Scorching temperatures topping 90 degrees Fahrenheit were expected throughout the east, rising to at least 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius) in New York and Washington.

Canada’s Quebec region, particularly around Montreal, also got blasted, although city hospitals said there had been no immediate spike in heat-related illnesses.

New Yorkers were warned to stay in the shade and check on relatives and neighbors today as the temperature hit a record 102 degrees Fahrenheit, breaking the mark for the date of 101 set in 1999.

The heat index, or how hot it feels, was 106 as of 3 p.m., the National Weather Service reported. The last time temperatures rose to 100 or more was on Aug. 9, 2001, when it was 103. The highest temperature ever recorded in the city was 106 on July 9, 1936.

Temperatures were forecast to reach 100 or feel worse from Virginia to Maine, putting stress on power agencies to supply air conditioning. Consolidated Edison Co. urged customers to conserve power during the day, according to an alert from New York City’s emergency notification program.

Electricity usage was expected to surge throughout the densely populated US northeast as office buildings reopened after the long July 4th Independence Day weekend.

Con Ed, a major utility company in the New York area, urged energy conservation during what was expected to be record demand for power as customers switched air conditioners into overdrive and raided freezers and fridges for refreshments.

The National Weather Service issued a heat advisory warning residents from Boston down to Washington that the elevated temperatures and high humidity could prove dangerous, particularly for young children and the elderly.

“Excessive heat” advisories also were posted in New York City and Philadelphia, where authorities opened “cooling stations”–air-conditioned buildings where residents can get out of the swelter.

“It will be so hot this afternoon that the weather could affect anyone no matter their age or overall health,” according to a weather service warning. “Please consider postponing any strenuous activities or workouts. Keep your pets in a cool location and provide them with plenty of water.”

The longest stretch of consecutive 100-plus days on record at Central Park came in 1993, when it rose from 100 on July 8 to 102 on July 10.

Queen Elizabeth II of the U.K. was among those braving the heat today, as the 84-year-old monarch made her first visit to New York since the 1976 bicentennial of U.S. independence from Great Britain.

The weather service issued heat advisories for much of the East and Northeast, meaning the high temperatures may have serious health consequences.

Having depression may nearly double the risk of developing dementia later in life, new research suggests.

Experts know that the two conditions often co-exist, but it is not clear if one actually leads to the other.

To reach the conclusion, researchers examined research data on 949 people with an average age of 79 from the Framingham Heart Study.

At the start of the study, participants were free of dementia and were tested for depressive symptoms based on questions about general depression, sleep complaints, social relationships and other factors.

A total of 125 people, or 13 per cent, were classified as having depression at the start of the study.

The participants were followed for up to 17 years.

At the end of the study, 164 people had developed dementia with 136 specifically diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Nearly 22 per cent of people who were depressed at the start of the study developed dementia compared to about 17 per cent of those who were not depressed, a 70 per cent increased risk in those who were depressed.

The 10-year absolute risk for dementia was 0.21 in people without depressive symptoms and 0.34 in people with depressive symptoms.

The results were the same regardless of a person’s age, sex, education and whether they had the APOE gene that increases a person’s risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

“While it’s unclear if depression causes dementia, there are a number of ways depression might impact the risk of dementia,” said study author Jane Saczynski, with the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, MA.

Now two studies published in the American journal Neurology suggest depression does mean dementia is more likely, although they do not show why.

And the researchers stress that the findings merely reveal a link, not a direct cause.

They say more studies are needed to find out why the two conditions are linked.

They believe brain chemistry and lifestyle factors like diet and the amount of social time a person engages in may play a role.

What this study demonstrates is that depression at a younger age is probably a significant risk factor for dementia.

The U.S. Medicare program said on Wednesday it was evaluating data on Dendreon Corp’s prostate cancer therapy to decide whether to cover the product for seniors nationwide.

The shares of Dendreon Corp. plummeted by 23% and became $25 after the news came and closed in on $32.33 on Nasdaq.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) said it had opened a national coverage analysis after receiving inquiries following the approval of Dendreon’s Provenge therapy in April.

The Medicare coverage could be helpful in making the product successful throughout the country. However, if the product is not given an approval, then the sales will decline significantly.

The agency said it will determine if the treatment is “reasonable and necessary” for patients in Medicare, the federal health program that covers 45 million elderly and disabled Americans.

The full treatment comprises three infusions and amounts to a total of $93,000. The medicine is marketed under the name Provenge, while its generic name is sipuleucel-T.

CMS said Medicare was commissioning an external assessment of Provenge and would bring the issue to an outside advisory committee this year.

Dendreon said the announcement did not restrict local Medicare contractors from covering Provenge.

