Thursday, May 31, 2012

Offices may be contaminated with more than 500 types of bacteria, men's ... - CBS News

Manager working in office at night and drinking coffee at his workplace(Credit: iStockphoto)

(CBS News) How germ-ridden is your office? If you're a man, your workspace is more likely to be full of bacteria than that of your female coworker's, a new study suggests.

Where do germs flourish in your office? Study reveals dirtiest surfaces

Researchers looked at bacteria levels on chairs, phones, desktops, computer mice and keyboards from 90 randomly selected offices in New York City, San Francisco and Tucson. Through swab tests, the researchers identified 549 different kinds of bacteria in these offices, most of which came from human skin from the nose, mouth or intestinal cavities.

"We also found a surprising number of bacterial genera associated with the human digestive tract," the researchers, led by Dr. Scott T. Kelley, an associate professor of biology at San Diego State University, wrote in the study.

The study was published in PLoS One on May 30.

But as gross as intestinal bacteria may sound, the researchers said most people who spend all day in an office won't become sick from it unless they have a severely weakened immune system.

According to the study, some contamination also came from soils that were likely carried in by employees. The researchers also also determined chairs and phones had the most bacteria on them out of the five surfaces, but that all surfaces were contaminated

Interestingly, the researchers found the office bacterial communities between New York and San Francisco were virtually indistinguishable. So too were bacterial communities between men's and women's offices - except that men had a lot more of it.

What explains the gender differences? The researchers wrote that size plays a role, since men on average are larger than women and have more skin to shed. But, they said it simply might come down to women having better hygiene.

"Men are known to wash their hands and brush their teeth less frequently than women, and are commonly perceived to have a more slovenly nature," the researchers wrote.

It's worth noting the research was partly funded by Clorox. Another similar study, funded by cleaning supply company Kimberly-Clark, recently found that objects found in communal office breaks rooms were most likely to contain germs, with break room sink faucet handles and microwave handles being the dirtiest places in the office.

Kelley told the New York Times that people should not be worried by his study's findings, but rather it's a glimpse into our working surroundings.

"It's a baseline of what a healthy, normal situation is like," Kelley said. "These were just regular office buildings, where we have no evidence that people are getting sick. But if we do have a sick building, we can now look at what's going on there."


Aspirin, other nonsteroid anti-inflammatory medications may reduce skin cancer ... - Deseret News

Researchers from Denmark's Aarhus University Hospital and two California hospitals, the Cancer Prevention Institute and Stanford University School of Medicine, examined 19 years of skin cancer records in north Denmark against documented skin cancer, paying attention to who used prescription NSAIDs compared to those who didn't.

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Aspirin and other nonsteroid anti-inflammatory medications such as ibuprofen and naproxen may protect against some types of skin cancer, according to research published in the journal Cancer.

But the research comes with a caution about reading too much into it. As WebMD notes, "The new study hints at a possible link between NSAID use and skin cancer risk. It does not prove that a link exists or speak to how these medications may stave off skin cancer risk. Other studies have produced conflicting results."

Researchers from Denmark's Aarhus University Hospital and two California hospitals, the Cancer Prevention Institute and Stanford University School of Medicine, examined 19 years of skin cancer records in north Denmark against documented skin cancer, paying attention to who used prescription NSAIDs compared to those who didn't. They did not consider over-the-counter NSAIDs in the analysis.

It wasn't a shot in the dark. Other studies have shown that cyclooxygenase (COX) enzymes are involved in development of some changes that turn into cancer. Since some NSAIDs inhibit one of both of the COX enzymes, the researchers went after records collected before 1991 and 2009 on use of NSAIDs and skin cancer cases.

A Los Angeles Times article said that the researchers were able to "do a pretty thorough job because of extensive medical registries in Denmark, as well as the fact that patients get a partial price break when they get NSAIDs via prescription as opposed to over the counter."

The study considered the three types of skin cancer, looking at about 1.8 million people over nearly two decades. Among the records they found 1,974 cases of squamous cell carcinoma, 13,316 cases of basal cell carcinoma and 3,232 cases of malignant melanoma. Then they compared each individual with 10 people from the same population, taking care to match age, gender and county of residence. When they looked at the medical rcords and prescription registry, they discovered those who had used more than two prescriptions of NSAIDS were 15 percent less likely to have gotten squamous cell carcinoma and 13 percent less likely to have developed malignant melanoma.

As the medications were used longer or more intensively, the risk of developing those skin cancers dropped. The researchers said that "all estimates of reduced risk were driven primarily by the use of nonselective NSAIDs and older COX-2 inhibitors, including diclofenac, etodolac and meloxicam."

Another excuse to eat chocolate: Dark variety can help heart-risk patients and ... - Daily Mail

By Jenny Hope

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Lovers of dark chocolate have known for some time that their favourite treat can help protect them against high blood pressure and cut the risk of diabetes.

But now scientists say that it can even benefit those who are already at high risk of heart attacks and strokes.

Although regular chocolate eating doesn’t work quite as well as drugs, the researchers say it has virtually no side effects and, perhaps not surprisingly ‘high rates of compliance’.

Miracle food: Dark chocolate can benefit people who are already at high risk of heart attacks and strokes

Miracle food: Dark chocolate can benefit people who are already at high risk of heart attacks and strokes

A team of researchers from universities in Melbourne, Australia, used a mathematical model to predict the effects and cost effectiveness of daily dark chocolate consumption in 2,013 individuals at high risk of heart disease over a decade.

They all had metabolic syndrome â€" a mix of problems including raised blood pressure, obesity, high fat levels in the blood and an inability to control blood sugar levels â€" but no history of heart disease or diabetes and they were not on blood pressure drugs.

Pugh

Daily consumption of 100g of dark chocolate could potentially avert 70 non-fatal and 15 fatal cardiovascular events per 10,000 people treated over ten years, according to the study published on bmj.com.

This could be considered an effective intervention, said the researchers. It would be cost-effective too, costing £25 a year per head of population.

This would cover advertising and possible subsidising of dark chocolate for the less well-off.

The protective effects have been shown only for dark chocolate which is at least 60-70 per cent cocoa. Milk or white chocolate does have not provide the same benefits.

