UPI Health Business articles from September 2006

UPI Health Business archives from September 2006

Ped Med: Depressed youth shortchanged.
September 1, 2006... Byline: LIDIA WASOWICZ The young and depressed often don't get the talk therapy they deserve and may be getting medication they don't need for a range of reasons, specialists say. For starters, there's the three-fold problem of...

Eat To Live: Coffee healthy -- or not?
September 1, 2006... Byline: JULIA WATSON Is that morning cup of coffee good for you or not? It seems to depend on which new survey you read. One recent study found that light-to-moderate coffee-drinking adults of middle to old age had an increased risk of...

Interview: An 'awful' tort system, AMA.
September 1, 2006... WASHINGTON, Sept. 1 (UPI) -- In an exclusive interview with United Press International, William Plested III, president of the American Medical Association, says that limits on medical tort "pain and suffering" damages are not enough without...

HealthWrap: Perils of 'portion distortion'.
September 1, 2006... Byline: DAN OLMSTED Most of us are eating and drinking more at each meal without even realizing it -- even the extra orange juice we consume could be adding five pounds a year, a new study shows. Researchers at Rutgers came up with the...

Interview: Clearant's CEO on tissue safety.
September 1, 2006... WASHINGTON, Sept. 1 (UPI) -- United Press International this week interviewed Clearant's CEO Alain Delongchamp about the company's technology for sterilizing human tissue implants, in light of the recent announcement from the Food and Drug...

Analysis: Calif. mulls gov't. health plan.
September 1, 2006... Byline: OLGA PIERCE WASHINGTON, Sept. 1 (UPI) -- Both houses of the California state legislature have passed a sweeping health coverage bill that would virtually eliminate private insurance in the state and replace it with a single,...

Analysis: Old drugs, new tricks?
September 3, 2006... Byline: ASTARA MARCH MADISON, Wis., Sept. 1 (UPI) -- Micro-organisms that are resistant to known antibiotics and tumor cells that can outsmart chemotherapy drugs are being put on notice by scientists who found a way to create new drugs...

EcoWellness: Mold a mushrooming problem?
September 5, 2006... Byline: CHRISTINE DELL'AMORE WASHINGTON, Aug. 30 (UPI) -- As people displaced by Hurricane Katrina begin to trickle back to their old homes, many are developing vague upper respiratory symptoms -- tightness of the chest and coughing --...

HealthWrap: Stay happy, stay young.
September 5, 2006... Byline: KATE WALKER While it has never been doubted that happiness and a calm disposition are good for the soul, new research has found that it will also keep you younger for longer. According to a study by Dr. Paul Lehrer of New...

Caregiving: Choosing a hospital -- Part 9.
September 5, 2006... Byline: ALEX CUKAN ALBANY, N.Y., Sept. 5 (UPI) -- People should be able to go to the hospital and receive care without complications, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. Too often that is not the case....

Analysis: Drug-coated stents' downside?
September 5, 2006... Byline: ED SUSMAN BARCELONA, Spain, Sept. 5 (UPI) -- It's been five years since drug-eluting stents -- tiny, drug-coated coils that prevent unwanted cell growth in the heart's arteries -- became the darlings of interventional cardiologists...

Analysis: Animal-rights groups up the ante.
September 5, 2006... Byline: STEVE MITCHELL WASHINGTON, Sept. 5 (UPI) -- Animal-rights activists have upped their reward for arrest of a researcher for animal abuse in response to the FBI's offer for information leading to the arrest of extremists who left an...

Babies of meth-using moms born underweight.
September 5, 2006... Byline: CHRISTINE DELL'AMORE WASHINGTON, Sept. 5 (UPI) -- A prospective, large-scale study has found pregnant mothers who use methamphetamine have a higher chance of giving birth to underweight babies. Meth-using mothers were...

Analysis: Cycle of doc burnout and error.
September 6, 2006... Byline: OLGA PIERCE WASHINGTON, Sept. 6 (UPI) -- The high proportion of medical residents who think they have made mistakes are more likely to become depressed and burnt out, which, in turn, can lead to more medical errors, according to a...

