Tattoo Removal Surgeries Now Gaining Grounds

Diamonds, cockroaches, and tattoos are forever. But wait a minute - that's no longer true of the latter. These days, a tattoo can be here today and gone over the course of several painful tomorrows.

For many regretful men and women, what used to be a permanent reminder of a passing fad is now written in erasable ink. Tattoo removal surgeries, involving multiple laser treatments that destroy the pigments beneath the skin, have become increasingly common.

Over the past twenty years, tattoos have exploded in popularity. The explosion is thanks to better health and safety standards, including single-use needles, protective gloves, and sterilisation, as well as a surge of ink in popular culture. Together, these factors have encouraged a generation who otherwise could have lived without the Chinese symbol for Mouthwash etched in its skin. A newly tattooed tribe was born, and it thrives to this day.

While the techniques had become safer and more common, the classic dangerous appeal of the tattoo remained. Regardless of their relative safety, tattoos were no less painful or permanent. Somehow, even the promise of individuality persevered. But with more and more skin going under the needle, more and more people began to realise that forever is a long, long time.

The most comment argument against the tattoo is regret, and that regret falls into three basic categories. One, your sensibilities may change: You may eventually decide that you do not feel as strongly about Megadeth, or the Tasmanian Devil, or Jason, Sharon or Steve. Two, your circumstances may change: You may find it difficult to acquire gainful employment with exposed tattoos, even if they include WORD and EXCL across the knuckles.

All the more common is reason three: you, physically, will change. Thousands of years ago, before the first tattoo was performed on an early Eurasian ancestor, his ancient Eurasian mother asked him how it was going to look when he was old and wrinkly. This, however, is the easiest argument to refute. After all, nobody's modelling swimsuits when they're old and wrinkly.

The common theme of these arguments is time. Time passes, things change, yet (with occasional retouching) tattoos stay the same. For many, committing to a tattoo used to mean coming to terms with and accepting your regret. That, strangely, was yet another part of the appeal.

But today, for a few thousand dollars and a few weeks of appointments, that permanence and regret is no more.

Soon, a new type of tattoo ink will be available that is designed for laser surgery. Only one treatment will be necessary to remove the ink from the skin, making this the tattoo equivalent of non-alcoholic beer.

Meanwhile, the fringe will continue to get - and keep - their tattoos, even while the tribe who sought their tattooed individuality together seeks removal together as well. Like any other youthful fad, ink is now readily tossed aside for family, career, and adulthood.

Tattoos aren't forever, but some things never change.

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Some One Million Crib Recall Underway In The United States

The largest crib recall in history is underway following findings showing that a couple of kids have been killed by their cribs. Some one million cribs with older drop-side hardware were recalled following an announcement by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and Simplicity for Children Inc., asking consumers with such cribs to return them.

The agency and the company are concerned with failure in the "drop-side" of the crib when it is incorrectly assembled. According to the CPSC, the drop-side failures result from both the hardware and crib design. These two faulty elements all too easily trick consumers into unintentionally installing the drop-side upside down. Thus installed, the hardware can weaken and cause the drop-side to detach from the crib, creating a gap in which infants can become entrapped and, there, suffocate. Thus far this failure has led to three infant deaths.

"According to First Candle, a leading promoter of infant health, infants who sleep in an adult bed with their parents are up to 40 times more likely to die through suffocation or other means than infants who sleep in a crib. Parents need to know that babies are
safest in a separate sleeping space designed for them," said Simplicity President Ken Waldman.

This is the largest recall of cribs in United States history. The cribs were made in China.

All of the cribs in question were manufactured by the first part of 2006, and none of the cribs that Simplicity is presently distributing to stores have this design problem.

Once again, a controversy is surrounding products made in China and sold for children in the United States.

However, the last time such a thing happened, which was with the recent recall of supposedly lead paint toxic toys made in China for the giant Mattell toy manufacturer, it ended up being a red herring. Today, Mattell issued a company apology to the entire nation of China when it became clear that the amounts of lead paint that were in the recalled toys did not exceed CPSC limits. Instead, the problem lay tiny magnets in the toys that children could swallow and get sick from - which was a design problem on Mattell's end, not China's.

Critics are concerned that the real motive behind at least a lot of the "China bashing" lies in the frustration that many American consumers feel over the outsourcing of so many formerly American jobs to the Asian nation, where the workers demand only a fraction of the salary that their American counterparts would, as well as with the United States' steep trade deficit with China which American officials blame largely on China's artificially depreciated currency.

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E. Coli Found In US Lettuce Brand, Triggers Dole Lettuce Recall

A bag of Dole's Hearts Delight salad mix sold at a store in Canada, tested positive for E. coli triggering a recall in at least nine states. Neither Canadian health officials nor Dole Food Co. have received reports of anyone getting sick from the product, despite speculations that the product, which is suspected of being contaminated with E. coli O157:H7 has been distributed all over Canada.

The affected packages contain romaine and green leaf lettuce and butter lettuce hearts.

“Don’t play Russian roulette,” said Rene Cardinal, national manager of the fresh fruit and vegetable program at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. “If you have it in your home, destroy it.”

Cardinal added that not all bags are necessarily contaminated, “but don’t take any chances.”

The food safety agency discovered that a sample of Dole’s Hearts Delight mixed lettuce salad was tainted with bacteria as part of random testing completed over the weekend. It’s possible the recall could be expanded as the agency begins an investigation to determine the origin of the bagged salad and where it was distributed.

However, he noted it will take time for the government to determine where the produce was grown because it is a blend of different lettuce types.

“If it had been one single type of lettuce it would be easier,” he said. “It’s too premature at this point in time (to say) what caused the contamination.”

