Hospitals are giving faster heart care, study says (AP)

In a spectacular turnabout, hospitals are treating almost all major heart attack patients within the recommended 90 minutes of arrival, a new study finds. Just five years ago, less than half of them got their clogged arteries opened that fast.

The time it took to treat such patients plunged from a median of 96 minutes in 2005 to only 64 minutes last year, researchers found.

Some hospitals are moving at warp speed: Linda Tisch was treated in a mere 16 minutes after she was stricken while visiting relatives near Yale-New Haven Hospital in Connecticut this month. Emergency responders called ahead to mobilize a team of heart specialists.

Once she arrived, "they had a brief conversation and I went straight into the OR. My family was absolutely flabbergasted," said Tisch, 58, who went home to Westerly, R.I., two days later.

Tisch wasn't a fluke. The hospital took 26 minutes on another case on Thursday.

"Americans who have heart attacks can now be confident that they're going to be treated rapidly in virtually every hospital of the country," said Yale cardiologist Dr. Harlan Krumholz. He led the study, published online Monday by an American Heart Association journal, Circulation.

What is remarkable about this improvement, Krumholz said, is that it occurred without money incentives or threat of punishment. Instead, the government and a host of private groups led research on how to shorten treatment times and started campaigns to persuade hospitals that this was the right thing to do.

"It's amazing and it's very gratifying. I'm surprised that we were able to achieve that type of dramatic improvement" so quickly, said Dr. John Brush, a cardiologist at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, Va., who helped the American College of Cardiology design its campaign, which involved more than 1,000 hospitals.

Heart attacks are caused by clogged arteries that prevent enough oxygen and blood from reaching the heart. Each year, about 250,000 people in the United States and more than 3 million worldwide suffer a major one, where a main artery is completely blocked.

The best remedy is angioplasty, in which doctors push a tube through an artery to the clog, inflate a tiny balloon to flatten it, and place a mesh prop called a stent to keep the artery open.

The period from hospital arrival to angioplasty is called "door-to-balloon" time, and guidelines say this should be 90 minutes or less. Any delay means more heart damage, and the risk of dying goes up 42 percent if care is delayed even half an hour.

Not all hospitals have the capability to do angioplasty around the clock, so part of the effort to speed care involved setting rules for who has to be consulted before deciding to do the procedure.

The study involved more than 300,000 patients who had an emergency angioplasty at hospitals that get Medicare reimbursements. The researchers looked at records from 2005, just before campaigns to shorten treatment times were launched, through September 2010.

Only 44 percent were treated in the recommended time in 2005, but by last year it was 91 percent.

The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services paid for the study.

"It's not an exaggeration to say that care of heart attacks in the United States has been transformed by this improvement," said Dr. Christopher Granger, a Duke University Medical Center cardiologist who led a Heart Association program to improve care.

"We've made very important progress but there still is a lot of unfinished work in improving heart attack care," such as what happens before people get to a hospital where angioplasty is done, he said.

Patients also need to do their part, by knowing the warning signs of a heart attack:

� Discomfort in the center of the chest lasting more than a few minutes, or that goes away and comes back. It can feel like pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain.

� Pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach.

� Shortness of breath, which might include breaking out in a cold sweat, or feelings of nausea or lightheadedness.

What to do is simple, doctors say: Call 911.

___

Online:

How hospitals rate: http://www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov/ Heart association: http://www.americanheart.org/ College of Cardiology: http://www%h%href_on(http://www.acc.org/%)ref_off(%).acc.org/ __%href_on(http://www.acc.org/%)_

Marilynn March%href_off(%)ione can be followed at http://twitter.com/MMarchioneAP

Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feed | Amazon Plugin | Settlement Statement | WordPress Tutorials

5,000 kids injured in falls from windows each year (AP)

CHICAGO � More than 5,000 U.S. children and teens are injured each year in falls from windows, according to a study that suggests the problem stretches beyond urban high-rises.

