Attention, chocolate lovers: You may not be able to help yourselves. Swiss and British scientists have linked the widespread love of chocolate to a chemical "signature" that may be programmed into our metabolic systems.
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Health Highlights: March 31, 2004
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Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of HealthDay: Kerry OK After Shoulder Surgery Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry was expecting time off from shaking hands after undergoing surgery Wednesday for a shoulder injury. The 45-minute operation to repair a tear in Kerry's right shoulder and bicep tendons was performed under general anesthesia at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, according to The New York Times. Dr. Bertram Zarins, the hospital's chief of sports medicine, said Kerry will be in pain for a few days and probably need an ice pack and narcotic painkillers. He also said the 60-year-old candidate was smiling and talking shortly after coming out of the procedure, according to the Boston Herald. Kerry suffered the injury while campaigning in Iowa in January. He wrenched his right shoulder while bracing himself during an abrupt stop on his campaign bus. The four-term Massachusetts senator planned to be off the presidential campaign trail for the remainder of the week. His doctor predicted he would be "shaking hands'' again within a few days. ----- Nine Million U.S. Children Have Received Asthma Diagnosis Nine million U.S. children under age 18 have been diagnosed with asthma at some time in their lives. And more than four million have experienced an asthma attack in the past year, a new report on children's health says. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report says that 12 percent of children under age 18 have been diagnosed with asthma. The report says boys (14 percent) were more likely than girls (10 percent) to have been diagnosed with the disease. Other findings include:
The report's findings are based on 2002 data from the CDC's National Health Interview Survey. ----- Walnuts to Carry Qualified Health Claim Labels Product labels on whole and chopped walnuts will soon carry a qualified health claim that walnuts may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease, says the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The FDA approved the qualified health claim after it conducted a review of available research. The claim on walnut labels will state: "Supportive but not conclusive research shows that eating 1.5 oz. of walnuts per day, as part of a low saturated fat and low cholesterol diet, and not resulting in increased caloric intake may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease. See nutrition information for fat [and calorie] content." The FDA says the use of the bracketed phrase "and calorie" is optional. This additional information about the calories contained in walnuts would benefit consumers, the FDA says. ----- Study Finds Resemblance Between Dogs and Owners Your dog may be more than your best friend. It may be a reflection of you. When selecting purebred dogs, people tend to pick canines that resemble themselves, according to a University of California, San Diego study. Researchers took separate photographs of 45 dogs and their owners. Judges were shown photos of an owner, the owner's dog, and one other dog. The judges then had to try to pick out the real owner-dog match. The judges were able to successfully match 16 of 25 purebred dogs with their owners. There was no evidence of resemblance between mixed breed dogs and their owners, the study found. The UCSD psychologists who did the study concluded that when people select a dog, "they seek one that, at some level, resembles them and, when they get a purebred, they get what they want." The study appears in the May issue of the journal Psychological Science. ----- Incompatible Heart Transplants Keeping Infants Alive More children born with critical heart defects are being kept alive, ironically by giving them transplants once thought to be incompatible with their bodies, the Associated Press reports. Finding a heart for infants can be difficult, since traditional thinking dictates that the strawberry-sized organ must be harvested from a child of the same blood type who is brain dead -- usually from a car accident or drowning. The average wait is 52 days, the AP reports, and some critically ill infants don't have that long a period to live. But a few dozen infants have beaten the odds, having benefited from a Canadian researcher's discovery in 2001 that infants haven't yet developed antibodies that reject organs of other blood types. There is still much reluctance to adopt Dr. Lori West's premise that hearts from "incompatible" donors will also suffice, the AP reports. However, some transplant networks have endorsed her method as a last resort, citing data showing that the procedure's survival rates are statistically the same as traditional infant heart transplant surgery, the wire service says. West's findings do not apply to children older than 1 year, the AP emphasizes, in whom implanting incompatible organs is often deadly. Last year, Duke University surgeons accidentally implanted an incompatible heart and lungs into a 17-year-old Mexican girl, who died shortly after her body rejected the transplants. ----- Seniors' Support for Medicare Law Dropping Support among seniors appears to be waning for the recently passed Medicare prescription drug law, a USA Today poll finds. While supporters have hailed the legislation as revolutionary, critics have alleged that the law is fiscally bloated, and provides little benefit to seniors in the long run. Full prescription benefits don't begin until 2006, while drug discount cards will soon be offered to help financially burdened seniors in the interim. Just 36 percent of seniors now favor the Medicare overhaul passed in November, the poll finds, while 48 percent are opposed. By contrast, 46 percent of elderly survey participants approved of the legislation in December 2003, while 39 percent were opposed. Asked how the prescription drug provision would help lower-income seniors pay for their medications, 35 percent said it would help, 30 percent said it wouldn't have much effect, 20 percent said it would hurt, and 15 percent offered no opinion. The survey of 228 adults over age 65 was conducted March 26-28, and has a sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. Last Updated: Mar-31-2004 |