A gene mapping test that can test embryos for almost any inherited disease could be available in the UK within a year, say researchers. . . .
BBC News - June 30, 2009
June 2009 Archives
Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble and other manufacturers on Monday said cough and cold drugs with the pain reliever acetaminophen should stay on the market despite concerns from U.S. regulators. . . .
Reuters - June 29, 2009
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE55S62120090629?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
About 47,000 older Americans are treated in emergency rooms each year from falls associated with walkers and canes, according to a study that suggests that there is room for improvement in the use and design of walking aids.
"It's important to make sure people use these devices safely," said Judy A. Stevens, an epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the study's lead author. "It gives them greater independence, but at the same time it can be a hazard if not used properly."
The study, which was released Monday and is to be published in this month's Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, found that 87 percent of fall injuries involved walkers and 12 percent involved canes. . . .
The New York Times - June 29, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/30/health/30fall.html
The World Health Organization said Thursday that the H1N1 virus was stable and there was no sign yet of it mixing with other influenza viruses. . . .
Reuters - June 25, 2009
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE55O4CS20090625?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
People exposed to rabies need only four vaccinations, not the five currently recommended, a vaccine advisory committee said Wednesday. In the past, rabies shots were dreaded almost as much as the disease itself. Until the 1970s, an encounter with a rabid animal led to at least 14 shots in the abdomen. But vaccines have improved, and five shots in the arm or thigh have been the U.S. standard for more than 20 years. . . .
USATODAY.com - June 24, 2009
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-06-24-rabies-vaccine_N.htm?csp=34
Children can be treated for a common form of childhood leukemia without bombarding the brain with radiation, reducing the risk that they will suffer additional tumors and thinking problems, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday. . . .
Reuters - June 24, 2009
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE55N5PK20090624?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
Weight-loss surgery may help obese women lower their risk of developing cancer, Swedish researchers said on Tuesday.
They found women who had weight-loss surgery were 42 percent less likely to develop cancer during a 10-year study published in the journal Lancet Oncology. . . .
Reuters - June 23, 2009
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE55N01M20090624?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
Individuals who are overweight in early adulthood have an increased risk of pancreatic cancer, while obesity in older age is associated with lower survival rates among patients with this difficult to treat malignancy, new research shows. . . .
Reuters - June 23. 2009
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE55M6SR20090623?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
Doctors in the United States fail to tell patients about abnormal test results 7 percent of the time, or a rate of about 1 out of every 14 tests, U.S. researchers said on Monday. . . .
Reuters - June 22, 2009
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE55L5LT20090622?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
President Obama signed landmark legislation Monday giving the Food and Drug Administration new power to regulate the manufacturing, marketing and sale of tobacco.
The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act gives the FDA power to ban candy-flavored and fruit-flavored cigarettes, widely considered appealing to first-time smokers, including youths. It also prohibits tobacco companies from using terms such as "low tar," "light" or "mild," requires larger warning labels on packages, and restricts advertising of tobacco products. . . .
CNN.com - June 22, 2009
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/06/22/obama.tobacco/index.html?eref=rss_health
The new strain of H1N1 flu is causing "something different" to happen in the United States this year -- perhaps an extended year-round flu season that disproportionately hits young people, health officials said on Thursday.
An unusually cool late spring may be helping keep the infection going in the U.S. Northeast, especially densely populated areas in New York and Massachusetts, the officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. . . .
Reuters - June 19, 2009
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE55H5DB20090619?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
Patients who underwent a popular form of weight loss surgery developed kidney stones, a painful and recurring condition, at almost double the rate of obese patients who didn't have the operation, according to one of the largest studies to examine the rate of complications from bariatric surgery. . . .
The New York Times - June 18, 2009
Targeting children for vaccination may be the best way of using limited supplies of vaccine to control the current H1N1 flu pandemic, British researchers said on Thursday. . . .
Reuters - June 18, 2009
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE55H1TK20090618?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
Employers who offer health insurance coverage could see a 9% cost increase next year, and their workers may face an even bigger hit, according to a report Thursday from consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Costs will rise in part because workers worried about losing their jobs are using their health care more while they still have it, the firm said in the report released to the Associated Press. The report also said rising unemployment is driving up medical costs. . . .
USATODAY.com - June 18, 2009
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/health/2009-06-18-health-care-costs_N.htm?csp=34
A missing stretch of DNA on a chromosome involved in nervous system development may help explain why some children are predisposed to a deadly type of tumor called neuroblastoma, researchers reported on Wednesday.
The study is the first to show that repeats or deletions of a genetic sequence, as opposed to "spelling mistakes" in the four-letter genetic code -- influence cancer risk, said Dr. John Maris of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, whose study appears in the journal Nature. . . .
Reuters - June 18, 2009
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE55G6E020090618?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
Parasites which cause malaria appear to be using a handful of proteins to steal into the red blood cells of their hosts, scientists have found.
In a paper published in Nature, experts from Australia and the United States expressed hope that drugs may one day be designed to thwart this infection process. . . .
Reuters - June 17, 2009
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE55H02C20090618?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
One of the most celebrated findings in modern psychiatry -- that a single gene helps determine one's risk of depression in response to a divorce, a lost job or another serious reversal -- has not held up to scientific scrutiny, researchers reported Tuesday.
The original finding, published in 2003, created a sensation among scientists and the public because it offered the first specific, plausible explanation of why some people bounce back after a stressful life event while others plunge into lasting despair. . . .
The New York Times - June 16, 2009
A vast majority of the world's countries -- 85 percent -- lack adequate laws to address the growing problem of traffic deaths and injuries, according to the World Health Organization's first global report on road safety, released Monday.
Traffic injuries are the ninth leading cause of death worldwide, and public health experts say that without intervention they will rise to fifth within 20 years, surpassing AIDS and tuberculosis. . . .
The New York Times - June 15, 2009
Consumers should stop using Zicam Cold Remedy nasal gel and related products because they can permanently damage the sense of smell, federal health regulators said Tuesday.
USATODAY.com - June 16, 2009
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-06-16-fda-cold-medicine_N.htm?csp=34
The American Medical Association says there's no scientific proof to back up the claims of anti-aging hormones.
At their annual meeting in Chicago on Monday, AMA delegates adopted a new policy on products such as HGH, DHEA and testosterone used as aging remedies. . . .
USATODAY.com - June 15, 2009
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-06-15-ama-agingdrugs_N.htm?csp=34
A study that found possible heart risks with attention deficit drugs had limitations and should not prompt parents to stop giving the medications to children, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Monday.
Reuters - June 15, 2009
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE55E5RA20090616?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
Stimulants used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder could increase the risk of sudden death in children who have no underlying heart conditions, researchers reported Monday.
USATODAY.com - June 15, 2009
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-06-15-fda-adhd_N.htm?csp=34
More than four decades after the surgeon general declared smoking a health hazard, the Senate on Thursday cleared the final hurdle to empowering federal officials to regulate cigarettes and other forms of tobacco for the first time. . . .
The New York Times - June 11, 2009
The organization declared the first global flu pandemic in 41 years, but an official noted that the pandemic is "moderate" in severity and that scientists are tracking it carefully. . . .
The New York Times - June 11, 2009
The World Health Organization was poised on Thursday to declare that the new H1N1 virus has caused the first influenza pandemic in more than 40 years, health sources said on Thursday. . . .
Reuters - June 11, 2009
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE55A1U720090611?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
Three widely used antipsychotic medications appear safe and effective overall in treating children and teenagers with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, a U.S. advisory panel said on Wednesday.
The Food and Drug Administration's panel of outside experts backed wider use of the pills -- Eli Lilly and Co's Zyprexa, AstraZeneca's Seroquel and Pfizer's Geodon -- but expressed concern over long-term effects the medications may have in younger patients. . . .
Reuters - June 10, 2009
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE5597IC20090611?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
Hormone experts said on Wednesday they are becoming worried by a chemical called bisphenol A, which some politicians say they want taken out of products and which consumers are increasingly shunning.
They said they have gathered a growing body evidence to show the compound, also known as BPA, might damage human health. The Endocrine Society issued a scientific statement on Wednesday calling for better studies into its effects. . . .
Reuters - June 10, 2009
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE55A0JK20090611?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
The dramatic and sustained increase in bone turnover that occurs following surgery for obesity, or "bariatric surgery," translates into a significantly increased risk of fractures, especially in the hands and feet, according to a study presented today at The Endocrine Society's annual meeting in Washington, DC. . . .
Reuters - June 10, 2009
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE5595SL20090610?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
Genetic mutations can show which breast cancer patients will be helped by a certain type of chemotherapy, U.S. researchers reported on Tuesday.
They found patients with two versions of the SOD2 fared worse when taking the chemotherapy drug cyclophosphamide than other patients. It might be useful to test patients for this gene before giving them the drug, the researchers reported in the journal Clinical Cancer Research. . . .
Reuters - June 9, 2009
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE5586G920090610?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
Diets rich in omega-3-fatty acids may slow the progression of early age-related macular degeneration to advanced disease, according to a report in the British Journal of Ophthalmology. . . .
