1 in 5 Pharmacies Hinders Teens' Access to 'Morning-After' Pill

1 in 5 Pharmacies Hinders Teens' Access to 'Morning-After' Pill: Study -- Nearly one in five U.S. pharmacies gave out misinformation to researchers posing as 17-year-old girls seeking emergency contraception, often saying that it was "impossible" for girls to get the pill, a new study finds.

About 3 percent of researchers posing as physicians also received wrong information about the availability of emergency contraception, also known as the "morning-after" pill.

The findings show that 17-year-olds in need of emergency contraception to prevent unintended pregnancy face significant barriers in accessing it, the study authors said. According to U.S. federal regulations, girls 17 and older can buy emergency contraception without a prescription if they show proof of age, while girls 16 and younger need a doctor's prescription.

"What we found was that emergency contraception was pretty available, in that 80 percent had it on the shelf that day," said lead study author Dr. Tracey Wilkinson, a general pediatrics fellow at Boston University School of Medicine and Boston Medical Center. "However, when teenagers asked if they could get the medicine, they were [sometimes] told they couldn't get it at all, not with a prescription, not over-the-counter, just simply based on their age."

The study, published online March 26, appears in the April print issue of Pediatrics.

In the study, researchers called all the commercial pharmacies in five major U.S. cities: Austin, Texas; Cleveland; Nashville, Tenn.; Philadelphia; and Portland, Ore. Each of the 943 pharmacies got called twice, once by a "17-year-old girl" and once by a "physician." Researchers spoke to pharmacists, pharmacy technicians or unidentified pharmacy staff.

Four in five callers were told the pharmacy had emergency contraception in stock. However, 19 percent of 17-year-old callers were told that they could not obtain emergency contraception under any circumstances, while 3 percent of physicians were told their 17-year-old patient could not obtain it.

"Not just the callers posing as 17-year-olds, but the physicians were given wrong information by the pharmacy workers about over-the-counter access to emergency contraception," said Dr. Deborah Nucatola, an ob-gyn and senior director of medical services for Planned Parenthood Federation of America. "This kind of misinformation can result in preventable, unintended pregnancy."

About 85 percent of the roughly 750,000 teenage pregnancies in the United States each year are unintentional, the researchers noted.

Slightly more than half of workers in pharmacies that didn't have emergency contraception on hand said they could order the medication, but about one-third offered no additional information about how girls or doctors could get it. Also, the teen callers were put on hold more often than doctors and talked less often to pharmacists, the study found.

Researchers do not know if any pharmacy workers intentionally misled the girls, or if they simply don't know the law.

In 2011, the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommended that younger teens be permitted to obtain emergency contraception without a prescription, but that was overruled by the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Emergency contraception is a high dose of progestin that prevents pregnancy by delaying ovulation (when the egg leaves the ovary and travels into the fallopian tube where it's available for fertilization by sperm). Some research suggests emergency contraception may make it more difficult for sperm to get past the cervix and into the uterus, and may make the uterus less hospitable to sperm.

Although the drug can be taken up to five days after unprotected sex, it becomes less effective the longer women wait. For every 12-hour delay in taking the first dose, the odds of pregnancy increase by 50 percent, according to background information in the study.

Emergency contraception is not an "abortive" drug, Wilkinson said. It does not affect an existing pregnancy or slow the transport of a fertilized egg from the fallopian tubes into the uterus, she said.

The average cost for emergency contraception was $45, ranging from $15 to $70.

Wilkinson added that emergency contraception should not be confused with RU-486 (mifepristone), which is used to terminate early pregnancies and is given by physicians under supervision.

To clear up the confusion, Wilkinson urged more education of pharmacy staff and said pediatricians and other health care workers must make sure that adolescents know their rights.

"Clinicians might help prepare their patients for this by writing a prescription as a backup to make sure they can access it when they need it," she said. ( HealthDay News )

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Marijuana doesn't harm lung function

Marijuana doesn't harm lung function, study found — Smoking a joint once a week or a bit more apparently doesn't harm the lungs, suggests a 20-year study that bolsters evidence that marijuana doesn't do the kind of damage tobacco does.

The results, from one of the largest and longest studies on the health effects of marijuana, are hazier for heavy users — those who smoke two or more joints daily for several years. The data suggest that using marijuana that often might cause a decline in lung function, but there weren't enough heavy users among the 5,000 young adults in the study to draw firm conclusions.

Still, the authors recommended "caution and moderation when marijuana use is considered."

Marijuana is an illegal drug under federal law although some states allow its use for medical purposes.

The study by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, and the University of Alabama at Birmingham was released Tuesday by the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The findings echo results in some smaller studies that showed while marijuana contains some of the same toxic chemicals as tobacco, it does not carry the same risks for lung disease.

It's not clear why that is so, but it's possible that the main active ingredient in marijuana, a chemical known as THC, makes the difference. THC causes the "high" that users feel. It also helps fight inflammation and may counteract the effects of more irritating chemicals in the drug, said Dr. Donald Tashkin, a marijuana researcher and an emeritus professor of medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles. Tashkin was not involved in the new study.

