Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay:
HIV Drug Trial Halted Due to Liver Worries
Tests of a new HIV drug called aplaviroc have been halted after two patients suffered serious liver damage, GlaxoSmithKline announced Tuesday.
The compound is one of a new generation of drugs called CCR5 antagonists, which are being developed in order to treat HIV patients who've developed resistance to protease inhibitors like AZT, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
GlaxoSmithKline said it has stopped treatment of all 300 HIV patients taking part in the phase II clinical trial of aplaviroc. This trial was being conducted on patients in the United States, Canada and Europe who've never received HIV drugs. The two patients who suffered liver damage did not die and were not given liver transplants.
"We don't know whether (the problems) were drug-related, but in the interest of safety we have notified the investigators to take all the patients off aplaviroc," GlaxoSmithKline spokesperson Rick Koenig told the Inquirer.
Although it halted this trial, GlaxoSmithKline is still testing aplaviroc in a phase III trial involving 40 patients who have previously received other HIV drugs.
Two other drug makers -- Pfizer Inc. and Schering-Plough Corp. -- are also developing CCR5 antagonist drugs and have not reported any liver damage problems, the Inquirer reported.
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FDA Approves First Generic AIDS Drugs for Children
The first generic versions of the lifesaving AIDS drug AZT (zidovudine) have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use by children.
The original drug, GlaxoSmithKline's Retrovir, was approved in 1987 and keeps the AIDS virus from reproducing. It's intended to be used in conjunction with other antiretroviral drugs to treat HIV infection.
Glaxo's patent has expired, and the FDA granted approval to three companies to produce generic equivalents: Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd. of Guragon, India; Aurobindo Pharma Ltd. of Hyderabad, India; and Roxane Laboratories of Columbus, Ohio.
"Generic products help reduce costs to patients and for the first time this antiretroviral drug will be available as a generic pediatric dosage form," Mike Leavitt, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary, said in a prepared statement. "These approvals will now allow those infected with HIV more access to these lifesaving drugs within our country."
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Rural Cancer Doctors Have Less Access to Information: Survey
Cancer doctors who practice in urban areas are much more satisfied than their rural counterparts with access to information, technology, clinical trials, and new drugs, the Oncology World Congress said Tuesday in announcing the results of a new survey.
Some 57 percent of urban oncologists are "very" or "completely" satisfied with access to clinical trials and new technology, versus 30 percent to 33 percent of rural oncologists, the OWC said in a statement. And 67 percent of urban oncologists are "very" or "completely" satisfied with access to new research, compared to 48 percent of those doctors in suburban and rural areas.
Forty-one percent of all doctors polled said standard health insurance coverage and Medicare posed the greatest limitations on their ability to effectively treat patients, the OWC said.
The survey involved 292 oncologists and has a margin of error of 6 percent.
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Air Pollution Increases Risk of Early Death: Study
Air pollution may pose a greater threat to human health and cause more early death than previously believed, according to a study that looked at 22,906 residents of 267 Los Angeles neighborhoods.
The study concluded that air pollution's chronic health effects are two to three times greater than earlier estimated. For each increase of 10 micrograms per cubic meter of fine particles in the air, the risk of death rose by 11 percent to 17 percent.
The risk of death from ischemic heart disease rose 25 percent to 39 percent for every 10-microgram increase of fine particles in the air, the study found.
"By looking at the effects of pollution within communities, not only did we observe pollution's influence on overall mortality, but we saw specific links between particulate matter and death from ischemic heart disease, such as heart attack, as well as lung cancers," study lead author Michael Jerrett, associate professor of preventive medicine at the Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, said in a prepared statement.
The study appears on the Web site of the journal Epidemiology, and will be published in the November print issue of the journal.
Another study by researchers at the Keck School of Medicine says that children who live near a freeway may have an increased risk of asthma. The study of 10 California cities found that the closer children live to a freeway, the more likely they are to be diagnosed with asthma.
"These results suggest that tailpipe pollutants from freeway traffic are a significant risk factor for asthma. Considering the enormous costs associated with childhood asthma, today's public policy toward regulating pollutants may merit some re-evaluation," study author James Gauderman, associate professor of preventive medicine, said in a prepared statement.
The study also appears in the November issue of Epidemiology.
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California Reports Large Increase in Whooping Cough Cases
California has reported nearly three times as many cases of whooping cough so far this year as it did during the same period in 2004, says the state's Department of Health Services.
Through August, California had recorded 1,276 whooping cough cases and four deaths. Last year, the state had 450 cases and two deaths over the same time span, the Associated Press reported.
State officials said improved testing and diagnosis, rather than an increase in actual cases, may explain the higher 2005 figures.
Whooping cough, which causes severe coughing and can last for months, is spread through coughs and sneezes.
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Weight Recommendations for Pregnant Women
Women need to think about their weight before they become pregnant, say new weight-control guidelines for pregnant women released by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
While obesity increases the risk of miscarriage and other serious pregnancy complications, dieting during pregnancy can harm the unborn baby. That's why women need to think about their weight before they become pregnant, according to the recommendations.
The guidelines also recommend specific measures for overweight mothers-to-be, the Associated Press reported. The measures include: nutritional counseling to prevent too much weight gain during pregnancy and earlier-than-normal testing for gestational diabetes.
The recommendations note that the idea of "eating for two" during pregnancy is a myth. Women who are skinny before they become pregnant should gain 25 to 35 pounds, while women who are overweight before pregnancy should gain only 15 to 25 pounds. Obese women should gain only 15 pounds during pregnancy, the AP reported.
Mild exercise, such as walking, is recommended to help pregnant women burn calories and lower blood pressure.
