Arizona Teenager Killed by Brain Eating Amoeba

http://www.shortnews.com/

Aaron Evans, 14, was the sixth victim to die from Naegleria fowleri infection. The amoeba, which likes warm shallow waters, enters the brain through the nasal cavity. Once infected, victims invariably succumb. There is no effective treatment.

Evans is believed to have been infected while swimming at Lake Havasu. Usually found in the southern US, the CDC said Naegleria can be in any lakes, hot springs or swimming pools, and warns people to stay away from warm sandy water.

Michael Beach, a CDC specialist, believes that rising temperatures in upcoming decades will bring more Naegleria attacks.

Lake amoeba can kill swimmers

Health care for children is a good investment

www.bradenton.com

Investing in affordable health care coverage for our nation's low-income children saves taxpayer dollars in the long run - and it's the right thing to do. Nothing is more important than the health of our children. Yet many of the estimated 47 million Americans who go without health insurance every day are children. These kids will either forego health care, which could lead to costly chronic conditions, or land in the emergency room at taxpayer expense.

In 1997, Congress approved by an overwhelming and bipartisan margin the creation of the children's health insurance program to extend health care to 6 million kids across the country. The results have been a resounding success. Since its creation, the program has reduced the number of uninsured kids in America by one-third. Nearly all of those children live in families with income levels not much higher than the federal poverty level, or about $41,000 for a family of four.

Currently 6.6 million low-income kids nationally are enrolled in the health care program. Under the program, money is sent to the states to administer the benefit. The federal match makes up approximately 70 cents of every dollar the State of Florida spends on "KidCare" to provide health insurance to some of Florida's low-income children.

Without this state and federal partnership, the children of Florida would depend on our emergency rooms and other high-cost medical coverage, which in many cases is unpaid and further burdens all taxpayers. Also, with the program providing coverage, many serious illnesses can be prevented and lives can be saved. That's why the Children's Health program is such a worthwhile investment. It gives kids from low-income families access to the care and medicine they need to live healthy lives.

"KidCare" is currently providing coverage for approximately 226,000 children in Florida who are at or below the 200 percent federal poverty level. Unfortunately, this is less than half the children who are eligible for the program. Efforts are ongoing in the Florida Legislature to streamline the process, make it more efficient, and remove barriers to enrollment so that we can provide coverage for the most children possible. But we need continued federal support to increase enrollment and provide a safety net for our children.

Recently, Congress voted to expand the program to provide coverage for up to 10 million kids nationwide. The bill was approved with bipartisan support in the House and Senate. It would reauthorize the program for five years and provide states with sufficient funding to cover an additional 4 million kids. Florida would receive $51 million more in 2008 to cover low-income children, according to the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Like most legislation that emerges from Congress, this bill is not perfect. But it represents significant progress as we search for ways to reduce the ranks of the uninsured and protect our children.

In addition to covering more kids, this bill shores up dental and mental health benefits. This is particularly important given that tooth decay is the most common chronic disease of childhood, while 1 in 10 kids suffer from serious mental health problems.

The bill is endorsed by a wide range of groups, including the American Medical Association, AARP and the YMCA.

Millions of kids across the country have been given a healthy start in life thanks to this important program. We can't turn our backs on them now. Our kids are worth it.

Congressman Vern Buchanan, R-Sarasota, helped pass House legislation to renew and expand the Children's Health Insurance Program. State Rep. Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, is chairman of the Healthy Families Committee in the Florida House and the sponsor of the KidCare reform legislation of the 2007 regular session.

Tobacco Age Of Sale Rises To 18 On Monday, UK

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/.
Photo by http://www.stanfordreview.org/

From Monday 1st October the tobacco age of sale will increase from 16 to 18 in the latest government step to cut smoking rates in the UK, and prevent young people buying tobacco.

This major step follows on from public places going smokefree in July and the recent announcement by the Secretary of State that cigarette packets will carry picture health warnings from next year.

An outdoor advertising campaign to explain the the change in the law was launched on Monday 24th September as part of an awareness campaign over the past four months to ensure that both retailers and teenagers are fully aware.

Public Health Minister Dawn Primarolo said:

"We are determined to reduce the number of young people who smoke. Raising the legal age of sale to 18 will make it easier for retailers to spot under-age smokers and lead to less young people becoming addicted to nicotine and continuing to smoke into adulthood.

"Research shows that the younger people start the more likely they are to become life-long smokers and die early. This change in law highlights our commitment to protect our children and will potentially save thousands of lives and others will be spared the misery of watching family and friends die prematurely from smoke related illnesses."

The Chief Medical Officer, Sir Liam Donaldson said:

"I welcome the raising of the legal age for buying tobacco to 18 years. This will result in fewer young people becoming addicted to nicotine, something which ultimately results in early death from cancer and other smoking related illnesses.

"The initiative is another important step in helping to prevent people from taking up smoking in the first place, and in the longer term will help to reduce the burden that smoking causes in our country".

Jean King, Cancer Research UK's director of tobacco control, said:

"We welcome the change in age of sale as a measure to reduce the availability of cigarettes to young people. It sends out a strong message that tobacco products are dangerous but strict enforcement of the law is crucial for it to have the desired effect.

"Smoking is a serious problem among young people - 16 per cent of boys and 24 per cent of girls aged 15 are regular smokers - so youth smoking must remain a Government priority if we are to prevent these teenagers from becoming adult smokers and greatly increasing their risk of developing cancer in later life".

New research conducted by YouGov has revealed that 69% of adults believe it makes sense to raise the minimum age for the sale of tobacco to 18 in line with alcohol.

The latest smokefree compliance statistics show that 97.7% of premises inspected were compliant in terms of no-smoking. This data is consistent with earlier compliance data and indicates there has been a smooth transition to smokefree public places and workplaces in England.

News Analysis: Smoking in Stanford

Is Hillary’s health care plan good for America?

www.dailyamerican.com

By JOE BETTA

An April 27, 2004, Capitalism Magazine article, ‘Watchout for Hillary Health Care’ by Thomas Sowell says that Hillary’s legitimate reasons for government universal healthcare are “soaring health costs and millions of uninsured,’ and the government can do it better and cheaper. She also believes that our mental health systems are underfunded.

I listened to presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s health care plan for everybody for free on national TV. She said that her plan had a $110 billion annual budget; but not to worry taxpayers, the business community will get tax credits or the option of joining her new federal insurance system that will cover all of their employees. Hillary said that unlike her ‘93 one-size fits all solution, the people have choices this time.

Joe Klein also analyzed her new approach to universal healthcare in a Sept. 20 ‘What Hillary has learned from ’93’ article in “Time” archives. Klein says that nearly a third of the 47 million who don’t have health insurance are healthy young people thinking that they don’t need insurance, but much like car owners, they too will be forced to buy it.

If those figures are correct and these people show up in emergency rooms with medical insurance coverage, the universal healthcare system numbers may be down to 30 million; but from where do these people come? If her proposals reflect from where they come, they must be from job losses, low salaries and the working poor above eligibility levels.

Small businesses will get tax breaks or government subsidized employee health insurance, but what do we do with folks that value immediate gratification more than buying healthcare insurance, for which they perceive no immediate need? Skepticism is rampant on how politicians can force anybody to buy anything without incentives or intimidation.

What if large numbers of patients hold off on buying insurance until they discover needs for body parts or long term expensive medical treatment, especially after the free loaders discover that insurance companies must take aboard all comers with no right of refusal?

If it isn’t a blank government check to be paid for by you and me, insurance companies will have to up the ante on our premiums. Either that or they accept the ‘out of business’ option like some hospitals had to do after they were forced to accept illegal immigrants, for free, in emergency rooms in California. Revoking Bush tax cuts may soften the blow.

Hillary intends to cancel the Bush tax cuts beginning with the rich, but what defines rich?

Despite an ABC Poll claiming that 51% of us are willing to pay more taxes for universal healthcare, what if we don’t want politicians forcing one healthcare system on all of us?

Why would she think that hard working Americans sacrificing a lifetime for lifelong care insurance would forfeit their right to choose their insurance or to select their own doctor?

Why would she even think of bundling hard working accountable folks with insurance with an estimated 47 million uninsured Americans in a single plan?

Massachusetts began by requiring most of their citizens to have healthcare coverage; but very interestingly, Maine, Vermont, and California plans cover uninsured ‘residents’ in their states. Romney already is distancing himself from his Massachusetts’ plan. They seem to be having problems, but what government plan doesn’t.

Anybody out there know of even one single government initiative that functions better or cheaper than the like business in a competitive market? What if she totally destroys our competitive healthcare system and we get left with a bunch of Walter Reed hospitals?

