In 2006, 20.8 percent of American adults were current cigarette smokers, a percentage that hasn’t changed much since 2004, a new government report says.The finding suggests that the previous seven-year decline has stalled, says a report in this week’s issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Among current smokers in 2006, 80.1 percent (36.3 million) smoked every day, and 19.9 percent (9 million) smoked some days. About 44. View full article

FDA Issues New Warnings for Anemia Drugs

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved new "black box" warnings on labels of erythropoiesis-stimulating agents, which are drugs used to treat certain types of anemia.The warnings cover the drugs Aranesp, Epogen and Procrit, and detail their dangers to patients with cancer and patients with chronic kidney failure. Those dangers include heart attack, stroke, heart failure and cancer tumor growth and shortened survival. View full article

Summer Vacation Undermines School-Based Weight Loss

School programs that promote healthy eating and exercise can help students lose weight, researchers say, but kids often pack on the pounds again during summer holiday.The study was conducted by a team at the Agatston Research Foundation in Miami Beach, Fla. Their "Healthier Options for Public Schoolchildren" study included 3,200 children (48 percent Hispanic) from six elementary schools --- four schools tried out the intervention, while two did not and served as controls. View full article

Botox Offers Shot in Arm for Arthritis Sufferers

Botox seems to relieve shoulder pain in arthritis sufferers, a preliminary study found."We don’t recommend people start using it until we have the definitive study," said study author Dr. Jasvinder Singh, a staff physician at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center. He said his study was small, and more patients needed to be assessed before the treatment could be recommended.Singh was to present his findings Friday at the American College of Rheumatology annual meeting, in Boston. View full article

Scientists Find Way to Track Stem Cells in Brain

The identification of a new marker is making it possible to track brain stem cells for the first time, U.S. researchers report.The achievement is already opening doors to new research into depression, early childhood development and multiple sclerosis, the team’s senior author said."This is a way to detect these cells in the brain, so that you can track them in certain conditions where we suspect that these cells play a certain role," explained Dr. Mirjana Maletic-Savatic, an assistant profess View full article