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FRIDAY, April 26 (HealthDay News) ? Smokers and former smokers are at increased risk for rheumatoid arthritis, a new study says.
Researchers analyzed data collected from 34,000 women, aged 54 to 89, in Sweden, 219 of whom had rheumatoid arthritis.
Rheumatoid arthritis causes inflammation in the joints, resulting in swelling, stiffness, pain and reduced joint function. It can also affect other parts of the body.
The number of cigarettes smoked per day and the number of years a woman smoked both affected the risk of rheumatoid arthritis, according to the study, which was published April 22 in the journal Arthritis Research & Therapy.
Women who had smoked for up to 25 years were much more likely to develop the disease than those who never smoked. Even light smoking ? defined as one to seven cigarettes a day ? more than doubled the risk, said the researchers at the Karolinska Institute and Karolinska University Hospital, in Stockholm.
Quitting smoking did lower the risk, which continued to decrease over time. For those who gave up smoking 15 years ago, the risk had fallen by a third. Their risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis (RA), however, was still much higher compared to women who had never smoked.
Although the study tied smoking to an increased risk for rheumatoid arthritis in women, it didn?t establish a cause-and effect relationship.
?Stopping smoking is important for many health reasons, including the increased risk of RA for smokers,? study leader Daniela Di Giuseppe said in a journal news release. ?But the clearly increased risk of developing RA, even many years after giving up, is another reason to stop smoking as soon as possible, and highlight the importance of persuading women not to start at all.?
More information
The American Academy of Family Physicians has more about rheumatoid arthritis.
Source: http://news.health.com/2013/04/26/women-who-smoke-may-have-higher-risk-for-rheumatoid-arthritis/
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Photo by Thomas Szlukovenyi/Reuters
When the Chernobyl nuclear reactor exploded in 1986, experts predicted as many as 40,000 extra cancer deaths from the radiation spewed onto parts of what was then the Soviet Union. Friday is the 27th anniversary of the disaster. How many people has Chernobyl killed so far?
We?ll probably never know. That?s partly because even 40,000 cancer deaths are less than 1 percent of the cancer mortality expected in the affected population. Statistically, the deaths are undetectable. Even if they weren?t, science usually can?t say that a particular cancer was induced by radiation rather than something else.
One exception is thyroid cancer, a very rare disease in children that skyrocketed to nearly 7,000 cases in Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine by 2005. There is no doubt that radioactivity from Chernobyl caused them, including about a dozen fatalities. We also know that two people died in the explosion and more than 100 people, mostly firefighters ignorant of the dangers, received doses high enough to cause acute radiation syndrome. Of them, 29 died within a few months, followed by 18 more deaths over the years. The group seems to be at higher risk for blood cancers.
Other than those sad cases, controversy rages about Chernobyl?s death toll. For the vast majority of the most affected populations, the disaster delivered doses equivalent to a handful of CAT scans. At such low levels, radiation?s health effects are considered long-term and stochastic, or essentially random.
Like the atomic decay that creates radiation, which is impossible to predict for any individual atom, the health effects radiation causes are random, too. A given person who lived in the fallout zone might or might not possess a cesium-137 atom that is quietly mimicking potassium in some innocent cell. The atom might or might not release radiation that hits DNA and mutates it in such a way that might lead to cancer.
The predictions of Chernobyl cancer mortality were based on formulas derived from studies of Japanese atomic bomb survivors. The formulas take the total amount of radiation the Chernobyl disaster released, smear it across the entire affected population, and multiply by a risk factor to come up with a number of deaths.
Experts differ in the risk factors they use, but all the formulas assume that radiation?s long-term health effects?primarily leukemia, the cancer most commonly caused by the atom bombs?are directly proportional to the dose. They also assume there is no minimum threshold dose below which there is no danger. In the radiation exposure jargon, that?s called the linear no-threshold theory.
As Slate?s Darshak Sanghavi has pointed out, the true health effects of low-level radiation can?t be known because any study to identify them would have to include an impossibly large number of people. Additionally, it isn?t clear that the effects of the intense, immediate radiation exposure from the atomic blasts pose the same dangers as do the low but chronic doses from Chernobyl. There is some evidence that cellular repair mechanisms can compensate for lower doses of exposure. For whatever reason, a predicted spike in leukemia cases in people exposed to Chernobyl fallout has not been detected.
Given all the uncertainty, current estimates of the number of deaths caused by Chernobyl differ widely. In 2005, the United Nations predicted 4,000 deaths. Three years later, its committee on atomic radiation abandoned the linear no-threshold model for predicting Chernobyl cancer deaths from doses below the lifetime equivalent of four abdominal CAT scans because of ?unacceptable uncertainties.? Critics such as Greenpeace responded with new predictions of 93,000 cancer deaths caused by Chernobyl.