Why do Canadians and Brits have a six-month plus waiting time to see a specialist or get an operation that we get in days?

Why do the English and Dutch newspapers report dirty hospitals where nurses can’t even get a floor mopped after a patient vomits without checking government labor regulations? Yes, when in dire need of good healthcare they rush to the U.S., and if I was the father of a large family north or south of our border and had major medical problems, guess what? I’d probably be headed here, too, but illegal immigrants or people from other places reflect only a bit of the problem. What about you who sacrificed immediate gratification for lifelong medical coverage or chose professions guaranteeing lifetime healthcare? How many have chosen professions with lifetime healthcare coverage as one of the incentives?

Since everybody will be covered for free, what happens to current incentives that draw us to life threatening vocations such as policeman, fireman, military or any other hazardous profession requiring family separation for nights, weeks, months or a year at a time, but knowing that when it’s over, their family has earned healthcare for the rest of their life?

The wheat should be separated from the chafe; but, if we must, we have many state-run plans that can be observed and analyzed for a few years before leaping into the unknown. If all goes well with them, we can pick and choose from the best of the lot and begin by including the most deserving Americans first: Veterans according to time served are first.

Health Insurance is a Human Right, Right?

For Some, Diabetes Care Worse Than Illness Itself

Complicated daily regimens lower their quality of life, survey finds

For some people with diabetes, the burden of adhering to their daily care regimen nearly equals that of their diabetes-related health complications, a U.S. study finds.

University of Chicago researchers conducted interviews with more than 700 adults with type 2 diabetes.

As reported in the October issue of Diabetes Care, some patients said the inconvenience and discomfort of having to take numerous medications each day, carefully monitoring their diet, and getting the required amounts of exercise had a major impact on their quality of life.

Each day, a typical diabetes patient takes many medications, including two or three different pills to control blood sugar levels, one or two pills to lower cholesterol, two or more pills to reduce blood pressure, and an aspirin to prevent blood clots. As the disease progresses, the number of drugs increases and often includes insulin shots, according to background information in the study.

From 12 percent to 50 percent of patients interviewed said they were willing to give up 8 of 10 years of life in perfect health to avoid a life with diabetes complications, but between 10 percent and 18 percent of patients said they were willing to give up 8 of 10 years of healthy life to avoid life with treatments.

"The people who care for patients with a chronic disease like diabetes think about that disease and about preventing long-term complications," lead author Dr. Elbert Huang, assistant professor of medicine, said in a prepared statement. "The people who have a chronic disease think about their immediate lives, which include the day-to-day costs and inconvenience of a multi-drug regimen. The consequences are often poor compliance, which means long-term complications, which will then require more medications."

The study findings show "that we need to find better, more convenient ways to treat chronic illness," Huang said. "It is hard to convince some patients to invest their time and effort now in rigorous adherence to a complex regimen with no immediate reward, just the promise of better health years from now."

The patient interview results "certainly ring true with me," said diabetes specialist Dr. Louis Philipson, professor of medicine at the University of Chicago. He was not involved in the study.

"Some patients, if you judge by their behavior, would rather be well on the road to future blindness, kidney failure or amputations than work hard now at their diabetes," Philipson said.

Some diabetics sick of treatment

Omega 3 fatty acid reduces type 1 diabetes

U.S. researchers say dietary omega-3 fatty acids may reduce the risk of developing diabetes in children who are genetically at risk for the disease.

The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found higher consumption of omega-3 fatty acids - found in fish - by children at risk for type 1 diabetes decreased by 55 percent the risk of pancreatic islet autoimmunity, which is linked to development of diabetes.

Although it is not yet known what initiates the autoimmune process in diseases such as type 1 diabetes, the study authors believe it is likely that both genetic background and environmental factors such as dietary factors contribute to the disease process.

Jill M. Norris of the University of Colorado at Denver led researchers in examining the diets of 1,770 children at increased risk for type 1 diabetes - defined as having either a high diabetes risk human leukocyte antigen genotype or a sibling or parent with type 1 diabetes.

Fifty-eight children became positive for leukocyte antigen during follow-up. Adjusting for human leukocyte antigen genotype, family history of type 1 diabetes, caloric intake, and total omega-6 fatty acid intake - total omega-3 fatty acid intake was inversely associated with islet autoimmunity erythrocyte membranes, the study said.

Do Omega-3 Fatty Acids Decrease the Risks for Type 1 Diabetes in Kids?

Man's voice an indicator of sexual potency: study

Canadian Research; Men with deep tones produce more children

Tom Blackwell

For many women, the deepness of a man's voice is one of the most powerful aphrodisiacs, a new study co-authored by a Canadian psychologist suggests.

All else being equal, males with lower voices produce more children than their higher-pitched counterparts, concluded the researchers in a search for evolutionary explanations of sexual attraction.

The study looked at Tanzania's Hadza tribesmen, one of the world's few remaining hunter-gatherer societies, because the Hadzas never use birth control, a complicating factor that makes it impossible to do such research elsewhere in the world.

The discovery that the pitch of their voices was a major determinant of how many children they would father underlines the deep-seated roots of the seemingly superficial human trait, said David Feinberg, a psychology professor at Mc-Master University in Hamilton, Ont.

Previous research has indicated that a deep voice signifies robust genes, in evolutionary terms. The findings, however, can not really be put into action on the dating scene, stressed Prof. Feinberg, a co-author of the study.

"This doesn't mean, go out and find a guy with a low-pitched voice if you want to have lots of babies," he said. "[But] it tells us a bit about where we came from and where we're going."

The findings, though, came as no surprise yesterday to professionals in the dating world.

At Toronto-based Misty River Introductions, billed as a "traditional match-maker," men with deep voices always seem to do better, and are much more likely to move beyond the initial stage of a telephone conversation with their potential date, said manager Linda Miller.

"We've had certain clients, you couldn't tell if they were men or women when they called in. They don't do terribly well," she said. "And then you have men who have radio-annnouncer voices, they have that great masculine timbre, and every call is a hit."

Some of Ruth Claramunt's female clients at Hearts Canada, another match-making service, have actually specified that they like men with low voices.

"Or if someone has a squeaky little voice: 'Oh, I didn't really like him,' " said Ms. Claramunt. "They could be a great big hunky guy and if they have a squeaky voice over the phone, it's sort of a negative."

Prof. Feinberg said he has been trying to see whether human males attract their mates with the same kind of "ornaments," like a peacock's plumage or a deer's antlers, seen elsewhere in the animal world.

Earlier in human evolution, it appears that the appeal of a deep voice was linked to testosterone levels. Deep voices are caused by high testosterone levels in adolescent. Large volumes of the hormone can also prompt immune suppression in a weaker person, so someone who survived to manhood with a deep voice would necessarily have a strong genetic makeup, said the psychologist.

No one, however, has been able to test until now whether the attraction of a deep male voice translated into their having more reproductive success.

For the study, Prof. Feinberg and his colleagues, anthropologists at Harvard and Florida State Universities, looked at 49 men and 42 women among the 1,000-strong Hadza people, who choose their own mates but have a fairly high divorce rate in an informal system of "serial monogamy."

The participants spoke into sensitive microphones and had their voices analysed with sophisticated electronic equipment. The pitch of the men's voices accounted for about 42% of the difference in number of children between fathers, the researchers found.

Although other studies have suggested that men are more attracted to women with high voices, the study found that the pitch of the women's voices did not predict how many children they would have.

Women may favor men with deep voices

Childhood Obesity - Eating Habits in Children influenced by Easily Accessible Unhealthy Choices

www.bestsyndication.com

By Mark Barone

A group of studies were reported in this week’s supplemental issue of the American Journal of Preventative Medicine. The journal compiled a number of studies that showed the different pressures that cause children and teenagers eat the wrong foods, and may be the reason for obesity epidemic.

Researchers from the University of Michigan found that there were several factors that influence children into eating unhealthy food choices. One discovery is that most middle and high schools across the United States have contracts with the soft drink industry. The study reports 67 percent of the middle schools and 83 percent of the high schools will have soft drinks available for children to purchase. These kids have easy access to sugary drinks when they attend school. Why would the schools allow this? They do this for the extra income. The schools earn on average $6,000 per year or $6.48 per student at the high school level and $500 per year on average or 70 cents per child at the middle school level.

The researchers also point out that the schools make readily available, high-fat, high- sugar and salty foods through vending machines and snack carts. So children have easy access to unhealthy food choices, but often are lacking healthy choices.

