Health Highlights: July 15, 2007

This amount is far greater than the $5 billion proposed by President Bush, the newspaper reports, and the difference may prompt a confrontation if the bill is passed.

The children's health insurance program expires Sept. 30. The $35 billion tax hike would take place immediately and increase the federal cigarette tax by 61 cents a pack to $1 a pack, theTimesreports.

Other tobacco products would also have proportionate tax increases, theTimesreports.

-----

Big Increase in Reports of Avandia-Related Side Effects

In the month after theNew England Journal of Medicinepublished an analysis that showed a possible connection between the popular diabetes drug Avandia and heart problems, there was a large increase in the number of suspected Avandia-related side effects reported to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, theAssociated Pressreported.

The analysis appeared online May 21. In the 35 days before the release of the analysis, five heart attacks believed to be linked to Avandia were reported to the FDA, compared with 90 such reports in the following 35 days. Reports of heart-related hospitalization among Avandia patients increased from 11 to 126, said theAP, which obtained the data through a Freedom of Information Act request to the FDA.

A number of experts said the analysis likely increased doctors' awareness about the drug's possible role in patients' heart problems, which resulted in the large increase in reported cases of side effects.

Avandia is made by GlaxoSmithKline PLC, which insists the drug is safe and effective. The FDA has scheduled hearings on July 30 to look into safety concerns about the drug, theAPreported.

Diabetes experts said patients taking Avandia should talk to their doctors and shouldn't immediately stop taking the drug.

-----

Dairy May Lower Men's Risk of Diabetes and Heart Disease

Men who consume milk and other dairy products may have a lower risk of diabetes and heart disease, concludes a 20-year British study that included 2,375 men, ages 45 to 59.

The University of Cardiff team found that men who drank a pint or more of milk a day were 62 percent less likely to develop metabolic syndrome,BBC Newsreported.

People with metabolic syndrome have two or more health conditions -- such as high blood glucose, high blood fats, high blood pressure, and high body fat -- that increase the risk of diabetes and coronary artery disease.

The study appears in theJournal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

But people shouldn't consume large amounts of full-fat dairy products in an attempt to prevent diabetes, Jemma Edwards, care advisor at Diabetes UK, toldBBC News. Edwards recommended two to three daily servings of low-fat dairy products as part of a balanced diet.

-----