Food dye cancer scare
• Public Health • Feb 18 05
London - An urgent warning was issued by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) today after a potentially cancer-causing dye was discovered in more than…
Health Officials: Flu Virus Peaking In Michigan
• Flu • Feb 18 05
The flu season may be peaking in Michigan.
State health officials on Friday reported “widespread” flu activity, the highest level of outbreak, joining 15…
City Doctors still work for too long
• Public Health • Feb 18 05
Swansea hospital doctors are still working over-long hours six months after new European rules kicked in to shorten them. The European Working Time Directive…
FDA grants priority review to levetiracetam for use in childhood epilepsy
• Epilepsy • Feb 18 05
UCB Pharma Inc has been granted a priority review for the supplemental new drug application (sNDA) seeking approval of its leading anti-epilepsy drug (AED)…
Irritable Bowels?
• Bowel Problems • Feb 18 05
If you’re among the one in five Americans who suffers from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), you know how discomforting it can be. Sometimes it’s…
Gene ‘signature’ may predict breast cancer relapse
• Cancer: Breast • Feb 18 05
Scientists have discovered a genetic marker that may predict which breast cancer patients are at high risk of recurrence, potentially saving many women…
Social Security, Medicare not in crisis - Greenspan
• Public Health • Feb 17 05
Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said on Thursday he deliberately avoids using the term “crisis” to describe the problems facing Social Security and Medicare…
Violent video games spark rising debate on bans
• Psychiatry / Psychology • Feb 17 05
California legislators are considering making sales of violent video games to minors illegal, joining a national debate about whether the industry should be left…
Writing out feelings helps, but not for asthma
• Asthma • Feb 17 05
Although expressing ones emotions through writing has numerous documented health benefits, it appears to do little to ease asthma, new study findings show.
This…
Alzheimer-risk gene makes brain work harder
• Neurology • Feb 17 05
Mental tasks take an extra effort for healthy non-demented older adults with a genetic variation called APOE-e4, which has been linked to an increased…
Spain doctor rebuilds penises cut off for AIDS cure
• AIDS/HIV • Feb 17 05
Two Kenyan boys whose penises were cut off to be sold for making anti-AIDS potions have had them reconstructed in Spain, the doctor treating…
Women laid off job may run risk of heart disease
• Heart • Feb 17 05
Getting fired or laid off from work may not only be bad for your wallet, but also be bad for your health.
A study…
Drug for agitation can worsen dementia
• Psychiatry / Psychology • Feb 17 05
The antipsychotic drug Seroquel does not relieve agitation in elderly demented patients, and is actually associated with more rapid mental decline, investigators report.
Antipsychotic…
Parents see pros, cons to notification laws
• Children's Health • Feb 17 05
Many parents hold mixed views on laws that would require parental notification when teens get a prescription for birth control, according to a new…
Canadian beef entered U.S. due to lax oversight -USDA
• Food & Nutrition • Feb 17 05
Lax oversight by the U.S. Agriculture Department and confused food safety inspectors were to blame for imports of 42,000 pounds of Canadian beef products…
Remicade doesn’t change cholesterol ratio
• Arthritis • Feb 17 05
The arthritis drug Remicade is known to lower the risk of heart disease, but apparently it doesn’t do so by improving cholesterol profiles.
Researchers…
Scientist sees risk in high Celebrex doses
• Pain • Feb 17 05
Pfizer Inc.‘s pain drug Celebrex has a “probable increased risk” of heart attacks in higher doses but “no apparent effect” in 200 milligram doses…
Polish health minister to stay on despite setback
• Public Health • Feb 17 05
Poland’s health minister said on Thursday that Prime Minister Marek Belka had declined his offer to step down after parliament rejected his health sector…
New flu strain picked for flu vaccine mix
• Drug News • Feb 17 05
A new strain of flu virus called “A California” will be added to the mix used in the U.S. vaccine for next season,…
Natural disaster death toll jumps to 320,000 in ‘04
• Public Health • Feb 17 05
The Indian Ocean tsunami has caused the annual death toll from natural disasters to soar to 320,000 worldwide, more than four times the toll…
Private plans should set drug prices - Medicare
• Public Health • Feb 17 05
As some lawmakers clamor for letting Medicare directly negotiate drug prices, Medicare’s chief said on Wednesday that the health program for the elderly could…
TB prevention among homeless faces hurdles
• Infections • Feb 17 05
A recent outbreak of tuberculosis among homeless people in New York highlights the difficulty in tracing cases when they’re handled by different jurisdictions, according…
Vietnam to slaughter poultry in big cities
• Public Health • Feb 17 05
Vietnam may slaughter poultry in its big cities to prevent the bird flu virus adding to the toll of 13 people it has…
Prostate cancer vaccine helps patients live longer
• Cancer: Prostate • Feb 17 05
A prostate cancer “vaccine” made by Dendreon Corp. can help patients with severe, advanced disease live a little bit longer, U.S. researchers reported…
New prostate cancer treatment promising
• Cancer: Prostate • Feb 17 05
Doctors are reporting their first success at improving survival in men with advanced prostate cancer by using a treatment that trains the immune system…