It is rich in flavonoids which are known to have heart protecting effects.

Sceptics say the high calorie content of chocolate tends to offset the benefits.

Previous research shows eating chocolate reduces blood pressure and improves insulin sensitivity, reducing the risk of diabetes.

Soda Ban Could Fizzle Out - Wall Street Journal

New York City's proposed soda ban was hailed by some as a new national model in the fight against obesity. Others condemned it as an unacceptable government intrusion.

Lost in the outcry: It could quickly be reversed.

[DRINK]John Angelillo/UPI

A man fills a large container with a sugary beverage on Thursday.

The ban, which is expected to start next March, would be in effect for less than a year before Mayor Michael Bloomberg's successor assumes office. Three potential mayoral candidates weren't fully supportive of the effort and, if elected, could revisit the issue of selling sugary beverages in containers larger than 16 ounces.

"The city should be educating students in our schools about good health and not limiting what our citizens can purchase," one candidate, Bill Thompson, a former city comptroller, said. "Ten years into this administration and this is the best they can come up with?"

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who leads all potential mayoral candidates in the polls, said she was concerned the ban wouldn't have "positive results." She said a future mayor "should certainly think about" reversing the ban.

"A person who doesn't now understand why it's bad to drink 18 ounces of sugared soda is simply going to get two 10-ounce sodas, or is going to get extra refills," Ms. Quinn said.

Asked about the ban, Comptroller John Liu, an undeclared mayoral candidate, said the mayor should reconsider his opposition to a bill requiring bicyclists to wear helmets. Two other candidates, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, said they were reviewing the plan.

The mayor's proposal would forbid a broad range of venues, including sports stadiums, restaurants, delis, movie theaters and mobile food carts, from selling sugary beverages in containers larger than 16 ouncesâ€"bigger than a standard can of soda but smaller than a typical bottle.

The ban applies to drinks with 25 calories or more per eight ounces; diet sodas, fruit juices and dairy-based drinks would be exempt.

City officials said the measure only requires approval from the city's Board of Health, whose 11 members are appointed by the mayor. Ms. Quinn said council lawyers are exploring whether the board can impose the ban without the council's approval.

Two of Mr. Bloomberg's signature public-health initiativesâ€"bans on smoking in restaurants and bars, and in public spaces such as beaches and parksâ€"required council approval. Another, the ban on trans-fats, was approved by the Board of Health without council involvement.

Ms. Quinn said she would examine whether the mayor should have the power to appoint all members of the Board of Health.

Some New Yorkers said restricting the size of sodas was a step too far. Some wondered what would be next.

"Whatâ€"you can't eat doughnuts next? Give us a break," said Gene Autry Hopkins, Jr. while eating lunch in a park in the Bronx. "Tell him to mind his own business. People have the right to do what they want to do. Who is he? Napoleon?"

Thomas Farley, the city's health commissioner, said the city is not considering anything other than sugary drinks. Mr. Bloomberg previously advocated a state tax on soda and tried to restrict the use of food stamps for sodas. Both proposals ultimately failed.

Some New Yorkers praised his continuing concern for the city's health, while others questioned whether regulating soda sizes should be a government priority.

"He should be worried about providing jobs," said Yanidzza De Jesus, a 37-year-old stay-at-home mother in Queens. The proposal singled out low-income New Yorkers who buy larger bottles "to save money," she said. "He's attacking the poor."

Lissette Suarez, a slender 28-year-old, said she doesn't drink soda oftenâ€"especially not with her daughter. But on Thursday she sat with her family on a park bench in the Bronx sipping a large fountain soda. "If I want a soda one day I have that right," she said. "If one day I want to buy a five-gallon pail of soda, I should be able to."

Ms. Suarez pointed to a larger problem: Low-income areas have fewer choices when it comes to fresh, healthy food. She said she used a coupon for her lunch and was not offered water as an option, which she said she would have chosen over soda.

In a McDonalds down the street, Dave Rodriguez sipped a 32 oz sweet tea. The 35-year-old New Yorker said he was torn.

"It has a positive and a negative side to it," he said. "When it comes to health issues with sugary drinks you can get all types of diseases."

Still, he said, "You're the one that's buying your soda. You should be able to drink as much soda as you want."

â€" Alison Fox and Danny Gold contributed to this article.

Write to Sophia Hollander at sophia.hollander@wsj.com and Michael Howard Saul at michael.saul@wsj.com

A version of this article appeared June 1, 2012, on page A15 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Soda Ban Could Fizzle Out.

SpaceX makes a splash in exploration - Pioneer Press

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Triumphant from start to finish, the SpaceX Dragon capsule parachuted into the Pacific Ocean on Thursday, May 31, to conclude the first private delivery to the International Space Station and inaugurate NASA's new approach to exploration.

The unmanned supply ship scored a bull's-eye with its arrival, splashing down into the ocean about 500 miles off Mexico's Baja California. A fleet of recovery ships quickly moved in to pull the capsule aboard a barge for towing to Los Angeles.

Thursday's dramatic arrival of the world's first commercial cargo carrier capped a nine-day test flight that was virtually flawless, beginning with the May 22 launch aboard the SpaceX company's Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral and continuing through the space station docking three days later and the departure a scant six hours before hitting the water.

Abortion measure fails in House vote

WASHINGTON -- House Republicans provoked a fresh confrontation in the ongoing battle over women's health care rights, but failed Thursday to win approval for a bill designed to outlaw abortions based on gender.

The bill, aimed at families trying to avoid unwanted daughters, attracted the support of a majority of representatives, but failed because it was considered under a procedure normally used for uncontroversial measures. It needed the votes of two-thirds of the House.

Research by Columbia University economists Douglas Almond and Lena Edlund found evidence of sex

selection in Chinese, Indian and South Korean-American families who had a daughter.

Their findings were cited in the bill and the measure drew particular ire from some Asian-American groups who worried that it would lead to particular discrimination against Asian-American women seeking abortions.

Suu Kyi speaks for exploited migrants

MAHACHAI, Thailand -- Long a fighter against oppression inside Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi has used her first foreign trip in 24 years to fight for her countrymen suffering abroad -- millions of economic migrants unable to work at home but vulnerable to exploitation elsewhere.