Last year, E. coli-tainted spinach was linked to the deaths of several people in the U.S. Hundreds more were made ill. The spinach scare, as well as subsequent recalls involving items such as carrot juice and lettuce, prompted governments and the food industry to find new ways to improve produce safety.

But this most recent recall shows there is still a long way to go before problems involving food safety are eliminated, said Mansel Griffiths, director of the Canadian Research Institute for Food Safety at the University of Guelph, Ont.

“Hopefully as we identify these issues and put things in place — the correct production practices for the fruit and vegetable industry — then we can reduce the problems that we have.”

The traceability of food, which refers to the ability of authorities to determine where food came from and how it was distributed, is a major factor affecting how quickly possible sources of contamination can be pinpointed and dangerous foods pulled off shelves, Griffiths said.

“Certainly it would help if you could trace the sources of this lettuce as quickly as possible so remedial measures could be taken,” he said.

Despite these latest safety scares, the industry has been making major gains to improve the safety and quality of food, said Heather Holland, senior technical manager of food safety and government relations at the Canadian Produce Marketing Association.

“In actual fact, we’ve been working on food safety for a number of years,” she said.

The fact that this week’s recall is focused on a specific type of Dole brand lettuce shows that the industry’s focus on improving safety and production is working, Holland said.

“What we’re seeing here is the benefits of good practices,” she said. “We’re able here to have the scope of the product narrowed down to a lot number and a best-before date.”

The affected Dole brand lettuce blend is sold in 227-gram packages, coded UPC 0 71430 01038 9 and lot code A24924B, with a best-before date of Sept. 19. It may have been distributed nationally.

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Long-Term Breastfeeding Does Not Reduce Children's Risk Of Suffering Asthma

Long-term breastfeeding, while famously rich in nutrients for baby, does nothing to reduce the risk of developing childhood asthma and allergies, a new study suggests.

Canadian and Belarusian doctors recruited 17,046 breastfeeding women who were attending maternity clinics in Belarus in the late 1990s.

The volunteers were split into two groups.

In one group, the women (and the healthworkers at the maternity clinics) carried out their normal practices and policies of breastfeeding.

In the other, breastfeeding was promoted and supported, with the result that more infants of women in this group were breastfed exclusively for their first three months of life, and for longer periods, at up to 12 months.

When the children reached the age of six and a half, they were tested for any symptoms of asthma and their parents were asked to detail any symptoms of wheezing, chest tightness, hay fever and eczema.

In addition, the children were given allergy pricks to test for any response to house dust mites, cats, birch pollen, mould and grass pollen.


A total of 13,889 youngsters were followed up this way.

There was no difference between the groups on the questions of asthma, hay fever or eczema - and the results from the allergy pricks showed that in the "pro-breastfeeding" group, the youngsters were more sensitive to dust mites and grass pollen than their counterparts.

"These results do not support a protective effect of prolonged and exclusive breastfeeding on asthma or allergy," say the investigators, led by Michael Kramer of The Montreal Children's Hospital, Canada.

They note that asthma and allergies have surged in incidence in the past few decades while breastfeeding has enjoyed a renaissance.

This "strong suggests that breast feeding does not have a potent protective effect (against these disease) at population level."

In 2002, a smaller study, conducted among 1,037 New Zealand infants, found that babies who had been breastfed for more than four weeks rank almost double the risk of contracting asthma and allergies in their childhood compared with counterparts who had been fed on infant formula.

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Oesophagus Cancer Linked To Obesity In Australia

A rapid rise in cases of a deadly oesophagus cancer has been linked to Australia's obesity crisis, with doctors investigating whether fat tissue is feeding the tumours.

The incidence of adenocarcinoma of the oesophagus — one of the most lethal cancers — has increased fivefold in the past 25 years in Australia, according to David Whiteman, senior research fellow at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research.

"It's a real increase in cancer which you just don't see in epidemiological lifetimes," he said. "It's unprecedented to see a cancer come up so quickly."

Those at greatest risk appear to be obese people, especially men, who suffer from reflux and have smoked at some time.

Dr Whiteman has recently completed a study aiming to identify factors that might affect a person's risk of oesophageal cancer, with a particular focus on whether fat may be feeding certain cancers.

"There really is no question that this is an obesity-related cancer but the question is how and why?" he said.

"Could it be that the fat tissue itself is acting like a fertiliser? Is it producing an environment where if you have an early change that could turn into a cancer in someone with more body fat, that it is more likely to flourish, take root and grow than it would in a lean person who doesn't have the same amount of proteins flitting around the body?"

Dr Whiteman's study has been accepted for publication in the medical journal Gut, published by the British Medical Journal publishing group. His research team compared more than 1000 Australians diagnosed with oesophagus cancers with healthy people.


The participants were asked a number of questions including the nature of their symptoms prior to diagnosis.

"People often don't realise they have any problem until they get their food stuck when they swallow and when that happens usually the cancer is of a large size, which means it's resistant to treatment," Dr Whiteman said.

"It has a survival rate that's as bad as any of the bad cancers like pancreatic cancer."

According to Cancer Council Victoria, there were an average of 133 new cases of the cancer per year in Victorian men and women in 2002-04. Men are five to eight times more likely to get it than women.

One of the big risk factors associated with the cancer is reflux (heartburn) from the stomach, a condition more often suffered by overweight people.

Smoking is also a risk factor, even for people who have only smoked for a short time.

The director of Cancer Council Victoria, Professor David Hill, said the rise in adenocarcinoma of the oesophagus was concerning.

The Cancer Council has conducted a 20-year study of more than 40,000 Victorians, which looked at how lifestyle factors, including diet and exercise, affected a person's risk of developing certain cancers.

It was estimated that obesity contributed to 500 cancer deaths in Victoria each year.

