LS,

RN04 - October 2006
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Tamiflu significantly reduces the risk of death from influenza
Treatment of infected adults was associated with a 71 per cent reduction in mortality. A new analysis contributes to the accumulating evidence that oseltamivir also has a significant impact in preventing serious complications including death in older at-risk individuals.
[http://www4.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-09/asfb-tsr092906.php]

Increased Risk Of Lung Cancer Caused By Proximity To Heavy Industry
After taking account of smoking and other factors likely to influence the results, the data showed that women who had lived less than 5 km away from heavy industry sites for more than 25 years were almost twice as likely to develop lung cancer as those who had not lived there.
[http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=52893]

Criminalizing HIV transmission is a threat to public health
The Crown Prosecution Service for England and Wales has issued, for public consultation, new guidance on criminal prosecution for the “sexual transmission of infections which cause grievous bodily harm.” It is likely to be used mostly in relation to HIV. Already there are indications that this use of the criminal law is having unintended negative consequences. Voluntary testing, confidential partner notification, and education and support rely on a relationship of trust and confidence between patients and healthcare professionals, but the sustainability and success of this approach are hugely threatened by the policy of criminal prosecution.
[http://www.brightsurf.com/news/headlines/26593/Criminalizing_HIV_transmission_is_a_threat_to_public_health_say_experts.html]

World Wildlife Fund: Commercial fishing devastates Europe's oceans
"The trail of destruction behind industrialized fishing must be stopped or our children will be left with a barren ocean," said James Woolford of the WWF's European fisheries campaign. Up to 80 percent of some North Sea plaice catches are thrown overboard dead or dying due to their small size. Two sharks are killed for every one swordfish caught illegally off Morocco for the European market.
[http://go.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=scienceNews&storyID=13613406]

Plant species threatened by Earth's hottest temperature in 12,000 years
A new research report appearing in today's issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences indicates that the planet temperature has reached levels not seen for thousands of years, which is affecting plants, animals and the weather. Global warming had driven 1,700 plant, animal and insect species to move toward the planet's poles at roughly 4 miles per decade over the last half of the 20th century. Global warming has been strongest in the far north, where melting snow and ice have exposed dark-colored land that absorbs more warmth from the sun than water, which has sped warming.
[http://www.newstarget.com/020549.html]

Anemia Could Be Risk Factor for Mental Decline in Elderly
A new community-based study suggests that anemia has a negative impact on mental health in older adults. "This study reported a strong, independent association between mild anemia and a greater likelihood of having executive function impairment in nondemented community-dwelling older women without advanced physical disability.
[http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/545018]

Lower income means higher risk for heart disease
Low-income adults are more likely to have very high levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), a risk factor for heart disease, according to a study led by researchers at the University of Southern California.
Recent illness, chronic conditions and lifestyle account for some but not all of the explanations for the association between high CRP levels and socioeconomic standing.
[http://www.brightsurf.com/news/headlines/26482/Lower_income_means_higher_risk_for_heart_disease.html]

E. coli outbreak reveals lapses in food inspection: Agriculture industry loosely regulated
The expanding E. coli spinach outbreak, which now has sickened 146 victims in 23 states, is, according to this story, prompting calls for an overhaul of how food inspection is done in the United States, with a focus on getting rid of a patchwork approach that leads to loopholes and leaves the industry mostly policing itself.
[http://www.extension.iastate.edu/foodsafety/news/fsnews.cfm?newsid=14572]

Symposium on safety of genetically modified organisms Sept. 24-29
Some 500 experts, including 300 foreigners, got together to exchange latest research outcomes and information at the 9th international symposium on biosafety of genetically modified organisms (GMO) on Sept. 24-29 on Jeju Island, Korea. The papers are posted on the homepage of the 9th symposium (http://isbgmo.naib.go.kr), co-hosted by the International Society for Biosafety Research (ISBR).
[http://www.kois.go.kr/news/news/newsView.asp?serial_no=20060920008&part=109&SearchDay=&page=1]

Risks of nano-products
Nanoparticles' unique behavior offers great promise to their future use, but some experts are concerned the products are being released on the market too soon and without adequate safety testing. Early research has found that nanoparticles easily pass through body tissues from one area of the body to another. Laboratory studies already warn that nanoparticles can cause inflammation, damage brain cells, and cause pre-cancerous lesions.
[http://www.organicconsumers.org/2006/article_2152.cfm]
[http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-09/nnco-nrd092006.php]

Breathing Problems During Sleep Increase Risk Of Depression
Individuals who have sleep-related breathing disorder appear significantly more likely to develop depression, with odds of depression increasing as breathing disorders becomes more severe. The disorder has been linked to a variety of negative health consequences, including cardiovascular disease and difficulty functioning during the day.
[http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/09/060918192323.htm]

