Home > News

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

FDA Weighs Eliminating Older Asthma Inhalers

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is considering whether to ban older asthma inhalers because they use chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which have been linked to a thinning of the earth's ozone layer.

But the agency is looking for guidance from asthma patients before requiring that the products gradually be pulled from the market.

Two new inhalers that don't use CFCs are now available. Both contain albuterol, a bronchodilator that controls the symptoms of asthma. But the FDA wants to hear from the nation's asthma patients before deciding whether to pull the older inhalers from the market.

The FDA is expected to rule by next summer. An international treaty requires that products containing CFCs be phased out once viable alternatives are available, the agency said.

The American Lung Association sent a letter supporting the change because, "around the world, CFC alternatives are in widespread use, with no adverse impacts reported."

-----

Suicidal Youths Turn to Hanging Instead of Guns

A new report finds that suicidal young people are less likely to use firearms to take their own lives, but the survey finds little comfort in the trend because they are turning to more readily available methods.

In the last decade, suffocation -- notably hanging -- has overtaken firearms as the most common way for adolescents to kill themselves, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports.

Among youngsters between 10 and 14 years old, suicide by suffocation occurs twice as frequently as that by a self-inflicted gunshot. Firearms were the most common method before 1997, the report found. Among those 15 to 19 years of age, suffocation suicides increased, but by 2001 firearms remained the method of choice.

In other findings, the CDC reported that young people who attempted suicide were four times as likely to have been involved in a fistfight in the previous year. However, a third survey found that those who committed a school-related suicide between 1994 and 1999 had no history of fighting or otherwise getting into trouble with the police.

The report in the CDC publication Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report had some good news: Overall, the suicide rate among people 10 to 19 years of age dropped from 6.2 per 100,000 people in 1992 to 4.6 per 100,000 in 2001.

-----

To Firefighters, Vehicles More Dangerous Than Flames

Firefighters are now more likely to die traveling to or from a fire than fighting one, an industry advocacy group says.

An annual study by the National Fire Protection Association concluded that vehicles now pose a greater threat to the average firefighter than flames. Last year, 37 firefighters died on the way to or from a fire, versus 29 that were killed at the fire site itself, the group said in a statement.

Of those who died traveling to or from an incident, 24 were involved in collisions or rollovers. Eight of those victims weren't wearing seat belts, and at least six were speeding, the NFPA said.

The 37 firefighters who were killed on the way to or from an incident added up to the highest total since 1977, when the group first started keeping records. By contrast, the 29 who died at the fire site itself amounted to the lowest total during the same period, the group said.

-----

U.S. Track Stars Face Doping Allegations

Alleged violations of doping rules could trip up plans by world 100-meter record holder Tim Montgomery and three other American track and field athletes to compete at the Summer Olympics in Athens.

The allegations were contained in letters sent by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency to Montgomery and the other stars. They are Alvin Harrison, a silver medal holder in the 400-meter Olympic event, Chryste Gaines, the 1996 gold medal 4x100 relay sprinter, and Michelle Collins, the 2003 indoor 200-meter champion.

Sending the letters is the first phase in determining whether an athlete has committed a doping offense, the Voice of America reported. An anti-doping board decides whether cases should proceed. Athletes are allowed to submit written statements to the board.

The evidence in the letter sent to Montgomery is inconclusive and inconsistent, said his lawyer, Christina Arguedas.

-----

Report Links Premature Deaths to Power Plant Pollution

Health problems linked to pollution from power plants cut short nearly 24,000 lives each year in the United States, according to a report commissioned by environmental advocacy groups.

About 2,800 of those deaths are from lung cancer.

The report, released Wednesday, concluded that 22,000 of those annuals deaths could be prevented if currently available technology was used to reduce power plant pollution. The document was prepared by Abt Associates Inc. of Cambridge, Mass.

People who die prematurely due to exposure to fine particle pollution from power plants lose an average of 14 years of life, the report said.

It also concluded that power plant pollution causes 38,200 nonfatal heart attacks a year in the U.S., the Associated Press reported.

The National Environmental Trust, U.S. Public Interest Research Group, and the Clean Air Task Force were among the groups that commissioned the report.

-----

Holsters Recalled for Triggering Gun's Trigger

A Pennsylvania-based company is recalling about 3,200 holsters because a retention strap on them can catch a gun's trigger, causing the firearm to discharge inadvertently.

First Samco Inc., through its Fobus USA Holster Division of Southampton, said the danger happens when the gun -- in this case, a Glock handgun, which the holster was specifically made to hold -- is inserted into the holster. The strap was too narrow, according to a statement.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission reported that there have been eight incidents in which a gun went off accidentally, including one in which a user suffered a finger injury.

The holsters under recall have "GL 2*EMZ" engraved on the top and "Fobus" and "Made in Israel" printed on the back. They were sold nationwide between March 2002 and March 2003. For more information on the recall, call (866) 508-3997 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday.

Copyright © 2004 ScoutNews, LLC. All rights reserved.