Health Highlights: Feb. 28, 2005

Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of HealthDay:

MS Drug Withdrawn After Patient Death

The makers of the multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri (natalizumab) are suspending sales following the death of one patient and a serious illness in another caused by the same nervous system disorder, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Monday.

The FDA approved Tysabri, called Antegren during clinical trials, in November. Makers Biogen Idec Inc. and Elan Corp. had said late-stage patient trials showed the drug reduced MS relapses by 66 percent, compared with people who took a placebo. Some 5,000 people have taken Tysabri since it was approved, Biogen said.

The two adverse reactions occurred in patients who had taken Tysabri combined with an older Biogen drug, Avonex, for more than two years each, the Associated Press reported. One patient died and the second was sickened by the often fatal nervous system disease called progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML). Neither patient had symptoms of PML before beginning Tysabri, the FDA said.

A Biogen spokesman said the company still believed in the drug''s promise, but said the firm was suspending sales and clinical trials as it investigated the pair of serious reactions. The suspension, Biogen said, was made in consultation with the FDA.

Biogen said it hoped to resume sales later this year. Patients taking Tysabri should ask their doctor to recommend an alternative treatment, the FDA recommended.

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Mercury Levels Linked to Lower IQ

Mercury exposure in the womb causes lower IQ levels, costing the United States $8.7 billion a year in lost earnings potential, a study released Monday by researchers at a New York hospital said.

The Mount Sinai Center for Children''s Health and the Environment took the results of a number of previous studies to reach the conclusion that hundreds of thousands of babies are born each year with lower IQs due to pre-natal mercury exposure.

The researchers determined that even a 1.6 point drop in IQ could cost a person $31,800 in lifetime earnings because of missed educational opportunities or jobs, the Associated Press reported.

Peter McCaffery, a scientist at the University of Massachusetts Medical School who studies the brain, told the AP that the Mount Sinai researchers did a pretty good job piecing together a wide range of possible reactions to mercury exposure.

The study appears in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

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Hepatitis C Drug Therapy Approved for HIV Patients

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the hepatitis C drugs Pegasys (peginterferon alfa-2a) combined with Copegus (ribavirin) to treat people also infected with HIV, according to Pegasys'' maker, Hoffman-LaRoche Pharmaceuticals.

Pegasys, approved in 2002, is the most prescribed hepatitis C drug in the United States, the company said. Some 30 percent of Americans with HIV also are infected with hepatitis C, the two most prevalent blood-borne infections in the country, Hoffman-LaRoche said in a statement.

Hepatitis C is an often fatal, progressive liver disease that''s typically spread by the use of shared drug needles and by sexual contact, two methods that also can lead to the spread of the virus that causes AIDS.

Some 300,000 Americans are infected with both viruses, the company said. A spokesman said hepatitis C progresses much more quickly to liver failure in people who have HIV.

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Pope Continues Recovery With Breathing Exercises

Pope John Paul II''s recovery from breathing problems and a tracheotomy performed last week is progressing without complications, the Vatican said Monday.

The 84-year-old pontiff, who surprised onlookers by appearing briefly in his hospital window on Sunday, is eating regularly, sitting in a chair, and has begun breathing exercises, the Vatican said in a statement. The medical update did not mention how long doctors expected the pope to be hospitalized, according to CNN.

Doctors cut a hole in the pope''s windpipe and inserted a breathing tube last Thursday to ease his breathing problems, which had forced him to be rushed to a Rome hospital for the second time in less than a month. Vatican sources have attributed the respiratory problems to a bout with the flu, denying that the second hospitalization was the result of a severe complication like pneumonia.

On Sunday, the pope was unable to make his traditional blessing in St. Peter''s Square for the first time in a quarter century, CNN said.

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U.S. Life Expectancy Hits Record High

The average American lived to 77.6 years in 2003, up from 77.3 years in 2002, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday.

The life expectancy gap between men and women closed to 5.3 years in 2003, continuing its decline from the record 7.8-year gap in 1979, the agency said. Record high life expectancies were posted among white males (75.4 years), black males (69.2 years), and white females (80.5 years).

Death rates fell for seven of the 15 leading causes of death in 2003, the CDC said. Declines were posted for heart disease (3.6 percent), cancer (2.2 percent), stroke (4.6 percent), suicide (3.7 percent), flu/pneumonia (3.1 percent), chronic liver disease (2.1 percent), and accidents/unintentional injuries (2.2 percent).

On the other hand, death rates rose for chronic ailments including Alzheimer''s disease, kidney disease, high blood pressure (hypertension), and Parkinson''s disease, the CDC said.

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Oscar Winners Outlive Their Peers

A Canadian researcher has come to the conclusion that those recognized by their peers Sunday for stellar performances on film will get more than a career boost; they will also outlive the competition by nearly four years.

Dr. Donald Redelmeier, a professor of medicine at the University of Toronto, told the Associated Press the news is even better for actors who win more than one Oscar during their career because they live an average of six years longer. Katherine Hepburn was proof of that theory, having won four Oscars and living to the ripe old age of 96, the wire service noted.

The study looked at all 762 actors and actresses who were ever nominated for an Academy Award in a leading or supporting role. For each nominee, the researchers picked an actor of the same gender and age who appeared in the same film as the nominee. On average, Oscar winners lived to he age of 79.7 years, while non-winners made it to 75.8 years.

An extra average of 3.9 years of life is no small matter, Redelmeier told the AP, noting that if all cancer patients in North America were cured, average life expectancy would grow by only 3.5 years.