Test Shows Alcohol, Pot Consumption While Pregnant leads to Infant Brain Damage

A German study of THC, the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana mixed with a syenthetic THC, and a mild doses of intoxicating alcohol caused widespread nerve cell death in the brains of young rats, ultimately proving that THC boosts alcohol's harmful effects on the developing infant brain.

Marijuana is among the most commonly used illicit drugs by women during their childbearing years and there's growing concern that use of marijuana, either alone or in combination with other drugs, during pregnancy may harm fetal brain development.

"With the use of behavioral and stereological techniques, such studies would explore whether acute changes reflect permanent neuronal loss and lead to behavioral deficits," they concluded. "The results of the acute studies have interesting potential therapeutic implications for including the use of CB1 receptor antagonists for preventing brain damage in fetuses and neonates exposed to ethanol, sedative and/or anticonvulsant drugs."

The researchers found that THC and synthetic THC did not cause nerve cell death when administered alone but did cause cell death when given with mildly intoxicating amounts of ethanol.

Drinking alcohol during pregnancy is out of the question and adding marijuana into the picture increases the chances of brain deterioration, so steer clear of this mixture to avoid fetal complications.

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Life Expectancy in U.S. Women Decreases

A downward trend in U.S. women life expectancy since 1980 can be attributed to increases in deaths from diabetes, lung cancer, emphysema and kidney failure, especially in women from rural and low-income areas.

Women not limited to one race or ethnicity from places in the Deep South, Appalachia and the lower Midwest are the most evident sign that women's life expectancy is significantly falling.

"I think this is a harbinger," said Christopher J.L. Murray, a physician and epidemiologist at the University of Washington, who led the study.

This trend may be perpetuated by the long-term effects of smoking, a habit women picked up after men did, and the obesity epidemic sweeping our nation.

Women must assess the issue at hand and cut dirty habits such as smoking and mix good eating and exercise into their daily lives if they want the expectancy curve to move in their favor.

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Unhealthy Lifestyle, Obesity in Cancer Survivors

New research shows less than one-quarter of cancer survivors are regularly physically active, and more than 18 percent are obese, similar to those of the general population.

A healthy lifestyle is more crucial and encouraged to patients after they beat cancer to help prevent recurrences of the disease and live longer.

"This is an important finding to underscore the fact that cancer survivors need to pay attention to their health," said Kevin Stein, director of Quality of Life Research at the American Cancer Society. "You've dodged a bullet for the time being, but cancer survivors are actually at an increased risk for a number of health conditions, including cancer recurrence."

Research of information based on interviews with more than 114,000 people in Canada including patient's cancer history, weight, height and physical activity were all supplied by the respondents to conclude that 34 percent of cancer survivors were overweight, almost one in five was obese, and fewer than 22 percent of cancer survivors reported being physically active.

Poor outcomes in long term survival have been reported due to unhealthy living and lack of physicfal activity in people who had cancer, so if you beat cancer, do yourself a favor and take back your life by eating right and exercising.

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Lawsuit Filed Against Merck for Scientific Fraud

Lawsuits have been filed by two teams of researchers against one of the largest pharmaceutical companies, Merck & Co., alleging scientific fraud charges based off deceptive promotion of the painkiller Vioxx, fake in-house research practices instead of qualified researchers independent academic testing, and an incomplete and delayed account of information to the Food and Drug Administration of deaths in clinical trials.


Vioxx became a "blockuster" drug in 1999 when it went on the market, racking in sales of $2.3 billion in 2003, then was revoked in 2004 after several studies showed that it increased the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

The Journal of the American Medical Association authors coined the term "guest authorship and ghostwriting" to make it appear that research done by its employees or contractors was done by scientists in medical schools and universities

The researchers gained access to the company's thousands of documents in order to bring forth the lawsuit and constructed two JAMA papers that claim to provide a look at practices widespread in the pharmaceutical industry.


JAMA did not request responses from other major pharmaceutical companies and lawyers for Merck are dismissing the JAMA findings.

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ALS & Melanoma Treating Drug to Slow Cancer Growth

A new study done by Rutgers University and the Cancer Institute of New Jersey found that the drug riluzole is able to treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease) and slow the growth of highly aggressive melanoma skin cancer by limiting the amount of protein glutamate.

People with melanoma have cells that overproduce glutamate which causes growth and expansion of the skin cancer as well as over-stimulated neurons that burn out.

"I think this drug is going to be extremely important as an adjunct to surgical treatment for stage 3 or stage 4 melanoma," said Dr. James Goydos, a surgical oncologist at the Cancer Institute of New Jersey. "The challenge is to keep it from recurring, which has happened in patients on the order of 50 percent. With low toxicity likely, riluzole could potentially be given for long periods of time to slow down the metabolic process responsible for the disease's recurrence."