On Thursday, she pressed her concerns about the millions of Myanmar migrants living in Thailand in a meeting with the country's deputy prime minister.

"She can't force the Thai government to do anything, but she can speak on our behalf better than anybody else," said Win Aung, who lost his hand in an accident at a Thai-run shoe factory and is still fighting to obtain employer compensation for it a year and a half later.

Carbon dioxide in air hits milestone

WASHINGTON -- The world's air has reached what scientists call a troubling new milestone for carbon dioxide, the main global warming pollutant.

Monitoring stations across the Arctic this spring are measuring more than 400 parts per million of the heat-trapping gas in the atmosphere. Years ago, it passed the 350 ppm mark that many scientists say is the highest safe level for carbon dioxide. It now stands globally at 395.

Before the Industrial Age, levels were around 275 parts per million.

Warren told schools she was part Indian

BOSTON -- Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren has acknowledged for the first time that she told officials at Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania that she had Native American heritage.

The Harvard Law School professor's campaign said in a statement that she gave that information to the schools only after she had been hired for faculty positions. She previously confirmed that she had allowed herself to be listed as a minority in a national directory of law school faculty.

Warren grew up in Oklahoma and has provided no documentation of the ancestral claims. She has said her heritage is part of family lore.

Satellite images show Iran cleanup

VIENNA -- New commercial satellite images suggest that Iran has demolished two buildings at a site where it is suspected of trying to erase evidence of a nuclear arms program, a U.S. think tank said Thursday.

The images were published Thursday by the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security, which consults for U.S. government agencies focused on nonproliferation and is considered an objective source of information on Iran's nuclear program.

A senior diplomat who saw the photos displayed on the think tank's website and who is accredited to the International Atomic Energy Agency told The Associated Press they showed apparent cleanup work similar to that depicted on spy satellite photos supplied to the IAEA by member nations closely tracking Iran's nuclear activities.

Syria leaders pin massacre on rebels

BEIRUT -- Syria on Thursday blamed up to 800 rebel fighters for the massacre in central Syria last week that killed more than 100 people, nearly half of them children, in its fullest explanation to date of the bloodshed.

The narrative starkly contradicted accounts of witnesses who blamed "shabiha" or the shadowy gunmen who operate on behalf of President Bashar Assad's regime. The U.N. also said it had strong suspicions those pro-regime gunmen were responsible for much of the carnage on Friday in a cluster of villages known as Houla.

-- Associated Press, Chicago Tribune

Snakes killed both preacher, his father

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- A West Virginia preacher who followed his father into the rare practice of handling snakes to prove faith in God died after being bitten during an outdoor service involving the reptiles.

Mark Randall "Mack" Wolford, 44 -- whose own father died in 1983 after suffering a fatal bite -- had been bitten before and survived. But he died earlier this week after witnesses say a timber rattler bit him on the thigh. Wolford's sister and a freelance photographer told media outlets it happened during a Sunday service at Panther State Forest.

"I don't think anyone necessarily expected it," Lauren Pond, a freelance photojournalist from Washington, D.C., told the he Bluefield Daily Telegraph, "but they've dealt with it before so it's not such a huge shock, maybe."

Paralyzed rats walk again in Swiss lab study - msnbc.com

Scientists in Switzerland have restored full movement to rats paralyzed by spinal cord injuries in a study that spurs hope that the techniques may hold promise for someday treating people with similar injuries.

Gregoire Courtine and his team at Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne saw rats with severe paralysis walking and running again after a couple of weeks following a combination of electrical and chemical stimulation of the spinal cord together with robotic support.

"Our rats are not only voluntarily initiating a walking gait, but they are soon sprinting, climbing up stairs and avoiding obstacles," said Courtine, whose results from the five-year study will be published in the journal Science on Friday.

Courtine is quick to point out that it remains unclear if a similar technique could help people with spinal cord damage but he adds the technique does hint at new ways of treating paralysis.

Other scientists agree.

"This is ground-breaking research and offers great hope for the future of restoring function to spinal injured patients," said Elizabeth Bradbury, a Medical Research Council senior fellow at King's College London.

But Bradbury notes that very few human spinal cord injuries are the result of a direct cut through the cord, which is what the rats had. Human injuries are most often the result of bruising or compression and it is unclear if the technique could be translated across to this type of injury.

It is also unclear if this kind of electro-chemical "kick-start" could help a spinal cord that has been damaged for a long time, with complications like scar tissue, holes and where a large number of nerve cells and fibres have died or degenerated.

Nevertheless, Courtine's work does demonstrate a way of encouraging and increasing the innate ability of the spinal cord to repair itself, a quality known as neuroplasticity.

Other attempts to repair spinal cords have focused on stem cell therapy, although Geron, the world's leading embryonic stem cell company, last year closed its pioneering work in the field.

The brain and spinal cord can adapt and recover from small injuries but until now that ability was far too limited to overcome severe damage. This new study indicates that recovery from severe injury is possible if the dormant spinal column is "woken up".

Norman Saunders, a neuroscientist at the University of Melbourne in Australia, said in an emailed statement reacting to the study that although it remains to be seen whether the technique can be translated to people, "it looks more promising than previously proposed treatments for spinal cord injury".

Bryce Vissel, head of the Neurodegenerative Diseases Research Laboratory at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney, said the study "suggests we are on the edge of a truly profound advance in modern medicine: the prospect of repairing the spinal cord after injury".

Courtine hopes to start human trials in a year or two at Balgrist University Hospital Spinal Cord Injury Centre in Zurich.

(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Check for restrictions at: http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp

'Treatment Failure In Kids With Serious Infections Is Lowered By Zinc ... - Medical News Today

Editor's Choice
Main Category: Pediatrics / Children's Health
Also Included In: Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses;  Nutrition / Diet
Article Date: 31 May 2012 - 17:00 PDT

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'Treatment Failure In Kids With Serious Infections Is Lowered By Zinc Supplementation'


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Researchers in India have found that zinc supplementation, in addition to standard antibiotics, reduces the risk of treatment failure among young children with suspected serious bacterial infections by 40%. The study is published Online First in The Lancet.

In 2010, nearly 66% of deaths in children under 5 around the world were due to infections. Of these deaths, around two-fifths occurred within the first month of life.

Shinjini Bhatnagar from the Translational Health Science and Technology Institute and All India Institute of Medical Sciences in India, who conducted the study, explained:

"Zinc is an accessible, low-cost intervention that could add to the effect of antibiotic treatment and lead to substantial reductions in infant mortality, particularly in developing countries where millions of children die from serious infections every year, and where second-line antibiotics and appropriate intensive care might not be available."

In order to evaluate how effective zinc is in addition to standard antibiotic therapy for suspected serious bacterial infections, such as meningitis, pneumonia, and sepsis, the researchers enrolled children aged between 120 days old to 7 years who were undergoing antibiotic treatment for serious infections in three hospitals in New Delhi, India.

The researchers randomly assigned 352 infants to receive 10 mg zinc each day orally, and 348 to receive placebo. The researchers measured treatment failure as the need for secondary antibiotic treatment within 7 days, need for treatment in intensive care, or death within 21 days.

The researchers found that children were 40% less likely to experience treatment failure when given zinc than placebo. Out of the 332 children who received zinc, 34 treatment failures occurred vs. 55 treatment failures in the 323 participants who received placebo. Although not statistically significant, the researchers also found that there was a relative reduction (43%) in risk of mortality in children given zinc.

The researchers explained: "We would only need to give 15 children with probable serious bacterial infection zinc to prevent one treatment failure."

They conclude:

"Zinc syrup or dispersible tablets are already available in the public and private health-care systems for the treatment of acute diarrhea in many countries of low and middle income and the incremental costs to make this intervention available for young infants with probable serious bacterial infection would be small."

In a joint comment, Christa Fischer Walker and Robert Black from John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, USA, explained:

"This finding is important because case fatality is high in infants presenting with symptoms of probable serious bacterial infection.

The exact mechanism for the effect of supplemental zinc is unknown and needs further investigation, but the clinical benefits in diarrhea and pneumonia in children younger than 5 years, and now in probable serious infections in young infants, suggest that therapeutic use of zinc could have wide application. Additionally, zinc would be beneficial...for other serious bacterial infections, such as those causing typhoid fever or meningitis."

Written By Petra Rattue
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May 31, 2012, declared World No Tobacco Day in Washington County - The Herald-Mail

Washington County Commissioner Jeff Cline issued a proclamation, and a panel of experts discussed the dangers of tobacco and how the tobacco industry operates during World No Tobacco Day Thursday afternoon.

“I’ve seen family members and friends die horrible deaths from smoking,” Cline said at the event held in the Newman Auditorium  of Robinwood Professional Center. 

The proclamation declared May 31, 2012, as World No Tobacco Day in Washington County. Cline said local governments have a responsibility to raise awareness about the problems that can be caused from tobacco.


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“We need to continue through the Washington County Public Schools to educate people and let them make decisions,” he said. “We also need to give local organizations the tools to help raise awareness to these issues.”

The panel included Andy Smith, chairman of the Tobacco Free Coalition; Jon Freeman, a former smoker; and Dr. Abdul Waheed, pulmonary specialist with Pulmonary Consultants of Hagerstown.

Smith talked about the dangers of not just cigarettes but other tobacco products.

“I tell tobacco users, ‘You are a drug addict,’” he said. “This product is controlling a part of our community and a part of our lives that it shouldn’t be.”

According to Smith, one of the present dangers is how the tobacco industry has now found ways to market its products other than just cigarettes to young people, despite having effects that can be just as harmful.

“A 35-minute hookah (pipe) session equals a pack of cigarettes,” he said. “If you know these things, and you’re well-informed, hopefully, you’ll make well-informed choices.”

A hookah confiscated from an underage smoker who got nicotine poisoning from it was on display at the event, as were fact sheets, pictures and brochures that recounted the dangers of tobacco.

Freeman talked about how he was able to quit smoking and how it has helped him.

“I quit because I wanted to do it,” he said. “I may have an urge to have a cigarette, but it will pass.”
Freeman said that he has helped himself in many ways by quitting.

“I have saved about $2,600 on smoking,” he said. “But, most importantly, is how many years I have saved.”

Waheed talked about people he deals with every day who smoke and the health dangers that can come with it.

“Every day I see patients who walk in my office short of breath,” he said. “I wonder why somebody would smoke cigarettes to put themselves in this position.”

Smokers might not have anything detected in their lungs at first and think they are fine, even though some damage might already exist, Waheed said.

“Many smokers want excuses to keep smoking,” he said. “Lung disease, heart disease and lung cancer can all be caused by cigarette smoking.”

Earl Stoner, Washington County health officer, and Mary McPherson, manager of the Tobacco Use Prevention Program, also  talked about the dangers of smoking and fighting the marketing schemes of the tobacco industry.

Smith said that everybody should care about the health problems from smoking, even if it does not affect them directly.

“The state of Maryland spends $2 billion a year on tobacco-related illnesses,” he said. “So if you don’t care, don’t complain about your taxes being high.”

Men's desks are germier than women's, study finds - msnbc.com

By Rachel Rettner
MyHealthNewsDaily

You'd probably rather not think about it, but there are hundreds of species of bacteria on your desk, according researchers who sampled offices in three U.S. cities.

The study identified at least 500 species of bacteria in the offices, and found that men's offices tended to be germier than women's.

And although offices in New York City and San Francisco had similar types of bacteria, those in the Golden State were less contaminated than those in the Big Apple, the researchers said.

But don't go running for the hand sanitizer just yet â€" although the findings have an "ick" factor, bacteria in your office are not necessarily something to worry about, the researchers said. After all, many bacteria are harmless, and actually helpmaintain human health.

"You shouldn't be worried in your own office â€" it's you; it's just a reflection of who you are," said study researcher Scott Kelley, an associate professor of biology at San Diego State University, referring to the bacteria you find on your typical desk or keyboard. These bacteria are "with us all the time, and they don’t make us sick," he said.

Rather, the researchers said they hope that by documenting the various bacteria present in buildings with generally healthy people, scientists will be able to spot out-of-the norm bacteria that cause health problems, Kelley said. Such bacteria might turn up when something in the building changes, such as the air vents, he said.

Although we spend about 90 percent of our lives indoors, surprisingly little is known about the diversity of bacteria in environments such as offices, Kelley said, including how much is there and where it comes from.

Kelley and colleagues sampled a total of 90 offices from buildings in New York City, San Francisco and Tucson, Ariz. The researchers swabbed employees' chairs, phones, desktops, computer mice and keyboards. They analyzed the bacterial DNA to identify the types and amounts of bacteria present.

Most of the bacteria they found came from human skin or the nasal, oral or intestinal cavities, the researchers said. Bacteria from soils were also common, Kelley said.

Although you might expect the computer to be a germ magnet, more bacteria were found on office chairs and phones than on keyboards and computer mice, the researchers said.

Men had about 10 to 20 percent more bacteria in their offices, on average, compared with women.

This may be because men, research finds, tend to be less hygienic. "Men are known to wash their hands and brush their teeth less frequently than women, and are commonly perceived to have more slovenly nature," the researchers wrote in the May 30 issue of the journal PLoS ONE.

In addition, men are typically larger than women, and thus have a greater surface area for bacteria to live in and shed from, the researchers said.

New York City offices were the germiest, and those in San Francisco were the cleanest in terms of bacteria quantities. However, more buildings would need to be sampled before conclusions could be drawn about whether this is a typical pattern for offices in these regions, and what might be causing these differences, Kelley said.

While similar types of bacteria were found in New York and San Francisco, samples from Tucson looked different, possibility because the southern city has a different climate. Samples from Tucson tended to have fewer bacteria from the groups called Bacteroidetes and Cyanobacteria compared with the other two cities.

The researchers next plan to look at the types of molds present in offices, Kelley said.

The study was funded in part by Clorox Corporation; the cleaning product manufacturer had no role in study design, data collection or analysis.

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To Gulp or to Sip? Debating a Crackdown on Big Sugary Drinks - New York Times

Gas guzzlers, McMansions, Walmart, Costco: If one thing is certain about American consumer culture it is that bigger is better, especially if it is cheaper.

So more than a few New Yorkers took it especially hard Thursday when they learned that Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg wanted to take away their plus-size sodas in restaurants, movie theaters, stadiums, arenas and mobile food carts, as a way, he said, of fighting obesity.

Patrick Piatt, 48, and his wife Linda Perez, 46, who were eating at a Wendy’s on 125th Street in Harlem, said they got more value by buying and sharing their 20-ounce lemonade, which would be four ounces too many once the new rules take effect. “For him to dictate, he’s outstepping his bounds,” Ms. Perez said. Her husband said that Mr. Bloomberg was looking down on them: “This is a man who has two standards. One for him and one for everyone else.”

Another diner, Monica Dauphine, 44, who was sharing a 32-ounce Sprite, gave the mayor credit for his good intentions, but said: “You can’t force it. It’s like dictatorship. I’m sorry, but if you want to be obese, you want to be obese.”

Reaction to the proposal came from many fronts on Thursday, falling along two general tracks. The idea was either sound health policy rooted in research, or a perfect illustration of a supersize government gone too far.

Some health experts said there might be some correlation between restrictions on soft drinks â€" many locales, including New York, already ban or limit them from schools â€" and a leveling off, or in some places even a decline, in childhood obesity. But one researcher whose work was cited by City Hall in defense of the policy said in an interview Thursday that he did not think it would work.

At least two candidates for next year’s mayoral race also came out against the proposal Thursday, to varying degrees. Christine C. Quinn, the City Council speaker, said that by limiting personal choice, rather than promoting knowledge, “It seems to me to be more on the punitive side of things.” And William C. Thompson Jr., the former city comptroller who lost to Mr. Bloomberg in 2009, released a statement saying: “This move does nothing to teach people about positive nutritional values and sounds more like parlor talk than real solutions for the obesity epidemic.”

The proposed ban â€" the first in the nation â€" would prohibit the sale of any cup or bottle of sweetened drink larger than 16 fluid ounces, though consumers would not be prohibited from getting refills or multiple servings.  It would apply to virtually the entire range of drinks from energy drinks to iced teas, but not to diet sodas, fruit juices, dairy drinks and alcoholic beverages, or to beverages sold in groceries or convenience stores. It would take effect in March 2013, after public hearings.

Anticipating the reaction, the mayor’s office released a long list of statements from supportive groups, like the United Way, the Center for Science in the Public Interest and the Obesity Society, some of whom longingly noted the bygone days of the six-ounce bottle. Kelly D. Brownell director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University, said in an interview that he understood how consumers might feel, because, “of course, Americans love value.”

But he hastened to add that he was on the mayor’s side, and that portion control was critical to calorie control. Research, he said, shows that though people believe they will eat just until they have satiated their hunger, in reality, “when people are served more, they consume more.”

Dr. Brownell believes people will quickly become conditioned to the 16-ounce limit and not feel cheated. “You’ll set a new norm,” he said. “Just like everybody in the country used to smoke, and there’s a new norm now.”

There is evidence that a health-conscious public has turned against sodas already, said Michael F. Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, which has been leading the charge against sugary sodas for many years.

Since peaking in 1998, American consumption of carbonated sugary drinks has fallen by 24 percent, or 10 gallons, to 31.3 gallons per capita in 2011, Dr. Jacobson said. That 10 gallons works out to about 100 fewer cans of soda a year.

Dr. Jacobson attributed the decline to a rise in general health consciousness, the availability of bottled water, low-carbohydrate diets like the Atkins and the South Beach, the removal of soft drinks from schools and the growing publicity of information linking soft drinks to obesity and diabetes.

Childhood obesity appears to be leveling off across the country, and even declining slightly in New York City and Los Angeles, though the reasons are unclear.

Michael M. Grynbaum and Alex Vadukul contributed reporting.

'Diabetes Drug Pioglitazone Associated With Bladder Cancer Risk' - Medical News Today

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Main Category: Cancer / Oncology
Also Included In: Urology / Nephrology;  Diabetes
Article Date: 31 May 2012 - 16:00 PDT

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According to a study published in British Medical Journal (BMJ), a drug for treating type 2 diabetes called Pioglitazone is linked to a higher risk of bladder cancer and taking the drug continuously for longer than two years doubles the risk. The researchers stress, however, that the risk in absolute terms is relatively low with up to 137 extra cases per 100,000 person years. 



Rosiglitazone, which is a similar drug, showed no increased risk. Both pioglitazone and rosiglitazone are thiazolidinediones, which help control blood sugar levels in patients with type 2 diabetes and are known to increase the risk of heart failure, yet following a safety review, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) decided to keep pioglitazone on the market. 



A Canadian team of researchers decided to investigate if pioglitazone was linked to a higher risk of bladder cancer in people with type 2 diabetes and after obtaining data from the General Practice Research Database (GPRD), they evaluated 115,727 patients who initiated diabetes therapy from 1988 to 2009. The GPRD contains anonymous patient records from over 600 UK GPs. The team identified cases of bladder cancer and matched them to up to 20 healthy control patients. 



The results revealed that from 376 cases that were matched against 6,699 controls, 470 patients were diagnosed with bladder cancer during the average 4.6 years of follow-up, which translates to a rate of 89 per 100,000 person years, whilst the rate of bladder cancer in the general UK population aged 65 years and above is 73 per 100,000 person years. 



Patients who had taken pioglitazone at any time were found to have a 83% higher risk of bladder cancer, which translates into 74 per 100,000 person years. The figures increased to 88 per 100,000 person years for those who had taken the drug for two years or longer and increased even further, to 137 per 100,000 person years those who had taken 28,000mg or more. 



The researchers cross-checked the results in several further analyses, but the results remained consistent, and "provide evidence that pioglitazone is associated with an increased risk of bladder cancer, whereas no increased risk was observed with the thiazolidinedione rosiglitazone."



They believe that these links may have been underestimated during earlier observational studies and comment that doctors, patients and regulatory agencies "should be aware of this association when assessing the overall risks and benefits of this therapy."



Dominique Hillaire-Buys and Jean-Luc Faillie from the Department of Medical Pharmacology and Toxicology in Montpellier, France comment in a linked editorial: "It can confidently be assumed that pioglitazone increases the risk of bladder cancer. It also seems that this association could have been predicted earlier."

They continue saying that in view of pioglitazone's benefits of reducing cardiovascular events being questionable, they remark that, "prescribers who are ultimately responsible for therapeutic choices can legitimately question whether the benefit-risk ratio of pioglitazone is still acceptable for their patients with diabetes."

Written By Petra Rattue
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Paralyzed rats run again: Could method help humans? - Los Angeles Times

Paralyzed rats learned to walk, run and spring deftly over obstacles after they were put on a physical training regimen that included electrical and chemical stimulation of their broken spinal columns and a “robotic postural interface,” a new study reveals.

The study, published Thursday in Science, suggests that for humans with spinal cord injury, the trick to regaining lost movement may lie not in regeneration of the severed spinal cord, but in inducing the brain and spinal cord to forge wholly new paths toward each other. The Swiss authors liken that process to the way that infants, their nervous systems incomplete and learning by experience, sync up their brains and limbs so they can progressively crawl, stand, walk and play.

All told, 250,000 Americans live with spinal cord injury, and just over half -- 52% -- are paraplegic. Each year, 11,000 new injuries occur--overwhelming in young males.

In this study, coaxing that neural reinvention along took four key components: a soup of neurotransmitters â€" serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine -- injected into the epidural space; a set of electrodes supplying a continuous flow of electrical energy near the site of the break in the spinal cord; a rehabilitation rig that supports the unsteady participant and initially forces movement of the legs; and a training course that is as real-world as possible.

After five to six weeks of training on uneven and irregular terrain, all 10 rats used in the study regained the capacity to walk voluntarily “and even to sprint up a staircase,” says study co-author Gregoire Courtine, a research scientist in spinal cord repair at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne in Switzerland.

“It was pretty exciting,” he said in an interview Thursday.

The experiment brought together many disparate threads of rehabilitation research and was several years in the making. Its 10 rats were paralyzed in a way that mimics many spinal cord injuries that result in paralysis of the lower limbs: The spinal cord is partially severed at two separate but neighboring sites, leaving intact tissue but interrupting the passage of messages from the brain to the legs.

About a week later, training began for 30 minutes a day. First, the neurotransmitter cocktail was introduced into the area of injury, reawakening neurons long dormant. Five to 10 minutes later, researchers sent a steady current of electricity through the chemically-excited neurons that control leg movement.

At first, the rats responded with involuntary movement of the legs. But prodded across challenging obstacles by a supportive robotic prosthetic, the rats’ movements became increasingly intentional.

Two to three weeks into the training, “the first, effortful voluntary steps emerged.”

The regimen brought about changes at the site of the injury that were equally striking: In the rats trained “overground,” as opposed to those that got training only on a treadmill, surviving neurons below the site of the injury began to sprout long tentacles â€" axons reaching out in the darkness â€" across the space where the spinal cord had been severed. From the brain’s motor cortex, down through the brainstem and the descending neural pathways, axonal projections reached southward in search of new connections.

Prodded by their hard practice and by rewards like Swiss chocolate, the injured rats grew "de novo brainstem and intraspinal relays" that would find each other across the neural wasteland caused by injury. With five to six weeks of hard work, chemical support and electrical stimulation to the area, the rats built a “detour circuit” around the impassable roadblock of spinal cord rupture. “Voluntary control over sophisticated locomotor movements” was completely restored, the study authors wrote.

Can it work in humans?

“This is not an intervention that will cure spinal cord injury; we need to be realistic here,” Courtine said in an interview. For people with complete or near-complete severing of the spinal cord, the study authors wrote, “undoubtedly, neuroregeneration will be essential.” That may be a job for stem-cell therapies years away from reality.

But this “more immediate approach,” they added, “might capitalize on the remarkable capacity of spared neuronal systems to reorganize” themselves in response to rehabilitation.

Courtine, who conducted much of his preliminary research in the lab of UCLA neurophysiologist Victor Edgerton, said he hopes to initiate Phase 2  trials with human subjects within a couple of years. “What is exciting here is that it’s a different approach, and the results are unprecedented,” Courtine said.

