" a move that would result in more Medicare beneficiaries eventually having to pay higher premiums, the <i>Times</i> reported.</p> <p>It\'s expected the changes would bring in $10 billion more to the federal government over the next five years.</p> <p>But now that Democrats control both houses of Congress, one health-care expert said it was unlikely there would be much, if any, change to the existing Medicare program.</p> <p>\"Increases in Medicare that would increase payments for poor people would be humanely and financially counterproductive,\" said Robert Hayes, president of the advocacy group Medicare Rights Center. \"But we would expect Congress to reject that,\" he added.</p> <p>Hayes said he thought any cuts in Medicare reimbursements would come at the expense of the insurance industry and pharmaceutical companies, as Congress mandates lower drug costs for Medicare recipients.</p> <p>Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) criticized Bush\'s budget for proposing cuts to Medicaid. The budget proposal also doesn\'t increase funding for Title X, which provides access to contraception for low-income women and couples, the group said.</p> <p>\"For years, women and families have relied on Medicaid and Title X for family planning services. With the number of holes that this administration has poked in both programs, it\'s no wonder that American families are falling through the cracks. This budget will only worsen America\'s health care crisis,\" PPFA President Cecile Richards said in a prepared statement.</p> <p>The proposed budget calls for minimal increased funding at the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For example, the proposed funding for the National Institute of Diabetes &amp; Digestive &amp; Kidney Diseases would be $1.858 billion, slightly less than a 1 percent increase from the current fiscal year, according to the American Diabetes Association.</p> <p>Additionally, funding for the CDC\'s Division of Diabetes Translation, which runs state-based diabetes prevention and control programs, would remain flat at $62.8 million, the diabetes association said.</p> <p>\"It is very unfortunate that the Bush administration, as demonstrated by today\'s budget proposal, has failed to recognize that diabetes is the greatest public health crisis of the first quarter of the 21st century,\" Dr. Larry C. Deeb, president of medicine and science at the American Diabetes Association, said in a prepared statement. \"The Bush administration and Congress have not increased the federal resources directed at diabetes in four years, while the disease has grown by nearly 30 percent in that same time period.</p> <p>\"Without the proper investment in diabetes treatment and prevention, which this budget proposal fails to provide, our health-care system will continue to spiral downward,\" Deeb said.</p> <p>Criticism of the budget package also came from Dr. Raymond Gibbons, president of the American Heart Association, who said funding for cardiovascular disease-prevention programs administered by the CDC would remain flat for the second year in a row.</p> <p>\"The President\'s [fiscal year] 2008 budget raises serious concerns about the government\'s commitment to prevent cardiovascular diseases -- the nation\'s No. 1 killer. Funding for heart and stroke prevention programs is far short of what we need. This couldn\'t come at a worse time as higher rates of diabetes and obesity threaten to reverse four decades of steady progress in the fight against heart disease and stroke,\" Gibbons said in a prepared statement.</p> <p>The budget proposal earmarks nearly $3 billion for health care for HIV/AIDS patients, $25 million to treat the illnesses of first responders at the 9/11 World Trade Center site in New York City, and $4.3 billion in bioterrorism spending, a $141 million increase over last year. This includes $135 million for the development of medical countermeasures for the Strategic National Stockpile, and $154 million to expand, train and coordinate medical emergency teams.</p> <p>The proposed spending plan also calls for $1.2 billion to prepare for a pandemic flu, including increasing vaccine production capacity and stockpiling antiviral drugs, as well as the development of rapid diagnostic tests and enhanced rapid response capabilities.</p> <p>As part of the budget proposal, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has requested a 6.2 percent increase in its annual budget, to $1.64 billion.</p> <p>\"This increase will help advance our core mission of promoting and protecting public health,\" John Dyer, the FDA\'s deputy commissioner for operations and chief operating officer, said during a Monday teleconference. \"The budget contains a net increase of $95.3 million for high-priority initiatives to enhance FDA\'s product safety system and continue our efforts to make available more affordable generic medication available to the American public.\"</p> <p>Specifically, the FDA is seeking $10.6 million for food safety; $11.2 million for drug safety; $7.2 million for medial device safety, and $27 million in new user fees from manufacturers looking for FDA approval of drugs and devices.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>For more information on the health care budget, visit the U.S. <a href=\"http://www.hhs.gov/budget/08budget/2008BudgetInBrief.pdf\" target=\"_new\">Department of Health and Human Services</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1855','1','	<p><!--Spanish ID: 601693 --> <p>MONDAY, Feb. 5 (HealthDay News) -- President Bush\'s proposed $2.9 trillion federal budget, unveiled Monday, calls for health care spending cuts, including a major five-year reduction in Medicare expenditures to slow the program\'s annual growth rate from 6.5 percent to 5.6 percent.</p> <p>The proposed total cuts of $78 billion for Medicare and Medicaid -- the federal health insurance programs for the elderly and lower-income Americans, respectively -- are part of Bush\'s plan to eliminate the federal deficit by 2012. However, Medicare spending would increase nearly $454 billion in 2008, an increase of $28 billion over this year, before the proposed reductions take effect.</p> <p>The total 2008 budget for federal health care, administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, would be nearly $700 billion for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1, an increase of more than $28 billion over 2007. Medicare makes up 55.4 percent of the HHS budget, while Medicaid accounts for 29 percent.</p> <p>\"The budget we are releasing today builds on our past successes and continues to invest in the future,\" HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt said in a prepared statement. \"It sets out an aggressive, yet responsible, budget that funds our priorities and helps sustain our long-term commitment to seniors and low-income Americans. We are serving our citizens with compassion while maintaining sensible stewardship of their tax dollars.\"</p> <p>Under the proposed budget, however, more Medicare beneficiaries would have to pay higher premiums for coverage of prescription drugs and doctor services, <i>The New York Times</i> reported Monday.</p> <p>Currently, married couples who earn more than $160,000 and single people who earn more than $80,000 have to pay higher Medicare premiums for doctors\' services. In his budget proposal, Bush wants a similar surcharge for the new prescription drug benefit, which took effect last year.</p> <p>Bush is also proposing to \"eliminate annual indexing of income thresholds,\" a move that would result in more Medicare beneficiaries eventually having to pay higher premiums, the <i>Times</i> reported.</p> <p>It\'s expected the changes would bring in $10 billion more to the federal government over the next five years.</p> <p>But now that Democrats control both houses of Congress, one health-care expert said it was unlikely there would be much, if any, change to the existing Medicare program.</p> <p>\"Increases in Medicare that would increase payments for poor people would be humanely and financially counterproductive,\" said Robert Hayes, president of the advocacy group Medicare Rights Center. \"But we would expect Congress to reject that,\" he added.</p> <p>Hayes said he thought any cuts in Medicare reimbursements would come at the expense of the insurance industry and pharmaceutical companies, as Congress mandates lower drug costs for Medicare recipients.</p> <p>Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) criticized Bush\'s budget for proposing cuts to Medicaid. The budget proposal also doesn\'t increase funding for Title X, which provides access to contraception for low-income women and couples, the group said.</p> <p>\"For years, women and families have relied on Medicaid and Title X for family planning services. With the number of holes that this administration has poked in both programs, it\'s no wonder that American families are falling through the cracks. This budget will only worsen America\'s health care crisis,\" PPFA President Cecile Richards said in a prepared statement.</p> <p>The proposed budget calls for minimal increased funding at the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For example, the proposed funding for the National Institute of Diabetes &amp; Digestive &amp; Kidney Diseases would be $1.858 billion, slightly less than a 1 percent increase from the current fiscal year, according to the American Diabetes Association.</p> <p>Additionally, funding for the CDC\'s Division of Diabetes Translation, which runs state-based diabetes prevention and control programs, would remain flat at $62.8 million, the diabetes association said.</p> <p>\"It is very unfortunate that the Bush administration, as demonstrated by today\'s budget proposal, has failed to recognize that diabetes is the greatest public health crisis of the first quarter of the 21st century,\" Dr. Larry C. Deeb, president of medicine and science at the American Diabetes Association, said in a prepared statement. \"The Bush administration and Congress have not increased the federal resources directed at diabetes in four years, while the disease has grown by nearly 30 percent in that same time period.</p> <p>\"Without the proper investment in diabetes treatment and prevention, which this budget proposal fails to provide, our health-care system will continue to spiral downward,\" Deeb said.</p> <p>Criticism of the budget package also came from Dr. Raymond Gibbons, president of the American Heart Association, who said funding for cardiovascular disease-prevention programs administered by the CDC would remain flat for the second year in a row.</p> <p>\"The President\'s [fiscal year] 2008 budget raises serious concerns about the government\'s commitment to prevent cardiovascular diseases -- the nation\'s No. 1 killer. Funding for heart and stroke prevention programs is far short of what we need. This couldn\'t come at a worse time as higher rates of diabetes and obesity threaten to reverse four decades of steady progress in the fight against heart disease and stroke,\" Gibbons said in a prepared statement.</p> <p>The budget proposal earmarks nearly $3 billion for health care for HIV/AIDS patients, $25 million to treat the illnesses of first responders at the 9/11 World Trade Center site in New York City, and $4.3 billion in bioterrorism spending, a $141 million increase over last year. This includes $135 million for the development of medical countermeasures for the Strategic National Stockpile, and $154 million to expand, train and coordinate medical emergency teams.</p> <p>The proposed spending plan also calls for $1.2 billion to prepare for a pandemic flu, including increasing vaccine production capacity and stockpiling antiviral drugs, as well as the development of rapid diagnostic tests and enhanced rapid response capabilities.</p> <p>As part of the budget proposal, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has requested a 6.2 percent increase in its annual budget, to $1.64 billion.</p> <p>\"This increase will help advance our core mission of promoting and protecting public health,\" John Dyer, the FDA\'s deputy commissioner for operations and chief operating officer, said during a Monday teleconference. \"The budget contains a net increase of $95.3 million for high-priority initiatives to enhance FDA\'s product safety system and continue our efforts to make available more affordable generic medication available to the American public.\"</p> <p>Specifically, the FDA is seeking $10.6 million for food safety; $11.2 million for drug safety; $7.2 million for medial device safety, and $27 million in new user fees from manufacturers looking for FDA approval of drugs and devices.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>For more information on the health care budget, visit the U.S. <a href=\"http://www.hhs.gov/budget/08budget/2008BudgetInBrief.pdf\" target=\"_new\">Department of Health and Human Services</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1856','1','	<p><!--Spanish ID: 601731 --> <p>WEDNESDAY, Feb. 7 (HealthDay News) -- Parents\' fighting likely doesn\'t cause children\'s behavioral problems, such as skipping school, lying, shoplifting or bullying. But parents who quarrel constantly may pass on genes for disruptive behavior to their children, a new U.S. study suggests.</p> <p>Researchers from the University of Virginia and several other universities studied 1,045 adult identical and fraternal twins and their 2,051 children.</p> <p>The researchers concluded that genes influenced how often the parents argued with their spouses and that these same genes, when passed on to children, increased the risk of behavioral problems in youngsters.</p> <p> The findings are published in the January/February issue of the journal <i>Child Development</i>.</p> <p>\"This study suggests that martial conflict is not a major culprit (of behavioral problems in children), but genes are,\" lead researcher K. Paige Harden, professor of psychology at the University of Virginia, said in a prepared statement.</p> <p>\"Our findings have potential implications for treating conduct problems: focusing on a child\'s parents, as is common in family therapy, may not be as effective as focusing on the child,\" Harden said.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The American Academy of Pediatrics has more about <a href=\"http://www.medem.com/MedLB/article_detaillb.cfm?article_ID=ZZZFBI8B7 9C&sub_cat=21\" target=\"_new\">children\'s behavior</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1857','1','	<p><p>THURSDAY, Feb. 8 (HealthDay News) -- One out of every 150 American eight-year-olds has some form of autism, meaning that 560,000 children in the country have the disorder, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Thursday.</p> <p>That\'s a higher prevalence than prior estimates, drawn from a number of countries, that had pegged rates at between 1 in 500 and 1 in 166 children, according to the CDC.</p> <p>\"Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are a major public health issue,\" Dr. Marshalyn Yeargin-Allsopp, CDC\'s chief of the Developmental Disabilities Branch, said during a teleconference about the figures.</p> <p>The full report is published in the Feb. 9 issue of the agency\'s journal <i>Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report</i>.</p> <p>Overall, some 17 percent of U.S. children have some form of developmental disability, ranging from mild disability, such as speech and language problems, to serious developmental problems, such as intellectual disabilities, cerebral palsy and autism, Yeargin-Allsopp said.</p> <p>The reasons for the increase in autism spectrum disorders isn\'t clear, added Catherine Rice, a behavioral scientist at the CDC\'s National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities. \"It is difficult to determine exactly what is going on,\" Rice said during the teleconference. \"Is this a change in the way ASDs are identified, or is there an increase for the people at risk for ASDs, such that there is a real increase in the conditions?\" she asked.</p> <p>Rice noted that the definition of these disorders has changed over time. It now includes, in addition to classic autism, Asperger syndrome and other pervasive developmental disorders not otherwise specified.</p> <p>The CDC data also suggest that there are widespread delays in diagnosing autism spectrum disorders. \"The majority of children with an ASD had documented concerns by a parent or a professional before three years of age,\" Rice noted. \"But the median age of earliest ASD diagnosis was approximately four and a half to five and a half years,\" she said.</p> <p>To establish the nationwide prevalence of autism spectrum disorders, the CDC looked at school and medical records of children in 2000 and 2002. In 2002, their survey included 10 percent of U.S. eight-year-old children born in 1994 in 14 states, including Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin. The researchers calculated that a total of 2,685 eight-year-olds had autism or a related disorder.</p> <p>There was a difference in the prevalence of these conditions across states, Rice noted. In 2000, the prevalence of autism spectrum disorders ranged from 4.5 per thousand in West Virginia to 9.9 per thousand in New Jersey, she said.</p> <p>\"Autism prevalence is higher in boys aged eight years than in girls the same age,\" Rice added. The data indicate that for every girl with an autistic condition, there are three to seven boys with such a disorder, she noted.</p> <p>In addition, autism spectrum disorders are common among mentally retarded children -- those with an IQ of 70 or less, Rice said. \"Between 33 percent and 62 percent of children with an ASD had cognitive impairment,\" she said.</p> <p>The CDC is now conducting a study to try to identify the environmental factors that may put children at risk for autism.</p> <p>One expert believes that earlier diagnosis is essential to help these children.</p> <p>\"This tells us there are an enormous number of children with autism,\" said Dr. Gary Goldstein, chair of the scientific affairs committee at the advocacy group Autism Speaks, and president and CEO of the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, which focuses on pediatric mental health.</p> <p>Goldstein is particularly concerned that most children with an autism spectrum disorder aren\'t diagnosed until they start school, despite parents raising concerns years before. \"We know that early intervention can be helpful for these children, and it\'s not going to happen if you\'re not diagnosed until you are five years old,\" he said.</p> <p>These problems can be diagnosed as early as age two, Goldstein said. \"It isn\'t that children begin to show signs of autism at four and five -- all of them who have it at six, had it at two. With proper screening, many more children would be recognized,\" he said.</p> <p>In addition, autism and disorders like it are largely genetic conditions, Goldstein said. \"If you knew you had it, and you know that your child has a 10 to 15 percent risk of having it, you could use that information,\" he said.</p> <p>However, the causes of the various forms of autism aren\'t known and may be different for each, Goldstein said. \"Right now, we have lumped then all in one bucket,\" he said.</p> <p>More research is needed to find the causes and treatments for autism, Goldstein said. \"By doing the genetic studies and the environmental studies, within a decade, hopefully, we are going to have some real answers,\" he said. \"We don\'t have prevention, and we don\'t have treatment right now.\"</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>For more information on autism, visit the <a href=\"http://health.nih.gov/result.asp/62 \" target=\"_new\">U.S. National Institute of Mental Health</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1858','1','	<p><p>(HealthDay News) -- Addiction to drugs or alcohol can lead to a variety of behavioral and physical changes in teenagers.</p> <p>The Nemours Foundation says signs that your child may have an addiction problem include:</p> <ul> <li>Acting withdrawn or secretive with family and friends.</li> <li>Disinterest in activities and hobbies he used to enjoy.</li> <li>Poor grades or frequent absences from school.</li> <li>Mood swings, anxiety, anger or depression.</li> <li>A new set of friends, particularly those who are known to use drugs.</li> <li>Changes in sleeping or eating habits.</li> <li>Rapid weight gain or loss.</li> </ul> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1859','1','	<p><p>FRIDAY, Feb. 9 (HealthDay News) -- Despite media reports of addicts getting prescription painkillers such as Oxycontin from the Internet, most of them are actually getting these drugs from family, friends or dealers, a new study finds.</p> <p>A second study, which looked at the abuse of these drugs in the general population, found that more teenagers are getting their hands on these powerful medications.</p> <p>\"Illegal prescription pain medication use is a very complex, multi-faceted problem with many different sources,\" said Dr. J. David Haddox, who co-authored both studies.</p> <p>A dentist and a physician, Haddox serves as vice president of Risk Management and Health Policy for Purdue Pharma. The Stamford, Conn.-based company makes OxyContin, a popular narcotic prescribed for the treatment of moderate to severe pain.</p> <p>Other Purdue Pharma employees were involved in the two studies, which were presented Thursday at the American Academy of Pain Medicine in New Orleans.</p> <p>In the first study, Haddox\' team focused on more than 5,800 clinically diagnosed drug addicts whose primary drug of abuse was identified as an opioid analgesic.</p> <p>All the patients were enrolled in a methadone treatment program at one of 69 centers in 33 states during 2005. Over 95 percent of the men and women were non-Hispanic white, and almost 57 percent were employed during the study period.</p> <p>Questionnaires were administered to identify all drug source options accessed by the patients.</p> <p>According to the researchers, almost 82 percent of the patients said they illegally obtained their prescription medications from a drug dealer. Just over 50 percent said friends or relatives were also a source, although no information was gathered regarding where those contacts originally got the drugs.</p> <p>A little more than 30 percent said a doctor had prescribed them their opiates, although it was not clear if such prescriptions were obtained through trickery or collusion.</p> <p>Emergency room visits were a source of the drugs for just under 14 percent, while theft constituted about 6 percent and faked prescriptions just under 3 percent.</p> <p>Internet purchases were reported to be a source of drugs for just 2.4 percent of the patients, the study found.</p> <p>Haddox said the findings, while striking, should be interpreted with caution.</p> <p>\"This is the first time we\'ve looked at this particular population in this magnitude and in this depth, and that\'s important,\" he said. \"But I would not want the results of this particular survey to be seen as generalizable to all drug abuse patients, because this is a very distinct subset who is so far along in their disease of addiction that they are seeking methadone maintenance treatment -- people at the far end of the spectrum.\"</p> <p>\"So, for example, I don\'t want to say that the Internet is <i>not</i> a problem at all for drug sourcing among any drug abusers, because the (U.S.) Drug Enforcement Administration certainly thinks it is,\" added Haddox. \"It\'s not showing up in this work, however, so we just need to do a lot more research to solve the puzzle.\"</p> <p>In the second study, the team conducted 258 phone interviews with law enforcement officers, physicians, pharmacists and drug abuse treatment staff located across 40 states.</p> <p>The researchers identified hydrocodone, oxycodone and OxyContin (which contains oxycodone) as the most frequently abused prescription analgesics, with their use rising among teens.</p> <p>As well, abuse of these drugs was found to be equally common in rural, semi-urban, and urban areas -- countering a popular assumption that the problem is more widespread in rural areas than elsewhere.</p> <p>The survey also revealed that individuals often abused prescription antidepressants to counter some unwanted side effects of methamphetamines.</p> <p>\"This study really showed the value of looking beyond numbers to get at the source of the problems, which varies from community to community,\" said Haddox. \"I think this gives us an opportunity to better educate the public about dangerous misperceptions and behaviors.\"</p> <p>Dr. Adam Bisaga, an associate professor of psychiatry at Columbia University and an addiction psychiatrist at the New York State Psychiatric Institute in New York City, expressed surprise at the marginal role the Internet is playing as a source of illegal prescription painkillers.</p> <p>\"This might not be the right group of people to look at to see if the Internet is a real problem,\" he cautioned. \"My impression is that patients -- especially younger, computer-savvy patients -- do cite the Internet as one of their big sources, but methadone clinics typically have older patients with established networks for getting drugs, so they might not be the ones most likely to turn to the Internet.\"</p> <p>Another expert wasn\'t surprised by the findings, however.</p> <p>Dr. H. Westley Clark is director of the U.S. government\'s Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, part of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). He said that the 2 percent figure for those sourcing drugs off the Internet \"is not zero, so the Internet <i>is</i> a source, but it\'s not a major source for these drugs. We look at a general population rather than hard-core users to see where people are illegally getting their drugs, and what we find is that just 1 percent is buying it off the Internet.\"</p> <p>\"About 60 percent are getting their drugs from friends and family for free, while another 15 percent go and buy them from friends,\" Clark said in reference to numbers from SAMHSA\'s 2005 national survey of drug use, which also confirmed that opioid analgesic use is on the rise among teens. \"So, in the case of a general population, drug dealers aren\'t the biggest problem either, although it\'s certainly no surprise that hard-core addicts are getting it that way,\" he said.</p> <p>\"Of course, we can anticipate the possibility of a growing Internet problem, particularly among young people, and we need to have some controls,\" Clark added. \"Things change, so you can\'t lose vigilance. But we also do not want to exaggerate the magnitude of the current situation, and we certainly do not want to deny people with real health problems their medications.\"</p> <p>Haddox agreed. \"I\'m a pain doctor by training, and I\'ve talked to many patients who said their treatment has literally saved their life,\" he said. \"And yet you\'ve got these other folks out there abusing them. So the public policy question is how you balance these two issues. I don\'t have the answer.\"</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>There\'s more on Oxycontin abuse at <a href=\" http://ncadi.samhsa.gov/govpubs/ms726/\" target=\"_new\"> Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1860','1','	<p><!--Spanish ID: 601852 --> <p>MONDAY, Feb. 12 (HealthDay News) -- Histamine may help spur the weight gain seen in patients taking certain kinds of antipsychotic drugs, researchers say.</p> <p>In some cases, patients taking these drugs to treat mental illness gain so much weight that they develop serious complications such as heart disease and diabetes.</p> <p>\"We\'ve now connected a whole class of antipsychotics to natural brain chemicals that trigger appetite. Our identification of the molecular players that link such drugs to increased food intake means there\'s now hope for finding a newer generation of drugs without the weight-gain side effects,\" Dr. Solomon H. Snyder, professor of neuroscience at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, said in a prepared statement.</p> <p>The Hopkins team suspected that certain antipsychotic drugs might trigger an overreaction in AMPK, an enzyme in brain cells that controls appetite in mice and likely does the same in humans.</p> <p>To test this theory, the researchers injected mice with clozapine (Clozaril), a drug commonly prescribed to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorders in people who respond poorly to conventional drugs. </p> <p>AMPK activity quadrupled in the mice after they were given clozapine, the researchers report.</p> <p>As their research progressed, the Hopkins team focused on a link between a histamine receptor, clozapine, AMPK activity and appetite. They injected clozapine into mice genetically engineered to lack the histamine receptor. The mice showed no increase in AMPK activity.</p> <p>Histamine is already well known for its role in triggering allergy symptoms.</p> <p>\"Histamine also has a long history as a suspect in weight control, but no one ever could put a finger on the exact link,\" Snyder said. \"The connection we\'ve made between its receptor and appetite control is incredibly intriguing and opens new avenues for research on weight control, possibly including drugs that suppress appetite safely.\"</p> <p>The study is expected to be published online in this week\'s issue of the <i>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</i>.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The American Academy of Family Physicians offers advice about <a href=\"http://familydoctor.org/197.xml\" target=\"_new\">weight control</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1861','1','	<p><!--Spanish ID: 601891 --> <p>TUESDAY, Feb. 13 (HealthDay News) -- Scientists are learning more about gambling and other compulsive behaviors that are sometimes side effects of Parkinson\'s treatment.</p> <p>Previous studies had found an association between Parkinson\'s drugs called dopamine agonists and impulse-control problems such as compulsive shopping, binge eating, hypersexuality, and pathological gambling.</p> <p>The new study found that Parkinson\'s patients who are younger when they develop the condition have a personality trait known as novelty-seeking. Patients whose personal or family history included alcohol abuse are also more likely to suffer this side effect.</p> <p>The study was led by Dr. Valerie Voon of the U.S. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, and was published in the February issue of the journal <i>Archives of Neurology</i>.</p> <p>Research that looked at the link between dopamine agonists and compulsive gambling determined that the risk of gambling was unrelated to medication dosage. This suggests that underlying character traits may interact with dopamine agonists and make people more likely to suffer this kind of side effect, according to background information in the new study.</p> <p>The research team compared 21 Parkinson\'s patients who developed compulsive gambling after they started taking dopamine agonists to 42 Parkinson\'s patients who did not develop this kind of behavior.</p> <p>All the patients, who visited a clinic in Toronto, Canada, were examined by neurologists and were assessed for levels of impulsivity, substance abuse, mood and anxiety disorders, and novelty-seeking traits, characterized by risk-taking behavior and excitement in response to new experiences.</p> <p>\"In keeping with our hypothesis, patients with Parkinson\'s disease who developed pathological gambling when receiving dopamine agonists had a younger age at Parkinson\'s disease onset, higher novelty-seeking scores, a personal or immediate family history of alcohol use disorders and impaired planning on an impulsivity scale,\" the study authors wrote. \"A robust association was found with medication-induced mania (a psychiatric disorder involving excessive physical and mental activity and impulsive behavior).\"</p> <p>The researchers also found a weak association between compulsive gambling and younger age, Parkinson\'s disease that began in the brain\'s left hemisphere, and a higher score on a scale of impulsive behavior.</p> <p>\"Screening for such features and advising those at higher risk may be warranted,\" the study authors concluded.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>We Move has more about <a href=\"http://www.wemove.org/par/\" target=\"_new\">Parkinson\'s disease</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1862','1','	<p><p>WEDNESDAY, Feb. 14 (HealthDay News) -- There\'s no evidence that omega-3 fatty acids on their own fight depression and only limited evidence that they\'re effective against depression when used in combination with antidepressant drugs, according to new research. </p> <p>Previous studies had suggested an association between omega-3 levels and behavior and mood disorders, including depression, according to background information in the review article, published in the journal <i>Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin</i>. </p> <p>Omega-3 fatty acids play a role in chemical signaling in the brain, and also help regulate blood vessel activity and immune system function linked to the central nervous system. Oily fish, nuts, seeds, and leafy green vegetables are the main dietary sources of omega-3, which is also available in dietary supplements that contain fish oil.</p> <p>The review authors analyzed published studies on the clinical effectiveness of omega-3 in people with depression.</p> <p>Along with their conclusion that omega-3 has little or no effect on depression, the authors said there is evidence that fish oil supplements contain environmental toxins, which may be especially concentrated in supplements made from fish livers.</p> <p>This means that people should not exceed the maximum recommended doses of these supplements, the authors said. They also noted that pregnant women should take only low doses of fish oil supplements, which contain vitamin A. High levels of vitamin A can harm a developing fetus.</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/natural/patient-fishoil. html\" target=\"_new\">omega-3 fatty acids</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1863','1','	<p><p>THURSDAY, Feb. 15 (HealthDay News) -- American teens are cutting back on their use of marijuana, but their abuse of prescription drugs in recent years has stayed the same or increased.</p> <p>That\'s the conclusion of a report released Wednesday by White House drug czar John Walters.</p> <p>From 2002 to 2005, rates of marijuana use declined from 30.1 percent to 25.8 percent. Over that same period, the use of the prescription painkiller OxyContin increased from 2.7 percent to 3.5 percent, and the use of Vicodin, another painkiller, increased from 6 percent to 6.3 percent, the <i>Associated Press</i> reported.</p> <p>Teens are also abusing anti-anxiety drugs like Xanax and stimulants like Adderall, Walters said. Overall, 2.1 million American teens abused prescription drugs in 2005.</p> <p>Teens are abusing prescription drugs, because they believe they\'re safer than street drugs, and they\'re also easier to obtain, according to Walters. He said many teens get prescription drugs over the Internet, from friends, or steal them from household medicine cabinets, the <i>AP</i> reported.</p> <p>\"The drug dealer is us,\" Walters said, adding that adults need to keep track of prescription drugs and dispose of them properly when the drugs expire.</p> <p>The report is based on the 2005 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, a survey of 68,308 families, and the 2005 Monitoring the Future Survey of 50,000 eighth-, 10th- and 12th-graders conducted by the University of Michigan.</p> <p>The findings mirror two studies released last week. The first found that, despite media reports of addicts getting prescription painkillers such as OxyContin from the Internet, most of them are actually getting these drugs from family, friends or dealers.</p> <p>The second study, which looked at the abuse of these drugs in the general population, found that more teenagers are getting their hands on these powerful medications.</p> <p>Dr. H. Westley Clark is director of the U.S. Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, part of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). He said, \"About 60 percent are getting their drugs from friends and family for free, while another 15 percent go and buy them from friends.\"</p> <p>Clark was referring to numbers from SAMHSA\'s 2005 national survey of drug use, which also confirmed that opioid analgesic use is on the rise among teens. \"So, in the case of a general population, drug dealers aren\'t the biggest problem either, although it\'s certainly no surprise that hard-core addicts are getting it that way,\" he said.</p> <p>\"Of course, we can anticipate the possibility of a growing Internet problem, particularly among young people, and we need to have some controls,\" Clark added. \"Things change, so you can\'t lose vigilance. But we also do not want to exaggerate the magnitude of the current situation, and we certainly do not want to deny people with real health problems their medications.\"</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>There\'s more on OxyContin abuse at the <a href=\"http://ncadi.samhsa.gov/govpubs/ms726/\" target=\"_new\">Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1864','1','	<p><!--Spanish ID: 601981 --> <p>THURSDAY, Feb. 15 (HealthDay News) -- When children snack together in large groups, they tend to eat about a third <i>more</i> than when they snack with just a couple of friends, a new study finds.</p> <p>Researchers at the University of Michigan examined the eating habits of 54 children, aged 2-and-a-half to 6-and-a-half, when they were placed in groups of nine children and in groups of three. Each child was given the same-sized snack. The researchers recorded how much each child ate on each occasion and how long it took them to eat.</p> <p>Children in the larger groups ate 30 percent more than the children in the smaller groups. The time they took to eat was not a factor.</p> <p>Children in the larger groups started to eat sooner and more quickly, and also spent less time socializing than children in the smaller groups.</p> <p>This behavior of eating more when in larger groups than when alone is common among adults and is also seen in many other animals. This \"social facilitation\" is the result of stimuli provided by the sight and sounds of others engaged in similar behavior, which overrides the brain\'s normal signals that enough food has been consumed, the researchers explained.</p> <p>They said their findings suggest that children who don\'t eat enough might benefit from having meals with family and/or friends at home. Children who already eat too much should not eat in fast-food restaurants, where the hectic surroundings may stimulate them to overeat.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The Nemours Foundation offers advice about <a href=\"http://kidshealth.org/parent/nutrition_fit/nutrition/habits.html\" target=\"_new\">healthy eating for children</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1865','1','	<p><p>THURSDAY, Feb. 15 (HealthDay News) -- Strong religious faith may help reduce emotional distress that can hinder recovery from stroke, Italian research shows.</p> <p>The study included 132 stroke survivors (median age 72) who were interviewed about their religious beliefs and spirituality.</p> <p>Lower levels of belief/spirituality were associated with higher levels of depression and anxiety. The reason for this association is not clear, but one possibility is that religiously active people may have more social support, the study authors said.</p> <p>\"Religious people who are active in their communities are more likely to receive external aid that can be provided by volunteers,\" Dr. Salvatore Giaquinto, chairman of the department of rehabilitation at the San Raffaele Pisana Rehabilitation Center in Rome, said in a prepared statement.</p> <p>\"Social support lets them experience feelings of care, love and esteem. The new experience of support and the background of faith tell the patients that they are not alone,\" Giaquinto said.</p> <p>While unique, this research does not offer any solid evidence, Dr. Lalit Kalra, a stroke professor at King\'s College London School of Medicine in England, wrote in an accompanying editorial in the journal <i>Stroke</i>.</p> <p>\"The study does not establish that religious beliefs will definitely reduce emotional distress but shows that people who are religious have better coping abilities. Hence, both these variables may define personal attributes of the patient, in other words, religious beliefs do not make a person cope better but identify patients who have better abilities to cope with chronic illness,\" Kalra said.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The U.S. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke has more about <a href=\"http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/stroke/stroke_rehabilitation.htm\" target=\"_new\">stroke rehabilitation</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1866','1','	<p><p>TUESDAY, Feb. 13 (HealthDay News) -- Vision loss costs the U.S. Medicare program more than $2 billion a year for the care of <i>non</i>-eye related medical problems, such as depression and disability, a new study finds.</p> <p> The study was conducted by researchers affiliated with the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins University, and Pfizer Inc.</p> <p>\"We have always understood the devastating personal impact of blinding eye disease on patients and their families. With this study, we are seeing the serous economic impact of poor vision on the health care system and those who pay for it,\" study lead researcher Dr. Jonathan C. Javitt said in a prepared statement.</p> <p>The study authors looked at data on about 1.5 million beneficiaries continuously enrolled in Medicare from 1999 to 2003 and found that those with moderate, severe and total vision loss increased their risk for depression, injuries and the need for nursing home care.</p> <p>The researchers estimated that in 2003, blindness and vision loss among beneficiaries cost Medicare $2.14 billion in non-eye related medical expenses. Individuals with moderate vision loss, severe loss, and blindness had annual non-eye related medical costs of $2,193, $3,301, and $4,443, respectively, higher than people with normal vision.</p> <p>Many of the vision problems were caused by age-related macular degeneration (AMD), glaucoma, and cataracts that had not been surgically removed.</p> <p>The findings indicate that Medicare and other medical insurance plans need to place more emphasis on providing preventive eye care for patients, said the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO).</p> <p>\"These are all treatable conditions. If identified early, the adverse effects of glaucoma and AMD can be minimized, and cataracts can easily be treated,\" Dr. H. Dunbar Hoskins, AAO executive vice president, said in a prepared statement. \"With the results of this study, it is clear that taking care of your eyesight is not only in the best interest of patient health, but it also a benefit to the country\'s Medicare system,\" he said.</p> <p>\"With the soaring costs of health care, this study is an important reminder that preventing vision loss saves both sight and money,\" Hoskins added.</p> <p>The findings are published in the journal <i>Ophthalmology</i>.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>Prevent Blindness America outlines <a href=\"http://www.preventblindness.org/eye_problems/signsadults.html\" target=\"_new\">signs of vision problems in adults</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1867','1','	<p><p>MONDAY, Feb. 5 (HealthDay News) -- High blood pressure during pregnancy is a warning sign of diabetes and heart disease later in life, a Dutch study indicates.</p> <p>The study of 491 older, postmenopausal women found that those who had reported high blood pressure during a pregnancy had a 57 percent higher risk of developing calcium buildup in their arteries, compared with those whose blood pressure did not rise abnormally during pregnancy.</p> <p> The findings were published online in the Feb. 5 issue of the journal <i>Hypertension</i>. </p> <p>Calcification of the arteries is a marker of atherosclerosis or \"hardening of the arteries,\" which is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.</p> <p>\"Our research and that of others may have important implications for the management of women who have high blood pressure in pregnancy,\" senior researcher Dr. Michiel L. Bots, associate professor of epidemiology at the Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care in Utrecht, said in a statement.</p> <p>The findings probably do not have implications for obstetric care, added Dr. Sharonne Hayes, director of the women\'s heart clinic at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.</p> <p>\"We would still need to treat those women the same way as we now do during pregnancy,\" she said. \"But now, those women have been marked as having an increased risk of heart disease. They have another marker of risk and need to be much more vigilant in looking for cardiovascular disease.\"</p> <p>Previous studies have led to \"a growing recognition that complications, and particularly cardiovascular complications, during pregnancy lead to an increased risk of heart disease later on,\" said Hayes, who is chair of the scientific advisory board of Women Heart: A National Coalition for Women With Heart Disease.</p> <p>\"As far as I know, this is the first to look at coronary calcification, which is a very good marker for the presence of cardiovascular disease,\" she said.</p> <p>The U.S. National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute estimates that 6 percent to 8 percent of American women develop unusually high blood pressure during pregnancy. Some go on to develop a condition called preeclampsia, which can damage the placenta, kidney, liver and brain. A more serious condition, called eclampsia, is a leading cause of pregnancy-related mortality.</p> <p>The increase in calcification in the Dutch study was seen not only in women who developed preeclampsia but also those with high blood pressure, Hayes noted.</p> <p>\"It is a sign that you need to be more careful about your risk of heart disease down the road,\" she said.</p> <p>The women themselves and their physicians should be aware of their increased risk, said Dr. Daniel Jones, dean of the University of Mississippi School of Medicine and president-elect of the American Heart Association.</p> <p>\"In women who have had hypertension during pregnancy, there needs to be careful monitoring of cardiovascular risk factors, to [help them] be prepared appropriately to manage those factors,\" Jones said. \"These women should be doing what we all should be doing -- keeping their weight in a good range, exercising, not smoking, eating a diet high in fresh fruits and vegetables.\"</p> <p>The study, he said, \"is a new way of looking at an issue that we have long suspected is a problem: that women who have hypertension in pregnancy are more likely to develop hypertension later in life, and hypertension is a known risk of vascular disease.\"</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>There\'s more on high blood pressure at the <a href=\"http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/\" target=\"_new\">U.S. Heart, Lung and Blood Institute</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1868','1','	<p><!--Spanish ID: 601654 --> <p>MONDAY, Feb. 5 (HealthDay News) -- A combination of low birth weight and childhood abuse boosts risks for depression, social dysfunction and other psychological problems in adolescence and adulthood, new research suggests.</p> <p>A team from Mount Sinai School of Medicine, in New York City, analyzed data from the Johns Hopkins Collaborative Perinatal Study. That study had followed a random sample of mothers and their children from pregnancy for more than 30 years.</p> <p>The children were categorized into four groups: those with low birth weight and a history of childhood abuse; those with low birth weight alone; those with childhood abuse alone; and those with neither.</p> <p>The researchers then compared the groups in a number of areas: delinquency and school-related problems in childhood/adolescence; quality of life, well-being and socioeconomic status in adulthood; and selected psychiatric and medical problems.</p> <p>The findings \"suggest children faced with the adversity of low birth weight and subsequent child abuse had substantially poorer outcomes than children facing either adversity alone,\" lead investigator Yoko Nomura, assistant professor of psychiatry at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, said in a prepared statement.</p> <p>This study, the first to examine this link, appears in the Feb. 5 issue of the journal <i>Archives of Pediatric &amp; Adolescent Medicine</i>.</p> <p>\"The good news is [that] by offering preventative mental health services to mothers with low birth weight, and monitoring low birth weight children to provide early intervention, together we can protect such children from subsequent adversity such as abuse,\" study co-investigator Claude M. Chemtob, clinical professor of psychiatry and pediatrics, said in a prepared statement.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation has more about <a href=\"http://www.marchofdimes.com/professionals/681_1153.asp\" target=\"_new\">low birth weight</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1869','1','	<p><!--Spanish ID: 601689 --> <p>TUESDAY, Feb. 6 (HealthDay News) -- Rates of autism and two other childhood neuropsychiatric conditions -- hyperkinetic disorder and Tourette syndrome -- increased among Danish children between 1990 and 2004, a new study finds. </p> <p>The findings, published in the February issue of the journal <i>Archives of Pediatrics &amp; Adolescent Medicine</i>, suggest that recent increases in autism diagnoses in many parts of the world may be part of an overall trend in childhood mental illness, said researchers at the University of Aarhus in Denmark.</p> <p>Children with autism have social and language abnormalities and repetitive patterns of behavior, while those with hyperkinetic disorder are hyperactive and tend to move from one activity to another without completing any one task. Tourette syndrome is characterized by uncontrollable vocalization or movement, according to background information in the article.</p> <p>For this study, the researchers analyzed trends in the these and a fourth condition -- obsessive-compulsive disorder -- among all 669,995 children born in Denmark between 1990 and 1999. Through 2004, 4,376 of the children were diagnosed with at least one of the four conditions.</p> <p>The study authors found significant increases in rates of autism, hyperkinetic disorder and Tourette syndrome, but no increase in obsessive-compulsive disorder. It\'s not clear why that condition showed a different pattern than the other three, the researchers said.</p> <p>\"Although the reasons for the observed common pattern of change in reported cumulative incidence in Tourette syndrome, hyperkinetic disorder and autism spectrum disorder cannot be addressed with these data, it is clear that the number of children with neuropsychiatric disorders and their families in need of support and services has been growing in recent years,\" the study authors wrote.</p> <p>\"Furthermore, while the search for causes should proceed unabated, the ultimate value of these data are their contribution to the growing awareness of child neurodevelopment problems in general and understanding of the resources needed to ensure optimal development for all children,\" the researchers said.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The U.S. Center for Mental Health Services has more about <a href=\"http://mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/publications/allpubs/CA-0006/default. asp\" target=\"_new\">mental, emotional and behavioral disorders in children and adolescents</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1870','1','	<p><p>(HealthDay News) -- Prenatal vitamins are designed for women who are pregnant or who are planning to be pregnant. The supplements help ensure that the expectant mother and developing baby have the proper nutrients.</p> <p>Folic acid, calcium, and iron should be among the most important components of multi-vitamin prenatal supplements, says the Cleveland Clinic. These vitamins reduce the risk of birth defects, especially defects of the brain and spine known as neural tube defects.</p> <p>Because neural tube defects originate within the first 28 days of conception, and many pregnancies are unplanned, it is recommended that all women of child-bearing potential take vitamin supplements -- especially folic acid, the clinic advises.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1871','1','	<p><p>WEDNESDAY, Feb. 7 (HealthDay News) -- Women with polycystic ovary syndrome who want to have a baby will probably have better luck if they take the fertility drug clomiphene instead of metformin, an insulin-sensitizing medication that helps induce ovulation in women with the disorder. </p> <p>That\'s the conclusion of new research that found the live birth rate was 22.5 percent for women taking clomiphene, compared to just 7.2 percent for those on metformin. </p> <p>\"Many people thought that metformin would be more effective, but it failed on two counts -- either alone or in combination with clomiphene,\" said the study\'s lead author, Dr. Richard Legro, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Penn State College of Medicine.</p> <p>\"Clomiphene alone is the gold-standard way for women with PCOS to achie ve pregnancy,\" he added.</p> <p>The study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, is published in the Feb. 8 issue of the <i>New England Journal of Medicine</i>. Bristol-Myers Squibb provided the metformin and the placebos used in the study.</p> <p>Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrinological disorder. It affects as many as 8 percent of American women and may be the cause of most infertility, according to background information in the article. Women with PCOS are often overweight, have excess body and facial hair, reduced insulin sensitivity and irregular menstrual cycles. The root of many of these symptoms is an excess of androgens, or male hormones. </p> <p>Many women with PCOS are treated with metformin (brand name, Glucophage), a diabetes drug that helps increase the body\'s response to insulin. This, in turn, reduces the levels of circulating insulin, which reduces the levels of androgens. This often helps restore ovulation and normal menstruation, and possibly helps some women lose weight. Many also believe that metformin could help with PCOS-related infertility, according to the article.</p> <p>Dr. David Guzick is dean of the School of Medicine at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, in Rochester, N.Y. The author of an accompanying editorial in the journal, he said: \"Metformin took hold as a generally accepted treatment. The belief was that because you\'re addressing the underlying abnormality, you\'re restoring the system back to normal.</p> <p>\"Clomiphene was viewed as old-fashioned and not reflecting the physiology of PCOS. However, this study found the reverse is true, the old-fashioned way is shown to be preferable,\" he added.</p> <p>Guzick said clomiphene works more directly than metformin when it comes to fertility. Clomiphene causes the body to release follicle-stimulating hormone, which stimulates the ovaries to release an egg. </p> <p>For the new study, the researchers recruited 626 women with PCOS who were infertile. The average duration of infertility, according to Legro, was three years. </p> <p>The women were randomly assigned to receive clomiphene plus a placebo, metformin plus a placebo, or both metformin and clomiphene for as long as six months. </p> <p>The combination group had the highest live-birth rate with 26.8 percent. The live-birth rate for the clomiphene group was 22.5 percent, while the metformin group\'s live-birth rate was just 7.2 percent. The difference between the combination group and the clomiphene group was not statistically significant, the researchers said.</p> <p>While metformin and clomiphene both caused women to ovulate more, Legro said another interesting finding from this study was that \"all ovulations are not alike\" and that studies like this one can\'t stop at looking at the ovulation rate but need to follow through to see how many women actually achieve a pregnancy. </p> <p>Another concern, Legro said, was that more women on metformin experienced first-trimester pregnancy loss. While the numbers weren\'t statistically significant in the study, Legro said the finding was troubling, and he would recommend that women stop metformin as soon as they know they\'re pregnant. </p> <p>The biggest concern with clomiphene is the increased risk of multiple births, according to Legro. In this study, the rate of multiple births in the clomiphene group was 6 percent, compared to zero percent in the metformin group. </p> <p>The bottom line, said Legro, is that women with PCOS who want to conceive should get clomiphene as their first-line therapy. \"Metformin is not as good as it was hyped to be, but this is not the first time a newcomer has been dethroned,\" he added.</p> <p>Guzick said that, aside from medication, one of the most important things women with PCOS can do, both to get pregnant and improve overall health, is to lose weight. </p> <p>\"Even losing just five to 10 pounds can lead to a 50 percent increase in ovulation,\" said Guzick. And, losing weight prior to conception can also help women lower the risk of some pregnancy complications, he said.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>To learn more about polycystic ovary syndrome, visit the U.S. <a href=\"http://www.4woman.gov/faq/pcos.htm\" target=\"_new\">National Women\'s Health Information Center</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1872','1','	<p><p>FRIDAY, Feb. 9 (HealthDay News) -- Black women are three times more likely than white women to deliver their babies prematurely, a new study reveals.</p> <p>Even worse, they are four times more likely to give birth extremely prematurely -- between 20 to 28 weeks gestation.</p> <p>Genetics are the most likely reason for the phenomenon, the study\'s lead researcher said.</p> <p>\"It has been known that African-American women have an increased risk of preterm delivery,\" said Dr. Louis J. Muglia, director of the Center for Preterm Birth Research at Washington University School of Medicine, in St. Louis. \"By this study we are trying to understand the foundation for that effect.\"</p> <p>His team published its findings in the February issue of the <i>American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology</i>.</p> <p>The study tracked more than 700,000 births in Missouri from 1989 to 1997.</p> <p>The researchers found that black women were three times more likely than their white counterparts to give birth at 20 to 34 weeks of pregnancy, rather than full-term (from 37 to 41 weeks).</p> <p>The researchers controlled for socioeconomic factors, such as maternal age and economic status, Muglia said. Without adjusting for those factors, \"the incidence of premature delivery would be 6.5-fold higher than in Caucasians,\" he noted.</p> <p>In addition, 21.5 percent of the black women in the study had more than one premature delivery, compared to 9.2 percent of white women, the study found.</p> <p>While there is no direct proof that genetic differences drive the disparity, the evidence does point in that direction, Muglia said. His group now is engaged in studies to try to prove that notion, he added.</p> <p>\"What we would like to do is identify in a broad way the factors that increase the incidence of premature delivery,\" Muglia said. \"We want to identify families and examine them for polymorphisms,\" genetic differences associated with an increased incidence of premature childbirth.</p> <p>Muglia and his colleagues have been working with 75 families in the St. Louis area for the past three years, and have started a study of similar families in Finland. \"We don\'t have data yet,\" he said. \"It would take many subjects to pick out those genes.\"</p> <p>One working hypothesis is that there might be some hidden evolutionary benefit to preterm delivery. \"For maternal survival, it might be better to deliver early,\" Muglia theorized.</p> <p>To support that notion he cited sickle cell anemia, a genetic condition more common in blacks than whites. Carriers of two genes for the condition are at a handicap, but it has been found that the presence of a single sickle cell gene protects the carrier against malaria, Muglia noted.</p> <p>\"I\'m not sure it really gives us definitive answers,\" said Dr. Diane Ashton, deputy medical director of the March of Dimes. \"But it is one aspect that the March of Dimes is looking at to assess the differences in premature births.\"</p> <p>There have been hints of a genetic factor, Ashton added, citing a study indicating that black women were more susceptible to early rupture of the membranes.</p> <p>\"There is some evidence here, but this is one study, and until we have some reproducible results I don\'t think we can base our final opinion on just one study,\" she said.</p> <p>A 2006 report by the U.S. Institute of Medicine found that 12.5 percent of American babies were born at least three weeks ahead of their full-term delivery date. Care for those babies costs the nation $26 billion a year, with some requiring neonatal intensive care for two weeks.</p> <p>Potential problems for premature babies include hearing loss, vision loss, cerebral palsy and seizures. Such problems are most common in babies born before 32 weeks of pregnancy.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>For more on premature babies, consult the <a href=\"http://www.marchofdimes.com/prematurity/index_about.asp\" target=\"_new\">March of Dimes</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1873','1','	<p><p>THURSDAY, Feb. 15 (HealthDay News) -- Children whose mothers ate at least three servings of fish a week during pregnancy had higher scores in tests of mental function in their early years.</p> <p>That\'s the conclusion of a new British-American study that conflicts with advice on fish consumption for pregnant women given by U.S. government agencies.</p> <p>\"For the baby\'s development, at the level of 12 ounces a week during pregnancy, the beneficial effects of the nutrients in fish far outweigh the risk,\" said Dr. Joseph Hibbeln. He is a clinical investigator at the U.S. National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and lead author of a report on the study in the Feb. 17 issue of the journal <i>The Lancet</i>.</p> <p>That assessment contradicts advice given by two U.S. agencies, the Environmental Protection Administration and the Food and Drug Administration, which issued an advisory in 2004 telling pregnant women to avoid eating more than 340 grams of fish -- about 12 ounces a week -- because of the danger of mercury poisoning.</p> <p>The new study found that maternal seafood intake during pregnancy of less than 340 grams a week was associated with increased risk of children being in the bottom 25 percent of verbal IQ at 8 years of age and with suboptimum performance on tests of social behavior, fine motor activity, communication and social development.</p> <p>Hibbeln said the FDA and the EPA have been briefed on the results of the study.</p> <p>Suzanne Ackerman, a spokeswoman for the EPA, said, \"We looked at all the relevant information before issuing the guidelines. It is much too early to say whether one study will change the guidelines.\"</p> <p>Veronica Castro, an FDA spokeswoman, said, \"We have made no changes to our current information regarding pregnant women and seafood consumption.\"</p> <p>The new study followed the children of 11,875 women living in Bristol, England, who had expected delivery dates between April 1991 and December 1992. The women were sent postal questionnaires about their diet four times during pregnancy and then periodically afterward about their children\'s social and developmental outcomes.</p> <p>\"We noted that children of mothers who ate small amounts (less than 340 grams per week) of seafood were more likely to have suboptimum neurodevelopmental outcomes than children of mothers who ate more seafood than the recommended amounts,\" the researchers reported.</p> <p>The benefits \"most likely\" came from the high content of omega-3 fatty acids in fish, Hibbeln said. As for mercury, the fish consumed in England \"appears to have more methyl mercury in it than the fish eaten in the United States, particularly tuna,\" he said.</p> <p>\"Our study has shown that the benefits of eating fish do outweigh the risks,\" said Jean Golding, professor emeritus of pediatric epidemiology at the University of Bristol and a member of the research team. \"That might be at least three portions a week. Not at every meal, but we couldn\'t see with the information we had any harm from eating fish.\"</p> <p>Dr. Gary Myers is a professor of neurology, pediatrics and environmental medicine at the University of Rochester in New York, and co-author of an accompanying editorial in the journal. He said the study \"says that it is very important for children\'s cognitive development to get adequate amounts of long-chain fatty acids.\"</p> <p>And there are few other dietary sources of those omega-3 fatty acids, he said, such as walnuts and flaxseeds.</p> <p>\"This article really points out the benefits of eating fish,\" Myers said. \"It is important when people think about children to keep a balanced view of these things. There are no documented cases of people being damaged by eating fish. Reports of damage are based on epidemiological studies that are complex and difficult to interpret at times.\"</p> <p>He said that one major problem with conducting a similar study in the United States is that \"it is hard to get together people who eat large amounts of fish. Finding a group of individuals to study is not easy.\"</p> <p>Asked what he would recommend to pregnant women, Myers answered with a question: \"You know for a fact that eating fish improves your child\'s cognitive development. Someone tells you there might be a risk of eating mercury. Which would you choose?\"</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>For more on nutrition and pregnancy, visit the U.S. <a href=\"http://www.womenshealth.gov/pregnancy/pregnancy/eat.cfm\" target=\"_new\">National Women\'s Health Information Center</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1874','1','	<p><!--Spanish ID: 601010 --> <p>MONDAY, Jan. 15 (HealthDay News) -- Depression, fear and anger are common reactions after a person has had a heart attack, and emotional recovery is vital to a patient\'s health and well-being, according to an article in the January issue of the <i>Mayo Clinic Women\'s HealthSource</i>.</p> <p>For example, people who develop depression after a heart attack are more likely to require hospital care within a year for a heart-related problem than heart attack survivors who aren\'t depressed. Heart attack survivors with depression are also three times more likely to die of a future heart attack or other heart problems.</p> <p>These differences in health outcomes may be partially due to a lack of follow-up care, the article said. People who are depressed are less likely to take medications and follow advice from their doctors.</p> <p>The article offered some tips from experts to help heart attack patients with their emotional recovery:</p><ul> <li>Discuss your feelings openly and honestly with your doctor, family members and friends.</li> <li>If you think you may be depressed, seek treatment.</li> <li>Talk to your doctor about joining a cardiac rehabilitation program. Many of these programs offer counseling and support groups.</li> <li>Get regular exercise as directed by your doctor. Not only does exercise boost heart health, it may help relieve anxiety and depression.</li> <li>Try to resume the activities and hobbies you enjoyed before your heart attack. They may help keep you in a positive mood.</li></ul> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The American Academy of Family Physicians has more about <a href=\"http://familydoctor.org/002.xml\" target=\"_new\">resuming your life after a heart attack</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1875','1','	<p><p>MONDAY, Jan. 22 (HealthDay News) -- Men and women in their 50s and older who take antidepressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors may be doubling their risk of fractures, a new Canadian study suggests.</p> <p>SSRIs, such as Prozac and Paxil, are commonly used to treat depression and anxiety. But previous studies had shown these drugs are associated with an increased risk of fractures from falling.</p> <p>The new research, led by Dr. David Goltzman, a professor of medicine and physiology and director of the McGill Centre for Bone and Periodontal Research at McGill University in Montreal, seems to support the earlier studies.</p> <p>\"There is good scientific evidence that serotonin is involved in bone physiology, and if you alter the system, you can get low bone density,\" Goltzman said. \"Patients should be monitored to prevent the risk of fractures.\"</p> <p>The finding is published in the Jan. 22 issue of the <i>Archives of Internal Medicine</i>.</p> <p>For the study, Goltzman and his colleagues reviewed information on 137 patients -- average age 65 -- who took SSRIs. The patients had their bone mineral density measured at the start of the study and were followed for five years. Each year, the patients were also asked to report any fractures they had and how they occurred.</p> <p>Goltzman\'s team found these patients had twice the risk of fractures. They were particularly vulnerable to breaks of the forearm, ankle and foot, and less so to fractures of the hip, rib, femur, and back, the study found.</p> <p>Goltzman\'s group also found that use of SSRIs was associated with an increased risk of falling. The effect depended on the dose of the drug. Doubling the dose resulted in a 1.5-fold increase in the risk of falling.</p> <p>Daily SSRI use was also associated with a 4 percent decrease in bone mineral density at the hip, and a 2.4 percent decrease at the spine, the researchers reported.</p> <p>Patients need to know there\'s this risk of fractures with SSRIs, Goltzman said.</p> <p>\"Patients should not be told not to take SSRIs if they need them for depression,\" he said. \"But this is a new risk that has been identified, and patients should take general steps to prevent osteoporosis. And they should have a bone density measurement before starting SSRIs and periodically after that.\"</p> <p>But one expert said he thought the study failed to prove that SSRI use is linked to an increased risk of bone breaks.</p> <p>\"These findings are hard to interpret,\" said Dr. Robert P. Heaney, a professor of medicine at the Osteoporosis Research Center at Creighton University in Omaha, Neb. \"Increased fracture risk has been associated with depression for years,\" he added.</p> <p>Heaney said that to really uncover the role SSRIs may play in fractures, a study would have to compare depressed patients taking SSRIs with depressed patients taking other medications. \"Then you could see if it was the depression causing the fractures or if it were the SSRIs. It may not be the SSRI at all,\" he said.</p> <p>Studies like Goltzman\'s run the risk that people will stop taking their medication, Heaney said. \"These kind of studies do some potential harm,\" he said.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The U.S. National Institute of Mental Health can tell you more about <a href=\"http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/depression.cfm\" target=\"_new\"> depression</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1876','1','	<p><p>TUESDAY, Jan. 23 (HealthDay News) -- Drug treatment may beat psychotherapy at relieving the major depression felt by many patients with severe heart disease, a Canadian study finds.</p> <p>The three-month study of 284 people who had already suffered heart attacks or had other problems, such as blockages of cardiac arteries, found treatment with the antidepressant citalopram (Celexa) more effective than weekly psychotherapy sessions at cutting depressive symptoms, according to a report in the Jan. 24/31 issue of the <i>Journal of the American Medical Association.</i></p> <p>Celexa is an antidepressant in the family of drugs called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), which also includes Paxil, Prozac and Zoloft. </p> <p>\"Several other studies have found that combination treatment of depression in these patients works well,\" said lead researcher Dr. Francois Lesperance, an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Montreal. However, \"we found that for patients with heart disease, psychotherapy is <i>not</i> superior. It is not bad, but it is not better than drug therapy,\" he said.</p> <p>Experts estimate that about 20 percent of people with severe heart disease suffer from major depression. The problem isn\'t only a mental one: Several studies have indicated that depression can worsen cardiovascular outcomes.</p> <p>Dr. Alexander H. Glassman is professor of psychiatry at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and co-author of an accompanying editorial on the findings. He noted that patients were only included in the study if they were found to have major depression.</p> <p>\"If there is major depression, you should err on the side of treating them,\" Glassman said. \"But mild cases were not included\" in the study, so doctors have little guidance in treating less serious depression, he said.</p> <p>Glassman said his own team reported similar results from a slightly larger study. \"The drug [Celexa] really does seem to work\" in reducing depression, he said. \"The real issue is, does it reduce medical risk? And nobody knows the answer to that. There is a hint that is true from other studies, but medical insurers and the government do not make policy on the basis of hints.