HPV vaccine cut infection by half in teen girls
ATLANTA (AP) — A vaccine against a cervical cancer virus cut infections in teen girls by half in the first study to measure the shot's impact since it came on the market. The results impressed health experts and a top government top health official called them striking.
LONDON (AP) — A mysterious new respiratory virus that originated in the Middle East spreads easily between people and appears more deadly than SARS, doctors reported Wednesday after investigating the biggest outbreak in Saudi Arabia.
Study: Wiser medication use could cut health costs
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — If doctors and patients used prescription drugs more wisely, they could save the U.S. health care system at least $213 billion a year, by reducing medication overuse, underuse and other flaws in care that cause complications and longer, more-expensive treatments, researchers conclude.
LONDON (Reuters) - GlaxoSmithKline is investing 17.5 million euros ($23.5 million) in a new venture fund to invest in drugs for rare diseases, underscoring the growing role of big drugmakers in backing start-up companies. GSK and many of its rivals are becoming more active in funding early-stage companies, reflecting both a desire to tap into smart ideas from outside their own laboratories and a scarcity of finance from many traditional venture capital firms. ...
By Yasmeen Abutaleb WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Four in 10 U.S. adults are now caring for a sick or elderly family member as more people develop chronic illnesses and the population ages, a new study has found. "More health care is happening at home," said Susannah Fox, associate director of the Pew Research Center's Internet and American Life project and the study's lead author. "As more people are able to be saved by medical advances, their lives are being extended, but they're also being sent home medically fragile. It's caregivers who are the first line of defense. ...
Virus sickens 200 at Yellowstone, Grand Teton parks
By Laura Zuckerman (Reuters) - Two of America's premier national parks, Yellowstone and Grand Teton, warned visitors on Wednesday about a gastrointestinal illness that has sickened at least 200 people at the start of the summer tourist season. The rare health advisory, tied to a suspected outbreak of the highly contagious norovirus, comes in the early weeks of a season that drew about 6 million people to the parks last year. ...
Boston poised to begin condom giveaway in high schools
By Stephanie Simon (Reuters) - Students at all Boston public high schools will soon be able to obtain free condoms at school - as long as they sit through a few minutes of counseling about safe sex - under a policy approved Wednesday by the school board. Condoms are already available in 19 high schools with on-site health centers. The policy, endorsed on a 5-0 vote by the Boston School Committee, expands distribution to all 32 high schools and their 17,000 students. Parents will have the right to exempt their children. Several U.S. ...
Officials: Urban Outfitters pulls pill glasses
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Retailer Urban Outfitters Inc. has responded to a multi-state campaign and stopped selling flasks, shot glasses and pint glasses that look like prescription pill bottles, political leaders in drug-plagued Kentucky said Wednesday.
U.S. doctors target sugary drinks bought by government
By Madeline Will NEW YORK (Reuters) - The American Medical Association joined the effort to discourage consumption of sugary drinks on Wednesday with a pledge to work to get them off U.S. government food aid programs for the poor. The nation's largest physician group said removing the sugary beverages from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program would help reduce weight-related health problems. "The AMA is working to improve the nation's health care outcomes, particularly cardiovascular disease and diabetes, which are often linked to obesity," said AMA President Dr. ...
Lawmakers float bill for Medicare to cover obesity treatment
By Yasmeen Abutaleb WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A day after the American Medical Association classified obesity as a disease, U.S. lawmakers introduced bipartisan bills in the Senate and House of Representatives that would require Medicare to cover more obesity treatment costs. ...
By Kate Kelland LONDON (Reuters) - The new Middle East coronavirus that has killed 38 people after emerging late last year is a serious risk in hospitals because it is easily transmitted in healthcare environments, infectious disease experts said on Wednesday. In a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the researchers said the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS)was not only easily transmitted from patient to patient, but also from the transfer of sick patients to other hospitals. ...
Nowhere to hide from diarrhea-causing bacteria: study
By Andrew M. Seaman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Otherwise healthy people with a diarrhea-causing infection may have picked up the bacteria in doctors' offices or other healthcare sites, according to a new government study that also hints heartburn medications might increase the risk. Researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that about 82 percent of Clostridium difficile, or C. diff, cases in healthy people occurred after visiting healthcare settings - like doctors' offices and emergency rooms. "I think people should be aware of the source," said Dr. ...
Researchers Find Possible Biological Basis for Fibromyalgia
Researchers have discovered a potential biological basis for fibromyalgia in patients' skin. Current treatment uses medications that act solely within the brain. It brings varying degrees of relief.
Exclusive: Forest mulls bid for Irish drugmaker Elan - sources
By Jessica Toonkel and Soyoung Kim NEW YORK (Reuters) - Forest Laboratories Inc, the specialty drugmaker that counts investor Carl Icahn as a major shareholder, is among a handful of companies interested in bidding for Irish drugmaker Elan Corp Plc, two people familiar with the situation said. Elan, which has a market capitalization of nearly $7 billion, put itself up for sale last week in an effort to fend off a hostile offer from U.S. investment firm Royalty Pharma. Forest is among several mid-sized drugmakers considering an offer for Elan, the people said on Wednesday. ...
Metabolic syndrome has declined, some risks persist
By Genevra Pittman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Compared to a decade ago, fewer Americans have a cluster of risk factors that together can signal heart troubles and diabetes down the line, according to a new study. But while so-called metabolic syndrome is declining, some of its components - including large waistlines and poor blood sugar control, which carry their own risks - are becoming more common, researchers found. ...