In lab tests using human melanoma cell lines on animals, riluzole turned off overproduction of glutamate while testing the drug on 11 people with late stage melanoma and and some patients in phase 0 received riluzole for two-week period.

The research was to be presented April 15 at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research, in San Diego, but some patients in the group showed indications of responding to the drug, so they will be reassessed.

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Anti-Radiation Drug Promises to Alleviate Damage

Scientists from Cleveland BioLabs have come up with a new approach to protecting the body's most radition-sensitive tissues from being damaged by creating a new drug, Protectan, that promises to prevent serious side-effects of cancer treatment.

Radiation destroys cancer cells in patients undergoing chemotherapy, but certain bone marrow and gastrointestinal tissues are overly sensitive in different patients, limiting how much radiation physicians can give cancer patients.

"It has important implications for radiation exposure," said Dr. David Kirsch, a Duke University radiation oncologist who wasn't involved in the drug research.

A single dose of the experimental drug protected both mice and monkeys from what should have been lethal doses of radiation.

Scientists are still in the early stages of research and the government is helping to fund the experiments thst may begin testing on humans as early as this summer.

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People with High Cholesterol Kick Alzheimer's with Caffeine

Consuming chocolate, red bulls, and skinny caramel lattes may benefit people with high cholesterol by protecting them from Alzheimer's disease.

New research found consuming caffeine with a cholesterol-rich diet over a 12-week period caused little damage to rabbits' blood brain barrier (BBB), which protects the central nervous system from the rest of the body's circulation.


"High levels of cholesterol are a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease, perhaps by compromising the protective nature of the blood-brain barrier. For the first time, we have shown that chronic ingestion of caffeine protects the BBB from cholesterol-induced leakage," Jonathan Geiger, of the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences, said in a prepared statement.


Caffeine appears to offer protection by helping proteins maintain the tight binding of the cells in the BBB, so they stop unwanted molecules that leak when high levels of cholesterol break down the BBB from entering the central nervous system.


The findings also confirm previous studies showing that caffeine protects against memory loss in aging and in Alzheimer's disease. So for those with high-cholesterol, mix a morning coffee with that hearty eggs and bacon meal and hope for the best.

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Lack of Sleep During Infancy Linked to Obesity

Babies and toddlers who sleep less than 12 hours a day are at a greater risk for being overweight in pre-school concludes a new Harvard study that also stumbled upon evidence that the link between obesity and lack of sleep can even affect very young children. 

These infants are sleeping less and not growing to the healthy height and weight they need to be by early childhood because they are being allowed to watch television long into the night and sleep at odd times throughout the day under improper parent supervision.

The children who slept the least and watched the most television had the greatest chance of becoming obese. "The two (behaviors) are acting independently. In combination, they are particularly risky," said the study's lead author, Dr. Elsie Taveras of Harvard Medical School.

They found 586 of the children slept an average of 12 or more hours a day, which 7 percent were obese at age 3 and 329 children who slept less and watched two or more hours of television, which 17 percent were obese by the time they were 3.

So the moral of the story (findings) is a shout out to parents that want healthy, vibrant pre-schoolers. Put your kids in bed by 8 or 9 p.m. and have the television off when the sun goes down. 

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Drug Errors Harm Children

Roughly one out of 15 hospitalized kids are harmed by bad drug reactions, accidental overdoeses, and mix-ups in medicines each year, shows the first scientific test of a new detection method.

Concerns were raised when actor Dennis Quaid's child was a victim of an accidental overdose last year, and fears of the much higher than estimated percentage of children falling victim to such slip-ups is scaring parents across the nation.

"Every time a caregiver comes into the room, I would check and ask the nurse what they're giving them and why," Quaid said.

Researchers concluded that the estimate of children involved with medicine and drug mishaps is a staggering 7.3 percent, or 540,000 hospitalized children each year.

During the study, reseacrhers found 11 drug-related harmful events for every 100 hospitalized children, a number that compares wioth an earleir estimate of 2 per 100 hospitalized children.

This fact proves that some children experienced more than one drug treatment mistake. So, as a caution to parents with a hospitalized child; put your faith into the knowledge of your doctors, but do a little research yourself about treatment for your child's allement and double check with the procedures and drugs being put into your child.

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HIV Drugs Related to Increase in Heart Attacks

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is conducting a safety review of two well-known HIV drugs, abacavir and didanosine, because European researchers reported the drugs may lead to an increase in heart attack risk for the patient taking them.

Long-term cardiovascular effects are a concern for people with HIV who have taken these drugs, but actual the risk of having a heart attack when using these drugs varies with whether a patient already has underlying risk for heart attack.

