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SAN DIEGO, May 20 -- The effects of exposure to secondhand smoke in childhood may persist for decades, a researcher said here. In a large cohort of nonsmokers, early signs of emphysema were noticeable on CT scans among those who had lived with one or more smokers in childhood, according to Gina Lovasi, Ph.D., of Columbia University. Those signs -- a significant increase in the number of "air-like spaces" -- were not accompanied by any clinical symptoms, Dr. Lovasi said at the annual meeting of the American Thoracic Society.

SEATTLE, April 30 -- The epilepsy drug levetiracetam (Keppra) does not appear to be effective for prevention of chronic daily headache, researchers said here. Action Points  Explain that the epilepsy drug levetiracetam did not significantly increase the headache-free rate for patients with chronic daily headache compared with placebo.Note, however, that there was a significant reduction in disability and reduced pain severity in the treatment group, and the findings show that there is a subpopulation of chronic daily headache patients for whom levetiracetam remains a therapeutic option.Note that this study was published as an abstract and presented orally at a conference. These data and conclusions should be considered to be preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal. Levetiracetam drug achieved a 3.9% increase in headache-free performance over placebo, but the trend did not reach statistical significance, Roy Beran, M.D., of the University of New South Wales, and colleagues reported at the American Academy of Neurology meeting.

ScienceDaily (May 21, 2009) — The ability to mount an immune response to influenza A (H1N1) infection is significantly compromised by a low level of arsenic exposure that commonly occurs through drinking contaminated well water, scientists at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) and Dartmouth Medical School have found. See also: Health & Medicine Immune System Swine Flu Influenza Earth & Climate Hazardous Waste Water Environmental Issues Reference Flu vaccine Pandemic Heat shock protein Avian flu Joshua Hamilton, the MBL's Chief Academic and Scientific Officer and a senior scientist in the MBL's Bay Paul Center; graduate student Courtney Kozul of Dartmouth Medical School, where the work was conducted; and their colleagues report their findings in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.