News Channel 9: Health Headlines

Study: CT scans rule out heart attacks faster

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:07:50 GMT

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - A CT scan - a kind of super X-ray - provides a faster, cheaper way to diagnose a heart attack when someone goes to the emergency room with chest pains, a new study suggests.

About 6 million people each year go to hospitals with chest pain, but only a small fraction are truly having a heart attack. CT scans are increasingly used to diagnose problems because they give a deep, detailed view inside the body. But they put out a lot of radiation, which may raise a person's chances of developing cancer.

Whether these scans are worth that risk is unknown. The new study suggests that for ruling out heart attacks in the emergency room, they just might be.

The research involved 749 chest pain sufferers at 16 big medical centers around the country. These were people who did not have clear signs of a heart attack from blood tests or EKGs, but doctors are afraid to send them home without more tests.

Between 4 percent and 13 percent of such patients will have a missed diagnosis of a heart attack, and up to one quarter of that group will die, said the new study's leader, Dr. Kavitha Chinnaiyan, a cardiologist at William Beaumont Hospital in suburban Detroit.

"One of the most common reasons for an emergency room physician to be sued is that they send a patient out and then they come back with a heart attack," said Dr. Sidney Smith, a former American Heart Association president from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "It is a big problem."

In the study, half of the patients were given CT scans and the rest, standard imaging tests with a radioactive dye. Of the CT patients, 82 percent were found to have clear arteries and were discharged immediately. In the other group, 89 percent were determined to have normal arteries and sent home.

The portion of patients who needed a definitive but invasive test - angiography - to see whether they should have an artery-opening balloon angioplasty procedure or bypass operation was the same - 6 to 7 percent of each group.

The big difference was in cost and time.

CT scan patients were diagnosed in about three hours versus more than six for the others. Their testing also cost less - $2,137 on average versus $3,458 for standard screening.

"It's equally safe, it's faster and it's cheaper," said Chinnaiyan, who has no financial ties to imaging companies. She reported results Wednesday at a heart association conference in Florida.

The study had partial support from Bayer Pharmaceuticals, which makes products used in heart imaging. A few doctors involved in the study have had research grants from Bayer or a firm that makes imaging equipment.

"These are promising results" for CT scanning, said Smith, who had no role in the work. "They were able to identify a certain group that did not need to be admitted."

Radiation remains a concern, though. A CT scan of the chest involves 10 to 15 millisieverts (a measure of dose) versus 0.01 to 0.15 for a regular chest X-ray, 3 for a mammogram and a mere 0.005 for a dental X-ray.

On the other hand, people with chest pain often are admitted to a hospital and then given repeated tests over a number of days that can add up to a high cumulative radiation dose.

"If you had a CT scan and it showed you were fine, you would not get any of that radiation," said Dr. Mariell Jessup of the University of Pennsylvania, who led the conference's scientific panel.

A more definitive picture of risks and benefits will come from a big study just getting under way, headed by Duke University's Dr. Pamela Douglas.

The $32.5 million federally funded study is the largest ever for heart imaging and the only one to look at how various imaging tests ultimately affect the rates of death, heart attack, stroke, hospitalization and other factors. It will enroll 10,000 people in the United States and Canada.

A big question, Douglas said, is: "As people get more and more radiation medically, are we adding up some new cases of cancer?"

Sebelius: mammograms still vital in saving lives

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:52:37 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) - Federal policy on who should get breast cancer screening has not changed, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Wednesday.

Sebelius issued a statement aimed at easing confusion over a government panel's recommendation, on Monday, that said most women don't need mammograms in their 40s and should get one every two years starting at 50.

That recommendation was a break with the American Cancer Society's long-standing position that women should get screening mammograms starting at age 40.

The task force does "not set federal policy and they don't determine what services are covered by the federal government," Sebelius said.

Sebelius noted that there has been debate about the age at which routine mammograms should begin, and how often they should be given.

"The task force has presented some new evidence for consideration but our policies remain unchanged," she said. "Indeed, I would be very surprised if any private insurance company changed its mammography coverage decisions as a result of this action."

"My message to women is simple. Mammograms have always been an important lifesaving tool in the fight against breast cancer and they still are today. Keep doing what you have been doing for years - talk to your doctor about your individual history, ask questions and make the decision that is right for you," Sebelius said.

In the meantime, she added, it is clear that more research is needed into ways to help women prevent and fight breast cancer.

