Health Highlights: June 15, 2008
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Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors ofHealthDay:
Environmental Group Urges End of Shower Curtains Containing Harmful Chemical
For most of us, the only association we make between a plastic shower curtain and death is the memorable scene with Janet Leigh in the shower right before she meets a very bad end in the moviePsycho.
However, reportsU.S. News and World Report, an environmental advocacy group is calling for the phase-out of all shower curtains and other products made with polyvinyl chloride (PVC), which it says can emit a number of harmful materials such as lead and phthalates (the chemicals that give plastic its flexibility) into the bathroom or elsewhere in the home.
The environmental group cited a small study indicating that the substances can be released, the magazine reports, but a previous study by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency had also found that plastic shower curtains containing PVC could emit toxic substances into the air.
Many major retailers have, or in the process of, eliminating plastic products made with PVC,U.S. News and World Reportsays. IKEA hasn't sold shower curtains with PVC for more than a decade, and stores such as Target, Macy's, J.C. Penney and Bed, Bath and Beyond are in the process of replacing PVC products with safer ones.
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Pilot Project Tests Cell Phones in TB Fight
The cell phone is joining the arsenal of technology used to keep folks healthy.
A student-led group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge has developed a way to use cell phones to let tuberculosis patients report their adherence to the drug regimen they must take. If the tests show patients are following doctor's orders to take all their medication, they get rewarded with free cell phone minutes, theAssociated Pressreports.
Under the MIT pilot plan, patients test their urine using a strip that reveals a numeric code if it detects TB medicines, which are usually taken for six months. They then text-message the code to their health care provider and get credit toward incentives such as free minutes.
The in-home tests also eliminate the need for health care workers to make several patient-monitoring visits a week, a routine that is often impractical in remote places, said Jose Gomez-Marquez, one of the project's leaders.
