Healthy News for Healthy Nation

By Will Dunham

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - This season’s influenza vaccine in the United States appears to be much less effective than usual, health officials said on Thursday, with the strains of the virus in circulation defying what vaccine designers had anticipated.

Based on findings from a community in central Wisconsin that served as a test case, people who were vaccinated were 44 percent less likely to get influenza than unvaccinated people, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. That compares to typical vaccine effectiveness of around 70 percent or higher, CDC officials said.

The CDC and the World Health Organization have recommended a complete reformulation of next year’s flu vaccine because of the poor match during the 2007-2008 flu season, which officials have described as moderately severe.

This year’s study confirmed suspicions that two of the three strains of flu most likely to cause disease had “drifted,” or evolved, away from the cocktail used in the vaccine.

Flu infects from 5 percent to 20 percent of the U.S. population each year and kills an estimated 36,000 Americans in an average year, most of them elderly. It also can kill young children. This season, the CDC counted 66 child deaths from flu.

The vaccine is designed to protect against three influenza strains — two from Type A, an H1N1 and an H3N2 version, and one for Type B. “This season, we had a less-than-optimal match in two of the three vaccine components,” Dr. Dan Jernigan of the CDC’s Influenza Division told reporters.

It is tricky to compare vaccine effectiveness year to year because the CDC has used various tools and different populations to track it but it appears this year’s vaccine effectiveness may be the lowest since the 1997-1998 flu season. The vaccine must be reformulated every year because the viruses mutate so much.

The Wisconsin study did not include MedImmune’s FluMist vaccine, which is formulated differently from the shots and is squirted up the nose.

BAD MATCHES

This flu season was only the fourth in the past 20 years in which the viruses targeted in the vaccine were not good matches for viruses actually circulating among people, Jernigan said.

“For the 1997-98 season, the vaccine effectiveness was effectively zero,” Jernigan said.

Nevertheless, CDC officials said the current vaccine still provided some protection, although none against influenza B viruses. Most influenza B viruses circulating in the United States this year were in a different lineage than the strain included in the vaccine, the CDC said.

The CDC also found that about 8 percent of all H1N1 viruses that made people sick had some resistance to the flu drug Tamiflu, made by Roche AG and Gilead Sciences under the generic name oseltamivir.

Health officials decide on the viruses to be included in the vaccine months before the flu season begins, predicting what strains will be circulating that year.

Jernigan said flu activity in the United States peaked in mid-February, but the virus still could circulate into May.

“At this point, the 2007-2008 season appears to be most similar to the 2003-2004 season. And that season was characterized as moderately severe,” Jernigan said.

Dr. Jeanne Santoli of the CDC’s Immunization Services Division said a record 140 million doses were provided by six manufacturers this flu season.

“Looking ahead, we anticipate that next season’s vaccine supply will be similar or somewhat increased to what we have available this season,” Santoli said.

The CDC is now recommending all children age six months to 18 years should be vaccinated each year against flu. The previous advice had ended at age 5, and the recommendations add about 30 million children to those who should be vaccinated.

(Editing by Maggie Fox and Bill Trott)

Original here 

Many women experience high degrees of discomfort at the prospect of being weighed in the presence of others. Some may even avoid necessary tests and treatments when a doctor visit includes a step on a public scale. (Credit: iStockphoto/Ernesto Solla Domínguez)

A new study from the University of Pennsylvania points to increased health risks for women owing to their higher level of discomfort about being weighed in public.

The study showed that college-age females, more than their male counterparts, experience high degrees of discomfort at the prospect of being weighed in the presence of others. The study’s authors believe that some women may avoid necessary tests and treatments when a doctor visit includes a step on a public scale.

“Weighing concern may make these women, particularly those who are overweight and already at risk for certain ailments, less likely to visit a doctor,” said Andrew B. Geier, lead author and a doctoral candidate in the Department of Psychology in the Penn School of Arts and Sciences. “Hopefully, this data will show the great advantage that can be had with just a small, inexpensive change in clinic policy: weighing patients in private.”