The research found many children fall from first- and second-story windows.

"This is more than just a big-city problem," said senior author Dr. Gary Smith of Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.

Suburban mother, Beth Harlan, knows that to be true.

Two years ago, her daughter, Sidney Dillon, then age 6, fell from a second-story window in their home in Galloway, just west of Columbus. The girl was sitting on the sill and leaned against the window screen. Harlan walked into the room as the screen gave way.

"I came upstairs just in time to see her falling out the window," Harlan said. Luckily, Sidney fell into a bush and fresh landscaping mulch. An X-ray ruled out broken bones. Still, the accident frightened both mother and daughter.

"Don't ever think that kind of thing can't happen to you," Harlan said. "Never in a million years, when I opened up the window, did I think my kid would decide to sit in a windowsill."

Harlan's daughter was older than the typical child who falls. Preschoolers are at the highest risk and they suffer more head injuries than older children.

"Two-thirds of these injuries occurred among children younger than 5. This is the age group that's mobile, curious and does not recognize the danger of falling from a window," Smith said.

The study, appearing Monday in the journal Pediatrics, is the first nationally representative study of such injuries. Researchers analyzed data from emergency departments from 1990 through 2008. An estimated 98,415 children were hurt during that time.

Fewer than 1 percent of the cases led to deaths, but the researchers said the tally likely underestimated fatalities because not all children who die from their injuries are brought to the hospital.

Summer months, when windows are left open, saw the highest number of injuries. One- and two-story falls made up 94 percent of the cases where the height of the fall was recorded.

Injury rates declined slightly over the 19 years, about 4 percent, almost entirely in the under-5 age group. The average yearly injury rate was about 7 injuries per 100,000 children.

Increased awareness of the danger, improved window construction and the use of window guards � bars that allow windows to open but keep children from falling � could explain the decrease, Smith said.

New York and Boston have been able to achieve even greater decreases in injury rates through public awareness campaigns, Smith said. New York City requires window guards in apartments with children 10 and younger.

"The public awareness campaign is an important first step in building consensus. But not until you get the mandatory regulations in place are you going to see the kind of impact you're trying to achieve," said Dr. Andrew D. Racine of Children's Hospital at Montefiore in New York's Bronx borough, where window fall injuries now are seen only rarely.

Window guards cost about $20 to $40 per window. A quick release feature allows escape from a fire or other emergency. Parents also should move furniture away from windows and open windows from the top, if possible.

"We know what works and yet we still have over 5,000 children a year being rushed to emergency departments because of falls from windows. That's 14 kids a day," Smith said.

___

Online:

American Academy of Pediatrics: http://www.aap.org

Window falls facts: http://injuryresearch.net/windowfallswhatsnew.aspx

___

AP Medical Writer Carla K. Johnson can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/CarlaKJohnson

Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feed | Amazon Plugin | Settlement Statement | WordPress Tutorials

Boomers will be spending billions to counter aging (AP)

NEW YORK � Baby boomers heading into what used to be called retirement age are providing a 70 million-member strong market for legions of companies, entrepreneurs and cosmetic surgeons eager to capitalize on their "forever young" mindset, whether it's through wrinkle creams, face-lifts or workout regimens.

It adds up to potential bonanza. The market research firm Global Industry Analysts projects that a boomer-fueled consumer base, "seeking to keep the dreaded signs of aging at bay," will push the U.S. market for anti-aging products from about $80 billion now to more than $114 billion by 2015.

The boomers, who grew up in a culture glamorizing youth, face an array of choices as to whether and how to be a part of that market.

Anti-aging enthusiasts contend that life spans can be prolonged through interventions such as hormone replacement therapy and dietary supplements. Critics, including much of the medical establishment, say many anti-aging interventions are ineffective or harmful.

From mainstream organizations such as the National Institute on Aging, the general advice is to be a skeptical consumer on guard for possible scams involving purported anti-aging products.