The study, developed by Professor Graham Giles, found men and women who were considered overweight — with a body mass index over 25 — had an increased risk of adenocarcinoma of the oesophagus. Of the patients with the cancer, 45 per cent had the disease because they were overweight.

Professor Hill said certain cancers were associated with being overweight including cancer of the colon, endometrium, postmenopausal breast, kidney and myeloid leukaemia.

"This study shows how much impact you could make in reducing the burden of cancer by in fact changing the prevalence of the risk factor, in this case, overweight/obesity," Professor Hill said.

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Mattel Makes A Third Toy Recall

Mattel, Inc. announced today that, as a result of the company's ongoing investigation of its toys manufactured by vendors in China, the company has voluntarily recalled 11 toys globally, including eight pet and furniture playsets sold under the Barbie® brand and three Fisher-Price® toys, due to impermissible levels of lead. No Barbie® dolls are included within the recall. In total, there are 530,000 affected toys in the U.S., and 318,000 affected toys outside of the U.S. Mattel has completed the testing program for the majority of its toys, including all of its toys currently sourced from vendors.


The voluntary recall results from Mattel's thorough investigation of vendor-sourced toys. Mattel has also globally implemented a strengthened, three-point check system to test toys throughout the manufacturing process.

"In August we promised that we'd continue to focus on ensuring the safety and quality of our toys through extensive testing of finished products, thorough investigation of our vendors and the implementation of a strengthened three-point check system. As a result of our ongoing investigation we discovered additional affected products. Consequently, several subcontractors are no longer manufacturing Mattel toys. We apologize again to everyone affected and promise that we will continue to focus on ensuring the safety and quality of our toys," said Robert A. Eckert, chairman and chief executive officer, Mattel.

In the U.S., there are seven recalled Barbie®-branded toys. The specific affected parts include:

* Dream Puppy House™– orange on miniature dog
* Dream Kitty Condo™– brown on miniature cat
* Table & Chairs Kitchen Playset – yellow food on two dinner plates, brown on miniature dog, yellow and orange on potato chip bowl, orange on salad bowl
* Bathtub & Toilet Playset – brown on miniature cat
* Desk & Chair Bedroom Playset – brown on miniature dog
* Living Room Playset (deluxe) – brown on miniature cat
* Living Room Playset (premium) – yellow flower on purse



The playsets affected by the recall were produced by Holder Plastic Company (Holder), a Mattel contract vendor, which subcontracted the painting of miniature toy pets and small furniture pieces to Dong Lian Fa (DLF) and Yip Sing (YS). DLF and YS used uncertified paint and are no longer producing toys for Mattel.

Mattel's investigation revealed that the subcontractors painted the affected toys between March 2007 and August 2007. However Mattel is being cautious and recalling the entire production of the seven toys painted by the subcontractors. Therefore, toys manufactured beginning in October 2006 are included within the recall. The toys being recalled were sold at retail between November 2006 and August 2007.

Among the three Fisher-Price® toys recalled are two Fisher-Price® GEOTRAX™ toys and one "It's a Big Big World" toy. Fisher-Price® toys with specific parts affected include:

* GEOTRAX™ Rail & Road System Freightway Transport™– yellow headlights on train car and miniature ladder
* GEOTRAX™ Special Track Pack™ – yellow headlights on train car and miniature ladder
* "It's a Big Big World" 6-in-1 Bongo Band – painted decal on top of clear plastic on drum



The two GEOTRAX™ toys were manufactured by Apex Manufacturing Company Ltd. (Apex), one of Mattel's contract vendors, which outsourced paint work to a subcontractor, Boyi Plastic Products Factory (Boyi). Apex supplied Boyi with certified paint; however, the toys were manufactured with uncertified paint. Boyi is no longer in business. The two GEOTRAX™ toys that tested for impermissible levels of lead were manufactured between July 31, 2006, and September 4, 2006; however, the painted parts were stored and incorporated into toy production throughout the year. Mattel is being cautious and recalling toys shipped between August 3, 2006, and July 31, 2007.

The Fisher-Price® "It's a Big Big World" 6-in-1 Bongo Band toy was manufactured by Shun On Factory, one of Mattel's contract vendors, which outsourced the molding and painting of one plastic piece. A subcontractor, Jingying Tampo Printing Processing Factory, used uncertified paint on the affected piece. The "It's a Big Big World" 6-in-1 Bongo Band was manufactured between May 19, 2007, and August 1, 2007.

Mattel is working in cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and other regulatory agencies worldwide. Mattel is also working with retailers worldwide to identify and remove affected products from retail shelves.

For additional information regarding this recall, including a full list of affected products, please contact Mattel at (888) 496-8330, or visit the company's Web site at www.service.mattel.com. A full list of products is also published by the Consumer Products Safety Commission.

How to Return Affected Toys/Parts:

1) The first step is for consumers to determine if they have a toy that has been affected by the recall. To do so, they can visit www.service.mattel.com where they will find a complete list of each toy recalled, including color photos, toy model numbers and affected date codes. Consumers can locate toy model numbers on the bottom of most recalled toys.

For consumers without a computer, or for those preferring phone support, they may call (888) 496-8330

2) Once consumers determine that they think they own a Mattel toy affected by the recall, they are prompted to fill out a form (online) or provide their postal address (via phone), and Mattel will send to consumers (via email or to a postal address) a color brochure with photos, toy numbers and date code ranges of every affected toy, as well as a pre-paid mailing label for return of the affected part(s).

3) After receiving consumers' returned, affected part(s), Mattel will send consumers replacement parts for each affected product, as well as bonus pieces/parts.

Mattel recommends that consumers do not return toys to retailers for three reasons:

1) Mattel can help consumers determine if a toy has been affected by the recall (vs. returning an unaffected toy)

2) Mattel will provide consumers with a replacement part for each toy part affected by the recall

3) Mattel will handle affected products in an environmentally friendly way

Consumers do not need to have the toy's original packaging or a receipt to return affected products to Mattel.

