Health News Roundup: African swine fever tests, Gum disease linked to higher blood pressure

China will mandate more laboratories to conduct African swine fever virus tests, the country's agriculture ministry said on Friday.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

U.S. lifts blocks on some fresh, frozen pork imports from Poland

The United States has lifted restrictions on some imports of fresh and frozen pork from Poland, specifically from facilities that are in contiguous areas free of the highly contagious hog disease African swine fever, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Thursday. The ban remains in place on imports of raw and heat-treated pork products that are not fully cooked, as USDA officials review Poland's export protocols, the agency said.

Heart patients should consider cardiac rehab

Patients who have had a heart attack, stent placement or bypass surgery should strongly consider enrolling in a cardiac rehabilitation program, say the authors of a new patient resource published in JAMA Cardiology. These programs focus on nutrition, stress management, exercise, psychological support, tobacco cessation and heart disease education. They not only help the heart recover, they can ease anxiety, reduce heart risk factors and improve quality of life, the authors write.

Trump seeks to base Medicare drug prices on lower overseas rates

U.S. President Donald Trump, taking aim at "global freeloading," said on Thursday his administration would seek to lower prescription drug prices by basing what the government's Medicare program pays for some medications on the lower prices paid in other countries. Under the proposed rule, the government would create an "international pricing index" to help Medicare pay prescription drug prices that are more closely aligned with those of other countries. The government health insurance program for the elderly and disabled covers more than 40 million Americans.

Eisai, Biogen Alzheimer's data fails to convince sceptics

Eisai Co Ltd and partner Biogen Inc said on Thursday that the highest dose of their experimental Alzheimer's disease drug showed effectiveness in a new analysis, but investors remained sceptical about the reliability of the data and Biogen shares fell about 2 per cent. The companies have been trying to put to rest concerns about trial results of the drug, BAN2401, which in July showed that patients in early stages of Alzheimer's experienced 30 per cent less cognitive decline after 18 months of treatment than those on a placebo.

Trump enacts anti-opioid abuse package in rare bipartisan step

Medical treatment will be more widely available to opioid abusers while mailing illicit drugs will be more difficult under a measure to fight drug addiction that was signed into law on Wednesday by U.S. President Donald Trump. In a year more typically marked by partisan gridlock, Trump signed the rare bipartisan package passed by Congress earlier this month to tackle a problem that led to a record 72,000 drug overdose deaths in 2017.

Gum disease linked to higher blood pressure

Poor oral health makes it harder to for people with hypertension to manage their blood pressure, a new study suggests. Among people being treated for hypertension (high blood pressure), those with gum disease had average blood pressure readings 2 to 3 mmHg (milligrams of mercury) higher than those without gum disease and were less likely to have their pressure under control with medication.

Amnesty policies may curb alcohol emergencies at universities

Amnesty policies may encourage college students to call for help with alcohol-related issues before they or their intoxicated peers become seriously ill, a U.S. study suggests. After a medical amnesty policy was implemented at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, the average daily number of alcohol-related calls to the school's emergency medical services (EMS) agency went up, but calls requiring advanced life support services fell by nearly 60 per cent.

China mandates more labs to conduct African swine fever tests

China will mandate more laboratories to conduct African swine fever virus tests, the country's agriculture ministry said on Friday. Animal disease control departments below the provincial level, laboratories in universities, and third-party labs will be able to conduct tests on samples for the deadly virus, with the approval of provincial authorities, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said in a notice on its website.

Smoke alarms with mom's voice wake kids up faster

A smoke alarm that broadcasts a mother's voice would wake children much more quickly than alarms that blast high-pitched tones, a new U.S. study finds. Sleeping children, as it turns out, are fairly impervious to the screeching of a smoke alarm. Researchers found that most children ages 5 through 8 took more than five minutes to wake up with a standard alarm, as compared with around four seconds when they heard the sound of their mother's voice, according to the results published in The Journal of Pediatrics.

FDA declines to approve pre-filled syringe version of Regeneron's Eylea

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc said on Thursday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration declined to approve a pre-filled syringe version of its blockbuster eye drug Eylea, and has sought additional information regarding its manufacturing and supply processes. The drugmaker said the rejection does not affect its earlier expectation of launching the product in 2019. It plans to resubmit its application early next year.

(With inputs from Reuters)

(With inputs from agencies.)