Syphilis Rates Drop, But STDs Still Big Problem

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's annual report on sexually transmitted diseases, which tracks cases of the three reportable STDs -- chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis -- shows widespread disparities.


Overall, blacks and Hispanics in the United States are far more affected by sexually transmitted diseases than whites, as are young people, according to the annual report, which looks at data from 2010.


"Despite everything we know about how to prevent and treat STDs, they remain one of the more critical challenges in the United States today," Dr. Kevin Fenton, director of the CDC's National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention, said in a telephone interview.


While people aged 15 to 24 make up just a quarter of the sexually experienced population in the United States, they represent nearly half of all new infections.


"The data really confirms that STDs primarily affect young people, and we know that this is of major concern because the health consequences can and do last a lifetime if they are untreated," Fenton said.


The report also found a disproportionate burden of disease among African Americans and Hispanics, Fenton said.


For example, he said rates of chlamydia among African Americans are about 1,383 per 100,000, compared with 467 per 100,000 among Hispanics and 166 per 100,000 for whites.


There are similar patterns for gonorrhea and syphilis.


For gonorrhea, rates for whites are 26 per 100,000. Among Hispanics, rates are about three times that at 63 per 100,000, and among African Americans, the rates are 512 per 100,000.


And while overall rates of syphilis have fallen, there are still wide disparities across ethnic groups, with rates ranging from about 2.4 per 100,000 for whites, 5.9 per 100,000 Hispanics and 20 per 100,000 for African Americans.


"It's not because someone is black or Hispanic or white that results in the differences that we see in STDs. It's really what these represent in terms of differences in health insurance coverage, employment status, in ability to access preventive services or curative services. These are all factors which are going to have a huge impact on communities as well as individuals who are vulnerable to acquiring STDs or not getting them diagnosed early," Fenton said.


Here are some details on each disease:


* Gonorrhea -- Overall, rates of gonorrhea rose slightly in 2010 to more than 300,000 cases, but the disease remains at historically low levels.


Despite everything we know about how to prevent and treat STDs, they remain one of the more critical challenges in the United States today," Dr. Kevin Fenton, director of the CDC's National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention, said in a telephone interview.
While people aged 15 to 24 make up just a quarter of the sexually experienced population in the United States, they represent nearly half of all new infections.
"The data really confirms that STDs primarily affect young people, and we know that this is of major concern because the health consequences can and do last a lifetime if they are untreated," Fenton said.
The report also found a disproportionate burden of disease among African Americans and Hispanics, Fenton said.
For example, he said rates of chlamydia among African Americans are about 1,383 per 100,000, compared with 467 per 100,000 among Hispanics and 166 per 100,000 for whites.
There are similar patterns for gonorrhea and syphilis.
For gonorrhea, rates for whites are 26 per 100,000. Among Hispanics, rates are about three times that at 63 per 100,000, and among African Americans, the rates are 512 per 100,000.
And while overall rates of syphilis have fallen, there are still wide disparities across ethnic groups, with rates ranging from about 2.4 per 100,000 for whites, 5.9 per 100,000 Hispanics and 20 per 100,000 for African Americans.
"It's not because someone is black or Hispanic or white that results in the differences that we see in STDs. It's really what these represent in terms of differences in health insurance coverage, employment status, in ability to access preventive services or curative services. These are all factors which are going to have a huge impact on communities as well as individuals who are vulnerable to acquiring STDs or not getting them diagnosed early," Fenton said.
Here are some details on each disease:
Gonorrhea
Overall, rates of gonorrhea rose slightly in 2010 to more than 300,000 cases, but the disease remains at historically low levels.
Chlamydia
Reported cases have risen over the past 20 years, but that is due to expanded screening efforts. In 2010, there were 1.3 million reported cases of chlamydia. CDC says fewer than half of sexually active young women are screened for chlamydia.
Syphilis
The overall rate fell for the first time in a decade, falling 1.6 percent in 2010 compared with a year ago. Rates of syphilis fell 20 percent in women, but rose 1.3 percent among men.
The CDC says it is too early to tell whether this is a blip, or the start of a new trend.
In the past five years, syphilis rates among young black men increased 134 percent, driven by sharp increases among young black men who have sex with men. This is especially worrisome because rates of HIV are also rising among this population.
If left untreated, gonorrhea and chlamydia cause infertility, and syphilis can lead to serious long-term complications, including brain, heart and organ damage.
People with any of these diseases are at greater risk for infection with human immunodeficiency virus or HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

Health care costs high? Massachusetts should step in.

Attorney General Martha Coakley says state government should have the power to temporarily intervene if health care providers are unable to bring down costs on their own.

Coakley outlined a plan Friday to address what she called a “dysfunctional’’ health care market in which costs are driven by the relative market clout of providers and not by the quality or value of the care.

Under the plan, large providers would be subject to an automatic market impact review and would have until 2015 to correct “unwarranted price variations.’’ If they are unable to do so, the state could then step in and reject contracts with health plans.

Johnson & Johnson Removing Cancer Causing Chemicals From Baby Shampoo

Johnson & Johnson(J&J) announced its efforts to remove two harmful chemicals, 1,4-dioxane and quaternium-15, from their baby products line. This decision was stimulated by pressure from activists groups that were concerned with the presence of potential cancer-causing chemicals in the product.


According to reports from the Associated Press, J&J hopes to remove all quarternium-15 from its baby products within about two years, and even sooner for baby shampoo. Alternative preservatives are being developed and versions are being tested.


As for 1,4-dioxane, J&J is working with their supplies to reduce the traces of 1,4-dioxane to less than four parts per million, when already most of their product fulfill this standard. Over time, J&J hope to remove all 1,4-dioxane from their products.


Johnson & Johnson is supportive to parents needs thus keeping their products safe for babies and children is important. Last year, Johnson & Johnson removed all phthalates, another dangerous chemical, from its baby products. Over time, Johnson & Johnson products will be free of mos dangerous chemicals, or at least in trace amounts.


The frustrating part of all this is that the baby products giant has had to be almost forced to do this through the boycotting and activist actions and that is a question more people should be asking. Why would they have to be protested and boycotted to remove such dangerous cancer-causing chemicals from baby products? Why did they feel they had to put them in there in the first place? And why is it going to take upwards of two years to remove them?
These are questions that Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) should be required to answer, but some people are applauding the baby products company for agreeing to take these chemicals out and other baby products companies are going to be following suit, which would be expected.
The question that still remains, why were these chemicals in there in the first place? And even more importantly, why did it take activists boycotting and protesting Johnson and Johnson for two years before they decided to do anything about it? These protests have been going on since 2009.




In a world where people are trying to live green, save the environment and have healthier lives, it seems they wouldn’t have to be dragged, reluctantly, to do something about this. Wouldn’t it have been a smarter move to jump in ahead of all the protests and boycotts and show that they did truly have a concern for human and environmental safety? You would think so, but apparently Johnson and Johnson didn’t think so.
The downside is that as the chemicals come out, they will more than likely go up in price, but this isn’t an unexpected result of having safer, natural products. Walk into any health foods store and you’ll see much more expensive products on the shelves. We’re paying for safer and healthier products and that’s fine, but it isn’t exactly surprising that some people don’t make the switch to green living simply because they can’t afford it.
Johnson and Johnson is doing what it should have done all along, what it should have done a long time ago. And that is a good thing, but I think that the pats on the back this baby products giant are getting for doing this are a little over rated. They shouldn’t have had to be forced to do something of this magnitude and these upper level people congratulating them on a job well done, seem to be overlooking that. People would have much more respect for this company, had they come out on their own and made an announcement that they were removing cancer causing ingredients from all their products in the interest of health and safety, years ago.

Bagged Salads Recalled Due to E. Coli

Ready Pac Foods, Inc. of Irwindale, CA is recalling a total of 5,379 cases of bagged salad products containing Romaine lettuce, as listed below, with the Use-by Date of November 18, 2011 because they may be contaminated with E. coli (E.coli O157:H7). E.coli O157:H7 is an organism that may cause diarrheal illness often with bloody stools. Although most healthy adults can recover completely within a week, some people can develop a form of kidney failure called Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS). HUS is most likely to occur in young children and the elderly. The condition can lead to serious kidney damage and even death.


The recall extends only to the listed products with this Use-by Date and sold in the following states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming. No other Ready Pac Foods, Inc. products are included in the recall.


Here is a list of the recalled bagged salads, with the UPC (bar code) number. All are 10 ounces unless otherwise noted:


» Ready Pac Caesar Romaine, 0-77745-00202-6


» Ready Pac Santa Fe Caesar Complete Salad, 9.25 ounces, 0-77745-21404-7


» Ready Pac Classic Caesar Complete Salad, 0-77745-20566-3


» Ready Pac Bella Romaine, 0-77745-21407-8


» Dining In Classic Caesar Salad Kit, 0-11225-02530-3


» Raley's Caesar Romaine, 0-46567-71642-8


» Trader Joe's Romaine Salad, 0013-2145


» Trader Joe's Very American Salad, 16 ounces, 0020-7225


» Safeway Farms Caesar Romaine, 0-21130-98350-6


» Safeway Farms Hearts of Romaine, 9 ounces, 0-21130-98358-2


» Safeway Farms Complete Caesar Supreme, 0-21130-33677-7


» Safeway Farms Complete Southwestern Ranch, 10.25 ounces, 0-21130-33679-1


The lettuce is sold in 9- to 16-ounce bags under the labels Ready Pac, Trader Joe's, Safeway and Dining in Classic and sold in Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Oregon, Texas and Washington, the FDA said.