Analysis: 3-in-1 heart pill moves forward.
September 6, 2006... Byline: ED SUSMAN BARCELONA, Spain, Sept. 6 (UPI) -- The polypill -- a multi-drug tablet designed to bring First World cardiology treatment to millions of individuals in the Third World -- continues to roll towards development, pushed by a...

FluWrap: Bird outbreaks in 4 countries.
September 6, 2006... Byline: KATE WALKER Avian-influenza outbreaks in birds have surfaced in four countries in recent days, with Egypt, Indonesia, Cambodia and Vietnam all reporting incidences of H5N1 infection. In its first reported infections in two...

Analysis: Regulate food portion size?
September 6, 2006... Byline: ED SUSMAN BARCELONA, Spain, Sept. 6 (UPI) -- If you wander into a certain Italian restaurant in Chicago and order soup and lasagna, you may need a crane to get you out of your seat. The soup bowl could double as a baby's...

Ped Med: Non-drug options for sad youth.
September 6, 2006... Byline: LIDIA WASOWICZ Spurred by the uncertainty and controversy that surrounds the use of anti-depressants in children and adolescents, researchers are working to come up with non-chemical solutions, at least for the milder cases of...

Analysis: Health plan merger a red flag?
September 6, 2006... Byline: LAURA GILCREST WASHINGTON, Sept. 6 (UPI) -- U.S. lawmakers Wednesday urged antitrust regulators to look closely at whether a pending health-plan mega-merger squeezes out competition, a problem some experts say is a primary driver...

The Age of Autism: About those 'old dads'.
September 6, 2006... Byline: DAN OLMSTED WASHINGTON, Sept. 6 (UPI) -- The study released this week that found older fathers more likely to have autistic children has created a media stir. But there may be less to the story than meets the eye. "Autism Risk...

Analysis: Stem cell method questioned.
September 6, 2006... Byline: STEVE MITCHELL WASHINGTON, Sept. 6 (UPI) -- Advanced Cell Technology's technique for harvesting embryonic stem cells without harming embryos first reported two weeks ago continues to be enveloped in controversy because scientists...

Caregiving: PTSD anniversaries.
September 7, 2006... Byline: ALEX CUKAN ALBANY, N.Y., Sept. 7 (UPI) -- Even as a journalist I wondered why so many anniversaries were covered with so much fuss, but I've learned that marking anniversaries is an important thing to do -- and very healing. ...

HealthWrap: Elective Caesarean death risk.
September 7, 2006... Byline: KATE WALKER LONDON, Sept. 7 (UPI) -- Babies born by elective Caesarean are more likely to die than those born naturally, a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta has found. According to the...

Eat To Live: Home-grown caviar, French-style.
September 7, 2006... Byline: JULIA WATSON LE BUGUE, France, Sept. 7 (UPI) -- Whatever foods you associate with France, I'll bet caviar isn't one of them. Yet Aquitaine, the old fashioned name for the region around Bordeaux that produced that superlative...

Analysis: FDA opposed on fillings risk.
September 7, 2006... Byline: TODD ZWILLICH WASHINGTON, Sept. 7 (UPI) -- A federal panel rejected Food and Drug Administration conclusions arguing that mercury dental fillings pose little or no health risk to patients. Experts stressed that their move did...

Analysis: Academia's role in global aid.
September 8, 2006... Byline: OLGA PIERCE WASHINGTON, Sept. 8 (UPI) -- Universities -- both in the United States and in developing countries -- can have an important role to play in improving the return on development dollars spent, advocates said this week....

Analysis: Most worried over Medicare cuts.
September 8, 2006... Byline: LAURA GILCREST WASHINGTON, Sept. 7 (UPI) -- A survey issued this week by the American Medical Association shows most people would be blindsided by planned cuts to doctors' Medicare reimbursements, but when told of the pending pay...

EcoWellness: Unearthing clues.
September 8, 2006... Byline: CHRISTINE DELL'AMORE WASHINGTON, Sept. 8 (UPI) -- Whether we're sitting in air-conditioned offices or jogging through smog-filled streets at lunchtime, we can't escape the environment. Conditions such as asthma, cancer, allergies...

Ped Med: Advice on depressed youth.
September 8, 2006... Byline: LIDIA WASOWICZ SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 8 (UPI) -- When a child has been properly diagnosed with depression and non-drug options ruled out, parents should not be afraid to pepper the physician with questions before agreeing to a...

