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

Lead Prompts Massive Recall of Toy Jewelry

Some 150 million pieces of imported toy jewelry sold in vending machines are being recalled because they may contain dangerous levels of lead, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) says.

While only half of the affected rings, necklaces, and bracelets may actually contain lead, it is difficult to distinguish between the two types, a CPSC statement said.

No injuries associated with the products have been reported. The four importers involved say they have stopped selling any jewelry that may contain lead, according to the CPSC. Consumers are urged to throw away any products that may have been recalled.

Affected rings are gold- or silver-colored with different designs and paint finishes with various shaped center stones. The necklaces have black cord or rope or gold- or silver-colored chains. The necklaces have pendants, crosses, or various geometrical designs or shapes, and can include gemstones. The various styles of bracelets include charm bracelets, bracelets with medallion links, and bracelets with faux stones. All of the products were manufactured in India.

The jewelry was sold in vending machines located in malls and discount, department, and grocery stores nationwide from January 2002 through June 2004 for between $0.25 and $0.75. For more information, contact the Toy Jewelry Recall Hotline at 1-800-441-4234 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday.

Photos of affected products are available at the Safe Jewelry Council, a group that was just formed by the four importers.

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Study Ties Artificial Sweeteners to Overeating

Consuming artificially sweetened foods and beverages may throw off your natural ability to monitor calories and increase your likelihood of overeating.

That's the claim of a new study performed on rats by two Purdue University researchers. Results appear in the July issue of the International Journal of Obesity, according to HealthDay.

Not surprisingly, a spokeswoman for the sweetener industry takes exception to the study, pointing out it was done only on animals and that previous research has found the use of artificial sweeteners actually helps weight-control efforts.

In the study, two groups of rats were given two different sweet-flavored liquids. For the first group, both liquids were sweetened with natural high-calorie sweeteners so the relationship between taste and calories was consistent. For the second group, one of the two flavored liquids was artificially sweetened with saccharin, making the relationship between sweet taste and calories inconsistent.

After 10 days, the rats were allowed to eat a sweet, high-calorie, chocolate-flavored snack. The rats that had had the artificially flavored liquid were less able to compensate for the calories in the snack; they ate about three times as many calories as those that didn't get artificially sweetened drinks, the researchers said.

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Robotic Device Approved for Heart Surgery

Doctors who perform coronary bypasses have a new helper -- a robotic-like system that allows them to perform cardiac surgery while seated at a computer screen.

The Da Vinci Endoscopic Instrument Control System, made by Intuitive Surgical of Mountain View, Calif., uses handgrips and foot pedals to control three robotic arms that can manipulate a variety of surgical tools. A wrist-like feature can afford more intricate motion and better control of the tools than the human hand, the company said.

The system won its latest approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday. It had already been FDA-approved for several other types of cardiac surgery, and for general gall bladder and reflux disease surgery, an FDA statement said.

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Mentally Ill Teens Locked in Detention Centers

A House committee report says that thousands of mentally ill youths in the United States are being kept in juvenile detention centers while they wait to be treated for their mental health problems.

The report, released Wednesday by the Democratic staff of the House Government Reform Committee, said that these juvenile detention facilities are usually not equipped to treat mental illness, the Associated Press reported.

Some of the youths kept in the detention facilities haven't been charged with a crime, the report noted.

"The use of juvenile detention facilities to house youth waiting for community mental health services is widespread and a serious national problem," the report said.

"This misuse of detention centers as holding areas for mental health treatment is unfair to youth, undermines their health, disrupts the function of detention centers, and is costly to society," the report added.

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Report Calls for International HIV/AIDS Corps

A large-scale international effort along the lines of the Peace Corps is needed to help combat the spread of HIV/AIDS around the world, says an Institute of Medicine (IOM) report issued Wednesday.

The report from the institute, a health advisory panel that's an arm of the National Academy of Sciences, urged international aid groups and governments to take immediate action to assist developing countries in dealing with HIV/AIDS, the Associated Press reported.

There have been recent cuts in the price of AIDS drugs, and Western government promises of billions of dollars in aid to fight HIV/AIDS. But the IOM report said there aren't enough qualified health-care workers in poor nations hardest hit by the epidemic.

In order to address this problem, the IOM recommended establishment of a corps of HIV/AIDS technical specialists who can go to these poor countries to help treat people with HIV infection and AIDS.

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Star Trek's Scotty Has Alzheimer's

James M. Doohan, the actor who beamed to fame as Scotty the chief engineer in the original Star Trek series, has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.

The 84-year-old, Canadian-born actor was diagnosed with Alzheimer's within the past few months and is in the early stages of the disease, CBC News reported. He was already suffering from diabetes and Parkinson's disease.

Doohan, who now lives in the Seattle suburb of Redmond, Wash., is scheduled to appear at a Star Trek farewell convention and to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Aug. 31.

He appeared in 100 films and television series. He's most famous for his portrayal of Lt. Cmdr. Montgomery Scott, chief engineer of the starship Enterprise, in the original 1966-69 Star Trek TV series and in several feature-length Star Trek movies.

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