http://http://www.kentucky.com/512/index.xml News, sports, and entertainment from Kentucky.com en-us Copyright 2009 Kentucky.com Health & Science - Wire 60 Sat, 14 Nov 2009 09:12:34 EST http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss McClatchy Interactive's Workbench interactive-ops@herald-leader.com http://www.kentucky.com/512/story/1018203.html http://www.kentucky.com/512/story/1018203.html Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:22 EST
The FDA issued a letter Friday to 30 beverage manufacturers, giving them 30 days to provide evidence that the combination of caffeine and alcohol is safe.

"Today the FDA has listed caffeine only as an ingredient for use in soft drinks," said Deputy Commissioner Dr. Joshua Sharfstein. "The agency has not approved caffeine for use in alcoholic beverages."

FDA officials stressed they have not reached a conclusion about the safety of beverages like Joose and Charge. Instead they are questioning the companies' legal rationale for marketing the products.

"There are some unusual safety questions raised by the addition of caffeine to these alcoholic beverages," said FDA special adviser Mike Taylor. "So the burden is on the companies to provide evidence that supports the conclusion this use is safe."]]> http://www.kentucky.com/512/story/1018317.html http://www.kentucky.com/512/story/1018317.html Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:59 EST
The Food and Drug Administration said Friday that bits of steel, rubber and fiber found in vials of drugs used to treat rare enzyme disorders could cause serious adverse health effects for patients.

Despite those problems, the FDA said the products would remain on the market, because there are few alternative treatments.

FDA regulators say doctors should closely inspect vials for particles before injecting them into patients. Doctors should return the product to Genzyme if they suspect contamination, the agency said. Physicians should also watch for potential allergic reactions, blood clots and other problems in patients.

Shares of Genzyme Corp. dropped $3.89, or 7.3 percent, to close at $49.28 Friday.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/512/story/1018597.html http://www.kentucky.com/512/story/1018597.html Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:59 EST
The Food and Drug Administration says Lysteda tablets reduce bleeding by acting on a protein that helps blood clot. The drug is made by Newport, Ky.-based Xanodyne Pharmaceuticals.

The main ingredient in the drug was first approved in 1986 as an injection for patients with hemophilia, an inheritable disease that prevents blood clotting.

The FDA warns that taking Lysteda with hormonal contraceptive drugs can increase the risk of blood clots, stroke and heart attacks. Women should only use the products together if there is a strong medical need, the agency says.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/512/story/1018207.html http://www.kentucky.com/512/story/1018207.html Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:59 EST
The company said this week that it plans to close its research and development site in New London and move about 1,500 jobs to its Groton campus.

New London officials had sought a city parcel for a private development to complement a new Pfizer research facility. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against homeowners in a 2005 eminent domain decision.

Pfizer said that it had no stake in the court case and that eminent domain played no part in the development of its building.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/512/story/1018390.html http://www.kentucky.com/512/story/1018390.html Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:42 EST
The global body said there was "ample evidence" that any unusual gathering of 1,000 people or more can help spread infectious diseases such as swine flu.

It issued an 8-page guidance document advising organizers how to reduce crowding, promote hygiene and manage those who fall ill with the disease, but refrained from outlining specific conditions under which events should be canceled.

"Any event where the systems are stretched to the limit, so a non-routine event, that is a mass gathering for us," said Maurizio Barbeschi, one of the authors of the report.

"The mass gathering could be a G8, when the heads of states are meeting and there are 20,000 people watching," he said, referring to gatherings of leaders of the eight most powerful nations that frequently draw protests outside the meeting venues.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/512/story/1018943.html http://www.kentucky.com/512/story/1018943.html Sat, 14 Nov 2009 01:54 EST
The country's health ministry reported the deaths late Friday on its Web site - the first time China has announced deaths with potential links to the Chinese-made swine flu vaccine.

An autopsy showed one victim suffered a heart attack and, "experts have basically ruled out the possibility that the patient's sudden death was the result of immediate allergic reactions to the flu vaccines," the ministry statement said.

Experts were waiting for more lab results, it added.

An autopsy on the second person was scheduled for late Friday, but no results had been reported Saturday morning.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/512/story/1017940.html http://www.kentucky.com/512/story/1017940.html Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:52 EST
If you decide to take advantage of those rays by putting solar panels on your roof, is there a chance they could be ripped off in a storm?

Curiosity about solar panels and hurricanes inspired one of the questions in this edition of "Ask AP," a weekly Q&A column where AP journalists respond to readers' questions about the news.

If you have your own news-related question that you'd like to see answered by an AP reporter or editor, send it to newsquestions@ap.org, with "Ask AP" in the subject line. And please include your full name and hometown so they can be published with your question.