"FDA continues to evaluate the overall risks and benefits of abacavir and didanosine. This evaluation may result in the need to revise labeling for the products. Until this evaluation is complete, health-care providers should evaluate the potential risks and benefits of each HIV-1 antiretroviral drug their patients are taking, including abacavir and didanosine," the agency said in a statement.

In the study, Lundgren's team collected data on 33,347 HIV patients who participated in the Data Collection on Adverse Events of Anti-HIV Drugs study (D:A:D) and found that commonly used drugs called nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors such as zidovudine, stavudine or lamivudine had no association with an increased risk for heart attack, but the nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors abacavir and didanosine were associated with an increased rate of heart attack.

For patients who stop using these drugs, their risk for a heart attack will substantially decrease within six months.

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Mouth-to-Mouth CPR no longer reccommended

The American Heart Association revised its guidelines Monday, expressing hands-only resessitation works just as well as the standard mouth-to-mouth CPR for sudden cardiac arrests.

People in need of CPR who receive it quickly have double or triple the chance of surviving, so barriers created with lip-locking CPR can now be diminished in the minds of the frigid people who once avoided the awkward rescue tatic.

"You only have to do two things. Call 911 and push hard and fast on the middle of the person's chest," said Dr. Michael Sayre, and emergency medicine professor at Ohio State University who headed the committee that made the reccommendation.

Hands-only CPR should only be executed if an adult collapses because odds are they are in cardiac arrest resulting from a heart attack and air needs needs to circulate in the lungs and blood to sustain flow into the brain, heart, and other organs.

If found in a situation that calls for hands-only CPR, press down 100 times a minute uninterruptedly on the chest until paramedics come and normalize the heart's ryhthm.

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Cholesterol Drug Doesn't Live Up to Promise

The full results of a study involving the newest cholesterol fighting drug, Vytorin, surfaced on the Internet Sunday to appalled audiences because the drug failed to improve heart disease and limit complete plaque buildup in the arteries.

Millions of Americans began to consume the drug when it hit pharmacies in 2004, racking in $5 billion in sales despite limited proof of benefit.

The results show the drug had "no result-zilch. In no sub-group, in no segment, was there any added benefit," for reducing plaque, said Dr. John Kastelein, the Dutch scientist who led the study.

Even though Vytorin works as intended to reduce three key factors of heart disease by combining Zocor with Schering-Plough Corp.'s Zetia, which went on sale in 2002 and attacks cholesterol in a different way, it took drugmakers nearly two years after the study's completion to release accurate results.

Doctors urge those with clogged arteries and risk for heart disease to go back to older treatments for high cholesterol, such as diet, exercise, and drugs proven to reduce risk.

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Pitcher's Mound Height Provokes Injury

The head team physician for the Milwaukee Brewers studied 20 Major League Baseball organization's pitchers including Milwaukee-area NCAA Division I-A college teams and concluded that the height of the pitching mound influences the risk of stress-related elbow and shoulder injuries.

The height of a pitcher's mound relates to the greater amount of stress on an athlete's body and may result in injury to the shoulder including tearing of the rotator cuff or labrum, which may result in surgery and long-term rehabilitation.

"Our researchers employed a motion analysis system using eight digital cameras that recorded the three-dimensional positions of 43 reflective markers placed on the athletes' bodies," study leader Dr. William Raasch, an associate professor of orthopedic surgery at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, said in a prepared statement. "Then we analyzed the pitching motion at mound heights of the regulation 10 inches, along with eight-inch and six-inch mounds, as well as having the athletes throw from flat ground."

The study was funded by Major League Baseball, and the study's findings were presented to health physicians associated with MLB teams during winter meetings.

A substantial amount of data was not gathered to alter the standard 10- inch mound height, but the study's findings do inform trainers of how to practice with their pitchers, on flat ground.

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Premature Birth Leads to Long Lasting Effects

Babies born prematurely have a risk of mortality after infancy and a recent study shows that these preemies may have a decreased reproductive rate or a chance of delivering prematurely.

Past studies only focused on serious risks preemies face early on, but now this study has uncovered the rate of chronic medical conditions in the long run for those young adults and adults who are were born prematurely.

"Prematurity may have caused issues that made them susceptible. We're they left with chronic lung disease? Were they left with cerebral palsy? There's a big belief that we are doing so great now, but premature births are still a big problem," said Dr. Peter Bernstein, a maternal-fetal specialist at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City.

Premature delivery occurs before 38 weeks into a pregnancy,  sixty percent occurring 26 weeks before gestation resulting in long-term disabilities, such as chronic lung disease, blindness, deafness, and neurodevelopmental problems.

One million babies were studied between 1967 and 1988 to conclude results in 2004, proving that premature deliveries between 22 and 32 weeks before gestation, both male and female, who survived through adolescence did not escape effects of prematurity.

