Japan Nuke Disaster Will Kill Up to 1,300 People Worldwide, Study Estimates

HealthDay – 2 hrs 1 min ago TUESDAY, July 17 (HealthDay News) -- Radiation from last year's disaster at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant may eventually cause up to 1,300 deaths and 2,500 cases of cancer worldwide, according to U.S. researchers who calculated the global health effects of the incident.

Most of those deaths and cancer cases would occur in Japan, the Stanford University team said.

Although their estimates have a large range of uncertainty, the findings challenge previous claims that the radioactivity released by the damaged plant was not likely to cause any severe health effects.

The researchers' calculations are in addition to the approximately 600 deaths caused by the evacuation of the area around the nuclear plant after the March 2011 earthquake, tsunami and meltdown.

The study, published July 17 in the journal Energy and Environmental Science, is the first detailed analysis of how the disaster could affect health around the world.

For the study, the investigators used a global atmospheric model to predict the transport of radioactive material released by the plant and used another model to estimate the health effects of the radiation.

The health effects would overwhelmingly occur in Japan, with extremely small effects in mainland Asia and North America. For example, the United States was predicted to have between 0 and 12 deaths and 0 to 30 cancer cases related to radiation from the Fukushima plant.

The findings should "serve to manage the fear in other countries that the disaster had an extensive global reach," study author John Ten Hoeve, a recent Ph.D. graduate, said in a Stanford news release.

More information

The World Health Organization has more about health concerns associated with the Fukushima disaster.

View the Original article

Weight-Loss Surgery May Not Cut Medical Costs: Study

HealthDay – 2 hrs 1 min ago TUESDAY, July 17 (HealthDay News) -- Although patients do indeed lose weight after bariatric surgery, health-care costs remain about the same as they were before the procedure, according to a new study.

Bariatric surgery reduces the size of the stomach, which results in significant weight loss. Most patients in the new study had undergone a procedure called Roux-en-Y gastric bypass.

Previous studies had shown that many obese people who have this procedure improve their health and reduce the cost of their care. In this group of patients, however, costs did not go down, the researchers said.

"These three-year findings suggest that the return on investment for bariatric surgery isn't seen," said lead researcher Matthew Maciejewski, from the Center for Health Services Research in Primary Care at the Durham VA Medical Center, in North Carolina.

"It is possible, however, that if we could follow these

View the Original article

Sodium Buildup in Brain Linked to Disability in MS Patients

HealthDay – 2 hrs 1 min ago TUESDAY, July 17 (HealthDay News) -- Sodium buildup in the brain seems to be linked to disability in people with multiple sclerosis, researchers have found.

This accumulation of sodium could be an indicator of the degeneration of nerve cells that results from the disease, according to a team of European researchers. Although multiple sclerosis, or MS, symptoms vary from patient to patient, the study authors suggested that their findings may help predict the severity of disease progression and disability.

"A major challenge with multiple sclerosis is providing patients with a prognosis of disease progression. It's very hard to predict the course of the disease," Patrick Cozzone, director emeritus of the Center for Magnetic Resonance in Biology and Medicine, a joint unit of National Center for Scientific Research and Aix-Marseille University in Marseille, France, said in a news release from the Radiological Society of North America.

In conducting the study, the researchers used a specific type of imaging technology that provides information on the sodium content of cells in the body, known as 3 Tesla sodium MRI. The test was performed on 26 patients with relapsing-remitting MS, the most common form of the disease, in which flare-ups of symptoms are followed by periods of recovery.

Of the study's participants, 14 had early stage relapsing-remitting MS and 12 had advanced forms of the disease. The researchers also examined 15 healthy participants without MS that they matched for the patients' ages and genders.

"We collaborated for two years with chemists and physicists to develop techniques to perform

View the Original article

Alzheimer's Treatment Shows Promise in Small, 3-Year Trial

"mod_id":"mediasocialchromepromos","facepile":1,"property":"news","learnmore_path":"/activity-learn-more/","moduleConf":YAHOO.Media.Facebook.ModuleConf

View the Original article

11 Countries Now Restrict Indoor Tanning Before Age 18

HealthDay – 2 hrs 1 min ago TUESDAY, July 17 (HealthDay News) -- Restrictions on young people's use of indoor tanning have been introduced by several countries in recent years, a new study reports.

Research suggests that indoor tanning is linked to skin cancer, the study authors pointed out.

