Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of HealthDay:
One Cigarette Can Cause Tobacco Addiction
In some people, smoking a single cigarette can trigger tobacco addiction, says a New Zealand study that included 96,000 youngsters, ages 14-15. The participants provided information about whether they smoked and whether they felt the need to continue smoking.
As expected, regular smokers said they felt the urge to continue smoking. But the researchers were surprised to find that 46 percent of those who smoked less than one cigarette a month said they had the urge to continue smoking, Agence France-Presse reported.
And among those who said they had trouble suppressing the urge to smoke, 10 percent had the urge within two days of smoking their first cigarette and 25 percent within one month of their first cigarette.
The study authors concluded that "these data suggest that smoking one cigarette in total can prompt a loss of autonomy," AFP reported.
The findings were published Wednesday in the journal Addictive Behaviors.
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Anger Slows Injury Recovery
People who can't control their anger take longer to recovery from injury, says a University of Ohio study in the journal Brain, Behavior, Immunity.
Researchers inflicted minor burns on the arms of 98 volunteers and then monitored the healing process for eight days, Agence France-Presse reported. Before the burns were inflicted, the participants underwent psychological tests to determine where they ranked on an anger scale.
The study found that people who had trouble controlling expressions of anger were four times more likely to need more than four days for their burn wounds to heal than those who were able to control their anger.
Participants unable to control their anger also had higher secretions of the stress hormone cortisol, which may partly explain their longer healing time, the researchers said.
They suggested that anger control therapy could help certain patients heal more quickly after injury or surgery, AFP reported.
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Feeding May Affect Preterm Infants' Brain Development
The type of nutrition preterm infants receive during the first few weeks of life may have a major impact on brain development, says a U.K. study in the journal Pediatric Research.
Preterm infants who were fed enriched formula milk in the first few weeks after birth consistently did better on childhood IQ tests than other preterm babies, and the difference continued into the teenage years, BBC News reported.
The research team from Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children and the UCL Institute of Child Health in London also found that the infants who were fed the enriched formula had better development of a part of the brain called the caudate nucleus, which is associated with memory and learning.
Previous studies have noted an association between nutrition and behavior, but this is one of the first studies to suggest that feeding early in life may affect brain structure, the researchers said according to BBC.
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Health Care Costs Threaten Retirement Lifestyle: U.S. Study
Skyrocketing health care costs are a major reason why many American baby boomers and Generation Xers won't be able to maintain their standard of living when they retire, according to a study released Tuesday by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.
Currently, the U.S. government estimates costs for Medicare premiums, co-payments and other cost-sharing to be about $3,800 a year for a single person and $7,600 for a couple. Another $500 per person is needed to pay for dental care, eye glasses, hearing aids and other items that aren't covered by Medicare, the Associated Press reported.
Based on those costs, most baby boomers (born between 1946 and 1964) and Generation Xers (born between 1965 and 1974) would have to have about $102,000 per person ($206,000 per couple) set aside just for health care expenses when they retire.
Currently, the median total retirement savings balance for American households approaching retirement is about $60,000, said the center's report. When all costs, including health expenses, are factored in, about 61 percent of baby boomers and Gen Xers are "at risk" of being unable to maintain their standard of living when they retire, the AP reported.
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Drug Prevents Contrast Agent-Related Kidney Damage
Taking the drug N-acetylcysteine can prevent kidney damage that can be caused by contrast dyes used in medical imaging tests such as CT scans and angiograms, say University of Michigan Health System researchers who reviewed 41 studies that ranked drugs on their ability to protect the kidneys, CBC News reported.
About one in four high-risk patients (those with diabetes or heart failure) and as many as one in 10 people with normal kidney function can suffer kidney damage when they receive an iodine-containing contrast agent while undergoing CT scans, according to background information in the article.
The review authors found that N-acetylcysteine was the only drug able to prevent kidney damage caused by contrast agents, CBC News reported.
The findings were published Tuesday in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.
"Our goal is to improve the safety and quality of these common tests by studying drugs that reduce the risk of kidney failure," senior author Ruth Carlos, associate professor of radiology, said in a prepared statement.
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Cinderella Cars, Spider-Man Water Bottles Recalled
A burn hazard has prompted the recall of about 64,000 Cinderella 12-volt electric, ride-on toy cars made in China by Dumar International USA, the Associated Press reported Tuesday.
Wires under the hood and in the battery compartment under the seat can short-circuit and pose a burn hazard to a child riding in the car. So far, the company has received 40 reports of overheating incidents, including several where smoke leaked from under the seat where the battery is located, and one report of flames shooting out from under the toy car's hood. There have been no reports of injuries.
The toy cars were sold at Wal-Mart stores nationwide from August 2005 to February 2006. For more information, contact the company at 866-424-0500.
Also on Tuesday, about 6,600 Spider-Man water bottles made in China by Fast Forward LLS were recalled because screws under the lid can come loose and fall into the cup, posing a choking hazard, the AP reported.
There have been three reports of screws coming loose on the bottles, but no reports of injuries. The water bottles were sold at Sears stores nationwide between July and August 2007. For more information, phone 877-244-4433.