You can also find Ask AP on AP Mobile, a multimedia news service available on mobile devices. Go to http://www.apnews.com/ to learn more.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/512/story/1018298.html http://www.kentucky.com/512/story/1018298.html Sat, 14 Nov 2009 08:34 EST
Spacecraft that crashed into the moon last month kicked up a relatively small plume. But scientists have confirmed the debris contained water - 25 gallons of it - making lunar exploration exciting again.

Experts have long suspected there was water on the moon. So the thrilling discovery announced Friday sent a ripple of hope for a future astronaut outpost in a place that has always seemed barren and inhospitable.

"We found water. And we didn't find just a little bit. We found a significant amount," Anthony Colaprete, lead scientist for the mission, told reporters as he held up a white water bucket for emphasis.

He said the 25 gallons of water the lunar crash kicked up was only what scientists could see from the plumes of the impact.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/512/story/1018361.html http://www.kentucky.com/512/story/1018361.html Sat, 14 Nov 2009 07:24 EST
Atlantis will deliver a full load of spare parts to the International Space Station, along with six astronauts who will unload everything.

Liftoff is scheduled for 2:28 p.m. Monday. Although an unmanned rocket did not take off Saturday morning with a communication satellite as planned, the countdown for Atlantis is still proceeding.

That's because the Atlas rocket has a technical problem that cannot be fixed quickly. A Sunday launch attempt would have delayed the shuttle flight by one day.

Forecasters say there's a 90 percent chance of good flying weather Monday.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/512/story/1016824.html http://www.kentucky.com/512/story/1016824.html Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:01 EST
Russia's space agency says the spacecraft carrying the Poisk (PAW'-eesk) module docked with the orbital station Thursday after a two-day trip from Earth.

Poisk is Russian for 'search.' The space agency, Roskosmos, said the small module will be used for scientific research and experiments once it is secured and linked to the station with communications cables. That will require a space walk, scheduled for January.

The Russian-made module can also serve as an additional docking port.

The decade-old international space station has expanded and now has a crew of six. The current crew includes two Russians, two Americans, a Canadian and a Belgian.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/512/story/1017361.html http://www.kentucky.com/512/story/1017361.html Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:22 EST
Instead, the federal numbers made public Thursday reflect a long-awaited better attempt to quantify the new flu's true toll. Most cases still don't require a doctor's care.

Swine flu has sickened about 22 million Americans since April and killed about 540 children.

And it's still early in the season.

"I am expecting all of these numbers, unfortunately, to continue to rise," said Dr. Anne Schuchat of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "We have a long flu season ahead of us."]]> http://www.kentucky.com/512/story/1016300.html http://www.kentucky.com/512/story/1016300.html Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:11 EST
"If it cannot make the great escape from this sand trap, it's likely that this lonely spot straddling the edge of this crater might be where Spirit ends its adventures on Mars," said Doug McCuistion, who heads the Mars exploration program at NASA headquarters.

The plucky rover was driving backward in April when its wheels broke through the crusty surface and became mired in a patch of talcum-like dirt. It tried to crab its way out, but its wheels sunk deeper.

After rehearsing various escape tries on Earth using prototype rovers, NASA said it was finally ready to provide some roadside assistance on Mars.

The first driving commands will be sent to Spirit on Monday, but engineers cautioned the wheels likely will have high slippage.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/512/story/1016839.html http://www.kentucky.com/512/story/1016839.html Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:48 EST
A little under 21 percent of U.S. adults said they smoked, according to a 2008 national survey by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That's up slightly from the year before, when just 19.8 percent said they were smokers. It also is the first increase in adult smoking since 1994, experts noted.

The increase was so small, it could be just a blip, so health officials and experts say smoking prevalence is flat, not rising. But they are unhappy.

"Clearly, we've hit a wall in reducing adult smoking," said Vince Willmore, spokesman for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, a Washington, D.C.- based research and advocacy organization.

There's a general perception that smoking is a fading public health danger. Feeding that perception are indoor smoking laws, cigarette taxes and Congress' recent decision to allow the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/512/story/1017396.html http://www.kentucky.com/512/story/1017396.html Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:48 EST
About 180 cases were identified in those two states from the time an investigation began in August through the end of October. Another 15 cases tied to the same outbreak have been reported in Canada. Three people have been hospitalized but no deaths were reported.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the outbreak was first reported at a boys camp in Sullivan County, N.Y. It may have been triggered by an 11-year-old boy from the United Kingdom, where an ongoing mumps outbreak has sickened about 4,000.

