Fake virus could make safe new vaccines
By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor Sat Jun 28, 1:50 AM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A "wimpy" artificial virus protected mice against polio, and the approach might be used to make a range of safer new vaccines against viruses, U.S. researchers reported on Friday.
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The team at the State University of New York, Stony Brook, had created the first artificial virus, a synthetic version of polio, in 2002.
Reporting in the journal Science, they said they used it to vaccinate mice, and then infected the mice with what should have been a deadly dose of polio. The mice survived.
"Ultimately we created a wimpy poliovirus that can be customized and does not cause disease unless given at high doses," Bruce Futcher, a professor of molecular genetics and microbiology who worked on the study.
"These viruses are still far from suitable vaccines for humans, but there is a lot of potential for this approach," he added in a statement.
The researchers used a unique method to make their virus, relying on a built-in redundancy in DNA, the material that carries genetic instructions in organisms.
DNA's code is written using just four nucleic acids, represented by the letters A, C, T and G. These are combined in various ways to make amino acids, which in turn make proteins.
It is possible to make an amino acid with more than one combination of these letters -- for example, GCC and GCG both code for the amino acid alanine. For unknown reasons, organisms favor certain combinations.
SAFER VACCINES?
Futcher's team made their polio virus using the less-favored combinations of the virus's genetic code.
They hoped these would stimulate the immune system in the same way as "wild-type" polio, without causing disease, and that is what appears to have happened, they wrote.
Each difference in the genetic code weakened the virus in a different way.
"This 'death by a thousand cuts' strategy could be generally applicable to attenuating many kinds of viruses," they wrote.
"Even for an inactivated rather than live virus approach, these features would allow a vaccine to be made from a safer starting material than the corresponding wild-type virus."
Polio vaccines have virtually eradicated the disease in most countries. But an oral vaccine that uses a weakened version of a live polio virus can sometimes get back into the water supply and mutate into a form that can infect people.
Doctors have been looking for a safer yet effective polio vaccine that is as easy to administer as the drops. Dr. Jonas Salk's original polio vaccine, which effectively rid the United States of the feared virus in the 1950s and 1960s, used a "killed" polio virus but had to be injected.
The letter-by-letter changes needed the help of a powerful computer, said computer science professor Steven Skiena, who worked on the project.
"Sophisticated computer algorithms are necessary to design the hundreds of changes to sufficiently cripple the virus for our 'death by a thousand cuts' approach," Skiena said in a statement.
"Because of the large number of changes, the weakened virus can never mutate back to wild-type."
(Reporting by Maggie Fox; Editing by Eric Walsh)
Monday, June 30, 2008
Sunday, June 22, 2008
New clue to Alzheimer's found
New clue to Alzheimer's found
WASHINGTON (AP) — Researchers have uncovered a new clue to the cause of Alzheimer's disease.
The brains of people with the memory-robbing form of dementia are cluttered with a plaque made up of beta-amyloid, a sticky protein. But there long has been a question whether this is a cause of the disease or a side effect. Also involved are tangles of a protein called tau; some scientists suspect this is the cause.
Now, researchers have caused Alzheimer's symptoms in rats by injecting them with one particular form of beta-amyloid. Injections with other forms of beta-amyloid did not cause illness, which may explain why some people have beta-amyloid plaque in their brains but do not show disease symptoms.
The findings by a team led by Dr. Ganesh M. Shankar and Dr. Dennis J. Selkoe of Harvard Medical School were reported in Sunday's online edition of the journal Nature Medicine.
The researchers used extracts from the brains of people who donated their bodies to medicine.
Forms of soluble beta-amyloid containing different numbers of molecules, as well as insoluble cores of the brain plaque, were injected into the brains of mice. There was no detectable effect from the insoluble plaque or the soluble one-molecule or three-molecule forms, the researchers found.
But the two-molecule form of soluble beta-amyloid produced characteristics of Alzheimer's in the rats, they reported.
Those rats had impaired memory function, especially for newly learned behaviors. When the mouse brains were inspected, the density brain cells was reduced by 47% with the beta-amyloid seeming to affect synapses, the connections between cells that are essential for communication between them.