There is also a decline in PE class as the children goes into the older grades. In 8th grade they average 172 minutes a week and by 12th grade they get only 89 minutes per week. The researchers point out that in the 12th grade only about a third of the students are even participating in a PE class at some time during the year.

Another problem the researchers report is that low income neighborhoods have a problem with more fast food restaurants and more convenience stores, but they lack on supermarkets to purchase healthier food choices. The neighborhoods that were better off had less fast foods restaurants and more grocery stores. The researchers say that the minority students get more television advertisement exposures to buy junk food according to studies.

Minorities are also hurt when they attend school for eating healthy. The researchers said that less fortunate schools did not offer as many healthy food choices. The researchers also said the minority schools had less extra curricular sports activities available for the children to participate.

Researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago found a number of new pieces of evidence that is contributing to childhood obesity at an alarming rate. The nation research program is called Bridging the Gap and is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. School policies, neighborhood demographics and advertising all are factors to the childhood obesity epidemic. These factors combined make it extremely difficult for children to avoid the obesity trap.

Surroundings contribute to teen obesity

Funny Diet and Weight Loss Stories

Sex Boost From Late Hormone Therapy

www.webmd.com

But No Memory Benefit From Hormone Therapy Years After Menopause

By Daniel J. DeNoon

Hormone therapy begun years after menopause doesn't improve mental function, but it does boost sexual interest, researchers find.

Forgetfulness is more of a problem for women during and after menopause than it is before menopause. Does this mean the hormonal changes of menopause cause a decline in mental function? And if so, can hormone therapy help?

Studies suggest that hormone therapy begun during menopause can preserve mental function. Might later hormone therapy do the same?

In a study funded by Wyeth, the maker of the hormone products Prempro (estrogen plus progesterone) and Premarin (estrogen only), 180 healthy women began taking either Prempro or inactive placebo pills one to three years after menopause.

After four months of treatment, researchers Pauline Maki, PhD, of the University of Illinois at Chicago and colleagues gave the women a battery of mental-function tests. Among other measures, they also gave the women a test that evaluated their sexuality, including sexual thoughts and interest in sex.

Hormone therapy did not help the women's memory.

"These results are similar to previous studies suggesting hormone therapy has minimal effect on a woman's memory when taken many years after menopause," Maki says in a news release.

But when it came to sexuality, it was a different story.

"The level of sexual interest reported by women on hormone therapy increased 44%," Maki says. "And their number of sexual thoughts increased 32% compared to the placebo group."

The Maki study had just begun when the results of the Women's Health Initiative showed that hormone therapy begun after menopause increases a woman's risk of breast cancer without decreasing risk of heart disease. The Maki study thus came to an abrupt end before it could enroll as many women as planned. This means the results have to be taken with a grain of salt.

The study appears in the Sept. 25 issue of the journal Neurology.

Lack of sleep, too much sleep, both deadly

www.upi.com

A lack of sleep can double the risk of death from cardiovascular disease, but too much sleep can also double the risk of death, British researchers found.

Researchers from the University of Warwick, and University College London have found those who had cut their sleeping from 7 hours to 5 hours a night or less faced a 1.7 fold increased risk in mortality from all causes, and twice the increased risk of death from a cardiovascular problem in particular.

They also found that those, who increased their sleep from 8 hours or more a night, were more than twice as likely to die predominantly from non-cardiovascular diseases.

Francesco Cappuccio of the University of Warwick’s Warwick Medical School studied how sleep patterns affected the mortality of 10,308 civil servants in the Whitehall II study at two points in their life during 1985 to 1988 and those still alive in 1992 to 1993.

The researchers took into account other factors such as age, sex, marital status, employment grade, smoking status, physical activity, alcohol consumption, self-rated health, body mass index, blood pressure, cholesterol and other physical illness.

The findings were presented to the British Sleep Society.

Sleep yourself healthy: seven hours a night helps reduce heart problems

Europe gives final approval to Pfizer HIV drug

economictimes.indiatimes.com

LONDON: Pfizer Inc, the world's largest drugmaker, said on Monday the European Commission had approved its AIDS drug Celsentri, the first in a new class of oral HIV medicines.

The drug, which is known generically as maraviroc and as Selzentry in the US, is the first designed to keep the HIV virus that causes AIDS from entering healthy immune cells. Older AIDS medicines attack the virus itself.

It works by blocking the CCR5 co-receptor that serves as a main doorway for the HIV virus into immune cells.

The green light from the European authorities had been expected after a panel of EU experts recommended the product in July. The medicine was also cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration last month.

Celsentri is approved for use in patients who have tried other medicines and for whom a diagnostic test has confirmed their HIV strain is linked to the CCR5 receptor.

New York-based Pfizer is counting on new medicines such as Celsentri to help drive profits as several blockbusters lose patent protection and its top-selling Lipitor cholesterol treatment faces strong competition.

Industry analysts have projected annual Celsentri sales of about $500 million by 2011.

Pfizer's Celsentri(R) Approved in the European Union, Providing a Novel Treatment Option for Treatment-Experienced HIV Patients

New test to detect bird flu 4 times faster

www.todayonline.com

Tan Hui Leng

ANOTHER made-in-Singapore bird flu detection device has been announced: Claimed as able to identify the deadly H5N1 strain in less than 30 minutes, or 440 per cent faster than other commercially available tests.

The device, conceived at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) at the Agency for Science, Technology and Research, can be used together with commercially available H5N1 kits.

"There is a difference between 'kits' and 'devices'," said research scientist Juergen Pipper, who headed the project. The invention was announced in the journal Nature Medicine.

"Kits contain biochemicals only (while) devices are hardware only. That means, kits alone are not enough; they have to be combined with devices to test for infectious diseases."

IBN's device works by testing genetic material obtained from a throat-swab of humans, and is described as a "lab-on-a-chip". Dr Pipper also said the device would be between "2,000 to 5,000 per cent cheaper" than commercially available kits.

Two other Singapore companies that has made news in the last few years for their rapid test kits include Veredus and Rockeby.

The significance of such products is that people can be screened quickly at points of outbreak and migratory checkpoints such as airports.

Endemic among poultry in the region, the H5N1 strain of bird flu has infected 328 humans worldwide, of whom 200 have died.

Health experts are worried that the virus would evolve into a strain that is transmissible from human to human, sparking a flu pandemic that would kill millions.

Beyond H5N1, the technique used in IBN's device can detect other viruses such as those causing Aids, Hepatitis B and Sars. It could take five to 10 years to commercialise the handheld device whose size and weight has been described as "comparable to that of a fine Japanese Fuji apple".

Scientists create device to detect H5N1

Reduce Calories And Live Longer

www.dbtechno.com

For decades we we have known that reducing calorie intake — not nutrients — can be beneficial and increase life expectancy, but we didn’t know why, until now.

According to U.S. researchers, the benefits of calorie reduction can be seen at a molecular level.

In a study released Thursday, scientists suggest that the link between calorie restriction and longevity may be a molecular response to stresses from reducing calorie intake.

Researchers believe that the reaction preserves critical cellular functions between enzymes created by two genes called SIRT3 and SIRT4,. The reaction increases the bodies ability to fight age related disease, reported CNN.

“We’re not sure yet what particular mechanism is activated by these increased levels of NAD, and as a result SIRT3 and SIRT4,” said David Sinclair, a molecular biologist at Harvard Medical School who worked on the study.

“These two genes, SIRT3 and SIRT4, they make proteins that go into mitochondria. … These are little energy packs inside our cells that are very important for staying healthy and youthful and, as we age, we lose them and they get less efficient,” Sinclair said.

“They are also very important for keeping the cells healthy and alive when they undergo stress and DNA damage, as we undergo every day during the aging process.”

“But we do see that normal cell-suicide programs are noticeably attenuated,” he said.

Their study, published in the journal Cell, helps explain why animals fed low-calorie diets live longer, but it also might lead to a pill which could lead to a pill to fight many diseases, the researchers said.

“What we are talking about is potentially having one pill that prevents and even cures many diseases at once,” said Sinclair.

The study is published in the latest issue of the journal Cell.

New Clue To Why Eating Fewer Calories Can Help You Live Longer

Funny Diet and Weight Loss Stories

Surviving Colorectal Cancer

www.ivanhoe.com

A new study uncovers the best treatments to prolong survival for patients with advanced colorectal cancer, but researchers have a warning about their toxic effects.

Researchers from the University of Ioannina School of Medicine in Greece conducted a meta-analysis of 242 randomized trials to compare treatment regimens for patients with advanced colorectal cancer. The studies were pulled from the last 40 years to determine whether certain treatments were better at stabilizing the disease and prolonging survival than others.

