- Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments,
compiled by editors of HealthDay:

Post-Concussion Activity Levels Affect
Recovery

The activity level of athletes after they've suffered a concussion
affects brain function and speed of recovery, says a U.S. study in the
Journal of Athletic Training.

Athletes who engage in high levels of activity following a concussion
showed impaired brain function, while those who engaged in moderate levels
of activity had the best performance on brain function tests, the study
found.

“We surmise that most athletes in the highest-intensity activity group
probably experienced a less severe initial injury, but by continuing with
high levels of activity, they began to exhibit similar symptoms to those
who initially experienced a more severe concussion,” researcher Jason P.
Mihalik, a certified athletic trainer at the University of North Carolina,
said in a prepared statement.

The study also found differences in recovery based on age and gender,
which suggests that different post-concussion strategies may be needed for
certain groups of athletes.

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FDA Repeats Warning About Transplant
Drugs

The organ transplant drugs CellCept and Myfortic can cause miscarriages
and birth defects when used by pregnant women, the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration reminded doctors Friday.

In an online notice to doctors posted Friday, the agency recommended
“confirming that a pregnancy has not occurred and ensuring that patients
use effective contraceptive measures,” the Associated Press
reported.

The drugs suppress the immune system in order to avoid organ rejection
in transplant patients. Last October, the FDA added its most serious
warning to CellCept and Myfortic after it received reports of miscarriages
and infants born with ear and mouth defects after their mothers took
CellCept.

Most of these cases occurred in mothers who took the drug before they
knew they were pregnant, said the FDA, which noted that some of the women
were taking the drugs for unapproved conditions such as lupus and
rheumatoid arthritis, the AP reported.

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Most U.S. Teen Girls Suffer Sexual Harassment:
Study

About 90 percent of American teenage girls have suffered at least one
incident of sexual harassment, suggests a study that included 600 girls,
ages 12 to 18.

The researchers found 67 percent of the girls reported receiving
unwanted romantic attention, 62 percent were exposed to demeaning
gender-related comments, 58 percent were teased because of their
appearance, 52 percent were subjected to unwanted physical contact, and 25
percent were bullied or threatened with harm by a male, United Press In
ternational reported.

In addition, 76 percent of the girls reported sexist comments on their
athletic abilities, and 52 percent received discouraging gender-based
comments about their math, science and computer abilities.

The findings were published in the May/June issue of the journal
Child Development.

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Scientific Laboratories Inc. Banned From
Making, Distributing Drugs

Scientific Laboratories Inc. has been banned from making and
distributing drug products until their manufacturing operations meet
federal regulations and their products are approved, the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration said Friday.

The company is a contract manufacturer and distributor of various
prescription cough and cold products. A number of Scientific Laboratories'
drugs “have not undergone FDA review for safety and efficacy and may pose
potential health risks,” Dr. Janet Woodcock, director of the FDA's Center
for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in a prepared statement.

The unapproved new drugs manufactured and marketed by Scientific
Laboratories as prescription cough and cold products include: B-Vex
Suspension; Ben-Tann Suspension; D-Tann Suspension; D-Tann AT Suspension;
D-Tann CT Suspension; D-Tann DM Suspension; D-Tann HC Suspension; Dur-Tann
DM Suspension; Duratan DM Suspension; L-All 12 Suspension; Nazarin Liquid;
and Nazarin HC Liquid.

Pharmacies should stop dispensing these products, and consumers with
these products in their homes should talk to their health care provider
about whether to stop using the products, the FDA said.

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Texas Seafood Producer Ordered to Close,
Recall Products

A seafood processing company in Texas has been ordered to close down
and recall all products manufactured at its facility since 2007, the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration said Friday.

Under a different name, Hope Food Supply Inc., of Pasadena, Texas, had
made dried smoked catfish steaks and other smoked seafood products but was
ordered to close until it developed and implemented an adequate Hazard
Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) plan for its products.

The company hasn't developed this plan and can't resume production
until it's implemented an approved HACCP plan, the FDA said. This type of
plan requires the company to identify all food safety hazards likely to
occur with each type of seafood product they process and establish
preventive measures to control those hazards.

Without such a plan, seafood products could contain potentially harmful
bacteria that could cause serious illnesses in people.

Hope Food Supply's products have been distributed across the United
States. Consumers should take any smoked seafood products to the place of
purchase to determine if the products came from Hope Food Supply. If so,
the products should be thrown away, the FDA said.

Consumers who have eaten Hope Food Supply dried smoked catfish or other
smoked seafood products and have suffered adverse reactions should consult
a health care professional.

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Drug Shows Promise in Atrial Fibrillation
Patients

The investigational drug Multaq (dronedarone) decreased the risk of
cardiovascular hospitalization or death from any cause by 24 percent in
patients with atrial fibrillation or atrial flutter, according to drug
maker Sanofi-Aventis.

The findings were expected to be presented at a meeting of the Heart
Rhythm Society, in San Francisco.

“Atrial fibrillation is a very common disease, and our prior treatment
options have been focused only on symptom relief and a hope to not do
harm, which has been the problem with prior antiarrhythmic drugs,” Dr.
Christopher Cannon, a senior investigator in the TIMI Study Group at
Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, said in a prepared statement.

“Now with (this study) demonstrating a highly significant reduction in
death or hospitalization, as well as a 45 percent reduction in arrhythmic
death or 30 percent cardiovascular death, dronedarone may become an
appropriate treatment option for atrial fibrillation,” said Cannon, who
was not involved in the study.

Atrial fibrillation affects about 2.5 million people in the United
States and about 4.5 million people in the European Union.