Young breast cancer survivors face serious quality-of-life challenges ...

By Kim Irwin January 25, 2012 Category: Health Sciences, Research

Dr. Patricia Ganz

Quality of life in younger patients treated for breast cancer is seriously compromised, and these women face more physical and mental health issues than women their age who haven't had cancer and women over 50 who have, according to a study by researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.

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The study, published Jan. 20 in the peer-reviewed Journal of the National Cancer Institute, found that younger breast cancer survivors suffer from a slew of problems, including severe psychological distress, infertility, premature menopause, a decrease in physical activity and weight gain.

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The study points to the need for oncologists to let these younger patients know from the beginning of their therapy what may happen to them after it's finished, said the study's lead author, Dr. Patricia Ganz, director of cancer prevention and control research at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.

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"We know that educating and providing younger breast cancer patients with information about what they might experience once their treatment ends is very helpful," said Ganz, who has been conducting research on quality of life after cancer treatment for 25 years. "If they know what to expect, their anxiety level will be greatly reduced. Up to now, oncologists have not done a good job of preparing these women for what will come."

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Reducing anxiety is crucial, Ganz said, as preclinical studies have shown that stress can promote cancer growth and spread in animal models. A study by Jonsson Cancer Center researchers published in 2010 in Cancer Research showed that chronic stress acted as a sort of fertilizer that fed breast cancer progression, significantly accelerating the spread of disease.

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The need to prepare younger breast cancer survivors for any adverse effects they may experience and seek ways to address those problems is vital as more and more younger women are surviving their cancer due to improvements in early detection and treatment, Ganz said.

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"A cancer diagnosis can challenge younger women with issues that don't impact older patients," she said. "A younger breast cancer patient may have young children and may be worried about living to raise them to adulthood. A younger breast cancer patient may not have had children yet and may be faced with infertility following her treatment or may return to the dating scene following treatment. We need to find ways to reduce the stress and anxiety that dealing with these issues may create."

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The three-year, $700,000 grant will focus on making life after breast cancer better for women aged 21 to 45 in Los Angeles County by funding a program designed to meet their unique needs, Ganz said. UCLA is one of seven organizations nationwide to receive funding for this focus on young breast cancer survivors. The resources and strategies developed in the diverse and populous Los Angeles region will serve as a model for other organizations across the country.

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Services will be offered to these women through the UCLA Health System and with collaborators at Torrance Memorial Medical Center and the South Bay Cancer Survivorship Consortium, as well as the Olive View?UCLA Medical Center, a public hospital in northern Los Angeles County that treats mostly minority women who are underinsured or who have no insurance.

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"These three health systems provide breast cancer services for a substantial number of ethnically diverse, newly diagnosed women with breast cancer under 45 years old. They see about 225 new cases annually," Ganz said. "We estimate that there are hundreds of young breast cancer survivors who are being followed in these institutions who will directly benefit from the programs that we will develop."

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Ganz anticipates such services might include a regional resource with information and assistance in obtaining fertility preservation services, a website that hosts specialized information about community and hospital resources for younger women with breast cancer, and specialized programs to meet the unique psychosocial needs and concerns of this population.

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Ganz also has received a grant from the Susan G. Komen foundation for research testing the practice of mindful awareness, a form of meditation, as a way to combat stress and anxiety in younger breast cancer patients.

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For the Journal of the National Cancer Institute study, Ganz and her team did a review of studies that focused on overall quality of life, psychosocial effects, menopause and fertility-related concerns, and behavioral outcomes related to weight gain and physical activity. The 28 studies reviewed were published between January 1990 and July 2010.

Ganz said that weighing therapies with the thought of quality of life after treatment in mind may help reduce some of the issues these younger women face.

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"By tailoring adjuvant therapy regimens and giving cytotoxic therapy only to those who may benefit, we can mitigate some of these side effects, but the long life expectancy for these young women also provides a window of opportunity for cancer-prevention and health-promotion activities," the study states.

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The study was supported by the Breast Cancer Research Foundation and the Jonsson Cancer Center Foundation.

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UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center?has more than 240 researchers and clinicians engaged in disease research, prevention, detection, control, treatment and education. One of the nation's largest comprehensive cancer centers, the Jonsson Center is dedicated to promoting research and translating basic science into leading-edge clinical studies. In July 2011, the center was named among the top 10 cancer centers nationwide by U.S. News & World Report, a ranking it has held for 11 of the last 12 years.

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Source: http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/young-breast-cancer-survivors-225774.aspx

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Rapid urbanization as well as cultural habits explain Gulf states' rise in heart disease prevalence

Public release date: 25-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: ESC Press Office
press@escardio.org
33-492-948-627
European Society of Cardiology

European Society of Cardiology extends its scientific activities beyond Europe and into the emerging regions of the world

While the rapid improvement in socio-economic conditions is thought responsible for the high rates of cardiovascular disease in the Gulf states, deep-rooted cultural factors also play a part. "We're sitting on a time bomb," says Professor Hani Najm, Vice-President of the Saudi Heart Association, whose annual conference begins Friday 27 January. "We will see a lot of heart disease over the next 15 to 20 years. Already, services are saturated. We now have to direct our resources to the primary prevention of risk factors throughout the entire Middle East."

World Health Organization figures show that up to 60% of males in Arab countries and up to 70% of females are overweight and obese. Prevalence rates of diabetes and hypertension are around 25%, while inactivity rates among the over-20s are even higher. But the explanation, says Professor Najm, is not just rapid urbanisation and ubiquitous travel by car. There are, in addition, many social and cultural barriers to exercise, especially among women, who find it difficult to find the opportunities and encouragement to take organised exercise.

Smoking - cigarettes and waterpipe

And now there is further evidence that the cultural heritage of the Middle East may present yet another growing risk factor in the region's battle against heart disease. The waterpipe - also know as the hookah or shisha - is now said to be used by up to 34% of Middle Eastern adolescents. Despite a perception that the risk of the waterpipe may be less than those of cigarettes, a recent report suggests that its "harmful effects are similar to those of cigarettes", and that the waterpipe may offer "a bridge" to cigarette smoking.(1) The greatest prevalence of use - with up to 34% reported - is currently among adolescents and women.