\"</p> <p>What happens in the real world is that people who have suffered heart attacks or have other major cardiac problems usually are treated by the family physician, who often is not alerted to the danger of depression, Glassman said. \"If they don\'t complain about depression, they don\'t get treated for depression,\" he said.</p> <p>While the evidence for the cardiovascular benefit of such treatment is far from conclusive, treating concurrent depression \"is probably better for medical health, at least in a modest way,\" Glassman said.</p> <p>Dr. J. Thomas Bigger Jr., a cardiologist who is also professor of medicine at Columbia and a co-author of the editorial, agreed that \"it is not clear whether using SSRIs improves the mortality rate or reduces recurrent heart attacks.\" But he said that there are good reasons to provide these medications to depressed heart patients.</p> <p>\"Depression is painful, a miserable condition, and adding that to a heart attack makes for a very bad situation,\" Bigger said. \"SSRIs work for depression, they are safe in that setting because they cause no problems in cardiovascular disease, and there is no reason not to use them to make the patient feel better. It is like giving aspirin for a headache to make someone feel better.\"</p> <p>The safety of SSRIs after a heart attack or similar problem is an important point, because \"doctors are a little chary in adding drugs during that time period,\" Bigger said. \"There certainly is no evidence against their safe use in the early period after a heart attack.\"</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>Comprehensive information about depression is provided by the <a href=\"http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/depression.cfm\" target=\"_new\">U.S. National Institute of Mental Health</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1877','1','	<p><!--Spanish ID: 601583 --> <p>THURSDAY, Feb. 1 (HealthDay News) -- Sleepless nights can leave their mark on teens\' report cards, a new study finds. </p> <p>Researchers from the University of Colorado School of Medicine analyzed 238 surveys filled out by middle-school and high-school students. The findings showed that students with lower grade point averages (GPA) were more likely to have: restless, aching legs when they were trying to fall asleep; difficulty concentrating during the day; snoring every night; difficulty waking up in the morning; daytime sleepiness; and problems with falling asleep in class.</p> <p>The study was published in the Feb. 1 issue of the <i>Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine</i>.</p> <p>\"While a series of previously-conducted studies all found that adolescents reporting inadequate sleep, irregular sleep patterns, and/or poor sleep quality do not perform as well in school as students without sleep complaints, this study provides additional evidence indicating that sleep disturbances occur at high frequencies in adolescents and significantly affect daytime performance, as measured by GPA,\" study author Dr. James F. Pagel said in a prepared statement.</p> <p>He said it\'s important for parents to discuss their teen\'s sleep-related problems with a doctor.</p> <p>Here are some sleep tips for teens, courtesy of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine:</p> <ul> <li>Get a full night\'s sleep on a regular basis. Don\'t stay up late doing homework or studying for an exam.</li> <li>If you\'re not asleep within 20 minutes after going to bed, get up and do something relaxing, such as reading a book or listening to music, until you\'re tired enough to go back to bed.</li> <li>Get up at the same time every morning.</li> <li>Try not to take naps after school. If you feel you have to, don\'t nap for more than an hour.</li> <li>Keep a regular schedule.</li> <li>Don\'t read, write, eat, watch TV, talk on the phone, or play cards in bed.</li> <li>Don\'t have any caffeine after lunch.</li> <li>Your bedroom should be quite, dark and a bit cool.</li> <li>Don\'t go to bed hungry, but don\'t eat a big meal just before bedtime.</li> <li>Don\'t do any vigorous exercise within six hours of your bedtime.</li></ul> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The National Sleep Foundation has more about <a href=\"http://www.sleepfoundation.org/hottopics/index.php?secid=18\" target=\"_new\">teens and sleep</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1878','1','	<p><p>THURSDAY, Feb. 1 (HealthDay News) -- Depression may spring, at least in part, from genes on a specific region of chromosome 15, according to new findings from a team of U.S. researchers.</p> <p>The findings, appearing in two papers, are being made available to other researchers around the world in the hopes of spurring more investigation and, eventually, therapies that might fight depression.</p> <p>\"We should be able to hone more finely into the gene,\" said Myrna Weissman, co-author of one of the papers and a professor of psychiatry and epidemiology at Columbia University and head of clinical and genetic epidemiology at New York State Psychiatric Institute, both in New York City. \"Then, we can see mutations and develop treatments,\" she said.</p> <p>The research is being published in the February issue of the <i>American Journal of Psychiatry</i> and was led by scientists at Stanford University.</p> <p>According to background information in the papers, about 10 percent to 15 percent of people suffer from severe depression at some point in their lives, and 3 percent to 5 percent have recurrent episodes. Women are twice as likely as men to become depressed.</p> <p>Studies of families and twins have also revealed that depression is partly a disease of genetics, although no one gene is thought to be responsible. Instead, several genes may be interacting to increase a person\'s risk. Environmental factors, including psychological trauma, may then tip a person over the edge, so to speak.</p> <p>Finding specific genes involved in the process is critical, because then, researchers could decipher exactly what the genes do and how they\'re involved in depression. Therein may lie important clues for treatment.</p> <p>This would also help scientists understand the environmental factors that can trigger depression, they said. </p> <p>In one study, researchers examined 631 families in which at least two members had had repeated episodes of severe depression that began in childhood or early adulthood.</p> <p>\"Based on extensive data that shows that the most familial form of depression is that which begins before the age of 30, and which involves recurrent episodes, we went after a sample of people where at least one family member had this kind of a depression, and they had a sibling who had a similar depression,\" Weissman explained.</p> <p>Participants were recruited from all over the country, and were primarily of European ancestry.</p> <p>The first study involved a scan of the entire genome to look for \"linkages\" between depression and DNA markers. This effort identified several chromosome regions that looked promising for more research.</p> <p>The second study involved a more in-depth analysis of the most \"suspicious\" of these regions (on chromosome 15). All told, 94 DNA markers were studied (in both papers) and revealed significant evidence for linkage to depression.</p> <p>\"This is a very significant finding. This is a more refined map of earlier findings from this group,\" said Dr. Ma-Li Wong, a professor of psychiatry and vice chairwoman for translational research at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. \"Susceptibility to depression seems to be related to this chromosome, and we don\'t know which genes will be implicated, but hopefully through the continuation of this line of work, we will find out.\"</p> <p>The next phase of the research will delve even more deeply into the genetics of 2,000 individuals, the researchers said.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The research team is still recruiting for additional studies. Visit <a href=\" http://depressiongenetics.stanford.edu/\" target=\"_new\">Stanford University</a> for more information.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1879','1','	<p><!--Spanish ID: 601691 --> <p>TUESDAY, Feb. 6 (HealthDay News) -- Depression, especially its physical signs, such as fatigue and loss of appetite, may contribute to thickening arteries, an early sign of cardiovascular disease, researchers report.</p> <p>Previous research has suggested that negative emotions like anxiety and anger can increase the risk for heart disease. But in the new study, depression -- and its physical symptoms -- was the emotional linchpin to early signs of heart disease.</p> <p>\"In other studies, anxiety, depression, anger and hostility have all separately been linked to future risk of heart disease,\" said lead researcher Jesse C. Stewart, a member of the psychology department at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. But the problem with those studies was that they didn\'t look at these negative emotions together. And since their symptoms can overlap, it has been hard to tell which emotion plays the most important role in heart disease, he said.</p> <p>For the study, Stewart\'s team looked for emotional links to heart disease among 324 men and women with an average age of 60.6 years old. To determine early signs of heart disease, the scientists examined carotid artery intima-media thickness, which is a measure of the inner layers of the arteries and is related to early stage heart disease. Measurements were taken at the start of the study and again three years later.</p> <p>\"We found that mild to moderate depressive symptoms were associated with greater progression of subclinical atherosclerosis [hardening of the arteries] -- greater increase of the artery wall,\" Stewart said. \"In contrast, anxiety symptoms, hostility and anger were not at all related to a change in the blood vessel thickness.\"</p> <p>What\'s more, analysis showed that only the physical symptoms of depression predicted the progression of atherosclerosis. And it appears that the symptoms of depression exist before the signs of atherosclerosis, Stewart said.</p> <p>The findings are published in the February issue of the <i>Archives of General Psychiatry</i>.</p> <p>Stewart isn\'t sure why depression has this effect. \"Depression has been associated with some physiological changes, including in the immune system. These physiological changes probably explain this association,\" he said.</p> <p>The study also found that the 5 percent of study participants taking antidepressants fared better than those with depression who weren\'t taking the drugs. \"They had significantly reduced progression of atherosclerosis,\" Stewart said.</p> <p>But, because the sample was so small, it isn\'t possible to make a definitive statement about the value of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) in reducing atherosclerosis, Stewart said. \"There is intriguing evidence that SSRIs may be associated with reduced progression of atherosclerosis,\" he said.</p> <p>Stewart thinks the study findings may help in treating and preventing heart disease.</p> <p>\"Identifying the harmful aspects of emotion could lead to the identification of people who are at risk for heart disease due to their tendency to experience negative emotions and who may benefit from psychological and pharmacological intervention,\" he said. \"Identifying these harmful aspects could also lead to the development of more focused and potent interventions.\"</p> <p>Dr. Nieca Goldberg, chief of women\'s cardiac care at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, noted that depressed people are less likely to take care of themselves and have more risk factors for heart disease.</p> <p>\"People who are depressed don\'t adopt a healthy lifestyle,\" said Goldberg, a spokeswoman for the American Heart Association and author of <i>The Women\'s Healthy Heart Program</i>. \"They overeat, smoke more, may drink more. In addition, people who have depression have platelets that are more likely to clot.\"</p> <p>Goldberg thinks doctors should pay closer attention to depression and other psychological factors that can affect patient health.</p> <p>\"For too long, the medical system has amputated the head from the rest of the body,\" she said. \"It is important for us to consider the psychological aspects of our patients\' lives, because that is an important factor in our care of a patient.\"</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The U.S. National Institute of Mental Health can tell you more about <a href=\"http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/depheart.cfm\" target=\"_new\">depression and heart disease</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1880','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\">Big gulp: Liquid calories can sneak up on you</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>Studies find many Americans are pouring on the pounds</b><br></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia2.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/070216/070216_smoothie_hmed_930a.hmedium.jpg\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\" alt=\"Ardalys Duharte\"></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"><font size=\"-2\">Mike Derer / AP</font><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><font size=\"-1\">Several studies say that calories from beverages are one of the causes of expanding waistlines in the United States.</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br></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>New findings are adding to the research suggesting that more than ever before, what and how much we drink may increase calorie intake and weight without our noticing. </p><p>The problem of increasing waistlines and obesity in the United States has escalated in the last 30 years. During this time, calorie consumption increased an average of 150 to 300 calories per day, with about half that increase coming from beverages. The variety of calorie-dense beverages and number of soft-drink servings per day both grew. Average soft drink portion size increased more than 50 percent from about 13 ounces to almost 20 ounces.</p><p>Several studies peg calories from beverages as one of the causes of increased numbers of overweight and obese people in the United States. Studies suggest that when people consume more calories from beverages, they don\'t compensate by eating or drinking less.</p><p>One new study, for example, served 33 men and women the same lunch once a week for six weeks with only the beverage type or amount changing each week. Regardless of the type of beverage, people drank more when served 18 ounces than when served 12 ounces. When the amount of calorie-containing cola increased, women\'s beverage calories increased by 10 percent and the men\'s by 26 percent. </p><p>Participants ate the same amount of food independent of the higher amount of calories they drank, leading to an increase in the meal\'s total calories. Yet after a higher-calorie meal containing sweetened soft drinks, participants reported no difference in hunger or satisfaction.</p><p><b><strong>Gulping down large amounts</strong></b><br><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 border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia3.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/ColorBoxes/Styles/ColorBoxImages_GlobalOnlyPlease/interactive_icon.gif\" height=\"14\" width=\"24\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"></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=\"#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=\"0\"><tr><td><a href=\"/id/6817885/\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Art/HEALTH/031107/TEASES/CaloricCount_TZ152.jpg\" height=\"110\" width=\"150\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"></a></td></tr><tr><td style=\"padding:10px;\"><font color=\"#000000\"><table><tr><td rowspan=\"2\" width=\"15\"><font color=\"551E1B\">?/font></td><td><b><a href=\"/id/6817885/\">Find out how many calories you burn</a></b></td></tr><tr><td></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>Short-term studies - generally one to three days - in which people decrease high-calorie soft drink consumption usually show a decreased total daily calorie consumption. Longer term studies ranging from six months to four years have found an association between drinking less calorie-containing soft drinks and weight loss.</p><p>Scientists offer several explanations as to why we may not notice calories from some beverages. A drink\'s rapid passage through the mouth provides less time for signals to trigger the brain that you are eating. Compared to beverages, solid food seems to provide more of a feeling of fullness, which signals the brain to stop eating. Thick liquids (like smoothies and shakes) provide considerably more fullness signals than thin liquids, such as soft drinks, fruit drinks and sweetened tea and coffee. </p><p>As portion sizes of calorie-dense beverages increase, it is easier to gulp down larger amounts than to eat larger portions of solid foods. Finally, some researchers suggest that there may be a psychological component, too. Many of us consider beverages a separate category that does not \"count\" in the same way as solid food.</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/17153019/\">Vote: What\'s your liquid indulgence?</a></li><li><a href=\"http://boards.msn.com/MSNBCboards/thread.aspx?ThreadID=193755\">Discuss: Are drinks to blame for creeping calorie intake?</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/16927021/\">Is your job making you fat?</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/17032249/\">Fat-blocking pill will be sold over the counter</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 people who either have trouble getting enough or limiting calories, this research suggests that beverage choice and portion are important considerations. Calorie-rich drinks offer an opportunity to boost calories without reducing appetite. </p><p>However, for those who look at drinks as a way to work in meals on the run, it suggests that this approach may lead to a higher calorie intake than chewing a meal. For weight control, limiting calorie-containing beverages to a few modest daily servings of nutrient-containing drinks and drinking water, unsweetened tea or coffee and other zero-calorie drinks is a smart strategy.</p><p><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\"><tr><td><SCRIPT Language=\"JavaScript\" SRC=\"http://www.msnbc.com/modules/poptext/poptext_codeV2.js\"></SCRIPT>\n\n<SCRIPT Language=\"JavaScript\" SRC=\"http://www.msnbc.com/d/ip/overweightInAmerica_wb3/data.js\"></SCRIPT>\n\n<SCRIPT Language=\"JavaScript\">\n\nif (window.overweightInAmerica_wb3) { \n\n            //CUSTOM SETTINGS\n\ndisplayApp(overweightInAmerica_wb3); \n\n}\n\n</SCRIPT></td></tr></table></p><div class=\"textBodyBlack\" style=\"clear:both;\"><i><em>?2007 MSNBC Interactive</em></i></div><br>');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1881','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\">Waistlines keep expanding around the globe</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>Urbanization, Western ways adding to the world\'s weight problem</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 Lauren Streib</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>No matter how you tip the scales, Americans are getting wider every year. What\'s worse is that many nations are following suit.</p><p>In a list of the countries with the greatest percentage of overweight people, Nauru tops a list of countries with the greatest percentage of overweight people, with an alarming 94.5 percent of its adult population (ages 15+) classified as such, based on the most recent estimates by the World Health Organization (WHO). The Federated States of Micronesia, Cook Islands, Niue and Tonga round out the top five, all with a portly population of over 90 percent. </p><p>The U.S. weighs in at No. 9, with 74.1 percent of those over 15 years old considered overweight. But given that its population is nearly 20,000 times that of Nauru, clearly the U.S.\'s size belies it rank.</p><p>Experts say it is not surprising that people across the globe are increasingly becoming overweight. They blame urbanization and the influx of Western ways of life including myriad fast-food choices, little exercise and stressful jobs.</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://www.forbes.com/forbeslife/2007/02/07/worlds-fattest-countries-forbeslife-cx_ls_0208worldfat_slide_2.html?partner=msnbc\" target=\"_blank\">Slide show: World\'s fattest countries</a></li><li><a href=\"http://www.forbes.com/forbeslife/2007/02/07/worlds-fattest-countries-forbeslife-cx_ls_0208worldfat_2.html\" target=\"_blank\">Complete list of the fattest countries</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>\"Due to urbanization, more people are living in more dense environments, in cities where they are removed from traditional food sources and dependent on an industrial food supply,\" says Neville Rigby, director of policy and public affairs for the International Association for the Study of Obesity. Modernization is causing countries with small populations and few resources to depend on imported, often over-processed food. \"The Western diet overwhelms, and many people are not genetically engineered to cope with this,\" says Rigby. </p><p><b><strong>Countries transformed</strong></b><br><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"1%\"><tr><td><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia3.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/070214/070214_fattest_inline_10a.standard.jpg\" align=\"Right\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\" alt=\"Image: Overweight couple\"></td></tr><tr><td><div class=\"credit\" style=\"text-align:right;margin-bottom:5px;\">Shutterstock</div><div class=\"credit\"></div><hr noshade=\"true\" size=\"1\" color=\"#C0C0C0\"></td></tr></table>This change in lifestyle is most evident in the South Pacific. On the list of \"fattest\" countries, eight of the top 10 are in the Pacific region. </p><p>In the last 50 years this area has established significant economic ties with the U.S. and New Zealand, which caused a surge in Western imports and a significant change in diet. Studies conducted by the WHO Western Pacific regional office and by the International Obesity Task Force, a London-based think tank, also point to several other factors they say contribute to the region\'s high obesity rates. These include the common belief that beauty is marked by a large physical size, the reliance on fatty, nutrient-deficient imported foods and a decrease in activity caused by less farming and agricultural work. </p><p>Elsewhere, developing countries are dealing with what many experts call a nutrition transition - economies that are used to dealing primarily with undernutrition must now fight obesity.</p><p>\"Obesity has become a problem of poverty,\" says Daniel Epstein of the WHO Regional Office of the Americas. \"Poor people have an easier time of eating junk food. People fill up on things that have a high caloric value but little nutritional value.\" </p><p>Dr. Frank Hu, associate professor of nutrition and epidemiology at Harvard School of Public Health, agrees.</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;From trans fats to sex diets</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\"><strong><u>More from Forbes</u></strong></p><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/forbeslife/2006/12/04/trans-fat-vote-forbeslife-cx_avd_1205transfat_slide.html?partner=msnbc\" target=\"_blank\">Top 5 worst trans-fat offenders</a></font></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td><font color=\"551E1B\">?/font></td><td><font color=\"black\"><a href=\"http://www.forbes.com/2006/07/19/cz_mh_0719obesityslide.html?partner=msnbc\" target=\"_blank\">The hidden cost of obesity</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\">Easy ways 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/forbeslife/2007/02/06/spice-sex-life-forbeslife-cx_avd_0207sex_slide.html?partner=msnbc\" target=\"_blank\">Tips to spice up your sex life</a></font></td></tr><tr valign=\"top\"><td><font color=\"551E1B\">?/font></td><td><font color=\"black\"><a href=\"http://www.forbes.com/2006/11/30/sex-diet-nutrition-life-health_cx_tw_1205sexdiet_slide.html?partner=msnbc\" target=\"_blank\">Better sex diet</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>\"The problems of obesity rates dramatically increase in countries that are undergoing economical development,\" he says. Rural workers moving to urban areas perform less physical labor and supplant traditional low-fat diets that include local goods with processed diets that are high in fat and sugar.</p><p>China and India have relatively low percentages of overweight adults, 28.9 percent and 16 percent respectively. But obesity and its potential complications are increasing there at unparalleled speed due to the growth of urban populations and an expanding middle class who can afford richer food in greater quantities than their rural counterparts. In China, for example, the number of obese people has tripled since 1992, the WHO reports.</p><p><b><strong>It\'s not all about size</strong></b><br>The related health risks associated with being overweight are striking. Cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, hypertension and stroke are just some of the hazards. </p><p>It should not come as a shock that the nation with the highest rate of adult diabetes is Nauru, where nearly 31 percent of the population is struck with the disease, according to the International Diabetes Federation. The countries with the largest numbers of people with diabetes are India (40.9 million), China (39.8 million) and the U.S. (19.2 million).</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/17136113/\">Want a good workout? You better believe it</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/17032249/\">Fat-blocking pill will be sold over the counter</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/16876565/\">Diet, exercise take off equal pounds, study finds</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>Behind the numbers</strong></b><br>The WHO\'s definitions of \"overweight\" and \"obese\" are based on an individual\'s body mass index (BMI), which measures weight relative to height. Overweight is marked by a BMI greater than or equal to 25 and obese is defined as having a BMI greater than or equal to 30.</p><p>It\'s important to note that the definitions for overweight can vary by country and study. For example, in China, where the population has a high susceptibility to abdominal obesity (which is not directly reflected in BMI calculations), the cut-off point for overweight is 23.</p><p>There are currently 1.6 billion overweight adults in the world. In just 10 years, the WHO projects that number will grow by 40 percent. </p><p>As far as comparing the obesity rates of countries, \"it\'s hard to make automatic comparisons,\" says Rigby. \"It\'s more important to recognize that levels are increasing across the board.\"</p><div class=\"textBodyBlack\" style=\"clear:both;\"><i><em>?2007 Forbes.com</em></i></div><br>');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1882','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\">When pregnant mom eats fish, kids do better</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>Study: Seafood can boost children\'s IQ, despite possible mercury exposure</b><br></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia2.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/061231/061231_salmon_hmed_1p.hmedium.jpg\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"><font size=\"-2\">Corbis</font><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><font size=\"-1\">Pregnant women who ate more?han two or three servings a week had smarter children with better developmental skills, researchers found.</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br></td></tr></table><font size=\"-2\"><div class=\"textMedBlack\">MSNBC News Services</div><p></p></font><p>LONDON - Women who eat seafood while pregnant may be boosting their children\'s IQ in the process, according to new research published Friday in The Lancet.</p><p>The results of the study were surprising, say the authors, and contradict American and British recommendations that pregnant women should limit seafood and fish consumption to avoid potentially high levels of mercury. The study relied on mothers\' observations of their children\'s development and their reports of their food intake while pregnant.</p><p>Mercury is found in small concentrations in fish and seafood, but can accumulate in the body. High amounts of the metal can damage the human nervous system, particularly those in developing fetuses. On the other hand, seafood - including fish - is also a major source of omega-3 fatty acids, essential to brain development.</p><p>While experts believe further research is necessary to confirm these conclusions, the study\'s failure to find evidence of increased harm from eating fish is significant. Because seafood contain both nutrients and toxins, it remains a dilemma for regulatory authorities what kinds of recommendations should exist for pregnant women.</p><p>The study, led by Dr. Joseph Hibbeln of the United States\' National Institutes of Health, tracked the eating habits of 11,875 pregnant women in Bristol, Britain.</p><p><b><strong>Smarter kids?</strong></b><br>At 32 weeks into their pregnancy, the women were asked to fill in a seafood consumption questionnaire. They were subsequently sent questionnaires four times during their pregnancy, and then up to eight years after the birth of their child. Researchers examined issues including the children\'s social and communication skills, their hand-eye coordination, and their IQ levels. As with any study based on self-reporting methods, however, the results cannot be considered entirely definitive.</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/17188741/\">Vote: Would you eat seafood while you\'re pregnant?</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/17177330/site/newsweek/\">Newsweek: Fish for mom-to-be good or bad?</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/17183796/\">Girl has been hiccupping for 3 weeks</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/6818396/\">How mercury gets into food</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 study was primarily funded by Britain\'s Medical Research Council, the Wellcome Trust, the University of Bristol, and the British government.</p><p>Hibbeln and his colleagues concluded that women who ate more than 340 grams per week of fish or seafood - the equivalent of two or three servings a week - had smarter children with better developmental skills. Children whose mothers ate no seafood were 48 percent more likely to have a low verbal IQ score, compared to children whose mothers ate high amounts of seafood.</p><p>\"These results highlight the importance of including fish in the maternal diet and lend support to the popular opinion that fish is brain food,\" wrote Dr. Gary Myers and Dr. Philip Davidson of the University of Rochester Medical Center, in an accompanying commentary. Myers and Davidson were not connected to the study.</p><p>Eating even more than three portions of fish or seafood a week could be beneficial, Hibbeln suggests. \"Advice that limits seafood consumption might reduce the intake of nutrients necessary for optimum neurological development,\" he and his colleagues wrote.</p><p>The researchers said limiting pregnant women\'s weekly intake to 12 ounces (340 grams) of fish and seafood, as advised by the U.S. government, did not protect their children from developmental problems. Women who avoid seafood, they said, may actually be harming their babies by depriving them of essential nutrients needed for the developing fetal brain.</p><p>\"It was very surprising,\" Hibbeln said in a telephone interview. \"We did not expect such clear-cut results of the harm of low seafood consumption.\"</p><p><b><strong>Pollution worries</strong></b><br>The Environmental Working Group, which calls the U.S. recommendations too lenient, said the study highlighted the need for governments to take actions to keep pollutants out of seafood, like cracking down on coal-burning power plants.</p><p>\"The study reinforces the importance of keeping our seafood supply clean, making sure it\'s not overly contaminated with mercury and other chemicals that could actually harm brain development,\" said Jane Houlihan, the group\'s vice president for research.</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><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/8511066/\"><a href=\"javascript:OCW(\'http://www.msnbc.com/modules/fetal_stages/default.asp\',\'int520x400\',\'width=520,height=400\');\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia2.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Art/HEALTH/040112/TZ300_FetalStages.jpg\" height=\"60\" width=\"298\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"></a></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/8511066/\');\"></div></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td style=\"padding:10px;\"><font color=\"#000000\"></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>Mercury can build up in fish living in waters contaminated with it due to industrial pollution. Mercury can be particularly bad for fetuses and children because it can cause neurological and developmental problems.</p><p>In 2004 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Food and Drug Administration advised pregnant women and young children to eat no more than 12 ounces per week of light tuna and other seafood lower in mercury.</p><p>The agencies recommended they eat none of some fish with high mercury levels - shark, swordfish, king mackerel and tilefish - and no more than 6 ounces (170 grams) a week of albacore tuna because of mercury.</p><div class=\"textBodyBlack\" style=\"clear:both;\"><i>The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report</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(\'17185324\')\" 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(\'17185324\')\" 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 PREGNANCY </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/17010970/\"><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%\">Risky pregnancies on the rise</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/17266070/\">Vaccine may fight 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INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1883','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\">Some cocoa improves blood flow in the brain</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>Ingredient in chocolate could help fight off dementia, research suggests</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 FRANCISCO - A nice cup of the right kind of cocoa could hold the promise of promoting brain function as people age.</p><p>In an increasingly aging world, medical researchers are seeing more cases of dementia and are looking for ways to make brains work better.</p><p>One potential source of help may be flavanols, an antioxidant found in cocoa beans that can increase blood flow to the brain, researchers said Sunday at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.</p><p>Ian MacDonald of England\'s University of Nottingham reported on tests given to young women who were asked to do a complex task while their brains were being studied with magnetic resonance imaging.</p><p>Among the women given drinks of cocoa high in flavanols, there was a significant increase in blood flow to the brain compared with subjects who did not drink the cocoa, he said.</p><p>This raises the prospect of using flavanols in the treatment of dementia, marked by decreased blood flow in the brain, and in maintaining overall cardiovascular health, he said.</p><p>The next step, MacDonald said, is to move from healthy subjects to people who have \"compromised\" blood flow to the brain.</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/16948960/\">When it comes to chocolate, go dark</a> </li><li><a href=\"/id/16611042/\">Bilingualism can delay dementia</a> </li><li><a href=\"/id/17132272/\">Your drinks may be making you fat</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>Norman Hollenberg of Harvard Medical School said he found similar health benefits in the Cuna Indian tribe in Panama. They drink cocoa exclusively.</p><p><b><strong>Don\'t overdo it</strong></b><br>But the cocoa typically sold in markets is low in flavanols, which usually are removed because they impart a bitter taste, Hollenberg said. He also said the findings do not mean people should indulge in chocolate.</p><p>\"Chocolate is a delight. It can never be a health food because we have a calorie problem,\" Hollenberg said.</p><p>But, he added, in cocoa a lot of fat is removed from the chocolate. \"I see a bright future for cocoa,\" he said.</p><p>Hollenberg, an expert in blood pressure, studied the Cuna because those who live on native islands do not have high blood pressure.</p><p>He said he found that when tribe members move to cities, their blood pressure rises. A major difference is the consumption of their own prepared cocoa, which is high in flavanols. In native areas, that is all they drink; in cities they adopt the local diet.</p><p>In addition to having low blood pressure, Hollenberg said, there are no reports of dementia among the native Cuna.</p><p>Henriette van Praag of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies discussed the effects of a specific flavanol, Epichatechin, in tests in mice.</p><p>She said when that chemical was added to their food, the mice showed improved ability to solve a maze and remembered it longer than mice without the flavanol. She said Epichatechin affected the hippocampus, the brain area important in memory.</p><p>In a study reported a year ago, older men in the Netherlands who ate the equivalent of one-third of a chocolate bar every day had lower blood pressure and a reduced risk of death.</p><p>The researchers said, however, it was too early to conclude that chocolate led to better health. The men who ate more cocoa products could have shared other qualities that made them healthier.</p><p>Hagen Schroeter of Mars Inc., the candy company that paid for some of the research reported Sunday, said that cocoa long has been studied for potential medical benefits. He noted that in addition to cocoa, flavanols occur in other foods such as fruits, tea and wine that have been associated with dilation of the arteries.</p><p>Mars last year announced plans to market a line of products under the name CocoaVia which is high in flavanols. Other major chocolate companies, including Hershey\'s, have started promoting the flavanol content of their dark chocolates.</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('1884','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\">Location is key to get seniors moving</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>Study: Walkable proximity to stores, restaurants important to fitness</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>SEATTLE - The benefits of walking and being active are well known, especially for older people, but what kind of neighborhood gets seniors going?</p><p>It\'s not necessarily one with lots of walking trails or parks. What matters, researchers found, are the destinations like restaurants, grocery stores and even bars that are within a half-mile of your home.</p><p>\"The strongest relationship was with daily places we go for eating and socializing,\" said Anne Vernez Moudon, professor of urban design and planning at the University of Washington. She and other researchers did a three-year study of people 65 and older to find out who regularly walked and why and what types of communities they occupied.</p><p>Parks and walking trails - Seattle trademarks- had little to do with how much senior citizens walked, Moudon said. And surprisingly, Seattle\'s hilly geography also was not a significant factor.</p><p>Walkability seemed to depend on the distance to stores, length of blocks and perceived safety. Moudon said people who use public transportation are also more likely to walk, so proximity to bus stops was important in this Seattle study.</p><p>Anne Ludlum, who took part in the study, said walking keeps her alert, curious and stimulated: \"I want to go and see what the sign in front of Bailey Coy (Books) is today.\"</p><p>She has lived with her husband in a town house in Seattle\'s dense, pedestrian-friendly Capitol Hill area for more than 10 years. The 75-year-old writer and actress has lived in urban centers most of her life. Some of her friends live in more suburban areas and find it hard to exercise except at a gym.</p><p>\"That seems ridiculous to me,\" Ludlum said.</p><p>Car-centric Los Angeles where she lived for a few years was not a good fit: \"I really felt just completely lost and discombobulated.\"</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/17226572/\">Some cocoa improves blood flow to brain</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/17073220/\">Older people take a rosier view on life</a> </li><li><a href=\"/id/17005668/\">Loneliness tied to physical ills</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 study tracked 936 members of the Seattle-based health plan Group Health Cooperative, who ranged in age from 65 to 97. Data about their walking habits was combined with geographic information from urban planning researchers.</p><p>\"If you\'re able to walk to a destination you would normally drive to, then you\'re going to get physical activity in your everyday life,\" said Dr. Ethan Berke, lead researcher previously with the University of Washington and now at Dartmouth University.</p><p>The study was published in the March issue of the American Journal of Public Health.</p><p>The study did not show if a more walkable neighborhood leads to better health or if healthier people tend to live in places where they can walk.</p><p>But Berke and his colleagues suspect that exercise is one prescription against Alzheimer\'s disease, dementia, obesity, heart diseases, depression, cancer and other ailments. Walking\'s connection to mental health is the subject of Berke\'s current research.</p><p>Ludlum agrees with the theory: \"I\'ve always found that living someplace where I could walk to everywhere I needed to go made me much happier and undoubtedly healthier.\"</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('1885','2','\n\n\n	 <p>STUDIES have found that a person? body-fat percentage can often be a better indicator of health than weight. So it? not surprising that sales of scales with built-in body-fat monitors are up. Last year 436,000 units that measure body fat were sold, up from 316,000 in 2004, according to the NPD Group, a market research firm.</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/2007/02/15/fashion/15physical.1901.jpg\" width=\"190\" height=\"157\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\">\n<div class=\"credit\"></div>\n<p class=\"caption\">\n<strong> Homedics Tri-Fitness Health Station SC-560</strong> $69.99, www.homedics.com. Off by 4.1 percentage points, this body-fat monitor was the most inaccurate of all those tested. Still, only this model has a calorie predictor, which Ms. Bauer said can give the non-obese a good ballpark gauge about how much to consume to maintain their weight. A nutritionist would also take into account a person&#146;s &#147;genetic metabolism and medical status,&#148; Ms. Bauer said. Your age, height, fitness level and gender are stored for the life of the battery. \n</p>\n</div>\n  \n  \n<div class=\"image\">\n<IMG src=\"http://graphics.nytimes.com/images/2007/02/15/fashion/15physical.1902.jpg\" width=\"190\" height=\"202\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\">\n<div class=\"credit\"></div>\n<p class=\"caption\">\n<strong>Tanita Innerscan BC551</strong> $139.99, www.thecompetitiveedge.com. If you want to know your body fat, body mass index, weight and how hydrated you are &#151; voil&#224;! The InnerScan uses B.M.I. to estimate caloric intake, which Ms. Bauer said is a good method, but not foolproof. (She said examining one&#146;s urine can gauge hydration; dark yellow spells dehydration.) Mr. Bauer&#146;s body fat was off by only 2 percentage points, but the display was so &#147;small&#148; Ms. Bauer had to kneel to read it. \n</p>\n</div>\n  \n<div class=\"image\">\n<IMG src=\"http://graphics.nytimes.com/images/2007/02/15/fashion/15physical.1903.jpg\" width=\"190\" height=\"163\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\">\n<div class=\"credit\"></div>\n<p class=\"caption\">\n<strong>Health O Meter BFM-687</strong> $34.98, at Sam&#146;s Club stores. Ms. Bauer found this bare-bones model easy to program. It calculates weight, body-fat percentage, B.M.I. and water percentage. This scale&#146;s body fat reading (15.1 percent) was most consistent with the hospital reading (15 percent). The downside? The machine turns off quickly, so she &#147;had to keep hitting the &#145;power on&#146; to finish reading the measurements.&#148; \n</p>\n</div>\n  \n<div class=\"image\">\n<IMG src=\"http://graphics.nytimes.com/images/2007/02/15/fashion/15physical.1904.jpg\" width=\"190\" height=\"234\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\">\n<div class=\"credit\">Angela Jimenez for The New York Times</div>\n<p class=\"caption\">\n<strong>Omron HBF-500</strong>, $99.99, amazon.com. This scale, which has a handgrip with electrodes, offers a more thorough reading by sending a signal head to toe, its makers claim. Ms. Bauer didn&#146;t think a fuller reading made a difference; her husband&#146;s body-fat percentage was 2.5 percentage points lower than the hospital reading. Still, Ms. Bauer didn&#146;t consider so small a discrepancy a problem. The scale also measures B.M.I. and resting metabolic rate (the number of calories a body burns at rest and fasting). \n</p>\n</div>\n   \n</div>\n</div><a name=\"secondParagraph\"></a>\n <p>The gold standard for measuring body fat is underwater weighing, but a test costs about $200 to be done professionally. (The more body fat you have, the less you weigh in water.)</p><p>The new generation of at-home body-composition scales are cheaper and more sophisticated than those introduced in the late ?0s. The ones featured here all store data for four people and use bioelectrical impedance, a low level current that travels through a user? body to gauge the amount of muscle and fat. </p><p>To test the scales?accuracy, Joy Bauer, a registered dietitian in Manhattan and Rye Brook, N.Y. compared their readings to that of an underwater unit at <a href=\"http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/s/st_lukes-roosevelt_hospital_center/index.html?inline=nyt-org\" title=\"More articles about St Luke\'s-Roosevelt Hospital Center\">St. Luke?-Roosevelt Hospital Center</a> in Manhattan. Her husband, Ian, was the guinea pig. His hospital reading was 15 percent. She is also a consultant on the response to overly skinny models by the <a href=\"http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/c/council_of_fashion_designers_of_america/index.html?inline=nyt-org\" title=\"More articles about Council of Fashion Designers of America\">Council of Fashion Designers of America</a>.</p><p>Ms. Bauer was pleasantly surprised at how well the at-home models compared. ?hey only varied within 0.1 to 4?percentage points, Ms. Bauer said. Anything more than 4 percent off would indicate a problem with the machine. </p><p><span class=\"bold\"> </span></p><NYT_UPDATE_BOTTOM>\n</NYT_UPDATE_BOTTOM>\n');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1886','2','\n\n\n	 <p>IT used to be that the only time someone told you to suck in your gut was when the family had lined up for a photo at the Grand Canyon. </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/2007/02/21/fashion/22abs190.jpg\" width=\"190\" height=\"258\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\">\n<div class=\"credit\">Leela Corman</div>\n<p class=\"caption\">\n</p>\n</div>\n  \n   \n</div>\n</div><a name=\"secondParagraph\"></a>\n <p>Today, the advice to draw your navel to your spine is ubiquitous and has little to do with vanity. Drawing in (as the move is called) is supposed to engage a deep abdominal muscle called the transverse abdominus. (The technique involves inwardly pulling in, distinguishing it from the more general advice to contract the abdominals.) </p><p> Fire the transverse abdominus, the thinking goes, and the torso temporarily acts like a muscular corset, protecting the lower back. Practice firing that muscle enough, and over time not only will you get a strong midsection, but the transverse abdominus will eventually fire on its own. </p><p>Physical therapists instruct back-pain patients to draw in during sessions and as all-purpose advice before lifting groceries. Personal trainers instruct clients to perform the move during mat exercises and on stability balls; some even say you should be drawn in while running or cycling. And Pilates relies on some form of drawing in, although it also addresses a whole range of muscles related to core strength. </p><p>But new questions are being raised about whether drawing in is an appropriate technique for all kinds of exercisers. Critics, including personal trainers and specialists in the spine and biomechanics, are now saying that drawing in may not make sense while, say, lifting weights or performing a crunch or running a race. In fact, some say, drawing in may even be counterproductive. </p><p>?f you hollow in, you bring the muscles closer to the spine, and you reduce the stability of the spine,?said Stuart McGill, a professor of spine biomechanics in the department of kinesiology at the University of Waterloo in Ontario. Try rising from a chair with a hollowed out stomach; not only are you ?eak,?he said, but ?t? very difficult.?</p><p>Dr. McGill, who has treated patients with back disorders for 25 years, has measured spinal loading forces and their effects on spinal stability with computer models and in test subjects wired to computers. </p><p>His findings dispute not only the validity of drawing in, but also the very notion that the transverse abdominus plays a pivotal role in stability. All abdominal and back muscles are important, not just this one, Dr. McGill said. </p><p>Some trainers who once thought that drawing in was the key to protecting their lower back and building a strong midsection are now having second thoughts. Vern Gambetta, the author of ?thletic Development: The Art & Science of Functional Sports Conditioning,?now thinks the move is difficult to teach and too unnatural for athletes to maintain while being at their competitive best. </p><p>?n most sporting activities, things happen too fast to consciously think about contracting a specific muscle,?Mr. Gambetta said.</p><p>He and others have also seen that no matter how many times people hollow out their stomachs, firing the transverse abdominus rarely becomes second nature. </p><p>? don? know of a study that shows that drawing in becomes a subconscious reflex,?said Shirley Sahrmann, a professor of physical therapy at the <a href=\"http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/w/washington_university/index.html?inline=nyt-org\" title=\"More articles about Washington University\">Washington University</a> School of Medicine in St. Louis. </p><p>Some say the problem is the way people are taught to fire their transverse abdominus. Most of the time, exercisers are lying prone when they are told to consciously fire the muscle. Less often they are taught to perform an exercise that engages the transverse abdominus. </p><p>? would rather facilitate the motion that turns the muscle on all by itself,?said Gary Gray, a physical therapist in Michigan who has been trying to re-educate other therapists to abandon the drawing-in technique. ?otion is the thing that turns on muscles, not the mind.?</p><p>Dr. McGill said there is a better way than drawing in to protect the spine and build the core. For those about to lift something heavy or, say, leap for a rebound, he recommends bracing all the abdominal muscles ?something he said the body does more naturally during exertion. </p><p>?racing is stiffening the abdominal wall,?he said, explaining the difference. It? a neutral position. ?t? not sucking in and it? not pushing your belly out,?he said.</p><p>The easiest way to teach it: ?retend you are going to get whacked in the belly,?he said. The body? natural response is bracing. </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('1887','2','\n\n\n	 <p>ATLANTA, Feb. 21 (AP)  ? The <a href=\"http://www.nytimes.com/mem/MWredirect.html?MW=http://custom.marketwatch.com/custom/nyt-com/html-companyprofile.asp&symb=KO\" title=\"Coca-Cola\">Coca-Cola</a> Company said Wednesday that it would put caffeine content information on the labels of all of its drink products distributed in the United States that include the ingredient.</p>      <p>The company said the plan was voluntary and part of an industry initiative.</p><p>On Monday in New York, Simcha Felder, a Democratic city councilman from Brooklyn, said he intended to introduce a nonbinding Council resolution calling for 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> to require that caffeine content be included in product labels on food and beverages. </p><p>The F.D.A. requires that caffeine be included in ingredient lists when added to soft drinks and caffeinated water, but has not required that  caffeine content be labeled, even though it has long advised pregnant women to avoid or limit their intake of caffeine.</p><p>Coca-Cola, based in Atlanta, said it had already included caffeine labeling on its energy drink Full Throttle and its green tea Enviga products and would introduce the new labels on its other brands, starting with cans of Coca-Cola Classic, in May. </p><p><a href=\"http://www.nytimes.com/mem/MWredirect.html?MW=http://custom.marketwatch.com/custom/nyt-com/html-companyprofile.asp&symb=PEP\" title=\"PepsiCo\">PepsiCo</a> announced plans on Wednesday to introduce a version 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> Pepsi that includes more caffeine, as well as ginseng, <a href=\"http://www.nytimes.com/mem/MWredirect.html?MW=http://custom.marketwatch.com/custom/nyt-com/html-companyprofile.asp&symb=RTRSY\" title=\"Reuters\">Reuters</a> reported. </p><p>The drink, to be called Diet Pepsi Max, will have about a third more caffeine than the company? popular Diet Mountain Dew and is aimed at consumers aged 25 to 34, a Pepsi spokesman said. </p><NYT_UPDATE_BOTTOM>\n</NYT_UPDATE_BOTTOM>\n');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1888','2','<p>The only part of &quot;Truly Madly Deeply&quot; that I don\'t like is letting go of Alan Rickman! He helps Nina get over him, but not me! When Nina places Jamie\'s cello in its case for the last time, I can hardly bear the finality of it. But the film grabbed me from the first shot of the Underground, the lighting, the North London milieu, Bill Paterson, the perfect music choices, but mostly the luminescent brilliance of Juliet Stevenson. Obviously, the scene where she weeps with such anguish and anger is the best on-screen crying in the history of movies.</p><p><i>Marcia Roop, 62</i></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/2007/02/21/AR2007022101625_Technorati.html\') ;\ntechnorati.article = new item(\'Honorable Mentions: The Supporting Cast\',\'http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/21/AR2007022101625.html\',\'The only part of \"Truly Madly Deeply\" that I don\\\'t like is letting go of Alan Rickman! He helps Nina get over him, but not me! When Nina places Jamie\\\'s cello in its case for the last time, I can hardly bear the finality of it. But the film grabbed me from the first shot of the Underground, the...\',\'\') ;\n</script><script src=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/21/AR2007022101625_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/2007/02/21/AR2007022101625.html%3Freferrer=digg&title=Honorable Mentions: The Supporting Cast&bodytext=The only part of \'Truly Madly Deeply\' that I don\'t like is letting go of Alan Rickman! He helps Nina get over him, but not me! When Nina places Jamie\'s cello in its case for the last time, I can hardly bear the finality of it. But the film grabbed me from the first shot of the Underground, the...\" 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=Honorable Mentions: The Supporting Cast&labels=&annotation=The only part of \'Truly Madly Deeply\' that I don\'t like is letting go of Alan Rickman! He helps Nina get over him, but not me! When Nina places Jamie\'s cello in its case for the last time, I can hardly bear the finality of it. But the film grabbed me from the first shot of the Underground, the...&bkmk=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/21/AR2007022101625.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/2007/02/21/AR2007022101625.html%3Freferrer=delicious&title=%22Honorable Mentions: The Supporting Cast%22&notes=The only part of \'Truly Madly Deeply\' that I don\'t like is letting go of Alan Rickman! He helps Nina get over him, but not me! When Nina places Jamie\'s cello in its case for the last time, I can hardly bear the finality of it. 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On what really matters: &quot;A man that doesn\'t spend time with his family can never be a real man.&quot; On what\'s better than violence: &quot;Leave the gun, take the cannolis.&quot; On the futility of hatred: &quot;Is vengeance going to bring your son back to you?&quot; On not trusting the government: &quot;FBI don\'t respect nothin\'.&quot; Even on what to say to your girlfriend at Thanksgiving: &quot;That\'s my family . . . it\'s not me.&quot; Greatest movie ever made. Pardon me for sayin\', but it\'s one you can\'t refuse.</p><p><i>Michael Long, 43</i></p><p><i>Burke</i></p><P><FONT FACE=\"Arial,Helvetica\" COLOR=\"#000000\" SIZE=\"-1\"><B>\'Groundhog Day\'</B><br/><!-- BREAK --></FONT><hr size=\"1\" align=\"left\" color=\"#cccccc\"></P><p>&quot;Favorite&quot; is the word and does not mean best. Favorite means that I can watch it again and again; it must endure the test of time. Each time you watch it, the script still has something new to offer, a nuance undetected before, an enduring theme, a scene repeatedly enjoyed. For me, the only type of movie that fits this mold is a romantic comedy. If I was stuck on a deserted island, this movie is the one I\'d pick. Comedy to keep me laughing and coming back, romance with its themes that engage and endure.</p><p><i>Eric Sanne, 48</i></p><p><i>Chevy Chase</i></p><P><FONT FACE=\"Arial,Helvetica\" COLOR=\"#000000\" SIZE=\"-1\"><B>\'The Third Man\'</B><br/><!-- BREAK --></FONT><hr size=\"1\" align=\"left\" color=\"#cccccc\"></P><p>In Vienna, something is rotten. But wait! Here comes Joseph Cotten. Will he clear up the crime and find Harry Lime? In time? That zither is haunting, the villain\'s so daunting, the heroine taunting. Who can be trusted? Who will get busted? Can you turn in your friend? Get the girl at the end? Loyalty! Honor! Betrayal! Welles in his prime, camera sublime. Mon Dieu, what a tale!</p><p><i>Sandra Kauffman, 71</i></p><p><i>Bethesda</i></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/2007/02/21/AR2007022101625_2.html\'+unescape(location.search)+\'\">2</a>\')</script><noscript><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/21/AR2007022101625_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/2007/02/21/AR2007022101625_3.html\'+unescape(location.search)+\'\">3</a>\')</script><noscript><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/21/AR2007022101625_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/2007/02/21/AR2007022101625_4.html\'+unescape(location.search)+\'\">4</a>\')</script><noscript><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/21/AR2007022101625_4.html\">4</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/2007/02/21/AR2007022101625_5.html\'+unescape(location.search)+\'\">5</a>\')</script><noscript><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/21/AR2007022101625_5.html\">5</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/2007/02/21/AR2007022101625_2.html\'+unescape(location.search)+\'\">Next</a>\')</script><noscript><a href=\"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/21/AR2007022101625_2.html\">Next</a></noscript> ></b></font></td></tr></table></div><br>\n');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1889','2','	<p><!--Spanish ID: 601458 --> <p>TUESDAY, Jan. 30 (HealthDay News) -- Whether you eat fewer calories or burn them off through exercise, the effect on body composition and fat distribution is the same, a new study says. </p> <p> Researchers at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, La., found that dieting alone is as effective as a combination of diet and exercise at cutting weight and fat -- as long as calories consumed and burned equal out.</p> <p>Their study also indicated that adding exercise to a weight-loss program doesn\'t change body composition and abdominal fat distribution. That challenges the theory that specific exercises can reduce fat in certain areas. For example, some exercises are supposed to specifically target abdominal fat.</p> <p>\"It\'s all about the calories. So long as the energy deficit is the same, body weight, fat weight, and abdominal fat will all decrease in the same way,\" study senior author Dr. Eric Ravussin said in a prepared statement.</p> <p>He and his colleagues studied 35 overweight people. They were divided into three groups: One group went on a diet that reduced their caloric intake by 25 percent (550 to 900 fewer calories a day); the second group reduced their caloric intake by 12.5 percent and increased their physical activity to burn 12.5 percent more calories.</p> <p>The people in the third (control) group were put on a healthy diet designed to maintain their body weight.</p> <p>After six months, the people in both the calorie-restricted and the calorie reduction/exercise groups had lost about 10 percent of their bodyweight, 24 percent of their fat mass, and 27 percent of their abdominal fat. However, their distribution of body fat remained the same.</p> <p>\"The inability of the interventions to alter the distribution of fat suggests that individuals are genetically programmed for fat storage in a particular pattern and that this programming cannot easily be overcome,\" Ravussin said.</p> <p>While dieting alone can reduce weight, the researchers noted that exercise also improves aerobic fitness, which has many other health benefits.</p> <p>\"For overall health, an appropriate program of diet and exercise is still the best,\" Ravussin said. </p> <p>The study is published in the <i>Journal of Clinical Endocrinology &amp; Metabolism</i>.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The American Academy of Family Physicians has more about <a href=\"http://familydoctor.org/197.xml\" target=\"_new\">weight control</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1890','2','	<p><!--Spanish ID: 601502 --> <p>WEDNESDAY, Jan. 31 (HealthDay News) -- Even for the overweight, regular moderate exercise does not hasten or delay the onset of osteoarthritis of the knee in older individuals, new research reveals.</p> <p>The finding undercuts the notion that exercise might have a protective effect against osteoarthritis. However, at the same time, it suggests that those already burdened with an elevated risk, such as overweight seniors, can safely remain active.</p> <p>\"There was fear that weight-bearing exercise among overweight people might put the very people who need it most at risk of getting knee arthritis and knee pain, but this study suggests that is not the case,\" said study author Dr. David T. Felson, chief of Boston University\'s Clinical Epidemiology Research Training Unit. \"There shouldn\'t be any concern.\"</p> <p>The findings are published in the February issue of <i>Arthritis Care &amp; Research</i>.</p> <p>According to the National Institutes of Health, osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis in the United States, affecting more than 12 percent of the population.</p> <p>The painful degenerative joint disease is characterized by a breakdown of the shock-absorbing cartilage that shields bones where they contact joints. Osteoarthritis is more prevalent among the elderly, especially women, but it can also develop among younger men and women.</p> <p>In their study, Felson and his colleagues tracked the exercise habits and incidence of knee osteoarthritis for almost 1,300 men and women in Massachusetts. The study lasted for more than a decade, with participants averaging just over 53 years of age at the trial\'s outset.</p> <p>Initial activity surveys were completed in 1991 and 1992 to assess the types and intensity of regular exercise being practiced. In 1993 and 1994, and once again from 2002 to 2005, the researchers took knee X-rays and had participants fill out knee function questionnaires. Just over one-quarter of the participants had already developed some form of knee pain by 1993-1994.</p> <p>The researchers found that most of the men and women said they walked regularly for exercise.</p> <p>However, by measuring \"joint space loss\" -- an apparent indicator of knee cartilage loss -- they found that disease onset was neither positively nor negatively influenced by physical activity.</p> <p>The lack of a relationship between osteoarthritis and exercise held up regardless of whether the individual walked less than six miles per week or more, or whether or not they worked up a sweat.</p> <p>Far fewer (68) of the participants either ran or jogged, but even this form of exercise didn\'t appear to increase or decrease their risk for developing osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis risk didn\'t rise or fall in connection with any other moderate level of activity, either, the researchers said.</p> <p>This held true even for participants who were overweight. Even though such relatively out-of-shape individuals were already at a higher risk for developing osteoarthritis, routine exercise did not contribute to, or help reduce, their overall risk for the disease.</p> <p>Felson said his team focused primarily on the effects of moderate, rather than aggressive, exercise. But the study showed that this type of moderate physical activity is safe for older Americans when it comes to osteoarthritis risk.</p> <p>\"I do think this is a case where the glass is probably more half full than it is half empty,\" said Felson, who is also professor of medicine and public health at Boston University\'s School of Medicine and School of Public Health. \"Yes, there have been advocates who have suggested that regular exercise might be protective against knee osteoarthritis, and that doesn\'t appear to be the case. But, the good news is that exercise is safe for people who are older.\"</p> <p>Dorothy Dunlop, a research associate professor with the Institute for Healthcare Studies at Northwestern University\'s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, also accented the positive.</p> <p>\"I see the glass full and brimming over, because the literature is bursting with suggestions that moderate physical activity is beneficial in terms of pain and function improvement, and has cardiovascular benefits for all people with and without arthritis,\" she said.</p> <p>Dunlop led a study, released earlier this year, that showed that seniors who were already coping with arthritis and who avoided exercise were twice as likely to lose their ability to perform basic tasks such as dressing, bathing, or cooking, compared with more active elderly.</p> <p>\"So, what this new study is telling me is that people can be encouraged to exercise without a concern that this will increase their risk of osteoarthritis,\" she said. \"To me, it\'s a very important and positive finding which strongly supports physical activity.\"</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>For additional information on osteoarthritis, visit the <a href=\"http://www.niams.nih.gov/hi/topics/arthritis/oahandout.htm\" target=\"_new\">U.S. National Institutes of Health</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1891','2','	<p><p>MONDAY, Feb. 5 (HealthDay News) -- If your child isn\'t getting enough exercise, don\'t blame the \"idiot box.\" New research suggests that the amount of time teens spend watching TV bears no relationship to their levels of physical activity.</p> <p>The finding, which was published in the February issue of <i>Pediatrics</i>, runs counter to a commonly held couch-potato theory --embraced by many obesity-prevention programs -- that the more time children spend in front of a TV show or video game, the less time they\'ll play sports or exercise.</p> <p>\"Changes in television viewing do not necessarily predict changes in physical activity -- increases or decreases-- so we cannot just assume that if we can get kids to reduce their television viewing it will automatically result in increases in their physical activity,\" said study lead author Dr. Elsie M. Taveras. She\'s an assistant professor of pediatrics in the department of ambulatory care and prevention at Harvard Medical School.</p> <p>Taveras and her colleagues examined the TV and exercise habits of almost 6,400 girls and 4,500 boys across the United States, who were between the ages of 10 and 15 when the four-year study began in 1997.</p> <p>All the children were the sons and daughters of nurses who\'d participated in an earlier study, and the vast majority was non-Hispanic whites.</p> <p>The children completed four written questionnaires over the study period, in which they reported the number of hours they spent watching TV, as well as the amount of time they spent exercising outside of any school-required physical education classes.</p> <p>TV viewing broadly included all video watching and video-game playing. In terms of exercise, moderate activities such as baseball, biking, dancing, skateboarding, walking, gymnastics, and volleyball were included, as were what the study authors deemed to be more strenuous activities, such as basketball, hockey, skating, swimming, soccer, tennis, jogging, football, and karate.</p> <p>The authors found that for each additional hour a week that a child spent watching TV, their involvement in either moderate or vigorous exercise increased by just .03 hours a week. The researchers concluded that changes in television viewing habits year to year did not appear to be substantially related to changes in exercise habits.</p> <p>This lack of an association held true for gender and age, with no apparent difference between boys or girls aged 10 to 12 and those aged 13 to 15.</p> <p>The researchers suggested that public health programs designed to address adolescent obesity should view television watching and exercise as two independent activities with separate motivations.</p> <p>But, Dr. Jess Shatkin, a child and adolescent psychiatrist, and director of education and training at New York University\'s Child Study Center, said any conclusions about a connection between TV watching and exercise is complicated by socio-economic factors.</p> <p>\"From a public health background, a lot of it comes down to what you can afford,\" he said. \"This study doesn\'t directly address this, but it may be that while TV-watching is not by itself connected with exercise habits, the fact that a child doesn\'t live in a safe area may mean he stays inside more, doesn\'t exercise, and watches TV more so parents can keep tabs.</p> <p>\"And,\" Shatkin added, \"for a variety of reasons, physical activity has become less of a priority in our public schools. So, if a child doesn\'t happen to live near a nice park, and the parents can\'t afford $300 for a T-ball class, then the kid is probably going to get less exercise whether or not he\'s watching TV.\"</p> <p>Taveras acknowledged that point, noting that the children in the study came from families with higher-than-average economic backgrounds, in which at least one parent -- the mother -- was educated and employed as a health-care professional.</p> <p>\"So he [Shatkin] is absolutely right,\" she said. \"Our findings are certainly valid for the group we looked at, but they may not be generalizable. They may not translate to someone who lives in the inner city, where there may not be the money to replace TV-viewing with gymnastics.\"</p> <p>Taveras said her future research plans include examining the link between TV and exercise habits among lower-income families, as well as younger preteen children, to see if the findings hold true on a broader scale.</p> <p>In a related study, researchers found that teens who spend a lot of time watching TV are more likely to have higher blood pressure, regardless of whether they are overweight.</p> <p>\"This is the first research to show a direct and independent connection between TV watching and higher blood pressure among adolescents,\" said study leader Dr. Nicolas Stettler, a pediatric nutrition specialist at The Children\'s Hospital of Philadelphia.</p> <p>The study of 4,500 American teens found that sedentary activities and higher body mass index (a ratio of weight to height) were associated with higher systolic blood pressure. The findings are published in the February issue of the <i>Journal of Adolescent Health</i>.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>For more information on exercise and health, visit the <a href=\"http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/obesity/lose_wt/phy_act htm\" target=\"_new\">National Institutes of Health</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1892','2','	<p><!--Spanish ID: 601692 --> <p>TUESDAY, Feb. 6 (HealthDay News) -- An age-related decline in a power-boosting signal in muscle may be the reason why older people have to exercise harder than younger people in order to get the same benefits, suggests a U.S. study. </p> <p> Reporting in the February issue of the journal <i>Cell Metabolism</i>, researchers found that AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) worked more slowly in the skeletal muscle of 2-year-old rats than in 3-month-old rats.