OCD Link to a Genetic Marker May Pave the Way for New Treatments

Researchers have found a genetic marker associated with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). The finding could help increase the understanding of this mental disorder and aid in the development of new treatments.

It is estimated that OCD affects 1 to 2 percent of the U.S. population. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), OCD is one of the more disabling mental health conditions worldwide. Now, a group of researchers has identified a genetic marker that may be associated with the development of OCD.

OCD is one of the least understood mental disorders in terms of causes and mechanisms. Treatment for the disorder includes antidepressants, known as SSRIs, and behavioral therapy. However, these treatments are only effective for some people.

According to the National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH), OCD is characterized by intrusive thoughts that produce anxiety (obsessions), repetitive behaviors engaged in to reduce anxiety (compulsions), or a combination of both. OCD can have a tremendous negative impact on daily functioning.

[via - healthline.com]

Scrap 'outdated' charging for prescriptions in England, say family doctors

The ‘outdated and iniquitous’ NHS prescription charge should be scrapped, a GP has said.

England remains the only country in the UK still stumping up for the ‘tax’ on medicines.

The latest figures for 2012 show that 80 per cent of those aged 18 to 59 had to pay for their drugs.

The £8.05 charge compares starkly with the cost of many commonly prescribed drugs that are now off patent, according to Dr James Cave, editor of the journal Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin.

There are a host of exemptions to the charge – including age and pregnancy – but these extend to unrelated conditions. In an editorial, Dr Cave said many exemptions appear ‘illogical’.

He added: ‘It is time that politicians showed their commitment to a patient-centred NHS and abolished prescription charges in England.’

The prescription charge has long been a contentious issue, says DTB, and even contributed to the resignation of Aneurin Bevan, the architect of the NHS, in 1951.

[via - dailymail.co.uk]

End-of-life care 'deeply concerning'

The care given to people dying in hospital is "deeply concerning", according to doctors who have carried out a review of standards in England.

The audit found only a fifth of hospitals provided specialist end-of-life care seven days a week - 10 years after this was recommended.

Communication was also particularly poor, the joint Royal College of Physicians and Marie Curie review said.

More than 500,000 people die each year in England - half of them in hospital.

The review looked at the care given to more than 6,500 people who had died last year in 149 hospitals.

Some but not all of them had been on the controversial Liverpool Care Pathway.

This covers care given during the final stages of life and can involve withdrawal of medication, food and fluids, but is being phased out following criticism about how it was being used.

More than 800 bereaved relatives were also asked for their views. Three-quarters said they felt supported during their loved-one's final two days of life.

[via - bbc.com]

Report: Tobacco fields poisoning kids

Kids can’t buy tobacco products, but in Tennessee children as young as 9 are working in tobacco fields and suffering symptoms consistent with acute nicotine poisoning, according to a report by an international human rights group.

In most cases, there is nothing illegal about the practice. State and federal child labor laws carve out exemptions for agricultural work, allowing children of any age to work on small farms. Children 12 and older can work unlimited hours outside of school at any farm with a parent’s permission. At 14, children can do farm work without a parent’s permission.

But a new report by New York-based Human Rights Watch highlights hazards facing children laboring in tobacco fields.

“I’ve gotten sick,” a 9-year-old identified in the report only as “Patrick W.” told researchers about his work at a Macon County farm. “We started cutting [tobacco plants], and I had to go home. I kept on coughing (heaving), and I had to eat crackers and drink some Gatorade. … I threw up a little bit. It took two or three hours before I felt better.”

[via - tennessean.com]

Too much exercise may be bad for the heart

Everyone knows exercise is fundamental for good cardiovascular health, but a new and surprising body of research is finding that too much exercise may also increase the risk of death from heart attack or stroke in patients with existing heart problems.

The new study, which was just published in the journal Heart, tracked a decade's worth of exercise habits and survival of more than 1,000 people with diagnosed -- but stable -- coronary artery disease. The majority of the study's participants were in their 60s and had attended a cardiac rehabilitation program to avoid future heart attacks or strokes.

Around 40 percent of the study participants did an hour of moderate-intensity aerobic activity 2 to 4 times per week; of the remaining 60 percent, half exercised at that level more than four times a week and the other half exercised less. Overall, 1 in 10 said they rarely or never exercised.

The researchers found those who were most sedentary were around twice as likely to have a heart attack or stroke as those who were regularly physically active. They were around four times as likely to die of cardiovascular events and all other causes.

[via - cbsnews.com]

Study: Lung cancer screening could cost Medicare billions, add $3 to monthly premiums

Every person covered by Medicare would shell out an additional $3 a month if the government agreed to pay to screen certain current and former smokers for lung cancer, a new study estimates.

It would cost Medicare $2 billion a year to follow recent advice to offer these lung scans — and fuel angst about rising health costs that are borne by everyone, not just smokers, the study found.

Joshua Roth of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle said the researchers merely were tallying the cost of screening, and were not "judging value" or saying whether Medicare should pay it. He led the study, which was released Wednesday and will be presented at an American Society of Clinical Oncology conference later this month.

Lung cancer is the world's top cancer killer, mainly because it's usually found too late for treatment to do much good. Most deaths involve Medicare-age people, and most are due to smoking.

Recently, a major study found that annual CT scans, a type of X-ray, could cut the chances of dying from lung cancer by up to 20 percent in those most at risk — people ages 55 through 79 who smoked a pack of cigarettes a day for 30 years or the equivalent, such as two packs a day for 15 years.

Based largely on that, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force in December recommended screening that group, about 10 million Americans. The scans cost $100 to as much as $400. Under the new health care law, cancer screenings recommended by the task force are to be covered with no copays.

[via - startribune.com]