With big chunks of its territory in rebel hands and a military government shrouded in riddles, mystery and enigma, [Myanmar](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myanmar “Wikipedia”) presents the global fight against bird flu with a unique set of problems.
Read (Reuters)
U.S. stockpiles of drugs that could help in the fight against a feared human influenza pandemic are woefully inadequate, a viral disease specialist warned at a medical conference on 8 October 2005. The United States has enough of the medicationto treat about 2.3 million people, but 90 million people would need the medication in the event of a flu pandemic.
Read (Reuters)
Infants should be put to sleep on their backs only, not their sides, and pacifiers can be used to help prevent sudden infant death syndrome, U.S. pediatricians said on Monday.
Read (Reuters)
A public health expert familiar with the latest draft of the federal
government’s pandemic influenza preparedness plan said it predicts that
a full-scale disease outbreak might kill as many as 1.9 million
Americans and sicken more than half the country’s population.
Read (Washington Post)
With a good night’s rest increasingly losing out to the Internet,
e-mail, late-night cable and other distractions of modern life, a
growing body of scientific evidence suggests that too little or erratic
sleep may be taking an unappreciated toll on Americans’ health. Failing to get enough sleep or sleeping at odd hours heightens the risk for a variety of major illnesses, including cancer, heart disease, diabetes and obesity, recent studies indicate.
Read (Washington Post)
Psychiatrists are in short supply in Iraq and the few that are practicing face shortages of facilities and medicines.
Listen (NPR)
Drugs like aspirin reduce the risk of mouth cancer, but possibly at a cost to the heart, say researchers.
Read (BBC)
Europe’s aging population means many more will die of malnutrition unless urgent action is taken, warns a charity. Experts believe up to half of elderly people in hospitals and residential and care homes are malnourished.
Read (BBC)
Farms should be seen as national health resource, says gym study.
Read (Nature)
The curious mix of ingredients has a potent antimicrobial effect,
killing a bacterium that can cause two-day bouts of stomach cramps,
vomiting and diarrhoea.
Read (New Scientist)
Health officials have warned for years that a virulent bird flu could
kill millions, but few in Washington seemed alarmed until recently.
Read (New York Times)
The 1918 influenza virus was a bird flu that jumped directly to humans, two teams of scientists announced today.
The work also reveals that the 1918 virus is very different from ordinary human flu viruses. It infects cells deep in the lungs of mice, and infects lung cells, like the cells lining air sacs, that normally would be impervious to flu. And while other human flu viruses do not kill mice, this one, like today’s bird flus, does.
But Dr. Jeffery Taubenberger, chief of molecular pathology department at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, notes that the bird flus have not yet spread from human to human. He hopes the 1918 virus will reveal what genetic changes can allow that to happen, helping scientists prevent a new pandemic before it starts.
Read (New York Times)
Dozens of part-time workers at six large companies have begun to sign up for low-cost, limited health benefits in a new national program for uninsured employees.
Read (New York Times)
Exercising in middle age not only keeps the weight down and the heart healthy but can also cut the risk of suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, particularly in high risk people.
Read (Reuters)
A new study that followed 4,000 people for three decades suggests that over the long haul, 9 out of 10 men and 7 out of 10 women will become overweight.
Read (New York Times)