The research, for the first time, showed the effect of a particular type of beta-amyloid in the brain, said Dr. Marcelle Morrison-Bogorad, director of the division of neuroscience at the National Institute on Aging, which helped fund the research.
It was surprising that only one of the three types had an effect, she said in a telephone interview.
Morrison-Bogorad said the findings may help explain the discovery of plaque in the brains of people who do not develop dementia. For some time, doctors have wondered why they find some brains in autopsy that are heavily coated with beta-amyloid, but the person did not have Alzheimer's.
The answer may lie in the two types of beta-amyloid that did not cause symptoms.
Now, the question is why one has the damaging effect and not others.
"A lot of work needs to be done," Morrison-Bogorad said. "Nature keeps sending us down paths that look straight at the beginning, but there are a lot of curves before we get to the end."
Dr. Richard J. Hodes, director of the National Institute on Aging, said that "while more research is needed to replicate and extend these findings, this study has put yet one more piece into place in the puzzle that is Alzheimer's."
In addition to the Institute on Aging, the research was funded by Science Foundation Ireland, Wellcome Trust, the McKnight and Ellison foundations and the Lefler Small Grant Fund.
__
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Researchers have uncovered a new clue to the cause of Alzheimer's disease.
The brains of people with the memory-robbing form of dementia are cluttered with a plaque made up of beta-amyloid, a sticky protein. But there long has been a question whether this is a cause of the disease or a side effect. Also involved are tangles of a protein called tau; some scientists suspect this is the cause.
Now, researchers have caused Alzheimer's symptoms in rats by injecting them with one particular form of beta-amyloid. Injections with other forms of beta-amyloid did not cause illness, which may explain why some people have beta-amyloid plaque in their brains but do not show disease symptoms.
The findings by a team led by Dr. Ganesh M. Shankar and Dr. Dennis J. Selkoe of Harvard Medical School were reported in Sunday's online edition of the journal Nature Medicine.
The researchers used extracts from the brains of people who donated their bodies to medicine.
Forms of soluble beta-amyloid containing different numbers of molecules, as well as insoluble cores of the brain plaque, were injected into the brains of mice. There was no detectable effect from the insoluble plaque or the soluble one-molecule or three-molecule forms, the researchers found.
But the two-molecule form of soluble beta-amyloid produced characteristics of Alzheimer's in the rats, they reported.
Those rats had impaired memory function, especially for newly learned behaviors. When the mouse brains were inspected, the density brain cells was reduced by 47% with the beta-amyloid seeming to affect synapses, the connections between cells that are essential for communication between them.
The research, for the first time, showed the effect of a particular type of beta-amyloid in the brain, said Dr. Marcelle Morrison-Bogorad, director of the division of neuroscience at the National Institute on Aging, which helped fund the research.
It was surprising that only one of the three types had an effect, she said in a telephone interview.
Morrison-Bogorad said the findings may help explain the discovery of plaque in the brains of people who do not develop dementia. For some time, doctors have wondered why they find some brains in autopsy that are heavily coated with beta-amyloid, but the person did not have Alzheimer's.
The answer may lie in the two types of beta-amyloid that did not cause symptoms.
Now, the question is why one has the damaging effect and not others.
"A lot of work needs to be done," Morrison-Bogorad said. "Nature keeps sending us down paths that look straight at the beginning, but there are a lot of curves before we get to the end."
Dr. Richard J. Hodes, director of the National Institute on Aging, said that "while more research is needed to replicate and extend these findings, this study has put yet one more piece into place in the puzzle that is Alzheimer's."
In addition to the Institute on Aging, the research was funded by Science Foundation Ireland, Wellcome Trust, the McKnight and Ellison foundations and the Lefler Small Grant Fund.
__
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Monday, June 16, 2008
NBC's Tim Russert's sudden death: A warning
Russert's 'Silent' Heart Problem Common in U.S.
