A 15-member federal advisory panel put pregnant women at the front of the line for the H1N1 vaccine expected in October, alongside health workers, children over six months, adults 19 to 24 and high-risk adults. The CDC's Anne Schuchat cited a four-fold rise in hospitalization.
Food Consumer
Cooking
Roasted Vegetable Pita Pizza
A Greek-style pizza built on whole-wheat pita, topped with roasted tomato, fennel, red onion, yellow pepper, zucchini and garlic plus crumbled reduced-fat feta, with a note that vegetable-rich diets may lower risk for certain cancers.
Nutrition
Great Lakes Beaches "consistently the dirtiest"
An NRDC report counted more than 20,000 beach closing days in 2008, a fourth straight year above that mark. Great Lakes beaches tested dirtiest for the third year running, with 13 percent of beaches violating health standards; nationally 7 percent of samples failed.
Government
FDA: Avoid body building products with steroids
FDA sent a warning letter to American Cellular Laboratories over eight “Xtreme” body building products it says contain synthetic steroids, not steroid-like ingredients. Adverse event reports in men aged 22 to 55 include liver injury, stroke, kidney failure and pulmonary embolism.
Miscellaneous
Texting while driving equals 20x risk of crash
Virginia Tech Transportation Institute research puts crash risk up to 20 times higher while a driver texts, with eyes off the road an average 4.6 of every six seconds, about the length of a football field at 55 mph. The institute wants texting in moving vehicles banned for all drivers.
Miscellaneous
Medical marijuana touted as cure for cities' budget woes
After Oakland voters backed a marijuana tax expected to raise about $294,000 in its first year, San Francisco and Berkeley are weighing similar measures. A state bill and a proposed 2010 ballot initiative would legalize and tax cannabis more broadly.
Miscellaneous
Health care rates soar with weight
Annual US medical costs for treating obese people reached an estimated $147 billion, more than double the figure of less than a decade earlier. Obese people spent $1,429 more than normal-weight people in 2006, nearly all of it on treating the diseases obesity promotes.
Disease
New seasonal flu vaccine recommendations from CDC
The CDC's Anne Schuchat upgraded seasonal flu vaccination from an encouragement to what she called a full-out recommendation, now covering 83 percent of the population including children from 6 months to 18 years. Only about 40 percent were vaccinated the previous year.
Miscellaneous
Chinese researchers make mice from skin cells
Chinese researchers reported in Cell Stem Cell that one line of induced pluripotent stem cells made from reprogrammed skin cells produced live mice, one of which reached adulthood. Lead author Shaorong Gao cautions it is premature to call iPS cells equal to embryonic cells.
Disease
CDC: 302 Americans with H1N1 have died so far
CDC reported 302 U.S. deaths and 43,771 confirmed or probable H1N1 cases since March 2009. The piece notes one official's estimate that more than a million Americans may have been infected without knowing, which would put mortality closer to one death per 3,300 people.
Drug
"Historic highs" for support of legalizing marijuana
Oakland voters approved a tax on cannabis businesses 80 percent to 20 percent, at $18 per $1,000 of gross receipts, making it the first US city to tax medical marijuana sales. NORML's Paul Armentano says public support for taxing and regulating marijuana is at historic highs.
Environment
Agent Orange still posing toxic threats
An Institute of Medicine report says Agent Orange exposure may raise veterans' risk of Parkinson's disease and ischemic heart disease, though the committee rated the evidence of association as limited. It also linked hairy cell leukemia to the herbicide.
Miscellaneous
Small businesses would pay less for health care plans
A Council of Economic Advisors report says the administration's health plan would give small businesses insurance exchanges, a tax credit and subsidies, and bar screening for pre-existing conditions. Without change, it projects 72 million uninsured by 2040.
Supplements
Potassium citrate prevents kidney stones in epileptic children
Among 301 children on a ketogenic diet for epilepsy, those given potassium citrate twice daily from the start were seven times less likely to develop kidney stones than those started only after blood calcium rose: 0.9 percent versus 6.7 percent, Pediatrics reports.
Disease
More seizure cases from swine flu "likely," says CDC
CDC doctors described four Texas children aged 7 to 17 hospitalized in May with neurologic complications of swine flu; all recovered after antiviral treatment. Because children catch the virus more often than adults, doctors expect more such reports as the pandemic continues.
Others
When food gets inspected and even recalled, consumers may not be getting a clear picture of the process
Kansas State researchers Charles Dodd and Doug Powell examined what consumers can take away from the Food Safety and Inspection Service's website and recall notices, and argue that agencies could explain their role more clearly -- a recall can make a largely sound system look broken.
Politics
You’re Appointing WHO? Please Obama, say it’s not so!
An opinion piece argues that the newly appointed US food safety czar helped clear the way for genetically modified foods over FDA scientists who warned in internal memos of toxins, new diseases, nutritional deficiencies and hard-to-detect allergens.
Miscellaneous
FDA Warns of Health Risks Posed by E-Cigarettes
The FDA warns that e-cigarette cartridges may contain chemicals toxic to humans and that, with no safety studies submitted to the agency, users cannot know what they are inhaling. Commissioner Margaret Hamburg says the devices may deepen nicotine addiction among young people.
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