Today's Reuters Health News Headlines - Yahoo! News:
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Weight Watchers sees bleak FY as consumer spending slows
Wed,1 Aug 2012 06:25 PM PDT
Reuters - (Reuters) - Weight Watchers International Inc slashed its full-year profit forecast after its second-quarter sales were hurt by a drop in the number of people attending its meetings. Weight Watchers shares fell as much as 15 percent to $41.62 in after-market trade on Wednesday, after closing at $48.79 on the New York Stock Exchange. The company said it has been experiencing weakness in business trends since June and is cautious about the second half of the year in light of difficult macroeconomic trends. ... Full Story | Top |
U.S. appeals court blocks Arizona's new late-term abortion ban
Wed,1 Aug 2012 06:24 PM PDT
Reuters - PHOENIX (Reuters) - A federal appeals court blocked Arizona on Wednesday from enforcing a new state ban on most late-term abortions that opponents say is the toughest in the nation, and agreed to an expedited review of the controversial measure. A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued the injunction two days after a federal judge upheld the ban and threw out a lawsuit brought against the Republican-backed law, which was due to go into effect on Thursday. ... Full Story | Top |
U.S. rule highlights Catholic tensions over contraception
Wed,1 Aug 2012 04:25 PM PDT
Reuters -  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New rules requiring free access to prescription birth control for women with health insurance go into effect on Wednesday, but controversy lingers at some Catholic institutions struggling to balance the requirement with their opposition to contraception. At Georgetown University, the nation's oldest Catholic university, students and administration officials are still wrestling with the requirement to cover contraceptives as part of larger effort to expand no-cost preventive care for women. The requirement exempts churches and gives religious groups a one-year reprieve. ...
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Halozyme shares dive after FDA asks for more drug data
Wed,1 Aug 2012 02:59 PM PDT
Reuters - (Reuters) - Regulators have asked for additional animal test data before considering Halozyme Therapeutics Inc's application for an injected version of Baxter International Inc's treatment for immune deficiency disorders. News of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's "complete response letter" sent shares of Halozyme down 56 percent. Shares of Baxter, which said it plans to amend the drug application, were off by less than 1 percent. The FDA said patients should no longer be dosed with the experimental immunodeficiency drug, known as HyQ. ... Full Story | Top |
Democrats, Republicans offer rival views to control health costs
Wed,1 Aug 2012 02:21 PM PDT
Reuters -  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats and Republicans agree that the next U.S. president will have to contend with rising healthcare costs that pose a growing, destabilizing burden for families, employers and government budgets. But two articles published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Wednesday show how far apart each side stands on the question of what to do, ahead of a November election showdown between President Barack Obama and presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney. Twenty-three co-authors led by former Obama health adviser Dr. ...
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Caffeine may provide some Parkinson's relief
Wed,1 Aug 2012 01:10 PM PDT
Reuters -  NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A new, small study found people with Parkinson's disease who took caffeine pills saw slight but noticeable improvements in movement problems related to the condition. The findings warrant further study, Canadian researchers said. And there are still questions - such as if patients would develop a caffeine tolerance, eventually blunting the benefits of coffee or caffeine pills. "It's a bit too early to say, 'Everybody should be drinking coffee,'" said lead researcher Dr. Ronald Postuma, from McGill University in Montreal. ...
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Exercise, meds both help depressed heart patients
Wed,1 Aug 2012 12:37 PM PDT
Reuters -  NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People with heart disease who are also depressed may get as much relief from their depression symptoms with regular exercise as with medication, a new study suggests. Researchers found that of 101 heart patients with signs of depression, those who exercised for 90 minutes per week and those who started taking Zoloft both improved significantly compared to participants assigned to drug-free placebo pills. Pfizer supplied the Zoloft (known generically as sertraline) and placebos for the study, but researchers said the company was not involved with any other part of ...
