SanLuisObispo.com: Health

Fast-growing kelp invades San Francisco Bay

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 00:10 PDT

By By JASON DEAREN -- A fast-growing kelp from the Far East has spread along the California coast from Los Angeles to San Francisco Bay, worrying marine scientists and outpacing eradication efforts.

In May, scientists for the first time found the invasive seaweed called Undaria pinnatifida clinging to docks at a yacht harbor in San Francisco Bay, fouling boat hulls and pier pilings.

"I was walking in San Francisco Marina, and that's when I saw the kelp attached to a boat," said Chela Zabin, a biologist at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Tiburon, Calif.

NASA delays space shuttle Endeavour launch 1 day

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 08:14 PDT

By By MARCIA DUNN -- NASA scrubbed space shuttle Endeavour's scheduled launch Saturday after nine lightning strikes were reported near the pad.

NASA technicians said they found no damage, but will need another day to check critical systems.

The launch had been scheduled for Saturday night. The next launch attempt will be at 7:13 p.m. Sunday.

Obesity a risk factor in swine flu?

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 14:34 PDT

By By MIKE STOBBE -- Some swine flu cases in Michigan are raising questions about obesity's role in why some people with infections become seriously ill.

A high proportion of those who have gotten severely ill from swine flu have been obese or extremely obese, but health officials have said that might be due to the fact that heavy people tend to have asthma and other conditions that make them more susceptible. Obesity alone has never been seen as a risk factor for seasonal flu.

But in a report released Friday, health officials detailed the cases of 10 Michigan patients who were very sick from swine flu in late May and early June and ended up at a specialized hospital in Ann Arbor. Three of them died.

Study: 1 in 3 breast cancer patients overtreated

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 20:55 PDT

By By MARIA CHENG -- One in three breast cancer patients identified in public screening programs may be treated unnecessarily, a new study says. Karsten Jorgensen and Peter Gotzsche of the Nordic Cochrane Centre in Copenhagen analyzed breast cancer trends at least seven years before and after government-run screening programs for breast cancer started in parts of Australia, Britain, Canada, Norway and Sweden.

The research was published Friday in the BMJ, formerly known as the British Medical Journal. Jorgensen and Gotzsche did not cite any funding for their study.

Once screening programs began, more cases of breast cancer were inevitably picked up, the study showed. If a screening program is working, there should also be a drop in the number of advanced cancer cases detected in older women, since their cancers should theoretically have been caught earlier when they were screened.

Americans favor science, but less than before

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 14:41 PDT

By By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID -- The share of Americans who see science as the nation's greatest achievement is down sharply, even as the public continues to hold scientists in high regard. A new Pew Research Center poll indicates that 27 percent of Americans say the nation's greatest achievements are in science, medicine and technology, more than any category other than don't know.

But that's down from 47 percent in a similar study a decade ago, the center reported Thursday.

The decline comes even as technology reaches out to connect people worldwide via the Internet.

Tests reveal some pet supplements skimp on meds

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 11:40 PDT

By By MARILYNN MARCHIONE -- Arthritis supplements bought by millions of pet owners for their dogs, cats and horses sometimes skimp on the ingredients the makers claim can help aching paws and aging joints, and some contain high amounts of lead, an independent laboratory found.

Four of the six joint supplements for animals tested by ConsumerLab.com lacked the amounts of glucosamine or chondroitin promised on their labels or had other flaws, such as lead. Wider testing by a trade group of 87 brands found that one-quarter fell short.

Over-the-counter dietary supplements for humans do not have to be proven safe or effective before they are sold, and pills for pets get even less scrutiny.

Storms NASA's only worry for shuttle launch

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 10:16 PDT

By By MARCIA DUNN -- Thunderstorms are threatening to delay NASA's planned launch Saturday of space shuttle Endeavour.

Endeavour is back from a series of hydrogen gas leaks for a third launch attempt. But forecasters say there is a 60 percent chance that storms could force a postponement.

Launch manager Mike Moses said Friday that he's not worrying about the weather since there's nothing he can do about it - even if his name is Moses.

Mysterious tremors detected on San Andreas Fault

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 11:06 PDT

By By ALICIA CHANG -- Scientists have detected a spike in underground rumblings on a section of California's San Andreas Fault that produced a magnitude-7.8 earthquake in 1857.

What these mysterious vibrations say about future earthquakes is far from certain. But some think the deep tremors suggest underground stress may be building up faster than expected and may indicate an increased risk of a major temblor.

Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, monitored seismic activity on the fault's central section between July 2001 and February 2009 and recorded more than 2,000 tremors. The tremors lasted mere minutes to nearly half an hour.

