Wednesday, February 6, 2008
12:00 AM
Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors ofHealthDay:
Cell Phone Use Doesn't Increase Brain Cancer Risk: Study
A new Japanese study adds to previous findings that cell phones don't increase the risk of brain cancer. Researchers at Tokyo Women's Medical University compared 322 brain cancer patients and 683 healthy people and concluded that regular cell phone users weren't more likely to develop any of the three most common types of brain tumor -- glioma, meningioma or pituitary adenoma.
In this study, the researchers rated each participant according to how many years they'd used a cell phone and how long they spent talking on it each day. They also examined how radiation emitted by various types of cell phones might affect different parts of the brain,BBC Newsreported.
"Using our newly developed and more accurate techniques, we found no association between mobile phone use and cancer, providing more evidence to suggest they don't cause brain cancer," said lead researcher Professor Naohito Yamaguchi.
The study was published in theBritish Journal of Cancer.
Previous studies investigating a possible link between cell phones and brain cancer have produced contradictory findings, but most have suggested no association,BBC Newsreported.
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Beet Juice Lowers Blood Pressure
Drinking 500 milliliters of beet juice a day may significantly lower blood pressure, says a British study that found that healthy people's blood pressure decreased within an hour of drinking the juice,BBC Newsreported.
The reduction in blood pressure was even more pronounced three to four hours after drinking the beet juice, and some degree of reduction continued for up to 24 hours. The findings were published online in the journalHypertension.
The researchers said nitrate, which is also found in green, leafy vegetables, appears to be the key blood pressure-lowering ingredient in beet juice,BBC Newsreported.
"Our research suggests that drinking beetroot juice, or consuming other nitrate-rich vegetables, might be a simple way to maintain a healthy cardiovascular system, and might also be an additional approach that one could take in the modern day battle against rising blood pressure," said study author Professor Amrita Ahluwalia.
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Overuse of Cotton Ear Swabs Led to Meningitis Death: Coroner
Stronger health warnings are needed for cotton ear swabs, says a Quebec coroner who concluded that overuse of the swabs led to the death of a Montreal man last year, theGlobe and Mailnewspaper reported.
Dr. Jacques Ramsay said overuse of cotton swabs and repeated rubbing likely led to an ear infection and perforated eardrum in 43-year-old Daniel St-Pierre. The infection in his outer ear migrated through the perforated eardrum into the inner ear and caused a fatal case of meningitis, an infection of the fluid around the spinal cord and brain, Ramsay said.
"Once you're in the inner ear, you're millimetres away from the meninges and the brain," Ramsay told theGlobe and Mail. "You just need one time to perforate your eardrum, and that opens the barrier and allows the infection to migrate."
While the likelihood of such cases is low, Ramsay wants Health Canada to put stronger product warnings on cotton swab products. He suggested the warning include a diagram of an ear with a red X through it.
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DNA From 3 People Used to Create Embryos
Human embryos that contain DNA from two women and one man have been created by British scientists who used a gene-swapping technique that could potentially help prevent a number of genetic diseases, theAssociated Pressreported.
The preliminary research may cause some people to worry about the creation of genetically modified babies, but the researchers said the embryos are still primarily the product of one woman and one man. There's just a bit of gene tweaking involved, they explained.
"We are not trying to alter genes, we're just trying to swap a small proportion of the bad ones for some good ones," researcher Patrick Chinnery, a professor of neurogenetics at Newcastle University, told theAP.
Chinnery and his colleagues used normal embryos created by a man and a woman who had defective mitochondria (a cell's energy source) in her eggs. Mistakes in the genetic code of mitochondria can cause serious problems such as epilepsy and mental retardation in children.
The researchers transplanted the embryos from that couple into emptied eggs donated by a second woman who had healthy mitochondria. So far, the researchers have used this method to create 10 embryos, which haven't been allowed to develop for more than five days, theAPreported.
If further tests over the next few years prove successful, the process might become available to parents undergoing in-vitro fertilization, Chinnery said.
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FDA Warns of Food Poisoning From Gulf Coast Fish
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an advisory Tuesday to seafood processors on recent foodborne illnesses linked to fish carrying the ciguatera toxin.
The toxic fish were harvested in the Gulf of Mexico, near Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary south of the Texas-Louisiana coastline, according toUPI.
Several recent illnesses of ciguatera fish poisoning, or CFP, have been confirmed in Washington, D.C., and St. Louis, Mo., the FDA said, and the illnesses were linked to fish caught near the marine sanctuary. According to theAssociated Press, there have been at least 28 reported cases across the country, with the first case being reported in late November.
The FDA said it now considers CFP a food safety hazard likely to occur in grouper, snapper, and hogfish captured within 10 miles of the marine sanctuary and in amberjack, barracuda and other wide-ranging species captured within 50 miles of the sanctuary.
Ciguatera poisoning is caused by the consumption of tropical reef fish that have assimilated ciguatoxins through the marine food chain from toxic microscopic algae. The toxins that cause ciguatera cannot be destroyed by cooking or freezing, and toxic fish do not look or taste differently from nontoxic fish. The only way to detect CFP is through laboratory testing, the FDA said.
Symptoms of ciguatera poisoning include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle pain, headache, vertigo and muscular weakness.
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Olivier Dip Recalled
Possible contamination withClostridium botulinumhas prompted a voluntary recall of Parmesan & Asiago Dip with Garlic & Basil, made by Olivier Olive Oil Products, Inc. of St. Helena, Calif.
The dip was distributed to William-Sonoma retail stores nationwide and to Olivier Napa Valley retail stores located in Truckee and St. Helena, California. The recall covers dip with the following lot codes: OPA 34171; OPA 23471; OAP 17271; OAP 17671; OAP 36061; OAP 36161; OPA 33961. The lot code information is located on the side of the glass jar where there is no label. The recalled dip is in 11.76 ounce jars.
Clostridium botulinumbacteria can cause life-threatening illness or death. Symptoms of botulism include: general weakness, dizziness, double-vision and trouble with speaking or swallowing. Difficulty in breathing, weakness of other muscles, abdominal distension and constipation may also be common symptoms. People experiencing these problems should seek immediate medical attention. There have been no reported illnesses in relation to the recalled dip.