</p> <p>In skeletal muscle, AMPK stimulates the oxidation of fatty acids and the production of power-producing mitochondria that burn fat and fuel cells, the researchers said.</p> <p>\"The message of this paper is that, with aging, the AMPK pathway has reduced activity. So, one probably has to work harder to maintain the same level of fat oxidation and mitochondrial biogenesis (production) in muscle,\" Gerald I. Shulman, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator at Yale University School of Medicine, said in a prepared statement.</p> <p>He noted that earlier studies showed that even lean and healthy people in their 70s have a higher incidence of fat buildup in their muscles and a deficiency in mitochondria function than 20-year-olds.</p> <p>Age-related reduction in AMPK activity may also be linked to increased rates of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes in older people, Shulman said.</p> <p>\"In regards to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes, having more AMPK activity in our skeletal muscle is probably a good thing, because AMPK activation stimulates glucose uptake, increases fat oxidation, and promotes mitochondrial biogenesis,\" he said.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The U.S. National Library of Medicine explains <a href=\"http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/004015.htm\" target=\"_new\">age-related changes in bones, muscles and joints</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1893','2','	<p><p>SATURDAY, Feb. 10 (HealthDay News) -- Older Americans face a \"double whammy\" when it comes to body fat, a new study finds.</p> <p>Up until age 80, older adults gain fat but lose muscle as they age and, because of the obesity epidemic in the United States, many are already fatter when they enter their older years.</p> <p>That extra fat increases their risk for arthritis, diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and disability, said study author Dr. Jingzhong Ding, an assistant professor of gerontology and geriatric medicine at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, N.C. </p> <p>The findings are published in the current issue of the <i>American Journal of Clinical Nutrition</i>.</p> <p>The researchers studied body composition changes -- specifically the proportion of fat to lean mass (muscle and organs) -- in 1,786 older adults from 1997 to 2003. The participants were aged 70 to 79 when they enrolled in the study.</p> <p>\"The study provides a better pictures of age-related changes in body composition, and it\'s not a good picture. It demonstrates that up until age 80, both older men and women gained fat but lost lean mass each year. These age-related changes were compounded by the obesity epidemic,\" Ding said in a prepared statement.</p> <p>Ding\'s team also found the participants who were born later, and therefore spent more years during the period when obesity was on the rise in the United States, had a higher percentage of body fat. For example, a man born in 1927 had about 10 pounds more fat than a man born in 1918.</p> <p>\"The combined effects of aging and the obesity epidemic results in bigger body size and less lean mass among the elderly,\" Ding said. \"This may lead to disability and other illnesses in the elderly, and could be dramatic in the coming years. It points out the great public health importance of developing appropriate interventions that target fat loss while preserving skeletal muscle to prevent disability and other obesity-related illnesses.\"</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The U.S. National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion has material about <a href=\"http://www.cdc.gov/aging/\" target=\"_new\">healthy aging for older adults</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1894','2','	<p><p>TUESDAY, Feb. 13 (HealthDay News) -- A drug used to ease \"mountain sickness\" holds promise as a treatment for a potentially fatal condition that can strike high-altitude climbers, researchers report.</p> <p>In tests that exposed human subjects to a simulation of high altitude, the drug acetazolamide appeared to boost the ability of the lungs to function properly while facing major stress.</p> <p>\"It may open up avenues to treat and prevent the more serious forms of altitude-related illnesses,\" said study co-author Marc Poulin, an associate professor of physiology at the University of Calgary, in Alberta, Canada. </p> <p>However, the research only looked at a small group of subjects, and a doctor who specializes in climbers said the drug -- known by the brand name Diamox -- isn\'t yet ready for prime time.</p> <p>Mountain sickness, also known as altitude sickness, occurs when people go beyond about 6,560 to 9,840 feet of altitude, Poulin said. Symptoms include insomnia, nausea, headaches, fatigue, lack of appetite, shortness of breath and lightheadedness.</p> <p>\"Rapid ascent is a risk factor, but the mechanism is not really well understood,\" Poulin said. \"It\'s hard to predict who will be susceptible and who will not.\"</p> <p>According to Poulin, about half of the trekkers in the Khumbu region of Nepal, the valley below Mount Everest, will experience symptoms of altitude sickness. In some cases, they can get better by going down -- quickly. </p> <p>Even more dangerous conditions are high-altitude pulmonary edema and high-altitude cerebral edema, in which the lungs and brain become filled with fluid. </p> <p>In the new study, researchers from Canada, Britain and the Netherlands wanted to see if acetazolamide -- now used to treat altitude sickness and other conditions like glaucoma -- would help with the other conditions.</p> <p>Poulin and colleagues enlisted nine subjects, six men and three women, who each took 250 mg of acetazolamide every eight hours for three days. Then, they subjected them to a simulation of high-altitude to see how their bodies reacted. </p> <p>The study is published in the February issue of the <i>American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine</i>.</p> <p>The team found that the drug reduced pressure within the lungs by relaxing muscles that line the lungs\' capillaries. This increased oxygenation, Poulin said. </p> <p>That matters, because pulmonary edema -- fluid in the lungs -- may be caused by \"a mismatch between the amount of air that\'s taken up by the lungs and the blood that passes through the lungs,\" he said.</p> <p>The findings suggest that the drug could be used to treat other conditions that cause a build-up in lung pressure, Poulin said. </p> <p>However, one specialist in high-altitude medicine is skeptical of the findings. Dr. Ken Zafren, associate medical director of the Himalayan Rescue Association and clinical assistant professor of emergency medicine at Stanford University, called the study \"speculative\" and based on too little exposure to high-altitude conditions. </p> <p>Zafren cautioned against relying on acetazolamide to treat altitude sickness until more research is available, including findings from a much larger Nepal study that he is working on with others.</p> <p>According to Zafren, a heart drug called nifedipine remains the best-studied medication to treat high-altitude pulmonary edema. Nifedipine, brand named Adalat, \"is safe and effective both as prophylaxis (a preventative) and as treatment.\"</p> <p>The erectile dysfunction drugs sildenafil (Viagra) and tadalafil (Cialis) can also lower pulmonary artery pressure at high altitude, he said.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The U.S. Library of Medicine can tell you more about <a href=\"http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000133.htm\" target=\"_new\">acute mountain sickness</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1895','2','	<p><p>WEDNESDAY, Feb. 7 (HealthDay News) -- The first nonprescription drug to treat obesity in American adults was approved Wednesday by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.</p> <p>The drug, called alli (orlistat), is designed to be used only in tandem with a reduced-calorie, low-fat diet by overweight adults aged 18 and older. According to manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline, the drug helps people lose 50 percent more weight than dieting alone, should cost consumers $12 to $25 a week, and is expected to be available by this summer.</p> <p>\"This is the only FDA-approved, over-the-counter weight-loss drug product,\" Dr. Charles J. Ganley, the FDA\'s director of the Division of Over-The-Counter Drug Products, said during a teleconference. \"There are some products, primarily dietary supplements, that make weight-loss claims and those are not FDA-approved, although they are permitted to make these claims.\"</p> <p>The drug will be available in 60 milligram capsules, to be taken three times a day with meals that contain fat. The company said the drug works by \"blocking about 25 percent of the fat in food a person eats. Because of the way it works, alli must be used in conjunction with a reduced-calorie, low-fat diet containing about 15 grams of fat per meal.\"</p> <p>Eating a meal with too much fat while taking the drug can result in bowel changes such as loose stools, according to the FDA. These side effects typically occur in the first weeks of treatment, they aren\'t harmful, and can be managed by following the recommended diet of about 15 grams of fat per meal, GlaxoSmithKline said.</p> <p>It\'s also recommended that users take a multivitamin once a day, at bedtime, because the drug can interfere with the absorption of some vitamins, GlaxoSmithKline said.</p> <p>People who have had an organ transplant shouldn\'t take the drug. And anyone taking blood-thinning medicines or being treated for diabetes or thyroid disease should consult a physician before using the drug, the FDA said.</p> <p>\"This drug is only going to be effective if it\'s used along with a weight-loss program,\" Ganley said. \"That means a reduced-fat diet, decreased calories and an exercise program.\"</p> <p>\"If someone uses the drug without a weight-loss program, it\'s not going to be very effective,\" he added.</p> <p>A higher dose of orlistat (120 milligram capsules) has been marketed as the prescription drug Xenical in the United States since 1999.</p> <p>While the company claims Xenical\'s safety has been demonstrated by nine years of worldwide use in 146 countries, the consumer-advocacy group Public Citizen last year petitioned the FDA to remove Xenical from the U.S. market.</p> <p>Public Citizen contended that the higher-dose drug might increase the risk of aberrant crypt foci, which are widely believed to be precursors to colon cancer.</p> <p>Late Wednesday, the advocacy group issued a statement criticizing the FDA\'s approval of the over-the-counter version of the drug.</p> <p>\"At a time when colon cancer is a leading cause of death and disease in the United States, the Food and Drug Administration\'s decision to approve, for over-the-counter use, a diet drug that clearly causes precancerous lesions of the colon is the height of recklessness and shows a profound lack of concern for the public\'s health,\" Dr. Sidney M. Wolfe, director of Public Citizen\'s Health Research Group, said in the statement.</p> <p>One obesity expert isn\'t sure the new OTC drug will be effective for most people.</p> <p>\"The drug is probably safe,\" said Dr. Raj Padwal, an assistant professor of general internal medicine at the University of Alberta. \"However, I\'m not sure the half-strength dosage will have much effect.\"</p> <p>Full-strength dosage reduces weight by less than 3 kilograms (6.6 pounds), on average, Padwal said.</p> <p>\"People may only lose 1 to 2 kilograms (2.2 to 4.4 pounds) on this half-strength dose. Whether that is worthwhile is questionable. The occasional patient may benefit, but many patients may not. For those patients who need extra incentive to adhere to a low-fat diet, the drug may help,\" Padwal said.</p> <p>Padwal and a colleague recently published an article in <i>The Lancet</i> that noted precious little evidence exists that proves weight-loss drugs such as orlistat actually reduce the risks of heart attack, stroke and diabetes associated with being overweight or obese.</p> <p>The FDA\'s approval of the first over-the-counter drug for weight loss comes as the United States and other western nations are struggling with an unprecedented obesity epidemic.</p> <p>According to the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics, 30 percent of American adults 20 years of age and older -- more than 60 million people -- are obese. And another 36 percent are considered overweight.</p> <p>Overall, this drug is likely to be limited in the direct harm it causes, but also in the good it does, 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>\"It is a relatively ineffective weight-loss aid,\" he said. \"If availability of the drug distracts people from the tried-and-true approach to weight control, eating well and being active, then the FDA decision could prove more harmful than helpful, in spite of good intentions.\"</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>For more information on orlistat, visit the U.S. <a href=\"http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/medmaster/a601244.html\" target=\"_new\">National Library of Medicine</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1896','2','	<p><!--Spanish ID: 601811 --> <p>FRIDAY, Feb. 9 (HealthDay News) -- A component of vitamin B3 (also known as niacin) may help scientists develop anti-aging drugs, new research suggests.</p> <p>A team at the Wistar Institute in Philadelphia found that this component, nicotinamide, is able to bind to a specific site on enzymes called sirtuins and inhibit their activity.</p> <p>When activated, sirtuins can significantly extend the lives of many kinds of organisms, such as yeast, worms and flies. Sirtuins may also be able to control aging-related metabolic disorders, such as type 2 diabetes and obesity.</p> <p>The research suggests that drugs that prevent nicotinamide from binding to this specific site on sirtuins could have the effect of activating the enzymes.</p> <p>The study is published in the Feb. 9 issue of <i>Molecular Cell</i>.</p> <p>\"Our findings suggest a new avenue for designing sirtuin-activating drugs,\" senior author Ronen Marmorstein, a professor in the gene expression and regulation program at Wistar, said in a prepared statement.</p> <p>\"The jury is still out as to whether a drug of this kind might result in longer life in humans, but I\'m equally excited by the possibility that such interventions might help counteract age-related health problems like obesity and type 2 diabetes,\" Marmorstein said.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The U.S. National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion offers advice about <a href=\"http://www.cdc.gov/aging/\" target=\"_new\">healthy aging for older adults</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1897','2','	<p><!--Spanish ID: 601811 --> <p>FRIDAY, Feb. 9 (HealthDay News) -- Drugs that block a component of vitamin B3 (also known as niacin) might help slow aging, new research suggests.</p> <p>A team at the Wistar Institute in Philadelphia found that this niacin component, nicotinamide, is able to bind to a specific site on enzymes called sirtuins and inhibit their activity.</p> <p>When activated, sirtuins can significantly extend the lives of many kinds of organisms, such as yeast, worms and flies. Sirtuins may also be able to control aging-related metabolic disorders, such as type 2 diabetes and obesity.</p> <p>Drugs that block nicotinamide from binding to this specific site on sirtuins might activate the enzymes and boost health, the researchers say.</p> <p>The study is published in the Feb. 9 issue of <i>Molecular Cell</i>.</p> <p>\"Our findings suggest a new avenue for designing sirtuin-activating drugs,\" senior author Ronen Marmorstein, a professor in the gene expression and regulation program at Wistar, said in a prepared statement.</p> <p>\"The jury is still out as to whether a drug of this kind might result in longer life in humans, but I\'m equally excited by the possibility that such interventions might help counteract age-related health problems like obesity and type 2 diabetes,\" Marmorstein said.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The U.S. National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion offers advice about <a href=\"http://www.cdc.gov/aging/\" target=\"_new\">healthy aging for older adults</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1898','2','	<p><p>(HealthDay News) -- An endoscope is a small, flexible tube with a camera on one end. The device -- inserted surgically or through the mouth or anus -- is used to examine various parts of the body, including the joints, lungs, bladder, digestive tract and appendix, for example.</p> <p>The U.S. National Library of Medicine says that some types of endoscopy require special preparation, such as clearing the stomach or bowels. A doctor may require that you not eat or drink anything before the procedure, or that you take laxatives.</p> <p>People having an endoscopy normally are sedated to minimize pain and discomfort.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1899','2','	<p><!--Spanish ID: 601938 --> <p>TUESDAY, Feb. 13 (HealthDay News) -- Women may soon have a better idea of what their actual cardiovascular disease risk is for the next 10 years and beyond.</p> <p>That\'s because researchers from Brigham and Women\'s Hospital in Boston have developed a new cardiovascular disease assessment tool specifically for female patients.</p> <p>The new risk model, called the Reynolds Risk Score, includes family history and blood levels of highly sensitive C-reactive protein (a marker of inflammation), in addition to more traditional risk factors. </p> <p>\"The Reynolds Risk Score provides a very easy way for women and physicians to truly understand what the cardiovascular risk is, not only for 10 years, but for 20 and 30 years,\" explained the study\'s lead author, Dr. Paul Ridker, director of the Center for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention at Brigham and Women\'s Hospital in Boston. \"Of the approximately 10 million American women who have an intermediate risk of heart disease based on current guidelines, about 50 percent would be classified into higher or lower categories [based on the Reynolds Risk Score].\" </p> <p>Results of the study are in the Feb. 14 issue of the <i>Journal of the American Medical Association</i>. </p> <p>Heart disease remains the leading killer of American women. \"Women need to understand that their risk of suffering a heart attack, stroke or other cardiovascular disease is the same as it is for men, but it happens about 10 years later. While preventing breast and ovarian cancer is important, preventing heart disease has to take a higher place,\" said Ridker. </p> <p>But, he said, the current guidelines, originally designed in the 1950s and 1960s, don\'t fully capture a woman\'s heart disease risk. In fact, as many as 20 percent of all women who have had heart attacks don\'t have <i>any</i> of the known major risk factors, and, according to Ridker, about half of all heart attacks occur in women who have normal cholesterol levels. </p> <p>To develop a better model of female risk, Ridker and his colleagues assessed 35 different risk factors in nearly 25,000 women taking part in the Women\'s Health Study. All of the women were over 45 years old and heart disease-free at the start of the study. Additionally, none of the women included in the risk-score study had diabetes, because being diabetic automatically puts a woman in the high-risk category for heart disease.</p> <p>The average follow-up time was 10.2 years. </p> <p>The researchers used information from two-thirds of the group to design the new risk model and the other third to validate the Reynolds Risk Score. </p> <p>The Reynolds Risk Score includes age, systolic blood pressure (the top number in a blood pressure reading), total and HDL (\"good\") cholesterol levels, smoking status, levels of high sensitivity C-reactive protein (CRP) and family history of cardiovascular trouble (whether or not a parent had a heart attack before the age of 60). </p> <p>According to the study, about 40 percent to 50 percent of women classified as having an intermediate risk actually had a higher or a lower risk, based on the Reynolds Risk Score. </p> <p>\"By adding CRP and family history, we can do a much better job on assessing risk,\" said Ridker. \"This will have an enormous impact on prevention. We can get aspirin and statins to women who truly need them, without exposing those who don\'t. It\'s cost-effective as well as being good medicine.\" </p> <p>Another expert agreed. \"This is great news that we\'re starting to look at and fine tune the risk of heart disease in women,\" said Dr. Nieca Goldberg, medical director of the Women\'s Heart Program at New York University Medical Center and author of <i>Women Aren\'t Small Men: Life-Saving Strategies for Preventing and Healing Heart Disease in Women</i>. </p> <p>But, she said, not every woman needs to have her CRP levels measured, and there are some limitations to using CRP levels. While diet and exercise can lower CRP levels, there\'s currently no evidence that lowering CRP can lower heart disease risk, she said. </p> <p>Goldberg said the new scoring tool will be useful as part of a global assessment of all of woman\'s risk factors, including lifestyle factors, such as diet and exercise habits. </p> <p>\"This is just one tool, not the sole measure of a woman\'s risk of heart disease,\" Goldberg said. </p> <p>Ridker said the Reynolds Risk Score may be most helpful in showing women what they can achieve by managing their risk factors. For example, the score shows that a 45-year-old woman who smokes, has a family history of heart disease and has slightly elevated cholesterol, CRP and blood pressure could cut her risk of having a heart attack in half during the next 10 years if she stopped smoking. Or, she could cut her risk in half by getting her cholesterol levels back to normal. </p> <p>The most important risk factor for heart disease is still smoking, Ridker said, but this study found that family history and CRP are also key. He recommended that women let their doctors knows if their parents had heart disease before they were 60. </p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The new risk assessment tool can be accessed online at <a href=\"http://www.reynoldsriskscore.org\" target=\"_new\">www.ReyoldsRiskScore.org</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1900','2','	<p><p>WEDNESDAY, Feb. 7 (HealthDay News) -- The first non-prescription drug to treat obesity in American adults was approved Wednesday by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.</p> <p>The drug, called alli (orlistat), is designed to be used only in tandem with a reduced-calorie, low-fat diet by overweight adults 18 and older. According to manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline, the drug helps people lose 50 percent more weight than dieting alone, should cost consumers $12 to $25 a week and is expected to be available by this summer.</p> <p>\"This is the only FDA-approved, over-the-counter weight loss drug product,\" Dr. Charles J. Ganley, the FDA\'s director of the Division of Over-The-Counter Drug Products, said during a teleconference. \"There are some products, primarily dietary supplements, that make weight-loss claims and those are not FDA-approved, although they are permitted to make these claims.\"</p> <p>The drug will be available in 60 milligram capsules, to be taken three times a day with meals that contain fat. The company said the drug works by \"blocking about 25 percent of the fat in food a person eats. Because of the way it works, alli must be used in conjunction with a reduced-calorie, low-fat diet containing about 15 grams of fat per meal.\"</p> <p>Eating a meal with too much fat while taking the drug can result in bowel changes such as loose stools, according to the FDA. These side effects typically occur in the first weeks of treatment, they aren\'t harmful, and can be managed by following the recommended diet of about 15 grams of fat per meal, GlaxoSmithKline said. </p> <p>It\'s also recommended that users take a multivitamin once a day, at bedtime, because the drug can interfere with the absorption of some vitamins, GlaxoSmithKline said. </p> <p>People who have had an organ transplant shouldn\'t take the drug. And anyone taking blood-thinning medicines or being treated for diabetes or thyroid disease should consult a physician before using the drug, the FDA said.</p> <p>\"This drug is only going to be effective if it\'s used along with a weight-loss program,\" Ganley said. \"That means a reduced fat diet, decreased calories and an exercise program.\"</p> <p>\"If someone uses the drug without a weight-loss program, it\'s not going to be very effective,\" he added.</p> <p>A higher dose of orlistat (120 mg capsules) has been marketed as the prescription drug Xenical in the United States since 1999.</p> <p>While the company claims Xenical\'s safety has been demonstrated by nine years of worldwide use in 146 countries, the consumer-advocacy group Public Citizen last year petitioned the FDA to remove Xenical from the U.S. market.</p> <p> Public Citizen contended that the higher-dose drug may increase the risk of aberrant crypt foci, which are widely believed to be a precursor to colon cancer. </p> <p>Late Wednesday, the advocacy group issued a statement criticizing the FDA\'s approval of the new over-the-counter drug.</p> <p>\"At a time when colon cancer is a leading cause of death and disease in the United States, the Food and Drug Administration\'s decision to approve, for over-the-counter use, a diet drug that clearly causes pre-cancerous lesions of the colon is the height of recklessness and shows a profound lack of concern for the public\'s health,\" Dr. Sidney M. Wolfe, director of Public Citizen\'s Health Research Group, said in the statement.</p> <p>One obesity expert isn\'t sure the new OTC drug will be effective for most people.</p> <p>\"The drug is probably safe,\" said Dr. Raj Padwal, an assistant professor of general internal medicine at the University of Alberta. \"However, I\'m not sure the half-strength dosage will have much effect.\"</p> <p>Full-strength dosage reduces weight by less than 3 kilograms (6.6 pounds), on average, Padwal said.</p> <p>\"People may only lose 1 to 2 kilograms (2.2 to 4.4 pounds) on this half-strength dose. Whether that is worthwhile is questionable. The occasional patient may benefit but many patients may not. For those patients who need extra incentive to adhere to a low-fat diet, the drug may help,\" he said.</p> <p>The FDA\'s approval of the first over-the-counter drug for weight loss comes as the United States and other western nations are struggling with an unprecedented obesity epidemic. </p> <p>According to the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics, 30 percent of American adults 20 years of age and older -- more than 60 million people -- are obese. And another 36 percent are considered overweight.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>For more information on orlistat, visit the U.S. <a href=\"http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/medmaster/a601244.html\" target=\"_new\">National Library of Medicine</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1901','2','	<p><p>WEDNESDAY, Feb. 7 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved an over-the-counter version of orlistat, a prescription weight-loss drug available in the United States since 1999.</p> <p>The OTC version, to be known as Alli, is recommended for overweight people ages 18 and older, along with a lower-calorie, low-fat diet and exercise program, the agency said. The higher-dose prescription version of the drug will remain available.</p> <p>Orlistat, which works by decreasing the intestines\' ability to absorb fat, is not recommended for people who cannot properly absorb food, or for those who are not overweight. The drug may also prevent the body from absorbing certain nutrients, so users should take a multivitamin at bedtime, the agency said.</p> <p>A 60 mg. Alli capsule can be taken as often as three times daily at mealtimes.</p> <p>Side effects may include loose stools and other changes in bowel habits, the FDA said. People who have had an organ transplant should not take OTC orlistat, since it may interact with other drugs they are taking. Also, anyone taking blood thinners, or being treated for diabetes or a thyroid condition should speak with a doctor before taking Alli, the agency said.</p> <p>Alli is manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline, which in a statement said the drug \"is the only FDA-approved weight-loss product available to consumers without a prescription.\"</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>Visit the <a href=\" http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2007/NEW01557.html\" target=\"_new\">FDA</a> to learn more.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1902','2','	<p><p>WEDNESDAY, Feb. 7 (HealthDay News) -- Eating right and being active are well-known ways to try to keep a child\'s weight in check, but a new study points to another potential weapon in the fight against childhood obesity -- sleep.</p> <p>Researchers at Northwestern University found that children who get more sleep tend to have a lower body mass index (BMI, a ratio of weight to height) and are less likely to be overweight five years later, than kids who get less sleep.</p> <p>Sleeping an extra hour a night reduced the chance of being overweight from 36 percent to 30 percent in young children, and from 34 percent to 30 percent in older children.</p> <p>The study is published in the January/February issue of the journal <i>Child Development</i>.</p> <p>\"Our study adds to the growing literature about the connection between sleep and weight,\" said Emily Snell, the study\'s lead author and a doctoral student in Northwestern\'s department of human development and social policy. \"Other studies have found that sleep and weight are related in adults and kids, but it\'s not clear if sleep affects weight, or vice versa. We accounted for that by factoring in how much the kids already weighed,\" Snell said.</p> <p>The researchers did this by collecting data in two waves. They started by looking at 2,281 children from a national survey called the Child Development Supplement of the Panel Survey of Income Dynamics. The kids were ages of 3 to 12 at the start of the study, and follow-up information was collected five years later. Parents and/or the children were given \"time diaries\" to record sleep information, such as the total number of hours the child slept, bedtimes, and wake times. </p> <p>Analysis of the diaries showed that children who slept less, went to bed later, or got up earlier during the first assessment had higher BMIs five years later and were more likely to be overweight. The research also showed that a later bedtime had a greater effect on whether children aged 3 to 8 became overweight, while earlier wake times played a greater role for children aged 8 to 13. </p> <p>\"The effect of sleep on the weight of younger kids came through their bedtime. An earlier bedtime seemed to matter more, and bedtime is a place where parents have control,\" Snell said. \"For older kids, wake time mattered more. I\'m not sure how comfortable I am telling school districts that if they start school early their kids will end up fat. But it does add to the evidence that a very early start time (7 a.m. or earlier), especially for pre-adolescents and teens, is not in line with adolescents biological clocks.\" </p> <p>Snell added that the study also found a discouraging trend in how much -- or little -- sleep kids are getting, particularly on weeknights. By age 7, children were sleeping, on average, less than 10 hours on weekdays, and this dropped to 8.5 hours by age 14. Sixteen percent of adolescents aged 13 to 18 slept less than seven hours on weeknights.</p> <p>The National Sleep Foundation recommends that 5- to 12-year-olds get 10 to 11 hours of sleep nightly and that teens get eight to nine hours. </p> <p>Lack of sleep not only affects a child\'s weight, but it can have other ramifications, said Dr. Shahrad Taheri, a lecturer in medicine and endocrinology at the University of Bristol, in Great Britain.</p> <p>\"We are increasingly understanding that sleep has multiple functions,\" he said. \"Short sleep has been associated with poor educational performance, alcohol use and addiction, poor immune responses, hypertension, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.\" </p> <p>Researchers don\'t know why sleep and childhood obesity may be related, but Snell said there are many potential pathways that link the two. For instance, not getting enough sleep can leave a child tired, and therefore less likely to be active. Also, being awake longer provides more time for eating.</p> <p>Lack of sleep may also disrupt hormones that influence metabolism and hunger.</p> <p>\"Literature suggests that with restricted sleep comes changes in certain hormones that could alter intake of food,\" said Dr. Robert Vorona, a sleep specialist and an associate professor at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, Va. \"Leptin (which decreases food intake) and ghrelin (which increases food intake) are respectively reduced and increased by lack of sleep.\"</p> <p>But, researchers don\'t recommend that parents wait to fully understand what links sleep and obesity before taking action. \"If our kids got better sleep, then maybe we can make a dent in the obesity statistics,\" Taheri said. \"You only need a 100 calorie surplus a day to put on significant weight over time, so every little effort helps.\" </p> <p>More information</p> <p>For more on children and sleep, visit the <a href=\"http://www.sleepfoundation.org/site/c.huIXKjM0IxF/b.2418873/k.B9AD/C hildren_and_Sleep.htm\" target=\"_new\">National Sleep Foundation</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1903','3','<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\">NYC mayor rejects Catholic condom-nation</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>Bloomberg defends contraceptive giveaway as \'real world\' way to fight HIV</b><br></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia3.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/070216/070216_nyccondom_vmed_3p.vmedium.jpg\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\" alt=\"condoms\"></td></tr><tr><td valign=\"top\"><font size=\"-2\">Kathy Willens / AP</font><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><font size=\"-1\">The nation\'s first city-themed condoms, unveiled on Valentine\'s Day,?port a subway motif.</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>NEW YORK - New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Friday defended the city\'s free condom program as a \"real world\" tactic to fight HIV and AIDS.</p><p>Catholic leaders publicly chastised city officials for the program Thursday, saying it was immoral. They charged City Hall with failing to protect \"the moral tone\" of the community by encouraging \"inappropriate sexual activity.\"</p><p>On his weekly radio show, Bloomberg says it\'s not an issue of faith, but rather a health issue for the city. The mayor said Catholic leaders can communicate what they feel is proper behavior to their followers, but the city is trying to find ways to reduce the rate of sexually transmitted diseases.</p><p>In a Valentine\'s Day launch, New York unveiled its official condom in a subway-themed wrapper, with volunteers handing them out across the city. </p><p>The plan, the Catholic leaders said Thursday, \"is tragic and misguided,\" adding that the only way to protect against sexually transmitted diseases is through abstinence before marriage and fidelity among married couples.</p><p>\"Our political leaders fail to protect the moral tone of our community when they encourage inappropriate sexual activity by blanketing our neighborhoods with condoms,\" said Cardinal Edward Egan, head of the Archdiocese of New York, and Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio of Brooklyn in a joint statement.</p><p>Egan and DiMarzio said the $720,000 cost of the program \"would be far better spent in fostering what is true and what is decent.\"</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/17053128/\">\nAll about the Big Ohhhh\n</a>\n</li><li><a href=\"/id/17156844/\">\nWeakness in HIV boosts hope for vaccine?n</a>\n</li><li><a href=\"/id/17119640/\">Study: Pot eases pain for HIV patients</a>?a href=\"/id/17053128/\">\n \n</a>\n</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('1904','3','	<p><p>TUESDAY, Feb. 13 (HealthDay News) -- Adding fuel to the debate over medical marijuana, a new study suggests that AIDS patients can relieve stubborn nerve pain in their feet by smoking the drug.</p> <p>On average, patients reported a 34 percent improvement in foot pain after smoking pot, twice that of those smoking a weakened form of the drug.</p> <p>The study is small, and the findings don\'t reveal why marijuana may reduce pain. Experts also noted that there\'s a potentially distracting side effect to the treatment -- getting high.</p> <p>Still, the study findings add support to the idea that medical marijuana isn\'t \"like some sort of Cheech and Chong show,\" said study lead author Dr. Donald I. Abrams, professor of clinical medicine at the University of California, San Francisco.</p> <p>After all, he said, the study has been published in the Feb. 13 issue of <i>Neurology</i>, a respected medical journal.</p> <p>The study has also re-ignited debate on the thorny issue of medical marijuana use. In a statement released Tuesday, a variety of national HIV/AIDS advocacy groups called for congressional hearings in response to the study findings.</p> <p>\"It\'s time for Washington to stop playing politics with patients\' lives and advance this important scientific discovery,\" Steph Sherer, executive director of Americans for Safe Access, said in the statement. \"The study is a wake-up call for Congress to hold hearings to investigate therapeutic use and encourage research.\"</p> <p>For his part, UCSD\'s Abrams said he has studied the medical effects of marijuana for a decade. The new research examines its effects on AIDS patients with a condition called neuropathy, a painful burning numbness that can strike the feet and hands. </p> <p>The condition, which can affect about a third of patients, is often difficult to treat, Abrams said, and painkillers often fail to ease the discomfort. In some cases, patients have to resort to anti-seizure medications.</p> <p>According to Abrams, research had suggested that marijuana might be able to treat nerve pain. In the new study, his team first got approvals from various agencies and then launched a study using marijuana.</p> <p>Fifty patients, mostly men, took part in the research. Half smoked marijuana three times daily for five days. The other half smoked a weakened form of marijuana. The patients were then asked to rank their pain on a scale of one to 10.</p> <p>The patients who smoked the full-strength marijuana reported a 34 percent reduction in pain, compared to 17 percent among the other smokers. Half of the full-strength smokers reported more than a 30 percent reduction in pain, while just 24 percent of the placebo smokers did. </p> <p>The side effects were minor, said Abrams, who noted that \"most of these people smoked marijuana to begin with.\" All had smoked marijuana at least six times in their lives; the researchers wanted to make sure they were familiar with pot smoking and its effects.</p> <p>The patients did get high, although Abrams said the marijuana was a weak type -- just 3.56 percent tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the active ingredient in pot. \"We did measure their level of high, and it didn\'t seem to necessarily correlate with their pain relief.\"</p> <p>Abrams discounted the possible risk of lung cancer for the marijuana smokers, saying some research has suggested that they actually have a lower risk than others. He added that researchers are looking into possible ways to vaporize marijuana, which could \"deliver a similar amount of THC with less potential for toxicity.\"</p> <p>According to Abrams, it\'s not clear how marijuana works to lower pain, but it may reduce inflammation. Other research has linked substances in marijuana to pain reduction. </p> <p> David Murray, chief scientist at the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, wasn\'t convinced by the study, which he said was small and didn\'t account for the possibility that the patients who got the placebo marijuana would know they weren\'t smoking the real thing.</p> <p>He added that the drug poses risks for AIDS patients in particular, because their immune systems are compromised, and he questioned the risk of smoking a \"combustible weed that has bacteria and fungus\" in it.</p> <p>While Murray acknowledged that cannabinoid-based medications have a \"great deal of promise and potential,\" he said they need to be purified first. \"Smoked, raw marijuana is not that avenue. It\'s a cul-de-sac, it\'s a dead end,\" he said.</p> <p>But another expert had more praise for the study. Dr. Mark Wallace, professor of clinical anesthesiology and program director of the Center for Pain Medicine at the University of California, San Diego, applauded the study, saying it was well done. \"There are very few studies of this kind looking at inhaled cannabis and pain, and they are difficult to conduct,\" he said. \"The authors should be commended.\"</p> <p>And what about the fact that patients get high when they smoke pot?</p> <p>\"Although subjects will report high levels of \'highness,\' my studies showed little effect on cognition,\" Wallace said. \"Other studies have shown little effect on motor tasks. Also, the pain relief does not seem to correlate with the feeling of highness, in that when subjects come down from the high, they continue to feel pain relief.\"</p> <p>So, should AIDS patients with nerve pain begin smoking marijuana? Ask your doctor, Abrams advised. </p> <p><b>Moe information</b></p> <p>For more on AIDS-linked foot neuropathy, head to the <a href=\"http://www.sfaf.org/treatment/beta/b49/b49neuropathy.html\" target=\"_new\">San Francisco AIDS Foundation</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1905','3','	<p><p>WEDNESDAY, Feb. 14 (HealthDay News) -- U.S. scientists say they\'ve spotted and mapped a tiny piece of HIV\'s outer coat that could be key to an effective AIDS vaccine.</p> <p>Most important, this molecular target -- a portion of the virus\' gp120 surface protein -- does not appear to mutate between strains, the researchers said. It also easily binds to an antibody that\'s already found in some humans.</p> <p>The combination of those two elements had eluded AIDS researchers, until now.</p> <p>\"In terms of a vaccine, then, I am cautiously optimistic. I think that instead of being an impossible dream, it\'s now more about the technical barriers that we need to overcome to get this to work,\" said the study\'s lead author, Peter Kwong, a researcher in the Vaccines Research Center at the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases\' (NIAID).</p> <p>AIDS research pioneer and NIAID director Dr. Anthony Fauci agreed.</p> <p>\"This is a quantum leap, a big advance in what we can do now vis-a-vis the design of vaccines,\" he said.</p> <p>The findings are published in the Feb. 15 issue of the journal <i>Nature</i>.</p> <p>Vaccines work by pushing the body to generate immune system antibodies that recognize invading pathogens, such as viruses. However, the race for a vaccine against HIV has been particularly tough, because the organism mutates so much and constantly \"shape-shifts\" its outer sugary coating to elude detection.</p> <p>The trick, according to Kwong, has been to find a spot that stays the same between different strains and can also be accessed by antibodies that humans could produce in large numbers.</p> <p>Back in 1998, Kwong\'s group first captured X-ray images of the gp120 binding site, which HIV uses to hook up with CD4 immune system T-cells, the virus\' prime target. The team assumed that the virus protected itself throughout the CD4-gp120 binding process by a kind of molecular-level shape-shifting on its surface, called \"conformational masking.\"</p> <p>However, closer inspection revealed a surprise. \"We found that this binding actually occurs in two steps -- the first step is a kind of \'weak handshake,\' or initial attachment, that\'s not really stable,\" Kwong said. \"Only after that happens is there this shape-shifting change that really locks gp120 onto CD4.\"</p> <p>At the same time, the researchers were investigating an immune system antibody called b12. This antibody, while rare, appears to help protect a tiny minority of HIV-exposed people from infection with various strains of the virus. In fact, b12 carriers \"neutralize an extremely broad range of HIV isolates (types),\" Kwong said.</p> <p>Further study brought these two strands of research together. The NIAID team, along with experts at the Scripps Institute in La Jolla, Calif., and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, discovered that b12 actually binds to the gp120 site on HIV during that \"weak handshake\" stage, where it does <i>not</i> change its shape.</p> <p>Using high-tech crystallography imaging, the researchers actually watched this interaction in detail. \"This gives us the resolution to know exactly what\'s going on,\" Kwong said.</p> <p>Because the b12-gp120 hookup does not change its configuration, regardless of the HIV strain it is found on, it\'s exactly the type of non-mutating \"site of vulnerability\" that AIDS vaccine researchers have hoped for.</p> <p>\"But we also needed to find that there\'s no barrier in humans to getting antibodies to go against that site,\" Kwong said. The fact that b12 is already active in just this way in a few HIV-resistant people suggests that it can be tweaked for wider use in much larger populations, he said.</p> <p>The next step is to test that notion in animals. \"If you get those antibodies to be produced in animals, it should then be straightforward to do something similar in humans,\" Kwong said.</p> <p>Fauci stressed, however, that success in AIDS research is never guaranteed.</p> <p>\"There are many steps to go,\" he said. \"You have to make it into a stable form that could immunize people. Then the body has got to recognize (the vaccine) and make a good neutralizing antibody against it. Those are all \'ifs.\' On the other hand, we have no reason to believe that all this won\'t happen.\"</p> <p>\"I\'m sure there are going to be many bumps along the way,\" Fauci said, \"but, nonetheless, this is a major step forward.\"</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>Find out more about HIV/AIDS at the U.S. <a href=\"http://www.niaid.nih.gov/factsheets/hivinf.htm\" target=\"_new\">National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1906','3','	<p><p>THURSDAY, Feb. 15 (HealthDay News) -- U.S. scientists say they\'ve identified the primary targets of HIV-1 infection in the human vagina, a discovery that could lead to new ways to prevent viral transmission.</p> <p>HIV-1 is the virus that causes most cases of AIDS around the world. Another form of the virus, HIV-2, is less easily transmitted.</p> <p>\"The majority of HIV-1 infected individuals worldwide are women who acquire HIV infection following sexual contact. Blocking HIV transmission and local spread in the female lower genital tract is key to prevent infection and ultimately to ease the pandemic,\" wrote study authors Dr. Florian Hladik and Dr. M. Juliana McElrath, of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle.</p> <p>Using a unique model system they developed, the scientists found that HIV-1 simultaneously enters two different types of cells in the vaginal epithelium (outer lining of vaginal cells) associated with the immune system -- Langerhans cells and CD4+ T-cells.</p> <p>Both these cells can migrate out of the vaginal epithelium.</p> <p>\"Our findings provide exciting, definitive insights into the initial events of HIV-1 infection in the human vagina, which can guide the design of effective strategies to block local transmission and prevent HIV-1 spread,\" McElrath said.</p> <p>The findings are published in the February issue of <i>Immunity</i>.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The American Medical Association has more about <a href=\"http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/296/7/892\" target=\"_new\">HIV infection</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1907','4','<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\">Report: Planned Caesarean not risk-free</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>Growing popularity of procedure worries doctors</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 - Pregnant women considering a Caesarean section, with no clear medical reason for it, should know that the procedure is not without risk, Canadian doctors caution in a report published this week.</p><p>On the contrary, Dr. Shiliang Liu from the Public Health Agency of Canada, Ottawa, and colleagues have evidence that the rate of severe complications, such as major bleeding, infection and blood clots, is three-fold higher overall in women having a planned Caesarean section compared with women who planned a natural birth.</p><p>The researchers used a Canadian database to look at the outcomes of 46,766 women who underwent what doctors deemed to be a low-risk Caesarean delivery and nearly 2.3 million women who underwent planned vaginal delivery between April 1991 and March 2005.</p><p>Because the database didn\'t show if c-sections were performed solely because the mother requested it, the researchers explain, \"we used Caesarean delivery for breech presentation as a surrogate for planned elective low-risk Caesarean delivery.\"</p><p>Liu\'s team found that the rate of severe complications in the planned Caesarean group was 27.3 cases per 1,000 deliveries, compared with 9.0 per 1,000 deliveries in the planned vaginal delivery group.</p><p>\"Although the absolute difference is small,\" the risks should be considered by women thinking of asking for a Caesarean delivery, the investigators conclude in their article in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.</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/17216857/\">More young women donating eggs</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/17130058/\">Woman receives ovary 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>The study, writes Dr. B. Anthony Armson of the University of Toronto in a commentary, \"provides additional support to a growing body of evidence suggesting that primary elective Caesarean birth may place both the mother and newborn at greater risk for adverse outcomes than planned vaginal birth.\"</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('1908','4','<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 young women consider donating eggs</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>As compensation for human eggs increases, so have donor numbers</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 - Human egg donation was a rarity not so long ago. But heightened demand for eggs - and rising compensation for donors - are prompting more young women to consider it.</p><p>Jennifer Dziura, a 28-year-old New Yorker, is one of them.</p><p>She received $8,000 to donate her eggs in the fall of 2005 and hopes she\'ll be chosen again before the private egg broker she\'s registered with considers her too old. She realizes prospective parents who view her profile might think it a minus that her father is adopted, allowing for little medical history from his side. She also figures some are looking for a blonde, instead of a brunette.</p><p>\"But, hey, I have perfect SAT scores,\" Dziura, an aspiring comedian and model, says with a slight chuckle.</p><p><b><strong>\'Everyone does it for the money\'<br></strong></b>As more older moms look for help getting pregnant, younger women have become increasingly willing to part with their eggs. Some do it to help relatives and friends, or from a sense of altruism, but others openly acknowledge money is a big factor in their decision, prompting critics to worry that they\'re helping drive an unregulated market for human tissue.</p><p>In 1996, women in federally monitored programs donated eggs just over 3,800 times. That number has risen steadily, to more than 10,000 in 2004, the most recent year for which the Centers for Disease Control has compiled data.</p><p>A decade ago, Dr. Joel Brasch, a fertility specialist in the Chicago area, had to work hard to recruit five or 10 young women for his own practice\'s donor pool - but not anymore.</p><p>The money is seen as compensation for time and trouble. Among other things, donors learn to inject themselves with hormones and, eventually, have a needle inserted through their vaginal wall so eggs can be harvested.</p><p>\"Everyone does it for the money,\" says Dziura, the egg donor in New York. \"No one would do that for free - maybe for your sister, but not for a stranger.\"</p><p><b><strong>Some brokers ignore compensation cap</strong></b><br>The American Society of Reproductive Medicine, or ASRM, has set a compensation guideline of $5,000, with a limit of $10,000 for special cases - if, for instance, a recipient wants eggs of rare ancestry.</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/070218/ap_EGGDONORS.gif\" align=\"Right\" height=\"265\" width=\"184\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"></td></tr></table>The president of the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology, an affiliate of ASRM, argues that if women were just motivated by money, they wouldn\'t get past the psychological screening to become a donor. And, he says, researchers who\'ve surveyed donors have found another strong motive.</p><p>\"They\'re very altruistic and very willing to help a couple who\'s trying to conceive,\" says Dr. David Grainger, who\'s also a reproductive endocrinologist at University of Kansas medical school in Wichita.</p><p>Still, some egg brokers - particularly those in the East and West - are ignoring suggestions for a cap on compensation, and paying women more.</p><p>\"Egg Donors Wanted\" ads are common on the Internet, in college newspapers and on city trains. And with no federal laws limiting donor fees - and fertility doctors conceding the difficulties of policing their own industry - one ethicist says that eggs have quickly become \"commoditized.\"</p><p>\"It does feel a little more like the Wild West than it ought to,\" says Dr. Jeffrey Kahn, director of the University of Minnesota Center for Bioethics. And he only sees the problem growing as states such as California move closer to funding major stem-cell research, requiring more donor eggs.</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/16988881/\">Rent-a-womb trend fuels surrogate debate</a> </li><li><a href=\"/id/17052463/\">Fertility therapies slightly raise birth 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>\"We worry that we offer people so much money that they are blind to the risk and their motivation is strictly the money,\" Kahn says.</p><p>That\'s the very reason, he notes, that it is illegal to sell an organ, such as a kidney, for donation. \"So I\'m not comfortable saying we should start that with human eggs,\" he says.</p><p><font size=\"2\"><span CM=\"PageNavBot\"><b><a CE=\"2\" href=\"/id/17216857/page/2/\">CONTINUED: Careful guidelines can\'t prevent regrets</a></b><hr width=\"100%\" noshade=\"true\" size=\"1\" color=\"#808080\">1 | <b><a CE=\"2\" href=\"/id/17216857/page/2/\">2</a></b>\n			| <b><a CE=\"2\" href=\"/id/17216857/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(\'17216857\')\" 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(\'17216857\')\" 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\" 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INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1909','4','<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\">Most U.S. women face heart, stroke risk</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>New guidelines advise exercise and daily aspirin use</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\',\'1d1b1188-8db8-4f8c-b729-be90cea2ac87\',\'us\',\'Source_Nightly News\',\'c24\',\'msnbc\',\'\',\'17231406\',\'New tips for women to avoid their No. 1 killer\')\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Video/070219/nn_bazell_heart_070219.300w.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\',\'1d1b1188-8db8-4f8c-b729-be90cea2ac87\',\'us\',\'Source_Nightly News\',\'c24\',\'msnbc\',\'\',\'17231406\',\'New tips for women to avoid their No. 1 killer\')\"></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\',\'1d1b1188-8db8-4f8c-b729-be90cea2ac87\',\'us\',\'Source_Nightly News\',\'c24\',\'msnbc\',\'\',\'17231406\',\'New tips for women to avoid their No. 1 killer\')\">New tips for women to avoid their No. 1 killer</a></font><br><font color=\"black\">Feb. 19: The American Heart Association issued new guidelines Monday for women to help them avoid heart disease. NBC Chief Science and Health Correspondent Robert Bazell discusses them with NBC\'s Brian Williams.</font><p class=\"credit\">Nightly News</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>Nearly all American women are in danger of heart disease or stroke and should be more aggressive about lowering their risk - including asking their doctors about daily aspirin use, the American Heart Association said Monday in new guidelines.</p><p>It is the first time guidelines have urged all women to consider aspirin for preventing strokes, although specialists warn that it can cause ulcers and dangerous bleeding. They said it is probably not a good idea for young women with no big health problems.</p><p>\"We do not want women to go to the drugstore and just start taking this themselves. It is critical that every woman talk to her doctor,\" said Dr. Lori Mosca, director of preventive cardiology at New York-Presbyterian Hospital and chair of the expert panel that wrote the guidelines.</p><p>The guidelines also advise daily exercise and less fat, and declare vitamins C and E, beta carotene and folic acid supplements worthless for preventing heart disease.</p><p>The guidelines were published in the journal Circulation with related studies on women\'s health, including one suggesting that hormone skin patches may be safer than pills for menopause symptoms.</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=206178\">Discuss: How will you lower your heart disease risk?</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/17005448/\">Some birth control pills linked to clots</a> </li><li><a href=\"/id/17115245/\">Want to protect your heart? Take a nap</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 general, the guidelines aim to get women and doctors to focus on the long-term risk of high blood pressure, smoking, lack of exercise or being overweight - even if a woman\'s current health seems fine. Even a single risk factor at age 50 greatly raises the chance of heart disease or stroke later, and only about 10 percent of American women are free of these problems.</p><p>\"We do not want women to wait until they develop symptoms to begin to take action,\" Mosca said.</p><p>The guidelines were drafted by dozens of groups worldwide, including the American Academy of Family Physicians and the U.S. government. Of the 33 people who wrote the advice, 13 have financial ties to heart drug makers, only three of them to a large degree.</p><p>\"This is a really good gathering of evidence in women,\" after years of studies done mostly on men, said Dr. Sidney Smith, heart disease chief at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and past heart association president.</p><p>The evidence shows that many more women than thought are at risk of heart disease and stroke - even those whose only weakness was failure to exercise every day. Heart disease is the leading killer of men and women worldwide.</p><p>The advice for women: </p><ul><li class=\"textBodyBlack\">Exercise. Get at least 30 minutes of moderately intense exercise on most and preferably all days, 60 to 90 minutes if you need to lose weight.</li><li class=\"textBodyBlack\">Diet. Eat mostly fruits and vegetables, whole grain and high-fiber foods, fish at least twice a week, and little salt. Limit saturated fat to less than 10 percent of calories, 7 percent if possible, and trans fats to less than 1 percent. Limit alcohol to one drink or less a day.</li><li class=\"textBodyBlack\">Don\'t smoke. Use nicotine replacement products if needed to stop.</li><li class=\"textBodyBlack\">Weight. Keep body-mass index under 25.</li><li class=\"textBodyBlack\">Supplements. Consider omega-3 fatty acids (fish oil) if you already have heart disease. Do not take extra folic acid or antioxidants like vitamins E, C and beta carotene, for heart disease prevention.</li><li class=\"textBodyBlack\">Blood pressure, cholesterol. Keep under control, with medicine if needed. Keep LDL or bad cholesterol under 100 if at high risk of heart disease and under 70 if at very high risk.</li><li class=\"textBodyBlack\">Aspirin. Daily use is already urged for women at high risk, and the guidelines now say the dose can go up to 325 milligrams. All other women should consider 81 milligram \"baby aspirin\" daily or 100 milligrams every other day for stroke prevention.</li></ul><p>The last is controversial. Aspirin is recommended now to prevent heart disease in men 45 and older; but in women, a large study found it prevented heart disease only for those 65 and older.</p><p><b><strong>Warnings about aspirin</strong></b><br>Aspirin did prevent strokes in women, but again, the benefit was substantial only among older ones, said Dr. JoAnn Manson, a Harvard University women\'s health expert who helped lead that study.</p><p>Putting young women on aspirin for stroke prevention is not justified by the evidence, Manson warned. In the 10-year study, aspirin prevented only one additional cardiovascular problem among roughly 35,000 women under 65 and led to 20 cases of bleeding requiring transfusion, she said.</p><p>Aspirin also can be dangerous for people whose blood pressure is not under control - another reason women should see their doctor before starting on it, Smith said. Many people are unaware they have high blood pressure.</p><p><font size=\"2\"><span CM=\"PageNavBot\"><b><a CE=\"2\" href=\"/id/17231469/page/2/\">CONTINUED: Risk of internal bleeding</a></b><hr width=\"100%\" noshade=\"true\" size=\"1\" color=\"#808080\">1 | <b><a CE=\"2\" href=\"/id/17231469/page/2/\">2</a></b>\n			| <b><a CE=\"2\" href=\"/id/17231469/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(\'17231469\')\" 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(\'17231469\')\" class=\"linkBlack\">Email this</a></font></td></tr></table></td><td width=\"10\"></td></tr></table><table cellspacing=\"0\" 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INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1910','4','	<p><p>FRIDAY, Feb. 2 (HealthDay News) -- A new, noninvasive method of prenatal testing may one day help to detect birth defects in unborn babies.</p> <p>But it\'ll be a while before the technique comes to market. </p> <p>\"We\'ve shown the first abnormality, and this is proof of principle to show that this technology can be a noninvasive test from maternal blood,\" said study author Dr. Ravinder Dhallan, founder and chief executive officer of Ravgen Inc., in Columbia, Md. \"Next, we will do a larger study and start building the infrastructure to go to market.\" </p> <p>Dhallan wouldn\'t speculate on when such a test might become commercially available, saying only, \"We don\'t intend to rush it. The health of a baby is the most important thing in anyone\'s life, but we are moving with deliberate speed.\" </p> <p>Dr. Michael Katz, senior vice president for research and global programs at the March of Dimes, called the experimental test a \"good system if it can be sustained by more extensive tests. It also dovetails with the current suggestion by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists that prenatal diagnosis should be applied to all women.\" </p> <p>The study findings are published online Feb. 2 in <i>The Lancet</i>.</p> <p>Currently, tests to detect chromosomal abnormalities before a baby is born pose a number of problems.</p> <p>Ultrasound is noninvasive but does require subsequent invasive testing before a final diagnosis can be made. And invasive diagnostic tests, such as amniocentesis and chorionic villus sampling, can pose risks to the pregnancy, including miscarriage. </p> <p>\"Even though the current invasive tests are quite safe, relatively speaking, they are invasive, and there are complications,\" Katz said. \"Moreover, they have to be done somewhat later [in the pregnancy], and the sooner one makes this diagnosis, the better.\" </p> <p>Scientists have known for several decades that fetal cells are present in the mother\'s blood as early as five weeks into the pregnancy. The problem is that the cells are extremely rare, representing only about one in a million of total cells. </p> <p>The reason for their rarity? The mother\'s cells are very much like water balloons: From the moment blood is drawn, her cells burst and let loose maternal DNA into the blood stream. This serves to dilute the fetal DNA, Dhallan explained.</p> <p>\"Every time a mother\'s cell bursts, it dilutes the fetal DNA, particularly when you transport samples and when you centrifuge and process samples to get the DNA out of the plasma,\" he said. </p> <p>In March 2004, Dhallan solved that problem in a study that showed that adding formaldehyde to the blood sample caused the mother\'s cells to harden (\"like Ping-Pong balls\"), reducing dilution and increasing fetal DNA to 25 percent. </p> <p>The next challenge was how to distinguish maternal DNA from fetal DNA and how to identify abnormalities. </p> <p>For the new study, the researchers examined blood samples from 60 pregnant women and the \"stated biological fathers,\" and analyzed single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs or \"snips\"), the tiny variations in the DNA sequence that exist between individuals. </p> <p>There are about 3 million variable sites where human DNA differs from person to person, out of a total of 3 billion base pairs. \"The key is finding where they differ,\" Dhallan said. </p> <p>Combining mathematics and genetics technology, the researchers determined the ratio (between mother and child) of SNPs on different chromosomes. That ratio should be the same for all chromosomes. \"If it\'s not, you have a problem,\" Dhallan said. </p> <p>The method correctly identified the number of chromosomes in 58 of 60 samples, including two cases of trisomy 21 (which causes Down syndrome), Dhallan said. One case of trisomy 21 went undetected, while one normal sample was incorrectly identified as trisomy 21.</p> <p>Katz said: \"They have one mistake one way and one the other way. That\'s a little too risky if you compare this with invasive techniques where you have virtually 100 percent accuracy. Also, one can never be absolutely certain that this is the biological father. In addition, there may be some times when the father is not available.\" </p> <p>A second study, this one appearing in the Feb. 3 <i>British Medical Journal</i>, questions the rise of \"boutique ultrasonography,\" where commercial companies offer \"keepsake\" scans to expectant parents without medical supervision. </p> <p>Three- and four-dimensional, as well as moving images, can sell for up to $500, the study author stated. </p> <p>While the companies claim the ultrasound poses no danger to mother or baby, several official organizations, including the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, have expressed concerns about the practice. </p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>To learn more about the types of prenatal tests that are currently available, visit the <a href=\"http://www.modimes.org/pnhec/159_519.asp\" target=\"_new\">March of Dimes</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1911','4','	<p><p>(HealthDay News) -- Contact dermatitis is an inflammation of the skin caused by contact with an irritating substance. It can be caused by contact with certain poisonous plants, medications and some chemicals, among many other sources.</p> <p>Here are some common signs of contact dermatitis, courtesy of the U.S. National Library of Medicine:</p> <ul> <li>Itchy, red or inflamed skin.</li> <li>Soreness or swelling of the skin.</li> <li>Warmness of the skin.</li> <li>Skin rash or lesions that may ooze, drain, crust or become thicker.</li> </ul> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1912','4','	<p><p>(HealthDay News) -- Abnormal moles may indicate skin cancer. To spot a mole that could be malignant, follow these suggestions from the Cancer Research Institute:</p> <ul> <li>A -- Asymmetry -- Cancerous moles tend to have an irregular shape.</li> <li>B -- Border -- Cancerous moles often have abnormal borders that may have ragged edges.</li> <li>C -- Color -- Multiple colors or shades of brown and black often appear in cancerous moles, rather than a solid shade.</li> <li>D -- Diameter -- Cancerous moles are usually larger than benign moles -- typically about the size of a pencil eraser or larger.</li> </ul> <p>If you spot a mole with any of these characteristics, see your doctor to have it checked out.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1913','4','	<p><p>WEDNESDAY, Jan. 17 (HealthDay News) -- Learning skin self-examination with a partner boosts the likelihood people will regularly conduct these exams to help spot skin cancers, a U.S. study finds.</p> <p>The study, published in the January issue of the <i>Archives of Dermatology</i>, included 130 people who\'d previously had melanoma. The volunteers were divided into two groups -- 65 of them received skin examination instruction with their live-in partner and 65 received instruction alone.</p> <p>\"At the four-month follow-up visits, paired learning individuals (treatment) showed significantly stronger intentions to perform skin self-examination on the face and skin in general than the solo learning individuals (controls),\" wrote a team from Northwestern University, in Chicago.</p> <p>\"Significantly more solo learners than dyadic (paired) learners did not check their skin at the long-term follow up visit (45 vs. 23), whereas significantly more dyadic learners checked their skin one time (19 vs. 9) and several times (13 vs. 4).\"</p> <p>When partners learn about skin self-examination together, it reinforces their belief that this method of skin cancer detection and prevention is important and effective, and that they\'re able to do it, the study authors surmised.</p> <p>\"Attitude and belief in the ability to perform skin self-examination are fostered when the partners learn about melanoma recognition and skills training together,\" they said. \"Partners may provide social reinforcement for skin self-examination and in checking locations that are difficult for the patient to see, for example the scalp, back, ears and back of legs.\"</p> <p>The study authors noted that people who do skin self-examinations \"present for care at an earlier stage in the disease and have 50 percent less advanced melanoma and markedly lower mortality from melanoma.\"</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/screening/skin/patient/\" target=\"_new\">skin cancer screening</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1914','4','	<p><p>MONDAY, Jan. 29 (HealthDay News) -- It\'s a puzzle to scientists, but a new study suggests that the main cause of deadly skin cancer -- sunlight -- might also help protect against the disease.</p> <p>The key could lie in the <i>amount</i> of ultraviolet B (UVB) light the skin absorbs -- enough to stimulate a healthy, vitamin D-linked immune response in the skin but not so much that it boosts skin cancer risk.</p> <p>\"I do think that a little bit of sunlight is good for people, but I think that one of the problems that the American Cancer Society and dermatologists have is, how do you define what a little bit is?\" said skin cancer researcher Marianne Berwick, chief of epidemiology at the University of New Mexico\'s Cancer Research and Treatment Center. \"How do you tell people that it\'s OK to have a little bit of sunlight but not <i>too</i> much?\"</p> <p>In 2005, Berwick\'s team published a controversial study that found that melanoma patients with higher levels of daily sun exposure actually had better survival than patients who spent less time in the sun.</p> <p>\"I\'ve been searching for an explanation for that ever since,\" she said.</p> <p>Now, findings from a group led by immunologists at Stanford University may provide an answer. The study, led by professor of pathology Eugene Butcher, is expected to be published in the March issue of <i>Nature Immunology</i>.</p> <p>In its study, the Stanford team worked with cells in the lab and discovered a biochemical chain of events that appears to link sunlight exposure to the skin\'s own immune defenses.</p> <p>The researchers started from the notion that an inactive precursor of vitamin D, called vitamin D3, \"is generated in the skin in response to sun exposure.\" That\'s been known for years. Specifically, a short-wavelength form of UV light, called UVB, is responsible for D3 generation.</p> <p>D3 is inert and powerless, however. Through contact with various enzymes in the liver and kidneys, the body turns D3 into an active compound called 1,25(OH)2D3.</p> <p>And that\'s where the immune-system connection kicks in, the Stanford authors said.</p> <p>In their experiments, they found that the new compound \"signaled (immune) T-cells,\" pushing them to migrate back to specific sites in the skin\'s epidermis. Once there, these powerful immune system agents stand on guard against infection and even cancer, the researchers said.