 | | | | This Week In Health Headlines | | | Experts recommended this week that maximum doses be cut for the pain reliever acetaminophen. The group of advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) also called for a ban on Percocet and Vicodin. These narcotics also contain acetominophen. In other drug news, the FDA said Chantix and Zyban will carry a "black box" warning about a risk of mental health problems for people who take them. The drugs help people to quit smoking. A report released this week said obesity rates rose last year in 23 states. Other research found that fewer than 1 in 5 people who suffer a cardiac arrest in a hospital survive.
Many prostate cancer patients at a veterans' hospital got the wrong doses of radiation, newspapers said this week. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission found the errors. Regulators also produced other news. This included a recall of Toll House cookie dough and a report on air pollution and cancer risk. A new study found that doctors failed to tell patients about 1 out of 14 abnormal test results.
After hearing a speech from President Barack Obama this week, the American Medical Association endorsed health reform. And it left the door open for a public insurance option. This week U.S. drug regulators advised the public not to use Zicam cold remedies. They said Zicam can damage the sense of smell. In research news, studies found that testing pregnant women for group B strep bacteria reduces infections in babies and that flu drugs are safe to use during pregnancy.
The World Health Organization declared this week that the H1N1 influenza (swine flu) outbreak is a pandemic. This means it is spreading around the world. The U.S. Senate voted this week to begin regulation of tobacco products. The House has passed a similar bill. President Obama is expected to sign. A study released this week found that drug treatment alone helps people with diabetes and heart disease as much as drugs plus a procedure to open arteries. Other researchers reported that metoclopramide, a drug for nausea, appears safe for use during pregnancy.
This week, researchers reported more benefits for babies if their mothers take folic acid while pregnant and success with a procedure that does stomach stapling for obesity through the mouth. In cancer news, studies show that a vaccine can help people with lymphoma live longer and that depression drugs may cancel out the effects of a breast cancer drug. Other studies found that therapy programs can help prevent or treat anxiety and depression in kids with a family history of these conditions.
Researchers reported this week that refusing shots multiplies the risk of whooping cough and that a heat treatment can keep spots in the throat from turning into cancer. U.S. drug regulators proposed ways to reduce the risk of liver damage from a common pain reliever. Pregnant women got new advice on how much weight to gain. And a boy who had fled Minnesota with his mother returned to face cancer treatment.
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