Health Highlights: Dec. 22, 2006

Antibody Raises Hopes for Alzheimer's TreatmentDietary Supplement Burns FatLocation Affects U.S. Health Insurance CostsSurgeons More Handsome Than Other Docs: StudySlow Start to Flu Season in U.S.Young Cyclists at Risk for Head and Neck Injuries: Report

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

Antibody Raises Hopes for Alzheimer's Treatment

An antibody that may hinder production of a brain protein associated with Alzheimer's disease has been developed by scientists at Cardiff University in Great Britain.

"Highly encouraging" tests of the antibody showed that it's possible to decrease production of the protein amyloid, BBC News reported. A build-up of amyloid deposits that impair brain functioning is believed to be a major factor in Alzheimer's disease.

By limiting or reducing the build-up of amyloids, this new antibody may help improve memory and quality of life in Alzheimer's patients, the researchers said.

Along with providing a potential treatment for Alzheimer's, it may be possible to use the antibody as a preventive treatment for people in families with a history of the disease, BBC News reported.

The research appears in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.

There is currently no known cure for Alzheimer's. It will take many more years of research to determine if this antibody may be an effective treatment for the disease, the researchers said.

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Dietary Supplement Burns Fat

A common dietary fat supplement called conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) helped overweight adults burn fat, even through the holiday season, says a study by American and Canadian researchers.

The six-month study included 40 overweight people, mainly women, who were divided into two groups. One group took a daily supplement of CLA while the other group took a placebo, CBC News reported.

Over the course of the study, the people in the CLA group lost an average of 2.2 pounds of fat and tended to lose fat from the abdomen. This type of fat is believed to increase the risk of heart disease. In contrast, the participants in the placebo group gained an average of 1.5 pounds in November and December alone.

"Despite no differences between the CLA and placebo group with regards to calorie intake or physical activity throughout the study, the CLA group still managed to lose weight prior to the holiday season and didn't gain any weight over the holidays," said study author Andrea Buchholz, professor of applied nutrition at the University of Guelph in Canada.

The study was published in the International Journal of Obesity.

CLA is a form of naturally occurring polyunsaturated fat found in meat and dairy products. CLA supplements are available in health-food stores and pharmacies. While animal studies have suggested that CLA helps burn existing fat and impedes proliferation of new fat cells, previous research in humans has yielded inconsistent findings, CBC News reported.

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Location Affects U.S. Health Insurance Costs

For Americans, the city in which they live can have a major impact on individual and family health insurance costs, reveals a study from the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).

The estimates are from the AHRQ's Medical Expenditure Panel Survey for 2004, the most current data. Here are some highlights:

  • For family health insurance plans, Seattle workers contributed the most (an average of $3,299 a year), while New York City-area workers contributed the least ($1,851).
  • Average family coverage premiums were highest in New York ($11,244) and lowest ($8,521) in the Riverside, Calif., metro area, which includes San Bernardino and Ontario.
  • For individual coverage, Boston workers paid the most ($867) while those in Riverside, Calif., paid the least ($449).
  • Average premiums for single coverage were highest in San Francisco ($4,185) and lowest in Riverside ($3,012).

The agency's analysis also compares health insurance costs within states. For example, workers in the northern and central counties of New Jersey and part of the New Jersey shore contributed an average of $1,676 for family coverage, compared to an average of $3,079 for workers who lived in areas such as Atlantic City and Camden, which are farther from New York City.

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Surgeons More Handsome Than Other Docs: Study

Surgeons are taller and better looking than other doctors, according to jovial Spanish study in the Christmas issue of the British Medical Journal.

Some University of Barcelona Hospital doctors had noticed that the tallest, most handsome male medical students were more likely to go into surgery. Shorter students were more likely to become other types of doctors, CBC News reported.

The study authors decided to test their theory by randomly selecting 12 male surgeons and 12 other male doctors. Photos of the participants were shown to eight women (three doctors and five nurses) who were about the same age as the men.

The study found that, on average, the women rated senior male surgeons as better looking than senior male physicians, CBC News reported.

"Male surgeons are taller and better looking than physicians, but whether these differences are genetic or environmental is unclear," the study authors wrote.

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Slow Start to Flu Season in U.S.

There has been a slow start to the flu season in the United States this year, according to health officials.

In a report released Thursday for the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR, statistics showed that influenza activity remained low in the country overall between Oct. 1 and Dec. 9, but did increase in the southeastern states.

So far this season, influenza A (H1) viruses have been the most common, and most of those viruses are well matched by this year's influenza vaccine, the report said

Patient visits for influenza-like illness and influenza and pneumonia death rates have not exceeded national baseline levels, the report said. No influenza-associated hospitalizations from the Emerging Infections Program or New Vaccine Surveillance Network systems or influenza-related children's deaths have been reported to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which publishes the MMWR.

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Young Cyclists at Risk for Head and Neck Injuries: Report

During 2002-04, head and neck injuries accounted for almost two-thirds of 1,035 visits to emergency departments in Wisconsin for treatment of bicycle- and tricycle-related injuries to children younger than age 6, says a report in the current Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).

Most of the injuries, which included riders and passengers, did not involve motor vehicles. The emergency room charges associated with these injuries were more than $650,000. Boys were injured more often than girls, and most of these kinds of injuries occurred between April through September.

Previous studies have shown that helmets reduce the risk of cycling-related head injuries. Parents who buy bicycles or tricycles for their children should also buy a helmet for their youngsters, the report authors said.

MMWR is published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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