Medical Discount Blog

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - New York State's name-based HIV reporting and colleague notification law, which went into general intent June 1, 2000, has not led to a decline in HIV testing or the willingness of high-risk individuals to be tested, careful search shows.

The law requires named reporting, by doctors and laboratories, of persons with HIV infection, HIV-related illness and AIDS.

(Read the full post about ‘Name-based HIV reporting doesn’t deter testing (Reuters)’…)

ZURICH (Reuters) - Japan's health authorities have approved Roche's cancer drug Herceptin for the treatment of HER2-positive mammary organ cancer, the Swiss drugmaker said on Friday. (Read the full post about ‘Japan clears Herceptin for breast cancer: Roche (Reuters)’…)

THURSDAY, Feb. 28 (HealthDay news) — It's long been known that smoking causes lung cancer, but a new study is the first to teach that the hydrogen peroxide in cigarette smoke is what actually causes healthy lung cells to turn cancerous.

Researchers from the University of California, Davis, said their findings may help lead to new treatments for lung cancer and may help the tobacco industry develop "safer" cigarettes by eliminating such substances in the exhalation.

"With the five-year survival rate for populace with lung cancer at a dismally low 15.5 percent, we hope this study will provide better insight into the identification of new therapeutic targets," senior author Tzipora Goldkorn said in a prepared statement.

In this laboratory study, the researchers exposed different sets of human lung cells to cigarette smoke or hydrogen peroxide and then incubated the cells for one to two days.

(Read the full post about ‘Scientists Find Cancer Culprits in Cigarette Smoke (HealthDay)’…)

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - US officials Thursday said 40,000 people may have been infected with HIV and hepatitis in a major hale condition scare after a Las Vegas clinic was found to accept re-used syringes and medicine vials.

Authorities in southern Nevada said they were notifying some 40,000 patients who received anesthesia injections at the clinic's endoscopy center between March 2004 and January 11, 2008 about potential exposure to hepatitis and HIV.

They recommended in a specification that the patients "contiguity their primary care physicians or health care providers to get tested for hepatitis C as well as hepatitis B and HIV."

The move comes after several acute cases of hepatitis C showed up in the area.

(Read the full post about ‘HIV, hepatitis scare may affect 40,000 US clinic patients (AFP)’…)

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Women who are physically abused during pregnancy may be at increased jeopardy of delivering prematurely, researchers found.

The tools and materials suggest that obstetricians should routinely ask women about domestic violence, they note in a report in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

The study included 2,660 Portuguese women who were interviewed shortly after giving birth between 1999 and 2000.

(Read the full post about ‘Abused pregnant women at risk of preterm birth (Reuters)’…)

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Pregnant women's exposure to tobacco in developing countries is growing at an alarming rate, U.S. government researchers said in continuance Thursday.

Women in developing countries and their children are increasingly breathing secondhand smoke in their homes, they said, and many are beginning to experiment with smoking, raising the risk of cancer, heart disease and other ills not only for themselves but also with respect to their children.

"Pregnant women's tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke threaten to impede or reverse ongoing efforts to improve maternal and child health in the developing world," said Dr.

(Read the full post about ‘Tobacco poses threat to moms in developing world (Reuters)’…)

THURSDAY, Feb. 28 (HealthDay news) — A concentrated extract of freeze-dried broccoli sprouts reduced bladder tumor development by more than half in laboratory rats, according to a unused study.

Researchers said the finding supports human epidemiologic studies indicating that eating broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables is associated with a lower risk of bladder cancer.

"Although this is an animal study, it provides potent evidence that eating vegetables is beneficial in bladder cancer prevention," senior investigator Dr.

(Read the full post about ‘Broccoli Sprout Extract Hinders Bladder Cancer Development (HealthDay)’…)

THURSDAY, Feb. 28 (HealthDay news) — Nexium, a popular drug to use gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) in adults, has been approved notwithstanding the same short-term use in children ages 1 to 11, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Thursday.

Two forms of Nexium (esomeprazole magnesium) were approved for younger children — a delayed-release covering and a liquid form. Doses approved for this age group are half of those approved for older children, the mediation said.

(Read the full post about ‘GERD Drug Approved for Younger Children (HealthDay)’…)

ZURICH (Reuters) - AstraZeneca Plc's nexium drug has been approved in the United States for treating excess stomach acid in children aged 1 to 11, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said on Thursday. (Read the full post about ‘Astra’s Nexium approved for children aged 1-11 (Reuters)’…)

WASHINGTON - The Food and Drug Administration has approved use of the drug nexium in children aged 1 to 11 who have acid reflux disease.

FDA said Thursday it approved liquid and delayed-release capsules of Nexium in doses of 10 milligrams or 20 milligrams for these youngsters.

(Read the full post about ‘FDA OKs Nexium in children age 1 to 11 (AP)’…)