Health Highlights: Dec. 13, 2008

In this study, actors presented scenarios to 26 FTD patients and 19 Alzheimer's patients. The scenarios used the exact same words but were presented either in a sincere tone or laced with sarcasm, Agence France Presse reported.

The Alzheimer's patients picked up on the sarcasm but the FTD patients did not, concluded the University of New South Wales study, which appears in the journal Brain.

"The patients with FTD are very literal and they take what is being said as genuine and sincere," AFP quoted senior author John Hodges as saying. He said the findings help explain the behavior of people with FTD, which is often upsetting to family members.

"(FTD patients) find it difficult to interact with people, they don't pick up on social cues, they lack empathy, they make bad judgments," Hodges said.

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Obama Announces Daschle Is HHS Secretary Nominee

President-elect Barack Obama formally introduced former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle Thursday as his nominee for U.S. Health and Human Services secretary, according to published reports.

Calling America's health care system the nation's "largest domestic policy challenge," Obama also said Daschle would oversee a new White House Office of Health Reform.

Obama's choice of Daschle to head HHS has been known for several weeks.

Daschle, a Democrat who was part of the health care advisory group of Obama's transition team, has said he was excited about the possibility of leading the new president's efforts to change the nation's health care system.

He believes reforming health care is a priority in the current economic downturn.

"We can't afford not to do it. If we do nothing, we'll be paying twice as much on health care in 10 years as we do today," he said last month, CNN reported.

In a recent book titled Critical: What We Can Do About the Health Care Crisis, Daschle advocated universal health coverage to reach 46 million uninsured people. He said this could be done by expanding the federal employee health benefits program to include private employer plans together with Medicare and Medicaid.

Jeanne Lambrew, who helped Daschle write the book about health care reform, will serve as deputy director of the new White House health policy office. Heads of health advocacy groups have described Lambrew as one of Daschle's most trusted advisers on health issues. She will oversee planning efforts, the AP reported.

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Hong Kong Reports First Farm Outbreak of Bird Flu in 6 Years

The first outbreak of H5N1 bird flu on a Hong Kong poultry farm in nearly six years was confirmed by government officials Thursday.

It was announced Tuesday that bird flu was found on a farm near the Chinese border and 90,000 chickens were scheduled for slaughter by the end of the week. Initial tests identified an H5 virus and the new test results confirmed that it's the deadly H5N1 virus, Agence France Presse reported.

The virus has not been found on any other farms in the area.

The World Health Organization is monitoring the situation, said Peter Cordingley, a spokesman for the WHO's Western Pacific regional office. He told AFP the outbreak isn't a surprise because the virus is versatile and tends to be more active in winter.

Hong Kong officials said the H5N1 virus has "changed slightly" and have told scientists to investigate whether the vaccine used since 2003 to protect chickens against bird flu is still effective.