The affected bags, produced by Ready Pac Foods, Inc. have a use-by date of Nov. 18. The Irwindale, Calif.-based company voluntarily issued a recall after a random test found a strain of E. coli in the foods. No illnesses have been linked to the recalled salads, which were sold between Nov. 7 and 16.


Consumers should discard the products or return them to the place where they were purchased, health officials say. Safeway and Trader Joe's stores in the area said they will refund the sale price of any of the products, which they have pulled from the shelves.


No other Ready Pac Foods, Inc. products are included in the recall.


E. coli is usually caused by fecal contamination during processing, sometimes transported in water or due to improper food handling, according to the National Institutes for Health. Although most healthy adults can recover completely within a week, some people can develop a form of kidney failure called Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome. Children and the elderly are particularly susceptible to life-threatening complications, health officials said.


Anyone who develops symptoms of E. coli, which include abdominal cramps and diarrhea, are advised to seek medical aid.

Local Komen affiliate to donate $1.8 million

Now that I am a few days past completing the Susan G. Komen Three-Day for The Cure Walk in Tampa, my mind is finally adjusting to the enormity of the experience. The words that come to mind are amazing, awesome, inspiring and incredible. The “Three-Day” is all of these and so much more.
Many months ago, my daughter, Jennifer, asked me to join a team of walkers from Naples in support of finding a cure for breast cancer. The easy part of this journey was telling her I would walk with them — and then came the training. For three months, I committed myself to an ambitious schedule of walks: three miles, then five, 10, 15, until the day came in late October when we all met in Tampa to continue our journey.
First, I must tell you that I did complete the 60-mile walk and am very proud of it. Yes, I did it and celebrate my accomplishment. And while some were able to walk all of the distance and some were not, the number of miles is not really the focus. I personally raised more than $2,500 with the support of family and friends. Our team and the more than 2,000 participants not only raised awareness, but in excess of $4 million for breast cancer research to find a cure and save lives. Hopefully these might be the dollars that push us over the edge and make events like the Three-Day unnecessary. That’s what it is really about: raising money and saving lives, because everybody deserves a lifetime.
On a personal note, I met so many amazing people over the weekend. There were the survivors, the family members and friends that walked for those stricken with this horrible disease. Everyone had stories and readily shared with us all.
I walked for my beautiful sister who was taken from us at age 41. She was young and ambitious, a wonderful wife and mother of two children. I also walked for my mother-in-law who was diagnosed at age 50, and all other people who have been touched by breast cancer.


Also: Pittsburgh affiliate of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation will donate $1.8 million to local organizations in 2012 to fight breast cancer.


This is the largest amount ever, and the seventh consecutive year in which the Pittsburgh affiliate has donated more than $1 million, said Kathy Purcell, executive director.


Much of the money will go to Adagio Health to help fund its Mammogram Voucher Program, which provides free mammograms and follow up services to women. Other grants will support breast education, screening and treatment in 30 counties in central and Western Pennsylvania.


Susan G. Komen died of breast cancer at the age of 36 after nine surgeries and three courses of chemotherapy and radiation.


Her sister, Ambassador Nancy Brinker started Susan G. Komen for the Cure in 1983. It's now the world's largest breast cancer organization. The Pittsburgh affiliate was founded in 1993.


The principal fundraising event is the Komen Pittsburgh Race for the Cure, a 5K race. Registration is now open for the 2012 race, which will be held in Schenley Park on May 13.


The registration fee is $10. To register, visit www.komenpittsburgh.org/komen-race-for-the-cure.


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Health Benefit Exchange plans, major outreach effort

LOS ANGELES – M.C. Kim had four heart attacks in as many years. Each time, he left the hospital not knowing why his heart had failed.


When he tried to enter a cardiac rehabilitation program to learn how to reduce the odds of having more heart trouble, the Medicare office told him to call Medicaid. The Medicaid office told him to call Medicare. In the end, he said, both denied coverage.


“I was like a ping pong ball,” said Kim, 51, who lives in Los Angeles. “Nobody wanted to take responsibility.”


So Kim kept returning to the emergency room, racking up expensive medical bills for taxpayers.


Kim and other patients like him are among the nation’s sickest and poorest residents, and their high-cost medical care places an untenable financial burden on states and the federal government. Because he is poor and disabled, he qualifies for both the federal Medicare program and the state-federal Medicaid program, called Medi-Cal in California.


These patients – 1.1 million in California alone – are some of the country’s priciest government health care consumers. Called dual eligibles, they accounted for close to 40 percent of Medicaid spending in California in 2009, nearly $10 billion, but constitute only about 15 percent of enrollees. Nationwide, the nearly 9 million dual eligibles have similarly disproportionate outlays and cost roughly $250 billion annually in Medicare and Medicaid funds.