The recommendations from the task force have left women across the country confused about which advice to take. It also quickly led to charges from opponents of changing health care policy that it is an example of what could be expected from government-managed care.

In its report the panel of doctors and scientists concluded that such early and frequent screenings often lead to false alarms and unneeded biopsies, without substantially improving women's odds of survival.

But their recommendation was loudly criticized by breast cancer survivors who were diagnosed at a young age.

Syracuse (WSYR-TV) - The phones have been ringing off the hook at the Susan Komen Breast Cancer office in Syracuse because of the new recommendations that say women in their 40's don't need to have mammograms. Monday, a government panel released recommendations saying that most women can wait until they're 50 to start having routine mammograms, and only have a mammogram every second year after that.

The new guidelines are confusing to women and causing heated debate among doctors and cancer prevention groups. Here are the answers to two important questions:

So you're in your 40's. What do you do with this information?

A number of local doctors caution you not confuse public policy, which is what's best for the general population, with your own feelings about being screened. Together, you and your doctor can weigh the risks of mammography against the benefits for you.

Is this about what is best for women or is it really about money and health insurance?

The doctors on the government panel say they never looked at costs in their research or their recommendations, but the panel's advice does influence insurance companies.

For now, it's too soon to know if insurance companies will change their policies about covering mammograms for women under 50.

Skaneateles (AP/WSYR-TV) - A government task force said Monday most women should wait until age 50 to get mammograms and then have one every two years - but a Skaneateles woman who was diagnosed at 32, and the American Cancer Society, disagree.

At four years old Will Rossi doesn't realize it, but he helped his mother get through breast cancer. “I can always gauge my survivorship by how old he is because he was right there everyday through chemo. He was there at pretty much every doctor's appointment and he's always been my good luck charm,” Kristen Rossi said.

Rossi found out she had stage one breast cancer in April 2005, which was a couple months after her son was born. She was 32-years-old. “It was clearly picked up on a mammogram and I was in early stage one, I was one of the lucky ones so early detection saved my life,” she said.

The new advice from the government task force says:

Most women in their 40s should not routinely get mammograms.
Women 50 to 74 should get a mammogram every other year until they turn 75, after which the risks and benefits are unknown. (The task force's previous guidelines had no upper limit and called for exams every year or two.)
The value of breast exams by doctors is unknown. And breast self-exams do no good and women shouldn't be taught to do them.

Rossi worries if these new guidelines are followed, other women might not be so lucky. And she's met a lot of women who've been in the same position. “I got to tell you, they are young they are all young,” she said.

In addition, the new advice was sharply challenged by the ACS. They have been recommending regular mammograms beginning at 40 for nearly two decades.

But the government panel of doctors and scientists concluded that getting screened for breast cancer so early and so often is harmful, causing too many false alarms and unneeded biopsies without substantially improving women's odds of surviving the disease.

Under these new guidelines, women like Rossi would still need to get early screenings because she has a family history. The new recommendations primarily apply to the general population.

"The benefits are less and the harms are greater when screening starts in the 40s," said Dr. Diana Petitti, vice chair of the panel.

Medical groups such as the cancer society have been backing off promoting breast self-exams in recent years because of scant evidence of their effectiveness. Decades ago, the practice was so heavily promoted that organizations distributed cards that could be hung in the shower demonstrating the circular motion women should use to feel for lumps in their breasts.

The guidelines and research supporting them were released Monday and are being published in Tuesday's issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.

"This is one screening test I recommend unequivocally, and would recommend to any woman 40 and over," the ACS's chief medical officer, Dr. Otis Brawley, said in a statement.

The task force advice is based on its conclusion that screening 1,300 women in their 50s to save one life is worth it, but that screening 1,900 women in their 40s to save a life is not, Brawley wrote.

That stance "is essentially telling women that mammography at age 40 to 49 saves lives, just not enough of them," he said. The cancer society feels the benefits outweigh the harms for women in both groups.

Mammograms can find cancer early, and two-thirds of women over 40 report having had the test in the previous two years. But how much they cut the risk of dying of the disease, and at what cost in terms of unneeded biopsies, expense and worry, have been debated.

In most women, tumors are slow-growing, and that likelihood increases with age. So there is little risk by extending the time between mammograms, some researchers say. Even for the minority of women with aggressive, fast-growing tumors, annual screening will make little difference in survival odds.

The new guidelines balance these risks and benefits, scientists say.

