Health Highlights: Nov. 22, 2013

• Tweet
• Pin It

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

Hugh Jackman Treated for Skin Cancer

Actor Hugh Jackman said Friday that he has been treated for skin cancer on his nose and urged others to use sun protection and get checked for the disease.

In a note posted on Instagram, the 45-year-old “Wolverine” star revealed that he was diagnosed with a common form of skin cancer called basal cell carcinoma, which is rarely fatal. He also included a selfie of his bandaged nose, but did not say when his treatment took place, the Associated Press reported.

“Deb said to get the mark on my nose checked. Boy, was she right!” Jackman wrote, referring to his wife, Deborra-Lee Furness.

He added: “Please don’t be foolish like me. Get yourself checked. And USE sunscreen!!!” the AP reported.

—–

Deaths Lead to Recall of Baby Monitors

About 600,000 baby monitors are being recalled after two babies strangled to death on the device’s cord, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission says.

The recall covers Angelcare Movement and Sound Monitors with Sensor Pads that were made between 1999 and 2013. The cord, which is attached to the monitor’s sensor pad is placed under the crib mattress, poses a strangulation risk if the child pulls the cord into the crib and it becomes wrapped around the neck.

Two infant deaths linked to the monitors have been reported to the CPSC: a 13-month-old girl who died in San Diego in 2011 and an 8-month-old boy who died in Salem, Ore. in 2004. In both cases, the infants pulled the sensor pad cord into the crib.

Quebec-based Angelcare Monitors Inc. is providing consumers with a repair kit that includes rigid protective covers through which the sensor pad cords can be threaded, a new electric cord warning label about the strangulation risk, and revised instructions, CPSC said.

—–

NFL Team Owner Funds Brain Injury Research

The owner of the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks announced Thursday that he’ll fund a two-year, $2.4 million study into whether repeated blows to the head can lead to brain diseases later in life.

The donation from Paul Allen — a co-founder of Microsoft — will be used by researchers at the Allen Institute for Brain Science and the University of Washington to examine donated brains for links between head injuries and later problems such as dementia and Parkinson’s disease, the Associated Press reported.

The brains will come from the Group Health brain bank, which has more than 500 brains that were donated during the past 25 years by older Seattle adults.

Concussion-related brain damage among football players is a major issue. About 19,000 retired NFL players became eligible for money and medical testing under a recent $765 million deal reached with the NFL to settle concussion lawsuits. The Seattle study has no financial connection with that settlement, the AP reported.

Copyright © 2024 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

• Tweet
• Pin It