Study co-author Dr. Stefan Kertesz said there are other aspects of marijuana that may help explain the results.

Unlike cigarette smokers, marijuana users tend to breathe in deeply when they inhale a joint, which some researchers think might strengthen lung tissue. But the common lung function tests used in the study require the same kind of deep breathing that marijuana smokers are used to, so their good test results might partly reflect lots of practice, said Kertesz, a drug abuse researcher and preventive medicine specialist at the Alabama university.

The study authors analyzed data from participants in a 20-year federally funded health study in young adults that began in 1985. Their analysis was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

The study randomly enrolled 5,115 men and women aged 18 through 30 in four cities: Birmingham, Chicago, Oakland, Calif., and Minneapolis. Roughly equal numbers of blacks and whites took part, but no other minorities. Participants were periodically asked about recent marijuana or cigarette use and had several lung function tests during the study.

Overall, about 37 percent reported at least occasional marijuana use, and most users also reported having smoked cigarettes; 17 percent of participants said they'd smoked cigarettes but not marijuana. Those results are similar to national estimates.

On average, cigarette users smoked about 9 cigarettes daily, while average marijuana use was only a joint or two a few times a month — typical for U.S. marijuana users, Kertesz said.

The authors calculated the effects of tobacco and marijuana separately, both in people who used only one or the other, and in people who used both. They also considered other factors that could influence lung function, including air pollution in cities studied.

The analyses showed pot didn't appear to harm lung function, but cigarettes did. Cigarette smokers' test scores worsened steadily during the study. Smoking marijuana as often as one joint daily for seven years, or one joint weekly for 20 years was not linked with worse scores. Very few study participants smoked more often than that.

Like cigarette smokers, marijuana users can develop throat irritation and coughs, but the study didn't focus on those. It also didn't examine lung cancer, but other studies haven't found any definitive link between marijuana use and cancer. ( Associated Press )

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Are You an Enabler?

Are You an Enabler? - One of the most difficult aspects of combating addiction and other pathological behaviors--including violence--is that it is so often fueled by the psychological weaknesses of more than one person.

The individual diagnosed with alcohol dependence or heroin dependence or compulsive gambling or antisocial personality disorder is often consciously or (more often) unconsciously in an unhealthy synergy with someone who is an "enabler" who is co-dependent with that person.

I have treated dozens of alcoholics, for instance, whose spouses lie for them when they are too drunk to make it to work, or cover for them when they can't make it to their kids' performances, or drink "just one glass of wine" with them three weeks after they get home from detox. I have treated women who swear they had no knowledge whatsoever of their husbands' criminal activities, yet have no rational explanation for how their families lived in splendor or for why they never questioned the procuring of their luxury automobiles or estates. I have talked with "friends" of people who have overdosed on heroin who lent them money through the years and who can't fathom, in retrospect, why they would have done so, knowing the way the money would be used.

At the heart of every enabler is secondary gain. Some seemingly well-meaning husbands and wives indulge their spouses' addictions in order to have a more powerful connection with their children (as the only reliable parent in the house). Some people who swear they are friends of gamblers are actually so fearful of rejection that they would never challenge whether an upcoming trip to a casino is a smart choice. Others (and here is the darker dynamic) actually love being close to risk and ruin and are posing as friends (even believing it themselves), when they are really spectators, getting their fill of wins and losses, without wagering a dime. Some businesspeople are psychologically "driven" to team up with weak partners, then undermine them, in order to never feel like they are themselves the barrier to success.

Are you an enabler? Do you know one? Here are some clues that can help you answer those questions:

• Enablers find themselves, of course, in the company of people who are underperforming in life because of bad habits--whether overeating or drinking too much or taking foolish risks.
• Usually, enablers have found themselves more than once in the position of being seen as the stronger person in a relationship or the victim of someone very close to them.
• Enablers often feel and often state that they are powerless to bring about positive change in someone's life or that the attempt to do so (by, say, drawing boundaries and insisting a spouse either not drink or move out) would be cruel or would have disastrous consequences.
• Enablers generally felt weak and vulnerable during early chapters of their life stories and now wish to feel stronger than the person who they are enabling.

If you are an enabler, get help. Psychotherapy is the gold standard. The goal is to find the roots of your own addiction--to abiding or actually accelerating the destruction of others.

If you find yourself in the company of an enabler, create as much distance as you can from that person. Those who would transfuse themselves with the suffering of others, and take no responsibility for it, are very dangerous people, indeed. ( foxnews.com )

READ MORE - Are You an Enabler?

In search of an Aids vaccine

In search of an Aids vaccine. After a disappointing year of research findings, scientists are little closer to developing the Holy Grail of Aids prevention - a successful vaccine. But researchers, doctors and activists still hope to find success by the end of the decade

Carefully optimistic

At stake is a way to stop the transmission of Aids without relying on humans to reduce their tendencies toward risky sexual behaviour. If scientists are successful, the disease could head toward decline.

