U.S. Suggests All Baby Boomers Should Get Tested for Hepatitis C

U.S. health officials are proposing all baby boomers get tested for hepatitis C, because they’re five times more likely than other adults to have the potentially fatal liver virus and many might not know they’re at risk.

Of the more than 70 million baby boomers — those born from 1945 to 1965 – 800,000 may have contracted the liver virus decades ago from unsafe blood transfusions or experimental drug use and not gotten tested, U.S. health officials say. Many neglect getting tested, because they’ve forgotten getting a transfusion or drug use, or they’re unaware they could be at risk. For those baby boomers who do remember risky actions, some may balk at telling their doctor….

A.M. Vitals: FDA OKs Generic Plavix

Here’s what’s making health news this morning:

FDA Approves Generic Version of Plavix (WSJ): The patent on the drug used to ward off heart attacks and strokes in people with cardiovascular disease expired on Thursday. The generic name of the drug is clopidogrel.

Rare Genetic Mutations May Underpin Diseases (New York Times): Two reports in Science suggest a large number of very rare mutations are behind many diseases in people, making the job of finding them difficult and expensive….

J&J Recall Watch: McNeil Recalls Imodium Lot

Johnson & Johnson’s McNeil Consumer Healthcare unit is recalling 53,892 packages, or one lot, of the diarrhea treatment Imodium from distributors after discovering some of the packages could have a slight tear or hole.

The packs of 18 Imodium Multi-Symptom Relief caplets don’t pose any safety threat, and consumers haven’t reported any side effects, the company says. Yet exposure to air, through a pinhole or tear in the packaging, could blunt the pills’ effectiveness, the company says….

Restaurant Claims Prompt Push for Standardized ‘Gluten-Free’ Labeling

Can pizza be “gluten-free,” yet maybe still contain some gluten?

That’s the controversy Domino’s Pizza sparked last week when it launched a new “gluten-free crust” pizza — but said it was designed for people with mild gluten sensitivity, not those with celiac disease who must avoid even minute quantities. While the crust was made without gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye and barley, Domino’s said it couldn’t guarantee that each handmade pizza would be completely gluten-free….

Why Expose a Child to the Risks of a Clinical Trial? One Mom Explains

At two years old, Edie Gilger is already a medical pioneer.

She entered a clinical trial for a new drug against the potentially fatal childhood cancer neuroblastoma last summer, becoming one of the first children in the world to try the experimental medicine.

This isn’t an ordeal any toddler would wish for and, of course, Edie herself didn’t volunteer. Her parents, following the example set by thousands of families of children stricken with cancer, signed her up….

A.M. Vitals: U.S. Lowers Bar on Lead Poisoning

Here’s what’s making health news this morning:

Federal Officials Tighten Lead Limits for Kids (WSJ): The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention redefined poisoning as five micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood, half the previous level.

Doubt Cast on the “Good” in “Good Cholesterol” (New York Times): A study published online in The Lancet found people with genes giving them higher HDL levels have no less heart disease than people whose genes gave them lower levels of the so-called good cholesterol….

Healthy Food Is a Better Deal Than Junk, USDA Says

Healthy food isn’t necessarily more expensive than junk food, according to a new government report.

Food economists traditionally measure the amount of calories you get for your money. By that measure, you still get more when you buy pizza, French fries or other foods high in sodium, salt and saturated fat.

But the USDA study looked at a food’s worth from new perspective and concluded there’s better value in fruits, vegetables, lean meat and low-fat milk….

Study Suggests Coffee May Be Linked to Longer Life, But…

Coffee drinkers are getting a bit more reassurance that their beverage of choice may not be bad for them, and possibly even can be linked to living longer.

A new study in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests that people who drink coffee may tend to live slightly longer than those who don’t, though the finding comes with a lot of caveats and will surely not end the debate over the health effects of coffee….

A.M. Vitals: New Alzheimer’s Trial; Home HIV Test

Here’s what’s making health news this morning:

New Bid to Prevent Alzheimer’s Early (WSJ): An Alzheimer’s drug to be tested mostly on an extended family predisposed to the disease will mark the first large-scale trial of an experimental treatment on people who don’t yet show signs of memory loss.

Cardinal Health Settles With U.S. Over Pills (WSJ): The U.S. government on Tuesday settled with Cardinal Health over allegations the company distributed large quantities of addictive pain pills in Florida, backing away from a legal showdown over the pharmacy industry’s responsibility for what officials call the country’s deadliest drug problem.

