CHRISTMAS TREE BARK MAY HELP FIGHT ARTHRITIS
Finnish scientists say anti-inflammatory compounds found in bark from Scotch pines, widely used as Christmas trees, may help fight arthritis. They say the compounds, which show promise in cell studies, are likely to be found in other pine species as well. The compounds, called phenolics, are a class of highly active plant chemicals tied to beneficial health effects, say the authors of the study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. "In the future, this may mean that people with arthritis may ease their pain by eating food supplements made from Christmas trees," says study leader Kalevi Pihlaja, a chemistry professor at the University of Turku.
C-SECTION MAY RAISE VAGINAL DELIVERY RISKS
A U.S. medical journal report shows a vaginal birth after a cesarean section may carry more risk than another C-section. The study, reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, indicates vaginal birth following a C-section may be slightly more dangerous for baby and mother. A C-section delivery, however, may lead to a slightly increased risk of a ruptured uterus and other complications, as well as infection of the uterus, and the need for transfusions in a subsequent vaginal birth, the researchers say. "This information is relevant for counseling women about their choices after a cesarean section," says Dr. Margaret Harper of Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. Cesarean sections comprised 26 percent of all births in 2002. The U.S. Public Health Service, which wants to reduce the rate to 15 percent, had set a goal that 37 percent of women who had a cesarean section would try vaginal delivery for the next child.
FARSIGHTEDNESS PROCEDURE APPROVED
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has cleared the VISX Custom Vue procedure for hyperopia (farsightedness) and astigmatism. Some 45 million Americans have hyperopia. The CustomVue laser procedure uses the VISX WaveScan Diagnostic System, which captures a comprehensive "fingerprint" of each eye and generates an individualized treatment for each procedure, says investigator Dr. Colman Kraff at the Kraff Eye Institute in Chicago. A clinical study suggests CustomVue has the potential to deliver better vision than contacts or glasses, he says.
DRUG MAY HELP WEIGHT LOSS
The anti-obesity drug AOD 9604 has passed initial tests, Australian researchers say. The 12-week test involving 300 obese patients showed the drug, developed at Monash University in Melbourne, can help induce weight loss and appears to cause no serious side effects, the developers say. In the trial, those taking a pill a day lost an average 6.17 pounds, thrice the amount shed by those taking a placebo, the researches say. More than 20 percent of the adult population in developed countries are obese and more than half are overweight. The first-of-its-kind drug, which stimulates the breakdown of fat through the body's metabolism, is now in the final human trials, the researchers say. It differs from most other obesity drugs, which reduce appetite or food absorption.
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(Editors: For more information about TREE, contact Michael Bernstein at (202) 872-6042 or [email protected]. C-SECTION, Karen Richardson at (336) 716-4453 or [email protected]. For FARSIGHTEDNESS, John Carney at (212) 477-0472 or [email protected]. For DRUG, Ivette Almeida at (212) 983-1702, ext. 209 or [email protected])