Study offers new test for liver fibrosis.
September 8, 2006... ROCHESTER, Minn., Sept. 8 (UPI) -- A form of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), called MR Elastography (MRE), can diagnose liver fibrosis in its early stages, say U.S. researchers. If left unchecked, the condition can progress to cirrhosis,...

Eat To Live: Soy products not so healthy?
September 8, 2006... Byline: JULIA WATSON LE BUGUE, France, Sept. 8 (UPI) -- From cups of miso soup to handfuls of edamame beans in place of peanuts at the hip cocktail hour, soy beans have had a fast, fashionable and impressive impact upon our eating habits....

Analysis: Red Cross hit with record fine.
September 8, 2006... Byline: TODD ZWILLICH WASHINGTON, Sept. 8 (UPI) -- The Food and Drug Administration fined the American Red Cross $4.2 million Friday, the largest-ever penalty for violating safety standards governing the collection and distribution of...

Analysis: Is Medicare means testing fair?
September 8, 2006... Byline: OLGA PIERCE WASHINGTON, Sept. 8 (UPI) -- Both supporters and opponents of making the wealthy pay more for parts of Medicare agree it opens the door for means testing in the future, but what they do not agree on is whether it will...

ADHD raises teens' accident risk.
September 11, 2006... Byline: AMBER CORRIN WASHINGTON, Sept. 11 (UPI) -- Teenage drivers afflicted with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder face an even greater risk of car accidents, already the leading cause of death among adolescents in the United...

Eat To Live: Brave critic opens restaurant.
September 11, 2006... Byline: JULIA WATSON PARIS, Sept. 8 (UPI) -- It's a rare event for a food critic to jump the fence with a project that opens them to the prospect of becoming the biter bit. But Vietnam-born and Paris-based Christine Nguyen-Cong has done...

Concussions pose threat for young athletes.
September 11, 2006... Byline: AMBER CORRIN WASHINGTON, Sept. 11 (UPI) -- At the dawn of a new football season, young athletes may be eager to get out on the field -- but those with potentially dangerous concussions may need a second look before resuming play,...

Analysis: Anti-depressants tied to violence.
September 11, 2006... Byline: STEVE MITCHELL WASHINGTON, Sept. 11 (UPI) -- Two studies released Monday may bring further scrutiny upon the beleaguered selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor class of anti-depressants. One study suggests the drugs may...

Analysis: Part D cancer coverage concerns.
September 12, 2006... Byline: OLGA PIERCE WASHINGTON, Sept. 12 (UPI) -- Most cancer drugs are covered by most Part D plans, according to a new study. But the survey of cancer drug coverage under Part D also reveals that while the Medicare Part D...

HealthWrap: Losing your mind? Probably.
September 12, 2006... Byline: KATE WALKER LONDON, Sept. 12 (UPI) -- If, as you enter your twilight years, you feel you're losing your mind, new research indicates that your instincts may well be right. According to a study conducted by Andrew Saykin,...

Ped Med: Accelerating autism debate.
September 12, 2006... Byline: LIDIA WASOWICZ SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 12 (UPI) -- (Note: In this multi-part installment, based on dozens of reports, conferences and interviews, Ped Med is keeping on eye on autism, taking a backward glance at its history and...

Subpar screening leaves schools vulnerable.
September 12, 2006... Byline: CHRISTINE DELL'AMORE WASHINGTON, Sept. 12 (UPI) -- Inadequate screening procedures for incoming teachers have left U.S. schools exposed to hiring criminals such as John Mark Karr, the schoolteacher who falsely claimed he murdered...

IOM quashes 'Gulf War Syndrome'.
September 12, 2006... Byline: TODD ZWILLICH WASHINGTON, Sept. 12 (UPI) -- There is no evidence of a "Gulf War" illness afflicting U.S. soldiers who served in Iraq and Kuwait in the early 1990s, a federal advisory panel concluded Tuesday. The Institute of...

Analysis: Heart, renal risks tied to Vioxx.
September 12, 2006... Byline: STEVE MITCHELL WASHINGTON, Sept. 12 (UPI) -- Two studies released Tuesday indicate some COX-2 inhibitors and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs increase the risk of cardiovascular and kidney problems, findings that could lead to...

