Health Highlights: Feb. 9, 2009

Feb. 10 -- Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of HealthDay:

Vaginal Gel Shows Promise Against HIV Infection

An experimental vaginal gel shows promise in reducing women's risk of HIV infection, according to results of a preliminary study that included about 3,100 women in Africa and the United States.

Women who used the gel had a 30 percent lower risk of HIV infection, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health-funded study presented Monday at a medical conference on retroviruses in Montreal, the Associated Press reported.

However, the researchers noted this difference wasn't statistically significant, which means the reduced risk could have occurred by chance.

The true effectiveness of the gel, made by Massachusetts-based Indevus Pharmaceuticals Inc., needs to be assessed in larger studies, such as one involving 9,400 women that's scheduled to conclude in August, the AP reported.

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Mentally-Ill More Sensitive to Narcotics: Report

Narcotics have a much greater effect on the brains of mentally-ill people, according to a University of Montreal researcher.

Mentally-ill people are more sensitive to the effects of addictive drugs, which may cause irreversible deterioration of the cerebral structures, said Dr. Stephane Potvin, United Press International reported.

"They become dependent more quickly and they tend to abuse drugs more easily. It is evident that drug use can worsen the symptoms of mental disease," Potvin said in a news release. "The odds that a mental disorder manifests itself in an individual can increase if he or she consumes drugs."

Integrated treatment is required for patients with mental disease and drug abuse, according to Potvin, who noted that people with mental illness and those with drug dependence often receive different types of treatment, UPI reported.

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1st U.S. Case of Marburg Fever Confirmed: CDC

The first confirmed case of deadly Marburg hemorrhagic fever in the United States occurred last year and the patient has since recovered, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.