"Our culture places great value on staying young, but aging is normal," the institute says. "Despite claims about pills or treatments that lead to endless youth, no treatments have been proven to slow or reverse the aging process."

Its advice for aging well is basic: Eat a healthy diet, exercise regularly, don't smoke.

"If someone is promising you today that you can slow, stop or reverse aging, they're likely trying hard to separate you from your money," said S. Jay Olshansky, a professor at the University of Illinois-Chicago's School of Public Health who has written extensively about aging.

"It's always the same message: `Aging is your fault and we've got the cure,'" Olshansky said. "Invest in yourself, in the simple things we know work. Get a good pair of running or walking shoes and a health club membership, and eat more fruits and vegetables."

But such advice hasn't curtailed the demand for anti-aging products, including many with hefty price tags that aren't covered by health insurance. These include cosmetic surgery procedures at $10,000 or more, human growth hormone treatment at $15,000 per year and a skin-care product called Peau Magnifique that costs $1,500 for a 28-day supply.

Another challenge for consumers is that many dietary supplements and cosmetics, unlike prescription drugs and over-the-counter medicines, aren't required to undergo government testing or review before they are marketed. The Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission do crack down at times on egregiously false anti-aging claims, but generally there's little protection for people who don't get hoped-for results.

Mary Engle, director of the FTC's division of advertising practices, said her agency focuses on the cases that could cause serious harm, such as bogus cancer treatments that might prompt an ill person to forgo proper care.

She said the agency lacks the resources to crack down comprehensively on ads with exaggerated claims that exploit customers' hopes for better looks or more energy.

"Often it doesn't rise to the level of fraud," she said. "There are so many problematic ads out there and we really have to pick and choose what we focus on."

In contrast to the caution of mainstream organizations, there are many vocal promoters of anti-aging products and procedures, including the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine. It hosts annual conferences in the U.S. and abroad, and claims 22,000 members, mostly physicians.

In its mission statement, the academy says the disabilities associated with normal aging "are caused by physiological dysfunction which in many cases are ameliorable to medical treatment, such that the human life span can be increased."

One of the academy's co-founders is Robert Goldman, a doctor of osteopathic medicine. He contends that much of the resistance to the anti-aging movement comes from sectors of the health and pharmaceutical industries that feel threatened financially � for example by the surging use of over-the-counter nutritional supplements.

"It all has to do with who's controlling the dollars," he said.

Though many anti-aging interventions are expensive, Goldman said people on tight budgets still can take useful steps such as drinking purified water, taking vitamins and using sun screen.

"People should be healthy and strong well into 100 to 120 years of age," Goldman says in a biographical video. "That's what's really exciting � to live in a time period when the impossible is truly possible."

Olshansky, who over the years has been among Goldman's harshest critics, believes there will be scientific breakthroughs eventually, perhaps based on studies of the genes of long-lived people, that will help slow the rate of aging.

In the meantime, Olshansky says, "I understand the need for personal freedom, the freedom to make bad decisions."

A look at some of the major sectors in the anti-aging industry:

___(equals)

Hormone replacement therapy:

Numerous companies and clinics promote hormone replacement drugs, including testosterone for men and custom-mixed "bioidentical" hormones for women, as a way to slow the aging process.

Many consumers have seen ads featuring muscle-bound Dr. Jeffry Life, now 72. He used testosterone and human growth hormone in his own bodybuilding regimen and recommends hormonal therapy for some of the patients patronizing his age-management practice in Las Vegas.

The FDA has approved hormone replacement drugs for some specific purposes related to diseases and deficiencies, but not to combat aging.

"Finding a `fountain of youth' is a captivating story," says the National Institute on Aging. "The truth is that, to date, no research has shown that hormone replacement drugs add years to life or prevent age-related frailty."

