Study: Whooping cough vaccine protection wears off
An empty bottle of Tetanus, Diphthera and Pertussis, (whooping cough) vaccine sits on display at Inderkum High School, Monday, Sept. 19, 2011, in Sacramento, Calif.
/ Rich PedroncelliThere are several formulations to get vaccinated for whooping cough, also known as pertussis. DTaP is a five dose series recommended at 2,4 or 6 months; 15 through 18 months and 4 through 6 years of age. Tdap is a booster dose given to people 11 to 12 years old, pregnant women and any adult that has not previously had been vaccinated.
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A study published online in the Sept. 12 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine found that the protective effect weakens dramatically soon after a youngster gets the last of the five recommended shots around age 6.
Portland to add fluoride to city's water supply
A protestor with a banner interrupts a Portland City Council vote on whether to add fluoride to water in Oregon's largest city on Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2012. The City Council approved a plan Wednesday to fluoridate the city's water supply.
/ APThe ordinance approved Wednesday morning calls for the city water to be fluoridated by March 2014.
In liberal Portland, fluoride issue resurfaces
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U.S. says too much fluoride in water
Health experts say fluoride is effective against decay by providing teeth with frequent contact with low levels of fluoride throughout each day. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cite studies that show water fluoridation reduces tooth decay nearly 25 percent over a person's lifetime. The agency also said its been studied for more than 65 years and has shown strong evidence of its safety and efficacy.
Opponents of public fluoridation say it's unsafe and violates an individual's right to consent to medication. They also add that council members rushed into action without a public vote, and they plan to collect signatures to force a referendum in May 2014.
Voters in Portland twice rejected fluoridation before approving it in 1978. But that plan was overturned before any fluoride was ever added to the water.
Portland's drinking water already contains naturally occurring fluoride, though not at levels considered to be effective at fighting cavities.
Portland City Commissioner Nick Fish, who co-sponsored the plan, has said more than 200 million Americans drink water with added fluoride, and it doesn't appear to have caused great harm. Most mainstream health organizations, such as the American Medical Association and American Dental Association, endorse it as safe.
Public fluoridation came up this week in Phoenix when a public stir prompted re-examination of a policy in place since 1989. After a contentious hearing Tuesday, council members voted to continue adding fluoride to the water in the nation's sixth-largest city.
Grand Rapids, Michigan became the world's first city to fluoridate its water supply on January 25, 1945, according to the American Dental Association.
The CDC says more than 204 million Americans are served by community water supplies that contain enough fluoride to protect dental health - about 74 percent of the country. For its Healthy People campaign, the agency hopes to boost that level to about 80 percent of Americans by 2020.
Daily steroid use may not aid some asthma patients
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Researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston discovered that patients who used corticosteroids prescribed daily to control their symptoms did not show any more improvements in their condition compared to those who only used the medication when they were having an attack.
"The discovery that these two courses of treatment do not differ significantly could eventually change the way doctors and patients manage asthma, providing an option that is easier to follow and possibly less expensive," lead author Dr. William J. Calhoun, professor and vice chair for research in internal medicine at UTMB, said in the press release. "Our findings build on a considerable foundation of research in the field and come at a time when asthma cases are rising at an alarming rate - especially in lower-income communities."
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Texas mom to get US' first double arm transplant
This photo provided by the Hayes family shows Katy Hayes and her new daughter Arielle, at their Texas home following Katy's amputations.
/ Brigham and Women's HospitalThe 43-year-old mother of three from Kingwood, Texas joined doctors today at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston to announce the milestone at a press conference, CBS Boston reported.
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Four days after giving birth to her third child in 2010, Katy developed Streptococcal A infection and slipped into a coma. To save her life and prevent the spread of the infection, doctors had to amputate her arms and legs.
"Both the doctors looked at me and said that I was going to die and that we should prepare the family for my demise," Hayes recalled Wednesday at the press conference.
Continue »Study finds no heart benefits from omega-3 pills
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(CBS News) Omega-3 fatty acid supplements like fish oil pills are taken by many to boost heart health, but new research suggests the pills aren't having their intended effects.
The study of nearly 70,000 people found taking omega-3 fatty acid supplements did not reduce a person's risk for heart attack, stroke, cardiac or sudden death or death from any cause.
Taking omega-3 supplements may provide no mental or cognitive benefit
Watch: Fish and your brain: Benefits of omega-3 fatty acids
Eating fish no help for heart? What new study says
Previous research has shown that omega-3 pills may be effective in staving off major heart problems because of the supplement's ability to lower triglyceride levels (fat in the blood), lower blood pressure, prevent against dangerous arrhythmias and decrease clotting.
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CDC: 2,636 cases of West Nile virus so far in 2012
CBS News
Forty-eight states have reported cases of West Nile infection in people, birds and mosquitoes, with Alaska and Hawaii the only exceptions. As of Sept. 11, there have been 2,636 cases of West Nile virus disease in people this year, including 118 deaths. Of these, 1,405 (53 percent) were classified as neuroinvasive or brain-related which includes infections like meningitis or encephalitis, and 1,231 (47 percent) were classified as non-neuroinvasive disease, sometimes referred to as West Nile fever. It is the highest number reported through September since a 2003 outbreak.
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Two-thirds of all the cases have been reported from six states - Texas, Louisiana, South Dakota, Mississippi, Michigan, and Oklahoma - with 40 percent of all cases coming from Texas. Previously, Dallas County officials declared a state of emergency, and the city has undergone several aerial sprayings of insecticide to control the mosquito population.
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L'Oreal warned by FDA about anti-aging products
THE FDA said that the Genifique Repair Youth Activating Night Cream's claims that it "boosts the activity of genes" made it a pharmaceutical that needed to go through a further approval process.
