Here are some of the latest health and medical news
developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay:
Puberty Timing and Progression Affect Behavior and Mood:
Study
The timing and progression of puberty affect youngsters'
behavior and mood, say researchers who tracked 364 white boys and
373 white girls for six years through puberty.
In girls, both an early start and a faster progression of
puberty were associated with symptoms of depression, anxiety,
social withdrawal and vague physical complaints. Faster progression
was also linked to behavioral problems such as lying and cheating,
the
Los Angeles Times reported.
Faster progression of puberty in boys was associated with more
behavioral problems, which were most evident in boys who also
started puberty earlier than their peers.
"The thought is that when the major changes of puberty are compressed into a shorter amount of time, adolescents don't have enough time to acclimate, so they're not emotionally or socially ready for all the changes that happen," lead author Kristine Marceau, of Penn State, said in a news release, the Times reported. "This is the explanation that originally was
attributed solely to early timing, but we suggest that the same
thing also is happening if the rate of puberty is compressed."
The study appears in the September issue of the journal
Developmental Psychology.
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Obama Administration Cancels Tougher Air-Quality Rules
The Obama administration has canceled immediate implementation
of new Environmental Protection Agency air-quality laws meant to
reduce emissions of smog-causing ground-level ozone.
Instead, the administration will stick with a more lenient 2008
Bush administration standard until a scheduled reconsideration of
acceptable pollution limits in 2013,
The New York Times reported.
Environmental groups were shocked by Friday's White House
announcement.
A statement released by League of Conservation Voters President
Gene Karpinski said: "The Obama administration is caving to big
polluters at the expense of protecting the air we breathe. This is
a huge win for corporate polluters and huge loss for public
health."
Early this summer, leaders of major business groups met with
William Daley, White House chief of staff, and warned him that
implementing the new rule would be very costly to industry and
would harm Obama's chances for re-election,
The Times reported.
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FDA, Drug Makers Reach Drug Review Fee Deal
Under a proposed new deal, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
will provide quicker, more predictable reviews of new prescription
drugs in exchange for continuing to receive hundreds of millions of
dollars in fees from drug companies.
The draft agreement, released Thursday after months of
closed-door meetings between FDA and drug makers, would extend a
two decade-old program in which fees paid by the drug industry
supplement the FDA's budget, the
Associated Press reported.
Under the deal, the FDA would provide more frequent updates to
drug makers on the status of certain drug reviews.
The agreement must be approved and drafted into law by Congress
before Oct. 1, 2012, the
AP reported.