A recent study from the Gulf Registry of Acute Coronary Events (GRACE), the region's largest, found that 38% of patients registered were cigarette smokers and 4.4% waterpipe smokers.(2) The study, which included 6,701 consecutive acute coronary patients in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen, found that the waterpipe smokers were older than the cigarette smokers and more likely to be female.

However, despite the relatively low rate of waterpipe smoking among the patients in this registry study, other studies report more widespread use throughout the region, and especially among the younger age groups. A study from 2004 found that 22% of men in two villages of Egypt reported current or past use of waterpipes, and the habit is increasingly evident even among student communities in the USA, Canada and Germany. The GRACE investigators said: "Although the prevalence of waterpipe smoking in the current registry was low (4.4%), with the current trend of popularity it is expected that physicians and specifically cardiologists across the globe can expect increasing number of their patients with Acute Coronary Syndromes to be waterpipe tobacco smokers."

They attribute this rising popularity to the introduction of a sweet processed tobacco, the mistaken belief that any harmful effect is less than that of cigarettes, and a dearth of health warnings (as well as a dearth of data). Yet the investigators propose that waterpipe smoking may be associated with greater toxin exposure (because of longer episodes of use as well as more and larger "puffs", with smoke inhalation as much as 100 times more than from a cigarette). They explain that a single waterpipe episode lasts between 30 and 60 minutes and may involve more than 100 inhalations, each approximately 500 ml in volume (with the smoke passing first through water). "Thus," they write, "while smoking a single cigarette might produce a total of approximately 500-600 ml of smoke, a single waterpipe use episode might produce about 50,000 ml of smoke."

The primary prevention of cardiovascular disease in the Middle East will occupy a full session of this year's Annual Conference of the Saudi Heart Association, which, for the second year, will also feature a one-day collaborative programme with the European Society of Cardiology. Professor Najm highlights the efforts of the Association (and many regional health ministries) to develop prevention programmes, and regrets that the smoking policies of many countries - including Saudi Arabia - are not fully enforced. "The basic messages still need to be delivered," he says. "With such a high prevalence of risk factors in our populations, especially among the young, I still expect rates of cardiovascular disease to increase even further over the next 20 years."

###

Note to editors

(1) Maziak W. The global epidemic of waterpipe smoking. Addictive Behaviors 2011; 36: 1-5.

(2) Al Suwaidi J, Zubaid M, El-Menyar AA, et al. Prevalence and outcome of cigarette and waterpipe smoking among patients with acute coronary syndrome in six Middle-Eastern countries. Eur J Cardiovasc Prevent Rehab 2011; DOI: 10.1177/1741826710393992

(3). Maziak W, Ward KD, Soweid RAA, Eissenberg T. Tobacco smoking using a waterpipe: a re-emerging strain in a global epidemic. Tobacco Control 2004; 13: 327-333.

* Details of the ESC's programme can be found at http://www.escardio.org/congresses/global-activities/saudi-arabia/saudi-heart/Pages/welcome.aspx

* Details of the SHA congress can be found at http://www.sha-conferences.com/

The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) represents more than 71,200 cardiology professionals across Europe and the Mediterranean. Its mission is to reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease in Europe.

Contact:
ESC Press Office
European Society of Cardiology
press@escardio.org
+33 492 94 86 27

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 25-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: ESC Press Office
press@escardio.org
33-492-948-627
European Society of Cardiology

European Society of Cardiology extends its scientific activities beyond Europe and into the emerging regions of the world

While the rapid improvement in socio-economic conditions is thought responsible for the high rates of cardiovascular disease in the Gulf states, deep-rooted cultural factors also play a part. "We're sitting on a time bomb," says Professor Hani Najm, Vice-President of the Saudi Heart Association, whose annual conference begins Friday 27 January. "We will see a lot of heart disease over the next 15 to 20 years. Already, services are saturated. We now have to direct our resources to the primary prevention of risk factors throughout the entire Middle East."

World Health Organization figures show that up to 60% of males in Arab countries and up to 70% of females are overweight and obese. Prevalence rates of diabetes and hypertension are around 25%, while inactivity rates among the over-20s are even higher. But the explanation, says Professor Najm, is not just rapid urbanisation and ubiquitous travel by car. There are, in addition, many social and cultural barriers to exercise, especially among women, who find it difficult to find the opportunities and encouragement to take organised exercise.

Smoking - cigarettes and waterpipe

And now there is further evidence that the cultural heritage of the Middle East may present yet another growing risk factor in the region's battle against heart disease. The waterpipe - also know as the hookah or shisha - is now said to be used by up to 34% of Middle Eastern adolescents. Despite a perception that the risk of the waterpipe may be less than those of cigarettes, a recent report suggests that its "harmful effects are similar to those of cigarettes", and that the waterpipe may offer "a bridge" to cigarette smoking.(1) The greatest prevalence of use - with up to 34% reported - is currently among adolescents and women.

A recent study from the Gulf Registry of Acute Coronary Events (GRACE), the region's largest, found that 38% of patients registered were cigarette smokers and 4.4% waterpipe smokers.(2) The study, which included 6,701 consecutive acute coronary patients in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen, found that the waterpipe smokers were older than the cigarette smokers and more likely to be female.

However, despite the relatively low rate of waterpipe smoking among the patients in this registry study, other studies report more widespread use throughout the region, and especially among the younger age groups. A study from 2004 found that 22% of men in two villages of Egypt reported current or past use of waterpipes, and the habit is increasingly evident even among student communities in the USA, Canada and Germany. The GRACE investigators said: "Although the prevalence of waterpipe smoking in the current registry was low (4.4%), with the current trend of popularity it is expected that physicians and specifically cardiologists across the globe can expect increasing number of their patients with Acute Coronary Syndromes to be waterpipe tobacco smokers."

