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.
Read more health news
Health Highlights: March 30, 2006
|
Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of HealthDay: Outside Prayer Doesn''t Help Heart Surgery Patients Having people pray for heart bypass surgery patients does not help them recover, says a study of 1,800 patients at six medical centers that was financed by the Templeton Foundation, which supports research into science and religion. In fact, the study found that patients who knew they had people praying for them actually had a slightly higher rate of post-surgery complications, the Associated Press reported. The findings will be published in the American Heart Journal. For this study, researchers had three Christian groups pray for some of the heart surgery patients, starting the night before their operation and continuing for two weeks after the surgery. The groups prayed for a "successful surgery with a quick, healthy recovery and no complications." The patients were monitored for complications for 30 days after surgery. Prayer had no effect on complication-free recovery. However, 59 percent of the patients who knew they were being prayed for suffered complications, compared to 52 percent of the patients who were told it was just a possibility. ----- Major League Baseball to Probe Steroid Use Major League Baseball will investigate alleged steroid use by players, it was announced Thursday afternoon. "Nothing is more important to me than the integrity of the game of baseball," Commissioner Bud Selig said at a news conference in New York, in which he announced that George Mitchell, the former Senate majority leader from Maine, would lead the investigation, The New York Times reported. It''s believed that Selig''s decision was prompted by the publication of a book called "Game of Shadows," which details alleged extensive steroid use by a number of major baseball stars, including Barry Bonds. Even with an investigation, it''s not clear whether current or former baseball players would cooperate or if they could be compelled to do so by baseball officials. "I think the investigation is the right step," former commissioner Fay Vincent told the Associated Press . "I don''t think the issue is punishment, I think it''s: ''Shouldn''t the players be called to task for cheating, even if there is no punishment?'' I think baseball has to recapture the moral high ground." ----- Company to Test Low-Dose Bird Flu Vaccines Two new Phase I trials of ultra-low doses of a vaccine against H5N1 bird flu will soon be launched in Belgium and Germany by pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). The ultra-low vaccine doses will be boosted by the addition of chemicals called adjuvants, the Canadian Press reported. If these tests prove even moderately successful, they could lead to the development of a vaccine that could be manufactured in high enough quantities to provide protection to many more people than can be covered by the H5N1 vaccines tested so far. One of the low-dose vaccines will be boosted by an adjuvant called alum, which has long been used in other types of vaccines. The second low-dose vaccine will be boosted with a new adjuvant that GSK officials believe will trigger a stronger immune response at lower doses of vaccine and may prompt more parts of the immune system to respond, CP reported. Company officials did not name the new adjuvant. The results of the trials are expected to released in the third quarter of this year. ----- Mental-Health Coverage Doesn''t Increase Costs: Study A new U.S. study says that providing insurance coverage for mental illness that matches coverage for physical illness does not increase the cost of mental-health care. This kind of equal coverage for mental illness took effect for U.S. federal employees in 2001. It forbids insurers from charging higher co-payments or imposing tighter limits on psychiatric care or treatment for drug and alcohol abuse, The New York Times reported. Researchers studied the impact of that federal policy, known as parity, and concluded that if it is properly managed, expanding coverage of mental-health illness "can improve insurance protection without increasing total costs" beyond the costs that are paid by insurers who don''t offer parity. The study found that the federal program did not increase the use of mental-health services but did result in significant reductions in out-of-pocket spending for many government employees and retirees, the Times reported. Dr. Howard H. Goldman, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Maryland, led the research team. The findings appear in the March 31 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. ----- Experts Offer Advice on Elective C-Sections Women who plan to have several children should not have elective Cesarean sections, concluded scientists who attended a three-day meeting on the issue that was arranged by the U.S. National Institutes of Health. But the panel of experts said there''s not enough research to make a definitive pronouncement on whether elective C-sections are good or bad for women who plan to have only one or two children, the Associated Press reported. Among the panel''s recommendations:
----- Drug Restrictions a Problem for Medicare Patients Many elderly people enrolled in the new Medicare drug plan are encountering an unexpected maze of restrictions. Insurance companies are using a number of methods to compel their customers to use cheaper drugs, the Associated Press reported. In some cases, doctors have to get prior approval for a drug before an insurer will cover it. In other instances, plans limit the quantity of a drug that a patient can get. The Medicare plans are also using "tiering" to restrict patient access to more expensive drugs. It''s normal for private sector plans to place 15 to 20 drugs in the specialty tier -- which requires customers to pay for a quarter, a third or even more of the cost of the drugs, the AP said. However, the Medicare plans "have an average of 88 drugs on the fourth (specialty) tier. That''s unprecedented," Dan Mendelson, president of the consulting firm Avalere Health, told the AP. "What they''re doing is funding the benefit by shifting the costs onto beneficiaries who have chronic illness," he said. Last Updated: March 30, 2006 |