Expectations for premature babies today may be greater because there have been advances in the care of preemies, but those born prematurely should continue to monitor their health through adolescence into adulthood. 

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Sample Drug Users Pay More for Prescriptions

A recent study found patients who receive free drug samples end up paying more out-of-pocket costs for their perscription drugs.

This means, sample users spent about $166 on perscriptions six months before receiving samples, $244 for the six months they received samples, and $212 following the receipt of free drugs, while non-sample users only spent about $178 over the entire six month period.

"This is a curious finding because one would think, intuitively, that if you receive a free sample, one's out-of-pocket prescription cost would be lower, not higher," said lead researcher Dr. G. Caleb Alexander, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Chicago Medical Center.

The study, which collected data on 5,709 patients, found younger people with private insurance were more likely to receive free samples because sample receivers may tend to be sicker than patients who don't get samples and patients who receive free samples may go on to receive and fill prescriptions for the very same medicine that initially began as free samples.

There are many ways doctors and patients can work together to reduce drug costs, but giving away free samples may not be the best one, because it may end up costing the patient more in the longer-run.

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Th loss of tooth enamel is on the rise in middle school students between the ages of 10 and 14, mainly because of acidic consumption, a new study shows.

Most patients are not aware that they are suffering from the condition until the problem becomes severe, causing the teeth to become more brittle and more suseptible to pain.

"This study is important, because it confirms our suspicions of the high prevalence of dental erosion in this country and, more importantly, brings awareness to dental practitioners and patients of its prevalence, causes, prevention and treatment," study co-author Bennett T. Amaechi, an associate professor of community dentistry at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, said in a prepared statement.

900 students were examined and 30 percent of them had the condition, thanks some types of medications, such as aspirin, certain medical conditions associated with gastric acids, and common products such as soft drinks, sports drinks, some fruit juices and herbal teas.

Loss of enamel does not cause pain or sensitivity in the early stages, so if consumption of acidic products is high, visiting the dentist to identify erosion may not be such a bad idea.

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Graduate, Live Longer

A new study shows Americans with 12 years of education or more can expect to live to 82, opposed to the life expectancy for those with less than 12 years of education, 75.


People with more education had almost a year and half of increased life expectancy and people with less education had a life expectancy increase of only six months compared to a study taken two years later that concluded the better educated saw their life expectancy increase by 1.6 years and the less educated life expectancy didn't increase at all.


"Those with less education are likely to have lower income," said lead researcher Ellen R. Meara, an assistant professor of health care policy at Harvard Medical School. "They're likely to live in areas that have their own health threats, either through crime or poor housing conditions. In addition, they may have worse access to health insurance coverage and health services,"



The National Longitudinal Mortality Study used death certificates, plus estimates from Census data, to create two datasets, one covering 1981 to 1988 and the other from 1990 to 2000, and found that one-fifth of the difference in mortality between well-educated and less-educated groups can be accounted for by smoking-related diseases such as lung cancer and emphysema, gender differences, income, and surroundings.



As the gap in life expectancy between the more educated and the less educated widens, the challenge to find ways to extend life expectancy for all groups in U.S society must be addressed by the American public and the U.S. government, so poverty and limited education can cease to be enemies of both opportunity and health.


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Airborne Settles $23 Million for False Advertising

The makers of Airborne, a line of popular herbal supplements that was marketed as a "miracle cold buster", decided to settle a $23 million lawsuit for false advertising Sunday, also concluding the product was invented by a school teacher and never medically tested. 

The company will reimburse customers for up to six months purchases of Airborne products and a special website has been set up to accept these claims.

"There's no credible evidence that what's in Airborne can prevent colds or protect you from a germy environment," said David Schardt, an official at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, and advocacy group that helped bring the lawsuit.

Oprah Winfrey, Howard Stern, and Kevin Costner endorsed the product, weighing in on more than $100 million from sniffly consumers in 2006, while the inventor-teacher made guest appearances on popular shows such as "Live with Regis and Kelly" and "Dr. Phil," gabbing about the benefits of the product. 

Customers can get there money back on recent Airborne purchases, continue to buy the newly advertised "immune system boosting" product, or boycott the company altogether in response to the news.

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Former Hormone Users Face Cancer Risks Later

A follow-up to a momentous hormone replacement therapy (HRT) study on hormone use after menopause shows women who stopped taking the pills decreased risk of heart problems, but opened new doors for breast and lung tumors.

Some benefits for Prempro estrogen-protestin users include decreased risks for hip fractures and colorectal cancer, but the follow-up shows the hormones may have triggered new tumors or fueled the growth of existing ones in women who stopped taking hormones.


“There’s still a lot of uncertainty about the cause of the increased cancer risk,” said analysis co-author Dr. JoAnn Manson, chief of preventive medicine at Harvard’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital.