The probability of dying of breast cancer after age 40 is 3 percent, they calculate. Getting a mammogram every other year from ages 50 to 69 lowers that risk by about 16 percent.

"It's an average of five lives saved per thousand women screened," said Georgetown University researcher Dr. Jeanne Mandelblatt.

She led six teams around the world who used federal data on cancer and mammography to develop mathematical models of what would happen if women were screened at different ages and time intervals. Their conclusions helped shape the new guidelines.

Starting at age 40 would prevent one additional death but also lead to 470 false alarms for every 1,000 women screened. Continuing mammograms through age 79 prevents three additional deaths but raises the number of women treated for breast cancers that would not threaten their lives.

"You save more lives because breast cancer is more common, but you diagnose tumors in women who were destined to die of something else. The overdiagnosis increases in older women," Mandelblatt said.

Several medical groups say they are sticking to their guidelines that call for routine screening starting at 40.

"Screening isn't perfect. But it's the best thing we have. And it works," said Dr. Carol Lee, a spokeswoman for the American College of Radiology. She suggested that cutting health care costs may have played a role in the decision, but Petitti said the task force does not consider cost or insurance in its review.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists also has qualms. The organization's Dr. Hal Lawrence said there is still significant benefit to women in their 40s, adding: "We think that women deserve that benefit."

But Dr. Amy Abernethy of the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center agreed with the task force's changes.

"Overall, I think it really took courage for them to do this," she said. "It does ask us as doctors to change what we do and how we communicate with patients. That's no small undertaking."

Abernethy, who is 41, said she got her first mammogram the day after her 40th birthday, even though she wasn't convinced it was needed. Now she doesn't plan to have another mammogram until she is 50.

Barbara Brenner, executive director of the San Francisco-based Breast Cancer Action, said the group was "thrilled" with the revisions. The advocacy group doesn't support screening before menopause, and will be changing its suggested interval from yearly to every two years, she said.

Mammograms, like all medical interventions, have risks and benefits, she said.

"Women are entitled to know what they are and to make their best decisions," she said. "These guidelines will help that conversation."

While the debate continues, Rossi says she's been serving as a support system for other young women as they go through what she did four years ago. She adds that it is something her son Will continues to do for her each day she survives.

Report: One out of five adults smoke in upstate New York

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:59:41 GMT

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (WSYR-TV ) - About one out of every five adults smoke in upstate New York, and about 61 percent of them have tried to quit their habit, according to a report released today by Excellus BlueCross BlueShield.

In the Central New York region, about 179,000 people, or 21.7 percent of adults smoke, according to the report.

“For someone addicted to smoking, quitting can be a formidable challenge,” said Dr. Arthur Vercillo, regional president of Excellus BlueCross BlueShield.

The good news is that smoking rates have decreased in the Central New York region and
throughout upstate New York. According to the report:

· The upstate New York adult smoking rate declined from 25.5 percent in 2003 to 21.4 percent in 2007. The Central New York rate declined from 27.6 percent to 21.7 percent during this time;

· About 818,000 adults smoked in upstate New York in 2007, and about 61 percent of them said they tried to quit in the last 12 months;

· Adult smokers in upstate New York account for about $1.7 billion in excess medical costs annually, including $356.4 million in the Central New York region.

To access the smoking report, go to www.excellusbcbs.com and click on “Policy and Research.”

FDA says heartburn drugs can interfere with Plavix

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:04:06 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) - Federal health officials said Tuesday a popular variety of heartburn medications can interfere with the blood thinner Plavix, a drug taken by millions of Americans to reduce risks of heart attack and stroke.

The Food and Drug Administration said the stomach-soothing drugs Prilosec and Nexium cut in half the blood-thinning effect of Plavix, known generically as clopidogrel.

Regulators said the key ingredient in the heartburn medications blocks an enzyme the body needs to break down Plavix, muting the drug's full effect. Procter & Gamble's Prilosec OTC is available over-the-counter, while AstraZeneca's Nexium is only available with a prescription.

"Patients at risk for heart attacks or strokes who use clopidogrel to prevent blood clots will not get the full effect of this medicine," the agency said in a statement.

Plavix is marketed by Sanofi-Aventis and Bristol-Myers Squibb. With global sales of $8.6 billion last year, it's the world's second-best selling drug behind Pfizer's cholesterol drug Lipitor.

Because Plavix can upset the stomach, it is often prescribed with stomach acid-blocking drugs.