Reuters - June 9, 2009
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE5585YY20090609?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
Strict lowering of blood sugar may not have been the cause of excess deaths in a major study of patients with type 2 diabetes, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday.
The trial, known as ACCORD, studied the effects of intensive strategies to help diabetics get near-normal blood sugar levels, but was stopped in February 2008 because there were 20 percent more deaths among people who got intensive treatment compared with those who got standard treatment. . . .
Reuters - June 9, 2009
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE5585A820090609?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
Middle-aged adults who get too little sleep are more likely to develop high blood pressure, U.S. researchers said on Monday.
The study, among the first to directly measure sleep duration in middle-aged adults, found missing an average one hour of sleep over five years raised the risk of developing high blood pressure by 37 percent. . . .
Reuters - June 8, 2009
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE55760720090608?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
Diabetics with stable heart disease do just as well taking drugs alone as getting quick angioplasty or bypass surgery to open blocked heart arteries, U.S. researchers said on Sunday.
They said patients advised to have angioplasty and a heart stent to restore blood flow and ease chest pain could safely wait and give drugs a chance to work. . . .
Reuters - June 7, 2009
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE5561VS20090608?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
A simple blood test that indicates average blood sugar levels over the past several weeks is the best way to diagnose diabetes, and doctors can abandon older, clumsier tests, diabetes experts said on Friday.
The A1C test, which does not require fasting, is the best and easiest way to diagnose diabetes, the American Diabetes Association, International Diabetes Federation and European Association for the Study of Diabetes agreed. . . .
Reuters - June 5, 2009
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE5546VY20090605?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
A new report on substance abuse and mental health shows a small percentage of people are kicking smoking while alcohol and illicit drug-use levels remain steady.
But the report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, out Thursday, also carries home the message that while all states have problems, there are big variations across the U.S. . . .
USATODAY.com - June 4, 2009
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-06-04-drugs-alcohol-abuse_N.htm?csp=34
Medical bills are behind more than 60 percent of U.S. personal bankruptcies, U.S. researchers reported on Thursday in a report they said demonstrates that healthcare reform is on the wrong track.
More than 75 percent of these bankrupt families had health insurance but still were overwhelmed by their medical debts, the team at Harvard Law School, Harvard Medical School and Ohio University reported in the American Journal of Medicine. . . .
Reuters - June 4, 2009
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE5530Y020090604?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
After age 30, exercising for more than an hour a week may help cut a woman's chances of developing breast cancer, according to a study presented at the American College of Sports Medicine's annual meeting in Seattle. . . .
Reuters - June 3, 2009
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE55253420090603?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
A new appraisal of existing studies documenting the links between tiny soot particles and premature death from cardiovascular ailments shows that mortality rates among people exposed to the particles are twice as high as previously thought.
The New York Times - June 2, 2009
The spread of H1N1 flu in Australia, Britain, Chile, Japan and Spain has nudged the world closer to a pandemic, the World Health Organisation said on Tuesday. . . .
Reuters - June 2, 2009
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE5514R920090602?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
Using just a stool sample, doctors may now be able to detect colon and many other cancers of the digestive tract including stomach, pancreatic, bile duct and esophageal cancer, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday.
They said a new test, which detects genetic material shed from the surface of cancer cells, found nearly 70 percent of assorted digestive tract cancers.
And the DNA test accurately showed negative results in all 70 healthy patients they tested, Dr. David Ahlquist of the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota told the Digestive Disease Week meeting in Chicago. . . .
Reuters - June 2, 2009
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE5513KR20090602?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
A persistent decline in the rate of Americans, especially children, newly diagnosed with depression followed the first federal warning on risks connected with antidepressant drugs, a study suggests. . . .
USATODAY.com - June 1, 2009
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-06-01-depression-fda_N.htm?csp=34
Even short-term use of popular acid-reducing heartburn drugs may raise the risk of hip fractures, U.S. researchers said on Monday. . . .
Reuters - June 1, 2009
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE5505OU20090601?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
Breast cancer survivors risk having their disease come back if they use certain antidepressants while also taking the cancer prevention drug tamoxifen, worrisome new research shows. . . .
USATODAY.com - May 31, 2009
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-05-31-cancer-antidepressants_N.htm?csp=34
Use of menopausal hormone-replacement therapy increases the risk of death from lung cancer by 60 percent after five years, U.S. researchers reported on Saturday. . . .
Reuters - May 31, 2009
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE54U1G620090531?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews
Lung cancer screenings may carry hidden dangers, researchers announced Saturday at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in Orlando. . . .
USATODAY.com - May 31, 2009
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-05-30-CTscans-lungcancer_N.htm?csp=34
