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Common Chemicals Boost Disease Risk
Common Chemicals Boost Disease Risk
May 25, 2007 10:46 AM CDT

Common Chemicals Boost Disease Risk

Scientists tie brief early exposure to laundry list of ailments

(Newser) - Beginning in the womb, exposure to common substances increases the likelihood of numerous health problems—including cancer, ADD, Parkinson's and obesity—years and even generations later, international environmental scientists say. Two hundred prominent experts yesterday took the unusual step of calling for intervention by governments, even those that have downplayed...

NIH Won't Breed Chimps for Research
NIH Won't Breed Chimps for Research
May 25, 2007 6:21 AM CDT

NIH Won't Breed Chimps for Research

Agency cites financial reasons; rights activists thrilled anyway

(Newser) - The National Institutes of Health will stop breeding chimpanzees for use in medical testing, the agency announced yesterday. The practice is being abandoned for financial reasons, NIH says; because chimpanzees live upwards of 50 years in captivity, their lifelong upkeep costs $500,000.

Conservatives Wield FDA Data on HPV Vaccine

Cite health risks in opposing vaccination of teenage girls

(Newser) - A group of religious conservatives has marshalled unreleased FDA data as a weapon in the battle against  Gardasil, the new cervical cancer vaccine. The data indicates health problems in women taking the vaccine, but  drugmaker Merck and the FDA both insist that the negative effects are probably unrelated to the...

FDA Warned of Avandia Risks Years Ago

Doctor alerted agency to cardiovascular concerns in 2000

(Newser) - A diabetes doctor warned the FDA of heart risks posed by the diabetes drug Avandia seven years ago, the New York Times reports. The same concerns raised by Dr. John Buse in a 2000 letter were reiterated in a study published by cardiologist Steven Nissen this week.

New Cancer Ideas Compete for $1 Million

A Harvard doctor and two hedge fund managers set up contest for cancer cure

(Newser) - Doctors and hedge fund managers are joining forces to battle cancer with a million-dollar prize for the most imaginative new approach. The Gotham Prize for Cancer Research will be awarded to the most innovative essay—posted to the website—on finding a cure for cancer. Leading medical researchers will judge...

FDA Approves No-Period Birth Control Pill

Drug from Wyeth includes 28 days of low-dose hormones

(Newser) - The FDA yesterday approved Lybrel, the birth control pill designed to stop women's periods for as long as they're on the medication, the AP reports. Unlike most other contraceptive pills, which consist of  21 daily doses of hormone treatments and 7 days of sugar pills, Lybrel contains 28 daily doses...

Drinking Slows Dementia
Drinking Slows Dementia
May 22, 2007 2:03 PM CDT

Drinking Slows Dementia

Add another item to list of alcohol-related miracles: It curbs cognitive decline

(Newser) - Score a victory for the nightcap: Booze may help halt dementia in the elderly, a new study suggests. The Italian research, published in the journal Neurology, concludes that a one-drink-a-day habit can slow the progression of dementia by 85% in those in people 65 and older who already show mild...

Plague Kills Monkey in Denver Zoo
Plague Kills Monkey in Denver Zoo
May 22, 2007 1:00 PM CDT

Plague Kills Monkey in Denver Zoo

Danger to humans from flea-borne disease deemed minimal

(Newser) - The bubonic plague has hit the Denver Zoo. An 8-year-old hooded capuchin monkey named Spanky was found dead last week, and postmortem tests confirmed that the cause was plague. The Denver Post reports that the monkey may have contracted the disease, which is usually spread by fleas, by eating the...

Abortion Docs Drawn to Fight for Access

In shrinking field, they're backing up politics with action

(Newser) - Abortion doctors are an embattled bunch, harassed by activist opponents and shunned by other doctors. But a new generation of practitioners is entering the field not in spite of the obstacles, but because of them, the LA Times reports. Galvanized by the prospect of abortion rights being curtailed, they are...

Trail of Chinese Chemicals Leads to Toothpaste

Governments on two continents investigate tainted product

(Newser) - The Dominican Republic is the latest country investigating the possibility that a poisonous chemical from China wound up in a consumer product. This time it's toothpaste that contains the industrial solvent diethylene glycol, which has already turned up in Panama and Australia, the Times reports. The Chinese government has tracked...