</p> <p>\"So, the same wavelengths of sunlight that are most potent in inducing skin cancer -- UVB -- are also the wavelengths that produce this vitamin D precursor, D3,\" said Dr. Martin Weinstock, chairman of the skin cancer advisory group at the American Cancer Society. And it\'s D3 that starts the whole chain of events rolling. </p> <p>Weinstock stressed that the Stanford study is far from conclusive, however, and should not be seen as an excuse to bake in the sun.</p> <p>\"We know that the sun is the major avoidable cause of skin cancer,\" he said. \"This study is interesting and points to a productive area of research, both to confirm this in other settings and to flush out the implications of the finding. But does it really relate to skin cancers in real live people? We don\'t know.\"</p> <p>\"So, avoiding intense sun, protecting yourself when you\'re out in intense sun -- that\'s still our [cancer society] recommendation, and this is not going to change that,\" said Weinstock, who is also professor of dermatology and community health at Brown University.</p> <p>Kathleen Egan, a professor of epidemiology at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute in Tampa, Fla., agreed that the study findings are \"tantalizing\" but need further study.</p> <p>Especially since the release of Berwick\'s melanoma study, \"there\'s been an awful lot of questions about how -- or if -- vitamin D has a part to play in potentially offering some [cancer] protection under some circumstances,\" she said. \"But it\'s very difficult to tease out, because the main human source of vitamin D is, in fact, sunlight exposure, which is also the most important risk factor for melanoma.\"</p> <p>Nutritionists have known for decades that sunlight stimulates vitamin D production in the skin. In fact, this natural process is the body\'s major source of the nutrient. A proper amount of vitamin D is crucial to bone health, \"and there\'s also a bunch of evidence that vitamin D may have a role in preventing colon cancer, although there\'s still some controversy about that,\" Weinstock said.</p> <p>So, how much sunlight is enough to get the ideal amount of vitamin D?</p> <p>Katharine Tallmadge, a Washington, D.C., dietitian and a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association, suggests that most people can probably get the U.S. Department of Agriculture\'s recommended 400 daily IUs of vitamin D by spending a half-hour to an hour outside per day.</p> <p>Egan agreed. She said it\'s not difficult for people to soak up the sun\'s goodness without boosting their cancer risk. In response to even a moderate amount of sunlight, \"the skin actually creates an amazing amount of vitamin D,\" Egan said. \"It doesn\'t take much exposure to make enough of the vitamin D that\'s certainly needed to preserve bone health, for example.\"</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>Learn how to protect your skin from too much sun at the <a href=\"http://www.cancer.org/docroot/PED/PED_7.asp?sitearea=PED\" target=\"_new\">American Cancer Society</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1915','4','	<p><p>FRIDAY, Feb. 2 (HealthDay News) -- Many Americans with chronic moderate or severe psoriasis receive no treatment or inadequate treatment, a new survey from the National Psoriasis Foundation (NPF) shows.</p> <p>The poll also revealed a link between severe psoriasis and low income.</p> <p>Psoriasis is a non-contagious disease in which the immune system causes skin to grow at an accelerated rate.</p> <p>The surveys, conducted from 2003 to 2005, found that nearly 40 percent of people with chronic moderate or severe psoriasis were receiving no treatment, and that 57 percent of people with severe psoriasis, and 73 percent of those with moderate psoriasis, were receiving topical treatment only. Over half of patients with moderate to severe psoriasis were not receiving treatment that meets American Academy of Dermatology guidelines.</p> <p>Those guidelines say that people with chronic moderate to severe psoriasis are candidates for phototherapy or systemic therapy, including biologic agents. However, many of those patients were receiving topical treatment alone, according to the survey data.</p> <p>\"Psoriasis is not a cosmetic disease but rather a chronic inflammation condition that can have a profound negative impact on a person\'s ability to function,\" Dr. Mark Lebwohl, chairman of the NPF\'s medical board, said in a prepared statement. \"It\'s important for patients to openly discuss with their dermatologist how the condition may be impacting them, so that together they can determine the most appropriate treatments.\"</p> <p>The survey data also revealed a possible association between psoriasis and low income -- 21 percent of people with severe psoriasis had a low household income (less than $30,000 per year), compared to 13 percent for people with mild psoriasis.</p> <p>\"These are the first data to show a relationship between psoriasis severity and household income,\" Liz Horn, NPF director of research, said in a prepared statement. \"Psoriasis is a serious disease that can significantly affect a person\'s life by interfering with everyday activities, including work.\"</p> <p>The survey findings were to be presented Friday at a meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology in Washington, D.C.</p> <p>As many as 7.5 million people in the United States have psoriasis, according to the National Institutes of Health.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The U.S. National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases has more about <a href=\"http://www.niams.nih.gov/hi/topics/psoriasis/psoriasis.htm\" target=\"_new\">psoriasis</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1916','4','	<p><!--Spanish ID: 601604 --> <p>FRIDAY, Feb. 2 (HealthDay News) -- People who spend a lot of time behind the wheel may be motoring their way to an increased risk of skin cancer on the left side of their body, U.S. researchers report.</p> <p>\"Since previous scientific findings have shown an association between one-sided exposure to ultraviolet light (UV) and an asymmetric facial distribution of sun damage, we would expect that skin cancers also would be more prevalent on the left side of the body in drivers who spend a significant amount of time in their cars,\" Dr. Scott Fosko, professor and chairman of dermatology at Saint Louis University School of Medicine, said in a prepared statement.</p> <p>\"Our initial findings confirm that there is a correlation between more time spent driving and a higher incidence of left-side skin cancers, especially on sun-exposed areas in men,\" Fosko said.</p> <p>He and his team looked at 898 people (559 men and 339 women) with skin cancer on either side of the body. Of the 53 percent of patients with left-side skin cancers, 64 percent were men and 36 percent were women.</p> <p>The researchers also found that men, but not women, had a statistically significant number of left-side skin cancers on areas -- arms, hands, neck and head -- that are most often exposed to sunlight/UV radiation while driving.</p> <p>As of January, Fosko and his team had collected 70 completed questionnaires designed to evaluate the driving habits of dermatology patients. Initial results show a direct link between driving time and left-side skin cancer risk.</p> <p>The research was expected to be presented Friday at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology, in Washington, D.C.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The U.S. National Cancer Institute offers advice on <a href=\"http://www.cancer.gov/cancerinfo/pdq/prevention/skin/patient/\" target=\"_new\">skin cancer prevention</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1917','4','	<p><p>WEDNESDAY, Feb. 7 (HealthDay News) -- A new monoclonal antibody drug produced dramatic improvements in psoriasis patients.</p> <p>In some cases, the improvements lasted up to six months after just one injection, researchers report.</p> <p>\"The studies that we carried out clearly showed that the drug worked, and worked very effectively,\" said study author Dr. Gerald G. Krueger, the Benning presidential endowed chair in the department of dermatology at the University of Utah. \"I think this is going to be a very effective treatment if what we see in the phase 3 trial is similar to what we saw in this phase 2 trial. And there\'s no reason to believe it won\'t be.\"</p> <p>The new study was instrumental in moving research forward to the phase 3 trial currently being conducted, Krueger added. That trial will provide more safety and efficacy data, probably in 2008.</p> <p>\"We still need to see the results of the phase 3 trial and some long-term safety data because it is a new drug, but patients in the trial have seen miraculous results,\" added Liz Horn, director of research at the National Psoriasis Foundation. \"Some have had one injection and have stayed clear for quite a long time.\"</p> <p>Psoriasis affects between 2 percent and 2.6 percent of Americans, or between 5.8 million and 7.5 million people. The disease occurs when the body suddenly begins overproducing skin cells. The cells pile up on the surface of the skin before they have a chance to mature, creating bright red patches covered with silvery scales.</p> <p>These patches of skin cause itching, burning and stinging sensations. They most often occur on the elbows, knees, other parts of the legs, scalp, lower back, face, palms and soles of the feet. But they can occur on skin anywhere on the body, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health.</p> <p>Doctors believe the disease is linked to the immune system and is genetic in nature. But no one is certain why some people suffer from psoriasis while others do not, or what causes the disease to first start and then spread.</p> <p>There is a widely recognized need for new treatments.</p> <p>The new study, published in the Feb. 8 issue of the <i>New England Journal of Medicine</i>, involved 320 people with moderate-to-severe psoriasis who were randomly chosen to receive the interleukin-12/23 monoclonal antibody at different doses and schedules, or a placebo. The study was sponsored by pharmaceutical company Centocor, which makes the drug.</p> <p>There was a 75 percent or more improvement in 52 percent of participants who received one 45-milligram (mg) dose of the monoclonal antibody, in 59 percent of those receiving one 90 mg dose, in 67 percent of those receiving a 45 mg dose four times weekly, and in 81 percent of those receiving four weekly 90-mg doses.</p> <p>There was at least a 90 percent improvement in 23 percent, 30 percent, 44 percent and 52 percent, respectively, of patients receiving the monoclonal antibody.</p> <p>Only 2 percent of those receiving the placebo experienced this type of recovery.</p> <p>Some 79 percent of the interleukin-12/23 group experienced side effects, compared with 72 percent of the placebo group. The difference was not considered statistically significant.</p> <p>The high response rate to the drug supports the idea that psoriasis is a disease with an immune basis, researchers said.</p> <p>\"The number one thing this article does is give us further evidence of the immune-mediated nature of psoriasis,\" said Dr. Daniel Bennett, an assistant professor of internal medicine at Texas A&amp;M Health Science Center College of Medicine and a dermatologist with Scott &amp; White Hospital. \"The argument in the past was that the problem was primarily in the skin vs. being immune-mediated. But the more we tinker with the actual signaling molecules in the immune response, the more evidence that it seems to be immune-mediated.\"</p> <p>The drug falls into the class of medications called biologics, which have specific mechanisms of action. This compound works on signaling molecules in the immune response that have not been targeted before. \"It\'s an expansion of the biologics,\" Bennett said.</p> <p>But the fact that the disease went away for such a long period of time after only one injection also implies that there\'s another mechanism of action.</p> <p>\"Either the drug stays around a lot longer than anyone could possibly imagine or it has some down-regulatory effect,\" Krueger said. \"Currently, it\'s our belief that the latter is the case because the drug has a 21-day half life.\"</p> <p>The interleukin-12/23 monoclonal antibody also appears to work against inflammatory bowel disease, indicating that the interleukin-12/23 pathway is common to both conditions.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>To learn more, visit the <a href=\"http://www.psoriasis.org/home\" target=\"_new\">National Psoriasis Foundation</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1918','4','	<p><p>TUESDAY, Feb. 13 (HealthDay News) -- Many patients with moderate to severe chronic psoriasis showed significant improvement after treatment with Humira (adalimumab), according to a study presented at the recent annual meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology in Washington, D.C. </p> <p>The REVEAL (Randomized Controlled EValuation of Adalimumab Every Other Week Dosing in Moderate to Severe Psoriasis TriAL) included 1,200 patients. After 16 weeks, 71 percent of the patients who took the drug showed a 75 percent improvement in skin clearance, compared to 6.5 percent of patients who received a placebo.</p> <p>The study also found that patients who took the drug continuously were much less likely to experience a worsening of their psoriasis symptoms.</p> <p>Upper respiratory tract infection, headache and nasopharyngitis were the most common side effects reported by patients in the study.</p> <p>The REVEAL results will be submitted by drug maker Abbott in its applications to have Humira approved for treatment of psoriasis in the United States and Europe.</p> <p>Psoriasis is an autoimmune disease that causes raised, inflamed, scaly, red skin lesions that can crack and bleed. There is no cure for psoriasis, which affects about 125 million people worldwide. Of those, about 25 percent have moderate to severe psoriasis. The disease can occur at any age but typically appears between the ages of 15 and 35.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The American Academy of Dermatology has more about <a href=\"http://www.skincarephysicians.com/psoriasisnet/whatis.html\" target=\"_new\">psoriasis</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1919','4','	<p><!--Spanish ID: 601812 --> <p>FRIDAY, Feb. 9 (HealthDay News) -- A neuropeptide called melanin concentrating hormone (MCH) plays a role in the growth of insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas and the secretion of insulin, a new study finds. </p> <p>MCH is found in the brain and regulates energy balance and appetite. The new finding may help in the development of novel diabetes treatments designed to stimulate production of beta cells in the pancreas, scientists said.</p> <p>The study, led by researchers at the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston, is published in the February issue of the journal <i>Diabetes</i>.</p> <p>A previous Joslin-led study in mice found an association between high levels of MCH and an increase in the number of beta cells. In this new study, researchers conducted a series of tests to confirm that link.</p> <p>\"It\'s a very logical connection,\" study leader Dr. Rohit N. Kulkarni, an investigator at Joslin Diabetes Center and assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, said in a prepared statement.</p> <p>\"Whenever you eat food, your body needs more insulin. When MCH induces appetite, it simultaneously increased insulin secretion from beta cells and enhances growth of beta cells. If the proteins that mediate the growth mechanism can be identified, it could lead to the development of new drugs that would enhance beta cell growth to treat type 1 and type 2 diabetes,\" Kulkarni said.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more about <a href=\"http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/faq/\" target=\"_new\">diabetes</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1920','4','	<p><p>MONDAY, Feb. 12 (HealthDay News) -- Extensive genetic analysis has uncovered a gene variant that cuts the risk of breast cancer by 10 percent, scientists say.</p> <p>Angela Cox, senior lecturer at the Institute of Cancer Studies at the University of Sheffield, U.K., led the study, which included more than 30,000 women and 20 research groups from every corner of the globe, from the United States to Australia, Finland to Singapore. </p> <p>The group -- called the Breast Cancer Association Consortium -- tested genetic variants, called \"single nucleotide polymorphisms,\" from nine different genes that previously had been implicated in breast cancer through small-scale studies. Most of the studies involved women of European descent, in whom the risk of breast cancer is about one-in-nine. </p> <p>\"This study aimed to confirm or refute those previous reports by doing a big study with good statistical power to determine which of these nine [genes], if any, were really associated with breast cancer,\" Cox said. </p> <p>The team found \"strong statistical evidence\" that one variant, a single amino acid change in the <i>CASP8</i> gene, was associated with a small reduction in breast cancer risk in European women. Carrying this genetic variant decreased a woman\'s risk of disease by 10 percent, lowering her risk from one-in-nine to one-in-10, Cox said. </p> <p>The findings were published Sunday in the journal <i>Nature Genetics</i>. </p> <p>Another genetic variant in the <i>TGF-beta1</i> gene, had a \"slightly weaker association,\" Cox said, increasing the risk of disease by 7 percent, and the other seven showed \"no or only marginal evidence\" of being associated with breast cancer. </p> <p>\"This study demonstrates how genes that confer modest effects on breast cancer risk can be identified when sufficiently large data sets are assembled,\" said U.S. National Cancer Institute Director Dr. John E. Niederhuber, in a written statement. \"Analyses of this type should help accelerate our ability to target the right genes for very specific subsets of disease.\" </p> <p>According to Cox, these new findings place <i>CASP8</i> and <i>TGF-beta1</i> on the opposite end of the breast cancer susceptibility spectrum from the two best known genes associated with a rise in breast cancer risk, <i>BRCA1</i> and <i>BRCA2</i>. Mutations in <i>BRCA1</i> and <i>BRCA2</i> are rare, she said, but very powerful. Other variants confer a two-fold effect on risk.</p> <p>The variants identified in this study are much weaker and may influence disease susceptibility as much as lifestyle factors, such as the number of children a woman has and her age at childbirth. </p> <p>The CASP8 protein participates in programmed cell death, or apoptosis -- a normal cellular mechanism involved in organism development and anti-cancer defenses, said Dr. Montserrat Garcia-Closas, a study coauthor and investigator in the NCI\'s Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics. \"DNA damage can trigger [cancer cell] apoptosis, and one hypothesis is that the <i>CASP8</i> variant may enhance the body\'s ability to clear cancerous cells from the body and thereby lower the risk of breast cancer,\" she said. </p> <p>Cox emphasized that, because of the small influences, positive or negative, exerted by these genes, this study will <i>not</i> likely lead to the immediate development of new genetic tests. \"There isn\'t any immediate implication for women with breast cancer or a family history of breast cancer,\" she said. \"It will not lead to any diagnostic test, because the gene we identified only has a weak effect on anybody\'s risk of breast cancer.\" </p> <p>It is possible, however, that <i>CASP8</i> and <i>TGF-beta1</i>, when combined with other (as-yet-unidentified) variants, could exert a significant enough effect on breast cancer susceptibility to make development of a diagnostic test worthwhile. </p> <p>\"In the near future, we might be able to identify a panel of variants with small increases in risk that collectively may put a woman at a much higher risk,\" Garcia-Closas said.</p> <p> \"It\'s very, very interesting,\" said Dr. Jay Brooks, chief of hematology/oncology at Ochsner Health Systems in Baton Rouge, La. \"It\'s an exciting observation that we may be able to identify women who are at a decreased risk of developing breast cancer.\"</p> <p>Brooks believes genetics will teach us much more about breast cancer and other malignancies.</p> <p>\"Hopefully, this will lead to better ways to understand [cancer] in terms of understanding how to prevent it, and how to treat it,\" he said. \"For example, why is it that 90 percent of people that smoke never develop lung cancer? We don\'t have a foolproof way of predicting which individuals will not develop lung cancer ... but there is a clear genetic susceptibility to developing the disease.\" </p> <p>\"This is the beginnings of understanding the molecular susceptibility of individuals to various cancers,\" Brooks added. \"There are genes that protect us, and we don\'t completely understand why that is.\" </p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>For more information on breast cancer, visit the <a href=\" http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/CRI_2x.asp?sitearea=LRN&dt=5\" target=\"_new\">American Cancer Society</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1921','4','	<p><!--Spanish ID: 601857 --> <p>MONDAY, Feb. 12 (HealthDay News) -- Postmenopausal breast cancer patients who switch from tamoxifen therapy to another type of drug, called an aromatase inhibitor, may gain a significant boost in survival, Italian research shows.</p> <p>Women in the study made the switch two to three years into the typical five-year tamoxifen regimen, which is aimed at keeping recurrent breast cancer at bay.</p> <p>According to the researchers, the improved performance of aromatase inhibitors means patients may also avoid the increased risk of death from other causes -- such as stroke or endometrial cancer -- that have been associated with tamoxifen.</p> <p>\"There\'s still a lot of questions that remain, but this study confirms that five years of tamoxifen alone is really becoming the wrong answer for most postmenopausal women,\" said Dr. Gary M. Freedman, a radiation oncologist at the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia. \"At this point, you have to say that aromatase inhibitors are in the mix of treatment at some point,\" said Freedman, who was not involved in the trial.</p> <p>The study, led by Dr. Francesco Boccardo of the National Cancer Research Institute and University of Genoa, was expected to be published in the March 15 issue of <i>Cancer</i>.</p> <p>Tamoxifen has been in widespread use among breast cancer survivors for the last two decades. The drug is typically taken after surgery, because it targets the hormone estrogen, which can promote tumor cell growth in women with estrogen-sensitive breast cancer. A standard five-year treatment of tamoxifen has been found to reduce breast cancer death rates by as much as 31 percent, Boccardo\'s team noted.</p> <p>But aromatase inhibitors are a newer class of drugs. These medicines, which include Femara, Aromasin, and Arimidex, fight cancer cell growth in a different way by blocking the workings of an aromatase enzyme while also reducing estrogen.</p> <p>But are these drugs better and safer than tamoxifen? To find out, Boccardo and his colleagues conducted two trials involving a total of 828 postmenopausal Italian breast cancer patients followed between 1992-2002.</p> <p>Half the patients were given a five-year regimen of tamoxifen, while the other half were switched to a therapy involving one of two different aromatase inhibitors at some point, usually two to three years into their tamoxifen treatment.</p> <p>Two aromatase inhibitors were tested, anastrozole (ANA) and aminoglutethimide (AG). AG is no longer available for the treatment of breast cancer.</p> <p>By pooling the results of the two trials together, the authors concluded that death rates due to either breast cancer or any other cause significantly improved among the patients who switched to an aromatase inhibitor.</p> <p>Among full-treatment tamoxifen patients, 74 deaths were reported, of which 51 were breast cancer-related.</p> <p>In comparison, 48 deaths -- of which 33 were breast cancer-related -- were reported among the group that switched to aromatase inhibitor. </p> <p>Boccardo and his associates also observed fewer deaths from either stroke or cardiovascular causes among the women who jumped to aromatase inhibitors.</p> <p>Freedman stressed that the study did not answer questions regarding how long aromatase inhibitors should be used for optimum effect, or whether using them before or after a tamoxifen regimen would be the best way to go.</p> <p>His own research, published in the journal <i>Cancer</i> in December, suggested that depending on disease severity, patient age and other factors, not all breast cancer survivors who\'ve completed five years of tamoxifen will benefit from aromatase inhibitors.</p> <p>\"So, while in our clinical practice only premenopausal women are being recommended a full five years of tamoxifen alone, I would still say that the decision whether and when to switch to aromatase inhibitors needs to be based on the individual patient,\" Freedman said.</p> <p>Dr. Lauren Cassell, a breast surgeon at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, said the Italian study reaffirms recent research.</p> <p>\"This finding is not surprising,\" she said. \"There is a consensus, at least in the U.S., that among postmenopausal patients, aromatase inhibitors are more effective in increasing survival than tamoxifen. So, I don\'t think this study changes anything.\"</p> <p>Cassell pointed out that current protocols among U.S. oncologists have already shifted toward excluding tamoxifen from newly prescribed treatment regimens in favor of aromatase inhibitors. And, most patients who are on tamoxifen treatment are now being switched over to the aromatase option, she said.</p> <p>But, while aromatase inhibitors offer clear survival advantages, new concerns are arising, Cassell added.</p> <p>\"While aromatase inhibitors don\'t increase the risk for endometrial cancer or stroke associated with tamoxifen, they do increase the risk for osteoporosis and, in some cases, significant joint pain,\" she said. \"And, they are much more pricey than tamoxifen, which is a problem for older patients on fixed incomes who don\'t have insurance.\"</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>For additional information on tamoxifen and aromatase inhibitors, visit the <a href=\"http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/content/CRI_2_6X_Tamoxifen_and_Ral oxifene_Questions_and_Answers_5.asp\" target=\"_new\">American Cancer Society</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1922','4','	<p><!--Spanish ID: 601893 --> <p>TUESDAY, Feb. 13 (HealthDay News) -- Switching to newer breast cancer drugs, called aromatase inhibitors, after two to three years of treatment with tamoxifen may extend disease-free survival and slightly reduce the risk of death in women who\'ve been treated for early stage disease, an international study finds.</p> <p>The Intergroup Exemestane Study (IES) tracked more than 10,000 breast cancer patients for a median follow-up of almost five years. The researchers looked at the impact of changing from tamoxifen to the aromatase inhibitor exemestane (brand name, Aromasin).</p> <p>The researchers found that switching to exemestane reduced the number of events linked to poorer survival by 32 percent.</p> <p>\"These findings provide some limited evidence to advise all women being administered tamoxifen to switch, even though this approach is not devoid of potentially serious side-effects,\" Francesco Boccardo and Alessandra Rubagotti, of the National Cancer Institute and University of Genoa Medical School in Italy, wrote in an accompanying comment to the study.</p> <p>However, the two experts noted that the incidence of serious side effects \"was low, and the available data do not indicate any increase in the risk of death unrelated to breast cancer in the women switched to aromatase inhibitors.\"</p> <p>Boccardo is lead author of another new study, released Monday, that found that switching from tamoxifen to an aromatase inhibitor could significantly extend survival in postmenopausal breast cancer patients. That study is expected to be published in the March 15 issue of the journal <i>Cancer</i>.</p> <p>Tamoxifen has been associated with increased risk of death from other causes, such as stroke or endometrial cancer. By using aromatase inhibitors instead of tamoxifen, breast cancer patients may avoid such risks, Boccardo and his colleagues said.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more about <a href=\"http://www.cancer.gov/clinicaltrials/developments/aromatase-inhibito rs-digest\" target=\"_new\">aromatase inhibitors</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1923','4','	<p><p>(HealthDay News) -- While many women take birth control pills without incident, these drugs can produce side effects, especially when a woman\'s body adjusts to the hormonal changes they cause.</p> <p>Here is a list of the most common side effects of birth control pills, courtesy of the Feminist Women\'s Health Center:</p> <ul> <li>Bleeding or spotting between menstrual cycles.</li> <li>Nausea.</li> <li>Tender breasts.</li> <li>Gaining weight or retaining water.</li> <li>Darkened spots on the skin.</li> <li>Moodiness.</li> </ul> <p>These symptoms should ease within two or three cycles, the center says. If they don\'t, talk with your doctor.</p></p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1924','5','<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 device combs hair into your comb-over</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>Laser brush boosts number of thick hairs on balding scalps, company 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\">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\',\'0831772e-d60c-45c6-846b-16b98fed79e9\',\'us\',\'hotvideo_m_edpicks\',\'c24\',\'msnbc\',\'\',\'17174595\',\'Can you comb away baldness?\')\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Video/070215/nn_bazell_hair_070215.300w.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\',\'0831772e-d60c-45c6-846b-16b98fed79e9\',\'us\',\'hotvideo_m_edpicks\',\'c24\',\'msnbc\',\'\',\'17174595\',\'Can you comb away baldness?\')\"></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\',\'0831772e-d60c-45c6-846b-16b98fed79e9\',\'us\',\'hotvideo_m_edpicks\',\'c24\',\'msnbc\',\'\',\'17174595\',\'Can you comb away baldness?\')\">Can you comb away baldness?</a></font><br><font color=\"black\">Feb. 15: It\'s called the HairMax Laser Comb and the Food and Drug Administration is now allowing it to be sold as a treatment for the most common form of male baldness. NBC\'s Robert Bazell reports.</font><p class=\"credit\">Nightly News</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>Bald may be beautiful, but for guys who don\'t share that opinion, help could be on the way.</p><p>A Florida company says it\'s come up with a handheld laser device that promotes hair growth. And now they say they\'ve got the OK from federal regulators to sell it.</p><p>The \"Hairmax Lasercomb,\" as it\'s known, is a combination of a low-level laser and a comb. It went through a six-month clinical trial conducted by its manufacturer, Lexington International LLC., during which the device increased the number of thick hairs on the scalp. </p><p>The device - sold online - is the only drug-free product meant for home use in combating hair loss that\'s won the endorsement of the FDA, the company said. But it\'s not cheap at a retail price of $545 dollars.</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('1925','5','	<p><p>TUESDAY, Jan. 23 (HealthDay News) -- Older women are generally more likely than men to fracture a bone, but once a man has suffered at least one such injury that gender gap disappears, new research shows.</p> <p>\"After a first fracture, the risk of a subsequent fracture in women is doubled, but for men, it is increased three- to four-fold, so that the absolute risk of a subsequent fracture is the same for women and men,\" said the study\'s lead author, Jacqueline Center, a senior research officer at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney, Australia.</p> <p>\"In other words, the protective effect of being a man on fracture risk was lost after the first fracture,\" she said. </p> <p>Center added that the increased risk of refracture lasted as long as 10 years after the initial fracture.</p> <p>Results of the study are published in the Jan. 24/31 issue of the <i>Journal of the American Medical Association</i>.</p> <p>According to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, fractures are most often caused by serious trauma. But Center said that with fractures that are caused by lower-level trauma -- such as falling from your standing height or less -- osteoporosis may be to blame.</p> <p>For this study, the Sydney team looked at data on 905 women and 337 Australian men who had suffered a low-level trauma fracture. The study participants were part of a larger, ongoing prospective trial called the Dubbo Osteoporosis Epidemiology Study. </p> <p>The study began in 1989 and includes about 4,000 men and women over the age of 60. The current analysis included data through 2005. </p> <p>During the first 10 years following an initial fracture, as many as 60 percent of those included in the study experienced a second fracture. </p> <p>For women, the risk of a second fracture was 95 percent higher than for an initial fracture. For men, the risk for second fracture was 3.5 times higher than experiencing a first fracture. </p> <p>Women\'s absolute refracture risk after one fracture was the same as or greater than a woman who was 10 years older but who had never experienced fracture, the researchers say. For men, the refracture rate was similar to that of a man 20 years older.</p> <p>That means a 60-year-old man who fractures a bone now has the same risk of receiving another fracture as an 80-year-old man, according to the study. </p> <p>Lower bone density, older age and a history of smoking all increased the risk of subsequent fractures for women, while low bone density, less physical activity and lower calcium intake were associated with the risk of refracture in men. </p> <p>\"The most important thing people need to know is that after virtually any first low-trauma fracture, the risk of subsequent fracture is increased substantially. For men, this increased risk brings them to a level equal to women, so that the protective effect of being a man disappears altogether,\" said Center. </p> <p>\"After a first fracture, such as may occur after a fall or trip in the street, both men and women should think about osteoporosis and tell their physician that they have had a fracture. They should seek appropriate investigation for osteoporosis, such as a bone density test, and, if appropriate, treatment to strengthen their bones,\" added Center. </p> <p>\"Most people tend to think of hip fractures and osteoporosis as things that happen to women. I was amazed to see that the numbers were relatively equal for subsequent fractures. One takeaway from this is that men are not immune to osteoporosis,\" said Dr. Michael Kelly, chairman of the department of orthopaedic surgery at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey. </p> <p>He said that men who\'ve had to be treated with steroids or cancer drugs, or men who are smokers, need to be especially aware that their bones may not be as strong. </p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>Here\'s advice from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases on <a href=\"http://www.niams.nih.gov/bone/hi/prevent_fracture.htm\" target=\"_new\">preventing second fractures</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1926','5','	<p><p>WEDNESDAY, Jan. 24 (HealthDay News) -- Three drugs used to treat erectile dysfunction -- Cialis, Levitra and Viagra -- are safe and effective for men with diabetes, concludes a research review in the current issue of the <i>Cochrane Library</i> journal.</p> <p>These drugs are included in a family of medications called phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE-5) inhibitors.</p> <p>In their review, the authors analyzed eight studies of 1,759 men that compared Cialis, Levitra or Viagra to placebo. Eighty percent of the men in these studies had type 2 diabetes, while 20 percent had type 1 diabetes. Most of the studies lasted for 12 weeks. </p> <p>At the end of the studies, men who took one of the PDE-5 inhibitors showed improvements on all measures of erectile dysfunction, and the drugs caused few adverse reactions, according to the review.</p> <p>Men who took the drugs were 4.8 times more likely to have an adverse reaction than men who took a placebo. The most common side effects among men who took the drugs were headache, flushing, and upper respiratory tract complaints and flu-like symptoms. There were no deaths.</p> <p>\"The results of our meta-analysis are not surprising, but give strength to the general notion that this class of drugs is efficient and safe for this specific wide population,\" review lead author Dr. Moshe Vardi, of the internal medicine division at Lady Davis Carmel Medical Center in Israel, said in a prepared statement.</p> <p>\"PDE-5 inhibitors have been considered the mainstay of treatment for erectile dysfunction in the general population for many years. Diabetics are prone to this complication, and the etiology of their erectile dysfunction is multifactorial, thus making their treatment a special challenge for physicians and other health care professionals,\" Vardi said.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases has more about <a href=\"http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/kudiseases/pubs/impotence/index.htm\" target=\"_new\">erectile dysfunction</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1927','5','	<p><p>THURSDAY, Jan. 25 (HealthDay News) -- Heavy drinking slashes the life spans of women with hepatitis C, a new study says. </p> <p>Publishing in the February issue of <i>Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research</i>, the researchers noted that women with hepatitis C tend to live longer than men with the virus. However, this study found that heavy drinking eliminates that survival advantage in women.</p> <p>The study analyzed 132,468 hepatitis C- and heavy drinking-related deaths in the Multiple Cause of Death files of the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics.</p> <p>They found that women with hepatitis C who were not heavy drinkers died at an average age of 61, compared to about age 49 for women who had hepatitis C and were heavy drinkers.</p> <p>Among men with hepatitis C, heavy drinking lowered the average age of death from about age 55 to age 50.</p> <p>\"Previous studies indicated that alcohol use is a risk factor for HCV (hepatitis C virus) disease progression, but they seldom examined the effect on women and men separately,\" study author Chiung Chen, a research analyst at CSR Inc., said in a prepared statement. \"Even fewer studies were able to examine the effect of alcohol on HCV mortality. Our study provides empirical evidence to fill the gap.\"</p> <p>CSR Inc. conducted the study under contract with the U.S. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The American Academy of Family Physicians has more about <a href=\"http://familydoctor.org/071.xml\" target=\"_new\">hepatitis C</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1928','5','	<p><!--Spanish ID: 601341 --> <p>THURSDAY, Jan. 25 (HealthDay News) -- Men who have breast cancer have a significantly increased risk of a second cancer, according to the largest study ever done on the subject.</p> <p>\"We looked at the risk not only of a second breast cancer but also of other cancers. We found the risk of other cancers increased as well,\" said lead researcher Hoda Anton-Culver, director of epidemiology at the University of California at Irvine.</p> <p>Her team published its findings in the February issue of <i>Breast Cancer Research.</i></p> <p>Breast cancer remains rare among men. Only about 1 percent of breast cancers are diagnosed in men, but some 1,400 new cases are reported in the United States each year, according to the American Cancer Society.</p> <p>Because of the relatively small incidence of male breast cancer, \"not one study until now has looked at large numbers,\" Anton-Culver said. However, \"our study looks at a very large number of men,\" she said, \"so there can be validity to large numbers of a rare cancer like this one.\"</p> <p>The researchers analyzed data from the California Cancer Registry on 1,926 men who developed breast cancer from 1988 to 2003.</p> <p>Of these, 221, or 11.5 percent, went on to develop a second cancer at least two months after their breast cancer diagnosis.</p> <p>One significant second cancer in the group was malignant melanoma, with an incidence that was 50 percent higher than normal, she said. There was also an elevated risk of stomach cancer.</p> <p>There are several possible explanations for the increased risk, Anton-Culver said. It might be due to the side effects of treatment of the primary breast cancer, for example. But the most probable cause is genetics, she said, with the men being at \"higher risk of developing cancer in general.\"</p> <p>And studies by the group have shown a high incidence of a breast cancer-related gene, BRCA2, in the men, Anton-Culver said.</p> <p>The findings could have a very practical application in terms of screening, she said. Her group has been collecting family histories of men with breast cancer, in collaboration with British researchers.</p> <p>\"We definitely do see an association between breast cancer in men and an increased risk of being a carrier of a cancer-related gene,\" Anton-Culver said. That relationship indicates that a screening program looking at close relatives of men with breast cancer could help with the early detection of malignancies, she said.</p> <p>\"Once you have a man with breast cancer, you have a great target for screening,\" Anton-Culver said.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>For more on male breast cancer, go to the <a href=\"http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/malebreastcancer.html\" target=\"_new\">U.S. National Library of Medicine</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1929','5','	<p><!--Spanish ID: 601456 --> <p>TUESDAY, Jan. 30 (HealthDay News) -- A topical anesthetic spray that\'s applied to the penis delays ejaculation by five times as long and could offer a new treatment for men with premature ejaculation, European researchers report.</p> <p>The phase 2 study by researchers in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands included 54 heterosexual men, ages 18 to 75, who reported that they normally ejaculated within an average of one minute after vaginal penetration. Some of the men were prescribed the TEMPE spray (a combination of lidocaine and prilocaine), while others were prescribed a placebo spray.</p> <p>The men who received the TEMPE (Topical Eutectic Mixture for Premature Ejaculation) spray were able to delay ejaculation by just under an extra four minutes, while those in the placebo group delayed ejaculation by just over an extra 40 seconds.</p> <p>The findings are published in the February issue of the <i>BJU International</i> urology journal.</p> <p>In the study, three metered doses of the spray were applied to the glans of the penis 15 minutes before intercourse. The doses delivered a total of 22.5 mg of lidocaine and 7.5 mg of prilocaine.</p> <p>Three of the 54 men who used the TEMPE spray reported numbness in their penis, one was unable to get an erection, and one of the men\'s partners reported a burning sensation each time the spray was used.</p> <p>\"At the moment, only a small number of men with premature ejaculation seek or receive treatment from a health care professional, and the lack of effective pharmacological treatment is a contributing factor,\" study co-author Dr. Michael Wyllie of Plethora Solutions Ltd. (which makes the TEMPE spray), said in a prepared statement.</p> <p>These study results suggest that TEMPE may offer an effective treatment for premature ejaculation, he said.</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/001524.htm\" target=\"_new\">premature ejaculation</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1930','5','	<p><p>THURSDAY, Feb. 1 (HealthDay News) -- More than 18 million men in the United States are affected by erectile dysfunction, a new study finds.</p> <p>The problem is particularly acute among men with cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and those who get little exercise, researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health report.</p> <p>\"The association of erectile dysfunction with diabetes and other cardiovascular risk factors can serve as a powerful motivator for men in whom diet and lifestyle changes are really indicated,\" said study author Elizabeth Selvin, a postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins.</p> <p>\"If you control your diabetes, and treat existing risk factors and do things to prevent diabetes and control your blood pressure and cholesterol levels, not only will you reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes, but you will also improve your sexual function,\" she said.</p> <p>The findings are published in the Feb. 1 issue of the <i>American Journal of Medicine</i>.</p> <p>In the study, Selvin\'s team collected data on more than 2,100 men who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Men who said they were \"sometimes able\" or \"never able\" to achieve and keep an erection were classified as having erectile dysfunction, while men who said they were \"always or almost always able\" or \"usually able\" were not.</p> <p>\"There is a high prevalence of erectile dysfunction among men with cardiovascular risk factors and men with diabetes,\" Selvin said. \"Screening for erectile dysfunction among men with hypertension and diabetes may be important,\" she added.</p> <p>The researchers found that the overall prevalence of erectile dysfunction among U.S. men was 18.4 percent. Age was a strong risk factor -- men 70 and older accounted for 70 percent of those with erectile dysfunction. In contrast, just 5 percent of men with erectile problems were between the ages of 20 and 40.</p> <p>Erectile dysfunction was especially linked to diabetes. \"It\'s important for physicians to know that more than 50 percent of their male diabetic patients are affected by erectile dysfunction,\" Selvin said.</p> <p>In addition, almost 90 percent of men with erectile dysfunction had at least one risk factor for heart disease, including diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol or smoking.</p> <p>\"Moreover, men who are physically inactive and had high rates of sedentary behavior, such as watching three or more hours of TV per day, were much more likely to have erectile dysfunction compared with men who were physically active,\" Selvin said, so, \"increasing exercise may be an effective non-pharmacologic treatment.\"</p> <p>One expert agreed that erectile dysfunction is a widespread problem.</p> <p>\"This study reiterates what we know, that erectile dysfunction is highly prevalent in the Unites States,\" said Dr. Hossein Sadeghi-Nejad, director of the Center for Male Reproductive Medicine at Hackensack University Medical Center and an associate professor of urology at UMD New Jersey Medical School.</p> <p>Sadeghi-Nejad believes that doctors should screen men for erectile dysfunction. \"It\'s an important quality-of-life issue, and the factors that help prevent cardiovascular disease and diabetes may help decrease erectile dysfunction,\" he added.</p> <p>By changing lifestyle and treating underlying heart disease and diabetes, you can decrease the chances of developing erectile dysfunction, Sadeghi-Nejad said. \"Erectile dysfunction is not a mandatory side effect of aging,\" he said. \"Don\'t think of it as a normal process of aging.\"</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases can tell you more about <a href=\"http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/kudiseases/pubs/impotence/\" target=\"_new\">erectile dysfunction</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1931','6','<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\">Religious faith may help stroke victims recover</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>Spiritual pursuits found to reduce emotional distress in patients</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 - People of faith have long contended that the power of prayer can help heal the sick. Now a study conducted in Rome suggests that religious faith may help people recover from a stroke.</p><p>The study does not point to a \"higher cause\" but suggests that a strong dose of spirituality can reduce the emotional stress linked to obstacles in stroke recovery, according to a report Thursday in the journal Stroke.</p><p>Researchers at the San Raffaele Pisana Rehabilitation Center in the Italian capital of Rome interviewed 132 stroke survivors about their religious beliefs and spirituality. The median age of the study participants was 72.</p><p>The responses were compared with their scores on the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, a self-assessment tool.</p><p>\"The analysis showed higher scores on the anxiety and depression scale correlated significantly with lower scores on the religious and spirituality questionnaire,\" said the American Heart Association, which publishes Stroke.</p><p>\"The association remained significant after adjusting for other factors that could influence a stroke patient\'s degree of emotional distress (such as mental and physical functioning, living conditions and marital status),\" it said in a statement.</p><p>The reasons for this possible link between faith and post-stroke emotional distress are hard to pin down, though the researchers gave tentative explanations.</p><p>\"Religious people who are active in their communities are more likely to receive external aid that can be provided by volunteers,\" said Dr. Salvatore Giaquinto, chairman of the department of rehabilitation at the San Raffaele Pisana Rehabilitation Center.</p><p>\"Social support lets them experience feelings of care, love and esteem. The new experience of support and the background of faith tell the patients that they are not alone.\"</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/16842848/\">Scientists bridging spirituality gap</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/17136113/\">Belief in exercise boosts the benefits</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/17073220/\">Older people take a rosier view</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 research chimes to some extent with other studies that have suggested that spiritual pursuits such as reciting the rosary and yoga chanting may be beneficial for heart rate variability and stress relief.</p><p>But some researchers say the possible links uncovered in the Rome study should not be mistaken for direct causality.</p><p>\"The study does not establish that religious beliefs will definitely reduce emotional distress but shows that people who are religious have better coping abilities,\" Dr. Lalit Kalra, a stroke professor at King\'s College London School of Medicine in Britain, wrote in an accompanying commentary.</p><p>\"Hence, both these variables may define personal attributes of the patient, in other words religious beliefs do not make a person cope better but identify patients who have better abilities to cope with chronic illness,\" Kalra wrote.</p><p>The researchers did note that most of Rome\'s residents are Catholic. But they said their findings might extend to other religions as well.</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('1932','6','<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\">Southern states tops for heart disease</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>Conditions vary widely across states, major CDC survey 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>ATLANTA - West Virginia and Kentucky - states known for high levels of obesity, diabetes and smoking - have the highest proportion of people with heart disease in the nation, U.S. health officials said Thursday.</p><p>The findings, from the first study ever to look at heart disease prevalence state by state, showed that states in the Southeast and Southwest were heart disease leaders. Colorado, the District of Columbia and a territory, the U.S. Virgin Islands, had the lowest percentages.</p><p>The results line up well with previous, state-specific reports about heart disease death rates, obesity and other risk factors, said Wayne Rosamond, an epidemiology professor at the University of North Carolina who chairs a statistics committee for the American Heart Association.</p><p>He called the report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention \"very important. It confirms what we know about regional differences in the burden of disease.\"</p><p>For the nation as a whole, roughly 4 percent of those surveyed had had a heart attack. A slightly higher percentage reported angina or coronary heart disease, and 6.5 reported any of those conditions.<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=\"javascript:OCW(\'http://www.msnbc.com/modules/quizzes/heart_dw.asp\',\'int520x410\',\'width=520,height=410\');\"><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Art/HEALTH/031107/Quiz_TZ152.jpg\" height=\"110\" width=\"150\" 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:OCW(\'http://www.msnbc.com/modules/quizzes/heart_dw.asp\',\'int520x410\',\'width=520,height=410\');\"></div></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td style=\"padding:10px;\"><font color=\"#000000\"><font color=\"551E1B\">?/font><font class=\"textMedBlackBold\"><a href=\"javascript:OCW(\'http://www.msnbc.com/modules/quizzes/heart_dw.asp\',\'int520x410\',\'width=520,height=410\');\">Test yourself</a></font><br><font color=\"black\">What\'s your risk for a heart attack?</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></p><p>But in West Virginia, more than 10 percent had at least one of the conditions. The prevalence in Kentucky was nearly 9 percent, and Mississippi was No. 3, with 8 percent.</p><p>CDC researchers drew their data from a 2005 telephone survey of 356,112 U.S. adults in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.</p><p>Participants were asked if a doctor or health care professional had told them they had experienced a heart attack, angina or coronary heart disease. The researchers then statistically adjusted the results to correct demographic differences in state samples to better mirror the U.S. census.</p><p>The prevalence in both Colorado and the District of Columbia was a little under 5 percent, tying them for the nation\'s lowest rate; Hawaii was close behind. The rate was 2.1 in the U.S. Virgin Islands.</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/17175486/\">Interactive: See how your state compares</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/17151509/\">Study: Coffee doesn\'t raise heart risk</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/17171399/\">Chemo??ulimia? Hallmark has card</a> </li><li><a href=\"http://msnbc-wbpreview/id/17150316/\">Time to bring back bloodletting?</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 regional differences are believed to stem from rates of obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, smoking and other known risk factors for heart disease, said the study\'s lead author, Jonathan Neyer, a CDC epidemiologist.<table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" width=\"1%\"><tr><td><img border=\"0\" src=\"http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Art/HEALTH/070215/AP_HEART_DISEASE.gif\" align=\"Right\" height=\"349\" width=\"318\" vspace=\"0\" hspace=\"0\"></td></tr></table></p><p>That means the explanation would come from differences in cultural norms, poverty rates and other social factors, and not environmental causes, he said. \"There\'s not something in the water,\" Neyer said.</p><p>Other findings:</p><ul><li class=\"textBodyBlack\">Among those who didn\'t finish high school, 1 in 10 had at least one of the conditions. Among college graduates, only 1 in 20 did.</li><li class=\"textBodyBlack\">More than 8 percent of men had one of the conditions, but only 5 percent of women did.</li><li class=\"textBodyBlack\">Nearly 1 in 5 people 65 and older had at least one of the conditions. The percentages were much smaller among younger age groups.</li><li class=\"textBodyBlack\">The results were the same for blacks and whites, with just over 6 percent having one of the conditions. Fewer than 5 percent of Asian-Americans had any of the health problems, making them the healthiest ethnic group. American Indians and Alaska Natives had the highest prevalence, at about 11 percent.</li></ul><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('1933','6','<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 study finds genetic link to autism</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>Research finds previously undetected chromosome connection to disorder</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>WASHINGTON - Birthdays are the hardest times for Melissa and Alex Kimmell of Culver City, California.</p><p>That is when it is mercilessly brought home to them that their sons, 6-year-old Jonah and 4-year-old Gabriel, are not normal. Both boys have autism.</p><p>\"Every year I think he\'ll wake up and just be a normal boy, talking like every other child,\" Melissa Kimmell said in a telephone interview.</p><p>\"Every year that that doesn\'t happen, I have to admit that it\'s heartbreaking.\"</p><p>Birthdays are also when the schools work out annual individualized education plans with parents of special-needs children.</p><p>\"As a parent, you are sitting in these meetings with the teacher and you are hearing what your child is not doing,\" Kimmell said.</p><p>The Kimmells were among 1,200 families who took part in a 19-country survey of the genes that might be involved in autism, an often devastating disease with symptoms that range from social awkwardness to a near-complete failure to communicate with the outside world.</p><p>No one knows the cause, but a study published in the journal Nature Genetics on Sunday found one gene and one stretch of previously unsuspected DNA on chromosome 11 that might be involved.</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/17202866/site/newsweek/\">Newsweek: New finding from autism gene study</a></li><li><a href=\"/id/17047721/\">Autism rate in U.S. higher than thought</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>Advocates have been clamoring for health officials to say there is an autism epidemic. Weeks ago, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published its first national survey on the prevalence of autism and related disorders. It found that one in 150 children have an autism spectrum disorder - more than most experts had believed.</p><p>Kimmell is not surprised, but she is also not sure this means autism has become more common in recent years.</p><p>Many experts believe that autism is being diagnosed more now because people are looking for it.</p><p>\"We don\'t diagnose illness unless it provides some benefit to us,\" said Roy Richard Grinker, an anthropology professor at The George Washington University in Washington who studies autism and has an autistic daughter.</p><p><b><strong>Looking for labels</strong></b><br>\"A label can sometimes help you,\" added Grinker, author of the book \"Unstrange Minds: Remapping the World of Autism.\"</p><p>In earlier decades, people were often ashamed to admit their children had problems. But now it is different, Grinker said.</p><p>\"As a parent, I am so comforted that my daughter\'s classmates know so much about autism. They don\'t see her as bizarre,\" he said.</p><p>Kimmell has seen the benefits of early diagnosis and treatment. She said she felt guilty at first, because her boys were so close to normal.</p><p>\"My son (Jonah) was a very early walker,\" she said, but he was quiet.</p><p>A pediatrician dismissed her worries, so she got Jonah a hearing test. The technician asked her if she had checked Jonah for autism. California has free clinics that offer such specialized services and to her dismay, Jonah was diagnosed.</p><p>Her younger son, Gabriel, was 10 months and she soon took him for his own checkup.</p><p>\"I was hoping they\'d tell me, \'You\'re crazy - he\'s completely normal,\" she said. \"But they said, \'actually, no he is on the spectrum.\'\"</p><p>A diagnosis means families can seek help, and Kimmell believes targeted play therapy has helped both her boys adjust.</p><p>\"With Jonah, we are getting some spontaneous language. I have heard \'Mommy\' twice,\" she said.</p><p>\"And he just walked up to me and looked in my face and said \'I love you so much.\' It was awesome. It was his first sentence.\"</p><p>And Gabriel, diagnosed at an even younger age, has friends, Kimmell said. \"He has got kids calling up and asking for playdates,\" she said. \"Who would Gabriel be now had he not gotten this early intervention? Would he have had those relationships?\"</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('1934','6','<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 find clues to mystery dizziness</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>Anxiety, brain trauma linked to chronic disorder </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 - Chronic dizziness that is not due to vertigo, a problem that has puzzled doctors for years, may have a variety of causes including anxiety disorders and brain injury, according to a study published Monday.</p><p>Vertigo, a feeling of turning or whirling usually involving inner ear problems, is well recognized, according to the report from the University of Pennsylvania Health System in Philadelphia.</p><p>But so-called chronic nonspecific dizziness where victims also suffer imbalance and are super-sensitive to some motions such as walking in a busy store or driving in the rain is more complex, it added.</p><p>The study, published in the February issue of the Archives of Otolaryngology-Head &amp; Neck Surgery, tracked 345 men and women age 15 to 89 who had dizziness for three months or longer due to unknown causes.</p><p>\"All but six patients were diagnosed as having psychiatric or neurologic conditions, including primary or secondary anxiety disorders, migraine, traumatic brain injury\" and abnormalities in the body system which controls involuntary actions, the study said.</p><p>\"The results of this investigation provide some insight into ... mechanisms that may precipitate and perpetuate chronic dizziness,\" the study added.</p><p>\"Two-thirds of patients had medical conditions associated with the onset of dizziness, whereas one-third had anxiety disorders as the initial cause,\" it 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('1935','6','\n\n\n	 <p>Tarah Perry wishes her brothers would remember to put on deodorant. Other 16-year-olds, after all, don? need to be reminded of that by their 14-year-old sister. Other families don? keep a stick of Degree in the glove compartment to enforce deodorant compliance on the way to school in the morning. Granted, Justin and Jason are different from other brothers ?they are autistic twins ?and Tarah? family is therefore different from other families, and generally speaking she is perfectly O.K. with that. It? all she has ever known. But lately she has been fighting more with her brothers. They irritate her, she says. They stink. She tells them as much, and they squabble about it, as any siblings might ?only when you?e 14 and your brothers are disabled and you don? know whether they?l ever make it on their own or whether you?l be responsible for taking care of them, then even the little things take on greater weight. Because what Tarah also wishes is that her brothers will one day manage to hold jobs and find friends and live the kind of life that regular deodorant-wearing people live, or some semblance of it. And in the meantime, it would be nice if they didn? smell up the car.</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/2007/02/13/magazine/18autism.1.ready.html\', \'18autism_1_ready\', \'width=464,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/2007/02/13/magazine/18autism.1.ready.html\', \'18autism_1_ready\', \'width=464,height=600,scrollbars=yes,toolbars=no,resizable=yes\')\">\n<IMG src=\"http://graphics.nytimes.com/images/2007/02/13/magazine/18autism190.1.jpg\" width=\"190\" height=\"217\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\">\n</a>\n<div class=\"credit\">Dan Winters</div>\n<p class=\"caption\">\nThe Perry kids: Jason, left, Tarah, Justin and Melissa (in front). \n</p>\n</div>\n  \n<div id=\"sidebarArticles\">\n<h4>Related</h4>\n<h2> <a href=\"http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/autism/index.html\" target=\"_0\">Times Topics: Autism</a></h2>\n</div>\n   \n</div>\n</div><a name=\"secondParagraph\"></a>\n <p>If you were to meet Tarah apart from her family, there? plenty you might learn about her before the subject of her brothers ever came up. She is in the ninth grade and likes to clown around: one day this fall, for instance, when her biology teacher seemed to be in a bad mood, she drew a large smiley face on a sheet of notebook paper and held it up over her own face to try to coax a smile out of the teacher. (It worked.) Her own face is heart-shaped, sprayed with faint freckles and often demurely animated ?lips slightly pursed, eyes knowing ?by a look of private amusement on the verge of being made public. There is no mention of her brothers on her MySpace page, and she is more likely to talk about the marching band or her best friend, Alex, who sits near her in band, or the music she likes or gossip from school. Or trees. For some reason she can? stand pine trees. The central Texas town of Bastrop, about 30 miles southeast of Austin, is overhung by tall loblolly pines, on account of which Tarah occasionally petitions her parents to move the family someplace else, like Ireland, where they could live in a castle and have free health insurance ?although, she concedes, she wouldn? really want to move away from her friends.</p><p>Yet she has no doubt that growing up in her brothers?shadows has shaped her own character. ? think I? a much nicer person than I would have been if they weren? autistic,?she says. ? would have been pretty mean and snobby. Still, I? kind of mean sometimes, but I don? think I? snobby.?All her life, she has been not just their younger sister but their de facto older sister, sometime translator and mom? right hand. (Her biology teacher is not the first stressed-out woman Tarah has tried to cheer up.) When they were young, Jason and Justin spoke only about 50 words, and those in odd, high-pitched voices. But according to Tarah? mother, Jennifer: ?t was like she knew what they wanted when I didn?, and she would help me figure it out. Tarah was mother hen to these boys. I probably shouldn? have put her in that position, but oh, my God, she helped me so much.?/p><p>The boys are now easier to understand and cope with, but their unpredictability keeps the family on edge. ?e?l be going along just fine, and then boom, something will happen,?Jennifer Perry says. One day last winter, she took the kids to the hospital to see a friend who had just had a baby. Jason, who is unnerved by strange environments, said that he didn? want to go inside, and so Jennifer let him wait in the car while she went in with the other kids. Once the visit was over, they piled back into her big black Suburban ?Justin on the rear bench, Tarah and Jason in the middle and their younger sister, Melissa, 11, in front. They were headed for the parking-lot exit when Tarah said, ?om, when we get home, the boys better take a shower, because they smell really bad.?</p><p>Jason slammed his hand on the seat. ?om, I asked you not to let Tarah say that anymore!?he said. Then he turned to Tarah and pulled back his fist and shouted, ?? going to hit you so hard!?/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><li> <a onClick=\"s_code_linktrack(\'Article-MultiPagePageNum3\');\" title=\"Page 3\" href=\"?pagewanted=3&_r=5\">3</a> </li><li> <a onClick=\"s_code_linktrack(\'Article-MultiPagePageNum4\');\" title=\"Page 4\" href=\"?pagewanted=4&_r=5\">4</a> </li><li> <a onClick=\"s_code_linktrack(\'Article-MultiPagePageNum5+\');\" title=\"Page 5\" href=\"?pagewanted=5&_r=5\">5</a> </li><li> <a onClick=\"s_code_linktrack(\'Article-MultiPagePageNum5+\');\" title=\"Page 6\" href=\"?pagewanted=6&_r=5\">6</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\">Karen Olsson, a senior editor at Texas Monthly, is the author of the novel ?aterloo.?/p></NYT_AUTHOR_ID><NYT_UPDATE_BOTTOM>\n</NYT_UPDATE_BOTTOM>\n');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1936','6','\n\n\n	 <p>Jett Lucas, a 14-year-old friend, tells me the kids in his middle school send one  other a steady stream of instant  messages through the day. But there? a problem.</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/2007/02/19/health/20essay190.jpg\" width=\"190\" height=\"285\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\">\n<div class=\"credit\">Christian Northeast</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</div>\n<div class=\"story\"><h5><a href=\"http://news.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/02/20/flame-first-think-later-new-clues-to-e-mail-misbehavior/\">Share Your Thoughts</a></h5><p class=\"summary\"><!--a href=\"http://news.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/02/20/flame-first-think-later-new-clues-to-e-mail-misbehavior/\"><IMG src=\"http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2006/08/18/business/18stent75.jpg\" alt=\"Share Your Thoughts\" class=\"callout\"></a-->Share the story of an e-mail or an instant message that you sent and later regretted.</p>\r\n<ul class=\"refer\"><li style=\"background-image:none;padding-left:0;\"><IMG src=\"http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/section/opinion/comment_icon.gif\" border=\"0\" alt=\"Comment\" style=\"vertical-align:middle;margin-right:3px;padding-top:3px\"><a href=\"http://news.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/02/20/flame-first-think-later-new-clues-to-e-mail-misbehavior/\">Post a Comment</a></li><!--<li><a href=\"http://news.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/02/20/flame-first-think-later-new-clues-to-e-mail-misbehavior/\">Read Comments</a></li><li><a href=\"http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/20/health/psychology/20essa.html\">Related Article</a></li>--></ul></div>\r\n<!--end comments promo -->\n</div>\n   \n</div>\n</div><a name=\"secondParagraph\"></a>\n <p> ?ids will say things to each other in their messages that are too embarrassing to say in person,?Jett tells me. ?hen when they actually meet up, they are too shy to bring up what they said in the message. It makes things tense.?/p><p>Jett? complaint seems to be part of a larger pattern plaguing the world of virtual communications, a problem recognized since the earliest days of the Internet: flaming, or sending a message that is taken as offensive, embarrassing or downright rude. </p><p>The hallmark of the flame is precisely what Jett lamented: thoughts expressed while sitting alone at the keyboard would be put more diplomatically ?or go unmentioned  ?face to face.</p><p>Flaming has a technical name, the ?nline disinhibition effect,?which psychologists apply to the many ways people behave with less restraint in cyberspace. </p><p>In a 2004 article in the journal CyberPsychology & Behavior, John Suler, a psychologist at Rider University in Lawrenceville, N.J., suggested that several psychological factors lead to online disinhibition: the anonymity of a Web pseudonym;  invisibility to others; the time lag between sending an e-mail message and getting feedback; the exaggerated sense of self  from being alone; and the lack of any online authority figure. Dr. Suler notes that disinhibition can be either benign ? when a shy person feels free to open up online ?or toxic, as in flaming.</p><p>The emerging field of social neuroscience,  the study of what goes on in the brains and bodies of two interacting people, offers clues into the neural mechanics behind flaming. </p><p>This work points to a design flaw inherent in the interface between the brain? social circuitry and the online world. In face-to-face interaction, the brain reads a continual cascade of emotional signs and social cues, instantaneously using them to guide our next move so that the encounter goes well. Much of this social guidance occurs in circuitry centered on the orbitofrontal cortex, a center for empathy. This cortex uses that social scan to help make sure that what we do next will keep the interaction on track.</p><p>Research by Jennifer Beer, a psychologist at the <a href=\"http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/u/university_of_california/index.html?inline=nyt-org\" title=\"More articles about the University of California.\">University of California</a>, Davis, finds that this face-to-face guidance system inhibits impulses for actions that would upset the other person or otherwise throw the interaction off. Neurological patients with a damaged orbitofrontal cortex lose the ability to modulate the amygdala, a source of unruly impulses; like small children, they commit mortifying social gaffes like kissing a complete stranger, blithely unaware that they are doing anything untoward.</p><p>Socially artful responses emerge largely  in the neural chatter between the orbitofrontal cortex and emotional centers like the amygdala that generate impulsivity. But the  cortex needs social information ?a change in tone of voice, say ?to know how to select and channel our impulses. And in e-mail there are no channels for voice, facial expression or other cues from the person who will receive what we say. </p><p>True, there are those cute, if somewhat lame, emoticons that cleverly arrange punctuation marks to signify an emotion. The e-mail equivalent of a mood ring, they surely lack the neural impact of an actual smile or frown. Without the raised eyebrow that signals irony, say, or the tone of voice that signals delight, the orbitofrontal cortex has little to go on. Lacking real-time cues, we can easily misread the printed words in an e-mail message, taking them the wrong way.