May 26, 2009

Health Highlights: May 26, 2009

Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of HealthDay:

13-Year-Old Cancer Patient, Mother Return Home to Minnesota

Thirteen-year-old Daniel Hauser and his mother Colleen returned home to Minnesota Monday a week after they fled to California in an attempt to avoid chemotherapy for Daniel, who has Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Daniel and his parents have refused chemotherapy because they believe it's toxic and want to use alternative treatments. An attorney said Colleen Hauser will now abide by court-ordered medical treatment for Daniel, the Associated Press reported.

The boy and his mother arrived back in Minnesota about 3 a.m. Monday and Daniel was examined by a doctor after his return. Daniel, who is in the protective custody of Brown County, was allowed to spend the night at home with a deputy on duty.

Daniel had one round of chemotherapy in February, but then said he didn't want to continue the treatment. A judge ruled that Daniel was medically neglected by his parents and ordered an updated chest X-ray for Daniel and a re-evaluation by an oncologist. Daniel and his mother fled after the X-ray showed a tumor in Daniel's chest had grown.

Children with Hodgkin's lymphoma have a 90 percent cure rate if they're treated with chemotherapy and radiation. Doctors said Daniel was likely to die without those treatments, the AP reported.

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Court Rules 'Light' Cigarettes Duped Smokers

By labeling some cigarettes as "light," the tobacco industry deceived smokers into believing these brands were less harmful than others, a U.S. Federal Appeals Court ruled Friday.

The court confirmed an August 2006 ruling by a lower court that found tobacco makers lied for years about the dangers of such cigarettes. The ruling also upholds an earlier decision ordering tobacco companies to remove statements such as "light" or "natural" from product packaging, the Agence France Presse reported.

The case pitted the U.S. government against big tobacco manufacturers including Philip Morris and Reynolds, who, the AFP reported, will likely appeal the decision before the U.S. Supreme Court.

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BPA From Bottles Shows Up in Urine: Study

People who drink from plastic bottles that contain bisphenol A (BPA) have elevated levels of the chemical in their urine, says a Harvard School of Public Health study that confirms what health experts have long suspected, the Boston Globe reported.

The chemical is used in hundreds of products, including baby bottles.

The Harvard team found a 69 percent increase in BPA levels in the urine of people who drank for one week from clear plastic polycarbonate bottles. The study, published online in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, is the first to definitively show that BPA from plastic bottles leaches into people's bodies, according to the team.

"If you heat those bottles, as is the case with baby bottles, we would expect the levels to be considerably higher. This would be of concern since infants may be particularly susceptible to BPA's endocrine-disrupting potential," said senior author Karin B. Michels, an associate professor at the School of Public Health and Harvard Medical School, the Globe reported.

An American Chemical Council official said the Harvard study doesn't show that products with BPA pose a health risk.

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