Sugar Ban Stirs Up New York - Wall Street Journal

A New Yorker tucking into a Big Mac at the McDonald's restaurant on 161st Street in the Bronx couldn't order it with any sweetened soda larger than 16 ounces, under a proposed city ban on large sugary drinks.

But that same thirsty customer could walk around the corner to the J&M Grocery and buy a 67-ounce bottle of Coca-Cola.

As public-health officials praised New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's proposal to ban the sale of large-size drinks in restaurants and other locations Thursday, some academics and business groups called the plan an ineffective way to handle the obesity crisis and criticized it as government overreach.

Mr. Bloomberg, who led the city's ban on smoking in bars and restaurants nearly a decade ago, wants to prohibit the sale of sugary drinksâ€"such as soda, sports drinks, sweetened tea or coffeeâ€"in cups or containers that have more than 16 fluid ounces. The ban would affect beverages served at restaurants, mobile food carts, delis and concessions at movie theaters, stadiums and arenas.

But puzzling to many in the city are the exceptions to the ban: It wouldn't pertain to supermarkets, groceries or convenience stores. More specifically, 7-Eleven's "Big Gulp" drink would be safe.

Mr. Bloomberg defended the proposal on Thursday as an effort to take on obesity which he called "a local problem for us," and "to encourage people to live longer."

"If you remember, the smoking ban was very controversial at the beginning," he said. "I don't think the public would stand to go back to the days where you have to breathe other people's smoke."

The city's health department said obesity has led to a surge in the prevalence of type 2 diabetes, which can result in blindness, hypertension and amputations. One in three adult New Yorkers either has diabetes or a condition known as pre-diabetes, the department said.

Corinne Krupp, a professor of public policy at Duke University, described the proposal as "silly."

"I just don't think it's an effective public policy to address obesity," Ms. Krupp said. "It's just going to shift behavior from buying one big soda to buying smaller ones."

Executives in the beverage industry lambasted the mayor and called on the city's residents to voice their disapproval. "New Yorkers expect and deserve better than this," a statement from Coca-Cola Co. said. "They can make their own choices about the beverages they purchase."

The mayor has the power to enact the proposal through the city's Board of Health, over which he has presumed control because he has appointed its members. His potential successors, however, are already raising the possibility of lifting the ban after Mr. Bloomberg leaves office in December 2013. The ban could begin as early as March.

Michael Jacobson, director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a Washington group that focuses on nutrition and food safety, lauded the mayor for a "creative step to help stem the obesity epidemic."

"It's really the responsibility of a health department to reduce chronic disease rates," he said. "New York City is saying that's our responsibility and we're going do it."

Public health officials across the country and advocates against obesity have long discussed the dangers of sweetened drinks, but the mayor's proposal is believed to be unprecedented in scope in the U.S.

The mayor's proposal comes after a series of failed efforts by his administration to limit the intake of sugary drinks. Last year, the Obama administration rejected the mayor's request to bar city food-stamp recipients from using their benefits to buy soda and other sugary drinks. In New York, the state legislature has rejected the mayor's call for a soda tax.

Part of the allure of Mr. Bloomberg's new proposal, administration officials concede, is that the mayor doesn't need the approval of a governmental authority outside Mr. Bloomberg's control.

Thomas Farley, commissioner of the city's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, explained the rationale behind allowing stores to sell tbig, sugary drinks but not restaurants.

"When a restaurant serves you an item, it's meant to be consumed at one sitting," he said. "Whereas when a grocery sells you an item, it's maybe consumed by multiple people across multiple (meals). It makes sense that there would be different rules that apply. It's also true that the Board of Health regulates restaurants but it's the state that regulates grocery stores. So, we don't have the legal authority to do this at the Board of Health".

Karen Congro, director of the Wellness for Life program at the Brooklyn Hospital Center in New York, said she thinks the extensive publicity sparked by the proposal would help inform the public about the dangers of sweetened drinks. But the actual ban, she said, is unlikely to reduce obesity. "Without education, I think, it's limited what can be done with this," she said. "They're just going to buy two smaller drinks."

Brian Wansink, a Cornell University professor who wrote a book on the topic called Mindless Eating, said he received a call Wednesday from City Hall about the proposal. He asked whether the administration had consulted retailers about how they might be able to collaborate on a solution.

"I was a little bit disappointed to see that they hadn't tried to engage retailers to try to figure out a solution that risked less backlash," Mr. Wansink said.

He pointed to ideas that have come out of his research, such as 100-calorie packages of snacks, that food companies have since implemented.

"All of a sudden it's not pushback," said Mr. Wansink, who directs Cornell's Food and Brand Lab. "It's you gave them…win-win idea about how to make money and make people skinnier."

In a McDonald's near Yankee Stadium, Dave Rodriguez, 35 years old, sipped a 32-ounce sweet tea. He said he was torn.

"It has a positive and a negative side to it," he said. "When it comes to health issues with sugary drinks, you can get all types of diseases. The negative would be you're telling them what to do with something they buy."

Ethan Knecht, a 27 year old teacher who lives in Brooklyn, soaked up the sun Thursday afternoon while sipping a sugarless black cherry seltzer.

"I think it's a good idea," he said. "It's a governmental issue. The amount of sugar that corporations are putting in beverages is out of control and the government needs to be able to regulate it."

â€"John Letzing, Alison Fox
and Danny Gold
contributed to this article.

Write to Michael Howard Saul at michael.saul@wsj.com and Andrew Grossman at andrew.grossman@wsj.com

New therapy motivates paralyzed rats to walk - AFP

New therapy motivates paralyzed rats to walk

WASHINGTON â€" European researchers said Thursday they have found a way to motivate paralyzed rats to learn to walk again through a combination of spinal cord stimulation and robotic-aided therapy.

The key to the method's success was how it engaged the rats to participate in their own rehabilitation, said Gregoire Courtine, lead author of the study published in the US journal Science.

"In the beginning... the animal is struggling and it is really difficult," said Courtine, chair of the International Paraplegic Foundation in Spinal Cord Repair at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland.