All of us are cautiously optimistic, says Wayne Koff, senior vice president of research and development at the International Aids Vaccine Initiative, an advocacy organisation.

The epidemic, which began more than two decades ago, has killed an estimated 23 million to 25 million people worldwide so far.

Surprising findings

Researchers earlier this year reached the end of the most extensive vaccine study to date - the so-called AIDSVAX vaccine that was administered to people in the United States.

To the astonishment of experts, the vaccine failed to protect against Aids infection among whites and Latinos, but worked quite well for blacks and Asians. Many critics quickly discounted the study, saying it was too small because only a few hundred non-whites were included among the 5 400 subjects. Others wondered if some genetic difference between the races could account for the discrepancy.

In November, researchers released the results of another study that examined a variation on the AIDSVAX vaccine geared toward Aids strains that are common in Asia. The vaccine, given to half of a group of 2 546 intravenous drug users in Thailand, failed to do any better than a placebo given to the other half.

Vaccines, of course, are available to combat a variety of diseases, from mumps and measles to smallpox and polio. Even chicken pox, the usually mild but sometimes disfiguring perennial disease of childhood, has given up the ghost to a vaccine.

Why the challenge?

Considering the record of vaccine success, why is Aids such a challenge?

There are two hurdles, says Dr Steve Black, director of the Kaiser Permanente Vaccine Study Center in California. One is that the virus itself is attacking the immune system. It's attacking your body's main defense against the disease. Even if you have a vaccine that generates an appropriate immune response, there's no way to make sure the infection itself won't undermine that.

The other challenge lies in the ability of HIV - the Aids virus - to morph into different forms. Other diseases simply don't do that, Black says. Measles is measles, pretty much. If you vaccinate people, they're protected.

Aids, on the other hand, is more like the influenza virus, which changes so often that pharmaceutical companies must tinker with the formulation of flu vaccines each year. HIV does that at even a faster clip, Black says.

A live attenuated vaccine

One possible solution for the first part of the challenge would be to use what's called a live attenuated vaccine - a harmless, weakened form of the Aids virus that would force the immune system to permanently create antibodies, the microscopic soldiers permanently on guard against a specific germ.

The polio vaccine, among others, works in that way. When the body sees the polio virus, it can attack and neutralise it, you don't get the disease, Koff says.

But there's a problem. In HIV, you can elicit a lot of antibodies and they can bind to HIV, but most of them are not effective in neutralising HIV in the right way, Koff says.

Combination vaccine

Koff and other experts suspect that the most feasible approach may be to design a combination vaccine that both primes the immune system and arms cells themselves against the bits of virus that make it past the first wall of defense. The second part of the vaccine would stimulate the immune system to produce cells that are capable of killing the virally infected cells, Koff says. It's not the first line of defense. It's the next line of defense.

For now, a useable vaccine appears to be years off. While about 20 vaccines are in or near the stage of studies in humans, only the AIDSVAX vaccines and one more vaccine have reached the final phases of research, Koff says. Results of the study of the latter vaccine, derived from a canary virus, are pending.

It's conceivable to have a partially effective vaccine by the end of the decade, Koff says. It can have significant benefit on the public health. Remember that 15 000 people a day are becoming infected with HIV. Even if you have a vaccine that's 40 to 50 percent effective, you can make a significant amount of impact. - ( health24.com )

READ MORE - In search of an Aids vaccine

The most effective HIV drugs

The most effective HIV drugs. Researchers have identified a specific combination of three drugs that seems to be the best starting point for attacking HIV, the virus that causes Aids.

Delay of additional drug combos

Patients who were started on this particular regimen of zidovudine (ZDV or AZT), lamivudine (3TC) and efavirenz (EFV) delayed having to move on to additional drug combinations, a new study says.

A second report from the same study found that four-drug regimens were better than most three-drug regimens - except for this particular combination of zidovudine/lamivudine/efavirenz - in providing prolonged protection against the virus.

Chess game analogy

Dr Charles Gonzalez, a specialist in infectious diseases and immunology at New York University Medical Center's Aids Clinical Trial Center, compares the design of the study, and the treatment of HIV, to a three-dimensional chess game.

A doctor plays with the virus every day when he has to decide what set of moves he makes, Gonzalez says. If I make this, this and this move, what is the first best move? Then, after I've made that move, which first move allows me to make a second move if there's any problem. This study really does answer that question.

Gonzalez's centre had 20 patients involved in the trial.

Both reports appear in the Dec. 11 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. The preliminary findings were presented at the 2002 International Aids Conference in Barcelona, Spain, and have already been incorporated into HIV/Aids treatment guidelines from the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Not a dramatic change in practice

This will probably not change practice terribly much because some of the preliminary data was infused into the (HHS) guidelines that just came out, Gonzalez says. This article essentially says the experts are right, in terms of what to start with.