Researchers report, for patients expected to live one year on a treatment of fluorouracil (Adrucil) and leucovorin, there was an absolute survival benefit of eight months when an additional treatment of irinotecan (Camptosar) plus bevacizumab (Avastin) was added. There was also a survival benefit noted after adding oxaliplatin (Eloxatin) plus bevacizumab or irinotecan plus oxaliplatin, though the success was less with a 4.7-month additional survival benefit.

The analysis is important, report researchers, because newer and more intense treatments have more toxicity. There is a need to determine just how beneficial particular treatments are so both doctors and patients can weigh the pros and cons.

Researchers acknowledge there has been success in prolonging the survival of patients with advanced colorectal cancer, but warn multi-drug treatment regimens can lead to serious toxic effects. They write, "The fluorouracil, leucovorin, irinotecan, plus bevacizumab regimen especially, which has the highest probability to be the best in improving survival ... might be complicated by up to 84.9 percent of grade 3 or 4 adverse events."

Researchers report further study is warranted to determine just how beneficial the newer treatment regimens are when weighed against their toxic effects.

Experts Compare Colon Cancer Treatment Outcomes

1 in 3 Americans uninsured

www.recordnet.com

Situation worse in California, study concludes

By Joe Goldeen

If 43-year-old Donald Howlin could sleep through the night, chances are his dreams wouldn't be sweet. They'd be nightmares, much like the living nightmare he's going through trying to obtain adequate health care.

The situation for Howlin, a Lathrop father of five who lives with a broken body and chronic pain, is one of millions of complex stories of formerly working Americans with debilitating injuries or illnesses who find themselves dependent on a strained health-care system.

"I don't understand the system anymore," Howlin said Thursday. A new report shows Howlin is not alone.

Approximately 89.6 million Americans - including 13 million Californians - were uninsured at some point in 2006-07, according to a report released Thursday by the health consumer organization Families USA.

Nationwide, that's more than one in three people, or 34.7 percent younger than 65, when federally sponsored Medicare kicks in.

In California, the statistics are higher. It is one of five states, including Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and Florida, where two in five people younger than 65 went without health insurance for some period in 2006-07, according to the report, based mainly on U.S. Census Bureau data.

The Families USA report also showed that most uninsured individuals lacked coverage for long periods: Nearly two-thirds, or 63.9 percent, were uninsured for six months or longer, and more than half (50.2 percent) were uninsured for nine months or longer.

"The huge number of people without health coverage over the past two years helps to explain why health care has become the top domestic issue in the 2008 presidential campaign," said Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA.

"The expansion of health coverage in America is no longer simply a matter of altruism about other people but a matter of intense self-interest," he said.

That's the case for Nou Lee, a healthy 25-year-old man from Stockton who let his health insurance lapse for one reason: "I just can't afford it, so I let it expire."

He used to contribute $200 a month for catastrophic coverage and would still like to have some insurance, but it's out of his reach. Lee indicated he wouldn't know what to do in the case of a health emergency.

"The findings of the Families USA report - the fact that nearly 90 million Americans did not have health coverage at some point in the past year - reinforces how important it is that we ensure health insurance is affordable, accessible and available to all Americans," said Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton, who represents most of San Joaquin County.

"It is especially ironic that the report was released on the very same day President Bush repeated his pledge to veto health insurance for over 1.3million children in California and nearly 20,000 in San Joaquin County. I stand with Governor (Arnold) Schwarzenegger, hundreds of other local and state elected officials nationwide, and legislators from both sides of the aisle in calling on President Bush to protect health insurance for children in California and across the country," McNerney said Thursday.

The number of states where more than one-third of people younger than 65 went without health insurance for all or part of a two-year period more than doubled - rising from nine states in 1999-2000 to 20 states plus the District of Columbia in 2006-07.

"These trends document the consequences of inaction. The number of uninsured has reached crisis proportions that must be addressed by the president and Congress to ensure that health coverage is available and affordable for all," Pollack said.

Howlin considers himself a victim of the nation's health-care crisis. He has seen his health deteriorate as a direct result of first being uninsured and then hitting numerous roadblocks in the Medicaid system, known as Medi-Cal in California.

In 1983, he was caught between a large truck and a loading dock. His body was crushed, and he spent many months on the mend and in rehabilitation. Despite his injuries, he went back to work for 10 years in a physically demanding job, helping his father renovate apartments in the East Bay until he reinjured his back.

Until a year ago, his doctor visits and medications were largely covered through his wife's employer-sponsored health insurance, and his pain was under control. Then she lost her job, and the benefits eventually dried up. At one point, Howlin was taking 15 pills for everything from high blood pressure to high cholesterol to chronic pain.

Howlin said he just wants the pain to stop so he can go back to work and feed his family.

"I don't want this ... welfare system to do it. I want to take care of my own family," he said.

New Report Finds 89.6 Million Americans Were Uninsured During 2006

Using testicles to fix the brain, heart and blood

www.theglobeandmail.com

Life-saving remedies viewed as possible

ANNE MCILROY

Men have a source of potentially life-saving stem cells between their legs.

A team of American researchers has found a way to easily identify stem cells in the testicles of adult mice that can be coaxed to turn into brain cells, muscle cells, heart cells, blood cells and even blood vessels.

One day, they say, male patients may be able to turn to their own testicles as a source of stem cells to repair an ailing heart or kidney or to fix the brain damage caused by Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease.

The procedure would involve removing a small piece of testicle - about the same amount used for a biopsy.

"We don't need a lot of material," says Marco Seandel, the lead author of a paper to be published today in the journal Nature and a stem cell researcher at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Maryland.

His team's work - and that of a German team also experimenting with stem cells extracted from testicles - is part of a growing international effort to look beyond the embryo for cells that can give rise to all human body parts and systems.

Embryonic stem cells have an endless capacity for self-renewal and can produce more than 250 kinds of specialized cells. Scientists are hoping to harness their regenerative powers to repair damaged tissue or organs, but harvesting these cells is controversial because embryos are destroyed in the process.

Adults have small numbers of stem cells, too - in bone marrow, muscle and other tissues and organs. But these don't seem to have the same superhero-like powers as embryonic cells. Stem cells in muscle, for example, give rise only to new muscle cells.

But a number of teams have been trying to coax adult stem cells back to an embryonic state.

In June, researchers in the United States and Japan announced they had done just that by inserting four genes into skin cells from adult mice.

Dr. Seandel and his colleagues didn't reprogram the testicular stem cells with new genes. They put them in a special growth medium, and the cells returned to a state in which they could turn into many different cell types - not just the precursors to sperm cells. In live mice, the stem cells became part of a functioning blood vessel. In the lab, the scientists transformed them into brain cells, cardiac cells and muscle cells.

The team has been hunting for stem cells in testicles for more than a decade. Dr. Seandel says it seemed like an obvious place to look, because testes produce sperm, which give rise to an entire human being if they fertilize an egg. Stem cells in the testicles are hard-working: The average male produces 40,000 sperm a second, the researchers say.

There was another, somewhat gruesome sign that testicular stem cells might turn into other types of cells quite easily. Testicular tumours, Dr. Seandel says, are sometimes found with hair, teeth or other tissue in them. The same is true for ovarian tumours, he says. But women don't have the equivalent of sperm-producing stem cells.

It wasn't easy finding the stem cells in men. They make up only 0.01 per cent of all cells in the testicles, says Shahin Rafii, also at Howard Hughes Medical Institute and a co-author of the paper.

The American team, which included researchers from Harvard University and the Weill Cornell Medical College in New York, discovered a protein that is unique to the small population of stem cells in the mouse testes. It is a marker they can use to easily identify the stem cells.

The U.S. researchers are trying to figure out why their experiment worked. They aren't sure why the adult stem cells reverted to a more embryonic state in the growth medium. If they can understand the process, the scientists say, they may be able to replicate it in other adult stem cells.

Obtaining Stem Cells From Adult Testicles, An Alternative To Embryonic Stem Cells

Pregnancy for HIV-Positive Women Safer in Early Stages of Virus

www.kaisernetwork.org

HIV-positive women who want to become pregnant should be informed that pregnancy is safer during the early clinical stages of the virus, when CD4+ T cell counts are higher, according to a study published recently in Tropical Medicine & International Health, Uganda's Monitor reports.

Lieve Van der Paal of Uganda's Medical Research Council and colleagues from the Uganda Virus Research Institute examined the medical records of 139 HIV-positive women of reproductive age residing in southwestern Uganda who were in a clinical group established in 1990. The researchers examined the effect of pregnancy on HIV progression and survival among HIV-positive women before the introduction of antiretroviral drugs.