The analysis focused on participants’ health in the first two to three years after hormone pills were revoked, and during that time, those who’d taken hormones but stopped were 24 percent more likely to develop any kind of cancer than women who’d taken dummy pills during the study.


Some data suggest that U.S. breast cancer rates have declined since the study’s end and that hormones are still a very appropriate therapy for women with bad symptoms, but former hormone users need to be vigilant about getting cancer screening including mammograms.


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Substance Abuse linked to Post Dramatic Stress

In a recent German study that included 459 people seeking help for drug or alcohol reliance proved their post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) frequency was higher based on their dependencies. 

Researchers found that those tested with substance abuse disorder (SUD) had PTSD that predicted a more rigorous outcome for someone with SUD, such as more family problems, less employment, and more serious psychological symptoms.

"We found prevalence of PTSD that was roughly double, around 30 percent, in drug-dependent subjects than that found in alcohol-dependent subjects, at about 15 percent," said Martin Driessen, a professor of psychiatry at Ev. Hospital Bielefeld. "Although we expected this, based on previous research, we were somewhat surprised to find such a high difference between drug and alcohol dependence."

The link between PTSD and SUD's was stronger in patients with a definitive PTSD diagnosis than those with portable PTSD, which strengthens the evidence of a strong association between PTSD and substance abuse.

Doctors are recommended to examine patients with an SUD to determine if PTSD is an underlying factor.

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Sleep Deprivation Exhausts the Economy

A survery conducted by Sleep in America that polled 1,000 people across the country concluded that even though most Americans are aware that inadequate sleep combined with long working hours in unhealthy, they are not aware that the combination is bad for the economy.

Seventy million Americans are effected by sleep problems and despite knowing that the negative outcome of such patterns, two-thirds of those are not dealing with the issue.

"Economic loss from sleep deprivation or sleep disorders generally is huge," said Dr. Samir Fahmy, director of the sleep lab at Kings County Hospital in New York City. "It's not just loss of money for medical care, it's loss of money for days off the job, accidents, lawyers for accidents, doctors, hospital stays, decreased productivity. It's like a chain reaction."

Sleep deprivation can cause drowsiness at the wheel, loss of productivity and attentiveness, lack of interest in sex and other health implications in terms of heart health and more.

The wide range of questions asked to those polled outline what Americans except as a daily rountine, so look at the results and learn what is an isn't healthy in terms of sleep and work.

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Vitamin E Increases Lung Cancer Risk

A recent four-year long study of 78,000 adults between the ages of 50 to 76 that covered supplement-taking habits and lung cancer incidence proved taking vitamin E habitually may increase the risk of lung cancer.

The study shows every increase in vitamin E of 100 milligrams a day associated with a 7 percent rise in lung cancer risk, averaging out to a 28 percent increase in risk over 10 years for someone taking 400 milligrams of vitamin E daily, further proving that vitamin supplements are not always capable with suppressing health problems.


"Vitamins are essential nutrients that act to maintain health and prevent vitamin deficiency," Pamela Mason, spokeswoman for the London-based Health Supplements Information Service, said in a statement. "They were never intended to be used to prevent chronic disease such as cancer. Indeed, it would be asking a lot of a vitamin pill to expect it to prevent cancer."

In addition to the expected association with smoking, family history and other lung cancer risk factors, there was a slight but statistically significant association with vitamin E supplementation and incidence of the disease in 521 of the participants surveyed.

The primary cause of lung cancer is smoking, so the most preventive measure is simply not to smoke, but for the cases of other types of cancer such as breast and colon, vitamin supplements have been linked to reducing the risk.

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Flu Vaccination Age Recommendation Extends

One of the largest expansions of flu vaccination coverage in U.S. history by the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee will cover an additional 30 million children between the ages of 6 months and 18 years old no later than the 2009-10 flu season.


Children tend to come down with the flu at higher rates than adults, but usually don't get as sick, even though this season there were 68 child deaths out of the the estimated 36,000 Americans who die each year from the disease.


"We want the recommendation expanded, because we hear even to this day people say, 'The recommendation doesn't apply to me. I don't have to get vaccinated.' It's completely the opposite," said Richard Kanowitz, president of Families Fighting Flu, who lost a 4-year-old daughter to influenza in 2004.. "You need to get vaccinated. The CDC just puts out a recommendation, and the confusion over whether people need to get vaccinated needs to be dispelled by having a clear message --everyone should get vaccinated. The more people who get vaccinated, the more lives get saved."


The virus strain most common in the United States right now is the influenza A H3N2 strain, and it's a strain not included in this year's vaccine, which is not well-matched against influenza type B and contributes to this year's flu season that has hit many areas of the country hard.

