Reuters Health News Summary
Following is a summary of current health news briefs.
Diabetes rates may be leveling off overall: U.S. health officials
The drastic increases in the number of people living with diabetes and the number of new cases diagnosed each year may have leveled off, according to U.S. health officials. Researchers found little change in the prevalence and incidence of diabetes between 2008 and 2012, following drastic increases in both numbers between 1990 and 2008.
Ever-present endemic Ebola now major concern for disease experts
West Africa's Ebola epidemic is the largest the world has ever seen, but infectious disease experts are almost as fearful of a long-term legacy in humans as they are about the deaths it is causing right now. While the current outbreak is vast and out of control, even pessimistic forecasts suggest it will eventually recede.
Mom's iron intake may be important for autism risk: study
Iron intake during pregnancy might be associated with autism risk in the infant, a new study suggests. Researchers found that moms of kids with autism were less likely to remember taking iron supplements before and during pregnancy than other moms. That alone is not enough to prove a link, however.
Aid groups urge faster, grassroots Ebola response as world leaders meet
Every 30-day delay in isolating Ebola patients will cause a tripling in daily cases of the deadly epidemic sweeping West Africa, according to new forecasts released on Tuesday. As world leaders gather in New York this week for the United Nations' annual meeting, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has called a special Ebola session to scale up international efforts to fight the deadly virus that has infected at least 5,500 people and claimed more than 2,700 lives in five countries.
Emergency contraception may not be available to all young men
Young men often run into difficulties when they attempt to buy the morning-after pill for their partners, a new study suggests. Researchers report in the journal Contraception that in about one in every five attempts, young men in New York City were not able to buy the drug that can prevent pregnancy up to five days after unprotected sex.
U.S. forecasts more than 500,000 Ebola cases in West Africa
Global experts issued stark new warnings of the scale of West Africa's Ebola outbreak on Tuesday, with the U.S. government estimating between 550,000 and 1.4 million people might be infected in the region by January. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said its projection was based on data from late August and did not take into account a planned U.S. mission to fight the disease, so the upper end of the forecast was unlikely.
WHO revises up number of health workers killed by Ebola in Sierra Leone
Thirty more health care workers have died of Ebola in Sierra Leone than previously thought, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday, suggesting the risk to medical staff may have been understated. A WHO update published on Monday put the number of dead health care workers in Sierra Leone at 61, out of a total of 96 who had fallen ill with the disease.
Celgene's psoriasis drug gets approval for new indication
Celgene Corp said the U.S. Food and Drugs Administration has approved the expanded use of its drug Otezla for treating patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis.The drug, known chemically as apremilast, is already approved for treating psoriatic arthritis, a type of arthritis associated with the skin disease. The drug is also being studied as a potential treatment for a type of spondylitis.
U.S. government health agency sees 25 percent increase in Obamacare insurers
The number of insurers offering individual health plans on the Obamacare exchanges will increase about 25 percent in 2015 and that should keep down prices, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said on Tuesday in a report. More than 7 million people signed up for health insurance through the exchanges in 2014, which were created under President Barack Obama's national healthcare reform law and offer income-based subsidies.
Test young women for gonorrhea and Chlamydia, experts say
Sexually active women under age 24 and older women at risk, like those who are pregnant, should be tested for the sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) Chlamydia and gonorrhea, according to new recommendations from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Those are the most common STDs in the country, with more than 1.4 million reported cases of Chlamydia in 2012 alone, the government-backed Task Force wrote in a guideline published online in Annals of Internal Medicine.
