Web sales of bird flu drug spark counterfeit fears
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Swiss drug maker Roche urged consumers on Friday not to buy its flu drug Tamiflu over the Internet to avoid the risk of purchasing potentially counterfeit pills as they build stockpiles in case of a bird flu pandemic.
With experts predicting that millions could die if the bird flu strain H5N1 mutates into a human flu virus, some consumers appear to be building up their own reserves of the drug, doubling up on governments’ efforts to prepare for a pandemic.
Preeclampsia Is a Family Affair
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The risk for preeclampsia during pregnancy may have its roots in the preeclamptic pregnancies of the mother and father when they were born a generation earlier.
Genes inherited by an expectant mother and those that she and the father pass on to the fetus appear to increase the risk that she will have a pregnancy complicated by preeclampsia, reported epidemiologist Rolv Skjaerven of the University of Bergen here and colleagues at other institutions.
Extra Rich Cocoa May Improve Heart Function in Smokers
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Confirmed smokers might improve their heart health if they traded a “cuppa joe” for a cup of cocoa, according to researcher here. But the best advice to smokers remains the proven message: kick the habit.
A special very dark chocolate cocoa increased plasma concentrations of nitric oxide and improved flow mediated dilation response by almost 50% in a small group of smokers recruited for the study, said Malte Kelm, M.D. of the Heinrich Heine University here.
ADHD in Childhood Ups Risk of Smoking
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People who reported symptoms of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in childhood have a greater risk of becoming cigarette smokers later in life.
While the researchers who reported these findings looked only at self-reported symptoms and not a clinical diagnosis of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the study could help in fine-tuning smoking prevention programs.
Why Spanish flu was so lethal
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By American Association for the Advancement of Science, The Spanish flu virus is more closely related to avian flu viruses than other human flu viruses. In order to learn which components of the virus would be the best targets for such therapies, Terrence Tumpey of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and his colleagues revisited the 1918 Spanish flu virus.
Their results may also provide a benchmark for measuring the potential virulence of future flu strains as they emerge.
India is in state of pre-preparedness for bird flu
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By Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, India, The Government of India is seized of the WHO Report on Bird flu, warning India and other South Asian countries of infection to humans, which could take a heavy toll. Reacting to the WHO report, the Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Dr.Anbumani Ramadoss said, the Centre is aware of the situation and has already been taking pre-cautionary measures to check the spread of the disease. He said that despite the WHO warning, which does not speak of immediate danger of infection, there should be no cause for alarm. So far, there has been no human to human transmission of the virus and as long as it remains restricted to bird to human transmission, we are safe, he said.
Depression and mental disorders can be prevented and treated with simple healing foods
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A new study published in the February 15, 2005 issue of Biological Psychiatry shows that certain foods are better at treating depression than antidepressant drugs. The study found that omega-3 fatty acids and foods high in a compound called uridine were able to reduce the symptoms of depression as well as or better than three different antidepressant drugs that were tested. This research was conducted at the McLean Hospital, which is affiliated with Harvard. It’s very exciting to see this kind of study, because it shows yet more scientific evidence for the healing effects of food as well as the relative uselessness of prescription drugs.
US Group Alleges Condom Crisis
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THE Centre for Health and Gender Equity (Change) in the United States of America has said Uganda has been facing a shortage of condoms for the last 10 months.
In an August 26 statement, Change’s Executive Director Jodi Jacobson said the shortage could endanger Uganda’s previously successful prevention efforts in the fight against HIV/Aids.
Home test kits to screen for bowel cancer
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Everyone aged 60 to 69 will be sent a kit to test for bowel cancer as part of a major new screening programme.
Bowel cancer kills 16,000 people every year. It is the second largest cause of cancer deaths in the UK with around 30,000 new cases each year.
Asthma still under-treated in pregnant women
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Asthma is not being treated adequately in young women, both before and during pregnancy, according to new data that support the findings of previous studies.
Appropriate use of inhaled corticosteroids during pregnancy reduces illness due to asthma, said Dr. Michael Schatz from Kaiser-Permanente Medical Center in San Diego.
Patients still smoke after heart attack
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Having a heart attack is a good incentive to quit smoking, but an international survey published on Thursday shows that only half of patients who have an attack manage to quit.
Dr. Wilma Scholte op Reimer, of the Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam in the Netherlands, was stunned by the results of her survey.
Music is good for the heart
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A new study shows that listening to music that has a slow or meditative tempo has a relaxing effect on people, slowing their breathing and heart rate, whereas listening to faster music with a more upbeat tempo has the opposite effect—speeding up respiration and heart rate.
The results, which appear in the journal Heart, support a growing body of research on the potential stress-reducing health benefits of music.
Asthma education aids inner-city Latinos
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An education program designed for Latino asthma sufferers has shown promise for improving patients’ asthma control and quality of life, according to researchers.
Their study, of 198 asthmatic adults living in a predominately Hispanic area of New York City, found that a “culturally directed” asthma education program helped cut hospital visits for asthma attacks and lessen the burden the lung disease put on patients’ lives.
Many With Coronary Disease Continue to Smoke Despite Physicians’ Advice
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Coronary disease is not always a wake-up call for smokers.
One in five European patients with established coronary heart disease keeps smoking despite physicians’ efforts to get them to quit, according to an international multicenter survey.
New Warning Issued on Paxil
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U.S. health officials have issued a warning about possible birth defects in infants born to women who take the antidepressant Paxil during the first trimester of pregnancy.
A study sponsored by GlaxoSmithKline, the drug’s maker, suggested that infants born to women taking Paxil were at about double the risk of birth defects compared with women taking other antidepressants. The most common defects were cardiovascular. The risks were about 50 percent higher than they were in the general population.
