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

FDA Approves First Easy-to-Use Anthrax Test

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has given the green light to the first easy-to-use laboratory blood test for anthrax.

The test, funded the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and produced by the Immunetics Inc. of Boston, detects antibodies to anthrax in order to assess whether a person is infected with anthrax.

The Anthrax Quick ELISA test won FDA approval on Friday. It can be completed in about an hour, compared to about four hours for previous methods of testing for anthrax, the CDC said.

The new test will be available soon for use in state and private laboratories.

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Sugary Sodas Raise Diabetes Risk in Women

A woman's risk of developing diabetes greatly increases if she drinks more than one sugar-sweetened soft drink a day, according to a Harvard University study released Tuesday.

The study found that women who drank at least one sugar-sweetened soft drink a day had an 85 percent increased chance of developing type 2 diabetes than women who drank less amounts of such soda, the Melbourne Herald Sun reported.

Researcher Matthias Schulze explained that the large amount of rapidly absorbable sugars in these sodas can contribute to obesity and an increased risk of diabetes.

The study also found that diet sodas sweetened with sugar substitutes do not increase the risk of diabetes and that women who drank these diet sodas tended to shed weight.

The findings were presented at the American Diabetes Association's annual scientific meeting.

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Senators Seek Easing of Stem Cell Restrictions

A joint letter from 58 U.S. senators urges President Bush to ease federal restrictions on stem cell research in order to expand research using human embryos.

"We would very much like to work with you to modify the current embryonic stem cell policy so that it provides this area of research the greatest opportunity to lead to the treatments and cures for which we are all hoping," the letter stated.

The letter was signed by 43 Democrats, 14 Republicans and one independent, the Associated Press reported. It was sent Friday, a day before former President Reagan died of Alzheimer's disease. Nancy Reagan has called for more stem cell research to help cure the disease.

In August 2001, Bush signed an executive order that restricted federal money for stem cell research to 78 embryonic lines in existence at the time.

The letter noted that only 19 of those embryonic lines are now available to researchers.

In April, 206 House members sent a similar letter to Bush.

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Early Chemo Shows Promise Against Brain Cancer

In what's being described as the first major advance against brain cancer in decades, researchers report that early, low doses of the chemotherapy drug Temodar seem to substantially improve short-term survival in patients with the most aggressive and common form of the disease.

The study used the drug to treat the brain cancer called glioblastoma multiforme. Whether the therapy will help cure brain cancer has yet to be determined. But administering low doses at the very start -- for six or seven weeks during and after radiation -- doubles the chance of being alive two years later, the Associated Press reported.

"This is the first trial that has been clearly positive in brain cancer in 30 years," said Dr. M.J. van den Bent of the Daniel den Hoed Oncology Center in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. "This is a great day."

Several doctors are now predicting that Temodar will become the new standard of care for brain cancer patients, the AP said. "To be able to tell people they may have two or three years of survival rather than nine months is pretty major," said Dr. Adam Mamelak of City of Hope National Medical Center in Duarte, Calif., who was not involved in the study.

The study was presented June 7 at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in New Orleans. It was carried out at more than 80 hospitals in Europe, Canada, and Australia, the news service said.

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Higher Death Rates for Children Admitted to ICU at Night

Children admitted to pediatric intensive care units (ICUs) during the evening and night -- between 5 p.m. and 7 a.m. -- have a slightly greater risk of dying within the first 48 hours of care than those admitted during the daytime, according to a study in the June issue of the journal Pediatrics.

It found that the overall death rate for children admitted to ICUs during the day was 2.2 percent, compared with 2.8 percent for children admitted overnight.

Fatigue, less-experienced personnel working night shifts, and fewer nighttime staffers may be among the factors that cause this difference, the Associated Press reported. In addition, lab results and some kinds of medical equipment aren't always as available overnight.

In certain types of cases that may require prompt and expert treatment, there was a much wider gap between daytime and night death rates. For example, among children admitted with shock, the death rate was 4.7 percent for daytime admissions and 12 percent for evening/night admissions.

For this study, researchers analyzed 20,547 admissions to 15 pediatric ICUs from 1995 to 2001.

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