“Therefore, Medicare beneficiaries are still able to access Provenge and private payers can also still cover Provenge,” the company said in a statement.

Dendreon also said it “welcomes the opportunity to continue our discussions with CMS about how Provenge will be provided to Medicare beneficiaries, particularly given the survival benefit and safety profile.”

CMS said a proposed decision was expected by March 30, 2011, with a final ruling in June 2011.

The product is the first vaccine approved to treat a type of cancer. Unlike traditional vaccines that prevent a disease, Provenge treats prostate cancer by stimulating the body’s immune system to attack malignant cells.

The Food and Drug Administration cleared Provenge for advanced prostate cancer after a study showed men treated with the vaccine lived an average of 4.1 months longer compared with a placebo.

The vaccine is produced by taking cells from a patient’s tumor and incorporating them into a vaccine that is injected back into the patient.

We’ve already heard of quite a few different recalls this year including cars, cribs and food. And while we are speaking about food recalls, there now appears to be another. Kellogg Co. has just announced that they are recalling some of their children’s cereals.

The company is voluntarily recalling 28 million boxes of Corn Pops, Honey Smacks, Froot Loops and Apple Jacks. Several reports of nausea and vomiting have been reported by consuming these cereals. Although the company reports a low risk of serious health issues, officials still caution about consuming the products.

There has been said to be a noxious odor coming from the bad inside the box. All the cereals involved in this recall have the letters KN following the “used by” date on the package.

The company’s representative Adaire Putnam went on to explain that the voluntary recall affects Kellogg’s Apple Jacks, Kellogg’s Corn Pops, Kellogg’s Froot Loops, and Kellogg’s Honey Smacks, with best-before dates ranging from March 26th, 2011 to June 22nd, 2011.

About 20 people have reported both nausea and vomiting after being exposed to the packaging involved, the spokeswoman went on to explain. A press release from the company is now asking consumers to immediately dispose of boxes that they may have in their home.

For complete list or recalled cereals, consumers may based on the list below.

Kellogg’s Apple Jacks

UPC 3800039136 1: 17 ounce package with Better if Used Before Dates between APR 10 2011 and JUN 22 2011

UPC 3800039132 3: 8.7 ounce packages with Better if Used Before Dates between JUN 03 2011 and JUN 22 2011

Kellogg’s Corn Pops

UPC 3800039109 5: 12.5 ounce packages with Better if Used Before Dates between MAR 26 2011 and JUN 22 2011

UPC 3800039111 8: 17.2 ounce packages with Better if Used Before Dates between MAR 26 2011 and JUN 22 2011

UPC 3800039116 3: 9.2 ounce packages with Better if Used Before Dates between APR 05 2011 and JUN 22 2011

Kellogg’s Froot Loops

UPC 3800039118 7: 12.2 ounce packages with Better if Used Before Dates between MAR 26 2011 and JUN 22 2011

UPC 3800039120 0: 17 ounce packages with Better if Used Before Dates between MAR 26 2011 and JUN 22 2011

UPC 3800039125 5: 8.7 ounce packages with Better if Used Before Dates between MAR 26 2011 and JUN 22 2011

Kellogg’s Honey Smacks

UPC 3800039103 3: 15.3 ounce packages with Better if Used Before Dates between MAR 26 2011 and JUN 22 2011

For more information, go to the Kellogg website at www.kelloggs.com or call 888-801-4163. You must be registered and logged in to post a comment.

Whooping cough cases keep soaring in the central San Joaquin Valley and statewide, and the worst may not be here yet.

California is facing what could be the state’s biggest outbreak of pertussis since 1958, according to its top public health official. This contagious disease is more commonly known as whooping cough due the distinctive whoop that occurs when sufferers cough and gasp for breath.
Pertussis has increased dramatically, and can be deadly to infants.

Fresno County reported 229 cases of the whooping cough or pertussis last week. In 2009, the county had a total of 27 cases for the entire year, health officials said.

The increase in cases mirrors that being seen statewide. California had 910 reported whooping cough cases as of Friday–already a four-fold increase from 2009, officials with the Department of Public Health said. And an additional 600 suspected cases are being investigated, the officials said.

“Whooping cough is now an epidemic in California,” said Dr. Mark Horton, director of the California Department of Public Health, in a statement. “Children should be vaccinated against the disease and parents, family members and caregivers of infants need a booster shot.”

The number of pertussis cases is now on a pace to surpass the total of 3,182 seen in the most recent major outbreak, which occurred in 2005, said Ken August, spokesman for the department.

August told MedPage Today that 1,200 cases were recorded in 2005 as of mid-June, meaning the state would probably exceed that this year.

The highest yearly total on record is 3,837 cases, seen in 1958.

So far this year, five children have died, all infants younger than three months.

Dr. Blaise Congeni of Akron Children’s Hospital in Ohio said he wasn’t surprised, as higher-than-usual numbers of pertussis cases have been reported across the country.

“We are having an outbreak in Ohio,” though not as severe as in California, he said.

Oregon public health officials have also reported an unusually high number of pertussis cases in that state.

Both Congeni and August noted that pertussis tends to wax and wane in cycles. But gaps in vaccination coverage may also be playing a role, particularly in California.

Whooping cough is highly contagious and is spread from person to person through droplets from coughs and sneezes. Infants are especially vulnerable to infection and complications.

Amanda suffered brain damage and later Prosopagnosia at age 10. Amanda Green having could not recognize her professors or classmates or even class. This spring she graduated from the White Bear Lake Area School District’s Transition Plus program and the Northeast Metro 916 Career and Technical Center’s Child Development Careers program.

“It’s like I’m meeting everyone for the first time every time, I had to relearn everything. It’s hard for people to understand” she said.

She also has trouble gauging facial expressions. The recognition impairments also extend beyond faces. She also has trouble recognizing places and many objects.

Prosopagnosia is a disorder that impairs our ability to recognize faces. It is also called “face blindness”. It is moreover related to acute brain damage; it is found that there are people who inherit this disorder. 2.5% of the population suffers form prosopagnosia.

Some people are born with prosopagnosia. Others, including Amanda, acquire it after a brain injury.

Along with prosopagnosia, she suffered memory and other cognitive deprivations. She forgot how to read, how to calculate math problems and more.

Special education services helped her relearn and continue on to graduate from White Bear Lake Area High School in 2008. She started taking courses at the Career and Technical Center senior year. Transitions Plus provides additional services for adult students, ages 18 to 21, with special needs.

Case manager Jean Thompson said Amanda keeps a positive attitude and doesn’t give up.

“She’s come so far,” Thompson said.

Her 916 teacher, Deb Warnsholz, encouraged her to attend Century College. She’s now taking a full course load working toward Associate of Arts and Associate of Science degrees. After this summer she’ll have completed 47 credits.

Romaine lettuce, sold under the brands Freshway Foods and Imperial Sysco, is being recalled across 23 states and the District of Columbia, the Associated Press reports. The lettuce may be the source of an E. coli outbreak that’s responsible for at least 12 hospitalizations so far. Three patients have life-threatening symptoms and have been diagnosed with a condition that could cause bleeding in the brain, according to the AP. The recall applies to lettuce with a “best if used by” date of May 12 or earlier, and to packaged salads sold at Kroger, Giant Eagle, Ingles Markets, and Marsh grocery stores.

That caused wholesalers, restaurants, delis, and grocery stores in 23 states to pull romaine products off their shelves.

While these companies are expected to pull most of the suspect lettuce before it reaches consumers, consumers should watch out for so-called “grab and go” salads containing romaine lettuce sold at in-store salad bars and delis at Kroger, Giant Eagle, Ingles Markets, and Marsh stores, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warns.

They have a “use by” date of May 12 or earlier. Consumers who have such salads from Freshway should throw them away, the company says.

Freshway salads with “use by” dates after May 12 are not affected by the recall, nor are any bulk or prepackaged romaine lettuce or bagged salad mixes using romaine, Freshway says. The company, based in Sidney, Ohio, doesn’t make those products, which are typically sold in the produce section.

“Multiple lines of evidence have implicated shredded romaine lettuce from one processing facility,” the FDA said in a release.

Consumers with questions can call the company at 888-361-7106 on weekdays (8 a.m. to 5 p.m. EDT) or visit its website for updates (www.freshwayfoods.com). You can read the company’s release here.

The Food and Drug Administration have announced that they have rejected the company behind a new drug that was developed to treat the fatal lung disease known as Forest lung disease. InterMune, Inc. was the company behind the drug which the FDA turned down stating that there were too many negative side effects to the proposed drug. Shares of stock in the company dropped nearly 80 percent and the rejection says that it will be years before and if the drug will be able to come to market, if ever.

Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President of InterMune, Dan Welch has stated, “We will meet with the FDA as soon as possible to understand their points of view and to determine the most appropriate path forward to expeditiously make Esbriet available to the approximately 100,000 patients with IPF and their families who suffer from this terrible disease and for whom no FDA-approved medicines exist.”

