Health Tip: Having Blood Drawn?

(HealthDay News) -- Many doctors ask their patients to provide a blood sample to test for a specific disease or condition, or to help gauge the patient's overall health.

Modern blood tests are very safe procedures, the Palo Alto Medical Foundation says. You are at no risk of catching a disease, such as AIDS or hepatitis, or getting an infection from having your blood drawn. The people who draw your blood should always wear gloves and use one-time, disposable needles.

Side effects from having blood drawn typically are quite minor, and may include:
Bruising or minor swelling at the site of the injection. These symptoms can be soothed with an ice pack.

Light-headedness or dizziness from watching someone draw your blood.

People who take blood-thinning medications such as Coumadin may require a pressure bandage.

Expanded HIV Testing Pays Off: Studies

(HealthDay News) -- Making HIV screening routine in emergency rooms and at gay pride events expands the number of people getting tested and helps those who are HIV-positive get access to needed health care, new research found.

About one-quarter of the estimated one million people in the United States infected with the virus that causes AIDS don't know they have it. Consequently, they are at heightened risk for transmitting the virus to others, according to two reports published in the June 22 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

The reports come out just in time for National HIV Testing Day, June 27, and planned gay pride celebrations in many U.S. cities this weekend.

Study co-author Patrick Sullivan is chief of the behavioral and clinical surveillance branch, part of the CDC's division of HIV/AIDS Prevention. He said, "Routinely offering testing at emergency departments for people seeking care for other conditions is feasible and acceptable. The goal is to make testing available to as many people as possible."

"This is an important strategy to help people know their status," he said.

For the first report, researchers analyzed routine HIV testing that had been implemented in one hospital emergency department in Los Angeles, one in New York City and one in Oakland, Calif., in 2004 and 2005 as part of a CDC initiative.

Between January 2005 and March 2006, 186,415 people visited the emergency departments, 18.6 percent of whom (34,627) were offered rapid HIV tests. Nearly 60 percent (almost 21,000) of those offered agreed to be tested, and 9,365 received a rapid test.

Of those tested, 1 percent (97 patients) received a preliminary positive result for HIV infection, and 88 percent of those identified as HIV-positive were linked to appropriate care.

If only those persons reporting risky behaviors (male-to-male sexual contact, intravenous drug use, commercial sex work, or diagnosis of a sexually transmitted disease) had been offered testing, 48 percent of the people with newly diagnosed HIV infection would not have been tested, the study said.

These findings essentially paved the way for the CDC's revised recommendations in 2006 that call for HIV testing to become a routine part of medical services, using a voluntary "opt-out" approach.

For the second study, CDC researchers analyzed data from a survey of minorities who had attended gay pride events in nine U.S. cities from 2004 to 2006.

CDC representatives offered rapid HIV testing to survey participants who reported that they had not previously been diagnosed with HIV. Of 543 men surveyed, 133 agreed to be tested. Six percent (eight men) of those tested were HIV-positive. Four had had a negative test within the past year.

More than one-quarter of 229 participants had not seen a health-care provider within the past year and, of those who had, only 40 percent had been offered an HIV test.

The CDC sees HIV testing at gay pride events as part of a larger strategy to encourage testing among gay men. Testing in such settings is especially important to reach people who may not have regular access to health care, the CDC said.

Dr. Lisa Kudlacek Cornelius is an assistant professor of internal medicine with the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine and chairwoman of infection control/hospital epidemiologist with Scott & White Hospital in Temple. She said, "The important thing is to bring people into care sooner, before they have an AIDS-related illness."

With rapid testing, she added, "They have their answer within 20 minutes, but with testing, you also need counseling."

More information
Find out more about National HIV Testing Day, including where to get tested.

Antiques Can Pose a Mercury Danger Today

(HealthDay News) -- The case of a tipped-over clock has put the spotlight on the dangers of mercury-containing antiques, health experts say.

Many such items of years gone by -- including barometers, thermometers, lamps, clocks and mirrors -- contain the toxin and can pose a real threat to health, according to an article in this week's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, a publication of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Mercury can damage the nervous system, brain, kidneys, and developing fetuses.

Over time, mercury in antique items can leak out as seals age or when the items are damaged, dropped or moved improperly. Vacuuming up a mercury spill or vaporization from spill-contaminated surfaces such as carpets, floors, furniture, mops, or brooms can release mercury into the air.

The MMWR article, written by experts at the New York State Department of Health, describes a number of cases where mercury leaked from antique items, including an incident in a Southhold, N.Y., home last year where about a half a liter of mercury leaked from an antique pendulum clock after it fell and broke open.

The residents of the home had to be evacuated until a full environmental cleanup was completed and it was confirmed that the home was safe.

