Diseases/Conditions News

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Though the use of fertility drugs does not seem to generally increase uterine cancer risk, a Danish study identified small increases in risk from certain fertility drugs used for longer duration.

TUESDAY, Nov. 24 (HealthDay News) -- Seniors who take antidepressants, sedatives and other psychotropic medications may be at increased risk for falls, a new review shows.

MONDAY, Nov. 23 (HealthDay News) -- Being depressed might take as many years off your life as smoking does, a new study suggests.

SHANGHAI - The virus that causes AIDS is now spreading fastest in China through heterosexual sex, a trend demanding new strategies to stave off a rebound in the epidemic after years of progress in containing it, a United Nations report said.

JOHANNESBURG (AFP) - Sub-Saharan Africa still has the world's highest number of HIV cases, accounting for 67 percent of global infections, a United Nations reports said on Tuesday.

TUESDAY, Nov. 24 (HealthDay News) -- Infants exposed to outdoor traffic pollution and indoor endotoxin are at increased risk for asthma, researchers say.

WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency is continuing its crackdown on coal pollution with a new plan to cut sulfur dioxide — a move that would clean up the air for millions of Americans and bring some relief to people who suffer from asthma and other respiratory diseases.

OTTAWA (AFP) - Six severe allergic reactions to swine flu vaccinations have been observed in Canada, health authorities said Tuesday, adding that all of the individuals are feeling better.

LONDON - Canadian doctors have been advised not to use a batch of 170,000 doses of swine flu vaccine while authorities investigate reports of allergic reactions among recipients, drug maker GlaxoSmithKline PLC said Tuesday.

MONDAY, Nov. 23 (HealthDay News) -- Body weight and co-existing health problems don't explain why black colon cancer patients have lower survival rates than whites, U.S. researchers say.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A new analysis of studies including nearly 80,000 people aged 60 and older confirms that certain types of widely prescribed drugs, such as antidepressants and sedatives, can increase their risk of falling.

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's infant mortality rate has risen by 20 percent over the past two decades as children under five succumb to the HIV/AIDS pandemic and pneumonia, a joint government and United Nations survey showed on Tuesday.

MONDAY, Nov. 23 (HealthDay News) -- A new combination drug therapy shows promise in treating patients with advanced biliary-tract cancers, researchers say.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People who suffer from depression are much more likely to be prescribed powerful opioid painkillers like morphine and codeine and to stay on the drugs long-term, new research shows.

GENEVA - The number of people worldwide infected with the virus that causes AIDS — about 33 million — has remained virtually unchanged for the last two years, United Nations experts said Tuesday.

GENEVA (AFP) - An unusual number of severe allergic reactions to swine flu vaccinations have been recorded in Canada, where a batch of the vaccine from GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has been recalled, the WHO said on Tuesday.

MONDAY, Nov. 23 (HealthDay News) -- Insomnia and sleep disorders affect more than three-quarters of cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, a rate nearly three times higher than that of the general population, a new study finds.

TUESDAY, Nov. 17 (HealthDay News) -- A motivational women-only cardiac rehabilitation program helped reduce symptoms of depression in women with coronary heart disease, a U.S. study has found.

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - An estimated 33.4 million people worldwide are infected with the AIDS virus, up from 33 million in 2007, but more people are living longer due to the availability of drugs, according to a United Nations report.

LONDON - Canadian doctors have been advised not to use a batch of 170,000 swine flu vaccines after six reports of serious allergic reactions among recipients, but there are no similar reports from other countries, pharmaceuticals company GlaxoSmithKline PLC said Tuesday.

THURSDAY, Nov. 19 (HealthDay News) -- The less you smoke, the more birthdays you'll have, says the American Cancer Society as it encourages smokers to quit on Thursday, the day of the 34th Great American Smokeout.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People with schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders are more likely to die of heart disease than mentally healthy individuals, a study in US veterans indicates.

GENEVA (AFP) - Almost 60 million people have been infected by HIV and 25 million people killed by causes related to the virus since the epidemic started, according to new data published by UNAIDS on Tuesday.

MONDAY, Nov. 23 (HealthDay News) -- U.S. researchers say they've identified a protein that causes nasal and sinus polyps in 15 percent to 30 percent of people with chronic sinusitis.

FRIDAY, Nov. 20 (HealthDay News) -- New research suggests it may become possible for pre-pubescent boys stricken by cancer to prepare for the future when they may be infertile but still want to become natural fathers.

ORLANDO (Reuters Health) - A simple telephone intervention improved mood, physical functioning, and overall quality of life in patients who were depressed after heart bypass surgery, researchers reported in a late breaking clinical trial here at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2009.

SHANGHAI (AFP) - AIDS has killed 25 million people worldwide but new infections are slowing sharply, the UN said in an annual report on the crisis Tuesday that mixed hope with a warning against complacency.

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) - Some Canadian provinces have stopped using a particular batch of the H1N1 flu vaccine after six people experienced severe allergic reactions, the country's health agency said on Monday.

WASHINGTON - The former director of the National Institutes of Health is advising women to ignore new guidelines that delay the start of routine mammogram testing for breast cancer.