Month: July 2013

By Suzi Parker LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (Reuters) – A popular Arkansas water park voluntarily closed after a 12-year-old girl who swam there was diagnosed with a rare case of parasitic meningitis, authorities said on Monday. The Arkansas Department of Health and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the case last week. The owners of Willow Springs Water Park, which has been operating for 85 years, closed the park on Friday. …

By Julie Steenhuysen CHICAGO (Reuters) – After decades of debate, an influential U.S. panel has endorsed the use of low-dose CT scans to detect lung cancer in high-risk individuals, paving the way for insurance coverage of the test for as many as 10 million smokers and former smokers. The draft guidelines issued on Monday by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force call for annual CT screening of current and former smokers aged 55 to 80 with a history of smoking the equivalent of a pack a day for 30 years, or two packs a day for 15 years. …

(Reuters) – Community Health Systems Inc reported a sharp decline in second-quarter profit on Monday, hurt by a drop in patient admissions at its hospitals and higher-than-expected bad debts. Total admissions fell 5.1 percent in the quarter, compared with a year ago, the company said. Volumes were especially weak in May and June. Community Health released preliminary results earlier this month, which sent its shares plunging. Monday’s official quarterly results largely matched the preliminary figures. …

An influential group of government advisers has endorsed lung cancer screening for the first time — but not for everybody. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force is proposing annual CT scans, a type of X-ray, for certain current and former smokers.

By Andrew M. Seaman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – How far a person lives from a manufacturing plant that releases the chemical benzene into the environment may determine their risk of developing immune system cancer, a new study suggests. Researchers in Georgia looking at rates of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in that state found that risk for the disease fell with every mile between a person’s home and facilities that release benzene. “It would suggest even with moderate changes in distance that there can be large changes in the decrease in non-Hodgkin lymphoma,” said Dr. …

By Genevra Pittman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Children who were breastfed for more of their infancy scored higher on language and intelligence tests at three and seven years old, in a new study. Researchers found that for each extra month women reported breastfeeding, their children performed slightly better on those exams – though not on tests of motor skills and memory. “Given the size of the benefit, I think this should be helpful for women who are trying to make decisions about how long to breastfeed… because there are many factors that go into that decision,” said Dr. …

By Genevra Pittman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Despite guidelines to treat back pain conservatively, the proportion of people prescribed powerful painkillers or referred for surgery and other specialty care has increased in recent years, according to a new study. “This is kind of concerning,” said Dr. Steven Cohen, an anesthesiologist and critical care doctor at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore who didn’t participate in the research. Surgery, injections and scans for back pain “have all gone up pretty dramatically,” he told Reuters Health. …

CHICAGO (AP) — Many heart specialists are hardly Dr. Ruth — sex is not something they relish bringing up with patients. But new guidance says they should, early and often, to let survivors know intimacy is often possible after a heart attack.

By Sharon Begley NEW YORK (Reuters) – Whenever a public figure cheats on his wife, pundits can be counted on to trot out the tired old claim that males are simply wired by evolution to be promiscuous. Two studies released on Monday beg to differ. By sticking to one female, they conclude, males of many species, especially primates, can increase their chances of siring many offspring who survive long enough to reproduce – the key factor in determining whether a particular behavior survives the brutal process of natural selection. …

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Actress Lea Michele, the girlfriend and cast mate of late "Glee" star Cory Monteith, on Monday thanked fans for their support in her first public comments since the actor's death earlier this month. "Thank you all for helping me through this time with your enormous love & support," Michele, 26, posted on Twitter along with a photo of her and Monteith. "Cory will forever be in my heart." Monteith, 31, who had struggled with substance abuse, was found dead in a Vancouver hotel room on July 13 from an apparently accidental overdose of heroin and alcohol. …

Facing long odds after a heartbreaking prenatal diagnosis, Rep. Jaimie Herrera Beutler has announced the birth of her daughter, Abigail Rose Beutler, who suffers from a rare medical condition known as Potter’s syndrome. “With great joy, gratitude and hope, we are pleased to share with…        

By Philip Pullella ROME (Reuters) – Pope Francis has said gay people should not be marginalized but integrated into society, in some of the most conciliatory remarks by a pontiff on the issue of homosexuality. In a broad-ranging 80-minute conversation with journalists on the plane bringing him back from a week-long visit to Brazil on Sunday night, he also said he could not judge gay priests, an emotive topic that divides Catholic opinion. But the 76-year-old Argentine did reaffirm Church teaching that homosexual acts are a sin. …