Today's Reuters Health News Headlines - Yahoo! News:
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Mothers cling to chubby ideal for toddlers: study
Mon,7 May 2012 03:09 PM PDT
Reuters -  CHICAGO (Reuters) - Mothers of overweight toddlers often mistakenly think their children are normal weight, and mothers of underweight toddlers often wish they were plumper, U.S. researchers said on Monday. The findings, based on a study of poor women in Baltimore, suggest that U.S. mothers often do not have a realistic idea of their offspring's weight, and many still cling to the notion that a chubby child is healthy child. "A long time ago, it was O.K. to value a chubby baby when kids were underweight and we had potato famines and what not. ...
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Talk to teens, young adults about sun safety: panel
Mon,7 May 2012 02:09 PM PDT
Reuters - NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - New recommendations from a government-backed panel call for primary care doctors to talk about the importance of wearing sunscreen and covering up on sunny days with their fair-skinned teenage and young adult patients. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force says there is "adequate evidence" that such counseling, which includes warning youth against increasingly-popular indoor tanning, can promote safe-sun behavior, with no serious potential harms. ... Full Story | Top |
Court reverses itself on veterans healthcare overhaul
Mon,7 May 2012 01:47 PM PDT
Reuters - (Reuters) - A federal appeals court has reversed a ruling that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs must overhaul how it cares for veterans with combat-related mental health care illnesses. By a 10-1 decision, a panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco said it could not conclude that the VA's treatment of veterans, which sometimes causes claims to remain unaddressed for several years, was unconstitutional. The panel said only Congress or the President had authority to direct changes to speed up how veterans are treated. ... Full Story | Top |
Study finds psychopaths have distinct brain structure
Mon,7 May 2012 01:35 PM PDT
Reuters -  LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists who scanned the brains of men convicted of murder, rape and violent assaults have found the strongest evidence yet that psychopaths have structural abnormalities in their brains. The researchers, based at King's College London's Institute of Psychiatry, said the differences in psychopaths' brains mark them out even from other violent criminals with anti-social personality disorders (ASPD), and from healthy non-offenders. ...
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Healthcare access to erode if law struck down: study
Mon,7 May 2012 01:05 PM PDT
Reuters -  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Most Americans have seen a decade-long erosion in access to medical services that is likely to continue if President Barack Obama's healthcare law is struck down by the Supreme Court or repealed in Congress, a study released on Monday shows. The study, one of a series on the fractured state of the $2.6 trillion U.S. healthcare system published in the May issue of the journal Health Affairs, says access to health care deteriorated for U.S. adults aged 19 to 64 between 2000 and 2010, even among those with private health insurance. ...
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One in eight teens misuses prescription painkillers
Mon,7 May 2012 01:03 PM PDT
Reuters - NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - One in eight older teens has used powerful painkillers when they weren't prescribed -- and many of them start misusing the medications earlier than was previously assumed, according to new research. The findings are based on two nationally-representative surveys that asked teenagers about their recent or lifetime use of prescription painkillers, which include drugs such as oxycontin and codeine. Both medical and recreational use of such opioid drugs has increased across the United States over the past couple of decades, as have deaths due to painkiller overdoses. ... Full Story | Top |
Consumer-directed health plans show mixed results
Mon,7 May 2012 01:01 PM PDT
Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Employer-sponsored health insurance plans with low premiums and high deductibles could cut healthcare costs significantly but not without potential risks for workers, according to a study published on Monday. A Rand Corporation study, published in the May issue of the journal Health Affairs, said so-called "consumer-directed" health plans would cut healthcare costs for the nonelderly by 4 percent, or $57 billion a year, if they accounted for half of all employer-sponsored health insurance. ... Full Story | Top |
Dog food salmonella recall expanded in U.S., Canada
Mon,7 May 2012 11:49 AM PDT
Reuters -  (Reuters) - Diamond Pet Foods has expanded a recall of its dry dog food, taking precautionary steps after several of its brands were linked to an outbreak of a rare strain of salmonella poisoning that infected at least 14 people in nine states. The company said it was now pulling a total of nine brands of its dry dog food from the shelves. In April, it began the recall by pulling three brands. The salmonella cases were found in humans who may have had contact with dogs or dog foods prior to their illness. ...
