The CPSC and Pottery Barn Kids recalled all Pottery Barn Kids drop-side cribs sold from January 1999 through March 2010, after 36 reports of minor injuries from drop sides that malfunctioned or detached. Owners should stop using the cribs and contact the company.
Rachel Stockton
Drug
Prescription Drug Abuse Quadruples Since 1998
A SAMHSA analysis of treatment admissions found a fourfold rise between 1998 and 2008 in admissions involving non-medical use of prescription narcotic painkillers, now, officials say, the second most prevalent form of illicit drug use in the country.
Drug
FDA to Determine Diet Drug's Fate
Three weight-loss drugs are seeking FDA approval. Qnexa cut body weight 13 to 15 percent but carries a small increased risk of heart palpitations and memory problems, and had the highest trial drop-out rate; Arena's lorcaserin had fewer side effects but only met the 5 percent minimum.
Obesity
Mental Acumen Linked to Body Shape
Northwestern researchers analysing 8,745 postmenopausal women aged 65 to 79 found pear-shaped women, carrying fat around the hips, had more cognitive difficulty than apple-shaped women, and that each one-point rise in BMI matched a one-point drop on a 100-point memory test.
Miscellaneous
Drs won't Snitch Allowing Incompetent Care
A JAMA survey of 2,938 U.S. physicians found that doctors endorse a duty to report impaired or incompetent colleagues, yet many who face such situations do not. Lead researcher Catherine DesRoches said she had expected the reporting rate to be higher.
Miscellaneous
Octomom Fertility Doc: Miracle Worker or Mad Scientist?
The Medical Board of California accuses fertility doctor Michael Kamrava, known for Nadya Suleman's octuplets, of placing a 48-year-old patient at great risk by transferring seven embryos. The resulting quadruplet pregnancy ended with one baby dead and another with profound developmental delays.
Heart & Blood
MRI: New Gold Standard in Diagnosing Stroke
New American Academy of Neurology guidelines say doctors should use a diffusion MRI rather than a CT scan to diagnose acute ischemic stroke within 12 hours of the first symptom. In one large study reviewed, MRI detected stroke 83 percent of the time against 26 percent for CT.
Miscellaneous
Gag:Most People Sneeze into Bare Hands
Medical students watching people at a New Zealand train station, mall and hospital found three in four covered their mouth when coughing or sneezing, but two in three of those used their bare hands. CDC advises a tissue or the upper sleeve, then 20 seconds of handwashing.
Heart & Blood
Sleep Apnea Increases Heart Disease Risk
Researchers followed 1,927 men and 2,495 women aged 40 and over who had no heart disease at their baseline sleep study. After eight and a half years they concluded obstructive sleep apnea is associated with higher risk of heart failure in men; the coronary heart disease link was equivocal.
Other Diseases
Link Found Between Obesity Gene and Alzheimer's
A Karolinska Institute study of 1,000 Swedes aged 75 and older links a variant of the obesity-related FTO gene to a 58% higher risk of Alzheimer's and a 48% higher risk of other dementias, apparently independent of diabetes and obesity. The researchers stress more research is needed.
Miscellaneous
New Weight Loss Incentive: Hot Flash Relief
Among 338 overweight and obese women, those assigned to an intensive six-month diet and exercise program had twice the odds of measurable improvement in hot flash severity as those attending health education classes. Gains tracked smaller waists and lower BMI.
Drug
Marijuana Imposter: "People who use it are idiots"
Synthetic cannabinoid blends sold as Spice, K2 and roughly 100 other names are legal in more than 40 states with no age limits. Clemson chemist John Huffman, whose lab created the compounds, says they have never been tested in humans; reported effects include hallucinations and memory loss.
Other Diseases
Tea and Physical Activity Reduce Dementia Risk
Studies presented at the Alzheimer's Association conference in Honolulu tied dementia risk to vitamin D, tea and exercise: people with insufficient vitamin D were 42 percent more likely to develop dementia, and drinking tea one to four times a week was linked to 37 percent lower risk.
Obesity
FDA_to_Review_Weight_Loss_Drugs
The FDA starts reviewing Qnexa, with lorcaserin due in September and Contrave in December. Qnexa, a phentermine-topiramate combination, cut body weight 13 to 15% in trials but had the highest dropout rate over memory and concentration problems. Lorcaserin had fewest side effects and least effect.
Cancer
HPV and Skin Cancer: Facts and Figures
Dartmouth's Margaret Karagas found that testing positive for two or three strains of HPV was associated with a 44 percent higher risk of squamous cell carcinoma, while stressing the link may not be causal. The study compared 663 patients with SCC, 898 with basal cell carcinoma and 805 controls.
Autoimmune Diseases
Renaissance Research in AIDS Prevention
NIAID-led researchers identified two human antibodies that neutralized more than 90 percent of HIV strains in the laboratory, against 30 to 40 percent for the best antibodies found earlier, and showed how they work. The technique could be applied to other infectious diseases.
Obesity
Childhood Obesity Could Lead to GERD, Cancer
Researchers pulled records for 690,321 patients aged 2 to 19 in an integrated health plan and found childhood obesity associated with gastroesophageal reflux disease, a link the authors say may carry risk of further conditions such as esophageal cancer.
Other Diseases
Malaria Drug not Recommended for Leg Cramps
The FDA reviewed adverse event reports from 2005 to 2008 and concluded that Qualaquin, approved to treat malaria, should not be given for leg cramps because its active ingredient, quinine, puts patients at risk of serious blood disorders.
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