Combination therapy has been the treatment of choice for HIV/Aids since the 1990s and has essentially transformed a sure killer into a disease that can be managed - at least in the developed world where patients can gain access to the medicines. When one drug combination stops working, as it often does, doctors switch the patient to another.

Many unanswered questions

Still, several questions remained unanswered, including what is the better regimen to start with and what is the better order to give the drugs in.

The clinical goal is to pick a regimen that patients tolerate and that provides a durable response and also keeps options open for the future knowing many patients are ultimately going to fail the first or second regimen, says study leader Dr Gregory Robbins, an infectious disease specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital.

First part of the study

The first part of the study compared four different three-drug regimens in 620 patients at 79 sites in the United States and Italy. The participants, none of whom had been previously treated, were followed for a median of 2,3 years, much longer than previous studies.

Although all drug regimens helped to control HIV infection, when it came to preventing Aids progression and death, the three-drug combination of efavirenz, zidovudine and lamivudine outperformed the other three drug regimens in preventing the initial failure, Robbins says. After 48 weeks on this regimen, about 10 percent of patients' drug therapies had failed, compared with 30 percent to 40 percent in the other three-drug groups.

There was something about the actual combination that appeared to make the regimen more effective, Robbins says. That's an area of active research for us to understand - the potential synergy of this combination.

Individuals receiving this combination also experienced fewer toxic side effects than those receiving the combination of didanosine and stavudine. Experts are now concluding this latter combination should be avoided when possible.

Second part of the study

The second part of the study compared a four-drug regimen with two consecutive three-drug combinations. Three hundred sixty people received one of two four-drug treatments: efavirenz and nelfinavir in combination with either didanosine and stavudine or zidovudine and lamivudine.

Although four-drug combinations were no more effective than sequential three-drug regimens, four-drug regimens delayed drug failure longer, except when compared with the efavirenz-zidovudine-lamivudine combination.

Since four-drug regimens may be more toxic, more expensive, more complicated and may limit future treatment options, the three-drug regimen emerged as the best option for initial therapy in this study.

Is four better than three?

The obvious question that we've all been asking in clinic is whether four is better than three and what this study showed is that they aren't any different than the sequential threes, but it is better for delaying the first failure, Robbins says. As a result, we don't need to use four drugs and expose people to additional toxicity, additional costs and potentially taking away that option in the future.

As a result of this and other studies, the guidelines for treating HIV/Aids are much more specific. The efavirenz-zidovudine-lamivudine combination is one of the three preferred initial regimens outlined by the HHS.

We now know that just selecting or substituting drugs as part of a regimen might change their potency, Robbins says. We don't understand that interaction. We need to explore that. - (health24.com)

READ MORE - The most effective HIV drugs

Jamie Oliver's pasta sauce has more salt than TEN bags of crisps

Jamie Oliver's pasta sauce has more salt than TEN bags of crisps. Jamie Oliver has been accused of giving shoppers a salt overdose in his big brand sauces.

Research by health campaigners found the salt in a portion of his Spicy Olive, Garlic and Tomato Pasta Sauce is equivalent to more than ten bags of ready-salted crisps.

The sauce contained 3g of salt per 100g, making it more salty than sea water.

Consuming half a jar would equate to 5.3g of salt, which is 88 per cent of the maximum amount an adult is recommended to eat in a day.

Loyd Grossman has also been named and shamed in a study published by Consensus Action on Salt and Health (CASH).

His bolognese sauce contains 1.5g of salt per 100g, five times more than the level found in Asda's Good For You Bolognese.

Under fire: Jamie Oliver's pasta sauce is more salty than the sea

Government watchdog the Food Standards Agency claims the nation is consuming far too much salt, leading to an epidemic of high blood pressure and strokes.

CASH found that brands associated with TV celebrities generally had more salt than supermarket own-label sauces.

The level in Oliver's pasta sauce was some 30 times the figure in WeightWatchers' Roasted Garlic Pasta Sauce.

Oliver's Green Pesto Sauce also contains 3g of salt per 100g, although it is eaten in smaller quantities.

Food firms insist salt is used for good reasons, both because it delivers the taste that customers want and, often, as a preservative.

However, CASH said manufacturers should be able to bring the salt level down to match those it considers to be best.

CASH chairman, Graham MacGregor, a professor of cardiovascular medicine, said: 'Atlantic seawater has 2.5g of salt per 100g. A couple of Jamie Oliver's sauces are even higher than that.

'I think one problem is that a lot of the famous chefs unknowingly are salt addicts. They get used to eating lots of it and their salt taste receptors get suppressed.

'It would be really interesting to measure Jamie's daily intake of salt.'

The Oliver pasta product says half a jar equals one serving.

However, a spokesman for the chef said this would be enough for two or three people.

He added: 'Jamie spent a lot of time working on these sauces and they are designed to be eaten in the Italian way - one jar with at least 500g of pasta - feeding four to six people.

