| HEALTH NEWS |
| Cancer |
| Research: Aspirin Shows Promise in Limiting Cancer for Women Who Have H.I.V., Scientists Say |
| Aspirin should be evaluated for its potential to prevent cervical cancer in women infected with H.I.V., say scientists who recently reported a connection between the virus and inflammation of cervical tissue. |
| Foreign Shipments to Ease Shortage of 2 Cancer Drugs |
| Dire shortages of two critical cancer drugs — shortfalls that have threatened the lives and care of thousands of cancer patients — should be resolved within weeks, federal drug officials said. |
| Replacement found for cancer drug Doxil, in short supply |
| Patients with ovarian cancer and other deadly tumors will regain access to an important chemotherapy drug, Food and Drug Administration officials told USA TODAY in an exclusive interview Monday. |
| Neurological Disease |
| A crying shame |
| Hit by a drunk driver, he developed permanent speech and cognition problems. But those didn’t explain his years of uncontrolled public weeping. |
| Medical mysteries: Was crying caused by man’s severe depression? |
| Of all the adjustments forced on Rose Anderson and her family, among the hardest was dealing with the crying jags. |
| Blood Biomarker Studies Focus on Stroke and TBI |
| Your blood may serve as a predictive window for stroke and accurately tell doctors what is happening in the brain of patients with acute traumatic brain injury (TBI). Researchers at Emory University School of Medicine believe biomarkers circulating in the bloodstream could hold the key to identifying which patients are at risk for recurrent stroke as well as a precise diagnostic tool for assessing the severity of TBI. |
| Cardiovascular Disease |
| Daily diet soda may increase risk of heart attack, stroke: study |
| Diet soda may benefit the waistline, but people who drink it every day may have a heightened risk of heart attack and stroke, according to a new U.S. study. |
| Women’s Health |
| Ultrasound Abortion Bill Nears Vote in Virginia |
| A bill requiring a woman to get an ultrasound before having an abortion is poised to pass Virginia’s legislature this week, placing it on track to be signed into law by Gov. Bob McDonnell. |
| Prevention: Fish Helps Reduce Risk of Polyps in Women |
| A new study has found that consumption of omega-3 fatty acids from fish is associated with a reduced risk for one kind of colon polyp, but only in women. |
| Birth control as election issue? Why? |
| Who says you can’t turn the clock back? |
| IUD, implant, the pill: Cost may play a role in choice of contraceptives |
| In the heated debate over to what extent religiously affiliated employers should be required to provide free contraception for workers, no one has talked much about what methods are available to women who want to prevent pregnancy and how their choices might change if cost were removed from the equation. But it’s an important subject. |
| Infertility |
| SpermCheck® Fertility, the Only FDA Approved At-Home Screening Test for Men to Determine Normal or Low Sperm Count, Now Available to Couples Planning or Struggling to Conceive |
| This year, approximately 7 million couples will experience conception issues. A key first step, before the female goes through a battery of tests, is to analyze the male’s sperm count, yet it is estimated that only 20% of men in couples struggling to conceive have this test early on or at all. Enter SpermCheck® Fertility (www.spermcheck.com), the only FDA approved at-home screening test for men to determine normal or low sperm count with 98% accuracy, in 10 minutes and without having to go to a physician or lab to provide a semen sample. |
| Obesity |
| New Guidelines Planned on School Vending Machines |
| The government’s attempt to reduce childhood obesity is moving from the school cafeteria to the vending machines. |
| Gene Might Boost Risk for Obesity |
| A new animal study suggests that a genetic mutation could put certain people at higher risk for becoming obese if they eat high-fat diets. |
| Other News |
| Brain study finds what eases pain of financial loss |
| Financial market traders and keen gamblers take note. Scientists have found that a chemical in the region of the brain involved in sensory and reward systems is crucial to whether people simply brush off the pain of financial losses. |
| Fructose not linked to extra weight gain: report |
| A little extra simple sugar in your diet probably won’t make you pack on the pounds — as long as you cut down on other carbs to make up for it, a new analysis of past studies suggests. |
| Sex-changing treatment for kids: It’s on the rise |
| A small but growing number of teens and even younger children who think they were born the wrong sex are getting support from parents and from doctors who give them sex-changing treatments, according to reports in the medical journal Pediatrics. |
| Hepatitis C deaths up, baby boomers most at risk |
| Deaths from liver-destroying hepatitis C are on the rise, and new data shows baby boomers especially should take heed – they are most at risk. |
| APNewsBreak: FDA to review inhalable caffeine |
| U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials plan to investigate whether inhalable caffeine sold in lipstick-sized canisters is safe for consumers and if its manufacturer was right to brand it as a dietary supplement. |
| Tight ties, killer heels: How your clothes can impact your health |
| Baila Steinman first noticed the numbness in her leg on a trip to Israel in December. “From the knee to the pelvis, it was numb to the point of being painful,” recalled the 52-year-old occupational therapist. |
| Genomma Labs to Acquire Prestige Brands for $834 Million |
| Roche Holding AG’s pursuit of Illumina Inc. (ILMN) is putting companies from Life Technologies Corp. (LIFE) to Genomic Health Inc. in play as health-care providers turn to DNA to tailor treatments for cancer and inherited diseases. |
| INDUSTRY NEWS |
| Some heartburn drugs may increase odds of older women breaking a hip |
| Over-the-counter and prescription medications have become an increasingly popular way to ease chronic heartburn. One type, proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), does this by decreasing the amount of stomach acid that the body produces, but that process can also prevent the absorption of calcium. Might this affect the bones? |
| Petition targets FDA’s deputy commissioner for foods |
| Groups that think American agriculture has fallen victim to corporate interests and their risky efforts to genetically engineer the nation’s foods have found a new target for their anger. |
| Red Flags Ignored, DEA Says |
| The federal government alleges Cardinal Health Inc. and CVS Caremark Corp. were aware of high-volume orders of prescription painkiller oxycodone shipped to two pharmacies in Florida, in a closely watched case probing how much responsibility companies bear for a growing drug-abuse problem. |
| Novartis Blood-Pressure Drug Rasilez to Carry Warning |
| Novartis AG suffered a setback Friday as it was ordered to start printing safety warnings on the packaging of a hypertension drug, aliskiren, that the company had hoped would become a blockbuster. |
| EU approves skin cancer fighting drug: Roche |
| Swiss drug giant Roche said on Monday it had been given European Union approval for its treatment to fight a highly aggressive form of skin cancer. |
| The American Psychiatric Association scam |
| The American Psychiatric Association (APA) is in danger of losing the little credibility it still enjoys. |
