Month: February 2014

By Andrew M. Seaman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Offsite doctors may be able to reliably evaluate hospitalized patients with possible skin conditions based on photographs and general health information, says a new study. Researchers found that dermatologists who evaluated hospitalized patients remotely using pictures and health information often reached the same conclusions as a doctor who examined the patients in person. Using so-called teledermatology to identify patients who need additional care or screening may improve access to dermatology services in rural areas, according to the study’s senior author. “Across the country and the world there are places that have limited or no dermatology support,” Dr. Misha Rosenbach told Reuters Health.

Bill allows terminally ill minors to receive life-ending medication with parental approval.        

By Ryan Vlastelica NEW YORK (Reuters) – Stocks closed higher on Thursday, with the Nasdaq rising for a sixth straight day, as investors looked past disappointing data on consumer spending, chalking the weakness up to weather instead of weaker fundamentals. The Nasdaq is up about 5.7 percent over the past six sessions, its best six-day advance since December 2011. Both the Dow and S&P 500 rose for the fifth session out of the last six. Indexes opened lower but gained throughout the session, although Cisco Systems , which sank after warning about a slump in revenue, limited the Dow's advance.

By C.E. Huggins NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Smokers without signs of lung disease may be raising their chances of developing lung problems and other health issues by being couch potatoes, Brazilian researchers say. They compared so-called healthy smokers to nonsmokers by physical activity levels and quality of life, and found the smokers to be less fit, less active, more anxious and depressed and more likely to have heart disease. “The take-home point is smokers are markedly inactive in their daily lives even while they are still considered ‘healthy,’ or before they develop any disease as a consequence of smoking,” study author Dr. Fabio Pitta, of State University of Londrina in Brazil told Reuters Health. “This indicates that, together with fighting tobacco use, fighting physical inactivity in smokers is also a priority in order to avoid the deleterious combination of smoking and physical inactivity,” he said.

By Kathleen Raven NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Regular doses of meditation might prevent work-related stress and burnout, a small U.S. study suggests. Teachers and support staff working at a school for children with behavior problems felt less stressed after practicing 20 minutes of Transcendental Meditation (TM) twice a day for four months. But participants “reported feeling less stressed and more energetic within a few days,” said the study’s senior author Sanford Nidich, of Maharishi University’s Institute for Natural Medicine and Prevention in Fairfield, Iowa. Starting stress levels among the participants had averaged 39 on a 40-point scale and fell 5 points by the end of the study period.

With two stories gaining national attention this winter about brain-dead, pregnant women and their unborn children, it’s difficult to think of one without the other. In Canada, Robyn Benson was kept on life support for more than a month to save her unborn baby. More…

BRUSSELS (AP) — Belgian lawmakers voted overwhelmingly on Thursday to extend the country's euthanasia law to children under 18.

Andy Marso urges universal vaccination for deadly disease.