Medicare Part B premiums rise again.
September 12, 2006... Byline: TODD ZWILLICH WASHINGTON, Sept. 12 (UPI) -- Seniors' "Part B" premiums for doctors' visits and lab tests paid by Medicare are set to go up five dollars per month in 2007, the government announced Tuesday. Most beneficiaries...

Analysis: Mortality-rate gaps.
September 13, 2006... Byline: ANNE DECECCO WASHINGTON, Sept. 13 (UPI) -- A study released this week by the Harvard School of Public Health reveals the largest measurable gaps in U.S. mortality rates to date. According to the study, which uses information on...

FluWrap: Indonesian toll increases further.
September 13, 2006... Byline: KATE WALKER LONDON, Sept. 13 (UPI) -- Indonesia, the country whose population has been worst hit by avian influenza, has had its death toll officially revised by the World Health Organization, taking the figure to 49. This...

Analysis: Pharma sees win in animal rights.
September 13, 2006... Byline: STEVE MITCHELL WASHINGTON, Sept. 13 (UPI) -- The pharmaceutical industry sees a major victory in the prison sentences handed out this week for several animal-rights activists involved in a campaign to shut down a company that...

Analysis: Managing Medicaid managed care.
September 13, 2006... Byline: OLGA PIERCE WASHINGTON, Sept. 13 (UPI) -- Making more use of managed-care tools can help Medicaid save money, but only if it is done well, panelists said at a Senate Special Committee on Aging hearing Wednesday. "I think we all...

Analysis: AMA rushes to patch funding cut.
September 13, 2006... Byline: ALAN MCCOMBS WASHINGTON, Sept. 13 (UPI) -- The American Medical Association rolled out a $1.5 million advertising campaign this week urging Congress to stop a 5-percent cut in Medicare payments to physicians slated to go into...

Vitamin D may cut pancreatic-cancer risk.
September 13, 2006... Byline: CHRISTINE DELL'AMORE WASHINGTON, Sept. 13 (UPI) -- Taking vitamin D supplements and eating foods rich in the nutrient may reduce a person's risk for getting pancreatic cancer, one of the most rapidly fatal forms of the disease, a...

Eat To Live: Don't eat our pets!
September 13, 2006... Byline: JULIA WATSON WASHINGTON, Sept. 13 (UPI) -- Take a brief glance at recent food-related action by our legislators and it would seem we're suddenly more worried about animals than people. On Aug. 22, a ban on the sale and...

HealthWrap: Water that fights cancer?
September 14, 2006... Byline: KATE WALKER LONDON, Sept. 14 (UPI) -- While it has long been known that drinking water has many health benefits, research has shown that drinking Deeside mineral water, from the United Kingdom, can help to slow the spread of...

Eat To Live: Open letter on child health.
September 14, 2006... Byline: JULIA WATSON WASHINGTON, Sept. 14 (UPI) -- You don't expect to see readers' letters on the front page of a national newspaper. But Britain's The Daily Telegraph ran one Sept. 12 with more than 110 signatories. They were each...

Caregiving: WTC's toxic dust clouds -- 1.
September 14, 2006... Byline: ALEX CUKAN ALBANY, N.Y., Sept. 14 (UPI) -- It's one thing to be killed or injured in a terrorist attack, but it's quite another to die or become ill because government bureaucrats give incorrect or conflicting reports. That's...

Analysis: E-lab data face privacy issues.
September 14, 2006... WASHINGTON, Sept. 14 (UPI) -- The clashing interests of health agencies sharing electronic data and the need to protect patients' privacy continues to stall progress in shifting the nation's epidemiological data into cyberspace. The issue...

Analysis: Seniors like Part D, not 'donut'.
September 14, 2006... Byline: OLGA PIERCE WASHINGTON, Sept. 14 (UPI) -- Seniors are becoming increasingly satisfied with their Medicare Part D prescription coverage, two new surveys suggest, in part because they have had time to become more familiar with the...

Interview: New ways to help diabetics cope.
September 14, 2006... Byline: CHRISTINE DELL'AMORE WASHINGTON, Sept. 14 (UPI) -- Diabetes is for life. Yet many of America's 21 million type-2 diabetics don't realize the severity of their disease, and even worse, how to manage it successfully. It's no...

