HEALTH

A Purdue University food scientist using infrared spectroscopy took only an hour to find harmful E. coli bacteria in ground beef, a discovery that could cut days off investigations of outbreaks, the university said in a statement on Monday.

Blacks treated with a drug-coated stent to open clogged heart arteries are nearly three times more likely to develop a life-threatening blood clot than whites, U.S. researchers said on Monday.

Biopsies taken to diagnose prostate cancer commonly cause temporary erectile dysfunction and, in some cases, lingering urinary problems, according to a new study.

Contrary to popular belief, new mothers may often get a decent amount of sleep in their babies' first few months -- but it's not a good-quality sleep, a new study suggests.

It was a cold, drizzly March morning this year when Ed Sproull's heart stopped beating.

In a small study, people who had chronic pain as a result of damage to the nervous system reported feeling less pain, as well as less depression and anxiety, when they smoked marijuana compared to when they smoked a drug-free placebo.

When it comes to treating very short kids with growth hormone, some doctors may be just as swayed by their own attitudes about being short as by data, suggests a new study.

Kids who suffer concussions should be cleared by a doctor before they start playing sports again, and parents and coaches should be aware that young athletes take longer to recover than college and professional athletes, according to a new report in Pediatrics.

In Europe, the philosophy is Buyer Be Aware. But in the U.S., it's Buyer Beware. American food labels have loads of nutritional information, but little that you can trust to tell you how it was produced.

France's Sanofi-Aventis disclosed its $18.5 billion offer for Genzyme Corp in a bid to rouse shareholders after failing to engage the company in merger talks.

An international scientific team has identified for the first time a genetic risk factor associated with common migraines and say their research could open the way for new treatments to prevent migraine attacks.

AstraZeneca's new blood-thinning drug Brilinta has been given a class 1 recommendation as a treatment option under European medical guidelines, even though it has yet to be approved for sale.

Gene testing is shaping up to be a marketing battleground for new blood thinners like AstraZeneca's Brilinta, underscoring the power and limitations of genetics as a tool to predict medical outcomes.

Patients with chronic heart failure given injections of their own bone marrow stem cells have better heart function and live longer, German researchers said Sunday.

Sanofi-Aventis's new heart rhythm drug Multaq should be considered as a first-line treatment option for patients with atrial fibrillation, a common arrhythmia, according to medical guidelines released on Sunday.

Giving patients with a history of heart attacks a margarine enriched with omega-3 oils in addition to standard drugs appears to make no difference to their chances of having a repeat attack.

The European market for therapeutic hypothermia devices was US$217 million in 2006, according to Frost & Sullivan. By 2012, it is estimated to reach US$543 million.

Cutting medicine prices and promoting cheap generics in the way European governments are now doing could jeopardize the long-term supply of new heart drugs, a top cardiologist said on Saturday.

Rates of esophageal cancer in men have risen by 50 percent in Britain in a generation, an increase that is probably being driven in part by growing rates of obesity and poor diet, scientists said on Saturday.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is cracking down on use of certain clinical trials that show a new drug is no worse than another already on the market, according to a government report released on Friday.

More physician-owned outpatient surgery centers may mean the surgical removal of more kidney stones, suggests a new study.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has released its latest list of possible drug safety concerns, citing Roche's breast cancer drug Herceptin and Sanofi Aventis' heart drug Multaq, among others.

Two forms of laser vision correction sometimes used as an alternative to LASIK seem to have similar results for people with nearsightedness, a new research analysis finds.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said on Friday his office was concerned about the massive egg recall from the Iowa farms but would not comment if his office was considering opening an investigation.

Losing the weight gained during pregnancy is a real struggle for many new mothers. But dropping just 10 pounds between pregnancies may help many women diagnosed with a dangerous complication during the first pregnancy to avoid a recurrence the second time around.

Italian researchers offer some hopeful news for parents of colicky babies: a daily dose of good bacteria may help their child to cry less.

U.S. birth rates in 2009 declined for the second straight year, a sign the economy may be causing some women to think twice about having children, health officials said Friday.

Europe's drug regulator is reviewing the safety of GlaxoSmithKline's Pandemrix flu vaccine, which has been given to more than 30 million people in Europe, to investigate possible links to a sleep disorder.

Johnson & Johnson, whose consumer unit has been plagued by massive recalls over the past year, said on Thursday its orthopedic unit was voluntarily recalling two hip replacement systems.