The study found that women who became pregnant had higher CD4 counts when they enrolled in the study and that they had a slower decline of CD4 cells than those who did not become pregnant. The study also found that CD4 counts declined faster after pregnancy. The researchers concluded that the "initial comparative immunological advantage possessed by fertile women before they become pregnant is subsequently lost as a result of their pregnancy." The researchers suggested that women taking antiretrovirals who have low CD4 counts wait until their CD4 counts have increased before becoming pregnant.

According to the study, HIV-positive women who want to become pregnant should be warned about the potential negative effect a pregnancy could have on their immune system's ability to fight HIV and should be offered contraception. Pregnant women living with HIV who are eligible for antiretroviral therapy "should be offered such treatment as a priority group since they are at high risk for fast progression" of HIV and because the antiretrovirals will help prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission, the study said. The study also found that since the introduction of a program aimed at preventing mother-to-child transmission, less than 5% of HIV-positive mothers in southwest Uganda do not breast-feed (Kirunda, Monitor, 9/17).

Study Warns Hiv+ Women On Births

Gall bladder removed without outer incisions

www.inthenews.co.uk

Surgeons have successfully removed a woman's gall bladder through her vagina, removing the need for outer incisions and the resulting scars.

The procedure is one of a number of potential operations under natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (Notes).

By using Notes, trauma is minimised for people who do not want to have outer scarring.

French surgeons made and a closed a small hole in the back of the 30-year-old woman's vagina.

Instruments were inserted through this opening and the gall bladder taken out.

Writing in the Archives of Surgery, the surgeons report that no bleeding or leakage of liver fluids occurred during the three-hour operation.

The patient was discharged two days after the surgery and during her follow-up visit doctors found her to have resumed full activity and to have no discharge or bleeding.

The researchers conclude that benefits of conducting Notes in patients must be supported by evidence but add: "It is exciting to contemplate the potential for Notes in improving patient care.

"A surgical intervention that eradicates the need for any incision, avoiding bodily trauma, is attractive to patients and also has an aura that surgeons find hard to resist."

Surgery Without Scars?

Stretch Mark Prevention

San Francisco expands health care program for uninsured

www.mercurynews.com

A program to provide health care for all uninsured San Franciscans was set to expand citywide Monday with the opening of 20 more clinics, despite an ongoing legal challenge from the city's restaurant industry.

More than 1,000 people have enrolled in Healthy San Francisco since two Chinatown pilot clinics opened in July. Officials said they hope the new clinics will help them reach a goal of more than 17,000 participants by the end of the year.

San Francisco has about 82,000 uninsured residents, according to city estimates.

Backers of the $196 million program unveiled last year by Mayor Gavin Newsom and Supervisor Tom Ammiano said funding would come from the city health department's budget and co-payments from participants.

If city officials have their way, another $28 million would come from city business owners who do not provide insurance for their employees. The city's Golden Gate Restaurant Association has sued over the measure, saying the employer spending requirement violates federal law.

A ruling on the lawsuit is expected by November.

San Francisco launches universal health care

Vitamin D looks like a life-extender

www.chicagotribune.com

Vitamin D supplements could prolong your life, a new European study suggests.

"The intake of usual doses of vitamin D seems to decrease mortality from any cause of death," said lead researcher Dr. Philippe Autier of the International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, France.

The new finding, published in the Sept. 10 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, is a bit of an anomaly, because the benefits of vitamin supplements remain uncertain at best.

Although they often are touted as a means of reducing risks for cancer and heart disease, some studies have found supplements have no effect on these conditions.

For example, other studies have shown that vitamin E has no effect on cancer, Autier said. And prior research suggests that multivitamin supplements do nothing to reduce cancer risk, he added.

But vitamin D may be the exception, according to the results of this new study, which showed a 7 percent difference in the death rate.

"This is the first study that shows that taking one vitamin has an impact on mortality," Autier said. "If you want to increase your vitamin D intake by taking supplements, it looks like a great idea."

Autier believes people should take vitamin D supplements in the range of 400 to 600 IUs daily but no more.

Vitamin D good for more than bones

Open Meeting on Prostate Cancer at URMC

Prostate cancer is by far the most common cancer for men. One out of every six men will be diagnosed with it.

Rochester resident Sam Thompson was diagnosed with prostate cancer two years ago. By the time he saw his doctor, he had already developed symptoms. That meant his disease was advanced.

So Mr. Thompson elected to have robotic laparoscopic surgery to remove the prostate.

Dr. Jean Joseph said, "We introduced it to the upstate New York area in 2000 and we've been performing it on a regular basis. We perform ten to fourteen surgeries a week."

Though surgeons have made advances in prostate removal, the key to a successful surgery is still early detection. When found early, men with prostate cancer have a 100 percent survival rate.

When it's detected late, treatment must be radical. If the cancer has grown beyond the prostate, surgery and radiation cannot help it. The treatment is then chemotherapy.

African American men are six times more likely to develop prostate cancer than other racial groups. Even though it’s recommended that men over fifty get annual prostate exams, black men are encouraged to get screened earlier.

Though Mr. Thompson's surgery was successful and he's been cancer-free for two years, he regrets he didn't see his doctor sooner.

"For me, I wish I had started at 48, 49,” Thompson said.” Different people react differently. Different nationalities react differently. So if you do it at an early age, 47, 48, you can't go wrong."

The University of Rochester Medical Center is having a day-long men's health seminar Friday, September 21. Local patients will share their experiences with prostate cancer care and doctors will discuss various treatments.

To register for the free event, call 585-275-2838

TO CATCH A KILLER: Hospitals promote prostate cancer screenings, especially for blacks

Natural Help for Good Prostate Health

Keeping Tabs on Health Insurance Check-up

By Tommye White

As health care costs continue to escalate, even families with health insurance are feeling financially pinched. According to a study done by Harvard Law School and Harvard Medical School, illness and medical bills are the leading cause of roughly half of personal bankruptcies. This is not a surprising statistic considering that Americans spent nearly $2 trillion dollars on health care in 2005, nearly $6,700 per person.

Medical debt can quickly become overwhelming and can challenge even the best financial plans and budgets. Fortunately, adequate health care coverage will ensure that your family is prepared for illness or injury. The experts at Money Management International offer the following tips on how to make sure your health insurance coverage is up to par:

• Does your plan cover pre-existing conditions? Sometimes, a plan might not cover treatments for an ongoing medical condition. Find out if there are limitations or a waiting period involved in your coverage.

• Is the coverage sufficient? Find out exactly what services are covered and learn what preventive services are offered. Ask if there are limits on medical tests, out-of-hospital care, mental health care and prescription drugs.

• What does it cost? Research your premiums and co-payments. Explore the difference in cost between using doctors in the network and those outside of it. Find out if there is a limit to the maximum you would pay out of pocket.

• What are other options? Even if your current insurance plan seems be adequate, it might be wise to review all your options. There are many types of coverage, such as HMOs, PPOs and fee-for-service. Many people are also able to get group insurance through membership in a professional association, club or other organization. You might also look into individual insurance options.

• Do not allow your insurance to lapse. Medical bills for an accident when you lack coverage can be far more devastating than the cost of paying for your own insurance for several months. Unfortunately, the number of people who have no health insurance coverage is growing. According to a U.S. Census Bureau report, there are now 46.6 million uninsured U.S. residents.

If you become unemployed and lose your coverage, you might have the right to extend your coverage through COBRA. The government also offers programs, such as Medicaid, for people with low incomes. Also check with your local state government about health insurance programs for adults and children.

Republicans Can Win on Health Care

Exercise and Diabetes: Best Bets

Blood Sugar Control May Benefit Most From Aerobic Exercise and Weight Training

By Miranda Hitti

Got type 2 diabetes? Your workout may do more than trim your waistline - it could also improve your blood sugar control.

A new Canadian study shows that people with type 2 diabetes who began exercising developed better blood sugar control, especially if they got aerobic exercise and lifted weights.

Doctors should prescribe exercise to all type 2 diabetes patients who are healthy enough to work out, states an editorial published with the study in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Exercise and Diabetes

The new Canadian study on exercise and diabetes included 251 adults with type 2 diabetes.

On average, they were in their early 50s(age range: 39-70) with an obese BMI (body mass index) of 35. None was taking insulin and none was an exerciser.

First, the patients got checkups. That's always a wise thing to do before starting an exercise program, even for people who don't have diabetes.

Having been medically approved for the study, all patients got a modest amount of supervised exercise for a month, just to make sure they could stick with an exercise plan.

