Harvard World Health News Highlights - STI's, Teen Sex, Smoking, Plan B, Food Safety and ADHD

Harvard World Health News Highlights:

 U.S. Sets Record in Sexual Disease Cases
(Associated Press, November 13, 2007)
"More than 1 million cases of chlamydia were reported in the United States last year -- the most ever reported for a sexually transmitted disease, federal health officials said Tuesday…More bad news: Gonorrhea rates are jumping again after hitting a record low, and an increasing number of cases are caused by a 'superbug' version resistant to common antibiotics, federal officials said Tuesday."

Study Debunks Theory On Teen Sex, Delinquency
Rick Weiss (The Washington Post, November 11, 2007)
"Researchers at Ohio State University garnered little attention in February when they found that youngsters who lose their virginity earlier than their peers are more likely to become juvenile delinquents. So obvious and well established was the contribution of early sex to later delinquency that the idea was already part of the required curriculum for federal 'abstinence only' programs. There was just one problem: It is probably not true. Other things being equal, a more probing study has found, youngsters who have consensual sex in their early-teen or even preteen years are, if anything, less likely to engage in delinquent behavior later on." Free registration required. 

Smokers Go for Broke While Quitters Save
(Sydney Morning Herald, November 14, 2007)
"Quitting smoking might be hard but it keeps people from going broke, a study of almost 2000 Australians has found. The study, by the Cancer Council Victoria's Centre for Behavioural Research in Cancer, has for the first time measured the financial consequences of quitting smoking. It found that those who quit were 42 per cent less likely to experience financial stress than those who kept smoking."

Washington: Court Halts State's Plan B Pill Rule
Paul Shukovsky (The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, November 9, 2007)
"Pharmacists in Washington no longer will be required to dispense 'morning-after' birth control pills if they have religious objections, at least for the time being."

Meat Treatment Got Approval Despite Safety Concerns
Rick Weiss (The Washington Post, November 14, 2007)
"The Agriculture Department in 2004 gave the green light to using carbon monoxide gas to keep older cuts of meat looking red and fresh, even though scientists at the two companies promoting the technology had questioned the validity of their own safety tests, congressional investigators revealed yesterday." Free registration required. 

Drugs for ADHD 'Not the Answer'
(BBC News Online, November 12, 2007)
"Treating children who have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) with drugs is not effective in the long-term, research has shown. A study obtained by the BBC's Panorama programme says drugs such as Ritalin and Concerta work no better than therapy after three years of treatment."