SanLuisObispo.com: Health

W. Africa's last giraffes make surprising comeback

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 23:21 PST

By By TODD PITMAN -- A crisp African dawn is breaking overhead, and Zibo Mounkaila is on the back of a pickup truck bounding across a sparse landscape of rocky orange soil.

The tallest animals on earth are here, the guide says, somewhere amid the scant green bush on one side, and the thatched dome villages on the other.

They're here, but by all accounts, they shouldn't be.

Prized mushroom collection returns to China

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 05:35 PST

By By DAVID WIVELL -- A Chinese scholar persecuted during the Cultural Revolution for smuggling a rare collection of mushrooms out of China before World War II was honored Saturday when the collection was returned more than 70 years later.

At a ceremony at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Cornell University President David Skorton handed over the collection that had been meticulously gathered by scholar Shu Chun Teng.

Teng studied mycology at Cornell University in the 1920s, then spent the next decade traveling on horseback gathering molds, lichens, yeasts, rusts and morels in the forests, fields and marshes of his homeland.

Seattle team wins $900,000 in Space Elevator Games

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 06:00 PST

By By JOHN ANTCZAK -- A Seattle team has collected a $900,000 prize in a NASA-backed competition to develop the concept of an elevator to space - an idea spurred by science fiction novels.

The team's robotic machine raced up more than 2,950 feet of cable dangling from a helicopter.

Powered by a ground-based laser pointed up at the robot's photo voltaic cells that converted the light into electricity, the LaserMotive machine completed one of its climbs in about three minutes and 48 seconds, good for second-place money.

World leaders needed at talks to cut climate deal

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:30 PST

By By KATY DAIGLE and ARTHUR MAX -- After two years of tough U.N. climate talks often pitting the world's rich against the poor, negotiators said Friday a new global agreement now rides on industrial nations pledging profound emissions cuts next month in Copenhagen.

Negotiators from industrial nations, including the United States, said eleventh-hour promises are possible and a global warming pact can be reached.

But developing countries complained that pledges so far were nowhere near enough to avoid a catastrophe, and that world leaders need to take part in the 192-nation conference on Dec. 7-18 to cut a meaningful deal.

In Europe, most swine flu shots by invitation only

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:56 PST

By By MARIA CHENG -- In Britain, there are no long lines of people seeking swine flu vaccine. Doctor's offices aren't swamped with desperate calls. And there are no cries of injustice that the vaccine is going to wealthy corporations or healthy people who don't really need it.

Here, and across most of Europe, vaccine to protect against the pandemic flu is mostly given by invitation only to those at highest risk for flu complications.

"That is one of the great advantages of the British health system," said Dr. Steve Field, president of the Royal College of General Physicians. "We have a list of all the names of patients who qualify to be vaccinated."

Poll: One-third able to get swine flu vaccine

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:35 PST

By By MIKE STOBBE -- Only about a third of adults who have tried to get a swine flu vaccine have been able to get it, according to a new national poll released Friday.

That's true even for people who are at extra risk for severe complications and should be at the front of the line. The numbers are about the same for parents who tried to get the vaccine for their children, the Harvard School of Public Health poll found.

Swine flu vaccine has been available in the United States for about a month, but supplies have been limited because of manufacturing delays. However, availability is picking up, said Dr. Anne Schuchat of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 38 million doses of swine flu are currently available, a one-week increase of about 11 million doses. Another 8 million doses are expected next week, she added.

New gene therapy halts 2 boys' rare brain disease

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:20 PST

By By LAURAN NEERGAARD -- French scientists mixed gene therapy and bone marrow transplants in two boys to seemingly halt a brain disease that can kill by adolescence. The surprise ingredient: They disabled the HIV virus so it couldn't cause AIDS, and then used it to carry in the healthy new gene.

The experiment marks the first time researchers have tried that long-contemplated step in people - and the first effective gene therapy against a severe brain disease, said lead researcher Dr. Patrick Aubourg of the University Paris-Descartes.

Although it's a small, first-step study, it has "exciting implications" for other blood and immune disorders that had been feared beyond gene therapy's reach, said Dr. Kenneth Cornetta, president of the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy.

Study: Nitrogen pollution worsens in Rockies lakes

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:00 PST

By By JUDITH KOHLER -- Airborne nitrogen pollution from vehicle exhaust and farm fertilizer is turning algae in the alpine lakes of Rocky Mountain National Park into junk food for fish, a study says.

A similar phenomenon is occurring in Sweden and Norway, according to the study of about 90 high-elevation lakes set to be published in the journal Science on Friday.

Arizona State University professor James Elser, the study's lead author, said the effect of airborne nitrogen on once-pristine lakes is greater than previously believed. The nitrogen's sources include vehicle exhaust, fertilizer used on farms and livestock feed lots and power plant emissions.