Now, as federal officials look for ways to control costs under health care reform, they are zeroing in on millions of patients like Kim. But system reform is a sensitive issue.


“It’s a much more fragile population,” said Casey Young, who works for AARP in California. “It is always concerning when the motivation is cost savings and not improving care.”


The government spends so much on dual eligibles because of their illnesses: multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, Alzheimer’s disease and other debilitating conditions. The expenditures also are high because patients bounce between the two plans and often receive unnecessary, duplicative and poorly coordinated services. They cycle through emergency rooms, hospitals and nursing homes more than other Medicare or Medicaid enrollees, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.


The result, health care officials and other experts say, is not only inflated expenditures but also gaps in medical treatment for the most vulnerable patients: the elderly, poor and disabled.


How will people track this accountability?
One of our values is that we should be measured not just by what we say, but by our results. And central to our results is how we have expanded health coverage and access. So we will have a whole range of metrics on what percentage of people who are eligible actually enroll, how we are doing with different target populations, how we are doing in urban versus rural areas. So, we will be a data-rich and transparent organization.


There are members appointed by the previous governor on the board, is there any concern about consensus?
I left the Obama administration to join the California health benefit exchange in part because I was so phenomenally impressed by the strength and diversity of perspectives of this board. It’s a strong and well-informed board. I’ve been at a number of board meetings, both in public and closed session, and it’s a board that’s working phenomenally well together that brings perspective and values to what is a very complex set of issues. So the climate that I can speak to, is the climate that I’ve witnessed at board meetings and otherwise, which is one that has been collegial, sleeves rolled up to wrestle with a tough issue.


There have been attempts to repeal the federal health care act. What would that mean for the California exchange if something were to happen to federal funding?
Our job at the exchange is to deal with the realities we have. We are implementing a federal law, we are also implementing a state law. And our charge is to be ready to help more than six million Californians get health insurance. The what-ifs out there raise all sorts of hypotheticals, but we are being distracted from making sure that we are going to be expanding coverage. I spent a lot of time in Washington looking at the what-ifs, whether it's court case or electoral, and in some ways I think they aren’t worth spending a lot of time on, because this is the law of the land. We in California, across the political spectrum and range of stakeholders, are working together phenomenally well, recognizing that Californians don’t have the coverage they should have. And I’m confident that the spirit of collaboration and partnership that we’ve seen in standing up to the exchange would continue in California irrespective of what might happen at the national level.


Some critics have expressed concern over the exchange having an iron grip over the market.
The exchange will represent somewhere between 5 and 10 percent of the health care market. That is far from having an iron grip over anything. We look forward to helping create marketplace dynamics that will put consumers in the drivers' seat. The charge and charter of the exchange is to enable consumers, those that are choosing health plans, doctors, hospitals, with the information and ability to make the choice that’s right for them. For many, many years we had a healthcare system that [in some ways] hasn’t put consumers in the center of it. The exchange is putting consumers in the center of health care. And that’s not an iron grip, that’s putting the right hand on the steering wheel.


Any thoughts on Senator Mark Leno’s, D-San Francisco, Single Payer Option bill?
I have no comment on that. I’m not familiar with the legislation. Our focus at the exchange is implementing a program which is moving California and the nation, as part of the Affordable Care Act, toward close-to universal coverage through market-based reforms that we think have enormous promise. Whether there are legislative efforts to dismantle exchanges or start single-payer options, I’ve got a day job and it’s a pretty big one and that’s what I’m focusing on.

High IQ in Childhood May Predict Later Drug Use

People with high IQs are more likely to smoke marijuana and take other illegal drugs, compared with those who score lower on intelligence tests, according to a new study from the U.K.
"It's counterintuitive," says lead author James White of the Center for the Development and Evaluation of Complex Interventions for Public Health Improvement at Cardiff University in Wales. "It's not what we thought we would find."
The research was based on interviews with some 7,900 British people born in early April 1970. Researchers measured the participants IQs at ages 5 and 10, then followed up with them at ages 16 and 30, asking about symptoms of psychological distress and drug use as part of a larger survey.


At age 30, about 35% of men and 16% of women said they had smoked marijuana at least once in the previous year; over the same time period, 9% of men and 4% of women said they had taken cocaine. Previous-year drug users tended to have scored higher on IQ tests than non-users.
The IQ effect was larger in women: women in the top third of the IQ range at age 5 were more than twice as likely to have taken marijuana or cocaine by age 30, compared with those scoring in the bottom third. The men with the highest IQs were nearly 50% more likely to have taken amphetamines and 65% more likely to have taken ecstasy, compared to those with lower scores.
And these results held even when researchers controlled for factors like socioeconomic status and psychological distress, which are also correlated with rates of drug use.
So why might smarter kids be more likely to try drugs? "People with high IQs are more likely to score high on personality scales of openness to experience," says White. "They may be more willing to experiment and seek out novel experiences."