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Some 20 Million Condoms Recalled In South Africa

South Africa's health department said Tuesday it has recalled 20 million potentially defective condoms approved by an official accused of taking bribes from a manufacturer.

Unsafe sex is especially risky in South Africa, which has one of the world's highest HIV infection rates with an estimated 12 percent of its 47 million people infected with the virus.

There are up to 1,000 AIDS-related deaths in South Africa every day and free condom distribution is a crucial part of the government's efforts to combat the spread of the epidemic.

"An official of the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS), has put millions of people at risk by illegally passing millions of condoms, which had not met the quality assurance requirements," said health department spokesman Sibani Mngadi.

Mngadi said even though only a batch of 7 million condoms was affected, the department decided to recall all 20 million condoms supplied by the manufacturer since last year, and will no longer be dealing with that company.

The SABS official accused of taking bribes and two directors of the manufacturing company have been arrested and are out on bail, said the spokesman. They will be appearing in a Pretoria court on September 10 to face charges of corruption and fraud.

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LEGAL ACTION

The condoms did not meet several standard tests for strength, pressure and lubrication, said Mngadi.

The SABS Web site alerted the public, saying the faulty condoms were distributed by brand names including Ultramour, Randy Rat and Positions.

SABS said it had instructed Latex Surgical Products (LSP) to recall the condoms and that it would take legal action against the manufacturer.

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The Health Department is also recalling condoms produced by LSP from its national HIV/AIDS supply chain.

LSP was not immediately available to comment.

Besides a struggling health-care system characterized by a lack of doctors and nurses, many of whom have left the country for better pay abroad, the fight against AIDS has been hampered by conflicting messages from senior government officials.

Researchers, scientists and health-care workers said in a conference in South Africa in June that they were encouraged by the government's fresh approach to the crisis and improved weapons to protect those most at risk of infection.

But fresh controversy over the government's AIDS policies has erupted.

President Thabo Mbeki sacked Deputy Health Minister Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge this month for insubordination, sparking an outcry from AIDS activists who strongly backed her policies and critics who say she was fired for political reasons.

Madlala-Routledge had clashed with Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, dubbed "Dr Beetroot," who had horrified

AIDS activists with her advocacy of garlic, lemon and African potatoes over conventional anti-retroviral drugs.

The health department said it does not know how many of the defective condoms have been used, and it is urging the public to return them.

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Moderate Exercise Relaxes Blood Vessels

Moderate exercise might help older adults' blood vessels relax, a study has found - pointing to one reason why exercise lowers the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

As people age, their blood vessels can become more constricted and less pliable in response to blood flow, a change that contributes to high blood pressure and clogged arteries.

But in the new study, older men who took up regular exercise were able to substantially reduce this effect of ageing.

The findings are good news for sedentary older adults, researchers say, because the benefit required only moderate activity - namely, taking a walk five times a week.

"This is exercise that I would stress can be done by most older adults," said senior study author Dr Christopher A. DeSouza of the University of Colorado in Boulder.

He and his colleagues report the findings in the medical journal Hypertension.

The study included 28 healthy but sedentary men: 13 in their 20s and 15 in their 60s. For the first phase of the research, DeSouza and his colleagues used a test called plethysmography to measure blood vessel function in each man's forearm. They found that the older men's blood vessels were generally more constricted than those of their younger counterparts.

Next, the researchers had eight of the older men begin a three-month exercise program, while the rest remained sedentary. The exercisers worked out moderately, typically walking for about an hour, five days per week.

At the end of the three months, the exercise group showed a sharp turnaround in blood vessel constriction - with test results looking more like those of the younger men from the earlier study than the sedentary group their own age.

The improvement in blood vessel function occurred without improvements in the men's weight, body fat, blood pressure or other traditional indicators of heart health.

This is important, DeSouza told Reuters Health, because even if people aren't seeing obvious benefits from exercise - like a smaller waistline - they may still be making improvements on the inside.

Another key point, he noted, is that all of the older men in the study had been long-time couch potatoes, yet were still able to benefit from starting an exercise routine in their 60s.

"It's that old adage, 'It's never too late to start," DeSouza said.

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Short-Burst Oxygen Therapy Benefits Few COPD Patients

Although home use of short-burst oxygen therapy is widely prescribed in the UK for patients with COPD, it may be helpful only in a small minority of patients, researchers report in the current issue of Thorax.

"Short-burst oxygen therapy is used extensively despite little evidence of benefit," lead investigator Dr Simon J Quantrill told Reuters Health. Although "18 million pounds ($A44.13 million) per year are spent on oxygen cylinders used for short-burst oxygen therapy," he noted, "no guidelines exist on how and when to use short-burst oxygen therapy."

To investigate whether short-burst oxygen therapy helps COPD patients with daily activities, Quantrill and colleagues at Whipps Cross University Hospital, London, studied 39 patients who all reported that short-burst oxygen therapy was helpful.

They were asked to choose two routine activities, such as walking upstairs or vacuuming, for which they used short-burst oxygen therapy to relieve breathlessness. The patients were then given two cylinders, one of which contained oxygen and the other, compressed air.

Using nasal prongs, the participants inhaled from one cylinder to recover from breathlessness after performing one of the tasks, and then, at least 15 minutes later, they used the other cylinder after repeating the task. The subjects then went on to use the same two-cylinder procedure for their other chosen activity.

Based on the results of pulse oximetry, the average recovery time over two activities was 38 seconds less when oxygen rather than compressed air was inhaled. The recovery time reported by the patients was about the same, at 34 seconds.

Five of the patients were able to correctly identify when oxygen was employed and the difference in recovery times with oxygen versus indicated a greater benefit of oxygen therapy.

