Health Highlights: Feb. 19, 2005

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

Canada Moves Closer to Export Ban on Some Prescription Drugs

After months of studying ways to keep the price of prescription drugs low for its citizens, Canada may ban exporting drugs whose patents are still in effect. And this would include Internet purchasing of drugs by U.S. citizens.

The Bloomberg News Service reports that Canadian Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh told reporters in Ottawa Friday that the ban on exporting patent medicines is one of four proposals his government is considering if the U. S. Congress approves a bill that would allow bulk imports of prescription drugs from Canada at cheaper prices.

What would be good for the United States would be bad for Canada, he said, because his country would face drug shortages. Some Canadian prescription drugs cost as much as 70 percent less than the same medication in the United States.

The wire service quotes Dosanjh as saying the proposal would be that "... when [Canada''s drug price regulator] approves those drugs for sale within a certain price range, there be an additional requirement that those drugs be absolutely and just for domestic consumption in Canada."

-----

Cosmetic Procedures Skyrocketed in 2004

Apparently, many Americans believe "natural" isn''t necessarily better when it comes to how you look.

The number of cosmetic procedures -- both surgical and non-surgical -- jumped a whopping 41 percent in 2004, according to statistics released last week by the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS). The number of cosmetic surgeries increased 17 percent, and the number of non-surgical procedures increased 51 percent from 2003, the society said.

By far, the most common procedure was the use of Botox to smooth out wrinkles. More than 2.8 million Botox injections were given for cosmetic reasons, according to ASAPS figures. The next most popular application was laser hair removal, with more than 1.4 million procedures being performed.

Among cosmetic surgeries, the most often-performed operation was liposuction with more than 478,000 operations, followed by breast augmentation, with more than 354,000 operations. Women are in the vast majority in having these procedures, making up more than 95 percent of the statistics.

Why the big increase in cosmetic applications? "People have had many more opportunities to see, first hand, what plastic surgery is like and what it can do for others," says Dr. Peter Fodor, the societys president. "That can be a strong incentive for them to seek the same benefits by having cosmetic procedures themselves."

-----

Suspect Canadian Beef Entered United States

The U.S. Department of Agriculture failed to prevent the importation of some 42,000 pounds of questionable meat from Canada two years ago following the discovery of mad cow disease in Alberta, the Associated Press reported.

The USDA''s inspector general''s report faulted the agency for failing to completely enforce the ban on imports of all Canadian beef and live cattle following the May 2003 revelation that the brain-wasting disease had affected Canadian livestock. The ban was eased in August 2003, the AP said.

The agency allowed the imports without ensuring that it "had an appropriate system of internal controls to manage the process," the inspector general''s report said.

Mad cow disease is the familiar name for bovine spongiform encephalopathy. A form of the illness, variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, can infect people who eat contaminated meat. There are no reports of people getting sick from the imported beef.

-----

Cancer Alert Sounded for Sauce Shipped to U.S., Canada

Some 350 ready-to-eat food products from Britain exported to the United States, Canada, and Europe have been recalled because they may have contained an illegal, cancer-causing dye, the British government warned Friday.

The red dye, Sudan I, was detected in a batch of chili powder used to manufacture a sauce that was then used in the various products, according to the chili powder''s maker, Premier Foods.

Affected products included beef casserole and shepherd''s pie sauces, marinades, thousand island dip, sausages, soups, casseroles, and sandwich fillings, the Times of London reported. The products were produced by popular British marketers including Waitrose, Tesco, Asda, Sainsburys, Marks & Spencer, and Morrisons.

Vegetarian and low-calorie meals by Weight Watchers also were affected, the newspaper said. The products were sent to the United States, Canada, France, Greece, Denmark, Holland, Switzerland, Ireland, Austria, Cyprus, Belgium, Bermuda, Granada, the Bahamas, and Antigua, the Associated Press reported.

-----

Study Cites Growing Risk of Female Circumcision

Significantly more young girls and women in the United States are at risk of female genital cutting (FGC) than a decade ago, researchers at Brigham and Women''s Hospital in Boston say.

FGC, involving the removal of external genitalia, is viewed as a right of passage in some cultures. Some 228,000 girls and young women in the United States are said to be at high risk of having the procedure performed, the Boston researchers concluded, compared to 168,000 cited in a 1990 study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Those who have the procedure performed are at risk of permanent disability and premature death, the Boston researchers said in a statement. Of those at risk for FGC, 27 percent are under age 18, the statement said.

California, New York, and Maryland have the most female immigrants and refugees from countries where FGC is prevalent. The procedure has been performed on more than 130 million women worldwide, the researchers said.

-----

Viagra Studied as Stroke Treatment

The male impotence drug Viagra is being studied as a possible treatment for ischemic stroke, which is caused by blocked arteries.

Over the next three months, doctors at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit will enroll 84 people ages 18 to 80 who have mild-to-moderate stroke complications. The patients will be enrolled within three days of having a stroke.

Participants will receive doses ranging from 25 mg. to 150 mg., the Associated Press reported. The normal dose for male erectile dysfunction is 50 mg.

Previous research in animals found that Viagra may help memory and movement by promoting development of new cells and blood vessels in injured brains.

-----

Senate Bill Would Bar Misuse of Genetic Data

A bill to protect people from having their genetic information used against them by employers or health insurers was approved Thursday by the U.S. Senate.

The legislation, which passed 98-0, would prevent employers from using genetic information to fire people. It would also forbid health insurance companies from using genetic information to deny people coverage or increase premiums, the Associated Press reported.

Sen. Olympia Snowe (D-Maine) was the legislation''s principal sponsor. She noted that since the human genome map was completed about four years ago, "The American people have been vulnerable to this type of discrimination and ... the risk of discrimination has inhibited the full use of this vast, still-untapped reservoir of knowledge."

-----