Mumps is spread by coughing and sneezing with the most common symptoms being fever, headache and swollen salivary glands under the jaw. It sometimes lead to serious problems such as hearing loss, meningitis and fertility-diminishing swollen testicles.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/512/story/1016281.html http://www.kentucky.com/512/story/1016281.html Thu, 12 Nov 2009 06:50 EST
A new federal study documenting the warming waters of the North Atlantic confirms that they're right - and that the typical meal could eventually change to the Atlantic croaker, red hake and summer flounder normally found to the south.

"Fishermen are businessmen, so if they have to go farther and deeper to catch the fish that we like to eat, eventually it won't be economical to do that," said Janet Nye, a fishery biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the lead author of the study.

"It just won't be in your local seafood store, or maybe it'll be more expensive," said Nye, who works at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center in Woods Hole, Mass. "So I think there'll be a natural, hopefully slow, switch to different seafoods."

For the study, which first appeared Oct. 30 in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series, Nye and three other NOAA biologists analyzed water temperature trends from North Carolina to the Canadian border off Maine from 1968 to 2007. They then looked at fish survey data collected each spring and assessed where the fish were caught and how abundant they were.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/512/story/1016877.html http://www.kentucky.com/512/story/1016877.html Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:46 EST
According to a new study, between Jan. 1, 2000 and Sept. 30, this year the continental United States set 291,237 record highs and 142,420 record lows at various locations.

"Climate change is making itself felt in terms of day-to-day weather in the United States," said Gerald Meehl, a researcher at the National Center for Atmospheric Research and the lead author of the study.

In addition to NCAR, the research was done by scientists at the Weather Channel and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It is being published in Geophysical Research Letters.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/512/story/1015202.html http://www.kentucky.com/512/story/1015202.html Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:41 EST
Lab tests showed that the human version regulated more than 100 other genes differently from the chimp version. This particular gene - called FOXP2 - mutated around the time humans developed the ability to talk.

"It's really playing a major role in chimp-human differences," said the study's author, Daniel Geschwind, a professor of neurology, psychiatry and human genetics at the University of California, Los Angeles. "You mutate this gene in humans and you get a speech and language disorder."

This tells you "what may be happening in the brain," he said.

Frances Vargha-Khadem, head of developmental cognitive neuroscience at the University College London, who wasn't part of the research, said the study "is very much in line with what we had always suspected."]]> http://www.kentucky.com/512/story/1015549.html http://www.kentucky.com/512/story/1015549.html Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:00 EST
According to the report, when a company-funded study's primary finding wasn't favorable, that result was usually buried and something else positive was highlighted, without disclosing the switch.

The documents used in the review were obtained by lawyers suing Pfizer for refunds on prescriptions paid for by insurers and consumers. The lawyers, who are seeking class action status for the cases, claim Pfizer concealed evidence the epilepsy drug Neurontin didn't work for those unapproved uses, including nerve pain, migraines and bipolar disorder.

One of the report's authors is an expert witness for the plaintiffs; another has received fees from the lawyers.

Pfizer disputes the report's conclusions, saying the company never "attempted to mislead the medical community about the effectiveness" of the drug for certain uses.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/512/story/1015740.html http://www.kentucky.com/512/story/1015740.html Thu, 12 Nov 2009 01:55 EST
Australian Antarctic Division researchers working on Macquarie Island, about 930 miles (1,500 kilometers) southeast of Tasmania, first saw the iceberg last Thursday about 5 miles (8 kilometers) off the northwest coast of the island.

The iceberg, about 160 feet (50 meters) high and 1,640 feet (500 meters) long, is probably part of one of several larger icebergs that broke off Antarctica's Ross Ice Shelf between 2000 and 2002, Australian Antarctic Division glaciologist Neal Young said.

Several icebergs have been drifting slowly northward with the ocean current toward the island over the past year, but it is uncommon for them to move so far into warmer northern waters, he said.

The scientists believe the iceberg will break up and melt rapidly as it continues its journey north. Before it melts, however, it could present a danger to ships navigating the region, Young said.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/512/story/1014747.html http://www.kentucky.com/512/story/1014747.html Wed, 11 Nov 2009 20:30 EST
The Aardonyx celestae was a 23-foot- (7-meter-) long small-headed herbivore with a huge barrel of a chest. It walked on its hind legs but also could drop to all fours, and scientists told reporters that could prove to be a missing evolutionary link.

This is a species "that no one has seen before and one that has a very significant position in the family tree of dinosaurs," said Australian paleontologist Adam Yates.

Yates, who is based at the University of the Witwatersrand's Bernard Price Institute for Paleontological Research, led the research with a number of other local and international scientists.

Their findings were published Wednesday in the Proceedings of The Royal Society B, a London-based peer-reviewed journal.]]>