Health Highlights: Nov. 8, 2008

Among men, the cultural expectation is not that they have to be as attractive as their peers, but need to be attractive enough to be sexually appealing to women, Aubrey concluded,UPIreported.

The research is scheduled to be published in the journalHuman Communication Research.

-----

Contaminated Heparin Seized From Cincinnati Company

Eleven contaminated lots of the blood-thinning drug heparin were seizedfrom Celsus Laboratories Inc. in Cincinnati, the U.S. Food and DrugAdministration said Thursday.

The five lots of Heparin Sodium Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API)and six lots of Heparin Lithium, which were manufactured from materialimported from China, were contaminated with over-sulfated chondroitinsulfate (OSCS), a substance that mimics heparin's anticoagulant activity.

Heparin Sodium USP may be incorporated into finished drug products while Heparin Lithium is used in certain medical devices, including vacutainer blood collection tubes, some in-vitro diagnostic assays, and as a coating for capillary tubes. Celsus has distributed Heparin Sodium USP and Heparin Lithium to manufacturers in the United States and other countries, the FDA said.

The agency has notified Australian, Canadian, European Union, Japanese and other international authorities about shipments of contaminated heparin from Celsus.

Earlier this year, the FDA received reports of multiple illnesses anddeaths linked to OSCS contamination in injectable drug products containingheparin. In response, the agency said, it improved inspection and import controls programs and has initiated 13 recalls of contaminated medical products containing heparin from several companies.

-----

N. Dakota Warns About Lead in Wild Game Meat

Pregnant women and children younger than 6 years old shouldn't eat meat from wild game killed with lead bullets, North Dakota health officialswarned after the release Wednesday of a study that looked at lead levels inthe blood of more than 700 state residents.