Cadmium Spill in China Threatens Drinking Water for Millions

A cancer-causing cadmium discharge from a mining company has polluted a long stretch of two rivers in southern China, and officials warned some 3.7 million people of Liuzhou in the Guangxi region to avoid drinking water from the river, state media reported on Friday.

Learn More

Bill Gates Injects $750 Million Into Troubled AIDS Fund

Microsoft chairman and philanthropist Bill Gates pledged a further $750 million to the troubled global AIDS fund on Thursday and urged governments to continue their support to save lives.

Learn More

Swimming Lowers Blood Pressure in Older Adults

Many older adults like to take a dip a pool, and now a small study suggests it can be good for their blood pressure. Researchers found that those who started swimming a few times a week lowered their systolic blood pressure -- the "top" number in a blood pressure reading.

Learn More

PFC Chemicals Tied to Immune Issues in Kids

Children exposed to chemicals from food packaging and textile products may have compromised immune systems, researchers said Tuesday. They found kids with more perfluorinated compounds, or PFCs, in their blood stream were less likely to respond to routine vaccines.

Learn More

  • News

    Cadmium Spill in China Threatens Drinking Water for Millions

  • News

    Bill Gates Injects $750 Million Into Troubled AIDS Fund

  • News

    Swimming Lowers Blood Pressure in Older Adults

  • News

    PFC Chemicals Tied to Immune Issues in Kids

Using human embryonic stem cells for research or treatment has incited controversy for ethical and medical reasons. Some opponents argue that because removing stem cells from days-old human embryos almost always destroys the embryo, the technique amounts News more
First Patients Shown to Improve With Embryonic Stem Cells

Jan 24, 2012

Before treatment, the 51-year-old graphic artist was legally blind, unable to read a single letter on a standard eye chart. She has suffered from Stargardt's disease, the most common form of macular degeneration in young patients, since she was a teenager, and it was getting progressively worse.

Signs of early dyslexia might include difficulty with rhyming, mispronouncing words or confusing similar-sounding words. News more
Brain Scans Spot Early Signs of Dyslexia

Jan 24, 2012

Instead of waiting for a child to experience reading delays, scientists now say they can identify the reading problem even before children start school, long before they become labeled as poor students and begin to lose confidence in themselves.

The current strain of H5N1 (bird flu) is highly pathogenic, kills most species of birds and up to 60 percent of the people it infects. News more
Bird Flu Death Reported in Southwest China

Jan 23, 2012

A man in southwest China died of bird flu on Sunday after three days of intensive care treatment in hospital, the official Xinhua news agency quoted the Ministry of Health as saying.

A Harvard survey says "Americans have the lowest level of trust -- 34 percent -- in national government to make the right healthcare decisions." Companies - Health more
Insurance Providers Urged to Cover Experimental Drugs

Jan 23, 2012

When your health insurance provider denies an experimental treatment or a high-cost drug, how much are you willing to pay for the care you believe you need?

Despite costly efforts, no drug has yet been found that can keep Alzheimer's disease from progressing. Some researchers fear drug companies will give up entirely. News more
Alzheimer's Disease Drug by 2025: Is This Goal Too Ambitious?

Jan 20, 2012

The U.S. government has set a deadline of 2025 for finding an effective way to treat or prevent Alzheimer's disease, an ambitious target considering there is no cure on the horizon and one that sets a firm deadline unlike previous campaigns against cancer or AIDS.

Some people believe tanning can supply the body with vitamin D, which is made in the skin in response to UV-B light exposure. But the lights used in indoor tanning machines are UV-A, which is known to induce cancer-causing DNA damage. News more
U.S. Indoor Tanning Tax Having Mixed Effects

Jan 20, 2012

Although a 2010 federal excise tax was meant to deter customers from using indoor tanning salons, only a minority of the businesses taking part in a new survey reported a drop in clients and most said their customers did not seem to care.

A silicone gel breast implant manufactured by French company Poly Implant Prothese (PIP) News more
PIP Founder: France "Criminal" in Recommending Removal

Jan 19, 2012

The founder of a French company at the heart of an international health scandal acknowledged on Wednesday that he had used unapproved silicone in breast implants, but said France's recommendation for women to have them removed was "criminal.".

Americans suffering mental illnesses were three times as likely to have developed substance dependence or substance abuse disorders than adults who had not experienced mental illness. News more
One in Five Americans Mentally Ill in 2010

Jan 19, 2012

One in five adults in the United States, or nearly 50 million people, suffered mental illnesses in the past year with women and young adults suffering disproportionately, a government report released on Thursday found.

Voraxaze helps eliminate methotrexate in patients whose kidney function has been compromised by treatment with high doses of the chemotherapy agent. News more
FDA Approves BTG's Voraxaze Drug for Cancer Toxicity

Jan 18, 2012

U.S. health regulators gave the nod on Tuesday to a drug from British specialty drugmaker BTG Plc that helps cancer patients get rid of toxic levels of a chemotherapy treatment.

Government researchers found that in 2009 and 2010, about one in three adults and one in six kids and teens were obese. The rates represent no change from 2007 and 2008 figures, and only a slight increase among specific demographics over rates from the la News more
Little Change in U.S. Obesity Rates in Recent Years

Jan 18, 2012

The number of kids and adults in the United States who are obese has held steady over the last few years, two reports out Tuesday suggest.

Work & Health

E-Newsletters

We value your privacy. Your email address will not be shared.