Health Highlights: Oct. 28, 2009

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

NFL Offers Support To Former Players With Dementia

The NFL plans to offer free follow-up medical work to retired players who reported dementia, Alzheimer's disease or other memory problems in a recent study that suggested former pro football players may have a higher than normal rate of memory problems.

In written testimony to be presented Wednesday to Congress, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said the league also will ask the players whether they're receiving money from the 88 Plan, which provides up to $88,000 per year to former players with dementia, Alzheimer's, or Parkinson's disease, regardless of the cause, the Associated Press reported.

The 56 players took part in a survey by David Weir and colleagues at the University of Michigan. When the study was released, the NFL said it didn't prove a link between concussions and memory disorders.

Weir, who will be among the witnesses at Wednesday's House Judiciary Committee hearing, said the survey findings highlight the need for further study but don't prove an association between playing pro football and memory problems later in life, the AP reported.

When it comes to head injures, Goodell said medical considerations must always trump competitive ones. He said the NFL offers a toll-free hot line for players who believe they're being pressured to start playing before fully recovering from a concussion or other head injury, the AP reported.

"All return-to-play decisions are made by doctors and doctors only," according to Goodell. "The decision to return to the game is not made by coaches. Not by players. Not by teammates."

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Curry Spice Chemical Kills Esophageal Cancer Cells: Study

A chemical found in the curry spice tumeric kills esophageal cancer cells, according to U.K. researchers.

It's long been believed that the chemical curcumin has healing powers and it's being tested as a treatment for conditions such as arthritis and dementia, BBC News reported.

In lab tests, researchers at the Cork Cancer Research Center found that curcumin started to kill esophageal cancer cells within 24 hours and that the cancer cells began to digest themselves after curcumin triggered cell death signals.

The study appears in the British Journal of Cancer.

"Scientists have known for a long time that natural compounds have the potential to treat faulty cells that have become cancerous and we suspected that curcumin might have therapeutic value," said study author Dr. Sharon McKenna, BBC News reported.

"This is interesting research which opens up the possibility that natural chemicals found in turmeric could be developed into new treatments for oesophageal cancer," said Dr Lesley Walker, director of cancer information at Cancer Research UK.

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Radiation Treatment Required For Fresh Gulf of Mexico Oysters

Beginning in 2011, raw oysters harvested from the Gulf of Mexico during warm months will have to be treated with low-dose radiation to kill a potentially deadly bacteria, say U.S. health officials. There will be a ban on sales of oysters that aren't treated.

Each year in the U.S., about 15 people die after eating fresh oysters infected with Vibrio vulnificus, a bacteria typically found in coastal waters between April and October, the Associated Press reported.

Oyster industry officials say the low-dose radiation procedure is too expensive and contend that adequate safety measures are already in place.

Two-thirds of oysters consumed in the U.S. come from the Gulf of Mexico, the AP reported.

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Antibody May Benefit Trauma Patients

An antibody that could help control major internal bleeding in patients with major trauma injuries from car crashes, bullets and other causes has been identified by U.S. researchers.

A protein called histone is responsible for much of the internal bleeding in trauma patients, according to the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation team. They also found that a certain type of antibody blocks the ability of histone to cause damage, BBC News reported.

In experiments in mice with sepsis, the antibody stopped the toxic effects of histones, and the mice recovered. The findings appear in the journal Nature Medicine. The researchers want to conduct studies in primates and eventually humans.

"These findings offer some clues as to why people suffering from one traumatic injury often experience a catastrophic 'cascade' of secondary traumatic events," said Dr. Stephen Prescott, president of OMRF, BBC News reported. "If we can figure out how to control the initial injury, perhaps that will stop the domino effect that so often follows."

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Enzyme May Be Key in Nerve Fiber Regeneration

An enzyme that plays a critical role in regenerating damaged nerve fibers has been identified by U.S. researchers, a finding that could lead to new treatments for brain and spinal cord injuries.

In experiments with rats, the team at Children's Hospital Boston found that the enzyme Mst3b appears to be an important regulator of a cell-signaling pathway that controls nerve fiber (axon) growth, United Press International reported.

When Mst3b was absent, damaged optic nerves in the rats showed little regeneration, said the study, which appears in the journal Nature Neuroscience.

"All the growth factors we've tested -- oncomodulin, inosine, brain-derived neurotropic factor, nerve growth factor -- act through Mst3b," said researcher Larry Benowitz, UPI reported. "In fact, activating Mst3b by itself is enough to cause growth even if there are no growth factors around. In terms of basic understanding of nerve cells, this is a very exciting finding."

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Cars Big Threat To Trick-or-Treaters

The dangers faced by children on Halloween are more pedestrian than supernatural.

Safe Kids USA says youngsters are more than twice as likely to be killed by a car while walking on Halloween than on any other night of the year, USA Today reported.

An analysis of 2002-06 data showed that an average of 2.2 children are killed in pedestrian accidents between 4 p.m. and 10 p.m. on Halloween, compared with an average of one death during the same time period on every other night of the year.

"Halloween is consistently the most dangerous day of the year for kids to walk," Safe Kids spokeswoman Kate Jones told USA Today.

There are a number of reasons for this increased risk. Dark costumes can make it hard for drivers to see trick-or-treaters and masks can impair children's ability to see around corners. Many suburbs don't have sidewalks and children are more likely to dart out from between parked cars.

"We need to get the message out to drivers," Moira Donahue, director of pedestrian safety at SafeKids, told USA Today. "On Halloween, slow down, turn your lights on and be prepared that there are going to be more kids out."

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