Analysis: 9/11 fed responder plan steps up.
September 15, 2006... Byline: LEAH CARLINER WASHINGTON, Sept. 14 (UPI) -- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday it intends to speed up its allocation of $75 million to the World Trade Center federal responders program to combat lingering...

New approach on reproductive rights.
September 15, 2006... Byline: KRISTYN ECOCHARD WASHINGTON, Sept. 15 (UPI) -- The release this week of the Center for American Progress position paper, "More Than a Choice," marks the beginning of a new campaign for reproductive health and rights. The...

Ped Med: Of vaccines and autism.
September 15, 2006... Byline: LIDIA WASOWICZ SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 15 (UPI) -- Now in full bloom among many parents and even scientists and doctors, the budding view of vaccine as agent of autism began sprouting in the 1980s. It took firmer root in 1998 with...

Changes urged in Hispanic healthcare.
September 15, 2006... Byline: MICHAEL STOTHARD WASHINGTON, Sept. 15 (UPI) -- Hispanic communities have been left behind by the current healthcare system, asserts a new report. The report was put together by 18 of the "greatest minds in healthcare," the...

Analysis: Avandia a diabetes DREAM?
September 15, 2006... Byline: ED SUSMAN COPENHAGEN, Denmark, Sept. 15 (UPI) -- Researchers said Friday that the insulin sensitizer drug rosiglitazone (Avandia) dramatically reduces the chance that people at risk of diabetes will go on to develop the disease....

EcoWellness: Elemental dangers?
September 15, 2006... Byline: CHRISTINE DELL'AMORE WASHINGTON, Sept. 15 (UPI) -- People who inhale tiny metal particles contained in air pollutants may be more likely to develop lung cancer, an epidemiological study has shown. In a study of lung-cancer...

Analysis: The medical record paper chase.
September 15, 2006... Byline: OLGA PIERCE WASHINGTON, Sept. 15 (UPI) -- While there are some legitimate concerns about the security of electronic health records, they are much easier to keep protected than the paper records most healthcare providers still rely...

Eat To Live: Too thin -- and too fat.
September 18, 2006... Byline: JULIA WATSON WASHINGTON, Sept. 18 (UPI) -- Madrid last week banned stick-thin models from its Fashion Week catwalks. British Culture Minister Tessa Howell has asked London Fashion Week to follow suit, as has the mayor of Milan for...

Weight fears may keep new moms smoking.
September 18, 2006... Byline: LEAH CARLINER WASHINGTON, Sept. 18 (UPI) -- Women who quit smoking while pregnant are less motivated to stay non-smokers after giving birth if they believe that smoking will help them maintain their weight, found a recent study....

Caregiving: WTC's toxic dust clouds -- 2.
September 18, 2006... Byline: ALEX CUKAN ALBANY, N.Y., Sept. 18 (UPI) -- Residents of Lower Manhattan caught in the toxic dust cloud after the World Trade Center collapse on Sept. 11, 2001, were told by city officials to clean their homes "with a wet rag." ...

Analysis: Colitis market to hit $1.1B.
September 18, 2006... Byline: STEVE MITCHELL WASHINGTON, Sept. 18 (UPI) -- Emerging drugs from Shire, Procter & Gamble, Isis and PDL BioPharma are set to drive the ulcerative colitis market from $656 million to $1.1 billion by 2015, according to an analyst...

Analysis: Psych relapse risk if meds stop.
September 18, 2006... Byline: ED SUSMAN SPRINGFIELD, Va., Sept. 18 (UPI) -- Doctors said Monday that a new survey of nearly 1,000 caregivers for people who have psychiatric disorders shows that relapses -- the worsening of symptoms after treatment -- occur 91...

Analysis: Malaria in the spotlight.
September 18, 2006... Byline: OLGA PIERCE WASHINGTON, Sept. 18 (UPI) -- After decades of complacency, world health groups are launching an unprecedented assault on the scourge of malaria, but much work remains to be done. "There has been increased attention...

