Here are some of the latest health and medical news
developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay:
Supreme Court Won't Fast-Track Health Care Law Challenge
A request to fast-track Virginia's challenge to the new federal
health care law has been rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court.
In a one-line order released Monday, the court did not provide
any reasons for the decision and there was no mention of dissenting
votes,
The New York Times reported.
A number of federal trial courts across the nation have issued
different decisions about the constitutionality of a key part of
the new health care law that makes health insurance mandatory for
the majority of people. Appeals of those decisions will be heard by
appeals courts in the coming months.
Virginia's attorney general wanted the Supreme Court to consider
the matter as soon as possible, instead of waiting for the appeals
courts to make their decisions. It's now expected that cases
involving the health care law won't reach the Supreme Court until
the term that begins in October.
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Testosterone Therapy Doesn't Fuel Prostate Cancer: Study
Giving testosterone to prostate cancer patients does not
encourage tumor growth, a new study finds.
It included 13 men with mildly to moderately aggressive prostate
cancer who had low testosterone levels. They received testosterone
therapy for an average of two and a half years,
The New York Times reported.
None of the men's prostate cancers progressed or spread to other
organs, even though they all initially chose watchful waiting
rather than treatment.
The study appears in the April issue of
The Journal of Urology.
These and other recent findings suggest that the risks of
testosterone therapy in prostate cancer patients may have been
exaggerated, said lead author Dr. Abraham Morgentaler, an associate
clinical professor of surgery at Harvard,
The Times reported.
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ADHD Said to Increase Risk of Substance Use
Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder are at
increased risk for substance use when they're teens or young
adults, a new study suggests.
Researchers analyzed 27 long-term studies that included a total
of 4,100 children with ADHD and 6,800 children without ADHD. Some
of the studies followed the children for 10 years or more,
USA Today reported.
The review authors found that children with ADHD were up to
three times more likely than those without ADHD to use, abuse or
become dependent on nicotine and illegal drugs such as marijuana
and cocaine when they're teens or young adults. They also found
that teens with ADHD were more likely to experiment with nicotine
and illegal drugs at an earlier age than those without ADHD.
The reasons for the increased risk aren't clear, but the
researchers said drugs may provide temporary relief from
ADHD-related stress, anxiety and social dysfunction,
USA Today reported.
The study appears online in the journal
Clinical Psychology Review.
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Extremely Obese Teens Engage in Risky Behaviors: Study
Extremely obese teens are as likely as other teens to engage in
risky behaviors such as unsafe sex, smoking and drug and alcohol
use, according to U.S. researchers.
They analyzed data from 410 extremely obese teens and 8,669
healthy weight teens who took part in a nationwide survey conducted
in 2007. Both groups had similar behaviors,
CNN reported.
"Not only are they at health risk (from obesity), but they also are typical teens and they're struggling with the same things that potentially other teens are struggling with," said senior study author Meg Zeller, an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine.
"We need to be talking about safe sex, drugs and alcohol with every teen and not assuming that this (extremely obese) population is somehow not engaging in those behaviors," Zeller said, CNN reported.
The study appears in the journal
Pediatrics.
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Cucumbers Recalled Due to Salmonella Fears
Possible salmonella contamination has prompted the recall of
cucumbers distributed by L&M Companies Inc. of Raleigh,
N.C.
The recalled cucumbers were in 1,590 bulk cartons shipped
between March 30 and April 7 to Florida, Illinois, Indiana,
Mississippi, Nebraska, New York, Tennessee, Texas and Wyoming,
CNN reported.
The carton's are labeled Nature's Delight and have the Lot #
PL-RID-002990 on the side.
In mid-April, U.S. Food and Drug Administration inspectors
discovered salmonella on cucumbers in a cooler at Four Seasons
Produce of Central Florida,
CNN reported.
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Carob Products Recalled
Carob products in four states have been recalled because their
labels fail to mention that milk is an ingredient.
The "Carob Brown Rice Crunch Squares" and "Carob Mint
Miniatures" were packaged and distributed by Simple Foods of
Tonawanda, N.Y., and shipped to health food stores in New York, New
Hampshire, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, the
Associated Press reported.
The products can cause serious or life-threatening illness in
people allergic to milk, said New York health officials.
The products can be returned to the stores where they were
bought, the
AP reported.
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Rep. Giffords to Attend Astronaut-Husband's Shuttle Liftoff
Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, shot in the head by a
gunman's bullet Jan. 8, will attend the liftoff Friday of her
astronaut-husband's space shuttle mission, according to published
reports.
Expected to attend the blastoff of the second-to-last space
shuttle mission are the Obama family, many of Giffords'
congressional colleagues, and an estimated 40,000 other NASA
guests. In addition, hundreds of thousands of spectators are
expected to fill surrounding beaches and roadways, the
Associated Press reported.
Until recently, it had been unclear whether astronaut Mark Kelly
would command the April mission of the space shuttle Endeavour, but
Giffords continues to make remarkable progress. Her husband
attributes her recovery to previous good health, great care "and
maybe a little bit of luck."
"Or maybe people really thinking about her and praying for her," added Kelly, who's aunt is a Catholic nun. Pope Benedict XVI is expected to make the first papal call to space during Endeavour's flight, the AP reported.
Giffords was shot in the head Jan. 8 while she hosted a
political event outside a grocery store in Tucson, Ariz. The
attacker killed six people and wounded 12 others. She has been
recovering at TIRR Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston.