Your health

C sections increasing

C sections in this country continue to rise to unprecedented levels.

Nearly one out of three childbirths in the United States in 2006 was by cesarean section, compared with one out of five in 1997, and just one in 20 in 1965.

Use of the procedure compounds itself, with the percentage of women undergoing repeat C-sections jumping from 65 percent to 90 percent, according to a new study by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

The increase comes despite findings from the World Health Organization and others that C-section delivery rates should be around 15 percent.

The procedure is costlier, averaging $4,500 vs. $2,600 for deliveries that are not C-sections. That might be why C-sections account for 34 percent of deliveries for women with insurance, but 25 percent for uninsured women.

Lice zapper

Good news for desperate parents: a new prescription drug has been approved to kill head lice.

The FDA has approved benzyl alcohol lotion (5 percent) to treat head lice for patients 6 months or older.

The approval follows two studies of safety and effectiveness on 628 people infested with head lice.

Patients tried two 10-minute treatments one week apart of benzyl alcohol or a placebo lotion.

Two weeks after the last treatment, 75 percent of the benzyl alcohol users were free of head lice.

Like some other lice medications, the drug can cause skin, scalp and eye irritations and numbness at the application site.

Melatonin for autism

A new study suggests that melatonin helps children with autism and Fragile X syndrome fall asleep faster and sleep longer and better.

Children fell asleep 42 minutes faster, on average, and slept 21 minutes longer with over-the-counter melatonin compared to a placebo, according to a study in this month's Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine.

The study looked at a dozen children, age 2 to 15, over a month.

Researchers at the MIND Institute in Sacramento, Calif., report that up to 89 percent of children with autism have problems sleeping. The children often take an hour or two to fall asleep and can disrupt the entire household.

Melatonin, a natural hormone, is believed to promote sleep. Read more about it at the American Academy of Sleep Medicine Web site at sleepeducation.com.