Dr. Evan Hadley, director of the institute's Division of Geriatrics, says hormone replacement drugs can have harmful side effects. He said there is a need for more research, such as an institute study of testosterone therapy, to identify the potential risks and benefits.

"There is indeed potential that people can be healthier in old age," Hadley said. "But it still requires evidence about what's going to help and what's not."

Hormone drugs can be expensive. HGH shots can cost more than $15,000 a year, according to the institute. A hormone-based dietary supplement known as DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone), a precursor of estrogen and testosterone, is marketed online for $12.95 per capsule by Utah-based NutraScriptives.

Some proponents say over-the-counter DHEA supplements can improve energy and strength, boost immunity and decrease fat. The institute says there's no conclusive scientific evidence of any such benefits.

Life says he's a staunch advocate of exercise and healthy eating, but insists that hormone replacement therapy, under a doctor's supervision, is a crucial addition for some men, and that includes him.

"There's no way I could look and feel the way I do if all I had done the last 13 years was exercise and eat right," he said. "Even if you do everything right, if you have a deficiency in testosterone, you will lose the fight."

Life acknowledged that the cost of testosterone replacement, probably more than $5,000 year and not covered by insurance, could be daunting for some. But he contends the investment pays off in more vitality.

"It's hard to put on price on good health," he says.

___(equals)

Cosmetic Surgery:

According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, there were 13.1 million cosmetic plastic surgery procedures performed in the U.S. in 2010, a 77 percent increase over a decade.

One notable trend is increased preference for less invasive procedures that enable patients to get back to work and social settings without a long leave of absence.

The most popular of these is treatment with the wrinkle-smoothing drugs Botox or Dysport. They account for 5.4 million procedures, averaging about $400 per treatment. Other popular noninvasive procedures include soft-tissue facial fillers, chemical peels and microdermabrasion.

More invasive procedures come at a higher price. Face-lifts can run from $6,000 to $15,000; the plastic surgeons' academy reported performing 112,000 of them in 2010.

Dr. Peter Schmid, who runs a cosmetic surgery practice in Longmont, Colo., says his field is flourishing because of evolving attitudes among appearance-conscious boomers. A recent Associated Press-LifeGoesStrong.com poll found that 1 in 5 boomers either have had or would consider cosmetic surgery.

"Cosmetic surgery has become table talk at home. There's a lot of satisfaction and acceptance from people who've had it, friend to friend, word of mouth," Schmid said.

While the noninvasive procedures cost less than a face-lift, the effects won't last as long and repeat treatments might be needed several times a year, Schmid said. He advised patients to calculate carefully which type of procedure makes the most sense for them financially.

Schmid, who is on the board of the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery, cautioned against any rush to try new procedures that get a burst of publicity.

"There's a certain vulnerability because everybody's looking for that quick fix, that fountain of youth," he said. "Many people will shop emotionally instead of objectively, before something has been tried and tested."

Some critics of the anti-aging industry are supportive of cosmetic surgery, provided the patient can comfortably afford it.

Professor Robert Binstock, an expert on aging at Case Western Reserve University's School of Medicine, told of a recently widowed friend whose spirits lifted after getting the bags under her eyes removed. "If you feel better looking in the mirror in the morning, fine," he said. "I have no objection to people being narcissistic."

___(equals)

Skin care:

One of the industry's booming sectors is anti-aging skin care, featuring wrinkle creams and facial serums. By some estimates, the U.S. market for cosmeceutical products � cosmetics with medicine-based ingredients � is approaching $20 billion a year.

The FDA, which oversees cosmetic safety and labeling, doesn't require manufacturers to prove the effectiveness of cosmetic products before they go on sale, and many ads make claims which critics say are exaggerated or unverifiable. The American Academy of Dermatology recommends consulting a dermatologist on what skin care products have been proved safe and effective in human studies.

Consumer Reports has ventured into the realm of anti-aging cosmetics several times recently, using high-tech optical devices and other scientific methods to assess the products.