How Russert's Death May Be a Wake-Up Call for Many
By LAUREN COX
ABC News Medical Unit
June 16, 2008
The death of Tim Russert, a robust man who was only 58, was shocking to so many not only because of his celebrity but because he had few outward signs that he was in danger.
Russert, according to his doctor, had diabetes, heart disease and was overweight. The massive attack that felled the popular political analyst as he working in NBC's Washington bureau last Friday is a grim reminder that the first signs of heart disease should not be ignored because they can be fatal.
The catastrophic medical event that killed Russert is called sudden cardiac death, a change to the heart that can come on with or without a heart attack.
Sudden Death
Russert's physician, Michael Newman, told NBC News that plaque from a clogged artery ruptured, traveled to his heart and blocked it. The result is a quickly cascading chain of events that Russert may not have even felt coming.
Mandeep Mehra, chief of cardiology at the University of Maryland Medical Center, explains that the blockage likely disrupted the rhythm of Russert's heartbeat, sending it into a state called ventricular fibrillation, where electrical signals get confused in the heart and cause it to beat hundreds of times per minute.
"It's such a high heart rate that the heart just starts to quiver and it's unable to pump blood," said Mehra, "You won't be able to pump blood to the brain and you won't be able to pump blood to the rest of the body."
The condition typically causes death in between three and seven minutes, according to Dr. Douglas P. Zipes, director emeritus of the division of cardiology at Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis, and former president of the American College of Cardiology.
How Russert's Death May Be a Wake-Up Call for Many
By LAUREN COX
ABC News Medical Unit
June 16, 2008
The death of Tim Russert, a robust man who was only 58, was shocking to so many not only because of his celebrity but because he had few outward signs that he was in danger.
Russert, according to his doctor, had diabetes, heart disease and was overweight. The massive attack that felled the popular political analyst as he working in NBC's Washington bureau last Friday is a grim reminder that the first signs of heart disease should not be ignored because they can be fatal.
The catastrophic medical event that killed Russert is called sudden cardiac death, a change to the heart that can come on with or without a heart attack.
Sudden Death
Russert's physician, Michael Newman, told NBC News that plaque from a clogged artery ruptured, traveled to his heart and blocked it. The result is a quickly cascading chain of events that Russert may not have even felt coming.
Mandeep Mehra, chief of cardiology at the University of Maryland Medical Center, explains that the blockage likely disrupted the rhythm of Russert's heartbeat, sending it into a state called ventricular fibrillation, where electrical signals get confused in the heart and cause it to beat hundreds of times per minute.
"It's such a high heart rate that the heart just starts to quiver and it's unable to pump blood," said Mehra, "You won't be able to pump blood to the brain and you won't be able to pump blood to the rest of the body."
The condition typically causes death in between three and seven minutes, according to Dr. Douglas P. Zipes, director emeritus of the division of cardiology at Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis, and former president of the American College of Cardiology.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
US Life Expectancy Tops 78 but still behind Japan and 30 other countries
US Life Expectancy Tops 78 as Top Diseases Decline
US life expectancy rises at faster pace, reaching 78, but still behind Japan, other nations
By MIKE STOBBE AP Medical Writer
ATLANTA June 11, 2008 (AP)
For the first time ever, U.S. life expectancy has surpassed 78 years, government researchers report.
For the first time, U.S. life expectancy has surpassed 78 years, the government reported Wednesday, although the United States continues to lag behind about 30 other countries in estimated life span.
The increase is due mainly to falling mortality rates in almost all the leading causes of death, federal health officials said. The average life expectancy for babies born in 2006 was about four months greater than for children born in 2005.
Japan has the longest life expectancy — 83 years for children born in 2006, according to World Health Organization data. Switzerland and Australia were also near the top of the list.
"The international comparisons are not that appealing, but we may be in the process of catching up," said Samuel Preston, a University of Pennsylvania demographer. He is co-chairman of a National Research Council panel looking at why America's life expectancy is lower than other nations'.
The new U.S. data, released Wednesday, come from the National Center for Health Statistics. It's a preliminary report of 2006 numbers, based on data from more than 95 percent of the death certificates collected that year.
