Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of The HealthDay Service:
Texas Air Base Not to Blame for Diseases
People who worked at the former Kelly Air Force Base in Texas suffer no greater incidence of liver cancer, emphysema or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, despite persistent claims to the contrary, according to results of a four-year study.
Researchers at the U.S. Air Force Institute for Environment, Safety and Occupational Health Risk Analysis reviewed the health of 32,000 people who worked at Kelly from 1981 through 2000, and concluded that they were actually in better shape than the general population, United Press International reports.
Many doctors and activist groups have long blamed a surge in serious diseases among the base's civilian employees and the largely Mexican-American area residents on a toxic combination of cancer-causing chemicals and jet-fuel, which were stored at the former base and leaked into the ground water.
Bexar County Metro Health Director Dr. Fernando Guerra said the study results suggest higher rates of life-threatening illnesses are generally more prevalent among Hispanics in south Texas and may be due to known "risk factors such as obesity, smoking, genetic makeup and sedentary lifestyle."
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Woman With Plague Released From NYC Hospital; Husband Still Critical
A New Mexico woman suffering from the bubonic plague has been released from a New York City hospital, but her husband, who also was infected, remains gravely ill.
Health officials say the couple -- Lucinda Marker and John Tull -- most likely contracted the disease from infected fleas at their home in Santa Fe, where rats on their property recently tested positive for the plague, according to New York City TV station WABC.
On Nov. 5, during a visit to New York City, the pair went to the emergency room at Beth Israel Medical Center complaining of flu-like symptoms, including high fever and swollen lymph nodes. They were immediately put in an isolation unit.
Each year, about 10 to 20 people in the United States and between 1,000 and 3,000 people worldwide contract bubonic plague, according to the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention. About one in seven cases results in death.
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More Seniors Need Flu Shots
Flu shot coverage for America's seniors continues to fall well shy of government goals, reaching only 65 percent last year, health officials said today.
The 2001 rate was 2 percentage points below that in 2000, marking the first drop in flu coverage since 1993. The federal government wants at least 90 percent of older Americans immunized annually against flu by the year 2010, according to HealthDay.
Officials attributed the decline to production delays in the vaccine against the influenza virus. This year, the U.S. Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention is expecting 93 million doses of the shot to be available, a record number, along with "several million" more the agency can buy from manufacturers if necessary.
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New Device Helps Stutterers
A gadget that sits in the ear canal and fools a stutterer's brain into think that more than one person is speaking to him is 85 percent successful in helping people with the condition, its inventors tell ABC News.
The "Speech Easy Device" resembles a hearing aid and is only needed in one ear. Invented by three speech therapists at East Carolina University, it functions like a small PA system, including a microphone, amplifier and speaker. The device delivers delayed and altered voice feedback to the user.
Experts aren't sure why, but a person's stuttering is usually inhibited when more than one person is speaking to him. Scientists don't know the exact causes of the condition, though studies tend to point to a combination of genetic, brain development, and social factors. The Stuttering Foundation of America says more than 50 percent of people who stutter have a family member with the condition.
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Elton and the Specs
Pop legend Sir Elton John, who claims to own 4,000 pairs of eyeglasses, is planning to auction them after he undergoes corrective laser eye surgery in February, reports BBC News Online.
"I can't see anything, so why wait?" he told a British television audience this week. John, 55, once claimed to have bought 20,000 pairs of glasses over the years.
The most common laser procedure, known as LASIK, allows people to ditch their glasses or contact lenses by permanently changing the shape of the cornea -- the clear covering of the front of the eye. According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, 148 million people in the United States (52 percent of the population) wear some form of corrective eyewear. The AAO estimates that 1.8 million refractive surgery procedures will be performed this year.
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Bill Protects Workers Who Would Give Smallpox Shots
The U.S. Congress is expected to OK legislation to grant special legal protection to health care workers who administer smallpox vaccines, the Associated Press reports.
Under the homeland security bill approved by the House and likely to be accepted by the Senate next week, people and facilities that deliver the risky vaccine would not be liable for injuries or deaths caused by the inoculations. The federal government would, instead, pay any damages and defend any suit, the AP says.
Federal officials, including high-ranking members of the Bush Administration, are divided over exactly who should get the vaccine in advance of a possible bioterrorism attack. The vaccine is risky because it is made with a live virus, which could cause injury to both the person vaccinated and someone with whom they come in close contact. Experts estimate that 15 of every 1 million people will face life-threatening side effects of the vaccine, and that one or two will die.
