Organ transplant drug extends life of older mice

WASHINGTON (AP) — A drug used to prevent the rejection of organ transplants was found to significantly increase the life span of older mice, researchers report. The National Institute on Aging is testing compounds that may extend the life span of mice. The drug rapamycin is the first to work for both male and female mice, according to a study published online in the journal Nature.

The drug couldn't be used for that purpose in people. It suppresses the human immune system to prevent a transplant recipient's body from attacking the donated tissues, raising the odds of disease.

Researchers didn't start the medicine on the mice until they were about 600 days old, the equivalent of about 60 years for people. Despite that delay, the rapamycin seemed to work, said lead author David Harrison of the Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine.

That surprised and impressed gerontologist George Martin at the University of Washington, who was not part of the study.

Females fed rapamycin lived 14 percent longer than those that didn't take the drug. For males, it was 9 percent longer.

The After Effects of Swine Flu‏

Britain facing swine flu upsurge, US calls crisis talks

LONDON (AFP) — Britain warned it could face more than 100,000 daily cases of swine flu and the United States called a meeting of top officials as governments grappled on Friday with a resurgent swine flu pandemic.

The warning from British Health Secretary Andy Burnham came as the Japanese health ministry said doctors had detected the second case worldwide of a patient resistant to the anti-viral Tamiflu, widely used to treat the illness.

Burnham told parliament that 100,000 cases a day could occur in Britain by the end of August if the current infection rate is maintained. The country already has Europe's highest number of reported cases.

Health officials say they are abandoning trying to stop the flu spreading, instead focusing on people who are most susceptible, such as the obese or those with asthma or breathing problems.

Thinking positive makes some feel glummer: study

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Repeating positive statements such as "I am a lovable person" or "I will succeed" makes some people feel worse about themselves instead of raising their self-esteem, a study showed Thursday.

"From at least as far back as Norman Vincent Peale's (1952) 'The Power of Positive Thinking,' the media have advocated saying favorable things to oneself," said the study by Canadian psychologists, which was published in "Psychological Science."

It cites a popular self-help magazine that advises its readers to: "Try chanting: I'm powerful, I'm strong, and nothing in this world can stop me," but says the practice doesn't work for everyone.

Positive self-statements make people who are already down on themselves feel worse rather than better, found the study conducted by psychologists Joanne Wood and John Lee of the University of Waterloo and Elaine Perunovic of the University of New Brunswick.

For the study, the psychologists asked people with low self-esteem and people with high self-esteem to repeat the phrase: "I am a lovable person," and then measured participants' moods and feelings about themselves.

Alberta Health Services Board faces $1.1-billion shortfall

CALGARY — Alberta's health-care board continues to bleed red ink and faces a $1.1-billion budget shortfall this fiscal year.

And as the board passed its $10.8-billion budget Tuesday - which includes a 13 per cent increase - its CEO openly questioned if taxpayers are getting value for their money.

"Alberta spends far more per head of population than the other provinces. Far more. And we don't get better life expectancy from that," Dr. Stephen Duckett said.

"What the board has said to me is why is it that Alberta is spending so much more and not getting anything for it and what can we do about that?"

Duckett, who has been charged to come up with a cost reduction strategy, said the province is spending $30 million a day on medical care, which is the highest per capita in Canada.

Swine flu detected at Argentina pig farm

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Swine flu has been detected in numerous pigs at a farm near the Argentine capital, but the virus has not shown itself to be any deadlier to the animals than a normal flu, the government said Friday.

The discovery comes as Argentina is experiencing a human swine flu outbreak during the South American winter. The Health Ministry confirmed three new deaths — raising the country's toll to 26, more than any other nation on the continent.

Jorge Amaya, chief of the National Agricultural Health and Quality Service, told Mitre radio that about a quarter of pigs at the unidentified farm in Buenos Aires province were found to be infected.

"The mortality rate is less than 2 percent, which is typical of a normal flu for swine," Amaya said.

Nevertheless, he said, "Veterinarians are very worried because humans are infecting the animals." Amaya added that eating pork poses no danger to people.

Deaths related to swine flu rise to 7 in Ontario

Ontario has had three more deaths associated with swine flu since Monday, raising the province's total to seven, the province's chief medical officer of health said Wednesday.

A 17-year old male from the Ottawa region, a 52-year old woman from eastern Ontario and a 68-year old man from the Durham region all tested positive for the H1N1 flu virus, Dr. Arlene King confirmed.

All three had underlying health conditions. It's not clear what role the virus may have played in the fatalities.

Provincial health officials are investigating the previously reported death of a six-year-old girl, said Dr. Donald Low, head of the department of microbiology at the University Health Network and Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto.

"It has been described in the past where you can actually have co-infections," said Low. "Not only influenza, but you can have certain other types of bacteria. And the two of them together have this overwhelming presentation, which has occurred in prior pandemics and also prior influenza years."

HHS secretary to press lawmakers on health care

WASHINGTON (AP) — Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told lawmakers Wednesday that President Barack Obama is willing to listen to suggestions on how to pay for a health care overhaul, as long as they don't increase the deficit.

"The president is open to good ideas about how we finance health reform," she said in testimony prepared for delivery to a House committee. "But we are not open to deficit spending."

Sebelius' appearance before the House Energy and Commerce Committee comes as congressional Democrats struggle with the $1 trillion-plus price tag for extending health coverage to 50 million uninsured Americans over 10 years.

Although lawmakers are considering an option Obama has opposed — taxing employer-provided benefits — Sebelius' testimony indicates that the administration is ready to be flexible if Congress can deliver a bill.

That has seemed uncertain, as cost concerns and partisan disputes have stalled progress. Sebelius used her testimony to encourage Democratic efforts — and to make clear that Obama expects lawmakers to deliver.

Toronto-area girl and two Quebecers dead after getting swine flu

TORONTO — A six-year-old girl from the Toronto area and two Quebecers have increased to 16 the number of Canadians to die after contracting swine flu.

Health officials were unsure Monday what role the H1N1 virus played in the Ontario girl's death.

Authorities did not release the name of the girl, who is believed to be the youngest person in Canada with the virus to have died.

Quebec health officials released a statement late Monday afternoon to announce the two new deaths in the province. They gave no details and did not return calls.

Public health officials in Ontario said the girl showed the usual symptoms of a flu - coughing and fever - on June 14, and died the next day without having been admitted to hospital.

The coroner's office is still investigating the cause of the six-year-old's death, said Dr. Arlene King, Ontario's chief medical officer of health.

"While the H1N1 virus appears to have been a factor in the girl's death, the exact role the virus played is under investigation by the office of the chief coroner," King said.

Staffing reports highlight 'unsafe' nursing shortage

Nurses who filed workload reports at Halifax-area hospitals last year complained that a nursing shortage caused "unsafe" situations, including one in which an unattended patient yanked out his intravenous tubes.

The Workload Situation Reports — also referred to as Quality Care Situation Reports — describe staffing levels at half their normal level in 2008.

In 34 reports received through freedom of information requests by The Canadian Press, there were 17 instances when nurses with the Capital District Health Authority were assigned between 10 to 12 patients.

Managers say the normal ratio is four or five patients per nurse on the units involved.

In one instance on an orthopedic unit at the Halifax Infirmary, two nurses called in sick for a night shift on Sept. 27, 2008, and no replacements were found, leaving nurses with 10 patients each to care for.