Health Highlights: April 24, 2007

Mar. 23 -- Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments,compiled by editors of HealthDay:

Blood Clot in Cheney's Leg Shrinking

Doctors say the blood clot in U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney's left leg is gradually shrinking, a spokeswoman said Tuesday.

An ultrasound of the vice president's clot was done at his doctor's office Tuesday morning. Cheney, 66, then returned to the White House to resume his normal schedule, his spokeswoman Megan McGinn told the Associated Press.

"The ultrasound was reassuring and showed that the clot is gradually resolving," McGinn said. "His blood-thinning medication was found to be in the desired range. The vice president's doctors advised him to continue the current course of treatment."

The clot in Cheney's lower left leg was discovered March 5. This type of blood clot -- deep venous thrombosis -- can prove fatal if it breaks away and travels through the bloodstream to the lungs.

Cheney has experienced a number of health problems, including four heart attacks, quadruple bypass surgery, two artery-clearing angioplasties and implantation of a special pacemaker in his chest, the AP reported.

-----

Bird Flu Pandemic Could Kill Millions: WHO

A billion people could be infected and two million to seven million could die if there's a worldwide bird flu pandemic, says the World Health Organization (WHO).

The estimates were arrived at from models based on previous flu epidemics, Jean-Marc Olive, the WHO's representative for the Philippines, said Tuesday at a forum in Manila organized by the Australian embassy.

Agence France Presse reported that Olive also said even "a modest pandemic lasting over one year might cause losses as high as three percent of Asia's GDP (gross domestic product) and 0.5 percent of the world GDP."

Mass culls of infected poultry flocks may help avert a human pandemic, Olive said. He also recommended that countries improve preventive and surveillance measures, as well as make preparations for an outbreak, such as stockpiling anti-viral drugs, AFP reported.