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Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of HealthDay:
Attack on Epilepsy Web Site Causes Migraines, Near-Seizures
Some visitors to the Epilepsy Foundation of America's Web site suffered migraines and near-seizures after computer hackers flooded the site with hundreds of pictures and links to pages with rapidly flashing images, the Associated Press reported.
By exploiting a security flaw in the foundation's publishing software, the hackers made numerous support forum posts that were disguised as helpful, but actually led to pages with kaleidoscopic images pulsating with a variety of colors.
"They were out to create seizures," Ken Lowenberg, senior director of web and print publishing for the foundation, told the AP.
The FBI is investigating the attack. Legitimate users can no longer post animated images to the support forum or create direct links to other sites, and the support forum is now moderated around the clock, Lowenberg said.
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Childhood Viral Disease Cases Continue to Climb in China
The number of children in China reported to have hand, foot and mouth disease increased from 15,799 on Tuesday to 19,962 late Wednesday, and the death toll increased from 28 to 30, the Associated Press reported.
The number of reported cases is expected to rise as a result of a Ministry of Health order issued this week requiring health-care workers to report infections within 24 hours, health experts said.
Hand, foot and mouth disease is a common childhood disease that can be caused by different viruses and typically leads to little more than a fever and rash. However, enterovirus 71 can cause a severe form of the disease that can lead to brain swelling, paralysis, or death.
Last year, China recorded 80,000 hand, foot and mouth disease cases, including 17 deaths. But a health ministry spokesman said those figures may have been incomplete because there was no mandatory reporting last year, the AP reported.
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Swing Sets Recalled Due to Fall Hazard
About 17,300 playground swing sets sold across the United States are being recalled because of a defect that may pose a fall hazard, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said.
The swing sets, made by Playworld Systems Inc., of Lewisburg, Penn., have a clevis bearing that can wear and cause the swing to detach while in use. No injuries have been reported.
The swing sets were sold by authorized dealers to day-care centers and children's learning centers from January 2007 through February 2008 for between $770 and $3,100. The company has sent direct mail notices about the recall to purchasers.
Consumers with the swing sets should remove the swing from the swing set until a free repair kit has been installed, the CPSC said.
For more information, contact Playworld Systems at 1-800-233-8404.
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Too Much, Too Little Sleep Not Good for Health: Study
People who sleep fewer than six hours a night -- or more
than nine -- are more likely to be obese, have higher smoking rates, drink more alcohol, and be physically inactive, according to a U.S. government report released Wednesday.
The findings were based on door-to-door surveys of 87,000
adults from 2004 through 2006, conducted by the National Center for
Health Statistics. The study did not account for contributing factors such as depression, which has been shown to influence heavy eating, smoking, sleeplessness and other problems, according to the Associated Press.
About 33 percent of those who slept less than six hours were obese. Of those who slept nine hours or more, the rate of obesity was 26 percent, with normal sleepers being the thinnest at 22 percent, the AP reported.
Smoking rates were highest -- at 31 percent -- for those who got less than six hours of sleep, compared with respondents who got nine or more hours, at 26 percent.
Alcohol consumption was greatest for those who slept the least, but use rates for those sleeping seven to eight hours and those getting nine hours were similar. And almost half who slept nine hours or more were physically inactive in their leisure time, worse than the lightest sleepers and proper sleepers, the news service said.
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Ischemic Stroke Hospitalization Rate Decreases
Between 1997 and 2005, the rate of hospitalizations for ischemic stroke in the United States decreased by one third, according to the latest News and Numbers from the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
An ischemic stroke occurs when blood flow to the brain is blocked by a blood clot.
In 2005, 36 of every 10,000 Americans age 45 and older were hospitalized for ischemic stroke, compared to 54 of every 10,000 in 1997. During that same period of time, hospitalizations for hemorrhagic stroke (bleeding in the brain) remained fairly stable, ranging from nine to 11 for every 10,000 Americans.
The report also said that in 2005:
- Six percent of patients with ischemic stroke died while in hospital, compared with 25 percent of hemorrhagic stroke patients.
- The percentage of hospitalized patients transferred to rehabilitation facilities or nursing homes varied by condition: 44 percent of patients with ischemic stroke; 37 percent of those with hemorrhagic stroke; 13 percent of those with mini-strokes (which involve shorter-lasting stroke symptoms but are often precursors to strokes); and five percent of patients with blocked or narrowed arteries, which can lead to strokes.
- While stroke was most common in older people, one in 10 hemorrhagic stroke patients admitted to hospital was younger than 45.
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Guideline Outlines Effective Smoking Cessation Treatments
Medication and counseling treatments proven effective for helping people quit smoking are outlined in an updated clinical practice guideline released Wednesday by the U.S. Public Health Service.
The update, developed by a panel of leading tobacco treatment experts who reviewed more than 8,700 studies published between 1975 and 2007, lists seven FDA-approved medications that dramatically increase the success of quitting: bupropion SR, nicotine gum, nicotine inhaler, nicotine lozenge, nicotine nasal spray, nicotine patch, and varenicline.
In addition, counseling by itself or especially in conjunction with medication can greatly increase the likelihood of quitting smoking, according to the update. Telephone quitlines are an especially effective form of counseling.
"I urge all clinicians to offer these effective treatments to smokers, no matter what their past success, and health care systems to make treatment a standard of care," update panel chair Dr. Michael Fiore, director of the Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, said in a prepared statement.
"With nearly half a million Americans dying from tobacco-related illness each year, what we do with today's recommendations can help to dramatically reduce the estimated five million smokers who will die over the next decade if we don't help treat them," Dr. Ronald M. Davis, president of the American Medical Association, said in a prepared statement.
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