When evidence is lacking, people make a judgment call about whether to believe something that is theoretically possible but can?t be detected. In the case of cancer deaths from low-level Chernobyl radiation, the U.N. has decided that they don?t exist and linear no-threshold adherents have decided that they do. Neither can be proved right or wrong.
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By Associated Press
Five people, including three teenagers, were killed Saturday in Florida after their car was hit by another vehicle that jolted through an interstate exit ramp, authorities said.
The driver of a 2008 Mercedes is believed to have been speeding as he exited Interstate 95 and ran a red light in Riviera Beach, about five miles north of West Palm Beach, shortly after midnight, Florida Highway Patrol Lt. Tim Frith said.
Twenty-one-year-old Jabari Kemp's vehicle slammed into a 1994 Lexus carrying five people, the youngest 14 and the oldest 22. The impact ejected four people from the car. Only one passenger was wearing a seatbelt, Frith said.
Four of the people in the Lexus were pronounced dead at the scene. A fifth died after being taken to a nearby hospital.
"It's every parent's worst fear," Frith said. "The families right now are the main concern."
Killed in the crash were: Makita Campbell, 14; Shonteria Grimsley, 17; Jason Mahlung, 21; and Christina Oliver Joseph, 17, all of Riviera Beach, in South Florida. A 22-year-old man also killed in the crash has not yet been identified.
Kemp was taken to St. Mary's Hospital in serious but not life-threatening condition. Frith said troopers will conduct a complete traffic homicide investigation. No charges have been filed. Frith said Kemp's blood also will be checked for any indication of drugs or alcohol.
"We're not ruling out anything at this point," Frith said.
The two young men in the Lexus had been at an apartment complex until around 11:30 p.m. Friday, Frith said. Sometime thereafter investigators believe they picked up the three girls who were seated in the back of the vehicle, Frith said. He said troopers don't know where they were headed.
Frith said Kemp was traveling at "a high rate of speed" as he exited the ramp and hit the Lexus. Debris from the crash struck a third vehicle, but the driver was not injured.
There was no answer Saturday at a telephone number listed for Kemp's family in Florida.
? 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Tiger Woods takes a drop on the 15th hole after his ball went into the water during the second round of the Masters golf tournament Friday, April 12, 2013, in Augusta, Ga. The drop is being reviewed by the rules committee. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Tiger Woods takes a drop on the 15th hole after his ball went into the water during the second round of the Masters golf tournament Friday, April 12, 2013, in Augusta, Ga. The drop is being reviewed by the rules committee. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Tiger Woods takes a drop on the 15th hole after his ball went into the water during the second round of the Masters golf tournament Friday, April 12, 2013, in Augusta, Ga. The drop is being reviewed by the rules committee. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Tiger Woods takes a drop on the 15th hole after his ball went into the water during the second round of the Masters golf tournament Friday, April 12, 2013, in Augusta, Ga. The drop is being reviewed by the rules committee. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) ? Tiger Woods got a reprieve Saturday in the Masters when he was given a two-shot penalty for a bad drop after signing his card and still was allowed to stay in the tournament.
Woods' shot on the par-5 15th hole of the second round hit the flag stick and bounced back into the water. He took his penalty drop two yards behind where he hit the original shot, which was a rules violation.
Augusta National reviewed the incident Saturday morning before the third round and added the two-stroke penalty for an improper drop. Woods had a 73 instead of a 71 and went into the weekend five shots out of the lead. He wasn't disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard under a revised rule ? announced at the Masters two years ago ? that allows a player to stay in the tournament if a rules dispute was based on television evidence.
Woods posted a statement on his Twitter feed that said:
"At hole (hash)15, I took a drop that I thought was correct and in accordance with the rules. I was unaware at that time I had violated any rules. I didn't know I had taken an incorrect drop prior to signing my scorecard. Subsequently, I met with the Masters Committee Saturday morning. and was advised they had reviewed the incident prior to the completion of my round. Their initial determination was that there was no violation, but they had additional concerns based on my post-round interview. After discussing the situation with them this morning, I was assessed a two-shot penalty. I understand and accept the penalty and respect the Committees' decision."
The decision grabbed more attention than any shot at this Masters, especially coming one day after 14-year-old Guan Tianlang was penalized one shot for slow play, which nearly caused him to miss the cut. Woods not only is the No. 1 player and golf's biggest star, he had won two straight tournaments coming into the Masters. He was the overwhelming favorite to win, ending a five-year drought in the majors, and capture the green jacket for the first time since 2005.
While the violation was apparent, Augusta National took the blame by saying its rules committee reviewed a video before Woods finished his round Friday and determined his drop was within the rules. The club said a television viewer prompted the review.
Golf is the only sport where TV viewers act as rules officials. If they see a violation and it turns out to be true, a player must be penalized.
Masters officials did not talk to Woods before he signed his card. Woods, however, indicted himself by explaining how he took the drop.
"I went back to where I played it from, but went two yards further back and I tried to take two yards off the shot of what I felt I hit," Woods said Friday after he signed for a 71, leaving him three shots out of the lead. "And that should land me short of the flag and not have it either hit the flag or skip over the back. I felt that was going to be the right decision to take off four (yards) right there. And I did. It worked out perfectly."
He hit that fifth shot to about 4 feet and made the putt for bogey.
Another TV viewer called after Woods' interview, prompting another review.
Rules 26-1 says that if a player chooses to go back to his original spot, the ball should be dropped as "nearly as possible" to the spot where it was last played. Photos and video shows his ball dropped at least a yard behind his previous divot.
"After meeting with the player, it was determined that he had violated Rule 26, and he was assessed a two-stroke penalty," Fred Ridley, chairman of the Masters' competition committees, said in a statement. He said the penalty of disqualification was waived under Rule 33 because the committee "had previously reviewed the information and made its initial determination prior to the finish of the player's round."
Rule 33 states that disqualification can be waived at the committee's discretion. However, a decision that accompanies this rule says that the committee would not be justified to waive the DQ if it was a result of the player's ignorance of the rules or if he could have reasonably discovered his mistake before signing his scorecard.
"There is some leeway with the signing the incorrect card. Not with intentionally not dropping as near as possible," David Duval said on Twitter.
That it involved Woods only made it a bigger issue.
In one of his more famous incidents, Woods hit a shot that went onto the roof and over the back into a parking lot at Firestone. The ball was never found, and because there was no out-of-bounds, Woods was correctly given a free drop by the practice range. Last year at Quail Hollow, he hit a shot left of the fifth green that was never found. He was allowed a free drop because fans said a man picked it up and ran off.
"Take the fact that it was Tiger out of the equation and it is a fair ruling. Since it is him the debate begins about TV ratings etc etc," former U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell said on Twitter.
The revision to Rule 33 was based upon the modern era of television. One example cited was Padraig Harrington, who opened with a 65 in Abu Dhabi at the start of the 2011 season. He was disqualified when a slow-motion replay on high-definition TV revealed that his ball moved ever so slightly after he replaced his marked. Harrington didn't realize it had moved ? a two-shot penalty ? and was disqualified for an incorrect card.
That same year, Camilo Villegas was disqualified in Hawaii when a TV viewer noticed he tamped down a divot in an area where his chip was rolling back down a slope. Rule 33 would not have applied there because Villegas did not know the rule.
Woods started the year with a rules violation. He took relief from an imbedded lie in a sandy area covered with vines in Abu Dhabi. It was determined that relief was not allowed in the sand. He was docked two shots before signing his card, and it caused him to miss the cut.
This is not the first time Augusta National had to review an incident involving Woods. In the opening round of 2005, he leaned over to tap in for par on the 14th hole and it appeared his right foot was behind the line of his putt ? a violation of Rule 16-1e that a player's foot cannot touch an extended line behind his ball. Officials deemed the tape inconclusive. Woods went on to the win the Masters.
Woods gets more air time than any other player.
"It is a very uneven playing field out there," said Curtis Strange, a two-time U.S. Open champion and analyst for ESPN. "We do have the call-ins. Tiger broke the rules yesterday. It gave him a two-stroke penalty. I think that's enough."
Reporters were kept away from the front of the clubhouse when Woods arrived alone in a black SUV. He changed shoes and headed to the practice range.
Hunter Mahan summed up the mess on Twitter: "If you think tiger should be dq'd your not wrong, if you think 2 shot penalty is enough your not wrong. Not sure the right answer."
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Basit Ali backs departmental cricket in Pakistan ? Cricket News Update
Basit Ali, the former Pakistan cricketer, believes that departmental cricket is doing a great job in the country and urged the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to take measures to strengthen the national cricket structure.
Over the last 10 years, there has been an ongoing debate in the country about the domestic cricket format, with some former cricketers advocating the promotion of regional cricket. However, majority of the cricket pundits in Pakistan are of the opinion that departmental cricket must be the priority for the PCB, because of its quality.
While expressing his views during a television interview last night, the former right-handed batsman from Karachi said that departmental cricket is invaluable for the country and it must be promoted. Basit, who is presently the coach of the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL), mentioned that the standard of coaching in departmental cricket has improved over the years.
?Departmental cricket is the strongest these days in Pakistan. We will organise a departmental T20 Cup in Ramadan,? said the former cricketer. ?The number of coaches at department level have increased, but each one of them has his own method of coaching. The tenure of Mr. Zaka Ashraf has benefited Pakistan cricket to a certain extent.?