Life expectancy is the period a child born in 2006 is expected to live, assuming mortality trends stay constant.
The 2006 increase is due mainly to falling mortality rates for nine of the 15 leading causes of death, including heart disease, cancer, accidents and diabetes.
"I think the most surprising thing is that we had declines in just about every major cause of death," said Robert Anderson, who oversaw work on the report for the health statistics center.
The overall death rate fell from 799 per 100,000 in 2005 to about 776 the following year.
Health statisticians noted declines of more than 6 percent in stroke and chronic lower respiratory disease (including bronchitis and emphysema), and a drop of more than 5 percent in heart disease and diabetes deaths. Indeed, the drop in diabetes deaths was steep enough to allow Alzheimer's disease — which held about steady — to pass diabetes to become the nation's sixth leading cause of death.
The U.S. infant mortality rate dropped more than 2 percent, to 6.7 infant deaths per 1,000 births, from 6.9.
Chart shows the U.S. life expectancy at birth since 1929;; 2c x 2 inches; 96.3 mm x 50.8 mm
(AP)
Perhaps the most influential factor in the 2006 success story, however, was the flu. Flu and pneumonia deaths dropped by 13 percent from 2005, reflecting a mild flu season in 2006, Anderson said. That also meant a diminished threat to people with heart disease and other conditions. Taken together, it's a primary explanation for the 22,000 fewer deaths in 2006 from 2005, experts said.
U.S. life expectancy has been steadily rising, usually by about two to three months from year to year. This year's jump of fourth months is "an unusually rapid improvement," Preston said.
Life expectancy was up for both men and women, and whites and blacks. Although the gaps are closing, women continue to live longer, almost to 81, compared to about 75 for men. Among racial categories, white women have the highest life expectancy (81 years), followed by black women (about 77 years), white men (76) and black men (70). Health statisticians said they don't have reliable data to calculate Hispanic life expectancy, but they hope to by next year.
Increases in female smoking are a major reason that men's life expectancy is catching up with the women's, Preston said. Improvements in the care of heart disease — a major health problem for black Americans — helps explain an improving racial gap, he said.
About 2.4 million Americans died in 2006, according to the report.
———
US life expectancy rises at faster pace, reaching 78, but still behind Japan, other nations
By MIKE STOBBE AP Medical Writer
ATLANTA June 11, 2008 (AP)
For the first time ever, U.S. life expectancy has surpassed 78 years, government researchers report.
For the first time, U.S. life expectancy has surpassed 78 years, the government reported Wednesday, although the United States continues to lag behind about 30 other countries in estimated life span.
The increase is due mainly to falling mortality rates in almost all the leading causes of death, federal health officials said. The average life expectancy for babies born in 2006 was about four months greater than for children born in 2005.
Japan has the longest life expectancy — 83 years for children born in 2006, according to World Health Organization data. Switzerland and Australia were also near the top of the list.
"The international comparisons are not that appealing, but we may be in the process of catching up," said Samuel Preston, a University of Pennsylvania demographer. He is co-chairman of a National Research Council panel looking at why America's life expectancy is lower than other nations'.
The new U.S. data, released Wednesday, come from the National Center for Health Statistics. It's a preliminary report of 2006 numbers, based on data from more than 95 percent of the death certificates collected that year.
Life expectancy is the period a child born in 2006 is expected to live, assuming mortality trends stay constant.
The 2006 increase is due mainly to falling mortality rates for nine of the 15 leading causes of death, including heart disease, cancer, accidents and diabetes.
"I think the most surprising thing is that we had declines in just about every major cause of death," said Robert Anderson, who oversaw work on the report for the health statistics center.
The overall death rate fell from 799 per 100,000 in 2005 to about 776 the following year.
Health statisticians noted declines of more than 6 percent in stroke and chronic lower respiratory disease (including bronchitis and emphysema), and a drop of more than 5 percent in heart disease and diabetes deaths. Indeed, the drop in diabetes deaths was steep enough to allow Alzheimer's disease — which held about steady — to pass diabetes to become the nation's sixth leading cause of death.
