Advice for a Heat Advisory

Temperatures in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic are expected to hit the upper 90s this week according to an excessive-heat warning issued by the National Weather Service. Each summer, heat waves bring with them concerns about heat stroke and other heat-related conditions, such as exhaustion amid rising temperatures.

Health experts recommend wearing light-colored clothing, staying in air-conditioned spaces, or running a fan and misting yourself with cold water. Other precautions include staying cool, indoors and  hydrated.

“The important thing is keep up with fluid status,” said Dr. Robert Glatter, an emergency physician at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City where the heat index is expected to exceed 100 degrees this week. “Don’t just drink fluids when you’re thirsty.”

A.M. Vitals: Untreatable TB Strain in India

Here’s what’s making health news this morning:

India in Race to Contain Untreatable Tuberculosis (WSJ): A new treatment-resistent strain of TB has emerged in India, and some health experts are skeptical about the country’s ability to contain it.

Walgreen’s Europe Bet (WSJ): Walgreens is investing nearly $7 billion to buy a 45% stake in European pharmacy giant Boots Alliance to …

Anxiety Disorders Diagnosed More Often in Women Than Men

Women are twice as likely as men to be diagnosed with anxiety disorders—and the reasons range from hormonal fluctuations to brain chemistry to upbringing to empathy, researchers theorize.

Susan Nolen-Hoeksema, chair of the department of psychology at Yale, says one reason women are more anxious is that they tend to take responsibility for other peoples’ happiness, especially their children’s and spouse’s. “It’s kind of a Catch-22, because they can’t always do anything about them,” says Dr. Nolen-Hoeksema, author of “The Power of Women” and other books.

Women also seem to have a more active “uh oh” signal in the brain that registers when they know they’ve made a mistake, according to a study published this month in the International Journal of Psychophysiology.

An Unintended Consequence of Weight-Loss Surgery: Alcohol Abuse

Some people who undergo weight-loss surgery end up trading their struggle with food for one with alcohol – but perhaps not for the reason you think.

The largest prospective study to examine the connection found that 10.7% of patients who underwent a bariatric operation called roux-en-Y gastric bypass got in trouble with drinking by the second year after the surgery.  That compared with about 7% of patients who drank too much before they had the same operation, reflecting a 50% increase in relative risk.

A.M. Vitals: Roche Buys Rights to Alzheimer’s Drug

Here’s what’s making health news today:

Roche Boosts Investment in Alzheimer’s Drugs (WSJ): The Swiss drug maker upped its investment in the Alzheimer’s space, buying the rights from AC Immune to an experimental compound that targets a protein called tau, which is thought to be one factor responsible for the disease.

No Overtime for Drug Reps (WSJ): The Supreme Court ruled that pharmaceutical companies don’t need to …

A.M. Vitals: Striking Down Health Law May Halt Innovation

Here’s what’s making health news this morning:

Uncertainty Over Law Casts Shadow Over Health Care Innovations (Kaiser Health News/WaPo): Efforts to improve patient care through changing the payment structure and interactions between hospitals, doctors and insurers may be curbed if the entire health law is thrown out.

UK Govt: No Health Risk from Faulty Breast Implant (AP): The medical director of the U.K.’s national health service said that French-made breast implants …

Sandusky Defense Looks to Histrionic Disorder

This week, the defense for the former Penn State assistant football coach on trial for the alleged sexual abuse of multiple children asked to have a psychiatrist evaluate Jerry Sandusky for histrionic personality disorder, according to news reports.

The personality disorder, as it is currently defined in the psychiatric diagnostic manual known as the DSM, is characterized by a “pervasive pattern of excessive emotionality and attention seeking.”

A.M. Vitals: Crackdown on Illegal Online Drug Sales

Here’s what’s making health news this morning:

Canadian Web Drug Pioneer Arrested (WSJ): In a sign of a stepped-up crackdown on the illegal pharmaceutical trade, U.S. authorities arrested Andrew Strempler, a pioneer of the Canadian Internet pharmacy industry, on charges related to the sale of foreign and counterfeit medicines, according to officials in Miami.

FDA Warns Against Korean Seafood (WSJ): Regulators are urging stores and restaurants in the U.S. to stop selling imported Korean oysters, clams, mussels and some types of scallops because they may have been exposed to human fecal waste and are potentially contaminated with norovirus.

A.M. Vitals: The Newest ‘Ome’ Is the Microbiome

Here’s what’s making health news this morning:

Gene Map of Body’s Microbes Is New Health Tool (WSJ): Researchers said Wednesday they have produced the first comprehensive genetic map of the microbes that live in or on a healthy human body, laying the groundwork for possible new advances in research and in the diagnosis and treatment of disease.

