Hair-Loss Drug May Affect Prostate Tests

Dec. 5, 2006 — -- FAST FOOD IN CHILDREN'S HOSPITALS Parents were four times more likely to purchase McDonald's food at a hospital with a McDonald's onsite, according to a new survey of 386 people. Researchers from the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine found that having a McDonald's in the hospital leads to the perception of the food being healthy and that the corporation is a benefactor of the hospital. Published in Pediatrics, the study calls for a re-evaluation of the presence of fast-food chains in children's hospitals.

HAIR-LOSS DRUG INTERFERES WITH PROSTATE TEST Propecia, the popular drug to prevent hair loss, may interfere with the test for prostate cancer known as the PSA or prostate specific antigen test, researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital report in this week's issue of Lancet. Doctors studied 355 middle-aged men for nearly a year. They found that, in the men taking Propecia every day, the PSA levels dropped by half. This means that men taking Propecia could have falsely low levels of PSA on their tests, leading to a later detection of prostate cancer. Researchers recommend that doctors ask men about taking Propecia, and for those who take it, multiply their PSA levels by a factor of two to adjust for the difference.

SALMONELLA IN INFANTS A new study in Pediatrics finds that infants who get salmonella poisoning generally do not contract it from consuming eggs or poultry as older populations do. After studying 442 infected infants, researchers from the Tennessee Department of Health and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found infected children were more likely to have been exposed to reptiles, have ridden in a shopping cart next to meat or poultry, or have consumed concentrated liquid infant formula within five days before they got sick. Researchers say that these risk factors are easily preventable, and parents and caretakers should be educated on ways to prevent salmonella infections in this high risk population.

STAT is a brief look at the latest medical research and is compiled by Joanna Schaffhausen, who holds a doctorate in behavioral neuroscience. She works in the ABC News Medical Unit, evaluating medical studies, abstracts and news releases.