Scott Frank of Case Western surveyed 4,200 Cleveland-area students and found one in five sent 120 or more texts a day. Those hyper-texters were three and a half times more likely to report having had sex, and more likely to binge drink or misuse drugs.
Rachel Howell Stockton
Nutrition
Retina Implant Cures Blindness
A sub-retinal implant developed by Eberhart Zrenner's team let three blind patients make out shapes and objects within days, according to results in Proceedings of the Royal Society B. The 3mm chip carries 1,500 light sensors and targets retinitis pigmentosa.
Avoiding Illness
Panel Recommends Booster Shot for Meningitis
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices now recommends a meningococcal booster at 16, after the shot given at 11 proved to last five years or less rather than ten. The panel estimated the booster would prevent 24 deaths a year against 9 under current practice.
Miscellaneous
Study Suggests Pediatricians Should Screen for Postpartum Depression
A study in Pediatrics recommends that pediatricians screen new mothers for postpartum depression. Dr. Marian F. Earls and colleagues say 5% to 25% of pregnant and postpartum women are depressed, with major depression in 1% to 6.8% during the first year.
Healthcare
Health Care Reform: Balance is Key
State insurance commissioners meeting in Florida are defining what counts as medical care versus administrative cost under the health reform law, which makes insurers spend 85 cents of each premium dollar on care for large group plans and 80 cents for individual and smaller plans.
Cancer
HRT Linked to Breast Cancer Death Risk
A study reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association found women assigned to hormone replacement therapy were twice as likely to die of breast cancer as those on placebo, contradicting the belief that HRT-linked tumors are easier to treat.
Food Safety
Surgical Mishaps Still a Problem
A Joint Commission study of 23,370 self-reported adverse events in Colorado from 2002 to 2008 counted 25 wrong-patient surgeries and 107 wrong-site procedures, 43 of which significantly harmed patients, six years after the Universal Protocol took effect.
Cancer
J&J Drug Provides Hope to Prostate Cancer Patients
In a Phase III trial of men with advanced prostate cancer who had already had other treatment, those given abiraterone with a low-dose steroid lived 14.8 months against 10.9 on placebo. Lead investigator Johan de Bono noted only four drugs have ever shown a survival benefit in the disease.
Miscellaneous
Vivitrol Approved to Treat Opiate Addiction
The FDA cleared Vivitrol, an extended-release naltrexone injection already approved for alcoholism, as a treatment for opiate addiction. In trial data, patients on Vivitrol gave clean urine samples 90 percent of the time against 35 percent on placebo; experts urge pairing it with counselling.
Law & Regulations
Medicare Advantage Plans to Experience Weeding Out Process
About 966,000 Medicare Advantage enrollees will need new coverage next year as insurers close plans that failed a 2008 requirement to build their own doctor and hospital networks. The mandate is projected to save $132 billion over a decade, money redirected to cover the uninsured.
Obesity
Thigh Fat Offers Health Perks
Mayo Clinic endocrinologist Michael Jensen had mostly twentysomething volunteers overeat for eight weeks; they gained 5.5 pounds in the upper body and 3.3 below. Those who gained in the thighs grew new fat cells, which Jensen says keep fat out of muscles and organs; abdominal gain added none.
Miscellaneous
Study Links ADHD in Children with Depression, Suicide Risk
Following 125 children diagnosed with ADHD at ages 4 to 6 and 123 without it to age 18, University of Chicago researchers found 18 percent of the ADHD group attempted suicide, against 5.7 percent of the others, and 12 percent had a detailed suicide plan, against 1.6 percent.
Obesity
Sleep Quality Determines "Type" of Weight Lost
In a University of Chicago study of 10 overweight adults on a low-calorie diet, total pounds lost were nearly identical, but on 8.5 hours of sleep participants lost 3.1 lb of fat versus 1.3 lb on 5.5 hours, with far more lean mass lost on short sleep. Ghrelin levels also ran higher.
Healthcare
McDonald's Challenges Healthcare Regulation
McDonald's is challenging a health care reform rule requiring mini-med insurers to put 80 to 85 percent of premium revenue toward medical expenses. Such limited plans typically cover 70 percent or less because administrative costs run high. McDonald's offers them to 30,000 restaurant employees.
Cancer
Pediatric Cancer: A Cure for Neuroblastoma?
About 650 US children a year are diagnosed with neuroblastoma, and nearly half have a high-risk form with poor survival. In a randomized phase III Children's Oncology Group trial, a new immunotherapy raised the share alive and progression-free at two years above the 46 percent on standard care.
Miscellaneous
FDA: Sleep Positioners are Hazardous
Twelve infants aged 1 to 4 months suffocated over 13 years while in infant sleep positioners, prompting CPSC and FDA warnings to stop using them. The agencies say no sound evidence shows the products prevent SIDS, and FDA never cleared them as effective against it.
Nutrition
CDC: We're not Eating our Veggies
A CDC report finds only 26% of Americans eat vegetables three or more times a day and just 23% of home-prepared meals come with a salad, while lunchtime salad orders have halved since 1989. The writer offers meatless Lasagna Florentine as one fix.
Obesity
"Freshman Fifteen" Avoided by Finding a Heavy Roommate
Female freshmen randomly assigned heavier roommates gained about half a pound, against 2.5 pounds for those with thinner roommates, in a study of 144 students. Co-author Kandice Kapinos suggests it is heavier students' dieting and exercise habits that spread.
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