Reuters Health News Summary

08/03/2016 16:55

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Drink developed for military boosts cycling performance

A drink that provides energy for the body in the form of ketones, rather than sugar or fat, helped competitive cyclists ride farther during a half-hour ride, according to a new study. Usually, energy for muscle cells comes from carbohydrates or fat, but when those fuels aren't available and the body is in "starvation mode" the liver will break down fat stores into ketones to use as fuel.

Pentagon says 33 U.S. military personnel infected with Zika

Thirty-three members of the U.S. military, including a pregnant woman, are believed to have contracted the mosquito-borne Zika virus overseas, the Pentagon said on Wednesday. Air Force Major Ben Sakrisson, a Pentagon spokesman, said the U.S. service members are believed to have been infected outside the continental United States, but cautioned that it is hard to tell where exactly they may have contracted Zika.

U.S. health researchers test Zika vaccine as funds run low

U.S. government researchers said on Wednesday they have begun their first clinical trial of a Zika vaccine while the Obama administration told lawmakers funds to fight the virus would run out in the coming weeks due to congressional inaction. U.S. concerns over Zika, which is spreading rapidly in the Americas and has hit Brazil the hardest, have risen since Florida authorities last week reported the first signs of local transmission in the continental United States in a Miami neighborhood.

Florida to begin aerial spraying of insecticides to control Zika

Florida will conduct an aerial insecticide spraying campaign at dawn on Wednesday in an effort to kill mosquitoes carrying the Zika virus, officials in Miami-Dade County said. The campaign will cover a 10-mile area that includes the one-mile-square area just north of downtown Miami that health officials have identified as the hub of Zika transmission in the state, the officials said on Tuesday.

With FDA approval, GM mosquitoes could join Florida's Zika fight

Genetically modified (GM) mosquitoes could be let loose in Florida's battle against the Zika virus if regulators approve them - and a decision is expected imminently, according to British firm Oxitec that engineers the insects. Modified Aedes aegypti mosquitoes - genetically altered so their offspring die before being able to reproduce - are under review by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for possible use in the United States.

New York attorney general targets phony Zika-protection products

New York state's top prosecutor said on Wednesday his office has sent cease-and-desist letters to seven companies accused of deceptively marketing ineffective Zika-protection products as concern grows over the mosquito-borne virus. Attorney General Eric Schneiderman also issued an alert warning consumers against the companies' advertisements, which mainly promote ultrasonic and botanical oil-based mosquito repellants.

Actelion does not see significant CVS hit to Opsumit sales

Big U.S. pharmacy chain CVS Health's move to jettison an Actelion drug from a list of covered medications is not expected to have a "meaningful impact" on the Swiss biotechnology company's sales, a spokesman said on Wednesday. CVS on Tuesday released a list of more than 30 drugs it was removing from its 2017 standard formulary, including Actelion's Opsumit for deadly pulmonary arterial hypertension, or PAH.

CVS drops Sanofi's diabetes drugs for biosimilars

U.S. pharmacy benefit manager CVS will drop Sanofi's main insulin drug Lantus from the list of medicines it reimburses on behalf of health insurers, dealing a blow to the French drugmaker's key diabetes business. CVS said it would switch instead to Ely Lilly's cheaper biosimilar drug Basaglar from 2017.

Pregnant in Miami: Zika's arrival adds new anxieties

Since Florida officials declared that the Zika virus is circulating in the state, Miami-area resident Karla Maguire has avoided taking her toddler son to a playground where mosquitoes may be biting. She walks her dogs less frequently and vigilantly applies bug repellant when she must go outside. An obstetrician and gynecologist who is herself pregnant, Maguire has become scrupulous about following the advice that she gives patients to protect against Zika, which can cause a rare but devastating birth defect. Maguire works near the city's Wynwood neighborhood identified on Friday as the first site of local Zika transmission in the continental United States.

Risk of diabetes and heart disease may spike before menopause

Women may be at greater risk for developing diabetes, heart disease and stroke in the years before menopause, rather than afterward, a U.S. study suggests. "This may mean that the higher cardiovascular risk seen among post-menopausal women could be related to changes in that time before menopause and less so to the changes after menopause has occurred," said lead study author Dr. Mark DeBoer, a researcher at University of Virginia School of Medicine in Charlottesville.

08/03/2016 16:55