HEALTH

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — While the "fiscal cliff" bill heads off the most severe tax implications for most Americans, the 25.8 million Americans with diabetes may find this bill a bitter pill to swallow, suggested the National Community Pharmacists Association in a press release issued Wednesday. 

ATLANTA — The incidence of influenza continued on an upward trajectory heading into the Christmas holiday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Friday. Nationwide for the week ending Dec. 22, 4.2% of patient visits reported through the U.S. Outpatient Influenza-like Illness Surveillance Network were due to influenza-like illness, above the national baseline of 2.2%. 

GOTHENBURG, Sweden — Researchers at the University of Gothenburg along with the Chalmers University of Technology earlier this month demonstrated that an altered gut microbiota in humans is associated with symptomatic atherosclerosis and stroke. 

These findings were presented in a study published in Nature Communications on Dec. 4.

CONEY ISLAND, N.Y. — ProPhase Labs recently announced that its Cold-Eeze Cold Remedy will sponsor a New Jersey television personality to help raise money for Camp Sunshine, a retreat in Casco, Maine for kids with life-threatening illnesses and their families. 

On Jan. 1, "Jersey Shore" star Vinny Guadagnino will take the plunge as part of the annual Coney Island Polar Bear Plunge New Year’s Day event. 

This is Vinny’s second year doing the Polar Bear Plunge, ProPhase noted.

WASHINGTON — The Consumer Healthcare Products Association last week applauded Ohio Gov. John Kasich for signing into law House Bill 334, an anti-methamphetamine bill authored by Reps. Terry Johnson, R-Portsmouth, and Danny Bupb, R-West Union. With the new law, Ohio now becomes the 25th state to adopt real-time, stop-sale technology known as the National Precursor Log Exchange.

PITTSBURGH — Women deficient in vitamin D early in their pregnancies are more likely to deliver babies with lower birth weights, according to research released last week by the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health.

The study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, will be reported in the January print edition of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

SAN BRUNO, Calif. — Biocodex last week sought to set the record straight regarding the use of probiotics with antibiotics. 

"There is a common myth that probiotics can't be used with antibiotics," stated Kerry Neville, a registered dietitian in Seattle. "In fact, there are different probiotic options available that can be beneficial before, during, and after antibiotic use, like Florastor."

BETHESDA, Md. — The National Institute on Drug Abuse last week released the 2012 Monitoring the Future survey, finding that 5.6% of high school seniors abused over-the-counter cough and cold medicines containing dextromethorphan, a rate that has held relatively steady over the past five years. Abuse of DXM products was reported to be 3% among eighth graders and 4.7% among tenth graders, bringing the overall average to under 5%.