In other incidents, mercury used to add weight to the base of a lamp oozed out on to a roadway as the lamp was being moved, and a small amount of mercury fell off the back of an antique mirror onto a carpet in a private home.

None of the people involved in this or the other incidents suffered any health problems, but the cases underscore the need for caution when handling antiques that contain mercury and for proper cleanup of mercury spills, said the authors of the article.

Here are some safety guidelines:
Don't buy antiques that contain mercury. If there's any doubt, have the seller verify that the item is mercury-free.

If you have mercury-containing antiques in your home: Inspect each item thoroughly for cracks or leaks; replace or remove mercury-containing components if possible, but do not attempt to drain or replace the mercury.

Mercury is a hazardous waste. Contact your local or state health or environmental department for advice on cleaning up or disposing of mercury.

Ensure antiques with mercury are kept out of reach of children and that children are educated about the dangers of mercury.

When handling mercury-containing items: Move slowly; support the item with padding; don't turn the item horizontal; keep barometers at a 45-degree angle when moving.

More information
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has more about mercury-containing products.

New Techniques Could Spot Alzheimer's Early

(HealthDay News) -- Three groups of researchers are reporting progress on the early detection of Alzheimer's disease -- advances that, if validated, could aid patients and drug developers alike, experts said.

In one study, a Norwegian team identified a gene expression "signature" that distinguishes people with Alzheimer's from healthy individuals with an up-to-85 percent accuracy.
In other research, U.S. scientists reported that a combination of brain imaging techniques with sophisticated "pattern recognition software" could differentiate those with mild cognitive impairment (an early form of Alzheimer's) from those without the condition with 100 percent accuracy.

Finally, another U.S. study reveals that key diagnostic algorithms can predict an individual's six-year risk of developing dementia with at least 87 percent accuracy.

The results were announced Sunday at the Alzheimer's Association's International Conference on Prevention of Dementia in Washington, D.C.

There currently is no cure for Alzheimer's disease, which the Alzheimer's Association now estimates affects nearly five million Americans. Existing treatments can slow progression of the brain-wasting disease, but by the time an individual has been diagnosed the disease has typically been at work for years and extensive, irreparable tissue damage has already occurred.

Diagnosis is currently done simply by observing patients and is only about 80 percent accurate.
According to Greg Cole, associate director of research for the Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center at the Greater Los Angeles Veterans Administration Medical Center, early detection of Alzheimer's disease can aid both patients and those scientists searching for a cure.

Patients benefit, he says, because earlier treatment can minimize tissue loss and thus improve quality of life.

"It's like termite damage," he said. "You want to repair the damage before they destroy your house, you will be so much better off."

Pharmaceutical companies, on the other hand, can more confidently identify affected populations, which can reduce the size and cost of clinical trials, and thus enable them to perform more of them.

The Norwegian study, led by Anders Lonneborg, research director at DiaGenic ASA in Oslo, focused on gene expression profiling of an individual's blood.

Using a 1,200-gene DNA microarray, his team could distinguish those with Alzheimer's disease from those who were healthy with 85 percent accuracy. Using a smaller set of genes (fewer than 96) and a technique called RT-PCR, the team achieved an accuracy of 79.5 percent.

But that was using samples from individuals whose disease was so far advanced that they could be diagnosed clinically, anyway. It remains to be seen, Cole said, if the test can pick out individuals much earlier in the disease process, when treatment might be more effective.

That, Lonneborg added, is the next step. "Now we will test [the diagnostic] on risk groups who have minor memory problems and see if we can predict who will develop Alzheimer's disease in a few years. This will be very interesting to see how it works," he said.

A second study tackled early diagnosis using sophisticated brain imaging. The technique was developed by a team led by Christos Davatzikos, of the department of radiology at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

Combining MRIs of brain structure with positron emission tomography (PET) measurements of cerebral blood flow, the new test uses pattern recognition software to identify spatial patterns that pinpoint with 100 percent accuracy whether an individual does or does not have mild cognitive impairment.

Using data from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging, Davatzikos' team gained access to individual patients' brain images and blood work from over a period of years.

"We found that even before the most subtle clinical symptoms, when they were healthy, we were able to see abnormality scores that were indicative of mild cognitive impairment in at least half of them," said Davatzikos. "So there were early signs."

Cole applauded this test's accuracy, but noted that it is unlikely to have wide application because of its cost -- several thousand dollars. Davatzikos said his team is now working to balance the test's accuracy and cost, for instance, by optimizing the accuracy of MRI-based tests alone.
Finally, a team led by Deborah Barnes, assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco, is using a special "bedside" algorithm, or formula, to try and predict an individual's dementia risk.