The expierimental drug was called pirfenidione and was developed to treat idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a condition which causes extreme scarring due to unknown causes. The rejection of the drug sent Intermune’s stock shares to fall to $9.45 after they had closed the previous day at $45.44. A panel of medical advisors to the FDA back in March gave an approval to the drug which at the time sent the stock shares soaring nearly 60 percent. Still, CEO of Intermune, Inc. Dan Welch stated that the panel approved 9-3 back in March but the FDA but a block to it.

ThinkEquity Analyst Brian Skorney, said that it is quite negative for the organization. They will require more information from the FDA, but it appears that it will be a considerable several years setback.

Investors had been anticipating approval after a U. S. team of specialist advisors to the FDA in March voted to support the drug in spite of some stipulations regarding side effects, sending InterMune shares going up some 60% at the time.

But Tuesday’s delay sent the shares going down to $9.45 in after hours trading from their Nasdaq close at $45.44.

The biopharmaceutical company, InterMune, focuses its research and development on treatments related to the fields of pulmonology and hepatology. InterMune stock had been rising, but has fallen by around 80% since the FDA’s announcement.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Provenge, a novel technique for fighting prostate cancer, on Thursday. The treatment involves taking a patient’s own white blood cells and using a drug that trains them to more actively attack cancer cells.

The treatment is intended only for men with so-called “metastatic castration-resistant” prostate cancer, for whom hormone suppressant therapy has not worked. Studies have shown that Provenge prolongs survival by about four to 4.5 months.

“It’s a landmark in the sense that it would be the first approved cell-based immune therapy,” said Dr. Nina Bhardwaj, director of the tumor vaccine program at New York University Langone Medical Center, who is not involved with Provenge or its maker, Dendreon Corp.

But the real breakthrough is the approval of this new way of treating disease, which could be used for other cancers and conditions, such as HIV, Bhardwaj said.

“It’s a major conceptual advance; it’s a modest therapeutic advance,” said Dr. Christopher Logothetis, prostate cancer researcher at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. Logothetis testified to an FDA panel in 2007 about the drug, but has no financial ties to Dendreon.

It is unclear whether insurance companies will cover the cost of Provenge and it may be prohibitively expensive for some, Bhardwaj said. Dendreon says it will be priced similarly to other new biologics that prolong survival.

Investment firm J.P. Morgan estimates a full course of Provenge will cost $65,000; estimates by other investors put it between $50,000 and $100,000, according to J.P. Morgan. Cancer drugs Avastin and Erbitux, also based on new concepts in treating different kinds of cancer, cost up to $100,000 per year.

“In this whole scheme of things, Provenge is costly, but not unheard of,” Bhardwaj said.

Provenge is the first cancer treatment vaccine that the FDA has approved.

In case you didn’t know April 20th is known as National Weed Day. Since 420 (pronounced four twenty) is slang for marijuana it only makes since that 4-20 would become a day to celebrate Mary Jane.

The term 420 originated from a group of teenagers at San Rafael High School in San Rafael California in 1971. The teens met after school at 4:20 p.m. to smoke out at the Louis Pasteur statue.

April 20th is apparently known as 420 or 4/20 day. A day of celebrating the benefits of Marijuana and bringing attention to the legalization debate. Medical marijuana 14 states currently have some form of legalized Marijuana uses. Most are on the west coast. California currently has a measure that will go to the citizens in the fall on whether or not to legalize Marijuana for everyone. Tax and regulate it like tobacco. If it passes other cash strapped states (like California) may look to legalization or a form of legalization as the answer to their fiscal woes.

The California initiative, “allows people 21 years old or older to possess, cultivate, or transport marijuana for personal use. Permits local governments to regulate and tax commercial production and sale of marijuana to people 21 years old or older. Prohibits people from possessing marijuana on school grounds, using it in public, smoking it while minors are present, or providing it to anyone under 21.” Legalization has support a poll taken in 2009 found that 56 percent of Californians supported legalization.

One of the most prominent organizations in support of legalization The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws or NORML has spearheaded 4/20 Marijuana Freedom Day initiative. NORML’s blog post states, “While the ravages and costs of cannabis prohibition are largely defined by one’s geography—these days America is a hodge-podge of varying cannabis penalties, ranging from West Hollywood California where a medical cannabis patient can access the herb 24/7 from a vending machine; in Indiana, if caught with just a little cannabis on one’s person, they’re getting arrested, prosecuted and likely going to jail—this ‘4/20′ celebration in 2010, as is NORML tradition, is a combination of both the serious and silly!” and that “there will be dozens of major 4/20 ‘protestivals’ today from New York City to Seattle…”

The 420 name and meaning refers to consumption of cannabis and, by extension, a way to identify oneself with cannabis drug subculture. Its probably going to be a happy National Weed Day 2010.