Armstrong Faces Formal Doping Charges (WSJ):  The U.S. agency that polices drug use in sports has informed Lance Armstrong that it intends to bring formal doping charges against him, in an action that could ultimately cost the retired cycling champion all seven of his Tour de France titles.

Experimental Drug Might Open New Category of Sleep Aid

Patients with severe insomnia taking a Merck experimental sleep drug drifted off faster and slept longer than those taking placebos in two clinical studies discussed at a Boston sleep conference today.

The drug, suvorexant, opens a new category of sleep drugs by blocking orexin, the brain’s chemical emissaries that promote alertness. Merck says it plans to apply for FDA approval later this year….

A.M. Vitals: Health Costs Projected to Rise Slowly, Then Faster Starting in 2014

Here’s what’s making health news this morning:

Steep Rise in Health Costs Projected (WSJ): Federal forecasters say health spending increases will be slow for the next two years, then jump in 2014, if the main parts of the health overhaul move forward.

Gender Gap Persists in Pay for Physician Researchers, Study Shows

Female physician researchers are underpaid compared to men in the field, according to a study published Tuesday online in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

A survey conducted by the University of Michigan compared the current salaries of academic researchers who were granted prestigious National Institutes of Health K08 or K23 awards from 2000 to 2003. After adjusting for factors such as specialty and academic rank, the study found women were paid about $12,000 less on average than their male counterparts annually….

A.M. Vitals: More Insurers Promise They Will Continue Some Health-Law Benefits

Here’s what’s making health news this morning:

Insurers Stand Firm on Benefits (WSJ): Humana and Aetna join UnitedHealth Group in promising to continue some benefits promised under the federal health overhaul legislation even if it’s struck down by the Supreme Court.

Cutting the Cost of Cacophony in Hospitals

A noisy hospital does more than just annoy patients; it may also potentially hamper recovery — according to a new study on sleep disruption published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital and Cambridge Health Alliance conducted a study to test the effects of hospital sounds on sleep after patients reported noise as a top complaint in a national survey….

A.M. Vitals: UnitedHealth Will Keep Health Law’s Consumer Requirements

Here’s what’s making health news this morning:

UnitedHealth Group Plans to Keep Some Health-Law Provisions (WSJ): The nation’s biggest insurer will continue some benefits even if the federal overhaul legislation is struck down by the Supreme Court.

Rheumatoid Arthritis Drugs Square Off Against Humira

It’s not always fun being compared to the competition.

But, Roche Holdings AG took the chance with a head-to-head study it financed pitting its arthritis treatment Actemra against the market-leader Humira, Abbott Laboratories’ blockbuster.

Actemra fared better at reducing arthritis symptoms—swollen, painful joints—according to the study results, presented Friday morning a European arthritis conference. Actemra is made by Roche’s Genentech unit, which focuses on cell-based medicines called biologics.

A.M. Vitals: NFL Retirees File Suit on Head Injuries

Here’s what’s making health news this morning:

NFL Retirees File Single Suit for Head Injuries (WSJ): In the complaint, lawyers for more than 2,300 retired players in 86 suits alleged that for decades the NFL hid the risks of such injuries and ignored mounting evidence of the long-term effects that football-related concussions can have, including dementia and chronic depression.

Pfizer Prepares for IPO of Animal Health Unit (WSJ): The New York drug maker also disclosed a new name for the animal-health business, Zoetis, which Pfizer said is based on the root “zo” found in animal-related words such as zoo and zoology.

Sheryl Crow’s Type of Brain Tumor Is Rarely Cancerous

Musician Sheryl Crow reassured her fans via Facebook  and Twitter this week that all was well despite a brain tumor.

The 50-year-old singer announced Tuesday that she has a meningioma, a usually benign tumor that forms on the outer covering of the brain and spinal cord known as the meninges.

Up to 10,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with a meningioma each year, but only about 10% of the cases are cancerous….

Employers Unruffled by Looming Supreme Court Ruling on Health Law

Employers who offer health benefits to workers are taking a sanguine approach to the upcoming Supreme Court case that will decide the fate of the federal health law, at least according to one survey.

Around three quarters of respondents to the May questionnaire from the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans said they were taking a “we’ll know when we know” approach to the ruling, or have had only “general discussions” about what it might mean….

Groups Push to Reduce Radiation Exposure From CT Scans

With a study in Lancet offering yet more evidence that the radiation from CT scans raises the risk of certain cancers in kids, as WSJ reports, the medical community’s efforts to decrease overuse of the scans and to lower the radiation dose when they are needed seem all the more imperative.

The Image Gently initiative, for instance, is focused on educating physicians and reducing radiation exposure for children, while the Image Wisely effort focuses on adults….