"There may be a small group of patients with severe COPD who do in fact benefit" from short-burst oxygen therapy, Quantrill said.

Nevertheless, he noted, "this needs further research with bigger numbers of patients." Moreover, Quantrill concluded, "further research is needed to be able to produce guidelines on short-burst oxygen therapy usage."

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Inflammatory Bowel Disease Low Among Children Exposed To Farm Animals

Infants who are regularly exposed to farm animals appear to be less likely than others to develop inflammatory bowel disease in childhood, according to the findings of a German study published in the journal Paediatrics.

"Approximately 12,000 children and adolescents in Germany suffer from inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)," write Dr Katja Radon and colleagues at Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich.

The recent increase in Crohn's disease, a type of inflammatory bowel disease, especially in industrialised countries, and its pronounced geographical variation, suggest that environmental factors contribute this condition.

The researchers examined the association between contact with farm animals in infancy and the development of Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis in childhood. Data were analysed for 748 IBD cases (444 with Crohn's disease and 304 with ulcerative colitis) and 1,481 healthy "control" children.

The children with IBD were more likely than the control children to live in urban areas. Regular contact with farm animals during the first year of life was inversely associated with IBD, the investigators report.

Specifically, the children with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis were about 50 per cent less likely to have regular contact with farm animals in infancy compared with the healthy children.

"The results of this study indicate that farm animal contact during infancy, one of the major factors protecting individuals against childhood allergies, might also decrease the risk of juvenile IBD," Radon's team concludes. The findings also support the hypothesis that allergic diseases and IBD might have similar paths of development.

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Alcohol Reduces Risk Of Kidney Cancer

Alcohol consumption may lower the risk of developing kidney cancer, according to a report in the British Journal of Cancer.

Dr Alicja Wolk from the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, and colleagues investigated the association of different types of alcoholic beverages and of total alcohol consumption with the risk of kidney cancer in a large population-based study in Sweden.

The study involved 855 subjects with kidney cancer and 1204 "controls" without cancer.

They reported their alcohol consumption in terms of standard portion sizes - a glass of beer being 200 millilitres, a glass of wine being 100 mL, and a glass of strong wine or hard liquor equal to 40 mL.

The investigators rated the alcohol content of different beverages: medium-strong beer had 2.8 grams alcohol per 100g, red wine had 9.9 g per 100 g, and hard liquor 32g alcohol per 100g.

The team found that the odds of developing kidney cell cancer was about 40 per cent lower among those who consumed 620g ethanol per month compared to those who did not drink at all.

Drinking more than two glasses of red wine per week was associated with a 40 per cent reduction in kidney cell cancer risk compared with drinking no red wine, the investigators observed, and there were similar trends for more than two glasses per week of white wine or strong beer.

In contrast, there was no relation between kidney cell cancer risk and consumption of light beer, medium-strong beer, strong wine, or hard liquor.

"A reduced risk associated with consumption of wine and beer might be due to the phenolics they contain as these possess antioxidant and antimutagenic properties," the authors speculate.

"However, the lower risk that we observed for three different alcoholic beverages and total ethanol intake suggests that alcohol itself rather than a particular type of drink is responsible for the reduction in risk.

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Pregnancy Where Orgasm Is Not Safe.

Orgasms cause the uterus to contract, sometimes with great intensity, lasting for one-half to one hour after intercourse. Contractions are more frequent as the due date approaches, but may be present in the early second trimester. In general, these contractions do not result in a change in the cervical dilatation or effacement.

If contractions persist for more than an hour after intercourse, or if there is an increase in pelvic pressure or heavy vaginal bleeding, you should contact your caregiver immediately.

For most women, intercourse results in no problems. However, in certain high risk pregnancies (premature labor, incompetent cervix, multiple gestations, placenta previa), "pelvic rest" is advocated to decrease the possibility of premature labor or bleeding. There currently is great debate over the relationship of intercourse to premature labor.

Chemicals present in seminal fluid, called prostaglandins, also cause increased uterine activity. For some women near term, unprotected intercourse can result in more contractions that may cause cervical dilatation or effacement. However, it is impossible to predict who would benefit from having intercourse to stimulate the onset of labor.

Quite often, the mother's pregnant abdomen can cause intercourse to be awkward, and some couples worry that intercourse may, in some way, harm the fetus. In an uncomplicated pregnancy, intercourse is completely safe for both mother and child.

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Bird flu Spreads To 2 More Provinces In Vietnam

Bird flu has spread to two more provinces in Vietnam, killing hundreds of chickens and ducks, the Agriculture Ministry says.

The outbreak of H5N1 in the northern province of Thai Nguyen and Dong Thap to the south brought to four the number of provinces on the government's current bird flu watchlist.

Vietnam has 64 provinces.

A total of 150 ducks and 35 chickens fell sick on Wednesday in Thai Nguyen, 80 km north of Hanoi, and tests have confirmed they had the H5N1 virus, the ministry's Animal Health Department said in a report.

The virus also struck a farm in the southern Mekong delta province of Dong Thap where 250 chickens were found dead on Sunday, it said.

Bird flu has infected seven people in Vietnam so far this year, four of whom have died, bringing the death toll since late 2003 to 46, the government said.

Globally, the H5N1 virus has killed 195 people out of 322 known cases, according to a tally of the World Health Organisation. Hundreds of millions of birds have died or been slaughtered.

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Impotence Drug, Viagra, Increases Feelings Of Love

Impotence drugs such as Viagra may do more than help men physically have sex - they may also boost levels of a hormone linked with feelings of love, US researchers said today.

Viagra, known generically as sildenafil, raised levels of the hormone oxytocin in rats, the team at the University of Wisconsin-Madison said in a report published in the Journal of Physiology.

