Today's Reuters Health News Headlines - Yahoo! News:
|
|
Czechs ease alcohol ban, hunt for deadly booze goes on
Wed,26 Sep 2012 02:09 PM PDT
Reuters -  PRAGUE/BUDISOV (Reuters) - The Czech government agreed on Wednesday to ease a ban on the sale and export of spirits after police found the source behind the spread of deadly bootleg booze that has killed 26 people. The state banned the sale of hard liquor on September 14, a tough step in one of the world's hardest-drinking nations and a popular party destination for Britons and other Europeans. Exports were stopped last week under EU pressure. ...
Full Story | Top |
Warnings to at-risk drivers reduce vehicle crashes
Wed,26 Sep 2012 02:04 PM PDT
Reuters - NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A system where doctors routinely reported drivers who might be impaired by chronic illness cut the risk of car crashes by 45 percent in a new study from Ontario, Canada. That includes people with alcoholism, epilepsy or uncontrolled high blood pressure, researchers said. But one downside, the study found, is that people were less likely to go back to doctors who had given them a medical warning and reported it to the government. Nonetheless, lead researcher Dr. ... Full Story | Top |
Biogen's hemophilia drug meets late-stage trial goal
Wed,26 Sep 2012 01:40 PM PDT
Reuters - (Reuters) - Biogen Idec Inc said on Wednesday its experimental treatment for patients with hemophilia B, a rare inherited blood disorder that impairs coagulation, met the main goal of controlling bleeding in a late-stage trial. A single injection of the long-lasting clotting factor, being developed in partnership with Swedish Orphan Biovitrum, controlled bleeding in 90.4 percent of all episodes. Biogen, which makes the multiple sclerosis drugs Avonex and Tysabri, said it plans to submit an approval application for the hemophilia drug to the U.S. ... Full Story | Top |
Another 400 West Nile cases reported in U.S. in past week: CDC
Wed,26 Sep 2012 01:36 PM PDT
Reuters -  (Reuters) - More than 400 new U.S. cases of West Nile virus emerged in the last week, in an outbreak that remains the second worst on record but has begun to show signs of slowing. So far this year, 3,545 cases have been reported to federal health officials as of September 25, up from 3,142 reported the week before, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in its weekly update of outbreak data. That marked a rise of nearly 13 percent, down considerably from a 30 percent weekly jump witnessed earlier this month. About 38 percent of all cases have been reported in Texas. ...
Full Story | Top |
More Americans getting pacemakers
Wed,26 Sep 2012 01:08 PM PDT
Reuters - NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The number of Americans getting pacemakers implanted has risen in the past two decades - and the recipients are increasingly older and sicker, a new study finds. In 1993, there were about 121,300 pacemaker implantations in the U.S. By 2009, that number was 188,700 - a 56-percent increase. Most of the increase happened in the 1990s, researchers report in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Pacemaker implantations hit a peak in 2001, and have since leveled off. ... Full Story | Top |
Texas seeks to learn lessons from West Nile virus "disaster"
Wed,26 Sep 2012 12:17 PM PDT
Reuters - DALLAS (Reuters) - When Dr. Robert Haley spotted a dead blue jay lying in his neighbor's driveway early this summer he became suspicious. When he saw another blue jay dead in the birdbath at his Dallas home the next morning, he knew it was a bad omen of disease. What he could not predict at the time was that the bird corpses heralded one of the worst U.S. outbreaks of West Nile virus on record, with nearly 40 percent of cases in Texas alone. "It's unusual to see dead birds lying in the open," said Haley, chief of epidemiology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. ... Full Story | Top |
Doctors don't always address high blood pressure
Wed,26 Sep 2012 12:07 PM PDT
Reuters - NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Doctors sometimes miss the opportunity to better control their patients' high blood pressure, according to a new study. Researchers found that of 7,153 people with uncontrolled high blood pressure participating in a U.S. survey, only about 20 percent were prescribed new medications during doctors' visits. High blood pressure is a reading of 140/90 and above. Uncontrolled high blood pressure has been linked to - among other things - heart attacks, strokes and aneurysms. "It's a missed opportunity, and we're not trying to blame the doctor," said Dr. ... Full Story | Top |
Swiss parliament rejects tighter controls on assisted suicide
Wed,26 Sep 2012 11:25 AM PDT
Reuters -  ZURICH (Reuters) - Switzerland's parliament voted against a bid to toughen controls on assisted suicide on Wednesday, rejecting concerns about foreigners travelling to the country to die. Members of the lower house of parliament voted against changing the code, arguing self-regulation by right-to-die organizations such as Exit and Dignitas worked and the liberal rules protected individual freedoms. "One should regulate oversight of assisted suicide organizations. ...
