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Tamiflu saves lives of severely ill flu patients

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Tamiflu saves lives of severely ill flu patients

Roche AG’s antiviral drug Tamiflu helped prevent deaths from seasonal flu in severely ill patients who had chronic underlying health problems, Chinese researchers said on Sunday.

A study of 760 older, severely ill patients in Hong Kong found that Roche and Gilead Sciences Inc’s drug Tamiflu cut the rate of death by 37 percent.

More than 60 percent of patients in the study had underlying chronic illnesses, and 78 percent had been hospitalized with complications from seasonal flu.

The study, done by researchers at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and presented at the Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy in San Francisco, suggests the drug can help save the lives of seriously ill flu patients, Dr David Reddy, who leads Roche’s pandemic flu task force, said in a telephone briefing.

Known generically as oseltamivir, Tamiflu is one of two antiviral drugs that work well against H1N1 swine flu.

The study took place in two hospitals in Hong Kong between 2007 and 2008. About half the patients in the study got Tamiflu and half got no treatment. Death rates were about the same at both hospitals.

“In this study, Tamiflu improved the survival rate by reducing the rate of death by 37 percent in this high-risk group of patients with severe seasonal flu compared to no treatment,” Reddy said.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending that the very old and people with chronic medical conditions should be treated with antiviral drugs — either Tamiflu or GlaxoSmithKline and Biota’s Relenza — when they have flu-like symptoms.

Health officials caution against using either drug in otherwise healthy people who have moderate or mild flu symptoms, however, because of the fear of resistance. Influenza viruses very quickly change to put up a strong defense against antiviral drugs. Last year the seasonal H1N1 virus developed strong resistance to Tamiflu. Two older flu drugs, amantadine and rimantadine, now have very little effect against influenza viruses.

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Lifestyle affects risk of second breast cancer

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Lifestyle affects risk of second breast cancer

Surviving breast cancer is no guarantee that a new cancer won’t appear in the other breast. However, research now suggests that women can build their own personal armor to at least partially protect themselves from this occurring.

All it takes, says Dr. Christopher I. Li, is to “stay at a normal weight, don’t smoke, and drink in moderation.”

The research, headed up by Li at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle, Washington, suggests that obesity, smoking and drinking too much are all risk factors for breast cancer in the opposite breast — also called the “contralateral” breast — of women who’ve had an “estrogen receptor-positive invasive breast cancer.”

That’s because estrogen can fuel these tumors’ growth, and both fat tissue and excessive alcohol use directly increase estrogen levels in the body, Li and his team propose. They believe that smoking contributes to the risk because of all the cancer-causing substances one inhales when smoking.

Until now, there haven’t been many studies regarding ways that women could protect themselves from second breast cancers, according to the report in the September 8th online issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

The new study included 365 women with a first estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer and a second contralateral cancer and 726 control subjects. By reviewing medical charts and interviewing the women directly, the researchers determined body mass index (BMI) and alcohol and tobacco use. BMI is an estimate of a person’s relative body fat calculated from her height and weight.

Compared with normal weight women, those who were obese were almost half again – by 40% — as likely to develop a contralateral breast cancer. Consumption of 7 or more alcoholic drinks per week nearly doubled the risk compared with no alcohol use. Findings were similar for current smoking.

Women who both smoke and drink following diagnosis of the first cancer had an even greater risk of a second cancer. The study showed that consuming 7 or more alcoholic drinks per week coupled with current smoking increased the odds of contralateral breast cancer more than 7-fold.

In a related editorial, Dr. Jennifer A. Ligibel, from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, points out that the study by Li and his team took place before use of hormonal therapy for estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer became routine. Therefore, a more modern study examining the effect of modifiable lifestyle factors should involve patients treated according to current guidelines.

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Pesticides ‘linked to Parkinson’s’

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Pesticides ‘linked to Parkinson’s’

A pesticide is a substance or mixture of substances used to kill a pest.[1] A pesticide is any substance or mixture of substance intended for: – preventing, destroying, repelling or mitigating any pest.[2] A pesticide may be a chemical substance, biological agent (such as a virus or bacteria), antimicrobial, disinfectant or device used against any pest. Pests include insects, plant pathogens, weeds, molluscs, birds, mammals, fish, nematodes (roundworms), microbes and people that destroy property, spread or are a vector for disease or cause a nuisance. Although there are benefits to the use of pesticides, there are also drawbacks, such as potential toxicity to humans and other animals.

2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid – known as 2,4-D – used to kill a range of weeds

Permethrin – used in pest control, including ant powder and flea killer. Sprayed on tents and nets to repel mosquitoes

Paraquat – weedkiller used on a range of crops including potatoes. Banned for use in Europe since 2007

Dieldrin – pesticide, banned for use in Europe

Diquat – general weedkiller

Maneb – kills fungus, used to protect potatoes, tomatoes and other crops

Mancozeb – also kills fungus, used to protect potatoes among other crops

Rotenone – used to eradicate unwanted fish species as well as other pests

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