Unintentional drowning deaths in the United States decreased 9 percent between 1999 and 2010, according to figures released this week, with the sharpest decline among infants under 1.

Deaths also reduced among older children and young adults. But deaths increased nearly 10 percent for one group – people ages 45 to 84.

The report’s author, Jiaquan Xu of the National Center for Health Statistics, did not offer any reasons for the changes. But others who have noticed the positive trend point out that it could be the result of public health efforts aimed at promoting bath and pool safety for young children, for whom accidental drowning had become a major cause of death in the United States.

Federal legislation enacted in 2007 requires pools and hot tubs to have covers over their drains, which can entrap children.

State and federal health authorities have tried to emphasize to parents that children under 6 are not to be left unattended in the bath. And virtually every American parent has heard the warning that babies can drown in as little as one inch of water.

Blood test measures breast cancer's chance of return?


A recent study conducted by researchers from the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center has accurately detected the presence of advanced breast cancer cells in some patients, via a blood test.

This new test dubbed cMethDNA assay was successful in detecting the presence of DNA in the blood of patients with metastatic breast cancers up to 95 percent of the time.

"Currently, there is no useful laboratory test to monitor patients with early stage breast cancer who are doing well, but could have an asymptomatic recurrence," said Saraswati Sukumar, Ph.D., who is the Barbara B. Rubenstein Professor of Oncology and co-director of the Breast Cancer Program at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, via a press release.

"The goal is to develop a test that could be administered routinely to alert the physician and patient as soon as possible of a return of the original cancer in a distant spot. With the development of cMethDNA, we've taken a first big step toward achieving this goal."

Pregnancy and obesity

Women who gain either more or less weight than recommended during pregnancy may be more likely to have an overweight child, a new study has found.

Researchers looked at health records of 4,145 women, and the medical records of their children between ages 2 and 5.

They found that among women who had a normal body mass index (BMI) before pregnancy, those who gained less than the recommended amount (of 25 to 35 pounds) were 63 percent more likely to have a child who became overweight or obese, compared with those who gained the recommended amount.

Similarly, women with a normal BMI before pregnancy who gained more weight than recommended were 80 percent more likely to have an overweight or obese child, according to the study published today (April 14) in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

"Gaining either too little or too much weight in pregnancy may permanently affect mechanisms that manage energy balance and metabolism in the offspring, such as appetite control and energy expenditure," said study researcher Sneha Sridhar, a public health researcher at Kaiser Permanente division of research in Oakland, Calif. "This could potentially have long-term effects on the child's subsequent growth and weight."

Previous studies have shown that gaining too much weight during pregnancy can increase the risk of gestational diabetes for the mother, as well as increase the risk of health problems for the child, such as childhood obesity. But other studies have also shown that gaining too little weight during pregnancy can lead to complications such as preterm birth and small infants.

In the study, the researchers also found that among all women who gained more than the recommended weight during pregnancy, 20.4 percent had children who were overweight or obese, compared with 19.5 percent of women who gained less than the recommended weight and 14.5 percent of women who gained weight within the guidelines.