Ebola found in Philippine pigs for first time

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 11:11 PDT

A form of ebola virus has been detected in pigs for the first time, raising concerns it could mutate and threaten humans, scientists report.

Reston ebolavirus has only been seen in monkeys and humans previously and, unlike other types of ebola, it is not known to cause illness in people.

The discovery of REBOV in pigs in the Philippines is reported in Friday's edition of the journal Science.

Monkeys live longer on low-cal diet; would humans?

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 12:52 PDT

By By LAURAN NEERGAARD -- Eat less, live longer? It seems to work for monkeys: A 20-year study found cutting calories by almost a third slowed their aging and fended off death. This is not about a quick diet to shed a few pounds. Scientists have long known they could increase the lifespan of mice and more primitive creatures - worms, flies - with deep, long-term cuts from normal consumption.

Now comes the first evidence that such reductions delay the diseases of aging in primates, too - rhesus monkeys living at the Wisconsin National Primate Center. Researchers reported their study Friday in the journal Science.

What about those other primates, humans? Nobody knows yet if people in a world better known for pigging out could stand the deprivation long enough to make a difference, much less how it would affect our more complex bodies. Still, small attempts to tell are under way.

Swine flu shots at school: Bracing for fall return

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 18:30 PDT

By By LAURAN NEERGAARD -- U.S. swine flu vaccinations could begin in October with children among the first in line - at their local schools - the Obama administration said Thursday as the president and his Cabinet urged states to figure out now how they'll tackle the virus' all-but-certain resurgence.

"We may end up averting a crisis. That's our hope," said President Barack Obama, who took time away from the G-8 summit in Italy to telephone another summit back home - the 500 state and local health officials meeting to prepare for swine flu's fall threat.

No final decision has been made on whether to vaccinate Americans, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius stressed. That depends largely on studies with experimental batches that are set to start the first week of August - to see if they're safe and seem to work and to learn whether they require one or two doses.

El Nino conditions return to affect weather

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 08:31 PDT

By By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID -- El Nino is back.

Government scientists said Thursday that the periodic warming of water in the tropical Pacific Ocean, which can affect weather around the world, has returned.

The Pacific had been in what is called a neutral state, but forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration say the sea surface temperature climbed to 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit above normal along a narrow band in the eastern equatorial Pacific in June.

WHO approves cervical cancer vaccine Cervarix

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 04:21 PDT

The World Health Organization has approved a second cervical cancer vaccine, this one made by GlaxoSmithKline, meaning U.N. agencies and partners can now officially buy millions of doses of the vaccine for poor countries worldwide.

GlaxoSmithKline PLC said in a statement Thursday the approval would help speed access to Cervarix globally.

WHO had previously approved Gardasil, a competing cervical cancer vaccine made by Merck & Co. With two cervical cancer vaccines now ready to be bought by donor agencies, officials estimate that tens of thousands of lives might be saved.

Abortion pill used in a quarter of US abortions

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 22:16 PDT

By By LINDA A. JOHNSON -- Roughly a fourth of American women getting early abortions last year did so with drugs rather than surgery, statistics show, as a new study reported improved safety in using the so-called "abortion pill."

Some experts predict the percentage of such "medical abortions," which offer more privacy than surgical termination at an abortion clinic or hospital, will rise even more due to the new study.

The research, done at Planned Parenthood clinics across the country, shows that a new way of giving pills to induce abortion virtually eliminated the risk for a rare but dangerous infection.

Drug gives anthrax protection in animal studies

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 14:06 PDT

By By MALCOLM RITTER -- An experimental drug helped monkeys and rabbits survive anthrax in a series of studies, suggesting it could be useful in case of another anthrax attack.

In 2001, five people died after inhaling anthrax germs they'd gotten through the U.S. mail.

Doctors now use antibiotics to prevent or treat anthrax, and there is also an anthrax vaccine. The experimental drug works a different way - by blocking deadly anthrax toxin from entering cells. Researchers say it could be combined with antibiotics.

Organ transplant drug extends life of older mice

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 12:01 PDT

By BY SETH BORENSTEIN -- A drug used to prevent the rejection of organ transplants was found to significantly increase the life span of older mice, researchers report. The National Institute on Aging is testing compounds that may extend the life span of mice. The drug rapamycin is the first to work for both male and female mice, according to a study published online in the journal Nature.

The drug couldn't be used for that purpose in people. It suppresses the human immune system to prevent a transplant recipient's body from attacking the donated tissues, raising the odds of disease.

Researchers didn't start the medicine on the mice until they were about 600 days old, the equivalent of about 60 years for people. Despite that delay, the rapamycin seemed to work, said lead author David Harrison of the Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine.