Keep abreast of what your patients are currently seeing in the media with our round-up of popular news stories, available from WHF as abstracts with links to the full-text articles.

FDA Approves 4 Swine Flu Vaccines

The US FDA has approved 4 vaccines for the H1N1 virus, and the first batch of doses are expected to be available by mid-October. The US goevernment has ordered 195 million doses so far, but may order more doses of the vaccine as needed. For a typical flu season, about 100 million Americans get vaccinated. The numbers are expected to be much higher for this flu season, with swine flu already spreading rapidly at some college campuses. So far, the swine flu virus has continued to produce only relatively mild illness in most people, and recovery does not take long—all in all, getting the swine flu is much like getting the regular seasonal flu. In adults, trials have shown that just one shot of the vaccine for the H1N1 virus will full provide full inoculation, but studies to determine the optimal dose for children are still ongoing. It takes about 8 to 10 days after vaccinated for the full desired immune response (the same as with a normal flu shot). It is important to know that the H1N1 vaccine won’t offer protection against the normal seasonal flu—you should still receive a normal flu shot now. Even if you don’t normally get a flu shot, this is a good year to start. Side effects of the H1N1 vaccine seem to be similar to that of the seasonal flu shot, with the most common reactions being soreness at the injection site, as well as a possible mild fever, body aches, and fatigue for a few days after vaccination. One of the biggest differences between swine flu and the regular seasonal flu appears to be the amount of time that patients are contagious. With the regular flu, you are generally only contagious for a few days, but with swine flu you can pass it along to others for about a week. So for those who do contract the virus, the best way to stop the spread of the flu is to take some time off work, stay away from crowds, and wash your hands as much as possible.

Read the full story on healthday.com

Risks: Breast Cancer Drugs Bear Health Cautions

Raloxifene and tamoxifen are two hugely popular drugs taken to reduce the risk of developing breast cancer. Although these drugs can cut a woman’s risk of new cancer growth by up to half, the two medicines carry other side effects. One side effect is good, especially in aging women: tamoxifen and raloxifene, along with tibolone, a third breast cancer drug that is not approved for use in the US, all reduce the risk of fractures. However, tamoxifen and raloxifene also put users at greater risk for potentially serious blood clots. For every 1000 women who take these two drugs each year, 7 to 10 fewer cases of breast cancer will develop, but 4 to 7 additional cases of blood occurs will occur. Tamoxifen also raises the risk of endometrial cancer and cataracts, while tibolone increases the risk of strokes in older women.

Read the full story on nytimes.com

Recession Has Women Rethinking Childbearing

Children appear to be another casualty of the recession: women are postponing pregnancy, and having fewer children. With the high costs of babies, and the pressure to start saving for college from the moment a child is born, many couples are deciding to wait to have children until the economy turns around. Others are considering not having children at all, or having fewer children than they had originally intended. At the same time, however, many women are finding themselves without health insurance to help cover the costs of their prescriptions, and are unable to continue getting their birth control pills. Even some who still have health insurance have reported stopping their birth control as one of their cost-saving measures each month. So just when the most women want to prevent pregnancy, many can’t afford to do so. In a recent survey of 1000 low- and middle-income sexually active women between the ages of 18 and 39, almost half of the respondents reported that they want to delay pregnancy of have fewer children because of economic concerns. Sixty-four percent agreed with the statement, “With the economy the way it is, I can’t afford to have a baby right now.” And while these women were expressing their concern over their ability to support a child, 23% reported having difficulty paying for birth control, and 18% said they were using birth control less consistently than in the past. Based on the results of this study, experts now fear an upswing in unintended pregnancies in the very population that can least afford to support a child.

Read the full story on healthday.com

In One Study, a Heart Benefit for Chocolate

If you’ve been feeling guilty about your chocolate obsession, there may be good news: researchers in Sweden recently found that people who eat chocolate have increased survival rates after a heart attack. Furthermore, they found that the more chocolate a person consumed, the greater their survival rate was. The study followed 1169 nondiabetic men and women who had been hospitalized for a first heart attack. The patients were quizzed about their health, and reported on their chocolate consumption over the previous 12 months. They were then followed by researchers for the next 8 years. After controlling for age, sex, obesity, physical inactivity, smoking, education, and other factors, it was determined that the more chocolate a person consumes, the greater their chance of survival after a heart attack. Researchers believe that flavonoid antioxidants that are found in chocolate have beneficial cardiovascular side effects. However, before you run off to buy chocolate bars in bulk, this was an observational study, not a randomized trial, so cause and effect can not be definitively established.

Read the full story on nytimes.com