They attribute this rising popularity to the introduction of a sweet processed tobacco, the mistaken belief that any harmful effect is less than that of cigarettes, and a dearth of health warnings (as well as a dearth of data). Yet the investigators propose that waterpipe smoking may be associated with greater toxin exposure (because of longer episodes of use as well as more and larger "puffs", with smoke inhalation as much as 100 times more than from a cigarette). They explain that a single waterpipe episode lasts between 30 and 60 minutes and may involve more than 100 inhalations, each approximately 500 ml in volume (with the smoke passing first through water). "Thus," they write, "while smoking a single cigarette might produce a total of approximately 500-600 ml of smoke, a single waterpipe use episode might produce about 50,000 ml of smoke."

The primary prevention of cardiovascular disease in the Middle East will occupy a full session of this year's Annual Conference of the Saudi Heart Association, which, for the second year, will also feature a one-day collaborative programme with the European Society of Cardiology. Professor Najm highlights the efforts of the Association (and many regional health ministries) to develop prevention programmes, and regrets that the smoking policies of many countries - including Saudi Arabia - are not fully enforced. "The basic messages still need to be delivered," he says. "With such a high prevalence of risk factors in our populations, especially among the young, I still expect rates of cardiovascular disease to increase even further over the next 20 years."

###

Note to editors

(1) Maziak W. The global epidemic of waterpipe smoking. Addictive Behaviors 2011; 36: 1-5.

(2) Al Suwaidi J, Zubaid M, El-Menyar AA, et al. Prevalence and outcome of cigarette and waterpipe smoking among patients with acute coronary syndrome in six Middle-Eastern countries. Eur J Cardiovasc Prevent Rehab 2011; DOI: 10.1177/1741826710393992

(3). Maziak W, Ward KD, Soweid RAA, Eissenberg T. Tobacco smoking using a waterpipe: a re-emerging strain in a global epidemic. Tobacco Control 2004; 13: 327-333.

* Details of the ESC's programme can be found at http://www.escardio.org/congresses/global-activities/saudi-arabia/saudi-heart/Pages/welcome.aspx

* Details of the SHA congress can be found at http://www.sha-conferences.com/

The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) represents more than 71,200 cardiology professionals across Europe and the Mediterranean. Its mission is to reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease in Europe.

Contact:
ESC Press Office
European Society of Cardiology
press@escardio.org
+33 492 94 86 27

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-01/esoc-rua012512.php

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Luis Alberto Cabrera Sarabia was responsible for the operations of Guzman's Sinaloa Cartel in Durango and part of the neighboring state of Chihuahua, army spokesman Gen. Ricardo Trevilla said.

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Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-23-LT-Drug-War-Mexico/id-57572f297af84d3880d723a803bfffd0

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Obama, in Florida, unveils plans to boost tourism

CORRECTS BYLINE - President Barack Obama speaks about tourism and travel, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012, along Main Street USA at the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

CORRECTS BYLINE - President Barack Obama speaks about tourism and travel, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012, along Main Street USA at the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

CORRECTS BYLINE - President Barack Obama speaks about tourism and travel, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012, along Main Street USA at the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

President Barack Obama delivers remarks on tourism and travel, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012, along Main Street USA at the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)

President Barack Obama greets guests after speaking at the Magic Kingdom Park at Walt Disney World, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012, in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) ? Targeting prize electoral territory, President Barack Obama called Thursday for America to become the world's top travel destination, making an economic pitch to Florida voters from the Magic Kingdom ahead of an upcoming Republican presidential primary.

"America is open for business," Obama declared in his talk in front of the sun-splashed Cinderella Castle in the heart of Disney World. "We want to welcome you," he said.

Obama issued an executive order seeking to boost tourist visa processing in China and Brazil and took additional steps including promoting national parks and adding business executives to a tourism advisory board.

The goal is to significantly increase travel and tourism in the United States. The White House said that more than 1 million U.S. jobs could be created over the next decade, according to industry projections, if the U.S. increases its share of the international travel market.

"The more folks who visit America, the more Americans we get back to work. It's that simple," Obama said.

Trumpeting America's attractions, Obama rattled off a list of can't-miss tourist sites from Yellowstone and Yosemite national parks to the Golden Gate Bridge and the skyline of his native Chicago.

"We've got the best product to sell. I mean, look at where we are. We've got the most entertaining destinations in the world. This is the land of extraordinary natural wonders," he said.

Beyond the economic case, Obama's trip to the tourist mecca was the latest bid by the White House and his campaign to steal a share of the spotlight from Republicans vying for the GOP presidential nomination. Obama held a live video conference with Iowa voters during the Republican caucus, Vice President Joe Biden held a similar event with voters in New Hampshire on the night of the state's first-in-the-nation primary, and next week Obama will travel to Nevada, which follows Florida on the primary calendar.

Obama's high-profile trip to Florida could help him counter attacks on his record lobbed by Republican presidential candidates during stops across the state, where tough television ads are already airing. And it allows Obama to lay the groundwork for the general election campaign in Florida, a key political battleground he carried in 2008.

The state holds 29 electoral votes, making it a top target for both Obama and his Republican rivals. Florida twice backed Republican George W. Bush, providing the decisive electoral votes in the cliffhanger 2000 election that was decided after a 36-day recount.

Republican front-runner Mitt Romney greeted Obama with an open letter to the president running as an ad in Thursday's editions of the Tampa Bay Times. "Welcome to Florida," Romney says in the ad. "I have a simple question for you: Where are the jobs?"

"Perhaps there's some poetic justice in the president speaking from Fantasyland," Romney added in a conference call with reporters. "Because, I'm afraid, he's been speaking from Fantasyland for some time now."

A recent Quinnipiac University poll showed the president in a near-statistical tie with Romney in Florida in a head-to-head matchup.

Tourism is a key component of the economy in Florida, which is burdened by 10 percent unemployment and rampant home foreclosures. Thursday's tourism and travel announcement was part of the president's "We Can't Wait" initiative aimed at promoting executive actions Obama can take without congressional approval.

