2015, The Year in Health: Part 1

2015 is nearly over, so now is a great time to reflect on the year in medicine and health.

In the first of our two-part series, "2015: The Year in Health," the UMHS Endeavour looks back at the news stories that shaped medicine and health and were big topics for the general public and students at American and Caribbean medical schools in 2015. For the second year in a row, we list the Top 10 health-related news stories.

We now look at five of the Top 10 2015 news makers in health and medicine for this installment. Part two of the series will be posted later this month.

10. Female ‘Viagra’ Approved by the FDA

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)  in August approved Addyi (fibanserin) as the first drug to “treat acquired, generalized hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD) in premenopausal women.” 

“Today's approval provides women distressed by their low sexual desire with an approved treatment option," Dr. Janet Woodcock, director of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research said in a press release. “The FDA strives to protect and advance the health of women, and we are committed to supporting the development of safe and effective treatments for female sexual dysfunction.”

The pink pill became available in October 2015.

9. WHO Says Processed Meats Cause Cancer

Processed meats (such as bacon, hot dogs and ham) cause cancer and red meats probably do as well, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in October 2015. A research report released by WHO and announced in such major news outlets as The Washington Post gave sobering details to fans of these tasty, popular meats.

WHO’s research findings were based on a panel of 22 international experts “who reviewed decades of research on the link between red meat, processed meats and cancer. The panel reviewed animal experiments, studies of human diet and health, and cell processes that could explain how red meat might cause cancer,” the Washington Post said.

However, an occasional hot dog or bacon may not be dangerous in moderation.

“For an individual, the risk of developing colorectal cancer because of their consumption of processed meat remains small, but this risk increases with the amount of meat consumed,” Kurt Straif, an official with WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer, producer of the report, told the Washington Post. “In view of the large number of people who consume processed meat, the global impact on cancer incidence is of public health importance.”

8. Studies Show Breastfeeding Lowers Diabetes & Breast Cancer Risk

Breastfeeding was a big topic in 2015. ABCNews.go.com talked about two studies showing why breastfeeding is great for the mother and child.

A study published back in November in the Annals of Internal Medicine looked at 1,035 women who developed gestational diabetes while pregnant. ABC News noted “the condition is associated with an increased risk of developing Type 2 diabetes post pregnancy. The women in the study, however, were up to 50 percent less likely to develop diabetes later on if they breast-fed their child.”

Study authors said lactation helps insulin sensitivity and metabolism, and both might reduce diabetes risk.

A study published in October in the Annals of Oncology said breastfeeding women are less likely to get some types of breast cancer. ABC News and the American Institute for Cancer Research said the study found breastfeeding can lower the risk for developing the aggressive type of breast cancer. The researchers studied 27 medical students “to see how often women who had breast-fed developed certain types of breast cancer.” The study discovered women who breast-fed “were 20 percent less likely to develop 'triple negative' breast cancer, a form of cancer that has none of the common hormone markers, such as estrogen receptors, progesterone receptors and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2),” ABC News wrote.

7. First Human Head Transplant Scheduled for 2017

It sounds like something out of a horror film or a tacky supermarket tabloid newspaper, but an Italian surgeon made headlines this year when he announced he plans to perform the world’s first human head transplant in 2017, and he already has a volunteer.

Dr. Sergio Canavero told the UK Guardian that he plans to remove the heads of two people: One alive, “with an ailing body (a paraplegic, say)” and “the other newly dead or doomed (perhaps the braindead victim of an accident,” the newspaper explained.

Dr. Canavero has said in both academic papers and speeches that he will surgically “attach the first head to the second body, fusing the spinal cords so that the owner of the first head might enjoy the functional use of the second body. In medical terms, it would be a cephalosomatic anastomosis, the first of its kind.”

The Guardian noted that a “body transplant” might be a more correct term for the procedure, which Dr. Canavero plans to perform in China.

“Head transplantation, body transplantation, whatever,” Canavero told the Guardian. “Technicality!”

DiscoveryNews.com said Russian computer scientist Valery Spiridonov, 30, who has a genetic muscle-wasting condition called Werndig-Hoffman disease, has volunteered for the procedure. The surgery is scheduled for December 2017 and will last up to 36 hours, DiscoveryNews.com said.

Stay tuned.

6. Measles Vaccine Could Have Prevented Disneyland Outbreak

A measles outbreak at Disneyland in Anaheim, California in December 2014 could have been prevented if people involved had been vaccinated, health experts announced in January 2015.

The UMHS Endeavour reported the announcement back on January 28, 2015. We wrote, “Although measles was, for the most part, eradicated in the USA in 2000, experts say the disease is still a problem in Europe and Asia. Not surprisingly, European and Asian tourists often visit Disneyland, and this could explain why there was a recent measles outbreak in the theme park, with 52 cases that reportedly originated there in December 2014."

ABC’s Good Morning America also reported that parents refusing to have kids vaccinated weren’t the only ones to blame. Some younger doctors were not giving shots to patients.

The UMHS Endeavour quoted Dr. Richard Besser, ABC News’ chief health and medical editor.

“Many young doctors are slow to recognize measles and may not realize its potential dangers, said Dr. Besser, said on Good Morning America adding this “may have contributed to current outbreaks” in California, 11 other states and Mexico. ““Pediatricians who have never seen the measles tend to undervalue the vaccination and it’s concerning they may miss a child with measles.”

Watch for Part Two of "2015, the Year in Health" in the UMHS Endeavour later in December.

(Top photo) Measles in a patient after three days, seen at a hospital. Photo: CDC/Wikimedia Commons

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