http://www.health.am/ Health.am provides the latest RSS feeds for Breaking Health News. 2012-05-25T17:58:00-08:00 http://www.health.am/ab/more/more-uses-for-medical-marijuana/ http://www.health.am/ab/more/more-uses-for-medical-marijuana/ Arizona is considering requests to expand its fledgling medical marijuana program to allow use of the drug for an array of conditions, including post-traumatic stress syndrome and migraines, beyond those allowed under the law approved by voters two years ago. The Department of Health Services, which is required under the 2010 law to consider requests to expand coverage, holds a public hearing Friday on the first batch of requests. Besides PTSD and migraines, the requests for covered conditions include depression and general anxiety disorder. The law already permits medical marijuana use for such medical reasons as cancer, glaucoma, AIDS, chronic pain, muscle spasms and hepatitis C. Even as the state considers expanding the program, it is still implementing a key part of the law. Tobacco & Marijuana 2012-05-25T18:58:00-08:00 http://www.health.am/ab/more/obese-teen-had-to-be-cut-from-home-in-uk/ http://www.health.am/ab/more/obese-teen-had-to-be-cut-from-home-in-uk/ Emergency workers who needed to take an obese teenager from her home to a hospital in Wales had to break through a wall of the residence to get her out and into an ambulance, officials said Friday. The rescue on the second floor of the small house on Thursday used scaffolding as a ramp to lower the woman to the ground level, the local Rhondda Cynon Taf council said. The unidentified 19-year-old remained hospitalized Friday and her medical condition was not released. Obesity, Public Health 2012-05-25T18:57:00-08:00 http://www.health.am/ab/more/state-tobacco-prevention-funding-lacking/ http://www.health.am/ab/more/state-tobacco-prevention-funding-lacking/ States have spent only about 3 percent of the billions they’ve received in tobacco taxes and legal settlements over the last decade to fund tobacco prevention programs, making it harder to reduce the death and disease caused by tobacco use, according to a report released Thursday by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Between 1998 and 2010, states have collected nearly $244 billion in cigarette taxes and settlement money, compared with only $8.1 billion earmarked for state tobacco control efforts. The numbers are far less than the minimum of $29.2 billion the CDC said should have been spent over that same period. While states on average have never spent as much the CDC would like, the total has declined dramatically in recent years as states grapple with budget deficits that have forced layoffs, furloughs and cuts for basic services. Many also have raised tobacco taxes in order to increase revenue and supplement funds provided by the tobacco industry. Public Health, Tobacco & Marijuana 2012-05-25T18:54:00-08:00 http://www.health.am/ab/more/c-section-babies-face-high-obesity-risk/ http://www.health.am/ab/more/c-section-babies-face-high-obesity-risk/ A new study has found that babies born by Caesarean section are twice as likely to become obese by the age of three as newborns delivered vaginally, and authors of the report say women who plan to deliver their babies via C-section because it is more convenient might want to reconsider their options. The study, conducted by researchers at Children’s Hospital in Boston, monitored 1,250 women from before their 22nd week of pregnancy until they delivered their babies at hospitals in Massachusetts between 1999 and 2002. Twenty-five percent of the babies were delivered by Caesarean section and the rest were born vaginally. Children's Health, Obesity 2012-05-25T18:50:00-08:00 http://www.health.am/ab/more/sunblocks-are-the-new-multi-taskers/ http://www.health.am/ab/more/sunblocks-are-the-new-multi-taskers/ The beginning of summer always seems to be accompanied by an onslaught of sunscreens. The market is crowded with lotions and sprays, powders and lip balms, and, increasingly, multi-tasking products with inventive application methods that are touted for their ability to do more than just block the UVA and UVB rays that lead to sunburns, skin cancer and premature aging of the skin. Indeed, many of the season’s new sun care products were designed to marry broad-spectrum sun protection with anti-aging compounds, moisturizers, makeup - even self tanners. “The world of sun care has changed. It used to be enough that you just had an SPF product. You were going to the beach or pool and you knew you needed sun protection. But sun damage happens every day, so we’re looking for more out of our formulas,” said Holly Thaggard, owner and founder of Supergoop, in San Antonio - a maker of broad-spectrum sunscreens that incorporate anti-aging compounds in formulas that are free of parabens, fragrance, oxybenzone and other chemicals common to mass-market brands. Dermatology, Skin Care 2012-05-25T18:18:00-08:00 http://www.health.am/ab/more/male-fertility-genes-discovered/ http://www.health.am/ab/more/male-fertility-genes-discovered/ A new study has revealed previously undiscovered genetic variants that influence fertility in men. The findings, published by Cell Press on May 24th in the American Journal