The White House said the travel and tourism industry represent 2.7 percent of gross domestic product and 7.5 million jobs in 2010. But the U.S. share of spending by international travelers fell from 17 percent to 11 percent between 2000 and 2010, due to increased competition and changes in global development, as well as security measures imposed after Sept. 11, 2001, according to the White House.

Obama's executive order aims to: boost non-immigrant visa processing capacity in China and Brazil by 40 percent this year; expand a Visa Waiver Program that allows participating nationals to travel to the U.S. for stays of 90 days or less without a visa; appoint a new group of chief executives to the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board, and direct an interagency task force to develop recommendations for a National Travel and Tourism Strategy, including promoting national parks and other sites.

That was good news to Brazilian visitors Lilian Lara and Lindbergh Souza, who welcomed the change in visa procedures as they shopped along the resort's streets hours before the president's speech.

"It will make things a whole lot better," said Lara, a 22-year-old student from Sao Paolo, who is working as a summer intern at the theme park resort.

Souza said the visa process was expensive, at $500, and also time consuming, especially for Brazilians who don't live close to consuls in Rio de Janiero and Sao Paulo.

"The whole process took me six months," said Souza, who welcomed the president's efforts to speed up the visa process especially for visitors from Brazil and China.

The White House insisted the president's trip to Florida was not purely political, dismissing suggestions that his itinerary was connected to a slate of upcoming Republican primaries. Obama spokesman Jay Carney said there were few tourist destinations "as iconic as Disney World" and the tourist attractions surrounding Orlando represented a fitting place to talk about the president's initiatives.

From Florida, Obama was to fly to New York City for four glitzy campaign fundraisers, including an event at the famed Apollo Theater featuring performances by Al Green and India.Arie. Tickets to that fundraiser start at $100.

The president also was to attend a $35,800 per ticket fundraiser at the home of director Spike Lee, and two small fundraisers at Daniel, an exclusive Manhattan restaurant. Tickets start at $5,000 for the first restaurant fundraiser and $15,000 for the second.

___

Associated Press writer Mike Schneider contributed to this report.

___

Follow Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2012-01-19-Obama/id-6525769344d445b7bd01cc3a8a886fb5

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THURSDAY, Jan. 19 (HealthDay News) -- Nearly 46 million American adults have had a mental illness in the past year, a new government report shows.

Almost 30 percent of those aged 18 to 25 experienced a mental illness, twice as many as those aged 50 and older at just over 14 percent. And more women than men suffered a mental illness in the last year (23 percent vs. nearly 17 percent), according to the report released Thursday from the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

"We all know people who have had a depression or an anxiety disorder, maybe something more serious like a bipolar disorder, but this is a pretty big number," said Peter Delany, director of SAMHSA's Office of Applied Studies.

"This is only the second year where we have done this as a separate report and the findings were not significantly different from last year," Delany noted, so there are not enough data to see a trend.

The reasons why so many people are suffering from these problems cannot be easily summed up, he said.

The recent economic downturn may be a factor for some, he said. "But these conditions are multifactorial -- there are genetic issues, there are biological issues, there are social issues and also personal issuers," Delany explained.

A lot of people who are not receiving treatment for their mental illness, he said, cite lack of insurance as the main reason why.

"There are people who know they have a mental health problem, but aren't interested in getting care," he added.

"We know with the appropriate use of medication and with good treatment people can recover and go on to lead very healthy and productive lives," Delany said.

The new report defines mental illness as having a mental, behavioral or emotional problem based on criteria in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, which is the standard reference for mental illness. The report excluded developmental and substance use disorders.

According to the report, some 11.4 million adults suffered from serious mental illness in the past year, which is defined as an illness that affected a person's ability to function normally.

Mental illness doesn't just affect people, but also takes an economic toll -- about $300 billion in 2002, the researchers said.

Mental illness also accounts for more disability in developed countries than any other illness, including cancer and heart disease, according to the World Health Organization.

Highlights of the report include:

• About 39 percent of those with a mental illness received mental health services.
• Nearly 61 percent of those with severe mental illness received services.
• 8.7 million Americans had suicidal thoughts in the last year.
• 2.5 million made plans to kill themselves.
• 1.1 million attempted suicide.
• People who abuse drugs or alcohol had higher rates of mental illness than others (20 percent vs. about 6 percent).
• One-fourth of those with serious mental illness were substance abusers.
• 1.9 million 12- to 17-year-olds had a major depression in the past year.
• Teens suffering depression were twice as likely to have a drug problem than teens who did not have a major depression (roughly 37 percent vs. 18 percent).

Dr. Ihsan Salloum, director of the Addiction Psychiatry and Psychiatric Comorbidity Programs at the University of Miami School of Medicine, said not only is the number of people with mental problems staggering, but so is the unmet need for care.

"There is a gap between the need and how many people reach treatment," he said. "Mental illness is a treatable problem, and the outcome is as good as any chronic medical problem."

Given the number of people with drug and alcohol problems who also have mental problems, those with a substance abuse problem should also be screened for a mental problem, Salloum said.

"If someone has a severe mental disorder and an addiction, it is imperative to take care of both problems, because the two problems feed on each other causing a bad outcome," he said.

And with the number of young people with these problems, the focus should be on prevention, Salloum added.

More information

To learn about mental health, visit the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/diseases/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20120120/hl_hsn/1in5usadultssuffersmentalillsreport

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CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Enbridge Inc's sole public deal with a native group along the route of the proposed C$5.5 billion ($5.42 billion) Northern Gateway pipeline collapsed after chiefs of the Gitxsan First Nation rejected the offer, but a spokesman for the company said on Wednesday new talks are expected. According to local media, Gitxsan hereditary chiefs voted 28-8 against accepting the agreement signed last month between Enbridge and the Gitxsan treaty office. The deal would have seen the First Nation take a slice of a 10 percent equity stake in the pipeline the company has offered to native groups.

Europe hasn't fully committed to IMF: Flaherty

GATINEAU, Quebec (Reuters) - Europe needs to cough up a lot more than $200 billion to the International Monetary Fund before calling on others to boost the international lender's funding capacity to deal with the fallout from the European debt crisis, Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said on Wednesday. "Our view has been...that Europeans must fully commit their own resources to solving their own European crisis before others ought to be called upon to make any contribution," the minister told reporters in Gatineau, Quebec, across the river from Ottawa.

