Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of HealthDay:
Three More Countries Recall Heparin
Denmark, France and Italy have announced recalls of the blood-thinning drug heparin or its ingredients due to suspected contamination with a chemical called oversulfated chondroitin sulfate. Similar recalls have been announced in Germany and the United States.
There have been no adverse reports of people taking heparin in Denmark, France or Italy, the Wall Street Journal reported. Officials in those countries believe oversulfated chondroitin sulfate is the contaminant, but that hasn't been confirmed.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says it knows of 19 people who died after taking heparin, apparently from allergic reactions. Hundreds of other patients have become ill.
FDA officials are "in communication with the regulatory authorities in [European] countries and are still vigorously pursuing our investigation," Dr. Janet Woodcock, director of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in a prepared statement, the Wall Street Journal reported.
It's believed that Chinese-made heparin ingredients are the source of the contamination.
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FDA Warns Men Not to Use 'Blue Steel' or 'Hero' Products
Consumers shouldn't buy or use "Blue Steel" or "Hero" products sold as treatments for erectile dysfunction or sexual enhancement because they are considered unapproved drugs and haven't been proven safe or effective, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned.
The products, promoted and sold over the Internet, contain undeclared ingredients that may have a dangerous effect on a person's blood pressure, the agency said. The products are labeled as all natural dietary supplements but don't qualify as such because they contain undeclared and unapproved substances similar in chemical structure to sildenafil, the active ingredient in Viagra, the FDA said.
"Because these products are labeled as 'all natural dietary supplements,' consumers may assume that they are harmless and pose no health risk," Dr. Janet Woodcock, director of FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in a prepared statement. "But an unsuspecting consumer with underlying medical issues may take these products without knowing that they can cause serious side effects and interact in dangerous ways with drugs that a consumer is already taking."
Men with diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or heart disease often take prescription drugs that contain nitrates. Erectile dysfunction is common in these men, but they're advised against taking Viagra or similar drugs. Instead, some of these men look for "all natural" products to treat erectile dysfunction.
Any men who have taken Blue Steel or Hero products should stop using them and consult their doctor if they've had problems that may have been caused by the products, the FDA said.
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Switching Off Genes May Put Cancers to Sleep: Study
It may be possible to switch off genes and put cancer tumors "to sleep" instead of having to treat patients with chemotherapy, suggests a study by American and Australian researchers.
In tests with mice, the scientists found that by switching a gene called Id1 off or on, it was possible to either shrink or encourage growth in certain kinds of breast tumors. They also found that breast cancers with high levels of the Id1 gene became very aggressive and were likely to spread to other parts of the body, Agence France-Presse reported.
"We also showed that if we genetically switch off the Id1 gene in an established tumor, those mice live much longer than mice with continual Id1 expression in their tumor," said Dr. Alex Swarbrick of the Garvan Institute in Sydney, Australia. "In fact, about 40 percent of them were cured and the tumors just shrank away."
The findings, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggest it may be possible to target genes that switch off cancers in order to put tumors to sleep, Swarbrick told AFP.
"You induce a terminal sleep, and then the immune system just gobbles [the tumors] up," he said.
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Cod Liver Oil May Help Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients
Some rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients who took a 10g daily dose of cod liver oil cut their use of painkilling non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) by 30 percent, says a study by researchers at Dundee University in the U.K.
The nine-month trial of about 60 patients found that 39 percent of those who took cod liver oil reduced their use of NSIADs, compared to 10 percent of patients who took a placebo, BBC News reported. Reduced NSAID use was not associated with any worsening of pain or disease.
The study was published in the journal Rheumatology.
Concerns about the side effects of NSAIDs have led researchers to look for alternative treatments. It's believed that fatty acids in cod liver oil have anti-inflammatory properties, BBC News reported.
Since this was a small study, it's difficult to draw any firm conclusions, said Dr. Andrew Bamji, president of the British Society for Rheumatology.
"It does look as if the results are positive and that is quite interesting," he told BBC News.
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Children's Water Bottles Recalled Due to Lead Hazard
About 18,000 Backyard and Beyond children's metal water bottles have been recalled due to excessive levels of lead in the paint on the outside of the bottles, said the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
The Chinese-made bottles, distributed by Downeast Concepts Inc., of Yarmouth, Maine, have a black plastic sip-top and came in green, pink or blue, with assorted animal or insect graphics on them.
The bottles were sold nationwide from February 2006 through February 2008 for about $8. Consumers should immediately take the water bottles away from children and return them to the place of purchase for a refund, the CPSC said.
For more information, phone Downeast Concepts at 1-800-343-2424.
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Polio Halted in Somalia: WHO
World Health Organization officials claim that polio transmission has been halted in Somalia, but they acknowledge that the deadly disease could easily return to the unstable, troubled nation.
If polio has been stopped in Somalia, it would meant that the disease remains in only a dozen countries, including four (Afghanistan, India, Nigeria and Pakistan) where it's common, the Associated Press reported.
There hasn't been a case of polio reported in Somalia in a year. Over the past decade, about 10,000 Somali health workers and volunteers worked to vaccinate nearly every child under the age of five.
Somalia was declared polio-free in 2002, but the disease reappeared in the country in 2005, the AP reported.