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Zinc may shorten common cold but side effects common
Mon,7 May 2012 09:58 AM PDT
Reuters - NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A new review of past studies suggests that taking zinc may cut the time adults have to suffer with a common cold, but the alternative treatment will likely come with unpleasant side effects. The benefits of zinc also appear to be modest, and don't extend to children. But they could add up considering there are about 62 million cases of the common cold in the United States every year that result in 22 million missed days of work, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health. For their review, published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, Dr. ... Full Story | Top |
FDA staff question Pfizer arthritis drug benefits
Mon,7 May 2012 07:16 AM PDT
Reuters -  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. drug reviewers on Monday questioned whether the benefits of Pfizer Inc's experimental treatment for rheumatoid arthritis outweighed its risks of cancerous cells and infections. The Food and Drug Administration staff said the drug, called tofacitinib, appeared to reduce swollen and tender joints during clinical trials. But the staff questioned the method of analyzing X-rays to prove the drug worked. Analysts see tofacitinib as a potential blockbuster medicine, with peak sales of $2 billion to $3 billion a year, if its benefits are deemed to outweigh its risks. ...
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Roche stops heart drug trial as data disappoints
Mon,7 May 2012 03:41 AM PDT
Reuters -  ZURICH (Reuters) - Swiss drugmaker Roche has ended efforts to develop a heart disease drug that according to some industry analysts could have achieved $10 billion annual sales, after poor results from a late stage trial. The Data and Safety Monitoring Board recommended stopping the trial due to a lack of meaningful efficacy of the drug, dalcetrapib, when added to existing standard of care in patients with stable coronary heart disease, Roche said on Monday. ...
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Smart fitness puts premium on the personal touch
Sun,6 May 2012 11:27 PM PDT
Reuters -  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Even in the vastness of the online fitness universe, it all comes down to the human touch on your touch screen. The latest, smartest devices and websites are enlisting online dating and gaming technology to forge real relationships in the virtual fitness world. "We sell the relationship between trainer and client," said Jeff Marinucci, president and CEO of InerTRAIN, an online personal training service launched in 2010. To unite clients with the personal trainer of their dreams, the Chicago-based company uses algorithms similar to those of Match. ...
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Libya leader has hernia surgery, recovering well
Sun,6 May 2012 10:41 PM PDT
Reuters -  BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - Libya's interim leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil said on Sunday he had undergone a hernia operation and a doctor at the hospital where he was treated said he was recovering well. "The doctors here agreed on what the doctors in Tripoli said - for an operation for this hernia," the chairman of the ruling National Transitional Council, looking tired and wearing a dressing gown, told reporters at the Benghazi hospital. "I had this operation, it took around an hour. My health situation is excellent. I don't have any other health problems. ...
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Novartis study positive for new acromegaly therapy
Sun,6 May 2012 10:28 PM PDT
Reuters -  ZURICH (Reuters) - Swiss drugmaker Novartis said on Monday study data showed a new therapy for people suffering from acromegaly, a rare disorder characterized by enlargement of the feet, hands and internal organs, was more effective than the treatment now commonly prescribed. "Results of the largest Phase III study of acromegaly patients show the novel therapy pasireotide long-acting release, was significantly more effective at inducing full biochemical control compared to the current standard medical therapy," the company said in a statement. (Reporting by Catherine Bosley)
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Insight: Training immune system to fight cancer comes of age
Sun,6 May 2012 10:15 PM PDT
Reuters -  NEW YORK (Reuters) - More than 100 years after researchers first explored the potential to harness the body's immune system to fight cancer, the field's leading doctors see the concept finally proving itself on a large scale in the next year or two. Two drugs based on immunotherapy are already available and have met with mixed results. ...
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