Farmers tiptoe into newly opened Canada wheat market

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) - As some of the world's biggest grain traders fan out across Canada's Prairies to compete openly for farmers' wheat and barley for the first time since World War II, they're finding more farmers like Paul Balicki than Stephen Vandervalk. Balicki, from Saskatchewan, says he's been unimpressed with early offers to buy the spring wheat he plans to grow this year, which he's been required to sell to the Canadian Wheat Board since 1943. Like many of the region's 100,000 farmers, most of whom have no memory of a free-market system, change comes hard.

Analysis: Nortel case delay highlights Canada crime approach

TORONTO (Reuters) - The years-long delay in bringing three former Nortel Networks executives to trial for fraud has reinforced Canada's well-earned reputation as a laggard in markets enforcement, particularly when compared with the United States, its critics say. Jurisdictional issues, lack of personnel and a national police task force that has not produced results all contribute to what lawyers and academics say is Canada's dysfunctional approach to prosecuting white-collar crime.

Bank of Canada holds rates, sees faster recovery

OTTAWA (Reuters) - The Bank of Canada held its key policy rate at 1 percent on Tuesday, but forecast a faster Canadian recovery than expected despite an increasingly worrying outlook for the global economy. Governor Mark Carney has held the central bank's rate unchanged for 16 months, the longest period without a rate change since the bank began targeting the overnight rate in 1994. A below-inflation 1 percent rate is providing considerable stimulus to the domestic economy, it says.

Government ready to intervene on housing, but not now: Flaherty

OTTAWA (Reuters) - The Canadian government is watching the housing market closely and is ready to intervene if necessary, but is not about to do so now, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said on Tuesday, noting he saw indications of softening in the market. He was speaking to reporters after the Bank of Canada said that very favorable credit conditions were expected to buttress housing activity, and that Canada's ratio of household debt to income was expected to rise further.

Canada "has allies' confidence" despite spy case

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada still enjoys the confidence of its allies despite the arrest of a Canadian naval intelligence officer charged with handing over secrets to an unnamed country, Defence Minister Peter MacKay said on Tuesday. Jeffrey Paul Delisle faces a charges of giving "a foreign entity" secret information between July 6, 2007 and Jan 13, 2012. He was arrested in Halifax, Nova Scotia and will stay in jail until his next hearing on Jan 25.

Provinces bristle at federal health "deal"

VICTORIA, British Columbia (Reuters) - The provinces unanimously believe the federal government's unilateral decision to impose a new formula for how it will help fund the public healthcare system "was both unprecedented and unacceptable," British Columbia Premier Christy Clark said Monday. Clark made the remarks after chairing a meeting of the provincial premiers, where the main topic was Finance Minister Jim Flaherty's announcement last month of how much federal health spending would go up for the next decade and beyond.

Reprise for Nortel debacle as Toronto trial opens

TORONTO (Reuters) - Three former executives at bankrupt Nortel Networks reached into the "cookie jar" a decade ago to enrich themselves, prosecutors said, opening a fraud trial that dredged up memories of one of the most spectacular casualties of the 1990's dot-com bubble. The trio - former Chief Executive Frank Dunn, former Chief Financial Officer Douglas Beatty and former Controller Michael Gollogly - misrepresented Nortel's financial results between 2000 and 2004 in a plan that brought them bonus payments while defrauding investors, prosecutor Robert Hubbard said on Monday.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120118/wl_canada_nm/canada_summary

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AP source: ABC interviewed Gingrich ex-wife (AP)

NEW YORK ? ABC News interviewed Republican presidential contender Newt Gingrich's second wife ? with whom he's said he has no relationship ? and is likely to air the segment Thursday on "Nightline," an ABC News executive told The Associated Press.

That's two days before the South Carolina primary, where the former House speaker is trying to topple GOP front-runner Mitt Romney by casting himself as the more conservative option.

The ABC News executive did not indicate what the ex-wife, Marianne Gingrich, said in the interview. The executive spoke on the condition of anonymity because the plans for airing the interview were tentative.

The interview, should it air before Saturday's primary, would shine a spotlight on a part of Gingrich's past that could turn off Republican voters in a state filled with religious and cultural conservatives who may cringe at Gingrich's two divorces and acknowledged infidelity.

Marianne Gingrich has said Gingrich proposed to her before the divorce from his first wife was final in 1981, and they were married six months later. Marianne's marriage to Gingrich ended in divorce in 2000, and Gingrich admitted he'd already taken up with Callista Bisek, a former congressional aide who would become his third wife. The speaker who pilloried President Bill Clinton for his affair with Monica Lewinsky was himself having an affair at the time.

As tentative plans to air the interview were disclosed, Gingrich's campaign released a statement from his two daughters from his first marriage ? Kathy Lubbers and Jackie Cushman ? suggesting that Marianne Gingrich's comments may be suspect given emotional toll divorce takes on everyone involved.

"Anyone who has had that experience understands it is a personal tragedy filled with regrets, and sometimes differing memories of events.

"We will not say anything negative about our father's ex-wife," they said. "He has said before, privately and publicly, that he regrets any pain he may have caused in the past to people he loves."

A message seeking comment from Marianne Gingrich was not immediately returned.

___

Associated Press writers Shannon McCaffrey in South Carolina and Ray Henry in Georgia contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120119/ap_on_el_pr/us_abc_gingrich_ex_wife

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Shuttle rolls out bantam XH61 barebones PC, dares you to throw a Sandy Bridge at it

It's been a hot minute since we've seen anything compelling from the folks at Shuttle, but there's nothing like a Sandy Bridge-enabled, three-liter PC to get us back on the bandwagon. The XH61 is barely seven centimeters high, and supports second-generation Intel Core i3, i5 and i7 processors for the LGA1155 socket. You'll get a pair of memory banks (up to 16GB of DDR3 can be thrown in), a foursome of SATA 3Gbps slots, six USB 2.0 ports, HDMI / VGA ports and room for a laptop-sized 2.5-inch HDD / SSD. The 90-watt power supply provides all the juice this little guy needs, and the €146 ($184) price tag actually includes little more than that; being a barebones system and all, it's on you to pick out the particulars.

