Swine Flu Is More Severe Than Seasonal Flu, Ferret Study Finds
The H1N1 swine flu virus went further into the ferrets lungs, and also penetrated the gastrointestinal tract while seasonal flu stayed in the nasal cavity, researchers from the U.S. and the Netherlands found. Ferrets are affected by flu viruses much as humans are, the researchers said.
Swine flu has struck at least 77,201 people in 113 nations worldwide, killing 332, according to laboratory-confirmed reports compiled by the World Health Organization, which has declared the first flu pandemic since 1968. While the virus causes little more than a [...]
Middle-aged Widows Have Highest Dementia Risk, Research Shows
Being widowed or divorced in mid-life carries three times the risk, while singles have double the risk of getting dementia than people who are married or cohabiting, according to a study from researchers in Sweden and Finland.
“Supportive intervention for individuals who have lost a partner might be a promising strategy in preventive health care,” lead researcher Krister Hakansson from Vaxjo University and the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm wrote in the study.
The number [...]
Study: New Flu Inefficient In Attacking People
“While the virus is able to bind human receptors, it clearly appears to be restricted,” Ram Sasisekharan, lead author of the report, said in a statement.
But flu viruses are known to mutate rapidly, the research team noted, so this one must be watched closely in case it changes to become easier to spread.
Even if it doesnt mutate, its causing plenty of illness here and abroad already - and vaccine makers are working “at full speed” to develop shots for use in the fall if the government deems it enough of a threat, Dr. Anthony Fauci, infectious disease director of the [...]
Federal Inquiry Finds Problems With Chelation Study
The study is testing chelation - infusions of a drug that in this case has been removed from the market for safety concerns. A different type of chelation is used to treat lead poisoning.
Findings from the investigation were revealed this week by the U.S. Office for Human Research Protections in a letter to the three medical centers leading the study.
The probe found that several doctors doing the study had been accused of poor practices by state medical boards or involved in insurance fraud, and that at least three are convicted felons. While “concerning,” this doesnt prevent them from participating in [...]
Advocates Are Back With Real Health Care Stories
Douglas is among thousands of people now telling their stories on videos, ads and Web sites on both sides of the health care debate.
He said he was drawn into political advocacy after neighbors in Harpswell, Maine, raised $3,000 toward his hospital bills with a church dinner and collection cans in stores.
Douglas said he may not understand the intricacies of President Barack Obamas top domestic priority, but he knows he wants affordable health care for everyone, so nobody has to beg.
“People arent standing up to be counted,” Douglas said, explaining why he allowed his name to be used in a political [...]
Kennedy Seeks Public Health-care Tactic That Finances Itself
A summary of the provision written by the Massachusetts Democrats Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee describes a public insurance plan that could be quickly available around the U.S. with payment rates set by the Health and Human Services Department. The summary was provided by a person close to the committee.
President Barack Obama said in a June 2 letter to the chairmen of the health and finance committees that government- backed insurance is necessary to make affordable coverage available to everyone and keep private insurers “honest.” [...]
Gene Variants Linked to Higher Schizophrenia Risk
In a first-of-its-kind look at the genetic elements of schizophrenia, a massive international effort focused on seven spots of genetic variation. Dozens of scientists then published three papers from the effort on Thursday in the journal Nature. Those genetic blips account for at most one-third of genetically caused schizophrenia.
Based on studies of identical twins, scientists figure that about half of schizophrenia is inherited with the rest having other causes.
What the studies show more than anything is that schizophrenia doesnt have a single genetic cause. It is more like a massive jigsaw puzzle and researchers just found a few end pieces, [...]
Jacksons Hospital Is Known For Raising The Dead
Tested on a few dozen cardiac arrest patients, 80 percent survived. Usually, more than 80 percent perish.
“They took people who were basically dead, not all that different than Michael Jackson, and saved most of them,” said Dr. Lance Becker, an emergency medicine specialist at the University of Pennsylvania and an American Heart Association spokesman.
Could Jackson, too, have been saved?
Its impossible to know. Doctors at the hospital worked on him for an hour. The UCLA expert, cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Gerald Buckberg, said he was not personally involved in Jacksons treatment, and that too little is known about what preceded it.
“We have [...]
Fawcetts Fatality Spotlights A Rare Cancer
Before her death last week, at age 62, the actress had come to terms with the illness and agreed to have her suffering and treatment chronicled for a television documentary.
“She knew that she had the kind of anal cancer that she wasnt going to ultimately overcome, and decided to leave as much of a legacy of awareness as she possibly could,” her physician, Dr. Lawrence Piro, said Tuesday before her funeral.
It is an unexpected legacy for Fawcett, whose feathered hair and electric smile once dominated TV screens. A sexy photo of her in a red swimsuit, taken in the 1970s, [...]
Few Survive Cardiac Arrest, Even With Hospital Cpr
Only about 18 percent of such patients live long enough to leave the hospital, researchers found. Blacks fared worse than whites - a disparity only partly explained by more of them being treated in hospitals that did a poorer job of CPR.
Results were published in Thursdays New England Journal of Medicine.
Dr. Lance Becker, a University of Pennsylvania emergency medicine specialist and an American Heart Association spokesman, called the findings “grim” and “a wake-up call that we need to redouble our efforts” to find better ways to treat cardiac arrest.
It occurs when the heart quivers or stops beating entirely, because of [...]