Taiwan frets over record-low birth rate
• Public Health • Mar 04 05
Taiwan health worker Ma Pei-ching thought she had a tough job 20 years ago, going door-to-door handing out condoms and teaching couples about contraception.
…
Hanoi says first bird flu vaccine tests successful
• Flu • Mar 04 05
Initial tests of a bird flu vaccine on monkeys in Vietnam have been successful, medical officials said on Friday, adding than tests in humans…
Morocco says CJD death not linked to mad cow
• Infections • Mar 04 05
The death this week of a Moroccan who developed Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) has no link with mad cow disease, a government minister said on…
Up to 89 million more AIDS victims in Africa by 2025 - UN
• Public Health • Mar 04 05
A further 89 million people in Africa could be infected with HIV by 2025 in the continent’s biggest crisis since slavery, the United Nations…
Deaths from measles falling but gaps remain: U.N.
• Public Health • Mar 04 05
Deaths from measles are declining worldwide, but Nigeria, India and Pakistan need to step up immunization to beat the lethal virus, U.N. agencies said…
World’s women worse off in past decade: report
• Gender: Female • Mar 03 05
Life for many of the world’s women has become tougher in the decade since a global U.N. conference in Beijing agreed to push for…
Carnitine supplement helps sperm swim
• Gender: Male • Mar 03 05
Taking carnitine supplements seems to improve sperm mobility in men with poorly active sperm, a problem known as asthenozoospermia, Italian researchers report.
However, for…
U.S. Senate votes to block Canada cattle imports
• Public Health • Mar 03 05
The U.S. Senate voted to overturn a Bush administration plan on Thursday to allow imports of Canadian cattle, the second defeat in two days…
Inhaler option makes insulin more acceptable
• Diabetes • Mar 03 05
Giving patients who have type 2 diabetes, or adult-onset diabetes, the option of using an insulin inhaler may help them comply with insulin treatment…
Scientists find marker for early testicular cancer
• Cancer: Prostate • Mar 03 05
Danish scientists said on Thursday they had discovered a new method that could help to detect very early signs of Testicular cancer.
They…
Healthy lifestyle could reduce Alzheimer’s risk
• Neurology • Mar 03 05
Regular exercise and a healthy diet could go a long way to reducing the risk of developing Alzheimer’s Disease, a neurologist said on…
Young men with sleep apnea have higher risk of death
• Respiratory Problems • Mar 03 05
Most patients referred for evaluation of sleep apnea, a condition in which airways become blocked during sleep and breathing stops for brief periods,…
US rabbis can use tube to suck circumcision blood
• Children's Health • Mar 03 05
Rabbis should use a tube to suck blood from circumcision wounds rather than suck the blood directly with their mouths to protect infants and…
Program helps reduce teenagers’ risky driving
• Public Health • Mar 03 05
A program that has teenagers and parents sign driving “agreements” helps keep kids from driving under potentially hazardous conditions, according to the results…
Flu cases rise in US, peak may be ahead: CDC
• Flu • Mar 03 05
The number of Americans with influenza has jumped since January, suggesting the worst of the 2004-2005 flu season may be ahead, federal health officials…
World’s second oldest man dies at age 111
• Genetics • Mar 03 05
A German who was the world’s second oldest man and briefly believed to be the oldest man alive died on Wednesday at the age…
Women and children gang raped in Congo’s Ituri: MSF
• Public Health • Mar 03 05
Women and children are being gang raped in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo in what amounts to crimes against humanity, Medecins Sans Frontieres said…
Heart attack during pregnancy rare, but on the rise
• Pregnancy • Mar 03 05
Heart attack during pregnancy, labor or delivery occurs rarely, but the rate has increased in the last 10 years, according to a…
Brazil opens way for GMO crops, stem cell research
• Genetics • Mar 03 05
Brazil’s lower house passed in a final vote on Wednesday a Biosafety Law expected to clear the way for the sale of genetically modified…
U.S. Congress likely to proceed with Medicaid cuts
• Public Health • Mar 03 05
Budget leaders in the U.S. Congress say they are likely to follow the lead of President Bush and call for reductions in spending for…
Morocco may have first human mad cow death
• Infections • Mar 03 05
The Moroccan government said on Thursday it believes a man died of the human form of mad cow disease, which is suspected to be…
Romanian mental hospitals “inhuman”, says Amnesty
• Public Health • Mar 03 05
Human rights group Amnesty International condemned Romania on Thursday for inhuman conditions in its overcrowded psychiatric institutions, saying children and agitated patients are often…
Old pimple remedy: Using ‘Spot’ to cure spots
• Public Health • Mar 03 05
Take two puppies, cut off their heads and collect the blood, reads the 17th century instructions - not for some voodoo rite but to…
Simple measures could reduce infant deaths
• Childbirth • Mar 03 05
Four million newborns die worldwide each year, but three quarters of them could be easily saved, researchers report on Thursday.
Most of the deaths…
EU to test readiness for bird-flu triggered pandemic
• Public Health • Mar 03 05
The European Union executive will check whether member states are ready to fight a human pandemic sparked by bird flu, putting pressure on eight…