Here are some of the latest health and medical news
developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay:
Nearly 100 New E. Coli Cases in Germany
Another 94 people have been sickened by the E. coli outbreak in
Germany, increasing the total to 2,325 as of Tuesday, according to
the nation's national disease control center.
The Robert Koch Institute also said the number of people with a
serious E. coli-related complication that could lead to kidney
failure rose by 12 to 642, the
Associated Press reported.
The number of people infected in other European countries
remained at about 100. So far, the deadliest E. coli outbreak in
modern history has killed 22 people across Europe.
The cause of the outbreak remains unknown. German officials
first suspected Spanish cucumbers and then vegetable sprouts from
an organic farm in northern Germany, but both have been ruled out,
the
AP reported.
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Smoking Ups Women's Risk of Clogged Leg Arteries
Smoking increases women's risk of peripheral artery disease
(PAD), a new study finds.
People with PAD -- narrowing of the arteries that restricts
blood flow to the extremities are at increased risk for infection,
amputation, coronary heart disease, heart attack, stroke and
mini-stroke, the
Los Angeles Times reported.
In this study, Harvard Medical School researchers analyzed data
collected in a long-term study that included 39,876 women 45 and
older who were followed beginning in 1993.
Compared to current smokers who consumed 15 or more cigarettes
per day, women who quit smoking within the past 10 years were less
than half as likely to have PAD, those who quit smoking 10 to 20
years ago were about a quarter as likely, those who quit 20 or more
years ago were about 15 percent as likely, and those who never
smoked were about 8 percent as likely, the
Times reported.
The study was published Monday in the journal
Annals of Internal Medicine.