The U.S. infant mortality rate dropped more than 2 percent, to 6.7 infant deaths per 1,000 births, from 6.9.
Chart shows the U.S. life expectancy at birth since 1929;; 2c x 2 inches; 96.3 mm x 50.8 mm
(AP)
Perhaps the most influential factor in the 2006 success story, however, was the flu. Flu and pneumonia deaths dropped by 13 percent from 2005, reflecting a mild flu season in 2006, Anderson said. That also meant a diminished threat to people with heart disease and other conditions. Taken together, it's a primary explanation for the 22,000 fewer deaths in 2006 from 2005, experts said.
U.S. life expectancy has been steadily rising, usually by about two to three months from year to year. This year's jump of fourth months is "an unusually rapid improvement," Preston said.
Life expectancy was up for both men and women, and whites and blacks. Although the gaps are closing, women continue to live longer, almost to 81, compared to about 75 for men. Among racial categories, white women have the highest life expectancy (81 years), followed by black women (about 77 years), white men (76) and black men (70). Health statisticians said they don't have reliable data to calculate Hispanic life expectancy, but they hope to by next year.
Increases in female smoking are a major reason that men's life expectancy is catching up with the women's, Preston said. Improvements in the care of heart disease — a major health problem for black Americans — helps explain an improving racial gap, he said.
About 2.4 million Americans died in 2006, according to the report.
———
Monday, June 9, 2008
Kerala develops 3-D human body to 'virtually' replace cadavers
Kerala develops 3-D human body to 'virtually' replace cadavers
Monday, June 09, 2008
Blue Star
Thiruvananthapuram:A virtual three-dimension human body capable of replacing cadavers in surgical studies has been developed by a medical graduate in Kerala.
The software, titled "3-D Indiana" developed by Dr Jerome Kalister, has been referred to the Medical Council of India (MCI) for tests and approval.
Developed by a 20 member-team led by Jerome, the software could help surgeons to perform robotic surgery on the brain, heart and liver pinpointing the precise location of nerves and organ parts.
"The software has more advantage than cadavers and will be a dominant feature in medical colleges in future. The important thing is that cadavers cannot be reused whereas surgical methods can be always learnt through the 3-D virtual body," Jerome said.
Many uses which cannot be performed on a real body could be used in the 3-D structure to identify the relative orientation, shape, position and texture of the human body with the plenty of options available in the software, he said.
The only objection being raised against the software was that students would not get a "feel" of the human body, but Jerome said, "Skill is not developed by doing cadavers. I do not think students, teachers or anatomists are benefitted by the feel."
If the criteria adopted by the Medical Council of India (MCI) and Anatomical Society of India (ASI) were satisfied, the software could slowly eclipse cadavers.
The software could also be marketed in certain countries where cadavers were not allowed for medical studies, he said.
Source: Business Standard
Monday, June 09, 2008
Blue Star
Thiruvananthapuram:A virtual three-dimension human body capable of replacing cadavers in surgical studies has been developed by a medical graduate in Kerala.
The software, titled "3-D Indiana" developed by Dr Jerome Kalister, has been referred to the Medical Council of India (MCI) for tests and approval.
Developed by a 20 member-team led by Jerome, the software could help surgeons to perform robotic surgery on the brain, heart and liver pinpointing the precise location of nerves and organ parts.
"The software has more advantage than cadavers and will be a dominant feature in medical colleges in future. The important thing is that cadavers cannot be reused whereas surgical methods can be always learnt through the 3-D virtual body," Jerome said.
Many uses which cannot be performed on a real body could be used in the 3-D structure to identify the relative orientation, shape, position and texture of the human body with the plenty of options available in the software, he said.
The only objection being raised against the software was that students would not get a "feel" of the human body, but Jerome said, "Skill is not developed by doing cadavers. I do not think students, teachers or anatomists are benefitted by the feel."
If the criteria adopted by the Medical Council of India (MCI) and Anatomical Society of India (ASI) were satisfied, the software could slowly eclipse cadavers.
The software could also be marketed in certain countries where cadavers were not allowed for medical studies, he said.