Mars mission: Scientists research ways to reduce radiation-induced brain damage
Among the gravest risks of a manned flight to Mars ranks the possibility that massive amounts of solar and cosmic radiation will decimate the brains of astronauts, leaving them in a vegetative state, if they survive at all. Now, medical scientists have been tasked to determine the human brain's maximum safe cosmic radiation dose and to decipher precisely how radiation causes cognitive impairment, part of a quest for biological countermeasures to reduce radiation-related cognitive impairment. The NASA-funded $14-million research project could not only help eliminate the risks to astronauts, it could unravel the biomechanics of brain damage, potentially benefiting patients with degenerative neurological conditions like Alzheimer's disease.
[http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-09/evms-mmr091506.php]

Protein test spots risk for breast, ovarian cancer
A key protein may help doctors spot women at hidden risk for developing breast and ovarian cancer, according to new research.
[http://www.tehrantimes.com/Description.asp?Da=9/17/2006&Cat=7&Num=10]

UCSD researchers state vitamin D needed to cut cancer risk
aking 1,000 international units (IU) of vitamin D3 daily appears to lower an individual's risk of developing certain cancers – including colon, breast, and ovarian cancer – by up to 50 percent, according to cancer prevention specialists. "Many people are deficient in vitamin D. A glass of milk, for example, has only 100 IU. Other foods, such as orange juice, yogurt and cheese, are now beginning to be fortified, but you have to work fairly hard to reach 1,000 IU a day," Cedric F. Garland, a professor with UCSD's Moores Cancer Center, explained.
[http://www.newstarget.com/020436.html]

Eating fatty fish warded off kidney cancer in study
The 15-year study found those who regularly ate fish containing lots of fish oil that is rich in omega-3 acids and Vitamin D had a 74 percent lower risk of getting kidney cancer compared to those who ate no fish at all. Lean varieties such tuna, cod and fresh-water fish did not confer the same benefit.
[http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa003&articleID=78AA9CDF7CCC43360C7B8D362A07D223]

Prozac Increases Risk Of Extinction For Freshwater Mussels
Prozac (fluoxetine) caused female freshwater mussels to prematurely release their larvae, essentially dooming them. As with other drugs, remnants of Prozac are flushed from the body and travel in wastewater that reaches streams and rivers. About 70 percent of the nearly 300 species of freshwater mussels native to North America are extinct, endangered or declining, according to Heltsley. In the past 100 years, no other widespread North American animal group has experienced such notable collapse, she added.
[http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=51641&#38]
[http://health.yahoo.com/news/166424]

Wearing A Helmet Puts Cyclists At Risk, Suggests Research
Drivers pass closer when overtaking cyclists wearing helmets than when overtaking bare-headed cyclists, increasing the risk of a collision, the research has found. Dr Ian Walker, a traffic psychologist from the University of Bath, was struck by a bus and a truck in the course of the experiment, spent half the time wearing a cycle helmet and half the time bare-headed. He was wearing the helmet both times he was struck.
[http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/09/060911102200.htm]

Vitamin D may cut pancreatic cancer risk by nearly half
The study examined data from two large, long-term health surveys and found that taking the U.S. Recommended Daily Allowance of Vitamin D (400 IU/day) reduced the risk of pancreatic cancer by 43 percent. By comparison, those who consumed less than 150 IUs per day experienced a 22 percent reduced risk of cancer. Increased consumption of the vitamin beyond 400 IUs per day resulted in no significant increased benefit.
[http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-09/aafc-vdm090706.php]

Why the GM crops trade conflict needs a new approach to risk
Dr Adrian Ely, a Research Fellow at SPRU: "Its all too easy to make the mistake of using quantitative risk assessment techniques to try to understand unknowns that are really uncertainties, when it is impossible for us to work out the probability that something will happen. When people talk about risks, they are usually talking about aspects of risk, uncertainty, ambiguity and ignorance. Instead, we use the word incertitude to describe this collection of things, so that we address them all."
[http://www.innovations-report.com/html/reports/agricultural_sciences/report-70175.html]
[http://www.pharma-lexicon.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=51515]

Biodegradable napkin may quickly detect biohazards
"The fabric basically acts as a sponge that you can use to dip in a liquid or wipe across a surface," Frey said. "As you do that, antibodies in the fabric are going to selectively latch onto whatever pathogen that they match. Using this method we should, in theory, be able to quickly activate the fabric to detect whatever is the hazard of the week, whether it is bird flu, mad cow disease or anthrax."
[http://www.scienceblog.com/cms/biodegradable-napkin-may-quickly-detect-biohazards-11474.html]
[http://health.yahoo.com/news/166378]

Ground movement risks identified
For over 15 years, Synthetic Aperture Radar Interferometry (InSAR) has been providing ground deformation data at centimetre precision. Ground movements are responsible for hundreds of deaths and billions of Euros annually, and the threat they pose is increasing due to urbanisation and land use.
[http://www.brightsurf.com/news/headlines/26225/Ground_movement_risks_identified_by_Terrafirma.html]

