Health Highlights: July 31, 2009
Aug. 1 -- Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of HealthDay:
Sen. Dodd Has Prostate Cancer
Sen. Christopher Dodd, the five-term Connecticut Democrat who is a key player in U.S. health care reform, has been diagnosed with early-stage prostate cancer, he announced Friday.
Dodd, who is 65, told a news conference at his Hartford office that the cancer was discovered six weeks ago during an annual physical. "Im very confident that we're going to come out of this well," he said, according to The New York Times. "I feel fine. This is very common. If you've got to have cancer, I am told by some doctors, it's the slowest growing, the best one to have, the most manageable."
Dodd said that he would have surgery at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City during the upcoming Senate recess and that he would take a few weeks to recuperate at home.
"I'm going to be fine," he added. "We caught this early, and I look forward to going out on the trail."
Dodd's surgery and recovery aren't seen as affecting his campaign for re-election next year, The Times reported. Dodd is chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, but he is currently at the center of the battle over health care, as acting chairman of the Senate Health, Education Labor and Pensions Committee for Sen. Edward Kennedy, the Massachusetts Democrat who is fighting brain cancer.
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Cruise Ship Crew Hit by Flu
A large flu outbreak has hit crew members on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship that docked at a French port Friday, and cruise line officials are disputing the French over what kind of flu it is.
French officials said that 60 crew members have been diagnosed with swine flu and another 70 are showing symptoms, USA Today reported. However, cruise line officials said HINI swine flu hasn't been confirmed as the cause of the illnesses.
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