"Then the first time it happens, the animal is surprised. It looks at you like, 'Wow. I walked!'"

The rats also showed a massive three-fold increase in the connections between the brain and spinal cord after training, according to the research.

"The motor cortex developed new pathways to regain control of the area below the injury. This was really fascinating to see," Courtine told AFP.

"What we observed was this extensive reorganization of the central nervous system not only at the level of the injury but throughout the brain, brain stem and spinal cord."

The therapy combines an electrical-chemical stimulation of the spinal cord, mimicking the signals the brain would normally send to initiate movement in the limbs, and a rehabilitation device that helps the rats stay upright.

The rats were hoisted into a two-legged standing position with a robotic harness that did not propel them forward but stabilized them if they tottered sideways, so they could try to walk without falling.

A chocolate reward was placed in front of the rats. Soon, the animals succeeded in making a few steps.

Within five to six weeks, as their skills improved, the rats were voluntarily climbing stairs, dodging obstacle courses and even sprinting without any treat in view.

"We had a very high percentage of success with these animals. We always observed, in all of the animals we treated, recovery of voluntary movement," said Courtine, adding that more than 100 lab rats were tested.

"In some animals it was weak. In some animals it was spectacular."

A similar therapy has been tried in an American in his 20s named Rob Summers who was paralyzed from the chest down after being hit by a car. His case was described in The Lancet last year.

That study provided the first proof-of-concept that such therapies may help restore some voluntary movement in humans.

"I have been aware of animal studies in this field since 2007, which was one of the biggest motivating factors for me behind my decision to become the first human trial," Summers told AFP in an email.

"Researchers have learned so much from these animal trials, which continues to excite me in the progress of my own procedure," he added.

Summers said he has continued to advance through rehab, and he is aware of two other people who have joined the same trial at the University of California Los Angeles.

"I have moved from standing in a standing frame with safety devices to standing in a walker. I have not had any setbacks at all and have only been moving forward, progressing."

Courtine said he hopes to begin trials in people using his Swiss team's technique in the next couple of years.

One challenge that remains is how to keep the electrochemical stimulation going so that the rats can perform.

"Our frustration, I would say, was that despite this major reorganization, without the electrical and chemical stimulation, the rat would not be able to walk independently," he said.

"So if you provide them with this electrochemical neuroprosthesis, they can climb on the stairs. But if you remove the electrochemical stimulation, they can push a little bit but they can't really walk."

Researchers at EPFL are coordinating a nine-million-euro ($11.1 million) project, NeuWalk, with the goal of designing a fully operative spinal neuroprosthetic system for implanting into humans.

"We are not thinking this will cure spinal cord injury. We need to be very clear on this. This is not a cure," Courtine added.

"What we observed in rats -- the plasticity and the extent of the recovery is very surprising -- so now we need to optimize all these systems for humans and do our best to at least improve functional recovery."

Bloomberg Wants Super-Sized Soda Ban in NYC - MedPage Today

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New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg wants to put the lid on super-sized sugary drinks.

The mayor announced plans to cap the size of sodas and other sugary drinks that can be sold at city restaurants, movie theaters, and stadiums at 16 fluid ounces -- about the size of a "Grande" drink from Starbucks, and smaller than the typical 20-oz bottles in which sodas are sold.

"You can still buy large bottles in stores, but in restaurants, 16 ounces is the max they can serve in one cup," Bloomberg said in an interview about his proposal on MSNBC's "Andrea Mitchell Reports." "If you want to order two cups, that's fine. All we're trying to do is remind you that this is something that is detrimental to your health."

The move is the latest in the city's efforts to cut back on obesity, and could go into effect 6 months after Board of Health approval, according to a statement on MikeBloomberg.com.

It covers restaurants, delis, movie theaters, ballpark concessions, and sidewalk carts, but doesn't appear to apply to grocery or convenience stores. Corner stores and bodegas would be affected if they're defined by the city as a "food service establishment," according to the New York Times.

Drinks with fewer than 25 calories per 8-ounce serving would be exempt, as would diet sodas, certain fruit juices, dairy-based drinks, and alcoholic beverages.

Vendors who are in violation of the ban will pay a $200 fine after a 3-month phase-in period.

The idea will be proposed at a June 12 meeting of the city's health board, led by commissioner Thomas Farley, MD, MPH, a major proponent of anti-obesity initiatives, who was most recently featured in the HBO series "Weight of the Nation."

Past efforts in New York to curb obesity have included requiring restaurant chains to add calorie counts to their menus, as well as a ban on trans fats at city restaurants and in prepared foods.

Several groups representing the restaurant and beverage industries have come out against the proposal, arguing that soda isn't the only contributor to the nation's obesity epidemic.

According to Scott DeFife, executive vice president of policy and government affairs for the National Restaurant Association, research has shown that "the vast majority of beverage calories consumed by the average American are not from sugary drinks obtained from restaurants. Yet New York City's eateries are being unfairly singled out to ration portion size of single beverage servings."

DeFife said public health officials should "put all of their energies into public education about a balanced lifestyle with a proper mix of diet and exercise rather than attempting to regulate consumption of a completely legal product enjoyed universally."

The Center for Consumer Freedom, which is funded by the restaurant and alcoholic beverage industries and defines itself as an advocacy group for personal responsibility, called Bloomberg's proposal "perhaps the worst in his long line of failed nanny-state policies."

"New Yorkers don't need a PhD in nutrition to tell them that eating or drinking too much of anything is unhealthy," the group said in a statement. "It only takes a little common sense and personal responsibility -- two things that almost every New Yorker possesses."

But nutrition advocacy group Center for Science in the Public Interest, which is funded by consumers and private foundations, said the proposal was "pioneering" and called it the "boldest effort yet to prevent obesity."

"We hope other city and state public health officials adopt similar curbs on serving sizes and reducing Americans' exposure to these nutritionally worthless products," the group said in a statement.

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Oakland family's Medi-Cal dilemma - News in photos

Posted May 31, 2012

Medi-Cal, the state’s version of the federal Medicaid program, is facing hurdles as it gears up for a major expansion if the U.S. Supreme Court upholds national health care reform. But most users rate the program positively.