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Canada's Catamaran on the prowl again
Wed,1 Aug 2012 10:46 AM PDT
Reuters - (Reuters) - Catamaran Corp , the pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) formerly known as SXC Health Solutions, said acquisitions have helped expand its customer base and that it could look for more targets in the near term. The company has bought rival Catalyst Health Solutions for $4.4 billion and PBM services company HealthTran LLC for $250 million in the last year, boosting its sales and prompting it to raise its revenue forecast for 2012. ... Full Story | Top |
Scientists skeptical as athletes get all taped up
Wed,1 Aug 2012 10:16 AM PDT
Reuters -  LONDON (Reuters) - German beach volleyball player Ilka Semmler wears it on her buttocks - in pink. Swedish handball player Johanna Wiberg prefers it in blue from her knee to her groin. British sprinter Dwain Chambers has even worn it with a Union Jack design. Athletic tape made in every color under the sun seems to be the latest must-have sports injury treatment at London 2012, where athletes may have been influenced by other big name tape fans such as Serena Williams and David Beckham. ...
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New York urges new mothers to breastfeed babies
Wed,1 Aug 2012 10:08 AM PDT
Reuters -  NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and state officials are pushing initiatives aimed at encouraging new mothers to breastfeed their babies, drawing criticism from some parents who say officials are interfering with their health choices. State health commissioners announced on Tuesday that letters highlighting the importance of breastfeeding were being sent to hospitals, reminding them of regulations limiting unnecessary formula feedings for breastfed newborns. ...
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Wife of heir to Tetra Pak fortune lay dead 2 months
Wed,1 Aug 2012 09:57 AM PDT
Reuters -  LONDON (Reuters) - The body of the American wife of one of Britain's richest men rotted for over two months before being found at their London home, a British court was told on Wednesday, in a case the judge said showed the "utterly destructive effects" of drug abuse. Eva Rausing's husband Hans, heir to a fortune from the Swedish packaging firm Tetra Pak, was given a suspended 10-month jail sentence by the west London court for preventing the "lawful and decent" burial of his 48-year-old wife. ...
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Gout risk goes up as waistline expands
Wed,1 Aug 2012 09:55 AM PDT
Reuters - NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The heavier you are, the greater your odds of getting the painful arthritic condition gout - no matter your gender or race, a new U.S. study finds. Obesity has long been considered a risk factor for gout. But the new findings confirm that the risk starts climbing when people are merely overweight - and that more Americans are developing the condition these days. ... Full Story | Top |
Anti-doping lab to become research centre
Wed,1 Aug 2012 09:53 AM PDT
Reuters - LONDON (Reuters) - The anti-doping laboratory being used to test athletes at the London Olympics is to be developed after the Games into what officials say will be a world-class research facility that could help revolutionize healthcare. The lab was provided and equipped by British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline to carry out more than 6,000 drug tests during the London Olympic and Paralympic Games. It is to become a so-called Phenome Centre for scientists seeking to develop better and more targeted medical treatments. ... Full Story | Top |
Ancient dopers got their kicks from raw testicles
Wed,1 Aug 2012 08:51 AM PDT
Reuters - LONDON (Reuters) - Forget anabolic steroids in easy-to-swallow tablets, or EPO in clean syringes. Ancient Olympic dopers got their pre-Games hormone boost from chewing on raw animal testicles. The problem of some Olympic competitors taking potions, medicines and supplements to boost performance is as old as the Games themselves. Even athletes of the 19th century thought nothing of fortifying themselves with coca leaves, cocaine and alcohol. ... Full Story | Top |
Uganda's Ebola toll climbs to 16, officials say fears lessen
Wed,1 Aug 2012 08:49 AM PDT
Reuters -  KAMPALA (Reuters) - The death toll from an Ebola outbreak in western Uganda has risen to 16 after two more people died of the disease, health officials said on Wednesday, but they are hopeful that the worst has passed. Eighteen people are in an isolation ward at a hospital in Kibaale district, where the outbreak started, and teams of health workers are visiting villages to isolate people possibly infected and to advise others on preventive measures. ...
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