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Sun Exposure May Trigger Certain Autoimmune Diseases In Women
Ultraviolet (UV) radiation from sunlight may be associated with the development of certain autoimmune diseases, particularly in women, according to a study by researchers at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), part of the National Institutes of Health.

Less Sleep Associated With High, Worsening Blood Pressure In Middle Age
Middle-aged adults who sleep fewer hours appear more likely to have high blood pressure and to experience adverse changes in blood pressure over time, according to a report in the June 8 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
News of the day
Senate Republicans Ask For More Background On Supreme Court Nominee Sotomayor
Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans on Wednesday sent a letter to Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor requesting additional background information to supplement a committee questionnaire, CQ Today reports. The Republicans said that Democrats are rushing the nomination process by scheduling Sotomayor"s confirmation hearing to begin July 13 and that they need more information on the nominee. According to CQ Today, Democrats are unlikely to budge from their determination to confirm Sotomayor before the Aug. 7 recess, although Republicans might convince Leahy to postpone the hearing for a week in exchange for a GOP pledge not to delay a committee vote on Sotomayor for a week, as allowed under the panel"s rules (Perine, CQ Today, 6/10). Among their requests, Republicans asked that Sotomayor provide copies of the Yale Law Journal, for which she served as an editor, and that she elaborate upon her role with the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund. White House spokesperson Ben LaBolt said that the Obama administration has made clear that it plans to provide additional information but that it has presented most of the information quickly to allow the Senate to begin its review (Herszenhorn, "The Caucus," New York Times, 6/10). Judiciary Committee ranking member Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) said that the information requested is not "little itty-bitty matters" but "important" components of Sotomayor"s background. He added, "If we"re going to move forward in a record-breaking time frame, the least we can expect is complete and full answers to these questions." Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), a senior member on the committee, said there is "a lot of irritation and discomfort" among Republicans "about the way it"s being handled." He added that he does not think Republicans want to filibuster the nomination but implied that they might use procedural tools to slow the process (CQ Today, 6/10).
Diagnostics

Typhoid Vaccine Effectively Prevents Disease In Children, Study Finds

"A typhoid vaccine proved effective in the slums of India, where it not only helped prevent infection in children who received it, but also those in close contact who were unvaccinated," according to a New England Journal of Medicine study published on Thursday, the AP/Washington Post reports (Chang, 7/22). The study, "conducted in two wards of an Indian slum where about 60,000 people live," sought to investigate the Vi typhoid vaccine"s efficacy in children between the ages of 2 and 5, Reuters writes. "Doubt about its effectiveness in this younger age group is one reason the shots, which cost as little as 50 cents, are not widely given to prevent typhoid. The potentially deadly disease comes from contaminated food and water, and kills 216,000 to 600,000 people worldwide each year," according to the news service (Emery, 7/22). Researchers found that the vaccine was 80 percent effective in preventing typhoid fever among the children in the study. The vaccine also offered 44 percent protection among "unvaccinated neighbors who were in contact with the immunized children," according to the AP/Washington Post. "Overall, the vaccine was 61 percent effective," the newspaper reports. Though typhoid fever is treatable with antibiotics, new drug-resistant strains have arisen (7/22). In addition, "Safe and effective vaccines exist but are used mainly by wealthy travellers to developing countries rather than by poor residents," AFP/Google.com writes (7/23). According to the AP/Washington Post, the study was funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and coordinated by the International Vaccine Institute (IVI). GlaxoSmithKline donated the vaccine used in the research (7/22). In an IVI statement, IVI Director-General John Clemens said, "The protection for children under the age of five years is important because this age group has been shown to be at high risk for typhoid fever in many areas where the disease is endemic" (7/22). In a related NEJM commentary, Myron Levine of the University of Maryland School of Medicine wrote, "The time has come to implement use of these vaccines vigorously and monitor the effect of such intervention," according to Reuters (7/22). This information was reprinted from globalhealth.kff.org with kind permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Global Health Policy Report, search the archives and sign up for email delivery at globalhealth.kff.org. © Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.


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