White is a research associate at the Center for Development and Evaluation of Complex Interventions for Public Health Improvement at Cardiff University, Wales.


The research has been mixed on how a high childhood IQ affects behavior in adulthood, White says.


"Previous studies have found high childhood IQ is associated with mostly healthy behaviors in adult life, such as having a healthy diet, being physically active, and not smoking," he says. "However, other studies have found high childhood IQ is linked to excess alcohol intake and alcohol dependency in adult life."


Kids With High IQs


In the study, women with high IQ scores at age 5 were more than twice as likely to have used marijuana and cocaine by age 30 than those with lower IQs at age 5.


Men with high IQ scores at age 5 were about 50% more likely to have used speed (amphetamines), 65% more likely to have used ecstasy, and 57% more likely to have used multiple illicit drugs by age 30, compared with those who did not perform as well on IQ tests at age 5.


The findings held when IQ was measured at age 10.


Parents' social status, psychological distress during adolescence, and their adult socioeconomic status did not affect risk of illicit drug use.


The study was not designed to determine how often participants used illicit drugs. More study is needed before researchers can draw any conclusions on how to keep brainy kids from using illicit drugs in the future, White says.


Bruce Goldman,director of substance abuse services at the Zucker Hillside Hospital of the North Shore-LIJ Health System in Glen Oaks, N.Y., says the message to parents of honor roll students is clear.


"Don't be lulled by your kid's good academic performance to think that they are not experimenting with drugs," he tells WebMD. "It is commonplace with peers and it is naive to think that because you have a good, smart kid that they will not be curious."


In fact, they may even be more curious and more apt to seek stimulation than other children, he says. "These kids may be more prone to want to find things out for themselves.

Geron Announcement Throws Stem Cell Research into Question

Geron Corp. attributed its decision to exit embryonic stem cell research to financial constraints rather than any scientific setbacks in the emerging and controversial research field.


The Menlo Park, Calif., company cited "capital scarcity" and the cost of research among its reasons for discontinuing further stem-cell development, a move announced Monday. Geron will focus on developing cancer drugs, and will seek corporate partners for the stem-cell program.


The move illustrates the complexity in translating promising basic research into useful therapies that can help patients. While political and ethical issues have surrounded embryonic stem-cell research.


This company would not walk away from this trial in the absence of an unexpected complication or safety concern, if there was any evidence that it was working," said Dr. Daniel Salomon, associate professor in the department of molecular and experimental medicine at the Scripps Research Institute in San Diego. "The assumption has to be that they designed a study with a purposeful plan to complete it to a certain benchmark of efficacy and that they had the funds for that effort in hand."


In 2009, the Obama administration lifted former president George W. Bush's restrictions on funding for stem cell research, which expanded the financial limits of the field.


Geron's trial on therapies for spinal cord injury became the first embryonic stem cell based research approved in the U.S.


"Without seeing the data, one cannot be certain that there was not a clinical reason for stopping the trial," said Dr. Robertson Parkman, professor of pediatrics at the University of Southern California.


Embryonic stem cells are considered so-called blank slates capable of transforming into any of the more than 200 distinct types of cells in the human body. Despite debates by pro-life members, embryonic cells have been considered by many scientists to hold the key to many therapies.


Sixty-two percent of Americans are in favor of conducting research that uses embryonic stem cells, according to a review of eight recent survey findings published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine.


Fifty-five percent of Americans believe the federal government should fund the research, according to the findings, which was supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.


More Democrats than Republicans support the research, suggesting that the outcome of the 2012 election could affect future federal funding.


Many experts said the overhyped image of embryonic cells as the sword in the stone of scientific research has caused many to feel disillusioned.


"[Embryonic stem cells] are not ready for 'prime-time,'" said Dr. Bryon Petersen, professor in the Institute for Regenerative Medicine at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. "There are too many variables about these cells that we just don't know about."


In many ways, these expectations have damaged the true potential of embryonic stem cell research, he said.


Embryonic stem cell research as a scientific endeavor is absolutely legitimate, and its contributions to our understanding of development and tissue specificity cannot be dismissed as hype now," said Salomon. "It certainly is not an indictment of a whole scientific field just because Geron failed in their first trial."




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Perhaps Geron's quest to find therapies for spinal cord injuries was too ambitious for the first U.S. embryonic stem cell trial, Petersen said. He called the endeavor "like trying to run when we can't even walk."


"A lot of basic science needs to be completed before we go running off to the clinics with stem cells," said Petersen.


