Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson asked Americans not to buy and hoard the pharmaceuticals, although there is some controversy over whether the country has enough drugs on hand. Claude Allen, HHS deputy secretary, told the House Committee on Veterans Affairs that part of $1.5 billion the department has requested, would be used to increase the pharmaceutical stockpile of anthrax treatment. The $1 billion-a-year drug, manufactured by German drugmaker Bayer AG, has been used in the United States since 1987 to treat a variety of infections. The Food and Drug Administration approved it for anthrax treatment last year. Fear of anthrax infection has taken hold across the country and even in Europe where several recent scares have been reported. People Want the Drug Dr. Daisy Merey, who runs a family practice in West Palm Beach, said she prescribed Cipro for several people who wanted it around just in case they got sick. "A lot of people who are coming in for checkups are also asking about Cipro," Merey told Reuters. "We don't recommend taking antibiotics as a preventive measure because there are side effects. If people really want it just to have in case something happens, we'll prescribe it to them." One reason doctors don't like to have people procuring prescriptions for Cipro online is that it's a very strong antibiotic that is generally reserved for tough cases, said Dr. Nancy Snyderman on ABCNEWS' Good Morning America. "It's not even a first-line drug of choice for most infections," Snyderman said. "This is a kind of medication you use when other things fail." Since anthrax doesn't widely disperse itself, there is no need to stock up on Cipro, said Stephen Ostroff, chief epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. "And in all of the current situations that we're aware of, it's really mostly been confined to people who've had direct contact with these contaminated envelopes," Ostroff told Good Morning America.
Related antibiotics
Amoxicillin Trimox Adoxa Zithromax AUGMENTIN Bactrim Myambutol E-mycin
Saturday
Reduce the risks of high blood pressure and heart failure
Sticking with a healthy diet and lifestyle can reduce the risks of high blood pressure and heart failure, in which the heart cannot pump enough blood to supply the body with oxygen and nutrients, according to the findings of two studies in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
In the first investigation, Dr. Luc Djousse, from Harvard Medical School in Boston, and colleagues analyzed data from 20,900 men in the Physicians' Health Study I (1982-2008) to assess the link between lifestyle factors and the lifetime risk of heart failure. The subjects were followed for 22.4 years, on average.
The lifetime risk of heart failure, assessed at age 40 years, was about one in seven, the report indicates.
A variety of healthy lifestyle habits were linked to a lower risk of heart failure. These habits included maintaining a normal body weight , not smoking , regular exercise, moderate alcohol intake, consumption of breakfast cereals, and consumption of fruits and vegetables.
Men who adhered to none of the healthy lifestyle factors had the highest lifetime risk of heart failure-21.2 percent--while those who adhered to four or more had the lowest risk-10.1 percent.
The second investigation, conducted by Dr. John P. Forman and colleagues, from Harvard Medical School, Boston, involved an analysis of data from 83,882 women in the Nurses' Health Study (1991-2005). The goal was to assess the impact that various diet and lifestyle factors had, in combination, on the risk of high blood pressure.
The study focused on six factors, previously tied to a reduced risk of high blood pressure: normal body weight, vigorous exercise for an average of 30 minutes per day, consuming a healthy diet, modest alcohol intake, use of pain medications less than once per week, and use of supplemental folic acid, a form of vitamin B .
The presence of 6, 5, 4, and 3 of the factors cut the risk of high blood pressure by 78, 72, 58, and 54 percent, respectively, relative to the complete absence of these factors.
The factor with the single greatest impact on high blood pressure was body weight. Women who were obese were 4.7-times more likely to develop high blood pressure than were women of normal body weight.
The authors conclude that many new cases of high blood pressure could be prevented through adherence to the low-risk dietary and lifestyle factors described. This, they add, could yield major public health benefits.
SOURCE: Journal of the American Medical Association, July 22/29, 2009.
In the first investigation, Dr. Luc Djousse, from Harvard Medical School in Boston, and colleagues analyzed data from 20,900 men in the Physicians' Health Study I (1982-2008) to assess the link between lifestyle factors and the lifetime risk of heart failure. The subjects were followed for 22.4 years, on average.
The lifetime risk of heart failure, assessed at age 40 years, was about one in seven, the report indicates.
A variety of healthy lifestyle habits were linked to a lower risk of heart failure. These habits included maintaining a normal body weight , not smoking , regular exercise, moderate alcohol intake, consumption of breakfast cereals, and consumption of fruits and vegetables.
Men who adhered to none of the healthy lifestyle factors had the highest lifetime risk of heart failure-21.2 percent--while those who adhered to four or more had the lowest risk-10.1 percent.
The second investigation, conducted by Dr. John P. Forman and colleagues, from Harvard Medical School, Boston, involved an analysis of data from 83,882 women in the Nurses' Health Study (1991-2005). The goal was to assess the impact that various diet and lifestyle factors had, in combination, on the risk of high blood pressure.
The study focused on six factors, previously tied to a reduced risk of high blood pressure: normal body weight, vigorous exercise for an average of 30 minutes per day, consuming a healthy diet, modest alcohol intake, use of pain medications less than once per week, and use of supplemental folic acid, a form of vitamin B .
The presence of 6, 5, 4, and 3 of the factors cut the risk of high blood pressure by 78, 72, 58, and 54 percent, respectively, relative to the complete absence of these factors.
The factor with the single greatest impact on high blood pressure was body weight. Women who were obese were 4.7-times more likely to develop high blood pressure than were women of normal body weight.
The authors conclude that many new cases of high blood pressure could be prevented through adherence to the low-risk dietary and lifestyle factors described. This, they add, could yield major public health benefits.
SOURCE: Journal of the American Medical Association, July 22/29, 2009.
World's heaviest man gets wheels.
The world's heaviest man still can't walk, but he will soon be able to roll.
Manuel Uribe said Thursday he is having a 1989 Chevrolet Astrovan outfitted to support his record-breaking weight, giving him mobility after more than six years of being confined to his bed.
Uribe earned the Guinness World Record as the world's heaviest man in 2006, when he tipped the scales at 560kg. He claims to have since shed more than 200kg after making a public call for help.
Uribe, known as Meme to his friends, even has a name for his new ride. "My friends call it the Meme-Mobile, just like the Batmobile," he said.
The minivan is being converted into an open-air, flatbed pickup of sorts. Manuel says he will put a bed on the back of the van to drive around town, with his new wife at the wheel. When at home, he will hang out in a remodeled garage that will include a forklift to help raise his regular bed up to the level of his car bed, allowing him to switch locations from time to time.
Uribe said that, with the new car, he plans to start up an auto parts business. And Uribe's wife, Claudia Solis, said the two are even thinking about making a trip to the beach in May.
Uribe married Solis in October, and the wedding was one of the few times he has left his home in recent years
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