'Because they are more concentrated than rivals you don't need as much and the salt content is dissipated.'

• The BBC is to broadcast a five-part series celebrating the 40-year career of Delia Smith. Starting in January, Delia Through The Decades will assess the impact she has had on our eating habits.

( dailymail.co.uk )

READ MORE - Jamie Oliver's pasta sauce has more salt than TEN bags of crisps

New lung cancer wonder drug offers cure hope for deadliest form of disease

New lung cancer wonder drug offers cure hope for deadliest form of disease. A new lung cancer drug that can cure the deadliest form of the disease is being developed by scientists.

The treatment, which appears to have no side affects, killed all traces of the 'small cell' version of the cancer in more than 50 per cent of the British trials on laboratory mice. It also blocked the cells' ability to resist standard chemotherapy treatment.

A fifth of lung cancer patients have the 'small cell' form, in which the tumours spread so quickly they can rarely be removed. Only 3 per cent of sufferers can expect to survive five years after diagnosis.

Professor Michael Seckl, head of Molecular Oncology and Lung Cancer Research at Imperial College, which led the research, said he hoped to start clinical trials with human patients as early as next year.

Breakthrough: Scientists hope to test the new drug on humans next year

'Lung cancer is the most common cancer killer in the world and over 100 people in the UK are diagnosed with the disease every day,' he said.

'Around one in five of those people will have small cell lung cancer. Although it responds to chemotherapy initially, the tumours soon become resistant to treatment and sadly nearly all people with the disease do not survive.'

The drug, currently known by the codename PD173074, wiped out 50 per cent of 'small cell' lung cancer tumours in one strain of laboratory mice. In other animals it slowed the growth of tumours and prevented them becoming resistant to chemotherapy treatment.

Professor Seckl said: 'We urgently need to develop new treatments for this disease.

'Our new research in mice suggests that it may be possible to develop the drug PD173074 into a new targeted therapy for small cell lung cancer.

'An added bonus of this drug is that it could be taken orally, which would make it less invasive than some other forms of cancer therapy.'

Each year around 39,000 people are diagnosed with lung cancer in the UK and 34,500 die from the disease.

It is the most common cause of lost lives due to cancer in the UK, accounting for nearly a quarter of deaths in men and a fifth in women, and the second most common cancer in men after prostate cancer.

Smoking is responsible for 90 per cent of the cases of lung cancer in men and more than 80 per cent of the cases in women.

Standard treatment for 'small cell' lung cancer is chemotherapy, sometimes accompanied by radiotherapy, which has harsh side effects.

Although the treatment often starts to work, the cancer usually grows back rapidly and becomes resistant.

The new research focused on blocking the activity of a growth hormone called FGF-2 which spurs on the proliferation of small cell lung tumours.

As well as adding fuel to the cancer fire, the hormone also triggers a survival mechanism in tumour cells that makes them immune to chemotherapy drugs.

The research was partly funded by the Department of Health, together with the charities Cancer Research UK and the Cancer Treatment and Research Trust.

Dr Joanna Owens, from Cancer Research UK, said: 'The early results from this study are impressive but we'll need to wait for the results of clinical trials before we'll know if the drugs could work for patients.' ( dailymail.co.uk )

READ MORE - New lung cancer wonder drug offers cure hope for deadliest form of disease

Britain the abortion capital of Europe: Terminations for teenagers leap by a third

Britain the abortion capital of Europe: Terminations for teenagers leap by a third. More abortions are carried out in Britain than any other country in Europe, research has shown.

It has overtaken France - which has a larger population - to become the abortion capital of the continent.

The rising rate has been pushed up by abortions among teenage girls, which increased by nearly a third over the past decade.

Half of all pregnancies among girls under 18 in Britain end in abortion.

Anti-abortion campaigners said the figures were an indictment of the Government's teenage pregnancy strategy.

An increase in terminations among teenagers has seen Britain's abortion rate rise (Posed by model)

The figures, collated by a European pressure group, showed that the 219,336 abortions carried out in England, Wales and Scotland in 2007 topped the 209,699 in France to put Britain at the top of the abortion count for the first time.

Both countries remain far ahead of the other nations where abortion is frequent, including Romania, at just over 150,000, Italy, with 127,000, and Spain, 112,000.

Abortion numbers are rising fastest in Spain, but from a much lower base than in Britain.

By contrast, abortion numbers in France have remained virtually steady for the last ten years.

The figures were collated by the Institute for Family Policies from those collected by the European Union's statistical arm Eurostat.

The Norway-based pro-family pressure group presented them to the European Parliament yesterday as part of a report on developments in family life.

It said the annual number of abortions in the EU equals the combined population of its ten smallest member states.

More than half occurred in Britain, France and Romania.

Britain was the country where most teenage girls have abortions - 48,150 abortions among girls under 20 in 2007 against 31,779 in France.

The group said of the overall figures: 'Declines in Germany and Italy, and stagnation in France, are remarkable.'