The FDA says patients who need to reduce their acid should take drugs from the H-2 blocker family, which include Johnson & Johnson's Mylanta and Boehringer Ingelheim's Zantac. FDA scientists say there is no evidence those drugs interfere with Plavix's blood clotting.

Nexium and Prilosec are part of a class of drugs known as proton pump inhibitors, but FDA regulators said they don't have enough information to say whether other drugs in that class shouldn't be used with Plavix.

"There's not enough data to tell us how those drugs interact with," the enzyme that activates Plavix, said Mary Ross Southworth, FDA's deputy director for safety of cardiovascular products. "There are ongoing studies looking at those other drugs."

The FDA said the warnings on Plavix have been strengthened based on a 150-patient study submitted by Sanofi over the summer.

But some consumer advocates said the agency's action fell short, arguing that regulators should have placed the information in a "black box" warning label, the most serious type available.

"This information still has not risen to as prominent a level of warning as it should have," said Dr. Sidney Wolfe, director of health research at the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen.

Information about the drug interaction between Plavix and other medications is not new. Researchers at pharmacy benefit manager Medco Health Solutions reported last year that taking Plavix with Nexium significantly increased patients' chances of being hospitalized for a heart attack, stroke or chest pain.

In January, Sanofi and Bristol-Myers updated Plavix's labeling to advise against using it in combination with certain heartburn drugs.

A Sanofi spokeswoman said Tuesday that the company has bolstered that language labeling.

"We've strengthened the label to say that these drugs should be avoided altogether, not just discouraged," said Noelle Boyd, Sanofi's senior communications director.

WBB Securities analyst Steven Brozak said the news would put pressure on Paris-based Sanofi and New York-based Bristol-Myers to provide more safety data on their best-selling product.

"This is going to create a chain reaction as patients start calling their physicians, and they are forced to make a spot decision on limited information," said Brozak. "That's not gonna help either company's bottom line."

Study: Cholesterol drugs not as effective as thought

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:58:12 GMT

Syracuse (WSYR-TV) Two cholesterol drugs still taken by millions of Americans are the subject of concern according to a new study.

The study involved Zetia and its cousin Vyotrin, researchers at Johns Hopkins university say the drugs failed to shrink buildups in artery walls.

Zetia users also suffered more heart attacks and other problems although the numbers of these events are too small to draw firm conclusions. The results are in the New England Journal of Medicine.

California research on H1N1

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:36:26 GMT

Syracuse (WSYR-TV) – As the H1N1 flu continues its grip on the U.S., new California research says the infection can cause severe illness with more hospitalization and death in the elderly, children and young adults.

H1N1 influenza hit California first and fast. Back in April the California Department of Public Health began looking at who was affected and just how sick they became. Dr. Janice K Louie of the California Department of Health said, “We actually found that over 30% of the patients who were admitted and hospitalized required intensive care and mechanical ventilation and over 10% died."

16 year old, Tiffany Lee was part of that 30%. On the mend now, she's been at children's hospital and research center in Oakland for more than three months. Most of that time she has been in intensive care, on a ventilator, and not able to breath on her own.

"Well it definitely was a surprise because I didn't expect to get that sick," said Lee.

Researchers looked at 1,000 people who were hospitalized or died with H1N1 flu in California from April to August of this year.

"One of the most important messages of this study is that H1N1 infections can be a severe illness even if you don't necessarily have the risk factors for severe complications. Even healthy people can get sick and hospitalized. And another interesting fact we found, that there is a perception that the elderly are protected and have some pre-existing immunity when in fact in our study, if the elderly were admitted and severely ill they often ended up dying,” said Dr. Louie.

As for Tiffany, she is hoping to be home for the holidays.

The study also reports that infants under six months had a higher risk of hospitalization and that "rapid tests" used by doctors to quickly diagnose the seasonal flu wasn't as reliable in detecting the H1N1 infection.

Thursday morning on The Morning News, we will be joined by members of the Onondaga County Health Department at 5:00 a.m. to take your calls and listen to your concerns about the flu.

To quit smoking, two products are better than one

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:10:00 GMT

Syracuse (WSYR-TV) - If you're trying to quit smoking, two nicotine replacement products are better than one.

A new study finds pairing the nicotine patch and with nicotine lozenges may work best.

1,500 heavy smokers were randomly assigned to 12 weeks of treatment with one or a combination of the following: nicotine patch, nicotine lozenge, which is an antidepressant that reduces nicotine withdrawal, or a placebo.