After that first month, the researchers split participants into four groups:

• Aerobic exercise only
• Resistance training only
• Aerobic exercise and resistance training
• No assigned exercise

Diabetes Workouts

The exercise groups worked out three times per week at a gym (with their expenses paid by the researchers).

For aerobic exercise, participants used a stationary bike or treadmill, gradually lengthening their workouts from 15 minutes to 45 minutes. For resistance training, they performed seven exercises using weight machines, eventually doing two to three sets of each exercise.

Patients assigned to aerobic exercise and weight training did the full aerobic workout and the full resistance training workout, three times per week.

The researchers - who included the University of Calgary's Ronald Sigal, MD, MPH -- didn't ask the participants to try to lose weight or to diet.

Reaping the Benefits

Participants followed their assigned workouts for 22 weeks.

All three exercise groups improved their blood sugar control based on their hemoglobin A1c level, which indicates blood sugar control over the previous two to three months.

People who got aerobic exercise and also lifted weights had the biggest improvement in hemoglobin A1c. Not surprisingly, not exercising yielded no improvements in hemoglobin A1c.

The bottom line: For the biggest benefit, get aerobic exercise and resistance training. If you can't manage both, at least do one or the other, as each is better than doing nothing.

If the benefits of exercise for type 2 diabetes patients could be captured in a pill, diabetes experts would be quick to prescribe that pill, states the editorial published with the study.

"Failing to prescribe exercise to patients with diabetes is simply unacceptable practice," write the editorialists, who included William Kraus, MD, of Duke University Medical Center.

Exercise Aids Blood Sugar Levels

How to Provide Nutritional Support for People with Diabetes

HIV Drug Enters Phase III Trials

www.dogflu.ca

It is being reported that 2 phase III clinical trials are set to begin using Schering-Plough's HIV drug Vicriviroc, which is given to patients who have stopped responding to other treatments

It is being reported that an HIV drug manufactured by Schering-Plough is entering in to a phase 3 clinical trial.

Two phase 3 clinical trials are underway for vicriviroc, which is taken once daily and is used to treat HIV patients whose virus has stopped responding to other drug therapies.

Each of the clinical trials is featuring 375 participants. Both trials follow a 48 week study in which vicriviroc showed "potent and sustained viral suppression" in patients not responding to other treatments.

There are some noted safety issues with the drug, as cases of cancer have been reported in study participants.

"As a next-generation HIV entry inhibitor, vicriviroc has the potential to benefit a broad range of patients by offering a potent, sustained viral response and a single once-daily dose in combination with optimized background therapy," said Robert J. Spiegel, M.D., chief medical officer and senior vice president, Schering-Plough Research Institute. "There is an urgent need for new antiretroviral agents with novel mechanisms of action and we look forward to the further clinical evaluation of vicriviroc in these large global studies."

Schering-Plough HIV drug begins late-stage trials

Peru Blood Banks Closed After Four People Were Infected With HIV

www.product-reviews.net

240 blood banks in Peru have been closed by officials after at least four people were infected with HIV from blood transfusions in a public hospital. Carlos Vallejos, Health Minister has said the blood banks will be inspected by a commission that will include officials from the World Health Organisation.

A Health Ministry investigation has found that Judith Rivera, a 44-year-old mother of four, was infected with the virus after receiving blood transfusions during an operation for a tumor in April at a state hospital in Callao.

Carlos Vallejos has confirmed three other cases, including that of an 11-month-old infant, all at the same hospital. A 17 year old boy also claims to have been infected after receiving a transfusion at the hospital. This claim has yet to be confirmed by the ministry.

Jose Cruz is an adviser on blood and laboratory safety for the Washington-based Panamerican Health Organisation. He has called the state of Peru’s blood banks “worrying”.

He also said that Peru, along with Bolivia, Colombia and Mexico are on the organisation’s list of countries that fail to perform preliminary disease screening on all blood collected in blood banks.

It has been estimated that out of Peru’s 27 million inhabitants a shocking 93,000 are HIV positive.

Clinton Readies Her U.S. Health Plan as Pitfalls Loom (Update1)

www.bloomberg.com

By Edwin Chen and Aliza Marcus

Hillary Clinton, offering a new prescription for providing all Americans with health-care insurance, is seeking to avoid a repeat of her first, failed bid to revamp the system.

While Democratic presidential rivals John Edwards and Barack Obama released health-care plans several months ago, the issue is more complex for the senator from New York.

Clinton's previous effort gives her a voice of authority on health-care coverage now, with 65 percent of Americans in a July Gallup poll expressing ``a great deal'' or ``a fair amount'' of confidence in her on the issue. That's more than any other White House contender. At the same time, it evokes memories of the bureaucracy-laden, 1,342-page proposal that critics still call ``Hillarycare.''

``It's very tricky for her,'' said Robert Blendon, professor of health policy and political analysis at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. ``But she's not going to get elected president unless she can get through to people on health care,'' said Bob Laszewski, a Washington health policy analyst.

Labor unions, an important Democratic constituency, have demanded that the candidates offer specifics on the issue, which put Clinton in a particular bind.

Andrew Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union, said Clinton will offer a universal plan after taking care to lay the groundwork for it and head off comparisons with her 1993 health-plan debacle.

Working Against `Impression'

``She's working against an impression,'' Stern said in an interview yesterday. ``If she came out with another huge comprehensive idea, everybody would say, `There she goes again.' You know, big government, big plan.''

When Clinton offers her proposal next week to cover the 47 million Americans who lack insurance, she will probably stake out the middle ground, appearing bolder than Senator Obama of Illinois and more pragmatic than former Senator Edwards of North Carolina.

Obama, 46, has proposed mandating health-care coverage only for children. Clinton, 59, will likely make coverage mandatory for everyone, said a campaign aide who declined to offer details because he didn't want to pre-empt her speech, scheduled for Sept. 17 at a medical center in Des Moines, Iowa.

Edwards, 54, would go further and create a government-run system to compete with private insurance. Every American would have the option of signing up for a program similar to Medicare, the U.S. program for the elderly and disabled.

Universal Coverage

An expansive universal coverage proposal by Clinton may provoke fresh attacks from interest groups, such as the insurance industry, that thwarted her last effort, while a more cautious approach would invite charges that she has subjugated her values to her White House ambitions.

Clinton's dilemma is a case study of a candidate's attempt to convert a potential liability into an asset while opponents seek to make it a fatal flaw. Clinton may have the upper hand as pressure for an overhaul of the $2.1 trillion-a-year U.S. health- care system has grown since the legislative failure of 1993-94.

Costs have continued to outpace inflation, the number of uninsured has increased and fewer employers are offering coverage to workers. The Business Roundtable, led by the chief executives of companies such as General Motors Corp., has joined union leaders in urging coverage for everyone.

The government's accepted role in health care has expanded, with Medicare adding prescription drug benefits, and the federal government subsidizing coverage for 6 million children in low- income families.

Mandates

The plan Clinton devised after her husband, President Bill Clinton, named her to head the task force in 1993 would have mandated specific benefits and required employers to offer coverage or pay a tax.

The proposal proved so complex that it invited ridicule. An insurance industry group produced a series of television ads featuring ``Harry and Louise,'' a fictional couple struggling to understand the plan. Her proposal didn't make it out of committee even though Democrats controlled both chambers of Congress.

This time, Clinton is proceeding carefully. ``I've tangled with this issue before - and I've got the scars to show for it,'' she has said repeatedly. ``But I learned some valuable lessons from that experience.''

While Edwards and Obama offered their plans for universal coverage early in the campaign, Clinton focused first on proposals to cut costs and improve the quality of care, a bid to reach out to those who already have coverage.

Need for Consensus

Clinton also is touting the need to build a consensus among all players in health care. Yet she has continued taking a tough line against insurers, vowing to ``put an end'' to the industry discrimination against consumers with pre-existing medical conditions.

``I intend to dramatically rein in the influence of the insurance companies,'' Clinton said during a Sept. 12 forum posted on the Yahoo! Inc. Web site. ``They have worked to the detriment of our economy and of our health-care system.''

Clinton's fervor all but guarantees another titanic fight over health-care issues. ``When you put out a comprehensive plan, you put a big target on your back,'' says Drew Altman, president of the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation.

``The history of health-care reform in this century is that proposals were either too big or too small,'' said Karen Ignani, executive director of America's Health Insurance Plans, successor to the organization that sponsored Harry and Louise. It is not likely the industry would find the Clinton plan to be just right.

``It's a risk for her, but a risk she has to take,'' said Doug Badger, a Washington lobbyist and formerly Bush's senior health policy adviser.

