Category: news-perspectives

Doctors should routinely ask younger women about how much alcohol they drink, a Canadian group says. The advice comes from the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada. It’s part of a new set of guidelines. The purpose is to help prevent fetal alcohol spectrum disorder in children. It’s unclear how much risk is linked to drinking small amounts, the group’s president told Canadian Press. But the guidelines urge a cautious course. They say women should be advised not to drink if they are or might become pregnant. About 3% of Canadian babies are born with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, an expert told Canadian Press. The risk of this disorder is 40% for children of heavy drinkers, the expert said. The Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology published the guidelines August 12.

The worst form of staph infection is declining in U.S. hospitals, new research suggests. The study looked at infections caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteria. They resist most antibiotics. That makes them very hard to treat. MRSA is mainly a skin infection. But the study focused on invasive cases. They are the most dangerous cases because they can spread throughout the body. The study looked at data from 9 metropolitan areas. Invasive cases dropped 16% between 2005 and 2008. Researchers said the drop reflects better germ-control efforts by hospitals. Many hospitals also test people for MRSA when they are admitted. The drop did not apply to all MRSA cases. Skin infections did not fall. The study appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The Associated Press wrote about it August 11.

Some people get tiny filters implanted in a vein to keep blood clots in the legs from reaching the lungs. But the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning that the filters can move or break. The FDA said it had received more than 900 reports of these problems since 2005. Problems occur mainly when the filters are left in for a long time. Pieces can break off, travel through the bloodstream, and punch holes in organs, the FDA said. The Associated Press (AP) wrote about the FDA warning August 9. The journal Archives of Internal Medicine published a report about the same problem. The study focused on 80 patients at one hospital. All received filters made by C.R. Bard Inc. About 16% of the filters broke and drifted away. The break rate was 25% among people who had an older model. The older filters had been implanted an average of 4 years, twice as long as the newer filters.

At least 79 people got sick in a two-year salmonella outbreak linked to pet food, researchers report. The new study gives details of the outbreak, which began in 2006. Salmonella bacteria can cause bloody diarrhea and fever. At least 11 people were hospitalized, but no one died. The outbreak was traced to dry dog and cat food. It was made at a Mars Petcare US plant in Pennsylvania. The plant made several brands of food, including Pedigree and Special Kitty. Investigators think food got contaminated when it was sprayed with flavor enhancers. Nearly half of those who got sick were children under age 2. But there’s no evidence that they ate pet food. Researchers said they probably touched pets or their dishes and then put their hands in their mouths. Many families with illness fed their pet in the kitchen, researchers said. The journal Pediatrics published the study online.

Researchers have found 95 sites in the human genetic makeup that appear to affect cholesterol levels. The study was based on information about genes and blood fats for 100,000 people from around the world. About one-third of the gene sites were near areas already linked to cholesterol. But the other two-thirds were not known before. Most of the sites appeared to be valid for people from European, African and Asian origins. The next step, researchers said, is to find out what role these parts of the genome play in regulating blood fats. The journal Nature published the study. HealthDay News wrote about it August 4.

A large study finds that people taking drugs for epilepsy do not have a higher risk of suicide. But risk is higher for people who take these drugs for some other conditions. The study looked at antiepileptic drugs. They are also called anticonvulsants. Researchers used records from more than 5 million patients in the United Kingdom. The study found no increased risk for people who took the drugs for epilepsy or bipolar disorder. But the risk of suicide or attempts was 65% higher for people who took the drugs for depression. The biggest increase was for people who took the drugs for conditions other than epilepsy, depression or bipolar disorder. Their risk more than doubled. The study did not say why this group took the medicines, but many people take them for long-term pain. The New England Journal of Medicine published the study. HealthDay News wrote about it August 5.

Childbirth options have been in the news often in the last few weeks. CBS News reported this week on a Lancet editorial that called home births riskier for babies. The editorial quoted a recent study on neonatal death rates. Though low, deaths were two to three times as high at home as in the hospital. An August 2 Time magazine article also discussed childbirth issues. It quoted new guidelines from the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology. The guidelines say women who had a prior cesarean section should get the chance to have a vaginal birth next time. Induction of labor may be another cause of C-sections. Time quotes a new study that found C-section rates in first-time births doubled when labor was induced. Guidelines support induction after 41 weeks of pregnancy. But the study found that about 4 out of 10 women who did not meet guidelines had labor induced anyway.

People whose hearts pump less blood may have earlier aging of the brain, new research suggests. Brains tend to shrink as people get older. They shrink especially fast in people with dementia. People with heart disease have a higher risk of dementia. But most of the 1,500 people in the study did not have heart disease. They also did not have a history of stroke, transient ischemic attack or dementia. Doctors calculated the cardiac index for each person. Cardiac index is a measurement of how much blood your heart pumps, compared with your body size (surface area). Researchers also measured brain size. People who had a low or low-normal cardiac index tended to have smaller brains than people with a high index. On average, the difference was equal to about two years of aging. But they did not have brain function problems.

Child injuries from home cleaning products have dropped by almost half since 1990, a new study finds. But the injury rate from cleaners in spray bottles has remained steady. Products in spray bottles caused 40% of the injuries, the study found. Researchers used data on 267,000 children ages 5 and under who had these types of injuries. All were treated in emergency rooms between 1990 and 2006. About 72% of the children were 1 to 3 years old. Bleach was the most common chemical linked to an injury. The journal Pediatrics published the study online. USA Today and HealthDay News wrote about it August 2. Safety guidelines include keeping cleaning products locked up. Experts interviewed by HealthDay offered other tips. They said you should always close a container even if you are going to use it again in a minute.

Schools shouldn’t force kids to stay home because they have head lice, a group of children’s doctors says. The new guidelines on head lice are the first from the American Academy of Pediatrics since 2002. They take aim at schools that do not allow children who have head lice or nits to remain in school. Nits are the empty egg casings that get stuck to kids’ hair at the roots. It makes no medical sense to keep kids at home if they have lice or nits, the doctors said. The risk of spreading lice in school is very small. The doctors also offered advice on treatment. Over-the-counter shampoos containing permethrin or pyrethrin are usually the first choice. But some lice can resist them. The guidelines explain other steps parents can take. These include washing bedding in hot water, putting stuffed animals in a sealed bag for a couple of weeks and using a fine-tooth comb to remove nits.