Researchers found that pairing nicotine lozenges with the nicotine patch was the only treatment which worked better than the placebo. The research suggests that using additional treatments that can be used as needed, such as gum or lozenges, alongside the patch is the best plan for smokers trying to quit.

Panel to monitor the H1N1 vaccine side effects

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:08:00 GMT

Syracuse (WSYR-TV) - A panel will now monitor any side effects from the H1N1 vaccine.

An independent group of experts appointed to help government officials monitor the swine flu vaccine's safety starts work Monday, the Associated Press reports.

Among its first tasks is to consider study data on the vaccine's effects in more than 10,000 people, according to the AP. So far, efforts to assess safety have turned up nothing unusual, Bruce Gellin, head of the National Vaccine Program Office, tells the AP, but it's important to be on the lookout for possible rare side effects.

Additional scrutiny of the H1N1 vaccine comes after the last vaccine to fight an outbreak of swine flu in 1976 was linked to Guillain-Barré syndrome, a rare disorder that results in paralysis.

US swine flu vaccine outlook improving, CDC says

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 01:37:06 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) - More than 22 million doses of swine flu vaccine are available now, and most Americans should soon find it easier to get their dose, U.S. health officials said Tuesday.

"We're beginning to get to significant increases in the availability," said Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at a briefing.

Last week there were just 14 million doses on hand, despite initial predictions that as many as 120 million would be ready by mid-October. The government later slashed that estimate to 45 million. The slow supply trickle has frustrated Americans, who have stood in line for hours in some parts of the country.

The shortage has probably increased demand, Frieden said.

"It's quite likely that too little vaccine is one of the things that's making people more interested in getting vaccinated, frankly. When we have shortages, we see an increase in demand," he said.

The vaccine is grown in eggs in a reliable but slow process, and smaller amounts of it were being produced per egg than expected. There were other snags, too, but health officials say manufacturers have overcome most of those and are making the vaccine more speedily.

Over time, the government expects to have as many as 225 million doses of the new vaccine if needed.

CDC officials estimate that the swine flu virus, first identified in April, has killed at least 1,000 Americans and caused at least mild illness in many millions of others.

The pandemic started in a frightening burst of cases in certain parts of the country, including New York, Boston and parts of the Southwest. Illnesses diminished somewhat in the summer and then began increasing across the country as schools reopened roughly two months ago.

Swine flu cases are waning in Georgia and some parts of the country lately, but still increasing in others. Health officials say it's hard to predict what will happen in the next few months.

The secret to a healthy retirement: Working

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:35:11 GMT

The secret to a healthy retirement may be work.

A new government study out Friday finds that retirees who continue to work in some capacity, even part-time, are less likely to experience physical decline and disease.

Authors of the study say working provides financial resources, social interaction and the ability to learn new skills.

Working can also be good for self-esteem. The study isn't the first to show that structured activity improves the lives of retired people.

Nearly half of swine flu patients otherwise healthy

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 20:20:33 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) - The largest U.S. analysis of hospitalized adult swine flu patients has found almost half were healthy people who did not have asthma or any other chronic illnesses before they got sick.

Health officials released the surprising results at a news conference on Tuesday, noting that 46 percent of 1,400 hospitalized adults did not have a chronic underlying condition.

They have said before that the majority of swine flu patients who develop severe illness have some sort of pre-existing condition, but the new data suggest the majority may be slimmer than was previously thought.

A study of 272 hospitalized swine flu patients, released by the New England Journal of Medicine earlier this month, concluded that 83 percent of adults and 60 percent of children had underlying conditions.

However, health officials cautioned that the new analysis is preliminary and did not count obesity as an underlying condition. Earlier research has suggested obesity could be a separate risk factor for severe swine flu illness. Further analysis that counts obesity could change the results, said a spokesman for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC looked at 1,400 adults and more than 500 children with swine flu who were hospitalized in 10 states at medical centers participating in a special disease surveillance network. The hospitalizations occurred from April through the end of August.

Looking at a larger number of hospitalizations was important because "we wanted to make sure that we weren't missing some important underlying conditions that we hadn't talked about earlier," said Dr. Anne Schuchat, who heads the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.

Of the adult cases, about 26 percent had asthma, 8 percent had some other chronic lung disease, 10 percent had diabetes, nearly 8 percent had weakened immune systems, and 6 percent were pregnant.

Not as much analysis has been completed on the children's cases, but health officials noted that 6 percent were kids with sickle-cell disease or another condition from the same family of blood diseases.

