Can't Carry With, but Can't Breathe Without; Keep an Ovary, Preserve a Brain; Counting the Uninsured Masses; Oral Sex Linked to Mouth Cancers
Can't Carry With, but Can't Breathe Without
Back-to-school time can mean a flare-up of asthma problems in children, but students may not be getting the access they need to their medication—despite laws meant to ensure their right to carry and use inhalers. A survey by the American Lung Association has found that nearly three quarters of parents whose children bring so-called relief inhalers to school say that officials don't let the kids keep the medication in their desks or pockets. That's despite laws in all but four states requiring that schools allow self-administration of asthma drugs. Schools' restrictive interpretation of the laws, often requiring students to seek permission from the nurse before each use, could lead to emergencies, says Norman Edelman, ALA's chief medical officer.
Last week, when the National Institutes of Health released its first comprehensive update in a decade of clinical guidelines for the diagnosis and management of asthma, the expert panel noted that "reliable, prompt access to medication is essential" in schools. — Marianne Lavelle
Keep an Ovary, Preserve a Brain
Surgical removal of the ovaries before menopause raises by half a woman's risk of future neurological problems such as dementia and Parkinson's disease, according to research published last week in Neurology. But she can block the effect by getting estrogen therapy. Neurologist and epidemiologist Walter Rocca of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., explained his findings to U.S. News.
What does this mean for patients? Many fewer prophylactic oophorectomies [elective ovary removals] should be done. In the past, there wasn't enough evidence, but now we know there's a negative impact on the heart, on hip fractures—and now on the brain.
You found estrogen helps oophorectomy patients younger than 50. Are your findings relevant to other women? Absolutely. Initiating estrogen therapy late in life is harmful, [but the study] adds new evidence [to suggest] if it's initiated earlier, it's helpful. There's hope that estrogen may be useful between ages 50 and 60.
What should a woman in that age group do? It's risky to say that estrogen is all good or all bad. It has to be discussed individually [with a doctor], to take into account family history and other factors. — Katherine Hobson
Counting the Uninsured Masses
A record number of Americans are without health insurance, according to new U.S. Census Bureau statistics released last week.
Some of the trend can be explained by employers curtailing coverage or making it too costly for lower-income workers to afford. The number of people without health insurance coverage increased from 44.8 million in 2005 to 47 million in 2006. The percentage of Americans without health insurance rose to 15.8 from 15.3—the second consecutive year of increase. — HealthDay
Oral Sex Linked to Mouth Cancers
Human papillomavirus, believed to be responsible for most cervical cancers, may also be at the root of many cancers of the mouth and throat, according to research published in the August 27 online issue of Cancer.
"Smoking prevalence has dropped dramatically, and, likewise, most head and neck cancers have declined in incidence. [But c]ancers at the base of the tongue and tonsil are increasing or have remained stagnant," says study author Erich Sturgis of the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, in Houston.
In 1995, there were fewer than 6,000 cases of tongue cancer. By 2005, that number was more than 8,000, according to the study. The authors suspect the reason may be orally transmitted HPV infections. Up to 50 percent of nonsmokers with throat and mouth cancers are infected. (Between 80 percent and 90 percent of head and neck cancers can be attributed to tobacco or alcohol use.)
"People need to be aware that they can get throat or tongue cancer as the consequence of a sexually transmitted disease," says Sturgis. The cervical cancer vaccine for girls and women, which covers the common strains of HPV, may help reduce the incidence of some head and neck cancers in males, the study authors wrote. — HealthDay
This story appears in the September 10, 2007 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.