of Human Genetics, shed much-needed light on human reproduction and might provide answers for countless men suffering from infertility. Despite its high incidence, infertility remains a sensitive topic. Some of the stigma surrounding infertility arises from a lack of known scientific causes. In fact, nearly a quarter of reported infertility cases remain unexplained. Research regarding the genetics of fertility has come primarily from studies involving infertile subjects. “Such studies have not been able to identify genes or pathways contributing to variation in natural human fertility,” remarks Carole Ober, the lead author of the study. This is because numerous non-genetic factors, such as alcohol and tobacco use, certain medications, and disease history, can contribute to infertility. Ober and her graduate student, Gülüm Kosova, at the University of Chicago have taken a different approach. By studying a founder population, the Hutterites, Ober’s research maximizes genetic influences and minimizes non-genetic ones. Gender: Male, Genetics, Sexual Health 2012-05-25T07:01:00-08:00 http://www.health.am/ab/more/obese-patients-face-increased-risk-of-kidney-damage/ http://www.health.am/ab/more/obese-patients-face-increased-risk-of-kidney-damage/ Oxidative stress may put obese patients at increased risk of developing kidney damage after heart surgery, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN). Effective antioxidants or other therapies that reduce oxidative stress might help lower this risk, particularly among obese patients. Acute kidney injury (AKI), an abrupt decline in kidney function, is an increasingly prevalent and potentially serious condition following major surgery. Sometimes AKI arises after heart surgery because the kidneys are deprived of normal blood flow during the procedure. To see if extra body weight puts patients at increased risk for developing AKI following heart surgery, Frederic Billings IV, MD (Vanderbilt University School of Medicine) and his colleagues evaluated information from 445 heart surgery patients, 112 of whom (25%) developed AKI. Among the major findings: Obese patients (body mass index, or BMI, ≥30 kg/m2) had an increased risk of developing AKI; specifically, a 26.5% increased risk per 5 kg/m2 increase in BMI. Oxidative stress, which generates harmful unstable reactive oxygen molecules, plays a role in the link between obesity and AKI. Heart, Obesity, Surgery, Urine Problems 2012-05-25T04:52:00-08:00 http://www.health.am/ab/more/low-vitamin-d-in-diet-increases-stroke-risk/ http://www.health.am/ab/more/low-vitamin-d-in-diet-increases-stroke-risk/ Japanese-American men who did not eat foods rich in vitamin D had a higher risk of stroke later in life, according to results of a 34-year study reported in Stroke, an American Heart Association journal. “Our study confirms that eating foods rich in vitamin D might be beneficial for stroke prevention,” said Gotaro Kojima, M.D., lead author of the study and geriatric medicine fellow at the John A. Burns School of Medicine at the University of Hawaii in Honolulu. Vitamin D is an essential nutrient that helps prevent rickets in children and severe bone loss in adults, and researchers believe it has the potential to lower the risk of a host of diseases including cancer and diabetes. Sunlight is generally the greatest source, but synthesizing vitamin D from the sun gets more difficult as we age, Kojima said, so older people are advised to eat more foods rich in vitamin D or take supplements. Good sources include fortified milk and breakfast cereals, fatty fish and egg yolks.  Stroke 2012-05-25T04:44:00-08:00 http://www.health.am/ab/more/obesity-not-always-tied-to-higher-heart-risk/ http://www.health.am/ab/more/obesity-not-always-tied-to-higher-heart-risk/ An obese person isn’t inevitably at increased risk of cardiovascular disease and death, a new U.K. study finds. “The people really at risk are the ones who have obesity in combination with other metabolic health risk factors,” said Mark Hamer, a principal research associate at University College London who worked on the study. The results are in line with most previous research that defined metabolic health as having normal levels of markers like blood pressure, blood sugar, HDL, or “good” cholesterol, and C-reactive protein, which is a measure of inflammation in the body. “People with good metabolic health are not at risk of future heart disease - even if they are obese,” Hamer told Reuters Health. Heart, Obesity 2012-05-24T21:13:00-08:00 http://www.health.am/ab/more/anti-obesity-proposal-fails/ http://www.health.am/ab/more/anti-obesity-proposal-fails/ McDonald’s Corp investors soundly rejected a shareholder proposal that would have required the world’s biggest fast-food chain to assess its impact on childhood obesity. The subject was a major topic of discussion at Thursday’s annual shareholder meeting, which also served as a send-off for retiring Chief Executive Jim Skinner - whose nearly eight years at the helm will be remembered as a time when the price of McDonald’s stock tripled. The shareholder proposal, which also failed last year, returned amid growing concern over the social and financial costs of obesity in the United States and around the world - not only in terms of healthcare-related expenses but also lower worker productivity and diminished quality of life. Nearly one-third of U.S. children are overweight or obese. America is one of the fattest nations on earth, and the Institute of Medicine, in a 2006 report requested by Congress, said junk food marketing contributes to an epidemic of childhood obesity that continues to rise. The institute is the health arm of the National Academy of Sciences. Obesity, Public Health 2012-05-24T21:00:00-08:00 http://www.health.am/ab/more/fukushima-workers-deaths/ http://www.health.am/ab/more/fukushima-workers-deaths/ A year after an earthquake and tsunami triggered the Fukushima disaster, a United Nations agency preparing a report on the health effects says none of the six former reactor workers who have died since the catastrophe perished due to the effects of radiation. The U.N. Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation said Wednesday that although several workers at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant were irradiated after contamination of their skin “no clinically observable effects have been reported.” UNSCEAR Chairman Wolfgang Weiss said in a statement that the agency is aiming to evaluate irradiation levels for about 2 million people living in Fukushima prefecture at the time of the March 11 reactor accident. Public Health 2012-05-23T19:27:00-08:00 http://www.health.am/ab/more/childhood-cancer-effects/ http://www.health.am/ab/more/childhood-cancer-effects/ Survivors of childhood cancers have an increased risk of disfigurement and persistent hair loss later in life, and for some that may lead to long-term emotional distress, suggests a new study. Compared to their siblings, survivors were more likely to have scarring and disfigurement on their head, arms and legs later in life. And adults with those traits had more depression and a lower quality of life, on average. “I think it showed us these aren’t necessarily life threatening late effects of cancer… but certainly we need to be more aware of the outcomes these patients are dealing with,” said Karen Kinahan, coordinator of the STAR Survivorship Program at the Robert H. Lurie Cancer Center of Northwestern University in Chicago. Kinahan and her colleagues used information on 14,358 childhood cancer survivors and 4,023 of their siblings already participating in an existing study. Cancer, Hair Loss 2012-05-23T19:18:00-08:00 http://www.health.am/ab/more/heart-of-indonesia-anti-smoking-suit/ http://www.health.am/ab/more/heart-of-indonesia-anti-smoking-suit/ Anti-tobacco advocates in Indonesia plan to file a class action lawsuit this month using cases of child addicts in the hope of forcing tougher regulations on a society where one in three people smokes. It is a rare attempt of its kind to constrain a tobacco industry which looks to the world’s fourth most populous country and its growing appetite for cigarettes to replace dwindling sales elsewhere. The suit against tobacco companies and the Indonesian government argues that feeble regulation has left children dangerously exposed to the risks of smoking. Public Health, Tobacco & Marijuana 2012-05-23T19:06:00-08:00 http://www.health.am/ab/more/miracle-sweetener-stevia-may-have-a-sour-note/ http://www.health.am/ab/more/miracle-sweetener-stevia-may-have-a-sour-note/ The meteoric rise of a natural, healthy alternative to sugar - a holy grail for the food industry - might just be a little too good to be true. In two years stevia, a plant used for centuries by Paraguay’s Guarani Indians, has shot to prominence in products by Coca-Cola, Danone and Merisant. Encouraged by distrust of artificial sweeteners and demand for natural products, they have turned to extract of stevia, which is up to 300 times sweeter than traditional beet or cane sugar. The problems are the aftertaste, the cost, and possible hurdles in defining it as natural in some European Union markets. Food & Nutrition, Public Health 2012-05-23T19:05:00-08:00 http://www.health.am/ab/more/early-disease-detection/ http://www.health.am/ab/more/early-disease-detection/ A special feature in the May 11 issue of the journal Science highlights protein array technology, touching on research conducted by Joshua LaBaer, director of the Biodesign Institute’s Virginia G. Piper Center for Personalized Diagnostics. With the successful completion of the Human Genome Project, research attention is increasingly focusing on proteins. Versatile products produced from genetic templates, proteins are principle actors in both the maintenance of health and the onset of illness. Protein microarrays are a means of bridging the gap between analysis of the nucleotide sequences that make up DNA and the proteome - the universe of proteins built from the amino acids coded for by genes. Protein microarrays are helping researchers develop early detection methods, particularly for chronic diseases, which account for most of the country’s health care expenditures. Identifying telltale signs of diabetes, coronary artery disease, congestive heart failure and various cancers at an early, pre-symptomatic stage, offers the best prognosis for successful treatment, at dramatically reduced cost.  Public Health 2012-05-22T15:17:00-08:00