Last year, the magazine tested nine face serums, available at drug stores for prices ranging from $20 to $65 and all claiming to reduce wrinkles.

"After six weeks of use, the effectiveness of even the best products was limited and varied from subject to subject," according to the review. "When we did see wrinkle reductions, they were at best slight, and they fell short of the miracles that manufacturers seemed to imply on product labels."

Earlier, the magazine tested wrinkle creams.

"Even the best performers reduced the average depth of wrinkles by less than 10 percent, a magnitude of change that was, alas, barely visible to the naked eye," it said.

Its top-rated product, Olay Regenerist, cost about $19 at the time of the testing. La Prairie Cellular, the most expensive at $335, was rated among the least effective.

Similar conclusions were reached in testing 16 over-the-counter eye creams.

"Even among the best-performing products, wrinkle reduction around the eyes was generally pretty subtle," the magazine said. "After six weeks of daily use, none came close to eliminating wrinkles."

It said the most expensive, Perricone MD at $95 a jar, was no better than cheaper drugstore brands.

One recent development in anti-aging skin care is the use of stem cell technology. ReVive's expensive Peau Magnifique is among the new products, claiming to "recruit adult stem cells into brand new stem cells."

Neither Consumer Reports nor the FDA has conducted any specific assessment of Peau Magnifique's effectiveness. On a Web site called Makeupalley.com, some customer reviews raved about it; others trashed it as a waste of money.

___

Online:

National Institutes on Aging: http://www.nia.nih.gov

Federal Trade Commission: http://ftc.gov/bcp/menus/consumer/health.shtm

American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine: http://www.worldhealth.net

Professor S. Jay Olshansky: http://web.mac.com/sjayo/SJayOlshansky/Background.html

Dr. Jeffry Life: http://www.drlife.com

American Society of Plastic Surgeons: http://www.plasticsurgery.org

American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery: http://www.cosmeticsurgery.org

Dr. Peter Schmid: http://www.theaestheticsurgeon.com

Professor Robert Binstock: http://www.case.edu/med/bioethics/facultystaff/rhb3.htm

American Academy of Dermatology: http://www.aad.org

Consumer Reports: http://tinyurl.com/3hby2sv

Makeupalley: http://www.makeupalley.com

___

David Crary can be reached at http://twitter.com/CraryAP

Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feed | Amazon Plugin | Settlement Statement | WordPress Tutorials

Feds oppose ban on food stamps for sodas in NYC (AP)

NEW YORK � A plan by New York City to combat obesity by restricting the purchase of sugary drinks with foods stamps would be too large and complex, federal officials said Friday.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture rejected a waiver request that would have allowed the city to implement the plan, which would have barred food stamp recipients from using their benefits to buy sodas, teas, sports drinks and other sugar-sweetened drinks.

The ban would have applied to any sweetened beverage that contains more than 10 calories per 8 ounces.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Gov. David Paterson announced in October that they would seek a waiver from the USDA to start up a temporary program that would be evaluated before becoming permanent.

In a statement released Friday, Bloomberg said his administration was disappointed by the USDA's decision.

"We think our innovative pilot would have done more to protect people from the crippling effects of preventable illnesses like diabetes and obesity than anything being proposed anywhere else in this country � and at little or no cost to taxpayers," he said.

While sharing the goal of reducing obesity, an official with the nation's food stamp program said in a letter Friday addressed to the state Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance that the USDA had concerns about the plan's "potential viability and effectiveness."

Jessica Shahin, associate administrator of the program, wrote that the proposal lacked clear product eligibility guidelines, didn't take into account the burden that might be placed on city food retailers and failed to put forward a credible design for evaluating the effect on obesity and health.

The food stamp program was launched in the 1960s and serves more than 40 million Americans each month.

The city has been actively working to shape diet choices by New Yorkers, including with a public advertising campaign called "Pouring on the Pounds" that targets the excessive consumption of sugary drinks by linking it to obesity and diabetes.

Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feed | Amazon Plugin | Settlement Statement | WordPress Tutorials

Doctors question Perry's stem cell back treatment (AP)

He calls it innovative. Others call it a big risk. In any case, the stem cell procedure that Texas Gov. Rick Perry had last month was an unusual experiment to fix a common malady: a bad back.

Perry, the newest GOP presidential candidate, has access to the best possible care and advice. Yet he and his doctor chose a treatment beyond mainstream medicine: He had stem cells taken from fat in his own body, grown in a lab and then injected into his back and his bloodstream during a July 1 operation to fuse part of his spine.

The treatment carries potential risks ranging from blood clots to infection to cancer and may even run afoul of federal rules, doctors say. At least one patient died of a clot hours after an infusion of fat-derived stem cells outside the United States. It's not clear how much of this Perry might have known.

His doctor and friend, orthopedist Dr. Stanley Jones, could not be reached for comment despite repeated requests to the spokeswoman for his Houston-area hospital. Jones told the Texas Tribune that he went to Japan for a stem cell treatment that helped his arthritis and that he had never before tried the procedure he used on Perry. He also said it had no side effects or risks.

However, some top scientists are questioning the safety and wisdom of Perry's treatment, especially because it was not part of a clinical trial in which unproven therapies are tested in a way that helps protect patients and advances medical knowledge.

Perry "exercised poor judgment" to try it, said Dr. George Q. Daley, of Children's Hospital Boston and the Harvard Stem Cell Institute. "As a highly influential person of power, Perry's actions have the unfortunate potential to push desperate patients into the clinics of quacks," who are selling unproven treatments "for everything from Alzheimer's to autism."

Daley is past president of the International Society for Stem Cell Research, a group of 3,000 scientists and others in the field. He consults for several biotech companies and favors stem cell research. But of Perry's treatment he said: "I would never in a million years accept for one of my family members to undergo this."

On the campaign trail Thursday in New Hampshire, Ray Sullivan, Perry's chief of staff, said: "The governor consulted with his physician and decided the best course of action for him. He's very pleased with the results of the surgery, with the rapid recovery and with the procedure that he had. And he feels like that is certainly his right to determine the best course of treatment for him."

Perry's treatment was first reported by the Texas Tribune. The procedure was done by Jones, who works at Foundation Surgical Hospital � a private, doctor-owned orthopedics center in suburban Houston � but Perry spokesman Mark Miner would not say where it took place.

"The governor chose this procedure to repair a reoccurring back ailment" and has confidence in the team that did it, Miner told The Associated Press. "The governor believed in this innovative approach."

It used Perry's own "adult" stem cells � not embryonic stem cells, a controversial technology that involves destroying an embryo, which the governor opposes. Adult stem cells have long been used to treat cancers such as leukemia and lymphoma � it's what doctors are using when they do bone marrow transplants. The cells are being studied for everything from heart disease to diabetes, but it's too soon to know if these approaches are safe or effective.

Some orthopedic surgeons, including Dr. Christoph Meyer at Jones' hospital, are experimenting with stem cells to help bones heal. The cells usually are taken from bone marrow and injected or implanted in the trouble spot, such as a knee or shoulder. The theory is that these "master cells" will follow cues from cells around them and form bone or cartilage, though scientists worry they also might spur unwanted growth and cancer.

Perry, however, had an even more experimental procedure: stem cells from fat removed by liposuction and grown in a lab for some time before they were put into his spine and bloodstream.

"It's a new technology that doesn't have the track record of the older ones," Meyer said. "Doctor Jones and Governor Perry made a bold move but that's how all advances in medicine have been made. I think it says a lot about Governor Perry that he was willing to try something like this that was new and untested. I mean that in a positive way."

However, Dr. George Muschler, an orthopedic surgeon at Cleveland Clinic, said fat-derived stem cells are "an unusual choice" because they don't form bone as readily as those from marrow.

