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Is
corpulence contagious?
MADISON,
WI — Evidence
is mounting that human adenoviruses — which cause
the common cold — could also cause obesity, making
fat, in essence, contagious. The study, which can be
found in the January issue of the American Journal
of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative
Physiology, confirmed the virus Ad-37 causes obesity
in chickens. "The prevalence of obesity has doubled
in adults in the US in the last 30 years," noted lead
author Dr Leah Whigham. "With the exception of infectious
diseases, no other chronic disease in history has spread
so rapidly." For now, screening tests and a vaccine
remain but a dream, so obese patients should still be
told to exercise and eat right.
Yodelling
urinals screen for prostate cancer
BERN —
A new, high-tech urinal is set to hit Swiss public lavatories
soon. A force sensor sets the device apart from your
average sanitary convenience. If a man's stream of urine
is sufficiently powerful the urinal sings "Olé,
olé, olé, olé!", meaning all's
well. But if the urine comes out in a weak trickle a
prerecorded message will play urging the man to see
his doctor as he may be at risk of prostate cancer.
Health savings
accounts draw fire
WASHINGTON
— "Keeping
America competitive requires affordable healthcare,"
opined President Bush during his State of the Union
address on January 29. His greatest hope for affordable
healthcare lies in "health savings accounts" —
tax-deductible funds similar to those parents use to
save up for their kids' university tuition. A growing
chorus of critics charge these plans are only good for
the young, wealthy and already-healthy. Government figures
released just days earlier further eroded the plan's
credibility. The average American's savings fell to
negative 0.5% yearly — the first time the number's
been in the red since the Great Depression.
Zimbabwe
makes progress in HIV war
HARARE
— Good news
is rare in Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe, so it's heartening
to report that HIV infections are down in the country's
east. Among some groups, HIV infection rates have plummeted
by nearly 50%, according to a study in the February
2 Science. An international team led by Dr Simon
Gregson of Imperial College London looked at 9,454 people
between 1998 and 2003. Investigators linked the decline
in HIV to behavioural change — less casual sex,
delays in kids becoming sexually active, and increased
condom use.
Peers decry
baby drug testing dearth
LONDON
— Nine-tenths
of the drugs used to treat babies in Britain have not
undergone proper testing for little ones, according
to a report by Britain's House of Lords. Lady Thomas
of Walliswood, who chaired the upper chamber committee,
told the press: "This will be a concern for parents.
Babies are being treated, really, by guess and by God."
The Lords are calling for Britain to change its policy,
which currently doesn't require drug-makers to conduct
clinical trials specifically for children.
Experts
urge docs to bone up on smallpox... just in case
ATLANTA
— If terrorists
managed to unleash smallpox on the population would
you know what to do? That's precisely the question Dr
Zack Moore of Emory University raised in the February
3 Lancet. According to the World Health Organization,
the deadly disease was declared eradicated in 1980,
so it's unclear just how familiar today's MDs are with
smallpox. "National and international public health
agencies have drawn up plans to help with the early
detection of and response to a smallpox outbreak, should
the disease be reintroduced," writes Dr Moore. "However,
these plans rely on physicians' ability to recognize
the clinical features of smallpox and to distinguish
it from other illnesses."
Chlamydia
results by txt msg
LONDON,
UK — Text
messaging the results of a Chlamydia test to patients'
cellphones speeds up treatment time, finds a study in
the February issue of Sexually Transmitted Infection.
Researchers at London's Chelsea and Westminster Hospital
tried out the text messaging service for six months.
In all, 932 messages were sent to patients. The average
number of days before patients received a diagnosis
dropped from 11 to eight. The time it took to get treatment
was also shorter — going from 15 to 8.5 days. The
authors also note that this kind of service minimizes
the risk of missed results.
Earwax, body
odour share genetic link
TOKYO —
You can tell a lot about a person by examining the wax
in their ears, say the authors of a study published
online January 29 in Nature Genetics. For instance,
whether an individual's earwax is of the wet or dry
variety is genetically determined, the difference lying
in a single unit in the ABCC11 gene. By studying the
gene in 33 ethnic groups around the world, Japanese
researchers also established that individuals with the
dry earwax gene predominant among East Asians —
also tend to sweat less and have little or no body odour.
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