Britain now ranks fifth in the world for the number of abortions, behind Russia, the U.S., India and Japan.

Abortion campaigners blamed Labour's policies, and in particular its Teenage Pregnancy Strategy, based on promoting sex education and contraception.

Phyllis Bowman of Right to Life said: 'These are not surprising figures.

The Government is not so much running a Teenage Pregnancy Strategy as a Teenage Abortion Strategy.

Conceptions are not going down and abortion is going up, exactly the reverse of what was supposed to happen.

'Britain will continue to have record abortion levels until ministers recognise the idiocy of these policies.'

The Teenage Pregnancy Strategy has cost more than £300million.

But in 2007 pregnancies among girls under 18 in England and Wales went up, not down, and targets for halving 1998 conception levels by next year appear far beyond reach.

Teenagers who become pregnant are increasingly turning to abortion.

Many of them are thought to be girls who aspire to education and a career rather than a life of single motherhood on benefits.

Ministers said yesterday they believe abortions and conceptions among teenagers are set to fall.

Children's Minister Dawn Primarolo said: 'The trends in the data for 2008 and under-18 conception data for the first two quarters of 2008 give me confidence that we will see a return to the downward trend established between 1998 and 2006.'

• The NHS is wasting millions on an ineffective programme to screen young adults for a sexually-transmitted disease, auditors warned last night.

Last year, £42million was spent - of which £17million was wasted because managers are paying too much for chlamydia tests, said the National Audit Office.

Of those who are tested, one in eight may never receive treatment - putting others at needless risk of developing the condition.

Six years after the programme was launched the rates of chlamydia, which can cause infertility in girls, are still rising.

Only around half of health trusts are testing enough young people to have a significant impact on the rate.

The report says the failure to make progress is largely down to a lack of support from GPs - because chlamydia screening is not part of their performance-related pay scheme. ( dailymail.co.uk )

READ MORE - Britain the abortion capital of Europe: Terminations for teenagers leap by a third

'Chemical cosh' drugs blamed for deaths of 1,800 care home residents

'Chemical cosh' drugs blamed for deaths of 1,800 care home residents. At least 1,800 dementia sufferers die each year from 'chemical cosh' drugs they shouldn't even be given, a report has found.

Just one in five of the 180,000 dementia patients prescribed the anti-psychotic drugs benefit, meaning nearly 150,000 are given them needlessly.

But one in 100 is condemned to an early death, while many more suffer debilitating side-effects, leading critics to claim the risks outweigh the benefits.

Experts believe the problem has grown worse since NHS funding was restricted to patients with 'moderate' cases of dementia in 2006.

Deaths: The 'chemical cosh' drugs may have been given to nearly 150,000 dementia patients needlessly

They suggest that the lack of alternative medicines for those whose symptoms are classed as 'mild' or 'severe' has increased reliance on anti-psychotic drugs.

The drugs are used to sedate patients if they grow agitated, to make life easier for their carers.

These 'chemical cosh' drugs are not licensed to treat dementia but are prescribed to control associated problems such as delusions, sleep disturbance and aggressive behaviour.

But the Government-commissioned report confirms fears that their long-term use aggravates other medical conditions, accelerates mental decline and causes premature death.

Care services minister Phil Hope yesterday backed an action plan to cut the 'unacceptable' use of anti-psychotics by two-thirds over the next three years.

The report's author, Sube Banerjee, professor of mental health and ageing at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, said up to a quarter of people with dementia are on the drugs at any time, with only 36,000 deriving any benefits.

He said they should be used as a 'last resort' for three months at the lowest dose, with a review at the end of this period. He said it was a 'major NHS issue' that many people got 'relatively small' benefits compared with the potential dangers.

Professor Banerjee said that 20 or 30 years ago, 30 per cent of those living in care homes had dementia, whereas 80 or 90 per cent of residents were now affected.

Pointing to the growing burden of elderly patients with Alzheimer's and similar diseases, he said: 'What we have here is an overall failure of health and social care systems to adjust to a changing world.'

Professor Banerjee recommended more psychological therapies and an audit of how many prescriptions are written, as well as improved training for staff looking after dementia patients to stop them simply relying on drugs.

Mr Hope said these ideas would all be implemented, as well as the creation of a national clinical director of dementia.

Neil Hunt, chief executive of the Alzheimer's Society, said: 'This goes beyond quality of care - we see it as a fundamental human rights issue. Almost 150,000 people are being inappropriately prescribed these drugs as a chemical restraint.

'The scandalous over-prescription of anti-psychotic drugs leads to an estimated 1,800 deaths a year. It must end.'

Nadra Ahmed, chairman of the National Care Homes Association, said GPs were not spending enough time visiting care homes to review medication.

Liberal Democrat MP Paul Burstow, who has led a ten-year campaign on the issue, said: 'This review comes much too late for thousands of elderly people whose lives have been cut short by the reckless prescribing of anti-psychotic drugs.

