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The latest big thing - Obesity!

As the obesity fanfare continues researchers in Britain say a person's body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference are the easiest ways of predicting health risks due to excess weight, particularly amongst older men.

31 Aug 2006

Pediatricians not doing enough to stop parental smoking

Parental smoking is a pediatrician's business, experts say, yet many are reluctant to tell parents to stop smoking and offer little support for efforts to quit, a new study suggests.

31 Aug 2006

Largest review of Loeys-Dietz syndrome to date

At least three severe, potentially fatal genetic diseases leave patients with aortas so flimsy that they can rupture in pregnancy and labor or even lesser activities, often without warning.

31 Aug 2006

Most effective treatments for people with coronary artery disease

Medication, angioplasty or surgery? For some heart disease patients, there's no clear-cut choice. The key to getting the best care is to follow your individual doctor's advice, new research shows.

31 Aug 2006

Tumor necrosis factor A antagonist use and cancer in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), an autoimmune, inflammatory disease marked by progressive joint and organ damage, face a high risk of developing cancer.

31 Aug 2006

New device helps people with tunnel vision

Scientists at Schepens Eye Research Institute, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School, say a visual aid they invented promises to improve the visual abilities of people with tunnel vision.

31 Aug 2006

Variation in 3 genes influences risk of age-related macular degeneration

Researchers in Boston have discovered a new common, noncoding variant in the Complement Factor H (CFH) gene that is associated with age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of irreversible visual impairment and blindness among persons aged 60 and older.

30 Aug 2006

VIOXX reduces risk of colorectal polyps

A researcher from Dartmouth reports the results of a clinical trial that shows that the cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitor rofecoxib (VIOXX.) reduces the risk of colorectal adenomas, or polyps.

30 Aug 2006

Severe mental illness in Gulf Coast doubled after Katrina

The rate of severe mental illness in the Gulf Coast region about doubled in the six months after Hurricane Katrina, according to a report surveying a sample of the storm's survivors published on Monday in the Bulletin of the World Health Organization, USA Today reports (Sternberg, USA Today, 8/29).

30 Aug 2006

Young people are more likely to use condoms with a casual sex partner than with their main partner

The study finds that those with and without regular partners on average have the same amount of unprotected sex.

30 Aug 2006

Virginian-Pilot examines uterine fibroid removal procedures

The Virginian-Pilot on Monday examined the different surgeries that can remove uterine fibroids.

24 Aug 2006

'Switch' may turn off immune cells that fight HIV

An international research team believe they have discovered why the immune system is unable to control HIV infection.

20 Aug 2006

'Culture of medicine,' not fear of malpractice, prompts physicians to withhold information about Medical errors from patients

Physicians often fail to inform patients about medical errors because of the "culture of medicine," rather than because of concerns about malpractice lawsuits, according to a study published on Monday in the Archives of Internal Medicine, the Seattle Times reports.

20 Aug 2006

Strokes will cost U.S. $2.2 trillion over the next 45 years

Unless Americans do more to lower their risk of stroke and improve stroke care, the nation will pay $2.2 trillion over the next 45 years to care for people who suffer the most common form of stroke, a new University of Michigan study predicts.

16 Aug 2006

Chemotherapy and breast cancer - side effects underestimated

Researchers believe that the side effects of chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer are probably higher than thought.

16 Aug 2006

Breast cancer sufferers experience more side effects from chemo than previously thought

Women with breast cancer ages 64 and younger experience three to four times more serious side effects from chemotherapy than previously hypothesized, according to a study published in the Aug. 16 edition of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, the AP/Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

16 Aug 2006