Low Dose Birth Control Pills Raise Heart Attack Risk
News-Medical.Net
A new review suggests that low-dose birth control pills, which are generally considered to be safer than the pill of the past, still carries an increased risk for heart attack and stroke. Dr John E. Nestler and his colleagues from Virginia Commonwealth University and the Université de Sherbrooke (Québec, Canada) were eager to clarify this risk, so they reviewed relevant studies that included women taking low-dose oral contraceptives conducted between 1980 and 2002. They found that overall, the risk of having a heart attack or stroke was found to be twice as high for low-dose oral contraceptive users as for non-users.
9,000 University of California Nurses to Strike July 21
Nurse101.com News Wire
In what is believed to be the largest single strike by registered nurses ever in the United States, some 9,000 University of California RNs have called a one day strike Thursday, July 21 at several of the state's best known medical institutions, the California Nurses Association announced today. In a series of large membership meetings held over the past two weeks, UC RNs, Nurse Practitioners, and Nurse Anesthetists voted by an overwhelming 95% to reject a contract proposal by University administrators and authorize the walkout.
Vt. Attacks Nurse Shortage With Faculty Aid
Rutland Herald
Starting this month, Vermont's five nursing schools can offer student loan repayments to new faculty thanks to the Legislature. As part of the state's new $1 billion general fund budget, schools were given $50,000 to start a program that lawmakers ultimately hope will increase the number of practicing nurses statewide.
UALR, St. Vincent Combat Nursing Shortage
KATV 7-News, AR
Little Rock -- A local university and hospital are teaming up to increase the number of nursing graduates in Little Rock. UALR and St. Vincent Health Systems are furthering an already-existing partnership. St. Vincent will now offer 20 additional scholarships and money for operating expenses that will allow UALR to increase its nursing enrollment. St. Vincent will also offer on-site training to nursing students. The Arkansas Legislative Commission says nearly 2,000 new registered nurses are needed each year, and less than 800 typically graduate each year.
Newborns' Stroke Risk as High as Elderly's
HealthDay News
Strokes are usually associated with older adults, but a new study finds their incidence among newborns is equal to that of the elderly. In most cases, infant stroke means long-term neurological problems for those babies who suffer them, researchers add. "We don't think of babies as having a high risk of stroke, but strokes do occur in babies and cause significant lifelong disabilities," said co-researcher and child neurologist Dr. Donna M. Ferriero, professor of neurology and pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).
Jury Selection to Start in Vioxx Case
New York Newsday
HOUSTON -- Merck & Co. has vowed to defend itself against more than 3,800 pending state and federal lawsuits alleging it knew its popular painkiller, Vioxx, could be dangerous long before the company voluntarily pulled it from the market last year. The New Jersey drug maker's first chance to do so begins with jury selection set for Monday in a small-town Texas courtroom 30 miles south of Houston.
Prescription drug abuse in the USA exceeds 15 million
News-Medical.Net
A recently released report by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University suggests between 1992 and 2003, more Americans were abusing controlled prescription drugs than cocaine, hallucinogens, inhalants and heroin put together.
According to the study, the number of Americans who admit abusing prescription drugs almost doubled to over 15 million from 1992 to 2003, with abuse among teenage figures tripling.
Evidence suggests that antibiotic use in agriculture
has contributed to antibiotic resistance in humans
News-Medical.Net
Doctors have become increasingly concerned by the problem of "super-bugs" - bacteria that have become resistant to standard antibiotics.
It is well known that a high rate of antibiotic prescribing in hospitals contributes to the emergence of drug resistant bacteria. But for some antibiotics, an even more important factor contributing to such emergence, argues a team of researchers in the open access international medical journal PLoS Medicine, is the use of antibiotics in agriculture. "Evidence suggests that antibiotic use in agriculture has contributed to antibiotic resistance in the pathogenic bacteria of humans," say David Smith of the Fogarty International Center, Jonathan Dushoff of Princeton University and the Fogarty International Center, and J.Glenn Morris Jr. of the University of Maryland.
Cos. to Pay Nearly $1M in Ephedra Case
ABC News
NEWARK, N.J. -- The makers of a weight-loss product implicated in the death of a Baltimore Orioles pitcher will pay New Jersey nearly $1 million to settle claims that it exaggerated the benefits and understated the risks of some products. The settlement announced by the state Monday involves Wall Township-based Nutraquest Inc. and three related companies that have agreed not to make unsubstantiated claims in advertising.
Curry Ingredient Fights Skin Cancer: Study
Reuters
WASHINGTON -- The compound that makes curry yellow could help fight skin cancer, U.S. researchers reported on Monday. They said curcumin, found in the spice turmeric, interferes with melanoma cells. Tests in laboratory dishes show that curcumin made melanoma skin cancer cells more likely to self-destruct in a process known as apoptosis.
