Health Highlights: Dec. 8, 2007

"Analysis restricted to regular users or to conditions that may yield higher levels of exposure (eg. heavy use in rural areas) showed consistently elevated risks," according to an abstract of the study,AFPreported.

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Half of Older Americans Haven't Had Screening Colonoscopy

Only half of Americans age 50 and older have had a colonoscopy to screen for colon cancer, according to survey data in the latestNews and Numbersfrom the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

The federal Preventive Services Task Force recommends that everyone age 50 and older be screened for colon cancer, the nation's second-leading cause of cancer death.

The survey revealed that:

Some 67 percent of Hispanics, 55.8 percent of blacks, and 47.1 percent of whites age 50 and older said they'd never had a screening colonoscopy.Among uninsured adults ages 50 to 64, 77 percent had never had a screening colonoscopy, compared to 54.1 percent of those with private insurance and 61 percent of those covered by Medicaid and other public insurance.Just over half of people age 65 and older covered by Medicare plus other public coverage had never had a screening colonoscopy, compared with 45 percent in the same age group who only had Medicare coverage, and 34.6 of those with Medicare plus private insurance.

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Triple-Drug Therapy for HIV Highly Effective

A British study has found that standard triple-drug therapy for HIV infection gives long-term protection against the development of full-flown AIDS,Agence France-Pressereported.

Researchers analyzed data about 7,916 HIV-positive patients on the standard triple-antiretroviral drug therapy, finding that only 167 developed extensive resistance to all three types of medication. The researchers estimated the risk of such triple failure after 10 years of therapy at about 9.2 percent.

The findings appear inThe Lancetmedical journal.