Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of HealthDay:
FDA Gives Nod to New Antidepressant
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved Eli Lilly's Cymbalta (duloxetine), a new adult antidepressant.
Cymbalta belongs to a newer class of antidepressants that targets norepinephrine and serotonin, two brain chemicals associated with
depression.
It's the first antidepressant to be approved for sale in the United States since
the FDA started to investigate whether antidepressants may increase the risk of suicide, according to the Associated Press.
Cymbalta initially wasn't part of the investigation, but it gained attention in February when a college student taking part in clinical studies of the drug hanged herself at the research facility. Lilly has insisted there's no evidence that the drug was to blame, the AP reported.
The FDA approved Cymbalta for treatment of major depression for up to nine weeks. As with similar medications, the drug will carry a label warning doctors and caregivers that patients should be closely monitored when they start taking Cymbalta or change doses.
Cymbalta should be on pharmacy shelves later this month.
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Brain Pacemaker May Help Treat Mental
Illness
An implanted brain pacemaker that may prove effective in treating mental illness, including depression, is being tested by researchers at Butler
Hospital in Providence, R.I.
The study, which includes 10 patients with severe obsessive compulsive
disorder, is the largest to date of the brain stimulator's effectiveness in
treating mental illness, the Boston Globe reported.
Brain stimulators are widely used in people with Parkinson's disease, but
are still experimental for treatment of psychiatric disorders.
Electrodes that deliver stimulation are placed in precise locations in the
brain. These electrodes are attached by wires to two small battery-powered
pulse generators implanted in the chest.
It's believed that the pulses delivered by the electrodes impede bad
signals passing through malfunctioning brain circuits.
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More Money Needed to Eradicate
Polio
Polio can be eradicated worldwide by the end of 2004 as long as there's
enough money to continue vaccination campaigns, says the World Health
Organization (WHO).
The WHO plans to run national polio immunization projects in 22 African countries between now and the end of the year, and vaccination campaigns are continuing in South Asia, BBC News Online reported.
But there's a glitch. The vaccination programs face a funding shortfall of
close to several hundred million dollars. Unless there are more donations
made soon, some of the programs may have to be cancelled.
The polio eradication initiative began in 1988 and achieved some
remarkable successes in the early years. However, it's becoming difficult to
complete the effort.
If polio is not eradicated, it could re-emerge as a major global
disease, experts fear.
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Most Freshwater Fish Tested Has Too Much Mercury
More than half of the freshwater fish sampled by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency had levels of mercury that could be considered unsafe for women of childbearing age, the Washington Post reported Wednesday.
More than 75 percent of the fish sampled also had mercury amounts that exceeded safe levels for children under age 3, according to the environmental group Clear the Air, which compiled the EPA statistics. The data was collected between 1999 and 2001 on more than 2,500 fish taken from 260 of America's rivers, lakes, and streams.
While the federal government has issued guidelines on how much saltwater fish pregnant women and youngsters should consume, it has mostly deferred to local health officials over the freshwater variety, the newspaper reported. As of two years ago, 43 states had issued advisories covering freshwater fish, according to the Post.
Unofficially, the EPA has determined that young children and women of childbearing age can safely eat less than 0.1 micrograms of mercury per kilogram of body weight per day. Less than half the fish in the new survey met that requirement, the Post reported.
Mercury, a toxic metal, is known to cause neurological and developmental problems in children. Coal-fired power plants are the greatest source of mercury pollution, the newspaper said.
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Conjoined Filipino Twins Having Separation Surgery
Two-year-old Filipino boys conjoined at the tops of their heads were undergoing separation surgery at a New York City hospital Wednesday.
This is the fourth and possibly the final operation for Carl and Clarence Aguirre, according to the New York Times. Over the past 10 months, their surgeons at Montefiore Medical Center have attempted to separate them gradually, dispensing with the more traditional approach of separating conjoined twins during a marathon operation usually lasting more than 24 hours.
Like most twins joined at the head, Carl and Clarence were born sharing a large vein, the sagittal sinus, at the back of the skull. Separating the vein -- which can result in severe blood loss and swelling -- is often the most difficult and dangerous part of the separation procedure, the newspaper said.
In the three previous surgeries performed on the twins, doctors have separated other veins at the front and sides of the boys' heads.
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New Drug Plumps Faces Drawn by HIV
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted expedited approval to an injectable filler that compensates for facial fat loss in people infected with the AIDS virus.
The Dermik Laboratories product, called Sculptra, is the first such treatment for lipoatrophy -- a facial wasting condition characterized by sunken cheeks, eyes, and forehead. The synthetic polymer from the alpha-hydroxy-acid family has been used for years in dissolvable stitches, bone screws, and facial implants, the agency said in a statement.
Approval was granted after clinical trials on 277 HIV-positive patients, primarily white males ages 41 to 45. Participants were given three to six injections at two-week intervals, and were followed for two years. Side effects, mostly related to the injection itself, included skin nodules, redness, swelling, and bruising.
An estimated 150,000 to 350,000 people in the United States could benefit from the treatment, the FDA said. The agency cautioned that the product has not been approved for wider cosmetic use.
