UPI NewsTrack Health and Science News

Discovery launch delayed until April

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., Feb. 17 (UPI) -- NASA says cold conditions at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida have forced it to postpone the next space shuttle launch until April.

Space agency managers have targeted April 5 for the launch of shuttle Discovery and its STS-131 mission to the International Space Station.

Discovery's seven crew members had planned to lift off March 18, but the cold conditions delayed the shuttle's move to the space center's Vehicle Assembly Building to complete processing, which in turn has delayed the rollout to the launch pad, officials said.

"The space shuttle program has specific rules against transporting the shuttle when temperatures are below a certain level for extended periods," NASA said in a statement, noting the vehicle has thrusters with seals that could leak in low temperatures.

The space agency said two STS-131 crew members -- NASA astronaut Clay Anderson and Japanese astronaut Naoko Yamazaki -- are tweeting about preparing for the mission. Their tweets can be followed at http://www.twitter.com/Astro_Clay and http://www.twitter.com/Astro_Naoko.

Botox may help some with migraines

ENCINCO, Calif., Feb. 17 (UPI) -- Botox injections used for cosmetic purposes may be associated with reduced frequency of some migraine headaches, U.S. researchers suggest.

Migraine headaches affect approximately 28 million Americans, causing pain that is often debilitating. Some people have migraines they describe as crushing, vise-like or stick-a-finger-in-your-eye kind of headaches -- imploding -- while others describe their migraines as a buildup of pressure inside the head -- exploding.

Dr. Christine Kim, formerly of SkinCare Physicians in Chestnut Hill, Mass., and currently in private practice in Encino, Calif., and colleagues looked at patients' pain characteristics after clinical trials of the cosmetic use of botulinum toxin type A, known by its trade name Botox.

The researchers looked at patients reporting a history of migraines about to receive Botox injections for cosmetic reasons. Ten described their headaches as imploding, nine patients had exploding headaches, and a few patients had more than one type.

The study, published in the Archives of Dermatology, said three months after treatment 13 patients had responded to the treatment with a reduction in migraine pain, including 10 who had imploding or ocular headaches and three who had exploding headaches. All six of the patients who did not respond had exploding headaches.

The findings invite consideration of using Botox injections to prevent migraine headaches, but well-controlled trials need to be conducted to confirm these findings, the researchers said.

NASA: Greenland's glaciers melting quickly

PASADENA, Calif., Feb. 17 (UPI) -- NASA scientists say glaciers in west Greenland are melting 100 times faster at their end points beneath the ocean than they are at their surfaces.

A study by the space agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., the University of California-Irvine and the University of British Columbia involved measuring the undersea melting rates of four glaciers during the summer of 2008.

The scientists said their findings suggest undersea melting caused by warmer ocean waters is playing an important, if not dominant, role in the current evolution of Greenland's glaciers -- a factor that had previously been overlooked.

Scientists Eric Rignot, Isabella Velicogna and Michele Koppes said they used oceanographic equipment in the glacier fjords, sampling the water at various depths to measure ocean currents, temperature and salinity, along with the depth of the fjords.

Rignot said the new study complements other research on the effects of ocean conditions in Greenland fjords.

"Our study fills the gap by actually looking at these submarine melt rates, something that had never been done before in Greenland," Rignot said. "The results indicate rather large values that have vast implications for the evolution of the glaciers if ocean waters within these fjords continue to warm."

The findings are reported in the early online edition of the journal Nature Geoscience.

FDA warns of mixing Maalox products

WASHINGTON, Feb. 17 (UPI) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says it has issued a side-effect safety warning about mistakenly using two Maalox products for the same symptoms.

The FDA said Maalox Total Relief and other Maalox products are intended for the relief of different symptoms and contain different active ingredients. The federal agency said Maalox Total Relief is an upset-stomach reliever and anti-diarrheal medication, while traditional Maalox liquid products Maalox Advanced Regular Strength and Maalox Advanced Maximum Strength are antacids.

"Maalox Total Relief and Maalox are not interchangeable and shouldn't be used in place of each other," said Carol Holquist, director of the FDA's Division of Medication Error Prevention and Analysis.

The FDA said the maker of Maalox-brand products, Novartis Consumer Health Inc., has agreed to change the name of Maalox Total Relief to one that does not include the word "Maalox" and will also change the drug's packaging to avoid further confusion.

Until the renamed product is available, the FDA says it's advising consumers and healthcare professionals to carefully check the labels of all Maalox products to ensure the appropriate product is being selected for correct symptoms.