Following is a summary of current health news briefs.
Infant mortality rates for full-term babies vary across the
Gluten-free diet may still allow harmful levels of exposure
Carefully following a gluten-free diet might not protectpeople with celiac disease from exposure to potentially harmfulamounts of gluten, new findings suggest. “Individuals who are ona gluten free diet are consuming more gluten than we actuallyimagined. It’s not uncommon for them to be consuming on averagea couple of hundred milligrams a day,” Dr. Jack A. Syage, CEO ofImmunogenX in
GlaxoSmithKline prescribes commercial reboot for pharmadivision
In January, GlaxoSmithKline's new head ofpharmaceuticals Luke Miels issued a blunt challenge to hismanagers: find budget savings of 20 percent. The plan was topool the savings and reallocate the money to priority medicinesand markets for
Childhood `toxic stress’ leads to parenting challenges lateron
Parents who endured “toxic stress” during childhood may bemore likely to have kids with developmental delays and have aharder time coping with their children’s health issues, newresearch suggests. Adverse childhood experiences, commonlycalled ACEs, can include witnessing parents fight or go througha divorce, having a parent with a mental illness or substanceabuse problem, or suffering from sexual, physical or emotionalabuse.
Cut-price copies of an expensive Roche biotech drugfor blood cancer have taken 80 percent of the British marketsince launching last year, saving the healthcare system 80million pounds (
Shoe inserts may not help plantar heel pain
Mass-produced shoe inserts available on drugstore shelvesand customized orthotics may not work for plantar heel pain, aresearch review suggests. Plantar heel pain is one of the mostcommon foot ailments, accounting for about 15 percent of footsymptoms requiring medical attention and 10 percent of runninginjuries, researchers note in the British Journal of SportsMedicine. Many doctors recommend shoe inserts to ease this painby supporting the arches and taking pressure off the heel, butresearch to date has been inconclusive about the effectivenessof this approach.
Scientists develop brain scanner in a helmet
British scientists have developed a lightweight and highlysensitive brain imaging device that can be worn as a helmet,allowing the patient to move about naturally. Results fromtests of the scanner showed that patients were able to stretch,nod and even drink tea or play table tennis while their brainactivity was being recorded, millisecond by millisecond, by themagnetoencephalography (MEG) system.
Endo, others to pay
Endo International Plc and two other companies haveagreed to pay
Longtime
Longtime AIDS researcher Dr. Robert Redfield will be the newdirector of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in
German authorities have confirmed outbreak of the highlypathogenic H5N6 bird flu type at a farm on an island off theGerman North Sea coast, the