Although Geron has called it quits, more than a dozen other companies are holding on to their work with embryonic stem cells.

Intentionally Giving Kids Chicken Pox a Bad Idea

An advertisement for chickenpox-infected lollipops appearing last month on Facebook quickly became popular among parents who oppose vaccinating their children against the disease, The New York Times reports.


“I have PayPal and plenty of spit and suckers,” the message read, according to the Times. “It works too because that’s how we got it! Our round was FedEx’d from Arizona. We’ve spread cooties to Cookeville, Knoxville and Louisiana!”


Other parents on the message board then began posting requests for shipments of a variety of chickenpox-infected items, including towels, rags, and children’s clothing. By giving the contaminated items to their children, the parents believe their kids will build up natural immunity against chickenpox — a method they believe is much safer than vaccination.


A pox party is an activity where parents put their children around others infected with a virus in order for them to get infected and thus build up immunity.


More recently Facebook groups have appeared to try to connect parents seeking the virus for their own kids, instead of getting them a traditional vaccine.


Some parents have even tried mailing lollipops coated in infected saliva.


Doctors say that probably won't spread chicken pox because the virus can't live long outside the body, but it can spread other infections.


Fergie says the chicken pox vaccine has made great strides in decreasing the number of outbreaks and forcing children to contract the virus is misguided.


"People are forgetting that we used to have more than 10,000 hospitalizations [yearly] before we had a vaccine," said Fergie.


"It's an irrational fear. It just doesn't make logical sense," said Dr. Ernest Buck.


Buck deals with concerned parents in his pediatric practice.


He says they often bring concerns about vaccines, but he says vaccines have been proven safe, while the viruses themselves have proven to be deadly in the past.


"It's hundreds or thousands of times safer to get the vaccine than run the risk of the real disease," Buck said.


"It's sad. You're putting your child at risk for death at risk of infection and of hospitalization for something we can now prevent," Fergie said.


Officials at Driscoll say because vaccination isn't an emergency parents should not bring children there for the treatments.


Doctors say to contact your child's primary physician to schedule a vaccination.

Self-harm common in teenagers

Research partly conducted by Australian experts found poisoning was the second most common method of self-harm, followed by self-battery such as deliberate knocking heads or limbs against walls or other objects. The problem was more common among girls than boys, with 10 per cent of the female subjects among the 1802 included in the study admitting to self-harm, compared to 6 per cent of boys.


The bright note of the research was that the practice largely disappeared by the time the teenagers reached young adulthood, when only 10 per cent of the participants said they had continued to hurt themselves. The work, jointly conducted by experts from Melbourne's Murdoch Childrens Research Institute and from King's College, London University, and published yesterday in The Lancet, is the first population-based study to follow a group of self-harming adolescents over time, charting the course of their self-harm habit into adulthood.


The Lancet study findings have important implications for the treatment of mental health issues and prevention of suicide in young adults.


The study looked at almost 2,000 adolescents in Australia, repeatedly surveying them over a period of 15 years.


Researchers found that anxiety, depression, heavy alcohol use, cigarette smoking and cannabis use were all associated with self-harm.


The study suggests that self-cutting and burning were the commonest forms of self-harm during adolescence.


As 90% of teenagers who self-harmed stopped before they reached adulthood, the research should offer some reassurance to families, schools and clinicians, the authors of the study say.


But, Marjorie Wallace, chief executive of the mental health charity SANE, said:


"The figures showing that 90% have stopped by the time they reach their twenties should not seduce us into thinking that self harm is just a phase that young people will grow out of".


Suicide risk?
"Our research shows that counter to common perception, people self-harm and continue to self-harm at times throughout their lives to protect themselves from attempting suicide and their families and friends from experiencing their mental pain."


Because of the association between self-harm and suicide, the researchers suggest treating common teenage mental health problems could be part of an "important and hitherto unrecognised component" of preventing suicide in adults.




"Self-harm is one of the most significant predictors of completed suicide, " a lead author, Dr Paul Moran, of King's College London, said.


Of the people who have died by suicide, around 50-60% have a known history of self-harm, according to Professor Keith Hawton, Director of the Centre for Suicide Research, University of Oxford.


How many people who have self-harmed die due to suicide, is less clear.

Some smokers can blame their genes

WASHINGTON -- President Obama — pronounced tobacco-free in his latest medical checkup — has tough words for cigarette makers.
Some tobacco companies, he says in a new White House web video, are fighting new cigarette warning labels because "they don't want to be honest about the consequences."


The video, provided to The Associated Press in advance of its release, observes Thursday's 36th "Great American Smokeout" by the American Cancer Society.


Mr. Obama says the country has made progress in reducing the number of Americans who smoke, but notes that 46 million are still addicted.


"The fact is, quitting smoking is hard," he says. "Believe me, I know."