</p><p>And if we are typing while agitated, the absence of information on how the other person is responding makes the prefrontal circuitry for discretion more likely to fail. Our emotional impulses disinhibited, we type some infelicitous message and hit ?end?before a more sober second thought leads us to hit ?iscard.?We flame.</p><p>Flaming can be induced in some people with alarming ease. Consider an experiment, reported in 2002 in The Journal of Language and Social Psychology, in which pairs of college students ?strangers ?were put in separate booths to get to know each other better by exchanging messages in a simulated online chat room. </p><p>While coming and going into the lab, the students were well behaved. But the experimenter was stunned to see the messages many of the students sent. About 20 percent of the e-mail conversations immediately became outrageously lewd or simply rude. </p><p>And now, the online equivalent of road rage has joined the list of Internet dangers. Last October, in what The Times of London described as ?ritain? first ?eb rage?attack,?a 47-year-old Londoner was convicted of assault on a man with whom he had traded insults in a chat room. He and a friend tracked down the  man and attacked him  with a pickax handle and a knife.</p><p>One proposed solution to flaming is replacing typed messages with video. The assumption is that getting a message along with its emotional nuances might help us dampen the impulse to flame.</p><p>All this reminds me of a poster on the wall of classrooms I once visited in New Haven public schools. The poster, part of a program in social development that has lowered rates of violence in schools there, shows a stoplight. It says that when students feel upset, they should remember that the red light means to stop, calm down and think before they act. The yellow light prompts them to weigh a range of responses, and their consequences. The green light urges them to try the best response.</p><p>Not a bad idea. Until the day e-mail comes in video form, I may just paste one of those stoplights next to my monitor.</p><NYT_AUTHOR_ID><p id=\"authorId\">Daniel Goleman is the author of ?ocial Intelligence: The New Science of Human Relationships.?/p></NYT_AUTHOR_ID><NYT_UPDATE_BOTTOM>\n</NYT_UPDATE_BOTTOM>\n');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1937','6','\n\n\n	 <p>While several 40-knot squalls battered his 60-foot racing yacht Monday in the South Atlantic, the sailor Bernard Stamm had more to worry about than just the weather.</p> \n<div id=\"articleInline\">\n<div id=\"inlineBox\"><a href=\"#secondParagraph\" class=\"jumpLink\">Skip to next paragraph</a>\n  \n  \n   \n<div class=\"image\">\n<div class=\"enlargeThis\"><a href=\"javascript:pop_me_up2(\'http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2007/02/22/sports/22sailing_CA1.ready.html\', \'22sailing_CA1_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/2007/02/22/sports/22sailing_CA1.ready.html\', \'22sailing_CA1_ready\', \'width=720,height=600,scrollbars=yes,toolbars=no,resizable=yes\')\">\n<IMG src=\"http://graphics.nytimes.com/images/2007/02/22/sports/22sailing.2.190.jpg\" width=\"190\" height=\"207\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\">\n</a>\n<div class=\"credit\">onEdition</div>\n<p class=\"caption\">\nStamm, at the start of the second leg last month in Australia, said he was running out of fuel and had a broken water maker. \n</p>\n</div>\n   \n</div>\n</div><a name=\"secondParagraph\"></a>\n <p>&#8220;I slept maybe two hours yesterday,&#8221; an exhausted Stamm said in a satellite telephone interview Tuesday. &#8220;I&#8217;m sitting in no wind now. I am running out of fuel to run electronics, and my water maker is broken. It is very difficult.&#8221; </p><p>Stamm, a seemingly invincible Swiss sailor, has been leading the Velux 5 Oceans solo around-the-world yacht race since the start. But he may finally be reaching his limit &#151; and that is exactly what a group of researchers from a British university are looking to document, by using psychological tests developed by <a href=\"http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/n/national_aeronautics_and_space_administration/index.html?inline=nyt-org\" title=\"More articles about the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.\">NASA</a> to find out how the human mind copes with life-threatening situations.</p><p>Though the study relies almost entirely on interviews and self-administered tests, psychologists for NASA said the findings could benefit their astronaut-training program.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;re trying to identify some of the common characteristics of people who consistently think clearly and perform under extreme conditions,&#8221; said Michael Tipton, the organizer of the study at the University of Portsmouth&#8217;s department of sports and exercise science. He said the results of the study, which requires all five sailors in the 30,150-nautical-mile race to take a weekly cognitive test, would help to better select and train people working in other extreme professions, including search and rescue squads, the military and the oil industry.</p><p>&#8220;We simulate helicopter escapes in pools,&#8221; Tipton said. &#8220;But we don&#8217;t know how much longer they&#8217;d hold their breath if the real consequence would be drowning. With these sailors, that&#8217;s a real consequence every minute.&#8221;</p><p>Stamm, 42, is expected to cross the Equator this week en route to Norfolk, Va., and the finish of the second leg of the competition, a 14,000-nautical-mile jaunt that began with seven competitors last month in Fremantle, Australia. He is expected to finish the leg within the next three weeks. Kojiro Shiraishi of Japan is in second place, more than 2,000 nautical miles behind. The five sailors are expected to finish in Bilbao, Spain, by the end of April.</p><p>Since the tumultuous start, when hurricane-force winds drove most of the fleet to run for cover, one boat has sunk and another was dismasted and withdrew from the race.</p><p>Two competitors have had to make pit stops to repair damage since that first storm. Robin Knox-Johnston, 67, of Britain was towed into Ushuaia, Argentina, on Monday to fix a broken mainsail and faltering electronics.</p><p>Portsmouth&#8217;s study involves questionnaires sent to the sailors weekly via e-mail messages. The questions are designed to cull information about the sailors&#8217; mood and the conditions they are working under. Portsmouth bases its mental tests on a model that NASA created to assess its astronauts&#8217; ability to work effectively under high stress. Psychologists for the space agency are now interested in the Portsmouth study.</p><p>&#8220;A huge amount can be gleaned from these guys,&#8221; said Dr. Albert A. Harrison, an behavioral health adviser to NASA. &#8220;They are isolated, and under a tremendous amount of stress.&#8221;</p><p>For Stamm, stress comes in the form of daily challenges that, if unattended, could spell disaster. He said he had only nine liters of water left Tuesday morning and had been unable to repair his water maker. If he cannot repair the device, he will be forced to collect rain water to drink. If his fuel runs out, he will need to hand-steer the boat for days at a time, a nearly impossible, muscle-draining task.</p><p>If Stamm is unable to solve these problems, he will have to sail to the closest land, probably in the Caribbean, or call for a helicopter rescue. </p><p>Harrison said in a telephone interview this week that even though space travel involved two or three astronauts, the solo-sailing data can be useful for assessing individual performance. </p><p>&#8220;Sleep loss, for example, is cumulative, and it has a lot of effects on working memory,&#8221; Harrison said. </p><p>He added that solo sailing was one of the few high-risk activities in which sleep deprivation could be documented, and that the information would be helpful in preparing for moonwalks and even potential &#8220;spam in the can&#8221; missions to Mars, in which a single astronaut would take a nearly three-year journey in a small craft to the planet.</p><p>Shiraishi, 39, the second-place sailor, has had little sleep since leaving Australia more than a month ago, and he said in an e-mail interview Wednesday that his mind and body were strained.</p><p>&#8220;I haven&#8217;t slept enough,&#8221; Shiraishi said, adding that he was stressed because of the weather. The yachtsmen often encounter thunderstorms as they cross into the Northern Hemisphere.</p><p>The lead sports psychologist at the University of Portsmouth, Dr. Neil Weston, said in a phone interview yesterday that the five sailors had a few common threads. &#8220;They all have a base mind-set that helps them react appropriately to disastrous situations,&#8221; Weston said. &#8220;Their panic threshold is higher than the average person.&#8221;</p><p>For Stamm, who spends much of his time in a cabin about the size of a bathroom, panic is not an option. &#8220;When it&#8217;s bad weather, I try to control myself and control the ship,&#8221; he said. &#8220;When it is in control, no matter what, I am safe.&#8221; </p><p>He said that his biggest motivation was to keep the boat moving as fast as possible. &#8220;When it is slow,&#8221; he said, &#8220;I cannot sleep, I must keep working.&#8221;</p><p>Researchers said that the characteristics they are searching for will surface as Stamm encounters storm after storm on his way to Norfolk, some 3,000 nautical miles away. </p><p>&#8220;Above all, these sailors are rational, calculating individuals,&#8221; Tipton said. &#8220;Their inventiveness and tough mindedness is what gets them through safely.&#8221; </p><NYT_UPDATE_BOTTOM>\n</NYT_UPDATE_BOTTOM>\n');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1938','6','	<p><p>(HealthDay News) -- What\'s the difference between lactose intolerance and a milk allergy?</p> <p>The Nemours Foundation offers this primer:</p> <ul> <li>Milk allergy is caused by an allergy to proteins in milk, while lactose intolerance is an inability to break down lactose, a sugar in milk.</li> <li>Milk allergy most often occurs in infants, while lactose intolerance usually occurs later in life.</li> <li>Milk allergy not only affects digestion, but also the skin and respiration. Lactose intolerance primarily affects digestion, causing symptoms including bloating, gas, and loose bowels.</li> <li>Milk allergy has the potential to be life-threatening, while lactose intolerance is unpleasant but not dangerous.</li> </ul> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1939','6','	<p><p>TUESDAY, Dec. 26 (HealthDay News) -- Children who were allergic to eggs were able to overcome the allergy by gradually increasing the amount of egg they ate, U.S. researchers say. </p> <p>\"Participants who took a daily dose of egg product over the two-year study period were able to build up their bodies\' resistance to the point where most of them could eat two scrambled eggs without a reaction,\" researcher Dr. A. Wesley Burks, chief of the division of allergy and immunology at Duke University Medical Center, said in a prepared statement.</p> <p>The small pilot study involved seven youngsters, aged 1 to 7. The children consumed small daily doses of powdered egg mixed with food. At the start of the study, the doses were the equivalent of less than one-thousandth of an egg. That was gradually increased to the equivalent of one-tenth of an egg, which was maintained as a \"maintenance dose\" for the remainder of the study.</p> <p>The study, published online in the <i>Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology</i>, is expected to be in the January print edition of the journal.</p> <p>Egg allergy is one of the most common food allergies among children in the United States. While most children outgrow the allergy by age 5, some have the allergy for the rest of their lives.</p> <p>This study was the first in a series of food allergy desensitization studies being conducted by researchers at Duke and the University of Arkansas. One of the studies is examining whether the desensitization method is effective in children with peanut allergies.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The American Academy of Family Physicians has more about <a href=\"http://familydoctor.org/340.xml\" target=\"_new\">food allergies</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1940','6','	<p><p>THURSDAY, Jan. 11 (HealthDay News) -- Over-the-counter cough and cold medications can be harmful -- even deadly -- to very young children, U.S. government research shows.</p> <p>In 2005, three infants under the age of 6 months died from taking such medications. And, from 2004 to 2005, more than 1,500 children under the age of 2 were treated in emergency rooms for problems related to taking such medications, according to a report released Thursday. </p> <p>\"Cough and cold medicines can be harmful, and even fatal, and should be used with caution in children under 2 years of age,\" said study author Dr. Adam Cohen, an officer in the Epidemic Intelligence Service at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. \"They are drugs, so they have risks as well as benefits.\"</p> <p>The study appears in the Jan. 12 issue of the <i>Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report</i>, a publication of the CDC.</p> <p>The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has only approved the use of over-the-counter cough and cold medicines in children over the age of 2. In children younger than 2, studies have concluded that such medications are no more effective than a placebo. As a result, appropriate dosing is not known.</p> <p>\"Cold and cough medications, especially medications containing pseudoephedrine [a nasal decongestant], have never been shown to have any beneficial effect on children less than 2 years of age, yet they clearly can have significant harmful effects,\" said Dr. Michael Marcus, director of pediatric pulmonology, allergy and immunology at the Maimonides Infants &amp; Children\'s Hospital in New York City.</p> <p>\"There are no studies to support the use of cold medicine in infants,\" said Dr. Gwen Wurm, director of community pediatrics at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. \"The thing to keep in mind is that colds go away. Kids might benefit from a humidifier by the bed and saline nose drops, but this kind of loving care is all most kids need.\"</p> <p>Various professional groups, including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Chest Physicians, have issued guidelines recommending caution when using these medications in young children.</p> <p>In June 2006, the FDA took action to stop the manufacture of medications containing carbinoxamine (an antihistamine) which were inappropriately labeled for use in infants and young children. Manufacturers were required to stop production by Sept. 6, 2006, but some products might still be in distribution.</p> <p>The Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act of 2006, passed last March, banned over-the-counter (though not behind-the-counter) sales of products containing pseudoephedrine. As a result, many companies have taken this ingredient out of their products.</p> <p>But products which might be harmful to young children are still available, so officials at the CDC and the National Association of Medical Examiners (NAME) investigated deaths of children under the age of 1 that were associated with cough and cold medicines.</p> <p>The three infants who died ranged in age from 1 to 6 months; two were male and all three were found dead in their homes.</p> <p>Autopsy and medication investigation records revealed that cough and cold medications were responsible for all three deaths. All three babies had high levels of pseudoephedrine, ranging from nine to 14 times the levels expected from recommended doses for children aged 2 to 12. One of the infants had received both a prescription and an over-the-counter cough and cold medicine at the same time, both of which contained pseudoephedrine.</p> <p>Two of the children had taken prescription medications containing carbinoxamine, although there were no detectable blood levels of the substance. Two of the infants had detectable blood levels of dextromethorphan (a cough suppressant) and acetaminophen (a fever-reducer and analgesic). </p> <p>\"Parents should absolutely avoid these medications unless they are being supervised by a physician,\" Marcus said. \"Parents should realize that non-prescription medications may contain similar products to medications that the pediatrician is also prescribing, therefore, they should let the pediatrician know all treatments the child is receiving when discussing a child\'s treatment.\"</p> <p>\"Parents should never give medicine without consulting a health-care provider, even over-the-counter,\" Cohen added. \"Many over-the-counter medicines may be marketed for infants, and there are no approved dosing recommendations from the FDA for this age group. There\'s very little evidence that they help in children under 2.\"</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>For more about colds and cold medications in young children, visit the <a href=\"http://www.aap.org/patiented/coldsandyoungchild.htm\" target=\"_new\">American Academy of Pediatrics</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1941','6','	<p><p>TUESDAY, Jan. 16 (HealthDay News) -- Using a long-acting bronchodilator in combination with an inhaled corticosteroid led to a 35 percent reduction in the number of exacerbations experienced by patients with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD), a new study finds. </p> <p>The study, published in the current issue of the <i>American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine</i>, included almost 500 patients with moderate to severe COPD who were divided into two groups. One group (507 patients) was treated with the long-lasting bronchodilator salmeterol in combination with the inhaled corticosteroid fluticasone propionate. The control group (487 patients) received only salmeterol.</p> <p>In the combined therapy group, 324 patients experienced moderate to severe exacerbations, compared to 464 in the control group. This reduction in exacerbations in the combined therapy group is likely of clinical importance for patients with severe COPD, according to the study authors.</p> <p>\"Exacerbations are a major cause of disease-related problems,\" Dr. Peter Kardos, of the respiratory section of the Maingau Hospital in Frankfurt am Main, said in a prepared statement.</p> <p>\"In particular, they greatly contribute to the decline of health-related quality of life, increase symptoms and breathlessness, speed progression of the disease and increase the risk of mortality. In addition, exacerbations induce enormous economic costs. They can occur at any stage of the disease but become more frequent as lung function impairment worsens,\" Kardos said.</p> <p>Smoking is the primary cause of COPD, which results from chronic bronchitis and emphysema. Currently, there is no effective treatment for halting long-term lung function decline in COPD patients.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The American Medical Association has more about <a href=\"http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/290/17/2362\" target=\"_new\">COPD</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1942','6','	<p><p>WEDNESDAY, Jan. 31 (HealthDay News) -- Postmenopausal women who live in areas with higher air pollution levels have a higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease and of dying from it.</p> <p>That\'s the conclusion of new research that found the risk of heart disease is higher than previously thought, and there can be substantial variations within individual cities.</p> <p>\"The risk of having a cardiovascular event, that is, a heart attack, stroke or needing bypass surgery, or of dying of a cardiovascular cause, was increased,\" said study senior author Dr. Joel Kaufman, professor of environmental and occupational medicine and epidemiology at the University of Washington.</p> <p>The study is the first to look at new cases of cardiovascular disease, not just death. It was also the first to look at air pollution levels within cities. The results are published in the Feb. 1 issue of the <i>New England Journal of Medicine</i>.</p> <p>\"It\'s an important study,\" said Dr. Len Horovitz, a pulmonary specialist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. \"They showed that very small particulate matter can penetrate into the lungs and cause damage over time.\"</p> <p>Fine particulate matter is comprised of tiny particles of soot or dust carried in the air. \"They mostly come from combustion of fossil fuels, although vegetative burning has an impact in some cities,\" Kaufman said. \"In the United States as a whole, we\'re mostly talking about power plants, coal burning and motor vehicle exhaust, especially diesel exhaust.\" </p> <p>Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, accounting for one in three deaths. Reducing fine particulate air pollution could result in less cardiovascular disease and fewer deaths, the study authors stated.</p> <p>For the study, Kaufman and his colleagues looked at 65,893 postmenopausal women in 36 U.S. metropolitan regions who were part of the Women\'s Health Initiative, a large, government-funded study designed to look at heart health, cancer and osteoporosis in women. All participants were free of cardiovascular disease at the start of the study in 1994.</p> <p>Each increase of 10 micrograms of fine particulate matter per cubic meter was associated with a 24 percent increase in the risk of a cardiovascular event and a 76 percent increase in the risk of death from cardiovascular disease. </p> <p>Women having a higher long-term average exposure had a higher risk. And different health risks within cities were often larger than those between cities.</p> <p>Scientists aren\'t sure how fine particulate air pollution increases these health risks, although it\'s possible that inhaling the particles may be speeding the development of atherosclerosis or hardening of the arteries. </p> <p>An accompanying editorial in the journal called for better long-term environmental standards. </p> <p>\"The EPA [U.S. Environmental Protection Agency] did tighten 24-hour standards but failed to listen to its scientific advisers on long-term standards. They could be tightened,\" Horovitz said.</p> <p>Kaufman added: \"This is not a study that necessarily spells individual-level health decisions. It\'s not like we can say people should move. We really need to work harder to lower these levels, and we need to think about pollution as a risk factor, like smoking and diabetes and cholesterol. We need to think of pollution as a cause of health effects now and not just a nuisance factor and something that causes haze on the horizon.\" </p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>Daily pollution readings for more than 150 cities are provided by the <a href=\"http://www.epa.gov/airnow\" target=\"_new\">EPA</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1943','6','	<p><p>FRIDAY, Feb. 2 (HealthDay News) -- Global warming not only poses significant threats to the Earth\'s ecology, it may also unleash unprecedented health risks, experts say.</p> <p>On Friday, an international panel of scientists released a report predicting that global warming due to greenhouse-gas emissions will continue for centuries, no matter what\'s done to check pollution. The result will be killer heat waves, devastating droughts, rising sea levels and fiercer storms.</p> <p>Saying it was acting with 90 percent confidence, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change of the United Nations said carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases produced by human activity are the main cause of the global warming that has taken place since 1950.</p> <p>Michael A. McGeehin, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention\'s Division of Environmental Hazards and Health Effects, said, \"There are some health effects from climate change that we are comfortable in predicting. We will see an increase in the intensity, duration and frequency of heat waves around the world. We will see more severe precipitation events, both heavy rainfall and severe droughts.\"</p> <p>That flooding and drought with bring attendant health problems, McGeehin said. \"There are health effects secondary to flooding, such as contaminated water supplies, that could result in the spread of infectious diseases,\" he said.</p> <p>Droughts, which are becoming more common and longer lasting, can lead to starvation and the destruction of entire ways of life, particularly in regions -- such as sub-Saharan Africa -- that are least equipped to deal with such catastrophes.</p> <p>McGeehin also foresees the possible spread of mosquito-borne illnesses such as malaria, dengue fever, yellow fever and encephalitis. \"As the climate warms, we may see a change in the range of vector-borne diseases,\" he said.</p> <p>Dr. Paul Epstein, associate director of Harvard Medical School\'s Center for Health and the Global Environment, said the effects of climate change are already apparent, as some of these mosquito-borne diseases are spreading to new areas as the world warms and precipitation increases.</p> <p>\"There is a whole range of infectious diseases like malaria, dengue fever and water-borne diseases whose range is restricted by temperature,\" Epstein said. \"We are seeing malaria changing in its altitude. It is moving into higher altitudes in Africa, Asia and Latin America.</p> <p>\"In the very places where glaciers are retreating, we are also seeing a lengthening of the season of transmission of the disease in parts of Africa,\" Epstein added. In Africa, there has been an increase in Rift Valley Fever, which affects animals and people, as well as cholera, he said.</p> <p>Epstein noted that even in the United States, ticks, mosquitoes and other insects that carry disease -- such as West Nile Virus, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Eastern Equine Encephalitis and Lyme disease -- are already spreading to areas once considered too cold for them to survive.</p> <p>In addition, increasing air pollution from the continued burning of fossil fuels will cause higher rates of respiratory and cardiovascular disease, McGeehin said.</p> <p>\"With warming, there are also increases in pollen and mold spores,\" Epstein added.</p> <p>The best way to deal with the new health threats posed by a changing climate is to improve on the methods currently in place to combat disease, McGeehin said.</p> <p>\"Everything we are seeing as likely coming out of climate change from a public health standpoint, particularly in the developed nations, can be dealt with by improving what we already do,\" McGeehin said. \"What we are seeing is things we have seen before. So, if we improve the public health infrastructure in the United States and other developed countries and improve surveillance and people\'s access to health care, we can blunt a lot of the effects of this,\" he said.</p> <p>In response to the threat of climate change, the CDC is creating an \"action plan\" to address the health risks posed by global warming, <i>The Atlanta Journal-Constitution</i> reported last month.</p> <p>Of particular concern, McGeehin said, are developing nations, where health-care systems are under-equipped to deal with the changes that global warming might bring.</p> <p>\"Climate change will affect, at a much greater level, the populations that are least able to deal with it,\" he said. \"In the developed world, it will affect the poor more than the rich. In the developing world, it will affect the nations least able to respond to these stresses and these threats.\"</p> <p>Public health efforts can only do so much, Epstein said, adding that \"the real driver of climate\" is the burning of fossil fuels.</p> <p>\"Ultimately, public health officials and physicians all have to be bringing attention to the politicians and call for clean energy -- it\'s fundamental for public health. Our energy is fundamental to air pollution, acid rain to its impact on our health and the health of our environment,\" he said.</p> <p>\"Without changing that, we are going to have a very polluted, sick future,\" Epstein said.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency can tell you more about <a href=\"http://yosemite.epa.gov/oar/globalwarming.nsf/UniqueKeyLookup/SHSU5B NNXJ//ccandpublichealth.pdf\" target=\"_new\">health and global warming</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1944','6','	<p><p>THURSDAY, Feb. 15 (HealthDay News) -- Inhaling fine particle air pollution, at least during warm weather, may increase people\'s risk for stroke, Finnish researchers report.</p> <p>Earlier research has linked air pollution with heart attack, but this is the first study to look at ultra-fine particle air pollution and stroke.</p> <p>\"We evaluated the effects of these and other particle sizes on stroke to help determine the most harmful particle sources in the air,\" study author Jaana Kettunen, a researcher for the National Public Health Institute in Kuopio, said in a prepared statement.</p> <p>The report is published in the March issue of <i>Stroke</i>.</p> <p>Fine particle pollution is made up of tiny particles of dust and soot, less than 2.5 microns, about 1/30th the width of a human hair. They mostly come from car exhaust, power plant emissions and burning of fossil fuels. Ultra-fine particles are less than 0.1 microns and are usually found in car exhaust.</p> <p>In the study, Kettunen\'s team looked at air pollution data, as well as data on people aged 65 and older who died from stroke in Helsinki from 1998 to 2004. They analyzed both warm and cold months.</p> <p>\"We found that, during the warm season, there was a positive association between stroke mortality among the elderly and current-day level of fine particles,\" Kettunen said in a statement. \"There was a 6.9 percent increase in stroke death for every 6 micrograms per cubic meter of air increase in fine particles. In addition, there was 7.4 percent increase in stroke mortality for every 6 micrograms per cubic meter of air increase of previous-day fine particle levels,\" she said.</p> <p>This seemed to be a warm-weather phenomenon, however: There was no association in the cold season with stroke and fine particles, ultra-fine particles or carbon monoxide, the researchers reported.</p> <p>Kettunen suggests that people might be more vulnerable to air pollution in warmer months, because they are outside and open their windows and doors more than in cold months and, therefore, their exposures are higher. In addition, differences in the makeup of air pollution between seasons may play a role.</p> <p>\"We suggest that on high pollution days, elderly people should avoid spending unnecessary time in traffic, whether in a vehicle or walking, especially if they suffer from cardiovascular diseases, to lower their exposure to pollutants,\" Kettunen said. \"They should also avoid heavy outdoor exercise on high air pollution days. And nursing homes, for example, should not be built along heavily trafficked roads, where particle concentrations are at their highest,\" she added.</p> <p>One expert believes the association between stroke and pollution is possible, just as it is with heart attack.</p> <p>\"The link between pollution and heart attacks has been established a few years ago,\" said Dr. Gottfried Schlaug, an associate professor of neurology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School. \"Now, we see more reports coming out to suggest that there are links between pollution and stroke as well. Possible explanations are systemic inflammations, which could change blood clotting parameters or could lead to rupture of atherosclerotic plaques, as well as increases in plasma [blood] viscosity, which could increase the stroke risk.\"</p> <p>Another expert thinks these findings need to be repeated in other studies before they are convincing.</p> <p>\"The findings are intriguing, but the authors tested a number of associations,\" said Dr. S. Claiborne Johnston, director of the Stroke Service at University of California, San Francisco. \"The association only with ultra-fine pollution and only in the warm season seems quite strange, and could be due to chance. These results really need to be repeated.\"</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>For more information on stroke, visit the <a href=\"http://www.strokeassociation.org\" target=\"_new\">American Stroke Association</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1945','6','	<p><p>TUESDAY, Feb. 6 (HealthDay News) -- Being lonely may increase the risk of developing Alzheimer\'s disease later in life, new research suggests.</p> <p>Researchers at the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago assessed loneliness and dementia in 823 people, averaging almost 81 years of age, for up to four years. At the start of the study, the participants\' overall average loneliness score was 2.3 on a scale from 1 (lowest) to 5.</p> <p>Seventy-six people developed Alzheimer\'s disease during the course of the study, which is published in the February issue of the journal <i>Archives of General Psychiatry</i>.</p> <p>According to the researchers, each point of increase on the loneliness score was associated with about a 51 percent increased risk of developing Alzheimer\'s.</p> <p>This would mean that a person with a high loneliness score (3.2) would be about 2.1 times more likely to develop Alzheimer\'s than someone with a low score (1.4), they said.</p> <p>Autopsies performed on 90 people who died during the study revealed that loneliness in life was not related to any of the characteristic brain changes -- such as nerve plaques and tangles -- that are associated with Alzheimer\'s disease.</p> <p>So, the actual mechanism linking loneliness and Alzheimer\'s is unclear, the researchers said. It\'s unlikely that Alzheimer\'s actually causes the loneliness, they said.</p> <p>\"In human beings, loneliness has been associated with impaired social skills. Thus, neural systems underlying social behavior might be less elaborated in lonely persons and, as a result, be less able to compensate for other neural systems compromised by age-related neuropathy,\" the study authors wrote.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The U.S. National Institute on Aging has more about <a href=\"http://nihseniorhealth.gov/alzheimersdisease/toc.html\" target=\"_new\">Alzheimer\'s disease</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1946','6','	<p><!--Spanish ID: 601215 --> <p>MONDAY, Jan. 22 (HealthDay News) -- The identification by U.S. scientists of genes thought to be key to autoimmune disorders could be a big step toward new treatments for these illnesses, which include lupus, rheumatoid arthritis and type 1 diabetes.</p> <p> Cells called regulatory T-cells are supposed to help keep the immune system in check, but in autoimmune disease, these mechanisms can fail.</p> <p>Now, researchers reporting this week in the journal <i>Nature</i> have identified a set of genes closely linked to regulatory T-cell function. The finding could have important implications for research into autoimmune disease and even cancer, experts say.</p> <p>\"This is certainly important in trying to understand how these regulatory T-cells work,\" said Dr. Noel Rose, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Autoimmune Disease Research in Baltimore. \"Whether this will have important functional implications, only time will tell,\" said Rose, who was not involved in the study.</p> <p>Though it is meant to shield our bodies from all pathogens foreign and domestic, the immune system can be frustratingly temperamental. For example, when presented with cancer, the system basically shrugs. In other cases, the cell\'s defense department can sometimes go into overdrive, leading to autoimmune disorders like systemic lupus erythematosus and Graves\' disease, where the body attacks its own cells.</p> <p>Both of these situations are linked to the immune system\'s fundamental purpose: to distinguish the body\'s own cells (and related entities) from foreign invaders. So, cancer cells are ignored by the immune system because they are determined to be the body\'s own cells. Autoimmune disorders arise when the immune system gets confused and attacks healthy tissues.</p> <p>In this study, researchers from Harvard Medical School, the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research focused on genes that help direct these processes via regulatory T-cells.</p> <p>They focused on a protein that is found only in regulatory T-cells, called Foxp3. Foxp3 is a transcription factor -- that is, it dials up or down the production of other genes. Its significance in controlling the immune system is underscored by the fact that people with mutant Foxp3 genes develop IPEX, a syndrome marked by massive autoimmune disorders and early mortality.</p> <p>Using sophisticated gene microarray technology, the team scanned the entire T-cell genome. \"We identified a set of roughly 30 genes that are clearly regulated by Foxp3 and, surprisingly, a lot of them are suppressed by Foxp3,\" said study lead author Alexander Marson, a graduate student at Harvard Medical School and MIT.</p> <p>These targets, \"are probably essential to give regulatory T-cells their unique function,\" and include genes that have previously been implicated in immune regulation, Marson said. Mutation in one of these down-regulated genes, Ptpn22, is associated with a number of autoimmune disorders.</p> <p>Marson said the work has at least two significant implications for research. \"One is that we\'ve identified this core set of genes that are probably likely to play key roles in preventing autoimmune disease,\" he said. \"The second implication, which is maybe more long-term, is that we hope that identifying these targets will allow us to screen for drugs to mimic the function of Foxp3 and thus treat autoimmune disease.\"</p> <p>According to Rose, treating autoimmune disorders will require enhancing either the number or effectiveness of regulatory T-cells.</p> <p>\"There are some tricks we might be able to use for both of those,\" he said. Rose also sees applications in transplant medicine and in the fight against cancer.</p> <p>\"Interestingly, people interested in tumor immunology are also interested in regulatory T-cells, because if you can get them out of the way, you can get rid of the tumor,\" he said.</p> <p>Rose stressed that it remains to be seen which, if any, of these genes would make good drug targets. But he expressed confidence in the clinical potential of regulatory T-cells. \"They have enormous implications, <i>if</i> we can figure out how to make them do what we want them to do.\" </p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>For more on how the immune system works, head to the <a href=\"http://www.rheumatology.org/public/factsheets/immunesystem.asp\" target=\"_new\">American College of Rheumatology</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1947','6','	<p><p>TUESDAY, Jan. 30 (HealthDay News) -- Dutch researchers may have a new method of predicting whether patients with arthritic symptoms will progress to the autoimmune form of the disease, rheumatoid arthritis.</p> <p>By differentiating those patients who will develop full-blown rheumatoid arthritis from those who will not, the new formula could speed earlier treatment of rheumatoid arthritis patients, reducing damage to their joints while sparing those who will not develop the disease the side effects sometimes associated with rheumatoid arthritis drugs. </p> <p>\"You don\'t want to give treatment to patients who will spontaneously remit, because they will not get the benefit,\" explained lead researcher Dr. Annette van der Helm-van Mil, a rheumatologist at Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands. \"You want to give it only to the patients who have a high chance of progressing to rheumatoid arthritis.\"</p> <p>The findings are published in the February issue of <i>Arthritis &amp; Rheumatism</i>.</p> <p>According to the Arthritis Foundation, rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease that affects some 2.1 million Americans, most of them women. The disease often presents first as \"undifferentiated arthritis,\" a condition that lacks the criteria for a more definitive diagnosis. Up to 50 percent of patients with undifferentiated arthritis will spontaneously go into remission, while another third will progress to rheumatoid arthritis. </p> <p>The problem, said van der Helm-van Mil, is that treatment of rheumatoid arthritis with the rug methotrexate at this point can reduce future joint damage but is also potentially toxic. That\'s why spotting patients with true rheumatoid arthritis early is so important.</p> <p>In their study, the Dutch group studied a cohort of 570 patients who presented to the Leiden Early Arthritis Clinic with undifferentiated arthritis, 177 of whom progressed to rheumatoid arthritis within one year.</p> <p>They identified nine variables, including gender, age, the number and distribution of stiff and swollen joints, and three laboratory tests. When factored into an algorithm, these factors could predict the likelihood of developing rheumatoid arthritis with nearly 90 percent accuracy.</p> <p>Scores from this \"prediction rule\" ranged from zero to 14. Patients who score six or below have a 91 percent chance of not developing rheumatoid arthritis, the researchers said, while those who score above 8 have an 84 percent chance of progressing to the autoimmune disease. Those who score seven (about 25 percent of patients) have a 50/50 chance of developing rheumatoid arthritis, while those who score above 10 have a 100 percent chance of developing the disease. </p> <p>\"Using information like this can be extremely helpful in managing patients,\" said Dr. Clifton Bingham III, assistant professor of medicine in the divisions of rheumatology and allergy and clinical immunology at the Johns Hopkins Arthritis Center in Baltimore, Md. \"One of the large questions we face in patients who present with undifferentiated arthritis is knowing which of those patients should receive more aggressive therapy to minimize the long-term consequences of the disease or to decrease the likelihood of going on to develop rheumatoid arthritis,\" he explained. </p> <p>Bingham noted, however, that this information may be more useful in the United States for primary care physicians than for rheumatologists. The formula already reflects common practice among rheumatologists, he said. Plus, health care differences between the Netherlands and the United States mean that rheumatologists in the U.S. may be less likely to see patients with undifferentiated arthritis than their counterparts in Leiden, because in the U.S., these patients are more likely to present to primary care doctors first. By the time the patient gets to a rheumatologist, he or she has often already developed more-definite rheumatoid arthritis, Bingham said. </p> <p>\"So, it provides a decision tool for primary care doctors to use in determining which patients are most appropriate for early referral to a rheumatologist,\" he said. </p> <p>Bingham cautioned that several caveats must be considered before implementing this prediction score in the United States. First, it needs to be validated in other locales and with other patient populations. Second, he cautioned against using this test to produce strict cutoff values for treatment, since what might be true in a population isn\'t always true for an individual patient. Finally, he noted that the study doesn\'t address which treatment regimen is most effective once a patient actually develops rheumatoid arthritis. </p> <p>\"We face that question [of treatment] perhaps more often than the question being raised in this study,\" Bingham said. \"We don\'t yet know how to answer that question.\"</p> <p>The methods used in this study could possibly be used to help solve that puzzle, he added. </p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>For more information on rheumatoid arthritis, visit the <a href=\"http://www.arthritis.org\" target=\"_new\"> Arthritis Foundation</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1948','6','	<p><!--Spanish ID: 601494 --> <p>WEDNESDAY, Jan. 31 (HealthDay News) -- Scientists say the manipulation of a single gene, called <i>Pten</i>, boosted bone density in mice.</p> <p> This research may help in the development of new treatments for osteoporosis and bone fractures, the researchers said.</p> <p>A team from the University of Alabama at Birmingham found that disrupting <i>Pten</i> in bone cells called osteoblasts resulted in dramatic and progressively increasing bone density.</p> <p>\"Bone density can increase either because more bone cells divide or fewer cells die due to apoptosis (programmed cell death). <i>Pten</i> is a tumor suppressor gene that applies a break on the main cell survival pathway, causing cells to die. We devised a way to remove the <i>Pten</i> break in bone cells, allowing the cells to stay alive and active for a longer period of time,\" Thomas L. Clemens, professor of pathology and director of the university\'s division of molecular and cellular pathology, said in a prepared statement.</p> <p>\"In the mice without <i>Pten</i>, osteoblast cells survived longer and continued to make new bone long after they ordinarily would have died,\" explained Clemens. \"This increased osteoblast production led to greater bone density. If we can translate these findings to human conditions such as osteoporosis or bone fracture, we can potentially not only prevent bone loss but actually increase bone density in humans as they age.\"</p> <p>Humans naturally lose bone as they age, partly due to the loss of osteoblast cells that have died.</p> <p>The study was published Jan. 29 in the journal <i>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</i>.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The U.S. National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases has more about <a href=\"http://www.niams.nih.gov/bone/bone_health.htm\" target=\"_new\">bone health</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1949','6','	<p><p>FRIDAY, Feb. 9 (HealthDay News) -- A new cox-2 painkiller called etoricoxib causes fewer upper gastrointestinal problems than the traditional pain medicine diclofenac, researchers report.</p> <p>\"In the trial, there was a difference in the overall events between the two drugs,\" said lead researcher Dr. Loren Laine, a professor of medicine at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine. \"There was not a significant difference seen in the more serious and less common events, like major bleeding. The difference was largely seen in the uncomplicated ulcers, which are symptomatic but not generally life-threatening.\"</p> <p>The study is published in the Feb. 10 issue of <i>The Lancet</i>.</p> <p>Etoricoxib (brand name Arcoxia) is a cox-2 inhibitor that has not been approved for use in the United States yet, although it is being used in Europe. Cox-2 drugs, such as Celebrex, Vioxx and Bextra, were developed to be less damaging to the stomach and intestinal tract. But, several of the cox-2 drugs have been linked to an increased risk of heart attack and stroke. As a result, Vioxx and Bextra were pulled from the market in 2004 and 2005, respectively. Celebrex is the only cox-2 inhibitor available to consumers. Etoricoxib is made by Merck &amp; Co., the maker of Vioxx.</p> <p>Diclofenac is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID). NSAIDs such as diclofenac and aspirin are associated with gastrointestinal side effects, such as bleeding ulcers, when taken for an extended period.</p> <p>In the new study, Laine and his colleagues analyzed data from three clinical trials, in which 34,701 arthritis patients were treated with etoricoxib or diclofenac. The patients were allowed to take additional medications called proton pump inhibitors, like Prilosec, to protect against gastrointestinal problems. In addition, patients with risk factors for heart attacks were allowed to take aspirin, which protects the heart.</p> <p>The researchers found that upper gastrointestinal problems were significantly less common with etoricoxib than with diclofenac. But, more serious gastrointestinal events, such as major bleeding, were the same in both groups. The effects of etoricoxib or diclofenac did not differ significantly in people using proton pump inhibitors or aspirin.</p> <p>Laine said all cox-2 inhibitors carry a risk of heart attack and stroke. \"One wouldn\'t expect this one (etoricoxib) to be different,\" he said. \"But it could provide another option for patients.\"</p> <p>The new trial was done as part of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration\'s approval process, Laine noted.</p> <p>Dr. Joost Drenth, of Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center, the Netherlands, and author of an accompanying editorial in the journal, said there wasn\'t enough difference between the drugs in terms of gastrointestinal toxicity to show that etoricoxib was better.</p> <p>\"My advice would be to fall back to the good, old, classic NSAIDs with the addition of a proton pump inhibitor. Because we know adding a proton pump inhibitor to NSAIDs will decrease the incidence of dyspepsia,\" he said.</p> <p>Another expert thinks etoricoxib and diclofenac are really two similar drugs, because diclofenac acts very much like a cox-2 inhibitor.</p> <p>\"It\'s not surprising that you don\'t see much of a difference when you compare Coke and Pepsi,\" said Dr. James M. Scheiman, a professor of medicine at the University of Michigan Medical Center.</p> <p>Scheiman thinks the main concern with cox-2 inhibitors is weighing the cardiac risks with the gastrointestinal risks. \"Which drug a patient should take is entirely driven by their underlying cardiac and gastrointestinal risk,\" he said. \"Cox-2 inhibitors have a clear advantage on the gastrointestinal side when compared to drugs that aren\'t cox-2 inhibitors.\"</p> <p>Dr. Mark Fendrick, a professor of internal medicine at the University of Michigan School of Medicine, agreed. \"If you have cardiovascular concerns and no gastrointestinal risk, I would avoid the cox-2 inhibitors like the plague,\" he said.</p> <p>\"If you had a prior ulcer and can\'t tolerate Tylenol, and are lucky enough not to have any cardiovascular risk, then I would lean toward a cox-2 inhibitor or a traditional NSAID and a proton pump inhibitor,\" Fendrick said. \"If you have both risks, then I would use acetaminophen or low-dose narcotics or a more cardiac safe NSAID, like Naproxen, and a proton pump inhibitor.\"</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>For more information on cox-2 inhibitors, visit 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('1950','6','	<p><p>SUNDAY, Feb. 11 (HealthDay News) -- Baby boomers plagued by back pain can get free, expert advice from a national hotline on Thursday, Feb. 15, sponsored by the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA).</p> <p>During hotline hours, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST, physical therapists will be available to answer callers\' questions about injury prevention, exercise and ways to prevent back pain. The toll-free number is 1-877-633-3278.</p> <p>Back pain is a common complaint among middle-aged Americans as they deal with hectic daily schedules, increasingly demanding jobs, and caring for children, grandchildren and aging parents. Boomers, who account for a quarter of the U.S. population, tend to have more active lifestyles than previous generations.</p> <p>\"Baby boomers are as active as they were when they were younger, but now they\'re living with chronic low back pain or osteoarthritis. These conditions as well as others can benefit greatly from physical therapy intervention,\" Jennifer Gamboa, a private practice physical therapist in Arlington, Va., said in a prepared statement.</p> <p>\"Frequently, patients may unknowingly exacerbate their (back) pain by exercising improperly or by having poor posture,\" and physical therapists can help identify and correct those behaviors, Gamboa said.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The U.S. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke has more about <a href=\"http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/backpain/backpain.htm\" target=\"_new\">back pain</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1951','6','	<p><p>(HealthDay News) -- Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, also known as NSAIDs, are medicines commonly used to treat pain and swelling.</p> <p>NSAIDs -- which include drugs like ibuprofen, naproxen and aspirin -- are available both by prescription and over-the-counter.</p> <p>The American Academy of Family Physicians says NSAIDs are not for everyone. They should not be taken by people who:</p> <ul> <li>Take any sort of blood-thinning drug, or have a bleeding disorder.</li> <li>Tend to have stomach bleeding, or peptic ulcers.</li> <li>Have liver or kidney disease.</li> <li>Consume at least three alcoholic beverages each day.</li> </ul> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1952','6','	<p><p>(HealthDay News) -- Autoimmune diseases occur when the body\'s immune system destroys its own healthy tissues instead of the foreign, harmful substances it was designed to fend off. The immune system typically defends the body from germs and toxins.</p> <p>The U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM) says autoimmune disorders can affect organs and tissues including red blood cells, blood vessels, the thyroid, pancreas, muscles, joints and skin.</p> <p>Common autoimmune diseases include type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, multiple sclerosis, Grave\'s disease and Celiac disease.</p> <p>Most of these diseases are chronic, but depending on the condition, many can be controlled with treatment, the NLM says.</p></p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1953','6','	<p><p>WEDNESDAY, Jan. 17 (HealthDay News) -- An international team of scientists say they\'ve uncovered an important clue as to why the 1918 Spanish flu virus was so lethal, killing over 50 million people worldwide.</p> <p>Reporting in this week\'s <i>Nature</i>, the scientists say the virus caused an immune response that destroyed the lungs within a few days. It appears to disrupt the body\'s typical reaction to viral infection, causing the immune system to attack the respiratory system. As a result, victims\' lungs fill with fluid, and they essentially drown.</p> <p>The 1918 virus was the most deadly influenza strain in modern history.</p> <p>A similar excessive immune system reaction has been noted in patients with the H5N1 avian flu virus, which has killed about 150 people worldwide. So far, the H5N1 virus has not developed the ability to spread easily among people.</p> <p>The findings of study on the 1918 virus may lead to new ways to fight influenza and suggest that early intervention in patients may help prevent large death tolls in future outbreaks of highly pathogenic flu.</p> <p>For this study, conducted at a government lab in Canada, scientists infected seven monkeys with a reconstructed 1918 virus. It was reconstructed using genes collected from the tissues of victims of the pandemic. Within 24 hours of being infected with the virus, the monkeys showed clinical signs of influenza. Within eight days, the monkeys were so sick that they had to be euthanized.</p> <p>The rapid progression of the disease in the monkeys was similar to that noted in human victims of the 1918 outbreak.</p> <p>The rapid growth of the virus in the monkeys after they were infected suggests that the virus somehow sets the stage for virulent infection, noted research team member Yoshihiro Kawaoka, a virologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.</p> <p>\"Somehow, early in infection, this virus does something to the host that allows it to grow really well. But we don\'t know what that is,\" Kawaoka said in a prepared statement.</p> <p>By learning more about what\'s happening at the early stage of infection, scientists may be able to develop ways to halt the process, the researchers said.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The U.S. Department of Health and Humans Services has more about <a href=\"http://www.pandemicflu.gov/general/index.html\" target=\"_new\">pandemic influenza</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1954','6','	<p><!--Spanish ID: 601139 --> <p>THURSDAY, Jan. 18 (HealthDay News) -- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States, and a new campaign launched Thursday is aimed at spreading awareness about this killer respiratory condition.</p> <p>The campaign -- sponsored by the U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and a number of professional, health and advocacy groups -- will include print and radio public service announcements, fact sheets for patients and people at risk for COPD, a Web site, an educational video, and materials to help community-based groups inform the public about the signs and symptoms of COPD.</p> <p>COPD develops slowly and affects breathing. Symptoms included shortness of breath, constant coughing, wheezing, and excess sputum production.</p> <p>People over age 45 with a history of smoking are at highest risk for COPD. Other risk factors include exposure to secondhand smoke or pollutants. Some people have a genetic risk for the disease, according to the NHLBI.</p> <p>About 12 million Americans are currently diagnosed with COPD, and it\'s estimated that another 12 million have COPD but have not been diagnosed, even though they have symptoms.</p> <p>\"Many people with early signs of COPD simply avoid activities they used to enjoy because they become short of breath more easily. We want people to know that these symptoms have a name -- COPD -- that diagnosis is easy, requiring only a simple breathing test (spirometry) in your doctor\'s office, and that treatment can help,\" Dr. Elizabeth G. Nabel, NHLBI director, said in a prepared statement.</p> <p>Treatments such as inhaled bronchodilators, inhaled corticosteroids, and pulmonary rehabilitation help control symptoms and improve exercise capacity. Another treatment, oxygen therapy, may help prolong the life of patients with severe COPD.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The American Academy of Family Physicians has more about <a href=\"http://familydoctor.org/706.xml\" target=\"_new\">COPD</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1955','6','	<p><!--Spanish ID: 601219 --> <p>MONDAY, Jan. 22 (HealthDay News) -- The antiviral drugs oseltamivir and zanamivir help reduce the spread of seasonal flu within families, a new study suggests.</p> <p>Researchers from Seattle\'s Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, the University of Michigan and the University of Virginia also suggested that oseltamivir may reduce the infectiousness of flu patients, but further research is needed to confirm this.</p> <p>The findings were published in the current issue of the <i>American Journal of Epidemiology</i>. </p> <p>The authors reviewed four studies of 1,475 households where a family member had the flu. The two studies that looked at zanamivir found that the drug\'s effectiveness in reducing pathogenicity (the ability of the flu virus to cause overt disease) was 52 percent and 56 percent. In the two oseltamivir studies, it was 56 percent and 79 percent.</p> <p>The study also found that use of either drug reduced by 75 percent to 81 percent the chance that a person exposed to a flu virus would become ill.</p> <p>\"Preventing the spread of influenza within families is an essential part of influenza management, regardless of the strain. This study shows that there is a clear benefit to be gained by giving antivirals to people who have been exposed to the virus to prevent the onset of symptomatic illness,\" lead author Dr. M. Elizabeth Halloran, a Hutchinson Center-based biostatistician, said in a prepared statement.</p> <p>\"While the efficacy of antivirals to protect against influenza is critical, the effect of these drugs on infectiousness also has important public health consequences. Further studies to determine antiviral efficacy for reducing infectiousness would therefore be of great value,\" said Halloran, who is also a professor of biostatistics at the University of Washington School of Public Health and Community Medicine in Seattle.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more about <a href=\"http://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/preventing.htm\" target=\"_new\">flu prevention</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1956','6','	<p><p>FRIDAY, Feb. 9 (HealthDay News) -- A simple urine test can predict the survival of patients with a severe lung injury known as acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), researchers report.</p> <p>Higher levels of nitric oxide in urine were associated not only with improved survival but also with less time spent on ventilators and decreased rates of organ damage, concluded a report in the February issue of the <i>American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine</i>.</p> <p>\"This is novel, because we are using urine as opposed to a blood test,\" added lead researcher Dr. Michael Matthay, a professor of medicine and anesthesia at the University of California, San Francisco.</p> <p>An estimated 190,000 Americans each year suffer from ARDS because of complications from major infections, severe injuries or other conditions. Anywhere from 30 percent to 60 percent of them die from the lung injury.</p> <p>The study included 566 patients enrolled in the U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute\'s ARDS Network.</p> <p>By the third day of the three-day study, 62 of the patients had died. All the survivors had significantly higher levels of nitric oxide than those who did not, the researchers found.</p> <p>This relationship was not unexpected, since nitric oxide is involved in oxygen transport to tissues.</p> <p>The study results, \"mark a new approach to using urine testing to measure pathogenesis in lung injury,\" Matthay said. The urine test could eventually be used as a predictor in the treatment of ARDS patients, used in conjunction with other measurements, he said.</p> <p>\"We think it would be good to do additional studies in which we measured nitric oxide levels in blood and urine as well as in the airspaces of the lungs,\" Matthay said. \"We want to assess in a new prospective study the value of this for identifying patients with a worse prognosis and a better prognosis.\"</p> <p>An application for federal funding of such a study is being made, he said.</p> <p>The nitric oxide urine test \"can\'t function on its own, but it is a promising biomarker,\" Matthay said. \"What we are currently testing, our group and others, is the additive value of this test to standard clinical assessments to determine the value of identifying patients\' prognosis.\"</p> <p>\"The finding is pretty intriguing because of the close association with increased survival,\" noted Dr. Herbert P. Wiedemann, chairman of pulmonary, allergy and critical care medicine at the Cleveland Clinic. \"This study is preliminary and hypothesis-generating. It provides an avenue for future investigation.\"</p> <p>The test might not necessarily affect treatment of ARDS patients, he said, because the critical nature of the condition means that \"normally we treat them all the same.\"</p> <p>\"But it could perhaps be a marker of prognosis, and that would be very helpful,\" Wiedemann said. \"At this point, we don\'t have good markers of prognosis.\"</p> <p>The test is also valuable because \"it helps us understand the causes of mortality in ARDS, so it will help us investigate new therapies,\" he said.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>For more on ARDS, visit the <a href=\"http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000103.htm \" target=\"_new\">U.S. National Library of Medicine</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1957','6','	<p><p>MONDAY, Jan. 29 (HealthDay News) -- Neurological disorders have struck millions of people, young and old alike, in the United States, new estimates show.</p> <p>Some 67 per 1,000 elderly Americans now have Alzheimer\'s disease, up substantially from past estimates, and nearly one out of every 1,000 people have multiple sclerosis (MS), a rate that is about 50 percent higher than earlier estimates. It\'s not clear if that represents improvements in diagnosis or an actual increase in incidence of MS.</p> <p>The numbers form part of a review article appearing in the Jan. 30 issue of <i>Neurology</i>.</p> <p>\"These kinds of accurate numbers are needed as a basis for many different things,\" said Dr. Deborah Hirtz, lead author of the review and a program director for clinical trials at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. \"Certainly, if you want to figure out the burden of disease in terms of cost and human cost, you need to have accurate numbers. If you want to look at whether the numbers are increasing, you need to have a basis to start from. If you want to plan for where research resources or health-care resources need to be spent, you need to have accurate numbers. This is just a platform for other things.\"</p> <p>To estimate the current incidence and prevalence of 12 neurological disorders in the United States, Hirtz and her colleagues reviewed studies from nearly 500 articles published between 1990 and 2005.</p> <p>When U.S. data was not available, the authors extrapolated the best available data from Western Europe.</p> <p>\"The paper was really not about increases or decreases,\" Hirtz said. \"We were trying simply to look at the literature to try and get the best estimates from well-done studies. These are more accurate numbers.\"</p> <p>Here are the other findings:</p> <ul> <li>Among the elderly, the prevalence of Parkinson disease was 9.5 per 1,000 people, which essentially corresponded with earlier numbers.</li> <li>Some 4.5 per 100,000 Americans have a new-onset spinal cord injury each year. There\'s not enough research to determine if this is an increase or not over previous rates, however.</li> <li>Nearly four out of every 100,000 Americans have Lou Gehrig\'s disease (ALS), similar to previous estimates.</li> <li>Each year, 101 of every 100,000 Americans have a traumatic brain injury, a 50 percent decrease from the past estimate. The decline probably reflects tighter hospital admission criteria, but also improvements in motor vehicle safety.</li> <li>Each year, 183 out of every 100,000 people suffer a stroke and one in 100 has had a stroke in the past. Deaths from stroke have decreased, but there appears to be an increase in incidence.</li> <li>Nearly five out of every 100,000 Americans suffer a spinal cord injury each year. </li> <li>For migraines, the prevalence is 121 out of 1,000, similar to previous estimates.</li> <li>Slightly more than seven per 1,000 people have epilepsy. Again, this was similar to previous estimates.</li> <li>Nearly six out of every 1,000 children have autism, an estimate larger than previously reported.</li> <li>Slightly more than two out of every 1,000 children have cerebral palsy.</li> <li>There wasn\'t enough data to give an estimate for Tourette syndrome.</li></ul> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The <a href=\"http://www.ninds.nih.gov/\" target=\"_new\">National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke</a> has more on different neurological conditions.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1958','6','	<p><!--Spanish ID: 600804 --> <p>MONDAY, Jan. 8 (HealthDay News) -- Girls are most likely to gain weight early in adolescence, between the ages of 9 and 12, a new report finds.</p> <p>And the health consequences of being overweight can be evident in girls as young as 9, all of which points to the need to tailor prevention efforts to ever younger ages.</p> <p>\"We really need to get to kids before age 9 and 10, and this really puts the pressure on elementary school, preschool and whatever societal institutions we have to really focus on young ages,\" said study co-author Eva Obarzanek, a research nutritionist at the U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.</p> <p>The study is published in the January issue of the <i>Journal of Pediatrics</i>.</p> <p>\"This shows that obesity and other risk factors for heart disease track from younger to older. This is a wake-up call for policymakers, for schools, for parents,\" said Arlene Spark, associate professor of nutrition at Hunter College, in New York City. \"The success rate for treatment is practically zero. The only thing that we can really hope for is that we can prevent children from becoming overweight and obese.\"</p> <p>Dr. Bonita H. Franklin, a clinical assistant professor of pediatrics at New York University School of Medicine, added: \"Heart disease is the major cause of mortality in adults in the U.S. This is implying that these factors which are known to make heart disease more likely in adults are already present in young children, so you would presume that there would be an increased health burden and probably shorter life span for this next generation.\"</p> <p>The childhood obesity epidemic in the United States continues to worsen. Between 1976 and 1980, 4 percent to 6 percent of children were overweight. By 1999-2002, that number had climbed to 16 percent.</p> <p>Being overweight, even as a child, increases the likelihood of having risk factors for cardiovascular disease, including higher blood pressure as well as elevated cholesterol, triglyceride and fasting insulin levels.</p> <p>For this study, more than 2,300 girls aged 9 and 10 were enrolled and followed for at least a decade. Researchers measured their height, weight, blood pressure and cholesterol every year through age 18, then had the teens report their own measures at ages 21 through 23. Roughly half of the girls were white and half were black.</p> <p>Longitudinal studies, which follow the same individuals for a period of time, are unusual in science because they are so expensive, but yield very valuable data.</p> <p>\"That it\'s longitudinal is excellent,\" Spark said.</p> <p>Rates of overweight among the participants increased through adolescence, from 7 percent to 10 percent in the white girls and 17 percent to 24 percent in the black girls. Girls were 1.6 times more likely to become overweight when they were aged 9 through 12 than later in adolescence. And girls who were overweight during childhood were 11 to 30 times more likely to be obese as young adults.</p> <p>Being overweight also made girls more likely to have elevated blood pressure and cholesterol levels compared to girls of normal weight.</p> <p>\"We put a biological value to the definition that we use for overweight for children,\" Obarzanek said. \"We attach a health consequence to that cut-off point. In these days of evidence-based medicine, this really is strong evidence.\"</p> <p>There were also racial differences, with black girls 1.5 times more likely to become overweight at any given age than white girls. Between ages 9 and 18, the prevalence of overweight was higher among black girls (rising from 17 percent to 24 percent) compared with white girls (rising from 7 percent to 10 percent).</p> <p>Prevention efforts need to focus both on younger ages and take into account cultural differences, the authors stated.</p> <p>\"This is concerning, but I wouldn\'t say that it\'s hopeless,\" Franklin said. \"Efforts to work with preteens would be very important. The younger, the better.\"</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>Visit the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute\'s <a href=\"http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/obesity/wecan/\" target=\"_new\">We Can!</a> program for ways to enhance children\'s activity and nutrition.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1959','6','	<p><p>WEDNESDAY, Jan. 10 (HealthDay News) -- A new drug that helps people with a severe, inherited form of high cholesterol looks promising, a study found.</p> <p>But even the researchers, who report their findings in the Jan. 11 issue of the <i>New England Journal of Medicine</i>, caution that the compound has its downsides and the study was small.</p> <p>Dr. Daniel J. Rader, director of preventive cardiology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and his colleagues gave the drug to six people with a condition called homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (FH), in which a gene mutation makes cholesterol levels abnormally and dangerously high.</p> <p>Those with FH typically develop cholesterol problems early and may get heart disease before they reach the age of 20; they generally don\'t live past the age of 30.</p> <p>\"It\'s a very rare condition, one in a million,\" Rader said. That means about 300 people in the United States have it, he said. But the hope is that the new compound, once perfected and studied more extensively, might also help people who don\'t have FH but who do have cholesterol problems and don\'t tolerate statins well.</p> <p>About 40 million people in the United States should be on cholesterol-lowering statins, Rader said, but up to 5 percent don\'t tolerate statins.</p> <p>In the new study, Rader\'s team gave the drug to six men and women, aged 18 to 40, who all had FH. The compound, originally called BMS-201038 but now known as AEGR-733, was given in four different, escalating doses, each dose for four weeks.</p> <p>The highest dose was 1 milligram per kilogram of body weight. \"At the top dose, which everyone tolerated, there was a 51 percent reduction in LDL,\" Rader said. LDL is \"bad\" cholesterol.</p> <p>\"For these patients, 51 percent is huge,\" he said. \"On standard drugs, they are likely to get no reduction, or maybe 5 percent.