Between 2003 and 2011, the number of countries with nationwide restrictions on the use of indoor tanning by people under 18 increased from two (Brazil and France) to 11 (Austria, Belgium, Brazil, England, France, Germany, Northern Ireland, Portugal, Scotland, Spain and Wales), according to the study released online in advance of print publication in the Archives of Dermatology.

"Since 2003, youth access to indoor tanning has become increasingly restricted throughout the world as accumulating evidence demonstrated an association between melanoma and indoor tanning. Additional countries and states are developing indoor tanning restrictions or making their existing legislation more restrictive," study author Dr. Mary Pawlak, of the Colorado School of Public Health, in Aurora, and colleagues said in a journal news release.

Experts at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, in New York City, voiced their opinion on the issue in an accompanying commentary. "Ideally, a ruling at the federal level to restrict tanning will have the most far-reaching impact. However, in the absence of a complete ban in the near future, other strategies to limit UV exposure to minors can be promoted," according to Lucy L. Chen and Dr. Steven Q. Wang.

"As dermatologists, we can play many unique roles in this ongoing health campaign. On a daily basis, dermatologists can educate and discourage patients, especially teenagers, from using tanning beds," the editorialists noted. "On a legislative level, we can provide testimony as health experts and serve as advocates for key legislation in our individual states."

More information

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has more about the risks of indoor tanning.

View the Original article

New Drug Approved for Colonoscopy Preparation

HealthDay – 2 hrs 1 min ago TUESDAY, July 17 (HealthDay News) -- Prepopik (sodium picosulfate, magnesium oxide and citric acid) has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for adults preparing for a colonoscopy, a diagnostic procedure to inspect the colon's inner lining.

The cleansing regimen consists of two packets of powder, each dissolved in water, to be taken at different times before a colonoscopy, the FDA said in a news release. Additional fluid intake is needed to prevent dehydration and electrolyte imbalance, the agency warned.

In two clinical studies involving about 1,200 adults preparing for a colonoscopy, the most common side effects of Prepopik included nausea, headache and vomiting.

As a condition of approval, maker Ferring Pharmaceuticals must conduct additional studies to evaluate the product's safety and effectiveness among children, the FDA said.

Ferring is based in Parsippany, N.J.

More information

To learn more about colonoscopy, visit the National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse.

View the Original article

Hospitals for Poor May Struggle Further Under Health Care Reform

HealthDay – 2 hrs 1 min ago TUESDAY, July 17 (HealthDay News) -- A new study finds that so-called "safety-net" hospitals that serve the poor do a worse job overall than other hospitals, a potentially big problem as health care reform boosts the number of people who have insurance and more choice about where they can go for care.

Medicare used to give these hospitals extra payments for taking care of poor people. But under health care reform, they'll get less of that funding and more for how they perform on a variety of measurements, including how patients rate them.

"Our results suggest that safety-net hospitals are struggling on this important metric. As a result, safety-net hospitals are likely to get penalized under the new payment scheme," said Paula Chatterjee, a medical student at Harvard School of Public Health. "Given that safety-net hospitals are already financially stretched, even small losses can be potentially devastating for these hospitals."

At issue are hospitals that serve poor people, often including those who don't have health insurance. According to the study, they tend to be sicker than other patients and have less trust in the health care system.

Under health care reform, the federal government punishes hospitals that perform poorly on a variety of measures by not giving them some Medicare payments.

The researchers studied 3,096 hospitals and examined answers that patients gave to surveys about their experiences at the hospitals. The safety-net hospitals -- 769 of the total -- were slightly less likely than other hospitals to be in urban areas (many are in rural parts of the country), much more likely to serve Medicaid patients and more likely to have fewer nurses per patient.

The safety-net hospitals had the lowest overall rating among patients and ranked a bit lower in the patient perception of things such as communication with medical staff and management of their condition.

"Safety-net hospitals are a critical part of our health care system. They provide care to everyone, irrespective of the patient's ability to pay. The new payment scheme, which ties part of the hospital payments to how those hospitals do on patient-reported scores, is laudable in its goals," Chatterjee said. "Our paper says that under the new scheme, safety-net hospitals are likely to do poorly. We need new strategies to help these hospitals improve."

What could be done? Chatterjee said Medicare should work with hospitals to help them do a better job of caring for patients. "Given the challenges of caring for a relatively poor population and the low reimbursement rates, we suspect that many hospitals have not been able to focus on optimizing patient experience," she said. "It's time to help these hospitals do so."

In a commentary, Dr. Katherine Neuhausen, a physician at the University of California, Los Angeles, and Dr. Mitchell Katz, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, wrote that the federal government should try to help the hospitals instead of adding pressure. One way to do that, they write, is to give more money to the hospitals that perform well instead of penalizing those that don't.

The study appeared online July 16 in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

More information

To compare the quality of hospitals, try the federal government's Hospital Compare website.

View the Original article

First Drug Approved to Lower Risk of Acquiring HIV

HealthDay – 2 hrs 1 min ago TUESDAY, July 17 (HealthDay News) -- Truvada (emtricitabine/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate) is the first drug to be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to reduce the risk of contracting HIV among adults at higher risk of acquiring the AIDS-causing virus.

In a statement, the agency said Truvada was meant to be taken daily to reduce the chances of becoming HIV-infected among adults exposed to the virus. The agency previously approved Truvada in combination with other anti-viral drugs to treat HIV-infected people 12 years and older.

The FDA said it would strengthen the drug's label to warn that people who take the drug as a preventive should confirm they are not already HIV infected.

Truvada's safety and effectiveness were clinically evaluated among 2,499 HIV-negative gay men and transgender women "with evidence of high risk behavior for HIV infection," the agency said. Results showed the drug reduced HIV infection by 42 percent, compared with those who took a placebo.

A second study involved 4,758 heterosexual couples where one partner was infected, while the other was not. Truvada reduced the risk of transmitting infection by 75 percent, compared to those who took a placebo, the FDA said.

The most common side effects reported were diarrhea, nausea, abdominal pain, headache and weight loss. Most serious but less common adverse reactions included kidney or bone toxicity.

Drugmaker Gilead Sciences, based in Foster City, Calif., is required to conduct follow-up studies to evaluate long-term HIV resistance, and the drug's effects among pregnant women, the FDA said.

More information

To learn more about this disease, visit AIDS.gov.

View the Original article

FDA Bans BPA From Baby Bottles, Sippy Cups

HealthDay – 2 hrs 1 min ago TUESDAY, July 17 (HealthDay News) -- The controversial plastics chemical bisphenol A (BPA) is now banned for use in baby bottles and sippy cups, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Tuesday.

The move was prompted by a request in October from the American Chemistry Council, which represents industry, as a way to clarify for consumers that BPA will not be found in these items.

BPA has a checkered history, with many consumer advocate groups pointing to studies suggesting the chemical might disrupt hormones and trigger a host of unhealthy changes in children and adults, including cancer, obesity and developmental/reproductive problems.

In its ruling, the FDA said that, effective Tuesday, it is now banning BPA-containing resins in "infant feeding bottles

View the Original article

U.S. Doctors Embracing Electronic Health Records: Survey

HealthDay – 2 hrs 1 min ago TUESDAY, July 17 (HealthDay News) -- A majority of U.S. physicians have now adopted an electronic health record system as part of their routine practice, a new national survey reveals.

The finding is based on responses provided by nearly 3,200 doctors across the country who completed a mail-in survey in 2011. The survey was conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics as part of an ongoing three-year effort (continuing through 2013) designed to assess perceptions and practices regarding electronic health record systems.

Specifically, the poll found that 55 percent of U.S. doctors have embraced some type of electronic health record system. And roughly 75 percent of those who have done so reported that the type of system they took on meets the criteria of playing a "meaningful" role in their practice, according to the terms of 2009 federal legislation (entitled the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act) designed to promote the use of electronic health records.

What's more, 85 percent of those doctors who now have an electronic health record system in place said they are either "somewhat" or "very" satisfied with its day-to-day operations (47 percent and 38 percent, respectively). And three in four said patient care has improved as a result of electronic health record adoption.

The poll also indicated that among those who have yet to embrace an electronic health record system, almost half said they plan to do so in the coming year.

Physician age seems to have played a role in how likely a doctor was to have already brought an electronic health record system into their practice, the findings showed. While 64 percent of those under the age of 50 have done so, the poll revealed that the same was true of only 49 percent among those aged 50 and older.

