Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of HealthDay:
U.S. Wastes $1.2 Trillion in Health-Care Spending Each Year: Report
As much as $1.2 trillion of the $2.2 trillion spent on health care each year in the United States is wasted on excess health spending and inefficiency, according to an analysis released Thursday by PricewaterhouseCooper's Health Research Institute.
The biggest area of wasteful spending identified in the analysis is defensive medicine, such as redundant, inappropriate or unnecessary tests and procedures. That's followed by inefficient health-care administration and the cost of care spent on conditions such as obesity, which is considered preventable by lifestyle changes.
The analysis authors classified health system inefficiencies into three categories: consumer behavior; operational inefficiencies; and clinical overuse, misuse or under-use. Behavioral issues such as patient non-adherence to medical advice and prescriptions, alcohol abuse, smoking and obesity fall into all three categories.
The analysis, which included a review of more than 35 industry reports and interviews with health industry representatives, was included in a report presented Thursday at a meeting of health-industry leaders in Washington, D.C.
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Global Study Examines Osteoporosis Management
A landmark, multi-national osteoporosis management study that will include nearly 60,000 women aged 55 and older was announced Thursday. The aim of the Global Longitudinal Registry of Osteoporosis in Women (GLOW) is to learn more about how to improve the standard of care for postmenopausal women at risk of osteoporosis.
The study includes women from 17 cities in 10 countries on three continents.
"We know that there are patients at high risk for osteoporosis, sometimes already having suffered a broken bone, who aren't getting diagnosed and treated. We have to figure out why not," Dr. Robert Lindsay, GLOW executive committee co-chair and chief of internal medicine at Helen Hayes Hospital in West Haverstraw, N.Y., said in a prepared statement.
"Globally we have an aging female population that wants to maintain independence and vitality. We can help by finding the key to improving diagnosis and treatment of this debilitating disease," Lindsay said.
"We want to understand regional differences in physician and patient behavior and how that impacts patient outcomes. Hopefully, armed with that knowledge, we will be able to recommend best practices and improve the management of osteoporosis worldwide," Professor Pierre Delmas, GLOW executive committee co-chair and professor of medicine and rheumatology at the Universite Claude Bernard in Lyon, France, said in a prepared statement.
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Intestinal Nerves May Play Role in Blood Sugar Control
Canadian researchers have found that the intestines play a major role in controlling blood sugar levels, a discovery that could help in efforts to create safer and more effective diabetes medications, the Toronto Star reported.
The University Health Network team's tests on rats revealed that a set of nerves in the intestines is intimately involved in controlling blood glucose levels. This cluster of nerves senses the presence of food and signals the brain to halt the liver's glucose production. But the researchers found that a high-fat diet can switch off this signaling system, the Star reported.
"The cure for diabetes is to lower blood glucose levels... and this will be an innovative and effective approach to do that," said study senior author Tony Lam, the Star reported.
He noted that the gut can access drugs directly, instead of having to rely on blood for drug delivery. This finding about the role of intestines in controlling blood sugar levels could make it easier to create drugs to correct blood sugar problems.
The study was published in the journal Nature.
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Scientists Discover Lungless Frog Species
A species of lungless frog that breathes through its skin has been discovered in Indonesia, a finding that may help scientists learn more about what impels evolution in certain species.
The aquatic frog, found in a remote area of Indonesia's Kalimantan Province on Borneo island, is the first lungless frog to be found by scientists and joins a short list of amphibians with the same trait, the Associated Press reported.
Details about the frog (Barbourula kalimantanensis), which was discovered during an expedition in August 2007, appear in a paper in this week's edition of the journal Current Biology.
It's likely the frog evolved to adapt to cold, rapidly moving streams that are rich in oxygen, said paper co-author David Bickford, an evolutionary biologist at the National University of Singapore, the AP reported.
The species may have lost its lungs because it needed to reduce buoyancy to prevent it from being swept down fast-moving mountain rivers, Bickford suggested.
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Hazardous Amounts of Selenium Found in Supplements: FDA
Hazardous amounts of the trace mineral selenium have been found in samples of the dietary supplements "Total Body Formula" and "Total Body Mega Formula," the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned Wednesday.
The agency said it has 43 reports from nine states of serious adverse reactions among people who took the supplements, which have been recalled by the distributor.
Last month, the FDA warned consumers not to buy or use tropical orange or peach nectar flavors of "Total Body Formula," or the orange/tangerine flavor of "Total Body Mega Formula." The agency cited adverse reactions occurring within 10 days of the products' use, including hair loss, muscle cramps, diarrhea, joint pain, deformed fingernails, and fatigue.
Selenium, an immune-system boosting mineral, is needed in very small amounts. But the FDA said its analysis found that the supplements contained up to 200 times the amount per serving that had been indicated on the products' labeling.
The agency said it is investigating how the excess selenium wound up in the products, which are distributed by Atlanta-based Total Body Essential Nutrition. The supplements were distributed nationwide in 32-ounce plastic bottles.
Consumers should immediately stop using the products and throw the remainder away, the FDA said.
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Elevated Lung Cancer Cases in Users of Inhaled Insulin
Patients who used the inhaled insulin product Exubera had an elevated number of lung cancer cases, drug maker Pfizer Inc. disclosed Wednesday. The lung cancer cases were discovered in an analysis of clinical trials and post-approval reports to Pfizer and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Bloomberg news reported.
All the patients who developed lung cancer "had a prior history of cigarette smoking" and "there were too few cases to determine whether the development of lung cancer is related to the use of Exubera," Pfizer said in a statement.
Last October, Pfizer stopped selling Exubera, which failed to catch on with patients and doctors due to its cost and cumbersome delivery device, Bloomberg reported.
In addition, the inhaled insulin seemed to decrease lung function, apparently due to the way the insulin was delivered into the lungs, Forbes reported at the time.