Source: Business Standard
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Weight gain beneficial for diabetics
Weight gain may actually be beneficial for diabetics
Sat, Jun 7 12:35 PM
Washington, June 7 (ANI): Diabetics are often advised to shed those extra pounds, however a new study suggests that weight gain can actually help people with type 1 diabetes.
Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health examines 655 patients with type 1 diabetes for 20 years and found that patients who gained weight over time were less likely to die.
Participants with an average age of 28 when entering the study and 44 at its completion were diagnosed with type 1 diabetes between 1950 and 1980.
The team measured patients' body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference and assessed BMI every two years during the study period and over the course of the study, 147 deaths occurred.
The findings revealed that patients whose BMI increased the most during the study (2 to 11 points or about 10 to 55 pounds) were one-third less likely to die than those who had smaller increases in BMI, indicating that weight gain may protect people with type 1 diabetes from premature death.
"Although weight gain in adulthood is typically associated with increased mortality, this may not be the case for those with type 1 diabetes," said Dr Trevor Orchard, professor of epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health.
"Gaining a reasonable amount of weight may be a sign patients are getting enough insulin and appropriately controlling their disease, which may partly explain why those who gained weight over time had lower mortality rates," said Orchard, who also is professor of medicine and pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
"These results are not a firm recommendation to people with type 1 diabetes to put on weight, but it does raise the possibility that weight recommendations in type 1 diabetes may be somewhat different," added Baqiyyah Conway, M.P.H., lead author of the abstract.
The study was presented at the 68th Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association in San Francisco. (ANI)
Sat, Jun 7 12:35 PM
Washington, June 7 (ANI): Diabetics are often advised to shed those extra pounds, however a new study suggests that weight gain can actually help people with type 1 diabetes.
Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health examines 655 patients with type 1 diabetes for 20 years and found that patients who gained weight over time were less likely to die.
Participants with an average age of 28 when entering the study and 44 at its completion were diagnosed with type 1 diabetes between 1950 and 1980.
The team measured patients' body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference and assessed BMI every two years during the study period and over the course of the study, 147 deaths occurred.
The findings revealed that patients whose BMI increased the most during the study (2 to 11 points or about 10 to 55 pounds) were one-third less likely to die than those who had smaller increases in BMI, indicating that weight gain may protect people with type 1 diabetes from premature death.
"Although weight gain in adulthood is typically associated with increased mortality, this may not be the case for those with type 1 diabetes," said Dr Trevor Orchard, professor of epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health.
"Gaining a reasonable amount of weight may be a sign patients are getting enough insulin and appropriately controlling their disease, which may partly explain why those who gained weight over time had lower mortality rates," said Orchard, who also is professor of medicine and pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
"These results are not a firm recommendation to people with type 1 diabetes to put on weight, but it does raise the possibility that weight recommendations in type 1 diabetes may be somewhat different," added Baqiyyah Conway, M.P.H., lead author of the abstract.
The study was presented at the 68th Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association in San Francisco. (ANI)
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Health Officials Oppose Menthol
Former Health Officials Oppose Menthol
Published: June 5, 2008
Seven former federal health secretaries joined on Wednesday to protest menthol’s special treatment in a tobacco bill pending in Congress.
Skip to next paragraph
Related
Text of Letter to Senators on Menthol Exemption for Cigarettes (June 5, 2008)
The seven, from Democratic and Republican administrations, faxed a letter to members of the Senate and House of Representatives demanding that menthol-flavored cigarettes be banned just like various other cigarette flavorings the legislation would outlaw.
One of the former secretaries, Joseph A. Califano Jr., said the legislation was “clearly putting black children in the back of the bus.” He was referring to menthol cigarettes as being the choice of three out of four black smokers and being frequently preferred by young smokers.
An estimated 80 percent of African-American teenage smokers pick menthol brands, the letter said.
The letter reflects a growing controversy over the bill’s current exemption of menthol from a list of banned flavorings — an exemption some lawmakers said was intended to garner support from Philip Morris. The maker of Marlboro Menthol, the second-leading menthol brand after Lorillard’s Newport, Philip Morris has endorsed the bill, although most other cigarette companies oppose it.
