Month: February 2014

Dawson Barnett is the class comedian – an unlikely role for the boy born unable to smile. But thanks to surgery that rerouted a nerve and “borrowed” muscle from his thigh, the “happy-go-lucky” first grader finally has a fitting grin.

By Shereen Jegtvig NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Based on two dozen clinical trials, U.S. researchers find that expensive mattress covers make no difference in reducing dust mite allergies or their symptoms. Up to 40 percent of the world population has allergies, and dust mites are thought to be one of the most common causes. “Based on this analysis which combines data from many different studies, there doesn’t seem to be any benefit to using dust mite covers to prevent allergic disease or to prevent symptoms,” lead author Whitney Arroyave told Reuters Health. Arroyave, a researcher with the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine in New Orleans, and her colleagues combined results from 24 trials of methods to reduce dust mite exposure and prevent allergy signs and symptoms The study team found that use of the mattress covers had a large effect in reducing exposure to house mite dust levels – about 20 percent – but this reduction had no statistically significant impact on house dust mite sensitization, or symptoms such as wheezing, asthma, runny nose or dermatitis.

By Andrew M. Seaman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Less than half of German people who are told they have cancer through a set and accepted protocol for breaking bad news are satisfied with the conversation, according to a new study. “The idea was somehow that physicians will ‘naturally’ have the ability to communicate,” Dr. Carola Seifart wrote in an email. For example, the diagnosis of a new cancer or a negative development with an existing cancer can significantly change a person’s view of the future. While SPIKES has been tested in the U.S., the researchers write that it has not been tested in Germany and there is little information on how bad news is broken there.

By John Tilak TORONTO (Reuters) – Canada's main stock index was little changed on Friday as data showing economic growth in North America helped drive gains in the energy sector, while gold-mining shares were dragged down by a weaker gold price. The TSX, nevertheless, recorded its strongest monthly gain since October, rising 3.8 percent in February. The Toronto market has outperformed the S&P 500 so far this year, rising about 4.3 percent, following a selloff in January triggered by concerns about emerging market growth. …

The family doctor and author of Health First: Winning at Weight Loss and … Instead, the focus is on three regular meals a day and strategic snacking …

By Ronnie Cohen NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Inexpensive splints worn nightly can reduce the pain of hand osteoarthritis, a chronic ailment that affects a majority of older adults, a new study shows. “It’s a well-tolerated, safe and cheap intervention,” rheumatologist Dr. Fiona Watt told Reuters Health. Watt, from the Arthritis Research UK Centre for Osteoarthritis Pathogenesis at the University of Oxford, led the new study. She and her colleagues tested custom-made splints on London clinic patients who suffered painful and deforming hand osteoarthritis.

By Barbara Liston ORLANDO (Reuters) – Diners at a Florida restaurant chain are being asked to pay a health insurance surcharge on their meal tabs to cover the cost for business owners of the Obama administration’s new healthcare program. Customers at eight Gator’s Dockside restaurants dotted around central and north Florida are finding a 1 percent surcharge on their bills listed as “ACA,” the letters standing for the Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare. A $14.56 lunch tab for Asian salad and iced tea ordered by a reporter at a Dockside restaurant in the town of Clermont, a short drive west of Orlando, included a 13-cent ACA surcharge. “Therefore, instead of raising prices on our products to generate the additional revenue needed to cover the cost of ACA compliance, Gator’s Dockside has implemented a 1 percent surcharge on all food and beverage purchases only,” the notice adds.

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Doctors Without Borders said Friday it has been expelled from Myanmar and that tens of thousands of lives are at risk. The decision came after the humanitarian group reported it treated nearly two dozen Rohingya Muslim victims of communal violence in Rakhine state, which the government has denied.