Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of HealthDay:
House Panel Votes to Give FDA Powers to Regulate Tobacco
The U.S. House of Representatives' Energy and Commerce Committee passed a bill Wednesday that increases the likelihood that the Food and Drug Administration will be given broad new powers to regulate tobacco products.
The bill, passed by a vote of 38-12, would give the FDA authority to reduce nicotine levels and require larger and more informative health warnings on cigarette packs. A similar bill has been approved by a Senate committee, the Associated Press reported.
The proposed legislation also would ban candy-flavored cigarettes, which attract younger smokers, and would prohibit the use of terms such as "light" or "mild" on cigarette packs.
Some opponents argue that the FDA already has enough trouble ensuring the safety of the nation's food supply and medicines, and can't take on this extra oversight. To address the issue of lack of FDA resources, the House committee bill proposes user fees on tobacco companies that could collect $90 million this year and as much as $755 million by 2018, the AP reported.
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U.S. Lawmakers Look to Expand Humanitarian Funding
In a 308-116 vote Wednesday, the House of Representatives approved tripling to more than $10 billion a year U.S. humanitarian funding to combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis in poorer nations.
Of the $50 billion to be spent over five years, about $41 billion would be directed to the fight against HIV/AIDS, the Associated Press reported. The White House backs the House bill.
A similar $50 billion bill has been approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
The bills seek to extend and broaden the $15 billion President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief that was enacted in 2003. The program is credited with saving more than one million lives in Africa alone, the AP reported.
According to the United Nations, more than 33 million people worldwide were living with HIV and AIDS in 2007.
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Sex Therapists: 3 to 13 Minutes Just Right
The optimal length of time for sexual intercourse is three to 13 minutes, according to a survey of dozens of American and Canadian sex therapists. However, that time doesn't include foreplay.
The findings appear to challenge the widely held belief that endurance is essential for a great sex life. Researcher Eric Corty said he hoped the survey results would ease the minds of people who believe that "more of something good is better, and if you really want to satisfy your partner, you should last forever," the Associated Press reported.
While three to 13 minutes was deemed optimal, some of the sex therapists noted that optimal time depended on the couple. All the therapists did agree that one to two minutes of sexual intercourse is "too short."
The findings are published in the May issue of the Journal of Sexual Medicine.
"There are so many myths in our culture of what other people are doing sexually. Most people's sex lives are not as exciting as other people think they are," Marianne Brandon, a clinical psychologist and director of Wellminds Wellbodies in Annapolis, Md., told the AP.
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Scientists Create Embryos Combining Human Cells and Cow Eggs
A British scientist has created the world's first hybrid embryos, using human cells and a cow egg, according to Bloomberg News.
The procedure, which has been hotly debated in the UK Parliament during the past few months, was announced Tuesday by Newcastle University, where the lead scientist, Lyle Armstrong, and his research team said they had developed the eggs, which are designed to be the first step in creating embryonic human stem cells to fight disease.
These eggs are not to be used for anything other than the development of human stem cells, according to Bloomberg News. But the idea that embryos could be developed from the cells of a human and a cow has ignited a political and ethical debate in the United Kingdom.
Edinburgh's Cardinal Keith O'Brien called the embryo creation "experiments of Frankenstein proportions,'' the news service said. But Newcastle University's head of the Institute of Human Genetics, John Burn, is quoted as saying that the embryo creation was just a first step to finding a way to create the best stem cells for human medical research.
"Cells grown using animal eggs cannot be used to treat patients on safety grounds, but they will help bring nearer the day when new stem cell therapies are available,'' he told Bloomberg News.
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Drug Ads Should Tell Where to Report Side Effects: Petition
Nearly 12 percent of Americans who've ever taken a prescription drug have suffered a side effect serious enough to send them to a doctor or hospital. But only 35 percent of consumers know they can report serious side effects to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, says a new Consumer Reports poll.
To help improve awareness, Consumers Union on Wednesday presented the FDA with a petition that has signatures from nearly 56,000 people who want an FDA toll-free number and Web site included in all TV drug ads. Consumers Union is the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports.
Last year, Congress said all print drug ads must carry FDA MedWatch reporting information, and told the FDA to conduct a study to determine if it was appropriate to include reporting information in TV drug ads. The report was due by the end of March but has not been completed.
"You can't turn on a TV today without seeing a drug ad, but those ads never mention that consumers should be reporting serious drug side effects to the FDA," Liz Foley, campaign coordinator with Consumers Union, said in a prepared statement. "What better way for the FDA to let consumers know how to report serious problems with their medications than putting a toll-free number and Web site in all those drug ads we're bombarded by each day?"
The Consumer Reports poll found that 87 percent of respondents said TV ads should contain reporting information.
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Midwest States Receive Fewest Public Health Dollars From CDC
Midwestern states receive less public health funding from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention than other states, according to a Trust for America's Health (TFAH) study released Wednesday.
The study found that Midwestern states received an average of $16.24 per person in 2007, compared to $19.74 per person for Western states, $23.37 per person for Northeastern states, and $29.40 per person for Southern states.
On a state-by-state basis, Alaska received the most ($69.76 per person) while Kansas received the least ($13.61 per person), according to the study.
The CDC funds are used by state and local communities for a variety of public health programs, including cancer prevention; chronic disease prevention; health promotion; diabetes control; environmental health; HIV prevention; immunization; infectious disease prevention; and bioterrorism preparedness.
"Every American should have the opportunity to be as healthy as he or she can be. Every community should be safe from threats to health. If we're serious about improving the health of Americans, we need to make a much bigger investment in disease prevention efforts in every state and every region," Jeff Levi, executive director of TFAH, said in a prepared statement.