'The evidence that anti-psychotic drugs do more harm than good has been mounting for years.' ( dailymail.co.uk )

READ MORE - 'Chemical cosh' drugs blamed for deaths of 1,800 care home residents

Brazil nuts 'could raise the risk of heart disease'

Brazil nuts 'could raise the risk of heart disease'. Brazil nuts have been hailed as a tasty way of building up the immune system and even protecting against cancer.

But the health-boosting mineral they contain may also push up cholesterol levels and raise the risk of heart disease, researchers claim.

Warning: Selenium - a trace mineral found in Brazil nuts - could raise cholesterol levels

The findings came in a study suggesting that a high level in the blood of selenium - a trace mineral found naturally in Brazil nuts, grain, fish and meat - increases cholesterol levels.

Those found in tests to have the highest level of the mineral in their blood were regularly taking dietary supplements containing selenium.

However, eating large quantities of Brazil nuts and selenium-rich foods might have the same effect.

Researchers at Warwick University say they have discovered that high selenium levels are 'associated' with a 10 per cent rise in cholesterol.

The warning emerges from data on 1,042 people aged 19 to 64 who took part in the UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey between 2000 and 2001.

In those with blood selenium concentrations higher than 1.20micromoles per litre, the levels of total cholesterol were raised by an average of 8 per cent. Levels of a 'bad' type of cholesterol associated with heart disease were increased by 10 per cent.

The study did not take account of the health of individuals or whether they were taking cholesterol-lowering drugs.

High cholesterol levels are a risk factor for heart disease and stroke. Brazil nuts are exceptionally rich in selenium, although average intake of the mineral in the UK is only around half the recommended level.

Dr Saverio Stranges, who led the study reported in the Journal of Nutrition, said: 'We believe that the widespread use of selenium supplements, or of any other strategy that artificially increases selenium status above the level required, is unwarranted at the present time.'

Dr Carrie Ruxton, independent nutrition adviser to the industry-backed Health Supplements Information Service, said the study authors admitted they couldn't be sure whether the association they found 'was due to increased dietary selenium or other factors'.

She added: 'It is premature to suggest at this stage that taking selenium supplements is harmful for heart health.' ( dailymail.co.uk )

READ MORE - Brazil nuts 'could raise the risk of heart disease'

No, probiotics aren't a waste of money - and here's why....

No, probiotics aren't a waste of money - and here's why.... Are probiotics good for you or a complete waste of money? There are so many apparently con

Recently there has been a slew of studies showing the health benefits of them. Yet many probiotic products themselves have been criticised.

Only recently scientists at the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) threw out 180 health claims made for probiotics (such as 'maintains digestive comfort' or 'boost defences') on the basis that there simply wasn't enough evidence.

Yet nearly 60 per cent of UK households regularly buy probiotic drinks, supplements and yoghurts, so are they wasting money?

Friendly bacteria drinks can ease constipation and irritable bowel symptoms

While there may be erroneous or unvalidated claims for specific products, many experts disagree with the EFSA stance, says Glenn Gibson, Professor of Food Microbiology at Reading University, a leading authority on gut bacteria.

'There's convincing evidence that the right products will do us good,' he says.

Specifically, 'a properly formulated probiotic drink or pills should benefit people who are travelling abroad and coming into contact with different bugs that might upset their system'.

Probiotics will also help anyone taking antibiotics, which kill good bacteria as well as bad, 'or people going into hospital where gut infections are rife'.

Some friendly bacteria products also help ease constipation and irritable bowel symptoms by bulking out stools.

'The right product should minimise the effects of a gut infection,' Professor Gibson adds.

Probiotics can have a preventative effect, too, he says, which is why they are worth taking on a daily basis. They work by crowding out bad bacteria.

There's emerging evidence that some probiotics may stimulate cells of the gut immune system, possibly causing them to secrete molecules which then enter the bloodstream, improving immune response.

But which products are worth trying?

Professor Gibson's view is that, generally, all probiotics are worth taking - at worst they will do you no harm and even poorer quality products will make some difference.

Here, he offers his verdict on various popular products. . .

MORRISONS ACTIVE YOGHURT DRINK

99p for 4 x 100ml

Cost per dose: 25p

Number of bacteria: 1 billion

Type: Bifidobacterium lactis Bb12

Expert verdict: 'This contains a good amount of probiotic bacteria and a useful amount of the prebiotic, inulin.

Prebiotics aren't in themselves bacteria, but boost their number by "feeding" them.

Prebiotics can also improve gut flora (microscopic organisms in the digestive tract) longer term, whereas the action of probiotics is always transient.

'I'm a big fan of products that combine pro and prebiotics, and this is the product I currently buy.'

Rating: 9/10

YEO VALLEY ORGANIC PROBIOTIC YOGHURT DRINK

£1.39 for 500g

Cost per dose (125g): 35p

Number of bacteria: 125 million

Types: Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium bifidum

Expert verdict: 'There's no information on the specific strain of bacteria here, but this product contains reasonable numbers. And even if you don't get significant digestive benefits, it's still a calcium-rich healthy food.

