Studies done at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston show that Bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical often found in baby bottles and the lining of aluminum cans, may lead to allergy related asthma. Production of the chemical started about 40 years ago, a timing that scientists note coincides with increasing asthma rates.
Tests on BPA have been done on lab mice. The researchers found the mice born to mothers exposed to 10 micrograms of BPA developed airway problems while mice born to mothers exposed to low or no BPA did not develop the problem. These tests show a significant enough increase in allergy related asthma that some states have begun banning the chemical in containers that could be used by children under the age of four.
Scientist believe that this study is a good example of what could happen to humans, but they admit that mice studies are not always accurate in people.
It seems there would be a great market for baby items certified free of BPA, in fact, I think they banned it in Canada. Do we have any plastics experts that can inform us why BPA is not needed?
Graphic shows how carotid artery stents help prevent strokes (J. Bell - AP)
SAN ANTONIO -- People at risk of a stroke because of narrowed neck arteries can be safely treated with a less drastic option than the surgery done now, the largest study ever done on these treatments concludes.
If Medicare agrees to cover it, hundreds of thousands of Americans a year might be able to have an artery-opening procedure and a stent instead of surgery to remove built-up plaque, doctors say. A stent is a wire-mesh tube that props the blood vessel open.
Stents have long been used to fix heart arteries but are approved for use in the neck only for people too sick for surgery. The new study, in people with less severe disease, suggests stents may find much wider use.
This looks like good news for stent manufacturers, but I am curious about the nature of surgery replaced by these neck stents. Perhaps one of our doctors can fill us in about what the surgery involves.
Deadly allergic reactions caused by eating meat are reported to be much more common than previously thought, a new study finds.
Previous studies had reported rare cases of anaphylaxis or severe and potentially life threatening allergic reactions to meat; the new study, however, says the condition to be more common.
According to the study presented at the 2010 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology in New Orleans, the production of IgE antibody in response to a carbohydrate in meat known as alpha-galactose is responsible for unexplained allergic reactions reported after eating meat.
This is interesting, I wonder how meat has somehow escaped as a cause for killer allergic reactions, perhaps this study will help doctors identify meat allergies more accurately in the future.
On March 15, the U.S. Census Bureau will mail out questionnaires to 130 million households. The forms should be filled out and mailed back by April 1 — Census Day.
For the first time, all households will receive the same 10-question census form. The longer, 50-question form, used in previous censuses has been replaced by the American Community Survey, which has been collecting housing, income, education and employment data on a yearly basis during the past decade.
The Census Bureau hopes the shorter form, which should take 10 minutes to complete, will increase the response rate of Americans. In 2000, 67 percent of Americans returned their census questionnaires by April 1. In Florida, the response rate was slightly lower — 63 percent. The Census Bureau contends that it saves $85 million in follow-up costs to non-responding households for every one percent increase in the response rates.
The Census, conducted every 10 years, determines the distribution of more than $400 billion a year in federal funds based on population.
I hope all our members will respond to the census and help out the government with the knowledge needed to distribute the mentioned $400 billion a year. Wow, that sounds like a lot of money, eh?
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a new drug for the treatment of Gaucher Type I Disease. Shire HGT , Inc has been approved to release the drug at a time when the only other manufacturer of a treatment for this disease is having manufacturing problems.
Gaucher Type I disease is an enzyme problem that causes lipid buildup throughout a persons body. The disease can be deadly if not treated. While this is a very rare disorder, people of a specific Jewish descent seem to be the largest affected people to get the disease.
I never heard of this one, can any of our doctors tell us something about Gaucher disease? For instance, how would you know if you had it? Any tell-tale signs? At least there is a treatment now.
Image by AFP/Getty Images via Daylife
As we all know by now, one of the biggest scare tactics that proponents of the health care status quo put forth is that, if health care reform passes, people who feel well-served by the current health care system can kiss their comfort goodby. The cost of insuring poor folks will sit firmly on the backs of the middle-class. Forcing hospitals to control costs means that none of us will get the treatments we badly need. We can expand Medicaid only by decimating Medicare. Oh, yeah, and let’s not forget the death panels.
Even if any of that were true, simple morality and decency would dictate that we have to make some sacrifices to insure that no-one is suffering — or dying — because they simply cannot afford medical care.
But the fact is, it’s not true.
Here’s a nicely-balanced look at the issues involved in the current health care reform debate, of course, written by a woman. Have a heart, America, do you really want to be stepping over the dead bodies of people who couldn’t afford their premiums?
Posted
Mar 01 2010, 01:10 AM
by
Robert Gleeman