Continue reading Shuttle rolls out bantam XH61 barebones PC, dares you to throw a Sandy Bridge at it

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Video: Christian conservatives pick Rick Santorum

Babies lip-read, may offer autism clues

For years, the conventional wisdom was that babies learned how to talk by listening to their parents. But a new study shows they're using their eyes, too, and are actually pretty good lip readers. The finding could lead to earlier diagnosis and intervention for autism.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036697/vp/46016573#46016573

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Gunmen storm building in Iraq's Ramadi: police (Reuters)

BAGHDAD (Reuters) ? Gunmen wearing explosive belts stormed an anti-terrorism police building in the Iraqi city of Ramadi on Sunday and at least six people died in the attack, police and provincial officials said.

The attack in mainly Sunni Anbar province followed several weeks of bombings targeting Shi'ites after the eruption of a political crisis that has threatened to break up the coalition government and raised fears of renewed sectarian violence.

Three policemen, two of the attackers and a civilian died in the assault on the Ramadi police building, and 14 others, including seven police and seven civilians, were wounded, said Mohammed Fathi, the spokesman for Anbar province.

Police had said earlier the gunmen were holding hostages inside the building and their fate was not immediately clear.

One of the gunmen blew himself up and the other was shot by police, Fathi said.

"The Iraqi security forces managed to regain control over the anti-terrorism building and a building beside it. Some of the terrorists were killed, others managed to escape," he said. "The situation is under control now."

One gunmen was still shooting from the roof of a local government building, he said.

Ramadi, the Anbar provincial capital, witnessed some of the worst violence during the height of the war that followed the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. It was the heart of a Sunni Islamist insurgency tied to al Qaeda.

Anbar tribal leaders and thousands of Sunni insurgents eventually turned against al Qaeda and formed the Sahwa militia, which joined U.S. forces and helped turn the tide of the war.

Iraqi security officials have expressed concern that al Qaeda may regroup in Anbar following the U.S. withdrawal.

Ramadi's government buildings have been frequent targets of militant attacks.

Violence in Iraq has ebbed since the height of sectarian slaughter in 2006-2007 but Sunni insurgents and rival Shi'ite militias still carry out attacks almost daily. Insurgents often target local government buildings and security forces.

The attack in Ramadi came a day after a suicide bomber killed more than 50 people and wounded more than 100 in an attack on Shi'ite pilgrims passing through a police checkpoint in the southern city of Basra.

Tensions are running high in Iraq four weeks after the last U.S. troops pulled out following moves by the Shi'ite-led government against two Sunni political leaders and a series of bombings that have killed scores of Shi'ites.

(Reporting by Fadhel al-Badrani; writing by Jim Loney and Patrick Markey; Editing by Andrew Roche)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/terrorism/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120115/wl_nm/us_iraq_violence

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Top 5 Gaming Accessories from CES 2012 | New Technology News ...

The best of the best new mice and keyboards, headsets and console controllers were on display at CES 2012.

Here?s a rundown to help you know what to buy when you shop.

Razer Naga Hex

($80, Available in February) -?Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) games like Defense of the Ancients and League of Legends are big these days, which means we?re going to start seeing peripherals designed for the hardcore fans ? and the Razer Naga Hex is the first one we?ve seen so far.

Its design harkens back to the original Razer Naga, an MMORPG mouse that featured a full 12-button keypad where the thumb rests. Instead of a full keypad, the Hex has six larger thumb buttons in a hexagonal shape, which is an ideal layout for MOBA players and is much easier to use than the original Naga. The Hex?s easy-to-use button layout and slick design makes you want to give it a try.

Mad Catz Street Fighter X Tekken FightStick VS

($200, Shipping in July) -?Mad Catz announced its first high-end console arcade stick at CES 2008, so it?s only fitting that it come back three years later with?a new premium stick?for the fighting gamer who already has everything.

The Street Fighter X Tekken FightStick VS is built with a rock-solid metal chassis and arcade-perfect Sanwa Denshi buttons and stick, comes in two designs, and an extra $20 connection kit lets you screw two units together in a side-by-side configuration that mimics the current Vewlix arcade standard dimensions. It also features a modular front panel that owners can unscrew and slide custom images in to personalize their stick further. It could make a nice living room centerpiece.

SteelSeries Flux Headsets

(Price to be announced, shipping, Q2 2012) -?Gaming headsets are all well and good, but even the most dedicated gamers probably won?t want to lug their dedicated PC headset around when they travel.

Enter the SteelSeries Flux, a small, readily foldable headset with a detachable mic that works with PCs as well as iOS and Android?perfect for gaming, listening to music, or watching movies on the go. Perhaps the coolest feature is the second audio port, which lets you daisy-chain another headset so two people can listen to the same tunes or watch a movie together on a laptop or tablet. You can also swap out the faceplates and mesh pads out for differently-colored models to make it look the way you want it to.

Hyperkin Supaboy Game Console

($100, available now) -?If you?re one of the lucky few who was smart enough to keep your old Super Nintendo carts, the Supaboy is for you.

It?s basically a portable SNES designed to accept full-sized Super Nintendo carts, except it also has two SNES controller ports and a TV-out port, so you can go from on-the-go Mario Kart to your home HDTV without even stopping to pause. It?s not small ? the whole unit is probably close to an old Sega Game Gear in size and weight ? but for old-school gamers who refuse to play their childhood favorites on an emulator, the
Supaboy is undoubtedly the way to go.

Roccat Isku Gaming Keyboard and Kone[+] Mouse

($90 and $80, Shipping in February) -?German gaming peripheral manufacturer Roccat is relatively new to gamers in the U.S., but their?Isku gaming?keyboard just might get them in the door this year.