Full Story | Top |
Yosemite hantavirus outbreak may offer clues to rare disease
Wed,26 Sep 2012 11:16 AM PDT
Reuters -  SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California researchers and public health officials have launched what they describe as a groundbreaking series of studies of a rare mouse-borne virus that has infected at least nine Yosemite National Park visitors, killing three of them, since June. By using the 1,200-square-mile (3,100-square-km) park and its rodent and human populations as a giant natural laboratory, scientists hope to gain new insights into how hantavirus is transmitted, how varied it might be and why certain people seem more susceptible than others. ...
Full Story | Top |
Haiti PM says cholera outbreak under control
Wed,26 Sep 2012 11:07 AM PDT
Reuters -  UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A cholera epidemic in Haiti that has killed thousands and been blamed on U.N. peacekeepers was "regrettable" but has been brought under control, the prime minister of the poor Caribbean nation said at the United Nations on Wednesday. Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe met U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday, but he told Reuters they did not discuss accusations by some Haitians that Nepalese peacekeepers sparked the epidemic after camp latrines contaminated a river. ...
Full Story | Top |
Germany's top mail-order pharmacy files for insolvency
Wed,26 Sep 2012 11:06 AM PDT
Reuters - FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Sanicare, Germany's largest mail-order pharmacy, has filed for insolvency due to problems that have arisen following the recent death of its founder and head, the company said on Wednesday. A statement said the insolvency was for the mail-order pharmacy activities of the company and would not affect the rest of Sanicare's businesses, which include the online unit. ... Full Story | Top |
Texas soldier dead after attempted "scare" hiccups cure
Wed,26 Sep 2012 10:16 AM PDT
Reuters -  KILLEEN, Texas (Reuters) - A Fort Hood soldier who shot dead a fellow soldier in an ill-fated attempt to cure him of the hiccups has been charged with manslaughter, authorities said on Wednesday. The incident occurred when Private First Class Isaac Lawrence Young, 22, came down with a case of the hiccups while the soldiers were watching a football game on television Sunday night in Killeen, Texas, home to the military post. ...
Full Story | Top |
WHO issues guidance on new virus, gears up for haj
Wed,26 Sep 2012 09:29 AM PDT
Reuters -  GENEVA (Reuters) - The World Health Organization on Wednesday urged health workers everywhere to report patients with acute respiratory infection who may have been in Saudi Arabia or Qatar, following the discovery of a new virus from the same family as SARS. Saudi Arabia said it had taken precautions to prevent disease spreading next month, when it expects over 2 million Muslims to flock to the annual haj pilgrimage, then return home. ...
Full Story | Top |
Smokers fare worse after knee surgery
Wed,26 Sep 2012 09:22 AM PDT
Reuters - NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Smokers have worse outcomes after knee surgery than non-smokers, including less-complete healing and more surgical complications, according to a new analysis. Smoking has a profound effect on circulation, "so that means it even affects musculoskeletal healing," said Dr. Kurt Spindler, an orthopedic surgeon at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, who wasn't involved in the new research. Dr. ... Full Story | Top |
Cardiome says Merck pulls out of heart drug deal
Wed,26 Sep 2012 08:15 AM PDT
Reuters - (Reuters) - Cardiome Pharma Corp said its partner Merck & Co returned the global marketing and development rights for both versions of their heart drug, six months after dropping development of the oral version. "The market has been waiting for some clarity as to where this franchise is going and we thank Merck for providing that clarity," William Hunter, interim CEO of Cardiome, said on a conference call. Cardiome shares rose 22 percent to 44 Canadian cents on the Toronto Stock Exchange. ... Full Story | Top |
| |
|
No comments:
Post a Comment