This tool -- akin to similar methods for calculating the risk of cardiovascular disease or diabetes -- predicts with up to 88 percent accuracy whether an individual will develop dementia over the next six years.

Based on such variables as age, cognitive function and physical performance, the index is an inexpensive, fast and practical algorithm that groups individuals into low-, medium-, and high-risk categories. Those in the low-risk group have a 6 percent risk of developing dementia, compared to 54 percent for those in the high-risk category.

According to Barnes, such an index can provide comfort to those least likely to develop disease while motivating those at higher risk to adopt a healthier lifestyle.

At the same time, it provides information so their families may begin planning for whatever the future may bring, she added.

More information
For more information on Alzheimer's Disease, visit the Alzheimer's Association.

Smoking, Sleeplessness Tough on Oral Health

(HealthDay News) -- Sleepless smokers are at greatest risk for poor oral health, according to a Japanese study looking at the risk factors for gum disease.

The researchers tracked 219 factory workers from 1999 to 2003. The workers were evaluated on the following lifestyle factors: exercise, alcohol consumption, smoking, hours of sleep, nutrition, stress, hours worked, and eating breakfast.

Smoking was found to be the leading factor independently associated with the progression of periodontal (gum) disease, according to the report, which is published in the May issue of the Journal of Periodontology. More than 41 percent of the workers with progressive periodontal disease were smokers, the researchers found.

A lack of sleep was the second most important factor. Workers who got seven to eight hours of sleep per night had less periodontal disease progression than those who slept six hours or less per night.

Lead author Dr. Muneo Tanaka said that suggests a "shortage of sleep can impair the body's immune response which may lead to the progression of diseases such as periodontal disease."

High stress levels and daily alcohol consumption also had a significant impact on periodontal disease progression, the study found.

"This study points out to patients that there are lifestyle factors other than brushing and flossing that may affect their oral health. Simple lifestyle changes, such as getting more sleep, may help patients improve or protect their oral health," Preston D. Miller Jr., president of the American Academy of Periodontology, said in a prepared statement.

More information
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has more about preventing gum disease.

FDA Bans Toothpaste From China

(HealthDay News) -- U.S. health officials warned consumers Friday not to use toothpaste made in China because it may be contaminated with a poisonous chemical used in antifreeze and as a solvent.

"The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has placed an import ban on all toothpaste from China," Deborah M. Autor, director of the FDA's Office of Compliance, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, told reporters at an afternoon briefing.

"The companies will have to prove that their products don't contain harmful levels of DEG (diethylene glycol) before it is allowed into the United States," she added.

There have been no reports of poisoning from DEG in toothpaste, Autor said. "However, the agency is concerned about chronic exposure to DEG and exposure in children and individuals with kidney or liver disease," she added.

The agency began its investigation after it discovered DEG-contaminated toothpaste from China had been sold in Panama. In addition, DEG in cold medicine killed at least 51 people and sickened 68 others in Panama last year.

"DEG is used in antifreeze and as a solvent and it is used as a low substitute for glycerin and as a thickener," Autor said. "It does not belong in toothpaste even in a small concentration."

Autor said consumers should throw out any toothpaste they have that is made in China. But, she added, "no major toothpaste brands are involved in this matter."

Chinese toothpaste makes up about $3.3 million of the $2 billion U.S. toothpaste market, she said.

The FDA identified the following brands of toothpaste from China that contain DEG and are included in the import alert: Cooldent Fluoride; Cooldent Spearmint; Cooldent ICE; Dr. Cool, Everfresh Toothpaste; Superdent Toothpaste; Clean Rite Toothpaste; Oralmax Extreme; Oral Bright Fresh Spearmint Flavor; Bright Max Peppermint Flavor; and ShiR Fresh Mint Fluoride Paste.

The manufacturers of these products are Goldcredit International Enterprises Limited; Goldcredit International Trading Company Limited; and Suzhou City Jinmao Daily Chemicals Company Limited, DentaPro, DentaKleen and DentaKleen Junior, Autor said.

These brands are usually sold in discount stores, Autor said.

The FDA has seized tainted toothpaste at a DollarPlus store in Miami, Fla., and from a Todo, a store in Puerto Rico.

"In addition, FDA inspectors identified and detained one shipment of toothpaste at the U.S. border that contained about 3 percent DEG and FDA inspectors also found product at a distribution center," Autor said.

"FDA continues to investigate this problem," Autor said. "If FDA identifies other brands of toothpaste products containing DEG, FDA will take appropriate actions, including adding products and their manufacturers to the import alert to prevent them from entering the United States."

More information
For more information on the toothpaste ban, visit the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.