Nancy Reagan May Prod Senate on Stem Cells
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- Nancy Reagan is poised for a quiet entrance into the Senate's embryonic stem cell debate in much the same role she played during the fierce fight in the House, calling up wavering lawmakers to help win passage of legislation in the shadow of President Bush's veto threat. Mrs. Reagan and other advocates have turned their sights on the Senate, where a bipartisan group of sponsors say they have at lest 58 votes in favor of the House-passed bill — two short of the number required to stop a promised filibuster. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., a physician and White House ally, said he expects the chamber to act on the bill next month.

Global Nursing School Opens in St. Kitts
Newsday
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts -- People like Kate Zajdel are desperately needed to fill a worldwide shortage of nurses. Yet she was among tens of thousands of qualified applicants turned away by U.S. nursing programs last year because there are not enough teachers or space. The dilemma brought the 22-year-old New Yorker to a new international nursing school in the Caribbean country of St. Kitts and Nevis.

U.S. Baby Trend: More Boys Are Born Than Girls
WebMD Medical News
It may be one of America's longest-running baby trends -- the birth of more boys than girls. The CDC's latest records are for 2002, when newborn boys outnumbered girls by more than 94,000 infants. The trend dates back to 1940. That's before the attack on Pearl Harbor, when the baby boom generation was just a twinkle in their parents' eyes. Every year from 1940 through 2002, an average of 91,685 more boys were born in the U.S. than girls. That adds up to a difference of more than 5.7 million boys, says the CDC.

Childbirth at Home as Safe as Hospital Delivery: Study
HealthDayNews
THURSDAY -- Women who choose to give birth at home with the help of a certified midwife have deliveries that are as safe as those done in a hospital, Canadian researchers report. Moreover, evidence from the study supports the American Public Health Association's recommendation that home deliveries with certified midwives should be increased in the United States, he said.

FDA Staff Back Race-Based Drug
WKYT 27
U.S. Food and Drug Administration staff gave their approval Wednesday to the nation's first race-based medicine, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported. An FDA expert advisory panel was to consider the issue on Thursday. Nitromed Inc.'s heart medication BiDil won the staff members' backing for use in black people. While blacks do have a higher rate of heart failure than whites, critics contend that the designation is a marketing ploy, since there is no scientific evidence that the medicine works any better in blacks compared to whites, the newspaper reported.

New Blood Vessels Grown From Older Cells
The Associated Press
LONDON -- Scientists reported they have grown new blood vessels with cells from sick older people — the type of patients most likely to need such transplants if the technique is perfected. The approach, outlined in The Lancet medical journal this week, could be used for heart or other bypass surgery in the elderly whose own veins may not be suitable.

Study: Most Painkillers Up Heart Attack Risk
WebMD Medical News
A new study shows that most prescription and over-the-counter painkillers increase the risk of heart attacks. In the wake of the largest study to date showing most nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) -- including ibuprofen, naproxen, and Celebrex -- increase the risk of heart attacks in people with arthritis, experts are once again urging all involved to weigh their individual risks when choosing a painkiller.

State Health Officials Urge Caution In Face of Rodent Virus
Disease carried by hamsters,
gerbils has killed 6 in U.S.
Green Bay Press-Gazette
Late last month, three transplant patients from Rhode Island and Massachusetts died from a virus that originated from a hamster. The only other deaths that have been linked to the rare virus were recently confirmed in three transplant patients from Wisconsin who died between November 2003 and January 2004, said Stephanie Marquis, spokesperson for the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services.

Feds Say No New Health Risk of Mad Cow
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- The government says there is no new health risk from mad cow disease despite fresh suspicions about an animal that was previously cleared of the lethal infection. The Agriculture Department said Friday night it will seek further testing of a tissue sample from a "downer" beef cow — one unable to walk — after receiving conflicting results on tests of it for mad cow disease.

Raisins Fight Gum Disease
ScienceDaily.com
Compounds found in raisins fight bacteria in the mouth that cause cavities and gum disease, according to researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago. "Our laboratory analyses showed that phytochemicals in this popular snack food suppressed the growth of oral bacteria associated with caries and gum disease," said Christine Wu, professor and associate dean for research at the UIC College of Dentistry and lead author of the study. Phytochemicals are compounds found in higher plants.