Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of HealthDay:
Breast Cancer Gene Increases Risk of Prostate Cancer in Men
Men in families that carry the breast cancer gene BRCA2 are at increased risk for prostate cancer, say Australian researchers who've been investigating families with multiple cases of breast and ovarian cancer for 10 years.
"We discovered that a man with a genetic fault in BRCA2 has almost four times the risk of developing prostate cancer than men in the general population. The BRCA2-prostate cancer that arise in these men also tends to be more aggressive," researcher Heather Thorne said in a prepared statement, Agence France-Presse reported.
She said it's hoped the finding, published this week in the journal Clinical Cancer Research, will encourage men to assess their genetic risk in the same way women do with breast and ovarian cancer.
"If a man comes from a family with multiple cases of breast or ovarian cancer, or knows there is a BRCA2 gene mutation running in their family, they may be at increased risk of developing prostate cancer," Thorne said, AFP reported. "These men can go to (clinic) and discuss genetic testing, and be given appropriate advice if they are found to be at increased risk."
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Lack of Power Affects Cognitive Function: Study
People in weak or powerless positions may suffer impaired cognitive functioning, which hampers their ability to get ahead, suggests a study by American and Dutch researchers, who said their findings have "direct implications for management and organizations."
The study found that a lack of power impaired a person's ability to stay on top of constantly-changing information, to weed out irrelevant information, and to successfully plan ahead to achieve their goals, United Press International reported.
The study was published in the journal Psychological Science.
This work shows how hierarchies perpetuate themselves, said the researchers, who explained that a lack of power can lead to job performance that automatically reinforces a person's low standing in an organization.
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Grape and Apple Juice May Prevent Clogged Arteries
Antioxidants in purple grape and apple juice -- and the fruit themselves -- may help protect against atherosclerosis (clogged arteries), according to French researchers.
Hamsters who were given the fruit juice or fresh fruit had lower cholesterol levels, less oxidative stress, and less fat accumulation in the aorta (the body's main artery) than hamsters who drank water. All the hamsters were fed a fatty diet, BBC News reported.
Purple grape juice had the strongest protective effect, followed by purple grapes, apple juice and apples.
The researchers said their findings, published in the journal Molecular Nutrition & Food Research, "provide encouragement that fruit and fruit juices may have a significant clinical and public health relevance," BBC News reported.
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U.K. Scientists Report Possible 'Breakthrough' in Fighting Staph
British scientists believe they are close to developing a new antibiotic to fight methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a bacterial infection that causes thousands of illnesses and deaths in hospitals each year.
BBC News reports that researchers at Destiny Pharma, a pharmaceutical company in Brighton, have developed a compound they describe as a "breakthrough" in killing MRSA.
In the last quarter of 2007, more than 1,000 cases of MRSA were reported in England, the BBC said, most of them in hospitals and public facilities. The drug, called XF-73, is applied as a gel into patients' noses.
Initial reports from clinical trials indicated that MRSA did not develop any resistance to the compound after 55 applications, a finding BBC reported Destiny Pharma's chief executive Dr. Bill Love as saying was "quite amazing." If further tests have similar results, the drug may be available in British hospitals by 2011, the BBC said.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, MRSA can cause skin infections that may look like a pimple or boil and can be red, swollen, painful, or have pus or other drainage. More serious infections may cause pneumonia, bloodstream infections, or surgical wound infections.
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Misuse of Syringes Found as Cause of Hepatitis C Outbreak
It was the re-use of syringes and vials containing medicine that caused a hepatitis C outbreak resulting in 84 patients becoming infected at two Las Vegas clinics, the Associated Press reports.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was first contacted early in 2008 after two people had come down with hepatitis C, the wire service said. CDC investigators said in their report they observed clinic employees reusing syringes to administer a sedative, and follow-up interviews indicated it was a common practice, the wires service reported. "This was considered the most likely mode of transmission," the report concluded.
The two clinics in question, the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada and the Desert Shadow Endoscopy Center -- both now shut down -- treated about 50,000 patients over this amount of time, the AP said. Law enforcement officials from Las Vegas, Nevada, and the U.S. government are pursing criminal investigations, according to the wire service.
The doctors who ran the clinics, Dipak Desai and Eladio Carrera, have had their medical licenses suspended and paid a $50,000 fine, AP reported.
Brian Labus, a senior epidemiologist with the Southern Nevada Health District, told AP that the link between being treated at the clinics and contracting hepatitis C was strong. "We know they [the 84 patients] didn't have a positive test before they went to the clinic, and now they're positive," he said.
State officials are worried that all 50,000 patients who were treated at the clinics between March, 2004 and Jan. 11, 2008, may have been exposed to hepatitis C, which can linger in a person's system for years without symptoms. The disease can result in liver failure.
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Post-Concussion Activity Levels Affect Recovery
The activity level of athletes after they've suffered a concussion affects brain function and speed of recovery, says a U.S. study in the Journal of Athletic Training.
Athletes who engage in high levels of activity following a concussion showed impaired brain function, while those who engaged in moderate levels of activity had the best performance on brain function tests, the study found.
"We surmise that most athletes in the highest-intensity activity group probably experienced a less severe initial injury, but by continuing with high levels of activity, they began to exhibit similar symptoms to those who initially experienced a more severe concussion," researcher Jason P. Mihalik, a certified athletic trainer at the University of North Carolina, said in a prepared statement.
The study also found differences in recovery based on age and gender, which suggests that different post-concussion strategies may be needed for certain groups of athletes.