In addition to the standard range of high-end keyboard features like remappable media keys and robust macro recording, the Isku also lets you activate shared features with the Ko ? ? ?ne[+] mouse, like the EasyAim feature that temporarily switches you to a lower DPI so you can easily control your zoomed-in shots. My favorite feature, however, is the three buttons below the space bar that let your thumb do more than mash on the space bar to jump.

Source: http://www.new-technology-news.net/top-5-gaming-accessories-from-ces-2012/

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Fab Sale Round-Up: Gilt Groupe, Treehouse Tykes and More!

Check out our round-up of this week's best mommy and baby deals.

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How Are the Nook and the Kindle Beating the iPad? (ContributorNetwork)

COMMENTARY | Maybe "beating" is too strong a word. The iPad continues its dominance, and for most buyers -- and app developers -- it's still the only tablet game in town.

But compared to every other tablet out there, even the HP TouchPad and its legendary $99 clearance sale, the Barnes & Noble Nook and the Amazon Kindle Fire are cleaning house. And according to Morgan Keegan analyst Tavis McCourt, "maybe 1-2 million" iPad sales were stolen by the Kindle, based on his estimates for last quarter's sales and Amazon.com's data.

Now, Amazon won't say how many Kindle Fires specifically that it's sold. And it's probably unreasonable to think that every one of the people who bought one would've bought an iPad instead, and didn't. But at the same time, out of all the tablets out there only two are having anything resembling success, in a market that's owned by the iPad.

How did they do it?

It's not just the price tag

If it were, there'd be a lot more tablet sales in general. Because this whole time there have been $100 to $200 "tablets" at places like K-Mart, with resistive touch screens and styli. Meanwhile, the prices of other tablets keep dropping further and further. The BlackBerry PlayBook has gone down to $199 and $299 in two separate sales, and RIM continues to try to unload its $485 million worth of unsold PlayBooks.

Even if these price tags do help, don't count on other tablet manufacturers to be able to repeat Barnes & Noble and Amazon's success this way. Not only did Amazon cut corners to get the Kindle out the door, it's apparently selling its tablet at a loss, and making its money off of people using them to buy stuff from it.

So what do the three companies have in common?

They're all retailers

Barnes & Noble puts its Nook kiosks right at the front of its brick-and-mortar retail stores, and has people on hand to demonstrate them. The Kindle Fire has been on Amazon.com's front page for months now. And the Apple Store has been one of the major factors in Apple's 21st century revival.

All three companies know how to present and sell their tablets, and all three own storefronts (whether virtual or physical) from which they can promote them heavily without worrying about competition. All three have made their tablets into brand name devices, and all three have given them distinct looks and advantages.

"Android tablet" makers, in contrast, are building largely identical devices that compete only on price and specs, and tossing their wares into the retail channel as though throwing darts while blindfolded. The results have been predictably bad ... which makes the iPad, the Kindle, and the Nook look spectacular by comparison.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/applecomputer/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20120112/tc_ac/10819713_how_are_the_nook_and_the_kindle_beating_the_ipad

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MLB owners delay sale of Padres to Moorad

/

By BOB BAUM

updated 7:44 p.m. ET Jan. 12, 2012

PARADISE VALLEY, Ariz. - Major league owners have put off approval of sale of the San Diego Padres to Jeff Moorad.

Commissioner Bud Selig said Thursday that baseball's ownership committee and executive council unanimously decided to defer action "to get more clarity and technical information."

Moorad, who could be seen talking with Selig on a balcony outside the owners meeting Thursday, said he and the commissioner tried to work out an "11th-hour" agreement to get the matter presented to the full session of the 30 owners but were unable to do so.

"We'll support the process and are proud to be part of the process and look forward to addressing some technical questions and moving along," Moorad said..

Moorad was a prominent sports agent before becoming a minority owner first with the Arizona Diamondbacks, then with the Padres. His group owns 49 percent of the Padres and is set to buy the remainder from majority owner John Moores.

Selig pulled the sale from Thursday's agenda, a move that upset Moores so much that he was the only one of the 30 owners to vote against Selig's two-year contract extension, according to a person in the room who asked not to be identified because the details were supposed to remain confidential.

Selig said he wants the questions involved in the sale to be resolved "expeditiously."

"There's no hidden agenda here. There's nothing else," he said. "There were a lot of economic concerns. The most important thing that we do is bringing in new owners, so we have really become very, very fastidious about the economics of who can make it. And I'm not suggesting there were any negatives. There were just questions that we didn't have time to answer here."

Selig said Jonathan Mariner, MLB's executive vice president for finance, "frankly had been raising questions to me since last Friday" about the sale. Those questions intensified during meetings of the ownership committee and executive council.

"Both groups really did their homework," Selig said. 'They were ardent supporters of Jeff and everything else, but there were questions they kept saying, 'Well, we need answer to that,' so I've already instructed our guys to meet with them and begin to develop answers, and they'll come back to us."

Moorad said he was not surprised that nothing was resolved on Thursday.

"We got the word that they had some technical questions," he said. "We tried to resolve them this morning. It just wasn't possible to work that quickly, and that's it. I'm happy to defer and have it taken up at a more appropriate time."

Selig said it wouldn't be necessary to wait until the owners' next scheduled meeting in New York in May to approve the sale, that it could be done by conference call.

Moorad also said that the franchise wouldn't necessarily have to have the sale complete in order to sign a crucial television deal with Fox before the season begins.

Selig said the fact that Moorad was once an agent, on the other side of the bargaining table with owners, had nothing to do with delaying the sale.

"This was about economics," he said. "This was not about personalities."

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Nats?continue to pursue Fielder

HBT: Despite an earlier report saying the Nats weren't after the slugger, Prince Fielder is still very much a target for the team, as owners met with agent Scott Boras on Wednesday.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/45976510/ns/sports-baseball/

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Sony wants to bring another streaming music service to iOS this winter (Appolicious)

Just getting used to Spotify? Finally getting your Pandora channels in order? Comfortable with your Rdio playlists? Because you?re about to have yet another option for all your mobile music-streaming needs.