This hormone is involved in nursing and childbirth but also in orgasm and feelings of sexual pleasure.

And it seems Viagra and related drugs act on the part of the brain that controls release of oxytocin, said Wisconsin physiology professor Meyer Jackson.

"This is one piece in a puzzle in which many pieces are still not available," Prof Jackson said.

"But it raises the possibility that erectile dysfunction drugs could be doing more than just affecting erectile dysfunction."

Viagra, made by Pfizer, is an inhibitor of an enzyme called phosphodiesterase type 5.

Related drugs such as Eli Lilly's Cialis, known generically as tadalafil, and Levitra or vardenafil, sold by GlaxoSmithKline, Bayer and Schering-Plough, are also PDE-5 inhibitors.

They block this enzyme, which in turn breaks down other compounds. This increases blood flow in the muscles but it also affects a brain structure known as the posterior pituitary.

This, in turn, boosts oxytocin, at least in the rats. It probably does the same thing in people, Prof Jackson said.

"It does the same thing it does in smooth muscle - instead of (levels) coming down in a minute or two, they stay up a little longer," Prof Jackson said.

Oxytocin was known for years to be involved in labour and it is the hormone that causes the "let-down" of milk in breastfeeding babies. Only in recent decades has it been found to have a function in men - in sexual arousal and function.

This could suggest other uses for Viagra and related drugs, Prof Jackson said - perhaps promoting social bonding.

"What I hope is that people read our paper who can test these ideas in animals and humans," Prof Jackson said.

"I hope that this doesn't cause some wild orgy of inappropriate recreational use."

Some groups have complained that people use the impotence drugs for fun, instead of using them as prescribed for sexual dysfunction caused by low blood flow to the genitals.

The drugs can cause fatal side-effects if used with certain other drugs, and some studies also suggest they may affect the eyes in some patients, so doctors stress they are not for casual use.

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West Nile Virus Infection Reported In The State Of Indiana

Indianapolis State health officials report two probable human cases of West Nile virus, one in Lake County and another in Randolph County. These are the first two human cases of West Nile virus infection in Indiana this year. In 2006, there were 80 cases of West Nile virus, including 5 deaths.

"West Nile virus is potentially a very serious disease," said State Health Commissioner Judy Monroe, M.D. "We have seen cases where healthy, active individuals who become infected with the virus left devastated by the disease, including being unable to walk without assistance. I cannot underscore enough how important it is for people to take the simple steps necessary to protect themselves."

Dr. Monroe recommends that people take the following protective steps when they are outdoors:

* Avoid being outdoors during prime mosquito biting times, dusk to dawn, when possible;
* Apply insect repellent containing DEET, picaradin, or oil of lemon eucalyptus to clothes and exposed skin; and
* Wear long-sleeved shirts and pants.

West Nile virus is transmitted to humans by mosquitoes that have first bitten an infected bird. A person bitten by an infected mosquito may show symptoms three to 15 days after the bite.

Health officials say that although individuals over age 50 are at greatest risk for serious illness and even death from West Nile virus, people of all ages have been infected with the virus and have had severe disease.

The virus usually causes West Nile fever, a milder form of the illness, which can include fever, headache, body aches, swollen lymph glands, or a rash. However, a small number of individuals can develop a more severe form of the disease with encephalitis or meningitis and other neurological syndromes, including flaccid muscle paralysis.

"There is no cure for West Nile virus, but it is preventable," said Dr. Monroe. "In the past, we've seen most of the human cases in the state reported in the months of August and September, so this is an important time for people to protect themselves and their families."

State health officials say the previous hot, dry weather conditions have created the perfect breeding environment for the mosquitoes that carry the West Nile virus.

As a result, Dr. Monroe is also asking Hoosiers to take steps to rid their properties of potential mosquito breeding grounds by:

* Repairing failed septic systems;
* Drilling holes in the bottom of recycling containers that are left outdoors;
* Keeping grass cut short and shrubbery trimmed;
* Disposing of old tires, tin cans, plastic containers, ceramic pots or other unused containers that can hold water;
* Cleaning clogged roof gutters, particularly if leaves tend to plug up the drains;
* Aerating ornamental pools, or stock them with predatory fish; and
* Emptying containers holding water from recent rain storms.

Indianapolis State health officials report two probable human cases of West Nile virus, one in Lake County and another in Randolph County. These are the first two human cases of West Nile virus infection in Indiana this year. In 2006, there were 80 cases of West Nile virus, including 5 deaths.

"West Nile virus is potentially a very serious disease," said State Health Commissioner Judy Monroe, M.D. "We have seen cases where healthy, active individuals who become infected with the virus left devastated by the disease, including being unable to walk without assistance. I cannot underscore enough how important it is for people to take the simple steps necessary to protect themselves."

Dr. Monroe recommends that people take the following protective steps when they are outdoors:

* Avoid being outdoors during prime mosquito biting times, dusk to dawn, when possible;
* Apply insect repellent containing DEET, picaradin, or oil of lemon eucalyptus to clothes and exposed skin; and
* Wear long-sleeved shirts and pants.

West Nile virus is transmitted to humans by mosquitoes that have first bitten an infected bird. A person bitten by an infected mosquito may show symptoms three to 15 days after the bite.

Health officials say that although individuals over age 50 are at greatest risk for serious illness and even death from West Nile virus, people of all ages have been infected with the virus and have had severe disease.

The virus usually causes West Nile fever, a milder form of the illness, which can include fever, headache, body aches, swollen lymph glands, or a rash. However, a small number of individuals can develop a more severe form of the disease with encephalitis or meningitis and other neurological syndromes, including flaccid muscle paralysis.

"There is no cure for West Nile virus, but it is preventable," said Dr. Monroe. "In the past, we've seen most of the human cases in the state reported in the months of August and September, so this is an important time for people to protect themselves and their families."

