London - The World Health Organization says healthy people who catch swine flu don't need antiviral drugs like Tamiflu.
In new advice issued to health officials on Friday, the U.N. agency said doctors don't need to give Tamiflu to healthy people who have mild to moderate cases of swine flu.
WHO said the drug should definitely be used to treat people in risk groups who get the virus. That includes children less than five years old, pregnant women, people over age 65 and those with other health problems like heart disease, HIV or diabetes.
Health & Wellness
A former Army surgeon accused of falsifying a study on a bone growth product used on severely injured Iraq war veterans has resigned his teaching position at Washington University in St. Louis, a spokeswoman said Tuesday night.
The surgeon, Dr. Timothy R. Kuklo, 48, was placed on leave earlier this year while the university investigated charges against him. Medtronic, a maker of the bone growth product Infuse, also suspended his consulting contract. The company paid him nearly $800,000 the last few years.
"Dr. Kuklo has agreed to voluntarily resign from the university, effective September 30, 2009," Joni Westerhouse, a spokeswoman for the medical school, said in an e-mail message Tuesday. "Dr. Kuklo will have no clinical, research, or educational duties for the University between now and that date."
The surgeon, Dr. Timothy R. Kuklo, 48, was placed on leave earlier this year while the university investigated charges against him. Medtronic, a maker of the bone growth product Infuse, also suspended his consulting contract. The company paid him nearly $800,000 the last few years.
"Dr. Kuklo has agreed to voluntarily resign from the university, effective September 30, 2009," Joni Westerhouse, a spokeswoman for the medical school, said in an e-mail message Tuesday. "Dr. Kuklo will have no clinical, research, or educational duties for the University between now and that date."
The new vaccine designed to protect girls and young women from cervical cancer has a safety record that appears to be in line with that of other vaccines, a government report has found. Some serious complications occurred, including at least 20 deaths and two cases of Lou Gehrig's disease, but they were not necessarily caused by the vaccine, the study said.
The most common serious complications after vaccination with Gardasil were fainting episodes and an increased risk for potentially fatal blood clots, possibly related to oral contraceptive use and obesity, the study found.
The most common serious complications after vaccination with Gardasil were fainting episodes and an increased risk for potentially fatal blood clots, possibly related to oral contraceptive use and obesity, the study found.
The safest and most effective treatment for hard-core heroin addicts who fail to control their habit using methadone or other treatments may be their drug of choice, in prescription form, researchers are reporting after the first rigorous test of the approach performed in North America.
For years, European countries like Switzerland and the Netherlands have allowed doctors to provide some addicts with prescription heroin as an alternative to buying drugs on the street. The treatment is safe and keeps addicts out of trouble, studies have found, but it is controversial - not only because the drug is illegal but also because policy makers worry that treating with heroin may exacerbate the habit.
The study, appearing in the current issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, may put some of those concerns to rest.
For years, European countries like Switzerland and the Netherlands have allowed doctors to provide some addicts with prescription heroin as an alternative to buying drugs on the street. The treatment is safe and keeps addicts out of trouble, studies have found, but it is controversial - not only because the drug is illegal but also because policy makers worry that treating with heroin may exacerbate the habit.
The study, appearing in the current issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, may put some of those concerns to rest.
Margaret Hamburg, M.D.
Commissioner, F.D.A.
5600 Fishers Lane
Rockville, Maryland 20857
Dear Dr. Hamburg,
I would like to urgently request that the F.D.A. re-visit the approval of aspartame.
This is an issue which I have been involved with for the past 25 years - initially because of the adverse effects experienced by one of my patients. I had been treating a then 54 year old woman with imipramine because of recurrent major depressive episodes. Previous psychoanalytically based therapy had proven ineffective, but she responded dramatically to 150mg of imipramine per day. She had done well for 11 years on this medication, but was then suddenly hospitalized with a grand mal seizure and subsequent manic episode.
Commissioner, F.D.A.
5600 Fishers Lane
Rockville, Maryland 20857
Dear Dr. Hamburg,
I would like to urgently request that the F.D.A. re-visit the approval of aspartame.
This is an issue which I have been involved with for the past 25 years - initially because of the adverse effects experienced by one of my patients. I had been treating a then 54 year old woman with imipramine because of recurrent major depressive episodes. Previous psychoanalytically based therapy had proven ineffective, but she responded dramatically to 150mg of imipramine per day. She had done well for 11 years on this medication, but was then suddenly hospitalized with a grand mal seizure and subsequent manic episode.
Life expectancy in the United States rose to an all-time high, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said today. But that's only half the story.
The country is behind about 30 others on this measure.
Though the United States has by far the highest level of health care spending per capita in the world, we have one of the lowest life expectancies among developed nations - lower than Italy, Spain and Cuba and just a smidgeon ahead of Chile, Costa Rica and Slovenia, according to the United Nations. China does almost as well as we do. Japan tops the list at 83 years.
The country is behind about 30 others on this measure.
Though the United States has by far the highest level of health care spending per capita in the world, we have one of the lowest life expectancies among developed nations - lower than Italy, Spain and Cuba and just a smidgeon ahead of Chile, Costa Rica and Slovenia, according to the United Nations. China does almost as well as we do. Japan tops the list at 83 years.
You will recall that the FDA's 1994 stance on labeling of genetically modified (GM) foods was that labeling foods as GM or non-GM would be misleading because the foods are no different. Despite overwhelming evidence that the public wants to know whether foods are GM or not, GM foods do not have to be labeled. Worse, those that are labeled non-GM have to include a disclaimer that this makes no difference (I explain how all this happened in Safe Food).
At present, there is no way to know whether GM foods that have been approved by FDA (such as potatoes, tomatoes, squash, papayas) are actually in the produce section of supermarkets. When I was writing What to Eat, I paid to have some papayas tested. Most were not GM. But you have no way of knowing that.
At present, there is no way to know whether GM foods that have been approved by FDA (such as potatoes, tomatoes, squash, papayas) are actually in the produce section of supermarkets. When I was writing What to Eat, I paid to have some papayas tested. Most were not GM. But you have no way of knowing that.
Kelly Oram and his daughter Micaela make gluten-free bread at home. Mr. Oram suffered for years from celiac disease before a doctor thought to test him for it.
It turned out that Mr. Oram, a music teacher who lives in White Plains, had celiac disease, an under diagnosed immune disorder set off by eating foods containing gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye and barley.
© Brian Hughes, U.S. Geological Survey
The U.S. Geological Survey found mercury in waterways, sediments and fish.
The U.S. Geological Survey found mercury in waterways, sediments and fish.
Mercury contamination found in a quarter of U.S. freshwater fish exceeds federal safe levels for human consumption, according to a study released today by the U.S. Geological Survey.
The agency examined mercury in fish, sediment and water drawn from 291 rivers and streams between 1998 and 2005, finding 25 percent carried mercury at levels above the safe standard for human consumption (0.3 parts per million wet weight), while all of the fish had detectable mercury levels.
"This study shows just how widespread mercury pollution has become in our air, watersheds, and many of our fish in freshwater streams," Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said in a statement. "This science sends a clear message that our country must continue to confront pollution, restore our nation's waterways, and protect the public from potential health dangers."
