Parents Stay Away From Polio Campaign Report: Childhood shots safe for immune system U.S panel urges flu shots for tots Drug Firm Says Pills' Blood Clot Risk Well Known Study: Hormone therapy isn't for every woman Artificial Disc Could Be Future of Back Surgery Drug ads aimed at patients on rise Study: Kids in day care may have fewer colds later Women more likely than men to die after bypass Beginning to Battle Back Pain Parents Stay Away From Polio Campaign Mon Mar 4, 2002 http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=534&u=/ap/20 020304/ap_on_re_as/india_polio_5 By WASBIR HUSSAIN, Associated Press Writer GAUHATI, India (AP) - Paramedics in an Indian state went door-to- door to give anti-polio (news - web sites) doses to children on Monday after parents stayed away from a U.N. immunization campaign, fearing side effects. Officials said the World Health Organization (news - web sites)'s polio campaign Sunday in the northeastern state of Assam evoked a poor response. "I did not feel like having my daughter administered the polio drop apprehending something untoward might happen to my only child," Dipen Medhi, a trader, told The Sentinel, a local English language daily. Assam residents were gripped by similar fears during a UNICEF (news - web sites)-sponsored anti-blindness campaign last year to give Vitamin A doses to children. At least 16 children died and hundreds fell ill after they were administered doses of Vitamin A in November. The Assam government halted the campaign, but later said the deaths were not caused by the doses. Samples of the Vitamin A syrup were seized and tested in laboratories, but were found to have met standards. ****** Report: Childhood shots safe for immune system http://www.msnbc.com/news/712139.asp In 1980, babies were immunized against four diseases. Today, by age 2 most children have had up to 20 shots to protect against 11 diseases. Report: Childhood shots safe for immune system Findings of independent panel offer reassurance to parents MSNBC NEWS SERVICES WASHINGTON, Feb. 20 ­ U.S. parents worried about the 20 or so shots their babies must undergo before age 2 were given a bit of reassurance on Wednesday with a report from the Institute of Medicine concluding the immunizations do not damage the infant immune system. THE REPORT from the IOM, an independent group of specialists who advise the government, found no link between the vaccinations and type 1 diabetes, pneumonia, meningitis or other infections. Their report adds to a series of studies clearing vaccines of causing dangerous side-effects in children. Last year the committee found no link between the combined measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism. However, there is not enough evidence yet to decide if multiple shots increase the risk of developing asthma, the panel of independent scientists concluded. But panel chairwoman Dr. Marie McCormick of the Harvard School of Public Health believes it is unlikely there is an association. The report should reassure parents that 3there1s not a lot of support for those risks2 critics often cite, McCormick said. 3Some parents think that with the increased numbers of vaccinations being given to children under the age of 2 ... somehow the infant immune system isn1t up to it and is overwhelmed,2 she said.... >Dr. Chad's Comments; Oh' the "experts" say it's safe... real comforting fellas! **** U.S panel urges flu shots for tots http://www.msnbc.com/news/712367.asp?cp1=1 New research shows 6- to 23-month-olds at risk ASSOCIATED PRESS ATLANTA, Feb. 20 ­ A government advisory panel decided Wednesday to encourage flu shots for children ages 6 months to 23 months ­ a group not previously on the recommended list for the vaccine. THE GOVERNMENT currently recommends the vaccine only for older people, the chronically ill and pregnant women, although it is available to others who want it. But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention1s immunization panel said new research shows 6- to 23-month-olds are at increased risk for flu-related hospitalizations. Before making a full-fledged recommendation to doctors that the children get annual vaccines, the panel wants to study the possible impact on providers and parents, said the CDC1s Dr. Keiji Fukuda. Beginning next flu season, the advisory panel will also encourage people at lower risk for flu to wait until November to get shots.... > Dr. Chad's Comments; Cha-CHING!!! give me a break! **** Drug Firm Says Pills' Blood Clot Risk Well Known Mon Mar 4,10:26 AM ET http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=594&u=/nm/2 0020304/hl_nm/clot_1 LONDON (Reuters) - A leading drug company said on Monday that using its latest oral contraceptive carried a higher risk of developing blood clots but the risk was well known and was included in information about the pills. As it prepared to defend a group action suit in Britain's High Court over alleged side effects of the pill, American Home Products subsidiary Wyeth said the raised risks were small and the benefits outweighed them for most women. "There is known to be an increased risk and it is the level of the risk that people need to understand is very low. It has been known there is a small increased risk for a number of years," a spokeswoman said. More than 100 women are suing Wyeth, Organon Laboratories, part of Dutch chemicals group Akzo Nobel and Germany's Schering claiming the firms failed to protect them from harmful side effects of the pill. It is believed to be the first major class action of its kind against big drug companies. >Dr. Chad's Comments; And what the hell are they trying to say about chiropractic and stroke?! *** 02/07/2002 - Updated 01:04 AM ET Study: Hormone therapy isn't for every woman http://www.usatoday.com/news/healthscience/health/women/200 2-02-07-usat-hormone-therapy.htm By Rita Rubin, USA TODAY A study in this week's Journal of the American Medical Association is the latest to raise questions about whether menopause should be considered an abnormal state of estrogen deficiency that must be corrected in all women. That notion, long held by both women and doctors, "is just wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong," says Cynthia Pearson, president of the Washington, D.C.