Armadillos and Leprosy

Genetic sequencing confirms armadillos can transmit some leprosy strains to humans.
The AP (4/28, Chang) reports, "With some genetic sleuthing, scientists have fingered a likely culprit in the spread of leprosy in the southern US: the nine-banded armadillo." According to a study in the New England Journal of Medicine, DNA tests "show a match in the leprosy strain between some patients and these prehistoric-looking critters."
Bloomberg News (4/28, Ostrow) reports that the researchers identified the "same strain of leprosy in 28 of 33 wild armadillos and 25 of 39 patients who lived in states where the animals are common." Exposure to "fresh armadillo blood or tissue raises the risk of leprosy infection," the study authors said.
The New York Times (4/28, A7, Harris, Subscription Publication) reports that the cases are concentrated in "Louisiana and Texas, where some people hunt, skin and eat armadillos." Leprosy now joins a "host of other infectious diseases -- including flu, HIV/AIDS and SARS -- that are known to have jumped from animals to humans."
The Los Angeles Times (4/28, Brown) notes that annually, about "100 to 150 people" in the US are "diagnosed with the malady, which is also known as Hansen's disease. ... 'It doesn't mean people need to run away from armadillos the way they do a rattlesnake, but people need to be careful,'" said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, which "helped fund the research."

Autism Screening Test

New early screening test detects autism in children as young as one year.
USA Today (4/28, Szabo) reports an "early screening test for autism, designed to detect signs of the condition in babies as young as 1 year old, could revolutionize the care of autistic children, experts say, by getting them diagnosed and treated years earlier than usual." The 24-item "checklist takes just five minutes to complete and can be filled out in a pediatrician's waiting room, when parents bring children for their routine 12-month checkup, says a study of more than 10,000 infants," published in the Journal of Pediatrics. The study was funded "by the National Institutes of Health and others."
The San Diego Union-Tribune (4/28, Lavelle) reports researchers at UCSD "say a promising tool in diagnosing autism early and getting treatment for the syndrome could start with asking parents to fill out a simple questionnaire at their baby's one-year checkup." Dr. Karen Pierce, "assistant director of the UC San Diego Autism Center of Excellence, recruited 137 San Diego pediatricians for a study that has screened nearly 10,500 1-year-olds for a possible autism spectrum disorder or developmental delay, using a 24-item questionnaire." The questionnaire "has the potential for identifying children with autism early enough to get treatment while their brains are developing internal connections," Pierce said.
The AP (4/28, Neergaard) reports the research "is a first step in the quest for earlier autism screening." Experts "say early therapy can lessen autism's severity, even if they don't know exactly what types will prove best." Dr. Lisa Gilotty of the National Institute of Mental Health says, "The earlier you start, the better."
The Washington Post (4/28, Stein) reports by "allowing scientists to study children with autism when they are younger, it could also provide crucial new insights into the disease's causes, further dispelling discredited theories about vaccines and other supposed risk factors, as well as leading to better ways to diagnose and treat the disorder." Thomas R. Insel of the National Institute of Mental Health said, "Beyond this exciting proof of concept, such a screening program would answer parents' concerns . . . with more confidence than has ever been done before." The Wall Street Journal (4/28, Wang, Subscription Publication) also reports the study.

Eating Out with Allergies

Restaurants may be unsafe for people with food allergies.
HealthDay (4/26, Gordon) reported that according to the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN), as many as "12 million Americans" have food allergies; and the primary culprits are "milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, shellfish, soy and wheat." Although it is "easy to control your environment," restaurant food may not be safe. A study the journal Clinical and Experimental Allergy, which included "managers, waiters and chefs at 90 restaurants," found that although only 33 percent "said they'd had specific" food allergy training, "81 percent said they still felt confident they could provide a safe meal to a customer with food allergies." Moreover, 38 percent erroneously "believed that people with food allergies could drink water to dilute the allergen and lessen" the allergic reaction severity; and another 23 percent mistakenly thought eating only a "small amount of a food allergen" was safe.

Housebound Elderly and Dementia

Analysis suggests "housebound" elderly may be more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease.
HealthDay (4/26, Dotinga) reported that seniors who are "'housebound' seem to have nearly double the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease," according to a study in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. Researchers followed "1,294 seniors from two separate studies of older adults whose health was being tracked over time." Although no seniors "showed signs of dementia" at the beginning of this study, over an average "4.4 years, 180 developed Alzheimer's disease."

Pain Pill Combination

FDA approves pain-relief treatment that reduces arthritis, ulcer risk.
The Chicago Tribune (4/25, Japsen) reported, "The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a Skokie drug maker's pain-relief pill that reduces the risk of stomach ulcers by combining the pain-relief drug ibuprofen with a high dose of famotidine, the active ingredient in the antacid Pepcid." Horizon Pharma said the agency's "approval of Duexis (ibuprofen/ famotidine), a combination of 800 milligrams of ibuprofen and 26.6 milligrams of famotidine should be available in the second half of this year."

Wine and Sea Salt

Many Americans may not be well informed about sea salt, red wine.
HealthDay (4/25, Preidt) reported that "most Americans have heard that red wine has health benefits, but many don't understand the need to limit consumption, finds an American Heart Association survey." Most respondents also "mistakenly believe that sea salt is a low-sodium alternative to table salt," the survey found. Among the "1,000 adults polled, 76 percent agreed with the statement that wine can be good for your heart, but only 30 percent knew the AHA's recommended limits for daily wine consumption."

Obese Teen Risk

Obese teenagers as likely to participate in risky behavior as thinner peers.
The Time (4/25, Melnick) "Healthland" blog reported, "Obese teens tend to be socially outcast, and so researchers had long assumed they were less likely to engage in the kinds of risky social behaviors that mark traditional adolescence: drinking, smoking and hooking up." However, according to a survey published in the May issue of Pediatrics, "obese teens are just as likely to participate in these rites of teenhood as their thinner peers. In some ways, obese teens' behavior is even riskier."
The Los Angeles Times "Booster Shots" blog reported, "Psychologists at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center in Ohio compared the 'risky' behavior of 410 teens who were extremely obese (body-mass index in the 99th percentile) with 8,669 normal-weight teens (body-mass index within the 5th and 84th percentiles) using the 2007 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, a national survey of high school students conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The survey asked how often the teenagers used drugs, tobacco or alcohol, had sexual encounters, and experienced suicidal thoughts or attempts."
WebMD (4/25, Goodman) reported researchers found that "extremely obese girls were about twice as likely as slimmer students as to have ever tried cigarettes or to be current smokers. Extremely obese boys were about 50% more likely than their normal-weight counterparts to have ever tried cigarettes or to have started smoking before age 13." The researchers also found that "although heavy girls were about half as likely as their slimmer peers to have ever had sex, when they did have intercourse, they were nearly five times more likely to do so under the influence of alcohol or drugs." CNN (4/25, Caruso) "The Chart" blog and MedPage Today (4/25, Walsh) also covered the story.