Claiming the lives of nearly 1.4 million people globally in 2010, tuberculosis (TB) is second only to HIV/AIDS as the greatest killer due to a single infectious agent. And while TB, a contagious bacterial disease whose greatest damage is generally done to the lungs, is curable, standard anti-TB drug regimens require long treatment durations at least six months, which often becomes a therapeutic barrier.
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Last week, Mayor Bloomberg announced yet another beverage restriction in New York City. But rather than reducing soda sizes, this time he s targeting baby formula. In an effort to encourage more mothers to breast-feed, Bloomberg and the NYC Department of Health are pushing for hospitals to keep track of the quantity of baby formula stored, as well as how much is distributed.
A researcher whose work was supported by the Federal government, among others, has agreed to retract two of her papers published in 2009 in the pages of Environmental Health Perspectives and the Journal of Biological Chemistry, respectively.
In yet more dismal news from the smoking front, researchers at Cambridge University have found that, compared to standardized feedback, tailored online advice may be no better at helping smokers quit.
As the much anticipated Fourth of July festivities approach, we d like to remind readers of some of the dangers associated with the holiday: Namely, the improper use of fireworks. As a recent study by the Consumer Product Safety Commission points out, 65 percent of all firework injuries last year occurred within 30 days of Independence Day and more than half resulted from the unexpected ignition of these devices or from their unintended use. In total, four celebrants were killed and as many as 9,600 were injured by either professional-grade or homemade firework devices.
Non-nutritive sweeteners (NNS) are a potentially useful option for losing weight, with some caveats, announced the American Heart Association and the American Diabetes Association in a joint statement yesterday. Excess consumption of sugar can result in adverse health effects, including obesity and type 2 diabetes, yet NNS can provide foods with the same sweet taste without the worry of extra calories.
Encouraging news about the hepatitis B vaccine: Vaccination at birth appears to protect against the virus well into adulthood, according to a new study from Taiwan. The results suggest that booster shots in adulthood are not necessary. Nearly four million people world wide are newly infected with the hepatitis B virus (HBV) every year.
Too many women who have had a C-section aren't aware that they can still opt for a vaginal delivery the next time, according to a small study just published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. The authors of the study suspect that most of these women aren't being given all the information they need in order to make this choice.
A new mother is faced with many important issues and must make key decisions while still in the fog of post-partum joy and pain, and confusion. One such decision is whether to breastfeed or hit the bottle: infant formula.
For years, cranberry products have been touted as a folk remedy to prevent urinary tract infections (UTI), but now a new study seems to arrive at the same conclusion, but this time uses science to support it.
In April, we lauded the FDA for ignoring chemophobic hype when the agency refused to ban the use of bisphenol A (BPA) in food packaging, cans, and other consumer products. Despite activist pressure including a lawsuit by the Natural Resources Defense Council the FDA stuck to its scientific guns and determined that BPA posed no health threats to consumers.
Last week, the European Medicines Agency the EU analog of our FDA announced that it is, for the first time, recommending a gene therapy product for the treatment of a rare disease called lipoprotein lipase deficiency.
It s no secret that staph infections resistant to multiple antibiotics have become a major problem in hospitals over the past few decades. But such infections contracted outside of a medical setting have also been problematic: The rate of community-onset methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) peaked at 62 percent of the population in 2006. However, the increased awareness of this problem may finally have had some impact.
n a recent Op-Ed for Reuters, FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg boasted about the success of the 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. The news would be quite welcome if only it were true.
Josh Bloom, Forbes August 9, 2012, "The Contraction Of Pharma Means Innovation Goes Out With a Bang"
Given all the analyses and post-mortems of America s pharmaceutical industry, it is impossible to avoid the notion that a lack of innovation has left the industry in its current, sorry state.
Radiation therapy appears to be a good choice for older women with early-stage breast cancer, according to a recent study published in Cancer. In fact, the retrospective, observational study found that women ages 70 to 79 reduced their risk of a follow-up mastectomy by two thirds if they received radiation therapy after their lumpectomy.
We ve been following the increasingly promising anti-HIV drug Truvada ever since a 2010 study showed that it was capable of reducing HIV transmission between male partners by as much as 90 percent.
And, while we re on the topic of obesity, children s obesity is getting some attention today, too. Unfortunately, it s for the wrong reasons. A study just published in Pediatrics has concluded that strict laws in some states restricting school sales of junk food and sweetened drinks may contribute to lowering childhood obesity rates.
Sepsis is a dangerous bloodstream infection, one that can develop from even a minor cut yet lead to organ failure and death. It accounts for about 1.6 million hospitalizations a year (about 4,600 patients every day). Add to that a mortality rate of between 20 and 50 percent, and the FDA s approval of a new device for making more rapid and accurate identification of such bacterial infections seems like very good news indeed.
A recent study published in Current Biology finds that researchers are now able to use magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to determine a person s age with about 92 percent accuracy at least if they re between the ages of 3 and 20. But aside from simply being a neat trick, the technology can be used to detect abnormal brain development within that age range a key period of brain development.
Good news: U.S. cases of chickenpox have fallen by nearly 80 percent between 2000 and 2010, the CDC reports. And much of that decline can be attributed to vaccination.
Clostridium difficile, commonly known as C. diff, is a potentially deadly infection of the colon, most often affecting hospital patients. But many now question whether hospitals are doing everything they can to prevent the infection from occurring.
Vitamin D-deficient kids may benefit from supplementation, according to the results of a new study published in the journalPediatrics. The new report found that such children had fewer colds during the winter.
A new study finds that between 1993 and 2009, antipsychotic drug prescriptions skyrocketed among U.S. children and adolescents.
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients will be keeping their fingers crossed that the first oral immune-mediator treatment for the disease will be approved by the FDA.
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