Study: Sleep apnea may predict depression.
September 19, 2006... Byline: JACOB RUSSELL WASHINGTON, Sept. 19 (UPI) -- People who have a sleep-related breathing disorder may be more at risk for depression that those without a disorder, according to a recent longitudinal study. "Up until this point,...

Eat To Live: Eating like the Ottomans.
September 19, 2006... Byline: JULIA WATSON ISTANBUL, Turkey, Sept. 19 (UPI) -- On a grassy cliff high above the Bosporus, with a cantaloupe sun slipping down behind them between the needles of minarets to Istanbul darkening below, the dazzling young couple...

HealthWrap: Happy teachers, healthy kids.
September 19, 2006... Byline: KATE WALKER LONDON, Sept. 19 (UPI) -- Scottish researchers have discovered that happy teachers, health education in the classroom and rewarding good behavior could all affect smoking and drinking in schoolchildren. Dr. Marion...

Analysis: HPV vaccine drawing attention on all sides.
September 19, 2006... Byline: AMBER CORRIN WASHINGTON, Sept. 19 (UPI) -- Michigan legislators are expected to vote Wednesday to require all girls entering sixth grade to receive the new human papillomavirus vaccination. It would be the first state to make the...

Analysis: Reviews mixed on GSK's DREAM.
September 19, 2006... Byline: STEVE MITCHELL WASHINGTON, Sept. 19 (UPI) -- Analysts are split on whether the results of the DREAM trial for Avandia are a positive or negative for GlaxoSmithKline, with some reducing their rating of the stock and others raising...

Spinach scare: How to avoid E. coli.
September 19, 2006... Byline: CHRISTINE DELL'AMORE WASHINGTON, Sept. 19 (UPI) -- As the recent outbreak of E. coli-tainted spinach continues to sicken people across the nation, experts say there are some prevention strategies that will work against the...

Analysis: Heart failure, ED culprit found?
September 19, 2006... Byline: ASTARA MARCH HOUSTON, Sept. 19 (UPI) -- A new study has zeroed in on a protein kinase called ROCK-1 that may ultimately allow doctors to stop heart failure before it starts, lower high blood pressure and in turn, eliminate erectile...

Eat To Live: Popeye's spinach alternatives.
September 20, 2006... Byline: JULIA WATSON WASHINGTON, Sept. 20 (UPI) -- The E. Coli outbreak in fresh spinach is clearly a catastrophe for farmers. Many of them are now plowing under their crops that would otherwise contribute to a multimillion dollar...

Analysis: Will drugs rock the senior vote?
September 20, 2006... Byline: OLGA PIERCE WASHINGTON, Sept. 20 (UPI) -- The prices of 193 drugs commonly used by seniors have risen more than 6 percent in the last year, and that could have an impact on upcoming congressional elections, the AARP said Tuesday....

FluWrap: Monitor 'H5N1 lite' for spread.
September 20, 2006... Byline: KATE WALKER LONDON, Sept. 20 (UPI) -- One of the major concerns inherent in the possible avian-influenza pandemic is the disease's extraordinarily high death rate, which is more than half of known cases. But officials are now...

Analysis: ImClone loses Erbitux patent.
September 20, 2006... Byline: STEVE MITCHELL WASHINGTON, Sept. 20 (UPI) -- The recent ruling invalidating ImClone's patent on Erbitux could be a significant hit for the company, and it has already opened the door for rival Amgen's Vectibix. Judge Naomi...

Analysis: US healthcare earns sorry score.
September 20, 2006... Byline: TODD ZWILLICH AND LAURA GIICREST WASHINGTON, Sept. 20 (UPI) -- The U.S. health system has earned a dismal score in the most comprehensive grading of access, quality, cost, and efficiency to date. The Commonwealth Fund, a...

Analysis: Docs miss message on e-mail.
September 21, 2006... Byline: OLGA PIERCE WASHINGTON, Sept. 21 (UPI) -- E-mail communication between doctors and patients offers the promise of greater convenience and efficiency, but growth in the number of doctors using it is flat, according to a new study....

Caregiving: Spinach fears -- Part 1.
September 21, 2006... Byline: ALEX CUKAN ALBANY, N.Y., Sept. 21 (UPI) -- Caregivers sweat bullets about food safety because we are the people who feed the immune compromised -- it is one thing to die of heart failure but quite another to die from eating salad....