News in brief - Nov. 14, 2011

Hepatitis C screening by age would save thousands of lives - Dyslexia is not related to IQ, study shows

Hepatitis C screening by age would save thousands of lives

Screening adults ages 46 to 66 for the hepatitis C virus would save an estimated 82,300 lives, compared with current practices, says an Annals of Internal Medicine study published online Nov. 4.

About 4.1 million Americans have HCV, but only 25% to 50% of those chronically infected know they have the virus, the study said (www.annals.org/content/early/2011/11/03/0003-4819-156-4-201202210-00378). Over time, HCV can cause inflammation and permanent liver damage. It is common among people born between 1945 and 1965. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends screening by risk factors, such as intravenous drug use or hemodialysis.

Researchers analyzed 2001-06 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data. They found that screening by age would identify 808,580 more chronic HCV cases and cost $15,700 for each quality-adjusted life year gained.

"The [birth-cohort screening] strategy is at least as cost-effective as many routinely administered preventive practices such as breast cancer screening or colorectal screening," said David Rein, PhD, lead study author and principal research scientist for the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago.

Dyslexia is not related to IQ, study shows

There is no association between dyslexia and an individual's IQ, according to a National Institutes of Health study published online Oct. 17 in Psychological Science.

Researchers used magnetic resonance imaging to measure the brain activity of 131 students ages 7 to 16 at schools in the Pittsburgh and San Francisco Bay areas. The children were divided into three groups: typical readers with typical reading and IQ scores; poor readers who have typical IQ scores; and poor readers with low IQ scores.

Researchers examined participants' brain activity as the youths looked at pairs of words on a computer screen and indicated whether or not they rhymed. The study found that children with dyslexia had the same pattern of brain activity regardless of their IQ score (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22006060).