Month: August 2013

By David Beasley ATLANTA (Reuters) – A 15-year-old Atlanta boy received a new heart on Tuesday evening, just 10 days after his family complained he was unfairly rejected for a transplant because of past failure to take medicine and show up for doctors’ appointments, local media reported. Anthony Stokes, who has a weakened, enlarged heart that cannot pump blood efficiently, could have less than six months to live without a transplant, his family said last week. A few days later, the hospital reversed course and added him to its waiting list. …

By Kathryn Doyle NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – People over age 70 diagnosed with melanoma may wait longer to have the malignant spot removed and receive less comprehensive care and monitoring than younger patients, a French study suggests. “Age-related variations are observed at every step of melanoma management,” lead author Dr. Dragos Ciocan of the Unité d’Aide Méthodologique, Hôpital Robert Debré, Reims, France, and his coauthors write in JAMA Dermatology. …

All diets are the same, says researcher Sherry Pagoto. Just take in fewer calories than you burn off. The point is to find a diet and stick with it.        

All diets are the same, says researcher Sherry Pagoto. Just take in fewer calories than you burn off. The point is to find a diet and stick with it.        

(Reuters) – Incyte Corp reported an improved survival rate in patients most likely to benefit from its experimental pancreatic cancer treatment, Jakafi, sending the company’s shares up 30 percent to its highest in almost 13 years. Analysts said the data from a mid-stage trial suggested that the drug, already approved in the U.S. to treat a form of blood cancer, can work in a late-stage pancreatic cancer study, as well as on other cancerous tumors. …

By Kate Kelland LONDON (Reuters) – A deadly new bird flu virus in China evolved from migratory birds via waterfowl to poultry and into people, and there are other bird flu viruses circulating that could follow the same path, scientists have found. The study – an analysis of the evolutionary history of the H7N9 bird flu that has so far killed 44 people – identified several other H7 flu viruses circulating in birds that the researchers said "may pose threats beyond the current outbreak". …

A recent study suggests that a buildup of copper from the average American diet could lead to the development of Alzheimer’s disease.

By Kate Kelland LONDON (Reuters) – The delusions and other psychotic symptoms experienced by people with schizophrenia may be caused by a faulty brain “switch” that blurs their ability to distinguish inner thoughts from objective reality, scientists said on Wednesday. In a study published in the journal Neuron, researchers found the severity of symptoms such as hearing voices and delusions was due to a disconnection between two key regions of the brain — the insula and the lateral frontal cortex. …

LIMA (Reuters) – Two British women have been charged in Peru with drug trafficking and could face up to 18 years in prison if convicted, prosecutors said. Michaella McCollum, of Dungannon in Northern Ireland, and Melissa Reid, from near Glasgow in Scotland, were arrested at Lima airport two weeks ago after 11 kg (24 lb) of cocaine worth 1.5 million pounds ($2.3 million) was found in their luggage, according to authorities. The women, both 20, had spent the summer working in bars on Ibiza, a Mediterranean island drawing 700,000 British holidaymakers each year. …

By Beth Pinsker NEW YORK (Reuters) – As American workers prepare for the first open enrollment season of the Obamacare era, hints are surfacing about what awaits them – higher deductibles, more incentives for staying well and premium hikes that continue to out-strip wages, albeit by more moderate amounts than in the past. For coverage in 2014, the first year in which key parts of the Affordable Care Act’s healthcare reforms take effect, premium increases will be about 5 percent, according to two studies. …