'Lactobacillus acidophilus is well tested and widely used, but not as effective as some Bifidobacteria species. Ideally, formulations with Lactobacillus acidophilus should contain Bifidobacteria, too.'

Rating: 3/10

ACTIMEL

£2.59 for 8

Cost per dose: 32p

Number of bacteria: 10 billion

Type: Lactobacillus casei immunitass DN-114 001

Expert verdict: 'Contains large amounts of a unique strain of a well-researched probiotic. It may help with antibiotic-associated diarrhoea, or that caused by C. difficile.

'It could also help minimise or stop traveller's diarrhoea or a stomach bug.

'A study indicated Actimel may reduce severity of wintertime infections in the elderly, and could help the body respond better to flu vaccinations.'

Rating: 9/10

TESCO NATURAL DEFENCES

£1.49 for 6 x 100g

Cost per dose: 25p

Number of bacteria: 100 million

Type: Lactobacillus casei

Expert verdict: 'A supermarket copy of Actimel, with probably similarly beneficial effects.

'But the strain of bacteria won't be the same, and it has fewer bacteria, too - which could make a difference to its efficacy. It's likely to be better for health maintenance rather than specific ills.'

Rating: 5/10

QUEST L. PLANTARIUM 299V

£10.99 for 30 capsules, from health food stores

Cost per dose: 37p

Number of bacteria: 1 billion

Type: Lactobacillus plantarum 299v

Expert verdict: 'The strain used here has been shown to combat the unpleasant gut symptoms linked to clostridia bacteria (which includes C. difficile).

'In theory, it would be good to take before a stay in hospital, but there are different strains of lactobacillus plantarum bacteria, and I can't guarantee the efficacy of this one.'

Rating: 6/10

YAKULT

£2.50 for 7 x 65ml

Cost per dose: 36p

Number of bacteria: 6.5 billion

Type: Lactobacillus casei Shirota

Expert verdict: 'A well tested product, good for digestive health. There's evidence this strain makes parts of the immune system react less strongly - perhaps dampening down allergic reactions.'

Rating: 9/10

TESCO BASICS PROBIOTIC DRINK

50p for 4 x 100g

Cost per dose: 12.5p

Number of bacteria: 100 million

Type: Lactobacillus acidophilus LA-5

Expert verdict: 'This may help bolster your system against digestive upset, at a bargain price, but the number of bacteria are a bit low compared with products used successfully in clinical trials.

'Lactobacillus acidophilus is not as effective as some Bifidobacteria species, so ideally should contain some of these, too.'

Rating: 5/10

ACTIVIA YOGHURT STRAWBERRY

£1.55 for 4 x 125g

Cost per dose: 39p

Number of bacteria: 4.25 billion

Type: Bifidobacterium animalis DN-173 010

Expert view: 'This strain has been proven to reduce the time food takes to travel through the colon by 21per cent, so it can help with constipation. It also helps reduce the bloating that accompanies irritable bowel syndrome.

'But, you have to consume more probiotic yoghurt than drink to get adequate bacteria, so you may get more sugar (swap to the natural yoghurt version if this is an issue).'

Rating: 8/10

BIOCARE BIOACIDOPHILUS FORTE 7

£5.82 for 7 capsules

Cost per dose: 83p

Number of bacteria: 24 billion

Type: Lactobacillus acidophilus CLT-60 and CUL-21 and Bifidobacterium bifidum CUL-17 and CUL-20

Expert verdict: 'This has high levels of bacteria - particularly good if you're replacing bacteria wiped out by antibiotics.

'I can't vouch for these particular strains, although the manufacturers claim this formulation has been tested by patients taking antibiotics.'

Rating: 5/10

MULTIBIONTA

£4.59 for 30 tablets

Cost per dose: 15p

Number of bacteria: 10 million

Type: Lactobacillus gasseri PA 16/8, Bifidobacterium bifidum MF 20/5, Bifidobacterium longum SP 07/3

Expert verdict: 'The number of bacteria is the minimum dose I'd consider useful.

'However, the tablets have a coating that resists stomach acid, so more bacteria should survive. In clinical studies people reported suffering fewer colds or reduced cold and flu symptoms.'

Rating: 7/10

MULLER VITALITY YOGHURT

£1.90 for 6 x 100g

Cost per dose: 32p

Number of bacteria: 1billion

Type: Bifidobacterium sp. BB-12

Expert view: 'Contains bifidobacteria - the bacteria that starts to reduce in the gut as we get older, causing us to be more prone to gut infections.

'It also contains contains a good amount of the prebiotic inulin, which means the bacteria are effectively taking a food source down to the bowel with them, which will help them flourish and may become more effective than a product with higher amounts of bacteria but no prebiotic.'

Rating: 8/10

( dailymail.co.uk )

READ MORE - No, probiotics aren't a waste of money - and here's why....