The new virus, first identified in April, is a global epidemic. The CDC doesn't have an exact count of all swine flu deaths and hospitalizations, but existing reports suggest more than 600 have died and more than 9,000 have been hospitalized. Health officials believe millions of Americans have caught the virus.

The virus is hitting young people harder. Experts believe older people are suffering from it less, perhaps because they have a bit of immunity from exposure over the years to somewhat similar viruses.

On Tuesday, Schuchat said that five additional pediatric swine-flu deaths have been reported since late last week, bringing to 81 the total count of U.S. children who have died with the infection.

States have ordered almost 6 million doses of swine flu vaccine in the vaccination campaign that started last week. About half the available doses are shots and half are the nasal spray version of the vaccine, Schuchat said.

Should you use hot or cold water when washing hands?

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 20:16:10 GMT

We're told that washing your hands is the best way to keep from catching colds and flu.

But did you know hot water is not better than cold when it comes to removing germs?

Studies have shown that washing your hands in water that's 120 degrees doesn't kill any more germs or bacteria than water that's 40 degrees -- and hot water can increase the risk of contact dermatitis.

So wash your hands in whatever temperature water feels comfortable, do it for at least 30 seconds, and use soap.

Study: Treatments for miscarriage don’t affect fertility

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 21:44:28 GMT

New research shows the current treatments for women who've had an early miscarriage don't affect their long-term fertility.

A just-published British study reveals 83 percent of women polled were able to get pregnant following popular miscarriage management methods, including surgery to remove tissue remaining in the uterus.

Now, many women are offered medical as well as "watch and wait" treatment.

This is reassuring news for many women, as roughly 15 percent of pregnancies end in miscarriage in the first trimester.

AP Poll: One-third of parents oppose swine flu vaccine

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 00:20:21 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) - As the first wave of swine flu vaccine crosses the country, more than a third of parents don't want their kids vaccinated, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll.

Some parents say they are concerned about side effects from the new vaccine - even though nothing serious has turned up in tests so far - while others say swine flu doesn't amount to any greater health threat than seasonal flu.

Jackie Shea of Newtown, Conn., the mother of a 5-year-old boy named Emmett, says the vaccine is too new and too untested.

"I will not be first in line in October to get him vaccinated," she said in an interview last month. "We're talking about putting an unknown into him. I can't do that."

The AP poll found that 38 percent of parents said they were unlikely to give permission for their kids to be vaccinated at school.

The belief that the new vaccine could be risky is one federal health officials have been fighting from the start, and they plan an unprecedented system of monitoring for side effects.

They note that swine flu vaccine is made the same way as seasonal flu vaccines that have been used for years. And no scary side effects have turned up in tests on volunteers, including children.

On Wednesday, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius appealed for widespread inoculation against swine flu, vouching unconditionally for the vaccine: "We know it's safe and secure."

The AP poll, conducted Oct. 1-5, found 72 percent of those surveyed are worried about side effects, although more than half say that wouldn't stop them from getting the vaccine to protect their kids from the new flu.

Giving flu shots to schoolchildren is also an idea many parents are still getting used to. It was only last year that the government recommendation kicked in for virtually all children to get it. Seasonal flu vaccination rates for children last year ranged from about 48 percent for toddlers to about 9 percent for teens.

It traditionally takes a while for parents to learn about and accept a new vaccine and years for immunization rates to grow, said Dr. Matthew Davis, a University of Michigan Medical School associate professor who has overseen polling on flu issues.

Special swine flu vaccination clinics at schools are being planned in many states. Children are the main spreaders of infectious disease, and if large numbers are coming down with swine flu, there are ripple effects for everyone else.

The AP poll found 59 percent are likely to let their kids be vaccinated at school. But the kind of concerns voiced by parents could put a dent in public health efforts.

A survey Davis directed for C.S. Mott Children's Hospital in Michigan suggested one reason for rejecting the vaccine is that about half of parents said they did not consider swine flu any worse than the seasonal bug.

"Basically, the swine flu is the flu. I'm not overly excited about it," said Julie Uehlein, a Tullahoma, Tenn., mother who is against swine flu vaccinations for her 8-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter.

"My concerns about the vaccine are what are the long-term effects," she added.

Some, like Shea, recall the 1976 swine flu immunization campaign that vaccinated 40 million Americans against an epidemic that never materialized. Worse, many who got the shots back then filed injury claims blaming health problems on the vaccine, with some reporting a paralyzing condition called Guillain-Barre syndrome.

