Sales of five leading painkillers almost doubled in the last eight years, revealing that like that catchy commercial jingle "We haven't got time for the pain."

From the Associated Press analysis:

More than 200,000 pounds of codeine, morphine, oxycodone, hydrocodone and meperidine were purchased at retail stores during 2005, the most recent year represented in the data. That is enough to give more than 300 milligrams of painkillers to every person in the country.

Oxycodone, the chemical used in OxyContin, is responsible for most of the increase. Oxycodone use jumped nearly six-fold between 1997 and 2005. The drug gained notoriety as "hillbilly heroin," often bought and sold illegally in Appalachia. But its highest rates of sale now occur in places such as suburban St. Louis and Fort Lauderdale.

Posted by Susan Abram at 4:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Like wine, dark chocolate, and tomatoes, there are multiple discussions about the benefits of green tea. But before you head out to Trader Joe's for your pack of Yogi, researchers say the Green Tea should be caffeine free.

Here's the story from Reuters:

Healthy subjects who received daily caffeine-free green tea extract capsules had an increased production of detoxification enzymes, which may provide some cancer-fighting benefits, study findings show.

"Concentrated green tea extract could be beneficial to those who are deficient in the detoxification enzyme and shouldn't be harmful for those who have adequate detoxification enzyme," lead investigator Dr. H.-H. Sherry Chow, of the University of Arizona, Tucson, told Reuters Health.

Genetic and environmental factors cause people to have varying levels of glutathione S-transferase (GST) enzymes. These enzymes may play a crucial role in helping the body defend against toxic and cancer-causing compounds, note Chow and colleagues.

Previous laboratory and animal studies found that green tea compounds, antioxidants called "catechins," activate these GST enzymes. Therefore, Chow's team investigated the effect that concentrated compounds from green tea would have on GST enzymes levels in 42 healthy adults.

Their findings are published in the medical journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention.

For 4 weeks prior to the study, the non-smoking volunteers refrained from drinking green tea, taking supplements, or eating foods known to contain epigallocatechin gallate, a potential cancer-fighting antioxidant.

Over the next 4 weeks the volunteers took four capsules, each containing 200 mg of epigallocatechin gallate, every morning prior to eating. This provided the equivalent amount of epigallocatechin gallate obtained from drinking 8 to 16 cups of green tea daily, Chow said.

The researchers found that the detoxifying GST enzymes increased by 80 percent in the study participants with the lowest GST levels at the start of the study. Participants with medium or high GST levels had either no increase or a slight increase in GST levels.

The capsules used in this study were specifically made for clinical trial use. Chow cautions that commercially available green tea extracts are not required to meet the same strict concentration and purity standards.

Chow adds, "More clinical testing is underway to confirm the cancer preventive activities of green tea or green tea extract."

Posted by Susan Abram at 4:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It appears that a virus may explain why some people become obese, according to U.S. researchers

The virus, which is similar to those that respiratory and eye infections, caused animals to gain weight, researchers told Reuters:

"We're not talking about preventing all types of obesity, but if it is caused by this virus in humans, we want a vaccine to prevent this," said Nikhil Dhurandhar, an associate professor at Pennington Biomedical Research Center at Louisiana State University System.

Dhurandhar also has shown that obese people were three times more likely to have been infected with Ad-36 than thin people in a large study of humans, according to Reuters.

Posted by Susan Abram at 3:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This comes in just as health officials said today that a San Fernando Valley man is the first this year from Los Angeles County to die of West Nile. He was in his 80s.

Now a new study pinpoints several risk factors for developing deadly encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) caused by mosquito-borne West Nile virus infection, according to Reuters today.

Older adults with a history of heart and vascular disease and those with high blood pressure seem to be the ones who become sickest, researchers say.

In a presentation of the findings to the International Conference on Diseases in Nature Communicable to Man, in Madison, Wisconsin, Dr. Kristy Murray, of the University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, suggested that high blood pressure might make it easier for the virus to enter the brain.

