Health Highlights: Aug. 30, 2005

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

Teen Drivers Are Risky With Other Teens as Passengers: Study

Teenage drivers tend to take more risks behind the wheel when other teens -- notably boys -- are in the passenger seat, U.S. government researchers have found.

The riskiest driving occurred among drivers of either sex when a teen male was a passenger, according to researchers from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

Ironically, teen boy drivers actually became somewhat safer when a female companion was in the passenger seat, The New York Times reported of the study published in the journal Accident Analysis and Prevention.

Of 471 teenage drivers tracked, 14.9 percent of boys and 13.1 of girls practiced dangerous habits including speeding and tailgating, the scientists said.

Lead researcher Bruce Simons-Morton speculated that drivers felt they had to show off with boy passengers in the car, although he said the issue would have to be confirmed in future studies.

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Feds Can''t Pinpoint Source of Mad Cow Case

While tainted feed was the most likely source of a recent mad cow case involving a Texas bovine, the U.S. government on Tuesday closed its investigation without pinpointing an exact source, the Associated Press reported.

The first domestic case of mad cow involved a 12-year-old Brahma cross cow. A U.S. Food and Drug Administration spokesman said the cow most likely ate contaminated food before a 1997 ban prevented the use of ground-up cattle remains in cattle feed, the wire service said.

The FDA studied more than 400 of the diseased animal''s herd mates without finding another case of the brain-wasting disease, formally known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy. The diseased cow was already dead when it arrived at a Champion Pet Foods plant on Nov. 15, so no part of it was used to make dog food, the Houston Chronicle reported in June when the case was announced.

The nation''s first-ever confirmed case of mad cow, announced in December 2003, involved an imported animal believed to have been infected in Canada, the AP said.

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Half of Candle Fire Deaths Are Under Age 20

Half of the deaths caused by home candle fires involve people under the age of 20, the National Fire Protection Association concluded from study results revealed Tuesday.

Candle fires caused 18,000 home fires in the most recent years studied, 2001 and 2002, the fire safety group said in a statement. For 2002 alones, these fires caused 130 deaths, 1,350 civilian injuries and $333 million in property damage, the group said.

Almost 25 percent of the fatal home candle fires began at homes in which electrical power had been interrupted. Some 40 percent of these fires began in the bedroom, 17 percent in living rooms, 14 percent in bathrooms, and 8 percent in kitchens.

The group reminded Americans to extinguish all candles when leaving a room or going to sleep; to keep them away from flammable items like clothing, books, and curtains; and to avoid carrying lighted candles around during power outages.

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New Diabetes Drug Wins Approval

Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. of Tokyo has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for its new diabetes drug and will begin selling it in October, the company said Tuesday.

The new product, Actoplus Met, is a single tablet that combines two existing diabetes drugs, Actos and Metformin, and will be sold in the United States by Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America Inc., the Associated Press reported.

Actos is a drug used to improve insulin resistance, and Metformin is used to control the level of glucose produced by the liver.

The new drug will mean that type 2 diabetes patients no longer need to take two tablets for the same treatment, said Matsutaka Matsumoto, of Takeda Pharmaceutical Co.

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World''s Oldest Person Dies at 115

The world''s oldest person died peacefully in her sleep Tuesday at age 115, according to the director of the home for the elderly where she lived in the Netherlands.

"She was very clear mentally right up to the end, but the physical ailments were increasing," the home''s director, Johan Beijering, told the Associated Press. "She felt that being the oldest person in the world for more than a year was long enough."

Known as "Henny" van Andel-Schipper, she lived in Hoogeveen since World War II, and moved to the elderly home when she was 106. Born in 1890, she celebrated her 115th birthday on June 29 and her status as "oldest person" was recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records last year.

She advised others who wanted a long life to "keep breathing" and eat pickled herring, a favorite Dutch snack, AP reported.

Guinness spokesman Sam Knights said the oldest authenticated person now is Elizabeth Bolden, 115, of Memphis, Tenn., born Aug. 15, 1890. The oldest man is Emiliano Mercado del Toro, 114, of Puerto Rico.