Sony plans to bring its streaming music service, called Music Unlimited, to Apple?s iOS mobile platform during the first quarter of 2012 (which is now-ish), according to a story from VentureBeat. When the service finally shows up, it?ll be the first time Sony has made it available to owners of Apple?s mobile devices, even though PC users and owners of Google?s Android smartphones and tablets have enjoyed the service for some time.

The confirmation that Sony is bringing Music Unlimited to iOS comes from the head of Sony Entertainment Network, Tom Schaaff, who announced the app at a media gathering at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. It?ll be a subscription service, like Spotify and Rdio, and offer similar features, such as offline caching, which allows users to access tracks they?ve marked for offline use even when they?re not connected to the Internet. Otherwise, an Internet connection is necessary to do the streaming.

Schaaff said Sony is hoping to establish a niche for Music Unlimited among users who haven?t already picked a cloud music service, rather than try to go after customers who have already adopted Pandora, Spotify or Rdio as their alternatives. The company will also be looking to leverage its existing retail business and its presence abroad to spread the service to multiple markets. Schaaff didn?t say much about why customers might opt for Sony over its competitors, though.

But Sony isn?t coming out of nowhere with Music Unlimited, even though it hasn?t been established on iOS yet. The subscription service already carries 1 million subscribers, Schaaff said, and the app will expand the services afforded to people who are already subscribers, giving them good reason to stick with Sony for the long haul for their music needs.

Also at CES, Sony announced its first Android-powered Walkman, and while reporters asked if the days of the now-digital music device are numbered, Schaaff said only that Sony would stop making its Walkman line when people stop buying them. Apple has certainly found success in making devices and pushing content for them, so Sony might not necessarily need to get out of the game just yet.

But as with the Android Walkman, Sony seems a bit late to the party with Music Unlimited. We?ll have to wait and see how it approaches the iTunes App Store, and how the well-known media and electronics company works to stay competitive with the other similar services available.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/music/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/appolicious_rss/rss_apolicious_en_mu/http___www_appolicious_com_articles10753_sony_wants_to_bring_another_streaming_music_service_to_ios_this_winter/44167620/SIG=13nfa4j3j/*http%3A//www.appolicious.com/tech/articles/10753-sony-wants-to-bring-another-streaming-music-service-to-ios-this-winter

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Italy borrowing rates drop again in bond auction

Italian Premier Mario Monti attends a debate at the lower chamber in Rome, Thursday, Jan. 12, 2012. Monti says he would support a new tax on financial transactions so long as it applies to the European Union as a whole. Speaking after meeting Wednesday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Monti indicated his preference for such a tax for the whole 27-nation bloc, rather than just the 17 countries that use the euro as their currency. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Italian Premier Mario Monti attends a debate at the lower chamber in Rome, Thursday, Jan. 12, 2012. Monti says he would support a new tax on financial transactions so long as it applies to the European Union as a whole. Speaking after meeting Wednesday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Monti indicated his preference for such a tax for the whole 27-nation bloc, rather than just the 17 countries that use the euro as their currency. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

ROME (AP) ? Italy saw its borrowing costs drop for a second day in a row Friday as it easily raised euro4.75 billion ($6.05 billion) in a bond auction that indicated improved investor confidence in the country's financial future and the 17 countries that use the euro.

The auction caps a rare week of good news in Europe, which on Thursday saw successful bond auctions in Spain and Italy and upbeat comments from the European Central Bank president, Mario Draghi. He noted "tentative signs of stabilization" in the region's economy and said the ECB had prevented a serious credit contraction in the eurozone with a massive injection of cheap funds in December.

However, investors and markets recognize that, while some progress has been made this week, a long haul to full European economic recovery lies ahead.

Investors demanded an interest rate of 4.83 percent to lend Italy three-year money, down from an average rate of 5.62 percent in the previous auction and far lower than the 7.89 percent in November, when the country's financial crisis was most acute.

While Italy paid a slightly higher rate for bonds maturing in 2018 which were also sold in Friday's auction, demand was between 1.2 percent and 2.2 percent higher than what was on offer.

The results were not as strong as those of bond auctions the previous day, when Italy raised euro12 billion ($15 million) and Spain saw huge demand for its own debt sale.

"Overall, it underscores that while all the auctions in the eurozone have been battle victories, the war is a long way from being resolved (either way)," said Marc Ostwald, strategist at Monument Securities. "These euro area auctions will continue to present themselves as market risk events for a very protracted period."

Italy's euro1.9 trillion ($2.42 trillion) in government debt and heavy borrowing needs this year have made it a focal point of the European debt crisis. Fitch Ratings Agency, which has said it would consider whether to downgrade Italy's credit rating by the end of the month, estimates the country needs to borrow euro360 billion ($458 billion) this year.

Italy has passed austerity measures and is on a structural reform course that Premier Mario Monti claims should bring down Italy's high bond yields, which he says are no longer warranted.

Analysts have said the successful recent bond auctions were at least in part the work of the ECB, which has inundated banks with cheap loans, giving them ready cash that at least some appear to be using to buy higher-yielding short-term government bonds.

Some 523 banks took euro489 billion in credit for up to three years at a current interest cost of 1 percent.

Banks may also be buying up government bonds to use as collateral so they can tap another unlimited offering of three-year ECB credit to banks that is to be handed out on Feb. 29.

That factor could fade after the February credit allotment, however, said Rabobank analyst Jane Foley.

But use of the 3-year ECB loan money could mean that "the implications are more positive for the periphery and successful peripheral debt issuance is likely to last longer," she said.

Peter Schaffrik, head of European rates strategy for RBC Capital Markets, said the ECB had helped scale back fears prevalent late last year of an imminent European financial collapse.

"A good deal of credit should be assigned to the ECB, which has been, and will be, we argue, supporting the European financial system, its sovereigns, and to some degrees the European economies via significant liquidity injections and lower rates," Schaffrik wrote in a note to investors.

___

David McHugh in Frankfurt contributed.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-13-EU-Europe-Financial-Crisis/id-0c128be4c2bb44b4828e481828fc908b

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