/ Lancome websiteIn particular, the FDA is alleging because the products say they "are intended to affect the structure or any function of the human body" it makes them drugs under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. Drugs cannot be marketed in the U.S. without approval from the FDA unless they go through the new drug approval process in which they must be vetted by approved experts.
Some of the products that raised a red flag include but are not limited to Genifique Youth Activating Concentrate, Genifique Eye Youth Activating Eye Concentrate, Genifique Cream Serum Youth Activating Cream Serum, Genifique Repair Youth Activating Night Cream, Absolue Precious Cells Advanced Regenerating and Reconstructing Cream SPF 15 Sunscreen, Absolue Eye Precious Cells Advanced Regenerating and Reconstructing Eye Cream, Absolue Night Precious Cells Advanced Regenerating and Reconstructing Night Cream and Renergie Microlift Eye R.A.R.E. Intense Repositioning Eye Lifter. The products claimed to "boost the activity of genes," "improve the condition of stem cells," and/or "stimulate cell regeneration."
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McDonald's to post calorie counts nationwide
McDonald's
(CBS/AP) NEW YORK - McDonald's restaurants across the country will now post calorie information next all its foods, the world's biggest burger chain announced Wednesday.
The company said that it will post calorie information on restaurant and drive-thru menus nationwide starting Monday. The move comes ahead of a regulation that could require major chains to post the information as early as next year.
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"We want to voluntarily do this," said Jan Fields, president of McDonald's USA. "We believe it will help educate customers."
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Deadly flesh-eating bacteria survivor talks battle
This image released by Disney-ABC Domestic Television shows host Katie Couric, right, applauding as Aimee Copeland, 24, who survived a rare fleshing-eating disease, as she arrives with a new walker for an exclusive interview on the daytime talk show "Katie," Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2012, in New York.
/ APAimee Copeland aims for independence in rehab from flesh-eating bacteria
Aimee Copeland heads home after four-month recovery from flesh-eating bacteria
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The 24-year-old University of West Georgia graduate student walked onto stage Tuesday on Couric's new show, "Katie," using a new walker. Copeland was joined in New York by her parents and sister.
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Pain pills may up death risk after heart attack
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Ibuprofen may ward off altitude sickness
Skin cancer risk reduced by taking aspirin, ibuprofen, study shows
A new study in the American Heart Association's Journal, Circulation, raises concern about taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Such drugs include the over-the-counter pills ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin), naproxen (Aleve) and prescriptions such as Celebrex (celecoxib).
Researchers from Copenhagen University Hospital Gentofte in Denmark looked at 100,000 Danes who were 30 and older who had a first heart attack between 1997 and 2009 to see if they had been prescribed an NSAID afterwards.
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Heavy drinkers may be at higher risk for stroke
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Women's stroke risk reduced with glass of alcohol each day: Study
Red wine may reduce men's blood pressure - but only if it's non-alcoholic
"Heavy drinking has been consistently identified as a risk factor for this type of stroke, which is caused by bleeding in the brain rather than a blood clot," said study author Dr. Charlotte Cordonnier, a neurologist with the University of Lille Nord de France in Lille, France, said in a press release. "Our study focuses on the effects of heavy alcohol use on the timeline of stroke and the long-term outcome for those people."
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US panel recommends against ovarian cancer tests
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The statement, published on Sept. 11 in Annals of Internal Medicine, reaffirms the panel's 2004 recommendation against ovarian cancer screening.
Study: Taller women may be at higher risk for ovarian cancer
Ovarian cancer symptoms hard to detect: What every woman should know
Ovarian cancer is the fifth-most common cancer among women and causes more deaths than any other type of female reproductive cancer, according to the National Institutes of Health. Older women are at highest risk for developing the disease, with most deaths from ovarian cancer occurring in women 55 and older.
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7-year-old leaves hospital after bubonic plague
Seven-year-old Sierra Jane Downing from Pagosa Springs, Colo., smiles during a news conference about her recovery from bubonic plague at the Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children at Presbyterian/St. Luke's Sept. 5, 2012, in Denver.
/ AP Photo/Jack Dempsey(CBS/AP) DENVER - A 7-year-old girl who reportedly was infected with the bubonic plague after burying a dead squirrel is now well enough to go home.
Sierra Jane Downing of Pagosa Springs, Colo. left the Denver hospital Monday afternoon.
7-year-old Colorado girl contracts "black death" bubonic plague
Her father had taken her to an emergency room in Pagosa Springslate Aug. 24 after she had a seizure and 107-degree fever. Sierra Jane eventually was flown to Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children in Denver, where doctors diagnosed her with bubonic plague.
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Acupuncture: An effective treatment for pain?
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Some believe its only powers are a psychological, placebo effect. But some doctors believe even if that's the explanation for acupuncture's effectiveness, there's no reason not to offer it if it makes people feel better.
One of the oldest healing practices in the world, acupuncture aims to stimulate specific points on the body to restore and maintain health or control pain or stress. The technique most often studied involves penetatring the skin with thin, solid, metallic needles that are stimulated electrically or by the hands, and it is a key component in traditional Chinese medicine.
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Several weekly sessions are usually involved, typically costing about $60 to $100 per session.
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Feds to fund cancer care for 9/11 responders
In this Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001 file photo, pedestrians flee the dust-filled area surrounding the World Trade Center following a terrorist attack on the New York landmark.
/ Amy SancettaDemocratic New York Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Charles Schumer issued a statement with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) on the change Monday.
Federal health officials propose free cancer care for 9/11 first responders
Watch: Study shows rise of cancer in 9/11 firefighters
"It took too long, but the right thing is finally being done for 9/11 heroes,"Sen. Charles Schumer said in a statement to CBS New York station WCBS.
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