Caribbean, Gulf spared widespread coral damage

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:50 PST

By By DAVID McFADDEN -- Lower-than-feared sea temperatures this summer gave a break to fragile coral reefs across the Caribbean and the central Gulf of Mexico that were damaged in recent years, scientists said Thursday.

Unusually warm water in recent years has caused the animals that make up coral to expel the colorful algae they live with, creating a bleached color. If the problem persists, the coral itself dies - killing the environment where many fish and other marine organisms live.

"We dodged a bullet this year. The good news is that temperatures didn't get quite warm enough for there to be a large-scale bleaching problem," said C. Mark Eakin, coordinator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Coral Reef Watch network. He was among scientists gathered in Puerto Rico's capital for a meeting of the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force.

Goldman Sachs, Citigroup got swine flu vaccine

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:00 PST

By By KAREN MATTHEWS -- Some of New York's biggest companies, including Wall Street giants Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, received doses of swine flu vaccine for at-risk employees, drawing criticism that the hard-to-find vaccine is going first to the privileged.

Hospitals, universities and the Federal Reserve Bank also got doses of the vaccine for employees who need it the most, such as pregnant women or chronically ill workers, according to the city's health department.

In order to receive the vaccine, companies had to have their own medical staff. Distributing large doses of the vaccine to such businesses is "a great avenue for vaccinating people at risk," said Jessica Scaperotti, spokeswoman for the city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

WHO: Swine flu virus is top strain worldwide

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 07:55 PST

By By MARIA CHENG -- The World Health Organization's flu chief said the swine flu virus has now become the predominant flu strain worldwide.

In some countries, swine flu accounts for up to 70 percent of the flu viruses being sampled, said Dr. Keiji Fukuda, WHO's top flu official.

While most people recover from the illness without needing medical treatment, officials are also continuing to see severe cases in people under 65 - people who are not usually at risk during regular flu seasons.

Medical aid group raises alarm about AIDS funding

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:55 PST

By By DONNA BRYSON -- The global recession and pressure to divert funds to other health crises are hurting the fight against AIDS, a medical group warned Thursday, with one health worker saying he feared a return to the days when the AIDS virus was a death sentence in Africa.

Medecins Sans Frontieres campaigners said at a news conference in South Africa that clinics funded by international donors in Uganda were being told not to take on new patients. MSF, also known as Doctors Without Borders, said they feared a major global distributor of AIDS money was considering cutting back worldwide.

HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, is a major concern in sub-Saharan Africa. South Africa has the world's largest number of HIV cases, with some 5.7 million people infected with the virus, according to the United Nations' AIDS agency.

Genetic tests for UK asylum seekers draw criticism

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 06:20 PST

By By MARIA CHENG -- Britain is using genetic tests on some African asylum seekers in an effort to catch those who are lying about their nationality, drawing criticism from scientists and provoking outrage from rights groups.

The United Kingdom Border Agency launched the pilot project in September amid suspicions there might be a large number of asylum applicants lying about their home countries. An agency spokesman said Britain was the only country using genetic tests in this way.

Experts, however, say the tests are based on flawed science and there's no way genetic swabs can provide meaningful evidence regarding nationality.

Family doctors group loses members over Coke deal

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 06:05 PST

By By LINDSEY TANNER -- Advice about soft drinks and health from one of the nation's largest doctors groups will soon be brought to you by Coke.

The American Academy of Family Physicians has prompted outcry and lost members over its new six-figure alliance with the Coca-Cola Co. The deal will fund educational materials about soft drinks for the academy's consumer health and wellness Web site, http://www.FamilyDoctor.org.

Academy CEO Dr. Douglas Henley said Wednesday that the deal won't influence the group's public health messages, and that the company will have no control over editorial content. He said the new online information will include research linking soft drinks with obesity and will focus on sugar-free alternatives.

Old method of heart bypass better than 'off-pump'

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 06:05 PST

By By STEPHANIE NANO -- It seemed like a great idea - doing bypass surgery while the heart is still beating, sparing patients the complications that can come from going on a heart-lung machine. Now the first big test of this method has produced a surprise: Bypass has fewer problems and is more successful done the old way.

Most surprisingly, there were no signs of mental decline in those on the machines. Avoiding this problem was thought be one of the benefits of so-called "off-pump" surgery without a machine.

"For the vast majority, there's no advantage to doing it off-pump and there may be some disadvantages," said Dr. Frederick Grover of the University of Colorado Denver, one of the leaders of the study.

Commercial pigs in Ind. test positive for H1N1

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:21 PST

By By HENRY C. JACKSON -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Wednesday that pigs in a commercial herd in Indiana have tested positive for swine flu, making it the first time the virus has been found in such hogs.

The USDA said it discovered four tissue samples that tested positive for the virus using its swine surveillance program.

The sample was collected in late October, and the USDA said the pigs as well as the people caring for the animals have recovered.