The Notebook: a potpourri of items of interest gathered from FDA news releases, other news sources, and the Federal Register (designated FR, with date of publication). The Federal Register is available in many public libraries. It is also available electronically through GPO Access at the Government Printing Office.
A new test that can detect the potentially deadly E. coli O157:H7 bacterium in less than an hour is in development by FDA scientists. The Anti-body direct epifluorescent filter test improves on many current methods such as culturing, which can take four to five days for results.
Americans of all ages may be at risk for pneumococcal diseases, the leading cause of 40,000 vaccine-preventable deaths that occur each year. These diseases include pneumonia, bacteremia (blood infection), and meningitis (infection of the brain lining). The national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urges vaccination for everyone over 65. Others should ask their doctors if they need the vaccine.
Home-monitored blood pressure readings tend to be more accurate than those taken in a doctor's office, report researchers at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium. Many patients experience a rise in blood pressure caused by office visit stress. The falsely elevated readings can lead to unnecessary treatment for high blood pressure. (Journal of the American Medical Association, Sept. 30)
Twenty percent of Americans over age 12 carry the genital herpes virus, report researchers at the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The alarming occurrence of the virus--a 30 percent increase over a 1970s' study--is partly the result of young people not practicing safe sex, the report states. Herpes can be transmitted through sexual activity and also by touching and kissing. The disease cannot be cured. (New England Journal of Medicine, Oct. 16)
A reduced-fat mozzarella cheese that retains "meltability" and "springiness" is now being used on pizzas and other foods for school lunch programs nationwide. Developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the new cheese contains less than half the fat found in whole-fat mozzarella.
A series of drug education materials for students in grades five through nine is available free from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. NIDA's "Mind Over Matter" campaign offers six glossy magazines that unfold into posters and explore the effects of drugs on the brain. The campaign aims to encourage interest in the neuroscience profession and includes a teacher's guide. For copies, call NIDA at 1-800-729-6686.
Tuberculosis can be transmitted by contaminated bronchoscopes, which are devices used to examine the lungs, according to a study by the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC says medical facilities can reduce or eliminate this threat by adhering to sterilization standards established by the Association for Practitioners in Infection Control. (Journal of the American Medical Association, Sept. 30)
Unattended bathtub seats caused 29 infant drownings between 1983 and 1995, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. More than a million of the seats are sold yearly. CPSC warns consumers to never leave a child alone in the tub. (Pediatrics, October 1997; the article is available in the October issue on the Pediatrics Electronic Pages at www.pediatrics.org/content/vol100/issue4)
Senior citizens may keep their weight in check by eating more frequent, but smaller, meals. A study sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture found that both women in their 20s and women in their 60s and 70s burned about the same amount of fat after eating 250- and 500-calorie meals. But the older group burned about 30 percent less fat after a 1,000-calorie meal. (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, October 1997)
The antidepressant Zyban (bupropion), which FDA approved last May, may double smokers' chances of quitting smoking, according to a study at the Mayo Clinic and elsewhere. In the study, 615 volunteers who were not depressed but wanted to give up smoking took either Zyban or a placebo for six weeks. After a year, 23 percent of the Zyban group had not smoked, but only 12 percent of the placebo group had not smoked again. (New England Journal of Medicine, Oct. 23)
FDA Consumer magazine (January-February 1998)