After adjusting for age, a suppressed immune system, being African-American, being infected with hepatitis C virus and having kidney disease all raised the risk of death from West Nile-associated encephalitis.

Researchers took a look back at the hospital charts of 172 people with West Nile infection, including 113 cases of encephalitis (including 17 deaths), 47 of meningitis and 12 with uncomplicated fever. The median age of the hospitalized cases was 54, and the median age of those who died was 75 (range 47-95).

Posted by Susan Abram at 4:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Researchers say they have learned more about the hormone that tells us we are full after we eat. That same hormone also regulates our desires for certain foods. The finding may help scientists understand why people gain weight and it could lead to new treatments for obesity, according to Reuters.

From the story:

In the study, published in the journal Science, researchers searched for "circuits" in the brain that signal when a person is hungry or full and found that they were linked to areas involved in determining the enjoyment of food.

To see how the hormone worked, the researchers showed the patients pictures of different types of food, ranging from tasty fare like chocolate cake and pizza to blander choices such as cauliflower and broccoli.

The patients with the genetic disorder -- of which there are about a dozen known cases in the world -- liked all types of food, ate excessively and were obese, the researchers said.

Posted by Susan Abram at 12:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

High fives to Providence Holy Cross Medical Center. The hospital was 1 of 59 nationwide deemed "Baby Friendly" from Baby-Friendly USA, a global program sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF. The hospital staff met 10 guidelines that earned them the distinction.

And so in honor of this, Maggie Moo of MaggieMoo's Ice Cream and Treatery will visit the Mission Hills facility Thursday to pass out milk shakes to the staff of the Labor and Delivery department to congratulate them for working hard and earning the honor. The fun comes just as National Breastfeeding Week ends, so hey, there's all these wacky connections going on.

From a story in the LA TIMES:

Nearly threequarters of new mothers in the United States breast-feed their babies, a new high, but they quit too soon and resort to infant formula too often, federal health officials said Thursday.

A government survey found that about 30% of new moms are feeding their babies only breast milk three months after birth.

At six months, 11% are breast-feeding exclusively.

And just so you know, I asked if the whole "Maggie Moo" thing was some kind of bovine reference to women who breast feed.

No, and no, said hospital rep. Natasha Adeimy. MaggieMoo's just happened to step up and provide shakes. But there will be a cow impersonator to hand out the goodies.

Posted by Susan Abram at 3:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The well deserved tributes to KTLA newscaster Hal Fishman also has cast a spotlight on colon cancer. The American Cancer Society has provided some good information, including 5 myths about the disease:

Myth: Colorectal cancer is a man’s disease.

Truth: Colorectal cancer is just as common among women as men. This year, about 150,000 Americans will be diagnosed with colorectal cancer, and more than 55,000 will die from the disease.

Myth: Colon cancer cannot be prevented.

Truth: In many cases colon cancer can be prevented. Colon cancer almost always starts with a small growth called a polyp. If the polyp is found early, doctors can remove it and stop colon cancer before it starts.

Myth: African Americans are not at risk for colon cancer.

Truth: African-American men and women are diagnosed with and die from colon cancer at higher rates than men and women of any other US racial or ethnic group.

Myth: Age doesn’t matter when it comes to getting colon cancer.

Truth: More than 90% of colon cancer cases occur in people age 50 and older. For this reason, the American Cancer Society recommends you start getting tested for the disease at age 50. People who are at increased risk for colon cancer -- for example, those with a family history of the disease -- may need to begin testing at a younger age. You should talk to your doctor about your specific situation and when you should begin getting tested.

Myth: It’s better not to get tested for colon cancer because it’s deadly anyway.

Truth: Colon cancer is often highly treatable. If colon cancer is found early and treated, the 5-year survival rate is 90%. But because many people are not getting tested, only 39% of cases are diagnosed at this early stage when treatment is so successful.

To find out if you are at an increased risk for colon cancer, please read "Colorectal Cancer: Early Detection."

