- Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments,
compiled by editors of HealthDay:
FDA Panel Recommends Drug for Rare Blood
Disorder
Despite reservations by U.S. Food and Drug Administration scientists, a
panel of experts advising the agency has recommended the full agency's
approval of a drug to treat a rare immune system disorder that causes the
body to destroy its own blood platelets.
The advisory panel voted unanimously Friday to recommend Promacta,
produced by GlaxoSmithKline and Ligand Pharmaceuticals, the Associated
Press reported. Earlier in the week, FDA scientists released data that
they suggested found that Promacta was no better than a placebo in
treating chronic idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura. Some 60,000 people
in the United States have the disorder, which leads to excessive bleeding
and bruising.
While noting that the drug makers haven't provided long-term data on
the drug's safety and effectiveness, the panel said a pair of six-week
studies indicated Promacta was of significant benefit to people with the
disorder, the AP reported.
The FDA has until June 19 to decide whether to approve the drug. While
it isn't bound by the recommendations of its expert panels, it typically
follows them.
—–
Facial Features Affect Perception of
Mood
A person's facial expressions and mood can be misperceived due to
differences in facial features such as eyebrow shape, eyelid position and
wrinkles, according to a U.S. study.
It included 20 health care workers who viewed photos that were
digitally altered to change a number of features. The participants were
asked to rate, on a scale of 0 to 5, seven expressions or emotions
conveyed in the photos: tiredness, happiness, surprise, anger, disgust,
fear and sadness, United Press International reported.
Results for the altered photos were compared to the scores from the
original photos. Overall, eyebrow shape was deemed to be the greatest
indicator of mood, drooping of the eyelids was considered the biggest
indicator of tiredness, and raising the lower eyelid and the presence of
crow's feet were associated with happiness.
The study appears in the journal Plastic and Reconstructive
Surgery.
“A key complaint of those seeking facial plastic surgery is that people
always tell them they look tired, even when they do not feel tired,” study
co-author Dr. John Persing said in a prepared statement cited by
UPI. “We found that variations in eyebrow contour, drooping of the
upper eyelid, and wrinkles may be conveying facial expressions that don't
necessarily match how patients are feeling.”
—–
Recalled Toy Helicopters Pose Fire, Burn
Hazards
About 152,000 Sky Champion wireless indoor helicopters are being
recalled because the rechargeable battery inside the toy can ignite and
pose fire or burn hazards to consumers, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety
Commission said.
There have been two reports of the Chinese-made toy helicopters
catching fire but no reports of injuries or property damage, according to
importer/distributor Tradewinds International Enterprises Inc. (TWIE), of
San Francisco, Calif.
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The recalled helicopters have the code BH26047 printed on the tail. The
code WIC 551777 and the UPC code 630990006005 are printed on the
packaging. The toys were sold at Walgreens stores across the United States
from June 2007 through November 2007 for about $20.
Consumers should stop using the toys and contact TWIE at 888-583-4908
for a refund. Walgreens will not accept returns or provide refunds, the
CPSC said.
—–
Most Children's Caregivers Ignorant About
Household Poisons
Less than one-third of people who cared for children younger than age
six knew the toxicity of common household products, a new U.S. study
found.
“Young children are at risk of household chemical ingestion and their
caretakers often do not have a good understanding of how toxic those
chemical are. Parental education needs to be focused more on younger
caretakers with more children,” study leader Dr. Rika N. O'Malley, of the
Albert Einstein Medical Center, said in a prepared statement.
The researchers screened primary caregivers who visited emergency
departments, asking them to identify toxic items from a list of common
household products. People with a higher level of education,
responsibility for fewer children, and those more than 23 years old were
more likely to have knowledge of household poisons.
The study was presented Friday at a meeting of the Society for Academic
Emergency Medicine.
The researchers said doctors needed to boost efforts to educate primary
caregivers about the risks of household toxins.
—–
500,000 Asian Youth Targeted by Tobacco
Companies: WHO
Tobacco advertising that targets teens is putting half-a-billion young
Asians at risk for tobacco-related diseases, says the Asia-Pacific
director of the World Health Organization.
In a statement issued on the eve of the WHO-designated “World No
Tobacco Day,” Shigeru Omi said the tobacco industry's marketing efforts
aim to persuade half-a-billion young people in the Western Pacific to try
their first cigarette, Agence France-Presse reported.
“Youngsters are led to believe that certain types of cigarettes do not
contain nicotine, when in fact they do,” Omi said.
He restated the WHO's demand for a total ban on tobacco advertising and
noted that partial bans simply allow tobacco companies to shift from one
promotional strategy to another, AFP reported.
The U.N. agency spokesman accused tobacco companies of “falsely
associating use of their products with desirable qualities such as
glamour, energy and sex appeal, as well as exciting outdoor activities and
adventure.”
—–
Fruits and Vegetables May Protect Against Lung
Cancer
Eating plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables and drinking black or
green tea may help reduce smokers' lung cancer risk, suggests a University
of California, Los Angeles study.
Researchers looked at the eating habits of 558 lung cancer patients and
837 people without the disease. People who ate three servings of
vegetables a day were 1.6 times less likely to develop lung cancer than
those who didn't eat three servings. People who ate three or more servings
of fruit were one-fold less likely to develop lung cancer, and those who
drank one cup of black or green tea a day had a 0.8-fold reduced risk,
CBC News reported.
Fruits, vegetables and tea contain flavonoids, which have antioxidant
and anti-inflammatory properties.
“What we found was extremely interesting, that several types of
flavonoids are associated with a reduced risk of lung cancer among
smokers,” said Dr. Zuo-Feng Zhang, a professor of public health and
epidemiology at UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center, CBC News
reported.
Zhang and colleagues believe flavonoids may help stop the development
of blood vessels that feed tumors, preventing them from invading healthy
tissue.
The study appears in the May issue of the journal Cancer.
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