Office size also seems to matter, with larger physician practices being more likely to have incorporated an electronic health record system into their administrative infrastructure. Specifically, 86 percent of offices with 11 or more physicians on site had taken on such a system, compared with roughly 60 percent to 62 percent of those with two to 10 physicians and just under 30 percent of single-doctor practices.

But although some kinds of specialists (such as surgeons) were somewhat less likely to have implemented an electronic health record system, race, gender and physician location did not seem to play a role in the likelihood that a doctor's office would or would not bring the technology into their workplace.

Eric Jamoom, of the health care statistics division of the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics, and colleagues published their findings July 17 in the NCHS Data Brief.

More information

For more on electronic health records, visit the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

View the Original article

Forest Labs profit plunges; Icahn renews his attack

Reuters – 1 hr 33 mins ago (Reuters) - Forest Laboratories Inc, which is bracing for a proxy fight with activist investor Carl Icahn, said on Tuesday quarterly earnings tumbled 79 percent as generic competition ate into sales of its antidepressant Lexapro.

But the company also said efforts to diversify its product portfolio were paying off, with its three newest drugs selling well. New drug sales as well as signs that two new products could be approved by year-end pushed the company's shares up 1.7 percent on Tuesday, an analyst said.

Forest, which also makes the Alzheimer's drug Namenda, said net earnings in the fiscal first quarter ended June 30 fell to $55.3 million, or 21 cents a share, from $258.14 million or 90 cents a sharer a year earlier.

Analysts were expecting 24 cents a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The results did nothing to placate Icahn, who launched another broadside against the company in the form of a public letter to the board. In it he defended his nominees against claims by Forest that Icahn's nominees have conflicts of interest.

"Perhaps in your zeal to preserve the status quo at Forest you have failed to recognize that a lack of alignment with management is not a conflict of interest."

A spokeswoman for Forest said she was not immediately able to comment but would do so as soon as possible.

Net sales fell 31.9 percent to $751.8 million, hurt by competition from cheaper generics for Lexapro, which lost patent protection in March. Total revenue fell to $821.1 million from $1.15 billion.

The company last month cut its forecast for the year, saying it expects earnings of 65 to 80 cents a share, which would represent a decline of about 80 percent from 2012.

Icahn, Forest's second-largest shareholder, is seeking four seats on Forest's board. The annual meeting is set for August 15. Icahn failed to get his nominees elected to the board in 2011, but warned that his failure last year should not make the board complacent.

"Forest has underperformed your self-chosen peer companies by 21 percent since last year's meeting," he said. "Given that underperformance, it wouldn't surprise me if many shareholders vote differently this time around."

NAMENDA SALES RISE

Net sales of Namenda rose 15.2 percent to $368.4 million, missing the consensus estimate of $388 million.

While sales of blood pressure drug Bystolic rose 38.2 percent to $107.8 million, sales of the older drug Lexapro fell to $110 million from $585.7 million.

The company launched two new products last August: Daliresp, a drug to reduce the risk of exacerbations in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and Viibryd for depression. Daliresp posted sales of $17.8 million in the first quarter, and Viibryd had sales of $37.4 million.

"The new products are the bright side, in particular the growth of Bystolic and Viibryd," said Aaron (Ronny) Gal, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein. "These are very nice numbers in largely generic markets."

He noted that management's long-term compensation is tied to the growth of the recently launched products.

Sales of Teflaro, a broad-spectrum antibiotic to treat community-acquired bacterial pneumonia, generated sales of $9.4 million. Teflaro was launched in March 2011.

Howard Solomon, Forest's chief executive, said in a statement that the company has "deliberately and strategically" diversified its product portfolio so that it will not be dependent on any single product or therapeutic area.

"We are pleased with the performance this quarter of three of our most recent product launches, Teflaro, Daliresp and Viibryd," he said. "It is still early days for these products but they are performing well in line with our expectations."

The company said it expects to hear from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in the coming weeks on the approval status of its drug aclidinium for the long-term maintenance treatment of COPD, and later this summer it expects to hear whether the agency will approve its drug linaclotide for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome with constipation and chronic constipation.

Assuming approval for both products, the company expects to launch them during fiscal 2013.

Forest shares were up 1.7 percent at $35.78 on Tuesday afternoon, just off the day's high at $35.82.

(Reporting by Toni Clarke in Boston; Editing by John Wallace, Sofina Mirza-Reid and Matthew Lewis)

View the Original article

Colo. Dental Patients Advised to Get HIV Testing

View the Original article