The Politics of Health-Care Reform

Health Insurance Costs Rise Again

health.usnews.com

By Michelle Andrews

Health insurance premiums rose more slowly in 2007 than at any other time since 1999, but the 6.1 percent increase still outstripped the rises in workers' wages (3.7 percent) and inflation (2.6 percent), according to a study released this week. There's no relief in sight for workers, who paid almost $3,300 on average for family coverage this year. Forty-five percent of employers polled say they're likely to increase employee premiums next year, with a significant number reporting they plan to increase employee deductibles, copayments, and drug contributions as well.

The annual survey of employer-sponsored plans, conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research and Educational Trust, has charted the upward trend in healthcare costs for years. "There's no tipping point at which health insurance becomes scientifically unaffordable," Kaiser President Drew Altman said at a press conference announcing the survey results. "But we have reached a point where it's become more unaffordable for more employers and workers."

This year's survey found that the average family policy cost $12,106, a 78 percent increase since 2001. (The typical single policy cost $4,479 in 2007.) In the past six years, the amount that families pay out of pocket in premiums has increased by about $1,500. One of the consequences of higher health insurance costs, Altman noted, has been the rise in the number of uninsured, which reached 47 million in 2006, a 5 percent increase over the previous year.

Although premium costs are widely used to gauge health plan affordability, other expenses can also take big bites out of workers' wallets. In 2007, the average family-plan deductible ranged from $759 in health maintenance organization plans to $3,596 in high-deductible health plans with a savings account option. Copayments for office visits with doctors in the health plan's network ranged from $18 to $30 on average, depending on the type of plan and doctor.

These other costs are likely to rise next year, too, according to the survey. Forty-four percent of employers said they're likely to increase how much employees pay for prescription drugs. An additional 37 percent said they planned to increase deductibles, and 42 percent said they plan to increase copayments for office visits. The good news, such as it is: Only 3 percent of companies said they were very or somewhat likely to drop coverage altogether.

About 158 million people receive health coverage through their employer. The 2007 Kaiser/HRET study surveyed more than 3,000 randomly selected companies with more than three workers.

The Bush administration has touted health savings accounts, which it says could help bring healthcare costs under control. But employers don't seem to have bought that argument. This year, just 10 percent of companies offered high-deductible health plans with a savings option, which covered about 5 percent of workers. Twenty-four percent of companies said they're at least somewhat likely to offer this type of plan next year. "The [moderate rise] in premiums hasn't pushed employers to make changes as quickly as they might have otherwise," said study coauthor Gary Claxton, a vice president at Kaiser. "But insurers are still trying to sell these. It's really their only new thing. Over the next few years we'll see if it picks up."

U.S. health-care system gets poor marks

Study finds Cialis effective for men with spinal injuries

www.canada.com

Medication triples number of times men can have sexual relations

The impotence pill Cialis appears to work even in men with spinal cord injuries, French researchers said Monday.

Impotence often follows spinal cord injuries. Only about 25 percent of men with such injuries are capable of having sex, Dr. Francois Giuliano and colleagues at the Raymond Poincare Hospital in Garches, France said.

They found that Cialis tripled the number of times the men could have sex.

Their study, funded by Eli Lilly and Co., maker of tadalafil or Cialis, involved 197 men with an average age of 38 in France, Germany, Italy and Spain with spinal cord injuries.

After a one-month waiting period, in which no one got treatment, a questionnaire to assess sexual function found both groups had moderate erectile dysfunction, Giuliano's team reported in the Archives of Neurology.

Then 142 men were assigned to the Cialis group and 44 got a placebo for a 12-week period, taking no more than one pill daily as needed before sexual activity.

After four months, men taking Cialis were successful nearly half the time they attempted intercourse, while men in the placebo group succeeded only 16.8 percent of the time.

Cialis and similar drugs work by increasing blood flow to the genitals.

The researchers said the Cialis study achieved success similar to that found in studies of Pfizer Inc.'s Viagra or sildenafil and Glaxosmithkline Plc's Levitra or vardenafil, all of which improved erections in men with impotence after spinal cord injury.

Erectile Dysfunction Drug Helps Men with Spinal Cord Injury

What are the Causes of Decreased Sexuality?

Prostate funding levels criticized

calsun.canoe.ca

By BILL KAUFMANN

The province's failure to fund a routine prostate cancer examination is likely increasing the death toll, says a lobbyist battling the disease.

Alberta, along with Ontario, B.C. and Quebec, are the four provinces that don't publicly cover prostate specific antigen blood tests that detect heightened risk of prostate cancer in men, said Greg Sarney of the Prostate Cancer Research Foundation of Canada.

"Encouraging guys to get this test is critical," said Sarney. "Men are good about taking care of their cars and golf clubs, but not so much themselves."

Such screening, along with digital rectal exams, can be extremely effective, with 95% of prostate cancers curable if treated immediately.

Linda MacNaughton of the Prostate Cancer Institute in Calgary said her organization will reimburse men who have paid for the PSA test, which costs around $23.

"Eight men die every week from prostate cancer in Alberta," said MacNaughton, noting Prostate Cancer Awareness Week runs Sept. 17-24.

"I'd love to see every guy at age 40 get the test."

Regular prostate screenings could save your life

Prostate Cancer: Early Detection Saves Lives

Join the Prostacet Club Risk Free Today

Is your beauty regime damaging your health?

The Guardian

By Kira Cochrane

Once again, studies are suggesting that chemicals used in cosmetics such as talc could increase the risk of cancer.

Ladies: think twice before you powder your undercarriage. In the International Journal of Cancer last month, a study of 3,000 women reported that those who regularly talced their underwear had a 17% higher risk of ovarian cancer than those who did not. (Ovarian cancer kills more than 4,000 women a year.) This follows a number of studies that have made a similar link, including an extensive one a few years back, which suggested that such use of talc might increase the risk of ovarian cancer by 33% (from a baseline risk of 2% over a lifetime).

Plump your lips in seconds

Survey: Workers' health costs surge 6.1%

www.indystar.com

Health insurance premiums paid by workers and their employers rose an average of 6.1 percent this year, outpacing inflation and pay increases and taking a bigger chunk out of families' budgets, according to a new survey.

The Kaiser Family Foundation study doesn't provide state-by-state breakdowns. But other sources show the increase in Indiana was much higher.

In Indiana the cost of private health insurance for a family has jumped an average of more than 10 percent a year over the past six years. From 2000 to 2006, the total increase was 77 percent, with worker-paid premiums going from $1,319 to $2,495 and the company-paid portion rising from $5,309 to $9,219, according to Families USA.

According to Kaiser, premiums for employer- sponsored health insurance for the average family topped $12,000 - with employees picking up about one-fourth of that cost - although the increase in premiums slowed for a fourth straight year.

Many of the more than 3,000 companies surveyed said they plan to make significant changes to their health plans and benefits, and nearly half said they are very or somewhat likely to raise premiums.

This year, the largest health benefits company in Indiana, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, has seen health-care costs for its plans rise more than 7 percent, said spokesman Jim Kappel. The company hasn't yet firmed up the exact number.

As healthcosts continue rising, Anthem and its parent, Indianapolis-based WellPoint, have cut costs in part by using national contracts with high-volume, lower-cost laboratories and other health providers, and by targeting high-cost medical procedures for cost cuts, said Bob McIntire, senior vice president of health-care management at WellPoint.

When medical imaging costs, like brain scans and basic X-rays, began rising a few years ago for its members, WellPoint drew up clinical guidelines to reduce the number of unnecessary tests, McIntire said. Now WellPoint sees little to no increase in imaging costs for members, he said.

Another large insurer, UnitedHealthcare, said that Indiana's health-care costs remain slightly higher than the national average, but that efforts to reduce costs are paying off.

Cost-cutting is working because "employees are becoming more involved in the health-care process," while health plans are steering members to doctors who provide higher-quality service at competitive rates, said Dan Krajnovich, chief executive of UnitedHealthcare in Indiana.

The 6.1 percent increase in premiums for families is the lowest growth rate since 1999, when U.S. premiums rose 5.3 percent. Health-care premiums rose 7.7 percent last year.

The survey showed wages rose an average of 3.7 percent and inflation grew by 2.6 percent.

Price of health care coverage marches upward

Forget the smokes

www.edmontonsun.com

Here's another reason to quit smoking - the habit can contribute to dementia or Alzheimer's disease. Smokers are 50% more likely to develop these conditions than former smokers or people who have never smoked, a Dutch researcher has found. Dr. Monique Breteler of Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam studied 7,000 smokers, non-smokers and former smokers over the age of 55 for seven years. Her study, published in the journal Neurology, found that 706 people developed dementia, the majority of them smokers. Smoking increases the risk of diseases of blood vessels in the brain, which is tied to dementia, Breteler said.