\"</p> <p>While the study did not look at whether the 51 percent reduction reduced heart disease risk, it is likely that it does, Rader said. \"Someone whose LDL is 300 [milligrams per deciliter of blood] is at much lower risk than someone at 600,\" he noted.</p> <p>Typically, patients with FH have total cholesterol of 600 to 1,000. Below 200 is ideal. The six patients studied had total cholesterol levels of 684 to 1,212; their LDL at the beginning was 480 to 789. (Ideal LDL depends on your level of heart-disease risk; for very high-risk people, under 70 is often suggested.) On the highest dose, LDL levels fell to between 201 and 403.</p> <p>\"The new drug actually targets the ability of the liver to make LDL, to make and assemble it and put it into the bloodstream,\" Rader said. \"The liver still makes some, but it is markedly reduced.\"</p> <p>The researchers did find some downsides to the drug, including accumulation of fat in the liver. They noted in the report that this side effect \"could present a serious barrier to the clinical use of this class of agents.\"</p> <p>Dr. Steven E. Nissen, chairman of the department of cardiovascular medicine at the Cleveland Clinic, called the study results \"very impressive.\" Coming up with a new class of drugs for people affected by this condition, he said, is very important. It also suggests another approach for lowering cholesterol besides statins. \"Not everyone can tolerate a statin drug,\" he said.</p> <p>But, he noted the accumulation of fat in the liver, and potential damage from that. The study was also small, only six people, \"so we have no real knowledge of safety\" of the drug, Nissen said.</p> <p>Dr. Sergio Fazio, co-director of the Atherosclerosis Research Unit in the division of cardiovascular medicine at Vanderbilt University, said he, too, was concerned about the fat build-up in the liver.</p> <p>\"This drug does what it promises to do -- block droplets of fat from moving out of the liver and into the bloodstream,\" he said. \"But fat builds up in the liver and causes loss of liver cells, and it\'s not clear that this is a good trade-off.\"</p> <p>Perhaps the next step should be to find a way to modify the compound, or to investigate the use of a second drug that could prevent or reduce that fat build-up in the liver, Fazio said.</p> <p>Rader said he hopes to get the drug \"fast-tracked\" by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and to have it on the market by 2010, if all goes well in future studies. The university has licensed the drug to Aegerion Pharmaceuticals Inc. for further development. Rader has an equity interest in Aegerion Pharmaceuticals.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>To learn more about lowering cholesterol, visit the U.S. <a href=\"http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/chol/chol_tlc.htm\" target=\"_new\">National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1960','6','	<p><p>THURSDAY, Jan. 18 (HealthDay News) -- Some common blood pressure drugs can substantially increase the risk of diabetes, especially among those already at risk for the condition, U.S. researchers report.</p> <p>According to the report, angiotensin-receptor blockers (ARBs) and angiotensin-converting-enzyme (ACE) inhibitors are the blood pressure drugs least associated with diabetes. These are followed by calcium-channel blockers.</p> <p>Beta blockers and diuretics are the drugs most associated with the condition.</p> <p>\"There are differences across the various types of drugs that we use to treat high blood pressure in people who develop diabetes,\" said study author Dr. William Elliott, from the department of preventive medicine at Rush University Medical Center, Chicago.</p> <p>The report is published in the Jan. 20 issue of <i>The Lancet</i>.</p> <p>In the study, Elliott and his colleague Peter Meyer looked at 22 clinical trials that included more than 143,000 people. These people had high blood pressure but did not have diabetes at the start of the trials. In each trial, the participants received long-term treatment with each class of blood pressure drugs or placebo.</p> <p>The traditional medicines used to treat high blood pressure in the United States are diuretics and beta blockers, Elliott said. \"It so happens that they are the two drug classes that are most likely to precipitate diabetes. It turns out the two of the new classes of drugs -- ACE inhibitors and ARBs -- are the two that have the least amount of diabetes associated with them. In the middle, we have calcium-channel blockers,\" he said.</p> <p>Elliott noted that your risk of getting diabetes while taking diuretics and beta blockers depends on a number of factors. These include how long you are on the medication, your weight, your family history of diabetes, whether or not you have recently gained weight, and other risk factors, he said.</p> <p>How doctors should be prescribing these drugs in light of these findings isn\'t clear cut, Elliott said. \"In Britain, they have issued new guidelines, where, in fact, the diuretic and beta blocker combination are not to be used together because of the excess risk of diabetes,\" he said.</p> <p>Doctors who take a patient\'s risk for diabetes into account might be better off prescribing an ACE inhibitor or an ARB, rather than a beta blocker or a diuretic as first-line treatment, Elliott said.</p> <p>\"However, if you have a patient who has high blood pressure, kidney disease and had a major heart attack recently -- there is no question they are going to get the beta blocker to protect them from another heart attack,\" he said. \"They are also going to get diuretic, because of the kidney disease. If they get diabetic, you just accept that and move on. You are not going deny them the medicines they need today over the risk of diabetes down the road,\" he said.</p> <p>One diabetes expert thinks that doctors should take a patient\'s risk for diabetes into account when prescribing blood pressure medications.</p> <p>\"Individualization of therapy is important,\" said Dr. Stuart Weiss, an endocrinologist at New York University Medical Center. \"With the explosion of diabetes in the country, we need to take that into consideration when providing patients with their initial antihypertensive.\"</p> <p>Weiss thinks that those people who are at risk for diabetes should not be started on beta blockers or diuretics. \"With all the data about the long-term use of ACEs and ARBs and their lower risk for diabetes, it\'s a good thing to get these drugs in early in somebody who is even at modest risk for type 2 diabetes,\" he said.</p> <p>A cardiologist agreed that treatment needs to be tailored to individual patient needs.</p> <p>\"Since doctors generally have many drug options to lower blood pressure, it makes sense to tailor the drug choice to the patient who may be at higher risk for certain diseases,\" said Dr. Byron K. Lee, an assistant professor of medicine at University of California San Francisco, Division of Cardiology.</p> <p>\"For example, those at higher risk for diabetes may be given an ACE inhibitor or ARB, whereas those at higher risk for heart attacks may be given a beta blocker,\" Lee said.</p> <p>In related news, changing to a healthier lifestyle also appears to be at least as effective as taking prescription drugs in reducing the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to a study published in this week\'s issue of the <i>British Medical Journal</i>.</p> <p>Researchers from Leicester reviewed studies that measured the effects of different interventions -- lifestyle, diabetes drugs and anti-obesity drugs -- on people with impaired glucose tolerance. They found that lifestyle changes, such as switching to a healthier diet and increasing exercise, were at least as effective as taking drugs. On average, the study found, lifestyle changes helped to reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by around half and were also less likely to have adverse side effects.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>There\'s more on diabetes and heart disease at the <a href=\"http://www.s2mw.com/heartofdiabetes/index.html\" target=\"_new\">American Heart Association</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1961','6','	<p><p>TUESDAY, Jan. 23 (HealthDay News) -- A cluster of cardiac factors known as \"metabolic syndrome\" is a strong indicator of increased risk of heart disease, an exhaustive review of the literature concludes.</p> <p>Metabolic syndrome includes factors such as lower-abdomen obesity, high blood pressure, blood fat disorders such as high LDL (\"bad\") cholesterol, and insulin resistance or elevated blood sugar levels. Generally, someone with three or more of these factors is said to have metabolic syndrome.</p> <p>\"The question has been for a number of years what the risk associated with metabolic syndrome is,\" said study author Dr. Apoor S. Gami, an assistant professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine. \"What is the quantified risk in patients with metabolic syndrome? That is one question we could answer by meta-analysis.\"</p> <p>A meta-analysis crunches data from a host of prior studies to come to a more solid conclusion. This analysis of 37 studies included more than 170,000 individuals. Gami and his colleagues not only analyzed published studies, but also sought more detailed information from the researchers who did the studies.</p> <p>The meta-analysis found the risk of heart attack or death was 78 percent higher for people with metabolic syndrome than those who did not have this constellation of risk factors.</p> <p>\"The main take-away from this study is that people identified with metabolic syndrome, regardless of the criteria used to describe metabolic syndrome, are at increased risk of cardiac events or death,\" Gami said. \"There is anywhere from a 50 percent to 200 percent increase in risk, which seems to be stronger in women.\"</p> <p>The findings will be published in the Jan. 30 issue of the <i>Journal of the American College of Cardiology.</i></p> <p>The implication for medical practice is that anyone with metabolic syndrome needs extra attention for preventive measures, Gami said.</p> <p>The finding comes as something less than a surprise, said Dr. Robert Eckel, a professor of medicine at the University of Colorado and immediate past president of the American Heart Association.</p> <p>\"Many of us in the field have felt that it [metabolic syndrome] is important for some time now,\" Eckel said. \"There is not anything surprisingly new about this meta-analysis.\"</p> <p>But there is ongoing debate about \"how you define metabolic syndrome in terms of threshold values,\" he said. \"This is a syndrome, not a disease. We still need to learn more about its components and how we can define them better.\"</p> <p>While Eckel said the new study provides \"additional evidence for the value of metabolic syndrome,\" a dissenting view came from Dr. Michael Stern, a professor of medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, who has written skeptical reports on the importance of metabolic syndrome, including one for the American Diabetes Association.</p> <p>\"There is no doubt that metabolic syndrome is associated with increased cardiovascular risk,\" Stern said. \"The question is whether it is the best way to identify that risk. There are other established methods of identifying high-risk individuals that are not related to metabolic syndrome.\"</p> <p>According to Stern, an equation derived from the long-running Framingham Heart Study provides a better risk assessment than the metabolic syndrome, which is \"an arbitrary collection of risk factors. If the goal is to identify high-risk individuals, you can do just as well or better with the Framingham equation.\"</p> <p>But the presence of the metabolic syndrome provides better evidence of risk than taking individual components of the syndrome one by one, Gami countered. \"Three studies addressed this, and the risk was increased by 50 percent above those of the individual risk factors that were present,\" he said.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>There\'s more on the metabolic syndrome at the <a href=\"http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4756\" target=\"_new\">American Heart Association</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1962','6','	<p><p>FRIDAY, Feb. 2 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers have identified a gene variant associated with the early signs of heart disease and stroke in women.</p> <p>None of the more than 11,000 participants in the 25-year study has yet had heart disease or a stroke, but the signs point toward increased risk, said study author Dr. Edward Lammer, a pediatrician and geneticist at the Children\'s Hospital Oakland Research Institute in California. The report is published in the February issue of <i>Atherosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology</i>.</p> <p>\"We found changes in two blood vessel areas,\" Lammer said. \"In the coronary arteries, we found calcification. We also found thickening of the carotid arteries in the neck.\"</p> <p>A buildup of calcium makes the coronary arteries less flexible and more vulnerable to damage. Thickening of the carotid arteries, the main blood vessels to the brain, can be a prelude to a stroke.</p> <p>Those changes have been seen only in women. \"We have no idea why,\" Lammer said, although it\'s possible that the signs of risk will develop later in men than in women.</p> <p>Now, the researchers must wait to see whether women in whom the changes have been seen run into cardiovascular trouble.</p> <p>They haven\'t so far, probably because they are too young, Lammer said. The study began in 1971 and has followed 11,377 residents of Muscatine, Iowa, since their early teens. The Oakland researchers are working with physicians at the University of Iowa on the study.</p> <p>Lammer and his colleagues measured about 100 gene variants in the study participants. One of them, designated LTC4S, has been found to be associated with a fourfold increased risk of the early signs of heart disease and stroke, after adjustment for standard risk factors such as smoking, cholesterol and blood pressure levels, Lammer said.</p> <p>\"What\'s intriguing is that the gene variant we found is involved in regulating the inflammatory response,\" he said. \"A research group from Iceland has reported that two genes in the same pathway are risk factors for stroke. This gene generates leukotrienes, chemicals that mediate the inflammatory response.\"</p> <p>The LTC4S gene variant has previously been associated with asthma, \"which in essence is an inflammatory reaction,\" Lammer said. \"The hope is that our early results keep the finger pointed at the role of inflammation regulation as very important for atherosclerosis, heart disease and stroke.\"</p> <p>The fact that the link between the gene variant and the danger signs seen so far is <i>not</i> associated with standard risk factors could make gene testing an important part of early risk assessment for many Americans, Lammer said. \"About half the people in the study appear to have this variant,\" he said.</p> <p>Lammer and his associates are continuing to follow the people in the study to check on the incidence of heart disease and stroke associated with the gene variant.</p> <p>\"If it is a risk factor that is genetic, we could identify the risk factor very early in life and develop interventions, behavioral changes or medications that ameliorate the risk,\" he said.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>Background information about the genetics of heart disease is provided by the <a href=\"http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifer=4610\" target=\" _new\">American Heart Association</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1963','6','	<p><p>TUESDAY, Feb. 6 (HealthDay News) -- Scientists have shown for the first time that raising \"good\" cholesterol levels is almost as important as lowering levels of \"bad\" cholesterol in reducing heart-threatening plaque in arteries.</p> <p>But it\'s unclear at this stage whether the strategy will translate into fewer heart attacks and other cardiovascular events. </p> <p>\"A little bit of HDL [high-density lipoprotein, or \"good\" cholesterol] goes a long way. A small increase in HDL produces nearly as much of a benefit as LDL [low-density lipoprotein or \"bad\" cholesterol] reduction,\" said Dr. Steve Nissen, senior author of the study and chairman of cardiovascular medicine at the Cleveland Clinic. \"In general, when we\'ve found a therapy that slowed progression of disease, that translated into major clinical benefits. This makes a lot of sense.\" </p> <p>Dr. Gregory Dehmer, professor of internal medicine at Texas A&amp;M Health Science Center College of Medicine and director of the cardiology division at Scott &amp; White Hospital, added: \"It\'s almost been the holy grail to treat LDL in patients, and most take statins for that. Many clinicians stop with LDL and don\'t continue to aggressively attack HDL. This points up the need to aggressively address HDL and to not give up the cause.\" </p> <p>The challenge now is to find safe ways to elevate HDL even more than is currently possible with the widely used drugs called statins. </p> <p>Pfizer recently halted a trial of torcetrapib, an experimental drug that raised HDL levels, due to an increased mortality rate. </p> <p>The value of lowering LDL is well known. But scientists have been unsure about the merits of raising HDL when it comes to atherosclerosis, or the accumulation of plaque in the lining of the arteries. </p> <p>\"We\'ve always known that statins were very good at lowering LDL, and we knew that they increased HDL a little bit, about 7 to 8 percent,\" Nissen said. \"That seemed to most of us to be fairly trivial, so we\'ve already attributed the benefit of statins primarily to the lowering of bad cholesterol. But, we\'ve always wondered whether that little bit of an increase in HDL was important as well.\"</p> <p>For the new study, published in the Feb. 7 issue of the <i>Journal of the American Medical Association</i>, the researchers revisited four previously conducted studies involving 1,455 participants. </p> <p>All patients had coronary artery disease and were taking statins. They underwent two ultrasound exams 18 moths to 24 months apart to determine changes in the amount of plaque in a coronary artery. </p> <p>All four studies were sponsored by pharmaceutical companies. </p> <p>Participants who both raised their good cholesterol levels <i>and</i> achieved very low bad cholesterol levels showed evidence of the most plaque removal. </p> <p>\"People were concerned about the HDL hypothesis, but this shows the hypothesis is sound,\" Nissen said. \"This helps to nail down the fact that at least with respect to progression of disease, the HDL-raising properties of the statins are important.\" </p> <p>Other experts sounded a cautionary note, pointing out that reducing plaque build-up has not been shown to reduce cardiovascular events, even though lowering LDL cholesterol has. </p> <p>\"For a long time now, we\'ve understood that events go way down with therapy, even though plaques don\'t seem to get a lot smaller,\" said Dr. Kirk Garratt, clinical director of interventional cardiovascular research at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. \"The more important thing is not shrinkage but plaque stability and less blood clot formation.\" </p> <p>\"The current study corroborates that,\" Garratt continued. \"There were no important differences in clinical events between those patients with little/no plaque regression compared with those who had a lot of plaque regression. This is because statins lower events through plaque stabilization more than plaque regression and likely also work through other mechanisms like lowering inflammation.\"</p> <p><b>More information</b> </p> <p>For more on atherosclerosis, visit the <a href=\"http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4440\" target=\"_new\">American Heart Association</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1964','6','	<p><!--Spanish ID: 601775 --> <p>THURSDAY, Feb. 8 (HealthDay News) -- Diabetes risk factors are still not well-controlled in patients, even though the disease increases their stroke risk, a new study finds.</p> <p>Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital, in Boston, analyzed data on nearly 50,000 stroke patients with diabetes.</p> <p>They found that these patients had high rates of obesity, high blood pressure, cholesterol disorders, and poor control of blood sugar at the time of the stroke.</p> <p>The data came from the American Stroke Association\'s Get With the Guidelines - Stroke program. The findings are expected to be presented Wednesday at the American Stroke Association\'s annual meeting, in San Francisco.</p> <p>Patients with undiagnosed diabetes when their stroke occurred had poorer control of their diabetes risk factors than patients who\'d been diagnosed with diabetes prior to their stroke, the researchers said.</p> <p>Stroke patients with undiagnosed diabetes may be at greater risk of recurrent stroke and cardiovascular complications, the study authors warned.</p> <p>\"There are good evidence-based guidelines for diagnosing and treating risk factors for diabetes, but those guidelines have thus far not translated into better risk factor management,\" Dr. Lee Schwamm, MGH\'s vice chairman of neurology and director of acute stroke services, said in a prepared statement.</p> <p>\"These results show that more emphasis is needed on early diagnosis of diabetes and management of risk factors in people who have diabetes,\" Schwamm said.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases has more about <a href=\"http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/stroke/\" target=\"_new\">diabetes, heart disease and stroke</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1965','6','	<p><p>FRIDAY, Feb. 9 (HealthDay News) -- Scientists have identified a protein that causes blood vessel leakage and swelling in the eyes of people with diabetic retinopathy.</p> <p>Diabetic retinopathy, a common complication of diabetes, can cause severe vision loss or blindness.</p> <p>According to a team at the Joslin Diabetes Center, Boston, the finding could help in the development of new treatments for this and other eye diseases, as well as brain swelling caused by stroke, head injury and other conditions.</p> <p>They analyzed vitreous (gel fluid in the eye) samples collected from 25 people. The team concluded that a protein called carbonic anhydrase 1 (CA-1) causes leakage of retinal blood vessels, which contributes to the retinal swelling (diabetic retinal edema) often associated with advanced diabetic retinopathy.</p> <p>The study was published in the Jan. 28 online issue of <i>Nature Medicine</i>.</p> <p>The researchers also identified other proteins that may play a role in causing blood vessel leakage in the eyes.</p> <p>\"By analyzing the protein composition in the human vitreous, we have identified a new group of molecules that may improve our understanding of the disease processes that contribute to diabetic retinopathy,\" lead investigator Edward Feener, a researcher in Joslin\'s section on vascular cell biology, director of Joslin\'s Proteomics Core, and an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, said in a prepared statement.</p> <p>\"By studying the actions of these proteins in both the retina and the brain, we have shown that our findings may have broad relevance for neurovascular leakage and swelling,\" Feener said.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The U.S. National Eye Institute has more about <a href=\"http://nihseniorhealth.gov/diabeticretinopathy/toc.html\" target=\"_new\">diabetic retinopathy</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1966','6','	<p><p>WEDNESDAY, Dec. 20 (HealthDay News) -- Obesity not only disrupts a person\'s health, it also disrupts the makeup of healthy germs inside the digestive tract, a new study suggests.</p> <p>While the significance of the finding isn\'t immediately clear, it could potentially lead to new treatments for overweight people, according to the researchers.</p> <p>At the least, \"it provides another unexplored avenue for investigation\" into obesity, said Catherine Kotz, an adjunct associate professor and nutrition specialist at the University of Minnesota who\'s familiar with the study findings. </p> <p>While germs are generally considered to be villains, some bacteria in the body actually wear white hats. In the digestive system, they help break down food and serve other roles. </p> <p>The study authors at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis wondered if the makeup of gut bacteria differed between lean and fat people. So they studied bacteria from the feces of 12 obese people over a year-long period while the subjects were on strict diets. </p> <p>The researchers found that the obese study participants had fewer of the Bacteroidetes type of bacteria and more of the Firmicutes type than a group of lean people. The same researchers found in a related study that a similar germ makeup in mice appears to make their bodies better able to extract calories from food -- resulting in weight gain.</p> <p>However, as the obese individuals continued to diet, their bacterial levels became more like those of the lean people. </p> <p>Lead investigator Dr. Jeffrey Gordon, director of the university\'s Center for Genome Sciences, said these twin studies raise a number of questions. \"Are some adults predisposed to obesity because they \'start out\' with fewer Bacteroidetes and more Firmicutes in their guts?\" he asked in a prepared statement. \"Can features of a reduced Bacteroidetes-Firmicutes enriched microbial community become part of our definition of an obese state or a diagnostic marker for an increased risk for obesity? And can we intentionally manipulate our gut microbial communities in safe and beneficial ways to regulate energy balance?\"</p> <p>Kotz said the study, which is published in the Dec. 21 issue of <i>Nature</i>, appears to be well done. </p> <p>Still, she said, \"more work needs to be done to confirm this work and to determine whether gut bacterial can predispose one to obesity, or whether changing gut bacteria can in fact influence body weight. The current data indicates that gut bacteria may be associated with body weight but does not show that it contributes to the regulation of body weight.\"</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>Learn more about bacteria from the <a href=\"http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/bacteria/bacteria.html\" target=\"_new\">University of California at Berkeley</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1967','6','	<p><p>TUESDAY, Dec. 26 (HealthDay News) -- People taking powerful antacid drugs called proton pump inhibitors face an increased risk of hip fracture, University of Pennsylvania researchers report.</p> <p>Common proton pump inhibitors include Aciphex, Nexium, Prevacid, Prilosec and Protonix; they are often prescribed for stomach conditions such as gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). The report is published in the Dec. 27 issue of the <i>Journal of the American Medical Association</i>.</p> <p>\"If you take acid-suppression medications on a chronic basis and you are 50 or older, your hip fracture risk is even higher than usual,\" said study author Dr.Yu-Xiao Yang, an assistant professor of medicine and epidemiology.</p> <p>\"In addition, if you are one of the few patients who requires high doses, then your risk is even higher,\" Yang added.</p> <p>In the study, Yang\'s team collected data on 13,556 people with hip fractures and 135,386 healthy people, all aged 50 or older. These people were listed in the General Practice Research Database from 1987 to 2003. This database contains information on patients in the United Kingdom.</p> <p>The researchers found that taking a proton pump inhibitor for more than one year increased the risk of hip fracture by 44 percent, compared with people not taking these medications.</p> <p>In addition, the risk was 2.6 times higher among people who took high doses over a long period. The risk of hip fracture increased with both the dosage and the duration of proton pump inhibitor therapy, Yang\'s group found.</p> <p>Yang speculated that these drugs hinder calcium absorption in some people. Stomach acid is needed to help the body absorb calcium, and proton pump inhibitors work by slowing the production of stomach acid.</p> <p>Among the elderly, hip fractures have a death rate of 20 percent during the first year after the fracture. For those who survive this period, one in five requires nursing home care, an emergency department visit, hospitalization, surgery and rehabilitation, all with huge health-care costs.</p> <p>Yang said he thinks these drugs are prescribed too often. \"Not everybody is on this medicine for good reasons,\" he said. \"Proton pump inhibitors have been on the market for 15 years, and the general feeling is that they are safe to be taken on a chronic basis. So, they are given often without having a clear indication or without making sure the patient is benefiting from the medication.\"</p> <p>Moreover, Yang thinks that both men and women taking prescription proton pump inhibitors should also take a calcium supplement to insure that they maintain their bone mass and lower their risk of hip fracture.</p> <p>One expert thinks that people should not be overly concerned with this finding unless it is confirmed by other studies.</p> <p>\"This is a new observation,\" said Dr. Lawrence Brandt, chief of the Division of Gastroenterology at Montefiore Medical Center, in New York City. \"It\'s exciting on the one hand, and alarming on the other hand. People should be aware that there are some data that show that there may be a higher risk of fracture.\"</p> <p>Although Brandt agreed that these drugs are prescribed too often and used by some people for too long a time, he noted the findings shouldn\'t change clinical practice yet.</p> <p>\"If someone doesn\'t need proton pump inhibitors, they shouldn\'t be on the drug,\" he said. \"Proton pump inhibitors are probably one of the most abused classes of drugs in the world. So, there are a lot of people on this medication who shouldn\'t be on this medication.\"</p> <p>In addition, people should only take these medications for as long as necessary to treat the condition it\'s been prescribed for, Brandt said. \"If you have to take it for a long time, then you should also have your bone density followed once a year,\" he added.</p> <p>Brandt is not concerned with the safety of the over-the-counter versions of these drugs. \"Most people who take drugs over-the-counter don\'t take them in a rigorous fashion,\" he said. \"They take them when they need them, and their dose regimen is not going to be sufficiently compulsive and regimented that this is going to be a problem.\"</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases can tell you more about <a href=\"http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/gerd/index.htm\" target=\"_new\">GERD</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1968','6','	<p><p>(HealthDay News) -- If you\'ve just had your appendix removed or are soon scheduled for an appendectomy, here are suggestions for post-surgical care, courtesy of the University of Kentucky:</p> <ul> <li>Keep the incision site clean and dry to prevent infection.</li> <li>Alert your doctor if you have fever, chills, or redness or increasing pain near the incision site.</li> <li>It is common for the abdominal area to be sore following surgery. You may take an over-the-counter pain reliever, as prescribed by your doctor.</li> <li>You should engage in light exercise such as walking.</li> <li>You should not perform strenuous exercise or lifting heavy objects for a few weeks after surgery.</li> <li>Talk to your doctor about when it is safe for you to resume regular activities and exercise.</li> </ul> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1969','6','	<p><p>(HealthDay News) -- Antacids and other medications commonly prescribed to treat heartburn may cause uncomfortable side effects.</p> <p>The American Academy of Family Physicians says you may want to talk with your doctor if you are taking a heartburn drug and have any of these symptoms:</p> <ul> <li>Frequent headaches.</li> <li>Nausea.</li> <li>Constipation.</li> <li>Diarrhea.</li> </ul> <p>If these symptoms make it difficult for you to take the prescribed drug, speak with your doctor about a possible alternative, the academy advises.</p></p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1970','6','	<p><p>FRIDAY, Jan. 19 (HealthDay News) -- An international team of medical experts has issued a new verdict in the case of the long-debated death of Napoleon Bonaparte: The French leader died of stomach cancer, not poison, and even modern medicine couldn\'t have kept him alive. </p> <p>Other medical historians have come to the same conclusion regarding the cause of death. But the team\'s new report may be the first to examine Napoleon\'s illness from the perspective of today\'s cancer treatment. </p> <p>\"He would have been unlikely to be saved, even if he had been seen at Sloan-Kettering today,\" said study senior author Robert Genta, chief of pathology at the VA North Texas Health Care System and a professor at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. \"It was basically a terminal type of cancer.\"</p> <p>Napoleon\'s death at the age of 52 has long fascinated historians, especially because of the possibility that he was murdered, robbing him of a chance to return to power. His death in 1821 came on the island of St. Helena in the south Atlantic, after he was exiled there following the French defeat at Waterloo.</p> <p>Some historians have argued that Napoleon was assassinated through arsenic poisoning, while others have suggested his doctors inadvertently bumped him off by relying on dangerous treatments. </p> <p>But the stomach cancer theory has plenty of support, especially considering the results of an autopsy and the fact that Napoleon\'s father may have died of the disease. </p> <p>With Canadian and Swiss colleagues, Genta examined the Napoleon autopsy findings, eyewitness reports and the memoirs of attending doctors. They report their findings in the January issue of <i>Nature Clinical Practice Gastroenterology &amp; Hepatology</i>.</p> <p>The medical records indicate that Napoleon had extensive tumor growth and blood in his stomach. According to the new study, this suggests that the former emperor suffered from stomach cancer -- also known as gastric cancer -- in its later stages and died of stomach hemorrhaging. </p> <p>Napoleon\'s cancer couldn\'t be easily treated today, the researchers found. The level of tumor growth was so severe that anyone with a similar diagnosis would have only a 20 percent chance of living five years after treatment with chemotherapy and surgery, Genta said. </p> <p>Indeed, stomach cancer remains extremely deadly almost two centuries after Napoleon\'s death. According to Genta, it\'s a leading cause of death in Japan and South America.</p> <p>Despite medical advances, stomach cancer remains hard to detect in its early stages and spreads rapidly throughout the body even when tumors are small, Genta said. </p> <p>Some experts have blamed doctors for Napoleon\'s death, and Genta said it\'s quite possible they were anything but helpful. \"All doctors in those days made things worse by giving people drugs that were more toxic than the disease,\" he said. </p> <p>A possible family history of stomach cancer could have boosted Napoleon\'s risk of developing the disease. But the study authors pointed a finger at his diet.</p> <p>According to Genta, the salted meat eaten by soldiers of the time could have harbored a bacterium that causes stomach cancer. Napoleon\'s medical history, Genta said, suggests he was infected by the germ. </p> <p>If Napoleon had lived, he could have conceivably returned to power in France during a crisis in 1830, said Howard G. Brown, professor of history at State University of New York, Binghamton.</p> <p>If that had happened, \"there\'s little doubt that he would have pursued French expansion once again,\" Brown said. \"It was in his blood, and it had always been his biggest source of legitimacy.\"</p> <p>And that could have had a huge effect on the modern world, Brown said. \"Had France captured and hung on to the Middle East until the oil age, it would have been more important to them than India was to Britain. Furthermore, with Middle East oil, France would have dominated the first half of the 20th century at least.\"</p> <p>Despite the new findings, no one expects the debate over Napoleon\'s demise to die down. </p> <p>The controversy is \"a typical case of people looking for exotic causes of death of extraordinary people,\" said Dr. Philip Mackowiak, chief of the medical service at VA Maryland Health Care system, and host of an annual conference on the cause of death of a famous person. \"Gastric cancer, to their way of thinking, would just be too ordinary a diagnosis to have dispatched Napoleon.\"</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>Learn more about Napoleon\'s death and a poisoning theory from <a href=\"http://www.victorianweb.org/history/arsenic.html\" target=\"_new\">The Victorian Web</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1971','6','	<p><p>SUNDAY, Feb. 4 (HealthDay News) -- The Super Bowl-sized spread of food that football fans crave is no touchdown for the tummy, experts warn.</p> <p>Indulging in party favorites like nachos, pizza, chili, wings and beer leaves many people open to being tackled by heartburn; most often caused by the reflux or backwash of acid from the stomach up in to the esophagus.</p> <p>Dr. Stuart Spechler, professor of internal medicine in digestive diseases at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, offers some prevention and treatment plays that can help you do an end run around heartburn. </p> <p>First up, try to avoid fatty foods. That can be tough because, \"as a general rule of thumb, anything that tastes really good is likely to give you heartburn,\" Spechler said in prepared statement. \"And the reason is the fat content. Fat does a lot of things that promote heartburn. It stops the stomach from emptying well, so now, you have more material in the stomach that\'s ready to reflux.\"</p> <p>Some people try to reduce stomach acid by eating or drinking certain foods, such as milk. This usually doesn\'t work, Spechler said. He recommended medications such as H2 blockers, antacids, or proton pump inhibitors.</p> <p>\"If you know you\'re going to eat something that ordinarily gives you heartburn, there are medications that you can take before eating that food that might help,\" he said.</p> <p>Histamine receptor (H2) blockers (for example, Pepcid and Zantac) slow the production of stomach acid and are generally available over the counter. Taking an H2 blocker a half hour before you eat may help prevent heartburn.</p> <p>Antacids soak up excess stomach acid, but they don\'t prevent the stomach from producing more acid. You may be able to prevent heartburn by taking some antacid tablets to soak up acid currently being produced in the stomach, along with an H2 blocker to slow stomach acid production, Spechler said.</p> <p>Proton pump inhibitors, such as Nexium, Prilosec or Prevacid, are the most powerful type of medication and are best suited for people with ongoing heartburn.</p> <p>\"They\'re very powerful at stopping the stomach from making acid, but it takes a number of hours or even days for them to reach their full effect. So, if you want to eat a pizza in the next half hour, it\'s not going to stop the acid that you\'re going to make in that time,\" Spechler said.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The American Academy of Family Physicians has more about <a href=\"http://familydoctor.org/087.xml\" target=\"_new\">heartburn</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1972','6','	<p><p>WEDNESDAY, Feb. 7 (HealthDay News) -- <i>Helicobacter pylori</i>, the bacteria that causes most stomach ulcers, have resided in the human digestive system since modern humans started migrating out of Africa more than 60,000 years ago, scientists conclude.</p> <p><i>H. pylori</i>, which infects the mucus lining of the stomach and duodenum, is the only known microorganism able to flourish in the stomach\'s highly acidic environment.</p> <p>The finding, published online Wednesday in the journal <i>Nature</i>, could provide insights into both medicine and anthropology, the scientists said, since it improves understanding about ulcers and also offers a new way to study early human migration and diversification.</p> <p>\"Humans and this ulcer-causing bacterium have been intimately linked for the last 60,000 years,\" researcher Dr. Francois Balloux, of the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, said in a prepared statement.</p> <p>The researchers compared the DNA sequence patterns of humans and <i>H. pylori</i> and discovered that genetic variations developed as humans dispersed from Eastern Africa over thousands of years.</p> <p>\"The research not only shows the likelihood that for tens of thousands of years our ancestors have been suffering the effects of this bacteria, but it also opens up new possibilities for understanding early human migration. For example, we could use our understanding of the bacteria\'s spread to gauge poorly understood human population shifts in Europe, Africa and Asia,\" Balloux said.</p> <p>Until the 1990s, it was widely believed that stress and spicy foods caused peptic ulcers and gastritis. Now that <i>H. pylori</i> is recognized as a major cause, these conditions are now treated with antibiotics that are effective against the bacteria.</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/000229.htm\" target=\"_new\"><i>H. pylori</i></a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1973','6','	<p><p>THURSDAY, Jan. 11 (HealthDay News) -- A new formulation of the inhaled flu vaccine FluMist has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the <i>Associated Press</i> reported this week.</p> <p>The new version allows the vaccine to be refrigerated instead of frozen. This will allow more places like schools and pharmacies to store the vaccine, manufacturer MedImmune Inc. told the wire service.</p> <p>FluMist, first approved in 2003, is sanctioned for people ages five to 49, although its maker is seeking expanded approval for toddlers as young as a year old who do not have respiratory conditions such as asthma, the <i>AP</i> reported.</p> <p>The company said the new formula should be available by August, well before next winter\'s flu season.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>To learn more about the inhaled flu vaccine, visit the <a href=\" http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/qa/nasalspray.htm\" target=\"_new\">U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1974','6','	<p><p>MONDAY, Jan. 22 (HealthDay News) -- Supplements of the mineral selenium appear to reduce or slow the progression of HIV, University of Miami researchers report.</p> <p>Deficiencies in selenium have been noted in HIV-positive patients, and evidence suggests that supplements of the nutrient can improve immune system function, the researchers report in the Jan. 22 issue of the <i>Archives of Internal Medicine</i>.</p> <p>\"Those individuals who were treated with selenium displayed no further progression of HIV disease, whereas those who were on placebo evidenced a continued increase in HIV viral load,\" said lead researcher and professor of psychology Barry E. Hurwitz. </p> <p>Another expert said the importance of the findings should not be overstated, however.</p> <p>\"That a cheap micronutrient might help blunt the short-term progression of HIV infection is wonderful news and can offer an intervention for persons in care settings who are not yet eligible for, or do not yet have access to, potent antiretroviral therapies,\" said Dr. Sten H. Vermund, the Amos Christie Chair and director of the Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn.</p> <p>However, he stressed that \"by no means is selenium a treatment alternative, as the authors state, since the magnitude of benefit pales in comparison to that of antiretrovirals.\" Vermund was not involved in the study.</p> <p>In the study, Hurwitz and colleagues randomly assigned 262 patients infected with HIV to 200 micrograms of selenium per day or placebo. Over the first nine months of the trial, the researchers monitored the patients\' CD4 immune T-cell count (a measure of immune system health) and HIV viral load (the number of copies of the HIV virus in the blood).</p> <p>They found that, among the 174 patients who completed the trial, those receiving the selenium supplement had reductions in their HIV viral load and increases in their CD4 count compared with those taking placebo. Among those taking placebo, viral load continued to increase, and CD4 counts continued to decline, Hurwitz said.</p> <p>Improvements linked to selenium supplementation were seen whether patients were taking HIV antiretroviral drugs or not, Hurwitz said. \"The impact of selenium was seen over and above anti-HIV medications,\" he said.</p> <p>The trial continued for another nine months beyond the results in the current study. Data from the last nine months of the trial showed continued suppression of HIV among those patients taking selenium, Hurwitz said.</p> <p>There is a tremendous challenge in the treatment of HIV patients using conventional medications to achieve and maintain suppression of the disease, Hurwitz noted. \"Taking one capsule of selenium a day is a simple and inexpensive and safe therapy that can be used, not as a replacement for HIV drugs, but as an adjunct therapy,\" he said.</p> <p>Hurwitz believes that taking selenium can be particularly effective in HIV patients who don\'t adhere closely to their medications regimens. \"Selenium could be a very important advance in adjunct therapy,\" he said.</p> <p>Selenium has many unique qualities, he added. \"It has many beneficial aspects that affect our health,\" Hurwitz said. \"There have been findings that it may be beneficial to our immune system, and it is a highly potent antioxidant.\"</p> <p>\"Selenium is available, and it\'s ready to be implemented right now,\" Hurwitz added. \"It\'s a simple, inexpensive adjunct therapy, and I think it\'s ready to have an impact right now.\"</p> <p>One expert said the study did have some drawbacks, however .</p> <p>\"Most of the study subjects are African-American men, most are on antiretroviral therapy, and most have low or undetectable viral loads,\" noted Dr. David Margolis, a professor of medicine, microbiology and immunology and epidemiology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Also, \"many of the study subjects are lost to follow-up, potentially introducing unforeseen bias into the findings,\" Margolis said.</p> <p>Most important, the relevant benefit -- increased CD4 cell count -- attributed to selenium is rather small, he said. \"Further, the CD4 cell count of the study group has already been sufficiently reconstituted by antiviral [drug] therapy to prevent most clinical problems. While it is possible that selenium supplementation reduces the frequency of failure of antiviral therapy, much better evidence would be needed to prove this,\" he said.</p> <p>It would be interesting to show that selenium slowed the progression of HIV disease in patients with high CD4 counts -- a group that currently might not be offered antiviral therapy, Margolis said. \"Strategies to safely delay antiviral therapy would be welcomed by many patients and providers,\" he said.</p> <p>But too <i>much</i> selenium can also harm patients, Margolis added. In fact, in very large doses, supplementation can be fatal.</p> <p>\"The tolerable upper level is said to be 400 micrograms a day for adults, and the average U.S. diet contains about 100 micrograms a day,\" Margolis said. \"There is also some evidence that selenium may blunt the protective effect of statins in slowing cardiovascular disease, so patients on therapy for lipid disorders might wish to avoid selenium supplementation until there is better evidence that it is beneficial,\" he said.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>Find out more about HIV/AIDS at the <a href=\"http://www.niaid.nih.gov/publications/aids.htm\" target=\"_new\">U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1975','6','	<p><p>(HealthDay News) -- It may seem impossible in the winter months not to catch a cold, but a few precautions may spare you the sniffles.</p> <p>To reduce your chances of catching a cold, follow these suggestions from the American Lung Association:</p> <ul> <li>Avoid contact with people who already have a cold, and wash your hands after being around them.</li> <li>Keep your hands away from your face, especially your eyes, mouth, and nose.</li> <li>Keep clean hand towels in your bathroom, and keep a separate one available for people who aren\'t sick.</li> <li>Keep your home humid to prevent your sinuses from drying out.</li> </ul> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1976','6','	<p><!--Spanish ID: 601980 --> <p>THURSDAY, Feb. 15 (HealthDay News) -- Low-dose, slow-release morphine can give chronic coughers substantial relief, according to a new British study.</p> <p>\"Ours is the first study which proves morphine can be effective in chronic cough,\" said study author Dr. Alyn H. Morice, a professor of respiratory medicine at the University of Hull, in East Yorkshire.</p> <p>\"We are also able to quantify its effect for the first time,\" he said. \"Two-thirds of patients will respond to the low dose we use.\"</p> <p>Larger doses of the drug are used to manage chronic pain, Morice said. \"Injecting high doses is what is bad for you and leads to addiction,\" he added.</p> <p>The study findings are published in the February issue of the <i>American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine</i>.</p> <p>In the study, Morice and his colleagues evaluated 27 adults -- 18 women and nine men -- who were being treated at a hospital cough clinic. All had a persistent cough for more than three months; the average age was 55.</p> <p>Conditions such as lung disease were ruled out. Then the researchers gave the patients either 5 milligrams of slow-release morphine or a placebo twice daily for four weeks; the participants didn\'t know which therapy they were taking.</p> <p>The coughers returned to the clinic three times and rated their cough using a commonly used questionnaire that assigns a score based on physical, social and psychological effects of the cough. They were told not to use any other cough products during the study.</p> <p>Benefits occurred by the fifth day of treatment and continued throughout the four-week study. The daily \"cough score\" levels dropped by 40 percent.</p> <p>Then, 18 of the 27 people decided to continue in a three-month extension of the study, with most increasing their morphine dose to 10 milligrams twice a day.</p> <p>At the study\'s end, similar improvements in cough were noted at both doses, Morice found.</p> <p>\"Mankind has been using morphine for thousands of years,\" he said. \"It is very safe. Constipation is the only side effect which we encounter with any frequency.\"</p> <p>Forty percent of those taking the morphine reported constipation; 25 percent complained of drowsiness.</p> <p>Chronic cough is not just a nuisance, said Dr. Chester Griffiths, an ear-nose-throat specialist and vice chief of staff at Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center and Orthopaedic Hospital, in Santa Monica, Calif.</p> <p>Chronic cough, defined as one that lasts more than three to six months, can cause complications such as cracked ribs or a herniated disc, he said.</p> <p>Griffiths emphasized it\'s important to first rule out other underlying reasons for a chronic cough, such as allergies or asthma. \"When you have ruled out everything else, you have to suppress it because the cough can cause complications,\" he said.</p> <p>And the morphine in the study did suppress the cough, he said.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>To learn more about chronic cough, visit the <a href=\"http://familydoctor.org/237.xml\" target=\"_new\">American Academy of Family Physicians</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1977','6','	<p><!--Spanish ID:535466--> <p>WEDNESDAY, Oct. 11 (HealthDay News) -- Hearing and vision loss often occur together in older adults, an Australian study finds. </p> <p>The study of over 1,900 adults averaging about 70 years of age found that those with vision loss were more likely to also have hearing loss, and vice-versa.</p> <p>Among the people in the study, 178 (9.3 percent) had visual impairment (worse than 20/40 vision) without glasses or contact lenses, and 56 (2.9 percent) had best-corrected visual impairment. This means that their best vision while wearing glasses or contact lenses was still worse than 20/40.</p> <p>There were 766 (40 percent) people with hearing impairment, including 599 with mild impairment, 141 with moderate impairment, and 26 with marked impairment.</p> <p>Of the 178 people with visual impairment, over 65 percent had hearing loss. For each additional line on the eye chart that a person could not read, the odds of hearing impairment increased by 18 percent if the sight reduction was in best-corrected vision or 13 percent in uncorrected vision, the study said.</p> <p>After further investigation, the researchers concluded that cataracts and age-related macular degeneration -- the two most common causes of vision loss in older people -- were both independently associated with hearing loss.</p> <p>The study authors suggested a number of reasons for this link between vision and hearing loss. Both conditions are regular consequences of aging and both share common risk factors, including smoking, hardening of the arteries, and diabetes.</p> <p>&quot;Further studies are needed to understand the relationship between visual and hearing impairments in older persons and to determine whether intervention to improve these impairments could delay biologic aging,&quot; the researchers wrote.</p> <p>The study was published in the Oct. 9 issue of the journal <i>Archives of Ophthalmology</i>.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The U.S. National Institute on Aging has more about <a href=\"http://www.niapublications.org/agepages/eyes.asp\" target=\"_new\">eyes and aging</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1978','6','	<p><p>FRIDAY, Oct. 20 (HealthDay News) -- Maxing out the volume on a typical MP3 player -- such as the popular Apple &quot;iPod&quot; -- for anything more than five minutes a day can permanently damage a listener\'s hearing, new research says.</p> <p>And listening to an MP3 in a noisy environment appears to encourage higher-than-safe volume use, which should be avoided altogether or offset by using noise-reduction-style earphones that allow for listening at lower volumes, the researchers added.</p> <p>Both cautionary notes were struck Thursday by researchers presenting studies at a conference titled <i>Noise-Induced Hearing Loss in Children at Work and Play</i>, in Covington, Ky. Organizers described it as the first conference ever convened in the United States to specifically address hearing loss among children. </p> <p>The study authors said their research applies equally to a five music players tested, including the iPod, iPod Nano, and iPod Mini, as well as Sandisk Sansa and Creative Zen Micro players.</p> <p>&quot;What people should think about is that all personal music players are capable of producing levels that are potentially dangerous to their hearing, but all of them can be used in a safe manner as well,&quot; said Brian J. Fligor, a co-author of two conference studies and director of the diagnostic audiology program at Children\'s Hospital Boston.</p> <p>In one study, Fligor teamed with audiology doctoral student Cory Portnuff from the University of Colorado, Boulder, to measure sound levels produced by MP3 players through the stock in-ear &quot;bud&quot; headphones that come with the players. The researchers also tested optional &quot;isolator&quot; earphones that block background noise and &quot;supra-aural&quot; earphones that sit over the ear.</p> <p>After determining that all the players operated at similar volume levels, Fligor and Portnuff sought to define uniform safe listening recommendations. The researchers\' listening advisory was set with an eye toward established U.S. government guidelines that indicate hearing loss can begin at volumes of 85 decibels.</p> <p>With the caveat that not all people are &quot;typical&quot; -- with varying levels of &quot;tenderness&quot; and &quot;toughness&quot; when it comes to hearing tolerance -- the researchers concluded that most people can listen to an MP3 player for 4.6 hours a day at 70 percent of full volume.</p> <p>When set to 80 percent of full volume, 1.2 hours of daily listening is the maximum, they suggested, while full volume listening should never exceed five minutes a day when using a bud earphone, three minutes with a noise-reduction earphone, or 18 minutes with an over-the-ear set.</p> <p>The authors pointed out that the differences reflect the fact that ear-bud style headphones deliver higher levels of sound to the ear than over-the-ear varieties.</p> <p>A second study looked at how people -- in this case doctoral students -- actually deal with volume control in light of two variables: background noise and earphone types. The study was done by Fligor and Terri E. Ives, an assistant professor with the PCO School of Audiology in Elkins Park, Pa.</p> <p>In general, men listened to music at higher volumes than women. But, overall, only about 6 percent of the study participants chose to listen at &quot;risky&quot; levels -- above 85 decibels -- while in quiet conditions. However, in noisy conditions, those students with background-noise-reducing earphones set their volumes lower than those with regular earphones.</p> <p>About 80 percent of those study participants with non-noise reducing earphones turned their volumes up to &quot;risky&quot; levels while in noisy conditions. That figure fell to just 20 percent among those using noise reduction earphones.</p> <p>&quot;It\'s very clear that the amount of background noise is the number one thing that dictated whether or not people listened too loud,&quot; said Fligor. &quot;Not the kind of headphone. Except when we provided people with an isolating earphone to isolate background noise. That did reduce the potential risk for hearing loss, because it did cause people to modify their hearing use to lower levels.</p> <p>&quot;So, I suggest, it\'s really worth the investment to get the noise reduction earphones,&quot; he added.</p> <p>That advice was seconded by Dr. Anil K. Lalwani, chairman of the department of otolaryngology at New York University School of Medicine and Medical Center in New York City.</p> <p>&quot;We have to be cognizant of the fact that, if we\'re trying to listen to our portable devices in a noisy environment, we are putting our ears at risk,&quot; he said. &quot;And I would agree that those headphones that reduce background noise are going to reduce your risk, because you\'re not going to turn the volume up as high.&quot;</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>To learn more about preventing hearing loss, visit the <a href=\"http://www.betterhearing.org/hearing_loss_prevention/\" target=\"_new\">Better Hearing Institute</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1979','6','	<p><p>(HealthDay News) -- Exposure to very loud noise can cause permanent damage to your hearing. Some of the most common causes of noise-induced hearing loss are from listening to headphones too loudly, attending loud concerts, or working at construction sites or in factories with consistent loud noise.</p> <p>There are easy ways to protect yourself from hearing loss, says the Nemours Foundation. If you work in a loud environment, wear earplugs every day. Ear plugs may also save your hearing if you\'re attending a rock concert, mowing the lawn, or using a loud tool.</p> <p>When listening to music with headphones, don\'t turn up the volume too high, and keep the volume on your car radio at a moderate level.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1980','6','	<p><p>MONDAY, Dec. 18 (HealthDay News) -- The ringing or buzzing in the ears known as tinnitus varies among patients according to the condition\'s clinical characteristics, German researchers report.</p> <p>People with tinnitus have ringing, buzzing or whistling sounds in one or both ears. The condition, which can be due to a medical disease or unknown causes, can be constant or intermittent, chronic or acute, according to background information in the article.</p> <p>This study of more than 4,900 people with tinnitus was published in the December issue of the journal <i>Archives of Otolaryngology-Head &amp; Neck Surgery</i>.</p> <p>According to the researchers, more than 8 percent of patients rated their condition as grade I (weak degree of tinnitus loudness), close to 60 percent as grade II (medium degree of loudness), and just over 32 percent as grade III (strong degree of loudness).</p> <p>In terms of annoyance with tinnitus, about 39 percent said they were mildly distressed, nearly 24 percent said they severely distressed, and about 13 percent were most severely distressed.</p> <p>Most of the people with grade I conditions reported mild tinnitus distress, those with grade II were split, and about two-thirds of people with grade III conditions had severe or very severe distress. The findings indicated a moderate correlation between tinnitus loudness and annoyance, the researchers said.</p> <p>\"In particular, higher levels of severity were found in men, older adults, binaural (in both ears) and centrally perceived tinnitus, increase in tinnitus sensitivity since onset, sensitivity to loud external noise, continuous tinnitus (as opposed to intermittent tinnitus), and the coexistence of hearing loss, vertigo and hyperacusis (abnormal sensitivity to sounds),\" wrote the team from the University of Mainz and the Roseneck Center of Behavioral Medicine in Prien.</p> <p>\"We need studies that investigate the determinants of tinnitus loudness and annoyance to understand more deeply how patients react to their tinnitus and which factors contribute to the long-term maintenance of distress,\" they added.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The American Tinnitus Association has more about <a href=\"http://www.ata.org/about_tinnitus/consumer/faq.html\" target=\"_new\">tinnitus</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1981','6','	<p><p>WEDNESDAY, Jan. 3 (HealthDay News) -- Age-related hearing loss, a common problem among the elderly, might be related to inadequate levels of folic acid, European researchers report.</p> <p>The researchers found that people who took a folic acid supplement had less decline in hearing low-frequency sounds over time, compared with people who didn\'t take the supplement.</p> <p>Results of the study, led by Jane Durga, of the Cognitive Sciences Group, Nutrition &amp; Health Department at the Nestle Research Center in Lausanne, Switzerland, are published in the Jan. 2 issue of the <i>Annals of Internal Medicine</i>.</p> <p>The researchers randomly assigned 728 older Dutch men and women, who showed signs of age-related hearing loss and low folate levels, to receive either 800 micrograms of a folic acid supplement or a placebo daily for three years.</p> <p>Durga\'s team chose to conduct the study in the Netherlands because, unlike the United States, the Netherlands does not fortify its food with folic acid, a B vitamin also known as folate. Folate levels in study participants were about half those found in Americans. In the United States, many foods contain supplemental folic acid because of its benefits in protecting against birth defects.</p> <p>At the end of the trial, the researchers found that the ability to hear low-frequency sound did not decrease significantly among those taking folic acid supplements. However, there was no slowing in the decline in hearing high frequencies in either group.</p> <p>The thresholds of the low frequencies increased by 1.0 decibel in the folic acid group and by 1.7 decibels in the placebo group, the researchers said.</p> <p>\"Folic acid supplementation slowed the decline in hearing of the speech frequencies associated with aging in a population from a country without folic acid fortification of food,\" the researchers wrote. \"The effect requires confirmation, especially in populations from countries with folic acid fortification programs.\"</p> <p>But Robert W. Sweetow, director of audiology at the University of California, San Francisco, Medical Center, called the results \"clinically insignificant.\"</p> <p>\"I think that their conclusion that folic acid is actually slowing down the progression of age-related hearing loss is a stretch,\" Sweetow said. \"I would hate to say to patients, \'You take folic acid and the progression of your hearing loss is going to slow down.\'\"</p> <p>Another expert questioned the significance of the finding.</p> <p>\"The effect is on low frequency hearing, but most older folks have a problem with high frequency hearing,\" said Dr. Hinrich Staecker, an associate professor in the department of otolaryngology-head &amp; neck surgery at the University of Kansas Medical Center.</p> <p>Staecker also noted that the study authors didn\'t look at the ability of the participants to hear speech clearly. \"It\'s easier to make stuff louder, but it\'s not easy to make stuff clearer,\" he said.</p> <p>Dr. Peter M. Rabinowitz, an associate professor of medicine at the Yale University School of Medicine, said, \"The investigators\' finding that low-frequency, but not high frequency, hearing loss was reduced in the folate supplementation group is somewhat surprising, since age-related hearing loss usually affects the higher frequencies of hearing first and to a greater degree.\"</p> <p>Clearly, much is not known about nutrition and hearing, Rabinowitz said. For example, other studies have suggested that genetic differences in the metabolism of folate may affect how someone responds to supplementation, including the effect of folate on hearing loss, he said.</p> <p>\"While neither this study nor the current state of medical knowledge provide adequate evidence for recommending particular supplements to prevent hearing loss, this study provides additional evidence of the importance of adequate nutrition in older adults, as well as the potential for future discoveries of how to slow the aging process of the hearing system,\" Rabinowitz 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/2005/305_hear.html\" target=\"_new\">age-related hearing loss</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1982','6','	<p><p>WEDNESDAY, Jan. 17 (HealthDay News) -- Parents don\'t have to rush to make a decision about whether or not to have ventilating tubes placed in the ears of a child who suffers from persistent fluid in the ear.</p> <p>That\'s the conclusion of a new study published in the Jan. 18 <i>New England Journal of Medicine</i>. It found no significant or lasting hearing-linked developmental delays in affected children who did not have ear tubes inserted right away.</p> <p>\"Parents don\'t need to rush into tubes on the basis of persistent fluid,\" said the study\'s lead author, Dr. Jack Paradise, professor emeritus of pediatrics at the Pittsburgh School of Medicine and the Children\'s Hospital of Pittsburgh. </p> <p>\"Parents can be reassured that if their child has a collection of fluid behind the ear drum during the first three years of life, we are now sure that the mild to moderate hearing loss associated with that fluid does not have any effect on language development, behavior, later learning or academic performance,\" added Dr. Stephen Berman, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Colorado and the Children\'s Hospital Denver, and past president of the American Academy of Pediatrics. </p> <p>Berman wrote an accompanying editorial in the same issue of the journal. </p> <p>Each year, U.S. doctors implant between 300,000 and 500,000 ventilating ear tubes in young patients, according to Berman, who estimates the surgery costs between $3,500 and $5,000. He added that up to 80 percent of these surgeries are performed because of middle ear effusion (fluid in the ear). There have been concerns that delaying such procedures could affect language development and learning, however. </p> <p>In the past, physicians recommended the surgery because several retrospective studies did suggest an association between fluid in the ear and developmental impairments. </p> <p>\"We were worried that the fluid would delay language development and cause problems with attention and behavior,\" said Berman, who added that, \"This study clearly shows that putting the tubes in doesn\'t have an effect on those problems.\" </p> <p>The new study involved 6,350 infants who were regularly evaluated for middle ear effusion during the first three years of life. During that time, 429 children were found to have persistent fluid in their ears -- meaning that the fluid was present for longer than 90 days. </p> <p>The children were randomly assigned to promptly undergo ear tube surgery or to wait, sometimes for as long as nine months, before having the procedure done. The researchers periodically assessed the children until they were 9 to 11 years old, and at the end of the study had complete data from 391 youngsters -- 195 from the prompt-surgery group and 196 delayed-treatment group. </p> <p>One hundred and eight children in the delayed group ended up never having the ear tube surgery. </p> <p>All of the children underwent a battery of developmental assessments tests when they were 3, 4, 6 and between 9 and 11 years of age.</p> <p>The result: No statistically significant differences were found between youngsters who quickly received ear tubes and those who were asked to wait.</p> <p>\"We found no differences in outcomes,\" said Paradise. </p> <p>That doesn\'t mean that tubes should never be used, however. There are certain times when ear tubes are warranted, according to Paradise and Berman. Children who have frequent ear infections -- more than three episodes in six months or more than four episodes in a year, according to Berman -- may have fewer infections and suffer less pain if they get ear tubes.</p> <p>Berman also said that if the pressure from the fluid is so high that it causes damage to the small bones of the ear, tubes are indicated. But, he said, that\'s a very rare problem. There are also conditions that put children at an increased risk of having developmental problems from persistent fluid, and those children should probably get tubes. </p> <p>The bottom line, said Paradise, is that \"if your child isn\'t otherwise ill, and there are no problems with frequent infections, they ought to have hearing tests every few months and be observed to see that nothing untoward is happening in the ear.\" </p> <p>\"It\'s fine to watch children and not have tubes put in,\" concurred Berman. \"Your child should periodically see their pediatrician to make sure no developmental or language delays are occurring and that the hearing loss hasn\'t become severe.\" </p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>There\'s more on fluid in the ears at the <a href=\" http://www.medem.com/MedLB/article_detaillb.cfm?article_ID=ZZZJ045VA7C&sub_cat=544\" target=\"_new\">American Academy of Pediatrics</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1983','6','	<p><!--Spanish ID: 601125 --> <p>THURSDAY, Jan. 18 (HealthDay News) -- Outcomes are similar for both younger and older children who receive surgically implanted hearing aids (cochlear implants), Canadian researchers report.</p> <p>Researchers at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto compared outcomes for 20 children aged 5 years or younger (average age was just over 3 years old) and 20 older children (averaging 7 to 8 years old) who received bone-anchored hearing aids over a 10-year period.</p> <p>These devices are attached to the skull\'s temporal bone and treat hearing loss by directly stimulating the cochlea and conducting sound through the bone. Medical literature suggests the optimal age for implanting these hearing aids is 2 to 4 years, according to background information in the study.</p> <p>Among the children in this study, the hearing devices were implanted using either a one- or two-stage procedure, depending on the thickness of the child\'s bone. In the two-stage procedure, the hearing aid\'s titanium fixture is implanted first, and the rest of the device is installed later.</p> <p>All of the younger children and 18 of the older children in this study had the two-stage procedure. The length of time between the first and second procedure was 4.4 months in the older children and 7.7 months in the younger children. Four of the older children and two of the younger children experienced traumatic fixture loss -- the hearing aid components became loose or detached from the skull, and the children had to have surgery to repair the problem.</p> <p>Three of the younger children also had skin site revision -- additional surgery that was needed due to poor hygiene or inadequate care at the surg ical site. All of the children still wear their bone-anchored hearing aids, and all have improved hearing.</p> <p>\"In conclusion, two-stage bone-anchored hearing aid implantation yields surgical success in younger children that is comparable in audiologic outcomes and traumatic device failures and/or revisions with that achieved in older children when there is an appropriate (i.e. lengthened) delay between surgical stages to allow for osseointegration (fusion to the bone),\" the study authors wrote.</p> <p>\"Early implantation of bone anchored hearing aids allows the younger children who receive them to benefit from earlier speech and language habilitation,\" they added.</p> <p>The findings were published in the January issue of the <i>Archives of Otolaryngology-Head &amp; Neck Surgery</i>.