U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of Gardasil (human papillomavirus vaccine) has been widened to include prevention of anal cancer and associated precancerous lesions, the agency said in a news release. As quoted from usatoday.com According to stockbling.com, Merck & Co., Inc. NYSE:MRK happily announced on 22nd of December that the US Food and Drug [...]
Flu activity is on the rise in Britain, where it has killed 27 people since October, say health officials tracking increases across Europe. As quoted from cbc.ca The number of people seriously ill in hospital with flu has risen 50% in the past three days, figures show. Department of Health data from Thursday showed that [...]
Breastfeeding babies for longer than six months may give them a brain boost that lasts well into their school years, a new study suggests, and this benefit may be particularly important for boys. Wrote by webmd.com The study, which was published Monday in the journal Pediatrics, found that 10-year-olds who were breastfed for longer than [...]
Hexavalent chromium, a cancer-causing chemical, is found in the tap water of 31 cities out of a total of 35 tested by the Environmental Working Group (EWG). Reported by news.xinhuanet.com The chemical was detected when EWG researchers made the first nationwide analysis of hexavalent chromium in tap water in the U.S., according to USA Today. [...]
One of the largest studies to date says echinacea doesn’t have much effect on people trying to get over the common cold. By Associated Press on latimes.com The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine lists studies that also find echinacea ineffective in fighting colds. This Los Angeles Times story profiles another study with the [...]
One of every 200 hospital patients taking acid-suppressing meds will develop pneumonia, study finds. Wrote by businessweek.com Popular heartburn drugs, including proton pump inhibitors and histamine-2 receptor antagonists, may raise the risk of pneumonia, new research finds. Researchers in Korea analyzed the results of 31 studies on heartburn drugs published between 1985 and 2009. “Our [...]
The World Health Organisation (WHO) Wednesday said that HIV/AIDS is still a serious public health problem, although Southeast Asian countries were witnessing a downward trend in new HIV cases. timesofindia.indiatimes.com That the president also signed a proclamation that read in part: On this World AIDS Day, as we approach the thirtieth year of the HIV/AIDS [...]
Being too fat can shorten your life, but being too skinny may cut longevity as well, a new study suggests. Wrote by businessweek.com According to the associated press, that obesity increases the risk of death from heart disease, stroke and certain cancers. But whether being merely overweight contributes to an early death as well has [...]
Dosing directions for children’s over-the-counter medication are misleading and hard for parents to understand, according to a study from the New York University School of Medicine. As quoted from abcnews.go.com The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has declared safe and effective use of both over-the-counter and prescription medications a high priority because studies show considerable [...]
Merck & Co reportedly decided on Monday to stop testing its HIV drug Isentress after preliminary trial results showed the treatment was not as effective as the standard treatment or control treatment. The study was intended to compare a once-daily dose of Isentress with a twice-daily dose of the same drug for its efficacy. Merck [...]
With obesity rates among children doubling in the past two decades, more and more parents are putting their babies on diets, doctors say on abcnews.go.com According to healthland.time.com, that one in 10 U.S. children under the age of 2 is overweight, an alarming statistic that has doubled over the past two decades. But while childhood [...]
The Senate passed the largest overhaul of the U.S. food safety system in decades on Tuesday, a response to massive recalls such as last summer’s recall of half a billion eggs in a salmonella outbreak. Wrote by reuters.com “I urge the House — which has previously passed legislation demonstrating its strong commitment to making our [...]
Not only does extra weight around the middle increase a woman’s risk of heart disease and diabetes, new research suggests it also ups a woman’s risk of developing osteoporosis. As quoted from HealthDay News on businessweek.com The study’s lead author, Dr. Miriam Bredella, a radiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital and an assistant professor of radiology [...]