Diseases
A federal panel recommended Wednesday that all children over the age of 6 months should be vaccinated for influenza every year.
BALTIMORE -- The ancient practice of acupuncture has been helping people with a variety of medical problems for thousands of years, and some modern studies have shown it can be helpful to people who suffer from nausea.
The first survey of a broad age range of U.S. women finds more than 25 percent are infected with the human papillomavirus (HPV), thought to be the cause of most cases of cervical cancer.
For years health authorities have warned of the growing threat posed by drug-resistant bacteria, but most of us have been half-listening. Not anymore.
A major advance in understanding the genetics behind several of the world's most common diseases has been reported.
The landmark Wellcome Trust study analysed DNA from the blood of 17,000 people to find genetic differences.
They found new genetic variants for depression, Crohn's disease, coronary heart disease, hypertension, rheumatoid arthritis and type 1 and 2 diabetes.
The remarkable findings, published in Nature, have been hailed as a new chapter in medical science.
It is hoped they will pave the way for research into new treatments and genetic tests.
Adding an extra ingredient to breast cancer treatments may make them more effective, a study suggests.
Molecules called LHRH agonists stop the production of a hormone which can encourage tumours to grow, the research into 16 previous studies suggests.
Four London centres found that even when used alone, the chemical worked as well as conventional chemotherapy in some cases, the Lancet journal said.
Breast cancer charities say that younger women might benefit the most.
Many types of breast cancer are sensitive to hormones produced naturally by a woman, including the sex hormone oestrogen, and can grow faster if a woman is producing them.
Many women will tell you their risk of developing breast cancer is higher than their risk of developing heart disease. In fact, the opposite is true.
Also, when people are sad after hearing about a serious health problem, they tend to believe they're at higher risk for that condition. When they are in a happy mood, they perceive their risk as being lower.
These are just two examples in a new study of the errors and biases exhibited by individuals, including doctors and other health-care professionals, in the way they perceive cancer risk.
That perception, in turn, affects what they do to safeguard -- or jeopardize -- their health.
University College London researchers studied 8,000 people, says the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.
They found those with a profound sense of injustice had a 55% higher chance of suffering serious heart disease.
Experts believe a sense of unfairness engenders negative emotions which may prompt biochemical changes in the body.
However, lead researcher Dr Roberto de Vogli said more research was needed to confirm the mechanism linking unfairness to health.
The team looked at a study of 8,000 senior civil servants working for the UK government.
A dose of vitamin D may help ward off tuberculosis, research suggests.
A study of 131 people found the vitamin helped to boost the ability of the body to inhibit the growth of bacteria that causes the respiratory disease.
Researchers from Queen Mary's School of Medicine and Imperial College said it could be used to target at-risk patients or added to drinks.
The study appeared in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
Vitamin D was originally used to treat TB in sanatoriums before antibiotics came in to use.
What makes this potentially a very good intervention is that it is cheap and easy to administer
SUNDAY, May 13 (HealthDay News) -- Whether America's fast-food-and-video-game culture, or some other confluence of factors is to blame, there's no denying that adolescents' health is at risk.
Little wonder, then, that one group of researchers has begun to take a serious look at the long-term health consequences of kids' inactivity. And they are using cholesterol levels as a window into these youngsters' futures.
Obesity, inactivity and cholesterol are closely linked, and data from the latest U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) finds that 17 percent of U.S. teens are overweight. Just one in four high school students packs enough physical activity into their day, and 12 percent get little or no daily exercise, reports the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
TUESDAY, May 8 (HealthDay News) -- If you think fighting red-hot blazes in collapsing buildings is risky, think again.
Swallowing one aspirin each day for a year poses the same risk of death, new research suggests.
In an analysis appearing in the May/June issue of Health Affairs, researchers compared half a dozen risky drugs to various occupational, recreational and transportation activities, with sometimes surprising results. For instance, few people know that aspirin carries a high risk of gastrointestinal bleeding.
"It's nice to have a rigorous evaluation of not just one drug vs. the other, but some of the more risky pharmaceuticals compared to things that are widely done in day-to-day life," added Dr. A. Mark Fendrick, co-director of the University of Michigan Center for Value Based Insurance Design, and professor at the University of Michigan Medical School and University of Michigan School of Public Health in Ann Arbor. He was not involved in the study.
Taking daily selenium supplements may block the build up of HIV in a patient's blood, research suggests.
The University of Miami found a lower HIV viral load in patients who took selenium supplements for nine months.
Selenium deficiencies have been recorded in HIV patients, and evidence suggests the mineral can improve the function of the immune system.
The Archives of Internal Medicine study suggests the supplements may be a cheap and easy way to help keep HIV in check.
This research suggests that selenium supplements may be useful in addition to traditional combination therapy
A once-a-year treatment significantly cuts the risk of broken bones caused by osteoporosis in post-menopausal women, international research has shown.
Compared with a dummy pill, an infusion of Aclasta cut the risk of broken hips by 41% and of spinal breaks by 70%.
The condition accounts for 60,000 hip and 120,000 spinal fractures a year in the UK, mostly among post-menopausal women - and numbers are rising.
The researchers say that Aclasta, known technically as zoledronic acid, could provide an alternative to other bisphosphonate drugs, which come in pill form and are usually taken every day.
MONDAY, March 5 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers have discovered that cells in the mucosal lining of human genitalia produce a protein that "eats up" invading AIDS more contained than it might otherwise be.
THURSDAY, Feb. 15 (HealthDay News) -- U.S. researchers are launching a major population-based study to examine the genetic and environmental factors that may cause many diseases, including asthma, Alzheimer's, cancer, depression, diabetes, heart disease and reproductive problems, among others.
“这是世界最好的有关结合现代医学和古老的东方医学智慧养生之道。 ”