Using them as was done for Perry is "quite experimental and it's quite controversial because there isn't good evidence yet, at least in the medical literature, that fat cells work better or even work at all in repairing bones," Muschler said. "It's out there, a little past the edge of what mainstream medicine would generally accept."

The Cleveland Clinic has three patents on cell-related technologies Muschler developed, and he has consulted for Medtronic Inc. and the federal Food and Drug Administration.

Dr. Thomas Einhorn, orthopedics chairman at Boston University, has tested some experimental stem cell therapies himself. He said one concern is that Perry's cells were grown in a lab dish with other ingredients where there is more of a risk they will transform into cancer and any breach in sterility could lead to an infection once they were put into a vein.

He also took issue with infusing the cells into Perry's bloodstream. "I can't think of any reason to do that. I wouldn't want to cause a blood clot."

It also enters a gray area with the FDA, which does not regulate how doctors practice medicine but does oversee medical products. Growing the cells in culture and possibly mixing them with other substances may make these modified cells a product. The FDA got an injunction barring a Colorado company from growing marrow-derived stem cells in this way; lawsuits over that are pending.

FDA spokeswoman Shelly Burgess said that the agency could not comment on Perry's treatment and that each case must be evaluated individually.

Besides safety concerns, little is known about whether such cell therapies work.

Patients may believe cells helped them, but there's no way to know they did unless a study is done comparing those who did and did not receive such treatment, said Dr. Scott Rodeo, an orthopedic surgeon at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York. He was a physician to the USA Olympics Teams in 2004 and 2008 and is associate team physician for the New York Giants football team.

Perry still wears a back brace sometimes now on the campaign trail, but he wasn't available for an interview Thursday. On July 12, less than two weeks after his surgery, he told an AP reporter: "Every day has been better. Not quite ready to go run a marathon in July but I feel great, wear a little brace and good to go. Everything is awesome."

___

Associated Press writers April Castro in Austin, Texas, and Steve Peoples in Dover, N.H., contributed to this report.

___

Marilynn Marchione can be followed at http://twitter.com/MMarchioneAP.

Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feed | Amazon Plugin | Settlement Statement | WordPress Tutorials

US says Legionnaire's cases triple over decade (AP)

ATLANTA � Cases of Legionnaire's disease have tripled in the last decade, U.S. health officials said Thursday, but the risk of dying from it is lower because of more effective treatment.

Legionnaire's most often strikes the elderly and can cause deadly pneumonia. The germ spreads through mist or vapor from contaminated water or air conditioning systems.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports 3,522 cases in 2009, the most since Legionnaire's was first identified in 1976. There were only 1,110 cases in 2000. CDC officials think the increase may be partly because there are more old people.

To be sure, Legionnaire's remains uncommon. Just 8 percent of its victims died in the last decade, compared to 20 percent in the 1980s and 1990s. But it still kills hundreds of Americans each year, and leaves an estimated 8,000 to 18,000 hospitalized.

The increase in cases is worrisome, said study co-author Dr. Lee Hampton, a CDC epidemiologist. "We need to minimize the risk of people dying from this," he said.

The disease got its name from an outbreak at a Philadelphia convention of the American Legion in 1976 when more than 200 people were sickened and 34 died. The outbreak drew intense media coverage, and months later health investigators fingered the bacterial cause. The germ apparently had spread through the convention hotel's air-conditioning system.

Early signs of the disease can include high fever, chills and a cough. Fortunately, some of the drugs most commonly used against pneumonia are first-line treatments against Legionnaire's.

Cases of the disease held relatively steady in the 1980s-90s, but rose since 2000.

The CDC relies on doctors, hospitals and state health departments to report cases when they occur, and agency officials believe the national case count is an underestimate.

___

___

Online:

Report: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6032a3.htm?s_cidmm6032a3_w

Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feed | Amazon Plugin | Settlement Statement | WordPress Tutorials