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Study Links Recurrence Of Abnormal Cervical Cells To Age, Treatment Type
Older women, women with a higher grade of precancerous cells and women who undergo a freezing procedure known as cryotherapy to remove abnormal cervical cells are at a higher risk than other groups that the problem cells will return or develop into cervical cancer, according to a study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Reuters reports. For the study, Joy Melnikow of the University of California-Davis and colleagues compared 37,000 women who were treated for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia -- abnormal cervical cells -- from 1986 through 2000 with 71,000 women who had no history of abnormal cervical cells.The researchers found that the risk of cervical cancer and recurrence of medium to severe degrees of CIN was highest for women who were older than age 40, who had been previously treated for severe CIN or whose abnormal cells were treated using cryotherapy. The women underwent cone biopsies a surgical procedure to remove abnormal cells were least likely to have a recurrence of CIN. According to Melnikow, recurrence was most likely to occur within the first six years after treatment. Melnikow said that women who have been treated surgically have higher risks of bleeding and preterm labor. Therefore, younger women who are planning to become pregnant might prefer cryotherapy, she said, adding that younger women"s "risk of recurrence is lower, and a recurrence can be treated again" (Steenhuysen, Reuters, 5/12).

Cal/OSHA Stresses Importance Of Taking Precautions To Prevent Heat Illnesses
With triple digit temperatures expected over the weekend and into early next week, Cal/OSHA urges employers to observe the precautions specified in the heat illness prevention regulation. To ensure compliance Cal/OSHA will have teams of investigators inspecting outdoor employers over the weekend for heat illness prevention requirements. For employees working outdoors, the hot sun with high temperatures can be life-threatening.
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Sylentis Presents New Data On Its Compounds For The Treatment Of Glaucomas And Dry Eye Syndrome At ARVO Congress
Sylentis, a bio-pharmaceutical company Zeltia Group (MC: ZEL), a
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Harvard Researchers Say Insurers Put Profits Over Health

More than a decade after Harvard researchers first revealed that life and health insurance companies were major investors in tobacco stocks - prompting calls upon them to divest - the insurance industry has yet to kick the habit, they say. A new article on insurance company holdings, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, shows that U.S., Canadian and U.K.-based insurance firms hold at least $4.4 billion of investments in companies whose subsidiaries manufacture cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco and related products. Tobacco products currently contribute to the deaths of 5.4 million people worldwide annually, according to the World Health Organization. Tobacco use is a major risk factor for stroke, heart attack, lung disease and cancer. "Despite calls upon the insurance industry to get out of the tobacco business by physicians and others, insurers continue to put their profits above people"s health," said Dr. J. Wesley Boyd, the lead author of the article. "It"s clear their top priority is making money, not safeguarding people"s well-being." To illustrate their point, Boyd and his colleagues point to Newark, N.J.-based Prudential Financial Inc., which sells life insurance and long-term disability coverage. With total tobacco holdings of $264.3 million, Prudential Financial is a major investor in three tobacco firms, including Reynolds American, whose subsidiary R.J. Reynolds manufactures Camel and Pall Mall cigarettes, and Philip Morris, maker of the popular Marlboro brand. Sun Life Financial Inc., based in Toronto, sells life, health, disability and long-term care insurance. It also owns slightly over $1 billion in stock in two tobacco companies, including $890 million in Philip Morris. London-based Prudential Plc, which offers health, disability, and long-term care insurance, has holdings of $1.38 billion in two tobacco companies, including British American Tobacco, which markets Kent and Lucky Strike cigarettes. The researchers also itemize the substantial tobacco holdings of Northwestern Mutual of Milwaukee and Massachusetts Mutual Life of Springfield, Mass., along with those of Standard Life Plc, a health and life insurer based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Boyd and his co-authors, Drs. David Himmelstein and Steffie Woolhandler at the Cambridge Health Alliance and Harvard Medical School, culled their data from Osiris, a proprietary database of industrial, banking and insurance companies. Osiris draws upon Securities and Exchange Commission filings and news reports from providers like Dow Jones and Reuters. "Although investing in tobacco while selling life or health insurance may seem self-defeating," the authors write, "insurance firms have figured out ways to profit from both. Insurers exclude smokers from coverage or, more commonly, charge them higher premiums. Insurers profit - and smokers lose - twice over." The same researchers, all of whom are affiliated with Physicians for a National Health Program, first published data about the "tobacco-insurance company connection" in 1995 in the medical journal Lancet. They say that because private, for-profit insurers have repeatedly put their own financial gain over the public"s health, readers in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom should be wary about insurance firms" participation in care. They add, "These data raise a red flag about the prospects of opening up vast new markets for private insurers at public expense, as has happened in our state of Massachusetts, whose recent health care reform is often cited as a model for national reform." Copies of the study are available at http://pnhp.org/tobacco/tobacco_article.pdf Reference: "Insurance industry investments in tobacco," J. Wesley Boyd, M.D., Ph.D.; David U. Himmelstein, M.D; Steffie Woolhandler, M.D., M.P.H. New England Journal of Medicine, June 4, 2009. Mark Almberg Physicians for a National Health Program


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