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

CDC Report: Americans Feel Their Health is Deteriorating

Americans are concerned that their physical and mental health is declining, according to a new survey from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Adult respondents reported an average of 3.5 physically unhealthy days per month, up from 3.0 days in 1993, according to the survey, published in the online edition of Public Health Reports. Mentally unhealthy days rose to 3.4 days from 2.9 during the same time frame, and days in which respondents had limited ability to perform everyday activities rose to 2.0 days from 1.6, the survey found.

The percentage of U.S. adults who rated their health as "fair" or "poor" rose to 15.5 percent in 2001 from 13.4 percent in 1993, the survey showed. Adults 45 to 54 were more likely than other age groups to cite poorer health.

Geographically, self-professed unhealthy days rose in 18 states and the District of Columbia, stayed the same in 31 states, and decreased only in North Dakota over the eight-year span, the CDC said.

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Breast Implants May Disperse Platinum

Women with silicone breast implants have been found to have above-average concentrations of platinum in their bodies, according to a researcher at American University.

The type of platinum detected is different from the traces of the metal normally found in a person's body, according to researcher S.V.M. Maharaj, a university chemist. Women who had the implants longer had up to three times the normal concentrations of the metal in their blood and urine, according to Maharaj and the study's co-author, forensic toxiologist Ernest Lykissa.

The platinum used in the implants is treated with nitric and hydrochloric acids, meaning it readily binds in the human body, according to an account from the Associated Press.

Women with platinum contamination have been shown to develop nervous tics, faulty perceptions, and impaired hearing and eye sight, Lykissa told the wire service.

Following a host of well-publicized problems with silicone implants, they were banned for most people in 1992 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Earlier this year, the FDA rejected an attempt by California-based Inamed Corp. to bring back the implants, citing ongoing concern about their long-term health effects.

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U.S. Unveils Plan to Combat Flu Outbreak

Sparked by concerns that the Asian bird flu epidemic could combine with a human form of influenza and spark an unstoppable outbreak among humans, the Bush administration has issued plan for how it would respond to a flu pandemic in the United States.

According to a report in The New York Times, the plan includes provisions for emergency production of vaccines, stockpiling of antiviral drugs, freeing up of hospital beds to treat the critically ill, and possible imposition of quarantines.

Some disease experts believe a flu pandemic is inevitable, the Times reported. But government officials who helped devise the U.S response conceded to the newspaper that they were unable to resolve ethical issues, such as who would get the drugs and vaccines first.

The plan estimates that as many as 207,000 Americans could die during a pandemic, depending on how virulent the virus was and how easily it spread. In the last pandemic of 1918-19, 500,000 of the more than 20 million deaths worldwide occurred in the United States, whose population at the time was 105 million, the Times reported.

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New Blood Test Screens Newborns for Rare Diseases

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday cleared a new laboratory test that can screen newborns for several inherited but treatable diseases.

The test will be conducted on blood taken from a newborn's heel, which is already done for screening for other diseases mandated by the states.

This particular test, developed by PerkinElmer Life and Analytical Sciences of Ohio, will screen for diseases that are called "inborn errors of metabolism," the FDA said in a statement. Such diseases include phenylketonuria, maple syrup disease, homocystinuria, and hereditary tyrosinemia.

Though the diseases are rare individually, they appear more common as a group, the FDA said. They can cause developmental delay, seizures, mental retardation, and even death.

However, the effects of these diseases can be cut significantly if they're caught early, and patients can expect a good quality of life, according to the statement.

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New Army Helmets May Be Unsuitable for Iraq

New U.S. Army helmets that are lighter, stronger, and smaller than the previous version may not be suitable for use in Iraq because they don't offer adequate protection on the side and back of the head, says the Army's senior neurosurgeon in Iraq.

Lt. Col. Jeff Poffenbarger noted that the deadliest threat to American soldiers in Iraq are roadside bombs. Shrapnel and debris from these bombs often strike soldiers in the back and side of the head.

"I've become convinced that for this type of guerilla fight, we are giving away coverage that we need to save lives," Poffenbarger told the Wall Street Journal.

His concerns have prompted some senior commanders of new Army units arriving in Iraq to give their soldiers the choice of using the new helmets or keeping their old ones.

The Marine Corps has also issued new stronger helmets to its soldiers. But the new helmets worn by the Marines are the same shape as the old ones and provide protection to the back and side of the head.

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Instructor Shortage Plagues U.S. Nursing Schools

A lack of qualified professors is forcing many U.S. nursing schools to turn away applicants who could help stem a worsening shortage of nurses in the nation.

Potential qualified professors are instead choosing other better-paying health-care jobs, and fewer nurses are going after the Ph.D. they need to become full-time, tenured nursing school teachers, the Associated Press reported.

The lack of qualified nursing instructors is likely to become more serious because many are expected to retire in about a decade. Fewer instructors mean fewer nurses.

It's expected that there will be about 400,000 vacant nursing positions in the U.S. by 2012, according to the Honor Society of Nursing.

In 2003-04, there were 3,500 students enrolled in the doctoral programs offered at 88 U.S. nursing schools. Only 419 Ph.D. candidates graduated this spring, a decline of 10 percent from the spring of 2003, according to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing.

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