A new influenza strain has already been selected by the FDA for the 2008-09 flu vaccine recommended for adults and children ages 6 months to 18 years, which includes strains Brisbane/10, a version of the H3N2 flu; a second new Type A strain known as H1N1/Brisbane/59; and a newer Type B/Florida strain, that will hopefully protect U.S. citizens when flu season comes again.


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U.S. Healthcare to Double in 9 Years

As baby boomers emerge into the Medicare system, healthcare spending will double in the U.S. and shift from the private to the public sector by 2017, reaching $4.3 trillion and accounting for one-fifth of the gross domestic product, a new government report shows.


U.S. citizens may need to prepare themselves by saving and budgeting for 2017 because Medicare spending is expected to account for $884 billion instead of the spending level of $427 billion for 2007.


"Our expectation is that growth in health spending is expected to be steady over the projection, which is 2007 through 2017, at 6.7 percent per year," said report co-author Andrea Sisko, an economist with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, during a teleconference Monday.
"At the same time, we are expecting economic growth to slow to an average annual rate of 4.7 percent. As a result, the combination of steady health spending growth and slowing economic growth will lead to the health care part of gross domestic product rising to nearly 20 percent by 2017, nearly one-fifth of the economy," Sisko said.


Health care spending grew to more than $2.1 trillion in 2006, accounting for 16 percent of gross domestic product, which will only grow as the years pass on.


Hospital spending is expected to increase and gradually slow down through 2017, prescription drug spending is expected to slow down initially and then start to accelerate through 2017, and drug spending will increase, while Medicaid is projected to grow to $717.3 billion over the next 10 years.

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FDA Approves New Cancer Fighting Drug

The FDA approved a new cancer stalling drug, Avastin, for women with advanced breast cancer and those in need of lung and colon cancer treatment.


An expert panel of advisors to the FDA voted against the drug because the drug's ability to slow the growth of cancerous tumors did not outweigh the risk of blood clots and other cardiovascular problems leading to a rare number of deaths and a significant number of patients who experienced no gain from experiments during testing.


"Avastin improves progression-free survival, but we don't know if it improves overall survival," said Dr. Jay Brooks, chairman of hematology/oncology at Ochsner Health System in Baton Rouge, La. "There are increased side effects [and] risks in using Avastin, but, in appropriate patients, it may be beneficial."


In trial results submitted to the FDA by Genentech before the advisory panel met, the use of Avastin (bevacizumab) did stall malignancy in women with advanced breast cancer by an average of 5.5 months, when combined with paclitaxel, but the same study of 722 patients showed that patients reaped no gain in overall survival after taking Avastin.


Avastin, with a price tag of $50,000 per year, is currently being tested against 20 cancers in 300 trials and this latest approval is expected to add more than $700 million in annual sales to the $2.3 billion in sales that was generated in 2007 by the drug's use among lung and colon cancer patients.


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Link Between Adolescent Trauma and Smoking

A recent study involving 15,000 cigarette smokers between the ages of 15 to about 22 link reasons for smoking in teen years to childhood abuse or physical violence.

It's considered normal for adolescents to experiment with smoking or drinking, but if young people are experimenting and have had a lot of stress in their lives, they may need help.

"Traumatic experiences in adolescence bubble up in all kinds of ways, often self-destructive and health-jeopardizing," said Michael Resnick, director of Healthy Youth Development Prevention Research Center at the University of Minnesota Medical Center in Minneapolis.

More than 80 percent of smokers start before age 18 and about 20 percent of adults smoke as a result of picking up a casual "light, social smoking" habit in college that transforms into a full blown addiction later. 

The study's results suggest that doctors need to pay more attention to teenagers and young adults who have had such traumas to prevent all kinds of addictions, such as drinking, drug abuse, and gambling.

Full Article: Trauma during youth increases excessive smoking risk

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Missing Chromosomes and Treatment Deintensify Brain Tumor

A recent study of patients with an inoperable brain tumor found those without chromosomes 1p and 19q did better on the chemotherapy drug temozolomide, than those without the genetic abnormality.

The lack of these chromosomes actually helps people with Gliomatosis cerebri, a rare and difficult to diagnose brain tumor respond better to a new treatment and live 4 years longer than those with the chromosomes.

"Before now, we weren't sure which factors influenced how well a person with this type of brain tumor would respond to the treatment," said Dr. Marc Sanson of INSERM, the French government health agency in Paris.


Study participants underwent genetic testing and received monthly treatments of temozolomide for up to two years, resulting in 88 percent of those missing the chromosomes responding well to the drug compared with only 25 percent of those with the chromosomes.


Those afflicted with the brain tumor and the two missing chromosomes will now be treated with the chemotherapy drug temozolomide, and will survive an average of 5.5 years longer than patients with the chromosomes, without tumor growth.

