San Francisco bars smoking in its parks
• Tobacco & Marijuana • Jan 26 05
Legislators in San Francisco city voted to ban smoking in public parks on Tuesday, becoming the first major American city to embrace such an…
Leavitt set for confirmation in US health post
• Public Health • Jan 26 05
President Bush’s choice to be Secretary of Health and Human Services, Mike Leavitt, is set to get swift Senate confirmation as early as Wednesday…
U.S. challenges tobacco executive over addiction
• Tobacco & Marijuana • Jan 26 05
The nicotine in cigarettes is habit-forming but is not the sole cause of addiction, a tobacco company executive argued during testimony on Tuesday in…
Fearing bird flu, HK stocks up on drug Tamiflu
• Flu • Jan 26 05
Health authorities in Hong Kong want to double their stocks of Tamiflu, a drug known to be effective in fighting deadly bird flu, which…
Poor health, murders fuel Russia population crisis
• Public Health • Jan 26 05
A tiny birthrate, alcoholism, smoking and lethal violence meant the number of Russians who died in 2004 outstripped the number born at a pace…
US asbestos bill debut delayed by silica issue
• Public Health • Jan 26 05
The chief sponsor of a measure to compensate asbestos victims said on Tuesday its introduction had been delayed for a week while senators discuss…
Booster seats not getting used, study finds
• Children's Health • Jan 26 05
Just 40 percent of children aged 4 to 8 use car safety seats or booster seats at least occasionally - meaning that most children…
Economic woes accelerate Medicaid spending
• Public Health • Jan 26 05
Medicaid spending grew about one-third from 2000 to 2003 as job losses and other economic woes made more people eligible for the government-run health…
What to tell the kids? Sperm donation couples fret
• Psychiatry / Psychology • Jan 26 05
Fear of rejection and concerns about the reaction of the child prevent many parents from telling their children they have been conceived with donated…
Sibling contact early in life reduces MS risk
• Neurology • Jan 25 05
Close contact with younger siblings during the first few years of childhood seems to reduce the risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS) in adulthood,…
Spurn tobacco cash, health groups urge states
• Tobacco & Marijuana • Jan 25 05
Five health and anti-smoking groups urged state lawmakers to turn down an offer of $1.1 million for youth programs from the maker of…
California fights anti-abortion law
• Public Health • Jan 25 05
California state officials filed a lawsuit on Tuesday to block a new U.S. rule that limits federal funds to states that provide access to…
Stem cell therapy improves heart failure
• Heart • Jan 25 05
Patients with heart failure experienced a marked improvement after being given an injection of their own stem cells, investigators reported today at the Annual…
Leaflet helps men make it to infertility clinic
• Gender: Male • Jan 25 05
Not knowing what to expect and fearing the worst, men scheduled to visit an infertility clinic will sometimes cancel their appointment. However, new research…
Study shows many alcoholics recover
• Tobacco & Marijuana • Jan 25 05
Many people with alcohol dependence are able to recover completely, sometimes without formal treatment. Some may even be able to drink occasionally without relapsing,…
Cholera outbreak kills 23 in eastern Congo
• Infections • Jan 25 05
An outbreak of cholera has killed 23 people in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo over the past three weeks and infected more than 850…
Heart-repair kids benefit from aerobic exercise
• Heart • Jan 25 05
Aerobic exercise training improves cardiovascular fitness in children who have undergone surgical repair of a congenital heart defect, according to a team of Italian…
Some Lyme disease Web sites misinform - study
• Public Health • Jan 25 05
People who turn to the Internet with questions about Lyme disease may come away with as many wrong answers as right ones, a study…
Warfarin plus painkiller ups gastric bleeding risk
• Drug Abuse • Jan 25 05
People taking the blood-thinner warfarin and a COX-2 type of painkiller are at heightened risk of upper gastrointestinal bleeding, a population-based study indicates.
The…
Scientists give more evidence of Vioxx heart risks
• Drug Abuse • Jan 25 05
Vioxx, the painkiller recalled last September because of safety concerns, may have caused up to 140,000 cases of serious heart disease in the United…
Tobacco exec challenged about key stance in trial
• Tobacco & Marijuana • Jan 25 05
The departing executive chairman of Reynolds American Inc. refused to concede that cigarette smoking causes disease during testimony on Monday in the government’s $280…
UN seeks drugs, prevention to curb AIDS in Africa
• AIDS/HIV • Jan 25 05
The United Nations is pressing African countries to accelerate a campaign of prevention and treatment to curb the spread of AIDS, which is draining…
Disease outbreak still risk in Indonesia’s Aceh - WHO
• Infections • Jan 25 05
Survivors of last month’s quake and tsunami in Indonesia still face the risk of deadly disease outbreaks such as cholera, but epidemics could…
Gates leads $1 bln cash boost for kids’ vaccines
• Public Health • Jan 25 05
A campaign to get life-saving vaccines to millions of children in poor countries received a $1 billion cash boost from Microsoft Corp. founder…
Asthma inhaler ‘step-down’ may be unnecessary
• Asthma • Jan 25 05
Starting people with moderate asthma on a high dose of the inhaled steroid fluticasone and then stepping down to a low dose is no…