Health Tips and News Updates

Babies of the opioid epidemic: Bipartisan bill sails through US House. Lisa Collinsworth holds her infant son Luke during an October visit with him at Lily's Place, a treatment center for opioid-dependent newborns in Huntington, W.Va. On May 11, a bill seeking to better support babies born with a dependency on opioid drugs passed unanimously in the US House of Representatives. A bill seeking to better support babies born with a dependency on opioid drugs has passed unanimously in the US House of Representatives. As part of a suite of bills targeting the opioid epidemic sweeping the nation, the US House of Representatives unanimously passed legislation Wednesday to raise the standard of safety planning for children born with a dependency on opiates. A similar bill awaits consideration in the Senate, one of more than a dozen aiming to address the addiction to pain pills and cheap heroin that has swept across the United States. The legislation was born as a result ...

A New Way to Beat AIDS Protease might become a friend instead of foe in fighting HIV When new AIDS virus particles bud from an infected cell, an enzyme named protease activates to help the viruses mature and infect more cells. That’s why modern AIDS drugs control the disease by inhibiting protease. Now, University of Utah researchers found a way to turn protease into a double-edged sword: They showed that if they delay the budding of new HIV particles, protease itself will destroy the virus instead of helping it spread. They say that might lead, in about a decade, to new kinds of AIDS drugs with fewer side effects. PHOTO CREDIT: SHANTI DEEMYAD, UNIVERSITY OF UTAH “We could use the power of the protease itself to destroy the virus,” says virologist Saveez Saffarian, an associate professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Utah and senior author of the study released June 9 by PLOS Pathogens, an online journal published by the Public Library of Science. ...

Physical fitness in middle age may lower your risk of stroke after 65 Physical fitness A recently published study has found that physical fitness in middle age could decrease an individual’s chances of stroke post-65. Dr. Ralph Sacco, chairman of neurology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, said that it has been becoming more and clearer that healthy mid-life behaviors bear fruits as we age, and decrease our chances of contracting cardiovascular disease and suffer a stroke. Dr. Sacco wasn’t involved in the study. Researchers analyzed roughly 20,000 adults in their mid to late 40s, and discovered that the fittest had 37% decreased risk of suffering a stroke after 65, in comparison to the most unfit. Fitness’ protective effect stayed even after the researchers considered stroke risk factors, including high blood pressure, type-2 diabetes and an abnormal heart rhythm called atrial fibrillation. Lead researcher Dr. Ambarish Pandey, a cardiology fellow at ...

Stroke related death rate three times higher among Black population compared to Whites Death from stroke among black aged between 45 and 54 is three times higher than whites, unveils the Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) study. Higher risk of death from strokes in blacks is majorly due to more number of such incidents in their population. Above mentioned conclusion has been based on the assessment of stroke incidence and mortality of nearly 30,000 participants over the age of 45. In the last five decades, there has been a decline of around 70% in the stroke mortality rate. Now, stroke is counted as the fifth leading cause of death in the United States.

State issuing Zika prevention kits. The Zika virus is spread mainly through the bite of a tropical mosquito called Aedes aegypti. Virginia health officials are using federal money left over from Ebola prevention and turning it to a different infectious disease threat: the Zika virus. About 10,000 Zika prevention kits have been sent to health departments across the state.

Study Finds Mylan’s ‘Biosimilar’ Drug Comparable to Roche Cancer Medicine Development marks milestone in effort to bring cheaper versions of cancer treatments to market. Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc. is developing Myl-1201O, which a study showed to be essentially equivalent in safety and effectiveness to Roche Holding AG’s Herceptin. PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES Researchers said a drug being developed by Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc. proved comparable to Roche Holding AG’s Herceptin in a clinical trial, a new milestone in the effort to bring cheaper versions of some of biotechnology’s best-known cancer drugs to the market. In a study involving a total of 500 patients, Mylan’s drug, called Myl-1401O, was shown to be essentially equivalent in safety and effectiveness to Herceptin, a multibillion-dollar medicine that in the past two decades has transformed treatment for about 25% of breast cancer patients. Mylan’s drug is a so-called biosimilar—the industry’s term for a copy of ...

Clif Bar Is Recalling Multiple Flavors for Listeria Risk Clif Bar's energy and protein bars. Sunflower seeds pose a possible risk. Clif Bar is urging consumers to throw away several of its popular products out of concern that they could be contaminated with listeria. The energy bar maker voluntarily recalled three of its flavors on Thursday after discovering that they contained ingredients supplied by SunOpta STKL 3.01% , which in May recalled many of its sunflower kernels for possible listeria. SunOpta’s move triggered a recall of about 100 snack foods that used its affected kernels, and other protein and granola bar makers have since also issued warnings about their products. Clif Bar’s recall includes its Mojo Mountain trail mix bars, Sierra Trail Mix energy bars, and Nuts & Seeds energy bars, with “best by” dates ranging from this month to 2017. (For the specific dates of the recalled products, see Clif Bar’s full announcement.) The company was not able...