Month: March 2013

NEW YORK (AP) — The city wants young New Yorkers to hear its latest public-health warning loud and clear: Cranked-up headphones can be hazardous to your hearing.

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Increased salt consumption may be a key culprit behind rising rates of autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis, researchers reported on Wednesday in a trio of papers looking at the role of a specific class of cells linked with inflammation. Reporting in the journal Nature, the researchers said high-salt diets increased levels of a type of immune cell linked with autoimmune disease. …

JACKSON, Mississippi/CHICAGO, Illinois (Reuters) – The doctor who cured an HIV infected baby for the first time is happier talking to children than to adults and is finding all the attention since the news came out a little overwhelming. Dr. Hannah Gay and colleagues Dr. Katherine Luzuriaga of the University of Massachusetts and Dr. Deborah Persaud of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore reported on the child's case at a medical meeting in Atlanta on Sunday. …

LITTLE ROCK, Ark (Reuters) – Arkansas adopted the most restrictive abortion law in the United States on Wednesday, mostly banning the procedure after 12 weeks of pregnancy as both houses of the state legislature overrode the governor's veto. The law, the Arkansas Human Heartbeat Protection Act, will likely go into effect in August, if it survives expected legal challenges. The Republican-controlled House voted 56-33 on Wednesday to override the veto by Democratic Governor Mike Beebe, which followed the state Senate's override on Tuesday. …

LONDON (Reuters) – Current efforts to control Britain's increasing deer numbers are not enough to stop populations spreading out of control, research by the University of East Anglia showed on Thursday. There are now more deer in Britain than at any time since the Ice Age, the scientists said. Without natural predators, populations are continuing to rise, causing a serious threat to biodiversity. High numbers of deer can threaten woodland birds, carry infections such as Lyme disease, damage crops and cause road traffic accidents. …

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain's health cost-effectiveness watchdog NICE said it planned to recommend the use of Novartis's severe asthma drug Xolair after prevaricating for months over whether it should be paid for on the taxpayer-funded National Health Service (NHS). The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) said on Thursday it had reversed a November decision in the light of extra analyses and a move by Novartis to offer a so-called patient access scheme to discount Xolair's list price. Xolair works by blocking immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibodies from attaching to …

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain's health cost-effectiveness watchdog NICE said it planned to recommend the use of Novartis's severe asthma drug Xolair after prevaricating for months over whether it should be paid for on the taxpayer-funded National Health Service (NHS). The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) said on Thursday it had reversed a November decision in the light of extra analyses and a move by Novartis to offer a so-called patient access scheme to discount Xolair's list price. Xolair works by blocking immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibodies from attaching to …

LONDON (Reuters) – Scientists have for the first time reported successful use of a brain-stimulating implant to help patients with severe anorexia whose condition had not improved with other treatments. Doctors implanted a device similar to a pacemaker in the brains of six severe anorexics and found at least half put on weight and showed improvements in mood. Under previous therapies, none had shown progress. …

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A winter storm all but closed down Washington on Wednesday, but hopes for a political thaw sprouted across the U.S. capital. In a city gripped by partisan gridlock, President Barack Obama's plans for a private dinner with a small group of Senate Republicans on Wednesday night – and a trip to Capitol Hill next week to speak to their entire caucus – qualified as groundbreaking. …

CHICAGO (AP) — States with the most gun control laws have the fewest gun-related deaths, according to a study that suggests sheer quantity of measures might make a difference.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark (Reuters) – The nation's most restrictive abortion law is set to take effect in Arkansas later this year, after the state's House of Representatives on Wednesday overrode Governor Mike Beebe's veto of legislation mostly banning the procedure after 12 weeks of pregnancy. The Republican-controlled House voted 56-33 to override the veto by Democrat Beebe, which followed the state Senate's override on Tuesday. In Arkansas, lawmakers can override a veto with a simple majority vote. …

WASHINGTON (AP) — A change in testing could nearly triple the number of women diagnosed with diabetes during pregnancy, but would catching milder cases help mother or baby? A government panel is urging more research to find that out before doctors make the switch.