Full Article: Missing Chromosomes Respond to Brain Tumor Treatment

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USDA Orders Largest Beef Recall in U.S. History: 143.4 Million Pounds

The U.S. government on Sunday recalled 143.3 million pounds of beef that dated to cattle slaughtered two years ago at Hallmark/ Westland Meat packing.

The government has classified the recall as Class II, meaning there is little likelihood of illness to the 150 (unnamed) school districts and food assistance programs that already consumed the botched meat.

"We don't know exactly where all the product went," said Ken Peterson, USDA's assistant administrator, for the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service in a conference call.

The proof behind the recall was discovered by a non-governmental organization, the U.S. Humane Society, who sent a society member undercover at Hallmark/ Westland to videotape the meatpacker improperly slaughtering what are called "downer" cattle or those unable to walk to slaughter.

The school districts and fast food chains are banning Hallmark/Westland Meat after the government suspended operations at the slaughterhouse and as a result several employees have been fired and charged with misdemeanor and felony counts of animal cruelty and illegal movement of a non-ambulatory animal.

Hopefully, the huge recall will put the safety of the U.S. beef supply front and center in Congress. The USDA is required by law to regulate and report, but how much longer can U.S. citizens test their luck with weak enforcement of federal food safety regulations?

The Full Story: The Grit and Grim of What Really Goes into the Beef you're Eating


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Your Waistline has Something to Tell You

Your body needs fat, but too much around the belly or on the thighs is a no, not just for your appearance, but for your health.

Obesity is measured by taking the Body Mass Index (BMI) which calculates your body size while trying to account for bone mass.

The faulty part of the measurement is that it doesn't take into consideration a person's muscle mass. In fact, a person's waist measurement is a more accurate forecaster of heart attacks than the body mass index.

Studies have already shown that obesity is just as unhealthy as smoking, but recent studies show carrying excess fat specifically around your belly is about as bad it gets.

The National Institute of Health (NIH) have set a waist measurement cutoff point at above 35 inches for women and 40 inches for men—no matter how much you actually weigh.

Most people don't know this, but each human body contains visceral fat, a dangerous hidden fat that surrounds vital organs deep inside your body, which must be added into waistline measurement.

To learn more about how to measure your waist and visceral fat, click here. Get healthy and learn from this article.

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Living 100 Years is Easy?

Health troubles throughout a lifetime are no longer a barrier to reaching the golden age of a 100. A survey reveals many people who live to the age of 100 have had chronic ailments prior to their big birthday. 

People who develop heart disease, diabetes, prostate cancer, etc. still have a fighting chance to make it to the century mark. It is a common misconception that living to the age of 100 is limited to those who had not developed chronic illness in their previous life. 

For this study, Boston University researchers conducted interviews with hundreds of people that had reached 100 about their health in the past. 

Those questioned either had chronic illness in the past or didn't encounter illness in the past at all. What they all have in common is their age despite the difference in health background. 

Hopefully, more detailed surveys will be made to conclude what factors contribute to living a century!

Full Article

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Sugar Substitute Packets Pack on the Pounds

Americans dump packets of artificial sweetners into just about anything these days. Coffee, fruit, toast, and the list goes on. 

Researchers show Americans have been fooled into thinking these "substitutes" are better than the real thing. Americans don't expect extra pounds from a substitute that is suppose to be better for them. 

Purdue researchers studied rats to determine the side effects of artificial sweetners and the results are in. 

The tested rats had less control of their appetitite when artificial sweetning was present. 

The rats gained more and ate more, thus proving that artificially sweetened products may interfere with an automatic process. A process involving the body's ability to detect fullness.

Scared for your hips? The Proof is in the Article

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Ipod's Attribute to Hearing Loss

Turning down the volume of personal music players could prevent a reported one in eight--or about 5 million- listeners noise-induced hearing loss. 

A study shows hearing loss experience in young Americans can accelerate hearing loss normally associated with aging. 

And we all know how hard it is for our 65-year-old grandparents to hear us speak anyway. 

Also, a fun fact for those not disturbed by pre-mature hearing loss: It is the third most common health problem in the United States and affects more than 31 million Americans. 

The American Academy of Audiology has constructed a campaign, Turn it to the Left, to encourage kids and young adults to turn down the volume and prevent hearing loss before it begins.

To learn more...

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Low-Carb Diets Preferable to Prevent Diabetes

We live in an era of fad diets, crash diets, fat flushes, and weight loss by popping magical pills. 

Little do we know, these diets may be guiding us down the road to diabetes. 

A recent study is now claiming low-carb diets, high in animal fat and protein doesn't increase the risk of type 2 diabetes. 