Mr. Obama has fought the habit by chewing nicotine gum, and his last medical report, issued Oct. 31, declared him tobacco-free.


"Tobacco remains the leading cause of preventable early deaths in this country," Mr. Obama says in the video. "We also know that the best way to prevent the health problems that come with smoking is to keep young people from starting in the first place."


In 2009, Mr. Obama signed legislation to help keep young people from lighting up. In June, the Food and Drug Administration approved new warning labels that companies would have to place on the top half of cigarette packs. Some of the labels are powerfully graphic and include images of a man exhaling cigarette smoke through a tracheotomy hole in his throat, the corpse of a dead smoker, diseased lungs and a smoker wearing an oxygen mask.


Companies led by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. and Lorillard Tobacco Co. sued the FDA in August to block the labels, arguing the labels cross the line from fact-based warnings to anti-smoking advocacy. Altria Group Inc., parent company of Marlboro maker Philip Morris USA, is not in the lawsuit.


Thursday marks the 36th annual Great American Smokeout. To be sure, the dire health consequences of smoking are well-known, and many adults have quit over the past four decades. But some individuals have great difficulty quitting. The new study, by researchers at the University of Colorado, examined adult twins to look for a genetic influence in tobacco addiction.


The study, of 596 twin pairs, showed that adult identical twins (who share the same genes) are much more likely to quit smoking at the same time compared with fraternal twins (who do not have the same gene structure). Among identical twins, 65% of twins quit during a two-year time frame compared to 55% of fraternal twins. That suggests a genetic component, a co-author of the study, sociologist Fred Pampel, said in a news release.


"These days people don't smoke for social reasons," he said. "They, in fact, face criticism for the habit but tend to smoke because of their dependence on nicotine."


While laws that ban smoking in public places have put pressure on people to quit, that's probably not enough for some smokers, he said.


Anti-smoking laws and policies "may be effective in prodding social smokers with genetic resilience to quit but may do less to help genetically vulnerable smokers quit."


The article will appear this month in the journal Demography. Information on smoking cessation can be found at the American Cancer Society's smokeout page.

FDA approves first drug for bone marrow disorder

Incyte Corp.'s Jakafi pill obtained U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval Wednesday, making it the first drug approved specifically for myelofibrosis, a rare bone-marrow disease, according to the government agency.


The bone marrow of people with myelofibrosis is replaced by scar tissue, which can cause an enlarged spleen, anemia, decreased white blood cells and platelets. Jakafi, which is taken twice a day, inhibits the enzymes involved in regulating blood and immunological functioning.


Incyte said the drug will be available next week and the company has established a financial assistance program for patients who qualify.


"This milestone marks a tremendous achievement for Incyte because a scientific discovery from our research laboratories has become the first JAK inhibitor to reach the market and provide a clinical benefit to patients," said President and Chief Executive Paul A. Friedman.


Known generically as ruxolitinib, Jakafi is the first drug to reach the market from Wilmington, Del.-based Incyte Corporation. The company has partnered with Swiss drugmaker Novartis, which holds the rights to market Jakafi abroad. The company said Wednesday that Jakafi will cost $7,000 per month, or $84,000 for a year's supply for insured patients. Incyte plans to provide the drug free to uninsured patients and will offer co-pay assistance to patients with financial need.
The FDA approved the drug based on two studies including 528 patients with the disease. Patients were randomly assigned to receive a placebo or Jakafi. More patients in the drug group saw a significant reduction in the size of their spleen as well as a 50 percent decrease in symptoms, including pain, discomfort and night sweats.
The drug works by blocking two enzymes associated with the disease.
The FDA reviewed Jakafi under its priority review program for important new therapies, which aims to clear drugs in six months instead of the usual 10.
Side effects reported in patients taking the drug included diarrhea, headache, dizziness and nausea.
Company shares rose 97 cents, or 7.7 percent, to $13.57 in midday trading.

Cameras in Supreme Court during health care arguments

While there was no surprise over the Supreme Court’s decision Monday to review the 2010 health-care act’s insurance mandate, supporters of the law are reeling over the justices’ announcement that they will also consider a long-shot challenge to what many consider an even more central provision of the statute.


That provision is the extension of Medicaid to cover a greater number of the poor. Twenty-six states say the expansion amounts to an unconstitutional coercion of state governments, which provide part of Medicaid’s funding.


The decision on this issue is probably the most important the Supreme Court will be making on the Affordable Care Act,” said Ronald Pollack, executive director of Families USA, a consumer advocacy group that backs the law, referring to the statute by a common shorthand.


“Probably the most important achievement of the law is that it is going to reduce the number of people who don’t have health insurance by tens of millions. . . . About half of these people will gain their coverage through the Medicaid expansion. So the review of this provision goes right to the heart of the major accomplishment of the Affordable Care Act,” Pollack said.