Safety of mercury fillings
US Federal health officials are again examining what's known — and what's still to be learned — about the safety of a mercury mixture that's stirred controversy since dentists began using it to fill cavities in the 1800s. An FDA survey of 34 recent research studies did not counter what the agency has said for years: The fillings don't harm patients, except in rare cases where they have allergic reactions.
[http://health.yahoo.com/news/166310]

Solve climate 'whatever it costs'
Climate change is "potentially the most serious threat there has ever been" to security and prosperity, according to Britain's new climate ambassador. In an article for the BBC News website - his first since taking the post in June - John Ashton says climate change must be tackled "whatever it costs". He argues that the costs of not solving it will inevitably be larger.
[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5325714.stm]

Chemical concerns over skincare
A research study involving 1,943 adults reveals that from the minute she wakes in the morning, the average woman uses more than 12 products ranging from a simple shower gel through to anti-ageing creams and tinted moisturizers. Each of these products contains on average 15 chemical compounds. While each of these products has been tested, experts advise that some of these chemicals could be potentially irritating or could induce allergy, particularly if you are already prone to sensitive skin and conditions such as eczema.
[http://www.news-medical.net/?id=19859]

Older Fathers More Likely to Have Autistic Children
utism is a growing problem, affecting 50 children in every 10,000, compared with just five in 10,000 only 20 years ago. The risk of developing autism is significantly higher among children born to men who are 40 and older than it is among children with fathers under 30, researchers report. One cause might be mutations in the sperm as men age, but it might also be that an improper or defective gene is being activated.
[http://health.yahoo.com/news/166166]

Fresh fruit and vegetable juices may reduce Alzheimer's disease risk
In a large epidemiological study, researchers found that people who drank three or more servings of fruit and vegetable juices per week had a 76 percent lower risk of developing Alzheimer's disease than those who drank juice less than once per week. The benefit appeared particularly enhanced in subjects who carry the apolipoprotein E ÿ-4 allele, a genetic marker linked to late-onset Alzheimer's disease -- the most common form of the disease, which typically occurs after the age of 65.
[http://www.scienceblog.com/cms/juices-may-reduce-alzheimers-disease-risk-11402.html]
[http://www.newstarget.com/020270.html]
[http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/08/060831084402.htm]

Weight Loss in Obese Patients May Reduce Risk for Diabetes
Weight loss was the main predictor of reduced diabetes incidence (hazard ratio per 5-kg weight loss, 0.42; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.35 - 0.51; P < .0001). For every kilogram of weight loss, risk was reduced by 16%, after adjustment for changes in diet and activity.
[http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/543954]

Study shows prenatal diagnostic tests have low risk of miscarriage
Two standard tests—amniocentesis and chorionic villus sampling (CVS)—are common prenatal tests performed during the first and second trimester of pregnancy. Early testing using the CVS procedure has typically been thought to have a higher rate of miscarriage than amniocentesis. However, in a 20-year retrospective comparison study of the two procedures, researchers found that the loss rates for both procedures decreased over time.
[http://www.brightsurf.com/news/headlines/26100/Study_shows_prenatal_diagnostic_tests_have_low_risk_of_miscarriage.html]

Is it possible to reduce the threat of nuclear terrorism?
Esteemed scholars, scientists, and policymakers address these crucial questions in the September volume of SAGE Publications’ The ANNALS of The American Academy of Political and Social Science. All sides of the discussion, from strategic to tactical, from ideological to technical, and from the historical to the contemporary, are explored in this volume.
[http://www.brightsurf.com/news/headlines/26094/Is_it_possible_to_reduce_the_threat_of_nuclear_terrorism.html]

Caesarean triples maternal death risk
Deneux-Tharaux and team looked at 65 maternal deaths that occurred between 1996 and 2000, and that were reported to a French confidential enquiry on maternal deaths. All of the deaths followed births of a single child and were not due to conditions existing prior to delivery. The women had also not been hospitalised during pregnancy. The researchers found that the risk of death - from blood clots, infection or complications from anaesthesia - was 3.6 times higher for women who had caesareans. Although rates of maternal death in most developed countries are relatively low, in the US women have a 1 in 3500 chance of pregnancy-related death.
[http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s1730566.htm]

Waste incineration—how big is the health risk?
Anxiety, employment, noise, occupational risks, road accidents, and reduced use of landfill were all considered to have a potential, but unquantifiable, effect on health. Stack emissions over 25 years in a population of 25,398 within 5.5 km of the stack would result in an additional 0.018 cancers, 0.46 deaths brought forward due to sulphur dioxide and 0.02 deaths due to fine particles. The overall risk of dying due to emissions in any one year was 2.49 x 10–7 or 1 in 4 million.
[http://jpubhealth.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/28/3/261]

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