Most doctors and nutritionists, up until now, recommend a low-fat diet to prevent type 2 diabetes. Low-fat, high carbohydrate diets have no known long term effects for dieters attempting this weight loss method. 

About 85,000 women participated in this study which lasted 20 years. If you have been fooled into low-fat dieting and want to learn more about how to change your eating habits, check out this article for the cold hard facts. To learn more

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Marijuana Effects Users! It's Proven!

Marijuana users can be commonly heard saying that the effects of their habit are minimal and the drug should be legalized.

 Some say it isn't even a drug. Well, whether it is or it isn't, studies have surfaced proving that marijuana effects the gums of our mouth. 

In fact, pot smokers face many of the same health consequences that tobacco users do, such as an increased risk of heart disease.

 Only now do researchers approve that the nasty habit destroys gum tissue and increases chance by three times for developing serious gum disease.
To here more about the study and facts: click here

They proof is in the Journal:
Journal of the American Medical Association



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Spring Break is Upon Us

It's that time of year again. Girls from the age of 18 to 22 are running to the gym then running on the treadmill, eating less, and browsing the racks for the perfect itsy bitsy bikini.

 Shopping is fine, but crash dieting is not. Neglecting the body of food effects it in ways most young adults don't think about. Their bodies are invincible, right? 

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New Flu Strain not Included in Vaccine

It's officially flu season. Covering your mouth mid-cough and washing your hands excessively isn't going to cut it this time around. There is a new kid on the block. Well, a new strain infecting Americans that is not included in this year's flu vaccine. Each year's vaccine contains protections against three influenza strains. Every year, the flu infects up to 20 percent of the population, causes the hospitalization of 200,000 people and kills 36, 000. Eleven states have been hit hard by the flu. Some 132 million doses of vaccine were produced this year, which id more than ever before. There is still enough for those who haven't had their shot. So, hurry out to your local clinic, get your shot, and hope for the best. 

Read the full story to learn more...

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Overdosing on Prescription Drugs: Suicide or Accident?

The term drug overdose (or simply overdose or OD) describes the ingestion or application of a drug or other substance in quantities greater than are recommended or generally practiced. This word is being thrown around in news media lately in relation to Heath Ledger's untimely death. An autopsy will uncover the truth behind the actors unexpected departure, but until then, bloggers, reporters, and first-hand sources believe Ledger injested more than the daily dose of his sleep aid prescription. Was the overdose accidental or intentional? Drug overdoses are sometimes caused intentionally to commit suicide or as self-harm, but many drug overdoses are accidental and are usually the result of either irresponsible behavior or the misreading of product labels. Other causes of overdose include use of multiple drugs with counter indications simultaneously (for instance, heroin/certain prescription pain medications and cocaine/amphetamines/alcohol). Sources close to the actor say Ledger began taking sleep aids because his role as the "Joker" in the upcoming Batman flick "Dark Knight." The schizophrenic mind and the dark demeanor of the character seemed to transform Ledger. Are there psychological reasons behind overdoses, or are the reasons for consuming an excessive amount of prescription drugs black and white: suicide or accident?

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Food Poisoning may Linger in the Body Over Time

Prior to recent reports, it was common knowledge that when a person came down with food poisoning, he or she visited his or her physician and exponentially got better, never to think of the nasty illness ever again. Well today, studies show that food poisoning does not come and go. Several illnesses associated with food poisoning have the ability to linger in a once affected body and strain future health. E. coli and certain other food-borne illnesses can sometimes trigger serious health problems months or years after patients survived that initial bout.While these conditions strike a small fraction of the millions of people who get food poisoning each year, experts say no one knows just how many people are at risk. An interview with AP described future illnesses such as high blood pressure, kidney damage, even full kidney failure striking 10 to 20 years later in people who survived severe E. coli infection as children, arthritis after a bout of salmonella or shigella, and a mysterious paralysis that can attack people who just had mild symptoms of campylobacter.


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FDA Deems Cloned Foods Safe

According to several reports last week, the FDA made the decision to deem cloned animals safe for human consumption. Also, the FDA will not be required to label food derived from these cloned animals. So, in the next 4 to 5 years you might think twice before you bite into a juciy cheeseburger, because odds are it came from a secondary source. The FDA has only spent six years concluding that food from cloned animals is safe for Americans to eat. Fortunately, the distribution of this meat will not hit grocery store shelves for some time. No amount of science, however, will ever prove the food completely safe. Only time will tell the lasting effects on human consumption of this "mystery meat." For consumers, adding cloned meat to the food markets may increase the cost of traditional meat, by making it a luxury item like organic meat. Cloned food products will not be mass produced until industries construct plans to ready the markets. Cloning animals will cost, and the cost of traditional meat and other food products have the capability to increase. Click on the links below to receive more information on the subject and understand the cloning process.


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