Specifically, the law vastly broadens the minimum eligibility requirements for Medicaid, which provides health insurance to the poor and disabled with a combination of federal and state dollars.


Under the old rules, in exchange for federal grants that covered 50 to 80 percent of their Medicaid costs, states had to offer coverage to all children in families with annual incomes below the federal poverty level — $22,350 for a family of four — as well as to selected children with higher incomes and some adults with lower ones.


Under the health-care law, beginning in 2014, states will be required to cover all residents with incomes up to 133 percent of the poverty level, including childless adults, adding an estimated 17 million uninsured Americans to Medicaid’s rolls.


Initially, the federal government will foot the entire bill for covering the newly eligible. Its share will gradually drop to 90 percent by 2020 and beyond.


The 26 Republican state attorneys general and governors who filed the challenge to Medicaid expansion contend that these changes unconstitutionally force them to increase their spending on the program.


The Supreme Court on Monday announced it will hear five-and-a-half hours of oral arguments on the health care overhaul's constitutionality in March, reviving the health reform debate just months before the 2012 elections.


Given the implications of the case, the court should consider providing live audio and video coverage of the proceedings, Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa wrote in a letter to Chief Justice John Roberts on Tuesday.


"The constitutional questions presented in the case are momentous," Grassley wrote. "The public has a right to witness the legal arguments likely to be presented in the case."


House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday said she backed Grassley's request.


"When the Affordable Care Act is placed before the highest court in our country, all Americans will have a stake in the debate; therefore, all Americans should have access to it," Pelosi said in a statement. "Openness and transparency are essential to the success of our democracy, and in this historic debate, we must ensure the ability of our citizens to take part."


Brian Lamb, the CEO of C-SPAN, also sent a letter to Roberts on Tuesday with the same request, noting that the five-and-a-half hours of arguments scheduled for the case indicates its significance -- and makes the case for cameras more compelling.


"Interested citizens would be understandably challenged to adequately follow audio-only coverage of an event of this length," he wrote.


Grassley first introduced legislation that would allow cameras in the courtroom in 1999. Since then, the Supreme Court has been releasing audio after the fact of the oral arguments made in compelling cases. The first audio the Supreme Court ever released on an expedited schedule was for Bush v. Gore in 2000, the case that effectively resolved the presidential election.

FDA panel backs Pfizer vaccine for adults

SILVER SPRING, MD. – The majority of a Food and Drug Administration advisory panel on Nov. 16 supported expanding the approval of the pneumococcal 13-valent conjugate vaccine approved in 2010 for infants and children for use in adults aged 50 and older, based on studies using surrogate end points of effectiveness.


The FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee voted 14 to 1 that the immunogenicity data on the vaccine, marketed as Prevnar 13 by Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Inc., supported its effectiveness in preventing pneumococcal disease caused by the serotypes contained in the vaccine in people aged 50 and older. The panel also voted 14 to 1 that the available data supported its safety in this older age group, with the panel’s consumer representative casting the no vote on both questions.


Prevnar 13 is under FDA review as an accelerated approval, which applies to products that "provide meaningful clinical benefit" over existing treatments for serious and life-threatening illnesses, which in the case of this vaccine is the protection of adults and the elderly from nonbacteremic pneumococcal pneumonia and protection from invasive pneumococcal disease, according to the FDA. A product can be approved under the accelerated approval regulation based on studies using surrogate effectiveness end points, if a follow-up clinical study confirming the benefits is conducted. If that study is negative, the FDA can withdraw approval.


The proposed adult indication for Prevnar 13 is for the prevention of pneumococcal disease (including pneumonia and invasive disease) caused by the Streptococcus pneumoniae serotypes contained in the vaccine, in adults aged 50 years and older. Prevnar 13 was recently approved for this indication in 29 countries in Europe and 8 other countries.


The vaccine was approved in 2010 for preventing invasive disease caused by the S. pneumoniae serotypes in the vaccine in children aged 6 weeks through 5 years; it is also approved for preventing otitis media caused by seven serotypes.


The FDA usually approves products that win support from its advisory panels, and is due to make a final decision in January.


The agency is considering the vaccine under its accelerated approval process, meaning the FDA believes the medicine represents an unmet medical need.


The vaccine is designed to fight 13 forms of a bacterium called streptococcus pneumoniae, or pneumococcus.


Pneumonia caused by the pneumococcal organism is one of the biggest causes of death in older people and its incidence begins to increase after age 50.


The Prevnar vaccine is currently only approved for children, but Pfizer has said an expanded population of adults could generate more than $1.5 billion in annual sales for what is already among the world's biggest selling vaccines.


The Prevnar franchise -- known as Prevenar in Europe and other countries -- generated about $3.7 billion in global sales last year.