-based National Women's Health Network. "I have to be hopeful that finally something is going to change doctors' habits." Wyeth-Ayerst, maker of Premarin, by far the most popular brand of estrogen, funded the latest research. The study authors write that older women who didn't have menopausal symptoms to begin with actually felt worse physically after three years on Prempro, Wyeth's combination of estrogen and progestin, than those on the placebo. This is the first research to challenge the little-studied belief that postmenopausal hormones improve most women's quality of life. Lead author Mark Hlatky, a Stanford University School of Medicine cardiologist, says the women on Prempro may have felt worse because of side effects such as more frequent vaginal discharge, uterine bleeding and breast tenderness. Women who did report having hot flashes at the start of the study felt better mentally three years later if they had taken Prempro instead of the placebo. For them, apparently, the possible side effects were worth relief from hot flashes, which can cause great discomfort and disrupt sleep, Hlatky says. Hlatky's study "does raise the question of whether quality of life should be in the risk/benefit ratio for hormone replacement therapy right now," says JoAnn Manson, who co-wrote an editorial accompanying the paper. If hormones provided some benefit down the road, women without menopause symptoms might be willing to put up with the side effects, Hlatky says. But, he notes, "there's not a lot of evidence yet that it is going to have this strong effect on preventing heart disease." And some studies have found that long-term HRT use can increase women's risk of breast cancer and blood clots. Manson, chief of preventive medicine at Harvard's Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, and others have questioned whether protection against heart disease should be part of HRT's risk/benefit ratio. For years, many doctors had touted hormone replacement therapy, or HRT, for healthier hearts, although it was approved only for relief of symptoms, and, more recently, prevention of osteoporosis. It wasn't just wishful thinking. Studies had consistently shown that postmenopausal women on hormones had fewer heart attacks and lived longer than postmenopausal women who weren't on hormones. But there was a problem with those so-called observational studies. They focused on women who decided on their own whether to go on HRT. Some other characteristics of women who tend to choose hormones, such as more education and healthier lifestyles, might explain their better health. In the past few years, scientists have begun publishing results of randomized controlled trials in which women are randomly given either hormones or a placebo. Several of the trials have concluded that HRT does not reduce the risk of heart attacks or strokes. The findings spurred the American Heart Association to issue a scientific advisory last summer stating that women with heart disease should not go on hormones and women without heart disease should not count on the treatment to keep them that way. Many women and their doctors are looking to the Women's Health Initiative to provide definitive answers about hormones' effects on the heart. The federally funded study has randomly assigned 27,000 postmenopausal women to hormones or a placebo. Final results are due in 2005. Meanwhile, JoAnn Pinkerton, director of the University of Virginia Health System MidLife Center in Charlottesville, says she doesn't necessarily prescribe estrogen for women who don't have hot flashes or other menopausal symptoms. "How many physicians are still prescribing hormone therapy at menopause to all comers, I don't think I can answer that," Pinkerton says. "It is the right thing for some women, but it's not for every woman." ***** Artificial Disc Could Be Future of Back Surgery Tue Feb 12, 4:00 AM ET http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=97&u=/hsn/20 020212/hl_hsn/artificial_disc_could_be_future_of_back_surgery By Amanda Gardner HealthScoutNews Reporter TUESDAY, Feb. 12 (HealthScoutNews) -- Just four months after surgery, the first American recipient of a ProDisc artificial spinal disc tore apart her old bathroom with a hammer and a chisel, and she can almost touch her toes with her fingers. You can't run out and sign up for an implant just yet, however. Kari Smith, 39, of Coppell, Texas, was participating in an U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) trial to see whether the prosthesis, already available in Europe, will fly in this country. Her procedure was performed by surgeons from the Texas Back Institute, one of 10 centers involved in the study. If the FDA approves the implant, it could be commercially available by 2004. The ProDisc is not the first artificial disc to be tried in the United States. Beth Israel Medical Center's Spine Institute in New York City just finished a separate trial for the SBIII CharitÈ disc and has handed its data over to the FDA for evaluation. And although it may be premature to declare this the future of back surgery, experts say disc implants look promising.... **** Drug ads aimed at patients on rise http://www.msnbc.com/news/706515.asp Findings fuel debate over whether such ads help or hinder care MSNBC NEWS SERVICES Feb. 13 ­ Drug company ads aimed at ordinary people instead of doctors tripled in the United States between 1996 and 2000 to nearly $2.5 billion a year. But the spots still accounted for only about 15 percent of promotional expenditures, according to research published in Thursday1s New England Journal of Medicine. Drug advertising geared to the public has sparked a debate that ëis emotionally and economically charged.1 ­ DR. JEFFREY DRAZEN NEJM Editor THE FINDINGS come at a time when critics are charging that direct-to-consumer advertising for prescription drugs has mushroomed into a dominant promotional method that distracts doctors and leads to needless prescriptions, while supporters say the ads inform and empower consumers. The researchers found the biggest jump has been on television advertisements for Viagra, Claritin, Allegra and other brand-name drugs that have become household names: a seven-fold increase in spending ­ from $220 million to $1.6 billion ­ between 1996 and 2000. A team, led by Meredith Rosenthal of the Harvard School of Public Health, analyzed data on media advertising and sales of individual drugs, examining trends since 1996, the year before the Food and Drug Administration issued rules for television ads on prescription drugs. They collected data from independent consulting firms and found in 2000, the latest year for which reliable data were available, television and prints ads accounted for some 16 percent of the $15.7 billion spent by the industry on drug promotion. The firms spent $900 million for print ads..... ****** 02/15/2002 - Updated 05:09 PM ET Study: Kids in day care may have fewer colds later http://www.usatoday.com/news/healthscience/health/2002-02- 15-day-care-colds.htm CHICAGO (AP) ­ There may be a payoff to all the sniffling and coughing by children who attend day care: A study suggests they will probably get fewer colds in elementary school. Children in large day-care centers ­ those with six or more children ­ appear to develop immunity to many of the viruses responsible for the common cold, according to the study. The findings support a long-held theory among some pediatricians. The study, published in February's Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, found that children in day care had almost twice as many colds at age 2 as those cared for at home. But from 6 to 11, former day-care children had about one-third as many colds as children who stayed home. The advantage disappeared by age 13. The study's lead author, Dr. Thomas Ball, associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, said the findings should help relieve the guilt and anxiety parents often feel when putting their children in day care.... > Dr. Chad's comments; Somehow I don't think a children's cold medicine company paid for this study... Even though NOW they are PPA free! ***** 02/19/2002 - Updated 08:01 AM ET Women more likely than men to die after bypass http://www.usatoday.com/news/healthscience/health/2002-02- 19-bypass.htm DALLAS (AP) ­ Women under age 50 are three times more likely than men to die after undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery, new research suggests. A study led by Dr. Viola Vaccarino of Emory University in Atlanta examined 57,187 patients, 30% of them women, who had bypass surgery at 23 medical centers across the country between October 1993 and December 1999. Among patients ages 50-59, 2.6% of women died, compared with 1.1% of men. Among patients 80 and older, 9% of women died compared with 8.3% of men. The study found that the difference decreases with advancing age. "It's a puzzling result," Vaccarino said. "We're not able to explain the difference based on our data. It could be a factor we didn't know about or test for." Overall, 5.3% of the women died in the hospital, compared with 2.9% of the men. Of the women younger than 50, 3.4% died, compared with 1.1% of men. Vaccarino theorized that women tend to have more preexisting illnesses, including stroke and heart failure, and are usually referred for surgery when their heart disease is more severe. > Dr. Chad's Comments; My wife who works on a coronary intensive care unit sees this all the time... She feels its not because of the smaller vessels. She states that most male doctors sit on the female patients much longer than they do male patients. It absolutely drives the nursing staff crazy! Maybe this is why female patients are much more likely to die from cardiac failure than men are. If they would have only taken care of themselves before they got into crisis mode. ****** Beginning to Battle Back Pain Sat Mar 2,11:54 PM ET http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=97&u=/hsn/20 020303/hl_hsn/beginning_to_battle_back_pain By Robert Preidt HealthScoutNews Reporter SATURDAY, March 2 (HealthScoutNews) -- If you're plagued by back pain, it can be a bit confusing about where to go to seek help. Don't expect doctors to clear things up for you, however. Even they can't agree on where you should start. A New York City neurologist says he shouldn't be the "physician of last resort" for back pain sufferers. Rather, neurologists should be where those patients begin their search for relief. "I think a neurologist is equipped more than any other specialist to evaluate such complaints," says Dr. Gary Starkman, who is also a pain specialist. However, a University of Michigan spine specialist says people with back pain should go to one of the multi-disciplinary spine programs that are becoming common across the country. > Dr. Chad's Comments; Yea, whatever... Turn your little back pain into a gold mine for the medical industry only to find out at the end that the back pain is only in your head! Chiropractically yours, Chad J. Rohlfsen, D.C. (Palmer Grad) > drchad@rohlfsen.com