Health Highlights: Oct. 30, 2017

FDA May Revoke Health Claim That Soy Helps the HeartBoy Hospitalized After Father's Arrest Prevented Kidney Transplant

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

FDA May Revoke Health Claim That Soy Helps the Heart

The health claim that soy protein reduces the risk of heart disease may be revoked by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

"For the first time, we have considered it necessary to propose a rule to revoke a health claim because numerous studies published since the claim was authorized in 1999 have presented inconsistent findings on the relationship between soy protein and heart disease," the FDA's Susan Mayne said in statement.

"While some evidence continues to suggest a relationship between soy protein and a reduced risk of heart disease -- including evidence reviewed by the FDA when the claim was authorized -- the totality of currently available scientific evidence calls into question the certainty of this relationship," she said.

"For example, some studies, published after the FDA authorized the health claim, show inconsistent findings concerning the ability of soy protein to lower heart-damaging low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol. Our review of that evidence has led us to conclude that the relationship between soy protein and heart disease does not meet the rigorous standard for an FDA-authorized health claim," Mayne explained.

If the FDA decides to revoke the current authorized health claim, it would still allow a qualified health claim if there is sufficient evidence to support a link between soy protein and a reduced risk of heart disease.

A qualified health claim requires a lower scientific standard of evidence than an authorized health claim.

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Boy Hospitalized After Father's Arrest Prevented Kidney Transplant

A toddler who didn't receive a planned kidney transplant from his jailed father was hospitalized on the weekend.

A.J. Burgess was supposed to receive the kidney transplant from his father earlier this month. But the father was prevented from donating a kidney after he was arrested and put in county jail, the Washington Post reported.

The family's lawyer said 2-year-old A.J. was admitted Sunday to hospital with peritonitis, an inflammation of the tissue lining the inner wall of the abdomen caused by a bacterial or fungal infection.

The boy is now being treated with antibiotics, and every "day he goes without the transplant is a day he suffers," attorney Mawuli Davis told the Post.

The father, Anthony Dickerson, was arrested days before the scheduled transplant on charges of possession of a firearm and fleeing or attempting to elude police, according to officials.

Dickerson was released from Gwinnett County Jail so that he could undergo the surgery to donate a kidney to his son, Shannon Volkodav, a spokeswoman for the Gwinnett County Sheriff's Office, previously said, the Post reported.

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