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

FDA Plans Closer Look at Diet Supplements

On the heels of its high-profile move to ban ephedra, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration plans to increase scrutiny of other herbal diet supplements that could cause significant health problems, FDA Commissioner Mark McClellan said.

The agency will issue new guidelines on the manufacture and labeling of herbal diet supplements later this year, CNN quotes McClellan as saying Tuesday during a speech in Mississippi.

He said the FDA will investigate three common ingredients in particular that have been associated with kidney and liver problems: bitter orange, aristolochic acid and usnic acid, CNN reports.

Unlike prescription and over-the-counter drugs, diet supplements do not have to be proven safe before they are marketed. But the FDA does have the authority to investigate and remove from store shelves any supplement it deems a threat to public health.

The pending ban on ephedra, an amphetamine-like herb, was announced Dec. 30. Weight-loss supplements containing the substance have been linked to more than 100 cardiac-related deaths, including that of Baltimore Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler last year.

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Quitting the Only Way to Cut Certain Smoking Risks: Study

Cutting down on smoking isn't enough to reduce a person's exposure to a potent cancer-causing substance, a new study finds. The only solution is to quit completely, say University of Minnesota researchers in a new study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

The substance, abbreviated NNK, is linked to lung cancer. The researchers measured levels of NNK in volunteers as they gradually cut back on the numbers of cigarettes. Even though participants went from an average of 24.7 cigarettes smoked daily at the beginning to 2.6 per day by the end of the 12-week study -- a 90 percent reduction -- their urine levels of NNK dropped by only 46 percent, reports BBC News Online.

The researchers say that in the process of cutting back, participants may have compensated by inhaling longer and deeper.

Cigarette smoking is thought to cause up to 90 percent of the world's lung cancer cases, the BBC reports.

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Recalled 'Pump Up' Racing Cars Could Explode

K'NEX Industries is recalling 14,000 air-motored toy cars that could burst in the process of being pumped up, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission says. This puts young users at risk of eye injuries and facial cuts. The "Mud Bogger" and "Street Shredder" pump up racers were sold at Toys R Us, Wal-Mart, and Target stores nationwide between November and December 2003 for about $10. Both models, made in China, have a date code beginning with 7803, which is found on the bottom of the air motor.

The company says it has two reports of bursting motors, though no accounts of injuries.

Consumers are urged to take the toys away from children immediately and contact the company at 1-800-543-5639 for a free replacement.

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More Scientists Join Bird Flu Investigation

Six scientists from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have joined a World Health Organization (WHO) team in Vietnam investigating how the H5N1 strain of bird flu is being transmitted from birds to humans.

The WHO team now includes 14 scientists with expertise in disease surveillance, epidemiology, and livestock and animal husbandry, the Associated Press reports.

So far, the outbreak of bird flu has killed five people in Vietnam and millions of chickens in a number of Asian countries. Vietnam is the only country with confirmed cases of bird flu in humans.

On Tuesday, China closed trade ports along its border with Vietnam in an effort to control the spread of the bird flu. A chicken butcher in Thailand has been isolated in a hospital because he has symptoms of bird flu. Initial tests indicate he has a bacterial lung infection, the AP reports.

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Study Endorses Intensive Phobia Treatment for Children

An intensive approach to treating childhood phobias seems to be effective, says a study sponsored by the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health.

After about a year of followup on 120 children who underwent the concentrated form of exposure therapy, researchers from Virginia Tech and Stockholm University in Sweden say there's a 75 percent cure rate, The New York Times reports.

In traditional exposure therapy, people are exposed to the source of their phobia over several sessions until they overcome their fear. But, in this trial with children, that acclimatization was condensed into a single three-hour session.

The study's preliminary findings were presented recently in Boston at the meeting of the Association for the Advancement of Behavior Therapy.

Virginia Tech psychology professor Dr. Thomas Ollendick, one of the study researchers, told the Times he believes children's brains are impressionable enough that one session is sufficient to teach them new thought patterns and break their cycles of fear.

Typical childhood phobias can range from fear of monsters to fear of thunderstorms. While some mental-health experts believe most kids will outgrow such fears without treatment, others see the need for therapy, the newspaper reports.

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Heart Institute Denounces Bogus Diet

Officials at the Montreal Heart Institute in Canada are warning people they have nothing to do with a bogus diet that claims people can lose 10 pounds in three days by eating hot dogs and ice cream.

The diet, posted in recent days on a Web site based in France, claims to be backed by the Montreal Heart Institute. The institute was successful Monday in having the diet removed from the Web site, the Toronto Star reports.

Still, Montreal Heart Institute officials are worried the diet may spread across the Internet, and people will believe it is sanctioned by the institute.

"The institute does not in any way endorse this diet. The diet in question may entail certain health risks," says a statement released by the Montreal Heart Institute.

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