Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of HealthDay:

Allergy Symptoms Affect Mood, Self-Image: Survey

In addition to physical symptoms such as sneezing, sniffling and watery eyes, allergies can have a major impact on a person's mood and self-perception, according to a survey of 1,000 allergy sufferers, 1,000 consumers, and 300 physicians.

The Harris Interactive phone survey, released Thursday, found that 62 percent of allergy sufferers said allergies affected their mood, 51 percent of sufferers said they felt annoyed, 48 percent felt irritable, 42 frustrated, 22 percent said allergies made them feel less attractive, and 19 percent felt self-conscious.

Among the other findings:

  • About 48 percent of allergy suffers felt their spouse or significant other didn't consider their allergies to be a serious health condition, and that relatives (81 percent), friends (86 percent), and coworkers (78 percent) viewed their allergies as somewhat serious or not serious.
  • About 34 percent of allergy sufferers said they see a doctor when symptoms are bothering them.
  • Most physicians considered insomnia (83 percent) and osteoarthritis (69 percent) to be less serious or equally serious as allergies. They viewed diabetes (90 percent) and hypertension (84 percent) as more serious than allergies.
  • Many consumers viewed diabetes (81 percent), hypertension (76 percent) and arthritis (57 percent), as more serious than allergies. About 29 percent said insomnia was more serious than allergies.
  • While 78 percent of consumers felt sorry for allergy sufferers, 36 percent believed sufferers overstated the severity of their symptoms.

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FDA Approves Artiss Medical Adhesive for Burn Treatment

The medical adhesive Artiss has been approved for use in attaching skin grafts to treat burn patients, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said.

Artiss is a fibrin sealant, which is a tissue adhesive that contains the proteins fibrinogen and thrombin, which are essential to the clotting of blood. Artiss is different from other fibrin sealants in that it contains a lower concentration of thrombin, which gives surgeons more time to position skin grafts over burns before the graft starts to adhere to the skin. In addition, Artiss contains aprotinin, a synthetic protein that delays the breakdown of blood clots, the FDA said.

A study of 138 patients concluded that Artiss was as good as surgical staples in attaching skin grafts on wound sites. Artiss is made by Baxter Healthcare Corp. of Deerfield, Ill.

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Cortisol May Benefit Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Patients

The stress hormone cortisol may provide significant symptom relief to people with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome, says a U.S. researcher who reviewed the findings of 50 published studies.

The review author said the adrenal glands -- which produce cortisol and sex hormones -- don't function properly in chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia patients, CBC News reported.

"My review of existing studies suggests that a treatment protocol of early administration of cortisol may help improve and reduce the symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia," Dr. Kent Holtorf, medical director of the Holtorf Medical Group Center for Endocrine, Neurological and Infection Related Illness in Torrance, Calif., said in a prepared statement.

He also conducted a study of 500 patients who received cortisol and found that by the fourth treatment, 75 percent of patients showed significant improvement and 62 percent reported substantial improvement, CBC News reported.

The research appears in the Journal of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

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Medicare Cuts Trigger Concerns About Healthcare Access: AMA

Cuts in Medicare payments to doctors have eight out of 10 Americans concerned about access to care for seniors and baby boomers, according to a survey released Wednesday by the American Medical Association.

On July 1, there will be a 10.6 percent cut in Medicare payments to doctors. Over the next decade those cuts will grow to about 40 percent, while medical practice costs increase by 20 percent, according the AMA.

In response to this year's payment cut, 60 percent of doctors say they'll be forced to limit the number of new Medicare patients they can treat. Currently, about 30 percent of Medicare patients looking for a new primary care doctor are having difficulty finding one, and the payment cuts will make access even more difficult, the group said.

"As physicians, we are terribly concerned about how these Medicaid cuts will impact our senior patients," AMA board member Dr. William A. Hazel said in a prepared statement. "Seniors and boomers are concerned too; our new poll shows that 88 percent of current Medicare patients are worried about how the cuts will impact their access to health care."

The first wave of baby boomers will be eligible for Medicare in three years when they turn 65.

Nearly three-quarters of the 1,006 telephone survey respondents, aged 18 and older, said they believe Congress should stop the cuts so that doctors can continue to treat Medicare patients, the AMA said.

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Carbon Monoxide May Benefit Lung Disease Patients: Study

Extremely low doses of carbon monoxide -- a dangerous gas found in car exhaust and produced by faulty heating equipment -- may help ease symptoms of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), suggests a study by researchers at the University Medical Center at Groningen in the Netherlands.

The study included 18 people who were given a low dose of carbon monoxide for two hours on four consecutive days. When the researchers checked the level of a certain type of immune cell linked to inflammation in lung mucus, they found it had decreased by about one third, on average, in the participants, BBC News reported. In addition, the volunteers' lungs seemed to become more resistant to the effects of an irritating chemical.

The study was published in New Scientist magazine. The Dutch team plans to conduct more studies with larger numbers of people.

One expert told BBC News he has serious concerns about the safety of this kind of treatment.

"The difficulty with carbon monoxide is that there is a fine balance between levels that influence COPD, and toxic levels, and it would be very hard to gauge a safe dose for patients. This makes it potentially quite dangerous," said Dr. Paolo Paredi, of the National Heart and Lung Institute, in Great Britain.

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Gene Variations Influence PTSD Risk

Gene differences may explain why some people recover from a traumatic event while others develop post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD), according to a study that included 900 adults who suffered abuse when they were children.

The study found that specific variations in a stress related gene may be influenced by trauma at a young age, and these variations increase the risk of PTSD in adulthood. Among adults who suffered severe child abuse, those with the gene variations scored 31 on a scale of PTSD, compared to 13 for those without the variations, the Associated Press reported.

The study, published this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association, is one of the first to show that external, non-genetic factors can affect genes in a way that increases the risk of PTSD, the researchers said.

The findings suggest there are important periods in childhood when the brain is vulnerable "to outside influences that can shape the developing stress-response system," said study co-author Dr. Kerry Ressler of Emory University, the AP reported.