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

Heparin Deliberately Contaminated: FDA

The contaminant detected in the blood thinner heparin that killed 81 Americans and sickened hundreds others was added deliberately, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration believes.

"FDA's working hypothesis is that this was an intentional contamination, but this is not yet proven," Dr. Janet Woodcock, director of the agency's drug center, said in written testimony presented Tuesday to the U.S. House of Representatives' Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, The New York Times reported.

She noted that one-third of the materials in some of the heparin batches were contaminants, "and it does strain one's credibility to suggest that might have been done accidentally."

The FDA has identified Changzhou SPL, a Chinese subsidiary of Scientific Protein Laboratories of Waunakee, Wisc., as the source of the contaminated heparin material. Scientific Protein supplied the heparin material to Baxter International of Deerfield, Ill., which manufactured and distributed the finished drug.

David G. Strunce, chief executive of Scientific Protein Laboratories, called the contamination "an insidious act" that "seems to us an intentional act upstream in the supply chain," the Times reported.

"We're alarmed that one of our products was used in what appears to have been a deliberate scheme to adulterate a life-saving medication," Robert L. Parkinson, Baxter's chairman and chief executive, told the subcommittee.

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Gene Deletion Helps Some Male Athletes Cheat Doping Test

Male athletes with a certain natural gene deletion can take testosterone and escape detection by the standard urine test to screen for doping with the hormone, according to a new study that included 55 Swedish men.

All the men were injected with the same amount of testosterone, but 17 of them tested negative. Their urine showed no excess testosterone. The 17 men can build muscle mass in response to testosterone, but they're missing both copies of a gene that converts testosterone into a form that dissolves in urine, The New York Times reported.

This gene deletion is especially common in Asian men, noted study first author Jenny Jackobsson Schulze, a molecular geneticist at the Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm. About two-thirds of Asian men are missing both copies of the gene, compared to nearly 10 percent of Caucasian men.

The study appears in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.

Dr. Don Catlin, chief executive officer of the Los Angeles-based Anti-Doping Research Institute, called the finding disturbing. "Basically, you have a license to cheat," he told the Times.

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Survey Shows Many Americans Struggling to Stay Happy, Healthy

About 49 percent of Americans are thriving, 47 percent are struggling to stay happy and healthy, while about four percent are suffering, according to a survey of more than 100,000 people.

The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index asked respondents how well they feel about their lives and where they think they'll be in five years, the Associated Press reported.

The survey found that people who are thriving tend to have higher incomes, more education and less illness, while those who are suffering have trouble meeting their basic needs, including food, shelter and medical care.

Healthways, which works with companies to improve worker health, hopes the index will help employers better understand what they can do to help workers be happier and healthier, the AP reported. The index can be broken down by occupation, commute time and exercise habits.

More than 1,000 people a day are still being interviewed for the index, which is projected to cost more than $20 million a year to maintain.

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More Americans Covered by HSA Insurance Plans

Since last year, the number of Americans covered by Health Savings Account (HSA)-eligible insurance plans increased 35 percent (1.6 million) to more than 6.1 million people, according to a new census released Wednesday by America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP).

The federal government authorized HSA plans in January 2004. Since then, AHIP has conducted a periodic census of members participating in the HSA market. There were 4.5 million people enrolled in HSA plans in January 2007, 3.2 million in January 2006, and one million in March 2005.

Among the findings in the latest census:

  • 30 percent of people in an HSA plan were in the small-group market, 45 percent were in the large-group market, and 25 percent were in the individual market.
  • HSA products accounted for 31 percent of new coverage issued in the small-group market, and 27 percent of the individual market.
  • HSA enrollment as a percentage of people with private insurance is estimated to be highest in Minnesota (9.2 percent), Louisiana (9.0 percent), Washington, D.C. (8.7 percent), Vermont (7.5 percent) and Colorado (7.1 percent).

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Nursing Home Costs Continue to Rise

For the fifth consecutive year, the costs of U.S. nursing homes, assisted living facilities and some in-home care services have increased, according to a study released Tuesday by Genworth Financial Inc. The survey also found that costs could rise further due to a shortage of long-term care workers.

Between 2004 and 2008, the annual average cost for a private room in a nursing home rose 17 percent, from $65,185 to $76,460, or $209 per day. The cost per day this year ranged from $125 in Louisiana to $515 in Alaska, the Associated Press reported.

The average annual cost this year for assisted living facilities is $36,090, a 25 percent increase from $28,763 in 2004. Per month costs this year ranged from $1,981 in Arkansas to $4,921 in New Jersey.

The cost of a Medicare-certified home health aide increased to an average of $38 an hour, while costs for in-home workers not certified by Medicare were an average of $18 an hour for homemaker services and $19 for home health aide services, the AP reported.

The study authors analyzed data from more than 10,000 nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and home care providers.

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Chromosome 1 Linked With Triglycerides

A region on human chromosome 1 is linked with triglyceride levels, say researchers at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Ohio. High levels of triglycerides increase the risk of heart disease.

The study appears in the Journal of Lipid Research.

Many factors influence levels of circulating triglycerides, including diet, exercise and smoking. But about 40 percent of triglyceride level variation among people is due to genetic factors, United Press International reported.

In this study of 714 people from 388 white families with premature heart disease, the Cleveland Clinic team identified an area on chromosome 1 that's linked with triglyceride levels. It contains 375 known genes, but the researchers have zeroed in on three genes.

The genes are: angiopoietin-like 3, which inhibits enzymes that break down fats; sterol carrier protein 2, which helps convert cholesterol into bile acids; and the receptor for the appetite hormone leptin, UPI reported.

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American Women Concerned About Health Costs

Many American women are worried about rising health costs, suggests a survey conducted by Meredith Corp. and NBC Universal.

The survey of 3,000 women, ages 18 to 64, found that two-thirds of respondents felt financial strain was a major threat to the American family. In fact, they rated it a much greater threat than divorce, loss of faith/spirituality, both parents working, unwed mothers, couples living together, and liberal views on sex and sexuality, United Press International reported.

Among the survey's other findings:

  • 46 percent of respondents said they were extremely concerned about rising health care costs, and 18 percent said they didn't have health insurance. That rate was 24 percent among single mothers with minor children.
  • Among women with health insurance, 46 percent were worried about being able to afford healthcare when they retired, and 40 percent said their co-payments kept increasing and were becoming too expensive.
  • One-quarter of women with health insurance said they could only afford generic prescriptions and 22 percent said they sometimes didn't fill a prescription because it was too expensive.
  • 69 percent of mothers ages 18 to 34 had incurred medical debt, compared to 30 percent of all women in the United States.