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The U.S. National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders has more about <a href=\"http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/hearing/coch.asp\" target=\"_new\">cochlear implants</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1984','6','	<p><p>(HealthDay News) -- A ruptured eardrum has a tear in it. The torn tissue often is caused by pressure and fluid buildup resulting from a middle ear infection.</p> <p>The eardrum protects the inner ear from wind and foreign particles, and also helps you hear. When the eardrum is perforated, the University of Michigan Health System says, it can cause temporary or permanent hearing loss.</p> <p>Treatment may include an antibiotic to clear up any infection, and surgery may be required for large tears. The university recommends protecting the ear from water, cold and wind to reduce pain and the chances for additional injury while the tear heals itself.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1985','6','	<p><p>WEDNESDAY, Feb. 14 (HealthDay News) -- A combination of time and treatment with oral corticosteroids can help people with sudden sensorineural hearing loss regain full hearing, Korean researchers show.</p> <p>People with sudden sensorineural hearing loss suffer the loss of 30 decibels or more of hearing over several hours to three days. The condition affects about 4,000 Americans each year. About 30 percent to 60 percent of patients will experience spontaneous recovery within two weeks.</p> <p>This study, from a team at the Catholic University of Korea in Seoul, included 121 people with sudden sensorineural hearing loss who recovered within three months.</p> <p>Of those, 45.5 percent showed delayed recovery after 10 days of treatment with oral corticosteroids and, in that group of patients, 78 percent were fully recovered within a month.</p> <p>The study also found that a lesser degree of hearing loss is associated with an increased likelihood of delayed recovery. This suggests that even if a 10-day course of corticosteroid treatment doesn\'t stimulate recovery, there is still enough time to try alternative treatments, the study authors wrote.</p> <p>The findings are published in the February issue of <i>Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery</i>.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The U.S. National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders has more about <a href=\"http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/hearing/sudden.asp\" target=\"_new\">sudden hearing loss</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1986','6','	<p><p>MONDAY, Feb. 12 (HealthDay News) -- A large study of Greek men and women suggests that taking a daily midday nap may reduce your risk of dying from heart disease by more than 30 percent.</p> <p>Siestas are common in Mediterranean countries and several Latin American nations, and in these countries, the rate of dying from heart disease is comparatively low. Earlier studies had looked at the association between midday naps and heart disease, but the results were inconsistent. The new study is the first large, prospective study of people who were healthy at the start of the study, and it\'s also the first one to take into account risk factors, such as diet and exercise.</p> <p>\"If you have a siesta, it conveys a benefit against coronary mortality, which is considerable,\" said senior author Dr. Dimitrios Trichopoulos, a professor of cancer prevention and epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health.</p> <p>\"This is a simple habit, that if you adhere to it, you may get a benefit against the most important cause of mortality,\" Trichopoulos added. \"For those of you accustomed to having a siesta -- keep doing it. For the rest, wait to see additional studies, and if they confirm these findings, then you may really have to consider changing your lifestyle.\"</p> <p>The results are published in the Feb. 12 issue of the <i>Archives of Internal Medicine</i>.</p> <p>For the study, Trichopoulos\'s team collected data on 23,681 people in Greece. At the beginning of the study, none had a history of heart disease, stroke or cancer. The researchers followed these people for an average of 6.3 years.</p> <p>They found that people who regularly took a midday nap at least three times a week for an average of at least 30 minutes had a 37 percent lower risk of dying from heart disease, compared with people who didn\'t nap.</p> <p>People who napped occasionally had a non-significant 12 percent reduction in their risk of dying from heart disease.</p> <p>The apparent protective effect of siestas was particularly strong among men who worked, and was weaker among men who didn\'t, mainly retirees. Whether women also had the same benefit from a nap couldn\'t be determined from the data in this study, the researchers noted.</p> <p>Trichopoulos believes that naps are a way to relieve stress. \"We know there are all sorts of physiological phenomena associated with sleep,\" he said. \"But because sleep is such an important factor for cardiac mortality, it might have a simple stress-relieving impact,\" he said.</p> <p>The finding is potentially important, Trichopoulos said, but he added, \"We are not telling everyone they should go home and have a siesta.\"</p> <p>One heart expert said he was skeptical about the study\'s findings.</p> <p>\"In this study, there were numerous well-established and modifiable cardiovascular risk factors, such as blood pressure and LDL (\"bad\") cholesterol levels which were not measured and thus could not be adjusted for,\" said Dr. Gregg C. Fonarow, a professor of cardiology at the University of California, Los Angeles.</p> <p>These factors may be the reason for the lower rates of death from heart disease, he said.</p> <p>\"Before siestas could be recommended as a means of lowering cardiovascular risk, these findings would need to be confirmed in a large-scale, randomized, controlled trial,\" Fonarow said. \"Individuals wanting to lower their cardiovascular risk should stick to what has been proven to be effective: Don\'t smoke, get regular exercise, and maintain healthy blood pressure, weight, and cholesterol levels.\"</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>For more information on heart attacks, visit the <a href=\"http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3053\" target=\"_new\">American Heart Association</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1987','6','	<p><!--Spanish ID: 601853 --> <p>MONDAY, Feb. 12 (HealthDay News) -- The drug nesiritide (trade name Natrecor) may help prevent kidney dysfunction and improve survival in patients who\'ve had coronary artery bypass grafting that requires a cardiopulmonary bypass, according to a new company-funded study. </p> <p> The study, expected to be published in the Feb. 13 issue of the <i>Journal of the American College of Cardiology</i>, included 279 patients with left ventricular dysfunction.</p> <p>Those who took nesiritide had improved outcomes after their surgery, including shorter hospital stays and a lower death rate after 180 days, compared to patients who received a placebo.</p> <p>The prospective, multicenter, double-blind phase 2 study was sponsored by Scios Inc, which developed the drug.</p> <p>\"Patients on nesiritide had significantly greater urine output within 24 hours after surgery and overall better preservation of kidney functioning during hospitalization as well as two weeks after surgery,\" principal investigator Dr. Robert M. Mentzer Jr., dean of the medical school at Wayne State University, senior adviser to the president for medical affairs, and a professor in the division of cardiothoracic surgery, said in a prepared statement.</p> <p>\"We are assessing the design of a phase 3 trial in cardiac surgery patients to further study this investigational use of nesiritide and will be submitting these data to the FDA,\" Dr. Roger Mills, vice president of medical affairs at Scios, said in a prepared statement.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The American Heart Association has more about <a href=\"http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=1486\" target=\"_new\">heart failure</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1988','6','	<p><p>TUESDAY, Feb. 13 (HealthDay News) -- Drugs used in emergency rooms to reduce heart patients\' clotting risks can also boost their odds for dangerous bleeding, a new study shows.</p> <p>The major trial, involving more than 9,200 people treated in 17 countries, found that doctors may want to hold off giving these drugs -- called glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors -- to patients until just before they undergo angioplasty, to help lower bleeding risks.</p> <p>\"There were a lot of folks who were on the fence on this, who didn\'t know what the best way to treat patients was,\" said the study\'s lead author, Dr. Gregg Stone, a professor of medicine at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, in New York City. \"They might prefer not to start them upfront [on the drugs], because it means another IV, extra cost, and extra bleeding risk -- but they didn\'t know if it was safe not to. So, these results are going to be very reassuring.\"</p> <p>Still, the findings, published in the Feb. 14 issue of the <i>Journal of the American Medical Association</i>, don\'t come down solidly on giving glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors either early or late, and doctors may still want to make their decisions on a case-by-case basis, another expert said.</p> <p>\"Based on this data, I don\'t think it would fundamentally change how these drugs are used in acute coronary syndrome patients right now,\" said Dr. Kenneth Mahaffey, associate professor of medicine at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C. He was not involved in the study, but co-authored a commentary on the research for the journal.</p> <p>Acute coronary syndromes (ACS) include events such as sudden chest pain and even heart attack. Patients with ACS must be managed so that clots do not build up that could trigger an ischemic attack, such as a stroke or heart attack. These clots are especially problematic during invasive procedures such as angioplasty.</p> <p>Most ACS patients already receive some type of blood-thinner, such as heparin, upon admission to a hospital. But glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors, which include abciximab or eptifibatide, can also help cut clotting risks.</p> <p>\"All of the guidelines do recommend the use of glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors routinely in a heparin-based regimen,\" Stone explained. \"But the issue is, do you give them to all patients as soon as you see them in the emergency room, or do you wait and take them into the catheterization lab, and only use them in patients who are going to have an angioplasty?\"</p> <p>There is a good reason to consider delaying the use of glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors: They can boost bleeding risks. Bleeding can pose serious health dangers, especially in elderly patients.</p> <p>To help settle the issue, Stone, in collaboration with researchers in the United States, Germany and New Zealand, compared one-year outcomes for 9,207 patients treated at 450 centers worldwide.</p> <p>Patients with moderate- to high-risk ACS were treated with heparin and either abciximab or eptifibatide, with the major difference being that some received their glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitor immediately, while others received it an average of five hours later.</p> <p>\"The main finding was that if you waited and didn\'t use these drugs up front, and just give them to people who need them during angioplasty, not only did you use much less of the agents -- from 97 percent down to 55 percent -- you also used them for a much shorter period of time and with much less bleeding,\" Stone said. Thirty-day rates of major bleeding dropped from 6.1 percent of patients in the group that got the anti-clotting drug soonest to 4.9 percent of patients who received it a few hours later.</p> <p>But did putting off the use of these clot-inhibiting drugs boost ischemia risk?</p> <p>Among patients in the \"delayed-drug\" group, Stone said, \"There was a slight trend toward a very slight increase in adverse ischemic complications.\" Overall, 7.9 percent of patients in the delayed-drug group suffered an ischemic event in the month after their invasive treatment, compared to 7.1 percent of those who got the anti-clotting drug earlier.</p> <p>\"This difference did not reach statistical significance, however, and the only type of ischemic complication that tended to be increased was the most minor of all the types we measured,\" Stone noted.</p> <p>So, based on the findings, \"It seems like either strategy would be acceptable, but the one we would favor -- especially in elderly patients at an increased risk of bleeding -- would be to withhold the drugs from up-front use, waiting until you see what the angiogram shows, and then give the drug to those people who absolutely need it,\" Stone said.</p> <p>Mahaffey was more ambivalent. He believes decisions as to when to use glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors still rely on the particulars of each patient.</p> <p>\"It\'s still a balance between waiting and having that slightly lower bleeding rate, or starting them earlier and having a slightly lower [heart attack] rate,\" he said.</p> <p>Longer-term data from this and other trials, \"may put us on the road to choosing one option or the other,\" Mahaffey said. \"But I don\'t think that we will ever really have definitive evidence one way or the other from these data.\"</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>Find out more about acute coronary syndromes at the <a href=\"http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3010002\" target=\"_new\">American Heart Association</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1989','6','	<p><p>TUESDAY, Feb. 13 (HealthDay News) -- Reducing iron levels by removing blood seems to have a beneficial effect on people with peripheral arterial disease (PAD) -- a partial or total blockage of an artery, usually one leading to an arm or a leg.</p> <p>However, the blood-letting treatment is only effective against PAD if the process of iron reduction begins at a relatively young age, researchers say.</p> <p>The findings, published in the Feb. 14 issue of the <i>Journal of the American Medical Association</i>, add more fuel to the debate regarding iron and cardiovascular disease. But they also point to some practical measures people can take, such as paying attention to iron intake through food and supplements. </p> <p>\"I don\'t think we can make the flat-footed recommendation [for iron removal] on the basis of this data,\" said Dr. Leo R. Zacharski, lead author of the study and a physician-researcher at White River Junction (Vt.) Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Dartmouth Medical School. \"But it definitely raises very practical issues of everyday life.\" </p> <p>\"The issue of iron is one we need to pay attention to,\" added Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum, a cardiologist with the Heart and Vascular Institute at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. \"We know that women develop heart disease later in life after they stop menstruating, while men have a high storage of iron throughout their life. For men, it\'s very important to take a multivitamin that doesn\'t have iron. Women need iron while they\'re menstruating, but after they hit menopause, they don\'t need it.\" </p> <p>Excess accumulation of iron in the body is thought to be a risk factor for coronary heart disease. So, by that theory, reducing iron stores would also reduce cardiovascular risk. </p> <p>This hypothesis is based on the fact that premenopausal women (who lose iron through menstruation) had a lower incidence of coronary heart disease, while men and postmenopausal women (who do not excrete iron) have a higher risk. Also, men who donated blood were found to have fewer heart problems than men who did not. Other studies, however, have had mixed results. </p> <p>\"There is evidence that iron accumulates over time. There\'s no question about that,\" Zacharski said. \"We have no way of excreting iron and, as it builds up in the system, it exerts oxidative stress that causes damage to the tissue. It has been correlated with disease risk.\" </p> <p>To test the iron hypothesis, these researchers randomized 1,277 patients with symptomatic but stable PAD to undergo phlebotomy (blood-letting) every six months or to a control group that did not undergo the procedure. </p> <p>Phlebotomy was chosen because, Zacharski said, \"there\'s no drug or device, and it\'s totally safe.\" Researchers could also measure the amount of blood needed to lower iron levels (it turned out to be just under a unit of blood every six months). </p> <p>There were no significant differences between the two groups when it came to all-cause mortality or death plus nonfatal heart attack and stroke. </p> <p>But, differences were seen when the participants were stratified by age. Younger patients (aged 43 to 61) in the iron unloading group had 54 percent fewer deaths from all causes and 57 percent fewer deaths occurring after nonfatal heart attacks and strokes. Smokers and individuals without diabetes who underwent phlebotomy also seemed to have better outcomes. </p> <p>\"Taking the total cohort, there isn\'t an effect, but if you look at younger people or smokers, it looks like there\'s an effect,\" Zacharski said. \"It looks like there are factors that come into play early in a person\'s life that contribute to morbidity and mortality later, [so] the earlier you intervene, the better the outcome.\" </p> <p><b>More information </b></p> <p>There\'s more on PAD at the <a href=\"http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3020242\" target=\"_new\">American Heart Association</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1990','6','	<p><p>WEDNESDAY, Feb. 14 (HealthDay News) -- Adding corticosteroid drugs to conventional treatment for a childhood cardiac illness called Kawasaki disease did not make a difference for most patients, new research shows.</p> <p>There was, however, a subgroup of high-risk children who seemed to do better with steroids and who deserve further investigation.</p> <p>\"This trial treated all kids to see if overall outcomes could be made better and really they weren\'t,\" said study author Dr. Jane Newburger, an associate chief for academic affairs in the department of cardiology at Children\'s Hospital Boston. \"But maybe within this overall group of kids there is a subgroup of the sickest children who could benefit. It\'s very tantalizing but we can\'t make a final conclusion about it.\"</p> <p>Kawasaki disease, which is reported in about 5,000 children a year in the United States, is characterized by inflammation of blood vessels throughout the body. Symptoms include high fever, rashes, bloodshot eyes, swelling of the hands and feet, redness of the mucous membranes in the mouth, throat and lips, and swollen neck lymph nodes.</p> <p>The disease and symptoms are treatable with gamma globulin. If treatment is started within the first 10 days, heart damage can be prevented and the patient can make a full recovery. Among patients who don\'t receive treatment, as many as 25 percent develop lethal coronary problems.</p> <p>There is no known cause and no diagnostic test. Study of the disease has also been difficult because of problems obtaining tissue and lack of good animal models.</p> <p>\"There\'s been a tremendous amount of research over the past 30 years looking for specific causes such as viruses, types of bacteria and other infectious agents, and really no single cause has been found,\" Newburger said.</p> <p>Standard treatment for the disease is intravenous gamma globulin and aspirin. \"This is an extremely effective therapy in most people,\" Newburger said. \"About 10 to 15 percent of children need a second treatment and those who don\'t respond to gamma globulin really form the highest risk group.\"</p> <p>The role of corticosteroids, in addition to conventional treatment, has been unclear.</p> <p>For this trial, which appears in the Feb. 15 issue of the <i>New England Journal of Medicine</i>, about 200 patients were randomly assigned to receive one dose of intravenous methylprednisolone (a corticosteroid) or a placebo. All patients also received conventional therapy. </p> <p>After one and five weeks, participants in both groups had similar outcomes, including changes in dimensions of the coronary vessels, numbers of days of fever, rates of re-treatment with intravenous immune globulin, and numbers of adverse events. </p> <p>However, an analyses conducted later found that children with persistent fever who received gamma globulin as well as the corticosteroid had better coronary outcomes than patients who received re-treatment with gamma globulin and a placebo.</p> <p>This hints at the possibility that children at high risk for resistance to intravenous gamma globulin and for coronary problems may benefit from receiving corticosteroids, the researchers said.</p> <p>\"We have a small group subgroup of the sickest kids who, in fact, required more than one gamma globulin treatment and had persistent fever,\" Newburger said. \"In that group, there is a suggestion, but not proof, that kids who received steroids did better and had better coronary outcomes. I think where that leaves us is to say that future trials probably should concentrate on the highest risk subgroup with Kawasaki disease.\" </p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>Find out more on this condtion at the <a href=\"http://www.kdfoundation.org/\" target=\"_new\">Kawasaki Disease Foundation</a>.</p></p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1991','6','	<p><p>MONDAY, Jan. 22 (HealthDay News) -- The idea of an Alzheimer\'s vaccine, which had run into serious roadblocks, may have a new lease on life in the form of a skin patch.</p> <p>In their study involving mice, U.S. researchers found that a \"transdermal\" vaccine (placed on the skin) was safe and effective in clearing away brain plaques that are hallmarks of Alzheimer\'s disease. </p> <p>The findings are reported in this week\'s issue of the <i>Proceedings of the National Academy of Science</i>.</p> <p>The Alzheimer\'s vaccine works by stimulating the immune system to recognize and act against beta-amyloid, the protein that accumulates in the brains of Alzheimer\'s patients and which many experts feel is the root cause of memory and other cognitive problems. </p> <p>A previous clinical trial of an Alzheimer\'s vaccine ended in tragedy when a small percentage of study participants developed a dangerous autoimmune response (brain inflammation) and died. </p> <p>That trial was suspended indefinitely, although the remaining participants have been followed and have been shown to have produced immune system antibodies in response to the vaccine. </p> <p>A subset of patients from the study have remained stable since the start of that trial four years ago. One of them recently participated in a marathon.</p> <p>\"This is telling you that there are at least a small number of patients who appear to have benefited from immunotherapy,\" said study co-author Dave Morgan, director of the Alzheimer\'s Research Laboratory at the University of South Florida in Tampa. \"This makes it very encouraging to try to develop a safer form of immunotherapy in the event that this could be widely applied to Alzheimer\'s patients in a way that wouldn\'t result in brain inflammation.\" </p> <p>Generally, the body reacts to a vaccine in one of two ways, called \"Th1\" and \"Th2.\" The Th1 response is more likely to produce an autoimmune reaction, such as was seen in the earlier Alzheimer\'s vaccine trial. </p> <p>Th2 is less likely to produce such a reaction. \"One of the advantages of giving the vaccine in the skin is that it biases the response toward the Th2 type of immune reaction,\" Morgan explained. \"That is predicted to have less likelihood of producing the problems observed in the [earlier] trial.\" </p> <p>In this study, transdermal immunization did not seem to trigger any autoimmune problems in mice specially bred to develop Alzheimer\'s disease. </p> <p>For an older population of patients, especially, a skin patch would also have several advantages over vaccines that are either injected or given orally. </p> <p>\"It probably would have a much higher rate of compliance amongst an older population,\" Morgan said. </p> <p>Morgan and his team plan to keep testing the transdermal vaccine in animals to see if it can halt memory loss. Should these trials prove successful, it could be time to test a skin patch or topical cream in Alzheimer\'s patients, he said. </p> <p>One expert cautioned that an Alzheimer\'s vaccine isn\'t imminent, however.</p> <p>\"This is pretty preliminary, basic science sort of stuff,\" said William Thies, vice president of medical and scientific relations at the Alzheimer\'s Association. \"There\'s a lot of development between where they are with this paper and where you actually have something on the pharmacy shelf that is there to treat your Alzheimer\'s. And we do need to keep in mind that we\'re looking at mice.\"</p> <p>Thies also pointed out that many different approaches in the area of Alzheimer\'s vaccines are being explored right now.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>For more on Alzheimer\'s, check the <a href=\"http://www.alz.org\" target=\"_new\"> Alzheimer\'s Association</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1992','6','	<p><p>FRIDAY, Jan. 26 (HealthDay News) -- A protein called adiponectin -- produced by fat cells -- helps clear dead cells from the body and reduce inflammation that causes autoimmune diseases, diabetes and heart disease, a U.S. study finds.</p> <p>The discovery may improve researchers\' understanding of these diseases and help them develop new ways to prevent or treat them, the study authors said. They found that in lab mice, adiponectin reduced inflammation by helping macrophages (eater cells) remove dead cells from the body, an important part of immune system function.</p> <p>Each day, billions of dead cells are produced as the body\'s cells are renewed. Accumulation of these dead cells can cause inflammation and immune system dysfunction.</p> <p>\"Adiponectin facilitates that process by forming a bridge between the dead cells and the macrophages that will consume them,\" study senior author Kenneth Walsh, director of molecular cardiology at the Whitaker Cardiovascular Institute at Boston University School of Medicine, said in a prepared statement.</p> <p>The study was published in the Jan. 25 issue of the <i>Journal of Clinical Investigation</i>.</p> <p>\"Understanding how fat controls inflammation is a key to understanding how fat contributes to many disease processes. This study has figured out one of the mechanisms by which fat controls inflammation,\" Walsh said.</p> <p>Impaired clearance of dead cells may play an important role in diabetes and cardiovascular disease, he said.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The U.S. National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases has more about <a href=\"http://www.niams.nih.gov/hi/topics/autoimmune/autoimmunity.htm\" target=\"_new\">autoimmunity</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1993','6','	<p><p>TUESDAY, Feb. 6 (HealthDay News) -- U.S. AIDS researchers are getting a better understanding of how an immune system molecule called interleukin-7 keeps cells from dying, even when they\'re under attack from HIV.</p> <p>Clinical trials are already under way in which scientists are boosting HIV-positive patients\' IL-7 levels to improve their immune health.</p> <p>\"We desperately need some way of protecting cells from dying in AIDS,\" said Rowena Johnston, vice president of research at the Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR) in New York City.</p> <p>While IL-7 therapy would never replace current highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) for patients, it might help repair the lasting damage that HIV inflicts on the immune system, she said.</p> <p>\"Because, even in the first few weeks of infection -- before you even know that you have HIV and haven\'t started therapy yet -- there is this lasting damage to the immune system that HIV does,\" Johnston noted. \"That is something that absolutely needs to be addressed.\"</p> <p>Johnston was not involved in the study, which was conducted by a team at the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). The researchers published their findings in this week\'s <i>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</i>.</p> <p>IL-7 is one of a number of interleukin molecules that the body uses as \"long-range messengers\" to recruit an immune response to sites of injury in the body, explained lead researcher Paolo Lusso. He is an adjunct investigator in the Laboratory of Immunoregulation at NIAID.</p> <p>According to Lusso, IL-7, especially, is \"recognized to be key to the well-being of the T-cell.\" T-cells are a type of immune system killer cell, as well as a regulatory cell.</p> <p>A major subset of T-cells, called CD4-positive T-cells, are also the prime target of HIV. As the virus enters and kills these cells, it slowly destroys the human immune system, leaving AIDS patients vulnerable to deadly infections.</p> <p>But \"IL-7 helps keep T-cells alive,\" Lusso said. \"When you get any knocks or damage that lowers the number of [T-cell] lymphocytes, IL-7 turns on to try and rebalance the situation.\"</p> <p>With that in mind, researchers have long investigated the IL-7 molecule as a possible therapy. In fact, a clinical trial using IL-7 as adjunct therapy in HIV-positive patients is set to announce its findings in March, Lusso said.</p> <p>The NIAID trial looked at the issue from a different angle, trying to discover just <i>how</i> IL-7 protects T-cells from harm.</p> <p>In their laboratory experiments, Lusso and his co-researchers took blood samples from 24 HIV-infected patients at varying stages of infection. They then added an extra dose of IL-7 to the samples and observed T-cell survival.</p> <p>\"What we found is that IL-7 prevents the apoptosis of CD4 cells in HIV-infected patients,\" he said.</p> <p>Apoptosis -- programmed cell death -- is a natural phenomenon common to nearly all cells. One of the ways that HIV kills T-cells is by driving them into apoptosis way too early, scientists say.</p> <p>The new study experiments also showed that IL-7 delayed HIV-related apoptosis in another form of T-cell, the CD8-positive T-cell, Lusso said.</p> <p>And the study turned up another welcome surprise. \"If you administer IL-7 to normal cells in an uninfected individual, the effect is close to zero,\" Lusso said. \"That\'s good, because you want to maintain those healthy, physiological levels of apoptosis.\"</p> <p>In fact, IL-7 therapy was most protective in samples from sicker patients with the <i>lowest</i> CD4 T-cell counts -- exactly those populations doctors would most like to help.</p> <p>While the findings are heartening, Lusso said \"there\'s no way that [IL-7 therapy] would substitute for HAART. But it may be beneficial.\"</p> <p>The therapy might prove especially useful in limiting the long-lasting immune system damage that occurs within the first few days of infection. According to Lusso, that damage is like a \"scar\" that lingers on the immune response, dampening its function even after HIV levels have been suppressed.</p> <p>\"We are actually planning an experiment in monkeys that will start in the next few weeks,\" Lusso said. \"We\'d like to give them IL-7 early, before HIV gets into the body in a really pervasive way, to see if we can prevent the formation of that [immune system] scar.\"</p> <p>\"Then, maybe you could go with HAART full steam ahead, suppress the virus and prevent the damage that the virus does even within that short space of time,\" he explained.</p> <p>But Lusso stressed that patients shouldn\'t pin too much hope on IL-7, which is also under development as potential cancer therapy. While it\'s thought to be relatively safe, the treatment might have unforeseen side-effects down the line, he said.</p> <p>\"The [immune] system is so complicated and interrelated -- you can do something good on one side and cause something bad on the other side,\" he said. \"We have to watch what happens here.\"</p> <p>Johnston, of amfAR, agreed. \"It\'s all such a fine balance,\" she said. \"Any change in any one of those ingredients can have vast repercussions for how the whole system works.\"</p> <p>In a related study, also published in this week\'s <i>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</i>, scientists at the U.S. National Cancer Institute said they have discovered how a virus responsible for some T-cell leukemias evades the body\'s immune defenses.</p> <p>The virus, called human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1), can block the packaging of an immune system enzyme called hA3G within viral particles. Under normal circumstances, the body uses hA3G to stop the virus from replicating, but HTLV-1 seems to inhibit this activity, researchers said.</p> <p>However, in their experiments, the researchers were able to tweak certain amino acids within HTLV-1 and boost the protective activity of hA3G. The finding could \"possibly assist in preventing some types of cancer,\" NCI director Dr. John E. Niederhuber said in a statement.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>There\'s more on the fight against HIV/AIDS at <a href=\"http://www.amfar.org\" target=\"_new\">amfAR</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1994','6','	<p><!--Spanish ID: 600505 --> <p>WEDNESDAY, Dec. 27 (HealthDay News) -- A molecular \"on/off\" switch that controls immune system response to viruses has been identified by researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.</p> <p>They found that when the hepatitis C virus enters the human body, the virus switches on immune system defenses. But the virus can turn off those defenses by manipulating the interactions of certain cellular proteins called RIG-1 and LGP2.</p> <p>This same \"on/off\" switch controls immune system response against many kinds of viruses, and the switch may offer a new target for new drugs to fight viruses, the researchers said.</p> <p>\"This knowledge will help us design drugs that mimic the viral effects on these proteins to either activate a host\'s immune response or shut it down,\" study senior author Dr. Michael Gale, an associate professor of microbiology, said in a prepared statement.</p> <p>\"This holds great potential in developing new disease therapies, because the tactics employed by hepatitis C to trigger immune response are similar to those employed by other viruses such as West Nile, influenza and the common cold,\" Gale said.</p> <p>The study appears in this week\'s online issue of the <i>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</i>.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The American Society for Microbiology has more about <a href=\"http://www.microbeworld.org/microbes/virus/\" target=\"_new\">viruses</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1995','6','	<p><p>FRIDAY, Dec. 29 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers believe they\'ve developed an important new tool in understanding rheumatoid arthritis: a genetically altered mouse that closely mimics the disease in humans.</p> <p>The new mouse model might also help explain why women are much more prone to the crippling illness than men.</p> <p>\"This is a big step forward, because for the first time, we have mice that actually have the human genes which makes humans susceptible to rheumatoid arthritis,\" said study author Veena Taneja, an assistant professor in the department of immunology at the Mayo Clinic, in Rochester, Minn.</p> <p>The importation of these human genes into the rodent means that \"any treatment which is studied in this mouse would be a relevant treatment in humans,\" she explained.</p> <p>Taneja\'s team reported the advance in the January issue of <i>Arthritis &amp; Rheumatism</i>.</p> <p>According to the Arthritis Foundation, more than 2 million Americans suffer from rheumatoid arthritis, most of whom initially begin coping with this autoimmune disease between the ages of 30 and 50.</p> <p>While 70 percent of patients are women, the illness tends to be more aggressive in men.</p> <p>Nailing down the exact cause of rheumatoid arthritis has been tough. Researchers have started to explore the possibility that the degenerative joint disease may, in fact, be the product of several different pathologies.</p> <p>Once under way, rheumatoid arthritis harnesses the patient\'s otherwise healthy immune system to behave abnormally -- attacking healthy tissue as if it were a foreign invader.</p> <p>The disease typically strikes the smaller joints of the hand, wrist and fingers first. Accompanying symptoms include fatigue, stiffness (especially in the morning), weakness and muscle pain, weight loss, depression and flu-like complications.</p> <p>To date, there is no known cure. Treatments focus on pain relief and the reduction of joint inflammation but do not halt the illness.</p> <p>Efforts to get at a cure have run into one major roadblock: The most useful and available study subjects -- mice -- do not naturally mimic the human course of rheumatoid arthritis.</p> <p>In their work, Taneja\'s team sought to build a better lab mouse for the study of the illness. They focused first on a specific human gene mutation previously associated with a higher risk for rheumatoid disease.</p> <p>The gene is known to provoke the activation of certain auto-antibodies, a step immediately preceding the onset of rheumatoid arthritis.</p> <p>Working with both female and male mice, the authors removed the mouse equivalent of this gene -- \"knocking\" it out -- and replaced it with the relevant human gene.</p> <p>The offspring of these genetically altered rodents were then induced to develop arthritis by injecting collagen into their systems.</p> <p>Taneja and her colleagues found that all of the mice who went on to develop arthritis produced an immune response that strongly resembled that seen in human disease.</p> <p>As well, female mice were found to have triple the likelihood for developing rheumatoid arthritis -- just as is found among humans.</p> <p>The researchers believe the new mice are ideal models for the study of human rheumatoid arthritis.</p> <p>\"I\'m very excited about this achievement, because by studying these mice, hopefully, we can put together some new treatment strategies and make some real headway with this disease,\" said Taneja.</p> <p>Dr. Hayes Wilson, chief of rheumatology at Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta as well as a national medical adviser for the Arthritis Foundation, said the new mouse model is a real breakthrough.</p> <p>\"Any time that we can mimic disease in an experimental way that more closely resembles it in our own experience, we\'re better off,\" he said. \"Of course, it doesn\'t necessarily translate into a health improvement for humans, but I think it\'s the best we can do.\"</p> <p>\"So, this sounds to me like an exciting development,\" Hayes added. \"I\'m optimistic that it will lead to better understanding and better treatment, and perhaps, ultimately, the cure we\'d all like to find.\"</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>For additional information on rheumatoid arthritis, visit the <a href=\"http://www.arthritis.org/conditions/DiseaseCenter/RA/default.asp\" target=\"_new\">Arthritis Foundation</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1996','6','	<p><p>MONDAY, Jan. 8 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers report that they\'ve developed a test that could give doctors a much clearer idea about which drugs to prescribe for patients infected with HIV.</p> <p>Doctors already use a variety of tests to gauge whether the strains of HIV within a patient are immune to different types of AIDS medications. But the developers of this new test say their version is much more sensitive and can detect smaller levels of resistance to drugs in the bloodstream.</p> <p>While more research is needed and it will take at least two years for a new test to become widely available, the development will hopefully allow doctors \"to make an informed selection of an HIV drug and delay resistance,\" said study author Dr. Feng Gao, an associate professor at Duke University. \"Patients can stay healthier for a longer time.\"</p> <p>Over the past several years, drug resistance has become a larger problem for HIV patients. That\'s because, as time passes, the different strains of the AIDS virus inside a person evolve into new forms and learn how to become immune to the effects of certain drugs.</p> <p> \"HIV is a different creature in every person,\" explained Rowena Johnston, vice president for research with the American Foundation for AIDS Research. \"Even within one individual body, there are many different types of HIV running around.\"</p> <p>Drug resistance can even begin at the moment of infection if the person transmitting the virus is already immune to certain drugs as a result of treatment.</p> <p>Enter the drug-resistance tests, which are designed to tell doctors which kinds of medications won\'t work in individual patients.</p> <p> \"There\'s no magic bullet; there\'s no one-size-fits-all,\" Johnston said. \"When you\'re going to treat HIV, you should start with three or more drugs. The question is, when you\'re picking from more than 20 drugs that are available, which are the good ones for this particular person?\"</p> <p>The problem is that the current tests aren\'t sensitive enough to catch all drug-resistant strains, meaning that even the best-designed drug regimen might not be as effective as it could be.</p> <p>Researchers at Duke University tried out the new test on AIDS patients and found that it detected drug resistance in strains that make up as little as .1 to .01 percent of virus in a person. According to the researchers, that\'s 1,000 times more sensitive than any existing test.</p> <p>The researchers report their findings about the test in the February issue of <i>Nature Methods</i>, which was published online on Sunday.</p> <p>According to a statement from Duke, the test\'s developers want to patent the technology and either create a company to develop it or license the test to another company.</p> <p>There are some caveats. The test may be expensive, although Gao doesn\'t expect it to cost more than $1,000. Currently, according to Johnston, many patients don\'t get the best tests that are available, so there\'s a question about how many would get the new test.</p> <p>Meanwhile, there\'s debate about how valuable it is to know that, for instance, 10 percent of a person\'s HIV strains are resistant to particular types of drugs.</p> <p>\"There\'s one school of people who says that if 10 percent of your virus population is resistant, that might not be that clinically important in the end,\" Johnston said. \"Another school says that it might almost make the difference between life and death.\"</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>For more information about drug resistance, try the <a href=\"http://www.who.int/drugresistance/en/\" target=\"_new\">World Health Organization</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1997','6','	<p><p>WEDNESDAY, Jan. 10 (HealthDay News) -- A new U.S. study says that delaying the use of the drug nevirapine for at least six months after HIV-infected women give birth may improve treatment outcomes in women who took nevirapine during labor to prevent their babies from becoming infected with HIV. </p> <p>The findings could lead to changes in the treatment of millions of mothers infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. The study is published in the Jan. 11 issue of <i>The New England Journal of Medicine</i>.</p> <p>Nevirapine -- used alone or in combination with other drugs -- significantly reduces the risk that a pregnant women infected with HIV will pass the virus to her child at birth. However, previous research has found that 20 percent to 69 percent of women who receive a single dose of nevirapine during labor go on to develop resistance to the drug.</p> <p>This resistance may affect a woman\'s ability to respond to nevirapine-containing antiretroviral therapy (ART) when they may need it to save their lives, according to background information in the study. In most parts of the world, nevirapine is the cornerstone of three-drug ART.</p> <p>This study, by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health and Brigham and Women\'s Hospital in Boston, included 218 HIV-infected women who received a single dose of nevirapine or a placebo during labor, along with a short course of the antiretroviral drug zidovudine (AZT) during pregnancy.</p> <p>Sixty of the women started nevirapine-based ART within six months of giving birth, while the rest of the women started the treatment six months after labor. Among the 60 women who started ART within six months after labor, treatment failure occurred in 41.7 percent of those who received a single dose of nevirapine during labor, compared to 0 percent among those who received the placebo.</p> <p>Among the women who began nevirapine-based ART six months after giving birth, treatment failure rates were about the same for women who received either nevirapine or placebo during labor.</p> <p>\"These results translate into very clear policy for how to treat AIDS in new mothers who received nevirapine to protect their infants. If you can wait six months to administer nevirapine-based ART, do so. If not, treat only with combinations of drugs that do not contain nevirapine or nevirapine-related drugs. Implementing this policy can improve the health of women who need AIDS treatment,\" study co-author Max Essex, chairman of the Harvard School of Public Health AIDS Initiative, said in a prepared statement.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The New Mexico AIDS Education and Training Center has more about <a href=\"http://www.aidsinfonet.org/factsheet_detail.php?fsnumber=611&new Lang=en\" target=\"_new\">HIV and pregnancy</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1998','6','	<p> <P><b>Summary:</b> A new study finds that the antibiotic doxycycline can treat a certain type of <a href=\"http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/CRI_2_3x.asp?dt=32\">lymphoma</a> that starts in the eye. The discovery could simplify treatment for patients and help researchers understand what causes this cancer. The study, by researchers from Italy\'s San Raffaele H Scientific Institute, appears in the <i>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</i>.</p> <P><b>Why it\'s important:</b> Although eye lymphomas aren\'t common, they can be troubling to patients. The tumors are usually small often pea-sized but they can interfere with vision and often need treatment with radiation or even chemotherapy. Both kinds of treatment have side effects. Radiation can damage the eye and cause vision loss. Chemotherapy is a poor alternative because the drugs affect the whole body, even though the problem is a small tumor in the eye. Finding a simpler treatment with fewer side effects would be a great benefit to patients.</p> <P><b>What\'s already known:</b> Eye lymphomas belong to a class called MALT lymphomas. The most common MALT lymphoma starts in the stomach. In the past few years scientists have learned that MALT lymphomas of the stomach are associated with an infection by a bacterium called <i>Helicobacter pylori</i>. It turns out that treating the <i>H. pylori</i> infection with potent antibiotic combinations will not only eliminate the <i>H. pylori</i>, but also cause the lymphoma to regress. This has made antibiotics the standard treatment for MALT lymphomas of the stomach and many patients have been cured without using radiation or chemotherapy. </p> <P>Eye lymphomas that start in the lids or tissue covering the eye (called conjunctiva) are also of the MALT type, leading investigators to suspect bacterial infection as their cause as well. They discovered that many eye lymphomas are associated with an infection with a bacterium called <i>Chlamydia psittaci</i>. The authors of the present study looked to see if antibiotic treatment of this infection would cause the lymphoma to regress.</p> <P><b>How this study was done:</b> Twenty-seven patients with eye lymphoma were enrolled in the study. Fifteen were newly diagnosed, while the rest had recurrent disease after treatment with either radiation or chemotherapy. They were tested for spread of the lymphoma. Only 3 had any spread, and this was to nearby lymph nodes. The patients were also tested for infection with <i>C. psittaci</i>. All were given doxycycline pills twice a day for 3 weeks, regardless of whether they were infected with the bacterium. There were no side effects from the doxycycline, which is a widely used antibiotic, and all participants completed their treatment. </p> <P><b>What was found:</b> More than half of the patients improved. In 6 patients the lymphoma disappeared completely. In another 7, it decreased to less than half of its original size, and in another 3 it decreased some, but not as much. Even among the patients who had no decrease in their tumors, most did not have any growth either. </p> <P>Sometimes the response was slow, taking as long as 6 months to begin and up to 36 months before the shrinking had stopped. Even enlarged lymph nodes got smaller. Responses also occurred both in untreated patients and in those who had had been treated before with chemotherapy or radiation. </p> <P>The responses were long lasting, too; most of the patients whose tumors shrank did not see any regrowth, at least for the average follow-up period of 21 months.</p> <P>Although some of the patients did not have any infection with <i>C. psittaci</i> detected, this did not seem to affect their response. Similar numbers of people with and without the infection responded to treatment.</p> <P><b>The bottom line:</b> The authors say doxycycline appears to be a good alternative to radiation and chemotherapy for patients with eye lymphoma. It is safe, effective, and free of any serious side effects. However, until more studies are done to examine this therapy, they say patients should only get this treatment within a clinical trial. A clinical trial labeled IELSG 27 has started to look at the role of antibiotics in treating eye lymphomas and testing to see which antibiotics are the most effective.</p> <DIV align=center><IMG height=1 alt=\"\" src=\"/images/health/story/www_cancer_org/common/images/rule.gif\" width=440 vspace=10 name=rule></DIV> <P><b>Citation:</b> \"Bacteria-Eradicating Therapy with Doxycycline in Ocular Adnexal MALT Lymphoma: A Multicenter Prospective Trial.\" Published in the Oct. 4, 2006, <i>Journal of the National Cancer Institute</i> (Vol. 98, No. 19:1375-1382). First author: Andres J. M. Ferreri, San Raffaele H Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('1999','6','	<p><p>THURSDAY, Nov. 9 (HealthDay News) -- Cholesterol screening and treatment is a cost-effective way to extend the lives of Hodgkin\'s lymphoma survivors, according to a new U.S. study.</p> <p>The study of 25-year-old Hodgkin\'s survivors treated with chest radiation concluded that those who receive cholesterol screening every five years will live a half-year longer than those who don\'t have the screening.</p> <p>&quot;Although physicians are aware that Hodgkin\'s lymphoma survivors are at increased risk of heart disease, it hasn\'t been well-established how best to monitor these patients,&quot; lead author Dr. Aileen Chen, a radiation oncologist at the Dana-Farber Cancer Center in Boston, said in a prepared statement.</p> <p>&quot;Our study shows that lipid screening in Hodgkin\'s survivors is cost effective and provides physicians with a guideline on how frequently they should be screening for high cholesterol, an important risk factor for heart disease,&quot; Chen said.</p> <p>When Hodgkin\'s disease patients receive radiation therapy to the chest in order to treat lymph nodes there, their hearts also receive a small amount of radiation. This puts the survivors at increased risk for heart disease. Those with high cholesterol are most likely to develop heart disease.</p> <p>If screening detects high cholesterol levels, the patient can be prescribed cholesterol-lowering drugs.</p> <p>The findings were presented Wednesday at the annual meeting of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology, in Philadelphia.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The American Cancer Society has more about <a href=\"http://www.cancer.org/docroot/cri/content/cri_2_4_1x_what_is_hodgkins_disease_20.asp?sitearea=cri\" target=\"_new\">Hodgkin\'s lymphoma</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('2000','6','	<p> <P>The US Food and Drug Administration is again alerting patients and doctors to a rare but serious side effect of Rituxan (rituximab), a drug approved to treat <a href=\"http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/CRI_2x.asp?sitearea=&dt=32\">non-Hodgkin lymphoma</a>.</p> <P>According to the agency, people taking Rituxan may be at risk of developing a severe viral infection called progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, or PML. The infection, which can be fatal, can develop as long as 12 months after treatment has stopped.</p> <P>Rituxan\'s label already contains a warning about PML. There have been 23 confirmed cases of PML in people with lymphoma who were treated with Rituxan, according to the FDA. </p> <P>But lymphoma patients shouldn\'t be overly concerned by the renewed warning, says Philip Bierman, MD, a hematologist at the University of Nebraska Medical Center who treats patients with Rituxan. </p> <P>\"It\'s something that we need to be aware of,\" he says, \"but the bottom line is, if your physician thinks you need rituximab, probably the benefits outweigh the risks of this very rare complication.\" </p> <P>Lymphoma patients should not stop taking the drug, he adds. Those who are concerned should talk with their doctor about PML.</p> <P>Other experts agree. Rituxan has helped people live longer, and patients should not abandon it over fears about a rare complication, says lymphoma expert Bruce D. Cheson, MD, director of hematology services at Georgetown\'s Lombardi Cancer Center in Washington, DC. </p> <P> \"I\'ve used this drug more times than I can count and it\'s exceptionally well tolerated,\" he says. \"It\'s one of the major advances in hematology/oncology in my lifetime.\" </p> <div class=T8>Get Neurological Symptoms Checked Out');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('2001','6','	<p><p>FRIDAY, Dec. 22 (HealthDay News) -- Adding a new twist to the debate over the value of mistletoe as an alternative cancer treatment, British doctors are reporting the case of a patient whose consumption of an extract from the Christmas decoration led to a tumor-like growth.</p> <p>An accompanying commentary suggests the case provides yet another reason to avoid using mistletoe as anything other than a holiday decoration. But an alternative medicine specialist points out that risks are inherent in conventional medicine, too.</p> <p>While the plant itself is poisonous, mistletoe extracts have long been touted as an alternative cancer cure, especially in Europe and Germany. Extracts are typically given by injection and said to boost the immune system to fight tumors.</p> <p>According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), some mistletoe studies have suggested that it has value as a cancer treatment. However, the NIH -- which has launched its own study -- said the previous research has been flawed. </p> <p>In the Dec. 23-30 issue of the <i>British Medical Journal</i>, doctors report about the case of a 61-year-old woman who reported a tumor-like mass in her abdomen after undergoing breast cancer treatment. She had previously suffered from lymphoma.</p> <p>Doctors were mystified by the mass, until the patient revealed that she had been taking under-the-skin injections of a mistletoe extract as a treatment for lymphoma.</p> <p>The doctors wrote that the mass appeared to be an inflammation caused by the mistletoe treatment. The report didn\'t say if the woman had any further problems.</p> <p>In the commentary, Dr. Edzard Ernst, of the Universities of Exeter and Plymouth and a professor of complementary medicine, wrote that mistletoe produces many other side effects, including joint pain and kidney failure.</p> <p>The claim that mistletoe injections have no serious risks \"is therefore misleading,\" wrote Ernst, who added that \"the costs of regular mistletoe injections are high.\"</p> <p>Still, it\'s important to put the risks into context, said Dr. Adam Perlman, executive director of the Institute for Complementary and Alternative Medicine at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.</p> <p>\"I don\'t think the significance of this case report should be exaggerated,\" he said. \"There is much that we do in conventional medicine that has limited evidence and potential for harm. The main issue here is less the risk of mistletoe and more the idea that the public needs to understand that \'alternative\' medicine, in general, can have both potentially positive and negative consequences.\"</p> <p>He added that the case points out that it\'s important for patients to be up front with doctors about alternative medications that they\'re taking. </p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>Learn more about mistletoe from the <a href=\"http://nccam.nih.gov/mistletoe/\">National Institutes of Health</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('2002','6','	<p><p>(HealthDay News) -- Flossing is an important part of good dental hygiene to help prevent gum disease and tooth decay. Here are suggestions on how to floss properly, courtesy of the American Dental Hygienists\' Association:</p> <ul> <li>Using about 18\" of dental floss, wrap each end around your fingers until about 2\" remains between your thumb and index finger.</li> <li>Gently slide the dental floss around each tooth, pulling the floss tight.</li> <li>Use a back and forth motion, and be sure to guide the floss around each tooth. Never force the floss between two teeth as you may damage gums -- gently ease the floss between teeth.</li> <li>Unwrap and rewrap the floss so that there is clean floss used on each tooth.</li> </ul> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('2003','6','	<p><p>(HealthDay News) -- Bleeding gums are a sign that you may be at risk of dental or periodontal disease. Bleeding gums are often caused by a buildup of plaque along the gumline, the U.S. National Library of Medicine says.</p> <p>Without proper dental care and treatment, plaque may harden to form tartar that is difficult to remove. Gingivitis, or inflammation of the gums, may develop if your gums tend to bleed. These symptoms could be a precursor of a disease of the gum and jawbone called periodontitis.</p> <p>Bleeding gums aren\'t always a result of dental neglect. Other causes may include an infection, vitamin deficiency, leukemia, brushing too vigorously, certain medications like blood thinners, ill-fitting dentures, or hormonal imbalances.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('2004','6','	<p><!--Spanish ID: 600478 --> <p>TUESDAY, Dec. 26 (HealthDay News) -- If you indulge your sweet tooth too much this holiday season, things could go sour in terms of your dental health, warns the American Dental Association (ADA). </p> <p>When bacteria (plaque) on your teeth come into contact with sugar or starch, they produce acid that attacks the teeth. Over time, this can cause tooth enamel to break down and lead to cavities and other problems.</p> <p>\"If you don\'t bother to properly clean your teeth, the results might be tooth decay, gum disease and possible tooth loss,\" Dr. Matthew Messina, and ADA consumer adviser and dentist from the Cleveland area, said in a prepared statement.</p> <p>He noted that certain kinds of sweet treats are worse than others.</p> <p>\"The stickier things are, like fruit cakes and gummy bears, the less likely they\'ll be washed out from between the teeth by saliva. Any kind of candy that sticks to your teeth is more harmful than a chocolate bar that gets washed away,\" Messina said.</p> <p>The length of time food remains in your mouth is another important factor.</p> <p>\"Cough drops, hard candy and breath mints stay in the mouth for a long period. Unless they are sugar-free products, the teeth are subjected to acid attacks while the product remains in the mouth,\" Messina said.</p> <p>The ADA offers some tips on how to enjoy holiday sweets while reducing the risk of tooth decay: </p> <ul> <li>Consume sugary foods with meals. Saliva production increases during meals and helps neutralize acid production and rinse food particles from the mouth. </li> <li>Limit between-meal snacks. If you do need a snack, choose nutritious foods and consider chewing sugarless gum after your snack. Sugarless gum increases saliva flow. </li> <li>Drink more water. </li> <li>Brush your teeth twice daily and floss daily. </li> </ul> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The Columbia University Medical Center offers advice about <a href=\"http://www.simplestepsdental.com/SS/ihtSS/r.WSIHW000/st.32218/t.3249 7/pr.3.html\" target=\"_new\">dental health</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('2005','6','	<p><!--Spanish ID: 600603 --> <p>MONDAY, Jan. 1 (HealthDay News) -- Other than at mealtimes, water is the only drink that should be used in toddler sippy cups, according to experts at the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD).</p> <p>The reason: prolonged use of sugary drinks in sippy cups is a leading cause of pediatric tooth decay.</p> <p>\"Sippy cups were created to help children transition from a bottle to drinking from a regular cup, but they\'re too often used for convenience because they reduce spills. When kids sip sugared beverages for extended periods, they are exposed to a higher risk of (tooth) decay,\" Dr. Philip H. Hunke, AAPD president, said in a prepared statement.</p> <p>Between 1988-1994 and 1999-2002, there was a 15.2 percent increase in cavities among kids aged 2 to 5 in the United States, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.</p> <p>Research indicates that nearly one-third of toddlers with tooth decay problems used sippy cups, the AAPD noted.</p> <p>The academy offered the following tips for parents:</p><ul> <li>Sippy cups are meant to be transitional training tools to help children switch from bottles to cups. Sippy cups should not be used for extended periods of time.</li> <li>Unless it\'s being used at mealtime, a sippy cup should be filled only with water. Frequent drinking of any other liquid -- even if it\'s diluted -- from a bottle or a sippy cup should be avoided.</li> <li>Sippy cups shouldn\'t be used at bedtime or naptime unless they have only water in them.</li></ul> <p>\"Keeping only water in the sippy cup outside of mealtime helps prevent against the development of unhealthy \'grazing\' habits. It also helps guard against cavities,\" Hunke said.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The American Academy of Family Physicians has more about <a href=\"http://familydoctor.org/227.xml\" target=\"_new\">children\'s dental health</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('2006','6','	<p><p>(HealthDay News) -- Bruxism -- the term for grinding your teeth or clenching your jaw -- occurs most often while a person is asleep.</p> <p>One of the most common causes is stress, the American Dental Association says, but other factors can include sleep disorders, poor jaw or bite alignment, or poor tooth alignment.</p> <p>It may be difficult to know if you are grinding or clenching your teeth in your sleep, but symptoms of bruxism can include headaches, jaw pain, or painful or loose teeth.</p> <p>Bruxism is typically treated with a mouth guard -- fitted by your dentist -- to protect the teeth from grinding against each other. If stress the root cause, you may also benefit from physical therapy, muscle relaxants or counseling.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('2007','6','	<p><p>TUESDAY, Jan. 16 (HealthDay News) -- Having periodontal or gum disease may boost the risk of getting pancreatic cancer, according to new research from Harvard Medical School involving more than 51,000 men.</p> <p>\"Men who had reported periodontal disease had a 64 percent higher risk of pancreatic cancer [or were 1.6 times more likely to get it] compared to those who didn\'t have periodontal disease,\" said the study\'s lead author, Dominique S. Michaud.</p> <p>The study provides the first strong evidence that gum disease may increase pancreatic cancer risk, added Michaud, an assistant professor of epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston.</p> <p>Her team published the findings in the Jan. 17 issue of the <i>Journal of the National Cancer Institute.</i></p> <p> Two previous studies have uncovered a link between tooth loss or gum inflammation and pancreatic cancer, Michaud said. But one included all smokers and the other did not control for smoking, known to boost the risk of pancreatic cancer, in the analysis.</p> <p>The pancreas, a gland behind the stomach, makes pancreatic juice, which helps break down fats and proteins in foods. The gland also produces the hormone insulin, which helps regulate blood sugar.</p> <p>In their 16-year study, Michaud and her colleagues followed 51,529 men who participated in the Health Professional Follow-Up Study, which began in 1986. The researchers controlled for the effects of smoking.</p> <p>\"Our study was a prospective study of health professionals,\" Michaud said. \"Not MDs, but dentists, podiatrists, veterinarians.\"</p> <p>They also calculated the risk of pancreatic cancer among smokers and nonsmokers. </p> <p> \"Among men who never smoked, having periodontal disease led to them being twice as likely to get pancreatic cancer,\" Michaud said. That helped convince the researchers that periodontal disease and pancreatic cancer were linked.</p> <p>The mechanism behind the link isn\'t known, Michaud said. And while her team found an association, it is not a proven cause-and-effect relationship.</p> <p>One possible explanation is that inflammation from gum disease may somehow promote pancreatic cancer. </p> <p>\"People with periodontal disease have higher levels of blood levels of C-reactive protein, an inflammatory marker that has been associated with heart disease,\" Michaud said. \"Periodontal disease is also linked to heart disease in some studies.\" The inflammation may somehow contribute to the promotion of cancer cells, she added. </p> <p>The men in the study had severe gum disease, the type that can lead to tooth loss, she noted.</p> <p>Dr. Eva Schernhammer, an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School who was not involved in the study, said the results were intriguing.</p> <p>\"Pancreatic cancer is one of those diseases we don\'t know much about,\" she said. \"Once you get it, the survival is very low.\"</p> <p>This research \"confirms that inflammation may play an important role in pancreatic cancer,\" she said.</p> <p>According to Michaud, the findings should also \"give consumers one more reason to really take care of their teeth and their oral health. I think that\'s really the message, even though we aren\'t sure this is a causal association.\"</p> <p>Even so, she added, \"people with severe periodontal disease shouldn\'t be worrying they are going to get pancreatic cancer. It is a horrible disease, but it is rare.\"</p> <p>According to the American Cancer Society, 33,730 Americans got pancreatic cancer in 2006 and more than 32,000 died from it.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>To learn more about pancreatic cancer, visit the <a href=\" http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/content/CRI_2_2_1X_What_is_pancreatic_cancer_34.asp?sitearea=\" target=\"_new\">American Cancer Society</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('2008','6','	<p><!--Spanish ID: 601373 --> <p>FRIDAY, Jan. 26 (HealthDay News) -- Taking a daily dose of 400 micrograms or more of folic acid supplements early in pregnancy reduces the risk that a woman will have a baby with cleft lip, a new study finds. </p> <p>It was already known that taking folic acid prior to and early in pregnancy reduces the risk of neural tube defects, such as spina bifida, but it wasn\'t clear whether folic acid also lowered the chance of having a baby with cleft lip.</p> <p>The study, published online in the Jan. 26 <i>British Medical Journal</i>, included the mothers of 377 children in Norway with cleft lip (with or without cleft palate) and 196 with cleft palate only who were born from 1996 to 2000. The study also included a group of mothers of 763 children without cleft lip or cleft palate.</p> <p>The mothers were questioned about their diet and use of alcohol, cigarettes and drugs during early pregnancy. They were also asked whether they took multivitamins and folic acid supplements during pregnancy and, if so, when and how often.</p> <p>Using this information, the researchers calculated that daily folic acid supplements of 400 micrograms or more reduced the risk of cleft lip with or without cleft palate by 40 percent. Independent of supplements, a diet rich in fruits, vegetables and other foods high in folic acid reduced the risk by 25 percent, the study concluded.</p> <p>Overall, the risk was lowest among women who took folic acid supplements and multivitamins and ate a folic acid-rich diet.</p> <p>Folic acid did not reduce the risk of cleft palate alone, the study found.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The Nemours Foundation has more about <a href=\"http://kidshealth.org/parent/pregnancy_newborn/pregnancy/folic_acid. html\" target=\"_new\">folic acid and pregnancy</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('2009','6','	<p><p>WEDNESDAY, Jan. 31 (HealthDay News) -- In another finding that points to an estrogen-breast cancer connection, U.S. researchers say the female hormone appears to shield breast cancer cells from attack by the body\'s immune cells.</p> <p>It was already known that estrogen enhances the growth and migration of breast cancer cells. This study, by a team from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, found that estrogen also stimulates the expression of an inhibitor -- protease inhibitor 9 (PI-9) -- that hinders the ability of immune cells to kill tumor cells.</p> <p>This is the first time that estrogen\'s role in shielding breast cancer cells from immune cells has been identified, the researchers said. The finding may help in the development of new breast cancer therapies.</p> <p>The study was published online in the journal <i>Oncogene</i>.</p> <p>\"It wasn\'t known that estrogen could do this in breast cancer cells. The amounts of estrogen required to do this are quite small,\" principal investigator David J. Shapiro, a professor of biochemistry in the university\'s School of Molecular and Cellular Biology, said in a prepared statement.</p> <p>PI-9 has also been implicated in other kinds of cancers. For example, high levels of PI-9 in some lymphomas are associated with poor patient prognoses.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more about <a href=\"http://www.cancer.gov/cancerinfo/types/breast\" target=\"_new\">breast cancer</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('2010','6','	<p><p>SUNDAY, Feb. 11 (HealthDay News) -- In the life of a human bone, it\'s all downhill after 30.</p> <p>That\'s the typical cut-off point for bone-building, so experts say it\'s crucial that younger people take in enough calcium and another nutrient, vitamin D, to maximize the skeleton\'s potential.</p> <p>After age 30, those same two nutrients are key to slowing the gradual bone loss that comes with age.</p> <p>Calcium isn\'t just important to bones, though.</p> <p>\"It\'s also important to help prevent colon cancer and for good muscle contraction, including heart muscle,\" said Katharine Tallmadge, a Washington, D.C., dietitian and a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association. \"It might even be important for lowering blood pressure and helping to burn off fat.\"</p> <p>In fact, calcium is so important to so many aspects of health that \"if we don\'t get enough in our diet, our body pulls it from the bones,\" Tallmadge said. \"It\'s a critical mineral.\"</p> <p>The U.S. Department of Agriculture\'s recommended daily allowance of calcium amounts to about 1,000 milligrams a day for adults ages 19 to 50 years of age and 1,200 milligrams a day for adults over 50. While many people turn to supplements for their calcium, Tallmadge said food is always a better bet.</p> <p>\"I encourage people to get three high-dairy foods per day, each containing about a third of the daily requirement\" she said. \"That could be a cup of milk, fortified soy milk, fortified orange juice, a cup of yogurt, one-and-a-half ounces of hard cheese.\" Lactose-intolerant individuals should still be able to consume skim or lactate-free varieties of milk, or they can turn to fortified non-dairy products.</p> <p>There are also calcium-laden food sources besides dairy products -- such as grains and vegetables -- but it\'s tougher for the body to get enough of the nutrient from these foods, Tallmadge said.</p> <p>Bone-building doesn\'t rely just on calcium, however.</p> <p>\"The really other important factor here is vitamin D -- it\'s just as important, if not more important, than calcium,\" Tallmadge said. Without this nutrient, the body\'s intestines simply cannot absorb dietary calcium.</p> <p>There\'s one big hitch, though: Vitamin D isn\'t found naturally in most foods. Instead, human skin uses ultraviolet sunlight to manufacture the body\'s own supply of this nutrient.</p> <p>That was a great system in prehistoric days, when humans spent most of their lives outside and poorly clad. But it\'s not so ideal today.