State health officials say the previous hot, dry weather conditions have created the perfect breeding environment for the mosquitoes that carry the West Nile virus.

As a result, Dr. Monroe is also asking Hoosiers to take steps to rid their properties of potential mosquito breeding grounds by:

* Repairing failed septic systems;
* Drilling holes in the bottom of recycling containers that are left outdoors;
* Keeping grass cut short and shrubbery trimmed;
* Disposing of old tires, tin cans, plastic containers, ceramic pots or other unused containers that can hold water;
* Cleaning clogged roof gutters, particularly if leaves tend to plug up the drains;
* Aerating ornamental pools, or stock them with predatory fish; and
* Emptying containers holding water from recent rain storms.

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Adequate Intake of Vitamin D Reduces Breast and Colon Cancer Rates

Sufficient intake of Vitamin D3 might prevent 60,000 cases of colon and breast cancer every year across the globe, a new study has found.

Vitamin D3 is available through diet, supplements and exposure of the skin to sunlight.

The study was conducted by a team of researchers led by Cedric F. Garland at the Moores Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD).

As part of the study, researchers combined data from surveys of serum vitamin D levels during winter from 15 countries. The data was then applied to 177 countries to estimate the average serum level of a vitamin D metabolite of people living there.

The study found an inverse association of serum vitamin D with risk of colorectal and breast cancer and estimated that 250,000 colorectal cancer cases and 350,000 cases of breast cancer could be prevented worldwide by increasing intake of vitamin D3, particularly in countries north of the equator.

“For the first time, we are saying that 600,000 cases of breast and colorectal cancer could be prevented each year worldwide, including nearly 150,000 in the United States alone,” Garland said.

The researchers suggested that increasing vitamin D levels in populations, particularly those in northern climates, might both prevent and possibly serve as an adjunct to existing treatments for cancer.

“This could be best achieved with a combination of diet, supplements and short intervals – 10 or 15 minutes a day – in the sun. It could be less for very fair-skinned individuals. The appropriate dose of vitamin D in order to reach this level, could be very little in a lifeguard in Southern California… or quite a lot for someone in Northern Europe who tends to remain indoors most of the year,” Garland said.

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Do-Good Protein Related To A Brutal Toxin That Kills

Australian scientists have uncovered an unlikely family relationship between two archenemies in the disease world - a protein that fights infection and a brutal toxin that kills.

In a surprise discovery, researchers found that immune proteins enlisted by the body to fend off cancer and infection belong to an ancient and lethal toxin family previously only found in bacteria.

These bacterial toxins are responsible for deadly diseases like anthrax, flesh-eating disease, gas gangrene and scarlet fever.

The findings, published in the international journal Science, will be used to develop new ways to fight disease.

Study leader Professor James Whisstock, from the School of Biomedical Sciences at Monash University in Melbourne, said he was astounded to find these "yin and yang" fighters - proteins called perforins and nasty bacterial toxins - had a common ancestor.

"Over millions of years of evolution bacteria developed these proteins as weapons of attack," Prof Whisstock said.

"But as it turns out, animals stole that toxin from the bacteria and turned it on the enemy.

"I find that completely extraordinary. It's a molecular arms race and there's still no clear winner."

Perforins got their name because they kill bacteria, virally-infected cells and cancerous cells by punching tiny holes that perforate them.

People who lack one of these perforins can develop a serious blood disease called hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, and may be predisposed to develop cancer, he said.

Prof Whisstock said certain perforins were not only important for defending humans against attack by bacteria and viruses, but also helped propagate the human species because of their role in embryo implantation.

"It is ironic that we fear diseases such as anthrax yet from the same family of toxins comes a protein that is involved in reproduction," he said.

But these proteins could also be dangerous, wreaking "absolute havoc" in the immune system if they're not controlled properly.

The researchers investigated how they work to find ways to control them in infectious diseases and areas such as transplantation rejection.

Using X-ray crystallography, the team worked out the structure of a perforin called Plu-MACPF, which, due to its similarity to the bacterial toxins, told them how the whole perforin family worked.

The findings are a culmination of nine years of research.

"Now we finally know what perforins look like and how they work, we can use this knowledge to develop new ways to fight disease," said co-author Dr Michelle Dunstone.

The research team included scientists from the National Health and Medical Research Council, the Australian Research Council and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.

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Gastric Bypass Surgery Increase Longevity And Drops Obese Weight

Gastric bypass surgery not only helps obese people drop weight and look better, it also helps them live significantly longer, according to two reports published on Wednesday.

The studies in the New England Journal of Medicine confirm what doctors had long suspected but never proved.

The years gained are significant, with life span prolonged by up to 40 per cent and rates of diabetes, cancer and heart disease all lower.

"The question as to whether intentional weight loss improves life span has been answered, and the answer appears to be a resounding yes," Dr George Bray of Louisiana State University wrote in a commentary.

More than 30 per cent of the US population is now considered obese, with severely obese people tending to die five to 20 years earlier than people of healthy weight.

At the same time, more than 100,000 stomach operations of some type are performed in the United States each year to help people lose weight.

One of the studies found that gastric bypass surgery - in which doctors reduce the size of the stomach to limit the amount of food a person can eat - cut the death rate by 40 per cent among 7,925 volunteers who had been followed for an average of seven years.

The risk of heart disease dropped 56 per cent, the diabetes rate was 92 per cent lower and the likelihood of cancer was 60 per cent less compared with 7,925 severely obese people identified by data from their drivers' licences.

But the news was not completely good for the surgery patients.

The chance of death from something other than disease, including accidents, suicide and poisoning, was 58 per cent higher in the surgery group.

Earlier research has shown that obese people who have the operation are more likely to suffer from mood disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder or the after-effects of childhood sexual abuse.