Posted by Susan Abram at 12:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This is a returning story for "Body Talk." We heard about Dr. Lee Swanstrom of Oregon about a month ago, but USA Today finds a patient willing to chat about having her gallbladder removed through her mouth. The result is a sore tongue, but there's a lot of talk (so to speak), of reevaluating the way the gallbladder is removed. There are about 500,000 gallbladder operations annually in the United States.

From the story:

Lynn Masterson hurt in a most unusual place after gallbladder surgery June 16.

"I had actually had more pain and decreased mobility with my tongue," says Masterson, 47, a radio station traffic reporter.

That's because her surgeon pulled her gallbladder out through her mouth.

She was Lee Swanstrom's third through-the-mouth patient. Swanstrom, of the Oregon Clinic, performs the operation at Portland's Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital.

Friends and family were shocked to learn the route Masterson's gallbladder took from her body. A co-worker joked that he had wondered why her breath smelled funny after surgery.

The thought of having the gallbladder extracted through the mouth or, in women, the vagina, is enough to send some patients fleeing. But by eliminating an external incision, proponents say, the approach promises to reduce pain and speed recovery.

Posted by Susan Abram at 10:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The LA Times offers a multipart series on prescription drugs, the way they are marketed, our dependence, physicians who give them out too often and possible legislation that questions the drug companys' powerful influences.

From the intro:

Today, drug manufacturers do everything in their considerable power to ensure that their brand-name prescription medications are on the lips of patients and in the minds of physicians every time the two meet across an exam table. A growing chorus of critics says their efforts have begun to rewrite the dialogue between patient and doctor, influence physicians' judgments and open the act of prescribing to forces more profit-minded than sacred.

In 2006, drug-makers spent almost $5 billion to reach out to consumers with direct advertising.

Posted by Susan Abram at 10:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Score another one for vinegar. It's in our salad dressings, it cleans windows, and is used for personal hygiene.

Today we feature a story about how vinegar, cotton, and a bright light can be used to help detect cervical cancer. It appears to be working when used in developing countries, though I wonder what the reaction would be if the method were used in the United States. The study was published in the Lancet.

From the story in the Daily News:

The visual screening test is done by a nurse or trained health care worker who washes a woman's cervix with vinegar and gauze using a speculum to hold it open. After one minute, any pre-cancerous lesions turn very white and can be seen with the naked eye under a halogen lamp.

There were 167 cases and 83 cervical cancer deaths in the women who received the screening, compared with 158 cases and 92 deaths in those who didn't. That represents 25 percent less cervical cancer and a 35 percent lower death rate among those screened.

Posted by Susan Abram at 10:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A story making the rounds on the wires and written up in the LA Times today takes a look at how tiny electrodes implanted in a coma patient's brain has helped him to regain some of his motor and verbal skills.

From the Times:

Assisted by tiny electrodes implanted in his brain, a man who had been in a coma-like state for six years regained the ability to drink from a cup, comb his hair and speak in short sentences, researchers said today.

Within hours of receiving what researchers described as an electrical pacemaker for the brain, the man opened his eyes and tracked the movement of people in his hospital room.

More than a year later the man's progress continued, and recently he recited the first 16 words of the Pledge of Allegiance from memory, researchers said.

"This is a real landmark," said Dr. Adrian Owen, a neuroscientist at the Medical Research Council's Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit in Cambridge, England, who was not involved in the research. "This suggests a possible treatment for some patients."

Posted by Susan Abram at 2:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This year's West Nile virus has shown up earlier and is infecting more humans, horses and mosquitoes earlier than last year, Vector Control officials have said. So far, four people have died.

In the Central Valley, the situation has become so bad that airplanes are dropping pesticides over Sacramento County, according the Bee.

Here's a part of the story:

The state's fourth West Nile virus-related death this year was announced hours before airplanes dropped another batch of pesticides Tuesday evening over urban areas of Sacramento County to kill infected mosquitoes.

An elderly San Joaquin County man died due to complications from West Nile virus, making him the fourth fatality in the state in 2007, according to a California Department of Public Health news release issued Tuesday.

State officials confirmed Monday that a Colusa County woman had died after contracting the virus.

Posted by Susan Abram at 10:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)