The bill would for the first time give the Food and Drug Administration the power to regulate tobacco. While several groups have said the bill does not go far enough to regulate the tobacco industry and fails to promote safer tobacco products, most major public health advocacy groups have endorsed it.
Some antismoking advocates have said they see the menthol exemption as a necessary compromise toward getting the legislation passed, and they have said that the bill as currently drafted would give the F.D.A. the authority to limit or eliminate additives, including menthol, if they are proved to be harmful.
As now written the legislation would ban cigarettes flavored with strawberry, chocolate and a number of other fruit, candy and spice flavorings. Those flavorings have occasionally been added to cigarettes in what critics say are a lure to children. But the bill specifically protects menthol from the ban, even though menthol is the most widely used flavoring. Menthol brands account for 28 percent of the $70 billion American cigarette market.
The bill has cleared key committees in both the Senate and the House but it is not yet scheduled for floor votes.
Responding to the letter from the former secretaries, the bill’s House sponsor, Henry A. Waxman, Democrat of California, said Wednesday that he believes an outright ban on menthol is not the best way to address it.
“I’m determined to see tobacco legislation pass Congress that protects all our children,” Mr. Waxman said. “Leading public health experts have told us that giving F.D.A. the authority to ban menthol is the best way to balance both public health considerations with the reality that many adults only smoke menthol cigarettes. I’ll continue our ongoing review to make sure we are dealing with this issue in the most effective way possible."
Menthol is derived from mint and is also available synthetically. Smoking menthol-flavored cigarettes gives the mouth a cool feeling, similar to sucking on a peppermint, and can help mask the harsh taste of tobacco.
The bill’s treatment of menthol “caves to the financial interests of tobacco companies and discriminates against African-Americans — the segment of our population at greatest risk for the killing and crippling smoking-related diseases,” the letter from the former secretaries said. “It sends a message that African American youngsters are valued less than white youngsters.”
Mr. Califano said that even though the bill gives the F.D.A. the authority to remove additives it would require a lengthy process that “could go on and on and on, and you’re talking about years before you get through the administrative process and the courts.”
Mr. Califano, who served as health secretary under President Jimmy Carter, said the idea to send the letter began when Dr. Louis W. Sullivan, the health secretary during the administration of President George H. W. Bush, called him to complain about the bill’s treatment of menthol.
“We both got our blood boiling,” Mr. Califano said in a telephone interview. They also decided to contact other past health secretaries. Five of them were reached and all agreed to sign onto the letter, according to Mr. Califano, who now runs the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University.
They are Tommy G. Thompson, who was a health secretary under the current President Bush; Donna E. Shalala, from the Clinton administration; Richard S. Schweicker and Dr. Otis R. Bowen, from the Reagan administration; and F. David Matthews from the Ford administration.
In a telephone interview, Dr. Sullivan, the president emeritus of Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, said, “My issue is that menthol should not be added because it’s added as an inducement, an enabler, to induce young people to smoke.”
In 1990, Dr. Sullivan was instrumental in pressuring R. J. Reynolds not to market its Uptown cigarette, a menthol brand intended to appeal to black smokers.
In addition to the former secretaries, two other people signed the letter. They were Dr. Julius B. Richmond, who served as surgeon general in the Carter administration, and William S. Robinson, the executive director of the National African American Tobacco Prevention Network, a nonprofit organization in Durham, N.C.
Mr. Robinson’s organization said last week that it was withdrawing its support from the bill because of the menthol exemption.
Published: June 5, 2008
Seven former federal health secretaries joined on Wednesday to protest menthol’s special treatment in a tobacco bill pending in Congress.
Skip to next paragraph
Related
Text of Letter to Senators on Menthol Exemption for Cigarettes (June 5, 2008)
The seven, from Democratic and Republican administrations, faxed a letter to members of the Senate and House of Representatives demanding that menthol-flavored cigarettes be banned just like various other cigarette flavorings the legislation would outlaw.
