Month: January 2013

BOSTON, Jan 29 (Reuters) – The union that represents U.S. professional football players has given Harvard University a $100 million grant for a study of the range of health problems, from brain damage to heart conditions, that affect current and former players. Researchers with Harvard Medical School plan to spend a decade studying hundreds of former players who are members of the National Football League Players Association, school officials said on Tuesday. The aim is to develop strategies to limit the long-term damage that players suffer from years of hits on the field. …

The Sieve Hypothesis: Clever Study Suggests an Alternate Explanation for the Function of the Human Stomach

(Reuters) – Eli Lilly and Co said on Tuesday that fourth-quarter profit fell as competition from generic drugs, particularly for its once top-selling schizophrenia drug Zyprexa, drove revenue lower. The U.S. drugmaker earned $827 million, or 74 cents per share, down from $858 million, or 77 cents per share, a year earlier. Excluding special items such as asset impairments and restructuring, Lilly earned 85 cents per share, beating analysts’ expectations by 7 cents per share. …

App d to Fail: Mobile Health Treatments Fail First Full Checkup

In dieting, like comedy, timing is everything. That’s the conclusion of a new Spanish study that suggests that when you eat might be just as important as what you eat. During the first few weeks of the 20-week study, run by researchers from Brigham and…

In Britain, breast reductions for men are out and fat injections for women are in. Last year, 20 percent fewer British men than the year before sought surgery to treat gynecomastia, better known as “moobs” or enlarged male breasts, according to just-released data from the…

GENEVA (Reuters) – More than 700,000 Syrian refugees have fled to other countries in the region and aid workers are struggling to keep up with the exodus, the United Nations said on Tuesday. The number of refugees passed the 500,000 mark on Dec 11, meaning more than 200,000 have fled the war-torn country in the past seven weeks. "We have seen an unrelenting flow of refugees across all borders. We are running double shifts to register people," Sybella Wilkes, spokeswoman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told Reuters in Geneva. …

LONDON (Reuters) – The state-of-the-art brain scans that allowed doctors to look inside the head of former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon show how advances in neuroscience are forcing a rethink of what it means to be in a long-term coma. Neurologists who performed the tests said they hinted that Sharon, who has been in a coma since suffering a stroke in 2006, may have a degree of consciousness and be able to hear sounds or make out pictures. …

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio hospital where a nurse accidentally threw out a viable kidney has resumed its kidney transplant program.

Don’t let one of these rumors stop you from reaching your weight loss goals.

When Super Bowl superstitions cross over into OCD …

GARY, Ind. (AP) — When medical students have finished their study and practice on cadavers, they often hold a respectful memorial service to honor these bodies donated to science.