Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of HealthDay:
Treatable Ailments Kill Nearly 10 Million Children Each Year
An estimated 9.7 million children worldwide under the age of 5 die each year from easily preventable or treatable health problems such as pneumonia and diarrhea, says a report released by the U.S.-based charity Save the Children.
Most of the deaths occur in developing nations, and poor children are twice as likely to die as rich children, the Associated Press reported.
Save the Children ranked 146 countries based on well-being for mothers and children. Sweden, Norway and Iceland were at the top of the list, while Nigeria was last. Eight of the 10 bottom-ranked countries were in sub-Saharan Africa, where four out of five mothers are likely to experience the death of a child.
The group said 30 percent of mothers and children in developing countries don't receive basic health interventions, such as prenatal care, skilled assistance during birth, immunizations and treatment for pneumonia and diarrhea, the AP reported.
More than six million of the 9.7 million children's deaths each year could be prevented using existing, low-cost tools and knowledge, Save the Children said.
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Restaurant Tobacco Bans May Prevent Teen Smoking
Total cigarette bans in restaurants may help prevent teen smoking, suggests a Massachusetts study that included 2,791 teens, ages 12 to 17, who were followed for four years.
Teens who lived in towns with strict restaurant smoking bans were 40 percent less likely to become regular smokers than teens in towns with no bans or weak bans (smoking allowed in designated areas), the study found.
Overall, about nine percent of the teens became smokers. The rate in towns without bans or with weak bans was 10 percent, compared to eight percent in towns with strict smoking bans, the Associated Press reported.
Along with reducing teens' exposure to smokers, smoking bans send teens the message that smoking is socially unacceptable, said study lead author Dr. Michael Siegel, of Boston University's School of Public Health.
"When kids grow up in an environment where they don't see smoking, they are going to think it's not socially acceptable. If they perceive a lot of other people are smoking, they think it's the norm," Siegel told the AP.
The study is published in the May issue of the journal Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
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Vitamin D Deficiency Linked to Depression Risk in Elderly
Elderly people with low levels of vitamin D may be at increased risk for depression and other mental health disorders, Dutch researchers say.
Of the 1,282 people, ages 65 to 92, in the study, 26 had major depression and 169 had minor depression. Vitamin D levels were 14 percent lower in those with major or minor depression, Agence France-Presse reported.
The researchers also found that low vitamin D levels were associated with increased levels of a hormone secreted by the parathyroid gland. Overactive parathyroid glands are often linked with depression.
The findings, published in the journal Archives of General Psychiatry, may help lead to new ways to treat depression, AFP reported. Both low vitamin D levels and high parathyroid hormone levels can be corrected by dietary and calcium supplements or increased exposure to sunlight, which prompts the body to make vitamin D.
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Insulin Pumps Linked to Deaths, Injuries Among Young People
Between 1996 and 2005, there were 13 deaths and more than 1,500 injuries reported among young people using insulin pumps to treat type 1 diabetes, says a U.S. Food and Drug Administration study. The pumps offer an alternative to multiple daily injections of insulin by syringe.
The researchers didn't advise against the use of the pumps, but called for more safety studies of the popular devices and urged parents to be vigilant in monitoring their children's use of the pumps, the Associated Press reported.
In some cases, the insulin pumps malfunctioned, and in other cases users were careless or took risks, according to the study of young people, aged 12 to 21. The findings are published in the May issue of the journal Pediatrics.
"Parental oversight and involvement are important. Certainly teenagers don't always consider the consequences," said lead author Dr. Judith Cope, the AP reported.
For example, some teens didn't know how to use the pumps correctly, while others didn't take care of the pumps or dropped them, the study found.
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Wal-Mart Expands Discounted Drug Program
Under an expanded discounted prescription drug program, Wal-Mart announced Monday that it will offer up to 350 generic drugs at $10 for a 90-day supply. The retailer will also offer several women's medications at a discount and lower the price of more than 1,000 over-the-counter (OTC) drugs.
This is the latest phase of a program that began in 2006 by offering customers a 30-day supply of generic prescription drugs for $4. Almost all of the prescription drugs in the $4 program are included in the $10 program, the Associated Press reported.
Several women's medications -- including drugs to treat breast cancer and hormone deficiency -- will be added to the list of discount prescriptions available for $9, the company said.
Wal-Mart also announced it will reduce the prices of more than 1,000 OTC medications to $4 or less. These price reductions cover more than one-third of Wal-Mart's OTC medicines, the AP reported.
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Undeclared Soy in Little Bay Corn Bread and Muffin Mix
Undeclared soy has prompted a U.S.-wide recall of all bags of corn bread and muffin mix made by Little Bay Baking Company of Newmarket, N.H.
People who have an allergy or severe sensitivity to soy could suffer a serious or life-threatening allergic reaction if they consume these products, warned the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. No illnesses have been reported.
The recalled corn bread and muffin mix, sold at retail stores and through the Internet, comes in a 12.6-ounce white paper tin tie bag package and was sold under the names Little Bay Baking and GFCFDiet.
The problem was caused by a temporary breakdown in Little Bay Baking's ordering process, according to company officials.
Consumers who bought the corn bread and muffin mix should return it to Little Bay Baking Company, 14 Hilton Dr., Newmarket, N.H., 03824 for a full refund. For more information, contact the company at 1-603-828-7236.
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Dairy, Calcium Don't Promote Weight Loss: Study
There's no evidence that dairy or calcium consumption promotes weight loss, says a U.S. study that challenges claims that dairy products help people shed pounds.
Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Asheville and the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine analyzed 49 clinical trials conducted from 1966 to 2007, United Press International reported. The studies examined how milk, dairy products or calcium intake affected body weight and body mass index.
The review authors found that neither dairy products nor calcium supplements helped people lose weight. Of the 49 studies included in the review, 41 showed no effect, five showed weight loss, two showed weight gain, and one showed a lower rate of weight gain.
"Our findings demonstrate that increasing dairy product intake does not consistently result in weight or fat loss and may actually have the opposite effect," the review authors said in a prepared statement, UPI reported.
The findings were published in the journal Nutrition Reviews.