Sleep or Sex: Do You Have to Choose?

In the never-ending quest for a good night’s sleep, a trend has emerged.

Memory-foam mattresses, those squishy beds that conform to a person’s shape in reaction to body heat, are the fastest-growing category of mattresses, according to our friends at Barron’s. Memory foam’s market share has grown to 20% from 14% in the past eight years.

But as this week’s cover story out, for some buyers there’s a tradeoff: Memory foam can be challenging to have sex on. “The complaint is lack of ‘traction,’ if you get the drift,” the article says.

What Geneticists Think You Should Know

Given the rapid drop in price of whole genome sequencing — a technology that allows doctors to get information on your entire DNA — one day relatively soon you may get a chance to find out about your risks for different diseases.

But do you really want to know?

A.M. Vitals: Using DNA to Create Family Trees

Here’s what’s making health news this morning:

Websites Use DNA to Create Family Trees (WSJ): Detailed maps of the human genome have become less expensive, and they’re going social, enabling users to build personal online networks that become more useful as more people sign up. Ancestry.com, a genealogy website with about 1.9 million subscribers, rolled out a $99 DNA service that lets users compare points on their own genome with others.

Making Gene Mapping Part of Everyday Care (WSJ): The cost of mapping a person’s full genetic profile has been dropping quickly. Now, doctors are struggling with a new question: how to use the information to improve people’s health.

What Happens When One Man’s Genome Is Revealed

Dr. Michael Snyder, chairman of the department of genetics at Stanford University School of Medicine, learned firsthand how gene sequencing can change a person’s daily life.

Snyder, who is 56, two years ago decided to see what genetics might tell him about his own health. Colleagues sequenced his whole genome, which revealed a number of potential health issues….

New Caution Urged Over Sole Oral MS Drug On the Market

The FDA says the only oral multiple-sclerosis drug on the market — Novartis’s Gilenya — shouldn’t be used in patients with a recent history of stroke or some heart problems.

As WSJ reports, a safety review of the treatment was prompted by a report in November of a 59-year-old patient dying in the U.S. less than a day after taking the first dose of the drug….

New Method Easing Preparation May Encourage Colon Checks

A new method for performing a “virtual” colonoscopy that requires less unpleasant preparation was shown in a new study to accurately detect larger precancerous polyps—and was a better experience for patients.

The second-leading cause of cancer deaths in the U.S., colon cancer can be prevented if precancerous polyps—known as adenomas—are found and removed during a colonoscopy….

Flesh-Eating Bacteria: Rare but Dangerous

It’s rare, but when it strikes, the consequences can be devastating. Necrotizing fasciitis, caused by so-called flesh-eating bacteria, is a severe, progressive infection that destroys muscles, fat and skin.

Treatment can require amputation of limbs to remove to remove dead tissue, and even death.

The latest victim is a young woman in Georgia who injured her leg in a fall from a zip line earlier this month….

A.M. Vitals: Batteries Pose Risk to Kids

Here’s what’s making health news this morning:

Batteries Shown to Pose Risk for Kids (WSJ): ER visits by kids who’ve ingested batteries are rising, and of particular concern are little round “button” batteries found in many watches and other small devices, which can cause severe injury if they lodge in the esophagus.

Reader Consult: To Approve or Not to Approve?

Yesterday’s positive vote for Arena Pharmaceuticals’ lorcaserin raises the prospect that patients could soon have the first new drug therapy for weight loss in more than a decade. But as Dow Jones Newswires reports, we’re not quite there yet.

A.M. Vitals: Extended Breast Feeding, Obesity Drug and Heart Devices

Here’s what’s making health news this morning:

Are You Mom Enough? (Time): Featuring a provocative cover photo of a mother breast-feeding her three-year-old child, the magazine explores attachment parenting. Its three main tenets are extended breast-feeding, co-sleeping and “baby wearing,” in which infants are physically attached to their parents by slings.

N.J.’s Christie Vetoes Creation of Health-Insurance Exchange

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie says concerns about the pending Supreme Court case against the health-care overhaul led him to veto legislation to create a statewide health-insurance exchange, WSJ’s Metropolis blog reports.

The Republican governor said in a message accompanying the expected veto that he was concerned about creating a new “Medicaid-like program” for individuals above the poverty level without assurances of federal funding….