Over the last couple of years, the Green Shirts have been doing a reasonable job at the ultimate stage of the sport; however, as per the cricket experts, Pakistan need to perform more consistently and that is possible only if the standard of domestic cricket is enhanced.
Basit, who played for the country in 1990s, feels that the national players have a greater chance of showcasing their skills today as compared to past because more and more matches are being televised these days.
The former cricketer is extremely impressed by the growth of Umar Waheed, the young right-handed batsman from Rawalpindi and feels that the former Pakistan Under-19s? player has the potential to make it big in the coming years.
?There have never been more televised domestic matches than now-a-days. It has improved the quality of players. Umar Waheed has impressed me a lot. He is the one to watch out for. National Bank have signed him up,? he added.
Source: http://blogs.bettor.com/Basit-Ali-backs-departmental-cricket-in-Pakistan-Cricket-News-Update-a214346
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By Julie Steenhuysen
CHICAGO | Thu Apr 11, 2013 11:15pm EDT
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Even as U.S. officials this week awaited the arrival of a sample of the new bird flu virus from China - typically the first step in making a flu vaccine - government-backed researchers had already begun testing a "seed" strain of the virus made from the genetic code posted on the Internet.
This new, faster approach is the result of a collaboration among the government, vaccine maker Novartis and a unit of the J. Craig Venter Institute, which is using synthetic biology - in which scientists take the genetic code of the virus and use it as a recipe to build the virus from scratch.
It was an idea born in the aftermath of the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, in which production delays and poor-quality seed strain slowed delivery of the vaccine until October, late enough that people were already sick with swine flu.
The new method has shaved two weeks off the vaccine-making process. It will take five to six months to ramp up production, but even weeks could make a difference in the case of a potentially deadly flu pandemic, said Robin Robinson, director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority or BARDA.
"We'll take it," said Robinson, whose agency handles pandemic preparedness as part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. "If the virus turns out to be a tough one, that could be very important."
At least 33 people have been infected and 10 have died from the strain of bird flu known as avian influenza A (H7N9) first found in humans last month. So far, the strain does not appear capable of being passed from person to person.
But Chinese researchers, in a report published online on Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine, warned that the sudden emergence of this strain of flu "may pose a serious human health risk" and said "appropriate counter measures were urgently required."
SOUL SEARCHING
An especially deadly strain of bird flu in 2003 known as H5N1 had already raised the threat of a global pandemic, spurring more than $2 billion in government contracts to shore up U.S. flu vaccine manufacturing capabilities.
After the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, U.S. health agencies gathered to do some soul searching. Representatives from BARDA, the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health looked for ways to expedite the process of making flu vaccines, Robinson said.
These advances would need to apply to all vaccine makers, whether they used the traditional method of growing the virus in live chicken eggs, or the newer methods of growing it in cells or vaccines made from genetically engineered proteins.
Robinson, who formerly headed the vaccines division at Novavax Inc, had seen firsthand the speed at which a vaccine could be made using synthetic biology during the 2003 outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome or SARS, when companies and governments rushed to make a vaccine.
So, in 2010, BARDA tapped Novartis, one of its vaccine partners, along with a company owned by Dr. J. Craig Venter, the flamboyant scientist who took part in the race to map the human genome and caused a stir in 2010 when he used synthetic genes to create a custom microbe and bring it life.
TEST DRIVE
As a test drive for the new flu technology, in 2011 the government gave its partners the genetic sequence for a North American strain of H7N9, a similar virus to the one making people sick in China. "It was just a coincidence," Robinson recalls.
In less than two weeks, Novartis and Venter's group were ready to make virus seed. The next year, they sequenced an H5N1 virus and produced a synthetic virus in six days.
Then came a live test. The United States asked its partners to make a real vaccine for a variant of swine flu known as H3N2 that had been infecting children in the U.S. Midwest last year.
Once again, they produced virus seed in less than a week.
So, when Chinese health authorities released the genetic sequence for the H7N9 bird flu on March 30, U.S. health officials decided to try the new technique.
Novartis and Venter's company, Synthetic Genomics Vaccines Inc, went to work and by April 4, they had synthetic DNA ready and had started to grow the virus in cells, long before samples of the actual virus arrived from China on April 11.
Normally, getting a sample would be the starting point for making a seed virus, which would then be grown and tested to ensure it would grow well in chicken eggs or cells.
That involves a certain amount of guesswork, however. The new process of building the virus based on its genetic code allows "almost guaranteed success," said Mike Shaw, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"That is because you're creating a virus that is almost tailor-made," he said.
Shaw said the CDC plans to take a vaccine candidate at least to the stage of human safety trials, a process that will take several months.
(Reporting by Julie Steenhuysen; Editing by Douglas Royalty and Lisa Shumaker)
Source: http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/scienceNews/~3/L7CX5KbqtvU/story01.htm
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