Latest science news in Health & Medicine
F.D.A. Finds Unsanitary Conditions at New England Compounding Center
The agency said its inspectors found mold, bacteria and dirty equipment at the company where the drug implicated in the national meningitis outbreak was manufactured.
Laws Tell Mammogram Clinics to Address Breast Density
In some states, women with dense tissue must now be told that it could increase their risk of cancer, which medical groups said would lead to needless testing.
Video: Study revises recommendations for vitamin D
A new study of recently revised vitamin D guidelines found millions of Americans may no longer need to take the supplements. That might be confusing for patients who previously required...
How Slight Sleep Deprivation Could Add Extra Pounds
Getting seven to eight solid hours of sleep each night might seem an almost impossible luxury to many people. But not getting enough sleep is known to impair mental function...
Electric Brain Stimulation Warps Your Perception of Faces [Video]
Distorted Face Portrait of Picasso by Juan Gris. Google Art Project/Wikimedia CommonsA new study uncovers the two nerve centers responsible for face recognition--and the lack thereof. Two nerve clusters in the brain are...
Flame retardant 'Firemaster 550,' used in infant-products, is an endocrine disruptor
The flame-retardant mixture known as “Firemaster 550” is an endocrine disruptor that causes extreme weight gain, early onset of puberty and cardiovascular health effects in lab animals, according to a...
Greg Weston: Ottawa's blind eye to cybersecurity
Successive Canadian governments have never really taken the threat of online espionage seriously, the auditor general reported on Tuesday. Why should we think anything will change?
First National Survey of Anesthesiologists Over 50 Identifies Factors That Could Influence Predicted Physician Shortage
A large, first-of-its-kind national survey of older anesthesiologists has gathered important data that could be used by physicians and their employers to prepare for an expected undersupply of anesthesiologists in...
November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month
Nationally, more than 160,000 lung cancer deaths are expected by years end, accounting for 28 percent of all cancer deaths. The Cancer Institute of New Jersey is making experts...
Did bacteria spark evolution of multicellular life?
Bacteria have a bad rap as agents of disease, but scientists are increasingly discovering their many benefits, such as maintaining a healthy gut.
First Web-Based Prostate Cancer Database Launches to Help New Patients Manage Care, Avoid Complications
Cedars-Sinai Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute, Johns Hopkins and the Prostate Cancer Foundation unveil National Proactive Surveillance Network for men with slow-growing, non-life threatening prostate cancer.
Well: Laughter as a Form of Exercise
Does laughter elicit a physiological response similar to that of exercise and, if so, what might that reveal about the nature of exertion? Scientists at Oxford recruited undergraduates and got...
Acupuncture relieves symptoms of a dry mouth caused by radiotherapy for head and neck cancers, study suggests
Patients who have received radiotherapy for head and neck cancer often suffer from the unpleasant and distressing side-effect of a dry mouth, caused by damage to their salivary glands from...
New Non-Invasive, Non-Ionizing Radiation Therapy For Bone Metastases Pain Gets FDA Approval
ExAblate(R)MRI-guided Focused Ultrasound is effective in reducing pain from bone metastases in patients who could not undergo radiation therapy. Patients reported significant improvement in well-being, function, and reduction in medication...
New vitamin-based treatment that could reduce muscle degeneration in muscular dystrophy
Boosting the activity of a vitamin-sensitive cell adhesion pathway has the potential to counteract the muscle degeneration and reduced mobility caused by muscular dystrophies, according to a research team.
Lives could be saved by removing age restrictions on rotavirus vaccination, study suggests
A new study, which suggests that the additional children's lives saved by removing the age restrictions for rotavirus vaccination in low- and middle-income countries would be much greater than any...
Product regulatory systems in low-and middle-income countries must be strengthened, experts argue
When regulatory systems for medical products in low-and middle-income countries work, people live but when such systems fail, people die, according to experts.
Gender of baby beluga whale revealed
The time finally arrived for a whopping newborn at Shedd Aquarium in Chicago to receive a physical examination, and on Tuesday aquarium officials issued a happy announcement.
UCSD Hospital Administrator is "Woman of the Year"
Lisa Murphy, associate administrator for University of California, San Diego Health System and administrative director for Cardiovascular and Medicine Services, has been chosen "Woman of the Year" in the field...
Personalized feedback makes healthcare workers twice as likely to clean their hands
A major three-year trial has shown that giving one-to-one feedback to healthcare workers makes them twice as likely to clean their hands or use soap.
Genetic marker for placebo response identified in IBS patients
Researchers have identified the first genetic differences to explain why placebos help some patients -- and not others.
A plan to stop cholera’s spread
A Harvard medical specialist suggested Monday that relief workers and peacekeepers from cholera-endemic countries should be treated with antibiotics before they serve in other nations, to avoid repeating the Haitian epidemic that has...
Most large treatment effects of medical interventions come from small studies, report finds
In an examination of the characteristics of studies that yield large treatment effects from medical interventions, these studies were more likely to be smaller in size, often with limited evidence,...
Mechanical ventilation at lower level among patients without lung injury linked with better outcomes
Among patients without acute respiratory distress syndrome, protective mechanical ventilation with use of lower tidal volumes (the volume of air inhaled and exhaled during each breath) was associated with better...
Researchers map strategy for 'choosing wisely' on low-value health care services
Cutting the expenses associated with "low-value" medical tests and treatments -- such as unnecessary imaging tests and antibiotics for viral infections that won't benefit from them -- will require a...
Long Island man beats fungal meningitis; Cancer specialist solves a diagnostic puzzle that appeared to be brain cancer
Thinking he had only months to live, Frank Tarantino, 67, of Amityville, N.Y., a retired electrician, father of four and grandfather of seven, was getting his affairs in order in...
AAN Announces Class of 2013 for Palatucci Advocacy Leadership Forum
The American Academy of Neurology has named 30 neurologists from around the world to attend the esteemed Donald M. Palatucci Advocacy Leadership Forum, January 17-20, 2013, in San Diego, Calif....
Kids still swallowing magnets despite warning labels
(HealthDay)— Warning labels do little to prevent children from swallowing high-powered magnets that can tear holes in the stomach and bowel and cause severe, life-threatening complications, a new study found.