"After a mean follow-up of 7.1 years, in the surgery group, 171 deaths from disease were prevented per 10,000 operations," Ted Adams of the University of Utah School of Medicine and colleagues wrote in their study.

"On the other hand, there was an increase of 35 non-disease deaths per 10,000 operations, for a net prevention of 136 deaths."

The other study, conducted in Sweden, found that about 11 years after surgery, the death rate was 27 per cent lower among 2,010 patients who had undergone some type of operation, including gastric bypass, to lose weight.

That team, led by Lars Sjostrom of Gothenburg University, found gastric bypass produced the greatest sustained weight loss - about 25 per cent - and that the death rate during the follow-up period was 5 per cent in the surgery group, compared to 6.3 per cent among those who did not have an operation.

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World Health Report - Infectious Disease Emerging And Spreading Worldwide

Infectious diseases were emerging more quickly around the globe, spreading faster and becoming increasingly difficult to treat, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said.

In its annual World Health Report, the United Nations agency warned there was a good possibility that another major scourge like AIDS, SARS or Ebola fever with the potential of killing millions would appear in the coming years.

"Infectious diseases are now spreading geographically much faster than at any time in history," the WHO said.

It said it was vital to keep watch for new threats like the emergence in 2003 of SARS, or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, which spread from China to 30 countries and killed 800 people.

"It would be extremely naive and complacent to assume that there will not be another disease like AIDS, another Ebola, or another SARS, sooner or later," the report warned.

Since the 1970s, the WHO said, new threats have been identified at an "unprecedented rate" of one or more every year, meaning that nearly 40 diseases exist on Friday which were unknown just over a generation ago.

Over the past five years alone, WHO experts had verified more than 1,100 epidemics of different diseases.

With more than two billion people travelling by air every year, the UN agency said: "an outbreak or epidemic in one part of the world is only a few hours away from becoming an imminent threat somewhere else."

The report called for renewed efforts to monitor, prevent and control epidemic-prone ailments such as cholera, yellow fever and meningococcal diseases.

International assistance may be required to help health workers in poorer countries identify and contain outbreaks of emerging viral diseases such as Ebola and Marburg haemorrhagic fever, the WHO said.

It warned that global efforts to control infectious diseases have already been "seriously jeopardised" by widespread drug resistance, a consequence of poor medical treatment and misuse of antibiotics.

This is a particular problem in tuberculosis, where extensively drug-resistant (XDR-TB) strains of the contagious respiratory ailment have emerged worldwide.

"Drug resistance is also evident in diarrhoeal diseases, hospital-acquired infections, malaria, meningitis, respiratory tract infections, and sexually transmitted infections, and is emerging in HIV," the report declared.

Although the H5N1 bird flu virus has not mutated into a form that passes easily between humans, as many scientists had feared, the next influenza pandemic was "likely to be of an avian variety" and could affect some 1.5 billion people.

"The question of a pandemic of influenza from this virus or another avian influenza virus is still a matter of when, not if," the WHO said.

It said all countries must share essential health data, such as virus samples and reports of outbreaks, as required under international health rules, to mitigate such risks.

Accidents involving toxic chemicals, nuclear power and other environmental disasters should also be communicated quickly and clearly to minimise public health threats.

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Sulforaphane From Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts.... Helps to Prevent Skin Disease

Sulforaphane, a chemical present at high levels in a precursor form in broccoli and related veggies (cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, etc.), helps prevent the severe blistering and skin breakage brought on by the rare and potentially fatal genetic disease epidermolysis bullosa simplex (EBS).


The researchers treated newborn mice with a severe form of EBS—so bad they all died within three days—with a topical solution containing sulforaphane and found marked improvement; after four days more than 85 percent of the treated mice were alive and blister-free. These findings appear online this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The basis of EBS, notes study author Pierre Coulombe, Ph.D., professor of biological chemistry, lies in two specific genes that make proteins known as keratins. Normally, the keratins join together and form highly resilient fibers in the lower portion of skin, helping make it durable. If either keratin is defective, they don’t mesh and the lower skin tissue becomes unusually fragile and gets damaged from the mildest mechanical stress — leading to blistering pain, a higher risk of infection, and in the most severe cases, death.

'Humans have around 54 distinct keratins, many of which are similar in structure and function,' says Coulombe. 'We figured we might be able to exploit this similarity and dial up a replacement by triggering the activation of a suitable signaling pathway in skin.' He predicted that sulforaphane might stimulate the formation of a surrogate skin-strengthening keratin to stand in for the defective one.

The desire to learn more about sulforaphane led Coulombe and his co-workers to Paul Talalay, M.D., professor of pharmacology who had previously identified sulforaphane as a cancer-preventive agent. 'It turns out that treatment with low doses of sulforaphane triggers the expression of selected keratin genes in skin,' says Coulombe. 'So we began what evolved into a highly rewarding collaboration and found it does indeed work in a mouse model for EBS.'


'This is the first suggestion that we may be able to treat this terrible disease,' adds Talalay, a co-author of this study. 'And we didn’t need to invent a new drug; sulforaphane is naturally found in our diet.'

The team will next test whether sulforaphane can stimulate the proper keratin protein in the appropriate subset of human skin cells — a vital matter for any future medical hopes. Beyond that are issues of how effective a topical application would be on human skin, which is considerably thicker than mouse skin, as well as examining the long term effects of sulforaphane treatment.

'If we can clear these important hurdles, then sulforaphane can potentially be a tremendous therapeutic, with the added benefit of having anticancer properties,' Coulombe says. 'And when you consider that the only current option for EBS is wrapping gauze around trauma-prone areas to minimize breakage, and otherwise avoiding infection and making sure blisters heal properly, then even a mild success would be a significant benefit for these patients.'

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