Vermont police arrest 33 in cocaine, heroin sweep
BOSTON (Reuters) - Vermont police arrested 33 people on drug charges on Wednesday in a sweep aimed at tackling the state's growing heroin and cocaine problem, according to the state police. The operation followed a six-month investigation by the police drug task force of rising drugs flows into the Green Mountain State from cities such as New York and Boston. The sweep included house searches and seizures in Springfield and Ludlow. Officials have not said how many drugs, money or material was discovered in the searches. ...
Prostate cancer treatment tied to hernia risk
By Kerry Grens NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Prostate removal or radiation therapy to treat cancer is tied to two- to four-fold higher than usual risk of later having a hernia repaired, according to a new study. It's not clear why hernia repairs are more common among these men. There might be tissue damage caused by the cancer treatment, or perhaps doctors are finding hernias that might otherwise go undetected, said Dr. Stephen Pautler, a urologist at St. Joseph's Health Care in London, Ontario, Canada. "You're looking for this in this population," said Pautler, who was not part of the study. ...
Pass the Potato Salad, Hold the Germs
ABC News Medical Unit’s Dr. Ana Nobis reports: Sharing a meal with family or friends can be such a pleasure but not when uninvited germs, viruses and parasites crash the party. About one in six Americans get sick each year from eating contaminated food, according...
By David Morgan and Caroline Humer (Reuters) - New health insurance exchanges being set up by the federal government in more than 30 states under President Barack Obama's 2010 healthcare overhaul could miss an October 1 deadline for open enrollment, a government report said on Wednesday. The launch of the exchanges, or marketplaces, which are expected to provide federally subsidized health coverage for 7 million people in 2014 and 22 million by 2016, could determine whether Obama's signature domestic policy achievement succeeds. ...
By Nick Carey CHICAGO (Reuters) - In order to fight what it described as an "obesity epidemic," the American Medical Association voted on Tuesday to recognize obesity as a disease and recommended a number of measures to fight it. The association voted on the measure at its annual meeting in Chicago. The AMA noted that obesity rates in the United States have "doubled among adults in the last twenty years and tripled among children in a single generation" and that the World Health Organization, the U.S. ...
Cervical cancer vaccines cut rates of HPV infections: U.S
CHICAGO (Reuters) - The U.S. introduction of a vaccine to prevent cervical cancer in 2006 has reduced infections with the human papillomavirus or HPV - the sexually transmitted virus that causes the disease - by more than half among girls and young women, U.S. health officials said on Wednesday. The results were better than expected and may even suggest that unvaccinated individuals are benefiting because of a drop in the number of infections circulating, the team reported in the Journal of Infectious Diseases. ...
HPV Shots Working Despite Dismal Use
Vaccines against the cancer-causing human papillomavirus appear to be working better than expected in the U.S., given the country’s dismal vaccination rates, according to a new study from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The HPV infection rate among girls between the ages...
HPV Shots Working Despite Limited Use
Vaccines against the cancer-causing human papillomavirus appear to be working better than expected in the U.S., given the country’s dismal vaccination rates, according to a new study from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The HPV infection rate among girls between the ages...
HPV Vaccines Working Despite Limited Use
Vaccines against the cancer-causing human papillomavirus appear to be working better than expected in the U.S., given the country’s dismal vaccination rates, according to a new study from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The HPV infection rate among girls between the ages...
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, will give birth to the future heir to the British throne in the same hospital where the late Princess Diana gave birth to Princes William and Harry, royal sources said on Wednesday. The new royal baby, who will become third in line to the throne behind grandfather Prince Charles and father Prince William, will be born in the private Lindo wing of St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, West London. The sources said the royal couple have still not been told the sex of the baby which is due next month as they want it to be a surprise. ...
LONDON (Reuters) - The Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, will give birth to the future heir to the British throne in the same hospital where the late Princess Diana gave birth to Princes William and Harry, royal sources said on Wednesday. The new royal baby, who will become third in line to the throne behind grandfather Prince Charles and father Prince William, will be born in the private Lindo wing of St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, West London. The sources said the royal couple have still not been told the sex of the baby which is due next month as they want it to be a surprise. ...
Niche drugmaker ViroPharma attracts takeover interest: sources
By Jessica Toonkel NEW YORK (Reuters) - ViroPharma Inc, a drug maker specializing in rare diseases, is attracting preliminary acquisition interest from several pharmaceutical companies, according to three people familiar with the matter. No deal is imminent for the "orphan" drugmaker, which has a market capitalization of $1.8 billion, said two of the sources, who requested anonymity because they are not permitted to speak to the media. ...
How Money Makes You Lie and Cheat
Money corrupts, they say, and now there’s a study that shows why people get so sneaky when it comes to making a profit.
New Hampshire nears approval of medical marijuana law
By Jason McLure LITTLETON, New Hampshire (Reuters) - New Hampshire is set to become the final state in New England to allow medical marijuana after negotiators from the Republican-controlled Senate and Democratic-controlled House agreed Tuesday on a bill backed by Governor Maggie Hassan. The law would allow up to four marijuana dispensaries to open as soon as 2015. Patients with cancer, HIV, glaucoma and other diseases would be eligible to purchase the drug with state-issued identity cards from a physician or nurse practitioner certifying that they need it to soothe pain. ...
Beetles, housefly larvae open new frontier in animal feed sector
By Axelle du Crest and Valerie Parent PARIS (Reuters) - French start-up company Ynsect has identified a cheap, nourishing and locally sourced alternative to soybeans as a vital source of protein in animal feed. The clue is in its name. Ynsect is not alone in looking to invertebrates to meet a jump in demand for meat and fish, and so for feed, in coming decades. Black soldier flies, common housefly larvae, silkworms and yellow mealworms were named as among the most promising species for industrial feed output in a report last month by the FAO, the United Nations food agency. ...
