Healthy Coral Reefs Are on the Decline
Only about 30 percent of the world's coral reefs are healthy, down from 41 percent two years ago, according to a study released yesterday that lists global warming as the top threat.
The study found as many as one-fifth of coral reefs have been destroyed. Half are damaged but could be saved, it said.
After global warming -- blamed for higher water temperatures and carbon dioxide concentrations -- threats to the reefs include coral disease, overfishing, coastal development and pollution runoff from land, according to the study by 240 scientists in 96 countries.
"Reefs need our help, but they're not going to go extinct," said Clive Wilkinson, the study's lead author and coordinator of the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network.
About 65 percent of Persian Gulf reefs have been destroyed; 45 percent are gone off South Asia and 38 percent off Southeast Asia.
On the positive side, about two-fifths of the reefs seriously damaged by an unprecedented coral "bleaching" from unusually warm waters in 1998 have recovered.
Celebrex May Not Carry Risk of Heart Attacks
New research suggests that top-selling pain reliever Celebrex does not carry the same heart attack risk as Vioxx, a similar drug pulled from the market in September because of safety concerns.
The study by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania is the first to compare the two arthritis drugs since the recall and contradicts claims that all COX-2 inhibitors may carry similar dangers.
"Relative to Celebrex, Vioxx had about a threefold greater risk of heart attacks," said Stephen Kimmel, an associate professor of medicine and epidemiology and lead author of the study.
The study, funded by the makers of both drugs and the federal government, is being published in today's Annals of Internal Medicine. Researchers surveyed 1,718 patients in the five-county Philadelphia area who had heart attacks and were treated at one of 36 hospitals, and a comparison group of 6,800 people in the region.
The chances of having a heart attack were 2.72 times as great in Vioxx users as in Celebrex users, the researchers said. Merck & Co. pulled Vioxx from the market Sept. 30. Celebrex is made by Pfizer Inc.
But the researchers also found that patients using either drug were not at a significantly greater risk of having a heart attack than those who did not use either drug.
34% of Children Lack Quality Health Care
One-third of young U.S. children do not receive high-quality, preventative health care, a study in the journal Pediatrics found.
Researchers analyzed data collected on 2,041 children ages 4 months to 35 months in the 2000 National Survey of Early Childhood Health. The survey asked the primary caregiver about a child's health and care, and rated this preventative medical care as "excellent," "good," "fair" or "poor."
About 66 percent of children surveyed received "excellent" or "good" preventative care, and 34 percent received care considered "fair" or "poor." The study found that race, ethnicity, income and insurance were not factors.
Doctors spent about 18 minutes with the caregivers of children who received "excellent" or "good" care, compared with 12 minutes for children who had "fair" or "poor" care, said Barry Zuckerman, chief of pediatrics at Boston Medical Center and the study's lead author.
-- From News Services