The study also revealed that observers generally overestimate women’s weight while women tend to believe that people are underestimating their weight due to slimming clothes or cosmetics. This means that, while women in the study demonstrated they do not want people to know their weight, their true weight was lower than others’ estimates and a public weighing would correct the misperception.

Due to the increasing cost of health care, medical clinics, especially those serving poorer communities, constantly look for ways to cut costs. One common practice is to designate public space in the clinic-, often a well-trafficked hallway, , to be suitable for weighings. Routine clinic practice has reduced the number of scales as well. In light of this new research, it is possible, in fact the authors believe likely, that women may skip free, potentially life-saving tests, such as mammograms, rather than face the embarrassment of public weighing.

The study tested a series of hypotheses designed to explain why women reported a much larger degree of discomfort than men did. In multiple questionnaires, females showed no more sensitivity to general embarrassment than did males, nor more sensitivity to public displays of other personal information. Neither did the discomfort come from the physical act of being weighed. These other possibilities were tested to ensure that the authors’ original hypothesis was correct, that the public revealing of weight makes women so uncomfortable.

In addition, the study concludes that a partial source of female discomfort comes from the participants’ own sense that they are overweight. Study participants rated discomfort levels over a variety of weight-related scenarios. The more dissatisfied a female was with her weight, the greater the discomfort she experienced when being weighed. But even the very concept of weight, tested by assigning some participants to wear a badge bearing the single word, “Weight,” caused elevated levels of discomfort because it drew unwanted attention to what is considered an unflattering personal attribute for women.

“The real danger here is the heavier a person is, the more discomfort they feel and thus the more likely they may find reasons to skip appointments,” Geier said. “These may be the very people that need access to these clinics the most. If a person knows that he or she is going to be provided privacy during the weighing process, that could be a major relief, thereby tipping the scales to get them to go and get these potentially life-saving tests.”

Original here 

Researchers report that cheese from yaks could be healthier than cheese from dairy cattle. When compared to cheddar cheese, yak cheese contained higher levels of several healthful fatty acids. (Credit: Courtesy of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)

In a finding likely to get cheese lovers talking, researchers in Nepal and Canada report that yak cheese contains higher levels of heart-healthy fats than cheese from dairy cattle, and may be healthier.

Producers make the cheese from the milk of yaks. Those long-haired humped animals are fixtures in Tibet and throughout the Himalayan region of south central Asia, Mongolia, and a few other countries.

Yak cheese has only recently become available in the United States and is available in select gourmet food stores. Studies by others have shown that certain types of dairy-derived fatty acids, particularly conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), may help fight heart disease, cancer and even diabetes. However, little was know about the fatty acid composition of yak cheese.

In the new study, Brian W. McBride and colleagues compared the fatty acid composition of yak cheese from Nepal with that of cheddar cheese obtained from Canada. They found that levels of CLAs were four times higher in the yak cheese than the dairy cow cheese. Levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids, which are healthy for the heart, were also significantly higher in the yak cheese, the researchers say.

Original here 

Derivatives of lithocholic acid can activate the same receptor as calcitriol, the active form of vitamin D, without affecting blood calcium levels. (Credit: Journal of Lipid Research)

Bile acid derivatives can turn on the vitamin D receptor (VDR) without causing excess calcium buildup, researchers report, a finding that could lead to vitamin D therapies for conditions beyond just bone and skin disorders.

While calcium balance may be the most well-known role of vitamin D, this molecule –through VDR binding– regulates many functions including immunity and cell growth and thus has diverse therapeutic potential.

However, while vitamin D-based drugs are effective against some cancers and microbial infections, the risk of excess blood calcium has limited their clinical use.

Bile acids, compounds secreted from the liver that aid in digestion, can also bind to the VDR, though not as strongly.

However, Makoto Makishima and colleagues found that derivates of the bile acid LCA (lithocolic acid) are very potent VDR activators. Interestingly, though, these acids did not induce the expression of calcium channels in various cell types.

The researchers then compared the effects of orally-fed vitamin D or LCA derivatives on mice; they found that LCA could promote VDR activation in mice without causing calcium buildup and weight loss that was observed in vitamin D animals. This study suggests bile acid derivates might have solid clinical potential.

Original here