Sleep Deprivation Can Lead To Hypertension Risk in Women

www.efluxmedia.com

by Anna Boyd

A new study by British researchers shows that women who deprive themselves of sleep may be more likely to die of heart disease.

Warwick Medical School researchers from the University of Warwick published their study this week in the journal Hypertension. The authors write that women who slept five hours or less were twice as likely to suffer from high blood pressure (hypertension) than women who slept seven hours or more a night.

They found no difference between men sleeping less than five hours or more than seven hours each night.

“Sustained sleep curtailment, ensuing excessive daytime sleepiness and the higher cardiovascular risk are causes for concern,” lead author Prof. Francesco Cappuccio from the University of Warwick's Warwick Medical School, said in a statement.

“Emerging evidence also suggests a potential role for sleep deprivation as a predictor or risk factor for conditions like obesity and diabetes,” he added.

Cappuccio and his colleagues analyzed data pertaining to more than 6,500 participants, more than 4,000 men and more than 1,500 women. All were volunteers from 20 civil service departments based in London.

The researchers established hypertension as blood pressure equal to or higher than 140/90 mm Hg within their sample, or if the participant regularly required blood pressure medications.

Cappuccio said lack of sleep had been linked to a higher risk of developing high blood pressure but also to increased death from cardiovascular cause. “It is a stark finding but the results are highly suggestive of a causal link,” the Daily Mail quotes him as saying.

He will present his research later this month at the British Sleep Society's annual meeting in Cambridge, according to the Daily Mail.

Lack of sleep may lead to heart disease

Sleep deprivation is hazardous

Natural Sleeping Aid: Falling Asleep Easily & Naturally

New Lung Cancer Guidelines

www.ivanhoe.com

By Kate McHugh

The American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP) released new guidelines for the prevention, treatment and screening of lung cancer. These are the second set of guidelines released and make changes to some widely-held beliefs and practices when dealing with lung cancer.

Among the changes is the recommendation against low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) for the general screening of lung cancer. Authors write lung cancer screening does not alter mortality outcomes, so they say they cannot recommend the use of the screening.

"There is really no evidence that screening for lung cancer provides a mortality benefit and because there are some very real risks to doing a lung cancer screening, we don't feel we can recommend screening at this point in time," W. Michael Alberts, M.D., chair of the ACCP guidelines, told Ivanhoe. "We all hope the randomized control trials will show a mortality benefit for the screening of lung cancer. We just don't know yet."

The guidelines also recommend against the preventive use of Beta-carotene, vitamin A, vitamin E and aspirin in at-risk patients or those with a history of lung cancer.

"We know Beta-carotene actually shows an increased risk of lung cancer when used as a supplement in smoking patients," Dr. Alberts said. He said there is no proven danger to taking vitamins A and E and aspirin, although no proven benefit as yet, either.

For the first time, the ACCP guidelines included recommendations for mind-body modalities as part of an approach to reduce anxiety, mood disturbances and chronic pain associated with lung cancer. Massage therapy is recommended for pain and anxiety while acupuncture is recommended for fatigue and neuropathy. Electrostimulation wristbands, however, are not recommended for chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting as studies show they do little to prevent such symptoms.

Experts Offer Tips on Lung Cancer Prevention

Children eat too much salt, risk high blood pressure

www.efluxmedia.com

By Anna Boyd

British researchers warn that a diet with high levels of salt can raise children’s blood pressure, increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease later in life.

A study published in the Journal of Human Hypertension shows that children’s favorite supermarket foods and snacks contain higher levels of salt than those recommended by health experts.

Researchers with the Department of Health looked at 2,127 British children aged 4 to 18, monitoring their daily salt intake. This did not include salt added in cooked meals or at the table.

The specialists found that the average four-year-old consumed 4.7g of salt a day, when only 2-3g of salt is recommended for this age group, the Journal of Human Hypertension reports.

The researchers showed in their study that each extra gram of salt eaten raised blood pressure significantly, increasing the risk of heart disease and stroke during adulthood. The children who ingested the highest amounts of salt also had the highest levels of blood pressure.

The Food Standards Agency in the UK is once again urging consumers to read products’ labels and check the levels of salt, even in products such as corn flakes, where one would not expect to find salt.

Earlier this year, the agency released the results of tests conducted on more than 1,000 adults, which showed that British adults consume an average 9g of salt each day. The FSA recommends a maximum of 6g per day.

At the time, FSA chairperson Dame Deirdre Hutton said the general population needed to reduce its salt intake in order to prevent serious health problems. High blood pressure is at least partly to blame for 170,000 deaths in England each year, the FSA report said.

The agency recommends that younger children receive less salt than older ones. Babies under 6 months should receive less than 1 g of salt daily, while babies 7 to 12 months should receive a maximum of 1g.

Children 1 to 3-years-old should have a maximum of 2g per day, while 4 to 6-year-olds 3g, 7 to 10 year-olds 5g and 11 to 14-year-olds a maximum 6g.

Excessive salt consumption has been linked to conditions such as asthma, osteoporosis, stomach cancer and hypertension (high blood pressure).

Jo Butten of Consensus Action on Salt and Health said of the recent study: “The message for parents is to check labels, especially on foods such as breakfast cereals and snack products, which they may not expect to contain high levels of salt, and choose the lower salt options.

“It may be difficult for parents to tell their children they can't have crisps every day, or that they need to eat a different breakfast cereal, or that some instant noodles should be avoided completely, but surely it's a small price to pay to reduce their risk of having a heart attack or stroke when they are older?”

Blood pressure rising among U.S. children: study

Med diet found to have further Alzheimer's benefits

www.foodnavigator.com

By Lorraine Heller

Adhering to a Mediterranean diet could allow sufferers of Alzheimer's disease to live longer than patients who eat a more traditional Western diet, according to new research published today.

The findings are the latest in a string of health benefits linked to the eating plan of the people of southern Europe, which has in the past also been associated with the prevention of Alzheimer's disease.

Published in today's issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, the new findings were based on researchers' observations of 192 Alzheimer sufferers for four and a half years.

During that time, 85 of the people died. Researchers found that those patients who most closely followed a Mediterranean diet were 76 percent less likely to die during the study period than those who followed the diet the least.

"The more closely people followed the Mediterranean diet, the more they reduced their mortality," said study author Nikos Scarmeas of Columbia University Medical Center in New York, and member of the American Academy of Neurology.

"For example, Alzheimer's patients who adhered to the diet to a moderate degree lived an average 1.3 years longer than those people who least adhered to the diet. And those Alzheimer's patients who followed the diet very religiously lived an average four years longer."

Previous research by Scarmeas published last year found that greater adherence to a Mediterranean-style diet could cut the risk of healthy people developing Alzheimer's disease by 68 percent.

The Med diet is rich in cereals, wine, fruits, nuts, legumes and whole grains, fish and olive oil. Its main nutritional components include beta-carotene, vitamin C, tocopherols, polyphenols, and essential minerals. It is these antioxidants and polyphenols that appear to offer protection, suggested the researchers.

Another study by the same researchers, published earlier last year in the Annals of Neurology (Vol. 59, pp. 912 - 921), reported that elderly individuals whose diet closely resembled the Med diet had a 40 per cent lower risk of Alzheimer's than those who adhered the least to the diet.

"New benefits of this diet keep coming out," wrote Scarmeas today.

"We need to do more research to determine whether eating a Mediterranean diet also helps Alzheimer's patients have slower rates of cognitive decline, maintain their daily living skills, and have a better quality of life."

Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia and currently affects over 13 million people worldwide. The direct and indirect cost of Alzheimer care is over $100 bn (ˆ 81 bn) in the US alone. The direct cost of Alzheimer care in the UK was estimated at ?15 bn (ˆ 22 bn, $30bn).

The Mediterranean diet has also been linked to longer life, less heart disease, and protection against some cancers - and the flow of scientific back-up for its healthfulness has started to trickle into consumer consciousness, with more and more people seeking out products that meet the diet's criteria.

Common foods of the eating plan include bread, pasta, rice, couscous and potatoes; olives, avocados and grapes; eggplant, tomatoes, peppers, nuts and beans; and cheese and yogurt. Moderate consumption of fish and poultry is also encouraged, whereas consumption of red meat is advised only a few times a month.

In the US, a nutrition group recently launched a Med Mark symbol to allow manufacturers to flag up Mediterranean diet foods. Introduced three months ago by Oldways, the packaging symbol already appears on 50 products.

Mediterranean Diet May Help Alzheimer's Patients Live Longer