</p> <p>\"People aren\'t out so much anymore and when they do go out, they cover themselves with sunscreen,\" Tallmadge said. \"So, we are experiencing a rash of vitamin D deficiencies -- rickets -- in children. That causes a softening of bones that can lead to bow-legs.\"</p> <p>The problem is more pronounced in black children because natural pigments in darker skin block out much of the sun\'s rays. The problem has gotten so bad, Tallmadge said, that \"the U.S. National Academy of Sciences is now working on a new report on vitamin D, and I believe that, unofficially, we\'re going to double the daily requirement from 400 units to 800 or even 1,000 units per day.\"</p> <p>Spending more time outside -- at least a half hour or an hour at midday -- is one way of boosting vitamin D levels. Foods and supplements can also help, according to Tallmadge. \"In a cup of milk, you usually get 100 units, and in a multivitamin, you might get 300 or 400 units,\" she said. Makers of multivitamins are now formulating higher-dose supplements based on the expected change in daily requirements, she added.</p> <p>The bottom line is that everyone needs to get adequate daily amounts of both of these \"partners in health,\" calcium and vitamin D, beginning in childhood and continuing throughout the life span.</p> <p>\"After our 30s, that will really help to prevent bone loss,\" Tallmadge said. \"And remember, those losses start to really accelerate after our 50s.\"</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>For more on calcium and bone health, visit the U.S. <a href=\"http://dietary-supplements.info.nih.gov/factsheets/calcium.asp\" target=\"_new\">National Institutes of Health</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('2011','6','	<p><p>FRIDAY, Jan. 5 (HealthDay News) -- Sleep problems and nightmares are strongly associated with suicide attempts, Swedish researchers report.</p> <p>Nisse Sjostrom and colleagues from Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Goteborg, studied 165 people who had been admitted to the hospital after a suicide attempt.</p> <p>The study, published in the Jan. 1 issue of <i>Sleep</i>, found that 89 percent of the participants reported some type of sleep disturbance, with the most common disturbances being difficulties staying asleep, nightmares, and early morning awakening. Having nightmares was associated with a fivefold increase in risk for high suicidality.</p> <p>\"Our finding of an association between nightmares and suicidality does not imply causality,\" Sjostrom said in a prepared statement. \"However, our findings should inspire clinicians to include questions concerning sleep disturbance and especially nightmares in the clinical assessment of suicidal patients.\"</p> <p>Nightmares are very common, with 50 percent to 85 percent of adults reporting having a nightmare at least on occasion. They tend to become less frequent with age.</p> <p>People who experience nightmares that cause anxiety or often disrupt sleep should see a sleep specialist who can diagnose the problem and make referrals to counselors or psychologists when necessary.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The Nemours Foundation has more about <a href=\"http://kidshealth.org/kid/feeling/thought/nightmares.html\" target=\"_new\">nightmares</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('2012','6','	<p><!--Spanish ID: 600753 --> <p>FRIDAY, Jan. 5 (HealthDay News) -- Sleep problems and depression often go hand-in-hand in children, new research shows.</p> <p>A study published in the Jan. 1 issue of <i>Sleep</i> found that children with sleep disturbances are more severely depressed, have more depressive symptoms, and have more anxiety disorders, compared to children without sleep disturbances.</p> <p>The study by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh included 553 children with a depressive disorder.</p> <p>Almost three-quarters of the children had sleep disturbance -- 53 percent had insomnia alone, 9 percent had hypersomnia (excessive sleepiness) alone, and 10 percent had both disturbances. Girls were more likely to have sleep disturbance than boys.</p> <p>Among the sleep-disturbed participants, those with both insomnia and hypersomnia had a longer history of illness, were more severely depressed and were more likely to have weight loss, fatigue, and other problems, compared with participants with either insomnia or hypersomnia.</p> <p>\"We know that depression is associated with sleep problems. But what this study shows is that, in depressed youths, not all sleep problems are the same,\" lead author Xianchen Liu said in a prepared statement.</p> <p>\"Insomnia is the most common problem, but having a combination of insomnia and sleepiness is \'double trouble.\' Youths having both of these had more severe depression than youths with just one sleep problem. This means that we should carefully ask depressed youths about the specific type of sleep problem they\'re having,\" the researcher said. \"It may also mean that we should think about different treatments to specifically target an individual\'s sleep problem.\"</p> <p>Experts say that children in grammar school should get 10 to 11 hours of sleep a night, while preschoolers should sleep 11 to 13 hours a night.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The Nemours Foundation has more about <a href=\"http://www.kidshealth.org/teen/your_body/take_care/sleep.html\" target=\"_new\">common sleep problems</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('2013','6','	<p><!--Spanish ID: 600931 --> <p>THURSDAY, Jan. 11 (HealthDay News) -- Early to bed and early to rise might make you healthy, wealthy and wise, but it\'s likely the result of a gene mutation, researchers report.</p> <p>For some time, scientists led by Dr. Louis J. Ptacek, a professor of neurology at the University of California, San Francisco, have been studying several families with a unique sleep problem. These so-called \"morning larks\" have a condition known as familial advanced sleep phase syndrome (FASPS). People with this condition have a gene mutation that causes them to go to sleep -- in the most extreme cases -- at four or five in the afternoon and wake up at one in the morning, he said.</p> <p>\"FASPS is not hugely common, but it\'s not rare,\" Ptacek said. \"About 0.3 percent of the population has the mutation.\"</p> <p>In its latest research, Ptacek\'s group has determined how the gene causes the condition, by transplanting the gene into mice to create rodents with FASPS.</p> <p>\"They get up and start running on their running wheels four to six hours before other mice, and they also stop running on their running wheels four to six hours earlier than normal mice,\" Ptacek said.</p> <p>In the studies of these FASPS mice, Ptacek\'s team found that the mutant version of the Period 2 (Per2) clock gene, which is needed to reset the body\'s central clock in response to light, cannot be chemically changed by an enzyme that controls it. This leads to a reduction in the number of copies of the Per2 gene, and the shift in sleep patterns, the researchers said.</p> <p>Ptacek thinks these findings may eventually lead to ways to reset humans\' internal time clocks and provide new drugs to help deal with sleep problems caused by factors such as shift work or jet lag.</p> <p>\"Very little is known about the human clock,\" Ptacek said. \"Only once we understand what all the gears in the clock are will we be in a position to make decisions about how we might advance or delay our own clocks when we work the night shift or when we travel across time zones.\"</p> <p>Ptacek noted that people with FASPS react to the condition differently. Some see it as a problem, while others enjoy being morning larks, he said. \"This underscores that FASPS is behavior. Whether you see it as positive or negative depends on your perspective,\" he said.</p> <p>The findings are published in the Jan. 12 issue of <i>Cell</i>.</p> <p>The researchers are also studying people who are night owls and finding there appears to be a genetic link as well, Ptacek said.</p> <p>One expert thinks that modifying internal clocks -- called circadian rhythms -- is possible but difficult.</p> <p>\"These findings suggest that there are other components of the clock that are not known, that account for different sleep patterns,\" said Dr. Emmanuel Mignot, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and director of the Center for Narcolepsy at Stanford University School of Medicine. He co-wrote an accompanying editorial in the journal.</p> <p>But, other factors also influence sleep and biological clocks, Mignot said. \"We know that everything is not genetic,\" he said. \"For example, as people age, they become more and more early birds. That\'s a natural progression of most people. That\'s not genetic, because the genes don\'t change with age.\"</p> <p>Mignot said it might be possible to develop drugs that can change the speed of the clock. But, developing a drug that has no other effect than to act on a particular enzyme for a specific purpose may be tough to do. \"It\'s not going to be easy, but it\'s not impossible,\" he said.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The National Sleep Foundation can tell you more about <a href=\"http://www.sleepfoundation.org/\" target=\"_new\">sleep</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('2014','6','	<p><!--Spanish ID: 600935 --> <p>THURSDAY, Jan. 11 (HealthDay News) -- More than two-thirds of older patients report sleep problems, but doctors rarely note these complaints in the patients\' charts, a Northwestern University study finds.</p> <p>The study, published in a recent issue of the <i>American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry</i>, included 1,503 patients aged 60 and older who visited their primary-care doctors. After the visits, social workers surveyed the patients about sleep problems.</p> <p>The social workers learned that 69 percent of the patients had at least one sleep complaint, and 40 percent had two or more. Forty-five percent of the patients said they had \"difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, or being able to sleep.\"</p> <p>Despite the high rate of sleep complaints among the patients, a sleep complaint was only reported by the doctor in the patient\'s chart 19 percent of the time, even when the patient indicated sleep problems in all five sleep questions on the survey.</p> <p>This is important, since previous research has linked sleep disorders in the elderly to poorer mental and physical health and quality of life.</p> <p>\"A doctor may not think that it\'s very important to ask the patient about sleep. We (the researchers) hypothesize that doctors think that sleep problems are a normal part of aging, and there\'s not much they can do about it,\" study author Kathryn Reid, a research assistant professor of neurology at Northwestern\'s Feinberg School of Medicine, said in a prepared statement.</p> <p>But while some sleep problems -- including a reduction in deep sleep -- tend to occur with age, sleep disturbances are not an inevitable part of aging. In fact, a recent study found that among older people with exceptionally good health, only 1 percent had sleep difficulties.</p> <p>\"Now, a lot of studies show that not getting enough sleep can lower your metabolic function; be associated with cardiovascular problems, cancer and breast cancer in women; and increase our mortality. Sleep deprivation also increases your sensitivity to pain,\" Reid said.</p> <p>Treatment options for sleep disorders may include meditation, exercise and bright light or evening activity.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The National Institute on Aging has more about <a href=\"http://nihseniorhealth.gov/sleepandaging/toc.html\" target=\"_new\">sleep and aging</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('2015','6','	<p><p>THURSDAY, Jan. 25 (HealthDay News) -- A new antibody may be effective against both mutated forms of a protein linked to lung cancer, U.S. researchers report.</p> <p>Different mutant forms of the protein EGFR play a major role in the development of many cases of lung cancer, according to background information in a news release.</p> <p>In this study, scientists at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston reported that a mouse antibody (mAb806) that binds to EGFR caused the regression of lung tumors caused by EGFR with a mutation in the intracellular part of the protein.</p> <p>But the antibody also binds to tumors caused by a mutation that affects the extracellular part of EGFR (known as the EGFRvIII mutant), the researchers reported Thursday in the online edition of the <i>Journal of Clinical Investigation</i>.</p> <p>In comparison, another antibody called cetuximab -- which is already being used to treat a specific subset of lung cancer patients -- only induced tumor regression in mice with lung tumors caused by EGFR mutation in the intracellular part of the protein.</p> <p>The researchers also found that the humanized form (ch806) of the mAb806 mouse antibody caused regression of lung tumors caused by either of the EGFR mutations. This suggests that ch806 may offer a new treatment for patients with lung cancer caused by these two EGFR mutations, the researchers said.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more about <a href=\"http://www.cancer.gov/cancerinfo/wyntk/lung\" target=\"_new\">lung cancer</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('2016','6','	<p><p>THURSDAY, Jan. 25 (HealthDay News) -- A small area of the brain nestled inside the cerebral cortex might explain why smoking is such a hard habit to break.</p> <p>A new study of 69 smokers with brain injuries showed that those who had damage to the insula often quit smoking suddenly and effortlessly, suggesting that this particular area could be a target for future therapies to help smokers quit.</p> <p>\"This is the first study to show in humans that there\'s a brain area that\'s somehow necessary to promote addiction to any drug, and smoking in particular,\" said study author Dr. Nasir Naqvi, a doctoral student in the medical scientists\' training program at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine. The report is published in the Jan. 26 issue of <i>Science</i>.</p> <p>\"This is a seminal paper,\" said Deborah Mash, a professor of neurology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. \"However, the fundamental question is whether the effect is specific to nicotine, because it may be that the insula is the seat of the soul for the compulsive taking of all abused substances.\"</p> <p>The study was prompted by the experience of one patient, a two-pack-a-day smoker who quit immediately after his insula was damaged by a stroke. His body \"forgot the urge to smoke,\" he told researchers.</p> <p>The insula\'s function seems to be to take information from other parts of the body and translate that into feelings such as fear, disgust, anger and sadness, along with desires and cravings.</p> <p>Although some imaging studies have shown that this region of the brain is activated by drug-related cues, \"the insula has never really been examined closely for its role in addiction,\" Naqvi said.</p> <p>Naqvi and his colleagues found 69 additional patients with brain damage, all of whom had been smokers before the damage occurred. Nineteen of the participants had brain damage involving the insula, 13 of these had quit smoking, and 12 of them had done so quickly and easily.</p> <p>While some of the other patients also quit smoking, those with damage to the insula were more likely to have quit immediately and without anguish.</p> <p>The results led the study authors to conclude that damage to this region of the brain reduced the urge to smoke, rather than reducing the \"reward\" associated with smoking. That\'s not to say that the reward system isn\'t important to smoking addiction, just that this latest finding might complete the picture, they added.</p> <p>\"A lot of pleasure that comes out of smoking is what it does to the body, rather than nicotine reaching the brain. Each puff stimulates sensations in the throat, the lungs, the chest, and these are important for why smoking is pleasurable,\" Naqvi explained. \"We think that when people are craving cigarettes, they are remembering that type of pleasure, and this area of the brain, which is known to sense what is going on in the body, may play a role in remembering that type of pleasure.\"</p> <p>So far, the thought is just a theory, but the finding may help smokers quit using, for example, sensory replacements for smoking such as cigarettes without nicotine.</p> <p>And, depending on what other research turns up, focusing on the insula may help people give up other addictive behaviors as well, the researchers added.</p> <p> \"This is a seminal paper,\" said Deborah Mash, professor of neurology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. \"However, the fundamental question is whether the effect is specific to nicotine, because it may be that the insula is the seat of the soul for the compulsive taking of all abused substances.\" </p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>Visit the <a href=\"http://www.lungusa.org/site/pp.asp?c=dvLUK9O0E&b=22938\" target=\"_new\">American Lung Association</a> for more on smoking and quitting smoking. </p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('2017','6','	<p><!--Spanish ID: 601729 --> <p>WEDNESDAY, Feb. 7 (HealthDay News) -- As Europe\'s population gets older, cancer rates will rise, a new French study suggests.</p> <p>\"Cancer remains an important public health problem in Europe, and the aging of the European population will cause these numbers to continue to increase, even if age-specific rates of cancer remain constant,\" Peter Boyle, director of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), in Lyon, said in a prepared statement.</p> <p>His team urged immediate action to fight cancer, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe, using measures such as tobacco control, more widespread screening for breast and colorectal cancer, and programs to improve diet and exercise and reduce obesity levels.</p> <p>The report said that between 2004 and 2006, the number of cancer cases diagnosed each year in Europe increased by 300,000. In 2006, there were an estimated 3.2 million new cases of cancer on the continent, compared to 2.9 million in 2004. It\'s estimated that cancer killed 1.7 million people in Europe in 2006.</p> <p>Of the estimated 3.2 million new cases of cancer, 53 percent were in men and 47 percent in women. Of the 1.7 million deaths, 56 percent were in men and 44 percent in women.</p> <p>Lung, colorectal, breast and stomach cancers are the leading cancer killers in Europe. In 2006, lung cancer caused an estimated 334,800 deaths (19.7 percent of the total cancer deaths), followed by colorectal cancer (207,400 deaths), breast cancer (131,900 deaths), and stomach cancer (118,200 deaths).</p> <p>The report is in the Feb. 7 issue of the journal <i>Annals of Oncology</i>.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion offers <a href=\"http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/uscs/\" target=\"_new\">U.S. cancer statistics</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('2018','6','	<p><p>(HealthDay News) -- It\'s no secret that tobacco use isn\'t good for you.</p> <p>But here\'s a list of exactly which illnesses it can cause or contribute to, courtesy of the Montgomery County, Md., Department of Health and Human Services:</p> <ul> <li>Heart and vascular diseases.</li> <li>Cancers of the mouth, lung, esophagus, larynx and bladder.</li> <li>Chronic lung disease.</li> <li>Intrauterine growth retardation.</li> <li>Low birth weight babies.</li> </ul> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('2019','6','	<p><p>WEDNESDAY, Feb. 14 (HealthDay News) -- In news that\'s sure to be met with millions of tiny shouts of glee, researchers report that the nasal spray version of the flu vaccine is much better than the shot at protecting the youngest children against the flu.</p> <p>In a study that included about 8,000 children under the age of 5, those receiving the live vaccine via nasal spray had 54.9 percent fewer cases of lab-confirmed flu than children receiving the inactive, injected form of the vaccine.</p> <p>\"The nasal spray vaccine was significantly better at protecting children than the standard flu shot,\" said study author Dr. Robert Belshe, director of the Center for Vaccine Development at Saint Louis University Medical Center, in St. Louis.</p> <p>Just don\'t tell your youngster that the flu shot is a thing of the past yet -- the nasal flu vaccine isn\'t yet FDA-approved for this age group, said Belshe. However, MedImmune Inc. -- the company that makes the vaccine -- has applied for government approval to dispense the vaccine to children under 5.</p> <p>\"It looks like the live attenuated vaccine has promise to improve the prevention of influenza in young children. We\'ll have to weigh the risks and benefits and we have to see what the FDA has to say, but it\'s nice that we may have another tool,\" said the co-author of an accompanying editorial, Dr. Carolyn Bridges, associate director of science in the influenza division of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.</p> <p>Results of the study, which was partially funded by MedImmune, appear in the Feb. 15 issue of the <i>New England Journal of Medicine</i>.</p> <p>The study included about 8,000 children -- 8,352 provided complete safety data and 7,852 completed the entire study protocol -- from 249 international sites. Study sites were located in the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.</p> <p>The children were between 6 and 59 months old, and hadn\'t had a recent episode of wheezing or been diagnosed with severe asthma. They were randomly assigned to receive either the live attenuated vaccine (FluMist) or the inactivated vaccine by injection.</p> <p>The live vaccine was significantly more effective -- 54.9 percent fewer cases of flu occurred in those who received the live vaccine vs. the shot.</p> <p>Belshe said there could be several reasons why the live vaccine is more effective in this young age group. First, when you spray it into the nose, antibodies develop at the location where they\'re needed most, because the flu virus is transmitted in the air and is often inhaled through the nose. Additionally, the live vaccine seems to offer broader protection against different strains of the flu in children, even in strains not included in the vaccine.</p> <p>Wheezing occurred more often in children who received the nasal spray vaccine, especially in children under 12 months. For that reason, Belshe said he wouldn\'t recommend the nasal vaccine for children under one year of age.</p> <p>Hospitalizations for any cause were also higher in the nasal spray group, but Belshe said the researchers don\'t know what would cause the increase.</p> <p>Currently, it\'s recommended that children with asthma should not receive the nasal spray vaccine, because of the potential increase in wheezing.</p> <p>\"The flu can be a very serious disease in young children and they\'re the major mechanism for transmitting flu,\" said Belshe. \"The nasal spray vaccine is a significant advance in controlling flu in young children.\"</p> <p>While either vaccine is the most effective way of preventing flu, Bridges also recommended practicing frequent, thorough hand washing and covering your mouth when you cough. She also suggested staying home when you\'re sick and ventilating rooms at home if a family member is ill. Additionally, she said, if you\'re exposed to someone with flu or have just begun to have flu symptoms in the past day or so, antiviral medication may be helpful.</p> <p>But, said Bridges, \"far and away the best plan is to get vaccinated.\"</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>To learn more about the flu vaccine, visit the <a href=\"http://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/keyfacts.htm\" target=\"_new\">U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('2020','6','	<p><p>(HealthDay News) -- A sty is an abscess on or inside the eyelid at the base of the eyelashes. Usually a small, red bump, it\'s caused by an infection, and may recur if not properly treated.</p> <p>A warm compress may help speed up drainage of the sty, says the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign McKinley Health Center. You should take a clean cloth soaked in warm water, wring it out and hold it against the eye for 10-15 minutes.</p> <p>Using a clean cloth each time, over the next three to four days, continue applying a compress about four times each day.</p> <p>You should never try to squeeze or pop a sty, the university says, as this could spread the infection and cause injury. Ask your doctor about whether an antibiotic is needed to help clear the infection and prevent a recurrence.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('2021','6','	<p><p>(HealthDay News) -- Pink eye, also known as conjunctivitis, is a common condition that is easily passed from person to person.</p> <p>Here are the most common symptoms of pink eye, courtesy of the Nemours Foundation:</p> <ul> <li>Red or pink-tinted eyes or eyelids.</li> <li>Swollen eyes.</li> <li>Eye discharge.</li> <li>Painful, irritated or itchy eyes, like something has gotten in it.</li> <li>Frequent tearing.</li> <li>Light sensitivity.</li> </ul> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('2022','6','	<p><p>(HealthDay News) -- Regular eye checkups are important, especially for children, the American Optometric Association says.</p> <p>The newborn checkup at the hospital isn\'t enough, the group warns. By age 6 months, the association recommends that all children undergo a thorough eye exam.</p> <p>If your child has a healthy prognosis from her eye exam, the AOA says she probably won\'t need another checkup until about age 3, and again before she starts school. Preventive checkups can help diagnose conditions including vision loss, lazy eye, or crossed eyes.</p> <p>You should see an eye doctor at once if you notice abnormalities in your child\'s vision, says the AOA. You should also have regular optometric visits if your child has risk factors for eye disease, including low birth weight or a mother who had a sexually transmitted disease, rubella, or abused drugs or alcohol during pregnancy.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('2023','6','	<p><p>MONDAY, Dec. 11 (HealthDay News) -- Major vision problems in people over 40 are costing the U.S. economy an estimated $35.4 billion a year, researchers report.</p> <p>\"Vision disorders that affect adults are a major health problem in the country and pose a major economic burden,\" said study author David B. Rein. \"It\'s a major problem because these diseases affect a lot of people, and it\'s a major problem because they cost a lot.\"</p> <p>As the population ages, millions of Americans have visual impairment, blindness or other eye diseases, including age-related macular degeneration (AMD), cataracts, diabetic retinopathy, primary open-angle glaucoma and refractive errors. Total costs include not only direct medical costs, but nursing home health care, the study found. In addition, there are costs associated with loss of productivity when people with visual impairment cannot work or earn lower wages than they had before, the researchers noted.</p> <p>The report appears in the December issue of the <i>Archives of Ophthalmology</i>.</p> <p>In the study, Rein and his colleagues from RTI International, in Research Triangle Park, N.C., looked at the cost of eye diseases in 2004. To compile the data, they used private insurance and Medicare claims to estimate direct medical costs. To estimate ancillary costs, they used published sources about costs associated with nursing home care, government purchase programs and guide dogs. In addition, they used data from a national survey about labor and income to estimate losses in productivity.</p> <p>Rein\'s team found that major visual disorders cost an estimated $16.2 billion in direct medical costs, $11.1 billion in other direct costs and $8 billion in productivity losses, bringing the annual total to $35.4 billion. They estimated the annual governmental budgetary impact to be $13.7 billion.</p> <p>In terms of specific diseases, direct medical costs were estimated to be $6.8 billion for cataracts, $5.5 billion for refractive error, $2.9 billion for glaucoma, $575 million for AMD and $493 million for diabetic retinopathy.</p> <p>\"It\'s time to pay attention to visual disorders, particularly as the U.S. population ages,\" Rein said. \"As the population gets older, more and more people are going to be affected by these conditions.\"</p> <p>Rein thinks that it is important for people to have their vision checked regularly, because many of these conditions are treatable. \"We can treat cataracts, we can slow the progression of AMD, and glaucoma is very treatable,\" he said.</p> <p>A large proportion of costs associated with vision problems are nursing home care. More people with vision problems die in nursing homes than people of the same age who don\'t have these problems, Rein said.</p> <p>\"In terms of prevention of disease, there is direct cost benefit to be gained by preventing visual impairment and blindness, because that leads to preventing people from being placed in nursing homes,\" Rein said. \"There are also big quality-of-life gains that can be achieved.\"</p> <p>One expert thinks new treatments for many of these vision problems are in the pipeline, but they, too, will cost a lot of money. \"That\'s going to make that $35 billion number get even bigger,\" said Dr. Marco Zarbin, chairman of the Institute of Ophthalmology and Visual Science at New Jersey Medical School.</p> <p>But the treatments are going to be more effective, Zarbin said.</p> <p>\"The result is that there will be less visual disability, so that\'s going to have a tendency to make that number get smaller,\" he said. \"I see technology and innovation as costing money, but I also see it as saving money, because more people will continue to be productive and stay out of nursing homes -- live independently -- and have an improvement in their quality of life.\"</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/003029.htm\" target=\"_new\">vision problems</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('2024','6','	<p><p>FRIDAY, Dec. 29 (HealthDay News) -- LASIK and LASEK eye surgeries are equally safe and effective, U.S. researchers conclude.</p> <p>In LASIK (laser in situ keratomileusis) surgery, a flap is made in the top layer of the eye\'s cornea, allowing a surgeon to reshape the underlying cornea.</p> <p>In LASEK (laser epithelial keratomileusis) surgery, the top layer of the cornea is treated with alcohol and then peeled back to permit reshaping of the underlying layer. LASEK avoids the flap-related complications associated with LASIK.</p> <p>For this study, which appeared in the December issue of the <i>American Journal of Ophthalmology</i>, researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago compared the effectiveness of 122 LASIK procedures and 122 LASEK procedures. They looked at a number of measures, including visual acuity and astigmatism.</p> <p>The team found no clinically significant differences between the two types of laser eye surgery.</p> <p>\"We found that although there were some differences in the visual and refractive results that favor the LASEK procedure, the differences were not clinically significant,\" Dr. Dimitri Azar, field chair of ophthalmologic research and professor and head of ophthalmology and visual sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago, said in a prepared statement.</p> <p>\"Both procedures seem safe, effective and predictable for the treatment of low to moderate myopia (near-sightedness),\" Azar said. </p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The Cleveland Clinic Foundation has more about <a href=\"http://www.clevelandclinic.org/health/health-info/docs/3000/3074.asp ?index=8608\" target=\"_new\">vision repair surgery</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('2025','6','	<p><!--Spanish ID: 600838 --> <p>TUESDAY, Jan. 9 (HealthDay News) -- A combination of certain lifestyle factors and genetics can increase the risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a new study says. </p> <p>AMD can cause blindness and is known to have both genetic and environmental risk factors. Previous research found that a mutation in the gene for complement factor H (CFH) and a mutation in the gene LOC387715 are associated with AMD.</p> <p>In the new study, researchers at Brigham and Women\'s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston compared 457 men and women with AMD to 1,071 people without the eye disease.</p> <p>Overall, people with two mutated copies of CFH and LOC387715 were 50 times more likely to develop age-related macular degeneration than those with two normal copies of each gene.</p> <p>The results are published in the January issue of the journal <i>Archives of Ophthalmology</i>.</p> <p>The study also found that non-obese people with two mutant copies of the CFH gene were four times more likely to develop AMD than non-obese people with two normal copies of the CFH gene. If people with two mutant copies of the CFH gene smoked, their risk for AMD was 8.69 times greater than nonsmokers with two normal copies of CFH. Obese people with two mutant copies of CFH were 12 times more likely to develop AMD than non-obese people with normal copies of CFH.</p> <p>Nonsmokers with two mutated copies of LOC387715 were 6.3 times more likely to develop AMD than nonsmokers with normal copies of the gene. Smokers with two mutated copies of that gene were 22.47 times more likely to develop AMD than nonsmokers with two mutated copies of LOC387715.</p> <p>\"Elucidation of these modifying risk factors may increase understanding of disease pathogenesis and suggest lifestyle changes that may prevent AMD or delay the disease onset in carriers of predisposing genetic variants,\" the study authors wrote.</p> <p>Other lifestyle risk factors for AMD -- such as regular aspirin use, fruit intake, fatty acid ratios and alcohol consumption -- did not seem to interact with the genetic risk factors, the researchers said.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The U.S. National Eye Institute has more about <a href=\"http://www.nei.nih.gov/health/maculardegen/armd_facts.asp\" target=\"_new\">AMD</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('2026','6','	<p><p>SUNDAY, Jan. 28 (HealthDay News) -- U.S. scientists are getting a better understanding of human tears.</p> <p>A team from Ohio State University say they\'ve identified a new class of lipids (a type of fat) that makes up part of the tear film. </p> <p>These new lipids, including a specific kind called oleamide, are contained in a layer of tear film called meibum, which is the outermost of the three distinct layers in tear film. There is also a middle, watery layer and an inner layer of mucus.</p> <p>The meibum, which includes fatty, oily substances, is spread over the surface of the eyes each time we blink. The meibum keeps the watery middle layer in place, ensuring the eyes stay moist.</p> <p>Identifying the lipids contained in the meibum may help researchers learn more about the causes of eye problems such as dry eye disease, which affects about 12 million to 14 million Americans, said study author Kelly Nichols, an assistant professor of optometry at Ohio State.</p> <p>\"The lack of certain compounds in the tear film may result in a number of different eye-related disorders, including dry eye. The amount of oleamide and related lipids in tear film may be related to these disorders,\" Nichols said in a prepared statement.</p> <p>The study is published in the current issue of <i>Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science</i>.</p> <p>It was already known that oleamide plays a role in the brain, where one of its tasks is to help induce sleep, and in the central nervous system. This is the first study to identify oleamide and related lipids in tear film.</p> <p>\"The findings could give us more insight into the role of lipid activity in humans and may also indicate a new function for oleamide and related lipids in cellular signaling in the eye and in the maintenance of tear film,\" Nichols said.</p> <p>The function of oleamide and related lipids in tear film isn\'t fully understood.</p> <p>\"Oleamide appears to predominate in tear film. It\'s there for a reason, but we\'re not sure yet what that reason is,\" Nichols said.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The U.S. Library of Medicine has more about <a href=\"http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003087.htm\" target=\"_new\">dry eyes</a></p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('2027','6','	<p><p> (HealthDay News) -- Watery eyes can be caused by a variety of factors, including an eye infection, allergy or irritation. Watery eyes also can signal a more serious problem, including a blocked tear duct that prevents tears from draining normally.</p> <p>The U.S. National Library of Medicine recommends that you see your doctor if, in addition to watery eyes, you have any of these symptoms:</p> <ul> <li>Persistent tearing without apparent cause.</li> <li>Pain in the eye, especially when it tears.</li> <li>Soreness around the eyes or sinuses.</li> <li>Redness in the eye, or significant discharge from the eye.</li> </ul> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('2028','6','	<p><p>TUESDAY, Oct. 10 (HealthDay News) -- Psoriasis sufferers may face an increased risk of having a heart attack, a new study suggests.</p> <p>The risk appears to be most pronounced among younger patients with more severe forms of the disease, according to a paper appearing in the Oct. 11 issue of the <i>Journal of the American Medical Association</i>.</p> <p>&quot;This study is really quite important,&quot; said Liz Horn, director of research for the National Psoriasis Foundation. &quot;There have been a few other studies, but this one is important because it uses such a large database. This is just one more very important study that gives more evidence.&quot;</p> <p>While more studies are needed to confirm the findings, &quot;the potential is there for someone who has severe psoriasis who is in their 50s or 40s, of having a heart attack,&quot; said lead researcher Dr. Joel Gelfand, an assistant professor of dermatology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, in Philadelphia.</p> <p>&quot;The relative risk due to severe psoriasis is similar to the relative risk of having a heart attack from having diabetes,&quot; he said. &quot;But the absolute risk [to any one person] is low. If you have severe psoriasis and are in your 40s, the risk of having a heart attack due to psoriasis is about one in 600 per year.&quot;</p> <p>Psoriasis is thought to be an autoimmune disorder, occurring when the body inexplicably begins overproducing skin cells. The extra cells pile up on the surface of the skin before they have a chance to mature, creating bright red patches that cause itching, burning and stinging. The disease affects 2 percent to 3 percent of the adult population.</p> <p>Some previous studies had shown an association between psoriasis and cardiovascular diseases but those studies could not rule out obesity, smoking and other risk factors as the true culprits.</p> <p>In this study, the authors examined medical records from a large sample of patients aged 20 to 90 in the United Kingdom. The sample included more than half a million controls (people without psoriasis), more than 125,000 patients with mild psoriasis and almost 4,000 with severe psoriasis.</p> <p>Heart attacks were more common in patients with severe psoriasis (five heart attacks per 1,000 person-years) and mild psoriasis (four heart attacks per 1,000 person-years) compared with the controls (about 3.6 heart attacks per 1,000 person-years).</p> <p>Individuals who were younger and had more severe disease had the highest relative risk, with a 30-year-old patient with mild disease having a 29 percent greater risk than a person without psoriasis. A 30-year-old patient with severe psoriasis had about triple the risk and a 60-year-old patient with severe disease had a 36 percent increased risk.</p> <p>It is thought that earlier-onset psoriasis (before age 40) is more severe than later-onset disease (after age 40). About three-quarters of patients will develop psoriasis before they turn 40.</p> <p>&quot;People with psoriasis have a bigger tendency to smoke, be obese, have high blood pressure and other things we know are risk factors for cardiovascular disease,&quot; Gelfand said. &quot;The thing we\'ve done, which hadn\'t been done before for psoriasis, was to control for these risk factors. We found that psoriasis still increases the risk of having a heart attack.&quot;</p> <p>The common denominator may be inflammation, the researchers said.</p> <p>&quot;Immune activity is important for establishing atherosclerosis or blockage of the arteries and promoting them to rupture into a heart attack,&quot; Gelfand explained. &quot;The same immune cells involved in this are involved in psoriasis. Other diseases, like rheumatoid arthritis -- which share common immune factors -- [also] have an increased risk of heart disease. This is a scientific theory that has been evolving over the last decade or so but still needs additional studies to confirm.&quot;</p> <p>In the meantime, patients with psoriasis should not be alarmed but should see a physician and be screened for cardiovascular risk factors, Gelfand said. And, if you do have risk factors, you should treat them according to current guidelines. This includes stopping smoking and losing excess weight.</p> <p>&quot;There needs to start being a conversation between patients and physicians about the risk of cardiovascular disease and what psoriasis patients should be doing to decrease risks,&quot; Horn said.</p> <p>&quot;This is really important information,&quot; she said. &quot;But it\'s still very early in understanding what all this means. I do think general health issues about cardiovascular disease and lifestyle modification is probably a good starting place.&quot;</p> <p>&quot;This study is of great concern and it underscores why we believe the National Institutes of Health should be increasing research on psoriasis,&quot; Michael Paranzino, president of Psoriasis Cure Now, said in a staement. &quot;Unlocking the apparent link between psoriasis and heart attack risk may help us improve treatments both for psoriasis and heart attack prevention. The \'heartbreak of psoriasis\' is supposed to be a tired punch line, not a literal truth.&quot;</p> <p>&quot;This study suggests that estimates of the impact of psoriasis, both in terms of dollars spent and lives lost, may be undercounting the true burden of this disease,&quot; Paranzino added. &quot;With NIH funding having doubled over the last decade but psoriasis funding down 20 percent, this study should serve as a wake-up call that increasing psoriasis research funding should become a national priority. One of the key questions that patients need answered is whether aggressive treatment of psoriasis can reduce this increased heart attack risk.&quot;</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>There\'s more on psoriasis at the <a href=\"http://www.psoriasis.org/home/\" target=\"_new\">National Psoriasis Foundation</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('2029','7','<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\">Drug helps fight brain tumors, study finds</font><br><spacer type=\"block\" height=\"10\" width=\"1\"></spacer><br><b>Avastin can slow growth of deadly form of cancer</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>WASHINGTON - Avastin, one of a new family of drugs that starves tumors of their blood supply, can slow the growth of the most common and deadly form of brain cancer, researchers reported on Monday.</p><p>Avastin combined with standard chemotherapy could temporarily stop the growth of brain tumors known as gliomas, the researchers reported in the journal Clinical Cancer Research.</p><p>Made by Genentech under the chemical name bevacizumab, Avastin is currently approved to treat lung and colorectal cancers.</p><p>\"These results are exciting because of the possible implications for a patient population that currently has the poorest possible prognosis going into treatment - those with malignant brain tumors that have recurred after initial treatment,\" said Dr. James Vredenburgh of Duke University, who led the study.</p><p>Vredenburgh\'s team tested Avastin in 32 patients with stage III or stage IV cancer.</p><p>When they added Avastin to the more standard chemotherapy drug irinotecan, the combination either shrank the tumors or restricted their growth in nearly all the patients, the researchers found.</p><p>They said 63 percent of the patients had their tumors shrink by at least 50 percent and the tumors did not start to grow again for at least six months in 38 percent.</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/17103731/\">Newer breast cancer drugs can save lives</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>Vredenburgh said chemotherapy usually slows the growth of gliomas for just six weeks to three months.</p><p>Life expectancy after diagnosis of a stage IV glioma - the most aggressive type - is eight to 15 months, Vredenburgh said.?People with slightly less aggressive stage III glioma live between 16 months and two years on average.</p><p>An estimated 18,000 people are diagnosed with gliomas in the United States each year, according to the American Cancer Society.</p><p>They are difficult to treat because many drugs cannot reach the brain.</p><p>\"When the tumor recurs after treatment, there are no standard therapies,\" Vredenburgh said. \"This study may lead to options where there previously were none.\"</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('2030','7','	<p><p>TUESDAY, Feb. 6 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved on Tuesday a new genetic test that\'s designed to determine the likelihood that early stage breast cancer will recur within five to 10 years after treatment.</p> <p>The intended value of the test is that it could help doctors decide whether or not a woman needs chemotherapy after initial cancer treatment for early stage disease that hasn\'t spread beyond the breast.</p> <p>However, the test, called MammaPrint, has shortcomings, Dr. Steven Gutman, director of the FDA\'s Office of In Vitro Diagnostic Device Evaluation and Safety in the Center for Devices, said during a teleconference.</p> <p>Women determined to be at high risk of cancer recurrence at five years have a 23 percent chance that the disease will reappear. Conversely, for women at low-risk, the test is 95 percent accurate that cancer will not return, Gutman said.</p> <p>And at 10 years, women gauged at high risk for recurrence have a 29 percent chance their cancer will recur, while low-risk patients have a 90 percent chance the cancer will not return, he said.</p> <p>\"This information has to be used very carefully by physicians in the context of what they know about the history of the patient, the diagnostic options and the treatment options,\" Gutman said. \"This is a complex test that requires use by people who know their business.\"</p> <p>Dr. Len Lichtenfeld, the deputy chief medical officer at the American Cancer Society, said, \"This test isn\'t better than other tests that do the same thing. The thing that makes it stand out is that it has FDA approval.\"</p> <p>Lichtenfeld doesn\'t think the test is accurate enough yet to be used in determining treatment.</p> <p>\"This is a first step in a long process,\" Lichtenfeld said. \"The goal of that process is to do a test that will tell us, \'Yes, you need adjuvant therapy or, no, you don\'t,\' and say it with 99.9 percent accuracy. We are not there yet.\"</p> <p>The FDA gave its approval of MammaPrint based on data its manufacturer -- Agendia, of Amsterdam, the Netherlands -- submitted from a study using tumor samples and clinical data from 302 patients at five European centers. The test has been available in Europe since 2005. Similar tests cost around $3,000.</p> <p>Gutman said the FDA is developing regulations for this type of genetic testing and plans to publish a policy within the next 60 days that describes the kind of data that\'s needed to support claims for genetic profiling for breast-cancer prognosis.</p> <p>Lichtenfeld said he isn\'t convinced the test has a value in deciding if a woman should have chemotherapy or not. \"We don\'t know, at this point, whether or not this is a test that should influence the decisions that women and their doctors should be making with regard to adjuvant therapy,\" he said.</p> <p>MammaPrint is a DNA microarray-based test that measures the activity of 70 genes, providing information about the likelihood that cancer will recur. The test measures each of these genes in a sample of a woman\'s breast-cancer tumor and then uses a specific formula to produce a score that determines whether the patient is deemed low risk or high risk for the spread of the cancer to another site.</p> <p>An estimated 178,480 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed in U.S. women this year, and more than 40,000 women are expected to die from the disease, according to the American Cancer Society.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>For more information on breast cancer, visit the <a href=\" http://www.cancer.org/docroot/cri/cri_2x.asp\" target=\"_new\">American Cancer Society</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('2031','7','	<p><p>TUESDAY, Feb. 6 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a test designed to predict the chances of breast cancer returning or spreading within five to 10 years after a woman\'s initial cancer.</p> <p>The MammaPrint test studies \"the patterns of behavior\" of some 70 genes that may play a part in tumor recurrence, offering doctors a better chance of predicting the chances of a tumor returning or spreading, the FDA said in a statement.</p> <p>The gene activity is measured from a sample of a woman\'s surgically removed tumor. The test was developed by Agendia, a laboratory based in the Netherlands, where the product has been on the market since 2005, the FDA said.</p> <p>MammaPrint is the first in a class of complex molecular tests known as an in vitro diagnostic multivariate index assay. As part of the approval process, Agendia submitted clinical data from 302 patients at five European study centers showing that the test was useful in predicting cancer recurrence among women under age 61 who had early-stage breast tumors that were five centimeters or smaller, the agency said.</p> <p>The American Cancer Society predicts more than 178,000 new cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed this year among U.S. women, and more than 40,000 are likely to die from the disease.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>To learn more about the MammaPrint test, see the U.S. Food and Drug Administration\'s <a href=\"http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2007/NEW01555.html\" target=\"_new\">approval announcement</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('2032','7','	<p> <P>The US Food and Drug Administration has approved MammaPrint, a new genetic test that can help predict whether a woman\'s early stage <a href=\"http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/CRI_2x.asp?sitearea=LRN&dt=5\">breast cancer</a> is likely to come back after initial treatment. The test is one of several that could help breast cancer patients and their doctors make decisions about how aggressively to treat the disease. </p> <P>MammaPrint, made by the Dutch firm Agendia, measures the activity in 70 genes that are related to the risk of breast cancer recurrence. It then uses a mathematical formula to predict whether the chance of recurrence is high or low.</p> <P>Combined with other tests and clinical information (the size of the tumor, whether it has spread to lymph nodes, whether it has hormone receptors, etc.), the MammaPrint results could help doctors plan treatment, the FDA says.</p> <div class=T8>Potential to Avoid Chemotherapy?');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('2033','7','	<p><p>FRIDAY, Nov. 3 (HealthDay News) -- Testing for the presence of human papillomavirus (HPV) is a more effective cervical cancer screening tool than Pap smear for women aged 40 and older, a Danish study finds.</p> <p>The study concluded that the Pap smear is still better for screening younger women, however.</p> <p>HPV infection is considered the leading cause of cervical cancer.</p> <p>The findings from the study of nearly 10,000 women were published in the Nov. 1 issue of <i>Cancer Research</i>.</p> <p>The researchers said that HPV infection is both frequent and transient in younger women -- meaning that they would often test positive for HPV when they had no actual risk of cervical cancer.</p> <p>However, in older women, HPV infection is less common and more persistent, which puts them at substantial risk for cancer before changes in cervical cells (which are detected by Pap smears) are obvious, the researchers said.</p> <p>They found that older women who test positive for HPV have a 20 percent greater risk of cervical cancer within 10 years than older women who don\'t have HPV. Furthermore, most women who test positive for HPV also test negative on a Pap smear done at the same time.</p> <p>&quot;Based on these results, we feel that an HPV test would benefit older women, whether or not that test is used in conjunction with Pap smears, or used by itself as an initial screen,&quot; senior author Dr. Susanne Kruger Kjaer, professor and head of the department of virus, hormones and cancer at the Danish Cancer Society, said in a prepared statement.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The American Cancer Society has more about <a href=\"http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/CRI_2_3x.asp?dt=8\" target=\"_new\">cervical cancer</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('2034','7','	<p><p>FRIDAY, Nov. 17 (HealthDay News) -- New research suggests that heavy smoking and high levels of a potentially deadly virus could combine forces and boost a woman\'s risk of developing precancerous lesions in the cervix. </p> <p>Smoking and the human papillomavirus (HPV) have been linked to cervical cancer before. But the new study is the first to look at a possible interplay between heavy smoking and virus levels, said study author Anthony Gunnell, a researcher at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden.</p> <p>&quot;The risk for developing pre-malignant cervical cancer increases as HPV load increases,&quot; Gunnell said. &quot;Importantly though, it increases more with increasing HPV (levels) if you smoke than if you don\'t.&quot;</p> <p>The American Cancer Society estimates that about 9,710 cases of cervical cancer will be diagnosed in the United States this year, and 3,700 will die.</p> <p>However, the number of deaths dropped by 74 percent between 1955 and 1992, mostly because of the growing popularity of Pap tests that detect possible signs of cancer. Now, there is a vaccine available to prevent HPV infection and most cases of cervical cancer.</p> <p>Scientists think a huge number of cervical cancer cases are caused by HPV, which may be the most common sexually transmitted disease. HPV seems to boost the risk of cancer by causing inflammation.</p> <p>But how does it raise the risk, and why do some women get infected by HPV but never get cervical cancer?</p> <p>In the new study, Gunnell and colleagues looked at the medical records of 738 women, including 375 with signs of precancerous cervical lesions and 363 healthy women. The researchers found the subjects by looking through a database of 146,104 women who underwent cervical screening in a region of Sweden between 1969 and 1995.</p> <p>The findings are published in the November issue of <i>Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention</i>.</p> <p>The study authors wrote that there appears to be a &quot;synergistic&quot; relationship between heavy smoking and high levels of a specific strain of HPV.</p> <p>Current smokers who had signs of HPV infection at the time of their first Pap smear were more than 14 times more likely to show signs of precancerous lesions than current smokers who weren\'t infected.</p> <p>And heavy smokers who had high levels of HPV when first tested were 27 times more likely to have precancerous lesions. Among nonsmokers, however, high HPV levels only raised their risk by six times.</p> <p>There\'s an important caveat: Since few American women develop cervical cancer now, a woman\'s chances of developing the disease still remain small.</p> <p>It\'s not clear why smoking raises the risk of cervical cancer, but Gunnell said it may have something to do with how cigarette smoke affect the immune system. Both smoking and HPV affect molecules known as cytokines, which control tumor growth, he said.</p> <p>What to do? Prevention is the first step, Gunnell said. &quot;Women with HPV -- especially those with high HPV (levels) -- and who smoke are in a higher risk group. They should take particular care in being checked regularly. Obviously, it is to their benefit to also stop smoking.&quot;</p> <p>Meanwhile, research will help scientists get a better handle on what causes cervical cancer, Gunnell said. &quot;There are probably no immediate applications of this research regarding treatment per se. Of course, in science, every little bit counts, and you never know when a small bit of information can make a big difference to someone else\'s research.&quot;</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The <a href=\" http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/content/CRI_2_4_2X_What_are_the_risk_factors_for_cervical_cancer_8.asp?rnav=cri\" target=\"_new\">American Cancer Society</a> has more on risk factors for cervical cancer.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('2035','7','	<p><p>FRIDAY, Dec. 8 (HealthDay News) -- There were important advances in the detection and treatment of cancer this year -- more people than ever are now surviving the disease -- but cuts in government cancer research dollars could slow progress in the fight.</p> <p>Those are the conclusions of new research released Friday by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).</p> <p>The report, <i>Clinical Cancer Advances 2006: Major Research Advances in Treatment, Prevention, and Screening</i>, identified six important advances in cancer research for the year, including five new drugs that prolong life.</p> <p>But, despite such progress, ASCO executives are upset at recent cuts in federal funding for cancer research. To keep pace with inflation, the group is calling for a minimum annual funding increase of at least 5 percent both from and for the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH).</p> <p>\"In the last four decades, the investment in clinical cancer research has yielded major progress in prevention, detection and treatment of a wide variety of cancers,\" Dr. Robert F. Ozols, chairman of ASCO\'s Cancer Communications Committee, said during a teleconference.</p> <p>Ozols, a researcher at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, noted that there are now 10 million cancer survivors in the United States, up from 3.5 million in 1970.</p> <p> \"For the first time in 70 years, the number of deaths in the United States due to cancer declined in 2003,\" he said. \"In addition, we are treating cancer better and with less toxicity.\"</p> <p>The ASCO report includes only the most important developments in the way cancer is understood or impacts patient care and survival, Ozols said. The most important advances in cancer treatment in the past year, according to the report, are:</p> <ul> <li> The HPV vaccine, Gardasil. As a preventive against human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, the cause of most cervical cancer, the vaccine has the potential to reduce the burden of cervical cancer, which is diagnosed in almost 500,000 women around the world each year. In addition, a 2006 study found the vaccine was also effective in preventing HPV-related vaginal and vulvar precancers.</li> <li> <p>Targeted therapies that improve survival and response rates for hard-to-treat cancers. These include: </p> <p>For kidney cancer, the investigational drug temsirolimus (CCI-779), which improved survival when used as a first-line treatment for people with advanced, high-risk kidney cancer, and sunitinib (Sutent), which improved progression-free survival and response rates.</p> <p> For advanced breast cancer treatment, there is now Lapatinib (Tykerb). For leukemia patients, Dasatinib (Sprycel), which is effective in those who are resistant to imatinib. And last year, cetuximab (Erbitux) arrived, the first new treatment for head-and-neck cancer in 45 years.</p></li> <li>Significant advances in genetic tests that predict the outcomes of people with lung cancer.</li></ul> <p>\"These advancers did not happen by accident,\" ASCO president Dr. Gabriel N. Hortobagyi, from the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, said at the teleconference. \"These are the results of the last 30 years of work by investigators and by a major investment this country has made in cancer research.\"</p> <p>But cancer research funding itself may well be in crisis, he added. Funding for the NIH had doubled each year up to 2003, but has not been increased since then, he said. </p> <p>\"If you add inflation to that, it is a net cut in funding,\" Hortobagyi said.\" We expect next year there will also be a net cut in funding, and that is unfortunate because we are even better prepared today to harvest practical results from the investment in cancer research.\"</p> <p>In 2004, the National Cancer Institute, which is part of NIH and funds cancer research, received $4.7 billion, according to NCI. That represents only a 3.2 percent increase over the previous year.</p> <p>Hortobagyi thinks that rising government deficits and spending in other areas are draining essential dollars from cancer research.</p> <p> \"The decreases in funding are destructive not only because they prevent further progress, but because they result in the dismantling of existing infrastructures for research,\" he said.</p> <p>Hortobagyi believes that the National Institutes of Health needs to continue to increase funding just to keep the progress in cancer research at current levels.</p> <p>\"We need a minimum, but consistent, increase of 5 percent per year dedicated to biomedical cancer research,\" Hortobagyi said. \"That will be barely above inflation. It may not ensure growth, but it will ensure maintenance of our current infrastructure and efforts.\"</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>The U.S. National Cancer Institute can tell you more about <a href=\"http://ccr.nci.nih.gov\" target=\"_new\"> cancer research</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('2036','7','	<p><p>(HealthDay News) -- Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a sexually transmitted virus that can cause cervical cancer. Because there are rarely any symptoms, it\'s important to have regular pap smears to determine if you have HPV.</p> <p>If your pap smear shows that you do have HPV, the American Academy of Family Physicians says it does not mean that you have or will have cervical cancer, just that you are at higher risk.</p> <p>If your test is positive, your gynecologist may schedule frequent pap smears to look for certain cell changes on the cervix, which could indicate the virus has progressed to cervical cancer.</p> <p>In most cases, however, the virus goes away on its own and does not require treatment.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('2037','7','	<p> <P>Drugs that home in on hard-to-treat cancers and a vaccine that promises to prevent many cases of <a href=\"http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/CRI_2x.asp?sitearea=&dt=8\">cervical cancer</a> were among the top advances against cancer in 2006, according to experts from the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). For the second year in a row, the ASCO editorial board has published its selections for the most important research findings, along with recommendations for getting even more bang out of each cancer research buck. </p> <P>\"If we hope to realize the potential of extraordinary new scientific knowledge and accelerate the pace of discovery, we need a new national commitment to cancer research, including greater funding,\" says Gabriel Hortobagyi, MD, FACP, president of ASCO and chair of breast medical oncology at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.</p> <div class=T8>Changing the Standard of Care ');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('2038','7','	<p> <P>Girls should get the new <a href=\"http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/content/CRI_2_6x_FAQ_HPV_Vaccines.asp?sitearea=\">vaccine for human papilloma virus (HPV)</a> at age 11-12, the American Cancer Society says in new guidelines issued Friday. </p> <P>HPV is a very common virus. Some types of HPV are sexually transmitted, and these can cause <a href=\"http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/CRI_2x.asp?sitearea=&dt=8\">cervical cancer</a> and other types of cancer, as well as genital warts. </p> <P>The vaccine currently available, called Gardasil, protects against 2 types of HPV that cause about 70% of cervical cancers, and 2 other types that cause 90% of genital warts. It is given as a series of 3 shots over the course of 6 months. Other HPV vaccines are also being tested. </p> <P>But screening will still be an important part of cervical cancer prevention, even in people who have been vaccinated, the guidelines say. They are published in the latest issue of the ACS journal <i>CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians</i>.</p> <P>The complete ACS recommendations address several different groups:</p> <p><ul> <li>Routine HPV vaccination is recommended for girls aged 11-12 years.</li> <li>Girls as young as 9 years old may be vaccinated.</li> <li>The vaccine is also recommended for girls 13-18 years old to catch up on missed shots or to complete the series of shots.</li> <li>There is not yet enough information to recommend for or against vaccinating women 19-26 years old, so these women should discuss vaccination with their doctor.</li> <li>The HPV vaccine is not recommended at this time for women over age 26.</li> <li>The HPV vaccine is not recommended at this time for boys or men.</li> <li>Women should continue to be screened for cervical cancer according to <a href=\"http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/content/CRI_2_2_2x_Can_Cancer_of_the_Cervix_Be_Prevented.asp?sitearea=\">ACS guidelines</a>, regardless of whether they have gotten the HPV vaccine.</li></ul></p> <P>The new recommendations are in line with those issued by <a href=\"http://www.cancer.org/docroot/NWS/content/NWS_1_1x_HPV_Vaccine_Recommended_for_Girls_Aged_11-12.asp\">federal health officials</a> after the vaccine was approved last summer.</p> <div class=T8>Potential for Preventing Many Cervical Cancers');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('2039','7','	<p> <P>The United States has made strides recently in improving the outlook for people with cancer. Deaths from the disease have dropped for two years in a row. But a new American Cancer Society report shows that progress has been slower among African Americans than people of other races in this country. </p> <P>Death rates from cancer have been declining among both African American men and women, according to <I><a href=\"http://www.cancer.org/docroot/STT/stt_0.asp\">Cancer Facts & Figures for African Americans 2007-2008</a></i>. Yet the cancer death rate is still 35% higher for African American men compared to white men and 18% higher in African American women compared to white women. In fact, African Americans have the highest death rate and shortest survival rate of any other racial or ethnic group for most cancers, the report says.</p> <P>The reasons for these differences aren\'t completely understood, but economic and social gaps are believed to play a large role. Nearly a quarter of African Americans in the US live in poverty, and 20% are uninsured, the report says. People who are poor and uninsured are more likely to have their cancers found later, when they\'re harder to treat, and are more likely to receive substandard care.</p> <P>\"Access to insurance and healthcare as well as health education play an important role in one\'s health, but a lot of African Americans do not have access to these tools,\" said Durado Brooks, MD, director of prostate and colorectal cancers at ACS. \"This report makes clear there is a need for more focus on improving socioeconomic factors and providing educational opportunities that can help further lessen cancer\'s unequal burden on African Americans.\"</p> <div class=T8>Lung Cancer the Biggest Killer');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('2040','7','	<p><!--Spanish ID: 601892 --> <p>TUESDAY, Feb. 13 (HealthDay News) -- Even though U.S. Medicare has expanded coverage for colon cancer screening, blacks and Hispanics are not benefiting as much as whites, a new study shows.</p> <p>Researchers at the Medical College of Wisconsin analyzed 2002-2003 data on nearly 600,000 Medicare patients in New York, Florida and Illinois. Overall, about 18.3 percent of those people were screened for colorectal cancer during the study period.</p> <p>\"Blacks (9.7 percent) and Hispanics (8.1 percent) had lower rates of colon cancer screening compared with whites (19.3 percent),\" the study authors wrote in the Feb. 12 issue of the journal <i>Archives of Internal Medicine</i>.</p> <p>The poor were also less likely to get screened. \"Individuals living in ZIP codes with a higher per capita income were more likely to undergo a colon screening test than were those living in ZIP codes with a lower per capita income (21 percent and 14.6 percent in the highest and lowest tertiles, respectively).\"</p> <p>Rates varied by state, as well. The study found that 21.5 percent of the study participants in Florida had been screened, compared with 16.6 percent in Illinois and 16.2 percent in New York.</p> <p>The researchers also found that people who lived in a ZIP code with a greater amount of high school graduates were more likely to have colon cancer screening and that women were less likely than men to undergo an invasive screening test or colonoscopy.</p> <p>\"Further research is needed to determine the basis for the observed ongoing disparities to develop interventions to reduce and eliminate these differences,\" the study authors concluded.</p> <p>In the United States, colorectal cancer is the third most common kind of cancer. About 145,290 cases of colorectal cancer were diagnosed in the country in 2005, according to background information in the study.</p> <p>\"There is evidence that screening for colorectal cancer decreases incidence and mortality from the disease,\" the study authors noted.</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/screening/colorectal/patient\" target=\"_new\">colorectal cancer screening</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
INSERT INTO `dede_addonarticle` VALUES('2041','7','	<p><!--Spanish ID: 601934 --> <p>WEDNESDAY, Feb. 14 (HealthDay News) -- Events both inside and outside a gene can affect the risk of developing a kind of colorectal cancer, Australian researchers are suggesting in a new report.</p> <p>Mutations of the gene, designated <i>MLH1</i>, which is involved with cellular repair, are known to increase the risk of developing a tumor called hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer, which accounts for about one case in 50 of colorectal cancers. But the risk can also be increased by addition of a methyl group -- consisting of one carbon atom and three hydrogen atoms -- to the gene.</p> <p>Researchers at several centers in Sydney reported that the \"methylation\" of the gene was transmitted from several mothers to their children. In one case, it was then erased from the son\'s sperm, but it persisted in three other children.</p> <p>\"These findings demonstrate a novel pattern of inheritance of cancer susceptibility,\" the researchers wrote in the Feb. 15 issue of the <i>New England Journal of Medicine</i>.</p> <p>\"The idea is that there is some plasticity to the genetics\" of cancer, said Dr. Andrew Feinberg, professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, who wrote an accompanying editorial in the journal. \"There could be genetic sequences that could predispose to cancer, and the methylation on top of it could also have an effect. A genetic sequence could increase the chance of becoming methylated.\"</p> <p>Heather Hampel, a genetics counselor at Ohio State University, who has long experience with the subject, said the study showed that methylation of a gene could be passed from generation to generation. That has not been clearly established, however, she said, so children of mothers with the methylated gene would have to be screened for it.</p> <p>\"We have assumed that methylation is acquired with age and can\'t be passed on to children,\" Hampel said. \"But these sons clearly had the gene methylated in their whole bodies when they were born.\"</p> <p>The methylation did disappear from one of the sons. But the fact that it could be inherited \"is telling us that there may be more hereditary cases (of cancer) we don\'t know about,\" Hampel said.</p> <p>The study shows that women can pass on the methylated version of the gene, but it isn\'t clear whether men can, too, she said, making for a \"complicated inheritance pattern.\"</p> <p>\"The exciting part of it is that it shows this may be more common than we have appreciated in the past,\" Hampel said.</p> <p>And the genetic picture might be more complicated than the study indicates, Feinberg said. \"There are data showing that there might be incomplete activation of the gene and that the erasure might not be entirely complete,\" he said.</p> <p><b>More information</b></p> <p>You can learn more about the genetics of colorectal cancer from the U.S. <a href=\"http://www.genome.gov/10000466\" target=\"_new\">National Institutes of Health</a>.</p> </p>\n		');