One of the former secretaries, Joseph A. Califano Jr., said the legislation was “clearly putting black children in the back of the bus.” He was referring to menthol cigarettes as being the choice of three out of four black smokers and being frequently preferred by young smokers.
An estimated 80 percent of African-American teenage smokers pick menthol brands, the letter said.
The letter reflects a growing controversy over the bill’s current exemption of menthol from a list of banned flavorings — an exemption some lawmakers said was intended to garner support from Philip Morris. The maker of Marlboro Menthol, the second-leading menthol brand after Lorillard’s Newport, Philip Morris has endorsed the bill, although most other cigarette companies oppose it.
The bill would for the first time give the Food and Drug Administration the power to regulate tobacco. While several groups have said the bill does not go far enough to regulate the tobacco industry and fails to promote safer tobacco products, most major public health advocacy groups have endorsed it.
Some antismoking advocates have said they see the menthol exemption as a necessary compromise toward getting the legislation passed, and they have said that the bill as currently drafted would give the F.D.A. the authority to limit or eliminate additives, including menthol, if they are proved to be harmful.
As now written the legislation would ban cigarettes flavored with strawberry, chocolate and a number of other fruit, candy and spice flavorings. Those flavorings have occasionally been added to cigarettes in what critics say are a lure to children. But the bill specifically protects menthol from the ban, even though menthol is the most widely used flavoring. Menthol brands account for 28 percent of the $70 billion American cigarette market.
The bill has cleared key committees in both the Senate and the House but it is not yet scheduled for floor votes.
Responding to the letter from the former secretaries, the bill’s House sponsor, Henry A. Waxman, Democrat of California, said Wednesday that he believes an outright ban on menthol is not the best way to address it.
“I’m determined to see tobacco legislation pass Congress that protects all our children,” Mr. Waxman said. “Leading public health experts have told us that giving F.D.A. the authority to ban menthol is the best way to balance both public health considerations with the reality that many adults only smoke menthol cigarettes. I’ll continue our ongoing review to make sure we are dealing with this issue in the most effective way possible."
Menthol is derived from mint and is also available synthetically. Smoking menthol-flavored cigarettes gives the mouth a cool feeling, similar to sucking on a peppermint, and can help mask the harsh taste of tobacco.
The bill’s treatment of menthol “caves to the financial interests of tobacco companies and discriminates against African-Americans — the segment of our population at greatest risk for the killing and crippling smoking-related diseases,” the letter from the former secretaries said. “It sends a message that African American youngsters are valued less than white youngsters.”
Mr. Califano said that even though the bill gives the F.D.A. the authority to remove additives it would require a lengthy process that “could go on and on and on, and you’re talking about years before you get through the administrative process and the courts.”
Mr. Califano, who served as health secretary under President Jimmy Carter, said the idea to send the letter began when Dr. Louis W. Sullivan, the health secretary during the administration of President George H. W. Bush, called him to complain about the bill’s treatment of menthol.
“We both got our blood boiling,” Mr. Califano said in a telephone interview. They also decided to contact other past health secretaries. Five of them were reached and all agreed to sign onto the letter, according to Mr. Califano, who now runs the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University.
They are Tommy G. Thompson, who was a health secretary under the current President Bush; Donna E. Shalala, from the Clinton administration; Richard S. Schweicker and Dr. Otis R. Bowen, from the Reagan administration; and F. David Matthews from the Ford administration.
In a telephone interview, Dr. Sullivan, the president emeritus of Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, said, “My issue is that menthol should not be added because it’s added as an inducement, an enabler, to induce young people to smoke.”
In 1990, Dr. Sullivan was instrumental in pressuring R. J. Reynolds not to market its Uptown cigarette, a menthol brand intended to appeal to black smokers.
In addition to the former secretaries, two other people signed the letter. They were Dr. Julius B. Richmond, who served as surgeon general in the Carter administration, and William S. Robinson, the executive director of the National African American Tobacco Prevention Network, a nonprofit organization in Durham, N.C.
Mr. Robinson’s organization said last week that it was withdrawing its support from the bill because of the menthol exemption.
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