Health officials did not find evidence the vaccine caused the condition, noting it occurs naturally anyway and would be bound to show up in such a large group. Many people were unjustifiably blaming all sorts of health problems on the vaccine, some health experts believe.

That's why the government is already trying to educate people about how common many health problems are, and why it's handing out cards telling people how to report any side effects.

For some parents, fears are compounded by worries about thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative that will be in roughly 60 percent of the 225 million swine flu doses ordered for Americans.

The preservative is not in the FluMist nasal spray, which can be given to healthy kids age 2 and older. But it's in many injectable doses, which are packaged in multi-dose vials that require thimerosal to prevent bacterial contamination.

Fears that the preservative or something in vaccines themselves can lead to autism remain entrenched in some quarters - despite no evidence from the most rigorous scientific studies.

Some autism advocacy groups echo parents' concerns about swine flu vaccine, and also argue it's a bad idea to spend so much time and money on the new flu.

"We're flipping out over swine flu, but it's only affected a few thousand people. Why isn't somebody freaking out about the autism epidemic?" said Wendy Fournier, president of the National Autism Association.

Vaccine makers are sensitive to demand for preservative-free shots. Parents can ask their doctors to order preservative-free, single-dose vaccine for their kids, said Dr. Tom Frieden, head of the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention.

As for his own two school-age children, Frieden said in a recent interview: "I would have no hesitation about getting my kids vaccinated by thimerosal-containing vaccines."

Health officials and many parents are strong believers in the vaccine, and warn about the potential dangers of a virus that has caused at least 9,000 U.S. hospitalizations and at least 600 deaths, including 60 children.

Jennifer Barnes enrolled herself and her two children in one of the government studies of the new vaccine, seizing an opportunity to get them all immunized before the illness became widespread.

"I thought, 'This is an opportunity to get the kids vaccinated, and I better jump on it,"' said Barnes, 32, a speech language pathologist who lives in Decatur, Ga.

Barnes said she gets her kids vaccinated against flu each year not only for their own health but to protect others. "My kids hang around kids who might have lowered immune systems. I would hate for them to get something and pass it on," she said.

Shea said she appreciates those arguments, but she's hesitated to talk about swine flu vaccine with other parents, who seem polarized on the topic. "There's the crunchy granola group" against flu vaccinations, she said, "and the very staunch, follow everything group" who extol them.

She also worries that swine flu could become more widespread and dangerous than it is now. If that happens, she said, she would probably try to get her son vaccinated, though she's aware there are risks in waiting, too.

"It's one of those things where you're almost damned if you do, damned if you don't," she said.

The AP-GfK poll was based on a nationally representative sample of 1,003 adults age 18 or older, contacted by telephone on land lines and cell phones. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points for all adults, 5.2 percentage points for parents.

Study: Some healthy foods most at risk for food-borne illness

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 23:52:48 GMT

A new study indicates some of the healthiest foods may also put us at the greatest risk for food-borne ailments.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest lists the top ten riskiest foods, and they include leafy greens like lettuce and spinach, which tops the list.

Eggs, tuna, oysters, potatoes, cheese, ice cream, tomatoes, sprouts and berries are also in the top ten.

The foods were rated based on the number of outbreaks associated with them since 1990. In all, the top 10 resulted in more than 1,500 outbreaks, totaling nearly 50,000 reported illnesses.

CLICK HERE to read the full report from the CSPI.

Government finds higher autism figure: 1 in 100

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 20:15:58 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) - Federal health officials say greater awareness, broader definitions and spotting autism in younger children may explain some of the increase in the proportion of children with disorders.

Two new government studies indicate about 1 in 100 children have autism disorders, higher than a previous estimate of 1 in 150.

Dr. Thomas Insel, director of the National Institute of Mental Health, says the main concern is determining whether there's a "true increase" in the numbers.

The new estimate would mean about 673,000 American children have autism. Previous estimates put the number at about 560,000.

One of the studies stems from the 2007 National Survey of Children's Health. The results are in October's Pediatrics.

The other government estimate is from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and has not been formally released yet.

CLICK HERE to visit the CDC website and learn more about the symptoms of autism.

Survey shows many parents wary of H1N1 vaccine

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 21:59:27 GMT

With the first doses of H1N1 vaccine set to arrive here next week, and talk of school clinics starting next month, a new survey finds many parents are wary about vaccinating their children.

