The 16th annual observance promotes HIV testing as routine care for people aged 13 to 64, yearly testing for men who have sex with men and others at high risk, and early testing in pregnancy. The CDC estimated 1,106,400 Americans were living with HIV at the end of 2006.
Food Consumer
Alerts
Colorado Firm Recalls Beef Products Due To Possible E. coli O157:H7 Contamination (PR)
JBS Swift Beef of Greeley, Colo., is recalling about 41,280 pounds of boneless beef bottom sirloin butt ball tips that may carry E. coli O157:H7. FSIS rates the Class I recall a high health risk; the boxes bear “EST. 969” and pack dates of 042109 or 042209.
Chemical
Picnic food safety greater concern in hot weather (PR)
Texas AgriLife Extension's Rebecca Dittmar warns that heat speeds growth of bacteria you cannot see, smell or taste, and that picnic foods get handled a lot. Her guidelines are clean, separate, cook and chill: wash hands and surfaces, pack sanitizer, and keep raw meat away from produce.
Disease
CDC: Swine flu "is not going away"
The CDC's Anne Schuchat said more than 6,000 new H1N1 cases were reported in a week, the most since the outbreak began, with 12 states seeing widespread activity. She called the reported cases the tip of the iceberg and said the disease is not going away.
Disease
Cardiac arrest: What you need to know
Prompted by Michael Jackson's death, this NIH explainer describes sudden cardiac arrest: an arrhythmia stops the heart beating, it is not the same as a heart attack, 95 percent of victims die and most within minutes, and a defibrillator can restore normal rhythm.
Miscellaneous
Michael Jackson dies from cardiac arrest
Michael Jackson, 50, collapsed at a rental home in Holmby Hills and was pronounced dead at UCLA Medical Center about 2:26 pm after more than an hour of resuscitation attempts. The cause of death was unknown, the coroner took the case, and an autopsy was set for June 26, 2009.
Lifestyle
Obesity in young adults can lead to pancreatic cancer
MD Anderson researchers compared 841 pancreatic cancer patients with 754 healthy people and found those overweight between 14 and 19 were 60 percent more likely to develop the cancer, while obesity in the 20s and 30s doubled or tripled the risk.
Miscellaneous
How green is your wedding?
Mireya Navarro's book Green Wedding sets out how to shrink a wedding's carbon footprint. With more than 2.5 million U.S. weddings a year costing $72 billion, she urges local, seasonal, pesticide-free and meatless menus, e-vites instead of paper, and shorter guest travel.
Food
Green tea may prevent prostate cancer
In 26 prostate cancer patients who took four green tea extract capsules daily for a month before surgery, hepatocyte growth factor fell 18.9 percent, VEGF 9.9 percent and PSA 10.4 percent, an LSU-led study in Cancer Prevention Research found. The dose matched the EGCG in about 12 cups of tea.
Advisories
FDA: Nestle Toll House cookie dough linked to E. coli illness
The FDA warned consumers on June 19 not to eat Nestle Toll House prepackaged refrigerated cookie dough over possible E. coli O157:H7 contamination. Sixty-six illnesses had been reported in 28 states, 25 people were hospitalized, seven developed HUS, and Nestle recalled the raw dough nationwide.
Drug
What I need to know about Liver Transplantation
Noting that Steve Jobs received a liver transplant in Tennessee, the piece reprints a U.S. government primer on the procedure: what the liver does, warning signs such as jaundice, fatigue and fluid buildup, and why cirrhosis is the most common reason adults need a new liver.
Environment
Cutting carbons to clean up the climate
A National Research Council report estimates that using solar and wind more efficiently could cut more than 800 million metric tons of U.S. electricity-sector emissions by 2030. Reaching even 20 percent wind power would take over 100,000 turbines, $100 billion in investment and 140,000 workers.
Drug
Two studies show promise for lung cancer treatments
Two mouse studies point toward possible lung cancer treatments: a Korean team's inhalable gene-therapy spray left mice with fewer and smaller tumors than untreated animals, and an Italian team doubled survival by targeting nicotine receptors with the compound a-CbT.
Comments
Editorial: Eli Lilly and CVS Caremark in Zyprexa Hot Seat
An editorial on Eli Lilly's off-label push, with CVS Caremark's help, to get doctors prescribing the antipsychotic Zyprexa for dementia in elderly patients after seven studies found it ineffective for them, and on the ghostwritten journal articles and insurer lawsuit that followed.
Environment
Is Fluoride Added to in Your Water? Get it Out
A news release from the New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation urges readers to check the fluoride level in their annual water quality report and press suppliers to stop adding it, citing CDC dental fluorosis figures and a 2006 National Research Council review.
Miscellaneous
AIDS Foundation to hold protest against porn industry
Los Angeles County health officials say 22 porn performers have tested positive for HIV in five years. The AIDS Healthcare Foundation will rally June 15 outside Larry Flynt's Hustler store in West Hollywood, pressing California legislators to require condoms in adult films.
Government
Obama Announces Medicare, Medicaid Savings Proposals
President Obama used his weekly address to press for action on health care, proposing Medicare and Medicaid changes he says would cut costs by an estimated $313 billion, and noting America spends nearly 50 percent more per person on health care than any other country.
Diet
Low meat diet may reduce risk of prostate cancer
A review in the Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics found diets high in fruit and vegetables and low in fat, red meat, dairy and calcium may help prevent prostate cancer and may help treat it. The authors call the results suggestive rather than conclusive.
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