Here are some of the latest health and medical news
developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay:
Studies Reveal Huge Impact of Melanoma
There were more than 45,000 cases of melanoma reported each year
in 45 states and the District of Columbia during 2004-06, a U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report says.
Melanoma is the most dangerous type of skin cancer and causes
8,000 deaths in the U.S. each year.
The CDC report appears in a special supplement published online
and in the November print issue of the
Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.
Many of the 15 articles in the supplement used data from CDC's
National Program of Cancer Registries and the U.S. National Cancer
Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results Program.
One study found that deaths caused by melanoma cause $3.5
billion in lost productivity each year, an average of $441,903 per
male patient and $401,046 per female patient.
Another study found that melanoma rates were higher among white,
Hispanic and Asian Pacific females aged 50 and younger, compared to
their male counterparts. It also found that Hispanics, Asians and
American Indian/Alaska Natives were diagnosed with melanoma at
younger ages than whites or blacks.
A study that focused on sunburn, sun protection and indoor
tanning found that 34 percent of adults surveyed in 2005 said they
had suffered a sunburn in the past year, and 69 percent of
adolescents surveyed in 2006 said they had a sunburn the previous
summer.
"Melanoma is a devastating disease that takes an economic toll on individuals, their families, and society in terms of premature death and lost productivity," Dr. Marcus Plescia, director of CDCs Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, said in a CDC news release.
"New policies and prevention strategies are needed to address the leading preventable causes of melanoma, enabling people to be healthier, live longer, and continue to be productive," he added.
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European Court Forbids Some Stem Cell Techniques
Scientists cannot patent stem cell techniques that use human
embryos for research, the European Court of Justice ruled
Tuesday.
The decision was delivered in a lawsuit launched against a
researcher who in 1997 filed a patient on a technique to turn
embryonic stem cells into nerve cells. The lawsuit was launched by
the environmental group Greenpeace, the
Associated Press reported.
The court said patents are permissible if they involve
therapeutic or diagnostic techniques that benefit the embryo, such
as correcting defects, but the law protects embryos from any use
that could cause indignity.
The court also said any stem cell technique used exclusively for
research "is not patentable,"
AP reported.
Greenpeace launched the lawsuit in order to obtain a clear,
legal definition of what constitutes a living embryo, a spokesman
explained. The group fears that patents on animals and plants could
lead to food production monopolies.
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U.S. Government Overhauls Health Facility Rules
A number of health facility regulations considered obsolete or
overly burdensome will be scrapped, the Obama administration
says.
The proposed changes that were announced Tuesday would apply to
more than 6,000 hospitals and save health providers nearly $1.1
billion a year without creating any "consequential risks for
patients," according to Health and Human Services Secretary
Kathleen Sebelius,
The New York Times reported.
For example, the proposed changes would make it easier to use
advanced practice nurse practitioners and physician assistants
instead of higher-paid doctors.
Other changes would affect rules for doctors' offices,
outpatient surgery centers, kidney dialysis centers, organ
transplant programs and institutions that care for people with
severe mental disabilities,
The Times reported.
Public comments gathered over the next 60 days will be
considered before the government issues final rules.
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Ban on Chewing Tobacco During Baseball Games Sought
The professional baseball players union should agree to a ban on
the use of chewing tobacco at games and on camera, say some U.S.
senators and health officials from St. Louis and Arlington, Texas
-- the cities hosting the 2011 World Series.
The requests to the union were outlined in separate letters sent
by the senators and the public health officials, the
Associated Press reported.
Millions of people, including children, will watch the series,
wrote Democrats Dick Durbin of Illinois, Frank Lautenberg of New
Jersey, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Tom Harkin of Iowa,
the chairman of the Senate health committee.
"When players use smokeless tobacco, they endanger not only their own health, but also the health of millions of children who follow their example," the senators said.
"Unfortunately, as these young fans root for their favorite team and players, they also will watch their on-field heroes use smokeless tobacco products," they added, the AP reported.
In their letter, the health officials from Arlington and St.
Louis noted that tobacco companies can't advertise on TV, but they
"literally could not buy the ads that are effectively created by
celebrity ballplayers using tobacco at games."
A ban on chewing tobacco was endorsed earlier this year by Major
League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig but the players union has
not committed to the idea.
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