A survey of parents finds 50 percent are concerned enough about the safety of the vaccine that they're delaying their decision whether to vaccinate their kids; 43 percent weren't worried about their children contracting H1N1.

Thirty-five percent said they would definitely have their children vaccinated, and 14 percent have ruled out vaccination altogether.

Children and young adults are the most vulnerable to severe illness and death from the new virus.

9 in 10 high schoolers short on fruits, veggies

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 21:43:21 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) - Less than 10 percent of U.S. high school students are eating the combined recommended daily amount of fruits and vegetables, a finding that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention called "poor" in a report Tuesday.

The report based on 2007 data found that only 13 percent of U.S. high school students get at least three servings of vegetables a day and just 32 percent get two servings of fruit. Less than 1 in 10 get enough of both combined.

Some states - including Arkansas and North Carolina - were significantly below those averages. But some New England states, particularly Vermont, were notably better.

The CDC said the report was the first to give such detailed information on adolescents' fruit and vegetable consumption. The information comes from a national survey of about 100,000 high school students in 2007.

CDC officials said the findings indicate a disheartening gap between how people should be eating and what they're actually doing in an era of rampant obesity.

Federal nutrition goals for 2010 call for at least 75 percent of Americans to eat two servings of fruit each day and at least 50 percent to eat three vegetable servings.

"This is a call for states, communities, schools and families to support increased fruit and vegetable consumption," said Heidi Blanck, a CDC senior scientist who worked on the report.

The CDC also released data on a survey of adults. It found fruit and vegetable consumption was basically unchanged from when a similar survey was done in 2005: About 27 percent got at least three servings of vegetables a day, and 33 percent got two servings of fruit.

People who participated in the survey were asked, essentially, how many times a day they had fruit or vegetables. Fruit juice counted but pieces of fruit are considered preferable, because they're more filling alternatives to fatty, processed snacks, Blanck said.

Vermont and other states that had higher rates of fruit and vegetable consumption also have more farmers markets per 100,000 people than the national average. And schools in those states were more likely to stock pieces of fruit in vending machines or at snack shops, Blanck said.

The report did not have numbers for every state. For twelve of them, high schooler survey samples were not considered large enough to provide a statistically reliable number.

On the Net:
CDC report: http://www.fruitsandveggiesmatter.gov/indicatorreport

Surgery for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 21:32:52 GMT

Courtesy ABC News

The pain and numbness caused by carpal tunnel syndrome results in the highest number of days lost among all work-related injuries. New research finds that surgery to relieve these symptoms is sometimes more effective than non-surgical treatment and should be recommended to those who do not find relief from these other treatments.

Carpal tunnel syndrome occurs when inflammation in the wrist presses on the major nerve of the hand and causes chronic pain, numbness, and tingling in the wrist, hand, and fingers. Carpal tunnel often affects those whose work requires repetitive hand motions, such as typing, and is a major cause of work-related disability.

A new study compared treating this syndrome with surgery with non-surgical hand therapy and ultrasound. When researchers examined patients a year later, they found that those who had undergone surgery had modestly better outcomes in hand function and symptom reduction than those who had not.

Because the difference between surgical and non-surgical outcomes was modest, researchers point out that some patients may prefer to try non-surgical treatments before taking on the potential risks of surgery. However, for those who have had little relief from hand therapy and ultrasound treatments, researchers felt that surgery should be recommended.

Study: High sugar intake may boost blood pressure

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 01:27:34 GMT

Courtesy ABC News

While those with heart disease have long been told to limit their salt intake, as this has been shown to raise blood pressure, new research suggests that a very high intake of sugar could also raise blood pressure and increase cholesterol.

A diet high in fructose, a dietary sugar present in table sugar and high-fructose corn syrup, may lead to higher blood pressure, new research shows. While fructose is also the main sugar in fruit, fruit contains vitamins and fiber that, in most cases, block the negative effects of this dietary sugar.

In the study, men took a daily pill that contained 200 grams of fructose, which is nearly three times the amount of fructose the average man consumes.

After only two weeks of this high-fructose diet, subjects showed significant increases in blood pressure and other symptoms thought to be precursors for heart disease and Type 2 diabetes, such as higher fasting blood sugar levels and higher cholesterol.

While in the past, those at risk for heart disease have been advised to reduce their salt intake, as this can raise blood pressure, these findings suggest that sugar intake may have to be kept in check as well.