Many women who take prescription drugs that can cause birth defects aren t that vigilant about using birth control, according to a new study. After analyzing a large database of prescription drug orders, Medco Research Institute scientists found that an alarming 40 percent of reproductive-age women concurrently using an oral contraceptive and a Category X drug a medication with known teratogenic, or fetal malformation effects are not taking the contraceptive regularly and are risking pregnancy.

If one in three Americans really will be diabetic in 40 years, perhaps it s time to start hoarding cereals with bran. A different group of researchers have found that women with type 2 diabetes can reduce their risk of premature death and cardiovascular diseases (CVD) by eating bran supplemented foods such as rice, corn, oats, barley, millet and wheat.

The number of U.S. adults with diabetes will escalate from the current rate of one in 10 to as many as one in three adults by 2050, a new analysis by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published in the journal Population Health Metrics predicts. According to the study authors, a largely aging population, an increase in high-risk minorities, and people with diabetes living longer are all causes that will contribute to the projected increase.

Researchers announced yesterday that they discovered a new strain of swine flu (H1N1) in Singapore in early 2010 that has since spread to Australia and New Zealand. The new flu variant may require the development of an updated seasonal flu vaccine sooner than expected.

Many thanks to one of our readers for calling attention to an error in yesterday s Dispatch. In our story covering the Consumer Product Safety Commission s (CPSC) new voluntary guidelines for the allowable level of cadmium content in consumer products, ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross questions whether the CPSC conducts its own research. But as it turns out that, according to our knowledgeable (but shy) Dispatch reader:

The results of an interim clinical trial testing the efficacy of Novartis’ Gleevec (imatinib) indicate that chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients who have taken the drug for at least two years and are free of leukemia cells can discontinue treatment and expect to remain in complete remission.

Anyone taking baby aspirin to prevent future heart attacks may also be protected against colon cancer, according to a new study published in today’s issue of The Lancet.

It’s possible that the recent graduated driver licensing (GDL) programs are responsible for a decline in car crash fatalities involving teen drivers, according to a new CDC report released yesterday. The report shows that the number of fatal car crashes by 16- and 17-year-old U.S. drivers, mostly male, decreased nationwide by 36 percent — from 2,230 to 1,437 — between 2004 and 2008.

The frequency with which we reach for the saltshaker hasn t changed in the last five decades, a study in the November issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition finds.