Health Highlights: June 9, 2008

• Sen. Edward Kennedy May Go Home Monday
• Researchers Failed to Disclose Drug Company Funding: Report
• Scientists Identify Gene Linked to Enlarged Heart
• Stem Cell Treatment May Have Cured Child With Rare Skin Disease
• Tainted Salmonella Tomatoes 'Distributed Throughout the Country'
• Many Americans Stressed About Money: Survey

Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of HealthDay:

Sen. Edward Kennedy May Go Home Monday

One week after he underwent surgery for brain cancer, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy was expected to be released Monday from Duke University Medical Center and go to his home in Hyannisport on Cape Cod, according to his son Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.)

Patrick Kennedy made the comments to The Providence Journal at the Rhode Island Democratic Convention on Sunday, the Associated Press reported.

A spokesman at Duke declined to confirm whether the 76-year-old senator would be released Monday, and said all updates on Kennedy's condition would come from his family, the AP reported.

Last month, Kennedy was diagnosed with a malignant glioma brain tumor after he suffered a seizure. Last Monday, he had a 3.5-hour operation to remove as much of the tumor as possible to improve the success of chemotherapy and radiation treatment.

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Researchers Failed to Disclose Drug Company Funding: Report

A team of doctors who helped pioneer the use of psychiatric drugs in children are being investigated after they failed to properly disclose at least $3.2 million in funding from several drug companies.

Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital are looking into the disclosure and conflict of interest forms of Drs. Joseph Beiderman, Timothy Wilens and Thomas Spencer, who conducted research into how children are affected by psychiatric drugs, Bloomberg news reported.

The researchers filed yearly disclosure forms showing they received a total of $120,000 from several drug companies. But they admitted to receiving more after Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) sought added documentation in March.

"Obviously, if a researcher is taking money from a drug company while also receiving federal dollars to research that company's product, then there is a conflict of interest," Grassley said in a statement.

The U.S. National Institutes of Health requires researchers to disclose when they receive at least $10,000 from companies whose products are being used in studies. When researchers fail to do so, institutions can lose their federal funding, Bloomberg reported.

Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital don't allow researchers to work on a company's product if the researchers get more than $20,000 a year from the company.

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Scientists Identify Gene Linked to Enlarged Heart

A new genetic cause of enlarged heart has been identified by an international team of scientists, who said their finding could lead to new treatments.

In research with rodents and humans, the scientists found that the gene osteoglycin (Ogn) regulates the growth of the heart's left ventricle, it's main pumping chamber. When Ogn behaves abnormally, the heart can become enlarged, BBC News reported.

The study appears in the journal Nature Genetics.

It was already known that irregular heart growth can be caused by obesity, high blood pressure and strenuous exercise, but the influence of genes is largely unknown, BBC News reported.

"But, now that we are unraveling how genes control heart growth, we can gain a better understanding of common forms of heart disease. This could lead to new and more effective ways of treating people," said researcher Dr. Stuart Cook.

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Stem Cell Treatment May Have Cured Child With Rare Skin Disease

University of Minnesota doctors believe they have hit a "home run" in using stem cell therapy in a 2-year-old boy's bone marrow by curing him of a rare disease that had been described as incurable.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported that doctors performed a bone marrow transplant on 2-year-old Nate Liao, who had been suffering from recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB), a genetic condition that literally causes skin to peel off at the slightest touch.

The stem cell procedure, previously done only in laboratory animals, was successful, the newspaper reported -- so successful that University of Minnesota bone marrow specialist Dr. John Wagner said, "Maybe we can take one more disorder off the incurable list. It's not often that it feels like you hit a home run in medical research, but this one feels like it."

Nate's older brother Jake, who also has the disorder, was given a bone marrow transplant late last week, and 30 patients will be part of an upcoming clinical trial to continue the research, the Star Tribune reported.

RDEB falls into the category of orphan diseases -- very rare maladies. In this case, the skin disorder affects about 10 people per million.

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Tainted Salmonella Tomatoes 'Distributed Throughout the Country'

Salmonella food poisoning from raw tomatoes has spread to 16 states, causing U.S. health officials to speculate that the outbreak might be nationwide, the Associated Press reported.

The infestation first began in Texas and New Mexico in mid-April, the wire service said. The latest statistics from those two states' health departments put the number of cases at 56 in Texas and 55 in New Mexico to raw, uncooked, tomatoes.

And an additional 50 people are suspected to have been poisoned with the Saintpaul strain of salmonella bacterium, the AP said, leading a spokesperson from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to tell the wire service that the rarity of that strain and the number of illnesses "suggest that implicated tomatoes are distributed throughout the country."

At least 23 people have been hospitalized but there have been no deaths among the patients who range in age between 1 and 82, CDC spokesperson Arleen Porcell told the AP.

In addition to Texas and New Mexico, the Saintpaul salmonella infection has been reported in Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Oklahoma, Oregon, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin, according to the CDC.

Consumers are warned not to buy any raw tomatoes except cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, tomatoes sold with the vine still attached and homegrown tomatoes, the wire service reported.

Salmonella bacteria are usually transmitted to humans when they eat food contaminated with animal feces. Symptoms include fever, abdominal cramps and diarrhea. Most people recover without treatment, but salmonella infection can cause serious health problems or death in infants, the elderly and those with weakened immune systems.

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Many Americans Stressed About Money: Survey

Three-quarters of American adults are stressed about money and worried about their financial future, according to a new survey released by the American Psychological Association.

The survey of 2,529 adults, conducted between April 7 and 15, found that more than 50 percent reported that they're experiencing stress over housing costs and 48 percent said job stability is a source of stress, United Press International reported.

In addition, 61 percent said family responsibilities are causing them stress, and 57 percent said they have health-related concerns.

"With higher prices, the rising cost of gas and constant media coverage of the state of the economy, many Americans are stressed about the state of their finances," psychologist Katherine Nordal of the APA said in a prepared statement, UPI reported.

She suggested people "analyze their priorities and figure out new ways to manage your stress, and take control of your finances. Pause but don't panic -- remain calm, stay focused and avoid getting caught up in the doom-and-gloom hype in the media."