|
Turkish
turkey tragedy
KIZIKSA, TURKEY
— On October 10 — Thanksgiving Day
in Canada — Mehmet Eksen, a Turkish farmer, saw
50 of his turkeys suddenly die, followed by about 100
more the next day. When the farmer's attempts to cure
the birds with a yogurt-based drink — he believed
they had been poisoned — failed, he reported the
deaths to the authorities, who confirmed the birds were
infected with the H5 flu virus and ordered his whole
flock be slaughtered. At press time scientists were
still trying to determine if the flu was indeed the
dreaded H5N1 strain, which can infect humans. But the
flu already has a human victim of sorts. Mr Eksen told
the BBC, "Now my whole world has been turned upside
down. I'm finished."
Drugs
and unsafe sex run rampant on the silver screen
SYDNEY —
According to a study published in the October issue
of the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine,
Hollywood is a really rotten sex ed teacher. In a review
of the 200 most popular films of all time — minus
those released or set in the pre-HIV era, animated features,
and anything with a G or PG rating — researchers
found 53 sex scenes to observe. Condoms were only mentioned
in one of the movies, Pretty Woman, in which
Julia Roberts played a prostitute. The authors also
found that onscreen depictions of drugs, especially
marijuana, tended to accentuate the positive and neglect
to mention any risks.
Congo
fever contained
CAPE TOWN —
Health officials in South Africa believe they've dodged
a bullet of deadly Congo fever. On October 7, the disease
felled a farmer near Cape Town. The man's body was cremated
under strict controls, and examiners say it's likely
he caught it while slaughtering a cow infested with
ticks. The ghastly symptoms of the graphically named
Congo Crimean Hemorrhagic Fever include bleeding from
all body orifices. Officials quickly placed 151 people
who'd come in contact with the victim under surveillance
but so far, no other cases have cropped up.
Shoddy
lab work leads to missed cancer diagnoses
PITTSBURGH —
A study appearing in the October 10 online issue of
Cancer has revealed that up to 12% of US cancer
patients are initially misdiagnosed. Improper tissue
and blood sampling, combined with human error in interpreting
lab results led to the majority of the errors observed
in the four hospitals involved in the study. Thankfully,
it seems these errors rarely mean the patient will suffer
in the longterm, but study authors are now calling for
national standards to monitor error occurrence. Dr Len
Lichtenfeld, deputy chief medical officer of the American
Cancer Society, is glad the study has alerted the medical
community to the problem, but told a HealthDay
reporter he'd prefer to "not have people become panicked."
Eyes
predict stroke risk
SYDNEY —
Eyes, often known as the window to the soul, might now
be key in predicting future stroke risk say Australian
researchers. Their findings, published in the October
11 issue of Neurology, found that people with
changes in the small blood vessels in the eyes were
70% more likely to suffer a stroke. Researchers examined
more than 3,500 adults, age 49 and older, over the course
of a five-year period.
Western
meds to the rescue
JUNEAU —
Endangered species may have found a powerful ally in
the form of a little blue pill. In a study published
in this month's issue of Environmental Conservation,
researchers argue that the advent of impotence drugs
may make certain endangered species that are hunted
to produce traditional Asian virility remedies less
attactive. While the genitalia of seals, sea lions and
walruses may be spared from poachers, tigers, rhinos
and bears, which have many applications in Asian folk
medicine, aren't so lucky.
Heat
more deadly than smog
LONDON —
Previous reports blamed high levels of pollutants during
heat waves for the rise in deaths among seniors during
the summer months. But new research published online
October 10 in Environmental Research concluded
that in reality older people are dying from heat stress
because they are not taking the proper measures to keep
cool. While it surely isn't helping matters, they found
air pollution could not be the main culprit in the seniors'
deaths. In 2003, roughly 27,000 Europeans were killed
by the summer's dreadful heat wave.
Baby
wet blankets help to reduce brain damage
DETROIT —
In a study published in the October 12 online edition
of NEJM, investigators showed a revolutionary
water-cooled blanket could greatly reduce brain damage
in oxygen-deprived newborns. The researchers found that
babies who were cooled with the blanket were 32% less
likely to die, had a 63% lower rate of cerebral palsy
and only half the risk of going blind. Dr Seetha Shankaran,
one of the study authors, told Reuters: "This is the
first treatment we have to reduce the brain injury in
these children." Unfortu-nately, it will be some time
before cooling blankets make it to the maternity ward
— most hospitals just aren't outfitted with the
monitoring equipment needed to use them properly.
HIV
safe house uncovered
LOS ANGELES —
Scientists have figured out why a significant percentage
of HIV patients suffer from neurological problems: the
virus is finding sanctuary in the brain. In the study,
published online October 10 in PNAS, MRI scans
of 26 HIV-positive subjects showed that areas of the
brain that control language, planning and movement were
15% thinner than healthy controls. And patients on HAART
were equally vulnerable, because the drugs can't penetrate
the blood-brain barrier.
|