Diabetes Drug Ups Heart Risk
Diabetes
Drug Ups
Heart Risk
May 21, 2007 3:15 PM CDT

Diabetes Drug Ups Heart Risk

New study documents dangers of Avandia, but company nixes recall

(Newser) - A popular diabetes drug may increase heart attack risks, a study reported in the New England Journal of Medicine concludes. Patients who took Avandia, which treats Type 2 diabetes, were 43% more likely to have a heart attack than those who took a placebo, the Cleveland Clinic study found.

Psych Drugs Drove Kid Crazy
Psych Drugs Drove Kid Crazy
May 18, 2007 9:44 PM CDT

Psych Drugs Drove Kid Crazy

Careless prescriptions turned shy chess nerd into into belligerent hulk

(Newser) - The careless prescription of anti-psychotic drugs, often by psychiatrists who draw pay checks from the companies who make them, has drawn attention in the New York Times recently. Now Ann Bauer, writing in Salon, draws an intimate portrait of the effects of such carelessness on one autistic teenager, who turned...

Ban Chinese Ingredients? Easier Said Than Done

They're in virtually all processed foods. Six or more in the the Twinkie alone.

(Newser) - In the wake of the pet-food poisoning scandal, some of the biggest U.S. food manufacturers—Tyson and Mission Foods—have banned Chinese ingredients. But since China is the world's biggest supplier of the flavorings, vitamins and preservatives that are used in virtually all processed foods, the bans may be...

Britain OKs Human-Animal Hybrids for Research

(Newser) - The British government has reversed its stance on the creation of human-animal hybrid embryos and will propose allowing scientists to use them as sources of stem cells. Scientists developing treatments for incurable diseases would be allowed to grow the hybrid embryos for no longer than two weeks, and implanting them...

West Nile Turns Down Volume on Songbirds

Scientists hear trouble in quieter North American backyards

(Newser) - The West Nile virus is responsible for a major decline in North American bird populations, and the sudden quiet speaks volumes to environmental scientists. Beyond a lack of birdsong, a new National Zoo study reports, the decimation signals far-reaching ecological problems that have emerged since the mosquito-borne virus appeared on...

Big Pharma Loses Generic Drug Fight
Big Pharma Loses Generic
Drug Fight
May 17, 2007 10:23 AM CDT

Big Pharma Loses Generic Drug Fight

Deal for developing nations first blow by Dems in Congress

(Newser) - Congress and the White House have agreed to give developing nations more access to affordable generic drugs by easing some patent enforcement rules. Tucked into a broader trade agreement passed last week, the provision is the first blow to American pharmaceutical companies since the Democrats won control of Congress, the ...

Spider Venom the New Viagra
Spider Venom the New Viagra
May 16, 2007 7:31 AM CDT

Spider Venom the New Viagra

(Newser) - Men with erectile dysfunction may get an assist, believe it or not, from the Brazillian wandering spider—also dubbed the banana spider for its propensity to hide in bunches of the fruit. Researchers at Johns Hopkins have isolated a compound in the spider's deadly saliva that causes erections, der Spiegel...

Chemicals in Tap Water, French Fries May Cause Breast Cancer

(Newser) - Hundreds of common chemicals—from a substance used in French fries to one found in tap water—may cause breast cancer, a new report linking the disease to everyday products suggests. Researchers say they've found a link between cancer in animals and more than 200 common chemicals, many of which...

OxyContin Maker Pleads Guilty
OxyContin Maker Pleads Guilty
May 10, 2007 12:01 PM CDT

OxyContin Maker Pleads Guilty

Manufacturer, execs admit misleading public about risky painkiller

(Newser) - The company that makes OxyContin pleaded guilty today to misleading the public about the effects of the potent painkiller. Purdue Pharma and three executives will pay $634.5 million in civil and criminal fines. Federal prosecutors accused the firm of "misbranding" the drug, marketing it as a less addictive...

Doctors Paid Millions To Use Anemia Drugs

Among the world's top-selling medicines, the FDA now says they may be unsafe

(Newser) - Doctors are paid millions of dollars by drug companies to give their patients anemia medicine which regulators now say may be dangerous. Spurred by competiton between several similar drugs, companies reward doctors with rebates, which allow them to make a significant profit, the New York Times reports.

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